A Logical Progression

Zexion · Cloaked Scheming KeyBlade Master

A Logical Progression

Frozen Scholar · Ice Ice baby!

Frustration. By technical definition, it was an emotion, and therefore something Vexen should not be capable of experiencing. But there was only so much even a Nobody could take before throwing himself to the ground in frustration and begin pondering the possibility of simply... giving up.

Like hell, I will, he growled to himself. That kind of defeatist attitude was unbecoming, and more than that it was dangerous. But Oblivion had been utterly empty when he'd gone searching for his companions, the rooms scored and pocked with the evidence of battles. In the end he'd searched every single floor on foot, just in case, and eventually had to admit defeat. Zexion and Lexeaus were no where to be found. Neither were the neophytes, for that matter.

So what else could Number IV have done, but return home to The World That Never Was?

Frustration clenched his jaw as the blond stared up at the castle he'd just come from. The castle that was just as empty as Oblivion had been. While the Dark City was still as infested by Heartless as ever, and Dusks flitted about aimlessly, there was not a single member of the Organization to be found. Only more evidence of battle. The Keyblade Master must have been here as well.

"Where is everyone?!" Vexen shouted at the black sky, clenched fists striking the pavement.

A rumble of thunder suddenly shook the air, seconds before the clouds opened up with a downpour as though to demonstrate things could always get worse. The Ice Elemental glared upward, blinking in the rain and heaved a sigh. "Great. Now I'm wet along with everything else."

Well then. There was nothing for it, was there? Vexen pushed to his feet, and began the trudge back toward the castle. Even opening a Dark Corridor seemed like too much at this point. At least it's familiar, he forcible did not sigh again. He could sleep in his own bed, if nothing else, before deciding what to do. Oblivion had horrible pillows.

Zexion · Cloaked Scheming KeyBlade Master

As he aimlessly wandered the empty halls, a faint but familiar scent reached Zexion's sensitive nose. At first, he thought it was merely the imaginings of his still somewhat addled mind; having one's very lifeforce drained to the point of death had that affect. But when he found it not only fresh, but growing stronger, he couldn't help but follow it. Perhaps Vexen had some idea of what had happened.

Tracing the scent down the hallway, he turned a corner and almost immediately came face to face with a rather soggy and disgruntled looking blond. "V-vexen?" He stammered, "I-is it really you?" The Schemer didn't quite know how to react to finding one of his companions, especially one of the few he'd been purposely searching for. He was also completely unaware that his appearance was no where near as neat as he normally was; slate locks of hair were tangled and mussed up from absently yanking on it when he continually encountered one empty room after another. His eyes were also a little wider than normal and he was definitely a bit more skittish than he had been before the fall of Oblivion.

-- Edited by Zexion at 20:53, 2009-03-06

Frozen Scholar · Ice Ice baby!

Pole-axed. Yes, that was the phrase, wasn't it? Vexen felt as though he'd been struck right between the eyes, and hard, when he very nearly ran over his erstwhile companion. He blinked three times, lips pursing in consideration as his eyes laborously took in the little details of the shorter Nobody.

"While not trying to sound existential," the Academic began, "I'm actually not at all sure." His hand rose, index finger hesitantly prodding the Schemer's shoulder.

"I'm rather certain I died, you see. Are... you..?" the blond's voice trailed off. A sudden memory was coming to him, of a story from some World or other, where the people who died found themselves in the same place they'd always lived, but with no one there. They couldn't see the people living there, and whenever they grew frustrated or upset, the living could see them.

The younger man seemed solid enough. Buy were ghosts solid to other ghosts? Vexen mulled this over, eyes once more tracking from head to foot. "You need a hair-brush. You can't be dead."

-- Edited by Frozen Scholar at 20:38, 2009-03-06

Zexion · Cloaked Scheming KeyBlade Master

Shoulder shifting slightly with the prodding visited upon him by Vexen, Zexion first looked down at the finger pressing against him and then back up at the owner of said finger. "Yes well... I am surprisingly substantial, all things considered," he replied. A hand came up to run through his hair, confirming for himself its disarray.

"Hmm... actually, I too could have sworn I died. That generally is the result when drained completely of your life-force," his lips thinned into a pained smirk that had absolutely nothing to do with humour. Blue eyes dark with the confusion still swirling between them, he finally really looked at the taller Nobody. "You don't look so great yourself, Vexen."

Glancing around the hallway they were standing in, lost in thoughts that perhaps this wasn't a hallucination caused by powers gone awry as well as trying to figure why they seemed to be the only ones left. "I don't suppose you've enountered anyone else? Oblivion was completely empty... looked like it had been for quite some time actually."

A short half-cough to clear his throat, the Schemer's mind once again turned inwards as his gaze grew distant and appeared to see through the Academic rather than actually looking at him. It seemed that more and more he found his focus wandering, losing himself to whirling thoughts and memories that surfaced at random. It was most frustrating, and when once again wrenched himself back to his long-time companion who was giving him a most curious look, his voice was almost plaintive as he voiced the question he knew they were both seeking the answer to.

"What the hell happened?"

Frozen Scholar · Ice Ice baby!

"What happened should be fairly obvious, I would think," the blond rubbed his eyes. "We were wiped out by the Heros of Light."

"The why, of course, is also unfortunately plain," Vexen opened his eyes again, "It's the question of how that has me vexed."

A spate of silence. "Er, no pun intended..." he trailed off, a pale pink creeping into his cheeks.

Clearing his throat, the Academic focused on his companion again, searching for something to say that would remain on-topic. However, Zexion looked about dead on his feet. "...come with me," he said with a huffy sigh. "You look like I feel. Physically speaking, of course. Let's see if the kitchen can feed our respective addictions, hmm?" Sweet Shiva, a cup of coffee sounded like heaven, and he was willing to bet that tea sounded the same to the Cloaked Schemer.

Zexion · Cloaked Scheming KeyBlade Master

"I meant beyond the obvious fall and all that. How is it that we find ourselves back where we started, in a manner of speaking, and yet still lacking our hearts?" The retort was immediate, accompanied by the rolling of Zexion's eyes. "And I don't know about you, but I certainly was not taken out by any sort of hero. More like a green-eyed snake in the grass."

A small smirk appeared on the Schemer's face, an amused chuckle escaping. "Of course not," he said dryly. "You never intentionally pun."

Shrugging, he nodded his agreement. "I certainly wouldn't object to a nice hot cup of tea. It feels like it's been years since I've had some." Making a sharp gesture with his hand, he walked beside Vexen as they made their way down to the kitchen. Like the rest of the castle, it was empty and filled with an air of disuse.

Dusting off the kettle, he filled it with water before placing it on the stove and turning on corresponding burner. He smirked again as he watched the blond go the obviously almost unconscious movements of preparing the coffee maker and pressing the 'on' button. "So do you really think we're the only ones left? It seems highly improbable, when you think about it," he commented, placing a bag of his favourite tea in a large mug while he waited for the kettle to whistle.

Frozen Scholar · Ice Ice baby!

Just the scent of the coffee grinds was enough to lift Vexen's proverbial spirits, and he leaned with his elbows on the counter, watching the brew percolate and fill the carafe drop by precious drop. "It was highly improbable when we survived the loss of our Hearts in the first place. I am now, surprisingly, finding myself beyond surprise at our ever-continuing existence, despite all logical reasoning to the contrary."

Resting his chin on his folded hands, the Ice Elemental wished for Luxord's power. Then he could speed up the coffee-making process and this whole waiting thing could just be done away with entirely. "So what we should try and establish, perhaps, if just how much time occured between our deaths and our resurrections. However..."

Vexen straightened as a thought occured to him. He turned abruptly to face the shorter Nobody, "You were killed by Axel... and I as well... perhaps that is why death didn't... stick?"

Rubbing his face vigorously with both hands he complained, "There's just too many variables! Nothing makes sense!" He pressed the heels of his palm against his closed eyes until he saw violently white spots in the darkness behind his lids.

Zexion · Cloaked Scheming KeyBlade Master

"True," Zexion nodded, leaning against the counter. "When put in that light, I do believe we've actually defied the odds stacked against us rather spectacularly."

Just then, the kettle began to softly whistle, drawing his attention to it. Lifting and carefully filling his mug, he replied, "Well, it wasn't Axel himself. He convinced that damn replica of yours that if he absorbed my life-force that he would become a whole being of his own." Wrinkling his nose as he glanced over his shoulder at the blond, he scowled slightly. "Obviously, that didn't work at all."

Stirring a generous dollop of honey into his tea (hey, he'd been through a lot and was allowed a little extra) Zexion turned back around and made his way over to the table. "As for how much time has passed? I would hazard at least a few months. Any lingering scents that were left behind are quite old, and I highly doubt that anyone has been here more recently than six to eight months at the very least," he said as he sat down. Resting his chin in one of his hands, he sighed. "I know. There is no logical answer for our return, as far as I've been able to determine. Hells, for a while there, I thought all of this was something I conjured on accident because of that damn replica draining me."

Taking a drawn out sip of his tea, he sighed. "I always thought that if I faded, I'd either be gone for good or would reawake with my heart returned." Reaching up and rubbing his forehead, dragging his hand downwards, he shook his head. "But yet again, we're punished for our folly."

-- Edited by Zexion at 15:58, 2009-03-10

Frozen Scholar · Ice Ice baby!

"What?" Vexen snapped, affront in his every word, "Of course that wouldn't work, because he was whole to begin with! The only thing that wasn't completely his was his DNA and that wretched attitude problem--his soul, his Heart, all of that was original with no connection to Riku at all! Arrgh!" The blond jerked open the cupboards, looking for the sugar and his mug, forgetting that he'd already set the latter by the coffee pot.

"I never should have allowed Larxene to have her way. Naminé had no business tampering with his memories," the Ice Elemental growled, finally finding the sugar and setting the bowl down on the counter with perhaps more force than required. "He was a perfect specimen!"

Finally spotting his mug, Vexen poured his coffee, posture and face giving all indications of an annoyed pout (though he would call it a glower). It wasn't all that difficult to bring up the memories of those emotions, Imbeciles getting their hands all over what isn't theirs... First Larxene, then Axel. My Riku was perfect.

Huffing as he grabbed a spoon to heap sugar into his coffee, the blond resolved to let it go for now. There was nothing he could do about it at this point. "Well. That makes two of us. I thought dead was dead was dead. But Nobodies always seem exceptions to the rules. I wonder how long it will take the others to return... if they do. Probability doesn't equal certainty."

He took a sip, nodded to himself that it was sweet enough, then settled at the kitchen table. "And should we wait for them? I must admit, I'm not too keen on meeting back up with any of those treacherous neophytes again," Vexen grumbled. Or the Superior, for that matter...

Zexion · Cloaked Scheming KeyBlade Master

"Yes well... try to convince an angsting teenager of that," Zexion rolled his eyes. "He was much more manageable before Naminé messed around with his memories. Useful even."

Watching the irritated line of Vexen's spine, he couldn't help a small, amused smirk from hovering across his face. "Actually, we probably never should have let those neophytes have as much access to Naminé as they did. She was too much of a double-edged sword to be left in their hands," he commented, sipping his tea and releasing a deep sigh as it warmed his entire body.

"Anyway, there's no changing the past, so it's useless agonizing over it," the Schemer changed tracks, tucking his long bangs back so that they wouldn't fall into his tea. "I agree that it's quite likely that the others will return as well at some point. The question is when and where they will show up."

Shifting and tucking a leg underneath himself, he once again leaned his cheek on an upraised palm, the other lifting his mug to his lips. His expression was contemplative and a little bit distant before he finally turned back to Vexen. "I would much rather avoid as many of the neophytes as possible for the time being. At least until we can discover more of what happened after our own failed deaths. There's no way of knowing what exactly happened here after Oblivion fell to the Keyblade Master... for all we know, more of the neophytes could have turned on the Organization."

Frozen Scholar · Ice Ice baby!

Mind swirling with all the thoughts, facts and the sheer indignation of his creation being used and mistreated in such ways, coupled with the galling insult of being placed under the authority of neophytes while being the senior member within the castle, left Vexen wanting to throw something. But the only object at hand was his mug, and that sort of waste of coffee was simply not to be borne. Huffing another frustrated sigh, the blond slumped over the table, Let it go. Let it go. There are more important things to spend the energy on.

"You're right," the Academic nodded, taking a slurping sip of his coffee. "And it is thoroughly probably that they would seek the castle as well. With so many Worlds lost to the Darkness, this is the only home they have. They will seek it, should they wake to find themselves in the similar position of reanimation."

Sitting up straight again, he turned to meet Zexion's eyes. "I don't feel a pressing need to run into any of the neophytes again either, so where would we go from here? There are many questions that need to be answered. Do you think sticking together would be a wiser course, or seeking separately and meeting up periodically would be best?" Seeing the bottom of his mug, Vexen rose to refill his addiction.

Zexion · Cloaked Scheming KeyBlade Master

He nodded. After all, a large portion of Zexion's own schemes had backfired as well, so he could relate all too well to Vexen's frustration. It was quite annoying the way everything had fallen to pieces.

"Yes, I agree that it's quite likely that the others will return here. As you said, it's the only home some of them know," he gave a quick nod of his head. The idea of having to deal with certain members was enough to make the Schemer almost growl or alternatively make his skin crawl. He certainly wouldn't object to having a few encounters with the majority of the neophytes as was possible.

Tracing an invisible pattern on the tabletop with his finger while he thought, Zexion wonder what, if any, other worlds would offer possible answers. "I think from here we need to devote ourselves to figuring out why we were given yet another chance. As much as we may not want to, I think perhaps retracing our steps back to where this all started just might give us some answers." Draining his own mug, he watched Vexen refilling his mug with more coffee. "I'm not so sure splitting up would be beneficial at the moment. Who's to say the keyblade master won't find and corner one of us? And that's to say nothing of his allies who have proved themselves a force to be reckoned with."

Mulling over both their situation as well as whether he should make more tea, he finally stood and went to put the kettle on again. "Who's to say that splitting forces before wasn't a factor in our fall? It certainly made us weaker. We would be no better than some of the neopytes if we did not learn from our previous mistakes," he said, leaning against the counter while waiting for the water to come to a boil, a bag already waiting in his mug.

Frozen Scholar · Ice Ice baby!

"Hn," Vexen witheld comment a moment, hiding the pause behind a long drought of his coffee. There was still something bitter in the memory of Zexion and Lexaeus both refusing to stand with him when he confronted the neophytes in Oblivion. Showing a united front then could have saved them this whole mess now. Perhaps neither of them would have died.

Then again, it could have just delayed the inevitable, the blond hid a sigh under his breath. After all, the rest of them died just as well.

"Right, safety in numbers then," Vexen nodded as he set his mug back on the table, cradled between both hands. "And two heads are better than one. All that. So," he stood, taking his mug to the sink and beginning to clean it out of habbit. "Where should we begin? Twilight Town? Hollow Bastion?" Go home?

Zexion · Cloaked Scheming KeyBlade Master

"Well," Zexion drawled, returning to the table with his refilled mug of tea. "I suppose it would make sense to start back the beginning. Perhaps there is something we missed, since we were all so focused on pushing forward that we neglected to look anywhere else."

Sitting, he traced the rim of his mug with his index finger. "That is, once we've exhausted our resources here. I have to admit, highly doubt we'll find anything new or helpful here."

A deep sigh before sipping his brew, he watched the older Nobody closely. "I really don't relish the idea of returning to the ruins of Radiant Garden... but it's highly improbable that any of Master Ansem's books or research have been scavanged or damaged. And if we don't find anything of use there, we continue on. There are plenty of other worlds that are fairly advanced in either science, magic or both," he shrugged.

Frozen Scholar · Ice Ice baby!

"Some of the books may be gone," Vexen corrected. "That witch, Maleficent, was in the castle for a while, remember. Though I doubt she would have discovered the secret lab. But you library?" He shook his head.

"Who knows what a witch would do with that." The blond watched his younger companion a moment, memories stirred up by thoughts of their homeworld. Of early mornings and late night spent exactly like this, loitering in a different kitchen while drinking tea and coffee. Sometimes with a bowl or ice cream, or left-over cake. Fighting over the last chocolate chip cookie. And postulating theories on Darkness and Hearts and why Braig seemed simply unable to keep his mind out of the gutter and what exactly Aeleus was reading in those manga.

Abruptly the Academic turned to systematically go through the cabinets, pulling out any food that would be easy to carry and last for however long they would need it to. "We should make sure we are prepared before departing," he muttered half to himself. "We won't be coming back here whenever we need supplies, if we are hoping to avoid certain... comrads."

"So," he tossed a box of granola bars at the table, "Non-perishable food. Potions. Ethers. What else should we look for?"

Zexion · Cloaked Scheming KeyBlade Master

"Ugh," Zexion groaned, glaring at the contents of his mug as if they were guilty of personally offending him. "That stupid witch. I bet you're right... she probably had her slimy hands all over my books, doing who know what."

He had just been gearing up to go on a good long rant about people touching his personal collection that ought not to have, and just what exactly he would do to the culprits if he ever got his hands on them when Vexen neatly derailed that train of thought. Eyes drawn to where the blond was pulling items out of the cabinets, the Schemer was reminded of when Master Ansem would send them off to visit other cities, usually travelling by train to visit some contact of his. Invariably, one of them ended up forgetting something that they ended up later wanting.

"Hmm... we might want to acquire some clothing that is not quite so... notable," he suggested at last. "I don't know about you, but I really do not care to be traced back to here immediately. And it requires far less effort to just blend in with the citizens of Radiant Garden or Hollow Bastion, whatever it's going by now, than for me to cast illusions over both of us. Perhaps a basic medical kit; we may have potions and our magic, but sometimes the simplest method is the most effective. We don't know what possible side effects or weaknesses this rebirth of ours may have wrought upon our bodies."

((Also - I think we can draw this to a close within the next volley of replies or so, and then segue it into the plot thread.))

-- Edited by Zexion on Thursday 19th of March 2009 02:36:21 AM

Frozen Scholar · Ice Ice baby!

Vexen paused in his raiding of the cupboards. "Clothes?" he asked, shooting a baffled look over his shoulder. Of all the items going through the blond's head of what they might need, variation in outfits had never even made the list. He supposed in some ways it made sense--there was no Organization to back them up, so any associations with their uniforms would be best avoided. However, there was still one small problem.

"But our uniforms are also protection," the taller Nobody turned to face his old friend, leaning back against the counter. "If we use the Corridors of Darkness, we'll need them. Darkness doesn't like us any better than the Light does."

"If we plan to stay anywhere for any length of time... then... yes, I suppose more traditional clothing would not be out of place. I don't think I ever got rid of my old clothes... hmm..." The Ice Elemental trailed off, trying to remember where he would have stored all his clothing from his life as Even. "Okay then. I think we have a plan. Clothes. Medical Supplies. Magical Healing Items. Food. Munny."

Zexion · Cloaked Scheming KeyBlade Master

"Mmm, yes," Zexion nodded. Draining the last of his tea, he stood and made his way over to the sink where he proceeded to rinse and then thoroughly clean his mug. Just because he was no longer 'alive' in the conventional sense of the word, that didn't mean he could not become ill. He also simply couldn't abide unnecessary messes.

"If we are to acquire any real information from any place we visit, we would do well to blend in as best as possible. I have found that most places do not react well if one attempts to just take books or other articles of research and just leave," he continued, drying the mug and then putting it back in the cupboard.

"But yes, I do agree that our uniforms grant us a great deal of protection within the Corridors; we would be foolish to venture forth into them without such protection."

Once again leaning against the counter, he folded his arms across his chest, one hand raising to tap a finger against his lips thoughtfully. "I think we have a good basic plan. I suggest we get a good night's sleep before making good on it. It wouldn't do to start out without being at our best possible capacities."

LionHeart · Leon!Lion

Closed.