Hello there! Uh, remember when I didn't update this for about four months? Yeah, sorry about that. More explanation at the bottom.
In the meantime, big thanks to Endings Matter Most, Pantharya, manyissues101, LiteraryMirage, BlondsRuleALL, Legendary_Chimera, and Inspiration of Imagination for reviewing the last chapter way back when! I hope you all don't hate me. And in terms of the vote, Zexion won big. Well, it was 4 to 3, but two of the people who voted for Riku voted for "Riku AND Zexion!" so it didn't really count. ;)
HERE WE GO!
Chapter 7: Zexion
Zexion was stuck. Axel kept a firm grip on his upper arm, forcing him to stay perfectly still. Riku had emerged from the portal as well, but he too stayed still, aloof and off to the side, apparently completely oblivious to how much danger he was in. Besides the three of them, there was only the Superior, staring down his nose at them as if preparing to squash a bug.
Yes, the Superior looked somewhat less than pleased with the spectacle before him.
"Axel," he said calmly, and painfully slowly, the way he always spoke. Axel stood up a little straighter and tightened his grip on Zexion. "What is this?"
"Zexion converted Riku," he said quickly. "And then they wanted to come back here."
"Nobody converted nobody," snapped Riku, entering the conversation, not that anyone bothered to respond to him.
"So, they threatened you," Xemnas surmised. "The Flurry of Dancing Flames, the assassin who single-handedly eliminated four members of Organization XIII, caved to the demands of a couple of teenagers?" Axel's fingernails dug into Zexion's coat. Zexion himself couldn't help but smirk a little. Axel had only removed one Organizationmember- the Keybearers had taken care of the rest. But now didn't seem like the best time to bring that up, so he kept his mouth shut.
Xemnas was an odd one, to be sure. As Xehanort, in life, he'd been a quiet and unassuming apprentice, devoted to his studies and not much else. He'd been a lot nicer then, too, always letting Ienzo help him with experiments and everything else. Ienzo loved Xehanort. Zexion didn't trust Xemnas as far as Naminé could throw him. And he suspected the feeling was mutual. The more Xemnas spoke, the more obvious it became that he really had ordered their deaths- him and Lexaeus, and Vexen, and Marluxia and Larxene. His eyes narrowed in a shadow of dislike.
"Take Riku and go," Xemnas ordered Axel. "Hold him somewhere safe. Do not let him speak to anyone." Axel nodded in confirmation and reluctantly released Zexion's arm. He could have fled then, but this was the Superior- he probably would have been dead before he could get one foot into the portal.
"Come on, kiddo," said Axel, with next to no enthusiasm. Riku snarled at him and went to summon his weapon, but before he could accomplish anything, Axel grabbed his arm. "Seriously. Don't start anything," he muttered. "Let's go." He summoned a portal, and in an instant, Zexion was left alone with Xemnas. Not a great situation, but any means.
"So," he said haughtily. "Are you still going to kill me?"
"Not yet," said Xemnas. "Tell me what happened."
"Your little goon tried to knock me off," Zexion sniffed. "That's what happened." He always spoke candidly with Xehanort when he'd been alive, and he saw no need to start now, especially now that all the cards were on the table, and Xemnas already wanted him dead.
"You know what I meant, Ienzo." One word to show that the threat was still alive.
"Don't call me that." Ienzo was dead.
"Why did you bring Riku here?" Xemnas continued, ignoring him. His voice was slow and deliberate, the kind of voice that commanded attention, no matter the circumstances. "You know that Roxas is still fragile."
"All Riku wants is to go back to his islands. This was just a little pit stop. I couldn't well have left him in Castle Oblivion with Sora, now could I?" said Zexion carefully. Xemnas narrowed his eyes, but accepted his story.
"Fine. If that is truly all he wants, you are responsible for getting rid of him."
"Fine," Zexion said right back. "Mission accepted," he added, but to his credit, with only the slightest bit of sarcasm.
"You don't need me to tell you that we're watching you, Zexion."
"Then why did you?" Xemnas narrowed his eyes, but said nothing. That was all the indication Zexion needed to know that he was free to go- assuming that Xemnas had not somehow rounded up the remaining members of the Organization to slaughter him the moment he left the room.
So as not to run any unnecessary risk, Zexion teleported directly back to his room. They were standard-issue, of course, all with the same plain white furniture. The place, like all of the World That Never Was, was completely and overwhelmingly quiet. The perfect place to think.
What am I going to do now?
Zexion sat down on his bed, but he didn't relax. Soon he would have to seek out Axel and Riku and take the latter back to the Destiny Islands. But what was he going to do after that? Come back to the Organization, knowing that they wanted him dead? No, that wasn't exactly an option.
Like he usually did in these situations, Zexion found himself dwelling on Ienzo. There are always tools, that was what he'd been taught. There are no dead ends. Unfortunately, beyond those basic lessons, Ienzo was no use to him at all. He'd been only five when he'd been turned. All of his formative years had been spent as a Nobody. The others, they could all draw from their former selves for emotions, for thoughts and plans, but Ienzo had nothing. He was emotionally stunted, even by Nobody standards. The only person out there more mechanical than him was Xemnas, by deliberate effort. And possibly Naminé, the doll.
He thought about Naminé, left alone in Castle Oblivion with the Keybearer. She was only the way she was because her heart was still beating. Inside of Kairi, the Princess of Heart. Who lived on the Destiny Islands.
Suddenly, Zexion had an idea. Kairi, of all people, might be able to help him. Especially if he brought back Riku, who, if he could recall, had been a childhood friend of hers.
He had something she wanted. And from her, he might be able to get some answers.
Satisfied that he'd formed some semblance of a plan, he ventured cautiously out of his room to find where Axel had taken Riku. First he teleported to Axel's room, but they weren't there. So, he began searching the castle, starting with the Grey Room and working his way outward. Luck was on his side that day, and he didn't run into a single member of the Organization. Saïx had probably sent them all out on extra missions, to cover for the appearance of Riku. The castle was deserted.
At least, he thought it was deserted, until he appeared in one of the sitting rooms and came face-to-face with a short and angry blonde kid, who looked to be about his own age. He was wearing the trademark Organization coat, and he sat dully hunched over in an armchair, his hand out in front of him, making a Keyblade appear and disappear. He appeared to be enthralled with his own action.
"You must be Roxas," said Zexion.
"Yeah, that's me," said Roxas. His Keyblade disappeared in a flash of light. Zexion couldn't say he was thrilled to see the weapon on his home turf, even if this time, it was ostensibly on his side. It reappeared, then disappeared again.
"Who are you?" asked Roxas.
"Zexion," he said. He went to ask Roxas if he'd seen Axel and Riku, before remembering that Riku was supposed to stay out of sight, and that if Roxas and Riku were put together, it would probably be explosive, besides. He ran out exactly twelve horrible scenarios in his mind before finally deciding that no, he was not going to ask Roxas if he'd seen Axel and Riku. Roxas, meanwhile, had shrugged and gone back to his work. If one could call it work. The Keyblade appeared, then disappeared. Zexion left without saying goodbye. He had a suspicion that Roxas didn't notice.
Axel and Riku were, of course, in the kitchen, eating dinner. Zexion had no idea why he hadn't thought to look there first. Ienzo would probably have checked the kitchen first. The thought didn't make him terribly happy.
"Ha. You're still alive? Didn't think you had it in you," said Axel snidely. Zexion chose to ignore him.
"We're leaving, Riku," he said calmly. "It's time to go back to the Islands."
"How can I be sure you people are going to take me there?" Riku looked from side to side, suspicious. The boy- Zexion insisted on thinking of him as a boy, even though they were just about the same age- seemed determined to make things more difficult than they had to be. Maybe that was what having a heart did to you.
"My boss will kill me if I don't," Zexion deadpanned. "Is that enough of a guarantee for you?" Riku considered this, and for a moment, it appeared that no, that was not enough of a guarantee for him. Finally, he nodded, and stood. Axel stood, too.
"Sorry, Axel. This is my mission. Directly from the Superior's mouth."
"Are you serious?" he scoffed. "Well, fine. Day off for me." He summoned a portal and disappeared. Zexion supposed that he could have spared a goodbye, I'm not going to see you again, but really, he never liked Axel much anyway, and couldn't be bothered. Even though in this case his colleague's laziness had saved him quite a bit of hassle.
Zexion took one final look around the Kitchen That Never Was, where he'd spent plenty of long nights manipulating Lexaeus into cooking for him. Well, he supposed that where he was going, there would be plenty of kitchens that, you know, were, so he'd be able to get by.
"Are you ready to go, Riku?" he asked. As an afterthought, he went over to a nearby closet and pulled out a black Organization coat- they were always in steady supply in the castle. "Wear this. This trip is a little bit longer, you'll need it."
"What's it for?" asked Riku suspiciously, even as he pulled it on over his own clothes.
"To protect you from the Realm of Darkness." Zexion coolly extended a hand and summoned a portal. The edges were vibrant and jumpy, almost as if they knew that this trip was going to be a long one, though the Corridors of Darkness were always hungry for fresh meat. Riku nodded at his explanation and motioned for him to go first. Zexion happily obliged.
"How long is this going to take?" asked Riku as the portal closed behind them.
"Just keep walking," answered Zexion cryptically, and they set off towards Destiny Islands.
Ok. So, I stopped writing this after I got 358/2 Days, since what I was writing was a million miles off from the canon version. I mean, I was CONVINCED that Xemnas had ordered Axel to kill off the 'Basement 3.' Convinced. And then Saïx comes crashing in with his Superior-ly ambitions, and his BFFs-With-Axel thing, and I was like lolwhat? So, I sort of half-heartedly wrote the first part of the chapter, and I was like eh. Eh, I said.
Fast forward four months. Today, I am sitting, minding my own business, when my new internet BFF Razer Athane (whose fic 'Compass,' an Axel/Aerith of all things, y'all absolutely should read) pops in with pictures of baby Axel and baby Saïx, from BBS. I squealed with girlish delight. And then, that reminded me of the pics of baby Ienzo that were released a while ago. I went to look at those again, and once again squealed with girlish delight. Then, I had a stunning realization.
I got Zexion's age right!
When I started writing this, I shifted him down to teenager-dom, thinking it was this huge radical thing I was doing, right? But think about it. If that was who Ienzo was, then when he got turned into a Nobody, he could only have been what, a year or two older than Sora? Which is EXACTLY HOW OLD HE IS IN THIS FIC. I was totally right. CoM Zexion is a teenager. I'm a goddamn psychic. So, secure in the knowledge of my glorious right-ness, I sat down and hacked out a new chapter.
Based on the pics of Lea and Isa, Axel would be in his mid-twenties in KH2- ten-ish years older than Sora/Roxas. And, can we talk about how adorable baby Lea is, plz!? With his little fruity scarf!?
Anyway, the point here is, The Story of Riku has been gloriously resurrected, with minor changes to reflect the change in canon. (Though there will be no Xion. Srsly, screw that.) Woo!
NEXT CHAPTER will be Kairi / Namine. See y'all later!