It was hard to get invested when you never knew when the other person would die. When you would die. 

It was a perspective Lauriam understood, but to not dwell on the people you lost, and for that to come to mind first, that meant…likely that you were surrounded by death. Which…suddenly put a lot of things that had been said that day into context. 

Lauriam’s eyes widened slightly, before they downturned. 

“...deaths weren’t that common in our factory,” Lauriam prefaced. “If I can make a guess? Instead of execution, our punishments were more…being sent to the chair. Locked in the quiet room.” Lauriam sighed tiredly. “Having all of the supervisors set up an elaborate scheme to make you think you’d successfully manipulated one of them into devising an escape plan, all to pull the rug out from under your feet in grand humiliation and torture.”

“...Terra was my dad,” Lauriam said softly. “Basically. The supervisors killed him, one of their punishments taken too far. He managed to sever himself from the island before he died, but…I dunno. It wasn’t just that that let us know. His wife, Aqua…the two of them had been inseparable for as long as I’d known them, and before that too. When he died, she lost it.”

Knowing how differently this would land to Ira, Lauriam shifted a little awkwardly as he explained, “They basically had to threaten to kill the rest of us to get her to stop. For a long time she just wasn’t…okay. It was really rough to see.”

“...I’m sorry,” Ira said softly. And he meant it. Even when the others had gone off to holiday… it still hadn’t been a good thing. Hadn’t felt good. Ira understood the discomfort and the grief.

(The idea that they’d threaten to kill the group, when it’d be easier to just kill Aqua, did baffle Ira a little. It sounded like an empty threat, if they were going to threaten that at all. It was difficult for him to imagine supervisors that, for whatever reason… didn’t see Empaths as expendable.)

(...what had been wrong with the Ribata factory, that the Empaths there hadn’t been… worth threatening into compliance? Had the Chonis factory been more important, somehow?)

(It was a jealous feeling that inspired it, which Ira felt guilty about. But he wanted to know more about the actual work the Chonis factory did. He wanted to know why they had been worth keeping alive, when his own friends had been worthless.)

“Your island… it’s basically some sort of… Empath hivemind, yes? Something like that?” Ira asked, “It’s brave, that he took the effort to spare you all his death, while in danger himself. Most people aren’t that brave in the end. It’s admirable. I’m sure he loved you all.”

Lauriam gave Ira a small smile at the condolence. He…wished he knew how to properly express the sympathy and sorrow he felt, realizing what Ira had been through. The grief over dozens, over and over, until it became something to expect around every corner. Not the looming hypothetical it had always been for the Chonis Empaths. 

[It was the briefest spark of connection, but in Ira’s mind small stalks of white dahlias and alstromeria started to bloom. Condolences for friends lost, and a symbol of strength.]

With a heavy breath, Lauriam nodded. “Terra was one of the most loving people I’ve ever met. One of the bravest too.” Smiling uneasily, Lauriam turned to grab the next batch of laundry to wash. “...severing yourself from the island is…dangerous for us. Physically. Even’s warned us about it for ages, hypothesizing that it could even lead to seizures or major brain damage… It actually happened in a less severe way, recently, and if my little brother didn’t pull some magic out of that maze he calls a brain, I think some of us genuinely would’ve lost our minds.”

“You’ve already said it, but, yeah. That Terra severed himself just to spare us the pain of feeling him die, that he put himself through that?” Lauriam huffed, sinking into his shoulders a little in stress. “...kinda makes a guy feel pretty stupid for trying to do it for basically no reason.”

Ira felt the sensation of flowers in bloom more than saw them. A phantom scent in the wind. It made him think of everyone he had lost… but he had learned to swallow tears and sadness a long time ago. He took comfort, in the small expression of strength.

“From the things you tell us, it does sound like the Empath techniques you all use came with pretty massive risks,” Ira said, though his tone sounded more impressed than chastising, “You’re all a… bit insane, if it’s alright for me to say so.”

The tone of the last thing Lauriam said made Ira glance over though with a small frown. “Did you try that? Can I ask why? Having permanent access to a power source and the safety of other people… it’s hard to imagine why someone would give it up.”

Lauriam laughed softly. “It’s more than alright, I think we’ve all come to accept we’re kind of bonkers.” 

Though, his laugh trailed off into a wince. “...I mean, you’re right. I don’t think I’d recommend anyone try to do it now, from scratch, but I’ve spent most of my life now entwined with around a dozen other people and I can’t imagine living without it.”

Taking a breath, Lauriam looked over to give Ira an exhausted look. “...but I’ve lived most of my life entwined with around a dozen other people. We’ve made some workarounds, sure, but there’s no real privacy between us. It’s what I imagine being an ultra powerful Empath is like, I literally can’t ignore how everyone else is feeling, and they can’t do that for me either.”

He tilted his head a little. “Axel didn’t send out a distress signal or anything when he ran into you guys at first. I just felt that he was freaked out.”

The exhausted look increased, tinged with regret. “...sometimes you just want to freak out in peace, and not have an entire family meeting called that you can’t escape, and you can’t just sit through because everyone knows exactly how you’re feeling. And sometimes it’d be nice to freak out and not have the consequences of that be nearly killing your entire family.”

“...you know,” Ira frowned, “I can see your point.”

“My mind is the only thing I have that’s really mine,” Ira agreed, going to hang more of his washed laundry, before coming back to sit next to the creek, working again, “Maybe not always. That’s the lot of an Empath, to sometimes have people drop in. But for the most part? It’s usually a reliable place to exist. And it’s also, since I’ve been in the program, been the only safe place I… well, like you said.”

“Freak out,” Ira smiled thinly, “And don’t let my, or any, of our calm and cool demeanors fool you, we all freak out plenty. In the real world, that tends to look like unfortunate inconveniences, like suddenly being mute or making irrational, dangerous decisions, or just being unable to breathe… but if we can keep the freakout inside? Only panic in our own minds? That’s ideal. It’d be devastating to lose the ability to do that. I could see wanting that back.”

Lauriam nodded glumly. “That was one of the first descriptions I’d heard about the Nobodies, when I was first making Marluxia. Freaking out externally? It was just going to get someone hurt, give the supervisors more fodder to hurt you with,” he gave a sad nod to Ira, “to get you killed. So you keep that stuff locked up tight in your own head. Let them be the calm, cool demeanor.”

But that was only hiding it from the supervisors. There had never been any hiding it from the others… Unless, he supposed, you were as strong as Namine, and could hold some stuff back. But even that had cracks that showed. 

Sighing, Lauriam worked on a stain. “...I imprinted the illusion of a fire to everyone, lit myself on fire, lost my mind so much I turned into a giant flower monster and tried to kill everyone, and basically only lived because our friendly soon-to-be local god stopped by and knew what was happening. So, I can’t really recommend you chat with the others about making your own island.”

Ira gave Lauriam an open, searching look… before he smiled knowingly. “Ah, I see. Telling fibs to pull one over on the other factory Empath? Very funny. Point for creativity, but I’m from a different factory, not born yesterday.”

Lauriam blinked at Ira, before snorting softly. “Sure, sure, you’d probably sleep better thinking it’s a lie, I won’t ruin that. Just remind me to button my shirt all the way when we show you guys the island. That kind of scar is hard to just handwave.”

“It’s alright. I don’t mind a little prank.” Ira smiled, returning to his task as he said warmly, “When I first got to the factory, there was this locked door in our sleeping room. It wasn’t a bathroom or the way out, so I asked what it was? The others told me it was locked because it was the barbershop, and the supervisors only opened it once every two weeks to give us all haircuts.”

“I didn’t think much of it, but lo and behold, one of the supervisors came into the room, and headed to the door. And I remember getting weirdly excited, because that meant it was haircut time, and that was a bit new and interesting. It was just nice to look forward to a little bit of grooming, but mostly I was just bored and curious what the barbershop looked like… and when he opened the door?”

Ira groaned at the memory, though he still smiled. “It was a cleaning supply closet. Turns out, every two weeks, we had to deep clean every room in the factory. Put on gloves and opened chemicals and just scrub top to bottom. But, our reward for deep cleaning well? We got access to scissors, which under supervision, we could cut our hair with,” Ira snickered, “The barbershop. We pulled that prank on every person who ever showed up. Gets them every time.”

Lauriam listened to the story with interest, before he snorted, groaning through a laugh. “Oh that’s devious. I can almost hear Ienzo say, ‘well, that’s technically correct’. Ugh.” Shaking his head a little, he stuck his tongue out. “They made you deep clean the factory, though?! That sucks. I never even saw any of the other parts of the factory beyond our rooms and the punishment rooms. Maybe they just knew that Even’d probably poison them or figure out how to make a bomb if they let him anywhere near something that could be called a chemical.”

Marluxia grinned impishly. “I don’t think you’d exactly call it a prank, but once we discovered a spider nest in one of the bathrooms. There had been some ongoing discussion about what to do about it, but I firmly pleaded with Dem-Dem to not go check it out himself. He’s lucky Ienzo and Zexion are such suckers for him and negotiated some supplies to treat spider bites.”

“Oh no,” Ira laughed, “Well, it does sound like you did warn him. Not your fault then. I still find it surprising to hear you talk about ‘talking’ with your supervisors. We were told not to speak unless directly spoken to, and even that was iffy sometimes. Though… I’m also surprised to hear you didn’t see the rest of your factory?” Ira said, absolutely sincere. “We were expected to move around ours. Maintain things, clean things, do odd little tasks, most of which we never quite figured out the point to.” 

“Usually a handful of us, two or three, were chosen to do our batches of Indentureds that day, and the rest of us were given other things to do,” Ira explained, “But if you were only in your rooms… did you only condition?” A thought came to Ira, and he asked, “How many people do you think collectively you conditioned through a summer? And what did you do during the rest of the year, when new conditionees aren't arriving?”

Marluxia nodded proudly. Exaaaaactly, not his fault. He told Demyx not to check it out, it wasn’t his fault the dork didn’t listen. 

Eheheh~

“It was usually a bad idea to talk with the supervisors, but we needed supplies somehow,” Marluxia rolled his eyes, “If someone needed meds or first aid, or fuck, if we just needed another blanket or something? The supervisors were the only way to get it.” He glowered a bit. “And a lot of them were quite happy to play a game of groveling or who can demean themselves the most to give up something useless to them.”

Though, soon he just gave Ira a confused look. “Wow, seriously? How did you even have time…for…”

As he trailed off, Marluxia gave Ira a wary look. “...what do you mean, when new conditionees weren’t arriving? It never stopped until they kicked us out of the factory.”

Ira matched Marluxia’s look with a confused one of his own. “But we only conditioned during the summer. Did you do winter conditionings?” He frowned. “...the conditionings were terrible. How would you… still be sane? If it never stopped?”

Marluxia gave Ira a flat look, before gesturing to himself several times. “All year. Every day. Lauriam literally created another person in his head to deal with it, and he’s still a nutcase.”

“Every day, every year…” Ira whispered, “...you must have gone through… hundreds. If you all really have been in as long as you say? Some of you thousands. I…”

Ira paused, staring at the water, letting it rush through his basket in silence as he tried to contemplate that. After a while, he said, “I feel like I better understand why you all developed Nobodies and an Island and all sorts of complex, difficult, dangerous techniques. What other choice could you have? The months during and directly after the summer were always our most emotional, irrational. Fall was our greatest time of death. We always lost someone in the fall, acting irrational from the conditionings. Like clockwork.”

“...I think I can understand why we were so much more easily killed, than you,” Ira said softly, “If I was in charge of putting through thousands of Indentureds, I’d be wary of getting rid of any Empath, anytime, as well. We only conditioned in the summer. The rest of the year was always other things. Confusing things. Rarely consistent, but very time consuming, tiring. We had so much room and time and opportunity to make mistakes… and never any second chances. Things were at their most peaceful, when we were all engrossed and exhausted within our tasks. The supervisors left us alone, during the times we were busy.”

“...I’m not sure, between us, who I think had it worse,” Ira admitted, “Was it better to die soon, under strict working conditions? Or to deal with the screams, endlessly, for years… I genuinely can’t say.”

Marluxia was sure he could finagle some math and give Ira some sort of number…but that number would always be hypothetical, because they’d all lost count of how many people they had conditioned. The number was just unfeasible to keep in your head. 

He frowned as Ira put together just how and why the cultures of their factories were so wildly different. A constant stream of torture while locked in a room to rot, finding solace in a safe space you sacrificed everything to make…or hectic expectations in enslavement, given slack on a leash but never able to feel it because of the crossbolt pressed to the back of your head. Just…

“Motherfucker!” Marluxia cursed, popping up from the ground as he clenched his fists in frustration, needing physical movement to express his rage. As he started pacing, he growled, “Fuck, if fucking Tengan wasn’t dead already I’d cleave off his head and play golf! What bullshit!! One fucking LOSER got to decide just how to perfectly ruin our FUCKING lives and--!!”

Lauriam gasped softly as he put a hand to his head, buckling to a knee. Though he just grimaced. “Comparing misery just makes everyone lose. Both factories were nightmares. …I’m grateful you made it out, Ira. And I’m sorry to everyone who didn’t.”

Again, a flinch violently jolted through Ira’s body when Marluxia arrived–it seemed to be a consistent reaction to the ‘Nobody’--but this time, he found himself having to look away. Face still neutral, his body still, quiet, as he waited for the anger to pass. 

But when it did, he easily recovered, looking back to Lauriam with a calm understanding in his gaze. Smiling lightly as he said, “Thank you… I’m glad you all made it out as well. And I hope everyone who didn’t is… at least resting.”

Looking up, Lauriam smiled softly at Ira. 

…really, that was all they could hope. And to live the rest of their lives not in vain of those who’d passed. 

-

There were a lot of bullshit things about Anthony’s life now--not that he dwelled!--but one was that it wasn’t just nerves or anger that made him big and spiky. It was happiness and excitement too. So as excited as he was to…well, spend some time with more people, and go see a human town for the first time, like, ever, and just hang out somewhere casually and do things? 

Anthony had to tamp that bubbling excitement right on down. He was mildly pleased, chilled out, tooooooootally cool~ 

Another bullshit thing was the cloak. It wasn’t the most inconspicuous thing, but--

“Well, I do have some regular clothes,” he told Sora, after being asked about it, “But I’m mostly about cloak-time these days. Kinda sucks to rip some rad threads to pieces.”

“......” Sora stared at the cloak, before giggling a little, “So, are you naked under there?”

“You can’t just ask a guy if he’s naked under his cloak, Sora,” Riku snickered, his hands clasped behind his head as he looked around the town, the three idly heading down a random street, “Man, I wonder what people do around here?”

“Same sort of thing we used to do before the factory? Hang out? Play in the sand?” Sora shrugged, “Though, yeah, it’s pretty small in comparison to the city, huh? Though it’s not like we did much other than just hang out there too.”

“Hey, to be fair to us, we only had a little bit of time to explore the city!” Riku insisted, “It’s our Nobodies who totally wasted all that time when they could have been doing something cool, like…” Riku paused, “...going bowling!”

“Bowling?” Sora said.

“I don’t know, and other stuff! You come up with an example!”

“That’s for me to know and you hopefully to never find out,” Anthony snickered, looking around the town brightly as they walked. All things considered, it was a fantastic day out, so even just being out and walking around was awesome. And they didn’t get too many turned heads, so Anthony would take that as a win!

“Ooh yeah huh, you guys were in a city-city, huh?” Anthony mused. “I get you’re saying you didn’t see much, but what was that like?” He chuckled a bit. “Even seeing peeps around like this is kind of astounding to me, and cities are even more? Crazy.”

He gave Riku an eager look. “What’s bowling?”

“Oh, the city was massive! People everywhere! It could actually be kind of a lot sometimes,” Sora admitted, “But when you get used to it, it’s actually pretty fun, especially when you’re running and dodging around them.”

“Sora did deliveries to get all of us funds when we were struggling,” Riku explained. “So he ended up running around the city a lot. And really? What’s bowling? Was bowling just an ‘our town’ thing?” Riku asked, looking to Sora.

“No, there was one in the city too. I delivered shoes there,” Sora said. “I bet there’s one here too! They’re so easy to set up, I don’t see why they wouldn’t just spring up all over the place. It’s just this easy game where you throw a ball down a lane,” Sora said, gesturing his hands close together and moving them up and down, trying to convey what he meant, “And there’s pins at the end of the lane, these sort of weighted cone-like things, and you get points for however many you manage to knock down in a throw. Easy, but really fun.”

“Maybe we could ask someone around here if they have something like that?” Riku said, “Or we could do something else.”

Hao nodded, standing next to Riku as he said, “Like try an archery field.”

Anthony’s eyes shined in awe as Sora described the city. Enough people to dodge and weave around? Even walking through this town it seemed like there were people everywhere! He’d already seen some people shuffle back and forth, trying to let the other pass but accidentally moving in the same direction, until they laughed it off and finally found a way to pass… Something like that would’ve never happened in Danganronpa, much less where Anthony lived!! It was cool!

“Hey, hey, don’t start getting ideas about what is or isn’t common--I’m a tourist, pretty much everything’s gonna be new to me here,” Anthony hedged, before listening with interest to the description of bowling. Ooh, a game? Anthony was…probably a lot better at strength games than he used to be!

“Hao, don’t be mean,” Xehanort smirked, standing next to Anthony, “You know drawing back a bow is more difficult than it looks, we wouldn’t want to embarrass the guests.”

Anthony stiffened for a moment in surprise, before letting out a slow, measured breath, laughing weakly. “I’m starting to get the idea that this is your thing, for you two, but, uh, sneaking up on me isn’t a great idea.”

“Where did you two come from?” Sora gasped, looking back and forth between Hao and Xehanort, who both did indeed look far too smug at the reactions, “I didn’t see you approach at all! I’ve been staring at them this whole time!”

“You guys are pulling some Empath trick, aren’t you,” Riku said, crossing his arms and squinting at them, “How does it work?”

“It sort of depends on how thorough I’m trying to be,” Hao said honestly, spinning some of his dark hair in his finger, “For what I did just now? It’s basically just making us unnoticeable. Easy to do, hard to explain.”

Sora glanced at Anthony, wondering if maybe it’d be a better idea to ask the two to go. They seemed to like to surprise people, which was bad news for Anthony specifically… but maybe they’d be less inclined to do it if they were just hanging out? “Would you two want to come with us? We’re gonna try to find a bowling alley.” 

“Attention span is still part of the brain,” Xehanort said dryly, before raising an eyebrow. “...you were actually serious about that?”

Anthony snorted softly in amusement. “Why wouldn’t he be? We’re in a real town, no offense, they’re real life savers, but why sit down and do something you could do anywhere like read or roll dice when there are actual, like, businesses? With stuff to do!”

Xehanort still looked a little baffled, before he caught Hao’s gaze, silently asking him what he thought about it.

Hao smiled lightly back, shrugging, before saying, “If you three are going bowling, I don’t see why we shouldn’t join you. I’ll admit, I didn’t exactly think I’d spend today bowling,” Hao laughed lightly, “But it’d be nice to spend time with our… what did Xigbar call it? Factory cousins?”

“Awesome!” Sora grinned, “It’s a plan then!”

“Assuming this town has bowling. Who do we even ask about that?” Riku wondered, looking around.

It took asking all of one person, actually. It was a relatively small town, but lo and behold, yeah, there was a bowling alley. Though, they had been lucky to ask where it was, because they would have never found it in a thousand years just wandering around, as they headed down the cellar that they had been assured had a bowling alley inside, Riku being the one to worriedly bring up, “Hey, you don’t think maybe we were being tricked, do you…”

Right up until they opened the door, and a wave of sounds hit them. Clattering of pins, hums of machines. An underground bowling alley, somehow colorfully lit while at the same time being weirdly dark inside, way more alleys available than at a glance would seem to be necessary for the amount of people they saw in there actually enjoying it.

But Sora had been right. Bowling alleys were easy to set up and lasted forever, so someone had dug out and extended an already existing cellar, put a bunch of lanes in it, some automated machines, and what looked like a bar for food and drink, and called it a day. 

It was all pretty straightforward, until they got to the shoes they needed to rent, and it was…

“Okay, why are they so big though?” Riku asked, giving the shoes a bewildered look. He had thought they’d look smaller or more reasonable once he had put them on, but no. “It’s like they inflated the front half round for no damn reason.”

“No, see, I think I understand,” Hao said, who had also been looking curiously at the far too large sneakers, “It’s padding for if you drop the bowling ball on your toes. That has to be it, yes?”

Sora’s eyes were wide… before looking up, dazzled. “I love them. Do you think I can buy myself some?!”

Sure. Spending time with their ‘cousins’ would be just fine. And maybe they’d let some things slip--it tended to happen the more relaxed people were, after all. Xehanort hadn’t lost his curiosity over just what a ‘chibi’ functionally was, or any other Empathetic concepts the others had discovered. 

Anthony stiffened again as they found the bowling alley, the barrage of light and sound a…a lot. All at once. Green started to spread over his skin, and his eyes started tinging more red than brown, the sensory overload becoming even more as his senses heightened…

But Anthony had been doing a lot of work over the past two months, and just following the teens, he took deep, calming breaths, letting the oddly dark building and his cloak hide what was necessary until he could slow his heart down again. 

Well! He had asked for something new!

“Padding would absolutely just squish with the weight of a bowling ball,” Xehanort said skeptically, squinting at the, honestly, just ridiculous shoes. “There’s no way it’s for protection.” …especially if the other two teens were familiar with bowling alleys and this style of shoe was new to them. 

Grinning a bit at Sora’s enthusiasm, Anthony laughed, giving him a wink. “Hey, if they have this style here then there’s probably a better chance than anywhere else. Fuck yeah, dude, own your style~ Weren’t you guys all going clothes shopping anyway?”

“Don’t encourage him, he actually means it,” Riku said dryly, watching Sora excitedly hop in his weird-ass goofy new shoes, “Sora, that looks dumb.”

“Your face looks dumb,” Sora said back easily, still happily hopping, “Aw, it’s a shame Kairi couldn’t come. I bet she’d love these shoes!”

“Kairi’s smart, she’d say they were dumb too,” Riku said, looking over the bowling balls that were available, “I wonder if there’s some trick to the weights. I feel like the heavier the better, right? Like the lighter balls are just for people who can’t go heavy?”

“I dunno, maybe? It might be strategic, or just yeah, how much you can carry,” Sora said.

“I’m gonna go for the heaviest one, Sora, you take that little one over there.”

“I’M going for the heaviest one, YOU can hit the pins down with your face, Riku!” 

“This one seems good,” Hao said, hefting up one of the lighter ones.

“Oh, I’m hoping so,” Anthony chuckled, before dramatically sighing, lightly--honestly barely even touching him--putting an arm on Sora’s shoulder. “One of us needs to live our fashion dreams. Live large, Sora, don’t let anything stop you.”

Rolling his eyes at the inane bickering, Xehanort smiled approvingly at Hao’s choice. “It’s likely a matter of momentum and maneuverability, suited to everyone’s particular strength, dominant hand, spin tendency… Good choice.”

Anthony regarded the balls, tilting his head a little. Sure, Xehanort was talking strategy, but…which…one would he likely not break anything with…hm. A little tentatively, he picked out a heavier ball, figuring it’d be easier to not accidentally launch it.

Hao smiled adoringly at Xehanort, not immune to the praise. After that, it was a matter of putting their names on the paper beside the lane, for the most part picking an order at random. 

Bowling proved to be a fairly calm game to play, actually. Largely because while someone was always rolling, that meant four others were sitting around and talking, waiting for their turn at any given moment. 

As Sora went next, Riku turned to the Ribata boys and said plainly, “So, you kind of have your family wrapped around your fingers, huh?”

Hao smiled softly. “It’s actually a bit odd to hear you call them our ‘family’. We call ourselves that a bit now, yes, but that’s a recent idea for us. It’s still odd for me to hear anyone say it aloud.”

“They’re allies,” Xehanort shrugged, “Capable. Enough. Xigbar and Linnea calling us ‘the kids’ has started to seem less like a joke more recently though, yeah.” He tilted his head questioningly at Riku. “Though, you all seem dead serious about calling each other family.”

He smirked a little. “And why wouldn’t we? We are the strongest.”

“Ooooh boy,” Anthony muttered to that.

“Of course we’re family, we were raised in the factory! Literally!” Sora said, sounding far too cheerful for what was an objectively depressing fact, as he said, “Riku, you’re up!” 

“Strongest, huh?” Riku scoffed, getting up and going to do his role. 

“What does being strong have to do with anything?” Sora asked, giving the other two a genuinely confused look, “Isn’t being the strongest Empaths more of a bummer than a good thing? Kairi’s our strongest Empath, and I know she gets really worn down maintaining the island we all share… and she still helps clean.”

“Then isn’t that unfair to her?” Hao said, giving Sora a lightly raised eyebrow, “If she’s strong enough that she has extra responsibilities, then she should get to stop doing some of the lesser things. Asking her to do both is mean.”

Sora hesitated. Some of that made sense, but… “No, wait, but that’s not… we’re all working hard. Everyone’s contributing to everything, even the island and… wait, don’t distract me! You two aren’t helping with your Empath stuff, you don’t even have an island, Kairi’s situation has nothing to do with it!”

Hao laughed lightly, placing the tips of his fingers against his lower lip. “Oops, you caught me.”

Xehanort gave Sora a skeptical look back, though he snorted and nudged Hao’s shoulder at his diversion. Funny. 

Closing his eyes lightly, Xehanort said calmly, “There’s no such thing as unskilled labor, but there are tasks more suited to some skillsets than others. Being stronger means we can take on larger responsibilities, though that’s not necessarily a ‘bummer’. Hao and I just focus on other things while the others are doing chores.”

“Things like hanging out in town while all the others are running that house?” Anthony asked, leaning back on his hip lightly. 

“You don’t know what we’re doing,” Xehanort said passively. 

“We know exactly what you’re doing, you’re hanging out with us,” Riku said, taking a seat before nodding at Hao, “You’re up.”

“Ah, wish me luck.” Hao smiled softly, heading up and going to do his roll.

“So how long were you guys in your factory?” Sora asked, hoping to mend things a little by asking a more neutral question. Like, sure, the other guys were being mean to their family, but like… Sora wasn’t going to fix that in a conversation. And he was curious to get to know them better, as he confided, “Riku, Kairi, and I were in for a little over five years.”

“I was moved to the factory when I was 7,” Hao explained, “But I grew up in a different factory.”

“You were born in a factory?” Sora asked, surprised. Outside of what they had intended for Ventus, they hadn’t heard of anyone else who had literally spent their infancy in the Togami factories. 

But Hao shrugged a little. “I don’t know if I was born in one. But I remember growing up in a facility that worked like the factories do. I’m not exactly sure where, or what they did there,” Hao lied. 

It was a lie somewhat of necessity. When he had been small and first brought to the factory, it hadn’t occurred to him that he needed to hide where he came from exactly. And it had been Xigbar himself who had heard Hao’s explanation of what he remembered–a building where people were kept and sometimes you were in rooms by yourself and sometimes you were with everyone else, but you never did anything without someone watching or saying you could or couldn’t–and decided it had to have been just a different factory with some weird culture stuff going on. Xigbar had once even heard that a factory had blown up and, not knowing much else about it, had theorized that must have been the factory Hao was from.

But Hao had learned and understood as he got older that he hadn’t come from a factory.

He had come from a nursery. 

A seedling nursery. 

And that it was wiser to not let people be able to make that connection, as he said, “But at some point I was just transferred to Ribata and was there ever since.”

“Today,” Xehanort said simply, before giving Hao a light smile as he got up for his turn. You didn’t need luck when you had skill. He had faith. 

(Never mind that the two of them had never been bowling before.)

Nodding a bit as Hao answered, Xehanort shrugged a bit as the question was turned to him. “Six years, I was sent to the factory when I was 10 after my father died. So you could say along with Hao, I’m one of the ‘veterans’ of sorts in our factory, since unlike yours they did regularly execute people,” he said bluntly. Hard to pick up, but a certain anger and resentment buried deep beneath the calm. “I believe I was being slated for the Ind--”

“Wait, wait, wait, hold up!” Anthony cut in, much to Xehanort’s annoyance, Anthony balking in concern, “They executed you guys regularly?!”

“That is what I said,” Xehanort grumbled. 

“W-what!?” Sora asked, startled. “...like, killed?”

“That is what executed means,” Hao smiled lightly, his gaze soft but undisturbed, “You don’t have to be upset for us. It’s something you get used to. And, I like to think everyone executed didn’t actually die. Though, I know that’s a bit of a controversial opinion.” Hao laughed lightly, looking sheepish. “Xeha’s had to save me countless times from other angry Empaths because I didn’t like to say the others had ‘died’. Just… changed, and gone somewhere else.”

Smiling, he gave Xehanort a knowing side-eye, as he said, “Even if Xeha himself has wanted to punch me a few times for the same thing. He’s a good friend.”

“So, you’re religious?” Riku asked, finding that easier to hold onto than grappling with the idea of regular executions. That was terrifying… “What, being trapped, beaten, and executed really made you think ‘Atua loves everyone’ huh?”

“No,” Hao said simply, “But I think there’s a difference, between believing there is life after death, and believing in an all loving, all powerful god. Perhaps I’m cherry-picking what it means to be religious. But I don’t equal it with worship. Just faith that there is something out there that I cannot confirm.”

Rolling his eyes a little, Xehanort gave a sigh, though not fully irritated, as he got up to take his turn on the alley. “Yes, there’s room for interpretation of the meaning of death and what it means to really define a body and consciousness and what’s there for anyone after the two are separated…but that’s colloquially known as ‘dying’.”

“I guess so,” Anthony mumbled a bit, his nose scrunching, “Since you can defo die without your body dying.”

Returning after his strike, Xehanort gave Hao a nod. “I doubt anyone can claim to know what religion is about only ever being exposed to one. Your faith is as true as anyone’s.” Looking over to Anthony, though, Xehanort raised an eyebrow. “You mean going braindead?”

“Oh, sure I guess,” Anthony hummed, “But, like, no longer being ‘you’ is a kind of death too.”

“This is a fun conversation,” Sora said weakly, glancing at Riku, who shrugged glumly at him, “Very fun!”

“It doesn’t have to be an uncomfortable subject. We all deal with death, and I think it’s comforting to be able to openly discuss it,” Hao said, “But, if you’re truly distressed…?”

“Nooooo, it’s fiiiine,” Sora said nervously, “But uh… well! If being ‘different’ is a type of death, how different do you have to be before it counts?”

“I feel like a full mindwipe, like Kairi and Namine could potentially do, would count,” Riku said. “Even if your body is unharmed, everything that made you, ‘you’, is still gone.”

“I guess so?” Sora frowned, “I mean, that is sort of what happened when the Nobodies took over. Their memories replaced ours?”

“Terrifying,” Hao said cheerfully. “But also interesting. What about you, Anthony? You brought it up, how would you define it?”

Xehanort gave Sora a cool, slightly disparaging look. Death was a part of life, all the same. 

“Uhhhh,” Anthony hedged, reminding himself--not for the first time--that he was hanging with a bunch of teenagers, even if they were superpowered teenagers that had dealt with a lot of the worst parts of the world, “I mean…”

Okay, gently, geeeeently…

Anthony winced a little as the ball more shot through the air than rolled, knocking into the pins with a hefty clatter. At least it didn’t look like anything broke?

“Like total, mindless loss of ego, I guess?”

Xehanort watched the display, wide-eyed.

“Nice! A strike!” Sora said cheerfully, seemingly entirely failing to recognize how crazy that was, “Don’t forget to write it into the score sheet, Anthony!”

“I could do that,” Riku said immediately, sniffing like he was unimpressed. 

As Sora went up to do his next round, Hao considered Anthony’s example. “Could I ask what the difference between loss of ego and loss of memories is? As you’d define it, I mean?”

“Well, I’m sure you could make examples with overlap,” Anthony said as he rejoined the group, writing down his score with a triumphant X. “But what I was thinking was, like, you could have someone with complete amnesia, right? Maybe the person they were before is dead, but they’re still a new person able to make new memories and a life and all that, so maybe that’s just a way of thinking about life after death. But total obliteration of ego?”

Anthony grinned a little uneasily. “There’s nothing…left, after that. That person is gone, and any chance to be a person again, different or not, is gone. There’s just physical mass left.”

Xehanort rested his chin in a hand, giving Anthony a considering look. “Is that what you observed in others, in the prison you were in?”

“Hooooo, yeah,” Anthony said quietly, the mood far more reserved than the actual words he said. With a smile more bittersweet, he admitted, “‘S what would’ve happened to me too, without Clara.”

“If your factory was being run by Empaths, then I don’t doubt your observation,” Hao admitted softly, “I’ve been told before that Empaths, by all rights, should consider themselves the most powerful force in the universe. Because a truly powerful Empath? Could even change the mind of a god. That the only thing holding us back is either mercy, or love.”

Hao smiled sadly at that. “I don’t think I truly believe that. But the person who told me that did. And listening to him say it, it was easy to get caught up in it. I think if it was really true though, so many of us wouldn’t have been prisoners for so long.”

“It’s sort of fun to imagine we’re capable of things like that, though,” Riku admitted, “If Empath abilities really could give me the power to change the world, I wouldn’t exactly be complaining. But, nah, I think whoever told you that was doing some wish fulfillment. None of us can do all that much at the end of the day, beyond, like, little changes, one person at a time. And even that was because people made us. Not exactly ‘all powerful’.”

Xehanort closed his eyes as Hao spoke, the words familiar to him…

But Anthony just blinked. “What about a wizard without morals, though? Or like a super pissed off badger?”

The others all looked at Anthony. 

“...” Sora looked around, like maybe he’d literally see a badger and that’s why Anthony brought it up, before asking, “Wh… what about that, Anthony?” in a very slow, sort of ‘talking to someone who might not understand you’ sort of way.

Anthony shrugged, holding his hands up. “Look, look, I get what crazy Empath powers can do, but a pissed off mustelid is beyond the scope of nature, dude. Or like someone who wakes up at 6 and exercises because they want to? I haven’t met a single Empath with that kind of inner strength and discipline. You can talk all day about crazy displays of power, but when it comes to actually living and not just being an egomaniac? No offense, but again, don’t know a ton of Empaths who’d call themselves ‘powerful’ in that capacity, but could invite their neighbors for dinner, play with a toddler, or know what to do seeing a weird puddle under a sink.” 

“I could get up and exercise at 6 if I wanted to!” Riku gasped.

“Riku, he literally said ‘just because they want to’. That’s the point,” Sora said.

Hao, though, just considered Anthony a bit, before smiling lightly. “I think you’re right. But I also think we were discussing two different ideas of power. The sort of power I was referring to was both the power of the limits of destruction and, in turn, creation. How much as an individual can you destroy by your own will? And what are the depths of what you are capable of creating, again, through your own will and singular power. Destruction, creation, and limits of personal potential to enforce either, with neither permission nor aid.”

“But I think you’re right. That’s an insufficient definition for an idea that’s much greater and more complex than that. Power is much more than either destruction or creation,” Hao agreed. “And those that would only fixate on one or the other call it power all defining? Will likely find themselves in ruin.”

Anthony grimaced, looking unenthused. “Yeaaaaaah, that kind of power’s overrated, imo. Pumped up to infinity, hey, you destroyed and re-created the universe. Okay, now what? You really just wanna play dreamhouse forever? Like, get a life, man. What’s the point of making a world if there’s no people in it?”

Xehanort gave Anthony a slightly tensed look, looking at the man as if he looked hard enough, he’d see something more than what his eyes were telling him. “...so you would advocate passivity, when it comes to personal power?”

Anthony snorted, looking amused, before he leaned back to cross his arms. “Personal power isn’t much, I’m talking about community power. The power of love, squirt, you’ll understand when you’re older~”

Xehanort’s expression dried.

Hao laughed lightly, reaching over to gently pat Xehanort’s shoulder. 

“I think power should be defined by how well you can spar,” Riku said, “Like, forget the destruction, creation, community, love thing, we already have words for all of that. Power should just mean power. Which means good at sparring.”

“Is that what power means?” Sora frowned, “Definition wise?”

“Uh yeah no doi.”

Sora expressed Doubt, before sending out {Ienzo, what’s the definition of power? Like, the dictionary one?}

“I think good at sparring means good at sparring,” Anthony hummed. 

{As a noun or a verb, or both?}

{Uuuuuh noun!}

{Power, from the middle Gauçaisi[Expand] ‘poeir’, a derivative of the Natel[Expand] ‘posse’, ‘be able’, power has several definitions:

1. the ability to do something or act in a particular way, especially as a faculty or quality

2. the capacity or ability to direct or influence the behavior of others or the course of events

3. a right or authority that is given or delegated to a person or body

4. physical strength and force exerted by something or someone

5. energy that is produced by mechanical, electrical, or other means and used to operate a device

6. the time-rate of doing work, as applied to the field of physics

7. the number of times a certain number is to be multiplied by itself, as applied to the field of mathematics}

{ovo I hope you’re doing well, Sora; will we be reconvening tonight?}

{Oh absolutely! Actually, we met some people, it’s a whole thing, but we’ll tell you all about it tonight! Thanks Ienzo!}

“I asked Ienzo, and power has a bunch of definitions, and noooooone of them are about sparring,” Sora snickered, poking Riku’s cheek. “You lose.”

“What? Man, whatever,” Riku huffed, getting up to go roll his round.

“Who’s Ienzo?” Hao asked. 

“One of our big brothers, off with the other half of our group,” Sora explained, “He knows stuff. It’s like talking to an encyclopedia.”

{o๐o I’ll look forward to it, then. ovo You’re welcome as always.}

“Oh, which one was him?” Anthony asked, “The guy Axel was whispering with?”

Xehanort raised an eyebrow. “Like…you just get a bunch of definitions and citations from him?” 

“He’s the one whose hair goes,” and then Sora brushed his fingers over half the side of his face. “And yep! Pretty much! His world is a library.” 

“Do you call everyone’s mental landscapes ‘world’?” Hao asked, “Or just between each other?”

“Well, I’ve never been to anyone’s mind that wasn’t one of my family, but I think I’d probably still call it a world if I saw it,” Sora said. “I’d find it a little confusing to call it anything else. Calling it someone’s mind is accurate, but also not really what it feels like when you’re in it,” he said, mostly for Anthony’s sake.

“Huh! You never can tell,” Anthony hummed to himself.

“If perception is reality, then seeing the full scope of someone’s perception is a world in itself,” Xehanort mused, “So I see why it fits. You’ve spoken of the island, and now a library… Those don’t exactly seem like entire planets, so ‘world’ seems to be more about the theming of how your mind manifests, but consistent.”

He tilted his head a little at Sora. “Don’t you find it restrictive, to have your mindscape be a singular location?”

“Yeaaaaah, we were asked that once before, actually,” Sora frowned, “We don’t know what’s up with that. Collectively, I mean, I think even our smart guys aren’t sure what happened? I’ve heard Even talking theories about it, but for some reason access to our mental landscape is really… small? In comparison to everyone else?”

“It’s gotta be the whole ‘chopping our brains into tinier bits’ thing,” Riku pointed out, “What else could it be?”

“I thought maybe spending all that time trapped in a prison might have been part of it, but if your guys world’s are larger and more complex, that kind ruins that idea,” Sora said, before giving Anthony a sheepish smile, “Sorry, we’re just talking about Empath stuff. That’s probably boring for you. Are you sure you wouldn’t want a trip into your own mind? To look around!”

“Oh, don’t even worry about it, I get it,” Anthony waved off, before grinning uneasily, “And I’m preeeeeetty sure. Any time someone got elbow-deep in my ol noggin it wasn’t a great experience, and I’m sure you guys would be nice! But I don’t wanna risk anything.”

He gave the boys a wink. “I’m along this trip for your protection, don’t wanna go reversies on that.”

“Are you?” Riku asked, genuinely surprised at that, “Oh, I thought maybe you were moving to Dicea too. That Clara was just doubling up on people she’s rescuing. So you’re… a bodyguard? Or something?” 

“Well!” Anthony said, voice high for that word, “It’s some of both. Apparently the magic scene is pretty bumping in Dicea, so we’re hoping I can get some help. But! If you’re looking for brute strength protection for people on the road? I’m a damn good choice right now.”

Xehanort gave Anthony another considering look. “I suppose they already know, but it feels like you’ve talked around your whole deal quite a bit. What is it exactly that you’re getting help with?”

“Uhhhh…you two have time to read any of those, like kaiju comic books or anything?”

Four blank stares back at him told him what he needed to know. 

“We didn’t get a lot of comic books in Ienzo’s library,” Sora said at the exact same time as Hao asked, “What’s a comic book?”

Anthony gave Hao a horrified look before he shook his head, putting a hand--ever so, so gently--on his shoulder. “...okay, we are absolutely finding your library here after this, and I’m ready to call Luminary a lost cause if they don’t have comic books in them. But! Okay…”

Crossing his arms, Anthony tilted his head as he thought about how to explain the full scope of his big green mean machine. “...man, this is hard. Uh, you guys ever hear the Big Bird myth? Or, uh, the Black Forest myth?”

He let out a sigh. “...any giant monster stories?”

“The fall of the red dragon,” Hao said, “The myth of living beings’ greatest accomplishment.”

Riku glanced at Hao. “Footnotes for the rest of us?”

Hao closed his eyes. “The myth goes, that even if the gods were real, or immortals truly lived among us, dragons were titans of the planets that stole all of creation for itself, to use and hoard as its own nests. Fully grown ancient dragons were rare, but when they aged into maturity, were the size of mountains, and just by the nature of existing in a place, changed the environment and world around them to suit their own bodies, and used every living creature within their realms to consume or build their nests. People worshiped them as manifested avatars of the very land itself. Until one valiant and courageous species decided to organize the world against them, and take the land back.”

“....arrrrreeee youuuuuu that?” Riku asked Anthony, smirking a little. “Or are we way off track?”

…

…Anthony smiled at Hao. 

“Off track. Dragon’s aiming too big,” Anthony said quickly, before his smile brightened, “Hey, Hao, right? Can I talk to you for a sec?”

Hao blinked, startled, before saying, “Oh, let me do my round real quick so I don’t hold everyone up. Then of course.”

Hao quickly did his set–five were knocked down, so far he wasn’t very good at this–before coming back, gesturing to the food counter as he said, “Want to grab some water with me?”

{Let me know if you need back-up} Xehanort sent, looking at Anthony searchingly again. He didn’t have any real worries about Hao defending himself, but Anthony had said explicitly not to mess with his mind for their own sakes. So…perhaps an extra bit of caution was warranted. 

“Sure!” Anthony chirped, having grown increasingly antsier as Hao took his round, before quickly walking away from the other boys. 

Sweating a little, he knew that with Empaths distance wasn’t really a factor, but he still waited until they were out of earshot before speaking quietly to Hao. “Please don’t play dumb or talk around stuff because I am the zennest, chillest dude ever, and I’m trying to stay that way, aight?”

Even still, Anthony started to look a little…scaly. Around his eyes. Lowering his voice, he said, “You’re a Floran Empath.”

Hao blinked back.

“...you look frightening,” Hao said softly, “Am I in danger?”

“Aw shit,” Anthony muttered, taking a deep breath as he turned away, covering his eyes with a hand. Taking deep, calming breaths. “...no, you’re not. You said you’ve lived with your folks since you were a tot, so if you were the kind of F.E. I would be a danger to, I don’t think we would’ve been able to meet right now.”

“You’re just a kid,” Anthony quietly muttered, like he was talking himself down, “You’re just livin’ life with people you trust.” He peeked through his fingers at Hao. “...I know what we were talkin’ about before, that you walked in on, about just running if you see a Flora…and while for those guys, it’s a decent rule of thumb, I know not all Flora are, yanno. Like that.”

There were more breaths, before Anthony turned to Hao again. Now giving the boy (the boy) a concerned look. “...you weren’t connected, were you? Like…are you okay?”

Hao didn’t like to consider it manipulation. Just… making educated guesses about people. But he was mildly relieved to see he had picked the right thread, for someone like Anthony. He did not want to appear frightening. Monstrous. Merely acknowledging it was enough to deescalate him. 

(Tengan would have been very pleased with this moment.)

(...but what did that matter.)

Hao smiled softly at that, and instead of answering, tucked his finger into his collar, and brought down his shirt until it stretched past the top of his chest. Engraved into his skin the top part of a complicated tattoo, as he said, “I received this when I was old enough to remember what it was like, to be part of something greater than yourself. Losing that perspective… changes your views of things. It’s all so less… important.” Hao let his shirt go, as it bounced up to its original shape. “I have no greater connections than to those that came from my factory. To Xehanort. I am an Empath. Without the connection? Could you even truly call me a Flora?”

…Hao smiled wider at that. “There are many, many Flora who argued that very mindset, who had been snapped away from the hive, I’ve heard. Imagine the existential terror of it all. Poor things.”

But then his expression calmed, as he said softly, “Have I been honest enough? Though, I’m not sure if knowing a myth should have really made you confront me, Anthony. Xehanort knows that myth as well, and he’s not one. It’s a big world. Cultures mix.”

Anthony just blinked at the tattoo, before its importance dawned on him…and he winced a little. Some might argue he had more personal reasons than most to have no lost love for Flora, and for the mooooost part, they were right. But even still, the idea that to have your mind to yourself, you had to self-mutilate? There was an argument that for a Flora, separating from the hivemind through any method was mutilation, but well, Anthony was a human, and the body was something he still considered part of the self, not just a vessel. 

He sighed a little, before giving the kid a weak laugh. “I’m kinda glad I don’t have to be the one to give you that news then, and more glad you didn’t go through it. Sorry for pouncin’ on ya, but…” Anthony smiled uneasily. Flora Empaths were personal.

Easing more, Anthony snorted, giving Hao an amused look. “Oh, other people know that story alright, but you ask to hear it from a Ronpan human, a Luminary, a Dicean? They do not end it saying that a ‘valiant and courageous species’ rose up. Bit of a dogwhistle, that.”

Hao blinked, placing his hands subconsciously behind his back, clasping his hands together. A stance he unknowingly associated with knowledge as he considered that. “Noted. It’s the only way I’ve ever heard the story told. I’ll likely just not mention it in the future. I have no particular love for my species anyway…I bet the dragon myth is exaggerated anyway.”

Shrugging at that, he glanced over at the man at the food counter, who was on the other end of the counter but was blatantly staring at them. “...he said if I showed him my chest, he’d buy me dessert,” Hao said cheerfully.

The guy at the counter gave Anthony a bug-eyed look.

Anthony gave him an easy-going grin. “That was paaaartly why I wanted to talk, too. Dunno how outed you are, but considering grudges against Flora are just gonna get bolder going forward, wanted to give you a heads up.”

Following Hao’s glance, Anthony stared at the guy back…

Before a sound like a squeaky hammer punched out of him, Anthony balking at Hao. “THAT’S NOT WHAT HAPPENED, HA, WHAT A DORK, LOVES TO TRrrrrrgg T-TEASE GGgggr--”

Brown eyes starting to shift red, Anthony held up a finger before just booking it to the, the, the, oh fuck bathroom. 

Back over at the lane, Xehanort abruptly stood as they heard Anthony shouting, his mind immediately latching onto Hao’s. 

Hao showed Xehanort both the conversation and the prank, as he watched Anthony scurry into the bathroom. He also idly suggested that perhaps Xehanort could send some calm to him? Hao wasn’t good at that sort of Empath trick. 

Pfff, asshole.

Xehanort smirked a little, before sending calm…

Anthony felt pure adrenaline run through his veins as he heaved growling breaths through a fanged maw, his mandibles stretching out. Everything looked sharp and precise through slitted, glowing red eyes, which let him see exactly how much space he was running out of as his form bulked out in the small room. 

Okay, okay, okay, calm down, CALM DOWN ANTHONY YOU ARE A COOL AND CALM GUY!

…Xehanort’s smirk faded into a bit of confusion, and he tried again, putting more oomph into--

“GGGGGGRAAAAAKAWWWWW!!” an inhuman screech echoed through the bowling alley. 

Xehanort, Hao shared a little more urgently with him, as he heard the screech, Calm? Please? What’s the hold up?

“Is your ‘friend’ coming back to pay for this smoothie?” the food counter seller asked, giving a suspicious look to the bathroom.

“Any minute now, I’m sure. He’s just–” the screeching got louder, “--probably ate something that didn’t sit well?”

“Uuuuh what’s going on?” Sora asked, he and Riku looking over to the bathroom from where they were sitting, waiting for the others to come back to do their turns. “Do you hear that?” 

“The sound of some animal shouting in the bathroom? Yeah–wait,” Riku said, looking around, “Where’s Anthony?”

Sora and Riku looked at each other, before scurrying up, bolting to the bathroom.

{I did, but it doesn’t feel like it’s working? Maybe it’s…the opposite?}

As Sora and Riku got to the bathroom, they would be able to hear a predatory, thundering growl, before another screech and the sound of stone breaking. 

Sora and Riku hesitated at the door. 

“...what are the odds I could suddenly manifest my keyblade into the real world?” Sora whispered.

“Really bad,” Riku whispered, “But we still need to go in there and make sure he doesn’t leave the bathroom.”

“Damn,” Sora whispered, “That sucks.”

“Mhm.” Riku said, putting up his hand, “We can do this.”

“Yeah,” Sora said, clasping Riku’s hand, “Okay.”

“Okay.” Riku said.

“I love you more than anything in the world,” Sora said.

“Okay.” Riku said. 

The two headed inside. 

What was inside the bathroom could be called no less than a monster. Twelve feet tall and almost as wide not quite from wingspan, but just because the three arms, one thick like tree trunks and covered in interlocking spikes, the other two with long, lethally sharp claws, took up so much space just as its sides. Spikes and chitinous scales seemed to cover the creature’s whole body, from the tip of its tail to the crown of its mandibled head, the scales even thicker up there, like an organic helmet. With fangs that looked perfect for ripping, animalistic glowing red eyes locked onto the boys as they entered, a clicking growl filling the room just as much as the monster. 

…but even so?

The creature just trembled, heaving breaths, but not attacking. 

-

The food counter clerk’s eyes glazing, Xehanort walked up to Hao, frowning. “It’s not working. I can feel his mind, but nothing I try does anything.”

…he’d never encountered a mind like that. This wasn’t a feeling of an Empath shrugging off a suggestion with a defense, or just pure power. This was Xehanort doing everything right, but nothing happening. 

This was starting to feel like a problem. 

Hao frowned, looking around the entire bowling alley. It wasn’t that busy…

Sitting up on the counter, Hao crossed his legs, lowering his head and resting his hands on his knees. “I’ll freeze everyone. See if maybe you can calm him down?” Hao asked, as he concentrated, concentrated…

“I’ll hold it for as long as I can,” Hao said, eyes tightly closed. “Just don’t let him leave the building. Or… eat anyone, I guess. He sounds like something that eats people. I can’t actually freeze their body into not being eaten.”

“On it. I’m counting on you,” Xehanort said confidently, before heading over to the bathroom.

-

Inside the bathroom, Sora and Riku stared at… “A-anthony?” Sora asked, sounding nervous. 

Riku grit his teeth, stepping forward a bit and clenching his hands into fists, as he said, “Don’t worry, Anthony. We’re not gonna let anyone see you! Even if we have to fight you back to do it!”

“Would prefer to not have to!” Sora said quickly, “...but yeah, we so will!”

The clicking sped up, the already slitted pupils shrinking as the monster lunged! …before immediately aborting the motion into a wall, the stone slab cracking. The monster didn’t even look dazed as it heaved. 

“DRRRRRGGGGG… DDDDon’tTTTRRRRGGG!!!” it growled, before its eyes locked onto something behind the boys.

Xehanort’s eyes widening, before they narrowed. “Well, if calm won’t work, then maybe just a full shutdown…”

“Oh geez!” Sora shouted, while Riku took a few quick steps back, both of them bracing to be hit, and the tension in their bodies not easing when Anthony redirected himself into the wall. 

“We’re sure that’s Anthony right?” Riku asked, his voice clearly tight with fear. 

“W-what else could it be?” Sora asked, though this time he took a few steps forward, standing in front of Riku as Sora called, “Anthony, I’m gonna try to get into your head! I have something that can maybe calm you down!”

But as Sora reached out towards Anthony’s mind, he just felt like he had run headfirst into a wall. He had never experienced a mental defense like this at all, it was a full closure, Sora not even so much as getting a projection of Anthony’s mind. Just unable to enter at all.

“Nevermind!” Sora said, glancing over his shoulder at Riku, “I can’t get in!”

But as he was looking at Riku, he saw Xehanort come in, who seemed to be having the exact same issue. “Um, I’m not sure if you should do that! I feel like he’d wake up angry!”

“Like he’s not now?!” Xehanort gestured incredulously. 

This was…unprecedented. He thought calming would work, it didn’t. How they all talked, it seemed like Sora and Riku would know what was up with this guy, but they obviously didn’t. Seeing the monster that was ostensibly Anthony crack stone like it was nothing really put aside physical pacification. So this was…

A power of destruction and creation that to overcome was…

Not. Impossible. 

A god created what was possible, wasn’t bound by it. 

Taking a step back as Anthony drove his claws into the ground like it was butter, keeping himself anchored from another lunge, Xehanort gave Sora a serious look. “You have a construct dedicated to making someone calm?”

“Yeah! It’s a keyblade, sort of meant to unlock our hearts, because our hearts were put to sleep by our darknesses, which feels sort of meaner to say now that our darknesses seem to feel kinda bad about being labeled ‘The Darkness’ in us, but yeah, it’s essentially a ‘find inner peace’ blade?? Or it’s going to be someday! For now it’s a ‘calm the hell down’ blade!” Sora rambled. “...but it’s just a construct! We can’t even get in!”

“Okay chatterbox, take all day,” Xehanort huffed, before making fists and pressing them together in front of his chest. “If you think it’ll work? I’ll get you in. Hold on.”

To be a god was to surpass mortal limits. To look at the shackles, the constraints around you, and break them. The rules of the world were ones beings had put there, not unalterable, fundamental truths. Everything was, because someone had decided to make it so. 

And those decisions sucked.

These days, Xehanort’s pursuits were on the scholarly side, taking advantage of being out in the world and actually having resources past a factory’s worth of people to find just where people had pushed those limits before. But that didn’t mean he wasn’t exploring things more practically too. 

Easily finding Sora’s signature, Xehanort {took his hand} before {PUSHING}.

-

A country over, Kokichi blinked as a shiver went down his spine, feeling a ripple.

-

O.O

OoO oh that felt fun

-

Metaphorically, Xehanort ran at the diamond wall and socked it, a delayed BOOM ringing out with enough force to rupture eardrums in a five mile radius as it cracked, and into the crack? He threw Sora with the rest of his momentum. 

-

…it took Anthony everything he had to overshoot the boys as he pounced, ripping up the floor in massive chunks as he jumped. Body moving erratically as his jaws, all four of them, gnashed. 

-

𝕂𝕀𝕃𝕃 𝕂𝕀𝕃𝕃 𝕂𝕀𝕃𝕃 𝕂𝕀𝕃𝕃 𝕂𝕀𝕃𝕃

“GAH!” Sora shouted, eyes widening as he landed in something. It felt like sludge. But sludge that filled him full of equal parts energy and fear. Like he was both a bear and a bunny. Fire and the coal. 

All while blind. There was nothing to see. Only to feel. 

Desperately, Sora reached out and grasped his hand around the hilt of his keyblade. And he couldn’t see it, but as he reached out to Anthony–pulling in a piece of him, infusing it into his construct–he could feel the end of his keyblade morph and turn into a creature, as he hefted up Fatal Crest, hefting it over his head and slamming it down into the sludge as he shouted, “Wake up!” 

Slitted pupils rapidly widened, not just things being in full, sharp clarity, but recognition of those things. And as Anthony saw the destruction in his wake, Xehanort shaking with blood pouring down his face--Anthony could smell it wasn’t from a wound, it wasn’t from him--Sora unfocused and the fear in Riku’s face, he growled to the boy, a guttural sound that was words, but in no way sounded human.

“RIKU. THEY NEED TO GET OUT OF MY HEAD, AND YOU NEED TO RUN. GET CLARA.”

“I don’t need to be told twice,” Riku said, reaching forward and grabbing both Sora and Xehanort around the middle, pulling them backwards and with a surprising amount of strength hefting them both into his arms as he bolted out the bathroom door. 

To his absolute relief though, he didn’t have to go far. Practically running face first into Axel’s chest, as Axel said, “What’s happening?”

{THIS} Riku said, projecting it to the entire group, before running around them, putting space between himself (and Sora and Xehanort) and the bathroom.

Clara winced a little at the sudden information in her head before she took a breath, drawing herself up. Addressing the group, she directed, “We need a diversion to get Anthony out of here, but no one use Empathy on him! If you're an adept fighter, physically, come with me!”

Her frown growing grimmer as she saw three of the boys, Linnea looked over--but she barely had to turn in the direction before Gula, reading her intent practically before it formed, took off. Finding Hao easily and not bothering to talk to him, seeing his concentration, steadying himself before lifting the teen over his shoulder and running back to the others. 

{Time’s up} Xehanort warned Sora, before they both snapped back to their own minds. 

“Gah!” Sora said again, his body bouncing in Riku’s arms, “D-did it work!?”

“Please don’t shout,” Hao said, his eyes still closed, but sweat forming on his skin, “I’m trying very hard not to expose us all to literally everyone in this building. Thank you.”

“Purely physical? Alright, Ira, Invi, Aced, you’re up!” Xigbar called, scrambling over the counter and looking beneath it, shouting triumphantly as he found pool cues hidden beneath before tossing it to them and Axel. “I believe in you guys! Don’t fail and get us all killed! Ava, retreat with Gula, make sure no one comes into the building!”

“Yes sir!” Ava called, hurrying to follow the others. 

Ira let out a shaky breath, clutching the pool cue. It wasn’t the first fight he had been in since leaving the factory. He still didn’t feel like a fighter though, but dutifully he still followed Clara, ready for orders.  

{Marluxia? A hand, please.}

{Like I don’t already know}

Running with Ava, Lauriam headed for the door, looking at the people passing. He wasn’t an illusions expert like Ienzo and Zexion, but he and Marluxia had worked for a long time deciding where people should put their attention. 

Staying with the teens, Linnea reached out, the sensation of a lotus slowly unfurling in cool water washing over them as mental strain eased. 

And as Clara led Ira, Invi, Aced, Axel, and Aeleus to the monster trembling on the ground? 

“Oh Anthony…” She sighed, taking out two dirks from beneath the riding covers over her pants. “I’m sorry about this.”

“S’okay” the monster gasped. 

“You all, just keep him from getting past, and sorry about this,” Clara directed, leaving only a moment for anyone to wonder about those words before she lunged in, driving her daggers into Anthony’s shoulders between his scales. 

And as Anthony screeched, involuntarily lashing out, she drove them in again. 

“Knew I should have brought my hook,” Aced grumbled, bracing himself before shouting, lunging at Anthony. 

The knock that sent him into the wall looked like the beast swiping at a fly. Ira gave Aced a brief, worried look, before focusing on the beast again. (You couldn’t let someone falling distract you, you had to focus on survival.) “Invi! His legs!” 

And trusting his sister would understand, Ira lunged forward next, using the beast’s recovery from the swipe to jam the end of his pool cue into its ankles, trying to sweep its legs out from under it. 

(...that was far too casual for euthanasia. This was something else.)

As Invi followed Ira’s lead (“On it!”), Aeleus ripped one of the nearby tabletops off its leg, and, taking form, javelined it right into Anthony’s side, using the top to block the spiked tail from connecting with Invi as he covered her, before moving back to help Aced up. 

And all the while Clara kept right up against Anthony’s front, dodging his smaller arm and lunging bites while she again and again stabbed between the plates of his scales, right where vital organs, on a normal creature, would be. Pink being soaked with red. 

And before long, he started to slow. The wild thrashes of reactive pain becoming sluggish, and weak. And seeing red eyes start to dull…

“Hold it!!” Clara called.

And the monster began to shrink. And shrink. Until a young, blood-covered man with patches of scales, but definitely looking like a man, collapsed into her waiting arms. 

As Aeleus approached, supporting Aced, he gave Clara a tense, questioning look. 

She laughed weakly as she yanked the table leg out of Anthony’s side, more blood gushing onto her. “It’s a bit dramatic I know, but he’ll be fine.”

“D-Don’t worry! I’ll– hrrng– finish him off!” Aced shouted, swaying as he pushed off Aeleus, taking a step towards Anthony.

He didn’t get far though, as Xigbar strolled in, clapping his hands in a way that immediately caused Aced, Ira, and Invi to look back at him. “Phoo! That was scary! Alright you three, back up, get out of here, the grown-ups are talking now. Go, go, go, don’t make me say it again~”

Aced opened his mouth to question why, but Ira just grabbed his bicep and pulled him along, the three quickly hurrying out of the bathroom. Xigbar came a little closer, before keeping a healthy distance from the fallen Anthony. “Soooo what am I looking at here? He’s not a threat anymore?”

Clara patted Anthony’s spiny back as she felt him unconsciously vomit blood down hers. “Nope. This wasn’t actually too bad, he had a surprising hold on himself by the time we came by.”

“For, you know,” she gave Xigbar and Aeleus a dry look, “Having Empaths in his head while having said this whole trip, today included, with everyone around, that someone doing that is a really, really bad idea.”

Sighing lightly, she nodded to the men. “Can we talk more while not having everyone migraine themselves into oblivion keeping the wider world distracted?”

“I was hoping for the same thing,” Xigbar said, clapping his hands–likely just out of habit by this point–as he said, “Alright, let’s collect all the munchkins and–

-

“--tell us what the heck that was all about~?” Xigbar asked back at the house, the four teens sat on the couch in various levels of disrepair. 

“Anthony’s been stabbed, Xehanort, you were covered in blood with no wounds, Hao was practically passing out on the way back here, Aced’s head was cracked open, he needed stitches, we left a bathroom just mysteriously covered in blood and half-destroyed with no explanation to the people there, which could bring us trouble in the long term… all because you all went bowling!?” Even seethed, “How does bowling become all of that?!”

Hao, who was holding an ice pack to his head, blinked blearily. “Couldn’t say.”

Linnea’s Empathetic healing was incredible, really, but it wasn’t a straight up miracle. Still, Xehanort would attribute the fact that he was conscious at all right now--he’d gone in and out a few times as they got back to her house--to it, as he was basically sitting up entirely because he was nestled into the corner of the couch, also ice packed up. “Competitiveness brings out new sides of people,” he mumbled dazedly, more because that was the only volume he could muster than because of any sheepishness.

“Could you two not be assholes for like five minutes or is that too much of an ask?” Gula huffed. 

“Gula…” Linnea sighed, before she frowned down at her boys. “Hao, Xeha, this isn’t just a prank. Many of us genuinely got hurt, and as Even said, we’ve just caused a disaster that will put eyes none of us need here. What happened?”

“...I may have…” Hao blinked, looking genuinely annoyed that this was the cause of everything that had happened, the sheer stupidity of it sounding worse now that he had to explain it to others, “...played a small prank on him, when we were getting water, that might have stressed him out a little.”

“Lot of ‘maybe’s’ and ‘might’s there, Hao,” Xigbar said, “What happened.”

“I showed him the top of my tattoo by pulling down my shirt, and then told the guy at the food counter that I did it in trade for a dessert.” Hao sighed.

“Oh god dammit,” Axel sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose, “To the one guy who literally turns into a monster if you upset him even slightly? Really??”

Hao shrugged. He hadn’t exactly realized the gravity of the situation at the time. It had been funny.

“Mm, yeah, insinuating pedo shit against the guy who’s constantly saying, ‘I’m cool, I’m chill, I’m zen’ does seem like a completely normal idea to have,” Marluxia drawled, honestly looking just more tired and exasperated by the trash fire now that he was in one, rather than looking at all of Lauriam’s shitty mistakes. 

Letting out a breath, Linnea pinched her nose. Thinking. “...staying here isn’t safe.”

…but they might’ve just ruined the one offer to leave they’d gotten. She couldn’t imagine inviting practical strangers into her company if they’d just caused the stabbing of a family member…and honestly she didn’t feel that great about staying with a ticking time bomb. 

(Though Anthony hadn’t hurt the boys at all, not until Clara had asked them to engage in a fight they knew would be dangerous. Everything else had just been managing the situation.)

“Well, none of us are leaving for a few days anyway,” Clara said, walking into the room mostly blood-free, a change of clothes and a sink washdown quick and efficient enough for now. “Skipping town right after something like this is just begging to be followed, and with the amount of people we have, we’re not outrunning any guards.” Or anyone who’d track them down for other reasons.

“You guys should just come with us,” Sora said, ever one to just cut to the chase when it came to offering help, “We could get another carriage. I bet Even was going to ask you to come with us at some point anyway.”

Even sighed, “We will not talk about that right now. What we are going to do is nurse our wounds and not go into town for a while. We do not need anyone seeing how banged up any of us are. We’re all under house arrest until further notice.”

“Welllll it’s not like any of us aren’t used to being trapped in one spot for a long period of time,” Xigbar said, crossing his arms, “...Hao, Xehanort. Aced is gonna be resting and recovering for a bit. You two are going to pick up his slack while he’s down.”

Hao waited to see how Xehanort felt about it, before choosing how he felt about it. 

Linnea hid a small smile. What a sweet kid. Sometimes it was a wonder what managed to survive in harsh conditions, but marigolds still grew through concrete. …Even had still had a point with his initial offer: Luminary wasn’t safe. A stunt like this wasn’t safe anywhere, but she’d talk more with the boys later and hope to affirm to them that this was a one-time mistake. 

But practically? Carriage, food, map, living supplies. They had some money from the things Linnea had sold off from the house, and the fund for Lauriam and Strelitzia that had been in holding at the bank. If she sold the whole house? That could be enough to keep them afloat to get over the border. 

Xehanort hummed an indistinct, but acknowledging sound. Though, his gaze slid over to Sora. “...what was it like in there? I think I passed out, but I think your construct worked.”

“It wasn’t really… I was blind? All I could feel was… I know you’re not going to understand what I mean, but it felt like how I get when I’m in rage-shadow mode,” Sora explained. 

“Oh, yeah.” Axel nodded. 

“And then I pulled a piece of him into my construct, and my keyblade was made of that feeling,” Sora recalled. “And I think that’s what got through to him. Hitting him with his own feelings, but outside of himself. Like he could see it clearer… that was the intention, anyway.”

Meanwhile, Xigbar turned to Linnea and Even and whispered, “We’re on house arrest and I know we can’t leave, but I think it’d be wise for those of us who appear totally fine to go grocery shopping at the market. I doubt anyone’s really going to make the connection to us, but seeing two of us going about our business like nothing’s wrong? Like that time that supervisor ‘fell’ from the catwalk, Linnea. An air of normalcy will keep people doubting.” 

Xehanort blinked slowly at Sora before humming softly. “Sounds interesting even without the context. I’ll ask you about it more when I can think.” Rage-shadow mode, keyblade… Xehanort had managed to surpass his limits, past the obstacle of Anthony, which if it was comparable to Sora’s mode, wasn’t worth trying to imitate, but it still would be worth trying to understand. And the keyblade that had turned the tide…interesting. By its name a weapon to use to unlock the path ahead. 

“Cripes…” Clara sighed, running a hand through her hair before pulling out her hairtie, just re-tying the whole thing. “Well, even if it did work, don’t try that shit on Anthony again, okay? His mind is a no-go zone.”

Lips pressed together, Linnea gave Xigbar a nod after a moment. “...well, we should get more food regardless. I’m sure you all planned your own stock accordingly, Even, but if we’ll all be here, then we may as well plan fresher meals. Do any of yours have allergies? We should make a grocery list.”

-

Aeleus…wanted to trust Clara when she said Anthony continually vomiting blood was fine. But it really didn’t look fine. Even still, the fact that many of his stab wounds were…gone? It did make Aeleus feel a little better about settling in the doorframe to what he’d learned was Lauriam’s childhood bedroom, able to watch Anthony slumped in the bathtub across the hall, and Aced laid out on one of the many beds jammed into the room. It was a good thing the kid had been awake almost immediately, but with a head injury like that, Aeleus didn’t trust that he wouldn’t stop breathing in his sleep, so while he listened to the voices downstairs, he watched. 

Even wandered over, sighing as he leaned against the wall and, slowly to account for his knees, sat down on the floor opposite of where Aeleus was parked in the doorframe. Listening to Anthony retch in the bathroom behind him, as Even said, “Well, today was certainly a thing. And you said you all were living in a manor before this? Thank goodness we escaped that setting before I was returned to experience it.” 

Aeleus gave a nod, looking over to Anthony--still throwing up, still unconscious, it looked like--and looking to Aced--still breathing, still asleep. “Escaped doesn’t seem like the most accurate word. Had we not had Ouma’s offer, it was an adequate place to live. Lady Maya seemed to enjoy the company.”

Breaking from his slow, steady vigil, Aeleus cracked a small amused look at Even. “It seems despite our isolation, our community grows.”

“Atua smites us with gifts,” Even said dryly, rubbing his temples, “What a mess. I can only be glad it wasn’t one of our teenagers that started it. I’d be doing a Submission Bow as we speak. For now, I feel like a man standing in a puddle of oil, watching children play with matches.”

Aeleus nodded, looking left, then right. Kairi was going to read the boys to rights. She does her own thing for one afternoon and they get caught up in something like this, never mind that they hadn’t been the ones to start it. Honestly he thought Sora and Riku had handled things the best they could; perhaps he’d’ve rather they’d called for help, but that was nitpicking to a point, and it wasn’t like they hadn’t known. But they had refused to abandon a friend to danger, and took to the situation with…relative caution to help him, accepting the help of others without ego. And when they had been told to run, they had. 

Aeleus was very proud of them. 

He declined his head slightly to Even. “Have you let them go to decompress? I did send a brief reassurance, but regardless Aqua is going to want to check on them, after feeling that fear spike.”

That was something…a bit new. They had all been accustomed to feeling helpless regarding others’ torment, but there had always, always at least been reassurance after the fact. 

Now half their family were miles and miles away, and feeling some of their own in trouble…they just had to wait. There was no coming to the rescue. 

“As far as I’m aware? They’re on the roof,” Even said, pointing to the ceiling, “I’m sure answering questions to whomever has a free moment to probe them about it. And no doubt they’re leaving all the heavy-duty explanations to us. Tonight’s going to be a long night.”

Even sighed again, closing his eyes. Looking older than his years for a moment, before asking, “And we’re certain this Ouma prince can be trusted? I like to think Vexen wouldn’t have taken us all this far if there were any doubts, but gods, what a risk. Heading into some foreign land, on the word of someone who knows we’re a group of historically cowed slaves… there is something to the idea of the demon you know. This could be such a terrible trap…”

Aeleus sighed as well. It would indeed. It already would’ve been enough, explaining that they had met Lauriam’s mother, and other factory Empaths. Explaining the ordeal that was now heighting the danger they were in was in itself a sort of crisis. One they would make it through, but more to consider nonetheless. 

He nodded slightly. Both boys still alive. 

“I trust this offer, enough to risk our family’s lives on it,” Aeleus said softly. “It could be a trap, but more and more it would be one where the set-up is inordinately difficult and arbitrarily cruel. Ouma opened himself to us, and while his very being is a threat, it was one without malice or subterfuge. He promised us funds, and they were delivered. He promised us a guide, and especially now, Clara has been more than kind. He promised us ourselves back, and without his aid I am not sure when we would have figured out how to awaken our Somebodies. He has promised collaboration, and he and his fellows have shared invaluable knowledge from the greater community that we had been shunned from, and people Ienzo entrusts with his own knowledge.”

“We will not know if his promise of a place for us in Dicea will be true until we get there. But I do not think his track record is one only built to lower our guards. None of those actions were meaningless or acceptable losses to him--I believe they are as he’s said. Good will.” 

Even tsked slightly, clearly reluctant to give up on his whinging… before conceding, “It was a considerable amount of gold. It’s difficult to part a noble from his gold, and even harder to turn him down. I’ll trust all of your judgment. It will be interesting to meet the royal himself, someday. I imagine he must be terribly intimidating to behold.”

Aeleus gave Even a fond look before he paused. “...he’s much shorter than the rumors we heard.”

“Well not everyone can be seven feet tall.” Even shrugged. “...so. You have no Nobody? That’s a bit curious to me. You always seemed a bit more aggressive in your world, I always attributed that to your Nobody’s personality. I guess that could just be the natural aggression shift of being in an environment where you’re often fighting.”

Aeleus nodded. Left. Right. “It’s a possibility. I do not think I have a Nobody, and that is the assumption we’ve been working with. I still believe there is something to configure within my world, however, whatever it may actually be.”

He tilted his head a little, inviting Even’s thoughts. “Do you feel betrayed?”

“Betrayed? No,” Even said, “Though, I feel a bit foolish how steadfast I’ve always been, not kissing you in the Empath world. We’re not the most affectionate couple to begin with, but regardless of how Vexen apparently feels about it, I always did recognize that Nobodies were enough not ourselves that kissing Lexaeus struck me as… presumptuous. If not taking advantage.”

“And it does hurt my pride as simply a man of research,” Even admitted, smirking thinly, “How long have we been together? And I never noticed. I think our boy is simply too polite to even consider asking me ‘how in the hells did you miss that’, but he’d be justified in doing so. And I’m certain Xaldin will take the opportunity at some point.”

Chuckling mildly to himself, Even then raised an eyebrow, his thin, white hair shifting gently on his shoulders as he tilted his head. “Why the certainty that something must still be confronted in your mind? Something feels wrong?”

“I do not think it foolish to have your actions rooted in kindness,” Aeleus hummed, giving Even a fond smile. 

Perhaps that’s just where they differed. Maybe it was politeness that stayed Ienzo’s tongue, but Aeleus thought their boy’s own identity issues may have contributed to his graciousness on that point. Xaldin, however, absolutely would rag on it. Perhaps even Aqua too. 

Though considering Aeleus’ own identity?

For a moment, he closed his eyes, nodding slightly. “Maybe that in itself is a sign of me being a Nobody, and I am misconstruing the situation entirely. Perhaps it is just instinct.” He smiled grimly, looking between the boys again. Anthony had stopped vomiting for the time being. “It could just be trauma, and it is less something ‘wrong’ that should be fixed, and just what ‘is’.”

“I feel…a certain sense of detachment. And my greatest theory is that it’s an aid.”

“A detachment,” Even asked, his hands flexing, like he wished he had his clipboard on him. Even as he graciously admitted, “I wish to ask invasive questions about it. But I can hold off, if you wish to not allow this to become a sudden research interview.”

There was a twinkle in Aeleus’ eyes as he looked at Even. He did truly love this man. 

“I’m sure you will find a way to disagree and prove me wrong, but I’m not sure how much there is to describe,” Aeleus admitted. “I still feel. I am happy to see you again. I miss Ienzo, and worry for him, and I’m excited for this relative journey of independence and maturity for him. I’m angered, and regretful, for what we missed happening to Namine. I have not stopped feeling both relieved and hesitant since we all left the factory.”

“...I do not think I am feeling those things as much as I otherwise would.”

“That is a difficult thing to judge,” Even agreed. Tapping his finger on his knee. “...may I ask how you feel about conditioning?”

“Actually, to elicit an emotional reaction?” Even interrupted himself, “Could you recount to me a time you performed conditioning that troubled you? We all have a few that stuck with us more than the others. I know that if I were to reveal the ones that most affected me, I’d not be able to do it in a neutral or even-tiered way. You have always been one of the calmer people I’ve known, but I have seen you upset before, especially in the early days. I like to think I’d be able to see, if something that should be affecting you, isn’t.”

That was one of the more difficult things about it. Age and trauma. In the early days, as a young man? Aeleus had been passionate enough to try and lead a rebellion, to plan an escape. And the failures of it had affected him deeply. The person that had done those things was not who Aeleus was today, as was how it tended to go with time. 

Nodding, Aeleus considered the question. Looking within himself for things that hadn’t just rolled into the blurred malaise of misery. 

“...I always preferred when they fought,” Aeleus said softly, his gaze tiring. Even knew this. “The outcome was always the same, and perhaps it was more of a shame to defeat and subjugate a bright spirit…but I did prefer it. I did not wish for my own failure, but perhaps there was a part of me that hoped that zeal for one’s own self would someday break through conditioning or circumstances.”

“There were those who took to the challenge immediately, and those who I pushed into it through desperation.” Because even those who weren’t fighters would value their lives when they were looking down the end of a blade. “...but every now and then, there were those who had given up before there was even an opportunity to try.”

Aeleus’ gaze saddened, pained. “...he had been Ienzo’s age, at the time. His greatest act of strength, pleading for mercy.” Others had done so too, Aeleus had often heard begs to stop, people giving, as if it was a real spar, then pleading as they realized with horror that it wasn’t. It was rare that that was the only thing they had done. 

Even shuddered–the young ones were always the hardest–but as he studied Aeleus’ expression…

…yes. There was sadness. Regret. But… “Do you feel disgust?” Even asked.

Aeleus tilted his head slightly in question. “For myself? Not exactly. It trends more towards frustration.”

“You may have an aid then,” Even agreed. “Or perhaps you’re more well-adjusted than I am. If I were to do some experiments, my first thought would be to ask Axel to sit down with us and explain his feelings about conditioning before his aid was destroyed, and after. From what I recall, his aid gave him joy in the process. An artificial sadism and sense of euphoria. I have noticed that since his aid had been destroyed, he’s become quieter, less prone to teasing, perhaps a bit less mean spirited. I think losing his aid lost a significant part of his self-confidence.”

“...I say that as someone who has only been observing him for a few days,” Even recognized, frowning, “But I feel confident about it. Perhaps Vexen feels confident for me. But besides that point, if you think you have an aid that’s dimming emotions? The ones that I imagine you’d feel most physically are Disgust, Repulsion, Anger. Things that have greater physical impact on our bodies than most other emotions, like regret or sadness. The sort of emotions that kill you over the long run.”

Aeleus grunted softly, on Even’s thoughts about Axel. There had been a definite change in him after Ouma had ripped his aid out of him--a process that Aeleus had been worried about, in how that itself might have affected Axel--but, as his scientists would say, that was far from the only variable. Axel had lost Roxas, had lost the comradery and connection they shared as Nobodies. He had lost his assumption that everyone had just been pretending, and now had to reconcile the acknowledgement and subsequent loss of his family, and as someone who hadn’t gone through the same thing. He was separated from Isa, and while that was only in a loose sense, it still meant that there were no quick, confirming glances, or hearing a snort behind you at a bad joke. That maybe wasn’t as intense as everything else, but it was something that could cause someone to be a bit more subdued than they otherwise would be. 

It seemed that Even may have found a new experiment to run. 

Nodding, Aeleus gave Even an amused look. “You’ve forgotten Fear and Anxiety.”

Even smiled lightly. “I suppose I struggle imagining you having either. I recall at one point screaming at you that you were too stupid to be afraid. That only a moron would ignore the dangerous situation he was in, and be foolish enough to call it ‘bravery’.”

“...I didn’t enjoy convincing you to stop,” Even said softly, “I know I’ve told you before. But I want to say it again. I would have loved if it had worked.”

Sighing softly, Aeleus checked on the boys again--Left. Right. Alive.--before he lowered himself to the ground, sitting next to Even. Gently taking one of his husband’s hands and holding it within his own. Looking to the side, he smirked. “So would have I.”

The humor faded, Aeleus softly tracing Even’s knuckles. “I don’t think I would have been me if I’d listened. When I hadn’t. I had not yet experienced something for which there was no solution. Perhaps none of you had been able to escape, but you had never had the current group of us before, and I was…convinced. That that was an answer. Eager to prove my will upon the world.”

…Aeleus was worried, about Aced. The boy’s goals may be pointed in a different direction, but there was too much about his eager willingness that reminded Aeleus of himself, many years ago. 

Aeleus’ eyes lowered with grief and regret. “I know you took no joy in stifling that. But I regret not seeing sooner the fuller picture you had considered. The reality of what we had only been willing to sacrifice in hypotheticals, never thinking it would actually happen. Perhaps I had been too stupid to be afraid, or at least I did not fully realize what I was actually afraid of, compared to a more visible alternative.”

“Perhaps. I will certainly never disagree that you should always consider my perspective more.” Even smirked lightly, letting himself lean on Aeleus a little, watching him play with his joints a little. Age had inflamed and gnarled them a bit, to the point where his younger self would have likely recoiled at the sight of it. But Even found himself liking the way his hands looked these days. They spoke of time passed and experiences lived. Survived. “But we’d be having a very different conversation right now, if you had found a way to actually fight back against the supervisors.”

“I’m certain I would have said something about having learned helplessness, after too many failed attempts,” Even whispered, “About my gratitude that you had seen past my fear and doubts and were willing to try anyway. That by that point I had long stopped looking for ways to escape, and could only think in terms of improving. And that without someone willing to test our boundaries, we’d all still be there to this day.”

“...perhaps with a bit of luck and good fortune, there’s a version of us out there, having that conversation, instead of this one,” Even said softly, “I know the logic of that theory is scientifically unsound, I always feel a bit like a toddler playing games with stuffed animals when I mention it… but it was a comforting thought experiment, for so long. I still like to imagine it. A world where you were right and I was wrong.”

Aeleus laughed softly. Even was certainly not disregarded by their group, but, as Ienzo often exemplified, they did end up testing the boundaries of his advice more than the professor would like. 

…if he had found a way to actually fight the supervisors? He had been asked more than once by new arrivals--Demyx and Riku came to mind most readily--why he simply didn’t overpower the supervisors. Some of them had ‘guard’ builds, but Aeleus and Dilan could easily outmatch the vast majority of people they ever saw in the factory in terms of pure, physical strength and build. 

At first, Aeleus had always answered that he had tried, and usually that was enough to give him confidence they weren’t about to try themselves. Later, he would explain why that attempt failed. Why all his attempts had failed. Where even in the biggest push they had made, everything seeming to go right…they had failed. 

But perhaps there was a world where they had succeeded. 

Aeleus nuzzled Even’s head as he leaned against him. “Without imagination, there is no hope that things can be different. Playing pretend still has a purpose within a world of observable fact. …I like to think in that world I would have learned the lesson you taught me eventually. Though I can’t say I might be smugger than you are now.” Glancing down at his husband, Aeleus smirked teasingly.

“Dear, you’d be a terrible bore without that hint of smugness.” Even smirked in kind. Leaning in and, gently, and briefly, placing a chaste kiss against the other man's lips, before relaxing against him. “...I’ve already asked Linnea to consider coming with us. For Lauriam’s sake. It would seem that if I get my way, there will be nine more people on this trip with us.”

“...goody.” Even said dryly. “Yippy for me.”

“I was thinking things were a bit quiet with our current group,” Aeleus hummed--checking behind, in front; alive--before putting an arm fully around Even. “...that may be safest for them, now. But you asking before that…”

Aeleus went quiet for a moment, his gaze drifting to the stairwell. Other than the initial confusion? It hadn’t seemed like Lauriam had spoken to his mother much at all. He wondered if that was happening now. 

He lowered his voice. “...he always spoke pretty neutrally about his parents, when the subject came up in the factory. Fond even, at times. I’m not sure how much resentment Lauriam even realized within himself…though he did hide the entire existence of his sister.” So there was only so much they could say.

“I think it’ll take that boy a solid year before he and his mother have a real conversation about what really happened,” Even said plainly. Zero faith in Lauriam’s ability to communicate. “But I’ll be damned if we’re the reason it doesn’t happen. I’m going to care for that emotional moron if it kills me. Which I am certain one day it will. When I die, please assure somewhere my death marker notes that a mixture of Lauriam, Demyx, and Xaldin did me in. I was blond once, Aeleus. Look what those brats did to my hair,” Even sniffed. 

“Marluxia may push the issue,” Aeleus hummed optimistically, “Through barbed jabs and insults, but that is still progression. He seems determined to improve Lauriam’s mental health primarily through kicking and screaming.”

“I see, Even. Though I do find the white enchanting,” Aeleus said, before smirking a bit. “Generous of you, to limit it to those three. I think Zexion still believes no one caught him instigating fights between the others on purpose.”

Even waved his hands dismissively. “It was good for him. Enriching. I do not care if it's favoritism. My sons can do no wrong.”

Even took a deep breath. “...I hope the others are having an easier time of this than we are. Though I suppose the odds of them running into ‘cousins’ as well are low, at least.”

Aeleus snorted a bit before kissing Even’s head. They really weren’t above favoritism.

-

“Lauriam?”

Lauriam looked up. He’d felt Sora and Riku just when he and Ira had been returning with their clean laundry, and they hadn’t hesitated to gather everyone else to go help the boys, Xigbar having figured out early that Hao and Xehanort were with them. That did mean, though, that there was some clean up to do once they returned and the immediate concerns were addressed, and despite not only Ira, but Invi’s insistences too that they could handle it, Lauriam shouldered his way in to help. 

That seemed to mean, though, that Linnea had had time to talk more with her teens, and now had the time and attention for him. 

“Do you have a moment?”

“Yeah,” Lauriam said in a sigh, heading over, just raising an eyebrow as Linnea led him to a lockbox.

As she opened it, Linnea gave him an apologetic smile. “I’d think it’s a better alternative than the house just being raided, but I did end up selling off a lot of things, when we got here. We didn’t exactly get a send-off paycheck from the factory.”

Lauriam crossed his arms, looking away a little awkwardly. “I wasn’t expecting to come get my old things here. Even if I’d wanted to check on the house, I did assume that it had been raided or taken over or something…” He gave a slight awkward smile to the wall. “Guess it is. But, I mean, I don’t exactly have the same build I had at 12, I’m not going to be heartbroken that anything’s gone.”

Linnea laughed softly, looking up at him. “I was surprised about that. You got tall. I know that didn’t come from me, so I wonder just what Mama was hiding.” She sighed quietly before rising, a small box in her hands. “...it’s not the most practical, but I did save a few things. Invi is incredibly talented, and I treasure the drawings she made for me, but given the chance, I did want something to…Lauriam?”

She had glanced up at him from showing a few of the items she’d stowed away for sentimental value, noting the shocked, choked look on his face. There wasn’t anything particularly monetarily valuable, Linnea hadn’t been able to forgo that much practicality, just…small things she had found in her childrens’ rooms and around the house that felt right to have as keepsakes. 

They weren’t the only things she hadn’t sold off. Anything that they had been able to keep using for the household, of course, became something that they didn’t need to buy. And there were a few other things as well. Invi had actually outright refused to take Lauriam’s old sketchbook, though Linnea had been able to convince her to not let the remaining blank pages go to waste; there was a deck of cards in Strelitzia’s room that had just become their playing deck; Linnea had caught Gula more than once angrily making notes on a set of recipe cards, critiquing her kids’ either tastes or cooking skills. 

But so far, nothing in the house had made Lauriam look so haunted as…

“Where…did you find this?” he murmured, hand joining hers to slightly lift a simple necklace from the box. It didn’t have any jewels, the one adornment was obviously just purple glass, and the metal didn’t seem expensive either, which was why Linnea had kept it. “She never… I thought she…”

Giving her son a concerned look, Linnea said gently, “I found it in the bathroom, draped around the faucet, I assume to keep it from falling in the sink drain.”

Lauriam’s eyes widened slightly before, to Linnea’s alarm, they started to fill with tears. Hearing just faintly, like it was a thought that came out of Lauriam’s mouth on its own, “...she’d just taken a shower, before…”

Linnea could only be puzzled over that for a moment, before her eyes widened. A thought that hadn’t occurred to her suddenly seeming very possible. When Axel had said that Strelitzia hadn’t made it, Linnea had assumed that meant that her daughter had died in their factory. 

Of course that’s what she would assume. 

“...Lauri--”

Lauriam drew in a ragged breath as he focused back on Linnea, to her horror tears running down his face. “...Strel wore this everyday. No matter what. E-even at work she just put it-t under her shirt; I thought she d-...” His voice choked off. 

He thought Strelitzia died wearing this necklace. 

Once you arrived in the factory, the supervisors took everything off you. Not wanting to allow anything that could be a weapon in, and sadistically delighting in removing anything of comfort. 

Strelitzia wouldn’t have had the necklace if she had died in the factory, so that meant she died--

Lauriam found himself being pulled into his mother’s arms as he cried, feeling heavy, shaking breaths against him. And, slowly, he brought his arms around her too. 

“It was out front,” he sniffled, curling down to her shoulder, “We fought, we fought b-but they - they held her hostage, a-and she begged me not to go with them, but they had her and I couldn’t… They let her go, but she still…she still came after and they…”

Linnea couldn’t say anything for a moment. Just holding Lauriam tightly. Too tightly, honestly, like maybe if she didn’t give any slack nothing could ever take him from her. 

“My brave girl,” she eventually whispered, “How could they do that to you… Oh, Lauriam. I’m so sorry…I should’ve been here.” 

It hadn’t been disgust, a ‘punishment’, a message…Strelitzia had been collateral. All because she had dared to stand up to the powers that be. 

…Lauriam hadn’t been caught by the program, or had just been returning vaguely to a place he had been kidnapped from. This entire day, he had been walking around the scene of his sister’s murder. 

(Linnea was sorry for that. For treating his presence more casually than something like that warranted. For not being there, that night, even if by then she had been imprisoned herself. …for, with all things equal, not being the one dying trying to save her loved ones, instead of Strelitzia. Maybe that wasn’t a fair way to look at it, but it was something Linnea felt, right then.)

Reunited, a mother and son cried at the grave of their daughter and sister.

-

That night, there had been a group meeting on the beach. One that Xaldin had noticed Lauriam hadn’t felt a need to attend, as the others explained everything that had happened that day. 

Xaldin had heard all of them out and asked his questions, but it hadn’t taken long for him to head to Lauriam’s mind. Landing next to the dragon sculpture, giving its paw an idle pat, before looking around for his flower in question…

Ah. There he is. 

He was sitting against the dragon’s tail, fidgeting with something. Xaldin was sure Lauriam knew he was there, as he approached from the other side of the tail and leaned against it, peering over and down at Lauriam to see what he was holding.

“...pretty necklace,” Xaldin said. “Is it new?”

Lauriam blinked, glancing up at Xaldin, before he shook his head and looked back out at the field. His world didn’t have a strict day-night cycle, and Lauriam wouldn’t even blame any of the others for thinking he always kept it as a sunny day. But sometimes he did make it nighttime. Some flowers only bloomed at night, and there was a different sort of beauty to it all under moonlight. 

There was a waning half moon shining down over the flower fields, bathing everything in pale light, though it seemed to look warmer around the dragon sculpture. 

Birds of paradise had started to bloom within its wings. 

“...it’s my sister’s,” Lauriam said quietly, eventually. “My mom said I should take it. She already wears a necklace, so…”

“Damn,” Xaldin whispered, “So you really are at your childhood home, and you really did find your mom there…you’d had a hell of a day.”

Hoisting himself over the dragon tail, Xaldin slid down it, landing with an ‘ooph’ next to Lauriam. Taking a closer look at the necklace, before sighing as he wrapped his arm over Lauriam’s shoulders. “Are we sad or are we pissed? I doubt we’re happy.”

Lauriam leaned against Xaldin, holding the necklace out for inspection. Smiling without much of anything behind it. “You really think the others are capable of putting together a practical joke that elaborate?”

“Kind of everything,” Marluxia huffed as he plopped down on Xaldin’s other side, looking away from the other two and actually wearing not only his overalls up, but with a shirt too. The same necklace around his neck as well. “Seeing the person that abandoned us to be kidnapped and killed sucks. Seeing her new family is weird. Seeing how they treat each other is disturbing. Learning that they barely conditioned, and because of that, they were slaughtered constantly is horrifying. Walking all over the places that we last saw when our sister was murdered makes me want to scream.”

“...but I still am happy to see her?” Lauriam said softly, almost like it was a question. “Apparently she talked about Strel and me all the time. Once she got past the surprise, because she thought I was dead, she looked…thrilled to see me. And I didn’t think I was mad at her.”

“You just refused to ever think about it,” Marluxia grumbled.

“Mad and sad. Got it,” Xaldin said, reaching over to grasp Marluxia’s chin lightly, before placing a kiss against his cheek. “I’m about to hold your hand, just lean into it, flower.” 

Giving his warning, he interlocked his fingers around Marluxia’s, firmly holding his hand as he kept his arm around Lauriam’s shoulder, huffing at the explanation. “Come on, flower, what was there to think about? Dandelion here didn’t exactly think he’d get a chance to tell her any of this. Wasn’t this the lady who was long gone ages ago? Well before everything went down? Not thinking about it would have just been moving on, by that point, there wasn’t exactly any closure to get out of it.”

Marluxia huffed, though he laced his fingers with Xaldin’s as the older Nobody did so, pressing his shoulder to Xaldin’s. Though, he pouted more. “He could’ve let himself be angry about it! Literally any time!”

“You know, I’m starting to think there might’ve been more reasons I kept getting in fights at school, more than just being an asshole,” Lauriam sighed. “...did I ever tell you about when she left? The last time.”

“You never talked about much of anything, when it came to your family. I think I literally only found out she left at all because you had to explain once why you ended up taking on those little errand jobs,” Xaldin said. “What happened the last time?”

Strelitzia had promised to take care of him, but Lauriam had never been ignorant to the fact that his family had struggled financially. He hadn’t been able to sign any contracts, but neighbors and, well, broader neighbors had often been happy to take up offers of help from ‘that sweet Belrose boy’ and, well, it was only nice to compensate him a little. 

…Lauriam hadn’t just used his budding Empathy for pranks. 

“She’d gone campaigning again,” Lauriam started. Linnea had tried to be home, but every so often when the bills and dues started to loom, she had taken off, looking for work somewhere outside of their little town. As a kid, Lauriam had rationalized that it was because she was looking for somewhere that could pay more…though that reason had started to fall apart for him when Strelitzia had gotten her job in the royal district. “She’d usually be gone for a few weeks, maybe a month, then come back. Sometimes with work she could bring back, and we’d know she’d be around for a while. If she didn’t, then she’d probably be gone again soon.”

“A few weeks in, we got a letter. She’d found a steadier job, but she’d have to be away for longer this time, months. She said that she’d write when she could, and send money into our fund like Mama did, and she’d see us as soon as she could.” Lauriam blinked slowly, leaning against Xaldin a little more. “But we never got any letters, or money coming back, and after a while we just…figured she wasn’t coming back.”

Marluxia glared stiffly out at the field. “Found out today that job was her signing up for the program, as an unknowing Empath, and that the reason she always left town to find work was so she could use forged documents to avoid any place she got work from finding out about La-La and Strel.”

“Well that’s just perfect, ain’t it,” Xaldin muttered. “Joining the program voluntarily… You know things are a mess when that happens. What a damn mess…”

“...the hell was she thinking?” Xaldin asked, sounding genuinely bewildered, “The other mom had already gone to pull this exact same piece of nonsense, so it was time to leave the kids home alone? What, she couldn’t find anything here? If she was willing to do all of that, she should have gathered you all up and just moved her ass where work was. What a dumb fucking idea.”

“I was 9, Strelitzia was 17, guess she just figured that was old enough we could look after each other,” Lauriam said dully. 

There was some sort of reasoning around the fact that Linnea actually owned their house--the reason why it had still been there with minimal interference from the neighbors--and at least there they wouldn’t have to worry about rent bills too, and something about how smaller towns were probably safer…

But there was no part of Lauriam--so Marluxia included--that wanted to argue that. It was just…a dumb fucking idea. And it ended up with two of them in prison and one of them dead. 

Lauriam rubbed one of his eyes with the bottom of his palm. “...you want to meet her? We’ve been talking about showing the others the island.”

Marluxia groaned, tipping his head back against the dragon. “Loseriam had a fucking conniption asking Ira about broaching the idea we’re in a relationship to Mom.”

“Who’s Ira?” Xaldin said, before shaking his head, “Nevermind, I’m sure I’ll find out. Do I want to meet her…”

Xaldin sighed, looking up to the moon. “...I dunno. Do you two want me to meet her? I’m down for meeting her now, a week from now, a month. It really just matters if that’s a conversation and meetup you’re ready to have right now.”

“I don’t want to act ashamed of you, but I can understand you wanting to hold off on the whole… Mom, I’m dating this forty-something year old I grew up with in the factory. At least until things are more solid between you two. Three. I’m saying I can wait, if it helps.”

Lauriam grimaced. “Yeah, I’m not really sure how to…start that conversation.”

Marluxia huffed, shifting up to sit on his knees and more fully face Xaldin. “I don’t give a fuck trying to ease into that conversation; you’ve been in my life way longer than she has. She can get the picture that you’re my guy, or fuck off.”

“Because we,” Marluxia stressed, looking across Xaldin to meet Lauriam’s gaze, getting a small nod in return, “aren’t ashamed of you.”

Lauriam cracked a small smile. “And it would probably be an easier introduction to make before you’re two feet tall.”

“Actually, that’s a fantastic point, let’s not wait until I’m a damn chibi to introduce me as your cool and entirely capable boyfriend, yeah?” Xaldin said, “I am not letting her think Dilan’s the one that made all of this happen. And you just know she’ll assume that. Him being 6 feet tall and me being 2. Hightest.”

“Still, it isn’t a race, don’t treat it like one. You can introduce me when you’re ready. No need to hurry yourself to prove some point and find out it wasn’t a convo you wanted to have yet. We have allll the time in the world.”

…Xaldin blinked. “Aw, dammit, that’s true isn’t it. She’s gonna be moving in.”

“Keep that in mind, would you? When you talk to Dilan,” Marluxia grinned, leaning forward to place a kiss at the corner of Xaldin’s mouth, “I know, I know, no one’s surprised that La-La and I agreed to have me as my usual self most of the time, but that just means I can set an example more. You can decide to be taller.”

“She would notice,” Lauriam hummed, giving his boyfriend a fond look as he snuggled up more to his side. “Apparently she was pretty surprised by how tall I am.”

Though, some of his mirth left again in a sigh as he ran some fingers through his bangs. “Most likely. She might’ve been thinking about making a case for it with her group before, but--”

Marluxia scoffed, rolling his eyes. “After the shit Brat 1 and Brat 2 pulled? We’re offering, so it’s not even a question.”

“Yeah, those two sound like a headache. Which is damn weird, since the way everyone talks about it, the rest of them are too nervous to breathe wrong. How the hell does five of them come out perfectly obedient, and then the last two are little terrors?” Xaldin said, sounding like he was genuinely asking, just utterly bewildered, “Also, is this Xigbar guy half as insane as everyone makes him sound? Because he sounds like a nut.”

Lauriam frowned, mouth scrunching a little more to one side as he shrugged. “Ira said it was a combination of favoritism and like…well, I’m extrapolating a little, but being crazy strong prodigies without being tempered by literally anything. Actually being encouraged to get away with anything they could. I kinda get the picture of what could’ve happened to Ienzo if Even didn’t go ballistic making sure he didn’t start getting ideas about experimenting on Indentureds. Like, that mixed with when Namine’d get pissed off and go full witch-mode.”

“Good analogy,” Marluxia hummed, before snorting. “And for another? Xigbar seems like you doing the full sadist show, but if you had Dem-Dem’s sense of humor.”

“That’s a grim damn mix,” Xaldin said, shivering a little, “Xigbar’s me and Demyx? Honestly, that leaves me more confused, and way more certain that guy’s trouble then.”

“Though, if we’re doing the Namine comparison? It makes a little more sense,” Xaldin admitted, “That girl could have gotten away with whatever she wanted, if she had a different temperament. Hell, she probably got away with plenty that none of us even knew about. Those memory alteration abilities are no damn joke… but she didn’t shove it in our faces. That’s kinda what it sounds like these brats are doing. Showing off. It’s a dangerous way to play with power.”

The garden duo both nodded with a grimace. They both loved Xaldin, obviously, and Demyx was…well…Lauriam’s friend. (...Marluxia’s friend too.) But Xaldin’s manic showmanship with Demyx’s goofy, non sequitur flow? It spelled out someone who put out a lot of disorientation to keep anyone from seeing what was really going on. 

Lauriam paused, hesitating slightly. “I’m a little…worried. About Kairi feeling like she might have to counteract them? I know Riku and Sora will always back her up, but it does kind of feel like a disaster waiting to happen.”

“Not like it already has?” Marluxia sighed, before tipping forward from his knees to faceplant in Xaldin’s shoulder. “Takes one to know two, and I’m enough of an asshole to know the scare Anthony gave them won’t be enough for a full perspective shift. But holy shit, someone’s already been stabbed and all the strategy leaders are whispering to each other about the best ways not to get found out for theoretical murder. Is this how you guys feel about us? Like, fucking chill.”

“Yeah, not much fun being on the responsible side of it, is it?” Xaldin snickered, a full body chuckle that came from deep in his chest, “It’s all fun and games until someone else is doing the mass group murder attempt. We were fucking scrambling in the exact same way when you pulled your shit, Lauriam.”

Turning to Marluxia, he said, “And don’t think you’re all innocent over there. You may not have gone full fire flower, but you had the others treating you like dynamite waiting to blow long before we left the factory. It’s tough, not being able to guess what’s about to happen next with someone. You’re both fucking assholes about it too.”

“...well, sometimes,” Xaldin shrugged, “I usually find it sexy, not gonna lie. But I’m sure the others get real sick of it real quick.”

“I’m eating my words wholesale,” Lauriam lamented dryly, “The responsibility of my 30s looms.”

Marluxia blew a muffled raspberry against Xaldin’s shoulder before he threw himself to the side while turning, ending up over Lauriam and Xaldin’s laps. “I am innocent, I’m the responsible one and I’ve never done anything wrong in my life, and still,” he winked at Xaldin, “you find that sexy.”

“Speaking of unexpected, though,” Marluxia pointed up at the dragon, giving Lauriam a questioning look, “Did you do that? I didn’t do that.”

Lauriam blinked, before looking up at the new flowers filling out the dragon’s wings, making the sculpture feel more finished, than a skeletal base, for as much as Marluxia had been finishing it up more. “No?”

“You didn’t do that on purpose?” Xaldin asked, craning his head up to look at what they were talking about, “...well it looks cool. And kinda scary, from the right angle. I still can’t believe you’re making a giant dragon plant sculpture thing, Marluxia. What a weird flex.”

Marluxia rolled his eyes. “Well what else would you suggest I do to get that toxic nonsense out of this one’s head?” he scoffed, reaching up to poke at Lauriam’s head, getting some grumbles and, before long, beginning a mini-slap fight.

Xaldin rolled his eyes, before grabbing both of their hands. “You two have too much energy.” He grinned toothily, a canine lightly catching at the edge of his lips as he said, “Let’s wear it out.”

-

The Dicean court was being held like it was any other day. A few neighbor squabbles negotiated around, a few decisions on the latest zoning issues–there was always zoning issues, you’d think it’d be the sort of thing that was reliably static, but it seemed every time someone laid down another inch of pipe, it affected 7 different groups that hadn’t noticed anything was happening until suddenly a pipe had appeared and it had to be reconfigured all over again–and a lovely hour spent reading and responding to letters the local elementary school had sent, the kids wishing to inform the king–and Prince Kokichi!!--of their accomplishments in the school year so far. 

But now after an hour spent on lunch, the court was ready for the cases of the afternoon, the first of which was a request of national endorsement for Miu Iruma’s–and her assistants–latest invention… which, according to the notes, was actually mostly invented by the assistant in question, with Miu safety-testing and field-testing it to ensure the quality and sustainability of the project. 

The court read the documents, familiarizing themselves with the material, before the scientists themselves were announced to arrive to plead their case… and suddenly music thumped through the air, smoke hissing into the conference room as someone reached into the door and flicked off the main light, before hurrying to bring in a stage light, as over the noise Miu Iruma called through the dark, “Alright, fudge-eaters! Put your hands together for the EMBODIMENT OF THE FUTURE! THE SAVIORS OF THE MODERN AGE! THE GREATEST MINDS OF FIVE GENERATIONS, FORWARD AND BACKWARDS! That’s right… it’s GIRL GENIUS MIU IRUMA, and PRODIGAL BOY, MIKE TEAVEE!!”

And the two scientists stepped into the spotlight, both taking a bow… before Miu shouted, “I said clap!”

Mike had been…okay, no one fucking snitch!! …but he’d been really nervous about presenting his code-disruptor (now shorted to CD for a catchier name) to the royal court. Sure, he’d gotten ideas about making CDs on a larger scale once he’d improved on the design he made for Tim and it was something he realized more fully was something quite a lot of people needed, but Mike wasn’t really sure how to…do that. He had some vague idea of grants, but he’d literally never done anything through official channels before, pretty much every project he’d ever done was through mail-order parts and scrap that he tinkered with in his bedroom. Even working on the HRD in the university’s engineering labs was pretty huge for him. 

So that’s where Miu came in. She knew even more how big of a deal something that could interfere with conditioning would be in Luminary, and she knew allllll about presenting projects to the royal court for endorsement and collaboration. So that was cool. But while Mike was proud of his work and he believed in it, talking to a bunch of pencil-pushers about something they wouldn’t understand, trying to prove its worth sounded…like a nightmare. 

Miu, however, said they weren’t going to do any of that lame stuff. Mike was excited to use his speaker system again. 

Watching the display with amusement--this was certainly a fun way to break up a work day--Aiichi gamely clapped at Miu’s insistence.

Once it died a little, Mike puffed himself up a bit. “Mind-control sucks, it’s lame, and it’s literally just been outlawed next door, but it’s not just disappearing. ENTER! The Code-Disruptor!” 

He and Miu stepped apart, a sudden stand appearing between them with a CD displayed on top. 

“Making use of electro-magnetic fields and visual sensory overload, a CD can break the mental signals conditioning uses for mind-control, allowing someone to disregard any order or impulse conditioning might make them do. All you need is to press one button.”

This version of the CD now with a backing that included a handle, and the main button a bit bigger and easier to press, Mike picked it up and turned the lens to the ceiling, before pressing the button, a practical rave lighting up the top of the courtroom. 

“HA HAHAHAHA, Look at that party light go! But we’re selling these with instruction manuals about not actually using them like that, because replacing the batteries is expensive~ They’re 6-V batteries, which we went with the larger ones because in theory if you don’t play with these things or leave them on for a few hours at a time, they’ll last you a decade, guaranteed, and you’d have to replace the battery because the battery just got old, not because you’d have run through its energy by then. We’re working with one of my guys to have the battery come with the CD itself. Still slim enough to keep in a pocket though, as you can see. Almost like a marker, eh? Hold that thought!” Miu said, before putting her hand up and declaring, “NOW I’M SUUUUURE YOU OLD FARTS ALREADY KNOW THE PROBLEM THIS IS SOLVING!”

But she kept on anyway, scoffing as she put her hands on her hips, “Let’s not even take into account the shite-show that’s happening in Luminary right now, for Dicea? We’ve been taking in refuges for years that are all stuck with this bullcrap– is bullcrap a bad word, is your damn wannabee nanny gonna yell at me for that one? Nevermind!--in their heads, we’ve all heard the stories! You’ve got people with conditioning afraid to go out, moving jobs and homes suddenly, because someone said something wrong and now every knows they dance on command. That’s already bad enough, but these people are afraid to do leisure activities that are our nature-given right! Like going to clubs and trolling for their next lay! Because they have a built in roofie in their damn heads! All those people afraid to go out and have fun!? It’s a damn travesty, we’ve gotta correct this!” 

“So that’s the problem, and Mike’s CD here is the solution! But don’t take our word for it! Take the exhaustive research I’ve shoved into all your hands for it! But if some of you leadership morons can’t read, fine, here’s a demonstration! Get out here, Timmy-boy!”

Miu took a step back, as out came Timothy, who waved at Aiichi and Hideki, before adjusting the drum that was hanging against his waist. 

“Tim here is gonna prove this invention works the best way possible. He’s going to be able to administer it to himself! These things aren’t ideal if you’re depending on someone else to knock you back to your senses, so how did we deal with that? Simple! They have a secondary function,” Miu said, passing Tim the CD, “In our experiments with our volunteers, we’ve discovered that most people when they’re being compelled to follow orders? Can still more or less decide how to follow those orders. So, regardless of the order given, if you can convince yourself you need to pull out your handy-dandy marker, to maybe write down the order or something, however they make it work? If you open the tip and press down like you’re writing with the marker end? The light starts going! Alright, Tim, you ready?”

Timothy adjusted the drum straps, “Sure.”

(That had been a minor point of contention. Mike’s original design had included options for the CD to act as a stand-alone flashlight or a small EMP without the disruption programming, and he’d wanted to keep that. However, Miu’s argument for the batteries was a sound one. The CD wasn’t just a neat multitool, it was a medical device. If someone got used to using the CD as a personal flashlight and didn’t replace the batteries as often as they needed to? That was poor design encouraging a use that countered what the inventors intended to be a main function. Simplifying the uses and design into just the disruption programming meant that it would be nothing but a medical device to the people that used it, and making use of a heavy duty battery like a 6-V made sure that it would hardly need to be replaced, making sure it’d be ready for any sudden emergency use.)

(Simplifying the uses, though, did give them more room to expand on how to arrive at that use.)

And making sure people with conditioning weren’t entirely dependent on another person to help them? That was an important design consideration. 

Tim had more or less agreed immediately, when Mike asked him to test things. Maki had been a little more difficult to convince, but with her supervision things had gone well. 

Pressing a button on a remote, the music shifted to the sounds of running and galloping horses--he and Tim running around Medli’s house with a microphone--and with another press, a projection illuminated up on the far wall, a scene of an army charging over a hill displayed--courtesy of Kimiko.

“Oh no,” Mike said dryly, “Tim, we need to tell our allies about this charge, drum up the message.”

Miu stepped back, crossing her arms and watching. This was actually pretty important. They had tested this a few times now, but each time Miu worried that the one thing that was entirely out of the inventions control–the mental trick to take out a marker–would fail. It was too much a human component. If Tim, Maki, Shuichi, and the handful of other conditioning Dicean’s they had been testing this on hadn’t all repeatedly assured Miu this was a skill basically everyone with conditioning had taught themselves and practiced out of necessity, she’s still call this project unfinished until there was a way to force the damn lights in their eyes once an order had been given. 

How would she do that? No idea. She had spent a week going over scenario after scenario, and unfortunately, relying on the person being conditioned to turn on the CD themselves was still the most reliable option. All Miu could do was trust that they could.

There as Tim allowed himself to get taken in by the imagery, the code already starting to drum in his head, all he needed to do what start drumming himself. His hands already tapping the sides as his brain forced him to remember the code and additional information, wanting to grab the drum sticks and start as his thoughts started to slip away–

I should write down the order real quick, just to make sure it’s correct.

–Tim reached into his pocket, pulling out the CD that had been handed to him and, popping off the marker end, pressing it into his skin to start the dashes and circles, before wincing as a bright, flashing light flooded into his eyes and over his senses.

He closed his eyes on reflect and took the CD off his arm, briefly dizzy… but when he opened his eyes, he was clearheaded. “No, sir.” Tim said theatrically, which was fine because it was mostly his family watching anyway, “I’m not gonna.”

“HELL YEAH! Look at that! No compulsion to follow through on!” Miu cheered, before looking to the court, “Alright, someone turn on the lights! You’ll find on form 3A the exact details of what we’re asking for as far as government endorsement goes. We’re talking a full propaganda campaign throughout the entire country, I want people to hear about how reliable and available CD’s are until they’re sick of being reminded! I want it normalized, at the front window displays of storefronts! I want damn classrooms in schools adding it’s use to their health classes! Full cultural integration baby, I want it so a part of every day life that anyone with conditioning, rather than too ashamed to get one, would be damn embarrassed to be found out they don’t have one yet! You all GET ME!?” 

Mike grinned, fistbumping Tim as he refused. 

Aiichi looked amazed. Of course he was aware of Diceans with conditioning. For fifteen years, and honestly before that, he had been personally drafting citizenship documents and talking with refugees about how to best suit their needs, not wanting to leave new people under his care from one system that didn’t care about them to another. But without any known cure for conditioning, there had only been ways to mitigate it. Explaining UBI, cracking down on employee contracts and seeing how workplace treatment actually existed in practice, learning common workarounds to best support the opportunity for them to work. 

An actual accessibility device like this? That would be--

“I’d like to propose, at least in marketing, calling it the CD Marker, just to establish that mental association from the beginning,” Hideki hummed, looking over the forms, “As well as potentially making versions where the ‘pen nib’ has a softer spring force, for those with physical limitations. You’ve noted that the more severe past side-effects have been absent in testing with newer versions, though I would propose a greater testing sample, or at least a warning to send in reports if they show up in a greater population.”

Looking up, he nodded in consideration. “I also realize it would be more difficult to actually find a volunteer, but should we find someone with conditioning and epilepsy willing to come forward, I’d propose another set of testing, along with grant resources, of course, to develop a version of the CD that doesn’t rely on flashing lights that may trigger a seizure in epileptic individuals.”

“Ah, good points,” Aiichi nodded, “Though, those are things mostly for marketing and accessibility options--important! But not reasons to keep CDs from market entirely. It really looks like you two have done your due diligence with safety and quality control, and all together those are things to note in the instruction manual.”

He smiled warmly at the inventors, and his grandson. “I’m sure that was the cause for invention, but this CD will be life-changing to so many people. And the well-being of the Dicean people is the primary goal of our government. So, I can happily say--yes, your proposal is accepted. We’ll have our marketing department get to work on getting the information out there, and we’ll have someone from the scribes team work with you two on the official instruction manual. You said production can start next week?”

“Damn right it can!” Miu smirked, clasping her hand onto Mike’s shoulder as she said, “The dream team’s on the damn case! Besides, once we finish the details of making sure installations keep the correct flashing sequence in mind? These things are a piece of cake to put together, any moron with enough patience and steady hands can do it! Not invent it though, that’s a whole different ball-game. You dumbasses really should be giving this kid a medal, but I’m certain he’s gracious enough to accept merely a grant for his next invention. In advance~” 

Mike’s shoulders flinched slightly at the clasp, but the proud, excited gleam in his eyes didn’t waver. “And to be written down as the inventor. ‘Teavee’s CD Marker’ is a mouthful so I don’t need the damn marketing, but for historical records? Ain’t gonna just be ‘and co’.”

Aiichi smiled amusedly. “That sounds more than fair, credit where credit is due. I’m sure this is hardly your first invention, Mike, but it is an incredibly promising start to a public career. Now, as I am aware of your internship with Miu, a developmental grant will likely go through that channel since you’re not working on these projects through a school, for example. But Dicea would be delighted to aid your potential.”

“Oh fuck yeah,” Mike breathed, hands balled at his sides. 

-

Xigbar believed, to his very core, that the best way to keep his people safe, happy and out of trouble? Was to keep them busy. All the time. 

This was proving exceedingly hard to do even the very first day of their house arrest. Axel and Ava had been sent the day before to go grocery shopping and look casual, calm and happy in front of people. They had returned with a carriage of grocery, and the after that, dinner and then figuring out sleeping accommodations for everyone that was mostly about putting the carriage safely within the backyard fencing and starting a fire to let them enjoy some heat.

Then! A big breakfast the next day! 

Then! Group stretching and exercise! 

Then! Clean the house! 

Then! Uh, help with the garden! 

Then! Lunch!

Then! ….uuuuuuh…

When Xigbar was in the middle of informing the Ribata Empaths ‘Guess who’s tearing down and then rebuilding the fence!’ it was Linnea who came to the rescue, suggesting that they should start introducing themselves to the other empaths as well, asking the Chonis empaths to start showing them the island they all keep hearing about. Xigbar had proven a little reluctant on this idea–he had gotten really invested in the idea of rebuilding the fencing better–but conceded that in staggered groups they could start visiting. The ones left behind working on dinner and doing at least some fencework.

It was good to keep busy! Rest was important, of course, but having things to do left little time for wallowing in the ennui of existential despair. Or for boredom to creep up and provoke trouble-making ideas. 

But there was a difference between keeping busy, and creating work for work’s sake, and with more than enough hands to keep things running past the extra tasks they brought, after checking in with Aced again, making sure he was comfortable, and, erm, well, considering he’d been up bright and early looking a little pale, but otherwise fine, Anthony didn’t necessarily need to be checked on, but Linnea still did, she intervened before Xigbar started getting antsy enough to tear the house apart just to rebuild it. 

So that was how Linnea had ended up in the first group, looking around the literal tropical island with wonder. 

All as a man with slightly different coloring than Lauriam confidently walked over, wearing bright red pants and a black button up that was half tucked in stylishly, rolled up to his elbows, and unbuttoned halfway down his chest, a purple pendant necklace dangling in the open space. 

“Right out of some pastel storybook, right?” Marluxia drawled, smiling with a suspicious sweetness to the guests. “Welcome to Destiny Island, don’t worry, nothing bites. Anymore.”

“Anymore?” Ava whispered to Ira, who gave her a reassuring smile, before looking around in wonder some more. 

He had never seen the ocean before. And, sure, he still hadn’t, but he had also never seen a projection of one before either. Had never met someone who had seen the ocean for themselves. At least not had seen it, and Ira had been in a position to ask them to show it to him.

“Does the ocean really look like that?” Ira asked, staring out at the horizon, “Or is it like the moon and exaggerated?” He asked, glancing up at the distant heart-shaped moon hanging over the bright day, faded but there. 

“I could just say yes and I think we’d all be right, but,” Marluxia sighed exasperatedly, “I technically haven’t seen the ocean myself…so we can do the next best thing and ask the double proxy to pr - Demyx?” 

Marluxia looked around for a second, seeing a clear distinct lack of annoying musician. Sure, they weren’t all crowding around to welcome and show off the island, but Ienzo and Demyx had said they’d likely be around to meet and greet and answer questions as people came by. 

And Demyx had just been there.

Eyebrow twitching slightly, Marluxia turned to yell, “DEM-DEM GET YOUR ASS BACK HERE!”

ㅍ_ㅍ Apologies, I think Marluxia is quite excited to show off to new people.

Linnea looked down in surprise at the little…thing? “Oh, hello there!” She smiled slightly. “I can’t say enthusiasm isn’t adding to the welcome. This is rather new territory for all of us. It’s nice to meet you? Are you a part of the island, little one?” 

ㅍ_ㅍ You could say that.

“GIVE ME A SECOND!” Demyx called from behind the waterfall, “ONE SECOND!” 

No one had told Demyx they were dressing up! He had seen Marluxia all dressed up and felt like a chump! He wanted to make a good impression too! 

So after scurrying out of sight, he had gone through his mental list of outfits and came back out wearing just the… oddest looking jacket, along with boots with spikes all over them and jeans too tight on him ripped to shreds, as he parted the waters with his sitar, grinning and sticking out his tongue as he pointed at the group. “Helloooo! And welcome! To the show!” 

“...show?” Ava whispered. 

“Oh, you actually want to hear something? Yeah that makes sense, you didn’t want to come all this way to not get a song out of the Demyx! Pre-superstar fame! You guys are lucky, you get to say you heard it BEFORE it was cool!” Demyx grinned, setting up his sitar and–

Lauriam put a gentle hand on the strings, cutting off any strums preemptively as he gave Demyx’s clothes a confused once over before sighing. “Maybe…save a concert for later, Dem-Dem. Maybe if everyone wants to come over? We were just going to ask if the ocean looks right, from what Sam’s told you.”

Lauriam gave their guests a gentler smile. “Mom, Ira, Ava, this is Demyx, our resident musician and ocean-lover. Dem-Dem, this is my mom, and Ira and Ava. Sorry for the brief wait, or Marluxia jumping the crossbolt, I went to go get our welcome gifts.”

As Marluxia stopped face palming, snapping that he wasn’t jumping anything, they were here so he was right on time, Lauriam offered three flower crowns to the guests, one with pink and orange flowers for Linnea, one with blue and gold flowers for Ira, and one with pink and white flowers for Ava.

And Linnea could only look between the crowns and…Lauriam. And Marluxia. For a moment. Before she stifled a giggle behind her hand. “Oh dear, you’re really pulling out all the stops for this, aren’t you? That’s very cute.”

“The ocean? Absolutely! The island itself? Maaaaaybe a little unrealistically small?” Demyx grinned, letting his sitar disappear, a good sport about it as he and Lauriam headed down to join the group. “Oh, and there’s more seaweed on a real beach, if my friend’s beach is anything to go by!”

“What’s seaweed?” Ira asked. 

“Like grass but for the ocean!” 

Ira was trying to imagine that–ocean grass, huh?--when he startled at his gift. Taking the blue and golden flowers, he politely bowed, immediately saying, “Thank you for sharing with us,” before looking at the flower crown, “Um–”

“Go ahead, Ira, put it on! It’s cute!” Ava said cheerfully, hers already on her head, absolutely delighted with the gift. 

Ira flushed in embarrassment, but gamely put his on as well. “Um… forgive us if we’re a bit stiff…”

“Yeah, we heard you guys were kinda shy! Well, some of you,” Demyx grinned, throwing his arm up and around Ira’s shoulders, ignoring the flinch that it caused as he declared, “So, let’s give you a full tour, and you can feel free to speak up when you’re comfortable! Now I say we start with an easy walk up and down the beach and piers, and we’ll show you doors to other worlds as we come across them! Come on, we’ll go start with the cave! Spooky cave time!”

As they headed towards the cave, Demyx looked over his shoulder at Linnea, smiling brightly. “So! You’re Lauriam’s mom! The resemblance is striking, but I’m sure you know that! Shame he didn’t get your cute smile~”

Lauriam smiled softly at Ava’s delight. He and Marluxia hadn’t fully come to any conclusion about how to make the others more comfortable on the island. To a point, there was no easing paranoia and uneasiness. But there were some things that they could do to be welcoming, and gifts was something they had decided on, spending the latter part of the morning selecting flowers from their world to make into crowns. They didn’t have much more to go on than what the others looked like, but Lauriam had hoped they’d like them. 

(...and they’d agreed it wouldn’t hurt to have something associated with the island on as they looked around. There shouldn’t be any conditioning mechanisms still ‘on’, for lack of a better term, but just in case, the crowns should let the island accept the guests as a part of it.)

Falling into line as Demyx led the way with Ira, Linnea gave Demyx an amused look. “You really think so? I think Ammy’s smiles are plenty cute, if you can manage to earn them.”

Marluxia glowered at Demyx with a grin. “Dem-Dem if you flirt with my mom I’m telling Aeleus.”

Ienzo would probably just be confused if he cared at all, Zexion was literally there, but their parents? Now there was the threat.

Rolling his eyes a little, Lauriam smiled softly down at Ava. “Sorry we haven’t really had time for a more personal introduction. I’ve heard you’ve figured out some pretty intense specializations with your Empathy?”

“Get your mind out of the gutter, I’m just paying a compliment! What smile, who’s ever seen this jerk smile?” Demyx then grinned brightly at the new people, jerking his thumb at Ienzo. “I’m dating this cutie! Annnnd the other cutie, where’d he go?” Demyx asked, looking around their feet. 

“Oh, me?” Ava asked softly, “I suppose so. I never used it in the real world until after I left the factory, of course, but I found the dizzying thing I do for conditioning ended up translating. It’s actually nothing that impressive, it’s just… scrambling thoughts a bit.” Ava said with a humble shrug, “With some practice I think anyone could do it.”

“She says that, but for the most part? None of us can,” Ira said, pride clearly in his voice as he bragged for her, “We can make people a little dizzy or confused for a second, but the steady, mindless static she manages? She’s just exceptional.” 

“Annnd this is the cave! The spooky cave of mad scientists! And then the spooky cave of very cheerful teenagers!” Demyx showed off, pointing at the doors, “That one leads to Even’s world, he’s our resident mad scientist and Ienzo’s dad. That one leads to Sora’s world, Sora is super nice, even when he’s stabbing you with a ‘get better’ sword!” 

Linnea blinked, perhaps less surprised to see someone new suddenly there than she would’ve been without Hao and Xehanort’s shenanigans. “Oh! Well met.” She nodded to the young man who, even if Lauriam was wearing things similar to what he was physically wearing, looked incredibly underdressed compared to the others, just wearing a black hoodie and sweatpants as he blinked at Demyx’s fit before nodding back to Linnea. 

And at her slightly considering look as she glanced down ostensibly to look for Zexion as well, Ienzo explained, “I’m Ienzo, you briefly met Zexion. Even mentioned that they touched on the concept of Chibis with you all--Zexion is my Chibi, as Marluxia is Lauriam’s.”

“I…see,” Linnea said slowly, not seeing because the little doll-like singing being didn’t seem like Marluxia at all, who just seemed like a regular person. 

Smiling a bit at Ira’s brag, Lauriam nodded, impressed. “That’s really incredible. Believe me, I’m sure our resident nerds,” he nodded to Ienzo, “Could say a thousand words and have a million questions about it, but that kind of precise technique is wild. And cool you’ve managed to adapt something from your conditioning techniques.”

As Demyx did the tour guide thing with the cave, Lauriam couldn’t help flinching a little, crossing his arms over his chest as he described the keyblade.

“A ‘get better’ sword?” Ira asked, “How does that… work?”

“Honestly, I am not entirely sure. But it seems to!” Demyx grinned as they continued out of the cave, pointing to the wooden bridge that led out to a singular tree-house. “Over there is Riku’s place! Well, sort of, it’s where you can start to get to Riku’s place. His place is up on the moon. But I think it was actually Ansem, his Nobody, who did that, Riku just originally took the tree. You guys will like Ansem, he’s a sweet kid. Bit of a theater kid, but who among us hasn’t been!?” 

“Where is his Nobody now?” Ira asked, feeling compelled to, after talking about Ansem like he was a person. 

“He’s awwaaaaay for right now,” Demyx said, “But he’ll be back! They’re all gonna be back!”

“Oh. On holiday,” Ira realized grimly.

“Yeah! On holiday!” Demyx said brightly, entirely failing to notice the tone as he continued, “The bigger one there that the tree connects to is Kairi’s! She’s got a whole ‘princess tower’ thing going on in there. Over there is where Luis’ door is, that bottom balcony, and if you go higher–oh, I should mention, when you’re visiting worlds? Luis is gonna be a favorite, trust me! His is a great hangout world! Over in the forest is Ienzo’s library, and higher than that is Xaldin’s, like, archeological dig site? Yeah I dunno I almost never visit there, it’s weird. Up on the roof is Lauriam’s garden, not gonna lie, that place is usually gorgeous, if you can get past the hosts.”

Marluxia rolled his eyes before speaking more quietly to Ira. “Not on holiday. It’s a long, tedious story, but La-La and the other Somebodies were down for the count, so I and the other Nobodies had to return to base essence to wake them up. So while the others aren’t around right now, obviously,” he gestured to himself, “they will be back eventually. Don’t go thinking it’s something it’s not.”

Lauriam flushed lightly. “It’s a little sparse, but Xaldin’s world is cool. It’s a good place to wander if you like finding weird nooks and crannies and secret passages to discover.” He gave Demyx a dry look. “And my world is always gorgeous, and it doesn’t even have a prerequisite that people know how to swim to get into it, like some people’s.”

“You don’t necessarily need to know,” Ienzo corrected. “I can’t swim, but Demyx’s current will deposit you in his world regardless.”

“Yeah, you just let the current take you, and you get delivered safe and sound~” Demyx agreed, before grinning proudly, “Even if you panic and struggle! The current will still take you! Guaranteed!” 

Ira and Ava gave him a grim, concerned look. Fears not abated. 

Demyx stopped near the end of the beach, pointing from a distance as he said, “Aeleus’ island is over there, Isa’s door is that broken looking gate over there, Axel’s is a little tough to find, you have to go through a closet in the treehouse to find it. Not really worth seeing, but! His entrance has a hot tub outside of it, so it’s worth finding it just for that. Annnnd I think that’s everyone!” Demyx turned before startling. “Oh, no, I forgot, Aqua’s is actually out in the ocean. Her world is tricky to get to by yourself, you really just want her to show you the way physically at least once, it’s hard to describe how otherwise.”

Grinning at Linnea, he said, “But, I know you must really want to see Lauriam’s world. Should we go check it out, guys?”

“Axel’s world can be a bit daunting, but it thrives in the matter of atmosphere,” Ienzo elaborated, “If you’re at all familiar with the action-fantasy genre, his world is like a ‘dungeon’ from one, and very thoughtfully put together. One of the worst places to hang out during the summer, though.”

“Filled with lava,” Marluxia explained more. 

Lauriam huffed an amused sound. “Usually Aqua will just jump off the dock to get to her world, but if you don’t know the trick to it, you’ll just stay in the ocean here. I think she wanted to make sure people wouldn’t fall in by accident if they were just swimming.”

“So you actually all have physical entrances to your ‘worlds’,” Linnea marveled, before rolling her eyes with a small smile, “‘Physical’, you know what I mean. Does that make it easier to traverse, such as not accidentally going to each other's minds all the time?”

“More or less,” Ienzo nodded. “Part of it was ease of initial conceptualization--some of us only learned of their Empathy once it was a forced issue in the factory, so to get people up to speed quickly using a more straightforward metaphor like creating an entrance in a physical location helped get to the point of things.”

“Even if the entrances aren’t the most straightforward things themselves,” Lauriam said lightly as they headed to one of the treehouses. Pointing up, he explained, “You have to nearly get on the roof for my world, so if anyone would like a hand up…?”

-

“Holy shit, Lauriam, Marluxia!” Demyx gasped, craning his head back and looking up at the dragon sculpture, “That’s incredible! It’s actually gorgeous! Wow!” 

“This is new then?” Ira asked. He had gamely tried to look at the garden around them, but it was hard to not look at the centerpiece of the place. It was eye catching, to say the least.

“Oh, that’s… a bit frightening,” Ava admitted, a small smile on her face, “But in a beautiful way. Is it meant to be a bit frightening? Or am I being sensitive?”

“Sound more shocked, why don’t you?” Marluxia grumbled, though there was a certain pleased, prideful air about him, gleefully basking in the others’ appreciation. Like a lot of art, it was hard to really call it quits and say the piece was finished, but at least where the sculpture was right now? It certainly looked like a complete piece. 

“It’s been in the works for about a week,” Lauriam explained, looking pleased with the attention as well, though he gave Ava a kind look with a little laugh. “It’s certainly imposing, so it’s not you.”

Ienzo had gone up to inspect the dragon more, it far more complete than the last time he had been by, and his Lexicon was bound in his arms as he peered over the molded, sculpted metal and flowers. “Fascinating… I wonder what it’s for…”

He didn’t get to ponder that more, though, before Marluxia smiled sweetly and went up to Ienzo, ruthlessly pinching his cheeks in opposite directions. “What was that? Hmmm, I’m sure I heard everyone saying, ‘wow, so cool Marluxia, you made a stand-out masterpiece, this is the most awesome piece of art we’ve ever seen’ and not you pondering over the use of aesthetics, hmmm?”

As Ienzo sputtered around o-oh, of course art doesn’t have to have a use, turning pink from more than just the pinching, Linnea marveled up at the dragon, before putting a hand on Lauriam’s back, giving him a proud pat. “I’m so glad you still make art. It’s not the easiest thing to do, where we were… This is gorgeous,” Linnea gave him a small, knowing grin, “Even if the flowers are a bit on the nose.”

Lauriam flushed lightly. “Thank you, though Marluxia’s been the one to make it. The flowers actually just showed up, but…” Lauriam smiled a little tiredly, though appreciatively up at them, “...it does fit, huh.”

“I feel like you guys are making gardener jokes, but it’s so lost on the rest of us,” Demyx huffed, as he gently patted Ienzo’s cheeks, like somehow adding even more friction would heal the damage so ruthlessly done by Marluxia. “Anyway, there actually is a lot more to the garden and the field, you can explore this place for a while before it loops in on itself, if you guys wanted to walk around?”

Ava looked around, frowning a bit. “We can walk around all of this and not… stumble across memories? Or other parts of your mind, Lauriam? I know when I walk around my own mind, I’m constantly stumbling into new things, it’s not all so…” she tried to find a word that fit but wasn’t also derogatory, “...compact. Can you access more of your mind from here?”

“Ava, they might simply want to keep some things private. This is clearly a lobby… oh, apologies, Ava, you weren’t around when Brentworth told us about lobbies,” Ira realized with a small, subdued wince, “But this sort of environment seems to fulfill it to a T.”

Linnea raised her eyebrows slightly, but…well, maybe that was something to discuss another time. Lauriam seemed to have a difficult time talking about Strelitzia at all, and with more tours to give today, she wasn’t exactly going to push for something emotional. 

Marluxia waved Ava off a little. “Just don’t go digging up all the plants and you’ll be just fine. I’d hope that isn’t your first instinct to enjoy gardens anyway.”

Wincing a little at his abuse, Ienzo half-shrugged. “It’s not quite a lobby, in the pure, technical sense. In actuality, the island is our collective lobby--it provides rudimentary defense, and it’s very difficult, I only don’t say impossible because of my awareness of great powers that could potentially bypass it, to go to one of our worlds directly without one of us purposefully pulling someone in. Because we’ve purposefully designed our worlds, however, this is how our minds naturally present themselves, and anything ‘more’, memories and such, actually molds itself into the given presentation.”

“For example, in my library there are actual books, copies of everything I’ve ever read or what I’ve been able to copy from other people, but within the shelves are books that are my personal memories, and likely other functions of my brain. They simply manifest as books, and not in other fashions.”

“Exceeeeept for weird puzzle rooms or organ rooms,” Marluxia pointed out.

Ienzo let out a sigh, gaze going lidded. “Those are more of an exception than the rule.”

“It’s the same for my world,” Demyx said. “Well, not the library and books part. Just the ‘you can find more by exploring the world more’. It can just be kind of tough in each world to figure out what ‘exploring’ actually looks like. For me? The presentation you find in my world is really the most shallow part of my mind,” Demyx explained, “If you want more of it? You have to be willing to swim or ride the current through more and more of the tunnels. And while I’m not entirely sure how it knows when to do and not do that, most of the tunnels will lead you right back to the stage. You either need my help getting through the tunnels, or be, I don’t know, particularly–”

OoO Powerful

O.O

OOO OH MY GOD LOOK ITS NEW PEOPLE HURRAY

OoO hey why did a power burst ripple from this around before I’m asking for a very nosy friend

“Gah! Auuuugh, why am I even surprised,” Demyx huffed, turning to the Ribata Empaths and gesturing to the hovering Amaina, “Guys, this is Amaina-chan. She’s what happens when you give a mouse a cookie. Just be aware, she shows up sometimes and there’s not a lot we can do to stop it.”

OoO why would you want to I am adorable!

Linnea startled at the sudden new addition and…likely the only reason she didn’t jump into action was the fact that she was in her son’s mind, and unexpected things were what she had already braced for. Lauriam’s quiet exasperated sigh probably helped too, neither him, Marluxia, Demyx, nor Ienzo feeling anything even close to threatened. 

Blinking at the new doll-like singing being, Linnea bowed lightly at the introduction. “Hello, Amaina Chan, it’s nice to meet you. I am Linnea, and these are Ira and Ava.” Giving her kids the time for their own introductions, she gave Amaina a curious look. “If you just ‘show up sometimes’ then…you are not a Nobody, like the Zexion we met before?”

ㅍ_ㅍ That’s correct.

o_o Amaina, what do you mean a power ripple? There was one yesterday but that wasn’t us.

OvO I’m Amaina-chan, I am very cute and I sing and I am P O W E R

And then suddenly, she twirled into the air, and she started to shift into different colors, each glowing light in gentle circles around her, as music filled the air, as she swayed side to side.

♪ Empaths big and smaaaall

Felt the brush of someone

Graze like a mist running through the air

Like a burst of smoke

Where you’re left with pretty ash through the air

Wondering ‘is that snow’

No no no no

It’s fire

Up past the mountain tops

Across the hillsides

burning on the packed mud

Specifically you guuuuys~ ♪

U.U

O.O

OOO YOU MAY APPLAUD

“Damn, that was a nice melody, Amaina,” Demyx said appreciatively, clapping.

OvO thank you I’m using it to prep for my big game.

“Um, perhaps I should ask, when you say power, you mean Empath-wise?” Ira asked, clapping as commanded, “Is it possible it’s just the presence of all of us in one spot?”

OoO nah it was specific. 

O.O just can’t figure out how specific

OOO ESPECIALLY WITH ALL THE SMALLER BURSTS THAT WERE HAPPENING IN THE SAME AREA THE SAME DAY WHAT THE HECK GUYS WHY ALL THE JUICE??

Most of them clapped, either just for Amaina’s sake or truly impressed with her song, though Marluxia remained stoic, just squinting at the Chibi. …fellow Chibi. Whatever. 

“Very beautiful,” Linnea complimented, though she gave Amaina a faintly puzzled look. “We did have a Situation yesterday, so that may be the ‘smaller bursts’ you’re talking about. If you’re referring to what Xehanort did, though, why would that be…’here’?” Linnea gave Amaina a more analytical look. “If you’re sensing something through psychic space, then that shouldn’t be an indication of physical proximity, and while you all are connected,” she nodded to the Chonis Empaths, “the rest of us aren’t.”

o_O Trenchant point. And none of the rest of us have rippled recently, I don’t believe.

Amaina shook her head. Not HERE, she said, gesturing vaguely to Demyx, HERE! She said, gesturing vaguely towards the Ribata Empaths. But not here-here, but heeeeeere. She insisted, gesturing to the sky.

“...Amaina, you’re doing that thing where you’re saying things that only make sense to you,” Demyx said.

OOO IT'S NOT MY FAULT YOUR DIMENSIONAL SENSES SUCK BAAAALLS

“Yes, that is what I said,” Linnea nodded, unphased by Amaina’s vagueness, though she gave Amaina a curious look, “...huh. I wasn’t aware that was something that could happen.”

Ienzo blinked at Linnea. “...translate for the rest of us?”

Looking a little tickled, Linnea said, “She’s saying that there were enough big ripples between all of us that, hmm, imagine the rest of us as stones in a large pond. There were the initial ripples, but because the rest of us were around and psychically attuned, those ripples bounced off us and created even more ripples, despite the rest of us not doing anything as powerful as Xeha, or even as intensive as Hao. And because you all are connected, that makes some of the ripples--”

She pointed down to Lauriam’s field. “Here.”

OoO yeah exactly!

O.O finally someone who can speak common

“Welllll, I bet it’s something to do with that big fight you guys were in yesterday. Though, I don’t know what Marluxia’s area would have done to add to the ripples. Lauriam, Marluxia, were you guys pulling any funny business yesterday?” Demyx asked them.

Ira and Ava watched the group speak, before glancing at each other. They were used to being a part of conversations they couldn’t actually participate well in, but their glance at each other was to confirm together that, no, neither of them knew what it might have been either. Not if it had to do with anything other than the boys themselves.

“Diverting attention on a large scale like that was something trickier than we’ve ever had practice with,” Lauriam said a little uncertainly, “But that didn’t feel like we were straining ourselves.”

“We weren’t,” Marluxia huffed dismissively, “It was child’s play, nothing even close to us having to ripple.”

“Curious,” Ienzo hummed, lightly running his fingers back and forth along the side of his Lexicon. “There’s always things happening subconsciously, but for a power surge that’s able to ripple, even if it’s bouncing off of someone else…that’s not something you’d do without noticing.”

Looking to Ava and Ira, he asked, “I’m sure the whole situation is odd, but have you two noticed anything particularly powerful happening, as people who don’t have a familiarity bias?”

Another glanced between Ava and Ira. 

“No, I can’t say I noticed anything like that,” Ira said.

“But then, that’s usually the sign in and of itself that something large happened, isn’t it?” Ava asked, looking a little shy as she offered, “Most of the most powerful Empath abilities I’m aware of all center around the idea of not being noticeable in some way. I can’t imagine what would require more power than specifically not being recognized while making some sort of substantial manipulation.”

“Fortunately, I don’t believe Xehanort nor Hao are capable of erasing memories outright,” Ira said, grinning warily, “But if I had to guess? One of them just did some tricky maneuvering to get us all to not see something. Though they’re both practiced at that idea, so I’m not sure why it would have caused a ripple this time. It would just explain why no one noticed.”

“Ooooooooooooh yeaaaaaaah something like memory erasing from… our side?” Demyx laughed sheepishly, “hmmmmm. Still wouldn’t explain why here though.”

“What would it explain otherwise?” Ava asked.

“I meeaaaan, one of our Nobodies used to be able to do that… but she’s not around right now, so.” Demyx shrugged. “Probably a coincidence!”

It wasn’t necessarily wrong, though not all encompassing. Sometimes power bursts happened and while you noticed them, there was just nothing you could do about it. However, that assumption of subtlety…

-

ㅍ_ㅍ Kairi, I have some questions for you, if you don’t mind.

Zexion appeared next to her in the physical world, unannounced and nonplussed.

Kairi looked up from where she was strumming a guitar, startling a bit, before smiling brightly from where she was sitting cross-legged on the roof. “Zexion! Ha, don’t tell me you could hear me practicing all the way from the island! Guess what I bought at the market before everything blew up yesterday?”

Kairi proudly showed off the old, simple brown guitar, chips in its edges showing a life passed through a few hands, though the strings were new. “I’m on the roof of the house we’re sort of waylaid in right now. No one’s complained about me practicing so far, so I think I’m not at least grating yet. Don’t tell Demyx, okay? I want to try to learn a song before I show him!”

o๐o !

Zexion peered at the guitar with interest, watching Kairi show it off, before he smirked lightly. 

ㅍںㅍ I did immediately think about telling Demyx, so good timing on the warning. He’s going to lose his mind when you surprise him with a song, that’s really cool, Kairi. 

o_o And no, I didn’t hear you, your secrecy at least as far as I’m aware is intact.

ㅍ_ㅍ I wanted to ask if you erased Lauriam’s memory recently, though. Amaina has stopped by while we’re giving a tour to his mother and the others, and she mentioned that a lot of us rippled the other day, but there was a specific reaction from his mind. 

ㅍ_ㅍ However, to his and Marluxia’s recollection, nothing happened. 

Kairi full body cringed, her face twisting into a grimace as she said, “Oooooooh, that.”

Nervously patting the side of her guitar, she grimaced some more, clearly uncomfortable as she admitted, “I sort of thought no one noticed… though, I don’t know why it’d be more obvious in Lauriam’s– oh!” Kairi startled, like something had just clicked for her, “He screamed! That’s right…and then Marluxia had said something…but I had already started doing the buildup for what I was gonna do by that point.”

“But I hadn’t really meant to do the whole room.” Kairi pouted, poking the strings in frustration, creating a little metallic sound from them. “Those jerk boys had frozen everyone and had started messing with one of our brains! Looking back at it, it might have been Marluxia’s? He talked like they had done something and it hadn’t worked. But I was just so annoyed! That they had frozen everyone! Even I could barely move, it was taking so much to stay conscious! So I thought to get back at them, I’d just take the whole memory out of THEIR heads! See how THEY like it!” 

Kairi huffed, clearly still annoyed, “So I just… did it!” before deflating a little, “But I wasn’t sure if it affected everyone else or not? I thought maybe whatever the boys were doing getting interrupted had messed up everyone else's memories of it, buuuuut in truth I’m not even sure how I managed to get the boys’ memory, let alone everyone. It didn’t feel like something I could target. It felt more like I did it to a space, and everyone inside of that space ended up being affected. Like an emotion dome sort of thing.”

“I’m sorry,” Kairi pouted, “I know it was dangerous. I was just so annoyed.”

Zexion listened to the tale, eyes widening a bit as Kairi explained her ripple, and what had spurred her into it. 

o_o No one did notice, that’s why I’m asking now. There was an unexplained ripple, apparently far more than what one of the others did, and Ava cleverly pointed out that the absence of recognition is in itself a sign. And you are our memory expert.

Sighing a little, Zexion gently patted Kairi’s hand. 

o_o Honestly, that’s an incredible feat you managed. Expanding out into an entire range of effect and achieving an advanced maneuver like erasing memories? I don’t know how much you remember those conversations, but we have been discussing the apparent trend of us being much more capable with our abilities once reunited with our respective Nobodies. Perhaps this is a sign of your harmony with Namine.

>_> And, like…what I’ve heard about those two kind of sucks. I don’t think any of us would be mad about you trying to protect Lauriam and Marluxia. Or sticking it to some jerks. 

He gave her a small, patient smile.

óvò Though, I’m sure you’d prefer to do things with purpose, even through annoyance. Learning guitar might be a more fun way to spend your house arrest, but if you’d like to practice more with your abilities, I hope you know Ienzo and I would be more than happy to practice together with you.

>_> Maybe let me or someone else know, if you can, if you feel those boys freezing everyone again. I’d be interested to observe the phenomenon, and I posit I could give you some backup as well.

Kairi let out a small sigh of relief, before giving Zexion a grateful grin. “Thanks for not being mad at me. I mean, I still have, like, at least five other people to worry about getting a massive scolding from. But it’s a relief to know you don’t think I was being, you knoooow,” Kairi winced, “‘Witchy’.”

“But alright! I will! To all of that,” Kairi said determinedly, “I know Namine worked really, really hard to learn to control our powers. Honestly, sometimes I thought maybe too much? It was a big fight between us a few times, me demanding why she felt the need to keep learning how to use this stuff, and when I finally got the answer…”

Kairi’s eyes lidded, an unpleasant, relatively recent memory for her making her look years older than her teenage self… before she shook it off, gently laughing. “But! If this sort of stuff is gonna feel that strong? Where I can just kinda do it without knowing how it works or how to really use it? That’s probably bad too! So maybe Namine was right and we do need to understand how to use these powers a bit more than just pretending like we can’t do it at all.” Kairi frowned. “But… not the way he was teaching her. It’d be a lot better to learn with you and Ienzo.”

“And yeah, I’ll tell you if the boys start doing that freeze thing. It’s wild! I mean, okay, it’s kind of cool, in a vacuum, that they can,” Kairi admitted, “But the way they used it? Nothing was even happening! They did it just because! And then tried to go into one of our brains! It was mean!”

Zexion gave her a soft look for a moment. 

ó_ò Even when I would call it out, I wasn’t mad at Namine whenever I’d call her a witch. Frustrated at times, maybe, but I think I explained myself pretty thoroughly why in the moment. When it comes to your abilities, neither of you do things thoughtlessly, and it’s never intentionally to hurt anyone. I can challenge those reasons, but that challenge doesn’t come from anger.

Zexion winced a little as Kairi talked of one of Namine’s philosophies in particular, before giving her a smile. 

ㅍںㅍ I don’t think it’d be surprising to you to say we’d prefer experimenting alongside you as well. 

He sighed softly. ㅍ_ㅍ I don’t know them, so I wouldn’t take this hypothesis to heart, but it sounds as though those two have been encouraged to thoughtlessly and frequently use their abilities as easily as breathing. That freezing everyone might seem just as reasonable as turning to whisper to someone. They have never had to consider the agency and respect of others, or worse, have been taught to consider the agency and respect of others as worthless, or beneath them. 

ㅍ_ㅍ It’s a dangerous mindset for those with strength to have. It shouldn’t be your responsibility to fix it, but…

≖_≖ Talk shit, get hit. 

ó_ò …

Zexion gave Kairi another soft look.

ó_ò …do you want a hug?

Kairi laughed at the ‘talk shit, get hit’, giving her brother an adoring smile. 

It was sometimes… hard. To be the girl everyone was afraid of. Largely because her Nobody was the Nobody everyone was afraid of, but Kairi had known that blaming Namine solely for the situation wasn’t really fair to her.

It was Kairi’s power that gave Namine the ability to do what she did. And ultimately, regardless of their fights, Kairi had let Namine learn how to use it. She could have stopped Namine. Could have sent her back to base essence and started again anytime. Like Riku did with his.

…but Kairi had gotten attached to Namine right from the beginning. Even being told over and over again that Nobodies were tools, that they were for torturing and little else, Kairi had felt such a sense of responsibility to Namine. Had made her a beautiful tower and a beautiful room and had encouraged her to make friends with the others and just wanted so badly to let Namine be her own person…

The only reason Kairi hadn’t volunteered yet to have Namine returned was the pressing knowledge that it was Namine who had sent them all into a coma. And yeah, there was some fear there. Fear that it might happen again. That Namine’s mistake–because Kairi didn’t believe it had been on purpose–would repeat, regardless of how either of the girls felt about it. 

Kairi knew Namine was dangerous.

…but so was Kairi. 

And maybe that was why Namine had struggled so much. Literally only half of herself was willing to put any effort into learning to use their powers. For every ability Namine mastered, Kairi’s reluctance had likely felt like an anchor, weighing her down, trying to dampen and temper what was happening. Namine unable to master their abilities because Kairi hadn’t wanted to.

If they were both working on it? If Kairi was willing to do her side of it?

“Yeah,” Kairi said, her voice shakier than she had expected it to be, “Yeah, I’d like one. Thanks, Zexion.”

There was suddenly more realistic weight settled on the roof, as arms wrapped around Kairi, a cheek on her head as Zexion held her close. Full sized. 

He didn’t know if he felt so fully like he had failed his little siblings. By the time they had come to the factory, Ienzo had been so fully in their head, and they’d already had so many constructs that he knew they had been…distant. Within the mindscape, he had always been interested and willing to help them out with their abilities and the maintenance of their worlds, and with just what it meant to be an Empath, but Zexion knew that even at his most invested, he had always been…

…distracted. How could he ever be truly focused on anything when his attention had been split in a hundred different directions?

Maybe he hadn’t failed them, but he certainly hadn’t been the person he wanted to be for them. Maybe it was a little late now, but late was better than never. And if he could be someone his little sister trusted with secret hobbies, and to help her train her abilities, and for hugs?

That seemed like a good person to be.

“Anytime,” he said softly. “And I do tend to have a freer schedule than Ienzo, so I do mean that.”

-

“...and those are everyone’s doors,” Marluxia finished, this tour a little less hands on than the last. He was no ball of light, but Aced was still looking a little out of sorts in his projection. Though, there weren’t a ton of more peaceful places than a placid tropical beach. 

“The others spent a lot of time in my world, unsurprising because it’s the best, though if there are any that have somehow caught your interest, the others won’t mind a look around,” Marluxia explained, almost giving Xigbar, Aced, and Invi a challenging look to make a choice. 

Invi had felt touched at the flower crown--hers blue and gold like Ira’s, but a different assortment of flowers--, a bit embarrassed that Linnea had apparently told Lauriam about her little hobby, and that that apparently had spurred this Marluxia--actually fully another person separate from Lauriam, which was easier to see in their mind--to mention that Kairi’s Nobody, Namine, was also an artist, and just…astounded by the island and worlds apparently around them. 

…but to make a choice about what to see? When that was literally someone’s mind?

It was no surprise she stayed quiet, deferring to Xigbar.

There really wasn’t a better place to relax for someone injured than a private, even-weathered, tiny tropical island with all the fixings… but Aced was not relaxing. 

He had been deeply shamed by being the only one of them injured in the fight, other than Anthony himself, who, ouch, was a mess. But Aced felt like he had really let down the group and made an embarrassment of himself in the eyes of Xigbar. And so despite the fact that his head hurt and he kind of wished he could just go lie down some more, he stood as tall and straight as he could, looking around for threats. Because he was ready! If there were threats! 

In fact, in fact! To show how vigilant he was, he started to ask, “Are there any dangers we need to watch out for–”

“Aced, give us a minute pal, try to hold back on that bountiful curiosity of yours until we’ve got a lay of the land,” Xigbar said, patting Aced’s back affectionately, before crossing his arms and looking around, “Hey, just so we’re clear? Are there any dangers we need to be made aware of?”

Xaldin gave the guy a dry look–when he had heard Xigbar was coming to this tour, he had to come see this disaster for himself–before catching Marluxia’s gaze. Rolling his eyes a little, as he said aloud, “There shouldn’t be. Not more than cosmetically anyway. All the dangers around here were designed with conditioning in mind, and for the most part that tends to wait until we go out of our way to activate them.”

“For the most part?” Xigbar asked.

“If you’re probing our brains looking for our Somebodies, they tend to just start up because we start them up. But we sort of can’t help it by that point,” Xaldin shrugged, “So I guess maybe don’t go trying to look too deep in any of our worlds and things will probably be fine.”

“Interesting, interesting. This Luis fellas world sounds like fun, buuuut I don’t think these two need the bad influence, now do you both?” Xigbar said, giving Invi and Aced pointed looks, “We’ve managed to avoid that stuff so far! We’ve already got enough going against us, no need to make ourselves even dumber and more reckless on purpose, right?”

“Yes sir,” Aced said quickly. 

“Hmm, I didn’t remember there being such an echo in here,” Marluxia drawled, rolling his eyes back at Xaldin. Though, for clarity, he did add, “Mostly, the biggest danger is being bored to death, or getting lost forever in a world like Isa or Ienzo’s. Not exactly threatening.”

Invi couldn’t imagine ever being bored in a place like this. 

Though, as Xigbar mentioned Luis’ world, she simply agreed, “Yes, sir.”

“Maybe you’d even enjoy being bored to death,” Marluxia scoffed. “Sounds like Aeleus’ world would be perfect.”

“You’ve seemed to enjoy it plenty in the past,” Aeleus hummed, before explaining to their guests, “I designed my world around sparring. I didn’t see a point in putting in attractions other than that.”

“Ooooh, a place to spar?” Xigbar asked, putting his hands on his hips and raising an eyebrow, “That could be useful! I’ve managed to keep these guys from entirely atrophying in the factories, and thankfully a lot of the chores and such required at least some activity, but when it comes to fighting? Unfortunately it just wasn’t something we could safely practice in the factory.”

“And boy does it show. None of these folks can fight to save their lives, and we’ve had some trouble with that in our journey. I mean, you saw how this once handled himself.” Xigbar said to Lauriam, patting Aced’s back, “Tries his best, he really does. But trying isn’t surviving!”

“I-I just was surprised by his swipe! I could do it next time!” Aced insisted. 

“Next time? Hopefully there’s not gonna be a next time, but seriously, son, do you need a ton of foresight to think to yourself ‘dodge the giant clawed hands’? That one feels obvious.” Xigbar chuckled, patting Aced on the back companionably, before looking to Aeleus. “Maybe you’d be willing to let us see your place? And I could start trying to work out how to get my group some proper practice then!”

It had been a mercy, that they’d had the space to be able to exercise. Not a ton, they weren’t exactly running laps anywhere, but space to do lunges or push-ups was space they made use of. 

Still, warding off atrophy wasn’t the same as learning to fight. Which was why Aeleus only considered most of them adept in the mental realm. 

Bowing to Aeleus, Invi said softly, “I have to thank you for covering me during that fight as well. I would’ve gotten just as injured as Aced if not for your interference.”

Marluxia raised an eyebrow at that. “You know, I don’t really think going up against a rampaging superweapon four times your size is an indication at all for fighting skill. It’s like, ‘oh nooo,” he dramatically drawled in monotone, “I’m sooooo bad at cooking, my four tiered cake is all lop-sided and only tastes good’. Sure, sure, it happened, but it’s just an unrealistic standard.”

Aeleus had bowed back to Invi, acknowledging the respect, before he nodded to Xigbar. “In the dearth of equipment and space, my world was invaluable for maintaining the balance of body, mind, and spirit. I would be happy to share that with you all as well. It serves to keep in mind that while spars can hone one’s instincts, it’s not one-to-one with a physical battle. Do not overestimate yourself.”

Still, he started leading the way to his island. Groaning a bit--they were seriously going to spar central now? Seriously?--Marluxia slipped his hand into Xaldin’s as they walked, Invi quietly noting that. 

“Alright! This will be invaluable for us! You two, be sure to be respectful and prompt if someone asks you something, alright?” Xigbar said to Invi and Aced, “We’re guests, but more than that, we don’t know anything about the environment. So keep your ears and eyes open, and don’t make anyone say anything twice! You only get a chance to duck once!”

“Yes sir!” Aced said excitedly. Only wincing slightly at his headache. Yes! Another chance to prove himself! 

-

Honestly, as they walked to the island, what Marluxia said was…right. There wasn’t a whole lot of anything. 

Until a series of blank, but glowing outlined spaces appeared. Darting ahead slightly, Marluxia reached out to touch on--

“Simple, to show,” Aeleus cautioned, still holding onto Marluxia’s wrist tightly, giving a passive stare as the Chibi pouted. 

“Come oooooon, I wasn’t going to immediately throw them to the deep end!” Marluxia huffed, before touching one of the spaces. A small scan of light ran down the space, as a…well, profile card appeared, Marluxia smiling haughtily in a small square picture, before in the information below there was a silhouette of a scythe labeled ‘Graceful Dahlia’, and a picture of a field, labeled, ‘Grass Terrain (flat)’.

Explaining to the Ribata Empaths, Aeleus said, “The terms of the spar are customizable. Each of us has long set up our own preferences, but you can consider your choices for weapon, terrain, and other conditions.”

“Woooooow, this is pretty cool, eh?” Xigbar said appreciatively, looking back at Invi and Aced as he asked, “See, this isn’t so intimidating now, is it? You could even think of it like a game! Low stakes, ways to play around with it! And you two were doubting me!”

“No we weren’t!” Aced was quick to assure, “I like the sparring idea! I think it’ll be good practice for conceptualizing movement in the real world!”

“Ey, remember what Aeleus said? They’re not equivalent, don’t get cocky, kid,” Xigbar said, “It has limits, and we don’t want to push those limits.”

“Ah, right! We have to keep reasonable expectations!” Aced said, “It’s not like we can really develop muscle memory in here.”

“Well don’t set your expectations to nothing, I still expect you to try your best to learn in here,” Xigbar said, looking around a bit… before pointing at Invi, “Invi! You’re easily our quickest to learn the most practical side of things, I want you to go in there and show us how it’s done! Be a good example!” 

“This guy isn’t even doing this shit to me and I’m confused what the hell he wants them to say,” Xaldin whispered to Marluxia, before stretching his neck. “I’ll go in there with her. Feel free to get creative with the weapons, have fun with it,” he said, as he stretched his arms over his head, before lowering his hands and several spears seemed to shoot down from the sky, hovering around him. “Like, real creative.”

“Both of your perspectives are true,” Aeleus rumbled softly to Aced.

Though, pointed out, Invi stiffened and straightened, giving Xigbar a nod. “Yes, sir, I’ll do my best. 

Eyeing the…floating spears, Invi flexed her fists for a moment before going to one of the glowing spaces, looking it over for a moment. 

(If all of the other Empaths had stored preferences, then it had data about them. That was…not something she should take the time to look through right now, though.)

Having no problem with grassy terrain, Invi thought for a moment about her weapon choice. And after a moment of tapping on it, the blankness of the area melted away into a flat, grassy field, while a hook sword with spiked ornamentation (some of it looking like leaves) appeared in Invi’s hand. 

And then the snakes started falling from the sky. 

“Heads up, buttercup,” Xaldin said, twisting his palms up as the spears aimed up, and then criss-crossed over each other, creating a little umbrella over himself that had the snakes bounce off and land away from him. 

But that trick only lasted as long as the snakes recovered on the ground, before they veered up and hissed, moving quickly and aggressively at him. 

One or two alone wasn’t a threat, but Xaldin knew that every second that went by, more and more were going to fall, and that they’d literally crawl over each other in their attempts to bite and spring at him. Xaldin looked like an orchestra leader as he jerked his hands up aiming and spinning the spears at as many snakes as he could.

Meanwhile, on the sideline, Aced gasped, “Woah! That’s really impressive! Also, look at Invi’s weapon! I’ve never seen anything quite like that before… should I cheer?”

“I think it’d be okay, yeah,” Xigbar said, carefully watching the proceedings. Snakes falling from the sky and biting weren’t too bad. He doubted it’d exacerbate Aced’s head injury…

“G-go! Invi! You’ve got this!” Aced risked trying to shout, only sound a little strangled in his attempt to both be loud and somehow be quiet at the same time.

Invi only waited a moment to see Xaldin’s response before she started running towards him. Being at a distance was the safer option, while he wasn’t using his spears in hand, and thus she figured they could travel any distance, he would be more focused on threats near him. So, theoretically, she could just count on the snakes coiling near him indefinitely. 

But that wasn’t really a fight. 

As she ran, Invi kept her sword low, gathering up the snakes within its hook, all to swing and effectively triple the number attacking the man as she got closer. 

“HA!!” Marluxia loudly guffawed, unconcerned with being quiet. “KICK HIS SMUG ASS, INVI!”

“Tsk. What I get for trying to be sweet,” Xaldin huffed, having assumed that the new kid would get overwhelmed by the environment stuff first. It was actually impressive, how focused she was. But then, maybe that was why Xigbar had wanted her to go first, for something he was planning to put his whole group through. 

That, and already using the environment to her benefit? Impressive. Not gonna lie. 

Thankfully, the other person being impressive wasn’t enough to set off Xaldin’s sadism. He found that usually the spars didn’t, which was why he felt fine volunteering to help the new girl with her first. He didn’t tend to feel sadistic when a normal, even fight was happening, his opponent more interested in their own footwork than him usually. 

The only times his sadism got triggered in these things were if his opponent was freaking out for some reason–almost never happened in Aeleus’ world, not to them anyway–or if the fight was truly unhinged. 

(Marluxia loved the spars, if he had the right opponents. Xaldin had admittedly had to run off after several spars with Marluxia to rub one out, it the only way to calm himself down.)

(Though to be honest, Aeleus had inspired similar feelings in spars. Usually only dampened because Aeleus very often kicked Xaldin’s ass. Which was less sexy >:()

Xaldin twisted his hands around into an open palmed ball, and then spun them clockwise, as his spears circled around and then spun rapidly, knocking the snakes that had been thrown at him off their trajectory, their bodies slicing into neat little cubes. But Xaldin winced as this left his back open, a snake getting caught down the back of his shirt as he reached back to wrench it off, the three spears connected to that hand disappearing as he did so, leaving his entire right side open. 

Still, he brought up his left hand over his chest, and the three spears connected to that one all made a shield to bash against her sword, which he looked at curiously. “What, did you see Sora’s new toy already?!” Xaldin asked, before clapping his hands together, six spears shooting out towards Invi.

Aeleus watched the fight carefully. He didn’t think he would have to interfere, Xaldin didn’t often lose himself, and he knew how to adjust for different levels of skill, but if the Ribata kids were going to be learning to fight? Then it was important to see how they instinctively took to it, what they trended towards. 

And honestly for a non-fighter, he was already a bit impressed with Invi. Not just anyone would hear ‘be creative with your weapon’ and would think ‘snakes’. 

Seeing the opening, Invi swung towards Xaldin’s open side, arms trembling slightly as she made contact with his spears. Though, her eyes widened a little in confusion at his remark. “Sorry? No, I haven’t.” …did Sora have something similar? So far all she’d heard about was his ‘get better sword’. Maybe they looked alike?

There wasn’t much time to ponder that, though, as Invi had to quickly move back and to the side, making more use of why she’d chosen a hook sword purposefully. Like with the snakes, she tried to snag the spears from the side, but found an issue when she couldn’t just move them. A small frown coming over her face as she muttered, “Full control, then…”

“Mhm~” Xaldin said, closing his hands so that all six spears disappeared, before jumping backwards as he opened his hands again, the spears reappearing as they spun around him, kicking off the ground when he landed as he tried to shoot the spears out to slice at her.

Invi might have noticed by this point that while the spears themselves had range, they couldn’t actually go that far from Xaldin himself. Their range was entirely their obnoxiously long length (He’d admit to people with a smirk) but that their floating property was more to give him the ability to hold six at once. Not to send them flying a far distance. 

This was mostly due to his limits of being able to focus on the spears. If he sent them too far, he suddenly couldn’t control what they were doing or bring them back to himself. Something just didn’t work in his brain when it came to envisioning them still functioning if he wasn’t, in theory, able to touch them at any given point. 

So they shot out. But no more so than someone jabbing a real spear into the air might.

Range, think about range… The spears were both defensive and offensive, anything going towards Xaldin would be blocked, and he was adept enough to deal with things that weren’t just thrown, so…

Invi moved back again, using her sword more just to purely block this time as she moved away from the main thrust, before she kept going, scooping up more snakes this time, but immediately throwing them over Xaldin. Making eye-contact with one on the ground at the same time. 

Most of the snakes had been decently sized vipers, creatures that posed a threat just from the pain of a bite itself, but also the threat of venom, however much that was actually an issue in a sort of simulation within the mindscape. But they weren’t the only snakes around, and as Xaldin defended against the snake launch from above, from below a small garter snake slithered up the man’s body. 

There was only so much Invi could learn in a day, but it was never from lack of paying attention. And so far, she’d learned a few things. 

Marluxia was brash, prideful, snarky. The type to turn most things into a sarcastic comment rather than even let on a hint of vulnerability. 

And he was also in a relationship with Xaldin. 

With that in mind, the snake whispered in Xaldin’s ear. 

“Xaldin!” ‘Marluxia’ huffed, a clear pout in his voice that almost edged into a whine, clearly trying to play off being breathless. Trying to play off being impatient and maybe even overwhelmed, even as he demanded attention. 

Xaldin’s eyes widened. Gaze immediately darting towards Marluxia. 

Here was the thing. Xaldin wasn’t stupid. A quick glance at Marluxia was enough to know he wasn’t being called for, not a true distraction… but Invi hadn’t tried to make Xaldin think Marluxia had called for him. No, no, that’d be too easy. That would just require, again, a quick glance to confirm it wasn’t happening.

Invi had caught Xaldin’s attention, and then pulled it thoroughly away from the fight.

It was a dumb and stupid mistake, but Xaldin literally stepped on his own feet when trying to jump backwards from a strike he knew was coming. Not because he could see them coming, not at first, because he was, as stated before, absolutely peeking in Marluxia’s direction, that huffy little whine basically echoing in his head. 

The stumble moved his arms in an unexpected direction, which moved his spears out of the way. And by the time he was looking forward again, SO MANY SNAKES.

“God DAMMIT!” Xaldin shouted, trying to pull and brush the snakes off of him, but way too many of them were digging into his clothes and starting to bite, “Ow, ow, FUCKING OW AELEUS!”

Marluxia had been watching the spar amusedly, cheering whenever Invi had the upper hand, though when for…no reason? Xaldin looked back at him? He could only give his boyfriend a small puzzled look. 

Especially since with that? It was decided. 

With a small hum, Aeleus clapped his hands together and the ground rumbled, everything from the grassy field to the weapons to, yes, the many, many snakes disappeared. 

With her hands suddenly empty, Invi stiffened, before bowing to Xaldin. “Thank you for the spar.” And then she turned towards Aeleus and Xigbar, waiting for assessment. 

Maybe that wasn’t something Aeleus intended, but he did have some words for her. “Good fight,” he softly praised. “You do not move like a novice, and you have the kind of in the moment strategic instincts that those who do not have spent years cultivating. It’s something that will serve you well, not just in battle, but in many aspects of life.”

“You do tend to hesitate when planning your next move. Sometimes, you will find yourself against an opponent that will punish that. It’s not a reason to charge in without a plan, but there are ways to keep your body in motion while your mind plans. We can work on those.”

As Aeleus gave his advice, Marluxia jogged over to Xaldin, raising an eyebrow. Lowering his voice to avoid eavesdroppers, he said more gently than his usual timbre, “You okay? I didn’t think it’d actually bother you if I didn’t cheer for you.”

“You did amazing, Invi! The snake thing!? Blew my mind, I didn’t even realize that was you at first! How creative!” Xigbar said cheerfully, before pointing out, “It’s great for a playful fight like this, but don’t forget, you have to consider defensive action more! You’re quick and smart as hell, but you’re a thin girl, one solid blow is going to take whatever it hits out of the fight! We really gotta get you to eat more, you need more meat to cut through, but she just can’t seem to put on weight even now that we’re out of the factory,” Xigbar said, that last line seemed to be murmured to himself, like this was something that had bothered him for a bit now, before grinning brightly, “Excellent work! Proud of you!”

“Though, seeing that fight? You, big guy, are not sparring today,” Xigbar decided, clasping Aced on the back. “I wanted to see how realistic the blows were in this environment, and BOY those hits and bites look like they hurt! Nope. Maybe tomorrow!”

“But, but, I can do it–”

“Don’t make me say it twice,” Xigbar said cheerfully.

“...yes sir,” Aced said, before turning to Invi, trying to keep his cheer up as he complimented, “That was really impressive, Invi! No notes!”

Meanwhile, Xaldin was laid out on the ground, glaring at the white void above them.

“Hey flower,” Xaldin said, “Ask me if I have a snake in my pants.”

Invi bowed her head, taking the criticism. Considering how defensive Xaldin’s kit seemed to be, even making a design for it Invi knew she’d lose a tank versus tank battle. Still, that wasn’t reason to forgo defense entirely. “I’ll do better to keep in in mind, sir, thank you.”

Though, she did crack a smile at Aced’s compliments, her eyes crinkling a little. 

(It wasn’t like the factory had starved them, but they certainly hadn’t been in charge of their own food. So over the past six years, usually surrounded by teenage boys? She wasn’t starving herself either, but it had made Invi feel a little better to assuage some of their hunger pangs when she could.)

(It wasn’t a necessity anymore, food far more plentiful, but…well, it wasn’t limitless. And they still had a gaggle of teens to feed.)

Marluxia’s gaze went flat. “...you are not telling me fighting her wound you up.”

“How about you interrogate me about that back in my world. I feel like I could use a hard surface right about now,” Xaldin said, standing up and grasping Marluxia’s hand, “Lauriam can handle the next tour.”

-

Lauriam could not handle the next tour, at least immediately. Which was fine, in a sense, because the next tour wasn’t happening immediately. 

But Lauriam felt a bit less fine scrambling to the upstairs bathroom to take a shower, muttering frantic curses under his breath towards Marluxia and Xaldin the whole time. 

-

Marluxia was caught off guard by pleasure, the slow build all of a sudden hitting him like a carriage. The startled, desperate gasp of Xaldin’s name as he dug his nails into his boyfriend’s shoulders probably wasn’t unappreciated, though. 

-

Sora, Kairi and Riku hopped into the island first, waiting for their guests as they discussed the game plan together. 

“I think we should bring them into Demyx’s world,” Sora said, “It’s become really pretty since Demyx’s taken full control of it again. Lots of fish!” 

“Are we really trying to impress these guys?” Riku asked, visibly annoyed as he dug his toes into the sand, “They’re assholes, they’re not going to be interested in anything we show them.”

“Riku’s right,” Kairi nodded, before her eyes lit up in a dazzled aggression, “We should push them into Aqua’s world and just watch them get lost for ages. That’d be fun!”

“Guuuuys, come on, that’s not the right attitude,” Sora sighed, crossing his arms as he shook his head at his friends, “So we had a rough introduction! We can still turn this around. Don’t forget, these guys have had it just as hard as us. Maybe even harder!”

“Doubt it.” Riku said grimly.

“My point is, if they’re acting funky, we know it’s not for no reason. It’d be like getting mad at Lauriam or Even for being grumpy sometimes. They’re not grumpy for no reason! Life sucked!” Sora said cheerfully.

Riku bit his lower lip, clearly wanting to argue… before he sighed, shrugged, “Fine. We can be patient. But I swear, if they pull another thing, I’m gonna punch them square in their jaws and–”

“Is that them up there?” Kairi asked, squinting up at the treehouse, seeing three figures head into one of the rooms. “Don’t tell me they decided to explore on their own?”

Sora winced, rubbing his face, “...maybe they don’t realize we’re here! Let’s go catch up with them!”

This was truly one of the greatest questions for the ages. 

Was Gula being punished? Or was this shitty luck?

It made sense for Linnea to go first, considering she was seeing her son’s mind, but her group made sense first. If there was danger, if this was a trap, then having some of their least vulnerable and clearest minds go first was just logical. Linnea would see something coming, Ira was the ultimate jack of all trades back up, and Ava had incredible control over her abilities. 

Aced was injured, so it made sense for him to go whenever Xigbar did, for someone to watch his back. 

But that’s where the logic started to fall apart. It was just preference and stubbornness that Xehanort and Hao would go together, and because they were going in groups of three, that meant they wouldn’t go with Xigbar and Aced, so that left Gula and Invi as interchangeable. 

So. That left the question. 

Was Gula being punished, or was it shitty luck that he was the one left to babysit the prodigies?

Ugh. 

“Weird, isn’t it,” Xehanort hummed as they explored the island. “It is how they explained it, but this place doesn’t feel like any one person. I guess it just means I didn’t believe them, but they really are all swirled together.”

“It’s a little creepy, isn’t it?” Hao whispered with a small smile, gently placing his fingers against his lower lip as he look around the odd bedroom-like space that was hidden within the tree, “Have you noticed the graffiti? Sketched into the bark? I have a theory, give me a moment…”

Hao headed to a little bed–that was the odd thing about the room, it really looked like it was meant for a little kid–before reaching down and now gently tracing his fingers over the etched sketch of a hat–

‘Shuichi and Maki stared at the etching he had just made idly onto the wall. Neither of them could remember where they were, really, just existing on this strange island. And unlike a lot of their peers, they didn’t feel a strong need to go out and play, a sort of melancholy hanging over them that both recognized in each other but neither could really explain. 

They were just tired. Every time Shuichi woke up in this place, he felt like he had run a race, and he wasn’t sure why. Like waking up from a terrible, vivid nightmare that slipped away as soon as he had opened his eyes…but every time. Always.

If Maki felt the same way, she didn’t say it. She just looked a little dead-eyed. Sometimes Shuichi saw her press her nails into her skin and just stare at it. Like she was waiting to feel something. 

“...a hat’s a weird thing to put.” Maki said after a while of staring dully at the hat sketching, “The other kids all put their names and stuff. A hat isn’t a name.”

“It’s how I’m gonna be recognized.” Shuichi muttered, staring at the hat. No idea what he was even saying. Just believing it with all of himself as he said, “That’s me. I’m the hat.”

“You’re weird.” Maki said. “...do you want to come see mine?”

“Sure.” Shuichi said. 

But before they could go, someone–laced in shadow within the memory, but the silhouette clearly someone near their age–opened the door and told the two of them it was time to go…

–before pulling his fingers back, a little triumphant as he said, “Feel that. It’s even more energy. There’s even smaller pieces of more people. Isn’t that strange? Maybe it was other factory empaths that didn’t make it.”

“Hey! Guys, we were waiting for down in the beach! Tour hasn’t started yet!” Sora said cheerfully as he finished climbing the ladder to the balcony. 

Xehanort smiled a little at the trick Hao pulled, though he nodded in agreement. “That would make sense, since they said this place was a technique they learned from their predecessors. Like echoes of ghosts…”

“You two are so fucking weird,” Gula grumbled before looking over as one of their hosts popped up. Bowing lightly, he apologized gruffly, “Sorry,” before grabbing the backs of the younger teens’ shirts and started dragging them back towards the ladder. He only got a step before Xehanort phased Gula’s fingers through the shirt, though he did follow. 

“We heard a little from the others--you’re pointing out the entrances to your minds?” Xehanort asked to confirm with a little smirk. “That seems a little overly generous to people you barely know. Though I suppose inviting us to this space is already.”

Hao was exceptional at stopping people in their place and using a delicate touch to see easily into the deepest parts of them… but his actual control in other peoples ‘worlds’ as the Chonis factory empaths called it was severely limited. He was much better at ‘seeing’, and controlling what other people could see, then actually destroying or creating anything, or manipulating the physical environment. 

All that to say, he pouted in Gula’s grip, getting dragged along before being let go to bow as well, his expression sweet and polite…even as he giggled lightly at Xehanort’s point. 

Sora laughed lightly, while Riku and Kairi just glared behind him, “It’d feel a bit mean to keep you out of what we consider a pretty shared space among all of us! And we want you to feel invited to spend time with us!”

“Not to mention, our worlds aren’t as easy to mess with as whatever you’re imagining.” Riku said, crossing his arms, “We’re not afraid of you.”

“If anything? It’d be fun watching you try.” Kairi agreed brightly, grasping her hands behind her back and grinning with all of her teeth.

Sora sighed, rolling his eyes lightly in a moment of genuine exasperation, before trying, “We know you won’t actually try anything. You guys are… curious! There’s nothing wrong with being curious! But you’re not mean.” Sora said, looking over his shoulders pointedly at his friends about that. “They couldn’t have realized how bad the Anthony thing was going to get.”

Hao sighed, looking away, a little embarrassed at that, “I did underestimate all of that, a bit. I wouldn’t have said anything if I had realized.”

“So you regret what you said?” Riku asked.

Hao smiled blankly back at him.

Xehanort just crossed his arms right back at Riku, giving him and Kairi a light look. “Good, I think we would’ve given you the wrong impression if you were actually afraid of us. That, or you’d have a level of cowardice yet unprecedented.”

Gula tipped his head back, rolling his eyes so much they would’ve hurt in his physical body. Punishment, or bad luck… And it seemed he wasn’t just the babysitter for two teens. He was the babysitter for five.

Sighing a little, Xehanort frowned as Sora brought up Anthony. Once they’d been moved away from the fight, he hadn’t really gotten a great look at the guy again…but he’d seen a little. Honestly, he was baffled about just what had happened to the guy that he wasn’t dead after everything that had happened. 

“I did think when he said not to influence him, he meant more that it’d piss him off or make him act erratically, so it was more of a ‘last ditch effort’ type deal,” Xehanort grimaced a little, “Not, ‘I’m going to turn into a giant monster’.”

“So what, everyone needs to hand you an exhaustive portfolio of their medical history for you to take them at their word?” Aqua said dryly as she came up, giving the younger teen guests a cool look, though she smiled fondly as she ruffled Kairi and Riku’s hair. 

“Aqua!” Kairi said cheerfully, immediately moving to wrap her in a hug, while Riku immediately seemed to stand a little taller, pleased to see her as well. 

Hao watched that curiously. What an odd way to act…

“Good day, ma’am,” Hao said, bowing lightly as Sora finished explaining to Aqua that they hadn’t started the tour yet, “And please, don’t be cross with Xehanort. It was entirely my doing, the entire incident. Xehanort was as oblivious to what was occurring as any of the others. It’s a fault that falls squarely on my shoulders, and no one else.” 

Aqua smiled warmly, hugging Kairi back and giving Sora a light noogie when it was his turn--Gula watching that not as baffled as Hao, but curiously all the same--before she gave Hao an amused look. “Nice try, kid.”

Bowing back, she guessed, “Well, if you’re Xehanort, then I suppose that makes you Hao. And you…?”

“Gula,” Gula said shortly, bowing in greeting, “Thanks for having us.”

“Aqua,” she introduced herself, before looking back to Hao, “Nice of you to recognize your own responsibility in what happened, but nothing’s ever that cut and dry. You both disregarded clear warnings you were given, and while you didn’t know how bad it could get, that’s like…just shitty, man.” She gave them a small shrug, even amid the baffled double-take Xehanort gave her. 

“But,” she sighed waving that off, “I didn’t join in just to scold you, figure you’ve gotten enough from your own folks.” Hands on her hips, she gave the heart trio a proud, excited look. “Tour time?”

Hao glanced at Xehanort. They had been scolded quite a bit already, actually, by both Linnea and Xigbar, and even Ira had clearly tried to scold them, though he was pretty easy to cow so it hadn’t lasted long. And admittedly, they were doing Aced’s chores, because, like… they weren’t monsters. He was hurt. And Xigbar was the kind of guy who’d insist someone do them.

Xigbar was also the kind of guy who’d subtly hint that if the boys didn’t do it, maybe Aced would have to do it after all, shame about that concussion but someone needed to do it… and that had made the boys stick around and actually do the requested chores. It was a mean-spirited tactic, but alleviating pain and risk from someone who was injured was something that was ingrained as a value to the group as a whole. 

Once the immediate danger had passed, anyway.

“Tour time! Me, Kairi and Riku were all discussing what might be a good world to introduce them too,” Sora said, not mentioning that Aqua’s world had been brought up mostly as a prank, “They’ll see everyone’s doors eventually, but we thought it might be fun to show them why it’s fun to visit all of our worlds with an example. We’re just not sure which world would be best?”

Xehanort gave Hao a subtle shrug. He wasn’t quite sure what to make of this Aqua yet. She wasn’t quite trying to parent them, but it was obvious that, well, her role as a parent wasn’t just a word replacement, like it was with Linnea and Xigbar. Her style was…different, than he’d seen so far. 

But if she wasn’t going to harp on yesterday? Then it was best to move on as well. 

“That is a tough question,” Aqua huffed in amusement. “They’re all pretty damn cool. Maybe instead of ‘best’ we could ask--” She turned to the guests. “What do you guys like to do? Hobbies, scenery you’re drawn to, that sort of stuff.”

Xehanort raised an eyebrow before he half shrugged. “I’ve been spending a lot of time in temples and libraries, since we’ve been out.”

“Oh, easy! We should go to Ienzo’s world then, it’s a massive library!” Sora said, practically hopping on his heels. 

“Or, maybe Xaldin’s archeology dig? There’s that partially dug out ancient temple there.” Riku said.

“We shouldn’t go to Xaldin’s world.” Kairi said immediately, stone-face, before saying, “Ienzo’s world would be good too, because then they could meet Zexion.” 

“Zexion?” Hao asked, “Another empath?”

“Sort of. He’s Ienzo’s chibi. We told you about them.” Sora reminded them. “He helps maintain Ienzo’s library.”

Xehanort subtly lit up in interest. A ‘massive’ Empath library? Now that sounded intriguing. 

Especially for learning more about ‘chibis’ too. 

“Library sounds good, then,” he agreed.

Aqua nodded at that, noted Hao’s agreement, before she turned to the older teen, who looked a little checked out of the conversation. “What about you?”

Gula blinked, looking a little surprised to be asked. Though he just shrugged, giving Aqua a flat look. “What about me. Sounds like everyone’s on board with that, ready for a thrilling day of reading.” He twirled a finger in the air. “Woo.”

Aqua’s expression softened a little. “We’ll check out Ienzo’s world--say what you will, but it is a cool library--and in the meantime think about what you’d like to see. We can check out a world closer to your interests next, Gula.”

He gave her a slightly weirded out look at that, but without further ado, they headed towards the forest.

It wasn’t lost on any of them that Gula was feeling a little put-upon–he wasn’t the most subtle of people about his frustration with the group dynamics–but surprisingly it was Riku who slowed his pace, walking behind with Gula as they headed towards Ienzo’s library. 

“...so, Axel says you all have these mask things that are meant to block out empaths?” Riku asked, placing his hands behind his head, leaning back into his own grip, “But that they’re all animal themed? I heard yours is a panther. That’s pretty cool. Did you get to pick it?”

Gula gave Riku a side-eye as he slowed to match his pace, though he did answer. “Sort of. The lady we got them from had pre-made bases of vague animal shapes. She was more willing to make the trade for them if we basically did weird grocery shopping for her, and part of that was materials to customize them a little. The base I chose was for a big cat, I think they’re kinda cool.”

Gula’s gaze dried as he looked ahead. “Xigbar specified a panther.” Gula gestured loosely around his face, indicating the array of freckles splashed across his nose and cheeks.

“That’s kind of a bummer.” Riku said honestly, the shadows of the trees coming over them as they got to Ienzo’s door, “Do you like panthers at least?”

Gula snorted. “Never seen one in real life, but they’re cool in concept, I guess. Know Invi has a thing for snakes so I guess she’s happy about that, but her mask is probably the weirdest-looking because of it.” He smirked a little. “Ira had a damn crisis figuring out how to carry his around because of the dumbass horn on it.”

“Yeah, his was… Axel said it was some sort of horse?” Riku said, neither he nor Axel actually aware of that particular myth. “Axel called it a battle horse, but weirdly pretty.”

As they entered the library, there was a soft ‘oh’ sound from Hao as he and Xehanort took in the grand size of it around them. It reminded him a little bit of certain parts of the castle that he had been allowed to look around in, at certain points in his youth. He couldn’t recall if any of them had been a library perse, but he remembered rooms with many books in them. His father, before Hao had been deemed a failed experiment, had enjoyed talking to Hao in such rooms.

(Had he? Or perhaps Hao was mixing memories of Tengan visiting him in his mind, upon reflection. He recalled seeing his father quite a bit, growing up. But Tengan wasn’t a Flora who could jump from body to body. He might have been in Luminary for most of Hao’s young life, but a 3, 4, 5 year old Hao just hadn’t been able to recognize the differences between being in his dreams and being in the real world yet.)

(He definitely remembered the study, though.)

As Sora called out for Zexion, saying they had guests, Riku continued talking to Gula, “Xigbar’s kinda weird to you guys. I don’t know if that’s rude to point out, but it feels like you already know that, so…” Riku shrugged.

Xehanort’s jaw dropped in an expression of true wonder as they entered the library. Something that softened the haughty, cool expressions he’d started to adopt more and more throughout the years, making him look more his age in a different light than just teen-brand stubbornness. He’d imagined ‘large’ when they called the library massive. To him, the library in Romeliad was pretty big, and while they’d been in the town for a couple months now, he was still finding new books to go through. 

He did remember a bigger library from his childhood, so that was more around the size he was expecting. 

But this? Almost wall to ceiling there were bookcases packed with tomes, and the bookcases weren’t just lining the walls. Instead it was rows and rows and Xehanort couldn’t even begin to see where they actually stopped. And the feel of this place was just…the only way he could try to describe it was pure knowledge. 

“It’s a unicorn,” Gula half shrugged, “A mythical horse. Has different powers, story to story, but mostly how I heard about it growing up was that if someone called something a ‘unicorn’, it meant it was something really special and rare.” He snorted a little derisively, eyes lidding. “Have no idea why Ira picked it, and not one of those two.”

Or, rather, why neither of the huge egos had claimed it before Xigbar prodded Ira into taking it.

“I don’t think Xigbar’s been normal to a single person in his life,” Gula said dryly. “He’d probably wear that as a badge, too.”

ㅍ_ㅍ Ah, hello, welcome to Ienzo’s library.

Xehanort’s eyes widened more as the Chibi appeared, bowing lightly to all of them. 

ㅍ_ㅍ I understand if you’d just like to look around, but if you’re looking for any specific books, please just ask, and if we have anything appropriate I’ll locate it for you.

There was so much Xehanort wanted to ask the chibi about its nature (why did it look like that???) but before he could even help himself, he asked, “Do you have any books about the cosmic plane?”

Zexion raised an eyebrow. 

o_O Let me see.

As much as the teens had wanted to show off what was available from the island, admittedly, being in the library did sort of put things on hold in a general sort of way. Perusing books didn’t take a ton of time, but reading through them did, and it wasn’t like Hao or Xehanort were connected to the island and could take books to other connected spots to read at their leisure. 

So, the trio buckled in to hang around the library for a bit, Sora asking Kairi and Riku if they wanted to try to find some of those ‘comic books’ Anthony had mentioned. 

But Riku waved Kairi and Sora off, nodding slightly at Gula to show, look! He was socializing! He was getting to know one of them! Sora giving him a proud grin before he and Kairi headed off to look.

“Is there any kind of book you’d want to read…” Riku paused, frowning, “...oh shoot, um… look, I know you told me already, but I just realized your name slipped my mind.”

“I realize this is just the books this guy has read, but,” Xehanort looked around the seemingly endless shelves with continued wonder as he spoke quietly to Hao, “Imagine how much stuff is in here that we’ve never read! There’ve got to be more stories than different interpretations of Saint Meridan’s mythos.”

Looking between the small interaction between the heart trio--and noting the slightly shifty way some books had appeared in Aqua’s arms, the woman looking from the titles to the shelves and seeming to try to find where they belonged--Gula gave Riku a slightly weirded out look.

…why would he keep talking to him?

Gula sighed softly. “Gula. Though I don’t think you’ve given your name at all.”

“Riku,” Riku said, bowing his head slightly, though that was as polite as he tended to be when it came to greeting people, “Why don’t we just walk around the shelves then, maybe you’ll see something you like. Come on.” Riku said confidently, heading down a random aisle.

Hao gave Xehanort an amused, knowing look. His friend could be a bit… odd, about the gods. Hao still couldn’t quite pin down how Xehanort felt about them. When they had first met, Xehanort had spoken like it was obvious that the gods, especially Atua, wasn’t real. But there had been so much sincere frustration and a personal sort of anger at them that his denouncement of them had almost over time seemed to loop back around to believing in them, and being pissed about it. 

Hao was not sure if he believed in the gods. He knew his mother did. Queen Junko, not the seedling woman he had never met. Had never even learned the name of. Just that she had been nicely fertile and was ‘very honored’, he had been assured. 

He had no idea what had happened to her, after she gave birth to him. He hoped nothing bad. 

But Queen Junko had spoken once of the gods like they were an obvious thing, and on top of that, some sort of obstacle. And when Hao had asked Tengan about it, Tengan had explained it the way Hao most accepted it today: that abilities like theirs, that magic, could be so grand and all consuming in some people, or species, that trying to separate the concept of godhood from the scope of their abilities was after a certain point just arguing technicalities. 

“There might be people out there as much gods to Flora as Flora are gods to me. And even humans, with enough influence, could become gods to other humans.” Tengan had explained. “It’s just a difference in scope.”

This had been news to Hao. He had not realized Flora were gods to his father, by that point. Hao had not felt like a god then, and still didn’t.

He wondered if feelings for someone could mean that a person, just individually, could be a god to you, as a person.

In that sense, Xehanort reminded Hao more of the idea of gods then Flora did, as he nodded gamely, “We should see everything he has to offer then. I bet it’s not even just books he’s read. I bet the island means he’d have access to things others have read too. There’s likely plenty.”

ㅍ_ㅍ Your bet would pay out. The library is a collection of everything I, everyone connected to the island, and everyone any of us have ever mentally connected to has read.

Xehanort’s eyes glimmered as the Chibi returned, not just because of that (ridiculously insane) statement, but because of the stack of books Zexion held in his arms. 

“Everything ‘you’?” he asked, “Not your Empath? And everything everyone you’ve connected you has read? Memories you took while conditioning?”

ㅍ_ㅍ Everything Ienzo’s read is everything I’ve read, there’s no reason to abstract it. And maybe that’s a bit exploitative beyond the blatant exploitation we were enacting, but we did our best to avoid attached emotions to the memories of the books, and we needed new books somehow. 

“Needed’ might be stretching the definition, but we’re grateful for your collection anyway, love,” Aqua snorted, giving Zexion a fond look. 

As he walked with Riku down a random aisle, Gula found himself looking at the bookcases themselves rather than the books. “...why don’t the shelves go all the way to the ceiling?” he asked, “It’s not like the upper shelves have to be actually accessible.”

“I’m not sure what the issue is,” Hao said honestly, as they spoke of exploitation, “Exploring memories of the people we conditioned was one of the more pleasurable experiences you could have in the factory. Was that not something you all practiced? I know many of ours didn’t as well, but that was mostly a skill issue. I’d sometimes play for all of us particularly pleasant memories I had found.”

Almost subconsciously, thinking about the memories Hao had harvested like second nature, he grazed his fingers over the spines of the covers, seeing little flashes of the people who had ‘owned’ those books, before letting the flashes go uninvestigated as he admitted, “I might not be able to help it myself, though. Everything in a mindscape has a memory attached to it. It’s what these places are made of. Actually, I wonder…”

Hao knelt down, holding out his hand, palm up, to Zexion, “Would you mind if I touched you? I’m curious as a construct if you have a memory attached to you. The way people project themselves usually don’t, because their projection is tied to the mental landscape in its entirety, not one single memory defines it. But one might for you? Or perhaps you’re too complex where such an idea becomes irrelevant.”

With Gula, Riku looked up, shrugging a bit, “Actually, that’s kind of new. Growing up here, the bookcases did used to be all the ceiling. It could be kind of challenging to navigate actually, they were more like walls than bookcases.” Riku smiled lightly, “Sora, Kairi and I used to play tag in here all the time. A few of the others too. But back then, if you got lost, there was always a Zexion or three around to ask for directions. It used to be a lot more crowded and a lot louder here back then. I don’t know when he changed it. Probably when I was asleep.”

“....soooooo,” Riku said, looking for topics, “I think I remember your big intro thing mentioning that you hadn’t been in the factory long. So this has all been only a few years for you, huh? That must be wild.”

Zexion blinked at Hao. Before slowly saying like he thought the teen was stupid, that reading surprisingly well through his sing-song voice, ㅍ_ㅍ The people we conditioned were people.

ㅍ_ㅍ Doing anything to another sentient, sapient being without their consent is inherently problematic. Taking their memories, while they were under our control, unknowing and unable to do anything about it, for our own pleasure or curiosity, our purposes in any way, is exploitative, and exploitation is a cruel thing to subject others to. 

ㅍ_ㅍ We did sometimes explore our victims’ memories, sometimes regularly and with little discrimination, as with my and Ienzo’s collection of books, sometimes as a part of the conditioning process, and sometimes because the conditioned person wanted to share them. It was simply a cruelty we made amends with, but we’ve never forgotten the issue.

Aqua sighed a little, though she gave Zexion a tired, proud look. “Sometimes being cruel to others is just what it takes to survive. But it becomes less about survival when you start to forget that it’s still a cruelty. It’s no reason to drown yourself in guilt, as long as you remember exactly what and why you’re doing something. Being truthful to yourself about your motivations, and what’s really going on.”

Xehanort tilted his head a little, storing that away for consideration. “...you’ve all thought a lot about philosophy, huh.”

ㅍ_ㅍ Incredibly.

ㅍ_ㅍ I’d hypothesize that I have quite a lot of memories attached to me, actually. Perhaps even the whole of Ienzo. I’m quite a long-lived construct, deeply intertwined with him, after all.

Still, Ienzo placed his nubby hand in Hao’s. 

“Huh…” Gula hummed, looking up at the bookcases again. ‘Growing up here’? ‘Zexion or three’? Seemed like there was a lot of history here. 

Nothing that really concerned him, though, if it didn’t affect ‘now’. 

Taking another look, Gula started to climb up the shelves of one of the bookcases, the even ledges posing no problem. “Yeah, probably seems like I was barely there, to you, if you ‘grew up’ in a factory. I don’t think I’d even been in a full year before we were out. Got arrested when I was around your age, things blew up.” Getting to the top of the shelf, Gula balanced on top and looked back down at Riku, shrugging a little. “Would probably get a better sense of our factory from one of the others, if you were curious.”

(Soft feed padding over a wooden floor, and the creaking sound of rope as two people hung–)

Hao took his hand back, his expression unchanging as he said, “I think you still do have a base memory that your construct was originally crafted around. But it’s pretty distant, I think you’re right that being a long-lived construct probably means that even more are attached than the initial core memory. I think if I touched you too long, I’d end up a bit overwhelmed.”

It wasn’t that Hao had ‘forgotten’ that it was wrong to take memories, or explore minds at his own leisure. He had grown up being explicitly told that it wasn’t. Even hearing Zexion and Aqua talk about it now, the idea that there was something wrong with it inherently felt a little strange to Hao, maybe even a little silly. It didn’t cause the person any pain. It didn’t even register to Hao as cruel. 

But, then, he had found his concept of morality was often out of sorts with the others around him. He didn’t like to think of himself a mean person. Certainly not like his parents. But things he had always thought of as ‘fine’ were sometimes met with wide eyes and uncertainty from others, when they even got glimpses of his mindset. 

Hao had learned to take that as a cue to stop talking about it, as he straightened up and bowed politely to Zexion, “Thank you for allowing me to attempt it.”

“I’m not really curious about your time at the factory,” Riku admitted, “I bet it sucked. Sometimes that’s really as interesting as an explanation like that gets. My time at the factory, for the most part, sucked. I bet so did yours. That's that conversation had.”

“I’m more curious what your life was like before that,” Riku said, genuine interest in his eyes, “Most of the people I ask talk about it like it was a different lifetime. But for you, it just happened. So… who were you before you were a factory empath?”

ㅍ_ㅍ Likely. Though, if you’ve gotten the impression of a base memory, I do apologize for that. I know that whatever you might’ve seen, it couldn’t have been pleasant. 

Either loneliness so agonizing it bit at your soul, or something that, if Zexion had thought a moment longer, he might not have so readily encouraged a teenager to see. 

Though, he bowed back. =_= Of course. I have an interest in learning about Empathy as a whole, so I’m always happy to facilitate the exploration of theories. 

“Safely,” Aqua added. “Without running experiments without telling anyone or without extensive run-downs of risks.”

ㄱ.ㄱ Of course.

Gula snorted a little at Riku’s dismissal of the factory, lightly walking across a few of the bookshelves in front of the younger boy like they were a particularly wide balance beam. Not difficult by any stretch of the imagination, but it was something to do. 

Sometimes it felt like the factory was all anyone wanted to talk about, for as much as everyone pussyfooted around the subject like speaking too loudly or in-depth about it would summon walls around them again. Someone actually asking about life before it?

…when was the last time that had actually happened?

“Sorry to burst your bubble, but I don’t exactly have a thrilling story,” Gula drawled. “I was a student.” As he turned around to walk back the other way, Gula grimaced and slumped. “One that never got to graduate. I’m really just gonna be a flunkie for life now…ugh.”

“Lived in Agniratha, by the coast,” he shrugged a little, “With my parents. Did rock climbing, sometimes.”

“Rock climbing’s cool,” Riku said, watching Gula slink across the top of the book shelves like a… look, like a big cat, alright? He was pretty sure he’d have thought that without the panther mask too. It was big-cat like! “So you grew up next to the ocean then?”

“Yeah, though not really a place with beaches, like yours.” Gula nodded, idly measuring the length of a single bookcase with his feet. There wasn’t any variety in height, and he could barely even notice a gap where one ended and the next began, but it was always good to know the space around you. “Closest I ever saw was the beach off this bluff people called The Ick. And that was more of just a pile of rocks coming out of the ocean. But ports? Saw plenty of the ocean from those.”

“Remember it reeking way more than yours,” he hummed, before impulsively side-flipping along the top of the bookcases, landing neatly back on his feet. 

Riku’s eyes widened, impressed by the side-flip. It was hard not to feel a rush of excitement, seeing something like that… and it emboldened him, grinning up at Gula before reaching for one of the shelves, starting to heft himself up. 

He was nowhere near as graceful as Gula. But he grinned triumphantly as he shakily stood at the top of the shelf. Giving Gula a smug, self-satisfied look, as he slowly started to walk ‘beside’ him.

“Rock climbing, huh?” Riku said, “My guess is you were good.”

Gula looked over as he heard Riku start climbing, and for a moment, he just watched, astonished. (It had been helpful, sometimes, in the factory, when he realized deep cleaning really did mean up into the ceiling and rafters too. But literally any other time when Gula got the itch to climb, he’d just been scolded and told to come down. No one ever…joined him. Not since…)

A small grin started to light up the teen’s face.

“I was alright,” Gula answered with a smug sort of humility, matching his pace to Riku’s as they walked in parallel along the bookcases. “Didn’t do a ton of free-climbing without mats, and even when I was roped up only made it to the spots that actually had logbooks a few times. Basically the ones anyone who does any climbing gets to.”

“Had been planning on trying some of the more ambitious places, but.” He shrugged, gesturing out a little. Life plans obviously interrupted.

“Well, I guess you can do it now,” Riku said, trying to look casual as he walked across the shelf linings, though he was notably watching his feet, “I imagine with all those mountains, Dicea must… hey, are you coming to Dicea with us?” Riku asked, giving Gula a curious glance, before quickly looking back down to his feet again, “Everyone’s invited you know. You should think about it. There’s kind of nothing to do in this town, now that we’ve ruined the bowling alley.”

Gula’s eyes widened a little. 

…sometimes some of the older people in the climbing scene had talked about taking trips out to the border. Most of the time, it had just been part of a joke, considering there was a war going on, but sometimes…? 

There was an older guy in the scene that Gula had talked with, sometimes. The way he’d spoken of the mountains was…incredible. Earth jutting right up into the sky, literal miles and miles of challenges, stories of climbs interspersed with folklore about fleeing the country, freedom and courage all in one sentiment of majesty. 

Living literally on the west coast of Luminary, Gula never seriously thought he’d ever seen the Dicean mountains. …but there was a part of childhood wonder that thought, why couldn’t he? One day he’d be done with school, wouldn’t be living with his parents, and he could just…go. 

The circumstances around it were different now, but…

“...Linnea did ask us, but she did in the way that means she’s already decided to go, and she just asked us to be nice or something,” Gula admitted. “I haven’t really thought about it more than that. She’s kept us alive this long, and I don’t exactly have a death wish, you know?”

Gula kept his pace slow, steady, not hurrying Riku along. 

“...why are you going? Do you have more of a reason besides that your family’s going?”

Riku had, admittedly, been judging Gula a bit about only agreeing to go because he was told… but he startled at the question. Stopping for a moment as he considered it. 

“...you know, yeah?” Riku admitted, looking a little sheepish at that, “I’m definitely going because my family is going. It literally didn’t occur to me to ever consider not going, once… I guess now that I think about it, once the older empaths had decided we were going.”

“But I don’t really have anything besides them.” Riku said, “My oldest memories are playing in the sand with Kairi and Sora. I’m not sure I could leave them… hah,” Riku smiled a little thinly, “Sora would never let me. Not in a bad way, he’s not a creep or anything, just… he wouldn’t.”

“I’m the reason Sora and I got captured.” Riku admitted, “I was chasing after Kairi. If I hadn’t done that, they might have missed us entirely. But they had known Kairi might be an empath, so they had come to get her… we all lived in this sort of swamp area. Not a proper water oasis because the water was polluted with algae, and there really wasn’t a lot of it.”

“It was a poor place.” Riku knew, “I was just old enough to know that we lived where poor people lived. I don’t even know where in the world it was anymore, I couldn’t point to it at a map. But families that couldn’t even afford the cost of water in the cities nearby came here to survive off the mud and swamp water. It was covered in bugs, we all always had rashes all the time, fevers. We were just always sick there.”

“I don’t know if it was the empath thing or if that was just a coincidence, but when me, Sora and Kairi met? I don’t remember meeting, but I know we were inseparable. I know Kairi came later, I think maybe Sora and I always knew each other. I think Kairi’s family spent all the money they had gotten from selling Axel off, so they had come to the swamp. And Sora and I latched onto Kairi because she had these stories of places outside the swamp… we all swore to go there someday. ‘There’ being anywhere else.” Riku recalled, “And you know, when they came to get Kairi… I was jealous? I was worried about her too, but I was also jealous. Someone was literally coming to take her out of the swamp. To my kid brain, I both thought she was in terrible danger, and I also thought maybe she was getting picked to go on some sort of adventure, and we were getting left behind.”

“So I went to go pick a fight with the people who had taken her. I…” Riku chuckled, “I had a stick I had sort of carved into a sword. Yeah, sure, that’ll do it, Riku… they kicked my ass and left me in the dirt, but while I was screaming for them to bring Kairi back, one of them turned back and was suddenly like ‘actually…’”

“I was so excited, when he looked at me like that.” Riku admitted, “Like he had just suddenly seen something in me. He told me I had the same thing they wanted Kairi for, and that I was going to come with them. And you know… I wasn’t even going to fight them? I was excited. Kairi and I were escaping the swamp.”

“...I asked them if I could go get my friend Sora.” Riku said quietly. “I told them whatever me and Kairi had, he definitely had it too. I lied my ass off, I didn’t even know what they were talking about. They could tell I was lying though, but they figured out by that point that a part of me wanted to go. That they wouldn’t even have to knock me out like they had Kairi. They told me I could come and that if I proved myself, they’d consider coming back for Sora later.”

“I cannot even tell you how quick I took them up on that.” Riku said. “I went with them, and for some reason, Kairi still wasn’t waking up as we traveled. Knowing what I know now, some empath was definitely keeping her asleep because she had better sense then I did. But I think they had fun with the fact that I wanted to go. They kept telling me all the amazing things I’d get to do there, when we got to wherever ‘there’ was. It wasn’t a quick trip. But I was told I had these magical abilities that made me stronger than everyone else. That Luminary was recruiting me and Kairi because we were special, that we were going to do great things for the country. They even admitted that sometimes it’d be ‘dark’, the things I had to do, but that it’d all be worth it for the power I’d gain at the end.”

“They filled my head with that shit for a week, Kairi still hadn’t woken up, but already I was experimenting with ‘my amazing new powers’, feeling like the hero of a story,” Riku said, “...you can imagine how I reacted when Sora suddenly appeared at the tavern we were staying in for a night, sneaking to where I was sleeping and saying he had come to rescue me and Kairi.”

Riku paused. “...sometimes I can’t believe he forgives me for that night.”

Gula nodded a little. Sure, they were technically adults and now free citizens, so that meant they could just go wherever and do whatever they wanted. But it was hard going it alone. They’d already experienced once what a worst case scenario could look like, and now having people that, if not were your literal, actual loving family, then at least cared about you enough to make sure you weren’t going to be hurt. 

It was just dumb to give that up for, what? A sense of independence? At least aimlessness still meant you had time to decide on things later. 

As Riku started to get into his more personal version of that, though, Gula slowed more, watching Riku tell the tale. A wince, then a grimace deepening as he spoke of trying to both save a friend, and being desperate to leave home. Childish determination, and gullibility. 

…well. More that adults had manipulated him. 

Gula scoffed lowly, looking back down to glare at the top of the bookshelves. “What pieces of shit. Sounds like the dumbass drivel the head secretary would say, but just the randos kidnapping you doing it?”

Wincing a little, Gula glanced over at Riku with a wary look, scratching the back of his neck lightly. “...do I even wanna ask how bad it went?”

Riku scoffed, “To Kairi, apparently, but he didn’t say stuff like that to me. Though he loooooved playing those memories back to me, let me tell you.”

“Though it was in a weird way kind of helpful that he did?” Riku admitted, “He wasn’t trying to be helpful, but eventually him mocking me about those memories is what got me to actually tell the others what happened. Kairi didn’t know, and Sora for reasons I’ll never really understand never told anyone what happened either. I think he was trying to spare my feelings. I only started telling people what happened that night a few years ago. And that was mostly because I was sick of what the head secretary was doing and really wanted to tell people about that, and it all kind of came out.”

“It doesn’t hurt as much to talk about it anymore now,” Riku shrugged, “But it went bad. Sora was already practically dragging me out of the room we were in, and he was promising he’d go back for Kairi, but he really wanted to get me out of the tavern first. I want to say maybe he knew something was wrong with me already, and that’s why he was so urgent that I had to leave right then and there, but honestly…”

Riku paused at this, looking around at their feet and then more around to make sure there wasn’t any of the others nearby, before he looked over to Gula to whisper, “Sora had this expression on his face when he found me. I’ve only seen it a handful of times now, but that was the first time I ever saw it. It’s… intense, he gets really unlike himself, really single-minded. It’s rage, but not actual rage, just this really, really intense focus… it kind of scared me, so I yanked myself out of his hand.”

“But I was telling him how special Kairi and I were. That we were going somewhere special, and that I wanted him to come with us. I didn’t know if he was special or not, but I figured if he was there now, we could convince them to let him tag along. I didn’t want to go back to the swamps, I was ready to never see my parents again. The only thing I had wanted to take with me from the swamp was Sora, and he was there. It was perfect.” Riku said, “...but Sora had been tracking us down for a week, and he knew where we were being taken too. He had already figured out he was ‘special’ because he had been using that to track us down, following a tether he had managed to reach out and latch onto us. He had even talked to another empath by that point who had warned him that we were lost causes and that once we got to where we were being taken, we were never coming out again, and he had to let us go.”

“Not even understanding he had powers didn’t stop him from using them to track us the second we were gone. Being told we were heading to certain doom didn’t stop him from running for a week to catch up with us on foot. And me telling him no wasn’t going to stop him from trying to pull me and Kairi out of there with everything he had.” Riku said, “Sora’s scary when he won’t be stopped. He tackled me and we started to fight, and while we were rolling on the ground arguing with each other, I suddenly saw this thing in my head. I think Sora had jumped into my mind without realizing it, but he didn’t look like himself. He was this shadowy, writhing beast with yellow eyes… I ended up basing my conditioning method on that memory. Or, my Nobody did, anyway. Give them what they want, and everytime they turn away, shadow creatures attack.”

“When I saw the creature in my head, I screamed for help. I like to think I wouldn’t have done it if he hadn’t scared me so badly, I hadn’t meant to force him to come with us. I was mad at him he didn’t want to go, but I would have let him leave without us. But the empaths heard and came running up, and Sora was doomed the second they saw him. I’d find out later it was actually impressive they hadn’t felt him by that point at all. Sora was good at dampening his ability so that others couldn’t feel it, he did it naturally.”

“We probably would have argued the entire way to the factory, but after that night, neither of us woke up for the rest of the trip. We woke up in the factory after that. My last act of freedom being getting my best friend caught and making sure my other best friend would never get rescued.” Riku huffed, frustration coming off of him in droves, mixed with a deep, old sadness, “...I was humiliated when I realized where we had actually been taken to, what I had volunteered for. I felt so stupid for such a long time… if Kairi and Sora hadn’t both tried so hard to make me feel better about it all of the time? I might have given up entirely. I was so ashamed.”

“But they never held it against me.” Riku said, “Not even once. Even if Sora wasn’t sort of weird about things when it came to me, I could never leave them. I owe them too much.”

Gula rolled his eyes a little, scowling more. “To them,” he nodded back where they’d left Xehanort and Hao, “Not me either.”

Gula had felt scared, and angry, and so frustrated he just wanted to fight everyone, and…sad, when he first got to the Ribata factory. But there had been a moment of pure disgust the first time he’d heard about the Tengan visits. 

Once he realized just what was going on, he couldn’t really blame Linnea. What was she supposed to do? Making a fuss in the factory was a death sentence, and trying to fight against the head secretary himself might’ve even been worse. Telling Xehanort and Hao that someone was going to try to manipulate them, and that he might succeed was…maybe just the best she could do. Having talks after every visit to hear the new bullshit he’d told them, and just trying her best to untangle the poison knot. Discussing what they could safely manipulate Tengan into by playing along. 

At least they got news from outside the factory every now and then. Like, woo, the war’s over. That news was totally worth two of their own getting groomed.

Gula leaned into the walking space between the bookcases a bit as Riku whispered, eyebrows raising at Sora’s…oddness. Though he could only wince through a scowl at the story Riku told of that night. Hearing how, even aside from that intense focus, Sora was starting to look like a scary guy just generally (and Gula knew Xigbar, so someone being all smiley really didn’t mean they couldn’t be scary). 

And at the end, all Gula could really say was, “...fuck.”

“That’s a nightmare of a ‘caught’ story, Riku,” Gula grimaced. “And you guys were just little kids during it? What the fuck.”

“It’s alright. I don’t think there’s a ‘good’ caught story,” Riku said, shoving his hands into his pockets, now a little more comfortably deftly walking across the bookcases, “Though, if you ever want a really wild one, ask Even for his. I don’t want to tell you the biggest twist of it, but let’s just say a bonesaw plays a major role.”

“What about you?” Riku asked, glancing over, “Though, you don’t have to tell me. You got arrested is probably a good enough story as any, I don’t need the details…also,” Riku glanced over his shoulder, back to where Gula had mentioned ‘them’, “Tengan took a ‘special interest’ in them? Do you know the specifics? Kairi told me that her Nobody was being told she was gonna end up his ‘heir’ or something. Whatever that means for a secretary.”

Straightening again, Gula gave Riku a bewildered look before snorting softly, shaking his head. “You know, sure, I’ll keep that in mind. Sure we’ll all be looking for shit to do on the way to Dicea, so having stories to tell will come up.”

Sighing, Gula ran a hand through his bangs as he tilted his head up. “It’s so dumb. I didn’t know what Empathy was before I got caught, right? I just had ‘good gut feelings’,” Gula rolled his eyes, “And basically everyone who knew me knew that. I was not a guy you could lie to, I knew when something was sketch, all that jazz.”

Green eyes grew tired as he looked ahead. “But you can’t catch someone lying if they aren’t.”

“I was doing some training with one of my community friends, and she mentioned needing to drop off a package on our way back into town. I didn’t think anything of it.” Gula shrugged a little as he balanced right on the edge of the bookcase. “I considered a lot of climbing people friends, even if we really only knew each other through climbing. Sometimes I didn’t even know a last name, where they were from, what they did besides climbing…but when you have to rely on someone to spot you, trust grows. So you become friends.”

“There was a particular balcony that she was dropping the package off to, and I didn’t think anything of that either. But during the climb over, she took a bad landing, rolled her ankle. And when she asked if I could do the drop off?” He hadn’t thought anything of it. 

“I don’t really know what happened,” Gula grumbled quietly, “It wasn’t that far from where I left her. But I was just about there when there started to be shouts from the streets. That’s why we were all into rock climbing, did our challenges and routes outside of the city; people get weirdly pissy when you’re climbing on a building instead. I was almost there, so I just hurried, dropped the package off, hoped to come down quickly and it’d all blow over.”

Gula grimaced. “But then they started shooting at me. I ran, duh, but just as I lost the guys shooting? Ran right into the guards.” He scowled more at the shelves, idly taking a few preparatory steps before flipping up onto his hands, then letting his momentum take his legs over to the other side. “Found out in holding that I’d been muling, apparently. I tried to argue, but ‘I didn’t know what was happening’ doesn’t hold up in court.”

“Makes sense, but I was just…so pissed off. And I wanted to make them listen…” Gula frowned, just standing as he squinted at the bookcase. “...and they did. Literally like hours later I got fuckin’ tackled and put into restraints, called a demon. Next thing I knew? Factory time.”

Sighing, Gula straightened again as he started up their walk again. “Basically that. Got the impression Tengan had some sort of plan to get Hao or Xeha into the government, eventually. Guess the grooming stuff was to ensure that when they were there, they’d do, like, policy stuff that he’d want. Gross shit.”

Riku winced, “Man, that sucks… what’s muling?” 

When Gula explained, Riku shook his head, crossing his arms as he sighed, “That’s not fair, you shouldn’t get punished for that. Also, they shot at you for it? And I thought the guards were weird when they just followed us around the streets. They had this thing about following Sora… oh!” 

Riku paused, eyes suddenly wide with dawning understanding, “...oh man, I wonder if Sora was ever a mule by accident. He’d take anyone up on deliveries, he was getting known around the city for it. I wonder if the guards were waiting for a chance to shoot at him.”

“Things are more complicated out of the swamp than I ever guessed when I was in it.” Riku sighed, scuffing the top of the bookcase a bit, “...but now that we’re actually traveling? It is kind of everything I hoped it’d be. We see cool places, have adventures, meet weirdos and destroy bowling alleys with them.” Riku smirked, “I still regret what I did that landed me and my friends in the factory. But I like this part of it. You’re pretty cool, Gula.”

“Which is good because you have to make up for how lame your little brothers are.” Riku scoffed.

“Riku! Riku!” Sora called, he and Kairi running down the aisle, “What are you doing up there? We found the comics! There’s lots of them! You guys should come check it out!”

Scratching the back of his head, Gula frowned. “I’m not sure it was even the guards that were shooting at me, might’ve been a rival gang. But could’ve been them. As you might tell by the fact I ignored all those massive red flags, I didn’t really interact with it, but the black market in Agniratha can be kind of weird. Depending on how well they’re paid off, the guards either don’t give a single shit, or they’re super anal, but gangs will always take it the most seriously.”

He guessed it might’ve had something to do with being a port city, so there could be even more kinds of products from overseas, but it wasn’t like Gula actually knew how any of that shit worked. 

He’d just thought he was doing a favor for a friend. 

He wondered how she was doing. If she ever got caught too. 

Gula looked over at Riku with mild alarm as he put together some things, before he grimaced. “...yeaaaaah, might wanna give your friend a heads up on that. He literally can’t make the same mistake I did, but getting arrested normally still sucks.”

Gula didn’t know what he’d be doing if he hadn’t done that favor. Finishing high school, probably. Still climbing. Life not necessarily boring, but way more predictable. 

…heading east to see the Dicean mountains didn’t seem so bad, though. 

Smirking a little, Gula scoffed a laugh. “Right? And you’re not too bad yourself, Riku.”

Looking over as Sora and Kairi ran up, Gula went quiet again for a moment…before he grinned. “How’s the logic in here? Because just jumping down normally from this height would destroy your knees if you don’t know what you’re doing.” 

Climbing sports were all about respect and collaboration. 

But Gula was still 18, so he took a running start down the bookcases before flipping off his shoulder, turning in the air before landing on his feet, dropping into a crouch to take the impact. 

“Wooooah! That was amazing!” Sora gasped, while Kairi giggled a little, an impressed look on her face as well. 

Before both, notably, looked up at Riku.

…….Riku smirked, leapt and– “OW!”

-

Miyako glared out past the bars of her cage, debating if it was worth the lung power to summon Dad.

She had been debating this for some time now. She was BORED which was obviously terrible, but didn’t feel like being all floaty and flying, largely because she still wanted to hang out with Little Lamb. Little Lamb was awesome, but Little Lamb was also kind of stupid and dumb, as it didn’t go flying around with her when she felt like doing so, and instead just stayed here in the crib. Like a loser. 

It was tough, being the cool one of the friend group. 

Meanwhile, instead of entertaining her LIKE HE WAS SUPPOSED TO, Dad was over on the bed, snoring. Just sleeping. It was the middle of the day, father! Nap time was over ages ago! Get it together!

She huffed, whimpering slightly, mostly in frustration. To cry out of sheer boredom, or not to cry… cry or not to cry…

…she must TAKE ACTION! But not crying action, it tired her out and gave her a headache. Different action! 

Giving Little Lamb a determined look, Miyako gripped the bars of her terrible, terrible cage–otherwise known as her crib–and with determination, pulled at the bars. Hoisting her little baby body up.

It was not the first time she had tried to do this. Every attempt before had resulted in her landing on her little baby butt, getting frustrated, and just flying instead. But this time, something felt different. She could feel the balance in her hips. Knew where to put her feet. Could feel the power in her little baby biceps! 

She was strong! She was powerful! She… was up!!!

Standing up triumphantly in the crib, she made a little proud baby sound… but this was only step one, alas.

Keeping one grip on her bars, she grabbed Little Lamb. Her friend would have to make the second part of the journey for her. God Speed, Little Lamb. Go! Fetch father! 

And with a huff, Miyako threw Little Lamb at dad. Going! Going! Going!!!

…Little Lamb fell on the floor.

“WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!” 

Kaito startled up, looking around wildly, before seeing the situation. Miyako had thrown her toy on the ground again. Why did she keep doing that? But also… 

“Miya!!” Kaito gasped, hurrying over, eyes wide with joy even as Miyako screamed in frustration at him, stomping her little feet, “You’re standing! Oooooh, look at you!! You’re doing so good! Awww, crying baby~ what’s the matter, are you hungry? Look at you go! I can’t wait to show the others!”

-

Aced was really feeling Xigbar's little jabbing remarks, lately. Like, more than usual. 

He understood why it was happening. Xigbar had hinted it enough to him, over the last few years, for Aced to recognize what the older man was doing…but that didn’t mean he liked it. And he didn’t need it! 

If he could just prove himself, for once. Prove he didn’t need to be constantly put down, constantly held back, that he wasn’t stupid or reckless or going to get more people killed…

Aced couldn’t help that he had ambition! He had drive! He could only help that sometimes he didn’t have the skills to back it up. But! That was the OLD Aced! The Aced from a few days ago! He was a changed man! He had learned from rushing in during that fight! Now he knew what he would do in the fight, how he would have avoided the swipe!

And he had to prove it! 

By trying to replicate it in the weird sparring world!!!

He’d sneak in, beat it once on his own just to practice, and then he’d invite Xigbar to watch him do it, so that he’d see that Aced could learn! That he was just as good at learning quickly, like Invi, and was responsible, like Ira! 

He just had to prove himself!

He was still officially on bed rest, even if he felt fine now, actually!! Just a bit of a headache! But that was perfect actually. Because he could settle into bed and focus on jumping onto that island…

…which, to his surprise, he could. 

Immediately, he felt like he was trespassing. It felt like when he was a kid and he and his friends had snuck into their school at night. Like each step was forbidden. It made Aced feel a little small and vulnerable, as he looked around at the bright, beautiful island.

…no one else was around.

Success!! 

He didn’t know if he needed permission from Aeleus to go to his world, but he knew if the others got wind of what he was doing, that someone would tell Xigbar, and Xigbar would come find him, and smiling wide, would explain all the reasons Aced wasn’t supposed to do stuff like this on his own, let alone injured. But that was all because Xigbar had no faith in him!! Which he would once Aced did this!! 

Aced quickly found Aeleus’ door again–see! He could find the place on his own, he’d be fine!!--before heading in.

-

Ira and Invi were both mending clothes together in the backyard. Ira didn’t have much skill for it, he had clumsy hands not good for the stitchwork, but he often volunteered to help with mending simply because it was usually a nice way to spend some quiet time with his twin, who was pretty adept at the mending work.

The two had been quiet up to that point, just enjoying each other's company… when Ira got a look on his face that Invi, by that point, would be far too familiar with. 

“I think Aced just went to the island alone,” Ira whispered, staring in the middle distance and sweating a bit, “He’s got that ‘I’m gonna punch the moon’ feeling.”

Invi glanced up, her eyebrows knitting in worry. 

It wasn’t that she never got to just spend time with Ira. Sure, most chores usually ended up being all five of them, or more, or solitary, but it wasn’t that rare that they could pair up. …and weren’t decided in pairs that Xigbar put together. But sometimes, still, there was time that she could spend with her brother, just…existing. 

…it tended to never last for long. 

Invi sighed. “I hope he’s not actually going to punch the moon in there. Gula actually seemed pretty impressed with Riku, after his tour.”

Looking around for a moment, Invi got up and shuffled around to sit by Ira’s side, leaning on him in a way that, if he leaned back, they would be keeping each other up. “Tell Gula and Ava to meet us on the island, hopefully we can talk Aced out of whatever his idea is.”

…it didn’t tend to work. But maybe they could still mitigate the consequences. 

Ira nodded, leaning back as he focused…

-

Ira, Ava, Gula, and Invi landed on the island soon. Like Aced, there was that lingering feeling of invasion, when no one was around to greet them. But Ira didn’t dwell on it, leading the group to the sparring island as he said, “I’d really rather none of the others know anything’s happened. Linnea’s already got enough on her plate, trying to reconnect with her son, and Xibgar’s been…” Ira sighed, “...a little high-strung? Since the new people arrived? I think he’s nervous. You know how he can get. We can handle this on our own.”

“We do have permission to come in, and I got the impression that was including access to people's worlds,” Ava pointed out, though her hands were clasped together nervously, “He’s not doing anything wrong.”

Gula crossed his arms and gave Ava a dry look. “Sure, because Aced coming here without telling anyone, while he’s injured, and doing something that sets Ira’s divorced dad senses tingling? Is totally him not getting up to anything dumb.”

“It can’t hurt to check on him, even if he is just relaxing,” Invi tried to soothe. “Just to put everyone’s mind at ease. Things have been tense, so double-checking is fine.”

“You know, I would say that Aced would bitch to no end about it if he’s just hanging out, but I really don’t believe he is,” Gula sighed. “Alright, can you tell where he is in here, Ira? It’s kind of hard to get barings when it all feels like…” He swished his hand in the air a little. “A big ol’ pot of other people.”

“Wouldn’t it be nice if I was divorced? That means presumably I had been on dates, and gotten married, and then got sick of that marriage… Divorced people have no idea how good they had it,” Ira muttered, able to feel Aced’s excitement starting to mix to fear. Still determined, with several exclamation marks. But definitely getting overwhelmed, as Ira hurried his steps. 

“I’m not sure I could pinpoint where he is exactly, but I feel like his excitement peaked not long after he would have gotten here,” Ira said, opening the door to Aeleus’ world as the four headed in, stepping into the white, boxed area, squares lining the ceiling and floor… but with color ahead in the distance. An oasis of something, in the otherwise white void.

Something that roared.

“Oh!” Ava gasped, before hefting her long skirt up and running ahead, the others quickly following as well. 

It was arguably roughly the same size as a transformed Anthony had been, but otherwise looked nothing like him. It was a hulking, frightening shadowy beast, with an upside down heart carved out of its chest. And it was currently throwing a downed, shouting Aced into a wall that looked like it was made from a paper door, but reacted to his body being thrown against it like it was concrete. 

Aced had just picked a nice-looking room because he could. It was less charming being beaten the crud out of in it though.

“Hold on, Aced!” Ava said, bringing her palms up and–

“No, that might hurt Aeleus himself, you’ve never tried that on just a figment before,” Ira said, “Let’s just pull him out of there and run!”

Invi frowned as they headed right for Aeleus’ island. She felt like she should’ve seen this coming. Aced had been excited to try out Aeleus’ arena, and paired with the praise for her spar, and that he had been held back because of an injury that Xigbar pointed out was his fault for getting…

Shit. She should’ve tried talking with Aced before this. 

Gula startled, seeing the giant shadow monster, but with Ira directing a plan?

“Got it!” Gula started running, trying to apply the speed boost he used in his head, but-- “Ghheh?!”

He quickly dodged the glowing…rectangle thing, frowning as he couldn’t feel his boost doing damn anything. At least he was pretty quick normally. “Aced, c’mon!” Gula called, almost to him. 

Aced was groaning. The fight had turned against him almost immediately. Mostly because he had tried for a weapon that was too big for him, not realizing that weight was added realistically to this place. Nothing he had seen Invi do had clued him in to the sheer limits that fighting in this space put on you. But his indulgence of picking a massive, two sided battleaxe that was half the size of himself had left him fumbling and dropping it at his first attempted swing. 

Sparring in Aeleus’ mind wasn’t a substitute for a workout. But unless you specifically removed some of those limits? It was meant to feel like a real fight, even if the weapon itself was fantastical in nature. It was meant to be mental training that could prepare you for a real world fight.

So with a weapon he couldn’t wield, and a monster he had picked for its size and muscles? Aced had been left scrambling and unable to leave the barrier of the spar, mostly because every time he tried, the monster grabbed him and pulled him back in. 

Seeing Gula running for him though, Aced winced, both relieved and worried as he tried to warn them, “Empathy doesn’t work in here–gah!” 

The creature’s massive, clawed hands grabbed around his feet again, trying to draw him back for another throw. He felt Gula’s hands on his wrists, trying to pull him away from its grip as Aced kicked at the hand that had grabbed onto him, but it was looking like a lost cause… right up until Ira leaped over them and landed on the creature’s face, literally just holding on as he shouted, “Pull him out!”

The creature let go to try to yank the new person off its face, as Ava came up beside Gula, grabbing Aced’s other wrist. 

Invi, instead of running right in, tapped on one of the glowing spaces, mildly surprised already to see her own face in a little square on a profile card with a hook sword silhouette [Name Needed], and Raining Snakes down below. Guess that preference storage worked quickly… But she didn’t let that make her hesitate for long, tapping on the space until she found Aced’s card. 

Battleaxe, [Name Needed], Classic Dicean Decor, and…a new section that Invi hadn’t seen when Aeleus had demonstrated it before. ‘Opponent’. And sure enough, those silhouettes matched, ‘Dark Thorn’, huh… Okay, well, if it was a preference, all she needed to do was… 

Invi started to sweat a little, not seeing anything as obvious as an X button, or something that said ‘Stop Fight’. Aeleus had just clapped to stop the fight before, right? But that was obviously just an incidental motion to whatever control he had over his mind. Maybe just…

Directing her energy into an emotion of ‘End’, Invi closed her eyes and clapped. 

Nothing happened. 

Taking a breath, Gula clawed to grip onto more of Aced’s arm, throwing his weight backwards. “Get your feet under you if you can, man! Let’s get out of here!”

“B-but what about Ira!?” Aced said, though he did manage to stumble onto his feet once Gula and Ava had gotten him farther from the monster, nearing the border where the screens set up the illusion and–BONK! 

It was a literal ‘bonk’ noise, Aced running into the wall–one that wasn’t a wall like the others were, but seemed to shimmer and reveal itself only once Aced had tried to go past the illusions of the actual room–and falling backwards with a groan. Ava and Gula, who had walked out easily, gave Aced a bewildered look.

“Did you trip!?” Ava asked.

“No, I didn’t trip! There’s something THERE!” Aced said, gesturing to the seemingly open space that allowed anyone outside to see in… but apparently kept anyone in from going out.

At least if it was their spar, as when the Dark Thorn dragged Ira off its face, it hurled it at the fourth, mostly blank wall, missing its square. And Ira flew out of the arena, skidding and rolling over the white void. 

Dark Thorn, with that distraction done, focused on Aced again. “G-guys? Turn it off!” Aced shouted.

“What the fuck?” Gula grunted, waving his hand through the fourth wall as if maybe the third time he did it wouldn’t just be empty space and he’d see what Aced meant. But the older boy very much was being blocked by something, so…

“Ira!” Invi gasped, running over to her brother as he was flung from the arena. 

“Just go back to your own mind!” Gula shouted back, feeling the impulse to take a step back, but unwilling to leave Aced trapped. You couldn’t save anyone in the factory, not when their ‘enemy’ was already there. Taking blame for something pretty much just meant signing your own execution, if not dooming you both, so if a supervisor had already noticed something? It was too late. 

But they weren’t in the factory anymore. And even if this wasn’t death, Gula wasn’t just going to stand around and leave someone to their fate.

Checking over Ira, Invi called back to the others, “Aced, try to choose a different ‘opponent’! If you can’t leave, make it a fight you can win!”

“I can’t, I already tried that!” Aced shouted at Gula, dodging out of the way as Dark Thorn swiped at him again, “This place traps you! I didn’t even know that was possible!” 

“It… sh-shouldn’t be, should it?” Ava asked, her eyes scanning the walls Aced was trapped within, “Maybe for normal people, but for Empaths? None of us can do that!”

“Ugh, that was a rough throw. A warning, you all, falling feels very real here.” Ira groaned, sitting up with Invi’s help. “B-but injuries don’t feel as real? I feel like that should have broken a bone and it didn’t. Or maybe I just landed lucky.”

The sphere was still hovering in the corner of the room. When Aced wasn’t paying attention to it, it seemed to fade away, but with Invi’s idea, it came to mind again, and he could see it. Scrambling around the monster, he leapt for it, grasping it in his hands and scrolling through the monsters, before picking the most harmless one he could find. 

The Dark Thorn screamed one last time… before digitizing, and reforming into…

…a tiny gift box.

The gift box quickly revealed its true, monstrous form though!!!

…a tiny shadow creature wearing a tiny gift box.

The creature–Gift Shadow–stared at Aced like it wasn’t particularly interested in the spar, as Aced huffed, catching his breath… “I-I almost had it!” he insisted weakly, shaking a bit.

Gula’s eyes squinted incredulously at the absurd statement. Sure, maybe a super strong Empath could make things difficult, but…one couldn’t actually trap you in a different mind, right? 

Just what were these people on?!

“Careful,” Invi murmured as she helped her brother up, checking him over. Though…it seemed just as he said. He seemed a little scuffed, maybe, but he didn’t even have impact skids, not even looking a little red. That was a good thing to know, but ideally they could avoid the injury-less pain too. 

Heading back into the room as Aced dashed in, Gula watched warily as Aced messed with that glowy thing, before…

Raising an eyebrow, Gula walked over to the tiny gift monster, lightly poking at it with a finger. Sighing, “Sure you did, man.”

“You did not,” a low voice contradicted, Aeleus looking over all of them scattered in his world. Not looking particularly upset, but clearly stern. “Ambition inspires growth, but picking a fight you cannot win with no plan or preparation is a disservice to yourself.”

“O-oh dear,” Ava whispered, a shiver running through her body, even if realistically she knew there was no serious danger in it, “W-we’re caught.”

An unease, heavy and full of history, fell over the group. When you were Caught, suddenly it could become every man for himself. Just by necessity. Sometimes Supervisors just wanted to know who was To Blame, and it became very, very important to not be the one they decided on. 

Surviving in their factory as friends tended to be the privilege of those who had survived at all. There were plenty who hadn’t made it, who had died feeling betrayed. 

One of the methods of those betrayals was for everyone to get quiet and look away, as if they had all happened to be there as a group by pure coincidence. It was Ira, who knew the importance of an action appearing ‘normal’, who hurried to his feet and bowed politely to Aeleus, saying ‘calmly’, “Good day. I hope we did not disturb you, we had just started to indulge in the space offered to us. We can leave promptly?”

He did not say ‘if we overstepped’ or ‘if you hadn’t meant at any time’. It was important to not admit wrongdoing. Don’t offer anyone a fault they hadn’t come up with themselves.

Ira wasn’t the only one who scrambled to his feet, the rest of the group who hadn’t already been up doing the same, though they left the talking to him. Invi kept her head bowed, hands crossed at her waist, while Gula glared at the ground. 

…or, he had meant to, but as he quickly stood, there was a squeaky, party-favor-like noise from the Gift Shadow, and before he could look back down to it--

THUMP.

Aeleus looked around the incredibly nervous group, and Gula passed out on the ground, before he sighed. Saying gently to them, “You’re not in trouble. I meant my offer of my world sincerely, and you didn’t disturb me. I simply noticed the panic here.”

Looking at each of them again, though his gaze settled on Aced, he said, “There is no progress to be made rushing ahead. Would you like some help?”

Aced glanced worriedly over to Gula, but notably didn’t move… even as he thought oh fuck oh no I got another one killed oh Fuck.

But then he saw Gula breathing and that was a bit of a relief, at least. 

“U-umm,” Aced glanced over at Ira, who made the smallest little nod, before saying, “Yes sir, thank you.”

Aeleus nodded and clapped his hands, the ground rumbling as the Dicean-style room faded away along with the Gift Shadow and Aced’s abandoned battleaxe. As they did, Gula startled awake with a snort, blinking disorientedly, but he still managed to walk over to the area outside the ‘fourth wall’ (even if that was a bit hard to tell where it was, now) as Aeleus waved them all over. 

Tapping at one of the control panels, not just the training area, but everywhere shifted into what looked like a dojo, six thick sitting cushions appearing, which Aeleus gestured for everyone to take. 

Looking at them all again, he asked, “You wish to learn to fight?”

Still looking down uneasily, even as she took a seat, Invi answered quietly, “It seems Mr. Xigbar intends for us to, yes.”

There was a short pause, before his voice still gentle, Aeleus asked, “But is that something you wish for yourself?”

“We wish for anything Linnea and Xigbar wish for!” Aced said, gripping his hands into fists, sitting with the others but already looking like he wanted to spring up, “They know what’s best, and we follow!”

“Aced, please control your tone,” Ira said lightly to him, before looking tiredly up at Aeleus, his back straight, “I believe the thought process is it could be helpful in the future, for us to have those skills. We’ve gotten by on our Empath abilities so far, but the world is a big place with things in it that we wouldn’t even know how to prepare for.”

“Like… being trapped in someone’s mind?” Ava said, giving Aeleus a truly wondrous look as she said, “How did you do that, sir?”

Aeleus remained passive to Aced’s vigor, and simply nodded lightly once he and Ira had spoken. “Devotion to another is reason enough to fight, though it’s something one must be honest to themselves with. Though I can’t argue with the logic presented to you,” Aeleus’ expression lightened slightly, “It’s what I believe for my own family as well.”

“Ideally, you will never have to be in a true fight. However, those ideals are often only complete in thought experiments. There may come a time when force is truly the only answer, and being strong enough to rise to the occasion, to protect yourself or those you care about, is important.”

Aeleus smiled lightly at Ava. “A bit of a trick. I call it an influence from my son. You all are not actually trapped here… Are you familiar with the stress responses?”

“Fight or Flight,” Invi recited, nodding a bit. 

Aeleus hummed in agreement. “Fight, Flight, Freeze, Fawn, and Flop. They’re broad categories, and people will often end up exhibiting behaviors from a combination of them, rather than having one that’s ‘theirs’, and depending on the situation, they may find themself reacting in a way they never have before. They are terms for a descriptive conversation, rather than the be-all end-all categories.”

Catching Gula’s dry expression, Aeleus smiled amusedly. “I explain so this makes more sense--for those trying to ‘flee’, to leave in the middle of a fight in here, I’ve made a mechanic that triggers ‘Flight’ rapidly in a small amount of time. This leads your mind to the conclusion that ‘Flight’ has failed, so you have to try one of the other responses. You are able to leave, but you’ve been fooled into thinking you can’t.”

Aced’s eyes widened. “So if I had tried again when Gula suggested it…?”

“You can trigger certain responses in other people?” Ava asked, still looking absolutely amazed. “Is there more you can do with such an ability?”

…she startled, suddenly looking nervous as she said, “I-if you’d want to tell us that at all, of course, sir. I just… find that sort of thing interesting, is all. My own specialty is in confusion, I make it difficult for people to think, both within them and out in the real world. Even just that level of mental manipulation takes a lot of effort, I can’t imagine what it takes to narrow it down the way you have.”

Aeleus half shrugged. “You may have found yourself with the same problem. Or you may have powered through, even believing it would fail. Nothing is ever learned without attempting it.”

Invi watched Aeleus through her eyelashes, turned just enough away to not straight out stare at the man. Was…this entire place built off his philosophies? A mind was the most literal way someone saw the world, but Empath minds could be so abstracted and purposefully built that it could be hard to make sense of the person it belonged to without digging into the parts they couldn’t as easily control. But…it was starting to look like, despite the nature of the arena being an illusion, that there just…weren’t tricks here. It was all Aeleus. 

Giving Ava a soft look, Aeleus assured, “I’m happy to answer what I can. Collaboration makes us all stronger for it. I’m sure there’s quite a lot more that’s possible through influencing how a person reacts to stress. It’s one of the most impulsive, reactive parts of a person, even for those who have trained themselves for certain results. As most of my utility for that ability was used for conditioning, however, I have not largely explored the options. I doubt I will, barring someone specifically asking me to.”

While Invi tended to watch what was happening through her eyelashes, head ducked down in feigned demureness, Ira had the opposite reaction. He kept his head high, but his eyes low. He had learned that while the supervisors tended to underestimate Invi due to her size, they didn’t like not knowing at a glance what Ira was looking at. He tended to watch people’s feet, and trusted Invi would let him know if he was missing something higher. 

Ava still seemed to be absolutely fascinated with Aeleus’ ability, clearly on the verge of asking more about them… but Aced spoke up. “Hey, you’re not gonna mention all of this to Xigbar and Linnea, right?” he asked, both trying to make it sound like it was obvious and also failing to hide the nerves in the question, “You said we didn't do anything wrong, so it’s fine, right?”

“Aced,” Ira whispered, “There’s nothing to hide, don’t talk like we’re keeping secrets.”

Aeleus quietly regarded the group again. “...would you be expecting a punishment, if they were to find out?”

“You’re correct, that you haven’t done anything wrong. Perhaps not taking the best approach, but you’ve all been well within appropriate spaces to explore your personal limits,” Aeleus assured. “...but in your expectations, does that matter?”

There was silence, for a moment…

“...punishment is a… maybe not correct word for it,” Ira started uneasily.

“We’re going to end up painting the house again,” Aced said, just looking exhausted all of the sudden, “And re-tiling the roof. And brushing the underside off the decorative stones and pebbles.”

“And then painting the house again,” Ava quietly grumbled. 

“Xigbar believes that if we’re causing trouble, it’s because we have pent-up energy and too much time on our hands,” Ira explained, “We… do get in less trouble, when we’re kept busy.”

“And then apologizing profusely if we get paint on anything, for the painting that literally had no reason to happen,” Gula pitched in with his own grumble. “And that apology turning into dusting everything.”

Aeleus considered that with a silent sigh. This was not trouble. And even if it was, if it was not the kind of trouble that was going to get someone killed--an incident a few days before, came to mind--then…trouble was fine. The group before him was young. Painfully young, and even if they had not been stifled for experience in the factory for their whole lives, it had still happened, and had instilled habits and precautions and wounds that would follow them for the rest of their lives. 

How would they learn how to get through trouble themselves if they could never experience it? If their attempts were always treated severely, and deemed failures, rather than learning experiences?

It was a difference in philosophy that Aeleus didn’t even think Xigbar was wrong about, even if he didn’t agree. But expressing his disagreement wouldn’t help these five. 

“You follow him, because of your gratitude, not fear,” Aeleus said, rather than asked. These five were skittish, but from what he had observed of the Ribata Empaths, he couldn’t imagine Xigbar or Linnea withholding resources against rebellion. “You’ve all mentioned the group owes a great deal to Linnea and Xigbar for your continued survival.”

“It’s a philosophy I don’t agree with, though I do see the sense in it,” he rumbled, “So I won’t tell what’s happened here. However.”

While this was ‘scolding’, in a sense, Aeleus’ voice remained calm and gentle. “I would implore you to think of my world as a workout--it’s not something to pursue alone. Someone to spot you is not only a precaution, but an asset for greater achievements. And like a workout as well, you are more likely to simply injure yourself and get nowhere by dropping yourself right into the deep end. Start slow, and build your confidence and instincts.”

“Yes sir,” Ira said, a delayed but similar sentiment coming from the other four as well. 

“Well, if we’re not in trouble, and we can still use this place, then can we just use it already!? Aced said, puffing out his chest and grasping his knees, “I almost had the last one! I just picked the wrong weapon was all! I can still do this!”

Aeleus looked at Aced for another moment before asking, “Would you be opposed to having me as an opponent?”

Gula bit the inside of his cheek. There was the kneejerk worry that Aeleus really was going to take something out on Aced…but they weren’t even in the physical world. And, honestly? Aced sparring someone that could go a little easy on him, rather than some huge, mindless rampaging monster would probably be the better option, while he was recovering. 

He just hoped Aced wouldn’t take it as Aeleus trying to patronize him or anything.

On the contrary, Aced looked at Aeleus–and everything Aeleus was–and tried not to let the spark of wary nerves that ran through him stop him as he said, “If you think you can handle me!”

“Aced,” Ira said, something stern truly in his tone this time.

“Uuh, sir! If you think you can handle me, sir!”

Ira sighed, rubbing his temple. Someday. Someday he really was going to sleep a whole day. It would happen someday, whether he wanted to or not. He was very tired.

The others were motioned to rise, stepping out of the arena area, while Aced bounced on his heels, looking a mixture of excited, nervous, and expectant. “You can do this, Aced!” Ava called encouragingly, as Aced headed over to Aeleus. 

“So are we… picking an arena and stuff?” Aced asked.  

Aeleus couldn’t help smiling a little. Even if it was a mask, or compensating, he did enjoy the enthusiasm. “We’ll see if I can.”

Giving him a nod, Aeleus brought up two control panels, summoning Skysplitter from his. While it wasn’t the largest weapon among the Chonis Empaths--Graceful Dahlia, Luna Diviner, and Earthshaker were all pretty massive--the Axe-Sword was on the larger side. Though, he turned to Aced. 

“I crafted Skysplitter to suit my already established fighting style, as well as my movement strengths. I don’t try to move quickly, or rely solely on downstrikes--the size is something I’ve trained to wield, and the blade along the whole length gives me versatility in where to strike. A weapon isn’t something to commit to in a hurry based on aesthetics or preconceptions. It takes time to discover what complements you.”

Aced couldn’t help but look over the weapon entirely, gaping at its shape and size. Aeleus held it the way Aced had imagined holding the axe he had picked. It looked natural in his hands, like holding it was effortless. 

Remembering how quickly he had dropped a similar weapon, Aced blushed, looking away ashamed as he admitted, “I wasn’t raised with any weapon training. My sisters were, but the folks didn’t think it was a good idea to put a weapon in my hands. Thought I’d stab myself playing around or something.”

Most everyone in Luminary had some basic weapon training. Usually with just practice swords, enough to say that they had had enough training to get them through their trials. It was considered a religious necessity. 

But how seriously that training was taken depended on area to area, family to family. Nobles were expected to be experts in some sort of weapon as a prestige thing, a way to further insist on their superiority among the common folk, in roughly the same way they were expected to master an instrument as well. It was a sign of class. In more dangerous areas, weapon training was considered a necessity, and also a pride thing, people wanting to impress each other by mastering difficult techniques or weapon types. 

But once you got to where most of the Empaths in the factories had come from? Mostly rural areas or out of the way towns or even factory cities where weapons training was a luxury busy families trying to keep up with food and rent couldn’t afford to indulge in? Weapon training became way more spotty and rudimentary, if the family could even indulge in the practice at all.

Like more great rituals and grand cultural displays, you had to have a little bit of money or personal freedom to really embrace it. The world around you could celebrate and embrace a theology to its core, follow all the traditions, but if it came between buying bread or buying an iron stone to symbolically pass around, most people who didn’t inherit a stone picked bread. And most people who were working fields learned to use a hoe, not a sword.

Aced’s parents had been mudders. Essentially, they made and mixed fertilizers to sell to farmers. Aced had learned to ride a horse young to go around long distances and pick up the supplies they needed, and had grown strong shoveling shit out of barns to take back to his own farm. Aced knew how to handle dirty jobs, use a shovel, carry buckets, and pretend not to notice people laughing or whispering about him on the few days a week of school he had been allowed to go to, when the mudding farm could spare him doing his rounds to pick up ingredients. 

His sisters had learned weapons primarily because they had more time at home to do so, mixing the ingredients and making sales and needing to defend themselves from people who thought it was okay to be crass to mudding girls. But mostly they had been allowed to learn weapons because they didn’t fidget all the time or feel any need to suddenly try to prove something by breaking branches or outrunning the horse. 

Aced’s issues had started long before the factory, to put it plainly, as he said uncertainly, “I’m not sure what weapon I’d be suited for… I’ve been carrying a broken anchor hook we found a few months ago?”

Aeleus nodded easily to that answer, in turn offering, “People, my parents included, figured that my fists would be weapon enough for anything I might need. Particularly because of my tendency to break the branches I would otherwise use as training swords. I did not start experimenting with weapons until I was about your age. You are not behind.”

“That may be best to start with, because of your familiarity,” Aeleus hummed, before asking, “Do you feel comfortable with it? When you maneuver it, does it do what you want, or can you feel the reasons why it moves the way it does?”

“It… I guess I always like the weight of it?” Aced said, scratching at the whiskers on his chin. “Like I know where it’s going to swing, if that makes any sense? It’s not small, it’s just nowhere near as big as the ax I tried.”

Aced looked at the weapon in Aeleus’ hands and, essentially using that as a framework, hesitantly but carefully made his own weapon. A similar size, if a bit smaller and shorter, but with a jagged hook that turned inwards, like the anchor he had found… and then, suddenly inspired, he played with the spikes a bit, before triumphantly letting it form.

“Check it out!” he said, showing his friends on the sidelines, “It’s a bear! Like my mask!” 

Ira stared… and then he squinted, turning his head– “Oh, yes. I see it.”

“It does,” Aeleus nodded. “That trust of movement is something to look for in a weapon, I’m glad you’ve found it.”

Aeleus really loved weapon creation. Not because he was a war-monger, or interested in smithing--for all his emphasis on fighting, he genuinely hoped none of his family ever needed to use those skills. But in their minds, creating something so personal and suited for them, an outward expression of creativity…Aeleus loved getting to see that. That moment of bright excitement from his kids, and his friends before them, that felt like something special and just for them in the factory…

Invi cracked a smile, her shoulders raising a bit. “We’re really going all in on the animal motifs, aren’t we? It looks great, Aced.”

“Put a chain on the end!” Gula called. “Make it pop!”

“Oh! Uh, okay, let me see…” 

Aced took a second to figure out how to edit it again, before putting a chain on the end, deciding to put the same eye that Invi had put on hers, before proudly showing that off to her. It didn’t occur to him that maybe he should put his own symbol on it. 

Hefting the sword up and down, getting familiar with it, he grinned at Aeleus. “I’ll fight you anywhere! I can handle whatever you throw at me!”

Ira gave Aced a mildly concerned look. Aced was still injured, and the fight he had just been in couldn’t have helped with his headache. He probably shouldn’t interfere at all, but he couldn’t help but call out, “Maybe it’d be wise to learn some basics, Aced?”

Gula grinned a bit, seeing Aced take up his suggestion. Aaaaand he’d like to say, it did make the sword look cooler. He nudged Invi’s elbow lightly, nodding to the eye, getting a soft smile in response. 

“The best way to learn is by doing,” Aeleus rumbled, as the arena shifted into a flat, dry expanse of dirt. “Considering your injury, this is also a lesson in learning your limits. Do not push past them out of pride, there is no reason to do so here. Needlessly straining your mind will make recovery more difficult.”

With that said, though, Aeleus stepped back a few paces, lifting his sword. 

“Aced. Come at me.”

Aced wiggled his shoulders, like he was loosening them up, hopping up and down on his heels, subconsciously mimicking boxers he had seen growing up… before grasping the blade with both hands, he shouted, “YAAAAAAAAAA!” as he ran at Aeleus. Not holding back at all as he swung up and down at the man, intending to cut him from shoulder to hip! 

Shifting a foot back and turning his hips to stack his joints, Aeleus brought his sword-axe up, bracing his non-grip hand on the non-bladed core of the weapon as he shoved up and out, pushing Aced back as their blades collided. Aeleus then brought that foot forward, taking a step as he flattened his weapon and started pivoting, pushing Aced around sideways. Seeing if he had the footwork to circle or otherwise adapt, or would be tripped up and pushed over. 

Aced’s eyes widened in shock as their blades connected. Watching the bright sparks rip between the clashing metal, like fireworks exploding right in front of his face, a fwoosh sound accompanying the screeching, screaming metal as Aeleus’ blade dragged and caught against the thin, jagged edges of his own…

By the time the sparks from his vision cleared, Aeleus was beside him, not in front, Aced’s survival instincts and little else stumbling and stepping him away from the flattened edge of the blade pushing him away.

He did trip, but he caught himself. His strong legs and solid hips catching his fall and pushing him awkwardly back up to his feet. Feeling like he was vulnerable and it was obvious that Aeleus would stab him in the back by this point, Aced wildly swung in a wide circle, hoping to catch him in an attack, though he had lost track of where the man was. 

“Good,” Aeleus praised as Aced caught himself. “You have a good spacial sense of your body. Try to keep your feet in a line, parallel with the direction you’re going to dodge or strike. You have your whole body as a resource for power, don’t limit yourself with one part of it.”

Stepping back out of the circle, Aeleus then stepped back in behind Aced’s arms, guarding with his sword-axe on the side Aced’s weapon was as he shoulder-tackled the teen, figuring he’d be off-balance from the swing. 

“Gah!” Aced shouted, this time the shouldering sending him down, falling heavily onto his stomach and chest. 

But his instinct wasn’t to immediately get back up. His instinct was to immediately bring his arm up to cover the side of his head and over his skull, his knee automatically hiking up to create more of a barrier to his side. Instinctively preparing to be kicked now that he was down. 

Ira frowned in concern, wanting to shout for Aced to get up but holding back. In basically every other conflict Ira had ever seen Aced get into, that really was the right move. If someone knocked you down, you prepared to protect yourself from whatever they planned to do next. But this wasn’t that. He needed to fight back.

But while Ira had held back to keep from disrupting Aeleus’ teaching, Ava shouted, “Up! Up, Aced!” 

Aced seemed to jolt, like the idea hadn’t occurred to him, before he started scrambling to his knees. 

Aeleus was notorious in their group for not going easy on anyone, even the kids. To an extent, it was an earned reputation, since he didn’t believe it’d do much good to give anyone false wins, but there was a lot of room between letting someone win, and brutalizing someone who didn’t know what they were doing. And, privately, Aeleus thought that many of his family forgot how the lessons and spars went when they were brand new. 

“It’s not an unhelpful instinct, to switch to full defense in a fight,” Aeleus said, “If you believe that submitting will end the aggression, it can be the safest tactic, and you’re properly covering your vitals.”

As Aced jolted from Ava’s call, getting back up, Aeleus switched stances, swinging at Aced’s chest as he started to get up. “However, that is not the circumstance of every fight. And you do not have to invite injury to end things. You can be strong enough to assert your will and protect what you need to.”

Aced saw the swing and just barely managed to get his blade up to try to block it–

Everyone on the sideline visibly winced, able to see his mistake the second he picked up the blade, already knowing what was about to happen without having even the time to gasp, let alone warn him.

–as Aeleus’ blade hit the back of Aced’s blade, which because it was being held backwards in his grip, slammed the bladed edge back into his face, the bear bite leaving terribly teeth-like marks across both sides of his face. Only the pain of it freezing his muscles enough to keep his blade from fully cutting his face in half. “Augh!”

Gula’s whole body tensed, his breath caught in his chest like a balloon as he froze. Not wanting to see what was going to happen, but unable to look away.

Invi also tensed, but not to freeze. Her eyes were wide but focused, ready to run in…

But she didn’t need to, as Aeleus immediately backed off, kneeling and putting a grounding hand on Aced’s shoulder, giving him something other than the pain to focus on. Gently guiding the bear blade away from his face, the ground gently rumbled, the expanse of dirt fading back into void, the rules of a fight fading with it. 

“It is not a real injury, though it may feel like it,” Aeleus reminded the teen. “Breathe. Would you like Empathetic healing?”

It wasn’t even a ‘real’ injury in the sense that it was psychic damage. Aeleus didn’t allow that for his simulated fights--as much as he wanted to keep his family sharp, they couldn’t afford to be laid out with headaches or migraines from what they chose to do in their scant free time. However, perception of an injury could keep the appearance of one regardless of the world rules, if the injured person was frightened enough, and the soothing effects of Empathetic healing would work as a perfect placebo.

Aced shivered, covering his face as he trembled. The injury was false, but the pain was real. And for a moment, he really couldn’t talk, or think much at all, just the feeling of his face being sliced all he could grapple with…

…but once his head cleared even a little bit, he insisted, “N-no! I can do this! I can fight!”

“Damn it,” Ira whispered, getting up storming over to the arena. “Aced, you’re getting fixed and you’re going back to bed! You always do this, every time! Why can’t you just learn to take a no, why do you always seem to go out of your way to make sure someone gets hurt!?” Ira insisted, grabbing Aced’s arm as if he was about to drag him up and out of there, before bowing to Aeleus, “If you can fix him, please do sir. Otherwise thank you for your time.”

“No, no, I can do it this time,” Aced whispered, still covering his face. 

Aeleus observed Ira’s concern, eyes softening a little in sympathetic regret, before he took a breath. Reaching out to Aced. Noting his actual injury, the lingering headache from that, and expanding his energy out. The feeling of turning over freshly tilled, slightly damp soil in your hands, feeling the particles scatter over your skin. A cradle of life. 

“If you can do it this time, then you can do it next time, likely even better,” Aeleus said softly. “Taking the time to absorb and process is just as much a part of learning as application. And pushing yourself while hindered, when there is no urgency, is handicapping your abilities.”

“I believe in you,” Aeleus said simply, “You do not have to prove it.”

Aced took a deep, uncomfortable breath… before sighing in relief. Removing his hand to see that the blood had been cleared from it, his face now whole again, as he admitted, “I guess I should practice holding my weapon–oof!” 

He was jerked up by Ira, who gave him a frustrated look steeped in concern. “Thank Aeleus for his time and then go to bed. Fine, practice more later, but I’m not going to stand here and watch you tear yourself to ribbons to prove a point. Xigbar’s not even here to see it, just stop.”

Aced gave a shuddering breath…before seeming to calm. Giving Aeleus a sheepish, appreciative look, as he said, “...I can come back later? To practice more?”

Aeleus gave Aced a gentle look as he relaxed, rising at his own pace before giving both him and Ira a brief bow of his head. “You may. And I would be happy to spar with you again as well. Rest well, Aced.”

Acknowledging the rest of the kids as well, they all soon left Aeleus’ mind. 

…he let out a slow breath, looking around for a moment. 

It wasn’t an easy, or pleasant task to curb someone away from that desperate need to prove themself. But hopefully Aced could learn that lesson through acceptance, rather than defeat.

-

…….Ira stared at the garden. Picking at the skin around his fingers. Worrying his bottom lip.

“I should tell him,” he said softly, Invi still beside him.

Invi gently curled her fingers around Ira’s, gently discouraging the picking. She was a bit more worried about him hurting himself than getting dotted blood on the mending, though it was a concern.

“...for what?” she sighed quietly after a moment, leaning a little more against Ira’s shoulder. “For Aced to get a backlog of chores that Xigbar won’t give to Xehanort and Hao? For him to try and talk to Aced and get him even more riled up to prove that whole talk wrong? For him to tell Aeleus that Aced can’t come by anymore?”

She frowned at her lap, not entirely believing it, but, “If he can’t actually get hurt there, then…that’s an ideal place for him to get overzealous, right? It’s better than out here.”

“It’ll make him overconfident,” Ira said, letting Invi protect his hands, both of them knowing that if he got himself going, they’d be shredded in an hour. A nervous habit he had developed during some dark early days in the factory. “He can’t hold a sword, and we just saw what happens when he makes a quick, easy mistake. In the real world, that mistake would have killed him. And he just… doesn’t learn.”

Ira closed his eyes. “...Xigbar keeps him down for a reason. He keeps us all down for a reason. How many people did we lose because someone’s temper grew short or someone was overconfident…at the very least he could explain that to Aeleus. I don’t think they understand. I think they think we’re all strange and he’s mad. They don’t know how many people we’ve lost.”

Aced didn’t have that sword in the real world. He didn’t have any sword in the real world. That mistake would’ve killed him, but…that’s why they had done it in Aeleus’. So it was a mistake he could make, and learn from. 

…but Aced didn’t learn. 

Invi’s eyes squinted in pain as she stroked her thumb over the back of Ira’s hands. A repetitive motion that was smooth, instead of sharp. “I think they’re starting to get the idea.”

“...what’s wrong with us?” she whispered to Ira, sounding smaller. Younger. “Why don’t we learn? No one is, but…are we just…not meant to be us? To have our own lives? The others are so…bright. They’re excited, and happy, and loud, and…you said that they were tortured, right? That they still lost people. But they’re still…”

“...what’s wrong with us?”

“...I don’t know,” Ira admitted, leaning to the side. Pressing his forehead against hers for a moment. “...I talked a bit with Lauriam. The pink one. He said that they only did conditionings, that it was nonstop. As he said that I wondered… how weren’t they all crazy? I try my absolute best and I still feel insane, like I’m barely holding it together.”

Pulling back, Ira chuckled softly. “...you remember those weird boxes they had us put together, what, two… three winters ago? The wooden ones with the strange etchings that for some reason we had to press bloody thumbprints into the inner walls, and then slot them all together like puzzles? We must have made hundreds of those…” Ira smiled, “And who was it… Polaris? Who figured out they made excellent frisbees?”

“No one was watching us, the supervisors had all wandered off to do something else, and we were acting like we were just tossing each other pieces we needed, but it became this whole big game of catch between all of us. Polaris, Oddy, Utzil… I think that was one of the happiest moments I remember having there.”

“...and we’re the only ones left from that whole group,” Ira whispered. “The only ones.”

Invi grimaced. Summers, the conditioning months, were easily the worst time at the factory. Just the…overwhelming sense of misery, panic, fear…and that they were the cause of it. Delving into the worst parts of a person and bringing it to life, to break them… Invi thought that even as a survivor, if they had added one more month of conditioning a year, there wouldn’t have been any of them left. 

She couldn’t imagine doing it day in and day out, constantly, for years. Even if the supervisors weren’t killing them, how could anyone just stand it on their own?

And yet. The younger trio were always running around with bright grins on their faces, making fun even during this lockdown. She couldn’t even keep track of all the hugs and fond touches she’d seen between the Chonis group. None of them hid their gazes. Most of them even looked at others with challenging looks, whether it be from pride or anticipation, positive or negative. 

They didn’t seem like a group of people who’d…had to destroy their souls over and over.

And instead, the Ribata group…

You had to numb yourself to death in the factory. To harden yourself. 

But that ache of grief never fully disappeared. 

Invi smiled lightly at the memory, squeezing Ira’s hands…before her lips trembled and she had to take a deep, shaky breath, closing her eyes. “...I remember Oddy saying she’d break us all out,” Invi whispered, scrunching her eyes closed harder. “She’d escape and get help, get us all out… I always thought she was just trying to…t-to, you know, lighten the mood. Have a nice dream to cling to. I never thought she…”

Invi let out a heavier breath. “...I pretended she really had, for a while. When she didn’t come back to our room. I didn’t believe she’d get help, or come back for us, but just thinking that she’d made it out, instead of…”

Ira smiled lightly, even as his eyes burned. “Did you used to do that too? I had the same daydreams about Polaris. That maybe when they pushed him over the side that he…”

“...but he didn’t,” Ira whispered, “They just left him on the other side of that wall. I’m sure of it. And I just wish he hadn’t… I shouldn’t have told him what happened. He had a vendetta against that supervisor ever since he found out; I think he thought it’d be worth it if he could just get him… or maybe it had nothing to do with me. I don’t know. I’ll always wonder.”

“But I could have saved him if I had just shut up and not told anyone anything,” Ira said dryly, “Xigbar was always telling us to just take things on the chin, to let it go, let it slide off our backs. That even talking about it invited danger. And I ignored him. And maybe Polaris died for it. And maybe if we hadn’t indulged Oddy, she wouldn’t have tried. And she’d still be here. And so many others…”

“...I’m telling Xigbar about Aced training with Aeleus,” Ira decided again. “We’re not losing another person because they think they can do something they can’t. Maybe the Chonis Empaths are different. Maybe they get to be bright and shiny and still live. Life’s never been fair to us before. Why start now,” Ira grumbled, standing up and heading into the house.

There was a quiet intake of breath, and that’s what made tears actually bud at Invi’s eyes, her hand tightening on Ira’s. A small, strained, despairing, “Ira,” leaving her…but not much more than that. 

To avoid conflict, to avoid the noose constantly around their necks, you always had to give in. To give something up. 

(And yet. And yet. There was still a part of Invi that cried out at the injustice of it. That Ira should be made to swallow such cruelty done to him, and never seek comfort for it, because it cost someone their life. Not even that, but that the supervisors decided it would cost someone their life.)

(There was a part of her that cried out that they weren’t in the factory anymore, that things were different!)

…but were they really? When every decision they made for themselves was always, always wrong, and again and again it was proved that Xigbar and Linnea were right? That to continue living you had to keep your head down. Be quiet. Never argue. Do as you’re told. Never be yourself, never be happy, just swallow, swallow, swallow…

Invi watched Ira go into the house, before she looked down to wipe her tears. 

The mending still needed doing.

-

Xigbar enjoyed the way the island, when it accepted you, made your landing almost feel weightless. He felt like, quite frankly, a pretty ballet dancer, his hair lifting in the descent, legs stretched out towards the sand in a delicate descent. 

Indulging himself, he even tried to land on his toes, lifting his arms in a bird-like arch, a swan landing on a lake… and then giggled when he immediately tripped, scratching his nose in playful delight, before looking around the beach with a little dancing spin. 

He was in a good mood, all things considered. He always liked it when Ira came to ask him for help. Put air in his chest, made him feel giddy. Of course he’d help~ Leave it to him~

Humming cheerfully to himself, he headed to Aeleus’ door, before knocking on it. Rocking back and forth on his heels, whistling as he waited… before smiling when the door opened for him. An invitation to come inside. 

Strolling in, his boots clicked in a delightful way against the void flooring. Xigbar whistled a bit as he looked around, before sighing, “I did hope the next time I visited that I could try out a different world, Aeleus. Yours is interesting, but is painfully lacking in… color.” He stared at the endless void, smiling even as the edges of his vision fused, the whites of the sides, ceiling and floor all mixing and melding into mush as he said, “Or any sign of reality, really. I feel like just staying in here and staring at the white would drive someone mad by itself. No conditioning technique required.”

“If pure madness was your goal,” Aeleus said simply, giving Xigbar an acknowledging nod as he entered. “Though, even those of us that did employ a ‘sit in it’ method did still have to provide some direction.”

To the point, Aeleus said, “You want to talk about Aced.”

“I do!” Xigbar grinned, clasping his hands together, smiling above them, his golden eye becoming an upturned little slit of a cheshire smile that matched his grin as he gazed up at Aeleus…before looking down him as well, as he said, “Can I just say, your physique? The gods were having some fun when they made you, huh~?”

“But! That is not why I’m here, don’t get distracted!” Xigbar said sternly, suddenly turning away from him and walking away, shoulders squared, his graying dark-purple ponytail flicking behind him like a irritated tail on a thin cat… before peeking over his shoulder. “Unless?”

“No, I’m kidding.” Xigbar giggled, spinning on his heels. “But yes, we do need to talk about Aced. I heard he died in your simulation earlier. Or, well, just about, anyway. Pity. I hope he didn’t take it too hard.”

Aeleus passively observed Xigbar, just as uninterested and unoffended as Even. He wondered if the man was lonely. Despite keeping his group together, and his obvious comradery with Linnea, Xigbar gave off the impression he didn’t let up that defense around any of them. Aeleus wondered if he knew how, by this point. 

It wouldn’t be a sentiment he was unfamiliar with. 

“He seemed eager to try again, actually,” Aeleus hummed. “I surmise that’s a common theme with him.”

“It is, it iiiiiis,” Xigbar said, adjusting his gloves against his wrists, snickering as he did so, “You know, I have odd proportions myself. I swear, I can’t get anything that fits just right. Everything’s just slightly too long for my physique. Too long fingers, too long toes, too long… oh, well, I suppose a third example doesn’t come to mind.”

“Aced is one of those guys who if you asked him, hey, do you think you could fight a horse?” Xigbar said, adjusting his gloves again, “He’d ask if he could take the horse by surprise. If yes? Tooootally, he could fight a horse–HAIR! Long hair! Hah! Rule of threes.” Xigbar giggled, pulling his ponytail over his shoulder, as if to show Aeleus what he meant, before shrugging. “Anyway, he’s reckless and overconfident is what I’m saying. Which is fiiiiiine, in most cases. Really! I actually think it’s great that you want to work with him! Give the lad a few more years, I bet he gets close to your size! Someone like you could teach him where the heck his feet are!”

“But,” Xigbar said, clapping his hands together. “Here’s the thing. I would love for Aced to get genuinely better at fighting. Because our group does get into fights! It happens! Buuuuuut… I’d need you to help me out. By just… I dunno,” Xigbar put his hands behind his back, shrugging, “Giving him a reality check every now and again. A reminder that while he can learn to fight, he doesn’t lead. He obeys.”

“It’s very, very important that he remembers he has to obey,” Xigbar said, face stony. “I’ve taught him a thousand times, but if you give him an inch, he forgets all of it. Ira, Invi, Ava, even Gula and the youngest boys, to an extent, all have learned that when things get tough, the most important thing they can do is obey…but Aced? He gets over-excited. He forgets. It has to always, always, be on his mind, that he obeys.”

That was the impression Aeleus had gotten. The desire for acknowledgement, for respect, for love, was a powerful motivator. It could turn challenges into obstacles to be overcome, rather than roadblocks to stop you in your tracks. It made anything at the very least a possibility, if only someone asked. 

It could be an incredible strength. And a deadly weakness. 

Aeleus raised an eyebrow at Xigbar, his expression barely changing otherwise. “Fighting is not recitation. And recitation is not learning. I cannot make Aced do anything. Every action is a choice.”

Xigbar literally went, “PFFFFF!?”

“I’m sorry, what?” Xigbar giggled, crossing his arms over his stomach, his whole body shaking with little barely repressed giggles of laughter, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, hold on, I know we don’t know each other well enough to call each other out on some aaaaabsolute bullshit when we hear it, but uuuuuuh~”

Xigbar giggled again, looking around the void before gesturing vaguely to the arena. “Wasn’t this your brainwashing fighting spot? Like??? Yes, right? You beat people into certain actions and reactions? That was your whoooole… thing?”

Tilting his head back, Xigbar smiled lightly, even as his keenly intelligent single golden eye–just barely not blinded by a massive scar that seemed to have dug deep into his flesh right past it–looked Aeleus over critically, appraisingly. “I know what you think of me. I know what everyone thinks of me. But control works. Fear works. It’d be super nice if it didn’t! If there were other ways! Maybe someday those poor bastards I lead around by the nose will even escape me, and woohoo, great! When that happens!”

“But not yet,” Xigbar said, frowning. “Not today. And if you sacrifice my progress with Aced? Maybe he doesn’t get to learn from you… or maybe?” Xigbar’s smile sharpened, “I teach you the hard way, that obedience is necessary.”

Aeleus gave Xigbar a dry look. He was quiet, as the man said his piece, taking in his points. 

However. 

“I think you misunderstand.”

“I will not condition Aced,” Aeleus started, staunch and still. “That will is such that it becomes an inability. There are certain aspects of my world that still function, however, and Aced has already experienced it.”

Aeleus looked down at Xigbar. “My world does not allow people to run.” 

You must face the battles you’ve chosen. 

“What I think of you, is that you’re someone who has had to work within an unfair system, where success still means you lose,” he continued. “It means you have learned acceptance. To the point no person should. I agree. Control and fear have worked, you have made it to this point alive, keeping others alive. There is no way to measure if any other method would have worked better or worse--that is the nature of commitment. Of life.”

“The past is set in stone. But the future isn’t. And the way of life is also to adapt. Only time will tell how each choice turns out.”

“Aced may learn with me, if he chooses. If you decide that is harmful, and you tell him he cannot, then it is still his choice to listen. He very well may, because he relies on you for his self-worth.” Aeleus looked down on Xigbar, unimpressed. “If you wish to change my outlook, you can try.”

Xigbar smiled, stepping back and raising his hands like he was going to clap again… before he squinted at his hands. 

“...well I was gonna do this cool thing where I summoned my crossbow daggers and said something like ‘who needs to run’ and then, like, implied it was you who should run, because I was gonna go PEW PEW PEW and shoot you a bunch, and you’d have to run from the bullets… buuuuuut it seems,” Xigbar said, flexing his hand a few more times, “I cannot do that.”

He flexed his hands some more… before sort of slinking his foot to the side and shifting over. Then doing it again. Kind of moving his feet like how a worm might get across the floor, as he shifted closer to the arena area. Still flexing his hands experimentally. 

“One second,” he said, shifting closer to it, “Almost there.”

He grinned triumphantly when he stepped into the arena, grasping his hands together… before pouting again when nothing happened. 

“Your mental laws suck when it comes to dramatic moments,” Xigbar told him plainly.

“Perhaps you are simply not creative enough,” Aeleus said. 

Before the earth shook. 

Massive canyon sides erupted from the ground around Aeleus, before filling the void, a hazy orange sky narrowly coming into view above, but that freedom only served as a reminder of how far away it was. Strata of eons stood stoically all around--no matter how you lived your life, the earth would remain for far, far longer, shaped, but steady.

And as the earth split under their feet, deepening the canyon, Aeleus swung at Xigbar.

Xigbar’s eyes widened in genuine delight, looking around the changing, shifting scenery, even as he failed to keep to his feet, falling on his ass as the earth rumbled and shifted around him. Now THIS! THIS was what he was talking about! THIS WAS A BEATING HEART OF A MAN! 

Delightful~ Xigbar never got chances to see beautiful passion like this any more. He was too busy stamping it out. 

Giggling in mild terror as the earth beneath him started to split, his left eye burned as a fisheye view of the world lit up behind his eyepiece, Xigbar looking up to see Aeleus running at him as–

(Xigbar brought his sharpshooters out to try to shoot Aeleus head on, but the larger man pushed through the shots and by the time Xigbar realized it wasn’t going to work, had bashed him down into the deep depths of the canyons breaking apart beneath them.)

–he rolled out of the way, scrambling up and giving Aeleus a wide berth first, jumping over the spreading hole to create some space between them as then he took out his sharpshooters, pointing them at Aeleus as he shouted, “FIRE AWAY!!”

Energy arrows, slow moving but large, burst out of both his sharpshooters, the two of them seeming to shift and move through the air as if they were seeking out Aeleus specifically, before Xigbar giggled as he shot out smaller, quicker pink blasts that moved only where he aimed them, calling out, “DON’T WORRY! WHEN YOU REALIZE IT’S BETTER TO JUST DO WHAT I TELL YOU!? I’LL FORGIVE YOU!”

Aeleus clenched a fist, ripping pieces of the canyon walls away to intercept the slower shots. Testing them, he blocked the faster ones with his sword-axe, tilting the blade to see if they would deflect back to Xigbar. 

“There is nothing to forgive,” Aeleus rumbled. “It’s a great burden of ego, to believe you have all the answers. It’s a tragedy to believe that answers to everything exist.”

His eyes narrowed as he slashed into the rock walls, quickly jutting stalactites continuing off that trajectory towards Xigbar. “I do more personally disapprove of squandering others’ potential to create a certain future, however. Doing it for so long creates a distaste, and an intimate understanding of what’s lost.”

(Xigbar ran down the center of the crevasse, avoiding the reach of the stalactites, but the shots Aeleus knocked back only had a straight line back to Xigbar and crashed into his—)

Not doing that. Xigbar’s single good–and present–eye darted at the spikes sprouting around him, and realizing the stalactites themselves would make good barriers against the shots Aeleus was about to knock back at him, he ran at one of the walls, dodging around the protruding spikes with a damn near elegant flexibility as he seemed to leap and pounce using both of his feet and both of his hands as he moved around them, climbing up before running over the top, hopping from stalactite to stalactite.

“It’s a great burden of responsibility when you DO have all the answers, friend!” Xigbar laughed, stopping at the top of the row of spikes and covering his face when the two shots that Aeleus had hit back destroyed some of the spikes below him, debris flying through the air that when it cleared, revealed that Xibgar was already aiming at Aeleus, grinning as he shot more bombarding pink shots. 

“I’m the reason that kid HAS a future! And you know what!? It was at OTHERS’ expense! I spent so much time watching him, trying to account for everything that HE was going to do, that I missed it when others needed me, or I hurried through them when they needed more from me! He’s not just a danger to himself! He’s a danger to others! And every time HE makes a choice?! I have to hurry to save him from it, which means I don’t even see it when the crossbolts move behind another one of my DAMN KIDS’ HEADS!”

“He needs to make less choices,” Xigbar whispered, his eyes darting around manically as more visions of the future flashed rapidly through his eyes, briefly checking in on all the others, “They all need to make less choices. It’s so much easier to watch out for them when they’re not adding chaos.” 

Aeleus put a hand on the canyon wall, taking a breath and pushing…the stalactites all crumbling into chunks. No longer a place to stand. 

As he focused on dodging and deflecting the shots from above, he still said calmly, “And that’s your choice. And you have to live with the consequences of the others’ deaths. Never truly knowing if your increased interference would have changed the outcome.”

After a moment of all the rocks crumbling, Aeleus let go of his push, the earth freezing in the air for a moment before shooting towards Xigbar. “The world will not stop for you to consider every outcome. Life is chaos. Other people are chaos. You must be strong enough to stand up to it. And if you care for others, they must be strong enough to stand up to what you cannot prevent, because you will never be able to account for everything.”

“Oh fu-AAAAH!” 

Xigbar, in his own mind, would have some teleporting stuff he could do right now. It was something he had developed halfway for fun, halfway to protect himself, entirely to annoy Tengan when the old bastard came to visit. He liked to talk to people upside down in his world, because it was fun and he could so why not? He missed his annoying little hovering teleportation circles right about now, as he fell face-first into the thick crumbled dust and chunky debris that had been the stalactites he had been standing on. 

As he groaned, getting to his knees, his eyes closed to protect his single good one from the dust, he saw (Aeleus hurling rocks straight at him, the first one that would hit him in the head that one and the second one that would hit him in the side and knock him into the wall that one and then the others that would hit him directly rather than into the wall around him that one and that one and that one–)

Still with his eyes closed, rubbing his forehead as he knelt down, he brought up his sharpshooters and shot BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM!

Each shot exploded or deflected a rock that was going to hit him, shattering it into harmless if a little stingy pebbles, until the dust cleared as Xigbar stood up, rubbing his eye as it finally opened, the wall around him covered in embedded with chunks of rock almost in a perfect circle around him as he asked, “Chaos, huh? Sure, I’ll admit, half the time it’s chaos. I’ll go so far as saaaaaay fifty/fifty, it’s chaos.” He lifted his sharpshooter, aiming at Aeleus, a sharp grin on his face as he said, “The other fifty percent? The future is mine. And I’ll drag all of you kicking and screaming into it!”

He held the trigger and a massive energy ball built at the end of it, before firing it straight at Aeleus.

…

Aeleus smirked a little, though his gaze saddened with understanding. 

He enjoyed a good fight, all things said. It had been a while since even Xaldin had given him a fight like this. It was nice to stretch, a bit. 

…poor bastard. What a miserable way to live. 

“Being able to see the future does not mean you can control it. You cannot know how any variation will end up. That said?”

Aeleus drew himself up, feeling every muscle in his body and applying them, widening his stance. He held his sword-axe along his body, before pushing forward into the blast of energy, as if to split it.

But when it dissipated, there was only smoking earth. 

Xigbar blinked. Eye searching for Aeleus. He had expected for the man to be shot backwards, or to maybe duck to try to dodge, or maybe lift a rock to stop the blast…

He focused on his burning eyes and saw (Himself move forward forwards the blast spot, looking to inspect it, only for Aeleus to fall from the sky, splitting his skull with the axe–)

Xigbar looked up, readying his stance for Aeleus to descend as he smirked. 

The earth rumbled.

“I sincerely hope you do,” Aeleus said quietly, as he burst out of the ground, finishing the swing of his initial trajectory as he sliced at Xigbar’s back. 

“HRK!” 

The blade opened up Xigbar’s back, knocking him forward, Xigbar crashing into the dirt and rolling a few times, a smear of blood left in his roll as he gasped and gagged. Eye wide as he looked around without actually seeing anything, his whole body just the pain of his ripped open back, trying to move, to protect the wound, to reach his sharpshooters… and finding himself unable to move much at all. Merely spasming a bit, his limbs making aborted attempts to lift themselves, before spasming out as the pain in his back ripped through him every time he tried.

Aeleus might recognize that Xigbar, despite experiencing the blinding pain of his spine partially cut through, was still oddly clear. Not in a calm, put together way, but just in the manner of someone who had experienced blinding pain enough times to learn to move through it, but was still panicked enough to try to move even when he couldn’t. 

Xigbar was a man whose both body and mind were used to absolute brutality. But then, perhaps that wasn’t surprising. The scars dug deep into his face weren’t decoration. 

He gagged, trying to speak, bubbled blood pooling in his mouth as he looked up at Aeleus. His future sight telling him that Aeleus was going to (Put his boot on his head and crush him down into the dirt some more. He wouldn’t die. That was the fun part of being in the mental world. You could do things to a person here that would kill them and ruin the fun in the real world, with abandon, as many times as it suited you. Tengan had taught Xigbar that the hard way. He was sure Aeleus had learned a similar terrible lesson. Xigbar’s hair had been a deep, rich purple once. Were Aeleus’ eyes purple or blue? He couldn’t tell as his face dug into the dirt, crushing and shattering beneath the heels–)

Aeleus watched carefully as Xigbar crumbled and struggled against the wound. As theatrical as it might be, cutting through a person was not clean, or easy. Even with the sharpest blade, it would take an incredible amount of force, and would be messy, slow. Pushes of effort again and again as you snagged on bone and had to contend with the pressure of muscles and organs. 

Aeleus had not tried to cleave Xigbar in two, or to stab through him. That wasn’t realistic. 

He watched the gruesome injury spew and Xigbar struggle coldly, unaffected. 

When Aced had been injured, his instinct had been to huddle down and protect himself, submitting to defeat. That fight had been finished, even if he’d tried to push himself back up at Ava’s inspiration. But Aeleus had recognized that defeat, and ended the simulation. The body willing, but even for a moment, the soul not. 

Xigbar had not given up. He was still striving, beyond pain that would incapacitate many. The body unwilling, but the soul not. 

That was not the state of defeat Aeleus and his world recognized. You could beat someone until their body was broken and left in a pulp, but if their will was not broken, they had not been defeated. And you could say what you would about the years of despair, but when he had known them? Aeleus’ Indentured had not been broken people. 

And so, for conditioning, he had been forced, over and over, to bring down the last defeat. Something that would so chillingly break even the strongest soul, that no will could persist through. 

He had killed them. 

(Not literally. There would be no purpose to that. But for a non-Empath, to experience death in the mental world…it did things to a mind. And in that wound, Aeleus had done his work.)

(Calmly. Without disgust, and great sorrow, and fury. Simply doing what needed to be done.)

Xigbar was not defeated. So Aeleus needed to finish the j--ah. There you are.

Eyes widening, Aeleus found himself smiling a little. It really had been a wonderful fight. 

Turning his sword-axe around, Aeleus braced the handle into the earth, before, without hesitation, he plunged himself into the blade. Letting out a roar of a cry as he pushed through muscle, through layers of ribs, feeling them crack under the pressure, a strangled sound as he shoved through the muscle of his heart, and still, still pushing out through more bone, more muscle…a heart of petrified wood skewered on the end of the blade as it protruded through Aeleus’ back. 

An aid extracted. 

 இᯅஇ 

“DAD!!” twin voices screamed as Ienzo and Zexion burst into Aeleus’ world, immediately running towards him. 

Lauriam and Marluxia were stuck in still, horrified silence, while Aqua’s eyes widened in alarm, storm clouds immediately forming and starting to deluge.

And the earth rumbled. 

The fight over.

…but instead of returning to void? Instead Aeleus and Xigbar were laying in a grassy field, a red rock crag jutting just above, overlooking a sparkling sea in the distance, a soft valley filled with archeological ruins, a far castle that was filled with confusing, nonsensical pathways, and just waiting for someone to set up clever traps in.

“Aeleus, Aeleus, we’re coming, we’re–oh WOW okay turn around guys’ we’re in the wrong mind!” Demyx shouted as he skidded to a halt running in, starting to turn around since Aeleus needed help now.

But Axel grabbed his arm and turned him around as he ran in, he and Isa looking around in quick wonder before Axel called, “Has anyone found him yet!?”

“Fucking use your eyes, ginger, he’s laid out over there!” Xaldin scoffed, hurrying past several of the frozen Empaths and telling the twins, “Scoot over, let me pull that damn thing out of his chest!” 

As Sora, Riku, and Kairi hovered near the door, not wanting to get in the way, even as they gasped at the changing world around them, Even called out, “Don’t. Touch that. Xaldin.”

Storming in, Even didn’t so much as glance at the changed world around them, instead just walking straight for Aeleus. 

Xigbar was gasping, though he could feel his back stitching back together as the rain started to soak into him, and he managed to rasp out, “This isn’t what it looks like–” before ice suddenly smacked into his lower face, wrapping around his jaw and binding it shut. Even barely looking at him as he flicked his wrist at him, silencing him, before returning to look at his husband, frowning as he knelt down.

As he had hoped, as the rain fell, the weapon disappeared, his wounds closing up. Even glanced over at the stone heart with a massive cut chunked into its center, before dismissing it and looking back to Aeleus, putting a careful hand on his arm. “Do you need a sliver?”

Slivers, he had learned from Alter Ego, were ways to heal. Pieces of yourself, given to someone in need.

…Even had been sort of hoping to test it out soon, as he said more earnestly, “You can certainly have one, if you need it.” Eyes keen with discovery.

Aeleus let out a deep, gasping breath as his wounds closed, just having to breathe through the pain…before he opened his eyes. Seeing his family above him, feeling wet grass under his body. 

“...I just stabbed myself inadvertently in front of our whole family, and all you can think of is the next experiment. Single-minded dork,” Aeleus rasped out, before he laughed softly, looking up at Even with wonder and fondness and love. Reaching up to tuck a lock of hair behind his husband’s ear. “I love you so much.”

Green eyes burned, as for the first time in a long, long time, Aeleus started to cry. He gingerly pushed himself up before pulling his sons in close to him, hugging them tight. “...I’m so sorry you had to see that,” he whispered to them, feeling Ienzo and Zexion cling onto him. “I’m okay. I love you both so much. I’m sorry to scare you.”

Even startled at that. Genuinely surprised. 

It had been a very, very long time since Aeleus had looked at him like that. So long that Even had, admittedly, half thought he had dreamt it up over time, that Aeleus had ever been like that. Their relationship kind and true but… well, very calm. All the time. A wall between them that Even had eventually thought was just how their relationship was, and he had accepted it. Leaned into it, just wanting it to work between them.

Even didn’t know how to react to that much warmth directed his way. Shyly, he didn’t say anything back. He would need time and faaaar fewer eyes on him, to learn how to respond to that.

Xaldin, in turn, literally dropped his jaw as Aeleus began to cry. “What the… are you dying, what the hell is happening, man? Are you… wait, are you Aeleus, Aeleus? Was it a Nobody situation after all? Lexaeus gone?”

“Oh geez I’m late,” Luis muttered, running into the world, it having taken a lot of effort to drag himself out of his own world to let himself sober up enough to get here, but gasping as he looked around. “Holy shite… the size of the place…”

“Aeleus, what the FUCK?!” Aqua yelled as she stormed over--literally, in some aspects--just looking more furious at the teary, adoring look he sent her way. “Are you CRAZY?!? We can all feel that, in case you forgot!! What were you THINKING, doing that to yourself?!”

“That I finally got the fight I needed,” Aeleus said with some shit-eating amusement, before he gave Xaldin a soft look. “Depends on how you define a person. To me, I have been Aeleus, Lexaeus, all the same. But if a person is defined by their actions, and those actions change? The self is mutable.”

“He’s fucking Lexaeus, alright,” Marluxia grumbled, shaking himself from the shock quicker than Lauriam…or seeming to, even as he crossed his arms to hide the fact he was still shaking. “Insufferable philosophy and all.”

Ienzo sniffled into Aeleus’ chest. “...why’d you start without any of us?”

Rubbing Zexion’s back as he felt the Chibi nod to back up the question, Aeleus smiled down at them, before glancing over at Xigbar. Amusement, and gratitude in his expression. “I didn’t see it coming.”

“Even, would you please ungag our host?”

Even sighed, “If I must,” before flicking his wrist again.

The ice rapidly melted off Xigbar’s face, who immediately smiled, sitting cross-legged as he put up his hands at the massive crowd of people now staring at him. “Loooooook I know how it looooooooooks–”

“It looked a whole lot like you were in a fight with our guy here when suddenly he was stabbing himself–and the rest of us–in the damn chest.” Xaldin scowled, crossing his arms. “You got yourself a ‘force a guy to stab his whole damn family in the chest’ power? Because I’m only half joking when I say I’ll rip it out of you.”

“Hehehe, awwww, it’s like I’m home again~” Xigbar snickered, Xaldin narrowing his eyes at him at that, “But, nope! We were following our time honored Luminary tradition of having a conversation through a little sparring! I feel like we made great progress!”

“In technicality, maybe,” Zexion sniffled, barely peeking over to Xigbar before clinging tighter to Aeleus.

In turn, Aeleus smiled softly down at his sons before taking a small breath. “...Zexion, how many spars have you won against me?”

“Me, or any Zexion?” the Chibi asked, not hesitating to answer the question. 

“Any.”

“One. 13 was particularly creative that day, but the tactic never worked again.”

Aeleus nodded and pet his son’s hair lightly. “Lauriam?”

“...wh-what?” Lauriam faintly asked, before Marluxia rolled his eyes and punched his arm, Lauriam blinking a few times as he scowled at his Chibi, before answering, “None.”

“Demyx?”

Demyx gave a startled, nervous laugh. “What, me? Are you kidding? None!”

“You told me once that I got really close, but I don’t remember it. I was blackout drunk,” Luis said, shrugging. 

“Look, just because I never won won, doesn’t mean we didn’t basically tie a bunch of times. I made you work for it, at least.” Xaldin huffed.

“You told me I surprised you once!” Sora offered excitedly, while beside him Riku and Kairi both just shook their heads.

“Aqua?”

The woman huffed, narrowing her eyes at just what the hell Aeleus was doing…though she couldn’t help but smirk a little. “I can’t remember how Terra shook things up, but last I remember our record was something like 450 to 590, your lead.”

“And for our gracious host, could you explain what you did before the factory?”

Aqua looked Aeleus over for another moment, before holding herself up with pride. “I was a swordmaster of Eraqus Dojo in NGP.”

“You all spar way too much, how the hell is anyone supposed to keep up with you?” Xaldin asked dryly. 

Even sighed, not bothering to answer his own score–it was once, and he had fought dirty, back in the day when they had done things like that–as he said, “Perhaps I get your point. So, what, did Xigbar win then? Or give you a run for your coin?”

“Winning is noooot the word I’d use,” Xigbar muttered, carefully moving his shoulders to see if his wound had fully closed.

“Was it just fighting someone you didn’t care about holding back for?” Riku offered out of nowhere.

“This was a null fight. Neither of us defeated the other before it was called, and without finishing it, there is no way to tell what might’ve happened,” Aeleus said easily, before smiling fondly at Riku. “...I may hold back a little in some of our fights. When I see you making a plan that needs prep time, or that you’re unsure of what to do, there is no benefit to ending the fight before you have a chance to try anything. You cannot learn without trying. You cannot learn without failure. You cannot begin to try, if you do not believe you could ever succeed.”

Aeleus looked back to Xigbar. “I do not give false successes. But I do not stop anyone before they even have the option to fail.”

“Obviously,” Zexion scoffed, wiping his eyes. “When has anyone achieved anything on the first try?”

“Right, but…” Riku frowned, lightly touching his chest. Something in him whispering, “...but you don’t want to hurt us. Specifically. It’s not that you want to hurt other people. But you don’t want to hurt us.”

Riku frowned, confused at himself. “...I think.”

Aeleus’ gaze softened again. 

…over, and over, and over again, he had failed to protect his family. And that failure was one that got them hurt. Physically wounded, psychologically wounded, frightened and changed…and sometimes got them killed. And there was only so much that failure could teach. Here’s what each supervisor was like, here’s how to avoid bringing the worst out in them. Here’s a trick for withstanding punishment. Don’t bull-headedly lead an escape plan and march forward on it no matter what. 

But that pain, that his family was subjected to…some of it was just out of his hands. There was literally nothing, in any universe, with any course of action Aeleus could do to protect them. 

And that destroyed him. 

Every time was of them was dragged away, every time they came back shaking in pain or battered and bleeding, every time they came back trembling with empty gazes, every time he said goodbye to a friend for the last time, knowing they had spent a life chained and locked away into a nightmare…every time he didn’t get to say goodbye to a friend. 

There was nothing he could do. And he couldn’t let it destroy him, because there was still so much to fight for. 

“That’s why I’m happy to see your failures with me,” Aeleus said softly. “Because unlike the world, I will not punish you for them. And if you have a safe space to try everything you can, failure or success, then all those lessons will serve you well in the space with higher stakes.”

A little amused, Aeleus rumbled a laugh deep in his chest. “But that’s not what you’re getting at, I know.” Shrugging a little, Aeleus said simply, “You all know how to tap out. He didn’t, because he’s got a giant ego and chip on his shoulder about enduring pain, so I wanted to kill him. I found the part of me that wanted that, and took it out.”

“Needlessly dramatically,” Ienzo grumbled in Aeleus’ arms. “I already have a complex about this, you’re just making it worse.”

“I’m sorry, son,” Aeleus murmured, rubbing Ienzo’s back apologetically. 

“Who’s got a giant ego? Me? I’m the humblest guy I know,” Xigbar muttered quietly to himself.

“You do keep seeing your parents die, it’s certainly starting to seem like anyone who wants to take care of you has a preference for the dramatics,” Even admitted, saying it like exploring why was perhaps at least worth a thought experiment. 

“Well, it sounds like we’ve at least figured out your aid/Nobody situation Aeleus, though it does seem like you sort of stumbled backwards into it,” Luis said, “But beyond that, is everything okay here? What on earth were you lot sparring about that got so intense you wanted to kill him to make him submit?”

“Ah, well, you seeeee,” Xigbar said, smiling vacantly, “...I would like… for Aeleus… to make certain… Aced does not get cocky if he’s training to fight under him.”

“...and?” Demyx said.

Even gave Xigbar a bewildered look, before shooting a somewhat dry one at Aeleus. “You better say that he was at least rude about it before I hear that this was all over that.”

“That didn’t happen until he was bleeding on the ground,” Aeleus said a little dismissively. “I can admire still wanting to continue, but I did center my conditioning around snuffing that out.”

He smiled at Even. “I said that I couldn’t control Aced’s decisions. He will learn, or he will fail. We started arguing philosophies after that. I’d argue it ended up better than the table I threw at the supervisor when we were first arguing philosophies.”

“A counter,” Zexion said, voice a little rough from crying, “You said you collapsed their sternum from that and they left the factory, and I’d call that productive.”

“Oh really, so fussy.” Even sighed, reaching over and picking up Zexion, holding him to himself. “The two of you are going to soak through his shirt at this point,” he lightly scolded, rubbing Zexion’s back.

Xigbar, though… his eyes widened. Genuinely shocked to hear that. 

He had attacked a supervisor and was still alive?

“...” Xigbar huffed, standing up and wiping his pants as he said, “Well, I like a good debate as much as the next guy, but I feel like next time you should offer me a strong virgin tequila sunrise first, since fighting you is sort of a lot! Besides~” Xigbar smiled thinly, it not quite reaching his eyes, “I have a feeling there’s just some differences that’s too hard to find common ground in.”

“But! I won’t tell Aced not to train with you. If he needs correcting, welllll, then I’ll simply correct! No harm no foul~” Xigbar smiled, “I should go. Lovely talking to you all! Don’t forget, dinner’s at five!”

And he disappeared. 

“...five?” Demyx said, looking at the others, “Isn’t that kind of early?”

“He’s got this thing about people going to bed early? But most of the Ribata Empaths just hang out quietly in their spaces when it’s ‘lights out’.” Kairi shrugged.

“It’s already raining,” the twins both said, huddling against their respective father. 

“You can probably stop that, actually,” Marluxia said, raising an eyebrow at Aqua. 

Aqua’s arms were crossed as her eyebrow twitched a little. “...I can’t. I think Aeleus’ world has just decided it’s raining, now.”

“It’s nice,” Aeleus said simply. “It’s been a long time since we’ve been in the rain.”

Looking at Xigbar for a moment, Aeleus bowed his head in respect. “Thank you for the fight. I will not disregard Aced in my care.”

“Or outside their spaces,” Lauriam smirked without much emotion behind it. “It’s pretty easy to get onto the roof from my old room.”

“Geeeez, it sounds like you all are going through it over there… and now I guess Aeleus is officially whole… Xaldin, that just leaves you–”

“Yeah, yeah, I know,” Xaldin scowled, rolling his eyes at Demyx, “What, you think I missed the fact that I’m the last Nobody left? I’ve been the last Nobody left. I’ll get around to it!”

With that Xaldin walked off, calling over his shoulder, “Glad you’re alright Aeleus!”

Demyx watched him head off… before saying, “We should have been taking bets on who’d end up last. I feel like I would have made that bet.”

“I still can’t believe the size of this place,” Luis murmured, looking around the world, “It’s easily three times our biggest world. Is this permanent, Aeleus?”

“You would not,” Marluxia scoffed, before walking off after Xaldin, clearly wanting to catch up with him, but refusing to actually run or jog after him. 

Lauriam gave the two of them a worried look before he attempted to give Aeleus a small smile. “Not to echo, but…I am glad you’re okay. I really didn’t think I’d ever feel something like that coming from you, it was…intense. Just don’t do it again, alright?” 

Lauriam gave a soft, hesitant laugh that was shooting for playful, but ended up firmly wary as he actually did start jogging after Xaldin and Marluxia.

Aqua gave them a concerned look next but…well, she’d let the boyfriends try to talk things through before she tried bullying Xaldin. She could just talk to him in the physical world if he tried to avoid the garden duo here, after all. 

“Really won’t plan on it,” Aeleus rumbled as Lauriam retreated, though he said it just as much for everyone else too. Looking around the vast array of biomes, more than they could see from this position, Aeleus knew, he hummed softly. “I believe so. It’s everything my world has been before, but just all at once, now. A bit less convenient for starting spars quickly, I suppose.”

“I’m certain you’ll figure out some sort of workaround,” Even said, looking over the landscape himself, “It is always nice when there’s a new world to explore. Perhaps we can make some sort of event soon for trying this new area out together. A group experiment on the limits of entertainment here.”

“...a party?” Demyx said dryly.

“I don’t think I misspoke,” Even said. 

“I think we could all do with a good party,” Aqua hummed, smiling slightly as she looked around, though her gaze went back to where Xaldin and the garden duo walked off to. “Maybe once everyone’s back. Somebodies, Nobodies, the whole she-bang. It’d be nice getting to celebrate them, considering how shitty it sounds a lot of them left.”

“...I’m still not rescinding my offer of making a cake, even if it’s not feasible currently,” Ienzo muttered into Aeleus’ chest. “I’ll make it eventually.”

Sora lit up at that. “A party when everyone’s reunited! It’ll be amazing!”

“We’re just waiting for Xaldin to… well,” Kairi sighed, “I’m sure he’ll do it soon. He knows we’re going to bring him back and we can. He just needs to trust us.”

“I doubt it’s us he doesn’t trust,” Luis muttered. “...I’ll have a talk with the lad. Soon. I need a drink.”

“I need a nap,” Aeleus said in an exhausted sigh. “The injuries here might not be real, but damn that was a lot. Fighting against a clairvoyant is an endurance game.”

Twin blue eyes looked over, intrigue breaking through the overwhelmed worry and shock. 

Even leaned over, looming over them, as he asked, “Clairvoyant?”

-

They knew something had happened. 

Honestly, Invi couldn’t really guess what. Obviously Xigbar had gone to talk to Aeleus, but…while seeing all the Chonis Empaths more subdued was weird enough--and it was strange that it was all of them, not just Aeleus--Xigbar was more subdued. Sure, he smiled and needled at them as usual, but it felt…distracted. Faker than usual. 

Which felt dangerous, so they were all on their toes even more. 

But nothing much happened for the rest of the day, so it proceeded as always. 

-

“...nnng.”

Gula tried to keep any noises to himself, but one escaped as he huddled against the wall, holding his head tightly. Sweating a bit as he tried to breathe normally. 

It was ‘quiet hours’, but even past that, it was the time of night where even the most reluctant of the group would have fallen asleep by then. 

…okay, admittedly even Ira thought maintaining early ‘quiet hours’ was a little ridiculous by this point. It had been strictly enforced in the factory, of course, but he had been as shocked as the others when, upon being released, Xigbar and Linnea had gone off to talk between them for a few hours and come back–Linnea notably a little reluctant–explaining that quiet hours was going to be maintained. 

Ira had privately gone to them both and argued that the group could get by without a curfew. And then very quickly changed his tactic to arguing that it could at least be later in the evening. And then when that hadn’t worked had gone back to the others and explained, no, the curfew was actually a really good idea, and it was fine actually, it’s not like any of them had anything they should reasonably be doing at night…

(Like most things Xigbar pushed hardest for, it was just another ‘variable’ that he was trying to take out of the equations for his visions. If everyone was actually in their areas and sleeping, that was at the very least 8 hours where the future of what they were doing was basically certain, since what they were doing was sleeping. And if he expanded that ‘laying down and sleeping time’? Even if they weren’t sleeping, it still got much easier to know exactly how each Ribata Empaths’ night was going to go, Xigbar able to better trust his visions that they’d be fine throughout the night.)

So as much as Ira didn’t like it, he tended to be the one enforcing the ‘quiet hours’ most… but it was harder for him to think about that when he heard little whimpers of pain, getting up from his sleeping bag on the floor–it was usually Invi and Gula who had the bed, but Aced’s injury had gotten him the bed for himself, the other three sleeping on sleeping bags atop pallets on the floor–coming from one of the others, as he pushed off his blankets and as quietly as he could crawled over to Gula.

“What’s hurting you?” Ira whispered, giving Gula a worried look over.

Gula could only shake his head for a moment, his tense, measured breaths continuing before he gasped one in for a moment, squinting up at Ira. His teeth grit and bared. 

“I can’t tell who it is,” he whispered back, strained. “I feel like I’m gonna go crazy; can’t you feel it?”

It was a pretty useless question, by this point. Gula wasn’t crazy powerful or anything, he wasn’t anywhere near Xehanort or Hao’s level, and he didn’t have the curiosity and drive to figure out crazy tricks like Ava, but one thing Gula had discovered when compared to the others was that he was a particularly sensitive Empath. Even subtle shifts of someone’s mood felt glaring to him, and while he’d found some understanding with the others over sensing others’ emotions when he first came to the factory, it had become clear that the others didn’t unintentionally feel just…everything. 

“I’m so angry,” he whispered to Ira, wincing into himself as his breath caught, “But not like how… I feel like I’m going to set something on fire and…l-like rip a building apart. This feels like hellfire.”

Ira frowned, looking around the room to see if the culprit was among them. But, no, it was unlikely. Invi was sound asleep in her bedding and her face looked calm, not gripped by a nightmare. And Aced talked in his sleep when he was having nightmares, and there was nothing but gentle snores coming from there. 

It had to be one of the others, someone outside of the room. 

Which they weren’t supposed to leave for ‘Quiet Hours’, except for the bathroom. If they had to. 

…Ira frowned, glancing worriedly at Gula. “Can you block it out at all?” he asked a little desperately. 

Gula growled. “When have I ever been able to d--” He winced through a small gasp. “Sorry…I’m sorry. I’m not mad at you…sorry…”

As he murmured apologies, Gula…actually seemed to relax slightly, pressing his palms in circles on either side of his head. “...it’s going away?” he whispered after a moment. “Maybe they’re falling asleep.”

…though he didn’t know how anyone could even approach sleep feeling like…that. He didn’t know how anyone could live feeling like that. It felt like a type of torture Gula could hardly contemplate.

…sleeping? Or leaving?

Ira felt through his tethers. Hao and Xehanort, his first checks, were in their room, and Ava was sleeping with them. Linnea and Xigbar were both in the master bedroom. Everyone accounted for. 

…could it be one of the Chonis Empaths?

Did it matter if it was? They were playing by different rules than the Ribatan’s were. ‘Quiet hours’ for them just tended to mean they went into the backyard and chatted for a while, until sleeping in their carriages. It had already felt awkward one or two times, the four of them in their room, listening to chatter and laughter coming from not far away. 

Ira understood the quiet hours rule, but… he had felt guilty, watching the others not talk about a jealous feeling they were clearly all sharing. If he had just made a better argument to Xigbar and Linnea, tried harder, maybe… well, maybe he could try again soon. It had been almost a year since the rule had been established, maybe Xigbar and Linnea felt differently about it now.

Still, enough anger for Gula to be sweating and twitching, physically in pain by the heat of the anger? And now it was fading?

That felt like something to check on. 

“...” Ira bit his lower lip, looking at the door, “...I can go check on it. Do you want to come with me, in case it starts again? Or rest?”

He should be insisting Gula rest. But he didn’t want the man to have to sit in his own pain and fury either, if it started up again. Ira would prefer to help if it started again.

Gula breathed slowly as he was able to just feel his own emotions again, the wildly strong influence fading away. “...Ira, if it starts up again I think I’m gonna hurl.”

Sighing, Gula shakily pushed himself up. “Let’s go. Maybe I can cow them into just being quiet rather than angry.”

-

Marluxia was…moderately quiet as he stalked through the night, heading away from the carriages and his old house. The heaving breaths as tears spilled down his face weren’t exactly subtle, but he didn’t give a single shit, he just needed to get away for a little while. Not be around the others and…fucking, maybe start a fight. 

Not exactly what they needed right now. 

-

A look through the house revealed an entirely different problem that Ira had not prepared for, as he stared into the second smaller bedroom and saw Xehanort, Ava… annnnd no Hao. Sweating as he felt for the tether, which had told him Hao should be right here…

…only to look up and, sweating more, realized his tether system needed a lot of refinement, as he realized, oooooh.

But if Hao was awake, maybe he was the culprit, was the mindset Ira had when, clumsily, he quietly climbed out of the window and up to the roof, only pouting slightly when Gula even still sick-ish practically flew up the side faster than him, as Hao smiled like he wasn’t surprised to see them, waving from where he was sat on the roof, a lantern next to him and a book in his lap.

“Hello,” Hao said softly, unconcerned as he asked, “Am I in trouble?”

“...” Ira bit his lower lip, before shaking his head. “No, you’re not far from your room, at least,” he tried to reason. If Hao wanted to read without disturbing his roommates, certainly being directly above his area counted as being in his area… maybe.

But Hao chuckled lightly at that, as he said, “At least I’m not actually leaving the house at this time of night… unlike others.”

Ira raised an eyebrow at that. “Others…? Who? Also, were you upset by anything just now, Hao?”

Hao glanced over at Gula, before shaking his head, lifting his book to show he was reading a bosom-busting romance novel with a small, amused smile. “No.”

Gula rolled his eyes exasperatedly as he and Ira snooped around, finding no Hao in his room…though finding him on the roof? It really wasn’t the first time any of them had done that, and even if they were leaving soon, it likely wouldn’t be the last. If they weren’t supposed to be on the roof, then why was it so easy to get up from the second floor bedrooms, huh?

Scoffing a little, Gula rubbed his forehead. “No offense, but I think none of us would ever wake up if you were that upset. You don’t have it in you, smiles.”

Looking at the younger teen tiredly, Gula jerked his head towards the street. “One of theirs?”

Hao’s smile brightened, genuinely pleased by the compliment. He knew he and Xehanort were difficult, but he didn’t ever really mean to be a menace to the others. He wanted to be nice!

It was just tricky, when so many funny things were mean.

At the question, Hao nodded easily, pointing in the direction he had seen the man walk in. “The pretty one, Lauriam. Or Marluxia, perhaps. He left not long ago, maybe five minutes.” Hao’s eyes widened in curious delight. “Are you going to hunt him down and drag him back?”

“I wouldn’t have worded it like that,” Ira admitted warily, before glancing down the road, “Should I? I don’t think the Chonis Empaths have any rules about that…”

Hao shrugged. “If nothing happens? It was probably fine, even if the others found out you saw him leave. Thoooough,” Hao tilted his head to the side, his eyes calm and knowing, “If something goes wrong? And then Xigbar and Linnea found out not only had three of us saw him leave, but you, Ira, saw him, and did nothing?”

Hao let the scenario hang over them, plenty not needing saying, but understood. Ira started to sweat more.

“...I should tell Xigbar,” Ira whispered.

“Boooo, no, that’s the boring answer,” Hao said, closing his book and setting it aside, picking up his lantern, “We should go hunt him down ourselves instead.”

“I’m not letting you leave the house during curfew, Hao,” Ira said.

“And I’m not going to let you ignore a call to adventure and wake Xigbar,” Hao shrugged, standing up, “If you try to? I’m going to make him unable to see you. And then I’ll go anyway, because this seems exciting. And then you’ll have let a bunch of things go wrong, instead of just a few.”

Ira started to sweat harder.

Gula frowned looking back to the street. …that pretty much confirmed it then, huh. If he’d only left about five minutes ago, and the feelings had faded, not just stopped. There was only so big Gula’s range was, so…sigh. Yeah, that added up. 

In one sense, that was the end of that. Sure, they were all on house arrest, but none of the three of them were responsible for Lauriam. Or Marluxia, or whatever. Maybe the most responsible thing overall was to tell someone from the Chonis Empaths that Lauriam was out, but that wasn’t necessarily on them. 

Even if something went wrong. Though they would be blamed for it. 

…and with how the guy was feeling?

Gula snorted softly. “You’re such a jerk.” Glancing to Ira, Gula shrugged. “He would be more helpful keeping that guy from, like, assaulting someone. Even if he was less upset, don’t think any of us would be able to talk him down, we have the combined bedside manner of a wet paper towel.”

“I like to think I’m comforting.” Ira pouted, reluctantly following Hao down the garden fencing walls to the ground below. 

Honestly, Hao just thought Ira needed to loosen up a bit. They were all high strung, the others, but if you shoved a stone up Ira’s ass, a diamond would pop back out an hour later. The guy had been on the verge of a nervous breakdown since the first day Hao had ever met him, and then Xigbar handpicking him to be his personal permanent babysitter/rule enforcer had done nothing to help. Honestly, Hao was half convinced that if Ira didn’t have a relaxing night at some point soon, the guy was just going to throw himself off a cliff.

Was tonight the relaxing night? Who knew! It could be? Breaking the rules and being adventurous could be the most relaxing thing of all, 16-year-old Hao was entirely certain. It was really for Ira’s own good.

-

Stupid fucking Loseriam with his stupid fucking feelings, who did he think he was?! Of course he was upset, they were all upset, he wasn’t special for feeling a void in his stomach and having his head fill with static and having all will drain from his body until it was all he could do to just lie down and rot! They’d all felt that, that moment of pure pain and panic, inescapable, the kind of pain that you just had to lay down and take because it wouldn’t stop because that was the pain of someone dying.

Terra had severed himself from the island before he died, though they had known he’d been in pain. Lauriam hadn’t been around yet, when Aeleus sprung his escape attempt, or when the woman Even knew had killed herself. Every person he’d felt die had been a ‘soft’ death. Someone dying from age, it not being a surprise, as they helped prepare their friend for the end they knew was coming. 

That didn’t always mean that the actual moment of death was painless, though. 

It was bad enough, when someone just died in their sleep. It was never a surprise, waking up in the morning to find one of their family members gone. They all knew the instant it happened, feeling a sudden absence, a sudden nothingness where there had once been a life and a mind intertwined with theirs. It was a kind of loss that, once, a foreign prince had woken up with a start from, bawling his eyes out as he understood what that sudden silence was.

The other ways to die from age were worse. Because not only was there that moment of void, but it was preceded by…well, sometimes a desperate pain in the chest. A scrambling of thoughts that you were lucky if you were already lying or sitting down, because no one could withstand it. A suffocating feeling, and brief, but intense panic. 

Feeling someone die was visceral. 

And feeling something so close to it again, even if Aeleus wasn’t even close to dead…

Marluxia was so fucking pissed, he wanted to tear the world apart. 

But he didn’t want to tear his world apart, not again, so…he’d left. Stalking off randomly into the night. 

(Not realizing that his feet were taking him towards the royal district.)

Marluxia might not have realized where he was going, but Ira and Gula quickly did, an unsettled, heavy feeling of ‘oh no’ starting to hang heavy over Ira as his eyes darted around, seeing the dirt path beneath his feet start to fade into small, diamond tiles, colorful and decorative and expensive, the buildings around them clearly becoming more and more richly decorated, more elaborately designed. In royal districts, there were less and less of the old traditional style of domes or the necessity of flat roofs, but more tips and towers, the architecture taking more of a Danganronpan-inspired look as shops started to display large window displays to advertise their goods, rather than tapestries and wooden walls or windows that could be opened up and closed to adjust easier to the temperatures. 

There were also more guards out and about, and an amount of nightlife that surprised Ira–it was late, even for normal people–until he realized they were heading not even just to the merchant or residential area of the royal district, but to its entertainment area.

If the wealthy were going to be up and about? They were hanging out here.

“We’re not supposed to come to this area,” Ira whispered, looking around with increasing dread.

Hao, though, looked absolutely delighted. Looking around in wonder. He and Xehanort had snuck out at night before, of course, but even they hadn’t come out this far yet. They had tried once and Xigbar had ‘seen’ them going to do it, and had cut them off the second they had ended up on the road, herding them back home. And they just hadn’t bothered trying again since.

Hao felt a little bad that Xehanort wasn’t here, but he’d make it up to him later. He’d find something cool here to show him the next time they snuck here!

The guards seemed to not notice Marluxia, however, despite a furiously crying man stomping his way across town not exactly being inconspicuous. Either physically or psychically, though Gula was doing his best to just breathe through it, staying as far from Marluxia as possible while still keeping him in sight. 

In a small town like Romeliad, even the entertainment sector of the royal district wasn’t all glitz and glamor, but there was a certain amount of presentation to it. Signs painted with metallic, light hues that glimmered in the dark, beckoning patrons in, little peeks in certain windows, the colored lights within hinting at the sort of fun someone could find behind their doors. 

And Marluxia ignored all of it…until he suddenly stopped in a back alley. His gaze going blank for a moment. 

Gula suddenly gasped as he clutched onto Ira, blindly trying to keep himself up as a splitting screech filled his head, almost like Ava’s disorientation if instead of mindless confusion, it filled you with a burning bloodthirsty rage.

“Ah, Gula?” Ira whispered, catching him and doing his best to steady him, before looking to Hao, “Can you make Gula unable to sense Lauriam?”

“Not in the way you’re hoping,” Hao said, still looking around in fascination, “He’d still feel the emotions coming off the guy, he just wouldn’t be able to recognize where it was coming from. And he’d still remember it was Lauriam we’re looking for. It’s like with your tether or Xigbar’s sight. It can be tough to get around your surveillance powers to begin with, but if you already know or have something set up? I can’t undo knowledge you already have.”

“Okay. Hao, stay with Gula for a moment, I’m going to see if I can calm him down a bit before you both get any closer,” Ira said, gently guiding Gula to lean against the side of a store. “Gula, just focus on breathing, okay?”

Gula couldn’t register anything that was going on, his body either wanting to full on collapse, or stay tense with the impulse to attack. For a moment, he resisted what was moving him, giving a garbled, furious growl…before he relented, heaving in a breath and leaning all of his weight against the wall. 

Of course he’d be here, why wouldn’t he be here, why would they ever come to confront this shitty little town without coming back--

That was a bit of an abstraction, though, as what Marluxia actually was thinking was more akin to, “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!”

He wanted to burn this whole fucking town down. He wanted to summon his scythe physically from sheer power of will and slaughter every spoiled, stuck-up rich fuck here. He wanted to…he wanted to…

Unseen to most forms of sight, blazing red sparks exploded out from Marluxia, a wave of agonized bloodlust consuming the surrounding streets. 

The thing about irrational bursts of emotion, no matter how brief, is that most people’s first instinct is to try to rationalize it. IE, try to find a source of that emotion.

If someone, however briefly, feels a visceral, violent hatred towards the world? Unless they’ve had some specific mental training to self-correct or self-assess those sorts of feelings, the first culprit is, of course, something external. Something external has happened that has forced them to feel that way. Someone has done something. That hatred isn’t irrational, or has come from nowhere. Someone has earned it.

And something must be done about it

This, of course, does not lead to an immediate bloodbath or anything like that.

But it dooooes lead to every conversation and interaction in the immediate area suddenly carrying a much heavier, much aggressive tone.

Which… builds…

Ira was someone who had been trained to ignore his own anger and hatred for things. 

He had been soooooo good at it, in fact, that Xigbar had made him his right hand man for it. So as a wave of what Ira would define as ‘irritation’ because he was not allowed, even internally, to use the ‘h’ word, washed through him like a physical force, he still hurried over to whichever of the flower duo, as he had heard them called, this was. Trying out, “Lauriam?” first as he approached.

Meanwhile, Hao.

…Hao’s relationship with anger and hatred was trained differently, into him. 

Just purely by nature, Hao was not an angry or temperamental person. Declared a failure and ‘destroyed’ by his mother, imprisoned and tortured by his father, seeing so much endless destruction and pain… Hao wasn’t sure if he had ever hated anyone in his entire life. He wasn’t sure if he could feel angry. He had seen so many people rage and weep and become hysterical in their fury, and had never quite understood it beyond the most technical levels. He had never felt anything like what they were displaying.

Xehanort had mentioned it once, and like anyone else, Hao had tried to rationalize his lack of hatred or anger. The conclusion they had come to was that Hao was just very patient, naturally, as a person. Or maybe was just good at coping with difficult things, finding peace in it. Something like that. Something rational.

In that moment, Hao knew something his father had actually tried to explain to him once, a long time ago. About how people like Hao felt things. 

There was a term that apathy was worse than hatred. Whether that was objectively true depended on the individual, but for Hao, that concept was wrong, because it suggested those were separate concepts. For Hao, Apathy was Hatred. It was Anger. The more angry and hateful he felt? The less and less the other person mattered. Until they weren’t even ‘people’ anymore, not in a way that mattered. Every possible emotion that could have given them ‘value’ to him, whether it was sympathy or love or the investment that traditional hatred and anger would have demanded? All of it was gone. And suddenly the person he hated not only didn’t matter to him, but simply did not matter. Period.

Hao looked around at the crowds around them, and saw more and more arguments starting to break out… and simply felt morbidly amused. Interested in a show. 

‘People’ who weren’t actually people, going through a hard time, was just very, very funny. And he hoped it would escalate. That would be interesting to watch. Since these ’people’ didn’t matter.

Gula struggled with his temper a lot in the factory. And in general. It was what had gotten him caught as an Empath, after all. Whether it had been arguing with his parents, with cliques at school, with the court system that had already decided his guilt, supervisors that saw him as an expendable tool, Gula could shove it down into a burbling resentment…for a while. But eventually, it always snapped, and Gula would bare his teeth and claws and fight.

He really didn’t think people gave him enough credit for what he managed to smother down, though. And having worked with the knowledge of feeling feelings that weren’t his very intimately over the last two years, Gula knew that the fever point of the screeching rage in his head wasn’t his. 

And rather than lash out at the world as it encouraged, the boy sank to the ground, desperately trying to breath through growls as he ground his fingers into the stone-tiled ground. 

Emotion Domes were a high expression of an Empath losing control of their feelings, yes. Something that some couldn’t necessarily control, if what they were feeling was ‘big’ enough, and they had enough power. 

Lauriam did have enough power…but just to uncontrollably form one. Not to shape it, or sustain it like Namine. And that burst was enough to exhaust him.

Marluxia dropped to his knees in the alley, breathing heavily as feeling 100% dropped suddenly down to 0, reeling from that. Though…unfortunately, it didn’t stay 0 for long. 

“Fuck,” he whispered, “Wrong one.”

“Wrong…?” Ira asked, looking around nervously, before hurrying over to Marluxia, “Please, stand up. We should go back to the house, you can calm down there. This place isn’t–” Ira flinched, the sound of glass breaking somewhere. Someone throwing a cup or a plate, as shouting got louder, “--the place to do this.”

“It’s disgusting, isn’t it,” Marluxia said quietly, a hurt bitterness in his voice, eyes squinting through the tears that had slowed, but not stopped. “Why did I even come here…? I guess of any place to explode, this one deserves to be destroyed the most.”

“...go back, Ira,” he said, voice dull. “We’re just gonna hurt someone going back right now.”

“Uuuuuh,” Ira said, “You telling me you’re going to hurt someone is maybe the string of words least likely to send me off, really. Did you say something is going to explode–?”

Ira flinched as some nearby shouts became a full on fight, glancing over to see what looked like a couple trying to slap each other around while others pulled them off each other, guards heading over to try to quell the fight. Somewhere a door slammed shut once, and then rapidly, over and over again, like someone was fighting to pull either side of a door.

“Can we at least leave the street? What was down that alley?” Ira asked, glancing down the alley, wanting to use it as refuge.

A frustrated rumble in his throat, Marluxia pushed himself up from the ground, glaring spitefully at the alley. “It’s how we got caught.”

A tremble went through Marluxia’s shoulders. “...I’m serious. You don’t understand how badly I just want everyone here to die. Maybe I can stop Loseriam from rampaging, but evidently I can’t stop me.”

“...” Ira frowned, looking around again. He wasn’t sure for what. Anything that could help, maybe. 

But a glance behind him just showed Hao watching the angry crowds with mild fascination, while Gula was shivering and trembling against the wall. 

More glass broke somewhere. It was accompanied by a scream. It had hit someone. 

“What kind of rampage?” Ira finally asked. Because, well, Marluxia could seem to speak. And honestly, what could he really do by this point? Though, it did seem like he had made an emotion dome. But it was gone already. So… “If you want to be angry and scream and cry, I think… that’s okay?” Ira said uncertainly, looking around, “I guess if you really want to?”

“Apparently not,” Marluxia spat. “Apparently it’s always too much to ask to just be alone for a little while, or to scream and cry when doing it blows everything up.”

Marluxia let out a frustrated yell as he punched the alley wall, the sound a resounding smack. “Where the hell does he get off anyway?! Aeleus is fine! It’s not like anyone actually died this time, and it’s not like everyone else is going around on murder sprees because of it either! You piece of shit, pull yourself together!”

Ira gave Marluxia a somewhat bewildered look. Checking on Hao and Gula one last time, he headed further into the alley, following Marluxia. 

“...are you… going? On a murder spree?” Ira asked somewhat helplessly. Of all the tantrums and bouts of rebellion he had helped quell, this was admittedly a first. He didn’t know how to handle a murder spree. Was it already spreeing? Had there been murders???

“No, you fucking dweeb!” Marluxia hissed, punching the wall again before bringing his arms up like he was blocking his head, thunking his head against them, against the wall. His voice breaking a little. “I’m trying not to, we can’t do that to them again…”

“I’m the fucking reasonable one, I’m not going to LET!” a thunk against his arms, “YOU!” thunk, “RUIN!” thunk, though this time his arms parted a little, “EVERYTHI--!!”

There was a sharp gasp as it looked like Lauriam reeled back from the wall, scrunching his eyes closed with a grimace. Slowly covering his head as he sank into a crouch. His voice small. “...I feel like I’m losing my mind, Ira.”

“...please, I don’t want to be here.”

Ira stood a bit helplessly, just watching this man that was dangerously close to becoming his friend sort of… beat the shit out of himself against a wall. Not sure what he should do. Not sure what he was allowed to do. In the factory he likely would have physically stopped him, held him down until he stopped. But that had been the expectation in the factory. Now they were just two people out in the world, from what sometimes felt like two different universes. Just enough alike to recognize how foreign the other was. 

Lauriam asking for help helped, admittedly. 

{Gula, Hao, I’m going to try to take Lauriam out of here. I don’t think you two should come with me. He thinks he’s a danger to others and I think it’s safer to believe him. Hao, I need you to look after Gula until the effects of the sickness wear off, I’m going to try to get Lauriam as far from him as possible. After that, please go home.}

{If he’s a danger to others, isn’t he a danger to you?} Hao sent back.

Ira just sent the equivalent of an exasperated shrug back–yeah?? Maybe?? He was doing his best here–before grabbing Lauriam’s arm and hefting him up. He wasn’t strong enough, despite his size, to carry Lauriam. He just wasn’t. So he grabbed Lauriam’s wrist and started to drag him down the alley. “We’re leaving.”

{Oh fuck, this isn’t any better} Gula groaned, the switch from blazing rage to helpless despair both jarring and just as hard to think around. He’d thought he’d met people with ‘big’ emotions before. This was an entirely different level. 

Lauriam didn’t help much, as Ira pulled him up. It felt like there was an extra force of gravity on his body, wanting to just pull him down onto the ground, and then some. Down, down, down, right into the rot and skeletons again…

“I’m sorry,” he murmured to Ira, blindly following his lead. “Marluxia thought it’d be better if we left, I guess… But I can’t be there.”

“Be where? Back at the house?” Ira asked, hurrying down random alleys. He wasn’t sure what he was looking for. Just somewhere that felt okay to stop. But wherever it was he was looking for, he hadn’t found it yet, as he dodged onto a different street, walking around people before dragging Lauriam down another alley. 

It was hard to keep up with Ira’s pace. Lauriam wasn’t much of an active guy in the physical world already, but with every step feeling like lead and his heart beating an odd combination of quickly but sluggish, he just felt…sick. And dizzy. And like he was on the verge of bursting into tears again. 

Still, wherever Ira led, Lauriam followed along, not entirely just because of the hand around his wrist. 

“I was fine there,” Lauriam muttered, “I was just going to sleep. And sleep and sleep until you atrophy to the hells you - I get it, stop.” 

Lauriam stumbled a little as he shook his head, more solidly fronting as himself, after Marluxia chiming in. “...bad memories in that alley.”

“Oh,” Ira said, like he could make any sense of that. And he supposed maybe he did a bit? Lauriam had been… feeling bad? And Marluxia had decided to take him on a walk to help. But they had been upset by seeing that alley in particular. 

That was all understandable enough, he supposed. It was just all the emotions connected to all of that, that bewildered Ira. Lauriam acted like he was dying, and Marluxia was talking like he was going to murder people. Was on the cusp of it. That was the bit Ira couldn’t wrap his head around. They were so upset that Gula was physically ill just being close to it. And their explanations didn’t help at all in getting Ira to understand why that was happening, or what it was all leading to. 

He was a bit out of his depth. In the factory, Lauriam was likely already a dead-man by this point, this sort of self-destructive rage too difficult to cover up. But a supervisor wasn’t about to show up and shoot Lauriam in the eye with a crossbolt. Which admittedly made this a mildly more complicated thing to deal with, in an ironic sort of way. 

Finally, Ira found what he thought he might be looking for. They had stumbled into a horse field. Large, closed off expanses of land for kept horses to live in, they had apparently found the edge of the royal district, bleeding back into more rural development. 

Looking around, Ira ducked under the fencing post, encouraging Lauriam along behind him, before heading towards the stables in the distance. The noise of the city falling away behind them. 

It rained rarely enough in most of Luminary that Ira had missed every sign that it was going to rain here, as lightning split through the sky. The first warning sign he would have noticed, before it started to pour. 

Lauriam struggled a little getting through the fencing, feeling dumb with long limbs, but the numbing, depressive cloud that had slowly grown and grown in his head was momentarily parted as he flinched hard from the lightning and subsequent thunder, eyes wide in alarm as the skies cracked open. 

…god he missed Larxene.

She wasn’t dead. She was even coming back soon, along with everyone else that Marluxia had seen die and knew died while he was dead and he knew they weren’t really gone but it…

…he never said goodbye. She died with Zexion and a stranger and he didn’t even…

A sob broke through the downpour as Lauriam started crying again, grief thundering through him as it echoed in the sky. 

Okay. Now he was crying. Well… crying was something Ira was more familiar with, at least! He guessed! 

Inside the stable was exactly one horse and none of the others. The horses all sleeping outside in the rain and, apparently, content to remain doing so, none of them heading to the shelter they must have known was available here. 

The straw and the rain were both surprisingly strong scents. Ira felt a little dizzy among all the intense senses change, finally letting Lauriam go as he looked around for a lantern. Finding one hanging by the door, he fussed with it for a moment, before warm oil light filled the room. 

The horse, who was curled up on the other side of the stable, snorted in mild annoyance at their intrusion, but seemed otherwise unconcerned with them, as outside the rain fell harder. A night they had been running through able to see fairly easily not looking like a blunt curtain of pure darkness outside the door as Ira peered out, before halfway closing the stable door. Not wanting himself and Lauriam easily spotted by anyone outside. 

Ira sat down near some straw and took a heavy breath. Everything that had just happened slow to process. There had been a lot, lot, lot of shouting and anger in those streets when they left. Hao and Gula were out in the city alone at night in the rain somewhere. All of them had left curfew. Lauriam may or may not be on some sort of killing spree.

…Ira was in so much trouble.

“...what, uh…” Ira’s brain struggled to find some sort of salvageable point to this whole night, and settled on, “What happened in that alley?”

Lauriam couldn’t do anything but cry as Ira let him go, no longer directed. God, he didn’t actually want to die, he didn’t actually want to kill everyone, but…it was so hard. Just to be. When everything was death or on the verge of it and life just felt like nothing but stupid, stupid mistakes. And even knowing those mistakes, trying to learn from them and be better the second (third, fourth, fifth…) time just made everything worse. Or at least a different form of bad. 

…even just from a minute or two, he was soaked. Just like…

Lauriam trembled, still standing in the spot Ira had left him. 

“Some stupid fucks tried to rape my sister,” Lauriam cried through shuddering breaths. “I st-stopped it, but that’s how Togami found us.” Taking in a breath, Lauriam choked on it as a wave of tears fell down his face. “T-Tengan used to trap me i-in the memory to watch it, b-but without stopping it, a-a-and after I g…” A snotty, choked sound. “After what the supervisors did, he’d - g - make it so I’d volunt-teer to take her place instead…”

Ira quietly watched Lauriam. He didn’t say anything to any of that. Just sat and watched. Listening.

“Why did you go there…?” Lauriam whispered to himself, loosely holding himself in a self-hug. “You’re the one who got on my c-case for being a suicidal idiot.”

Lauriam sniffled and cried quietly for a moment, nothing more than that…before he tentatively called, “Marluxia?”

{I don’t know}

{...I didn’t know he did that to you}

{I just wanted to hurt something, I don’t know why I went there}

{...La-La, I don’t think we’re okay}

“I don’t think we are either…”

Ira still didn’t say anything. But he was starting to shiver a little from the cold, and after a moment he pulled his shirt off over his head. Squeezing out the water a bit, before looking around, tossing the shirt spread out on top of some clean looking hay bales, before settling down again. Looking at Lauriam again.

Lauriam was pretty obviously in his head, but as Ira took off his shirt and tossed it away? Lauriam’s attention suddenly snapped to him. Eyes going wide with fear as he froze. Just watching Ira back. 

Ira frowned at Lauriam’s frozen look. Looking down at himself in confusion. Was he injured and hadn’t noticed?

(As Xaldin had once pointed out, chiding Terra, in the physical world, Lauriam was kind of a stick. Yes, Aeleus had emphasized the importance of exercise, and Lauriam didn’t as regularly try to get out of it as much as Ienzo or Demyx, but no amount of it he did, in their small, few rooms, over half his life locked in them, ever really…filled him out.)

(Neither of them would describe it as such, but Marluxia’s appearance? Was wish fulfillment, in some ways.)

Ira may not be strong enough to pick up a six-foot man, but there were certainly other things that he could…

Maybe if he didn’t move, nothing would happen.

Ira gave Lauriam a wary look in turn.

(Ira was a big guy, naturally. Years of being more sedentary in the factory than he had been Before had only softened his muscles into a softer, but firm, form. And if you asked him, he’d admit that he looked strong and with a relatively short period of time, probably would actually be strong if he put some effort into it.)

(But Ira had spent years being trained to view himself as thoroughly unthreatening. Helpless unless he was with his group, preferably with Xigbar ordering him what to do next.)

(It didn’t occur to him that anyone could be intimidated by him. Especially not by accident.)

“...um,” Ira said after a while, “Sorry, you said earlier that you were… upset you couldn’t be alone? I was trying to give you some space. I can’t leave you alone out here, I just can’t, but I can at least let you talk without interruption, was my thought process… Are you upset with me?”

It occurred to Lauriam, in a sort of hazy, panicked way, that maybe he’d gotten too comfortable too quickly. Yeah, Ira was an Empath from a factory--as different as those factories were, they had both been brutalized and kept down under the same system, and in Lauriam’s mind, that meant they were on the same side. Yeah, he respected his mom, and Linnea had obviously instilled some sort of regard for Lauriam into the people she had come to lead, if just through their respect for her. 

But it had been a very long time since Lauriam had really…talked to people, other than his family. People that basically already knew everything about him, and encouraged openness, and understood what he’d been through, because they had been through it too. And because it had been so long, Lauriam had kind of…forgotten. That sometimes you don’t want to spill your whole life story to a stranger. 

Like, for instance, the fact that you’d been sexually assaulted, and that someone had abused that knowledge to torture you. 

Lauriam’s pupils dilated as the panic and fear running through him forced a sort of outward calm. Lauriam keeping very, very still, as he breathed an unthreatening, “No, sir.”

(For as much as he’d rebelled through theft and resentment…Lauriam had been just as terrified of the supervisors as anyone.) 

Ira literally looked to the door, assuming Xigbar had walked in.

When there was, in fact, no Xigbar, and still no one there but himself and Lauriam, Ira looked back with greater concern at Lauriam. 

“...Lauriam, could you please sit down?” Ira finally asked. The way Lauriam was standing there, staring at him, becoming more than a little unnerving. “I feel like you need to breathe.”

Nononononono it was so much harder to run if you were sitting down. Where would he even run to, though? There was…there was…

(Of course there was nowhere to run. He’d taught himself how to pick locks, but it took time. And even if he didn’t run straight into a locked door, there were just winding corridors, and Lauriam couldn’t remember the way out anymore. He hadn’t been paying attention on the way in, and he knew that none of the supervisors let them get even close to an external door.)

You have to obey, most of the supervisors went easy on you if you just did what they said. 

Lauriam basically tumbled to the ground, ostensibly sitting as his gaze remained on Ira, wide and frightened. 

“....I guess that’s better,” Ira mumbled non-committedly. Lauriam still giving him a bug-eyed, spazzed out look.

Running his hands through his hair a bit, Ira sighed at the wet feeling there, before undoing the ponytail he always kept his hair back in, running his fingers through it to try to dislodge some of the water. His hair grew like a damn weed. He had used to cut it pretty regularly in the factory, but eventually the hassle of maintaining the cut just hadn’t been worth it, and he had just started tying it back instead. In the two and half years since he had started doing that? His hair was already sinking down to his lower back. If he didn’t tend to forget about it once it was in a ponytail more, it’d probably bother him enough to actually do something about it.

“...I’m sorry the head secretary did that to you,” Ira finally said, wincing as he said it, “Sorry, I wasn’t sure if you had been telling me that, or talking to yourself…you’ve been kind of talking in riddles and circles since I found you, Lauriam. I don’t really understand what’s going on. Were you… you were raped in that alley, or… your sister was? Or she wasn’t, but the head secretary, uh…”

Ira sighed, rubbing his forehead, his hair a blue waterfall over his front as he shrugged. “Sorry. What are you trying to tell me? If you were telling me anything?”

Ira maybe didn’t even notice it, the way he hunched his shoulders in a bit as he rubbed his forehead. It was a pretty subtle action, but even that amount of him making himself smaller…

Lauriam blinked a little, sucking in a breath, suddenly aware of how shallowly he’d been breathing. And with a little more air, it was easier to see…no, he wasn’t in the factory. He was in a…barn. The static sound in his head wasn’t entirely that, it was the sound of the rain outside, as weird as that was. 

He was sitting in a barn with Ira while it was raining, and…

“...s-sorry,” Lauriam stuttered, looking around a little. “...I think I - I might be having a panic at-tack or something? Sorry.”

“Oh,” Ira said. Still just sitting. Staring back at Lauriam with a tired, uncomfortable look. Unsure what to say.

“Sorry,” Lauriam whispered again, feeling the need to apologize for…this. Everything. Every goddamned fuck up that Lauriam was that Ira really didn’t need to deal with, especially when he’d probably rather just be home in…

Lauriam blinked a bit again, looking around more. 

…where were they?

Fuck. 

“...” Lauriam’s voice just clicked as he tried to speak, before he swallowed and tried again. “...c-can you contact one of m-my dads or my mom o-or something, I can’t - I can’t--” Lauriam got caught up on the words for a moment, before he just jerkily shook his head a little. Brain not working right for him existing right here, let alone trying to use Empathy. 

(‘Mom’ meant Aqua. It didn’t even occur to Lauriam to think of Linnea.)

Ira flinched. 

Lauriam wanted him to call Linnea?

“…are you sure?” Ira asked, feeling cowardly even as he asked. But then, Lauriam didn’t follow the same rules he did. He wasn’t in trouble. 

……but he did need help, regardless. Ira had already fucked this up so much. Gula and Hao were hopefully already heading back to the house, but it wouldn’t matter either way, Ira had still led them out here in the middle of the night, instead of telling anyone anything, and now…

His shoulders falling a little, defeated, Ira corrected, “No, no, nevermind, I’ll let her know.”

Focusing, he called to Linnea, {Linnea? Your son and I are sort of trapped in a stable right outside the royal district. Gula and Hao are somewhere in the city. We might have started a small riot there, but I’m not sure about that. Lauriam’s acting very strange. He says he’s having a panic attack.}

Lauriam looked a little lost as Ira threw doubt onto that. Was he sure?

“...Know I-I-’Enzy’s gotten panic attacks since b-being back, D-dem-Dem helps with ‘em,” Lauriam muttered, before wincing and trying to make himself a little smaller. “...humiliating, c-calling Xaldin…”

…but ultimately, Lauriam did just want one of his parents there. For them to tell him that he wasn’t losing his mind and that everything would be okay. 

Lauriam winced again, choking on a breath before they got heavy, like he was trying to avoid being sick.

{WHAT?!}

{A worried impression of being looked over, before a squeeze of reassurance.}

{Are you two safe? Hold tight, Ira, I’m on my way.}

Ira sighed, the squeeze of reassurance not as reassuring as he knew she wanted it to be. 

He never got away with anything.

He wasn’t sure why he had thought this time would be different.

-

Xigbar snorted as a hand grasped his shoulder, shaking him awake. “Wh-?? What? What’s….auuuugh, you’ve got that something’s happening look, Linnea love~” Xigbar groaned, getting up and immediately reaching down for his pants, shrugging them on. 

“The kids are in trouble,” Linnea prefaced, able to note the rain pattering on the roof and quickly putting appropriate clothes on as well. “Ira said there’s a possible riot in town and that Hao and Gula are somewhere in it; you find them. He and Lauriam are in a stable outside the royal district--stable outside the royal district??” Linnea muttered to herself, going through her mental map of Romeliad to figure out just where the hell that was. “He said they’re trapped, and that Ammy said he’s having a panic attack.”

Linnea frowned tightly, before glancing out the window. “...I’ll let Even know. Is there anyone from their group you want as backup?”

“Oh, fantastic. Here I was worrying that Aced was about to make our next big fuckup, and instead it’s the one I thought I could rely on~” Xigbar said cheerfully, reaching for his coat as he sang-song, “Can’t wait to fix this bullshit~”

Backup, backup, backup– “I’ll ask… Aeleus is probably still recovering… uuuuh, what’s freckles’ real name? Axel? I’ll go grab Axel, he might be able to follow orders at least, if there’s some sort of… Sorry, did you say riot? You did say riot, yes? The fuck did those morons do?” Xigbar asked, even as he felt his eye warm, trying to see the immediate futures of Ira, Gula, and Hao. 

(Ira was having some tense but otherwise vague conversation with Lauriam, the two sitting around in a stable, safe.)

(Hao and Gula were trying to wait out the rain in a restaurant. They were undisturbed, safe for now, though Xigbar couldn’t see past them at the world around them.)

A better idea of where they were, Xigbar reached out, feeling for them… “Alright, I know where the boys are,” Xigbar said, adjusting his coat, “Linnea, this is a problem. Once we’ve collected them all, I need you to back me up in correcting them. I had worried this new group would disturb our system here, but the fact that Ira is our first problem? I did not see that coming.”

Linnea sighed a little. “We don’t know what happened, and looking around for blame won’t help until they’re safe. Just focus on that, please.”

{Even? Some of the boys are missing, Ira contacted us for help, he said Lauriam’s having a panic attack as well. Xigbar would like to request Axel’s assistance, as would I of someone willing to go.}

“Sounded skeptical when he said ‘riot’, but it is what he said. Regardless, they shouldn’t be out in a storm like this…” Linnea gave the window another worried look as she started heading for the door. Though, her shoulders slumped with another sigh. “...yeah, I know. We’ll get them safe, find out what happened, and make sure it doesn’t happen again. Just save the guilt trips until we’re back home? We don’t need anyone freaking out more than they already are.”

-

=_= zzzzzzz…

o_o

O_O

>の< XALDIN!

-

Xaldin kicked in Lauriam’s door, because he was kind of extra like that. “FLOWER, DANDELION, THE FUCK ARE YOU TWO DOING!?”

It was storming in the flower field, great gales rustling through the plants and threatening to shred the more delicate blooms to pieces. And at the same time?

The whole place was on fire. …almost.

While there was no physical sign of Marluxia, his energy was everywhere, and from the way the fires just barely hovered over the plants, and that the winds still weren’t managing to destroy the flowers even with the threats, it was clear what that energy was trying to do. 

And while he’d flinched so hard he jumped in the physical world, Lauriam looked up from where his surface consciousness was taking shelter under the dragon, its wings still…triumphantly open. But, maybe if you were paying a lot of attention, you’d notice that the wings were tilted down more, actually making a decent shelter from the rain. 

Even in refuge, though, Lauriam looked…frightened. …smaller. 

Like a terrified teen trying to find the smallest space to curl up and disappear, while the world raged around him. 

“Xaldin…?” Lauriam said weakly, like he couldn’t really believe the Nobody was there.

Xaldin tsked at the rain–come on, how much was he getting rained on today??--before storming forward, heading to Lauriam beneath the dragon wing… though he slowed down a bit when he saw the state Lauriam was in. 

“Dandelion? What’s happening here? Why are you curled up like someone’s about to beat you?” Xaldin asked, “Zexion said you were having a panic attack in here? What happened?”

“What…?” Lauriam breathed, before muttering to himself, “Why’d he call Zexy? That doesn’t…”

Lauriam flinched as thunder boomed around his field, squeezing his eyes shut as he curled into himself tighter. “I don’t know, I don’t know, I-I was a little freaked out, maybe?! I just… But Marluxia t-took over and he was so pissed, it was so fucking bad we couldn’t think, a-and we ended up in the alley, for some reason, a-and I don’t - I think we domed? And everyone should’ve just died, god we wanted it so bad, b-but Mar was going to hurt himself like Even s-said his friend did so I stopped him but we were there and I felt like I was dying but Ira took us out and now it’s raining and--”

Lauriam had to cut himself off with a breathless gasp, the wind blowing harder and the flames rising as little chunks of the field flickered, showing something…far less organic. Little, brief images of walls they couldn’t mistake for anything else, paired with a feeling of senseless, consuming fear as Lauriam trembled.

“...I-I don’t know, I’m freaking out?”

“Yeah, I can tell.” Xaldin scoffed, going to sit next to him and, without much warning, scooping him up and dragging him into his lap. “Shut up for a second and just breathe, you’re going to send me into a panic attack at this rate. Just… lean against me and breathe for a bit, you’re fine. Nothing’s happening. Other than some storm you’re in, but beyond that. Breathe, and when you can talk without sounding like you’re strangling yourself, then you can tell me all that again but better,” Xaldin said, wrapping his arms around Lauriam and holding him close.

Lauriam froze for a second as Xaldin picked him up, but it was like second nature the way he huddled against him just after. Squeezing his eyes shut and…well, for once not arguing. Just trying to breathe. Trusting one of the people closest to him that he could just…take a second. And breathe. 

(Trusting that for a second, no one would die, and that the people who had were okay, and that the people he’d wronged would forgive him, and that no one would hurt him, as long as Xaldin’s arms were around him.)

It did take a bit. Every now and then his breath catching and the trembles starting up again, but eventually? While the storms and fires remained, they were manageable. Until the blusters only ruffled petals, and, with a small push, the fire was all bundled up and, for lack of a better place to put it, a comfortable crackling nestled in the dragon’s mouth. 

Marluxia, looking just as small and beaten as Lauriam, appeared under the dragon’s wing with them, looking exhausted as he leaned against Xaldin’s side. 

“...I didn’t mean to,” he said softly. 

“Do either of you ever?” Xaldin asked, adjusting his arm to wrap around Marluxia’s shoulder, holding him as well, “Alright. Now which one of you is actually going to explain what happened? The last time things got ‘fire-y’ I told one of you that I cared about you. Did that happen again? Who am I beating up, who’s my competition?” 

“...we know he’s fine,” Marluxia muttered, actually letting himself huddle against Xaldin a bit. “...it did feel like Aeleus was dying though…right?” He squinted tiredly, glancing at Lauriam. “You were getting all…mucked.”

Marluxia’s voice was uncharacteristically small. “...I didn’t want you to turn into a monster again.”

Lauriam looked down, ashamed. “...guess causing a riot’s a little better,” he mumbled. “‘Specially there.”

Marluxia frowned more, before tugging on the end of Xaldin’s shirt. “La-La got triggered and freaked that Ira was gonna assault him.”

“Oh fuck,” Lauriam cringed. “Why did I tell him that?”

“Who the fuck is Ira?” Xaldin demanded, forgetting exactly who he had and hadn’t met. The tour had not been the most memorable part of that day. “Do I need to go let him know who he is not allowed to fuck with?”

“...also, what the heck are you talking about, riot?” Xaldin said, before shaking his head, “Wait, wait, wait, this is about what happened with Aeleus earlier? Ah shit… I guess I did notice you both looked pretty spooked. I didn’t think you needed more than a night to sleep it off though.”

“Yeah, it felt like Aeleus was dying. That’s why we all ran into his world like our heads were on fire,” Xaldin sighed, “Or, at the very least, it felt like he was in a lot of pain. I didn’t really go in thinking he was dying, I just thought he was stabbed. Didn’t realize how bad the stabbing was till I saw him though… This is all because you felt like you were dying earlier?”

“No, he didn’t do anything,” Lauriam sighed, grimacing as he tilted his head back on Xaldin’s shoulder. “I just…got freaked out.”

Marluxia shot Lauriam a worried look, but didn’t say anything this time. Though he pouted a little as Xaldin said he figured they were just going to sleep it off. Since, yanno. That’s what Lauriam had been trying to do, as Marluxia noted the pit in his stomach and the depressed haze going over his mind, and he’d just…

“...it was a lot of stuff all coming together,” Marluxia muttered, pressing more against Xaldin, Lauriam nodding a little in agreement. “Not to kick the shit out of a dead horse, but I think we’re kind of insane.”

“No argument here,” Xaldin said, rubbing Marluxia’s arm a little as he felt him nuzzle closer into him, “We all are. And I guess if you’re going to have some sort of a fit, this is an upgrade from the flower fire illusion stuff. Who knows how those Ribata weirdos would have reacted to that. Probably just waited to burn until someone told them to try to escape.”

“...look, you’re allowed to be freaked out feeling one of ours die,” Xaldin said, “That’s not an issue. Again, I’m betting there’s a lot of us struggling right now, but they’re just doing theirs quietly. Luis is probably blackout drunk, I bet you anything Aqua’s still bouncing back and forth from fuming to crying, maybe that old freak Even’s having some rough dreams. It’s fine, Lauriam. You’re allowed to be freaked out.”

“Just wish your version of freaking out wasn’t so ‘fire based’,” Xaldin admitted, giving a wary, skeptical look to some soaked ash nearby. “Or ‘murdery’ for that point. Where is ‘there’, by the way? Riot-wise or where you are-wise? Where the heck are you? Why does it seem like you’re not back at the carriage?”

It was an upgrade, thank you very much! …Marluxia had really tried not to ruin things for their family this time. Maybe it wasn’t a perfect success, but, well, improvement was good. 

“I thought about going to Luis’ and getting drunk,” Marluxia muttered, “Since stuff I do still affects you when you’re fronting. That’s absolutely a way to bypass only staying drunk in his world.”

Lauriam grimaced a bit. He couldn’t really say that would’ve been a worse way for the night to go, but…it still didn’t seem great. 

“You have no idea, if you wish it,” Lauriam sighed, before looking a little unsure. “...we’re in a…barn I think? I don’t really remember where the farmsteads were around town, and I don’t…”

-

Lauriam, who’d just been staring into space since his initial flinch with his eyes mostly lidded, though he did seem to have gotten calmer, blinked a few times and looked over at Ira. Asking worriedly, “...uh, hey, where are we?”

Ira had realized after a while that either Lauriam was zoning out or he was in his head, somewhere else. Either way, he wasn’t talking to Ira anymore, and honestly, Ira was fine with that. He didn’t really want to talk anymore either. Just sitting and staring out at the darkness past the stable doors, listening to the rain, feeling sorry for himself. 

“Oh, um…” Ira looked around, like that would help. He had been doing that all night. Just a nervous habit, he supposed. “We’re right outside the royal district, at a stable horse field I stumbled across. I’m not exactly sure where. I’ve never been here before.”

“Oh… Well, alright,” Lauriam hummed, Marluxia passing that information onto Xaldin while Lauriam was talking. Looking over Ira for a moment, Lauriam grimaced before giving him a shallow bow. “Sorry about all this. Flipping out on you. I appreciate you wanting to help, but…” Lauriam looked to the side with a grimacing smile. “I know it sucks. Do you think Xigbar will be less of a dweeb if I can explain things?”

“...no, that’s alright,” Ira said, still watching the door. “He’s not a dweeb. I was just wrong to do what I did. I made this a lot worse than it had to be. There’s nothing to explain.”

Lauriam looked back at Ira at that, his eyebrows raised in surprise…before a confused expression went across his face. “...how did you make this worse? You were worried and came after us, right? In what world is that a bad thing?”

Ira smiled thinly at that, recognizing Lauriam was trying to be kind, as he said, “Thank you. But I should have told Xigbar and your mother what was happening from the start. Instead I delayed until now, and I’ve gotten Hao and Gula lost in the city by themselves, and now there’s been another ‘strange’ incident here that might have people looking for demons. I was the least qualified Empath to try to salvage that situation, but I was the only one around to help because I got talked into going on an ‘adventure’ by one of the most irresponsible people I know.”

Ira paused, just looking sad and tired… before shrugging. “It was very stupid. I should have made smarter choices. If Xigbar is cross with me, I deserve it.”

Lauriam winced a little at that. Yeah, that wasn’t…great. Maybe he hadn’t projected imminent death onto everyone in the royal district or actually tried to mentally kill them, but a sudden riot out of nowhere was…well, not unexplainable by people rationalizing tense situations and bad days. But suspicious for people who knew to look for demons. Who’d already be suspicious because of what happened a few days ago. 

And, well, two of the younger kids lost wasn’t great either, even if he figured they’d have the sense to run away from the riot.

But…

Lauriam huffed, pouting a little. “...I disagree.”

Ira sighed. “No, you feel bad for me. Whatever you’re about to argue? It’s just wrong. I made the wrong call. Now everything is much worse than it could have been. And, you know, Xigbar won’t even be cruel about it. He’ll be angry, but he’s right to be angry. But I’ll be fine. You don’t need to argue anything else… though I am glad to see you’re more clear headed now.”

“No, I disagree because I’m a dumbass who makes awful decisions that make things worse all the time, but that doesn’t make me less deserving to make my own decisions, so I don’t think it should mean that for you,” Lauriam said firmly, pouting more. “You know what my last big freak out did? We got evicted, I almost died, and I was in a coma for a week. You know what no one in my family said?”

Lauriam’s gaze softened, not just for Ira’s sake, but for his own. “...that it was my fault. They just fixed things. And sure, now that’ll be something they tease me with forever, but no one’s told me to just give up because of it. The opposite, really.”

“Maybe things are worse than they could’ve been.” Lauriam glanced down for a moment, before giving Ira a small smile. “...but I’m not bleeding out in a street or in jail or anything, so…I think they’re a lot better than they could’ve been too.”

Ira tensed at that. Staring out at the darkness, trying not to feel… judged. Invi’s sad, bitter words echoing through his head. What was wrong with them? Why did the others get to be shiny and happy and full of life, but they were…

“Maybe if they were harder on you, none of that would have happened,” Ira said. Staring out at the darkness. The words meant to offend.

“Maybe,” Lauriam huffed softly, eyes lidding a little. “Or maybe I’d be dead.”

“Why?” Ira asked stiffly.

Lauriam smirked dully. “I’m an asshole that has issues with authority, and apparently a tendency for suicidal depression. If the old guard broke their biggest rule and started making us feel responsible for our suffering? If I didn’t make it impossible for them to do anything by filling everyone’s mind with, as Marluxia’s called it, ‘muck’, I probably would’ve offed myself at my first suicide baiter, if not the first time the supervisors tried psychological torture. If things lined up right? I might’ve done it immediately, and happily, thinking I’d join my sister. I begged for them to kill me too after they murdered her that night, anyway.”

Ira stared at the ground.

“...” He stood up. “I’m going to wait for the others outside. I’m glad you’re feeling better,” he said, before heading out the door. 

…shit. Maybe he had issues with just, like…people. 

Lauriam sighed softly, watching Ira get up, before closing his eyes. Leaning back against Xaldin. 

…it’d be okay. 

-

It wasn’t hard to find the stables, once he and Linnea had asked a few people in the royal district where to find the closest stable rental. Even gripped his hood and moved it more over his head, his boots squishing through the mud of the horse field as he said, “Of course they’d go to the one place around here that’s covered in actual dirt, when it’s raining. I’m out here in the cold, in the wet, in the middle of the night, and now I can’t–gah,” his boot sunk into the mud a bit, Even needing to stop to pull it out, before continuing to the stable, “walk properly. Honestly, Linnea, the nerve of these children.”

Ira’s hesitance had turned out to be warranted--it wasn’t exactly a riot they had walked into. Apparently word had spread enough of a few fights breaking out in the entertainment sector, but for the most part the district was as calm as you could expect it to be on any given night. 

Linnea always did appreciate the small blessings. 

“They do somehow always find a way to find snags you didn’t think were possible,” Linnea sighed, pausing her steady, focused walk only a moment for Even to catch up, hearing the rain pat on the back of his jacket as he moved out of the range of her umbrella. “As much as I’m sure everyone would just want to go back to bed after this, I’m definitely setting up the kettle.”

As they neared the stable, though, Linnea frowned, seeing a splash of blue. Not in the stable, but just…in the rain. Her lips pursing, she quickly handed the umbrella handle to Even and dashed out into the rain. “Ira!!”

Ira was standing outside, beside the door, his arms crossed in a way that was clearly trying to appear stiff and stern, but was mostly just him trying to seep some warmth back into his body and not admit that he had made a stupid error coming out here in the first place. For fucks sake, it was raining in the winter. And he had left his damn shirt inside. He was going to get sick at this rate, and again, it was gonna be his own damn fault. 

“H-hello Linnea,” Ira said, trying to not let the cold shake his voice too much, “Your son’s i-inside, ma’am. He’s doing better.”

Linnea looked Ira over in frantic worry, noting his shivering, lack of shirt, god he was soaked, though she couldn’t see any wounds or bruises…

“...thank you for letting me know, dear, that’s great,” Linnea said very evenly before quickly unbuttoning her jacket, pulling out the spare umbrella she’d brought along, assuming they’d need two considering they were bringing two more people back, her voice growing stern as she forcefully nudged Ira down enough to drape her coat over him and force him under the umbrella. “Ira Knight, what on earth do you think you’re doing? A stable is big enough for more than one person! What happened to your shirt, you’re going to catch a cold just standing out here!!”

“I-I thought it might be wise to keep a look out for you all,” Ira lied. Not wanting to admit he had gotten angry and stomped out like a child. “I-I’m fine, ma’am, my sh-shirt’s likely d-dried inside. I don’t need your c-coat.”

Even went past the both of them, wrinkling his nose at the smell of the stable, before sighing as he saw Lauriam. “There you are. Honestly, Lauriam, you couldn’t have had your fit at home? My boots have entirely failed to keep my socks from getting wet. You know how I feel about wet socks,” Even said, kneeling down and looking him over, “Are you hurt?”

Linnea gave him a flat look before tsking, tucking her coat more firmly around his shoulders since there was no way it’d fit around him more. “Even a shirt’s not fit for this weather, boo that. We’re keeping you as warm as possible on the way home, and we’ll bring out the extra blankets too. Give me your hands, dear, you must be freezing…”

Lauriam blinked a few times before focusing on Even, giving him a small, sheepish smile. “Sorry. Marluxia thought exploding would have less collateral if we weren’t by everyone.” Grimacing lightly, he held up a hand. “He punched a wall a few times, which doesn’t feel great, and I’m not really sure what to make of…” He gestured to his head. “But…I think I’m okay. I’ve been talking with Xaldin.”

Slowly pushing himself up--narrowly avoiding tipping over a few times as his vision wobbled--Lauriam smiled even more sheepishly. “....caaaaan I distract you from the horror of wet socks by saying that we’re pretty sure Marluxia made an Emotion Dome?”

Even gave him a steadying hand, before taking Lauriam’s hands and looking over the knuckles. “Tsk. We’re going to need to wrap this. And Marluxia was wrong, and I will have a talk with him later about that. You leaving us to have your little ‘episodes’ is not the solution. The solution is to come to one of us about it first. That will at least give us a chance to help you before you make everything look like it’s on fire.”

Though, at Lauriam’s news, Even’s eyes widened. “...fascinating. And would also make sense, word through the crowds were that there were lots of little fights everywhere. How big do you think it was? Could you replicate it again, do you think? That’s very exciting, that’s quite the leap of progress in your abilities, Lauriam!”

“Okay,” Lauriam said softly. “I’m sorry. I did try to sleep it off this time.”

Though, he couldn’t help but be fond as, predictably, he did get Even excited with the prospect of science. “I don’t really know, we were kind of…out of it, after doing it. For a while. But it seemed intense enough that Ira wanted to pull us out of there.” Lauriam shrugged a little. “We might be able to do it again, but it takes a lot out of us. I think it was only for a second, so I think I really get why Namine looked so exhausted after them.”

He winced a little. “And…it was just a ‘strong emotion’ thing, not something we chose, like hers. And I wouldn’t really want to replicate…that.”

“Strong emotional responses are how we first discover most of our abilities. I wouldn’t expect you to learn how to use it by replicating that strong emotion either way, that’s not helpful for learning to control your abilities in the long run,” Even said, taking out a handkerchief and creating a temporary bind around Lauriam’s right hand for now. “Too tight? We’ll have you practice attempting it in a more controlled way. Perhaps Namine will be up to helping you refine it when she returns… Ah, are you two about ready to go?” Even asked as Ira and Linnea walked inside. “Lauriam has some minor injuries, but I think we can make it back well enough. And he’s made an exciting new discovery in his abilities, so the night isn’t entirely wasted.”

Ira gave Lauriam a dry look, before shrugging out of the coat Linnea had put on him, going to pick up his shirt and put it back on… before putting the coat back on as well after being given a stern look by Linnea. 

That sounded nice. Lauriam didn’t really know a good way to avoid turning into a giant killer flower other than to…be less freaked out about things, but if he could actually control creating an Emotion Dome? At least that wouldn’t be a kneejerk disaster. And it’d be nice to get to work with his little sister on something like that, it felt like it’d been a long time since they’d been in the same realm even slightly when it came to Empathy. 

“Ammy, are you alright?” Linnea said gently as she approached her son, next on her list to fuss over. And while he was similarly chided for being wet--more just damp by this time, so it was less chiding--and how utterly mentally exhausted he was--any disuasion was poorly received, and he ended up getting some minor healing to at least be able to walk in a straight line--she gave him a squeeze before heading back to Ira, making sure he was properly bundled and under her umbrella. 

Lauriam gave Ira a softer look, though he didn’t say anything. 

-

Gula let out a sigh as he watched the rain, the sudden downpour…noooooot seeming like it’d be letting up soon. At all. Kind of bullshit how that worked here. No rain for ages and ages, and then all at once it’d be like month’s of water all coming down for as long as the clouds could wring themselves. 

…sometimes he missed coastal weather. 

Drinking some of the water they’d gotten, ducking into a restaurant still open this time of night, Gula…didn’t exactly feel more steady for it, the teen still pale despite the amount of time it’d been since…

All That. 

“...you know, I’m a little surprised you didn’t just leave me on the ground to go exploring,” Gula hummed quietly to Hao, still watching the rain.

“I’m not cruel. You need help,” Hao said, leaning against the counter they were both sitting against, the window in front of them showing the street outside occasionally light up as thunder cracked. “Dodging chores isn’t the same as leaving one of us to vomit in the street.”

Hao paused, before asking, “What did the dome feel like for you? You were feeling the anger already, right? Why did it make you ill, but I was fine?”

Sometimes it felt like Hao would consider those things the same. Still, he lightly kicked Hao’s foot in thanks. 

Gula sighed again. “Part of it is just the different ways people experience anger, I think. But the other was that I was fighting it. Fighting the emotions you feel, if they’re yours or not, makes you sick.” Closing his eyes, Gula leaned on one of his arms. “...it wasn’t just anger, and then whatever your interpretation of that is. It was…the kind of feeling that drives someone to want to burn the whole world down. I wasn’t about to actually cause a murder scene, not just make something that looks like one.”

“Oh,” Hao said, watching fondly as people ran through the rain. Now that things had calmed down, there was a playfulness in the streets, people enjoying the rare treat that had ruined their night. He saw a couple sharing one jacket, held above their heads as they giggled to each other. He saw people racing each other from building to building, running fast as if they could out run the drops. He saw a lot of people like him and Gula, at their windows or under small shelters, just watching the rain in peaceful wonder.

“For me? It just made me think about how the world is already ending. And everyone is already dying. But instead of that being sad, it was just sort of… okay?” Hao shrugged, “Good? If anything, that felt good. Like, good. The world was ending. It deserved it. It would be fun to watch.”

“...in some ways, I’m glad I don’t feel like that all of the time,” Hao said, “It’s a bit jarring to feel something so intensely like that, that makes you think things so unkind, and then to come back from it. But it’s a bit reassuring to realize it would take so much for me to feel that way in general. I’d have to hate the world, to think like that. I don’t hate the world, so… I’m fine, I guess.”

Gula took a slow, shaky breath. Rubbing his temple lightly as he opened his eyes a bit to look back outside. He wasn’t looking forward to walking back in it, which was looking like an eventuality, but it’d be a shame to miss seeing the rain while it was here. 

Glancing over to Hao, Gula hummed softly at his experience in the dome. “Made you a freaky little nihilist sadist, huh? Think I’m glad too it took a weirdo with emotions the size of the sun to bring that out in you. Ugh.”

Rain-watching be damned, Gula thunked his head on the counter. “Jackass needs to give me a five-minute warning before he feels anything. Like, ever again. Need to be a mile away before he takes a breath.”

“It’s a bit ridiculous, isn’t it?” Hao smiled lightly, glancing in amusement at Gula, “Me being a freaky little nihilist sadist if pissed off enough, and also, goodness, the fact that that guy can feel that pissed off on just, like, a random day. I’m so curious if something started that, or if he’s just… like that. Sometimes.”

Reaching over to lightly pat Gula’s back in sympathy, Hao said, “I’d have spared you it if I could have, but my Empath abilities don’t work like that, unfortunately. Next time, bring your mask with you. I know you think the masks are silly, but I feel like blocking your Empath ability or the ability of others to send things to you? Would have helped.” Hao laughed lightly, giving Gula a fond smile. “Why did you even come with? I blackmailed Ira into doing it, but I wouldn’t have done that to you. You were ill.”

“I feel like something had to have happened, right?” Gula grumbled. “Them and Xigbar were so…weird at dinner. I have no fucking clue how grouching about Aced would’ve turned into this, though. Maybe ‘Ammy’s that prideful, but I didn’t get that vibe from Aeleus.”

They were missing something, and even if Linnea’s son was a basket case, Gula would still wager that ‘something’ was something big. It was just a matter of waiting to see if literally anyone would mention something about it. 

Probably one of the others. No way Xigbar would think that was something they needed to know. 

Gula sighed again. “You know, I appreciate the sentiment, and that you didn’t leave me walking around like I was lobotomized.” Tilting his head to the side, Gula stuck his tongue out a bit in distaste as Hao gave a totally valid and reasonable point about the masks. 

…though as he asked why he came along? 

“...feels stupid to say now, considering what happened and that I was just on the ground for all of it,” Gula grumbled, looking along the countertop instead of Hao. Honestly looking a little embarrassed, and pissed about it. “Ira gets decision paralysis, and you get so distracted off on your own. I wanted to be there if something went wrong.”

He frowned more. “It’s not like I would’ve been able to just get back to sleep if I didn’t come with.”

“He does, you’re right. That’s why I had to push him into going. Otherwise he was going to just sit there and agonize about it for too long, and then tell Xigbar anyway, and then feel bad about himself for the rest of the night for doing that.” Hao sighed, resting his chin in his palm, “He’s hopelessly predictable like that. But, then, that’s why Xigbar likes him so much.”

“Yeah, you didn’t even help a little, with the Lauriam thing,” Hao agreed. “Though, point in your favor? Ira probably would have been too distracted watching me, if you hadn’t come along, to solve the Lauriam problem. Which I’m assuming they did. Or they died. They could have, we don’t know.” Hao laughed lightly, before nudging Gula. “Check out down that street. I think that’s one of the Chonisi. Axel, you can see all that red hair a street away in this rain. I think we’re about to be collected. Shame. Tonight’s been fun.”

Gula nodded a bit against the counter. That…was absolutely what would’ve happened. Of them all, Ira probably took the whole ‘Xigbar knows best’ thing the most seriously. Probably because Xigbar smacked it into him the hardest, other than maybe Aced. “Probably wouldn’t have been that bad if Xigbar just went after Lauriam on his own. He’s kind of the type to turn that level of anger inward.”

…which would’ve been a lot worse for Xigbar, but maybe that would’ve been its own lesson to the old bastard that sometimes he needed help with things.

Gula huffed a bit at his total incompetence, before he drawled with sarcastic amusement, “Well, we can always count on me to be a distraction. Do have some good practice with it.”

At Hao’s nudge, Gula reluctantly lifted his head again, spotting Axel in the street. “Huh…” 

…honestly, all things considered? 

“...we’ll have to see if it’s a thing in Dicea. But there were a few spots in Agniratha that were these grungy, hidden 24-hour diners, and the vibes and food in them always slapped.” Gula smirked a little, lightly kicking Hao’s foot again. “If you’re going? I’ll show you the ropes to the perfect 3 am diner crawl. Enough that you could put the moves on Xeha.”

At that, Hao blushed, sheepishly looking away. “Stoooop. Xehanort and I are just friends. No idea why people keep saying things like that,” he said, face burning red straight across his nose. “...but sure. It sounds like fun. Also, I bet we’re leaving sooner rather than later now. Too much attention potentially drawn to us, I give us… two days. Max. Or I’ll eat a bug.”

Gula snickered unrelentingly, never afraid to push that button. He figured one day Hao would actually ask Xehanort on a date, but there was no rush. Especially since he’d probably stop getting so flustered if they were actually dating. 

“Pfff, I was going to bet money, but if you’re so down for that? Sure, I’ll bet three.” Glancing at the window, seeing Axel draw even nearer, Gula slumped as he let out a sigh. “...alright. Alright, I’m good. We’re probably not even that far from Linnea’s house.”

“You keep telling yourself that. Ten minutes from now? We’re totally halfway there,” Hao told him serenely. Giggling lightly at the groan.

-

Sora yawned, peeking out the window of their caravan, as he whispered to Riku and Kairi, “What the heck is going on over there?”

“I dunno. Axel and Even both ran off earlier, and…” Riku yawned, peeking down the beds, “...yeah, Lauriam’s not here too. Bet it’s a Lauriam thing.”

“Should we go check it out?” Sora asked, seeing all the lights on in the house.

“We should go back to sleep, guys, it’s like… it’s too early and it’s super late at the same time! It’s the worst time to be up!” Kairi whined, putting her head on her pillow.

“Sorry Kairi,” Sora whispered, watching the shadows move on the curtains inside.

Most Luminary homes didn’t have proper fireplaces because, well… they didn’t need them. But they did have wooden stoves, and Ira and Lauriam had been herded to stand in front of the lit stoves, while everyone grilled them about the events of the night. Yes, Lauriam had left on his own. Yes, Gula had felt ill so Ira had gone to investigate. Hao had seen Lauriam leave and the three–yes–had gone after Lauriam together. 

Then Lauriam had put up an emotion dome, and the group separated into two—

“That I still can’t understand,” Xigbar said, crossing his arms and tilting his head to the side at Ira, “Let’s not even get into why they were out in the city in the first place… you left them? Why?”

“Uh,” Ira blinked tiredly. It had been a long night already, and Xigbar hadn’t even properly gotten mad at him yet. “...being near Lauriam was making Gula ill. I realized keeping him around was just making that worse.”

“Couldn’t have had that brilliant revelation back at the house?” Xigbar asked dryly. None of them had prioritized anyone changing clothes yet. Ira and Lauriam were still very wet. Even’s boots were still very muddy. And Gula’s dinner was still coating Xigbar’s shirt, Xigbar having helped Gula up from the counter at the restaurant when they arrived, only to find out the hard way that Gula was not feeling well.

Axel had suggested Xigbar change, at least. Xigbar had politely ignored the suggestion, wanting answers, as he emphasized, “Ira?”

“...Yes sir, I should have realized Gula should stay back from the start,” Ira agreed. 

“So, the group separated, and then… why the stable?” Even asked. “Why not just start heading back?”

“Lauriam seemed distressed by where we were, and I thought it’d be more important to move quickly and away, then try to navigate the way home,” Ira said. “...the stable was just the first place I found.”

Of all the things that had been delayed in favor of getting answers, Linnea had brought over the house’s first aid kit, able to properly treat and wrap Lauriam’s hand while they talked. Thankfully it wasn’t too bad, some scraped skin around his knuckles and what Linnea surmised would be some annoying bruising in the morning, but it didn’t seem like anything was broken. 

Small blessings. 

Gula shrugged tiredly at Xigbar as he sat on the floor, having thrown up in the sink once they’d made it back to the house. “We could guess it was probably Lauriam. Didn’t seem like anyone else nearby was having a mental breakdown. Wasn’t that bad keeping distance until he domed.” With a side-glance from Ira, Gula sighed and added, “Sir.”

Linnea sighed, crossing her arms. “It ‘not being that bad’ doesn’t mean it’s good, Gula. And if you noticed someone that upset, I really wish you would’ve gotten one of us before trying to solve things yourself.”

“He’s probably not wrong,” Lauriam softly backed Ira up. “I wasn’t really thinking straight, but I did ask Ira if we could leave. I think I was already losing it a little by the time we got to the stable, I’m not sure how well I would’ve been able to make the whole trip back.”

“You also should have come to us if you were feeling so affected by things, Lauriam,” Even frowned, crossing his arms, “I’ll never understand what it is about having literally twelve people at your beck and call to confide to or ask for help that has you always sitting on things until you’re ready to literally explode. What is even the point of your and Xaldin’s coupling if you can’t even go to him if you’re feeling upset and need some support? Let alone any of the rest of us.”

“...he…” Ira shifted uncomfortably, “Didn’t seem entirely conscious of where he was, sir. I doubt it was a conscious choice, I mean–”

“Ira, please don’t interject yourself into other people’s questions and explanations, you’ve already done enough tonight,” Xigbar said.

“...” Ira nodded.

Lauriam sighed, looking down at that. He didn’t think he needed to talk to anyone. He’d been freaked out, yeah, but he was just going to sleep! He wasn’t…going to turn into a monster during that, right?

…right?

So…Marluxia didn’t have to--

Gula’s brow furrowed in confusion as he noted the change. Lauriam’s eyes going a little…blank. And rounded. 

And while what happened next was definitely him snapping at Xigbar…the sing-song voice it happened in made the tone very confusing. 

“❀Actually, that was a clarification on the matter that Even had finished his thoughts on, for the conversation we’re all apart of~❀” Marluxia snapped, “❀Look, I knooooow you’re very familiar with negotiating with murderers, but even you should be able to concede it’s not the easiest thing in the moment. You think you could’ve done better than him~?❀”

The smile Marluxia gave Xigbar was…entirely cutesy. “❀I’d like to see you try~❀”

Xigbar raised an eyebrow at the sudden shift in personality–none of them were entirely used to that one yet–but before he could entirely wrap his head around the challenge–

“Ah, Marluxia. Young man, I wanted to talk to you about this as well,” Even frowned, “Lauriam said it was your idea to leave the house? Marluxia, while I can appreciate that you were trying to stop another incident like the last one, we don’t actually prefer you two go hide in some gutter like a dying cat than bother us with a measly illusionary fire–”

“Can I put my hand up as someone who would still prefer not to do the fake fire thing again?” Axel raised his hand tiredly from where he was laid out on the couch, “Also, come on, guys, it’s late. Can’t we send them to bed and do all the adult stuff tomorrow?”

“This is the adult stuff. Neither of them are children. Even if they felt the need to bring two teenagers with them into this mess,” Even sighed, “If you, Axel, had gone off and pulled this same stunt, you’d be getting questioned as well. So would I, by you all, I imagine. Because as bored as I know you all are here right now, the bowling alley incident is a real problem that we’re still really defending against. Going out and doing big, showy Empath abilities in public is worth interrogating.” 

“Okay, yeah, sure, but like… can we do it after some sleep?” Axel grumbled, putting his arm over his eyes. “That Hao kid already went to bed.”

“Hao has the least to answer for right now,” Xigbar shrugged, “Though I’ll talk to him about all of this at some point, you just wait.”

Marluxia blinked blankly at Even, even his body movements a little weirdly…floaty. Like his body was more puppeted, than inhabited. Though, before he could even start to respond to Even, he blinked over at Axel. 

(...sleep would probably be good. Marluxia wasn’t entirely sure how he was doing this. But…heh. If they knew one thing, it was that being pissed off was a good way to push them to new heights.)

“Defending against even more now,” Linnea sighed. “It’s all well and good to appear ‘normal’, but there’s only so much good that will do if ‘events’ keep happening. Our timeline for making decisions is shortening.”

Gula blinked dully up at Xigbar, knowing he was poking a tiger with this, but, “Then can I go to bed, if you’re lumping us both together?”

Xigbar sighed, tapping his toes rapidly on the ground for a moment, clearly debating with himself… 

“....you know what? Based on everything I’ve heard already, yes, alright, everyone can go to bed… Ira. I want to talk to you some more though. Everyone else, go, sleep, stop messing about. See, everyone wants to whine about quiet hours right up until they’re the sleepy ones, and now it’s all ‘weeeeeh, let’s all quiet down, Xigbar’. But Gula, I’ll want to talk to you tomorrow too. You should have known better too. Sick as a dog and still out in the city in the rain at one in the morning,” Xigbar scoffed, motioning for Ira to follow as he headed to the front door.

Ira glanced around at the others, before following after Xigbar. 

“...the couch isn’t that bad. I’m half tempted to just sleep here,” Axel admitted, arm still over his eyes.

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll pencil it in,” Gula sighed as he slowly pushed himself up from the ground, pausing a moment to see if he’d puke again. …we good? We good.

“Xiggy, do not stand in the rain,” Linnea called, her voice light but serious as she put a gentle hand on Gula’s back, apparently intent on helping him back upstairs. “And don’t you either, Ira. If you so much as feel a tickle in your throat in the morning you’re on bedrest and we’re breaking out the cold medicine.”

Looking over to Axel as she and Gula slowly walked to the stairs, she gave him a light smile. “You can, though I can’t promise anything about the privacy. Or safety. We have plenty of working markers in the house, and people that enjoy using them.”

“I’m glad you’re alright, Marluxia, and Lauriam as well. You two get some rest, alright?” she bade her sons goodnight, as she and Gula moved upwards. 

“❀Nighty-night~❀” Marluxia cooed, moving his arm in a wave, but as if the limb worked in larger chunks than his actual joints would suggest. 

“Nnnnnngh,” Axel groaned, debating with himself, “.....nnnnngh–”

“Just get up Axel, don’t sleep in the common area, it’s tacky.” Even sighed, before squinting at Marluxia. “Marluxia, what am I looking at here? Why does it seem like you have control of the body, and yet you… don’t fit? In it?”

“❀I don’t know~❀” Marluxia sang, swaying the body a little. “❀I don’t think I should be able to be conscious right now, and yet~ Here I am~❀”

“❀Iiiii have the idea that if I leave La-La to it, we’re just gonna drop to the floor~❀”

“See, being so tired that you’re about to pass out is one of those things you or Lauriam should have told us before it became the sort of issue where a weird Empath thing happens,” Even said, his tone entirely serious, “Twice in one night now, you both. That’s twice. You are terrible communicators. Axel, help me help Marluxia back to his rack.”

“Nnnnnnnngh fine,” Axel sighed, finally getting up from the couch. Heading over to Marluxia and offering him a shoulder. “Come on. That’s enough for tonight. You can ruin all of our sleep again some other time.”

“❀La-La wanted to back Ira up~❀” Marluxia sang simply, before--with mild, awkward confusion about how to move his body--he took up Axel’s offer of help, though he gave him a cutesy smile too. “❀You should know better than to give us a free offer like that~❀”

“❀Hey~ Hey~❀” Marluxia sang, the tone not just odd, now, but starting to sound a little…delirious, as he tattled, “❀La-La got so scared I think he started hallucinating earlier~ Iiiiii don’t think that’s a good thing~❀”

“Yeah, probably not.” Axel grumbled, noticing that despite Even saying he should ‘help Even help Marluxia’, it was just him holding Marluxia’s weight, Even just opening the door for them. “We’ll… I dunno, we’ll talk to him more about that tomorrow then. No idea what we’re going to do about hallucinations, but we’ll… we’ll figure something out.”

“It sounds like a bout of PTSD. Hallucinations when caught in a traumatic memory are fairly common,” Even said idly, “It happens to me on occasion as well. I highly doubt we’re unique for it. Perhaps we could try some novel idea like discussing it as a group. I’ve heard that’s a therapy technique.”

“Therapy?” Axel asked.

“It’s the idea of brain medicine, essentially. Very popular among the elites. I did a class or two on it before the whole ‘beheading a Flora’ incident.” Even shrugged, “We likely would need an actual therapist to make the idea of group therapy work, but, well, we must make do with making do. Marluxia, will you actually sleep when we put you to bed?”

“❀Psssst-sid~ P’tuhs’d~ Peetsed~ Pitsud~❀” Marluxia sang quietly, expression becoming even blanker, if it were possible. “❀Maybe he’s p’tuhs’d~ It sounds like concussed~ I think he stopped me from concussing us~ He didn’t want you to be sad~❀”

“Well, I’m sad now. So I don’t know how much that worked out for him. Still better to not be dealing with a concussed Garden Duo though,” Axel said, waiting as Even opened the carriage door, before putting his arm around Marluxia’s waist, “Come on, one step at a time. Up the stairs. Almost to bed.”

Sora watched from his top rack the three head into the caravan, peeking over the edge as he whispered, “Is Lauriam okay? Is he drunk?”

“He’s very tired. There’s actually not much of a difference between being that tired and being very drunk,” Even explained, as Axel led Marluxia to his bed, “Keep that in mind if you ever want to ride a horse very tired, Sora. Also, go to sleep.”

“❀Boo~❀”

“❀We’re in trouble~❀” Marluxia softly sang to Sora, “❀Rub it in La-La’s face tomorrow, maybe he’ll get even more depressed and we can have a do-over~❀”

Sora frowned at that, worriedly watching Marluxia. “Do what over?”

“Don’t worry about it, Sora, he’s just… going through it,” Axel muttered, nudging for Marluxia to get into his rack already. Whispering to him, “Come on, man, just go to sleep. Don’t freak out the kid.”

Maybe if they were harder on them, shit wouldn’t happen… That’s what Ira had said to Lauriam before. 

Well, Marluxia couldn’t really argue that they were probably the worst thing to happen to the Ribata Empaths this month. Oh well. 

Marluxia flopped onto the rack, his joints not really…working right. But he was in it enough to not fall out, at least. 

Axel sighed, before helping Marluxia lay down more fully in the rack, straightening out his limbs and grabbing his blanket, putting it over him as he muttered, “A night of sleep better fix this, because man, I don’t know what we’re going to do if you’re still, like, chibi-puppetting in the morning. Here, just… does that work? How do you feel?” Axel asked, readjusting Marluxia’s head so he was more centered on the pillow.

No longer in danger of making their body collapse to the ground? Lauriam’s body went completely lax, his breathing coming out slow. Marluxia’s work for the night successfully completed!

Axel blinked tiredly at them. Before reaching forward and patting them on the chest. “Yep. Goodnight. Little weirdo,” Axel muttered, heading to his own rack.

-

Eventually, Ira and Xigbar came back inside, Xigbar patting Ira on the back as he said, “I just know you’re smarter than this, champ! I’m only harsh on you because I know you can do better. Right?”

Ira nodded, staring at the floor.

“Yep~ alright, go get some sleep. Lots of work to do tomorrow!” Xigbar said cheerfully, before heading to the master bedroom. He and Linnea had their own shower, and man, he needed it. Gula had really unloaded on him. 

Ira headed back to his room, quietly opening the door and closing it behind him, trying not to wake anyone. He headed back to his sleeping bag, still tossed open from when he had gotten out of it in a hurry earlier that night. 

He considered the sleeping bag. He really should change his clothes first. They were wet, and despite warming by the stove, he was still pretty cold. His extra clothes were in the closet they all shared. He’d just pop in and get it done. 

He barely thought about it as he grabbed his sleeping bag and picked it up, bringing it into the closet with him. Closing the door, he got dressed into new clothes, still mentally certain he’d leave in a second to go back to his spot. As if he hadn’t brought his sleeping bag in there with him.

Then, still barely acknowledging what he was doing, he laid the sleeping back down in the closet, laid down, looked up to double check the door was closed, and then cried for a bit. 

-

If you asked Ira the next day, then no, he did not cry, and he’s not sure why he would have, and didn’t appreciate the insinuation, thank you. There was nothing worth crying about. Only children cry because they were asked to complete simple chores in payment for causing massive inconveniences. Ira was not a child.

He was simply a man with a broom, a sponge, and a bucket. Tasked with getting rid of not only every puddle of water that had collected on the ground, the carriage, or the roof of the house, but also every puddle on their neighborhood street, and tossing the dirtied water into the creek. Bucket. By. Bucket.

Ira had started early in the morning, and with the house, the backyard, and the carriages all dried and taken care of, he was now staring at the street, where several dips in the pathway had made large, heavy puddles. His sweater’s sleeves were soaked, and the ends of the scarf he had thrown on for the early morning were caked with mud when they had come undone while he was leaning down to soak up some water with his sponge. The rain the previous night had brought with it another cold front, and staring at the sleek surface of some of the puddles, he knew he’d end up breaking up some ice with the end of his broom, despite the day warming up a little by that point in the late morning.

Xigbar had explained that since Ira had made things so much more dangerous for everyone with his decisions–Ira had been told, in excruciating detail the night before, all the ways he had almost killed the others by being an idiot–then the way to make up for it was making the street drier, and safer, for everyone else.

…this street was going to be Ira’s whole day.

Well, that was the point.

Back at the house, Even was proposing, “It might be time to decide if we’re staying or going. Considering staying means remaining in an area where anyone could accuse us of being demons with faaaar too much available evidence any particular day now, and going is putting us under the protection of a literal royal prince and an apparent near-Empath divinity, might I suggest we just get the hell on with it already?”

Linnea smiled softly. “It may take some negotiation to earn that protection ourselves, but simply being in Dicea is safer than staying here, even without the more recent developments. We’ve discussed it as a group, and if your offer is still extended, we would like to join your journey.”

“It wouldn’t be an offer given lightly,” Clara assured, before giving the room of Empaths around her an amused look. “I might ask one of you guys to contact Prince Kokichi more promptly than I can, but it’s not really for a negotiation. He’s been prepping citizenship papers and all that legal stuff, along with traveling stipends, so it’ll be good to let him know that you guys are on your way too. Now, for supplies--”

“We have been prepping the things more easily packed,” Linnea said with a false sort of sheepishness, “Food, traveling supplies, our own belongings… I’ve been talking with our neighbors as well. While the money may help, and I would like to talk with you more about your organization, Ms. Redgrave, I believe having a safe house close to the border like this would be helpful for quite a lot of people. And call me sentimental, but I do love this place.”

Clara momentarily looked surprised, before beaming. “I’d be more than happy to chat things over with you, Linnea. If you’re willing to really… That’s incredibly kind.”

“It only seems pragmatic,” Linnea covered a smile, “If I’m not going to use a perfectly good house, it may as well be of use to people who need it.”

-

…this was so fucking dumb. Ugh, it was going to be cold and wet. Xigbar was such a fucking weirdo. 

Marluxia huffed angrily as he took up a spot a few yards away from Ira with his own sponge and bucket, looking at the puddles in distaste before starting to sop them up as well. 

Ira glanced over at Marluxia, brow knotting in confusion for a moment, before he huffed, squeezing more water from the puddle he was working on into his bucket, “Your leaders decide to take a page out of my leader’s book? I would have expected to see Gula sent out before seeing you. Unless Gula hasn’t recovered yet?”

“Pfff,” Marluxia blew a raspberry, actually tilting his head back a little to literally shake off the notion. “As if. They all probably think Loseriam’s still sleeping. And I haven’t seen Blondie, so no clue.”

Marluxia gave, just, the whole process another distasteful look, even as he wrung out his sponge and continued sopping up the puddle. “No~ I came out here on my own~ Because Loseriam’s so fucking mortified that he’s planned to never look at you again, so,” Marluxia looked up with a shark smile, the pissy delight in his eyes managing to read why he’d been the sort of reaper Indentureds had been afraid of, even if he’d never looked like this to them, “Guess~ where~ I~ am~?”

Ira frowned at that, not sure what to make of any of it. Was Marluxia doing him a favor? Or was he trying to upset his…other? He had no idea what they called each other. His Lauriam, Ira supposed. 

Still, Ira focused on his work. Standing up, he grabbed his broom and swept more of the spreaded small handfuls of water pockets together, creating a bigger puddle, so that when he was done he could more easily soak them up with the sponge as he said, “Lauriam shouldn’t feel mortified. He wasn’t well last night. If anything, I’d understand if you both were upset with me. I acted poorly yesterday and you suffered for it. I’m sorry.”

Putting down the broom, Ira grabbed his sponge, soaking up more water. “And please don’t help me with my chores. I earned these. They’re no one else's responsibility.”

“For what?” Marluxia said, just, so dismissively, enough that it was a shock he even found the effort to say words at all, “Not being prepared to do emergency protocol on someone having a meltdown? Uh, newsflash, most people aren’t prepared for that, least of all stunted idiots who’ve barely just been out of prison.”

“And you can stuff your damn responsibility up your ass, I don’t give a shit what’s ‘supposed’ to happen,” Marluxia rolled his eyes, moving onto the next puddle, “I’m here and you can’t stop me. And I’m going to keep being here until Loseriam bucks up to say anything and he stops making our head feel like glue. It’s like he’s trying to undermine me, I swear, but it’s all just massive incompetence.”

“...” Ira shot Marluxia a confused look over his shoulder, before refocusing on his puddle. 

Maybe if he just didn’t talk, the other man would go away, and Ira could learn his lessons in peace.

But about twenty minutes went by, and no amount of silence seemed to dissuade the other man from sticking around. Despite the fact that while twenty minutes absolutely filled up Ira’s bucket to the point where he knew he needed to make a trip to the creek, they were still no closer to done with the street. It was an all-day task. Marluxia would have to get bored, yes?

Ira grunted as he stood straight, rubbing out the small of his back with his palm as he explained, “My bucket is near full. I have to make a trip to the creek to pour it out before I keep going.” He dropped his sponge into his bucket and picked both the bucket and his broom up.

As much as he hated chores…fuck, man, it was at least doing something. They’d all tried to find ways to keep busy in the factory, and for the most part, none of the Nobodies had had to ever exist outside of the mental plane. Sure, Ienzo and all the Zexions had their weird little thing going on, but pretty much every time a Nobody actually moved around their Somebody’s body? It was by choice. 

It sure was Marluxia’s choice, now and then, so he could hang out with Dilan, or even Xaldin weirdly enough if he was fronting too. But hanging out, even in that depressing place, was still doing something. 

…there had been so much time, despite all their efforts, of nothing. And, like the amazing defense tactic he was, Marluxia had gotten very good at accepting his time doing nothing. Even if it sucked. 

Doing something shitty like this? Piece of cake. And since he’d set the stakes, there was no way Marluxia was going to lose. 

Looking up as Ira broke the silence between them--ha! Another win!--Marluxia waved with a few of his fingers. “Don’t fall in~”

Really, for what he was doing, he should just follow Ira to the creek…but even Marluxia could see that was a Little Much, when his bucket wasn’t even close to full. But still, that little goodie-two-shoes would be back to finish the pointless chore, Marluxia was sure. 

He looked out at the rest of the puddle-filled street for a moment. …bullshit Empathetic abilities couldn’t do physical things. It would be so funny to somehow dry out the block by the time Ira returned.

Another wary look, before Ira headed off. 

It didn’t occur to him to not go back, but he did take a second after dumping his bucket in the creek to just stand there for a moment and watch the water go. It was soothing, and he just needed a second. Sometimes when things were hard, you just needed to take little moments to collect yourself. Reflect on the reality of the situation. Was he upset? Sure. Did he have a good reason to be upset? Maybe. He didn’t like doing a pointless chore that no doubt had their neighbors looking out their windows wondering what the hell he was doing. He didn’t like feeling cold and wet and the way his hands were hurting a little under the chill despite his gloves. He didn’t like that all of the others knew he was in some shit because he was the only one out there and they were inside, gossiping about what he had done to earn it.

But he didn’t mind all of that, despite it all being true. It was okay that the chore was pointless and it was okay that he didn’t like it. Because he had nearly gotten the others killed. Xigbar had ‘seen’ it. All the ways they could have died. It was only because Ira had eventually asked for the older Empath’s help that it hadn’t gone worse. Xigbar had ‘seen it’ and Ira believed him. He deserved worse. Xigbar was being generous.

Ira took a breath, feeling better. Context. The bigger picture. Today was fine.

Heading back, Ira glanced at Marluxia, and was surprised to see he was still going. He had really expected the other man to give up by now. He wasn’t getting anything out of this. Well, except for…

“Why are you trying so hard to upset Lauriam?” Ira asked.

(As much as Marluxia might’ve scoffed at Ira not thinking to not come back…Marluxia hadn’t thought to stop working while he was gone. To not have started in the first place, just hovering over Ira instead.)

(If Ira was going to be stuck doing a shitty, pointless task, and Marluxia was going to be there, then…of course he’d do it with him.)

“I’m not trying to upset him, at least in a broad sense,” Marluxia rolled his eyes, before grinning, a true fire in him, “I’m going to win.” 

“He’s done this before, you know, and it’s pathetic,” the Chibi scoffed, steadily filling his bucket with rainwater, “He’ll get sooooo mortified for no good reason, and then just avoid the person he’s embarrassed around as if that’ll solve anything. It’s so stupid, as if everyone else isn’t totally embarrassing all the time. He’s not special for it.”

“...” It was redundant to say Ira looked wary again, but it was accurate. He was wary. The previous night had been… a lot. And Ira still felt like he didn’t have a full grasp of what Lauriam or Marluxia had even been doing last night. The only thing he understood was that Lauriam had wandered away, and Ira, foolishly, had decided to follow after him with two teenagers, one who was actively sick, instead of informing anyone what was happening.

(Nevermind that Hao had blackmailed Ira into it. In truth, Ira had wanted to go without telling Xigbar or Linnea or Even anyway. He and Lauriam had had a good conversation, not that long ago, and a part of Ira had sort of…he wasn’t sure anymore. Wanted to give himself a chance to get closer to the other man by helping him out himself? Not get him into any trouble for wandering away?)

(Hao had strong-armed Ira into going, but Ira couldn’t ignore his own desire on top of that. Stupid desires that had resulted in a bunch of bad decisions.)

Now, after everything that happened? Ira had no idea what to expect from the other man. Either version of him. His temperament and the way he had spoken last night leaving Ira unsure, unprepared and just… wary.

“...you keep sort of singing everything you say.” Ira noticed, as he soaked up more puddle-water. “Have I just never noticed you do that before?”

(>3< God, would he ever shut up? Lauriam knew the answer was no, but still…come on Marluxia!)

(...of course Lauriam was embarrassed. He’d wanted to try and be a friend to Ira, and in the course of one night? He’d exploded, and in true Lauriam fashion, really put forth all his worst qualities that was only a testament to how much bullshit Ira could power through that he kept talking to them at all.)

“WHAT!?” Marluxia yelped, looking affronted, before he furiously glared at Ira. “You mean, like, Oh~, I’m so playful~, kind of singing, or, like, literally singing?”

“...whatever you’re doing now,” Ira said dryly, “is what I mean. Everything you say has a musical quality. I’m not suggesting you’re doing an opera. But you didn’t talk like this before either. I’m fairly certain.”

Marluxia just blinked at Ira for a second. “❀...uh oh~❀” he whisper-sang, actually looking something other than proud or pissed, and that expression looking genuinely worried, “❀That’s not good~❀”

For a moment, Marluxia looked…unsure. Nervous. But that expression tightened into anger quickly as he growl-sang at himself, “❀Knock-knock, actually time to get out here, we have an issue. And if you don’t I’ll kneel over this gross-ass bucket and get you myself, so we’ll tip over and then it’s really on the clock before we dr~❀”

All of a sudden, Lauriam tensed. His whole body cringing. 

Wary. Look. Ira had it.

It seemed like Marluxia had sort of cut himself off? He had been talking and then stopped mid-word, and was now sort of… whole body wincing. Ira looked around, and while as usual this led to zero clues for how to get himself any sort of help or resources, it did remind him that he had a whole street that he was still trying to clear of standing water, and boy, was Xigbar not going to let up if something as simple as ‘sunset’ slowed things down.

Not that they were close to that point. It was just on the back of Ira’s mind, as he asked, “Are you alright?”

In a slow, controlled breath, Lauriam relaxed himself. Glancing around for a moment to orient himself where he was and…what they were doing. Though that wasn’t very obvious, as Lauriam could only stare at the buckets and sponges in the middle of the street with growing confusion. 

“❀Y-yeah, I’m fine, sorry, we’re still getting used to trading o~❀” Lauriam’s eyes widened--still notably not looking at Ira--as he cut himself off, putting a hand over his mouth in shock for a moment. “❀Oh~❀”

There was a beat, before Lauriam sang, “❀…well that’s not great, is it~❀”

“.............................................what isn’t?” Ira asked. Not yet aware that he was talking to someone different. ‘Marluxia’ just kept starting sentences and then cutting himself off and looking surprised about it.

Lauriam let out a soft, nervous laugh, even the notes of that being, well, notes. “❀We’re both singing everything we’re saying~ Um…~ Marluxia said that it happened for a little last night, but he just thought we were tired~ This isn’t supposed to happen~❀”

Then Lauriam seemed to remember a little better who he was talking to, and he flushed, looking around with a little more urgency to try and see if there was suddenly something that really needed his attention.

“❀Uh, sorry, I’m sure he was bothering you~ I can leave you to your…~❀” Lauriam looked baffled at the tools again. “❀…okay, actually, what are you doing~?❀”

“Oh. Lauriam,” Ira realized, though he was admittedly surprised when Lauriam seemed confused about what was going on. Ira supposed he had thought that maybe whatever one of the halves knew, the other did as well. That appeared to not be the case though, as Lauriam stared at the bucket and sponge Marluxia had brought with open confusion.

Deciding that answering Lauriam would be way easier than asking the dozen different questions that this whole conversation had sparked, Ira pointed down the road and explained, “I’m cleaning up all the standing water the rain left behind in the neighborhood. It’ll clear the road of any ice pockets tonight, and lower the amount of bugs that would gather here to nest in the water, thus better protecting Linnea’s garden.” He had had all morning so far to think of the pros. This wasn’t entirely pointless! It had… benefits! Beyond just keeping him busy! Rightfully busy! 

“But you seem to be struggling,” Ira frowned, “You should speak to your leaders. They should know something is wrong. Then they can help you.”

…slowly, Lauriam actually looked up at Ira, giving him a baffled look. Before dawning clarity suddenly came up on him. Ah. Xigbar. 

…well that was dumb. At least when they had had to do bullshit for explicit discipline, it wasn’t pointless. 

“❀Sure, sure~ Not looking forward to spending ages in the lab, but I don’t exactly want to sing everything forever either~❀” Lauriam agreed easily, though he said just as calmly, “❀If you come with me~❀”

“Oh, I can’t,” Ira said almost immediately, gesturing, again, down the road. “I still have a lot left to do. But we’re not far from the house… it’s right over there,” he said, before pointing to Lauriam’s literal childhood home, a few houses down. Like he’d somehow miss it. “See?”

Though Ira hesitated. “...lab?”

Lauriam nodded, gracefully taking Ira’s directions, before he sang, “❀You can~ Unless we’ve completely missed out on hearing that you guys have been conditioned in some way too~ My hands are cold, and I can’t imagine Marluxia was out here for that long, so yours must be freezing~❀”

He rolled his eyes a little. “❀If nothing else, come inside to warm them up a little so you can still pick up the sponge all day~ Though you really just should say no~❀”

Nodding with a half-shrug, Lauriam explained, “❀Even’s world~ It’s a lab~ He, Vexen,  and my little brothers are big nerds about figuring stuff out about Empathy~ I know Zexion’s about ready to burst not wanting to overwhelm you guys, but wanting to share his anti-conditioning stuff with you~❀”

Ira flinched at the accusation, saying a bit stiffly, “No, we’re not conditioned…is that what you came out here to do? Spend a half hour helping me and then make fun of what I’m doing? Nevermind.” Ira looked back to his bucket. “You know, I really thought you and your factory Empaths were onto something, for a moment there. You all get to speak your mind and do what you like and mouth off all you want, but you weren’t dying left and right. I thought you had something figured out that we didn't.”

“But the difference between us isn’t that we were messing up and you all were brilliant and clever,” Ira growled, grabbing his sponge and furiously starting to tap at the water again, “The difference was they were willing to kill us and weren’t willing to kill you--”

“❀Yeah~❀” Lauriam said, looking a little confused, but his voice direct…or as direct as it could be while singing. “❀I thought we figured that out before~? There’s literally no reason, other than a bullshit system and bullshit luck~❀”

“And because you got to live, you all were allowed to be clever–” Ira hesitated, Lauriam’s interjection throwing him off a little. ‘Yeah’. “...w-well, yes. ‘Yeah’. What I mean is… you all aren’t better, or…” Ira bit his lower lip, worrying it. Not sure how to explain the effect of meeting the other Empaths had had on all of the Rabata Empaths. The insecurity, the envy… “...why don’t you figure yourself out, before coming out here to mock me and tell me what I should do. O-or…”

Ira frowned. He supposed none of the Chonis Empaths had been cruel or anything… Marluxia was challenging, sure, but even that was mostly Ira’s fault. He wasn’t sure who he was mad at… maybe Hao, a little bit, honestly. Gula for always rolling his eyes. Invi for always seeming so, so disappointed in him…

But Xigbar had seen Ira almost kill all of them dozens of times. Every time Ira did anything, Xigbar let him know all the ways Ira had nearly killed them. It haunted Ira, all the ways he messed up.

“...I don’t understand what happened last night, and I don’t really understand what’s happening with you now,” Ira finally just said, that being the easiest thing to communicate in the moment. “But your leaders probably do know how to help you and my leaders told me to do this. And we should listen to them. Before you do end up singing opera. Opera is terrible,” Ira grumbled.

“❀Of course we aren’t better~❀” Lauriam raised an eyebrow, before looking a little exasperated. “❀And even if Marluxia tries to tell you that he is, that’s just how he is, please excuse him~❀”

Sighing softly, Lauriam’s expression eased. “❀I’m not mocking you, or making fun of you~ And I can’t really wait until I figure myself out, because I don’t think I’d ever get around to talking to you if that was a criteria~ I’m just saying~❀” He raised an eyebrow at the street. “❀This sucks~ And all the time I lived here no one’s ever siphoned up the puddles~ So this literally is just a task created to be a punishment, which sucks~ Which I know you know, but I think one of us should say it out loud~❀”

“❀I will go talk to Even about this, because you’re not wrong~ They care about us, they’ve been around the block, so they want to help and will likely actually know something that might be able to~❀” Lauriam shrugged again. “❀But sometimes they also need to be told they’re being paranoid and impulsive and that the people making decisions for our lives are actually us~❀”

Lauriam gave Ira a dry look. “❀And isn’t Xigbar going to criticize what you’re doing no matter what~? If it’s a lose-lose, change the rules to ones you can win~ So come with me back inside so you’re not soaking and freezing, look, I can even pretend to faint or something if you want an excuse~❀”

…yes, okay, it did suck. Even Ira could admit it sucked. It was supposed to suck! If he stopped making mistakes, things would stop sucking! That was the point!

……..Ira had wondered more than once in the last year, when he’d be allowed to start making decisions for himself. He had been endlessly grateful that the older Empaths, and Xigbar in particular, had been so willing to help them when he and Invi had ended up in the factory at 17, scared out of their minds and absolutely certain one of the siblings would have to watch the other die. Invi and Ira had both arrived with someone else they wanted to protect, and that had made both of them so much more subdued, so much more careful, and so much easier to take advantage of. Needed one to do something? Threaten the other. Instant obedience.

Xigbar and Linnea had saved them. Given them direction and protection. Despite having so much against them, having such a handicap as having someone they loved in the factory with them, both of the twins had survived based on obeying Xigbar and Linnea. The twins owed everything to them. They had seen so many Empaths fall. But not each other. And that had been the most they could hope for.

But now they were out, and all the teens resented Ira because of Xigbar, and Invi was so damn sad still, and Ira was sooooooo stressed out all of the time, and his hands were pruning up, and he was tired, and Aced was going to run to his own death at this point trying to prove something, and Linnea’s beloved lost son was offering to pretend to faint while singing for some reason because his brain seemed deeply broken. And Ira still didn’t know what to say about everything that Lauriam had said last night. And he’d spend all day feeling bad about himself for not walking Lauriam inside because he was busy doing a pointless task because Xigbar was rightfully mad at him.

There was no winning here. Ira either stayed here and felt bad, or went inside and felt bad.

“....please don’t pretend to faint,” Ira said warily. “I’ll walk you inside.”

Lauriam smiled softly, getting up and moving the supplies to the side of the road. Though, it sharpened to a playful smirk as he looked back up at Ira. “❀Aw, not even a little swoon~? The tiniest~? I’ve been told I’m a decent actor, I could really pull out the pity points for maximum distraction~❀”

“Has anyone told you that you’re a handful?” Ira asked, looking back down at him.

Warily.

-

Even looked up, squinting behind his reading glasses, having been looking over the map that Clara had recommended, trying to pretend like he had a real opinion on which path they should pick now that they were going to move with an additional carriage. “What do you mean you can’t stop singing?”

“❀I mean~❀” Lauriam sang, gesturing to himself a little, “❀This is me talking as monotone as I can~ Marluxia didn’t even realize he was doing it, so he asked me to try, and I can’t stop~❀”

Ira glanced between Lauriam and Even, before saying, “Well, now that he’s here safely, I should–”

“Do you know when he began doing that?” Even asked Ira.

“What? No?” Ira said, “...the whole time?”

“When is a ‘whole time’? That’s unhelpful.” Even frowned, before shaking his head. “Nevermind, let’s not do this here. Lauriam, Ira, sit down, we’re going to the lab.”

Ira blinked. “Sir, I’m in the middle of something–”

“No you’re not. Sit down,” Even said dismissively, gesturing in a way that showed an impatience that bordered on anger as he insisted, “Meet me in the lab, this is what we’re doing now. If there’s an issue, Xigbar can try his cutesy little manipulation tactics on me and see how it works out for him. Sit.”

Ira sat. Already starting to sweat. They were in the kitchen. Xigbar was going to find out he was shirking his chore literally the second he wanted to walk to any other part of the house. This sucked. 

But he closed his eyes, and after a moment, he was on the beach, then…

Even’s lab looked a little bit like one of the storage rooms of the factory. 

Clearly it had been a room that had been meant for something more like what Even was using his for–observations and experiments of some nature–but the one in the factory had never actually found whatever use the person who furnished it imagined for it. It had ended up being one of the places the factory stored odds and ends. Boxes on top of stretchers and examination tables, tubes rusted over from time and maybe one or two Empaths playing around with cleaning chemicals, weird surgical tools that no one could even guess what their original purpose was for, and the most common answer, the Empaths giggling to each other, usually being ‘it goes up your butt’. 

Seeing a lab in actual working order was disquieting. Ira wondered what the supervisor who had made the one in his factory had been hoping for, and suspected the Empaths had lucked out that it hadn’t worked out that way. 

Meanwhile, a much younger looking Even–but one, curiously enough, still with the gray hair rather than Vexen’s bright blond–squinted at Lauriam. “...do you need assistance sitting on the exam table?” 

❀ㆁ、ㆁ

❀-、-

❀Ȱ//、//Ȱ

Lauriam had blinked, when they first got to the island, before completely startling himself when the blink made a cartoony, xylophone sound. And during the short walk over to Even’s world, the chibi-looking Lauriam had been quiet. Looking more significantly worried than he’d been outside. 

❀Ȱ//^//Ȱ I do not~

And though he was still colored a cartoonish pink, Lauriam just teleported himself on top of the exam table, not able to bear the embarrassment of clambering up it. 

❀Ȱ//^//Ȱ …this is pretty bad, right~?

“Let’s look into this a bit more before we declare an emergency,” Even said, materializing his clipboard before looking Lauriam over, “First of all, say ‘ahhh’.”

Lauriam gave Even a…honestly kind of constipated look, before he took a breath.

❀-o- Aaahhhhhhh~

Even jotted down a note. “Good. Now, sing ‘ahhhh’.”

Ira blinked again. “He just did.”

“We’re noting if it sounds different when it’s intentional,” Even explained. “Sing ‘ahhh’.”

❀ㆁ`、´ㆁ You could say ‘please’~

❀ㆁoㆁ “Aaaahhh~”

It wasn’t Lauriam’s usual voice…but it was something a lot closer to his actual singing voice. Just as if it was…well, a little more ‘chibi’. 

“I am not known for my bed-side manner,” Even said simply, making note of the difference in tones. That mostly just confirmed what was obvious: that the ‘singing’ was Lauriam’s baseline speaking voice, and not something he was necessarily ‘putting on’.

“Marluxia was using the body last night as well, I recall, but he had difficulty moving around and was also slightly singing everything he said,” Even recalled, “I chalked it up to exhaustion and maybe Marluxia being a bit of a drama queen at the time. But it seems a bit more pressing now. Were either of you struggling to use your body this morning? …where is Marluxia, he should be here for this.”

Lauriam looked a little surprised, before frowning.

❀ㆁ^ㆁDid he~? I thought I just passed out last night~

❀ㆁ^ㆁNo, though, we’ve been moving around…

❀ㆁ^ㆁ;;; …fine~

❀눈、눈

The Chibi--still very beautiful in design--looked pissed. 

Yeah, Marluxia had been the one to initially design their Chibi style, and, you know, theoretically he had been in full Chibi-form since, especially when he and Lauriam had to work together with their abilities, but…

…well, Marluxia hadn’t been in full Chibi-form around anyone yet. 

❀눈、눈 He couldn’t get out of bed~

❀눈、눈 He’s in full muck-mode, Even, and it sucks sharing the same body with this bozo always sabotaging it~ Everything feels so heavy, and it’s bullshit~

Ira looked back and forth between the two ‘chibis’. “...you are both very small,” he observed.

“Ira, did you observe any noticeable slowness to either Marluxia or Lauriam when you were spending time together this morning?” Even asked. 

“I-I wasn’t! I was doing my chores and…” Ira fretted a little, before answering, “I didn’t notice anything. Marluxia assisted me in cleaning a few puddles before getting upset when I pointed out the singing. Then Lauriam arrived and didn’t know what was going on either, before also getting upset.” Ira frowned. “He gets upset a lot.”

“True,” Even said, frowning at the Garden Duo, “‘Muck-mode’? Are you simply suggesting Lauriam is in a bad mood, or should we be investigating your world right now?”

Lauriam looked a bit embarrassed by the claim while Marluxia just huffed, inspecting the bottom of his hair a bit, as if it wasn’t just conglomerated pieces right now. Though, he gave Even an exasperated look. 

❀ㆁ、ㆁ You know, muck-mode~ 

❀ㆁ`、´ㆁ Come on, Mindfreak, we might share a body, but you’ve spent way longer actually hanging out with Loseriam in person; muck-mode~

Marluxia kept saying the word, as if it meant something, before he sighed in frustration.

❀ㆁ`、´ㆁ You know, like after Inzi died, and he didn’t talk to anyone for like two weeks~?

Lauriam deflated a bit at that, looking away. Something heavy and…well. Sad. Coming over the chibified Empath. 

“Ahh. ‘Muck-mode’. Otherwise known as ‘being depressed’,” Even said dryly, making another note on his clipboard as he clarified, “So your world is not literally drowning in muck? Probably for the best.”

“I’m sorry, who is Inzi?” Ira asked.

“Another Empath. She died. It was very sad,” Even said, tapping his pen against his clipboard, “...perhaps this is some sort of repression? Or maybe disassociation as an avoidant technique? But why as Chibis…”

Even sighed, putting away his clipboard and sitting down on a wheeled stool instead, looking over the two Chibis as he asked, “Nevermind that, that can come later. Let’s treat the problem we’re looking at now. What has you feeling so down, Lauriam?”

“...should I go–”

“Why do you keep asking that? Sit,” Even said, another stool appearing for Ira to sit on. Ira did. He felt too big for it. 

Marluxia made a little noise that was absolutely meant to be interpreted as ‘duh, that’s what I’ve been saying’. 

Sighing softly, Lauriam tried to give more context to Ira.

❀ᅙ、ᅙ She was around when I came to the factory as a kid~ I was no Ienzo, so I think I was kind of a reminder of the broader spectrum of what kids were like, for some of the others~ She, uh…~

That depressed haze pressed more heavily on Lauriam as he looked away more.

❀ᅙ、ᅙ She had a heart attack when I was 16, I think~ The supervisors didn’t exactly have a healer on hand for us, but they didn’t let us try to help her either~

Lauriam went quiet, just looking off into the corner of the lab dully. 

❀눈、눈 …we’re so fucking tired~

Marluxia answered when Lauriam didn’t. 

❀눈、눈 I feel like we could sleep for days, but apparently we’ve already done that recently and repeats get tiring after a while~

“Inzi was hard on Lauriam, but Lauriam often forgets that she was hard on everyone. She was stressed. She was one of the ones who experienced what it was like in the chairs with us, and she was endlessly terrified of us all being put back into them if we proved frustrating enough. Which was a valid fear, especially at the time.” Even said, giving Marluxia a concerned look, “How does your chests feel? Obviously I mean your wounds.”

“Chairs?” Ira asked.

“Oh yes. Chairs,” Even sighed, “When I first ended up in the factory as a young man entirely innocent of the crime of ‘desecrating bodies’...at least the body they caught me with, it feels like it shouldn’t count if the body was still alive. Anyway, when I was first brought to the factory, the factory was being run by a supervisor named Lemonsworth. An absolute bastard who thought that so long as we were kept alive, we didn’t need anything else to successfully condition anyone. ‘Anything else’ being the ability to move, or see, or piss outside of catheters. We could communicate on the island and that helped quite a bit to keep us all from going insane, but no amount of internal escapism truly takes you from the reality that you’ve been tied to a chair for literal years and you’re starting to rot simply because your body no longer wishes to live.”

Ira blinked. Looking pale, sweat on his brow. “Oh.”

“Indeed. It was no wonder heart problems eventually got Inzi. Sometimes I wonder how I myself avoided it. The benefit of being around near the end of that practice, I suppose… may Lemonsworth be suffering in his trials.” Even scowled. “Or in any hell that would have him.”

“But that’s all beside the point.” Even frowned. “Why do you feel like you’re not allowed to sleep? Oh, don’t get me wrong, I’m aware that you being active and involved with people would help with your mental state more than that, please do not allow Aeleus to think I ever suggested otherwise. But you feeling sad and expressing or self-soothing that isn’t some forbidden action that you have only a limited amount of attempts at. It’s not like we’re fighting for our lives out here. You can depression nap for a while if you need time. The world won’t end. Though Aeleus will likely pull you out to do sit-ups at some point.”

Ira frowned at all that. “...but he is fighting for his life out here. It’s dangerous, to be an Empath in Luminary. He’s wise to not allow himself to succumb.”

“No, he’s two feet tall and singing,” Even said. “Don’t be foolish. Replacing one mental illness symptom for another isn’t helping anyone. Besides, saying he’s ‘fighting for his life’ is ridiculous. We’re all in danger, yes, but in truth the actual pressing matter of that danger is purely theoretical right now. Unless someone is actively hunting us, now, we’re mostly avoiding danger, not in it.”

Inzi was hard on everyone, yeah…but for all that their short relationship had been complicated, it had been meaningful. At least to Lauriam. Togami employees had stalked his family, broken into his home, kidnapped him, and had murdered his sister in front of him. Lauriam had never underestimated the horrors they could and would inflict on people they didn’t see as people. 

He had been terrified and in shock when he had first come to the factory…and yet, there were now all these people paying attention to him. People who weren’t his sister, and didn’t unconditionally love him, and hadn’t promised to always take care of him no matter what dumb bullshit he got himself into…but Lauriam had seen where that had left Strelitzia. 

Inzi constantly criticized him, and for as much as he fought back against it, it…had been easier to take that than comfort, at the start. And they had both shared an eye for high expectations, which, years before Marluxia had ever met Larxene, had given Lauriam a gossip buddy, at least occasionally. 

(And then she had gone into cardiac arrest, and even though Lauriam had felt his chest squeezing and a flood of panic and pain and disorientation going through him, he had begged the supervisors to get a healer. He honestly couldn’t remember if any had even made a paltry attempt. All he knew was that empty feeling in his very being that made him feel like…)

Lauriam touched the tiny buttons on his shirt anxiously, glancing to Ira for a moment. 

Though, Marluxia pouted, saving him from answering. 

❀눈3눈 Boo~

❀눈、눈 We were sleeping, but then he woke up and got mucky and starting thinking some bullshit so I got us up and went over to bother Ira~

❀눈、눈 No, you’re right~ Marluxia nodded to Ira, It’s a fight for the ages, making sure Dem-Dem doesn’t get too cocky~ ‘Enzy and Zex are far too good for his self-esteem, it’s gross~

Ira gave Marluxia a hopelessly lost look. “...Dem-Dem? Enzy and Zex?”

“Ienzo and Zexion. Demyx,” Even explained, before continuing on, “Thinking what bullshit, Lauriam? Please understand, I’m not just being nosy. We don’t understand how your new chibi-reliant constructs are affected by frames of minds and moods. Which theoretically should have been something we kept an eye on for Marluxia and how it affects him, specifically. But now it’s affecting both of you, at the same time, and also your real world body. If your thoughts can compel this sort of reaction, we have to know what sort of thoughts we’re dealing with.”

‘I feel like I don’t have to know,’ Ira thought tiredly, feeling bad sitting in on this. This felt like a very personal conversation. One he didn’t know how to escape. This is what he got for disobeying orders. Now he was sitting here, embarrassing his sort of, kind of friend. He should be soaking up puddles right now.

Both the Chibi and Empath glanced at each other. Marluxia looking a little frustrated, but…understanding. Lauriam just wary and hesitant and down. Neither said anything for a moment, before Marluxia looked back up at Even. Aiming for an annoyed, dismissive expression, but landing more around genuinely anxious. 

❀՛ㆁ、ㆁ` …hey, Even, what…would happen to me if Lauriam became base essence again?

…something about that felt telling, that he didn’t call it ‘light mode’ or any of the other epithets that had cropped up around Lauriam’s ball of light era.

“I wouldn’t know. In theory, you would take on the body full-time again, in the same manner that happened when Namine first sent Lauriam to sleep.” Even said, “Though, in the manner of doing it to yourself, I imagine it works more like a concussion, where neither of you would wake up, because there would be so much stress on Lauriam’s mind that all of his constructs would be damaged and destroyed in the process of his brain dying. Since I also imagine the only way you’d think of sending yourself back to base essence would be doing some sort of physical damage to yourself, as you don’t know the methods Namine used.”

“In short? We’d lose both of you, most likely,” Even said dryly, “We’d probably have some sort of funeral. I’m sure it would be touching. We’ll be certain to let Dilan know you would theoretically have dated him, had he managed to return before you killed yourselves. Why do you ask?”

Ira flinched at the tone in the last sentence. The older man looked furious in the way Linnea looked furious sometimes. Like they were trying to figure out exactly how angry they should be, and were desperately holding back until they came to a conclusion. Those could be bad days. Xigbar wasn’t the only one who could rain hellfire down on the group.

The garden duo both cringed, before Marluxia’s eyes snapped wide as he furiously pushed himself off the exam table, landing full sized as he bared his teeth at Even in a snarl.

“I’M NOT TRYING TO KILL HIM, ARE YOU FUCKING CRAZY, OLD MAN?! I’VE BEEN WORKING MY ASS OFF TRYING TO MAKE SURE HE DOESN’T KILL HI--”

It was…weird. Almost like a rubber band snapping back on itself, but like you could see all the little vibrations in between, as Marluxia snapped back into his Chibi-form, flickering a few times as he sank to the ground, panting in true exhaustion. 

Meanwhile, Lauriam had clutched his chest, hunching over into himself and looking so exhausted it seemed painful, and like he was about to pass out right there. 

Even frowned, looking more or less undisturbed by the shouting, but concerned at the snapback as he murmured, “What on earth could that be? Is it energy depletion? No, I’m just saying words, that has no basis for a human body… unless…”

Meanwhile, Ira had clutched his thighs tightly with his fingers, shaking slightly. Why was he here???

“Ira, please assist Marluxia in putting him back on the exam table,” Even said, rubbing his chin in concern. “I find myself wishing Vexen might be here instead of me… He saw this whole process start first-hand. I still only understand the creation of Chibis in theory. I know it takes a significant amount of power, but some of that power should be coming in through the island; even if Lauriam is feeling exhausted, his constructs should be sustained by our collective power, that’s the point… what even is this exhaustion? It’s not physical, but it’s literally draining…”

Ira got off his stool, kneeling down in front of Marluxia. “Do you need a hand?”

For a few moments, it looked like Marluxia was trying to say something, before he fully just collapsed flat on the floor, still breathing heavily like he couldn’t get enough air, despite being entirely a mental being. 

Lauriam had tipped over on his side on the table, hand-nubs pressed over his shirt over where his scar was, eyes barely open. 

“I’m going to take that as a yes,” Ira whispered, picking Marluxia up, feeling very weird as he did so. Marluxia was very small. It was like picking up a heavy doll. Or a small toddler. It didn’t feel natural for Ira, and it felt less natural considering Marluxia shouted at him a lot. And in general. 

(Ira had never spent time with a toddler before, he did not know that wasn’t actually that far off, experience wise.)

Even, in turn, frowned at this development. Looking over the two…

“...Alright,” Even said, putting down his clipboard, “I suppose now is as good a time as ever. I just need to… to…”

Even looked down at himself, briefly looking a little lost. Before calling out, {Excuse me. Alter Ego. Could you assist me with something?}

For a moment, nothing… and then Ira practically jolted out of his skin when next to his ear, a voice said, “Yes? Can I help you, Even?”

“HAH!” Ira shouted, his whole body visibly flinching as he realized something was on his shoulder. That something was a cat–golden in color–which leapt off his shoulder and landed on the exam table, tail flicking slightly as its ears went backwards a bit, looking at the two Chibis. “W-what is–”

“These two are really thin. Why have they been using so much power?” Alter Ego asked, sniffing at the two Chibis, “This is a dangerous limit to hit.”

Even relaxed slightly–as much as he wanted to be able to solve issues for his family himself, it was nice to have a true expert arrive–as he asked, “Ah, so you know this issue?”

“Don’t you feel it?” Alter Ego asked, before looking up at Ira. “...meow.”

“What?” Ira asked.

“Nevermind, you can seem to hear me fine. Likely because you’re here in Even’s world when you met me. Nice to meet you, please give me a moment,” Alter Ego said, looking back down at the Chibis, “You need to reach into their minds and feel out their connection to their surface consciousness.” 

“Ah. I’m afraid I’m not sure I can do that, at least not yet,” Even admitted, “I only feel the island and our emotions, when I try that. I’d have to physically go to their world.”

“I see. Well, they’re depleted because they’ve been attempting power sets that they’re not trained to handle and don’t have the raw energy to sustain. This is what happens when you push yourself too hard,” Alter Ego explained, “What were they doing?”

“I’m not entirely sure. Existing feels like a sarcastic thing to imply, but I think in some manner that’s what they were attempting. At least with Marluxia. I think he was trying to run the body against Lauriam’s will.” Even said, “But I called you here to assist me in creating a sliver. I’m not sure how to start.”

Alter Ego’s golden eyes widened slightly, before shaking his head. “Don’t go that far. You have two healing Empaths within your group already. Have one of them soothe them a bit, let them rest, don’t let them perform any more power bursts for… I’d say a week to be safe. They’ll recover on their own.”

Marluxia rested heavily within Ira’s arms, honestly just too exhausted to even be annoyed or embarrassed. All the Chonis Empaths--and their Nobodies--were old hats at running on empty, but this really felt like some of the worst bouts of it. 

Marluxia was definitely more out of it, but as the others talked, Lauriam cracked his eyes open a little more.

❀-ᯅ-  It’s…annoying when he cuts me off sometimes, but he doesn’t take over against my will~ Either of us can take over at any time, that was our deal~

Lauriam’s voice was quiet, if still melodious, though there was soon a tinge of defeated sarcasm to it.

❀-ᯅ- Now that’s a tough ask~ Feel like someone would’ve already made sure we don’t explode by now if it was an option~

“I don’t understand how them being at their limits results in this,” Even added in, gesturing to the two Chibis, “Perhaps for Marluxia, as a default, yes. But Lauriam? He’s not a true chibi, he just dresses that way.”

Alter Ego considered the two, tilting his head a bit. Their left ear twitching slightly. “...mmm… it might be as simple as their self-perception? Lauriam’s not a Chibi, sure. But we present as whatever we identify as. None of my bodies are a cat, for instance.”

Even blinked. “They’re not?”

Alter Ego spoke to Lauriam directly, “You said you made a deal with your construct. Can you tell me the specifics?”

Lauriam gave a small, tired, musical hum before he shakily pushed himself back up into a sitting position.

❀-、- Ienzo said that one of the most important things about having our Nobody back, but not like how things were before, was to renegotiate…like, existing, basically~ Their role to us, and relationship, and…bunch of stuff~ To make sure that they wouldn’t deteriorate again, or cause undo stress in our minds--basically to make our mutual existence work~

❀-、- He and Zex have been living together pretty much their whole lives, so I was gonna trust him on that~

❀-、- Marluxia and I decided to do things kind of 50/50~ Either of us can front whenever we want, we have equal access to our energy, that sort of thing~ 

❀-、- I know I’m not, but…it does feel kind of weird to think that this form wouldn’t happen~? Considering I couldn’t get out of it when Vexen brought Marluxia back~ Ienzo did fix us, but it just feels like another part of the 50/50~

“....hmmm,” Alter Ego tilted their head, ear twitching again, “...look, I’m mostly making an informed guess. But it is informed. I know what it looks like to make a Chibi, I know what it looks like to present an image that doesn’t wholly equal your reality, I know what it’s like to share a mind.”

“I think what you’re looking at?” Alter Ego said, looking to Even, “Is someone who has effectively become two people at once. Not an Empath sharing a mind with a construct. An Empath split in two.”

“.........Oh,” Even frowned, “........dear.”

“Mhm~” Alter Ego’s tail twitched in an almost playful way, as they said, “You’ve potentially changed a life to the point of its function. Or, as my friend would say, you’ve created an abomination~ Congratulations. It’s always good to see a new one around.”

“....but you did say this was only a guess.” Even said, “Perhaps it’s not as involved as that. Lauriam has always had a mind for the theatrics… though, Ienzo and Zexion as well… hmmmm.”

“What you all did with your Nobodies is unprecedented in the Empath world. There’s really nothing else like it out there, I looked.” Alter Ego said, “You’re treading on new ground. This Chibi situation you all have developed might simply be the next logical step towards a splitting of yourselves that you’ve been working on for what seems like most of all of your lives now. A creation of a new form of life.”

Ira sweated in the background. Really should have stuck with the puddles.

❀-、- Aqua’s gonna kick Vexen’s ass~ Marluxia mumbled sleepily, at least having caught his breath enough to talk again. 

Really, what did they expect from their mad scientist going off the rails? One last grand experiment that shook up the fundamentals of the world. And now…

❀-ω- I did tell you you were real~ Lauriam said softly to Marluxia, before blinking tiredly up at Ira. ❀-、- …you did kinda clock us as that disorder thing before, huh~? How does it feel to be right, like, days in advance~?

“I feel a bit like I’m in trouble, but I am increasingly uncertain what for,” Ira said honestly, looking around the group nervously, “In theory, I have nothing to do with any of this. But it suuuuure feels like I did something wrong.”

Alter Ego glanced back at Ira, sniffed the air… before saying, “Oh yeah that’s some bad anxiety, you should drink some tea and take a walk. But, this is not a bad thing. In general, I mean, it’s probably an alarming thing. But new forms of life, I will argue, are good. Especially when created out of love.”

Even, who seemed distracted and vaguely worried, murmured, “Love?”

“Power like this, used in this way? In my experience, it requires a severe amount of focus and effort, and that focus and effort comes from a type of devotion,” Alter Ego said, “I was created in a moment of love as well. An Empath who not only could not let their own life end in true, final tragedy, but could not allow it for others as well. Who grabbed as many as they could and then reached out for help to a dear friend, who reached back against all odds. I am a creature made of love. Of compassion and sacrifice. Of devotion.”

Alter Ego looked to Marluxia, a warm expression on their face, as they said, “And I am betting that this one here was made from that as well. Someone loved them very, very much. And from that love, life was made. Incorporeal Mental-based Creatures cannot reach this level of sophistication by accident. Someone has to want us to exist. Not everyone is made out of kindness…” Alter Ego said, thinking of Doppio, “...but devotion is a requirement. You have to want it. You have to really want it, and really work for it, and keep it sustained over a long period of time. And love is an excellent motivator.”

“....it does change the conversation all of us need to have, when it comes to bringing the Nobodies back,” Even said quietly, “The others need to understand what they’re signing up for. If they would still wish to do so.”

Lauriam’s expression softened as he helped Marluxia sit back up too, the garden duo leaning against each other. Marluxia hardly pouted even when Lauriam took his nubby hand in his, though he did look to the side with a bit of a huff as Alter Ego described Marluxia’s new existence as one born from love. 

…well, yeah, no doi. That was the entire basis of Vexen’s freak out. He loved them all far too much to leave even the smallest chance that they would be left as base essence for the rest of their Empaths’ lives. And as much as they bickered, Lauriam had wanted Marluxia back too. The spoken request had been selfish, Lauriam just…in an incredibly low place and needing to talk with someone, and…

(...even if Vexen had a horrible bed-side manner, he was still his dad. One of the people who had raised Lauriam, divisions between the Somebodies and Nobodies be damned. Of course Lauriam had tried to talk with him.)

It had been a fiasco, but after Ienzo fixed them and they’d had the chance to talk?

…god, Lauriam had missed Marluxia. He wondered if that was concerning, how much he surrounded himself with utter assholes, but damnit Lauriam was happy with them, and whether it was just the work Marluxia had begun to repair their mind, or just the man himself, things had started to feel a little better again. 

Of course Mars was loved. 

(That wasn’t even touching on the overwhelming amount of romantic love too.)

❀-、- Does it~? Marluxia asked. Zex’s called himself a construct this whole time, and they called what Vexen did to us a botch job~ Maybe it won’t be the same for everyone~

Lauriam nodded sleepily against Marluxia’s head. 

❀-、- I was basically mute for a couple hours~ I don’t think you guys will replicate that~

“It’s still a conversation we should have, regardless,” Even sighed, running his hand through his hair a bit, “Everyone needs to understand, if there’s any doubts, what our Chibis will actually be. Not sophisticated constructs, but apparently genuinely independent beings, if Alter Ego is correct.”

“My friend Temp would be able to tell us for certain. Being a Templar of Death and Trade tends to mean he knows what’s actually alive or not,” Alter Ego said, “Though he gets annoyed when new life shows up. I think because it makes it complicated for the reapers of the afterlife. I think he tends to worry things like this will end in tragedies, but he’s an edgelord at the end of the day, so of course he’d think that. I think it will be fine, in the long run. Something to celebrate.”

“But yes, ultimately? Lauriam and Marluxia are just worn thin because their body is trying to handle two minds at once. They’re finding their balance, and being as emotionally distressed as they are is exacerbating things.” Alter Ego said, “You can give them a sliver if you must, but I wouldn’t recommend it if they have other ways to heal, which they do. Don’t forget, slivers are putting little pieces of yourself in them. Not enough to change them, or be changed. But it still matters. It should be an emergency sort of thing.”

“...reapers?” Ira asked.

“Don’t worry about it.” Alter Ego said, “It all sorts itself out eventually, it’s really not worth stressing about. It’s been lovely to meet you, Ira. For as much as we’ve met, anyway. You should take a nap as well, I think. Your mind feels like licking an electric socket, that’s not good for anyone in the long run. Is there anything else I can offer?”

“No, I think that is helpful on its own, thank you Alter Ego,” Even said. Still fretting a little. He was a mad scientist, yes, but he didn't think he was that sort of mad scientist. He was too old these days to be screaming dramatically ‘It’s alive!!’. It was a lot to think about.

❀-、- …

❀-、- So that wasn’t just a hardcore aesthetic, huh~?

❀-、- That really sucks for not getting emotional again once we have the energy to think about that literally at all~

If death was actually, like, a magical, cosmic domain? If the trials and afterlives and all that were real? Lauriam would have to Think About That. In some ways, being so tired he felt like he was melting was the perfect time to receive news like that. 

❀-3- Ira~ Marluxia goaded. 

❀-3- A magic cat said you have to take a nap~ I think that means you have to~ Those are just the rules~

“He’s not a ‘magic cat’, he’s an Empath that is also incorporeal,” Even said. 

“No, I am a magic cat, that’s correct.” Alter Ego said, “People tend to listen to me because of that, so I embrace it.”

“........I’m in so much trouble for something,” Ira whispered, “I just wish I understood what it was.”

“I will speak to Xigbar and Linnea,” Even said. “Also, I am sending Linnea here to do her healing on Lauriam. And Marluxia as well, though the issue still seems to be with Lauriam. I’d ask Aqua, but I believe Linnea would appreciate the opportunity to help. And when you all awake, we must discuss leaving. And the new Nobody/Chibi situation. And probably more things I’m too overwhelmed to think of in this moment,” Even said, pausing, “...everyone get out of my lab now, I also need to process the realities of an afterlife. Assuming you’re not just a religious nut, Alter Ego.”

“That’s super fair,” Alter Ego shrugged, “Call us if you need any help I suppose. Me, Temp, and of course Kokichi,” before he yowled, disappearing as he leapt through a portal. 

“Ira, you and Lauriam, to bed, now,” Even said, “In the real world and mentally as well. Go to the carriage and steal one of the bunks.”

“But, sir, I–”

“You are easily cowed, do not make me be unkind to convince you to do something you are already going to do now.” 

“...”

-

Ira opened his eyes at the table, and looked at Lauriam. “I guess let me help you to the carriage,” he said tiredly.

“❀Mean~❀” Lauriam sang quietly, referring to Even as he slowly came back to the physical world, lifting his head from where he’d apparently face-planted at one point. “❀It looks like I got you out of chores one way or another~❀”

“❀…just…give me a second to get up~❀” he whispered, “❀That really didn’t feel great~❀”

“Am I in trouble for an afterlife existing?” Ira muttered, picking at his fingernails, “Or am I in trouble for sitting in on the discovery of new life? Neither feels like my fault, but I was supposed to be getting up all the still water, so really it’s anyone’s guess now.”

Ira startled when he heard noise from the kitchen, urgently whispering to Lauriam, “Okay, but can we move soon?”

Lauriam looked at Ira for a moment, before squinting his eyes a little in focus, pushing himself up, and deceitfully quietly getting up, putting a hand on the back of Ira’s shoulder as they moved towards the backdoor. 

Though, he nudged Ira a little as they got farther away from the kitchen, whisper-singing to him, “❀Shush, it’s Sarl Cagan’s fault, you don’t get to take credit~❀”

Ira snorted, unable to help the surprised laughter, even as he said, “That doesn’t make any sense at all.”

Lauriam grinned a little at the laugh. “❀It does, if you’ve embraced the true path of Being A Hater~ Step one, pick a person~ Step two, blame absolutely everything on them~ Step three, profit~❀”

“...” Ira looked at Lauriam for a moment, then down at his feet. Then over at the carriage they were on their way to, before glancing over his shoulder. Looking for eyes.

“.....Sarl Cagan really screwed us today, huh,” Ira whispered. Looking a little sheepish at the attempt. 

Lauriam’s eyes warmed as he briefly rubbed Ira’s shoulder. “❀Excuse my language, but he sure fuckin’ did~ Can’t believe the nerve of some people~ People being, obviously, Sarl Cagan, what a loser~❀”

Ira chuckled weakly, before startling lightly. Looking down at his foot, genuinely astounded to see it was wet… before realizing he had missed some standing water in some of the tall grass near the carriage door.

“...someone really should get to that, at some point,” Ira muttered, opening the door, “Sarl Cagan.”

-

Linnea tried to be quiet as she entered the carriage, but it seemed there was no need--both men were completely passed out, heavily under the throes of sleep. Looking between them, both slightly awkwardly scrunched into bunks that were just a little too short for them, Lauriam fixing the problem by crossing his lower legs almost like he’d be sitting criss-cross style if he sat up, and Ira splayed on his stomach, legs up and resting against the wall, Linnea hid an amused smile behind her hand before she quietly settled in the aisle between them. She thought it was a little cute, that they’d chosen to have Ira sleep right across from where Lauriam was. 

Taking a quiet breath, Linnea mentally reached out for Ira first, his mind more familiar to get to. 

…it was a problem, if Ira was starting to make decisions to try and handle things without letting anyone else know. If he’d bring along some of the younger kids, and while she did appreciate the faith Ira had in them…it was still dangerous for an 18-year-old to wander around the streets in the middle of the night, especially in the royal district, and especially while sick. 

But other than asking for help? Linnea did agree that Ira had done the best he could, in the moment. She definitely wished he hadn’t randomly decided to stand in the rain for who knew how long, but mostly? Ira had done his best to keep everyone safe, as he always did. 

Linnea didn’t exactly believe in Atua or the Saints, not before and definitely not now, but she was so, so grateful to any and everything that had delivered both Ira and Invi out of the factory together. They had been so terrified, in one of the worst positions anyone could be in in the factory--they’d had someone they wanted to protect. 

In the long years, Linnea wished so much she could’ve made promises to the kids. That those promises would mean something. That when she held them when they cried, she could promise they’d be alright, that nothing would happen to them, that she wouldn’t let it. But that would simply never be true, and Linnea found it kinder to never make those empty promises in the first place, even if they would be a fleeting comfort, than to have them broken. And for those who it’d be true for, leave them wondering, at least emotionally, why it had only been true for them, and not the countless friends they’d lost. 

Linnea wished so much she could’ve brought dozens of her kids back home. She was so grateful she’d gotten seven. 

As she finished healing Ira, Linnea gently kissed his forehead and smoothed hair back from his face before reaching out to Lauriam. 

It was still a bit bizarre to feel that…echoing feedback. The space of the island, and all the other minds he was attached to, she’d learned. But nevertheless, Lauriam’s mind was still there.

Linnea frowned, gaze growing a little dry as she looked at her son. Still there, and utterly exhausted. What was he even doing up?! Tsk.

…god, she’d missed him. Her little sun…

She remembered him as a toddler, curious little thing, following everyone around the house. Having nap time with her, Briar swinging him around in the air to delighted laughs, following Strelitzia around with a look of awe, her keeping him occupied for hours going around their potted plants and talking about them, despite Lauriam’s absolute refusal to do anything more than sniff a flower in later years. 

She’d had to always keep him close when they went to the market together, since he had a tendency to wander off and pick up anything that caught his attention. It had been alarming at first, Linnea frantically apologizing to merchants, but over the years, it had become something of a town inside joke. A few merchants had even started boasting, as if it was a form of prize or advertisement, if Lauriam had been interested in checking out their wares. 

…she knew he wasn’t the little boy she last knew. He didn’t smile as bright, many were sharper, even accounting for the ones that were from Marluxia. Marluxia himself. He still carried himself with a polite confidence, but there was an awareness to it now that Linnea recognized as…well, wary. Senses kept sharp for danger. 

But the moment she had seen him again, he had run without a second thought to come to his brother’s aid, had been ready to fight a large group, if it came to it, for him. He, and Marluxia, defended Ira. He took care of his own chores, not accepting the group scheduling. 

Her Ammy was still just as loyal and sweet as he’d always been. 

Linnea felt her eyes burn slightly as she looked over his sleeping form. 

…she wished so much she could’ve seen him grow up. To hear about his first crush and join in with Strelitzia teasing him and watch his art develop and see what he would decide he wanted to do with his life and…flourish. Linnea had wanted to give her children the world, but she settled with having enough food on the table. She wished she had found another way, and that she could’ve been there to share it all with them too. 

Carefully letting out a heavy sigh, Linnea leaned over to kiss Lauriam’s forehead, gently running her fingers through his hair for a moment, before she rose and left her boys to their sleep. 

-

Xigbar was sat on top of the bed, papers surrounding him, aligned in a way that allowed him to read something on the front of any page at a glance. It was the same crescent alignment that the others formed when they lined up when Xigbar and Linnea wanted to talk to them. Xigbar was not aware that he had a habit of keeping everything important in that half-moon shape, as he said without looking up, “No matter how I work the numbers, we’re going to have to ask them for help to buy our caravan back. Even if we empty all of the different accounts at once, every time I see out to buying our travel supplies back from the Johnsons, we can’t negotiate them down to what we have. In one version they’re sympathetic enough to only price us out 100 copper, but that’s still 100 copper we don’t have, and honestly I’m not convinced that vision’s gonna happen anyway.”

(The papers were all notes from bank accounts that Xibgar and Linnea had been adding to in small amounts, across various Luminary banks. The thought process was if one bank or account fell through, was seized, or extorted, by anyone, for any reason, there’d be others they could rely on to get them out of a financial crisis, and they wouldn’t be holding all of their coin to get potentially mugged or robbed.)

(There were eight accounts in total, and admittedly, Xigbar and Linnea liked to daydream that one day things would be secure enough to give one out to each of them and…)

(But that was purely a daydream, so far. They were constantly pulling cash from various accounts just to keep the group afloat, let alone to keep savings. And buying back all their travel supplies meant emptying them.)

“It’s not ideal, is it,” Linnea mused, sitting on the edge of the bed to look over the account papers. This wasn’t a moment for it, but…god she hated looking at bank accounts. With some bitter humor, she had been thankful once they’d gotten out of the factory that she’d had so much practice managing balances and keeping separate accounts, but it was such a soul sucking endeavor. 

“My offer to Clara wasn’t a straight donation,” she hummed, giving some news on the discussion she’d had with the woman earlier, “and she didn’t assume it was either. Her organization would be compensating the house, along with apparently the fact that the others are being directly sponsored by the Dicean government means that they’re getting financial help too.”

Linnea sighed softly. “Though that doesn’t really help in getting the supplies back tomorrow. So we’re going to have to ask for an IOU.”

“What an interesting start to our relationship with them. We monsterfy one of their allies, get one of our own injured, destroy a bathroom, get a bunch of us stuck in the rain in the middle of the night at the royal district… uuuuugh,” Xigbar groaned, taking two of the papers in his hands and falling backwards onto the bed, covering his eyes as he smooshed the papers into his face, “Linneeaaaaaaaaa, now we’re asking them for money too? We’re literally going to be in debt to them in every way imaginable. And not only that, now even my most reliable kid is going around acting like a goddamn idiot!”

Xigbar groaned into the pages some more, before throwing them into the air. “I give up, I’m selling all of them to the circus. The boys, Gula, Aced, Ira… Ava didn’t do anything wrong yet, I guess she can stay. Invi’s going but that’s because I think she’d actually like the circus. She’d make some fantastic set dressings. Augh.”

It wasn’t great. Even if it was their fault, Linnea wouldn’t want to blame everything on her son’s family showing up, but things had been…peaceful, as much as they could be, before Axel had slipped in the road. And yet, most of the bigger incidents had been caused by their own group. 

It made them look unreliable. Volatile. In need of help, nevermind that they were. It was a poor showing of what their capabilities actually were, to potential allies, and not just…people to be pitied. 

In all honesty Linnea would take pity if it meant all her kids would be able to move somewhere they’d be safe, but it did hurt the pride somewhat. 

Giving Xigbar a small, fond look, Linnea caught one of the thrown papers before it fell off the bed and set it with the others. “I think we’d find an issue trying to sell them, dear, considering they’re all legal adults. Though I’m sure there’s still a circus out there who’s not as fond of the new anti-slavery laws.”

Scooting more onto the bed, Linnea sighed as she mused with a grim smile, “I can’t say I’m not happy about the possibility of Ira finding a friend in Lauriam. I just wish the apparent side effect of it causing him to act his age wasn’t so dangerous right now.”

“Who’s a legal adult? All I see are a bunch of toddlers wearing six foot tall mecha suits,” Xigbar grumbled, adjusting his hips and legs to give her more room to sit, “The passing of time is simply incorrect. You and I are the people in their mid-twenties, and they are brats I am constantly telling to not touch the stovetop, because yes it hurts, and no, your hands did not suddenly miraculously become fireproof since the last time you touched the stovetop!”

Xigbar huuuuuuffffeeeeeed… before sitting up. “Alright, alright, I’m done whining. When we ask for the cash, could you be the one to lead the conversation? I’m not sure if I’m in the outs with them or not, based on the whole ‘Aeleus’ thing. I swear, I only meant to have a friendly spar with the guy, and somehow I broke his brain into…a very pretty landscape, honestly, but man, not where I thought all of that was going. These people are so damn confusing, and somehow we’re the problem ones… What am I going to do about Ira? He’s never refused one of his chores before, but I already saw–” Xigbar said, tapping on his eyepatch, “--that he’s shirked the whole thing while not even halfway done. How am I supposed to discipline him? What, do I need to beat him now? Shout? Am I now the guy who shouts and beats people? That’s just… is it already happening, Linnea? Is the group falling apart and I just didn’t notice yet?” Xigbar asked, giving her a genuinely distressed look, “My visions are worthless if no one will listen to me. If the others are just going to ignore me, that’s it, what the hell else can I do? If Ira, of all of them, starts refusing to follow my rules, or allow me to discipline him? None of the others are gonna do it either.”

Linnea covered a snicker, listening to Xigbar’s outrage at the completely incorrect flow of time. Honestly it did feel like that sometimes…but it wasn’t how it actually was. Whether they liked it or not, the kids were growing up. It was a privilege that they could, even if part of that meant…well, growing apart. 

Nodding that, yes, she’d be the prime groveler, Linnea gave Xigbar a cool look. “I think the most negative feeling there is exasperation, considering all that happened because you two decided to go full dramatics with something you barely even talked out. But if I understand right? I think the others are happy not ‘having their Nobody completely take over’. As much as that may or may not apply to Aeleus. Or…”

Linnea looked down for a moment, thinking a bit about what Even had told her, when he asked if she could heal Ira and Lauriam. 

She let out a longer sigh. “He didn’t shirk it because he doesn’t respect you, or he thought it was unfair, that he didn’t actually do anything wrong. We make it a meaningful importance, that the kids should listen to you, because you have the best odds of safety we have…but we’ve never told them to ignore danger happening in front of them just because you didn’t say anything about it.” She looked over, giving Xigbar a sad smile. “You can see a lot, but you can’t be everywhere at once.”

Closing her eyes, Linnea rubbed the bridge of her nose a bit. “...for one, I think he needed a break anyway because it looked like his fingers were going numb from the cold, but…apparently Even contacted someone with an acumen for mental states, and they mentioned Ira was on the verge of a total nervous breakdown. He’s sleeping it off now, and when I healed him?”

Linnea opened her eyes, giving Xigbar a worried look. “It wasn’t just the others having different standards. He really was that bad. He knows he fucked up, Xiggy, he’s not just dismissing everything we’ve tried to establish.” Her shoulders fell a little as she frowned at the bed, voice softening. “...though maybe it’s time to establish something new. ‘Listen to Xigbar’ is a well and good baseline…but our lives are going to change. How we handle all that, and the example we lead for the kids needs to change too.”

“A nervous breakdown? Why? Okay, yes, the last few days have been bad, but things were calm for a few months there. This should be the most relaxed he’s ever been,” Xigbar muttered.

(Because Xigbar did not entirely grasp that the more and more calm and steady things became for the group, the more and more the others wanted to test their limits and boundaries and change things up more to suit themselves. Which, partly, was what Xigbar and Linnea wanted for them anyway. But… you couldn’t want the group to relax and become more independent, while still making two of them–Ira and Invi–responsible for any time the testing of those boundaries faltered. It essentially left the two oldest with vague rules, little help, and a constant countdown timer over their heads for when the next time ‘they’ had messed up, failing to guess what pushed line would be acceptable or even applauded, and which one meant they were repainting the house again.)

(In some ways, as the rules enforcers, the hard, strict rules from the early days of their travels had been the most relaxing ones, because they were the easiest ones to predict and prepare for. Now the boys went out all day without telling anyone, Gula had taken trips outside the town which Ira had then been sent on horseback to bring him back, Gula resenting him the entire trip home, Ava had tried to get a job which Invi had fully supported her and helped her get, only for a vision to reveal her new boss was hoping to sleep with her, which it had been put on Invi for not catching in the first place, and on and on and on…every misstep and bad bet were always somehow put on the twins’ shoulders.)

(So yeah. What should have been the most relaxing part of their year had ended up feeling like walking on a landmine.)

“Establish something new…what could we possibly try?” Xigbar asked, “Even, Aeleus, and Aqua let their group do whatever they want, it seems. But have you seen their teens? They’re little saints! The brown-haired one’s like a pure barrel of sunshine! The other two just follow him around, being damn adorable! Causing no problems! Can you imagine our Hao, Xehanort, and Gula acting like that? The only reason Hao and Xehanort aren’t dead yet is because their abilities let them escape all the ass-kickings they’re constantly begging for out there! Gula doesn’t have that, but he’ll still end up mouthing off at the wrong guard someday if we don’t keep an eye on him. Ava’s beautiful and sweet and good-natured and is basically all anyone wants to look at everywhere we go, something will definitely happen to her if we’re not vigilant. And the twins! …well, the twins would probably be fine.” Xigbar admitted, “But we need their help with the others.”

“I don’t think Ira’s ever been the most relaxed he’s ever been as long as we’ve known him,” Linnea hummed dryly. She knew it was partly the expectations and reliance that she and Xigbar had given to the twins as the next oldest, but, though for good reason, Linnea had always known Ira to be an incredibly stressed person. He certainly could act on his own, but Linnea didn’t think it’d really even occur to Ira by this point to willfully rebel. It made his mistakes harder to catch, but easier to talk through later. 

“I think the ‘it seems’ is doing a lot of heavy lifting there, dear,” Linnea sighed. “I seriously doubt their teens are perfect saints all the time…so the harmony we see is the result of something. And I’d wager it’s not just the fact that they’re literally connected at the mind.” …though that could be some of it. And while Linnea didn’t want to incur even more debt from the others, asking for some parenting tips may be something the others wouldn’t mind sharing. 

Looking tiredly at the ceiling, Linnea thought aloud, “In some ways, the incident with Anthony was kind of the perfect example for Hao and Xehanort that they can’t just solve everything with their abilities…though I’m worried that they’re going to need more before it really sinks in. Gula’s at that age where he’s striving for independence, but I think it’s telling that he’s still stuck with us, and didn’t try to return home. If we find opportunities for him to stretch his wings a bit, safely? Then he might stop trying to snark at everyone he comes across. I’ll certainly not stop watching Ava’s back, but she’s not helpless on her own. Perhaps some more focused attention would help Aced. And I don’t think the twins resent looking after the others completely, but perhaps more room for them to be themselves, rather than their siblings’ wardens, would help too.”

Xigbar blinked. “...oh, right. Aced. Him too.”

“............can we at least wait until we’re in Dicea?” Xigbar sighed, rubbing his temples, “I just need them all to behave until we’re in Dicea. No, until… until we meet the royal family. No! Until… Untiiiiiiilll… ugh, how did I become one of the responsible ones.” Xigbar muttered, “A guy survives a few decades and suddenly he’s the ‘responsible’ one. Linnea, you remember when I was the hot, young sassy one? I could just be cute and stupid and everyone else had to deal with it. You should have seen me even before the factory. I was a dumb, feisty twink getting by on long hips, a good ass, and pouty lips. Then they drag me off to the factory and in a decade I’m the only one alive and everyone’s asking me what’s coming because I was the only one there who had any idea.”

“And then they did this shit to my face,” Xigbar muttered, reaching up to run his hands over the deep, jagged scars that ran over his whole face, “Like aging wasn’t enough. They really thought blinding me would stop the visions, the bastards. I was just starting to make the ‘hot older guy’ thing work, embracing the grays and all of that. Now I’m old and scarred and hideous and all the damn kids I just barely managed to keep alive are gonna go off and be their own people and I’m gonna be alone.”

Linnea gave Xigbar a dry look before rolling her eyes a little. Yes. Aced too. Sigh… At least he had been feeling better lately, that was a silver lining Linnea had very much appreciated. The cherry on top really would’ve been him suffering complications from a concussion. 

“Oh, no way I’m advocating the kids all skipping off into the world while we’re crossing a border that only recently hasn’t been a warzone,” Linnea scoffed. “We can’t wait until they’re shielded from everything, but we can wait until we understand just what the safety net we’re getting actually looks like.”

As much of a gamble as it was? Linnea was choosing to believe in Clara’s assurances, and the Chonis Empaths’ faith. As much as she wished she didn’t have to, she was a woman used to making gambles for her children’s safety. She didn’t think her track record would be earning any rewards, but it was all she could do. All anyone could do, making guesses for the future and just hoping that they’d work out.

Even when you had better odds. 

Her expression softening, Linnea moved over on the bed to Xigbar’s side, putting an arm around him before she shook him lightly. “Boo that. One of your most least likely visions yet, I don’t understand why you even saw it because there’s no world where that could even come close to happening. After all, it sounds like that’s predicated on you being something like ugly, and that’s simply not true.”

Rubbing his arm, she glanced over at him, smiling sadly. “It’s simply how things go, that kids will grow up and grow away. It’s good that they get to do that. But the fact that those seven get to do that, that they’re alive, is an unchangeable truth that they knew you, that your life touched theirs in an undeniable way. And that will always be with them, even if they’re physically far away. And the same is true for you.”

Xigbar chuckled at that lightly. “Yeah? Yeah… Though, really, Linnea? You can’t tell a guy he still looks a little cute despite looking like someone’s messed up leather coat?” Xigbar laughed, putting an arm around her shoulders and squeezing her for a hug, “...you know, if things really are safe out there? And we can let those little morons off the leash a bit? That means we should be able to get off the leash too. I know you said you weren’t interested, but you should go out there and see what the senior dating pool is like. Not just trapped playing pseudo-house with me all the time. You’re a beautiful woman, you could get any guy you wanted!” 

“I said you weren’t ugly, don’t fish for compliments,” Linnea playfully sniffed before laughing softly, leaning in towards the hug. Though, her smile faded into something hesitant, the woman quiet for a few moments as she evidently contemplated something. 

“...I’ve been reconsidering reaching out to Briar,” she admitted softly. “I still don’t expect anything to come of it, but…she should know that Lauriam’s okay. I’d hate to give her even momentary hope about Strelitzia, but,” Linnea’s voice wavered on her daughter’s name for a moment before it evened with a breath, “She deserves to know our son is alive and well.”

Xigbar sighed. There had been a reason he stressed ‘guys’. Watching Linnea tear herself apart thinking about–and choosing not to reach out to–her wife had for Xigbar been one of the hardest parts of the last year, if only because he hated watching his friend, probably the closest person to him in his whole life now, do that to herself. He had brought up dating women six months ago and was still shaken by the panic attack the two hard worked through that entire night. 

But now the situation was different, and the Briar conversation needed to happen again. “There’s a reason you didn’t reach out the first time. Why we all haven’t…there’s already a stigma against Indentured, but as ones that, as far as anyone could tell, ‘died’ in the factories? Only to now be alive and well?” Xigbar frowned. “We don’t know what our families were told. They must have been told something to justify it all, and I don’t want any of the kids trying to reach out to their parents only to be told they’re demons. And I don’t want that for you either… that’s assuming she even tried to find out what happened to you,” Xigbar muttered.

(Years of being Linnea’s confidant about Briar hadn’t given Xigbar the most gracious view of the woman. While Linnea tended to blame herself for everything that happened, Xigbar was far more content blaming Briar. Yes, she worked in the mines to try to pay off the medical debts the couple had ended up in, but Linnea had written to Briar that the money wasn’t going to be enough, and Briar hadn’t changed course or gone home. In a lot of ways, Xigbar thought Briar had abandoned Linnea when the family needed her most. Able to justify it by heading off to work, but that work ultimately not solving anything and coming with the benefit of Briar not having to be home to take care of the family problems head-on.)

(Yeah, he didn’t like Briar very much.)

“I know,” Linnea said quietly. She had agonized over the decision the first time, as she wagered many of the kids did too, but ultimately? What she’d told Lauriam was true--Linnea sincerely hoped that Briar had moved on, after discovering her family gone in tragedy. There was no reason to drag her wife back into pain and danger after all this time. 

…when it had just been her. 

“...you know I went in with a false identity,” Linnea sighed, “And everyone here thought both of my kids were killed. There’s no reason for Briar to know either of us were connected to the program at all even if she dug into it. Telling her ourselves what happened is another matter, but I can’t…let her carry grief for Ammy when he’s not dead.”

She smiled sadly, guilt deflating her shoulders more. “...maybe he wouldn’t want it, though. Neither he nor Marluxia had wanted to look for either of us, and from what I gather from the others, they barely talked about us. They didn’t even know that he’s from Romeliad until we all ran into each other.”

“We did abandon him,” she muttered quietly. “It makes sense he wouldn’t want anything to do with us.”

“You only meant to be gone for a few years,” Xigbar, running his hand up and down her arm, “And you only meant to be unreachable for a few months. You didn’t abandon them, the factory stole you. Those damn debtors putting you in a corner… if you had tried to take the kids and run? They were going to throw you in the dungeons, and your kids would have probably both ended up Indentured anyway. You were stuck, turning yourself in was the only responsible choice you could make right then.”

“And even then, it should have worked out… They promise us that when you leave the Indentured program, that there will be jobs and a career ready for us. Rehabilitated citizens, seamlessly back in society. You should have spent three years learning how to be a mechanic working in some shop while the mechanics there pay the government basically nothing for their own personal assistants, and then you could have left and opened up your own shop and taught the next guy stuck in debt and needing a way out… They made it sound so straightforward, so damn easy.”

“Only the people who have been in it know what a damn trap it all is,” Xigbar said, “And even out of those, only the people left in the factory even know that’s a possibility. You can’t blame yourself for what was sold to you as a reasonable option to get your family out of debt. Especially when the other options were prison. It’s not like you could have helped the pregnancy complications. You were unlucky, not irresponsible. Lauriam just doesn’t know about all that shit, or he’d agree with me.”

It was only meant to be a few months. A few years, with letters. They already got letters from Briar when she was on-call in the mountains, how different could it be, Linnea had thought. It’d be tough, but surely her teen and 9-year-old would be alright. 

Xigbar reiterated all the facts and choices that Linnea had thought were reasonable, at the time. The reasons she’d made them. Once the debtors decided her time was up, there really wasn’t a choice--maybe outrunning them was a fun fantasy, but even discounting what a life on the run really meant, Linnea didn’t really believe that they would’ve been able to succeed. 

So it meant turning herself in, and trying to make the best out of that situation. Plenty of people were Indentured, after all, so it wasn’t like she was lining up for a life sentence…

Ugh. 

Linnea closed her eyes, frowning tightly. “...maybe, but if I’d just…slowed down? It would’ve been harder for longer, but just getting something steady in town, instead of being gone every few weeks for years and years… If I never took out those loans in the first place and just trusted Briar to keep us afloat? There’s no changing the past, but maybe Lauriam and Marluxia are right to resent that.”

She opened her eyes, giving Xigbar a firm look. “And they’re not going to find out about that.”

Xigbar gave her his most charming smile as he put his hands up immediately in surrender. “Without your go-ahead? No one will ever hear it from me. I might manage to get those little morons to listen to me, but I listen to you. And I always will, Mama Linnea.”

“And Lauriam will come around. Marluxia too, for however complicated that situation is.” Xigbar sighed, relaxing his arms down to the bed, resting on his palms. “Though, that boy of yours is half the reason our Ira’s acting like a fool all of the sudden. I wonder if it’s pure friendship or if there’s a crush there? I’m pretty sure Ira likes fellas, there was that one guy…” Xigbar frowned, his eyebrows pinching, “...give me a minute…he had that funky name, reminded me of maps…”

Xigbar closed his eyes, regret heavy on him. “...I can’t even remember all of their names…”

Before he opened them. “Polaris! That’s right, Polaris. They were flirting for a while, I’m pretty sure. Before that kid decided to pick a fight with the supervisors out of nowhere. One of our quietest and mild-mannered ones at the time, suddenly trying to wrestle a damn supervisor off the wall. What a waste… but wouldn’t that be sweet? Our Ira and your Lauriam? That’d be cute.”

Linnea impressed a glare onto Xigbar for a moment. She really meant it. It had been hard enough, explaining everything to Strelitzia that she’d just been a little sick when she was pregnant. Even still, Linnea’d had the inkling that her daughter knew more than what she or Briar had ever let on, Strelitzia had always been bright, and yet, as far as Linnea knew, she’d never told Lauriam either. 

(Maybe it would be different now, her son a grown man with another family. But Linnea couldn’t bear for Lauriam even getting the idea that their family’s struggles had been because of him. Of him internalizing everything like that. Maybe he didn’t even remember it now, but things had been different when he was really little. They’d been given a lot of leeway on the debt, so she and Briar had been home, regularly. Linnea had pretty much only been home, still in recovery while she looked after her daughter and the new baby.)

(But…after a bit, with every year that came by… Briar had started needing to take on bigger contracts, especially as the mining camps had moved farther out of town, moving more and more into the mountains as mines ran dry. What was her home almost every night became home on the weekends, or home for certain alternating weeks, then…home for the off season, or major holidays. Then just holidays. And as Linnea had watched the interest grow and the dent they made in it dwindle…her little repair business couldn’t cut it. And she too started being gone for weeks. Months.)

(Years.)

(None of that was actually Lauriam’s fault, and Linnea would make damn sure the idea would never occur to him.)

Easing up on the glare after a moment--the complicated Marluxia situation that…seemed to only be getting more complicated--Linnea gave Xigbar a soft look. It was still too early to really say what sort of effect at all Lauriam was having on Ira…but, well, the two of them were currently asleep in the carriage in the backyard together. 

Having a moment of silence for Polaris--it had been shocking. He had been a true sweetheart--Linnea snorted softly. “I’m not going to insinuate anything to them that isn’t there…” She smiled a little impishly. “But I can’t say it wouldn’t be cute, yes. It would make the whole ‘meet the parents’ thing pretty simple, at least from one angle.”

“Better than that dirtbag aunt of theirs,” Xigbar muttered, “Can I say, now that we’re out and maybe their lives have half a chance of turning out alright in the long run… we’re suuuuuch an upgrade from some of their families. Seriously, we totally win, even with the chores, I’m calling it now.” 

Linnea scoffed quietly, disdain washing over her face for a moment. That horrid woman had never deserved the twins, and she certainly didn’t deserve their grace in not contacting her again, because if Linnea ever ran into her? It was on sight. Oh, she certainly knew about money desperation, but the twins’ story never made it quite seem like that, and Linnea had never once considered selling her children. 

“It’s not even a competition, with some of them as other options,” Linnea grumbled, “but even if it was, we’re solid competitors. And now I don’t think any of the kids will have to hire painters for their future homes.”

She sighed softly. “...it’ll be difficult finding addresses once we’re in a different country, but…we’ll figure it out. Aced’s said his folks have a pretty established life, so they might be the easiest, and it’s only been two years for Gula, I don’t think his parents would be that difficult to track down.”

“Gula I’m a little worried about. He doesn’t talk about his folks much, but I got into a conversation with him about Atua once? I think he might come from one of the weirder sects. You know the type, the ones that interpret all the love and sex stuff to those really strict interpretations? Thankfully he seems like he’s got a good enough head on his shoulders to know not to take that sort of thing seriously… at least I hope so. I had some neighbors like that growing up. Absolute nutters, all of them. Their kids were watching orgies during temple and weren’t allowed to hold anyone’s hand at school; one poor girl burst into tears from holy shock when she saw two of our classmates kiss each other. That shit does terrible things to the mind.”

“Aced’s folks would actually probably be fine, from everything I know about them. But I still want Aced to be settled and ready if their reactions end up being unexpected.” Xigbar said, “You know how moron number three gets…he’ll twist himself into knots trying to get their approval again. And if his parents reject him for being a ‘demon’, that approval’s never coming. Better he has some distance.”

“Ava… god, who knows.” Xigbar sighed, rubbing his eyes. “Sometimes her family sounds fine, other times I get this hint that Ava’s holding back on us about what they’re really like. I’ll just say it, I don’t trust them. Ava’s too forgiving, they could have done something horrible and she’d still be saying how lovely they all were.”

And Hao and Xehanort? They just didn’t have anyone to go back to. In all honesty, she and Xigbar had been the ones raising Hao for nearly the past decade, and even if they could somehow figure out where the factory that had exploded had gotten him from…well, Hao’s earliest memories were still within regimented walls. And Xeha…

…Linnea was worried sometimes that Xehanort was holding himself back from properly grieving his father. Not because she thought how he had acted when they first got him was ‘wrong’, or that she had some standard of grief that he wasn’t living up to, but because sometimes there was a certain expression she’d catch going across his face, but just for a second. Like he’d had a thought that he was quick to dismiss or shut down. And the context around those glimpses were often enough around grief to have formed a pattern to her. 

She did hope she was wrong. 

“They know they’ll always have us,” Linnea said softly, “And I hope that’s a comfort, no matter what they decide about their parents. And they did all agree to hold off, and no one’s brought it back up now, so…even if things change, I at least don’t think any of the kids are longing to go back home. Not to the point where moving countries is going to become this huge obstacle.”

“But for those of us who just disappeared one day? Or that were told to be dead? Once it’s safe…we can decide to spare what grief we can.”

-

It had been a little quiet without Ienzo and all his weirdo family around, and so Maya had filled the house with parties, orgies, parties, drinking games, one quiet night of book club, and then more parties. 

Maya didn’t have avoidance issues. Whatever made you say that? She simply had so much fun, all the time, that she sort of forgot she needed to deal with the whole ‘Prince Kaito’ problem until someone asked her what all the flowers and gift baskets down in her kitchen were all about, Maya confusingly going to check it out.

And, what the fuck, Prince Kaito. Who needs this many chocolates and soft cheeses???

Giving the far too many gift baskets that had apparently been delivered to her kitchen incredulous looks, Maya picked up one of the postcards and read aloud, “Good day. I couldn’t get any confirmations from your staff that you received my previous three gift baskets, so I sent another just in case. You do…” Maya squinted at the postcard, “have staff, yes? To attend to you? Do you need staff? Again, please feel free to reach out–geez, um.”

Maya huffed, blowing some hair out of her face, pulling out a nicotine pipe and lighting it up before picking up another post card, “Gift basket number seven! A part of me hopes this is the first gift basket to get through, and another part of me thinks it’s a lot of fun, the idea that you’re getting all these gift baskets every day. It’s nice to get gifts. It shows someone is thinking about you.” Maya raised an eyebrow, reading allowed, “Me. I’m thinking about you. I would love to meet you. Or talk. Or ensure you’re getting these gift baskets. The merchants swear they’re dropping these off to you, but none of them have physically seen you in the process. I hope you’re not dead, that would suck–wow, the merchants really just wrote down whatever he said, huh?”

Picking up another postcard, Maya realized this one had been delivered this morning, the ‘postcard’ more a full-on letter, the merchants neat, tidy handwriting growing more sloppy halfway through the letter, clearly in a bid to keep up with whatever Kaito had been reciting on the other side of the phone as she read aloud, “Your niece took her first steps today. You probably already know, but her name is Miyako. And your name is Maya, which I thought was very funny. Miya, Maya. What a coincidence…” Maya read more and more as Kaito rambled more about his kids, telling her about Miyako… before Maya’s eyebrows went up slightly when she turned the page over and he started talking about his other kid.

Kaito had a different kid? Of course Maya had heard about the birth of Princess Miyako. It had been big news in Luminary, people talking about the implications and also just good ol’ fashion royal gossiping. Miyako was likely a trivia question in several bars these days. 

But another kid? A son?

…a bastard son? That was the best Maya could tell. That Kaito was raising some bastard child he had had with another woman. An older son, too, if his descriptions matched what she was picturing. Maybe even close to the double digits 

A son he had smuggled over the border, along with the woman he had had him with, to house and raise them in Dicea?

Maya took a long drag of her pipe. Considering that. The son of her father was raising his own bastard child. And was apparently doting on him, if the letter was any indication of his feelings. Juggling two families, one royal and one not… and openly talking about both…

……well, alright. How hard could it be to get access to a phone?

-

Kokichi didn’t really bring work back into their room these days. He had a whole office space for it, of course, with more regular hours that people held him accountable to and partners who had perfected Exasperated Disappointment if he so much as came over to retrieve some stationary. Kokichi had committed himself to a healthy work-life balance, and people weren’t going to let him slip on that promise so easily. 

But, in Kokichi’s defense, he didn’t think this was totally work…and Miya had started to get sleepy. Sometimes she was alright just snoozing in the baby playpen he and Nadya had set up--or in Kokichi’s lap, in the baby playpen--but it had been close to quitting time anyway, and Kokichi figured she’d be more comfortable in her actual crib. 

So…that left Kokichi curled up in one of their big chairs, starting to fill out the basics of more citizenship papers.

When Kaito came into the room, he had looked briefly surprised to see Kokichi–it was that nebulous time of the day where Kaito wasn’t entirely sure if he was about to see Kokichi in a few minutes or in an hour or so–his face brightening just on ‘suddenly husband’ vibes… before he grinned in that mildly sheepish way he did sometimes when he was either about to ask for something expensive or ask for sex. And since he rarely brought up sex when Miyako was in the room–his kids presence tended to kill Kaito’s libido, even if Shuichi tried to flirt–it was a pretty good bet that Kaito was about to ask for something expensive, as he said, “Heeeeeey, babe~ What are you up to~~~?”

Kokichi looked up as the door opened, his face similarly brightening as he set his forms down and scuttled over to his husband, greeting Kaito with a hug. Yes~ That was both a benefit and a danger he was missing in the office--husband time was much rarer. “Kai-chan~! Afternoon, I pretty much am done for the day, but Mi-Mi’s nap time came a-knockin’ so I’m just finishing a side thing up.”

Finally letting his husband go, Kokichi gave him a smaller smile. “Apparently the Togami Empaths, the group that’s heading straight here, they ran into another group of factory Empaths. So we’re gonna be welcoming an even bigger group in--I’m just working on setting up their citizenship papers.”

Not oblivious to the tone Kaito was using, Kokichi raised his eyebrows a little. “How are you? How’s your day been?”

Kaito’s eyes widened, lightly and mostly subconsciously taking his husbands hands and squeezing them gently when Kokichi pulled back, just enjoying the light touches of him as he said, “Woah, more of them? Oh man, I didn’t even think about that, yeah, there were a few different factories. Shoot, I don’t know how many off the top of my head, I want to say… maybe three? Or, no, there was four, but one of them blew up, or there was three and now there’s two… shoot, I wish I could remember. I’ll ask one of the administrators next time I call the castle, so we can have a heads up if the workers end up trying to reach out to other factory empaths still in Luminary.”

That sheepish, eager grin was back on Kaito’s face at Kokichi’s question, squeezing his hands gently again as he said enthusiastically, “Well, you’ll never guess who finally got back to me! I think gift basket number 7 was the one that finally did it! I mean, she said she found all of them all at once, but I added wine bottles to number seven, so maybe she just doesn’t want to admit I have great taste in wine… I talked to Maya! And she is…” Kaito laughed, “Sooooo intimidating! She’s so intimidating! She’s cool? She’s not cool, as in calm, she’s cool as in smooth. Like, I felt like I was constantly tripping over my words and acting like a mess, and no matter what I said or did she just always had a one-liner to just move us forward in the conversation, it was intimidating.”

“But she seems nice! And she asked about the kids! And I proooomised I was not going to murder her because I don’t want them to inherit the throne, and that we’re actually working on that, and I think she believed me! She was really into Tim actually. I think I have more reasons to be pissed at my father. Hah, like I needed more. Anyway! Can I buy her a Lady in Waiting? Or a Butler? She refuses to get one for herself and she needs one.” Kaito insisted, grinning with all of his teeth as he insisted, “She is a Momota in a manor and apparently has not had any personal staff since she was twelve. I am going to lose my mind on my father in paradise.”

Kokichi nodded, his smile saddening a little as he curled his fingers around Kaito’s hands. “I get the impression they were surprised by it too. But Clara’s happy to lead a bigger group, and we were setting up another supply drop soon anyway, so I can just allocate more resources to it, and…well, it’ll be good to give more people more safety.”

Sighing softly, Kokichi glanced at his paperwork. “...there’s more kids in this group too.”

Though, hearing what Kaito had been up to, Kokichi brightened, his mouth parting in surprise before he grinned, giving Kaito’s hands a squeeze. “She did!? Ah Kai-chan, that’s awesome! I’m so glad she decided to reach back… And I’m glad she’s cool too, even if it’s intimidating,” he laughed.

Smiling adoringly as he heard that they’d talked about the kids, and sighing a bit hearing more of Leon’s failures, Kokichi frowned in worry, hearing that Maya was…alone. However…

Kokichi gave Kaito a knowing look. “...if she’s going to hire staff for her home, that does need to be her choice. To be honest, I don’t know enough about Luminous hiring laws to say if it’s something we can or can’t do, setting up a job position in someone else’s home, but she should have a significant say in that conversation. If she’s just daunted by setting up the process, or needs help with payments, that’s something we can help with, but we can’t just pay someone to break into her home, even if it’s to care for it.”

“Nooooooo we can! We totally can! I mean, if retroactively she gives permission for the person to be there, which I feel like she toooootally would if someone were to show up to wait on her…” Kaito pouted at the expression Kokichi was giving him. What was wrong with a little breaking and entering maid-service?! Kaito’s apartment had been broken into and cleaned with enough regularity that he had never even considered getting his own–oh wait yeah, that was a shitty habit of…

…actually, he had no idea which family member had set up the maid service, nor given them the keys, nor told them with absolute certainty when he wouldn’t be in the apartment. His mother? It felt like something the queen might do. Maybe Byakuya. Definitely not his dad. Hopefully not Tengan.

“Phoooooooo-fine.” Kaito grumbled, though he leaned down to give Kokichi a quick kiss, showing no hard feelings even as he grumbled, “But she should still get herself some staff. Even if she’s the cleaning type, wear and tear would eventually degrade most of the rooms she didn’t even actively use in that place. I can’t imagine the mold. I really hope she’s not letting mold get into the wood.”

“You said the new peeps are mostly kids?” Kaito asked, letting Kokichi’s hands go to go take a peek at the papers he was putting together, “How many people are we talking about here? Another dozen?”

It was a Kokichi Look. One that said, maybe she would, but it was shitty to put her into that position of having to retroactively do anything, when they could talk things over before making decisions and come to one that gave everyone agency. 

An expression that turned into a grin at Kaito’s grumble, while Kokichi popped up to give his husband a peck. “I’m not disagreeing with that--I’m not knocking on Kai-chan’s cleaning prowess, but I am soooo thankful to the housekeepers. It’d take me ages to learn everything you actually need to know to keep a building in order, and even then I just don’t think I’d be up to it as much as a space would need it. Manors are big! I’m sure Maya could use the help even to just make things less overwhelming.”

As Kaito let him go, Kokichi sighed a little as he got back in his chair, picking up the forms as turning them to show Kaito a bit. “Close, there’s nine of them. Four are actual minors, and three are around our age, while the last two are older.” Kokichi frowned a little in worry. “...two of them have the same last name, and the same age. Could be a coincidence, but I think they’re twins. And I know the group we met said they were going to likely change their surnames when they got here…but one person in the new group has the same last name right now as one in the other. Could be reading too much into it, but…”

“Oh wow, so, like…two members of the same family ended up in different factories? Potentially? Ooooh that’s so fucked,” Kaito whispered, before glancing behind him at the crib and whispering, “Sorry Miya, don’t curse like dad.”

Looking back down at the papers, Kaito frowned, looking through them a bit. “Nine… that’s so much less than the other factory. Why would they staff less empaths? Did they not have access to more? That seems unlikely, Alter Ego told me empaths are actually pretty common…nine…” Kaito murmured, putting his hands together, staring at the papers. “...maybe that makes sense. It was more than there ever should have been, but I remember thinking that 13 empaths working in one factory made sense for a bulk of the conditioning that needed to be outputed to keep up with the program. The only exception being the military conditionings. But they always did things separately from everyone else, I think that was actually the fourth factory I was thinking of, and that was less a ‘factory’ and more just another extra step in their bootcamps that indentured’s went through… one blew up, one had enough to basically meet demand, the other just did military, and this one…”

Kaito frowned, a fuzzy memory coming back. Tengan and Byakuya talking about… the uses of keeping people imprisoned… hypotheticals, experiments… it had been another one of the many conversations Kaito had more or less tuned out for. 

But, well, he already had ‘experiments’ confirmed by Lio and Cheri. That one had definitely been happening, before the explosion. So the hypotheticals…

Kaito sighed, rubbing his temple, “These people are going to need a lot of help, I think.”

Kokichi nodded, face pinched in concern. There was a part of him that didn’t know what was worse--being separated from family, or stuck in the same nightmare with them. On one hand, you could have the hope that the person you were separated from had made it out, was in a better situation, but on the other…there was something a little less…something that’d drive you crazy, knowing for sure where your family member was. As much as love could be a liability in a prison, it was also a source of strength. 

Sighing softly, Kokichi could only shrug a little as Kaito mused about the numbers and the different factories across Luminary. Though his expression softened even more. “...alright. We’ll do our best for them. Right now, that means just getting them over the border safely, so…that’s what’s happening. Then we can figure out what help looks like more when they get here.”

“My good Kokichi,” Kaito smiled softly, leaning in to place a quick kiss to his husband, “You know I’m grateful for you, right? This is a lot of work you’re doing to clean up a Luminary mess. I know you would have done it regardless of the Luminaries in your life, but it still feels like you helping me and mine, even when I didn’t. I owe you a lot.”

Kokichi pressed into the brief kiss, smiling adoringly up at Kaito. “And you always pay it back, by being lovely in my life. Even if I don’t think it’s something owed.” He grinned sheepishly. “I know you said it, but…well, they’re my people too. Even if I know there’s nothing I could’ve plausibly done to help them in the factories, as another Empath, I do feel responsible for helping them as much as I can now.”

Kokichi smiled sadly. “It’s not as if the community didn’t know they existed. But I’m making sure they won’t keep being ignored.”

Kaito lit up at that, riding that compliment for a moment… before sniffing. Then sniffing again. 

“...okay but she’s asleep, maybe we can leave it for, like, fiiiiive minutes…” Kaito groaned, kissing Kokichi quickly again before standing up, lamenting as he headed to the crib, “Miyaaaaaa, Dad and Daddy were having a nice moment and you pooted right through it! Mean, sleepy baby. You’re gonna sleep the whole way through your changing too. Just Dad and Daddy’s problem, huh? Wait till Shuichi comes back from whatever weird magic thing he’s doing and I tell him what a mean baby you were~”

Miyako snuffled. Unconcerned. 

-

Gula looked on in dismay as he finished clearing breakfast dishes, the arrival of another carriage making it real, despite being told they were leaving today earlier. Within two days. 

“Motherfucker.”

-

“Alright,” Linnea addressed the kids, last rounds done and everything packed up. In some ways, it was hard leaving the house again, but, well, they’d only been back a few months in the first place, and it wasn’t like she wasn’t used to that rhythm. Though it did feel different, knowing that this time she likely wouldn’t ever be back. “I’m sure no one’s thrilled to spend a day packed in a carriage with eight other people, so Even, Clara, and I have decided to try and split up our numbers more evenly among the carriages. So, if anyone would like to ride with Anthony and some of the Chonis group?”

It really was a question left open--Linnea would be driving at least the first leg of the journey today--though she smiled sweetly and quickly clarified to Hao and Xehanort, “Not you two.”

“Why not?” Hao asked, briefly genuinely confused… before going, “Ooooooh. Right. Fair enough.”

“I can ride with them, ma’am,” Ira said, putting his hand up, before smiling thinly, “Perhaps I can do some repair work there. At least apologize more fully for what happened then, if he’s awake much through this part of the trip.”

“Oh, I can ride with them too!” Sora said, putting up his own hand. “He might be a bit freaked out I stabbed him in the brain, so I should talk to him about it! Brain stabbings probably aren’t great,” Sora said, not looking at Lauriam.

“I’ll ride with Hao and Xehanort,” Kairi volunteered. 

“What? Why?” Riku asked, glancing over at Kairi, “Did you guys make friends or something?”

“You don’t have to be jealous, you can come too, Riku,” Kairi said, giving him a side-eye.

“Jealous? Who’s jealous!?” Riku sputtered. 

“You should both go together!” Sora said cheerfully.

“You ever listen to something and you’re just certain you’re missing some sort of sub-conversation?” Axel–who would be driving–whispered to Aeleus.

Linnea gave Ira a proud, kind look. “If that’s what you’d like, then I’m all for it, Ira.” …though she did hope that he wouldn’t spend the whole time apologizing. They were in the wrong, so they did owe Anthony that, but, well…groveling in a small space for hours was a bit much. 

Though, as Ira suggested his placement, Linnea found herself looking over to Lauriam, expecting that he’d volunteer for the same space as well. 

Gula, looking a little strained, scoffed at the notion as the younger teens discussed their own spots. “I’d believe those two made friends with Kairi when it starts snowing.”

Xehanort gave Gula a dry look. “...we’re not anti-social.”

“Keep telling the superiority complex that.”

“Gula, why don’t you and Riku ride together, you were talking before, right?” Invi quickly cut in, sweating a bit as the teens argued. “And if Clara’s carriage is meant to be on the quieter side for people healing, then why don’t Aced and Lauriam join that one. And Ava could join Axel’s, a-and I assume you two would want to ride together,” she nodded respectfully to Even and Aeleus, “Which leaves Mr. Xigbar and myself to ride with Kairi and the boys? If that sounds alright?”

Aeleus gave Axel a small nod, before giving Invi a more overt one. “That sounds just fine to me.” It left the more…volatile groups with supervision, and while he didn’t doubt Clara’s carriage could find a way to cause havoc, three out of the five in it all being on the mend was a good point in favor of them just being too tired to do anything major. It was a well thought out arrangement.

Ira gave Invi a grateful look, while Xigbar chuckled, reaching over to pat her on the back as he said, “You heard her! Invi has spoken, you all know your stations now! Now quit your dilly-dallying, we have a ways to go and our day hours are burning away every second. Come on,” Xigbar clapped, “Let’s get moving!”

Kairi, Riku, and Sora all gave each other a mildly surprised glance. They hadn’t actually expected to all be separated onto three different carriages… but Sora gave them an encouraging smile, before heading to his. Riku shrugged and headed off to his as well.

Kairi swallowed a small huff, before heading to hers. 

The one she and the others were riding in was the new one. Well, new to her, it had apparently been the caravan that the group had all ridden in together to get to this part of the country in the first place, and it was a lot bigger than the two carriages they had split their group in to do this journey. It was also, just, immaculate inside, clearly recently painted with clean curtains and– “Oh, you guys still did the chores thing in here, huh?” Kairi realized, looking around the perfectly maintained space.

“We got an extra two hundred copper because it wasn’t going to need any repairs!” Xigbar said cheerfully, looking around the space proudly, “I’m actually glad to see they didn’t manage to ruin all the hard work we put into it in the few months they had it. Alright, now I’ll be helping Linnea with navigation up front. Invi, you’re going to be driving next, I’d recommend taking some time to relaaaaaax before you have to take the reins. Don’t let these teens step all over you, y’hear?” Xigbar grinned, giving Invi a wink, even as he followed that up with, “Keep the peace.”

Shrugging a little--at least they had one new person to talk with--Xehanort headed to the carriage, extending a hand to help Hao up once he was in and promptly claiming a seat by the window. Sure, there was countless knowledge to ponder within the mental realm that could keep him occupied for years…but it was cool, getting to see how the landscape changed outside, and glimpses of little creatures out in the desert as they passed. 

Invi didn’t look relaxed in the slightest as she lightly bowed, saying seriously, “Yes, sir,” before following Kairi inside, immediately checking the latch on the door. Their first trip out from Ribata, they were all still figuring out the whole ‘not being in the factory’ thing, and the door had flung open almost immediately once they started moving. Aced had tried to catch it, and ended up getting his fingers rather painfully jammed. 

Looking at the group of teens settling in, Invi tried to assure herself. How much trouble could they get into sitting in a carriage?

Hao had cheerfully accepted the hand up, that soft, absently smiling expression firmly planted on his face as he went to sit at the window with Xehanort, though he didn’t glance out even when it started to move. He was just watching Kairi, who had put herself in the small table connected to the wall, matching her gaze as she openly stared at him too. The two just… staring. At each other. 

This lasted a long time. Far too long to dismiss as simple teen awkwardness, the two clearly staring each other down. Something challenging in both of their refusals to waiver… until Hao, well past the point of casualness, smiled sweetly and asked, “So Kairi. I don’t think I know much of anything about you. Where are you from?”

“The swamp,” Kairi said, “I can’t remember the name of it. You?”

“A factory. I can’t remember the name of it either,” Hao said.

“Cool.” Kairi said.

“Mhm.” Hao smiled.

“...”

“...”

“I don’t think I ever asked, sorry if it came off as rude,” Xehanort said lightly, having looked away from the window as Hao spoke up. “What sort of comics did you and Sora find in your brother’s library? Any pique your interest?”

For some reason, Invi looked more stressed by that than the terse exchange between Hao and Kairi. But they were literally just talking, exchanging pleasantries. Sure, Invi knew that wasn’t all that was happening, but she couldn’t very well tell them that they couldn’t talk. It was going to be a long journey, and at least talking would occupy them to the point of not getting into other kinds of trouble. 

“Oh, the comics,” Kairi said, relaxing slightly, “I did, actually. I’m still getting through it, but it’s called The Last of the Ancients. It’s part of some series called Final Fantasy, but… I’m not sure why it’s called that, since the story said it was the 7th fantasy of the series, so… I’m not sure what’s ‘final’ about that.”

“What’s it about?” Hao asked.

“I’m actually still not entirely sure? I think it’s about a rebel activist group trying to take out some sort of coaling company? Or, the equivalent of coaling. You know how they say cities who use too much coal become hard to breathe?” Kairi said, having not been in a heavy coal city herself, unaware the capital had this exact problem. “I think it’s meant to be about that or something. But the thing is, I’m only a few chapters in, and they already blew it up. And there’s a lot of book left, so…” Kairi shrugged, “The characters are all pretty though. I’m not too interested in the main character, but I think he’s meant to be just a blank protagonist type to watch the others; I doubt his character will have anything interesting with him and it’ll just be all the side characters.”

Kairi paused, before asking, “Do you guys read anything?”

Xehanort hummed in interest, nodding a little as Kairi started to explain her ventures in the library. He’d heard of the Final Fantasy series, at least, could actually remember seeing some drawings from it, at least he thought so, but like Kairi’s confusion, one of the more concrete things he knew about it was that there were a million books in the series. There was a part of him betting that when it finally finished, the last book would be called something incredibly stupid like Final Final Fantasy, or Final2 Fantasy. 

His eyebrows raised a bit in interest, though, as Kairi described a bit of the plot. “The main conceit is already done? That seems like it’s a story more interested in exploring the consequences of actions, then. That’s…interesting.” Especially for a mainstream adventure fantasy. 

At her question in turn, though, Xehanort smirked lightly. “We’re literate, yeah.” Before Invi could even shoot him a glance at that, he continued, “I’ve been reading a lot of different things lately, since we’ve had the opportunity. I asked about books on the cosmic plane when we were in your brother’s library, so I’ve been getting through those when I can find time to go back to your island.”

“I read romances,” Hao shrugged lightly, mildly amused with his own confession as he said, “I try to read books more like Xehanort does, sometimes. Where you learn things. But if I just want to read, it’s hard to pull me away from a good romance book. It helps that you can throw basically any genre of book into the ‘romance’ category, so long as it’s about a love story. Keeps the same story beats you see over and over again fresh.”

“Hmmm,” Kairi hummed at that, clearly barely managing to feign interest, before turning back to Xehanort, “What are your cosmic planes books covering? I’m not sure what ‘cosmic plane’ equals.”

Xehanort gave Hao a small smile. He wasn’t really sure what it was, that even knowing it for ages, he found the fact that Hao loved to read romance cute. 

Though with someone asking about his current interest, his attention was quickly refocused. “The ‘cosmic plane’ is a catch-all term across various theologies that pretty much means, ‘the place where gods exist’,” he explained. “In certain religions, people believe that their gods live in physical locations in the world, though usually still difficult to get to, like the top of a massive mountain, and in others, they believe that holiness exists within all living things, so in those cases, the cosmic plane is just a rethinking of our own plane of existence.”

“But for other religions, like Atua, it’s believed that gods exist in a separate dimension from our own, and that their ability to transcend those dimensions is another indication of godliness.” Xehanort shrugged a little. “It’s a pretty broad topic, considering the range of beliefs. Mostly what I’ve been able to find are stories from the Good Book or other works in temples about Atua making creation or Saint Meridan’s ascension into godhood, but there’s a wider range in Ienzo’s library.”

“That’s… some pretty heavy stuff,” Kairi said, her own history with religion so vaguely remembered in her childhood that it took her a second to even remember who Saint Meridan was supposed to be, before asking, “Wait, the saints are all people, aren’t they? You can’t ‘ascend’ to godhood, that’s not how it works.”

“Why not?” Hao asked, smiling a little wider at that, “She’s the wife of Atua, right? That alone has to mean Atua would see her as an equal, otherwise they’d call her the ‘Concubine of Atua’. She had godly powers at the end of her myths, half the myths of the other saints are about the saints talking to or being blessed by her, not even Atua at all. At what point are you ‘gifted’ by the gods, and not just a god-like being yourself?”

Again, Kairi almost knew nothing about the Atuan religion, or any religion. It hadn’t been a thing in the swamp community, and she couldn’t remember her parents referencing it at all. In truth, she might have honestly only first heard of Atua at the factory, only knowing about godhood in general through picking it up in casual slang and conversation. The specifics only coming up when the others in the factories had gone more into depth about it, in many random conversations.

“What does any of that matter anyway?” Kairi asked, “It’s not like the gods affect us.”

“God-like being’,” Xehanort repeated with a hum, “Now there’s a contentious subject. It hardly seems like there’s a solid definition or boundary of what a ‘god’ is at all. Does only the will of ultimate creation count, or is it simply something stronger than you? Does strength have anything to do with it? Doesn’t seem like anyone agrees, even within single religions.”

He’d caught Gula feverishly muttering to himself in an out of the way nook during his first few weeks in the factory, after all, the older boy seemingly pleading for forgiveness and atonement. It was only upon later reflection that Xehanort realized he’d been praying. At the same time, he’d known a girl who had been oddly peaceful during her time in the factory, and when he’d asked, she said with certainty and lightness that no matter their struggles now, paradise would be waiting. 

As much as he didn’t agree with the passivity it instilled in her, he did hope that she was experiencing peace in whatever death turned out to be for her. 

Giving Kairi a slightly dry look, Xehanort rolled his eyes. “Even believing everything is random luck is still a belief.”

“Sure, but what does it matter what I believe?” Kairi asked, “It still doesn’t change the reality of our situation. Gods or no gods, how it works or how it doesn’t, our reality doesn’t change. The gods don’t affect us.”

“Mostly that’s just wrong for practical reasons, but also, it does suggest a lack of curiosity that I wouldn’t have expected from you, Kairi.” Hao frowned, tilting his head lightly at that. Gaze contemplative, damn near analyzing as he said, “Surely the question’s worth asking purely because it’s interesting? You don’t see any merit in questioning our own existence?”

“I think some questions just lead to pain,” Kairi said a tad stiffly, aware of the accusation in Hao’s voice, “If trying to understand the universe, or our place in it, makes things harder for people? Then we shouldn’t ask. We should accept what’s right in front of us and move on.”

“I bet you don’t actually feel that way,” Hao shrugged, “But alright. Let’s pretend you do. What harm is there in wondering about gods?”

“Really? All of us are labeled demons and locked away, and you can’t see the harm in wondering about the gods?”

“We were locked away because we had useful powers that could be exploited. Using the term ‘demon’ to justify it, sure, is the result of questioning reality at one point in the process. But if anything, it’s that refusal to question reality past that point that got people to accept our monikers.” Hao said, “Someone asked the question, another person accepted an answer, and then that person didn’t bother questioning it again. Harm through a lack of curiosity.”

Xehanort smirked a little. It wasn’t a perspective without merit, but one leading to the wrong conclusion, in his opinion. He wondered how Kairi had gained it. Though, his expression darkened slightly as she said that they should just…lay down and roll over. His features not hostile, but a flame of determination burning in golden eyes. 

“I refuse.”

“Our imprisonment wasn’t to do with questions at all,” Xehanort said, hands starting to ball into fists at his sides. “No one had to ask questions, because for anywhere with power here, Atua is accepted as an immutable part of reality. Because if it wasn’t, those in power wouldn’t be--here, the divine is an excuse. One that tangibly shapes every facet of life. It’s the reason people are ‘born lucky’; it’s nothing to do actually with them, but that there’s a system around them that has decided that some people are superior and are meant to be rewarded with safety and resources, and that some people are worthless, and should be scorned and exploited. None of that is inherent. It was a decision thinking beings made, and is upheld because no one asks questions. Because built into that system is the fact that if you ask questions, then you are one of the worthless. A heathen. A demon.”

As he spoke, Xehanort…mostly remained calm, but there was a definite change in him. Something getting heated. But before he could open his mouth again--

“Kairi’s right, this is a heavy topic,” Invi intervened, “Maybe we could talk about something else, for still just getting to know each other?”

The teens fell into an awkward, somewhat guilty silence. Hao laughing lightly, before also falling into silence. The three of them looking at each other, trying to think of a different topic. 

“...so how come you both get treated so differently?” Kairi asked.

“Was it weird that your Nobody construct was stronger than you?” Hao asked back, “Is that why you got rid of her?”

“Hao,” Invi said more sharply, giving him a tense look.

(Ira had told her what…well, apparently a magic cat had discovered about Lauriam and his Nobody. That it wasn’t really so simple to call Marluxia a construct, and that it seemed, for all intents and purposes now, Marluxia really was just another person that lived in Lauriam’s head. And body.)

(Invi didn’t know Kairi well. But if the others’ ‘Nobodies’ were like other halves to them… It would be like Hao asking Invi if she killed Ira out of jealousy. And regardless of any truth to the question, it was a cruel thing to ask.)

“Sorry Invi,” Hao smiled, “Is there anything about Luminary you’re looking forward to, Kairi?”

“...” Kairi gave Hao a tense look… before she met his smile with her own, “Technically she got rid of me first. We can call us even now. And we weren’t in competition. You’d have to be the one to tell me, what it’s like to lose to her.”

Hao’s eyebrows raised ever so slightly… before he nodded lightly, relaxing slightly. “Fair enough. Though, that means that little theory is confirmed. I did wonder if she was one of the Nobodies. I had thought if she was going to be anyone’s, she’d be yours. A reasonable guess.”

Kairi was only barely following a conversation she herself was leading. The mockery of Hao losing to her out of her mouth before she could analyze it. She just felt tense. Like her Empath abilities were dancing on her skin, building, waiting to be called upon. She felt like she was staring out of someone else’s eyes.

“We’re treated differently mostly because we’re hard to discipline,” Hao shrugged, “I’m sure the others would say other things, depending on who you ask. But it really is just that. We’re sort of brats… sorry Invi,” Hao said, giving the woman a small, apologetic smile. 

Invi put her head in her hands. Xigbar was going to put her through the wringer. She hardly even knew what in hellfire they were talking about, but it sure was adversarial, and, worse, competitive. Maybe…words would be it? She could hope.

Xehanort couldn’t help a small, airy laugh, though the little nod he gave Kairi after was more respectful. “It’s nice to know she isn’t dead-dead, at least. There was always the possibility Namine was from just a different factory entirely, but,” he shrugged a little sheepishly, “We had been trying to see if she was part of your group. Hao was the one who got the idea she was one of your Nobodies, though.”

Invi was hardly following the conversation any more than Kairi was, though she gave Hao a strained look. “Knowing that you do it and apologizing doesn’t make it any better that you still do it,” she grumbled.

Xehanort gave her an amused look. “You could say we’re lacking in self-discipline too. It’s hard to resist when Xigbar’s apparently decided to reward our forms of rebellion, when he just doubles down on everyone else’s. Though it does give us the freedom to try things that even lessening the reins on you guys would cause a conniption.”

“That’s what I mean by saying the others might argue differently on the ‘why’. For instance, I think Xigbar might even argue that while most of us need to be groomed into followers, someone has to be groomed to be leader… Xehanort fits the bill.” Hao said happily, “He’d be a great leader.”

“Wouldn’t Invi or Ira make decisions, if something happened to Xigbar and Linnea?” Kairi asked, “If anything, they’re the ones being groomed towards being the ‘leaders’. They’re the ones always making decisions.”

Hao shook his head. “They make decisions within the goals. It’s the person who makes the overall goal who leads. They think too small to be true leaders… sorry Invi.”

“...none of that matters,” Kairi muttered, “I almost don’t even want to ask how you know Namine. I’ll just ask her when she’s back.”

“You can’t guess? You seemed to know a second ago.”

“...” Kairi looked away, tense.

“Interesting,” Hao said, staring, “How come Namine isn’t back yet? Marluxia and Zexion both are. Why not her?”

“We’re waiting for our last Nobody to return to base essence before we start doing that,” Kairi said.

“Oh,” Hao smiled, “Why?”

“Because I don’t know how to do it,” Kairi said, “We all have to learn.”

“You’re the most powerful Empath in their group,” Hao said, “Everyone else has to learn. You have to try. Why haven’t you tried?”

“...”

Xehanort stuck his tongue out a little. It was just a word, and the only power words had were the meanings you gave them, but…eugh. ‘Groomed’. “Yeah, I’m sure a 16-year-old is a perfect leader,” Xehanort snorted, though he gave Hao a fond, amused glance. 

Invi gave Hao a dry look--thanks, kid--before looking between Kairi and Hao nervously as they quickly shot back and forth. And tensed, she cut in again, “It’s a personal decision, Hao, Kairi doesn’t owe us an in-depth explanation about her own ego. Or her Nobody’s! Just because she’s powerful doesn’t mean that she’s automatically assured and confident with every decision she ever makes in seconds. Honestly, you could probably do better second-guessing your own impulses once in a while.”

Xehanort gave Invi an amused look. “So we don’t turn a guy into a giant monster.”

“Or spy on someone having a breakdown,” Invi said gruffly.

Hao turned his nose up slightly, smirking lightly as he said, “A mark of a true leader is a refusal of the call. I know you don’t want to lead anyone, Xehanort. That’s how I know you’re going to be incredible.”

Though, at Invi’s scolding, Hao demurely lowered his head, feigning submission, but mostly out of apology rather than any sort of mockery. Though, even that polite bit of submission lost meaning as he immediately asked, confused, “When did we do that second part?”

Then he paused, before clarifying, “Oh, when we followed Lauriam around? We were less ‘spying’ and more having a fun night on the town!” Hao smiled, looking entirely sincere as he said, “It was good for us, sometimes we need to stretch our legs. And I think it made Ira and Lauriam closer. Ira needs to be more rebellious anyway. So do you, Invi. Only ever following orders stifles creativity and problem solving skills.” Hao looked around, before sighing a little. “Not that there’s a ton of chances to be rebellious in a tiny space like this…oh!” Hao lit up, “Isn’t one of the worlds brand new, now? In your Empath hivemind? We should go explore it, Invi. That’s not really ‘rebellious’, but I bet we could find some trouble there.”

Xehanort snorted softly, the look he gave Hao warm. 

Invi looked up briefly, as if one of Xehanort’s maligned gods would at least shrug back. “In the middle of the night, because you saw someone having a breakdown, which you knew for sure because he was feeling so vividly it was making Gula sick, into the royal district, which Linnea and Xigbar told us to stay away from?” Invi let out a tired sigh. She wasn’t opposed to Ira making a new friend! And she didn’t really have a problem with Lauriam…if he stopped stressing her brother out so badly. 

She thought she’d heard Ira crying in the closet again, after they’d gotten back that night. Whatever had happened couldn’t have been a great bonding experience. 

Honestly, her first impulse was to try and shut Hao’s suggestion down--which, in her experience, tended to be the most responsible thing to do with Hao’s ideas--but she paused. 

“...Aeleus did say we could come by at our leisure,” Invi said slowly, before she frowned at Hao. “But we wouldn’t go to find trouble. Apparently Xigbar’s already beaten us to that, in that regard.”

All of a sudden, Invi blinked, before giving Kairi a nervous look, and she quickly gave the girl a bow. “A-ah, we are really sorry about that.” Apparently the man was fine? But from what she’d been able to garner…seriously hurting who was likely a father figure to someone they were traveling with was definitely not something to speak lightly about.

Kairi gave Invi a genuinely surprised look, as she asked, “Why sorry? Aeleus beat Xigbar up. In theory, our group should apologize… I mean, we won’t, because Xigbar’s a weirdo who likely had it coming. But still.” Kairi shrugged. “Aeleus is our strongest fighter. He was just happy the fight was halfway interesting.”

Hao smiled. “You’re sort of a dick.”

“Look who’s talking,” Kairi said stiffly.

“No, I like it, it’s fun,” Hao said, laughing lightly.

(Everyone who first met them tended to think Xehanort was the tough, mean one and Hao was sweet and shy.)

(Hao enjoyed the process of them realizing that Xehanort was actually the considerate one, and Hao was an asshole.)

“Anyway, I still think we should go explore. I heard it’s beautiful in there,” Hao smiled, giving Xehanort an eager look, “And big, lots to explore.”

“...sure, but…” Invi said uncertainly (it was always alarming when apologies were dismissed. It meant they weren’t enough) before sighing. “Still. We don’t mean to be inconsiderate, is what I mean. You all are very close, it can be tough when a family member is struggling. We don’t mean to diminish those feelings.”

A little amused at Hao making ‘nice’ (his version of it), Xehanort amusedly raised his eyebrows at Invi. “...you couldn’t actually stop us. We are allowed on the island, and you’re not powerful enough to keep us in our own minds.”

Invi gave him a strained look before sighing. “Just…don’t. Go looking for trouble. Just explore without messing with anything.”

“Well, you’ll have to come with us to make absolute sure we don’t,” Hao said cheerfully, “Because if you don’t, and we do make trouble? You sent us in knowing we were already talking about looking for it. Leaving us alone to do it is basically permission to go nuts.”

Kairi rolled her eyes. “Would you stop being weird? All of you are so weird. There’s no trouble to find, Aeleus has always been super in control of his own world, you’re not going to find anything anyway. Let’s just go if it means you’ll stop being a pest.”

Invi rolled her eyes as well. “What, you think I was just going to sit in here alone while you three all zoned out? There’s no way I’d say bye, have fun with no supervision.” Invi looked down, sweating. “Xigbar would murder me.”

“Sounds like a plan, then,” Xehanort said lightly, shifting in his seat a little to get comfortable as he leaned back, closing his eyes. “To the island.”

-

They hadn’t started moving long before Marluxia slammed down a deck of cards on the fold-out table in the carriage, glaring at the others before starting to take the cards out and shuffling them. 

Anthony just blinked, before giving Marluxia a bewildered smile. “...I really can’t tell if you’re asking for people to play with you and being mysterious about it, or you’re really psyched to play some solitaire.”

“Hi Marluxia~” Sora greeted cheerfully, recognizing the energy, as he got up to go join him at the table, “What are we playing?”

Ira, who had been sitting quietly by the window, and had only flinched a bit at the sound of the slam, gave Sora a curious look. “How do you know it’s Marluxia? He hasn’t spoken yet.”

“Marluxia needs a lot more attention than Lauriam.” Sora laughed lightly, sticking his tongue out teasingly at Marluxia. 

Marluxia bristled before huffing. “Have you considered that I just have such an enchanting presence that it demands more attention than wet-towel Loseriam? Brat.” Sticking his tongue out right back at Sora, the cards snapped loudly as he shuffled them. “Eights, since we’re not trying to break any tables.”

It was a certain kindness not to say it, but after seeing what Anthony was capable of, Marluxia figured that something like Scarab or Slapjack would more likely break something or someone than actually be fun. 

Laughing softly, Anthony scooted in too. “Ah, I’d figure bluffing games wouldn’t be as fun for you guys, huh.”

Ira headed in as well, Sora scooting over to make room as Ira asked, “That’s the one where you match, right?”

“Just watch how we play, you’ll catch on,” Sora assured Ira, taking the cards Marluxia passed over. “I’m surprised you want to play with us though, Marluxia. I sort of thought you’d be hanging out with Xaldin in your world immediately. You guys are in there all the time, and now I have to knock when I come over.” Sora sighed. The sacrifices of people coupling up.

“Basically,” Marluxia confirmed, dealing out four hands. Some games could go on forever, sure, but some ended quickly, and it really wouldn’t be much of an issue to deal Aced in mid-game if he wanted to play. “You match to the number or the suit, but 8s and jokers are wild cards.”

“It’s pretty easy to add in other rules to spice things up too,” Anthony laughed, “I’ve played before where with every 10 you had to trade each hand to the right, and every 7 you could choose to trade hands with someone specifically. It made the game last forever.”

Rolling his eyes a little, Marluxia huffed, “I’m not in there all the time. And think a little, sky-high, if Iiiii’m here, then…?” There was an obvious place for Sora to answer.

Sora blinked… before his nose wrinkled. “Ew.”

Ira gave the teen a mildly amused look. And just because a couple was alone didn’t mean there was anything going on. But it felt rude to make a comment like that, not quite familiar enough with these people, as he put down his card. “First day of a long trip to a foreign land. I imagine you have some nerves, young Sora?”

“Me? No way,” Sora grinned brightly, “This is everything I’ve ever wanted! I’m going traveling with the people closest to me, exploring new worlds! It’s a literal dream come true! Why be nervous when there’s so much to look forward to?”

The full truth was that Lauriam was just sleeping, but Marluxia wasn’t planning on clarifying that, just grinning at Sora sharply as he set the deck down and turned over the first card, not hesitating before putting one down from his hand, not about to entertain any discussion about who was going first. Though, no one seemed to take issue with it either, as they set off, the game more of a background to talking, for now. 

Brightening just from Sora’s excitement, Anthony nodded in agreement. “Does make it easy to be excited when you’re not exactly gonna miss where you were. And we’re far enough away from the end goal that it’s hard to start getting nervous about what could go wrong.” He gave Ira a light-hearted, mildly apologetic look as he snickered, “Though you do strike me as the kind of guy who can do that no matter what.”

“What? Noooo,” Ira said, dry amusement in his tone as he shot Anthony a tired smile, “I’m the most laid back person I know… though, speaking of what could go wrong, I do want to talk to you, Anthony, about what did go wrong–”

“Go fish, Ira!” Sora called.

Ira startled, looking at Sora, then his cards. “... what? I thought we were playing–”

“Hah, sorry, I’m just messing with ya.” Sora laughed, putting down his card.

Anthony smiled easily as he put down a card next. “Don’t worry about it, man. Like, yeah, would deeeeefinitely prefer if none of you guys tried stuff in the ol’ noggin again, but,” his smile was a little more strained, “know I’ve still got a way to go to get the green stuff under control. So, uh, sorry on my part too, for the scare and whole,” he nodded towards the bathroom, “throwing peeps into a wall thing.”

Marluxia raised an eyebrow. “You’re apologizing for something you can’t control.”

Anthony pouted. “I can control it a little! Like I still have my pretty face right now, don’t I.” He did look human, at the moment, though, as it’d been since the fight, Anthony looked…kind of bad. Pale with bags under his eyes, tired, even if he’d been up and grinning the next morning. Extreme blood loss would do that to you.

“The transformation was not your fault, and while I know Aced would and will say the same thing whenever he decides to join us, let me get ahead of him and say none of us hold it against you.” Ira said, “And I am certain Hao is very, very sorry for what he did, if he hasn’t mentioned that to you yet. He’s just a bit…overly carefree.”

“Hao’s got that ‘I’d wear other people’s skin as a mask’ vibe,” Sora said, putting down his cards and declaring, “This 8 is actually an 8! But I also think Kairi’s just not giving him a chance. We have lots of people in our group who’d be wearing people faces right alongside him, and they’re awesome, otherwise. You just have to get to know the awesome parts.”

“Is… Kairi having issues with Hao?” Ira asked, suddenly keenly aware those two were on a carriage together.

Sora just shrugged though. “Kairi’s less trusting than I can be. But can you blame her? She was kidnapped once and look how that turned out. I’d be wary of people too.”

“We’re all shitheads once,” Anthony shrugged easily, before pouting as he started to draw. “Though, if we’re all in agreement that it’s not the others’ fault? Then we’re all cool~”

“They’ll be fine,” Marluxia waved Ira off a bit. “Kairi can be hotheaded, but it doesn’t tend to escalate. And that’s why your sister paired them with watchful eyes, hm?” He looked up at Sora over his cards, raising an eyebrow. “Is she gearing up, though? Far as it looked to me, she didn’t really give a shit about those two.”

“She talks to me and Riku about it,” Sora explained, “I think she wants to not give a shit more than she actually doesn’t give a shit.”

“Oh, shoot, you guys smelled it after all, huh? That’s my bad!” Aced said, wiping his hands on his pants as he came down the hallway, grinning sheepishly, “I’ll open a window.”

“No, Aced, you’re fine, we were talking about something else. I was assuring Anthony we hold no ill will about anything,” Ira said, as Aced came over to curiously look down at their card game, “Right? Correct?”

“Eh? Why do you say it like that… oh! Because of the whole concussion thing? Naaaaah, water under the bridge, I can take a hit!” Aced grinned proudly, before giving Anthony a sympathetic pat on the back, “You got the real rough stuff that day. You were stabbed! Like… a bunch! I was pretty worried about you, guy!”

Marluxia frowned lightly at that. …maybe he should check in with Kairi later. Brat One and Two really didn’t deserve to occupy her attention that much, especially if it was bothering her. 

Laughing a bit as, indeed, Aced seemed to take the whole thing in stride, Anthony nodded. “Aw, I appreciate it, though it definitely wasn’t all bad.” The redhead’s face went dreamy as he grinned. “I can always count on my guardian angel to catch me~”

“And to stab you,” Marluxia said dryly, before jerking his head a little towards Aced. “We’re playing Eights, you want in?”

“Yeah, sure! Ira, how do you–”

“Match the number of the card or the suit to the one in the middle, unless you’re putting down an 8, where you can say what kind of card it is,” Ira explained, patiently sounding like someone who had been playing for years, instead of needing to ask the same question a moment ago. 

“Yeah, like Go Fish,” Sora grinned cheekily.

“Nothing like Go Fish.” Ira said. “...beyond matching. A little like Go Fish. Don’t let him confuse you.”

“I’m a menace,” Sora said proudly, as Aced grabbed a stool and sat at the end of the fold out table, being handed his cards.

“You’re not a menace, I know menaces and you don’t fit the bill.” Aced snorted, looking over his cards. “Also, what guardian angel?”

“I believe he means Clara,” Ira said.

“That terrifying lady? She’s scarier than Xigbar,” Aced said, shaking his head, “I think she could chop me into pieces, no sweat.”

“Yeah,” Anthony sighed dreamily, “She definitely could. Once we get around more trees? Ask her to show off an axe-kick, she’d be able to snap a branch as thick as your neck.”

Marluxia squinted at Anthony for a moment, before he nodded a little to the side to himself, considering things with a sort of ‘fair enough’ sort of expression. 

“It was romantic, right?” Anthony continued, hearts practically swirling around his head, “She stabbed me right so I’d fall into her arms. She’s adorable like that.”

“I’m not sure if stabbing people is romantic,” Sora said, staring at his cards. “It’s sort of the thing you do because you have to.”

“Some people find sparring a bit romantic,” Ira mused, “I’m not one of them, but I knew a few people who’d argue in its favor until the end of time. It came up in some random discussion, when we were all discussing books we’ve read and it got into how unrealistic some of us saw the enemies to lovers trope, and then that got two of us really passionate about explaining how sparring was romantic.”

“I just can’t see it myself,” Ira admitted, putting down a card, “But then, maybe that’s because I’ve only ever sparred people I don’t have any romantic feelings for. Maybe it does feel different when there’s more there? It just feels stressful otherwise.”

“...I don’t see it either.” Sora frowned.

A little more grounded, Anthony laughed. “It’s not just that she stabbed me, man. She had to, yeah, but she did it in a way making sure that I’d be okay when I fell, and more than just a soft landing. And that she figured out a way to get me back to myself that doesn’t involve killing me.” His expression melted again, but this time it was less the cloud nine dream-like grin, and more just…genuine fondness. “All the others in the prison used to be people too, but there was nothing we could do for ‘em. It’s what would’ve happened to me, too, but instead? I met Clara, and I’m still…me. Green or not green, though I have to say I’m happy it involves not-green most of the time these days.”

Marluxia looked at Sora’s frown over his cards before he scoffed a little. “La-La’s not mad at you.” But he left it at that before giving the group an impish wink. “Oh, I can say, it definitely changes when you spar someone you’re into. Adrenaline rushing, their entire attention only on you, the thrill of gaining the upper hand, or figuring out how to wrest it back? It’s not so different from other ‘romantic’ things.”

“...ew,” Sora said again.

“Anthony, if it’s alright for me to ask, I still don’t entirely understand how your factory worked,” Ira admitted, giving the red-head a curious, if somewhat concerned, look, “Why create monsters at all? Did they ever give you an explanation? And I still have a hard time conceptualizing how any Empath ability can make someone… well. What you are.”

Calming more, Anthony sighed a bit. “Sounds bat-shit, right? But that’s what you get with batshit people.”

Bouncing his leg a little as he looked through his cards before placing one down, Anthony hummed softly. “...you guys had no clue about Flora, right? Look, I’m really not the guy to give a whole, like, history and social…stuff lesson, so if you learn other stuff later, just remember that I basically grew up a hick and then was in prison for a buncha years.”

Looking a little tired, his energy not counteracting how drained he looked for once, Anthony explained, “Danganronpa is a country of Flora, the way Luminary’s a country of humans. Other people do live there, but the people making the rules are that main species. In Danganronpa’s case, it’s a country of Flora, for Flora, and everyone else is either mulch or a baby machine. So, it was in their interests to have certain humans that were super strong and nigh indestructible…and completely controllable.”

Marluxia frowned, his jaw tightening. “...Indentureds.”

Anthony nodded tiredly. “But even humans with mind control, or ones made into seedlings are still just human at the end of the day. So when the lab I was in got ahold of the experiments happening at NEST, those Empaths trying to transcend human limits? Flora already do all sorts of experiments on other species, it seemed like a happy mad science marriage.”

At that, Sora looked up, genuinely alarmed as he asked, “Wait, Empaths were doing it already? You mean the factory wasn’t making them?”

“I mean, Empaths being part of the reason the factories exist at all has always been an unhappy truth,” Ira murmured, “...though, I agree with Sora, it’s… upsetting to think that our kind started those experiments before the factories even knew they were possible. I always wondered how those of us with the ability to feel other people’s misery could ever bring themselves to voluntarily make it.”

“Just because someone can recognize something is awful doesn’t mean they let it bother them,” Aced said, looking at Ira, who gave a dry look back, “What, come on, that’s not news. It’s not like non-Empaths don’t recognize misery. But they still did that shit to us. It’s, like… I dunno, elitist! To think, oh, but our kind would never. Empaths are capable of awful shit too, we shouldn’t dismiss it just because it looks bad on us.”

“No, that’s not what I meant to… you know what, you’re right, Aced,” Ira said, smiling lightly as Aced lit up at that, “I guess I did just want to think Empaths wouldn’t be capable of that. Generally. I am sorry, Anthony, I do feel a bit responsible for it.”

“Oh! Uh…” Anthony held his hands up a bit in alarm before he chuckled sheepishly, “Clara did say she told you guys that story? NEST was a factory. I have noooo idea how the factories found out in the first place what you guys could do--far as I know, it’s been happening for ages, right?”

For a moment, he blinked, before pouting. “Hey, I’m not that old!”

Marluxia snickered. “Sor~ry~ We really should’ve been thinking on a timeline more about decades than centuries, you’re right~”

“I’m 24, dude!”

“No, sorry, I misspoke,” Ira laughed lightly, though there was some notable discomfort on his face as he tried to explain, “I didn’t think it was before factories at all. I just mean that I thought they made a new factory with NEST in mind. Sorry, exchanging history can be a little tough.”

“Even for our local geniuses.” Aced snorted.

“I’m not a genius,” Ira said, rolling his eyes as he relaxed a bit. The way Ira tensed and relaxed with the others was notable. Though Aced tended to make him tense when he spoke to other people, when it was the two talking to each other? Ira tended to relax. Aced a visibly comforting speaking companion.

And one Ira could predict, as he gave Aced a fond, if exasperated, look when the teen immediately turned to the others and said, “Don’t let him lie to you. What do you call someone who was getting a scholarship to go to university but a genius?! He and Invi were both going to go, isn’t that insane? Maybe being smart is genetic.”

“No it’s not,” Ira said, rolling his eyes, “Our parents really wanted it for us, a lot of our upbringing was centered around school. When the noble family our parents worked for told them they’d fund our first two years if we got certain grades growing up? It became our parents’ life-mission. Honestly, if we’re ‘smart’, then yes, it is our parents, but it’s because they put hours of time into helping us study, not genetics.”

“Wow. What was university like? I hear they’re like mini castles,” Sora said, eyes widening.

“...I don’t know,” Ira admitted, shrugging, “I didn’t get a chance to go. Neither of us did. We got caught before we finished out our final year of high school.”

“Caught. Uh huh.” Aced snorted, the sound disgusted. Ira just shrugged again at that.

“Oooooh,” Anthony said, laughing lightly, though there was his own hint of discomfort in it, “Uh, yeah, I’m not really sure when the prison started? I know the last regime has been going on for, like, thousands of years, so I’d figure it’d been around for a while. The info from NEST was just, like, new stuff to add to the old.”

…new stuff that had been fed in for…years. Anthony didn’t know how long. He’d never gotten the chance to ask his dad once he found out…everything. 

Marluxia’s eyebrows raised a bit as Aced bragged about Ira, hearing some of a ‘before’ story. And getting a scholarship to university was something to brag about. It wasn’t that only the elite went to uni…but damn were they the majority there, having the bank accounts to easily get in. 

And even if Ira and Invi were going to be sponsored for it? Then…

Well, that made a lot of sense about how they acted, actually. 

“I’ve heard the debate so many times I’m sick of it, but trust me, there’s a major argument to say learning through effort is a type of smarts.” Marluxia rolled his eyes, before he noted the…distinct disgust in Aced’s snort, giving him an intrigued look. Wrinkling his nose, he asked, “Your factory had their own ‘catching Empaths’ division too?”

“Division? Not sure I’d call it a division. I guess it never occurred to me if some of the supervisors did it more than the others,” Aced said, looking to Ira for confirmation, who shrugged, “But a lot of us didn’t come in willingly, if that’s what you’re asking.”

“I think he means people brought in who weren’t going into the Indentured Program to begin with,” Ira said, Aced going softly ‘oooh’, as Ira gave Marluxia a tired smile. “Invi and I weren’t going into the Indentured Program, no. I don’t actually know how it started, when they reached out to her or not, but one night while we were sleeping, our aunt came into our rooms and there were these people with her. She told us they were guards and we needed to go with them to answer some questions about some things we might have seen… We were half asleep and dizzy, confused about why the guards would have wanted to see us, and I’m sorry to say we didn’t make much of a scene or put up a fuss when they put us in the carriage. Then, whatever was making us dizzy got worse and… we fell asleep.” Ira smiled sadly. “Woke up in the factory. A pretty common story, unfortunately.” 

“Their aunt sold them out. Literally,” Aced scowled, “My parents fought tooth and nail, arguing for me. Only difference was I actually did something to get the guards called on me, so they didn’t have a leg to stand on. I told them to not worry about me, I’d buckle down and serve out my sentence…I told them I’d write. They probably think I’m dead… I’m going to go back to them eventually, tell them I’m okay. But Xigbar says he wants me to wait until I’m stable before reaching out to them. Said he was worried I’d end up on the streets if I made my way over there and they turned me away. I don’t think they will, but I’d rather not go back to them with literally nothing to show but horror stories, if I’m honest. I don’t want them to think it’s just been bad for the last four years.”

“Hasn’t it?” Sora asked uneasily.

“Well, sure, but my parents don’t need to know that,” Aced snorted, “You think I want them to know I was trapped in some murder horror house this whole time? I’m gonna tell them it was tough, but I was fine, and I don’t want anyone to ever tell them differently.”

He knew it was literally possible, but, uh, yeah, Marluxia didn’t think most of them went in willingly. And while every ‘caught’ story sucked?

Marluxia scowled, Aced’s disgust clicking for him immediately as he bared his teeth a little. “What a piece of shit, the fuck?” He’d heard Axel and Kairi’s stories, of course, so it wasn’t a shock that family (something that in Lauriam’s core concept of the word, was something sacred) could be absolute betraying wretches, but it was still something that set his blood boiling, wanting to crush someone into the ground for even thinking about selling a family member. 

Anthony had frowned as well, but his expression was quicker to soften as Aced shared more about himself. “Look, I’ve gotten the impression it’s kind of a hot button so I’m not really suggesting anything, but…I mean, what could your folks do to you over letter, while you’re traveling? If you don’t wanna chance retaliation, not having a solid address might be the best time to do it. And, yanno, make sure your folks know you’re alive.”

Aced shifted uncomfortably. “I don’t knooooow. I’ve thought about it, of course. My folks definitely still live where they used to, you don’t really pick up a farm and move off. Especially not our kind of farm, where our, uh, harvest doesn’t really have an off season,” Aced chuckled slightly, years of being locked up in a murder horror house with a guy who had made it his personal mission to beat Aced down into a more manageable, insecure mess had, weirdly enough, made his old insecurities about his family's status less pressing to him. Now he felt a weird sort of pride in it. Sure, his parents were essentially shit-farmers, but it was good work, his sisters were all still smart and resourceful and pretty, and in retrospect Aced had been lucky to have what he had. Especially after hearing so many stories of families that had essentially written the others off, once they had been slotted for the Indentured Program or labeled demons and whisked away.

His parents had loved him, if nothing else. They had just needed him to work hard. And they couldn’t control the way other people laughed. And Aced… “A part of me worries it’s cruel, to send a letter and then not be there. Only my eldest sister can really read anyway, it came natural to her, she barely needed to be taught. My folks would get this letter claiming to be me that my sister would have to read to them, and then they’d all have to decide if it was some terrible prank… I’d love to go back in person with my own carriage and some coin and show them that not only am I alive, I’m well, you know? An unambiguous happy ending, as Linnea called it once. That’s what I really want for them.”

“I can understand that,” Sora said, “But… it might take a long time to get to a point where you have all of that stuff. If your parents would be happy you’re alive, don’t you think they’d want to know sooner rather than later? A year or even two to recover maybe is okay, but if you go, like, in a suit and a tophat and the latest armor, but it’s five years from now and you’ve been free for six? I think that’d be worse.”

“...that’s a good point.” Aced frowned.

Anthony winced a little. “Ah, yeah, I can get that… It’d be crushing to hear that kind of thing as a prank.” …but honestly, if he suddenly got a letter from his mom or grandparents, saying they were alive? Even if they couldn’t meet up immediately, maybe it just marked him as naive, but Anthony would be thrilled. Still, he understood Aced’s desire. 

“Eights,” Marluxia called, on his last card, before he shrugged. “It’s not like we really have a postal center right here, so it’s literally a decision to make at any time. No limit either way.”

“...you do see more and more of those magnetic poles going up these days,” Ira pointed out, opening his mouth to continue… before shaking his head, “Sorry, nevermind. Congrats on the win, Marluxia. Should we play again?”

“What were you going to say?” Sora asked. 

Ira winced. “...well, Xigbar has a very good point about us all not reaching out to people in our pasts yet, and really, regardless of the method we should probably adhere to that–”

“The phone things?” Aced asked… before he said again, softer, “Oh, those phone things…”

Ira started to sweat a bit. “Well, maybe, but the odds of there being one in your hometown seem sort of small, I’m sorry I even brought it up–”

“No, but there’s services around that,” Sora pointed out, “People have phone lines set up where if you call somewhere close to where you want it, they’ll send a messenger out to let someone know that someone wants to talk to them on it. I heard they’ll go a few towns over even.”

“Is that so…” Aced murmured.

Marluxia glanced to Sora, before smirking a little. “Well, same difference about accessibility. So still just something to think about.” He pouted a little as he gathered the cards up, reshuffling them for another game. “It sounds cool to use a phone, I’m a little jealous.”

Anthony raised an eyebrow at Marluxia. “Uh, I know I don’t always get your weird hierarchy stuff, but as far as I can tell anyone can use phones?”

Marluxia groaned dramatically. “But there’s no point if you don’t have anyone to call!”

“You could call Xaldin,” Sora pointed out, “He’s pretty far away right now.”

“Why would he do that? Don’t you all see each other basically every day?” Ira asked.

“But he’s right, it’d be cool to call a phone! I hear it sounds weird. Like talking into a tin cup,” Sora said. 

“I always wondered why Linnea hasn’t called her wife yet,” Aced said, “I know Xigbar said no, but Linnea doesn’t do stuff just because Xigbar says so. She makes her own choices. Maybe you could call your mom, Marluxia?”

“Aced,” Ira whispered, giving Aced a hard look, “That’s complicated, you shouldn’t bring it up.”

Aced blinked. “Why not? We talked about my folks.”

As cool as just the novelty of using a phone would be… Marluxia nodded with Ira, saying dryly, “I’m not going to just call Xaldin, or any of the others, so I can talk to them but worse.”

…and god how embarrassing would that be? Marluxia didn’t miss Xaldin that much that he needed to contact him through every way of communication possible. 

…for someone else, though?

Marluxia scoffed softly. “Now there’s a whole debate I’m desperate to get into again. Though I’m not surprised those two haven’t talked--from how they fought before everything went shit up, the peace of the universe is better secured just never poking that bear.”

“Linnea and Briar fought?” Ira asked, looking a little surprised at that, “Linnea’s so patient though, that’s surprising to me.”

Dealing out cards again, Marluxia rolled his eyes. “They were in a house drowning in debt with two kids that were being given less and less supervision over the years, no one is patient through that. Lauriam didn’t notice it for ages, but I’m sure it was there even when he was younger.”

Anthony raised an eyebrow as he regarded his cards. “But didn’t Linnea ‘disappear’ a few years before you did? I dunno how well you can fight with someone who isn’t there.”

“You’d be surprised,” Marluxia said dryly, “Though considering that La-La and Strel tried to hide the fact that Linnea was gone-gone, that couldn’t have helped.”

“It sounds like your family haad communication issues, Marluxia,” Sora said, raising his chin slightly as he said wisely, “Without open and constant communication, the group falls apart. And then Vexen tries to fight everyone and Lauriam bursts into flames.”

“Very specific,” Ira noted.

“Very topical,” Sora grinned.

“No, but seriously, why hide it from one mom that the other mom had bailed on you?” Aced asked, looking to Lauriam. “Did your sister ever explain? I’m assuming it was her decision to hide it.”

Marluxia gave Sora a dry look. No fuckin’ shit, kid. Look at just who came out of it. 

“Who fuckin’ knows what Strel was thinking,” Marluxia muttered, a slight tinge of bitterness in his voice as he put down a card, “Maybe they didn’t really believe Linnea was gone forever, or they didn’t want to deal with the fallout of what would happen with Briar realizing they were on their own. Though, considering nothing really changed even with her noticing Linnea was gone through every visit, I have a feeling that was paranoia more than anything.”

“Paranoia?” Ira asked, as at the same time Aced asked, “Briar came back to visit? Man, that must have been a mess.”

Marluxia gave Aced a haughty, skeptical look. “Of course she came back to visit, what, you think she was literally gone all the time? She used to be home every day when La-La was really little, it only became a few times a year in the last few years. Even the cutthroat world of mining contracts still takes time off for holidays, I guess.”

Rolling his eyes a little, Marluxia gave Ira an off-handed nod. “Endless what-ifs about what would change. Briar deciding she couldn’t support us alone, so surrendering us, or, well, just La-La by that time, to the government, or even just extra stress through it all. Mining’s already dangerous enough by itself.”

“I guess it’s hard for me to be sympathetic about it,” Ira admitted. “I have a hard time imagining having kids and just… not noticing that my wife had abandoned them. But, that said, none of us exactly came from the most stable of situations. If I hadn’t watched my aunt do what she did, I’d find it just as hard imagining selling my nieces and nephews. You really can’t tell what people are going to be like under stress… or if they’re just feeling opportunistic,” he muttered, putting down some cards.

“What about you, short-stack?” Aced asked, looking to Sora, “Have some folks you’re running away from?”

Sora startled at the question, at first just puffing his cheeks, “I’m not short! I’m still growing!” before considering it more seriously. “...maaaaaybe? I guess technically yes?”

“Technically yes?” Ira asked.

“I don’t know, I don’t remember them that well. Don’t remember ever missing them either,” Sora admitted, frowning, “I left and it was like… they were never important again. I forgot all about them. Finding them now just seems like a chore more than anything, I already have my own family, why go find the original ones?”

“That’s a bit cold, isn’t it? Were you really young when you were put in the factory?” Aced asked.

Sora shook his head. “Not ‘don’t remember your parents’ young. They’re just still sort of…blank. I know they existed, but… that’s about all I feel about it.” Sora shrugged. “Is that weird?”

“Yeah, kinda,” Aced said.

Marluxia shrugged. “Linnea was gone a lot too. It was normal for one of them to come back and the other to be gone--La-La and Strel just kept talking about it like it was a coincidence that it kept happening.” Even so, he had a feeling Mama had figured out more than she let on. He couldn’t imagine what she had decided to do about it, though. She had to have come back at one point hearing that they were all gone, sure, but…

…Linnea had said the fund they’d set up for Lauriam and Strelitzia was still open, when the Ribata Empaths came to Romeliad. If Briar had really thought they were all dead, then…why wouldn’t she have taken the money and closed the account?

Not like Marluxia was about to track her down and have a chat about it, though. 

Snorting as the conversation shifted targets, though, Marluxia reached over to give Sora a noogie, grinning lazily. “You and Riku were just jumping at the chance to leave your folks behind. As shitty as the ‘opportunity’ was, I have always admired that you two don’t hesitate to take what you want~” Snickering, Marluxia nodded to Sora as he proudly told the others, “This one jumped right in the fire on a hero mission. Posed between blood and found family, Sora absolutely knew which he’d choose, even if it got him locked up.”

“No kidding? What does all that mean?” Aced asked, looking to Sora.

Sora shrugged sheepishly, grinning at the pride in Marluxia’s voice even as he fixed his hair from the noogie. “It wasn’t that big of a deal… Kairi and Riku were both kidnapped the same night by the Supervisors, and I went to go get them back. I followed them for a while, like a week before I managed to catch up with them. It was kind of a process to track them, but I managed.”

“Oh, that’s impressive,” Ira said, “Though, it didn’t seem to work out…”

Sora shrugged, smiling a tad regretfully. “I only managed to get myself caught with them, I didn’t successfully save anyone. But I’m still glad I caught up. If they had ended up in the factory before I could? I have no idea how I would have found them again. I didn’t entirely understand what I was, or why they had been caught. Another Empath tried to explain it all to me, but it was so cryptic. In retrospect, I don’t think she entirely understood what we were herself. She might have thought we were actually demons.”

“Perhaps she truly was a demon. It’s… possible.” Ira frowned. “Many things are possible, it would seem.”

It sucked that the only thing that happened was Sora getting himself caught (and freaking out Riku a bit), but, like, come on. They had been 10. Marluxia had high expectations, but not that high, and if you didn’t look at the outcome, then what Sora had done? He’d taken just what he wanted from life, letting no one and nothing stop him, and that was exactly the kind of attitude that made Marluxia want to cheer his dorky little brother on for. 

It seemed like he wasn’t the only one, at least in part, as Anthony let out an impressed whistle, as Sora explained what his ‘hero mission’ was. “That’s crazy--you followed for a week? That’s the kind of stuff you hear secret agents doing.”

“And you’re quite the connoisseur of secret agents?” Marluxia said, a little tauntingly, before huffing, rolling his eyes exasperatedly. “Fucking say it again. The levels of possibility are separated by damn paper.”

Ira laughed weakly at that, vaguely gesturing at Marluxia. “I’m still trying to wrap my head around… you know.”

“He knows…?” Aced asked.

“...nevermind,” Ira said, looking down at his cards, “I don’t want to say things without really knowing anything.”

“Come ooooon, I say things without knowing anything all the time!” Aced said.

“Yes, that’s usually the issue,” Ira told him dryly.

Marluxia gave Ira a dry look. If he was still trying to wrap his head around it, then oooooh boy that was just the tip of the iceberg for Marluxia. 

Though, puffing his cheeks out in a huff, Marluxia drew a card, getting a useable one right off the rip. “Turns out! One way or another, I’m not just a cute little construct that Loseriam can build or absorb whenever he wants with no issue. I’m a full fuckin’ person he just happened to make and shares a mind and body with. Woo~”

“What?” Sora asked, before squinting at Marluxia. “...what?”

“Ah, right,” Ira murmured, having almost forgotten about that. He was a little distracted by the absolute certainty that a magic cat that was friends with what all of them kept explaining casually as an ‘Empath god’ that there was, in fact, an afterlife. It was a lot to get one’s head around. But so was the act of existing itself, admittedly.

“.......what?” Sora sputtered!

Marluxia’s mouth twisted as he gave Sora a nod. “Surprise. I have no idea if it’s because of you stabbing La-La, or how Vexen brought me back, or what ‘Enzy did to fix us, or if it was something just in our arrangement, but Even’s gonna shift the whole narrative when we get around to actually making moves on bringing everyone back, that it’s maybe not just as constructs.”

For a moment, Marluxia looked at his hand. Lauriam’s hand. Something tense going through his face, before he more calmly sneered. “As our feline friend put it, La-La exists not as an Empath with a construct, but as two Empaths. So I’m not sure we actually could kill me, and probably why Loseriam couldn’t do anything when I first came back.”

“....WHAT?” Sora gasped.

“I’m sorry, I’m lost. Weren’t you always a person?” Aced asked. 

“I can’t stab people into existing!? That’s not a thing! My keyblades just knock someone back to their senses!” Sora sputtered.

“This is Marluxia, Aced, Lauriam’s Nobody.”

“Yeah, I caught that, but like… wasn’t that what made these guys so impressive? That their constructs were people?” Aced asked.

“I think we were all more impressed at how convincing they were,” Ira said dryly, “Then someone who sounds very much like they would know said it was less ‘convincing’ and more ‘literal’.”

“AM I THREE PEOPLE!?” Sora asked. 

“Shit, are you? You would know.” Aced shrugged.

“I mean…’back to their senses’ is a pretty broad idea,” Anthony said lightly, “I know what you guys can actually do with your powers is kinda beyond me, but if you…” He tilted his head a little at Sora. “Stabbed Lauriam? Maybe that was giving sense to, like, everything in him?”

Marluxia gave Aced a bit of a petulant shrug, before he sighed and patted Sora’s shoulder. “Well, sort of, but no. Roxas and Xion are both still in your base essence, and, as someone that can speak from experience, that’s very much being a part of you. But if you bring them back? Then maybe, yeah.”

Sora blinked… before he put his head in his hands. Sort of fanning them around his eyes, as he whispered, “Am I a father???”

“Wait! But does that mean I have to stab everyone to get them their lives? Does everyone want to be alive!? Am I going to be a father of…” Sora counted on his fingers, “Fifteen!? I’m not ready for that sort of responsibility! That’s so much stabbing! Everyone’s gonna be traumatized!”

“Is this our fault?” Aced whispered to Ira as they watched Sora stared bug-eyed at them, sweating.

“Probably,” Ira muttered back.

“OI!” Marluxia snapped, scowling as he ruthlessly pinched Sora’s ear. “Sky-high, I said that maybe it was you getting stab-happy!! Not that it was confirmed! And you’re so not my dad! And I didn’t want to be alive, but I’m fucking here and tearing things up anyway, people will get fuckin’ used to it!! Get out of your damn head, twerp!”

“H-hey,” Anthony reached over, trying to intervene, “Maybe we should all take a breath for a sec?”

“Ow-ow-ow!” Sora winced, pouting at Marluxia once he was freed from ruthless ear twisting, “...do you think Roxas and Xion want to be alive? I miss them, but I don’t want to fill them with, I dunno… existential horror and stuff. I want them to be happy.”

Giving Anthony a slightly challenging look as he kept his hands to himself, Marluxia then sighed a little. Glancing at the others. This…wasn’t the best conversation to have with a bunch of people they hardly knew, but…

“...Roxas was fucking miserable without you and Xion,” he said after a moment. “And it does suck being around without them. Everyone. It sucked when all of you were asleep, and now it sucks with all of them being asleep. And I can’t say I’m exactly thrilled to be back.”

Marluxia’s mouth twisted as he looked away, grumbling softer, “...but mostly because almost everyone’s gone. And it’s annoying having to look like this dumbass if I want to do anything in the physical world.” …that no matter what, when he walked into a room, people would always guess it was Lauriam first. That it was Lauriam’s body, and his memories, and his life that…now Marluxia would always have to be second to, regardless of how…”real” he was now.

“But now that I’m here, you can’t get rid of me,” he grumbled, “I have my own things to do, that aren’t just making sure Loseriam doesn’t have a mental breakdown anymore, though he certainly still needs that help.” Huffing, Marluxia glared at Sora. “...things would suck less if everyone else was back, though. Zexion would agree with that too.”

Sora frowned, considering all of that…

“...if I may?” Ira said gently, catching Sora’s attention, “I think you would know, if Roxas and Xion, as I believe their names were, would want to take the risk of life. They are parts of you, aren’t they? Ones currently mixed into you in the most intimate way a being could be. Maybe you’re confused, certainly… but I think looking inward, and asking yourself if this is something they would want, and really listening to your own emotions? Is about as close to directly asking them as an Empath could get. Since you’re asking yourself…would you choose to do this? If you were given a choice.”

Sora blinked, taking that in. “...well, yeah. Of course I would. Life is an adventure.”

Ira laughed lightly at that. “Maybe think about it a little more than that. It’s a big decision. But it’s one only you could possibly answer right now, I think. And I don’t know enough about any of this to say one way or another, but…you all always sound excited, when you talk about the others. Or fond. Or exasperated in a way one can only be with someone they know very well…Aced was confused for a reason. You all talk about them as if they were people already. Just from an outsider perspective.”

Sora nodded at that, considering all of it quietly… before he sighed, putting down his cards, “Sorry, I think I have to go think about this more. Sort of ‘listen inwards’. If Xion and Roxas really are still a part of me? They probably have things to say right about now. I should go hear them out.”

(...of course.)

(Sure, they had always known they were constructs…mostly. But talking to each other? The Nobodies had always treated each other as real, at least as long as Marluxia had been around. There had been a certain element of fantasy about it, sure, but…they’d taken comfort in each other, about conditioning and life in the factory. Had casual conversations to pass the time, played games…)

(...had relationships. Had dreams.)

(How Alter Ego had described it, Marluxia wasn’t just suddenly now a real person. He’d been on the journey to be one for a long, long time.)

(In some ways, that consideration wasn’t needed, because they had already been themselves.)

(...he loved Xaldin, and Marluxia would never say it, but…if he thought about it, Xaldin still being around might be the only reason Marluxia could really stand being around. He missed everyone so much, and the sadness he saw on his little brother as Zexion had spoken quietly about how much quieter everything was…)

(...he understood that.)

“Sure, sure,” Marluxia sighed, waving Sora off dismissively. “We’ll let you know if anything comes up that you need to dredge yourself up from the thinktank for.”

Sora nodded somberly, before heading off to climb into his rack. Leaning back into it and just staring at the ceiling, lost in thought… before his eyes glazed over. Now gone to his head.

“...you guys are sort of a lot.” Aced chuckled. “Seems like ever since you showed up, we haven’t had a single day where nothing weird has happened.”

“Aced.” Ira frowned.

“What? It’s true!”

“You get used to it~” Marluxia hummed, shuffling Sora’s cards back into the deck. 

-

“You ready? Okay, one, two, three!”

Less interested sitting around with an older couple, Gula and Riku had retreated to the sleeping section of the carriage, and quickly a sort of competition had formed between them. Staying upright in a handstand was already an endurance feat, but doing it in a moving carriage? Now that took some skill~

And it didn’t take a lot of space, so the two of them could just stay in the aisle between the racks, pushing upwards and trying to stay that way as the carriage jostled them. 

“Hnngh! Easy! No problem!” Riku grunted, adjusting his hips as he tried to stay balanced on his hands.

“Piece of cake!” Gula agreed, closing his eyes to focus on his balance, keeping his elbows a bit more bent than usual to account for how the carriage mov-- “Oop!!”

“Gah!” 

The carriage hit a bump, and the two teens both crumbled, rubbing their heads and groaning before looking at each other. “...best two out of three,” Riku challenged.

“You’re on,” Gula laughed, undiscouraged by the bump, immediately getting right back into position. 

Maybe it wouldn’t be quite right to say he should’ve been discouraged, as with each round--two out of three, then three out of five, then four of seven--neither of them could really stand up to bumps in the road, but…that wasn’t really the point. It was fun just to try, no matter how many times they hit their head on the floor or fell onto their backs. 

Gula just laughed it off every time, excited to try again. 

(Even as, once, his sleeve fell slightly as he rubbed his head.)

“Ooph,” Riku winced, rubbing his shoulder, just happening to glance over when… “Oh man. Some rocks got you good at one point, huh?” Riku said, pointing to Gula’s arm.

“Pff, you can never underestimate--” Gula cut himself off when he realized just what Riku was pointing to. Oh. Grimacing a bit, he shook his head and pulled his sleeve up more, revealing neat little rows of old, thin scars going up the inside of his forearm. “For these, nah, they’re prayer scars. I’d be a little astounded if someone could get cuts like this while climbing.”

Riku–who had a similar relationship with religion that Sora and Kairi did, IE, no one in the swamp ever talked about it, learning the specifics in the factory–blinked a bit… before he frowned. “Are prayer scars supposed to actually… scar? I thought those were mostly just things you did on the holidays or something.”

Gula shrugged a little. “My parents are ultra religious weirdos, they take that stuff super seriously. So if bloodletting scars more than other people’s, that tracks. Like,” he rolled his eyes a little, “I’ll do the next handstand one-handed if you tell me any of your family ever went to temple four times a week before the factory.”

“Gula,” Riku said, giving his friend a deadpan look, “I have literally never been inside of a temple. I do not know what they look like.”

“Still, that’s… kind of cool?” Riku said, the two now just sitting in the middle of the aisle, “What’s it like growing up going to temple?”

Gula snickered. “You know, I meant if you heard about any of your folks,” he pointed back towards the sitting area, “doing it, but I am waaaay more jealous of never having seen a temple. What a life.”

“Really boring, mostly,” he huffed. “A ton of readings from the Good Book that are maybe sorta neat the first time you hear them, but definitely not, like, the 300th, and especially not when people are quoting passages to tell you off. Bloodletting makes you feel awful afterward, don’t be fooled by anyone saying that the lightheadedness is just rapture or whatever, and sexual prayer sucks, they don’t let you bring in anything to pass the time.”

Riku blinked… before he turned red. “What? Aren’t you, like… my age?”

Gula nodded boredly. “I’m 18? But part of the ‘coming of age’ stuff when you’re 13 is having to be a part of the congregation during sexual prayer. It’s like,” Gula waved vaguely, seeming a little fed up with the whole thing, “a step to ‘purge yourself of blasphemy’ if you’re uncomfortable watching. ‘Cause ‘course it’s demonic to shy away from any aspect of Atua’s worship and splendor.”

He gave Riku a flat look. “It’s a lot of bullshit, is what I’m saying.”

“Oh wow…” Riku said, rubbing his shoulder uncomfortably, “...well, maybe that makes sense. No one talked much about the sexual prayer thing in the factory. I know it’s a thing, but I think there was like this… rule that we didn’t do it, among our group? It was probably to try to cause less drama, our group could get really strict about PDA and who was doing stuff with who, there were some, like, events a few times about it.”

“So yeah, I just don’t know much about that side of the religion. Or most sides of it,” Riku admitted, “But you seem pretty unenthusiastic about it. Not a believer?”

“Honestly that was probably a good call,” Gula snorted softly, “The drama reason sounds right. You guys have a no-dating thing too? I couldn’t tell you how seriously everyone took it, but it was something the others told me pretty early on when I showed up.”

Huffing a little, Gula looked to the side, lightly scratching the back of his neck. “No. But, like…” He grimaced a little. “Some habits are kinda hard to break when you’ve had them shoved in your face all your life.”

“Soooort of? I mean, people still did. They still had sex too. It was just sort of like… you weren’t supposed to shove it in anyone’s face, I think. It was just this sense of ‘caution’ everyone had,” Riku said, realizing it was hard for him to define. He had been raised in a culture where people dated and had sex, but everyone talked like it wasn’t expected. Confusing, but Riku hadn’t questioned it since, well… he had been raised in it.

“Like what?” Riku asked, before looking at Gula’s sleeves, “Oh, like prayers?”

Gula nodded a bit--that made sense. Really, he didn’t think most actions in a factory could happen without a sense of caution added into it, and something like dating and sex? Like, no duh. 

Grimacing a little, Gula nodded again. Looking to the side, he huffed a bit, pulling his other sleeve up. This arm was similarly laddered with prayer scars, though in the middle a few were interrupted by what looked like a messy puncture scar. “Thought it was so dumb my whole life, but plunk me down in a hellfire house like the factory and you’d think I was considering transitioning to be a priestess. Really just made me feel worse, though.”

Riku grimaced, even as he nodded. “Yeah, but that makes sense though. That’s supposed to be comforting, isn’t it? Atua loves you, and all of that?”

Gula glared resentfully at his scars. “Atua loves you, paradise is made for everyone out of his divine love…if you ever get to see it, not adding infinite levels to your trials ‘cause you’re a heathen. Or if you’re just a demon sent by Bathul to tempt more people into heathenism.”

“Oh, right, the trials…” Riku frowned, “...actually, no one’s ever explained this one to me: how do you get ‘more’ trials added to your… trials? It’s not just the same for everyone?”

Gula glanced up in surprise, thoroughly broken from his frustration. “Oh, not even close.”

“Like,” he rolled his eyes a little, “Obviously no one really knows what the trials are like, because you only see them when you’re dead, right? But how my temple described them was that the trials are like a journey you have to go on in the afterlife, filled with obstacles that reflect your sins during life. So, the more you sin, the more obstacles you’ll have to face later. So, like, someone who doesn’t sin much and is purely devoted to Atua can get through their trials faster, because there’s less there for them to face, and they’ll reach paradise more quickly.”

“Oooooh,” Riku said, brow furrowing, “...and they can be infinite?”

Gula squinted a little, thinking that over. “...I mean, I think there has to be a limit? Because if a person sinned, like, every second they were alive, that’s still a finite amount, right? But there’s no cap, I guess. Like, you don’t suddenly hit an amount that’s like, well, you’ve sinned like a hundred times, every sin after this is a freebie during the trials. It’s one to one.”

“Hah,” Riku laughed, before pausing to consider that, “One for one, huh…”

He was silent for a moment… and without real fear, but clearly genuinely wondering, he said, “I wondered if everyone I conditioned counts as an individual trial, or if I’ll do them all at once.”

“Who fuckin’ knows, man. Even if that’s a thought experiment where the trials are actually real, that’s the kind of thing pretty much only a priestess would be able to answer,” Gula scoffed. But while he was aiming for a sort of disgruntled dismissiveness…

…there was a genuine fear that he’d never been able to shake in the factory. That sincere holy fear and guilt that had covered his home like a sandstorm, making it unbearable to spend time in, though Gula had never had a word for it until he met other Empaths at the factory. 

He could roll his eyes and scoff all he wanted, but at the end of the day, Gula had spent his entire life being told that God Was Watching and Judging Everything You Did, and the consequence of that judgment would come, not just during the trials, but with every bad thing that happened to you in life as well. 

He had desperately tried to rationalize everything…but in his gut instincts, that frightened animal brain, Gula had bit into his arm to draw blood and had pleaded with God that he was sorry for everything that had put him in the factory. He’d stop climbing, he’d be enthusiastic about temple, he’d even volunteer for rituals, he was sorry…

(And there was another part of him that had grown in the past two years, that said God wasn’t listening. Not because God wasn’t real, but because Gula wasn’t one of Atua’s Children. He was a demon. He was forsaken. And so by his nature, his life would be damned.)

“I don’t know if I think the trials are real,” Riku admitted, pulling on knee up to his chest and leaning back against the wood of the bed racks, “...I guess a part of me hopes they aren’t, though I’m not sure I like the alternatives either. But trials happen alone, right? I think I’d get lonely… which I realize, saying aloud, does not sound very cool.” Riku laughed, “But whatever, it’s just true. I’m not a loner.”

Gula laughed softly, pulling himself up and firmly away from those lower feelings. “Dude, that’s like the entire reason bonding rituals exist. Pretty much no one wants to do the trials alone, though I guess some people just want to have help during them, more than wanting company.”

Saying that, though, Gula briefly startled, looking at Riku in slight alarm. “Wait! If you’ve never been to temple, then you never had a bonding animal, did you?!”

“Ooooh right, bonding rituals,” Riku whispered, having totally forgotten about those. Though, he smiled lightly at the question, saying with some enthusiasm, “No, but I have heard of those guys, and man, I’ve always wanted one. Bonding animals are cool. I’d love some sort of, like, tough one that represents me. Did you have one?”

Gula started to nod before he faltered a little. “...uh, yeah. I…” Something genuinely worried flitted across Gula’s face, his eyebrows drawing in and his frown tightening into a sort of soft, upside-down ‘u’. “My cat, Mealla. I…hope she’s okay…”

The suddenly anxious look on Gula’s face didn’t indicate that that hope was very optimistic.

“...I mean, I’m sure she’s fine?” Riku said, mostly because of the look on Gula’s face, “Cats are resilient. We even had swamp cats. And they were living with crocodiles. I bet she’s still just in your old town, hunting and sleeping away.” 

“...yeah. Yeah, probably,” Gula muttered, not looking comforted at all. The best case scenario might be that she had been released as a stray. Considering Agniratha was a port town, obviously there was a big fish trade, so there were tons of stray cats around the docks, not to mention all the people looking for ship cats to keep rats out of cargo. It wasn’t a bad life for a cat. 

(...but if everyone had decided that she was a tainted being since she had been his animal, what if they--)

A cold rush of terror and anxiety flooded through Gula’s body. 

Riku frowned at the look on Gula’s face. Shifting uncomfortably, not sure how to comfort him… 

“Hey, you wanna go explore Aeleus’ new world?” Riku offered, “He has a whole castle in there, it might be fun to climb?”

Gula traced some of the scars on his arm lightly. 

(She was just a cat, animals couldn’t even have moralities, please, please don’t let them have--)

“...yeah,” Gula said softly, before shaking himself a little, giving Riku a grin that was still a little shaky. “I heard that it’s, like, a biome map come to life, yeah? Sounds like an adventure.”

-

The most busy time in people’s lives are usually also the moments where the least amount is happening. 

For the Ouma family back at the castle, life had settled into an established, busy, but expected pattern of routines, now that the Luminary Party sent with King Sou was settled in. Kokichi was working both on government matters and refining his conditioning cures. Shuichi was going to school again and working on his magic with Himiko and their professor. Maki was volunteering at the dojo and working on her relationship with Elia. Kaito was raising his children.

Sou and his party had heavy questions that needed to be answered… but not right away. And for now, they were just looking through Dicea’s capital city. Shin, Deere, and Selka were trying to figure out who they were to each other, if anything at all, which was mostly happening through time spent together and very little discussion over it. 

Miu was setting up moving to the city to do her mentorship of Mike.

The kids were mostly just being kids, even if Bianka was working on her own pet project as they otherwise hung out and went to school.

There were more and more playdates between the babies, now that the weather was getting a little warmer, Miyako and Addason being given time together, Gabriel brought to the same little baby events Kaito and Temp were bringing their babies to.

The teens were deep into the weeds of school and their social lives with each other. Even Doppio, who had been having non-stop events for a good portion of the year so far, had finally calmed down into a pretty reliable and low-key routine with Arven, his family, and school, with all the weirdos within that school.

The Eslley residents were rebuilding their country and preparing for the ball. The Vanguard residents were roughly the same. Novoselic had been little affected by the wars of their neighbors, beyond now housing the exiled king. Danganronpa was managing the internal downfall of their kingdom in the aspect of day by day maintenance. The Tiavel residents had not noticed the world was changing yet, lost in their own day to day lives, whole Novis’ residents had noticed the world was changing, but had adjusted quickly to their own mysteries and drama, to the point of seamlessly accepting it into themselves.

Meanwhile, some of the factory Empaths were heading west to the capital, and the others were heading east to Dicea… and like the rest of the world, had fallen into a busy pattern of day to day routines to help them get there. Busy, yes. But not particularly eventful.

It was sooooooooo boring!

Well, not for the people in question. To them, it probably both was and would continue to be really important in their lives, these moments towards their larger goals. But for Amaina, whose whole life revolved around watching people do stuff… they were all doing the same things, every day! Working on goals in bite-sized, manageable pieces! Succeeding in increments, mistakes small and manageable! 

Booooo! She needed more enrichment than this! She was a young construct in need of more experiences to refine herself! The good! The fun! The ugly! 

…look, it was baaarely her fault, they all KEPT saying how FORBIDDEN their memories were, how HORRIBLE, how NOT-ALLOWED she was to go there! How was Amaina supposed to resist peeking into the factory Empaths’ memories when they kept telling her how cool and interesting those memories were?! It was like putting a toy in front of the princess that was some fun, interesting new shape and telling her NOT to put it in her mouth to explore by slobbering her tongue all over it! Or putting some gross, wet sponge on Doppio’s desk and telling him not to get grossed out by it! Or putting Kaito in literally any situation and telling him not to relate it back to an old sex thing he used to do! 

Like, you could say it! But bringing attention to it SPECIFICALLY made it impossible! The system was rigged! 

Anyway, Amaina had been exploring the Empaths’ factory memories since basically the first day they had told her not to. And today, because no one was doing anything fun to watch in the present day, she was gonna go explore the flower boy next.

-

Chonis wasn’t right next to Romeliad. Even with only a few people and traveling quickly on horseback, it still took a few days to make the journey. Lauriam hadn’t registered any of it. 

In part, that was because he’d just been knocked out for the actual ‘travel’ part, but also…in that moment…he felt like he’d lost his mind. Like with a battle cry and a thrust of a knife, something had broken within him that would never heal again. Like he’d died. Lauriam could barely register how he’d fought in the grips of the people he’d just surrendered to, screaming in a raw expression of pain as he struggled back to… As he begged them, shrieking to kill him too. 

But now, days later, he just felt…not. Like he wasn’t even there. Like there was just a zombie walking around in his soiled, blood-splattered clothes, wearing his bruised, swollen, and cut face. 

He barely noticed stumbling into a room, words garbled over his head as the tight grip around his arm vanished, saying, “Good evening, Luis! A nice surprise for everyone, your little family’s growing one bigger today. I’m sure the lad would appreciate getting cleaned up~” A careless thwump of clothes were tossed to the ground. “As usual, his quotas will start in two weeks. Hope he can make them!”

“Ah, dammit,” Luis murmured softly, warily glancing to the other pallets. 

Most everyone else was working right now, still, though he could tell at a glance that Viz was just sleeping. While most of them moved their bedding off their pallets as a sort of mental trick to get into a working mindset, since both sleeping and working meant essentially laying down or sitting in the same spot and they needed some sort of way to preserve their ‘sleeping spaces’, Viz never bothered with any of that. The older woman could spend the entire day not moving from where she was curled up on her pallet, going from sleeping, to working, straight back to sleeping again, without opening her eyes if she didn’t feel like it. If she was in a particular mood not to, they often had to needle her to get up from her pallet long enough to eat some food, or remind her that she probably needed to use the bathroom soon. Sometimes she just waved them off, unbothered enough to get off from her pallet to do even that.

She was a woman who had spent a considerable amount of her life strapped to a chair, so laying out on a pallet with bedding was still a luxury to her, Luis knew. But to brand new eyes, he knew how this room was going to look. Like farm animals trapped in one of the most inhuman barns possible. Even horses in stables got walls to allow them to relax and not spook each other. 

This was Luis’ first new person since little Ienzo had shown up. He had a feeling a preteen was going to be more challenging. Especially… “Damn, lad, what did they do to you? You look like you were just dragged in from a war-zone,” Luis murmured, kneeling down as he whispered, “Hey, I’m going to touch your arm, alright? We have a bathroom, there isn’t anyone in there right now. Let’s go sit in there a bit, lad.” Give him a private space to breathe for a second, if nothing else.

Lauriam didn’t even blink at the room, still just quiet and dazed. Though, as someone got closer?

(The voice was a lot softer than anything he’d heard lately. And even when he couldn’t quite make out the words, he absolutely knew what taunting sounded like. This…wasn’t that.)

For a moment, still, Lauriam didn’t react, but after that he gave a small, short nod, following dazedly as he was led somewhere else, limping slightly. 

(He hadn’t just been sent to sleep immediately, for whatever reason. The smacks had dazed him, sure, and when Hayner and his crew figured out that the brat wasn’t intimidated by knives, they’d relied on those blunter methods for keeping him from trying to run or fight them.)

(Lauriam might’ve been the reason just putting Empaths to sleep had become a more usual transport method.)

Even as they got to the bathroom, Lauriam still didn’t really react to it, just standing there, shaking slightly. 

The bathroom was a practical thing for a room meant to house many people, without much concern for those people. 

There were multiple toilets lined against the wall, though there were no privacy barriers to offer. There was also a shower, large and square, that in theory could clean multiple people at once if it had to. There was also a small wall that separated the shower from the rest of the bathroom on the floor, and while it had likely been made simply to limit the amount of spread the water could have, the Empaths over the years had at times blocked the drain to make the area a thin bath, the heat around their hips soothing as they untangled knots in their hair or cleaned off particularly difficult stains from their bodies. 

There was a sink and counter space to wash hands, soap provided. There was no mirror. 

There was a door to the bathroom, technically. It was a very heavy curtain, mostly hung to control odor. Impossible to use as a barrier, it still worked reasonably well as a bit of privacy between the bathroom and the main room. During hours when the main room’s door was unlocked and they were allowed to go down into the hallway, getting supplies, doing laundry, cleaning, or acquiring food, they knew that if they wanted to use the bathroom when they came back into the room, to call through the curtain first. Otherwise, they all knew when someone was in there, because they weren’t in the main room.

If the others mentally came back to the room, they’d know someone was in there, simply because Luis was not in the main room. It was the only other place he could be. That meant there’d at least be a warning before anyone came in, as Luis encouraged Lauriam. “Take a seat on the shower edge wall. Take a breath. I’m going to go grab the extra clothes they threw in. You’ll feel better in something fresh,” he promised, stepping out of the curtain. 

Again, Lauriam didn’t take much of the room in, but at the indication, he stiltedly sat down on the small wall, subconsciously careful of his knee. He couldn’t remember exactly what had happened, but he thought someone had kicked it, at some point. Lauriam couldn’t tell if it hurt to walk. 

For a moment, he just blinked at the floor. 

He had been fire and tears and yelling so much. Now there was nothing left. Just an empty, dead hus--

Lauriam crossed his arms over his stomach and folded himself into a ball, breathing in small, shuddered hiccups. 

This wasn’t real, right? Wherever he was now, Lauriam couldn’t even begin to guess, it was just some strange fever dream…right? Any second he’d wake up and get embarrassed for oversleeping because he liked to help with breakfast, if not start it, before Stre…before S…

Grief shuddered through the preteen, overworked tear ducts not quite ready for another round, but every other reaction the same. 

Luis took a second to collect himself out in the room. Okay, new person. New kid. 

…man, not even new kid who’d be the right age for the old kid. Luis glanced over at Aeleus’ pallet, where Ienzo was sitting and leaning against the man he had started calling Dad years ago’s side. His own pallet empty and unmade, his bedding right where he had left it to go sit with one of his parents before work started. New kid was closer to being a teenager than little Ienzo. He likely wouldn’t find any comfort that the only other kid around was 9. Ah, shame…

Pulling someone out of work to help crowd New Kid likely wasn’t going to help anything. Picking up the clothes, Luis headed back into the bathroom, frowning in concern at the way New Kid was hunched over and trembling. 

Kneeling down in front of New Kid, Luis tried a gentle, if sad, smile, as he showed him the clothes. “See these? These are yours. When you’re ready, you can put them on. I won’t make you shower or anything like that, I can see you’re shaken. But if you want to shower, you can, with or without my help. There’s no hurry. This is all here and ready when you want it.”

Luis paused, before offering, “My name’s Luis, lad. Spelled the wrong way, I’ve been informed.” He tried for a small joke, smiling tiredly. 

In some ways, it had been easier to deal with exasperation and taunts and…honestly thinly veiled hatred and disgust. It was easier for each moment of lucidity to be focused into fighting a clearly defined opponent. 

…what was he supposed to do with someone trying to be kind? What was this guy trying to get? The only person who would be kind to him without a reason was…

Lauriam choked on a small, miserable breath. 

…he’d been wearing the same clothes for days, and he could feel where the blood caked into them was trying to fuse with his skin. 

“...Lauriam,” a small voice whispered in the ball. 

“That’s a good name,” Luis said. A cultural compliment, something you were expected to say to young people when they gave you their name. A good name, a fine name. You were supposed to look at them and find a way to make their name compliment them. Some way to reinforce their confidence, by suggesting the name was well picked, since they were so handsome/pretty/smart/strong. 

But Luis found himself faltering, looking for the compliment. The boy was clearly struggling. Too thin around the face, bags under red eyes, skin purpled and blotted, streaks of blood mixed and matted with dirt. The only thing evident about him his suffering.

“...a sturdy name, Lauriam,” Luis murmured, “Suits you. Ah, lad, they really did put you through the ringer, yeh? You must have been a handful. Good on you, really. Those bastards don’t deserve to have an easy time of it, I hope you gave ‘em hell.”

Lauriam nodded a little in his ball. He wished he had done more, honestly. He really hadn’t been tentative, not with how S…not with the kind of warning he’d been given, but he wished he’d done more. 

They all deserved to burn in hellfire.

Lauriam hiccuped another breath before slowly pushing himself up slightly, giving Luis a tentative look. “...Mr. Luis, what’s…going on? Where is,” finally, Lauriam glanced around the bathroom a little. Recognizable as a bathroom, sure, but…certainly nothing like he’d ever seen before, “here?”

“Ah, you can drop the titles, lad, though I appreciate that. I haven’t been called a ‘Mister’ in years,” Luis chuckled, before looking around warily. Again, seeing the place with what it must look like to new eyes. “Here is… ah, how to explain…”

Again, this was Luis’ first new person. Technically Ienzo had been his first first new person, but Ienzo had been 7 and Even and Aeleus had taken on most of the work of getting the kid settled. Luis had never had to explain what the factory was, or what their place in it was, to anyone before. 

It was a damn depressing explanation. Luis was desperately trying to think of a gentle way to put it all, when through the curtain called, “Luis, you alright in there? I hear you talking to yourself. Not losing it on us, are you?”

“Ah, Dilan, no, I…” Luis gave the curtain a worried look, before saying, “Give us a minute, would you?”

“...us?”

But Luis turned his attention back to Lauriam. “That’s Dilan. A good fella, he won’t hurt you. But I can still tell him to stay out and he will, if you don’t want to deal with a bunch of people yet. It’s close to the end of work hours, a lot of people might start asking what’s going on soon. Want me to keep them out for now?”

…somehow that didn’t feel like a good sign. Lauriam definitely wasn’t super into the hierarchy or anything, but a lack of titles here didn’t exactly seem like it was being used because everyone was just comfortable with each other. 

Lauriam gave Luis a worried look, before he tensed, eyes quickly going towards the…curtain? Towards the voice. …there had been a lot of people around before, in the other room. 

…work hours?

“...can I take a shower?” Lauriam asked quietly, still just looking confused and scared. But, well, if something with a lot of people was going to happen, then…he could at least not smell terrible and be covered in dried blood.

“Course lad. You know how to use a knob like that?” Luis asked, pointing to the lever, “Pushing it up makes more and more pressure from the water coming out of those lines going around the ceiling. Water’s going to come out from all ends, you can’t help that, but if you push it allll the way up, it’ll come out strong enough that it’ll just shoot towards the center. Don’t worry about heat, it’ll get hot but it won’t scald you. And I’ll stand guard at the curtain, alright? You can take your time in here.”

Lauriam glanced over, taking in Luis’ instructions quietly, before he nodded. He was still pretty hunched over, so it wasn’t a huge difference, but the bow of his head made his deference clear as he murmured, “Thank you.”

Outside the curtain, Terra gave Dilan a concerned look as he waited with him, tilting his head back towards the bathroom in silent question. 

“No idea, man,” Dilan whispered, crossing his arms and shrugging warily, “I’m just hoping he’s not in there babbling to himself. Or Luxord. Always a bad sign, when you start talking to your Nobodies out here.”

“Relax, ‘m not mad yet.” Luis sighed, stepping out from around the curtain, before firmly closing it shut behind him. “We’ve got a new one.”

Dilan’s eyes widened. “No…ah, shoot, this is always such a damn… Well, what’s the damage?” Dilan asked with a sigh, lightly scratching his forehead. It was always a big deal when a new Empath showed up. Especially out of the blue like this, because it meant they had been caught and brought in, not one of the unlucky Indentureds found by one of them. This was someone they would have to integrate intimately into their lives, usually at their most stressed and paranoid. It was always an issue. “I don’t suppose we lucked out and got ourselves another little Ienzo.”

“Afraid not, and unfortunately, that doesn’t mean we’ve got another one of us either.” Luis said, “I don’t know how old he is, but I’d be shocked if he was a teenager proper. Skinny little thing, and they beat the absolute shit out of him too.”

“Oh… dammit,” Dilan murmured, “Atua smite them.”

Well, for most of them. Terra supposed it still wasn’t quite talking to his Nobody, but sometimes Ienzo--or Zexion--talked as if they were having an ongoing conversation with the other in the kid’s head. It didn’t always make for the most clear conversations out loud, but…well, as much as they tended to keep those lines separate, there was a part of Terra that was happy the kid had seemed to find a friend in himself. He seemed happy enough, circumstances acknowledged, with the time they spent with him, but being the only kid in a group of adults wasn’t easy. 

…not the only kid anymore, though, it seemed. 

Terra gave Luis a similarly shocked look before letting out a sigh, spreading his fingers along his browbone for a moment as he quarter turned, just taking that in. “Hells, I’d do it myself with half a chance,” he grumbled after Dilan before composing himself, looking back at him and Luis. 

“You have a guess how bad his injuries are?” he asked with a quiet worry. Terra could hear the shower start up, but he didn’t want to freak the kid out any more by overhearing people talking about him. “Think he’d let us treat him, or should we just leave him with first aid?”

“Honestly, I think we should treat him. Maybe Aqua, she’s pretty unthreatening when she wants to be,” Luis whispered, “There was a lot of blood on him. He could walk, but that just might be spit and vinegar pulling him through, rather than him actually being okay. They messed the lad up something fierce.”

“Was he coherent?” Dilan asked. 

“Aye, seemed like it to me. Polite, but no idea where he is or what he’s doing here, I think. I don’t think they gave him any sort of explanation.”

“Course. Too busy beating up a kid to tell him where the hell he’s going.” Dilan scowled, before sighing, glancing over at Aqua’s pallet. “...I’ve done this show a few times, I can try explaining what’s happening to him. Maybe Aqua and I can tackle it together. Terra, could you let her know?”

“Shit…” Terra sighed. It had been hard enough, seeing the state Aqua had been in when she broke into the factory, and after her until now he’d only seen Luis and Ienzo. Sure, Luis hadn’t been in a great place mentally, but those two coming in through the program, it at least meant they had been treated alright, comparatively. Seeing a kid beaten to the hells?

“Yeah, I’ve got her,” Terra gave Dilan a nod, before giving Luis a tired grin. “That leaves us to manage the rest of the circus, huh? Think we can hold off the wave of doting for a little while.”

Laughing quietly at his half-joke, Terra moved over to Aqua’s pallet, touching her shoulder gently as he checked in to see if Aaxqu was finished with her group today. 

Lauriam looked down in dismay at the reddish-brown ring around the shower drain, trying to think of what to…do. Would regular soap clean that? Because it was all he noticed in the bathroom right now. 

Through the curtain, Luis called in, “Lauriam. This isn’t to hurry you, take your time, but. We’ve got two of ours who when you’re ready, want to take a look at those injuries of yours, lad. Their names are Aqua and Dilan, and they can get you all wrapped up, look at that leg of yours.”

Lauriam gave the curtain a worried glance. Um…um…okay. What… 

“Okay, thank you,” Lauriam called back, voice barely loud enough to carry. “I-I can be ready in a moment.”

Panicking for a moment, he just knelt on the knee that didn’t hurt as much and dabbed a bit of soap on the blood ring, trying to rub it out. 

A little groggy, but quickly waking up, Aqua shared a worried look with Dilan, but before they could start another whispered conversation…

A tiny preteen nervously moved the curtain back, indeed beaten to all hell, as he quickly gave the two new adults a polite bow-- “Oh hun, don’t,” Aqua cut him off, holding Lauriam’s shoulders with a gentle firmness as she straightened him, “Try not to put weight on your leg, okay? We’ll take a look.”

Even cleaner, it just put all the injuries into starker relief. The bruising of a black eye, heavy swelling and bruising around one of his cheeks, a split lip, and while they’d have to take a closer look at everything else, Aqua could already note the healing cuts on the boy’s hands. 

Already wheeling him over to a corner where a crate they used as a seat was, using her body to shield him from the others starting to get up, Aqua gave the boy a soft smile. “Won’t make you play a fifty-fifty game; I’m Aqua. Luis said your name’s Lauriam?”

Looking increasingly unsure as he limped over to where he was pushed, Lauriam nodded gently. “Yes, ma’am, it’s nice to meet you.”

Dilan hadn’t thought it would be good, but Luis’ explanation had still managed to undersell exactly how bad it was, the blond taking a step back to let Dilan and Aqua take over. As Aqua herded the kid to the corner of the room, Dilan had pulled out their first aid kit from the side of the crate, like Aqua using his body to shield the kid from seeing past him as murmurs started to fill the room. Luis and Terra going to explain what was going on to the others waking up. 

Though, at Aqua’s introduction, Dilan chuckled a little as he pulled out some alcohol pads, giving the kid–Lauriam–an amused look as he said, “What do you think, Lauriam? Think you could have guessed which of us would have been named ‘Aqua’ if we had given you the chance? I don’t know, ol’ Blue-eyes, Blue-hair here sure doesn’t bring up any clues, huh? Wouldn’t have had the foggiest.”

“I don’t know your parents, could’ve been a subversion just for this moment,” Lauriam mumbled, and while the play-along did make Aqua smile a bit, the way Lauriam’s eyes unfocused for a moment did make her worry increase. 

“Would be clandestine, huh?” she smiled, before asking, “May I take a look at your leg, Lauriam? Did they get you at the knee, or somewhere else?”

Nodding a little, he said softly, “I think the knee, I…think someone kicked it at one point? A lot happened.” He didn’t get the chance to start rolling up the leg of the sweatpants he’d been given before Aqua started on it, so Lauriam just kept his hands to himself, before he looked between them warily. 

Again, he quietly asked, “What’s going on?”

“Oh no, he’s funny. Aqua, what am I gonna do? I’m already struggling to keep up with you and Terra all the time, now we have another witty one just ready with comebacks even when all roughed up like this. I’m gonna have to up my game,” Dilan chuckled warmly.

As Aqua looked over the injuries, Dilan wetted the cotton balls, frowning at the mess of dark bruising and open cuts revealed beneath the sweatpants. Oh, someone had gotten his knee alright. Kicked it in and then dragged it across the ground it looked like. Passing Aqua some of the alcohol wipes, he said, “Why don’t you give me your hand, kid, we’ll clean up those cuts first and then…” Dilan looked at the rest of him, frowning, “Well, we’ll just keep going till we get to all of it. Just bare with us, you can let us know if you need a break from the fussing.”

“As for what’s happening…the first thing you need to know is that this is a bad situation, but we’re the ones who are on your side and are going to help you with it,” Dilan said firmly, looking up at Lauriam as he stressed, “Whatever else we tell you right now, however scary it’s going to be? You need to hold onto the idea that right now, in this second, you’re safe and surrounded by people who are going to look out for you. From now on. That doesn’t change, I promise. Can you hold onto that thought for me, Lauriam?”

“Finally,” Aqua hummed, just letting her wince at the state of Lauriam’s leg stay internal. What the fuck had they done to this kid…? Sure, maybe he didn’t know how to properly fight, but that should’ve just meant that the supervisors would be able to take him down more quickly, right? Whatever fight had happened, it had been messy. Lauriam might’ve not known what was happening, but he’d understood it had been something he’d needed to fight with everything he had against. “You know how long we’ve been waiting for you to get a fire under your butt like this? Turns out all it took was meeting another person funnier than you.”

As Aqua got started on his leg, Lauriam wincing a little, but not reacting much more than that, he gave Dilan a wary look, glancing briefly over the adults’ shoulders, even if he couldn’t actually see the others he could hear murmuring. …why? Why would these strangers be on his side? Who would…just instantly be gentle and kind, not hesitating to be warm and…

Lauriam breathed in a shaky breath. “Yes, sir.”

“Hah. Hear that, Aqua? I’m ‘sir’. Why can’t any of you show me that level of respect? I’m going to be so sad when an hour from now you realize there’s nothing ‘sir’ about me.” Dilan sighed dramatically, unwinding one of the bandages and gently wrapping it around Lauriam’s busted up knuckles. “Well, so here’s a very complicated situation simplified, Lauriam. You’ve been kidnapped. We all have been.”

“They’ll want to call it ‘imprisoned’, but I have issues with that wording,” Dilan frowned, “We weren’t taken to a dungeon, we’re not in prison. We’re locked away in what’s commonly called a ‘factory’. Do you know the Togami Factories, Lauriam?”

“Honestly, I’m still reeling over ‘ma’am’,” Aqua hummed, glancing up to give Lauriam a warm smile. “Imagine that, me, a ‘ma’am’. You did say it nicer than ‘scamp’, so I’ll take it.”

Thankfully, it looked like most of the scratches so far were on the shallower side, and while they hadn’t been cleaned before this, nothing looked infected. Hopefully that luck would continue…though Aqua was a little worried by how slight the kid was. They weren’t starved, but if Lauriam was coming from a situation where he was, it’d be…something they’d have to put more consideration into, helping him out. 

Brow furrowing a little, Lauriam paused. He’d heard of the Togami Facilities, but… “...like for the Indentured Program?” he softly asked, looking confused, “But I thought people signed up for that? And…I’m not Indentured.”

Lauriam looked to the side, looking more uncomfortable than wary for a moment. “Mama has a regular job, so…”

Aqua frowned slightly. ‘Mama’? Shit…

“This is one of the cogs in the machine for the Indentured Program, but we don’t have contracts like all the Indentured you might’ve heard of before,” Aqua started explaining. 

“So no, you’re not Indentured. You’re something else. Arguably something very cool… and whatever the supervisors tell you?” Dilan said, gently grasping Lauriam’s elbow, giving him a stern look, “Not demonic. We’re not forsaken by Atua. This is the work of people, and nothing we did inherently made us deserve it. That’s the second thought I want you to hold onto. First thought, you’re surrounded by people who are on your side. Second thought, you don’t deserve anything the supervisors have done or will do. Atua loves you, and you deserve to be loved.”

{Especially,} Dilan sent to him, {Because you’re capable of incredible things.}

Lauriam was back to wary, though the mix of confusion on his face only grew. Sure, sure, he’d heard countless people say that ‘Atua loves you!’, and not even just from people who more regularly went to temple. It was just…polite, especially if someone had been nice, or you noticed someone was down in the dumps. 

He’d…never heard anyone say it so…emphatically before, though. Like it was more than a part of speech. 

Though as Dilan…said? Something? But his lips weren’t moving, and it was so much more than words…

Lauriam’s eyes went wide as he suddenly went very very still, reflexively sending back {???¿¿¿¿???!!!!! Total shock and confusion and recognition that was kind of exciting! But also terrifying! And a sort of dazed worry in retrospect about mischief, but that quickly being trampled by fear and grief and…}

A very small, tentative mental voice saying {...hello?}

Dilan smiled, putting his finger to his own lips, a small motion of silence, as he sent back, {Hi.} before chuckling lightly, {See? It’s not even hard. It’s natural.}

And in some of that echo back was conviction. A lesson learned hard but fully embraced. Empath abilities were a natural part of life. They were not freaks or wrong for having them. They were not unholy. The people who hurt them were wrong.

There is nothing wrong with you.

{Did you know you could do this? Most of us don’t before we end up here. I didn’t know when I first came here.} Dilan explained.

Aqua smirked a little to herself as she saw Lauriam’s eyes widen more. It didn’t always go well, but it was cute seeing this part. 

It’s natural… Well…yeah? Lauriam knew that not everyone could do what he could, but he didn’t really think about it past that. It was just something he did to…

(Ienzo looked over in surprise, seeing a few sunflowers pop up near Dilan’s door.)

Nodding a little, then blushing as he saw Aqua’s amused look, Lauriam {tried,}

{It would be a sudden sense of vertigo, oddly accompanied by the scent of sunflowers}

Dilan was briefly a little startled. It wasn’t often that any of them created an illusion in the real world, but he could swear he actually smelled the scent that was filling his mind. Like it was a real, physical thing. Dilan glancing at Aqua to see if she was getting the same thing, before chuckling lightly, “Seems we’ve got ourselves a flower.”

Aqua considered it lucky that she’d been reaching for another cotton ball as her sense of balance swayed--a familiar “Gah!” behind them from Terra--before she grinned up at Lauriam, giving him a genuinely impressed look. “Hey, that’s cool!”

Though, Lauriam just looked between them (and the others, sort of, glancing up briefly) confused. “I’ve…never done that to multiple people before? I wasn’t trying to…”

“Geez, you’re already so ahead of the curve,” Aqua sighed, before giving Lauriam a gentler smile. “That’s another thing to explain. That ability you just did? The conversation I’m betting Dilan just had with you? It’s called Empathy, and it’s the reason we’re all here. Why Togami wanted us.”

“But, we’ve set up some defenses around that. All of us being in this together we’ve decided to be in it together through Empathy too.”

“Are you two introducing him to the island yet?” An older man–Even–called from where he was using the wall to stretch, having gotten up from his pallet, “You can’t just connect him right away, he needs to adjust.”

“No, Even, we’re just telling him about it. Still gotta cover his injuries. They got him good,” Dilan called back, looking back to Lauriam as he finished wrapping his wrist, “That’s Even. If you really want to call someone ‘Sir’, he’s the one you’d do it to. But that said, it’s not really something we do here. Pretty much just first name bases all around. Consider it an Empath privilege.”

“But you’ll like the island, once you see it,” Dilan assured Lauriam, “It’s this place we’ve all made together, that only us Empaths can get to. And we’re all connected to it. When you’re connected to it too, you’ll feel stronger and more in control of your abilities. You’ll get to make and explore your own world, if you don’t know how to look inwards yet. You’ll even,” Dilan smiled, “get to make another person to live there, which we’ll show you how to do. It’s… a fun creative project you’ll get to do, making a toy come to life.”

Dilan paused, before chuckling awkwardly, “Sorry, I’m not around kids much. Are you young enough to still like toys? Is that a plus?”

None of that was illuminating to Lauriam in the slightest, though he looked a little more worried about one of the others calling in to what had started to feel like a temporary bubble in the corner. 

…’connect’? His own world? …another person?

He looked a little lost about what to even question in all that, though he gave Dilan a slight frown. “...I’m 12.”

“Question still stands,” Aqua said amusedly, even more as Lauriam flustered a bit from that. (12? Fucking damnit she was really going to lose it on the supervisors one of these days…)

As Aqua got closer to his knee, Lauriam gasped quietly, though he immediately tried to cover it by saying quickly, “I like drawing. I don’t really know who hasn’t daydreamed about bringing a drawing to life. So I-I guess that analogy still works.”

Aqua paused, undistracted as she frowned in concern. “...Lauriam, could you try moving your foot around? I’d hope you weren’t walking around on a broken leg, but sometimes you tough cookies really push things.”

Looking more worried, Lauriam said just as quickly, “It’s not broken! I’m okay, it just hurts a little.”

“Oooh, bringing a drawing to life is a great way to explain it. That’s it, that’s what you’re doing,” Dilan agreed, though his eyes immediately went down to Lauriam’s foot when Aqua brought it up, “...it’s alright if you did break it. You’ll have plenty of chances to let it heal. See that big guy over there?”

Dilan nodded behind him, where Aeleus was with Ienzo. “He’s the biggest ‘exercise’ guy here. But, see, me and Aqua? We can take him. You hear that, Aeleus?” Dilan smirked, glancing over his shoulder at him, “Try to convince the boy here to do jumping jacks, Aqua and I are gonna beat you up. What do you think of that?”

Aeleus looked over from where he was trying to coax Ienzo--or any Zexion--into waking up their body and recovering from a day of work, and potentially meeting the new arrival, giving the group in the corner a cool look. “I’d look forward to the challenge.”

Lauriam froze again, indeed intimidated by the huge, intimidating man, though he could only have his attention grabbed by Aqua again as she snorted. “Always down for anything, our Aeleus. Don’t let him fool you though, my spar record with him is nothing to sneeze at.”

Lauriam wasn’t exactly worried about having the time to heal. (He’d hoped he wouldn’t have had time for anything, because he’d no longer be in time.) But…breaks usually meant money you didn’t have for healers you couldn’t trust. Or having people worry about you, when there were a lot of bigger things to worry about. 

Sure, sure, maybe these people were…sort of determined to be nice, because they were all kidnapped together for…being Empaths. But Lauriam didn’t immediately want to be a burden on people. Being abandoned would be better by this point. 

“Break or not,” Aqua said gently, “I do want to see what sort of shape your knee’s in. So can you move the rest of your leg for me? And if it hurts, don’t try to hide it, alright?”

Looking to the side, Lauriam nodded and straightened his leg a little, rolling his ankle. Wincing a little, but not reacting much more than that. 

Dilan watched him roll his ankle, before asking, {How does that feel?}

{A sore, tender twinge, but the sort of pain you’d baby, not curl up in a ball or immediately go to a healer for}

{It’s fine, I can waAAAH!!}

Lauriam fully flinched as Aqua touched around his kneecap, a startled sound of pain leaving him as he inadvertently grasped Dilan’s hand, the man still wrapping up the injuries around his hands and arms, the emotion through their live connection, well…sounding a lot like {OW OW OW OW!!}

“Sorry about that.” Aqua sympathetically winced. …she knew some aid, sure, but she definitely was no healer… “I don’t think it’s broken, but it’s likely something’s swollen, maybe from a fracture or dislocation. So even if you have been able to walk on it, I’m laying down the law now that you should avoid it all you can until it heals more.”

The ‘OW OW OW’ seemed to be what finally got Viz up. The older woman sighing as she stretched on her pallet, blinking sleepily before motioning for Even to give her a hand up, who did, before she shuffled over to the corner. “Honestly, you two, we get our second babe in just as many decades, and you all are already trying to kill the poor thing. What’d we fight so hard for painkillers for if you aren’t going to use them?”

“We don’t have them anymore, Viz, remember? They took them when Xaldin had that… disagreement with them,” Dilan said warily. 

“Oh shoot, we never got that figured out? Ah well. You alright there, babe? Young Aqua here torturing you?” Viz asked, peeking over the two as she said, “What are you two doing, can we not get a look at him? Gosh, look at that hair. Brightest pink I’ve ever seen.”

Just trying to breathe through coming down from the burst of pain, Lauriam seemed a bit…dazed for a moment, before he looked up at the older woman who’d come over. And while it clearly (and not just to a room full of Empaths) was something of a performance, he smiled softly up at her, giving her a polite bow with his head. “I’m alright, Aqua and Dilan have been helping me, thank you, ma’am. Though, I-I am okay,” he glanced to Aqua and Dilan with an awkward sheepishness, “If we’re all…stuck here? I don’t really need extra privacy.”

“Don’t be so quick to turn it down!” Terra jokingly called over, “The polite intros will only last so long!”

“Oh, hush, Terra, there’s always ways to find privacy when you’re awake out here. Like… staring at a wall,” Even said, pausing, “...or staring at a corner. Or staring at your hands.”

“But, that’s why we’ll get you accumulated to the island as soon as we can,” Even said, giving the boy a small smile when Dilan and Aqua finally shuffled around, giving Lauriam more of a view of everyone else, and everyone else him. Even brushing a full head of blond hair back over his shoulders as he said, “This room is terrible, we know, but the alternative spaces we will reside in will make up for this space. We do come back here to eat, exercise, move our bodies around so we don’t lose track of what it means to be physical.”

“Cleaning too,” Dilan said.

“Cleaning too,” Even sighed, “But most of the time you will not be ‘here’. You’ll be on the island. So try not to let the conditions in here depress you too much.” Even said, looking around, “They have not delivered to us a new pallet and bedding yet. Aeleus and I will bring it up with someone when they open the door for dinner.”

Dilan gently squeezed Lauriam’s hand, before pulling it away to keep working on his injuries, working on his non-busted leg, which still had some scrapes that needed tending to. 

…no one brought up their ‘work’ yet.

Lauriam would have two weeks to adjust and settle before the supervisors would demand his quotas. They had time to talk about it later, but not now. Not when he was still grappling with his kidnapping and new home. There’d be time later.

…he still didn’t really…understand what that meant, though he attempted to give a friendly look to the others in the room that he could now see. Come back here to eat, exercise…’what it meant to be physical’? What…was the alternative?

-

The alternative, it turned out, was a full-on literal tropical island, which as he had been explained, would be the main place to call home, even if Lauriam still had a hard time wrapping his head around being there at all. ‘Being’. Being?

It was confusing. 

But while the island itself was nice, being a part of it meant making your own space in it too.

“It’s the link to your mind,” Zexion explained (Lauriam had made the effort to talk to the younger boy, since talking out in the real world, the physical world, the others called it, didn’t…really seem to be much of a thing with Ienzo) “It’s not the only thing that defines you, but the form it takes says something, I think.”

“Can it change?” Lauriam asked, before giving Zexion a sheepish smile. “I mean, you probably would feel differently about your world when you’re older, right?”

Zexion gave him a look drier than parchment. “Probably. But I don’t think libraries are something I’ll outgrow. I’m 9, not an infant, I didn’t make my world a circus of spinning colors. Unless that was something you were planning on.”

Lauriam startled slightly, starting to turn pink. 

“Zexion, there’s no need to be rude. It’s an intelligent question, and we know those should be rewarded with intelligent answers,” Even reminded him, absentmindedly patting the boy’s head, still looking over the area they had decided Lauriam’s mind would connect to. Even would be helping Lauriam make the connection, though… “Luis, are you going to be ready?”

Luis was leaning against the wall, looking exhausted, notably sweating. “Yep… yeah… didn’t drink anything all day, I swear…”

“I can tell. Alright, Zexion, try again. What’s an intelligent answer to his question?”

Zexion pouted a little before he frowned up at Lauriam. “...since it is your mind, it likely shifts as you do. Maybe that would just mean a slight morph of established themes, or additions or subtractions, since this is a solid conceptualization, but I don’t think it’s set in stone forever, no.”

Still blushing a bit, highly aware that the kid only changed his tune because his dad said so, Lauriam nodded sheepishly. “I have been trying to think of something since you guys mentioned it, but I’m not sure if it’s too…simple? So if I can still change it after the fact, I think that’d be good.”

“People are rarely successful on their first attempts of anything.” While in some interpretations, that was an uplifting message about the nature of learning, the way Zexion said it, somehow looking down on the boy a bit taller than him, made Lauriam feel like it was a very clear jab that Zexion thought he was going to mess this up. 

(...Lauriam had made an effort to talk to Ienzo. But it was very quickly embarrassing to learn the ‘baby’ of the group had a higher reading level than anyone Lauriam had ever known, and spoke like it too. Honestly it made Lauriam just want to quickly get this done with and never speak to Ienzo again.)

“Whatever you make, just remember, it’s important to make it something pleasant for yourself. A space you would enjoy spending time in,” Even explained, “When you make your world with other goals in mind, such as, say… practicality. Perhaps even to accomplish a specific goal? All you are doing is robbing yourself of scenery that will bring you joy and comfort on difficult days. The space should first be a world you enjoy, and second be practical.”

“Says the man who made his world a lab,” Luis chuckled tiredly.

“My lab experiences bring me joy. But you can repurpose any space to be practical, is what I am insisting. It’s hard to turn a practical space into one of joy,” Even said, looking to Lauriam, “That said? You can change it later. Though in my experience, it’s rare for someone to entirely change the aesthetics of their world, once they’ve decided on it. Refine and add details, yes, but it rarely becomes a whole new place. I don’t know whether to call it preference or inertia, but that does seem to hold true. So whatever simple concept you start with? Make sure it’s something you’d like.”

Lauriam nodded slowly, taking that in. 

(...what did bring him joy?)

(That concept felt…fake now. How did anyone just be happy when they knew that everything good would be crushed, outright or through the knowledge that everyone was only doing things for their own gain, that nothing good existed, that even trying for it was just set-up for worse and worse things to come later?)

(How was he supposed to be happy if he wasn’t even alive?)

…alive things were happy, he supposed. 

“...okay,” Lauriam said slowly, before he glanced between Even and…the clearly struggling Luis. Giving Luis a more concerned look. “So…I just concentrate on that idea while… Sorry, I still don’t really get how you ‘shape intent’ or do anything with it, really. I just…felt things, when I’ve used Empathy before. It didn’t really feel like I was doing anything.”

“You were, you just weren’t aware of it,” Zexion pointed out. “You just weren’t thinking about what you were doing enough.”

“There is a certain level of concentrated effort it requires. But also, you have to be aware that it’s something you can even concentrate on, which is actually where Empaths usually have the first roadblock,” Even explained, putting out his hands close to each other, as he said, “Here, mimic me for a moment. I’m going to create a very simple construct.”

Looking at the spot between his hands, Even said, “Intent to create is the same as intent to communicate. There has to be a part of you that believes you can do it. It is, in fact, my theory that young Empaths actually have far greater and more expansive control of their Empath abilities because of how strict the need to believe in it is. They do not yet conceptualize they have limits. And so, they don’t. They just do whatever they are capable of, and learn over time through observing others, reprimands, mistakes, or fear, to stop using those abilities.”

“Clap if you believe in magic,” Luis murmured tiredly. 

“For anyone past the age where blanket belief in something is harder to truly buy into, we tend to need to look for internal clues that something is working, something is happening,” Even said, as little swirling lights started to form between his hands, “For me, and what I always recommend to start with, is looking for clues of energy building up within you. Some people describe it as heat, others say they’ve experienced pain, but I always felt like there was something cold just on the tip of my skin, when energy within me is moving. Then I envision that energy building and building, until it can take a shape… and once I feel that energy? Once I believe it can take that shape?”

The white light burst, and out puffed a spray of snowflakes. They floated up, a small cloud forming above them, before that cloud gently cleared, snow falling over them. 

“For connection to the island? What you’re looking for is that same feeling, that same hint of something building inside of you… and then leashing it here,” Even said, gesturing to the wall, “Like a tether. Grabbing the island with the piece of yourself that you can feel.”

“And when you do, don’t worry about making it stable,” Luis sighed, “That’s where I come in. I’ll make it stick.”

Nodding, Lauriam mimicked Even, holding his hands slightly apart and frowning softly as he…did his best to understand. Lauriam felt like he was alright at school! His grades had never been anything to worry about, and even won him smiles time to time--really, getting into fights was the biggest issue with school he had, at least according to his family. But he’d noticed that if he didn’t understand something immediately, it tended to be something he struggled with for…a while. 

Lauriam had never really thought about his Empathy, not about what it was or how he’d gotten it or how to use it. He just…had it. Did things. Some asshole was about to do a presentation? Oops, now looks like that confidence is gone. Jerk was saying stuff about his moms? Have fun feeling like you were being stared at for the rest of the day. It just…happened. 

Really, the most controlled Lauriam had felt over his abilities had been--

Lauriam gasped softly in wonder as Even made a burst of snow, eyes widening as it actually felt cold as it drifted down on them. He could only be further astounded as Zexion pulled out a, well, large book and opened to a certain page, brushing his hand over it and adding little flurries of sparkles to the snowfall. Cohesive and beautiful. 

(Belief…belief and energy. Well…sure, Lauriam believed he could do things, but…)

(Do I believe in wishes? Pff, La-La, when did you get so cynical? Sure, sure, I don’t think that if I blow on enough dandelions we’ll suddenly live in a castle and get box tickets to the theater or anything--if you want something to happen, you’ve gotta make it true yourself! But I do think there’s parts of life that’s beyond that, you know? So I don’t think it’ll hurt to give yourself better odds and give it a try. Believing just gives you the hope to try sometimes.)

Sometimes Lauriam had felt energy within him. It did, actually, feel like heat, like a fire starting to spark through his veins, pressure building and building and building until--

“A-AH!”

It exploded. 

An orangey-pink bloom like a sunset suddenly twisted inward, surrounding all four of them, before it rapidly bloomed, ‘exploding’ in a mess of chaotic energy. 

“...” Luis looked around, looking slightly more coherent, startled out of his withdrawals, “...well, that was something.”

“That was exquisite. Uncontrolled, clearly, but exquisite,” Even mused, “I’m going to guess you created your… I believe that was a figment, but you created it when you were focusing on what the energy felt like? That’s close to what you need to do, but instead of using that moment of creation to personify what you’re feeling, try to use what you’re feeling to fuel your creation. Still, a lovely display of raw energy.”

“Looked like a flower,” Luis noted, “...but fiery.”

“Yes, very lovely,” Even agreed, while Luis looked conflicted on if they were on the same page or not.

Lauriam looked at the fading petals in alarm, and even Zexion looked astounded, struck still before his book rapidly flipped pages and the young boy started furiously writing in it. Lauriam warily looked around, his hands nervously tucked against his chest before he made an uncertain noise. “So…backwards, then. Sort of…”

…alright, use that energy, but…pushing it. Like a sticky hand to grab onto…everything around him. Not creating something in front of him, like the flower, but, like…

As he scrunched his eyes closed, trying to focus, drawing up that explosive feeling in him, but then trying to move it, Lauriam was suddenly hit by the sensation of free-falling, and not just that, but free-falling within something so, so much larger than himself, and instead of pure wind, it felt like…snippets of conversations and feelings and memories and...people buffeting past him with no purchase. 

(This next part didn’t exactly happen to everybody.)

(There were lots of… echoes, in the island. Memories. The factory had been around a long time, and no one alive knew the original group that had originally made the island to pass on to the next Empaths.)

(No one even really knew what had happened to them. The stories lost.)

(When Even had first connected to the island, he had heard a girl’s voice, and seen dark hair with brown eyes. She had asked him what he intended to do. Even hadn’t been sure if she had been asking him, or someone in the memory he was seeing. She had been gone before he could answer, the bear at her feet that had been eerily watching him gone with her.)

(Aeleus had told Even when he joined the island that he was fairly sure he had seen the same girl. Only she had been insisting she wasn’t going to leave him. And he too had been confused if she had meant him, or someone he couldn’t see.)

(Connecting with the island was the only time any of them could seem to pull this off. Even had tried before to find more memories, and had failed in his pursuits. Something about the raw experience of connecting to the island the only chance to do it.)

Briefly, for a moment, falling with him, was a boy with white hair, green eyes, wearing a large red scarf. He was older than Lauriam, somewhere in his late teens. He was staring at Lauriam curiously. Or staring at someone curiously. But it felt like he was staring at Lauriam, as he whispered, “Need some help?”

And then a creature burst out of his chest, with big round ears and reached out and–

“I’ve got you,” Luis said, closing his eyes, staggering a little as he caught Lauriam’s fall, steadying him, before reaching out and touching the wall. Stepping back with a sigh when a door formed. “Phew… there we go.”

Lauriam could only blink at the boy, hardly even processing the…creature, before--

꩜ᯅ꩜

Even being steadied by Luis, Lauriam reeled, not just from that falling sensation, but…the everything. That rushing sense of ‘people’ now something concrete and present, a press of feelings all around him that was like being in the center of a loud crowd, but for every sense. 

Zexion frowned a little before looking up at his dad. “...we don’t really have the time, so I suppose this is a chance to see how someone takes it with a concussion?”

(Because as Aqua had finished her assessment, it turned out that Lauriam did, indeed, have a mild concussion. It had been hard to tell, but him phasing out every now and then wasn’t just trauma.)

Tucking his Lexicon under an arm, Zexion placidly grabbed around Lauriam’s wrist, and guided the dazed boy towards his door. “Well, it might be quieter in his own mind, to adjust to everything.”

The two week time limit was ever present. And more than that, it was bad for a person to have to stay in the physical room they occupied for too long at a time. It was just a terrible space, it’d make difficult conversations they needed to have with Lauriam even harder. 

It was always better to give them their coping mechanisms first, and then explain what it was they were going to be coping through. And Even was a big believer in embracing unorthodox coping mechanisms. If your Empath abilities gave you the ability to make some difficult challenges more manageable? Well… why not? ‘Madness’ was sometimes a better problem to have.

“You want me to come with, Even?” Luis asked, something mildly desperate in the question. He was sweating harder now. 

“...no, that’s alright, go return to your world, Luis. Thank you for your assistance. Actually, could you ask Dilan to come along? Vexen is… busy. But I know Dilan’s on time with his quotas.” 

“Yep, got it. Good luck in there, Lauriam. I hope you like your world,” Luis said, giving Lauriam a thumbs up, before clearly being relieved as he headed off, needing to numb his abilities again. 

Even followed the boys inside. 

Lauriam mumbled something that was most likely a thanks, though it was a little too indistinct to tell, his mind still too rattled to be totally coherent. 

However, that was not the impression the world behind the door gave. 

Something that for many of the factory Empaths, at least physically, would’ve been last experienced quite some time ago, there was a sudden breath of freshness upon the first step inside. Or…outside, as it were, the world beyond the door opening up into expansive, gentle rolling fields of flowers. Like an idyllic painting, plush green grasses inviting people to sit or run or roll broken up by frequent patches of vibrant wildflowers…and a few that very much weren’t wild at all, but were growing all the same. And many of the flowers were budding too, promising even more seasons of growth. 

Lauriam, still getting his head back on, looked…surprised by the world. But something eased in him all the same. 

“Three does make a pattern, doesn’t it,” Zexion hummed, looking around the world in interest. “You really like flowers, huh?”

“Course he does. Look at him, he’s a little dandelion himself. They’re his brethren.” 

Even, who had been admiring the field–the beach was nice, but it was lovely to get a different scenic area–visibly stiffened for a moment, before he squared his shoulders and looked back at the entering area of the field. “Xaldin, we’ve discussed this. He’s not meeting any of you yet.”

“Hey, I’m just doing what I’m told. Dilan told me to come, here I am, so eager to follow orders that I got here before him.” Xaldin snickered.

He was almost identical to Dilan, with the exception that his facial hair was shaved into sharper corners, and his hair in general was more tightly and neatly dreaded then Dilan’s could manage with the limited supplies he had from the real world to do so. But beyond that, he carried himself entirely differently. An almost dancing movement to his steps as he confidently walked, giving the field an amused look as he said, “Damn, Dandelion, this place is big too. So the new kid is strong, huh?”

“I’m here, I’m here! Sorry, Even.” Dilan frowned, materializing in the space next, Even giving him a stern look as he came up next to Xaldin, stepping in front of him as he said, “Sorry, I meant for Xaldin to just be an example of the next step, I wasn’t expecting him to come straight here.”

“I can speak for myself, and already have. Catch up next time if you want to control the situation,” Xaldin scoffed. 

“Would you just…” Dilan gave Xaldin a frustrated look, tapping his lips in a motion to shut up, before looking around as Xaldin glared at him, “Wow, this is the new place? This is amazing, Lauriam.”

Lauriam frowned a bit as he looked over, the voice familiar but…not. And more than any offense to the comment, just pure confusion washed over Lauriam’s face as he regarded…Dilan? But…not. Dilan, but…Xaldin? He glanced over to Zexion for help, which he didn’t receive in the slightest, the younger boy observing some of the plants around them in greater detail, his book open again. 

And it really didn’t help at all when the Dilan Lauriam did recognize showed up. He could only look between them for a moment. 

…it wasn’t like bringing a toy to life if it was a person. And why would you bring a drawing to life if you were just going to treat it like…someone you didn’t like?

“Thank you,” Lauriam said politely, before very intentionally bowing to Xaldin. “My name’s Lauriam, it’s nice to meet you, sir, since I don’t think we have.”

Xaldin startled at that, before grinning and, with clear great joy in the movement, gave a low and flourishing bow back, before straightening up with a laugh. “I never get a chance to do that! That was cool! Hey, little Ienzo, give me a bow! Come on, little man,” Xaldin grinned, before giving Zexion a low bow, “Good day, sir.”

…look, Lauriam hadn’t taken all the warnings the others had given him lightly about how awful a situation they were in, but…someone getting that excited over bowing?

Not matching Lauriam’s anxiety in the slightest, Zexion gave Xaldin a dry look before bowing back lightly, perfectly polit-- “Bite me.”

“Gah! Right in the heart!” Xaldin gasped, grasping his chest and thumping backwards into the grass, “Stabbed. Dead. Your kid killed me, Even. I’m dead.”

“Good job, son,” Even said, patting Zexion on the back.

“Xaldin, could you just… come on. Get up, this is not the way to introduce him to this concept.” Dilan sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

“Oh, what, me messing around is so bad? What’d you want me to do, come in with some spears and start stabbing… I don’t know, what would be around here?” Xaldin asked, sitting up and resting on his hands, “Rabbits? Rabbits live in fields, right? Hey, Dandelion, we have any rabbits around here?”

“He literally just made the space, he likely doesn’t know what’s around here. Just… Lauriam, this is Xaldin,” Dilan said, gesturing down to the man sitting on the grass, who gave him a little wave, “He is my… Nobody. A construct I made to live in my world. You don’t have to be afraid of him, I promise, he’s harmless.”

“To you,” Xaldin smirked, giving the kid a wink, “Not in general.”

For the first time, Lauriam saw Zexion crack a smile, preening a bit from Even’s praise. Little by little, he was starting to get a sense of the dynamics around here, though it seemed he’d just come across another layer to it all. 

Frowning a bit--he’d gladly take someone not stabbing anything in his newly formed ‘world’ thanks--Lauriam hesitated before shaking his head a little. “Rabbits are pests. Since practicality wasn’t the goal, they wouldn’t be useful as food, so I don’t think they’d be here. I think.”

Giving Xaldin a little wave back at the second introduction, Lauriam tilted his head a little. “A construct can be…just another person?” Frowning a little more, Lauriam glanced at all of the others. “If you’re not harmless in general, then… Look, I do appreciate that you’re trying to ease me into…something, but I know enough that the government wouldn’t bother kidnapping a bunch of people to just live in a box. What’s going on?”

“Haven’t told him much of anything then, huh?” Xaldin asked Dilan.

“You know how this process works, don’t be smug,” Dilan said back, before giving Lauriam a tired smile, “First, it’s important to understand that Xaldin’s not really a person. He’s convincing, I know! But he’s a construct. One that I’ve spent years and used a lot of raw power from the island to create.”

“Not that it would be wise to dismiss him or treat him like an object,” Even quickly added in, Xaldin looking deeply unimpressed with the conversation around him as Even explained, “Xaldin isn’t individually a person, but he is still Dilan. And he’s a part of Dilan whose feelings can still be hurt, ideas can still be expressed, and mannerisms can still be predicted by their own patterns. He’s Dilan, if Dilan was different. A piece of Dilan’s conscious self compartmentalized and given its own shape, to more effectively do its own work.”

“I don’t love the ‘it’, Even,” Xaldin said.

“I apologize, Xaldin, you know how hard it is to explain what Nobodies are in the beginning.” Even sighed, before turning to Lauriam and insisting again, “Remember, they’re constructs, but it’s wise to treat them like people. They can be harmed, emotionally and physically, and we do not wish to create things just to harm them. Yes?”

Lauriam looked between Even, Dilan, and Xaldin skeptically, that feeling clear on his face. Sure, sure, he’d only literally met Xaldin for a handful of minutes, but…he sure seemed like a person. Lauriam wasn’t really sure what would constitute a ‘fake person’, but he felt like something like that would be obvious. 

But, well…he was still being asked to treat ‘Nobodies’ like people, and Lauriam thought that was a little more important than ‘remembering they were constructs’. So he gave Even a serious nod.

Even as Zexion chimed in, “Barring the obvious things like dartboards or combat training materials, though I suppose you could make the argument about what constitutes harm for something that’s purpose is to be destroyed.”

Lauriam blinked, giving the younger boy a slightly more overt ‘what the hell are you talking about’ look before he sighed. “Yes, I understand. But…that still doesn’t really answer my question.”

“They’re trying to tell you how to talk to me, before they tell you I’m a torturer,” Xaldin said, looking around the grass before asking with a grin, “Do you have worms in your world? Hey, little Ienzo, come over here. For entirely non-worm related reasons.”

Dilan shot Xaldin a briefly frustrated look… before he sighed, nodding at Lauriam. “Xaldin’s purpose as my construct is to… be my darkness, essentially. You're right, we weren’t stolen just to be pets in a box. We were kidnapped for our Empath abilities and what they can do. What we, as a group, have to do in order to not be harmed, or killed.”

“You’re aware of conditioning, yes, Lauriam?” Even said, reaching over to place a hand on his shoulder, “The methods for which Indentureds feel compelled to remain loyal to the specifics of their contracts. Some places call it training, others argue it’s actual divine compulsion, Atua pleased with the contracts and ensuring they’re followed… but it’s not any of that. It’s us. People are sent to the factories, the facilities, here, and are conditioned to obey. We are the conditioners. Or, well…”

Even pointed at Xaldin, who smirked back. “They are.”

Lauriam’s eyebrows shot up in shock. 

“Annelids are a natural and necessary contributant of the circle of growth and decay,” Zexion said placidly, sighing a little to himself as he walked over to Xaldin, giving Lauriam another lightly disparaging look. “Though I’m aware that our worlds are something of a fantasy and not reflective of reality one-to-one.”

“...of course there are worms, that’s how you know there’s good soil,” Lauriam mumbled dazedly, just… 

He’d met Intentureds before, sure. Not a ton, there weren’t a lot of people in Romeliad who could afford Indentured contracts, let alone a ton of them, but, yeah, he knew a few people, had even seen conditioning in action once or twice before, but everyone knew it was just…

Lauriam thought of an alley, and he blinked blankly up at Even. “...is making another person part of the process, or…? There a reason you don’t do it yourself?”

“The reason we don’t do it ourselves is very straightforward, actually,” Even said, “The act of torturing someone against your own will is painful. And traumatic. And its reality, for us, is unending and constant. The people we condition stay for a few months, come back maybe twice at most, and then are free. But us? We’re… here. Forever. Living with recreating pain and fear degradation over and over again, until–”

“Even,” Dilan frowned, “Seriously, man, that’s the bit you want to stress? Cool it.”

Even blinked, before clearing his throat. “Ah, sorry. Sometimes I forget to give that concept the gravitas it deserves.”

“Lauriam, the reality of our situation is that these people, the supervisors, are going to force us to do things we don’t want to do,” Dilan explained, “To be the kind of people we don’t want to be. And a long time ago, some Empaths in our same situation figured out a way to not force us all to live with that evil in our hearts. To not carry the burdens of those actions. We take all the evil we’re compelled to do, and make it the responsibility of… well. Nobody.”

“Hey! Ha! We’ve got worms, people! Haha, actually, ew,” Xaldin said, wrinkling his nose as he moved the small worm wiggling between his index and thumb away from his face a bit, “Little Man, you better appreciate I found you a worm. Take this thing or I’m about to put it back into the dirt, the way it moves creeps me out.”

…wasn’t that just life, though? By making your own way forward, you hurt others, and even if you didn’t intend to, trying to help them from that harm would just make everything worse. And that was life. An endless cycle of its own. Until, well, of course…

Lauriam gave Dilan a slightly exasperated look. “...but you guys just said Xaldin’s still you. Isn’t all this just…doing it anyway and ignoring it, with extra steps?”

“Thank you,” Zexion hummed, gently taking the worm and holding it in his palm, looking fascinated as he watched its movements. After a moment, he flexed his hand…and looked a little confused when nothing happened. 

Blinking, he looked up at Lauriam. “Lauriam, do you think you could make it rain in here?”

“I mean…” Dilan looked at Even, who shrugged back at him, “...yes? But the ability to ignore it is valuable. We’re less burdened with painful memories, we sleep better, our days are easier to get through. I like to think that someday, in our trials, our emotional distance from what we’ve done will make facing those trials easier, even. Atua loves us, he knows we already know what we’re doing is wrong, we don’t need to be convinced of that. There’s no need for us to face those trials traumatized.”

“And for the less ‘religion’ heavy aspect of the idea, there’s no need to spend our lives traumatized by those actions either.” Even said, “And, before you ask if it hurts our Nobodies… no. That’s the point. It’s why we so carefully design them. To not be as burdened by their actions as we would be. That’s why so many of us end up describing them as our ‘darkness’. They house our worst instincts, but unburdened by the morality that would make our actions traumatic to us. For instance, Xaldin here… is a sadist.”

“Mhm,” Xaldin hummed, watching the worm in Ienzo’s hand, a little less creeped out now that he wasn’t the one holding it, “Lots of fun for me. Bring on the torture. Every day’s a holiday. Kid, what do you need rain for?”

…so Nobodies were to be treated like people…except for when they weren’t. And they could be hurt emotionally and physically…but they weren’t hurt by the same things the others were. 

…if everything you did would hurt, and it was a constant loss of everything…

…then you had to change the rules to win. 

“I was reading about desiccation, and I think worms desiccate,” Zexion said simply. “I can’t summon water here myself.”

…Lauriam didn’t know what that word meant, but it did sound a lot like ‘desecrate’ which was bad for something that was…imaginarily alive, so… Taking a small breath, he tried to focus on that hot, explosive feeling again, thinking about rain…

CRACK!!

Lauriam gasped in shock as he was bowled to the ground, a massive multi-foot sheet of water all crashing down from the sky on top of everything. 

“Gah! What the fuck, Dandelion!?” Xaldin shouted, grabbing Ienzo and putting an arm over his head as the heavier part of the rain crashed down over them.

“Hah! Oh! That surprised me!” Dilan laughed, pushing his hair back over his head, looking up a tad warily even as he grinned, “Did you do that on purpose? That’s a hell of a joke!”

“I really hope it wasn’t a joke.” Even said dryly. Well, his tone was dry anyway. He looked like a drowned cat and was just as enthused by it, ringing the water out of his hair as he said, “I’m not a fan of getting wet.”

It was pure physicality that made Zexion cringe under the deluge, though as soon as he was able to, he looked around the soaked field in wonder. “...oh, I think you’re right that he’s pretty powerful, Xaldin.”

A bit dazed, Lauriam looked up from the ground. “...I think the answer there is no, I can’t do rain. …hope the plants liked that, at least…”

Looking back over at Xaldin, Lauriam gave him a conflicted look. “...you really enjoy doing…conditioning torture?” 

(The hesitance in his voice wasn’t a judgment on Xaldin, finding distaste in the concept. It was mostly from being unsure about what even to call what they did in the factory, barely even having a concept of it through bare descriptions.)

Xaldin, who was patting Ienzo on the back, looking over the kid to make sure he was good–Zexion seemed fine, the little space-case just curious the way he usually was–glanced over at Lauriam. His face carefully neutral for a moment, before he glanced over at Dilan, who stared back at him. At ease and waiting for Xaldin’s response. Confident in it.

“...yep,” Xaldin said, looking for the worm and, with a wrinkled nose, flicking it back into the dirt clump he had dug up, “It’s what I was designed to do. Dilan made me to experience pleasure when other people are in pain. And alllll I do allllll day is make other people feel pain. I’m doing exactly what I was made to do. What’s not to enjoy?”

“It’s not something that eases things for… well, victims is a harsh word, but it is the one that fits,” Dilan winced, “Though we can and do sign off on what methods our Nobodies use, so we can at least… reduce harm there. But for those of us in the factory? It eases the suffering we feel as a group. The only ones among us who are torturing are people, or, constructs, who like to do it. And the rest of us can have peace of mind. It’s a good system to keep everything here balanced, and alleviate the pain of being here.”

“It’s just sensible. And every Empath who has ever come here has taken on the task. It’s common to the point of expected,” Even said, “And for someone as young as you, Lauriam? We’d really rather you have one ready before you start needing to meet quotas for the supervisors. Before you ever have to experience what being a torturer is like for yourself. If you’re willing to let us, we’d like to help you create a fully fledged Nobody to take on the task within two weeks.”

Lauriam was usually pretty good at telling when people were lying to him. Not as good as S…as some people, but pretty good! And…it didn’t seem like Xaldin was lying. But there was something Lauriam couldn’t quite shake off, that still made all of this…strange. 

Well, okay, connecting your mind to a bunch of people who lived in a little box to torture people into servitude was strange, and creating another person to do that torture was strange, but that wasn’t what Lauriam meant!! Xaldin didn’t quite seem to resent Even and Dilan, but there was something just…odd. About how they treated each other that wasn’t quite something that Lauriam liked. 

…but he could do it better, if he tried. 

Lauriam looked between the others for another unsure moment before he softly sighed. “...okay. Should I make my person to look just like me and practically have the same name too, or was that just something you wanted to do?”

Sticking his tongue out a little, Lauriam looked more pleased as a sketchbook appeared in his hands, along with a pencil. 

(Or what he’d known as a sketchbook, anyway. His actual sketchbook was papers he’d stolen from school that…that’d had a gardening stake punch holes through and were tied with some twine.)

“Most of us tend to default to our own looks because it’s a bit easier,” Even said, “Though, that said, there’s no actual restriction or expectation on that. For instance, Inzi’s Nobody is a giant spider lady.”

“Zinxi is a treasure, so much fun in a party,” Xaldin snickered, “You’ll love her. Just don’t get caught in her webs.” 

“The X thing you might have noticed already is just a tradition. We don’t know where it started, but we’ve all done it… mostly just for the fun of keeping the tradition alive,” Dilan said, “You can feel free to disregard it if you don’t want to do it, but it is nice to have that connection with the island’s roots.” 

“Don’t expect to get your Nobody created and functioning today,” Even cautioned, “They take time and often multiple attempts. And it’s going to require you draw from the island’s energy, you simply won’t have enough raw energy on your own to do it, even if you do seem quite well powered already. These are highly advanced constructs for Empaths to make. It takes the power of all of us together to make each one. And we’ll all gladly give that power to help you do it.”

“You’re part of the island now, Lauriam. One of us,” Dilan smiled at the kid, “Like I told you when we met: you can always count on that.”

Lauriam’s eyebrows raised at that before he hummed softly, drawing two small connected almost-circles at the corner of a page. Already that was about as much as he could really remember from…his connection, he guessed. The thing that had come out of the boy. They weren’t all just human-looking…

(...did he need help? When was help anything but an avenue for more suffering later?)

(Maybe the way to win was to do it all yourself, and just not care about the consequences. No help, no remorse.)

Lauriam smiled sheepishly as he started more properly drawing. “It could be fun to try and figure out a name like that, at least. Though…my name is on the longer side, I’m not sure how well anything that actually sounds like a name would come out of it.”

“Okay,” he said more softly. “I’ll just start thinking about it, I guess.”

“Well, I’m looking forward to seeing who you come up with. Always good to add another Nobody to the rank and file,” Xaldin said, standing up and stretching, before giving the kid a grin, “Nice to meet ya, dandelion. I like your little field here. Come check out the ruins someday, it’ll be fun seeing someone new find the secrets. Later.” Xaldin nodded at him, before heading off. 

-

Despite enjoying drawing, Lauriam wasn’t very good at it, but that never stopped him from doing it. With every overly-bubbly flower or stilted-looking building or lopsided person that…that maybe would be poked fun at, Lauriam just enjoyed the process of drawing, even the misshapen figures on paper helping him more fully conceptualize the original image he had in his head. 

If he could make a person any way he wanted?

Then his Nobody was going to be the prettiest! And if they were going to be a torturer, then his Nobody would be the scariest! And if they had to grapple with that as their existence, then his Nobody was going to have the most fun all the time! And nothing was going to bring him down. 

Iluraxma was going to be the best.

…maybe with a better name than that. 

Looking at his clumsy lines, Lauriam could so easily see the haughty expression, with piercing but pretty light green eyes, and pink hair that would flutter elegantly in the wind, even as he dashed forward to bring someone their doom. He’d be tall, and strong, and intimidating, and he’d know it. Always able to turn anything to his advantage. 

(He wouldn’t be hurt, because he’d always win. He could always do anything he wanted and there’d be no consequences he’d care about. Ruxmaila didn’t have parents that were always gone and always stressed out, he wasn’t a burden on anyone, his mere presence wherever he was deserved a damn parade! He didn’t need anyone, because what more could anyone want that he wasn’t?)

(...no, different name.)

Lauriam felt like he had such a clear idea of who his Nobody was now that…all he needed was to bring his drawing to life. To…take that power, that energy, and form it into exactly what he wanted…

-

Lauriam scrambled into the ruins he’d been told about like he was running from true demons, eyes wide and panicked as he sweated, skin flushed a dark pink and turning redder. 

At the first sign of life, it was all the preteen could do to yelp a small, panicked, “Help!”

Dilan was asleep, and Xaldin… didn’t really sleep. 

Okay, that wasn’t entirely true. Xaldin did find that during the night, there were at least a few hours where… he sort of just stopped doing things. Like, he’d just zone out, stare at the sky, lay on his stomach with his face in the sand, and just sort of exist. And when he did that, he usually felt a lot better once he ‘snapped out of it’. More ready to face the day, or feeling better about things he had been worried about, or suddenly fresh with new ideas. Like his mind occasionally just needed to stop thinking for a few hours, or the construct was just gonna burn out. 

Xaldin had been in the middle of that. Laid out on one of the half-fallen stone pillars, idly watching clouds go by the perpetually red and orange baked sky, before he blinked as his world was entered. And yelled through. And general ‘stuff’ happened. 

Sitting up, Xaldin blinked grumpily–he didn’t get his full few hours of nothing, dammit–before seeing it was the new kid. Bee-lining for him with utter panic on his face. “The hell? What are you running from? The giant boulder trap shouldn’t be anywhere near here,” Xaldin muttered, stepping off the pillar into the sand, squinting past Lauriam… before taking a step forward.

The world shrunk and expanded beneath his step–an ability Xaldin had figured out years ago–making it eerily look like Xaldin had both moved normally and teleported at the same time, stepping in front of Lauriam as javelins suddenly sprung up around him. “Someone there?” he called out.

Lauriam jolted a bit, skidding mid-air step as Xaldin was just suddenly in front of him, before he shook his head a little, sweating more. “Everything’s on fire,” he said quickly, “I can’t get it to stop.”

“What’s on fire?” Xaldin asked, looking back over his shoulder at Lauriam, turning to him as the javelins disappeared, confused… before his eyes widened in sudden, genuine horror, “The room!?”

“No, o-or I don’t think so?” Lauriam immediately nervously hedged before he shook his head again, looking a little more flushed. “I mean my world, the field? I tried doing the water thing again but it just got more on fire and I don’t know what to do.”

Xaldin hesitated. He wasn’t supposed to do this, technically, but… “Give me a second just to double check.”

-

Out in the room, Xaldin groaned as he opened up Dilan’s eyes. It was always a little bizarre, to be in the physical world. Everything always ached. These fucking pallets sucked, the only thing they were good for was keeping the cold from the cement getting to them.

Peeking around, nothing looked off. Closing his eyes again…

-

“The room’s fine,” Xaldin said, briefly relieved. If there was a fire in the room, that was it, they were done for. Still… “The hell is wrong with your field? Alright, come on, let’s go take a look.”

Xaldin’s world wasn’t far from Lauriam’s–likely why the kid had run for him first, honestly—and as they landed down into the field… “Dandelion, the hell is your world on fire for?” Xaldin asked, whistling as he crossed his arms and looked around, “Do you have a headache or something, what is all of this?”

Upon stepping in, Lauriam immediately scrambled back, at least trying to pull Xaldin back as well. For some reason the area immediately around his ‘door’ was alright, but…everything else?

What had been swathes of green was now blanketed in a massive, roaring flame, fire consuming the whole world, Lauriam’s state looking a little more logical in this setting than anywhere else. And yet, within the fire, it looked like something was moving.

“I don’t know!!” Lauriam yelped, “I wasn’t doing anything, I was just drawing, and then this happened!”

“Yeah, yeah, calm down. I’m sure your mind being on fire is just… I dunno, it’s fucking weird, but minds get fucking weird,” Xaldin said, patting Lauriam on the back a bit, before squinting into the fire. Seeing that shifting movement. 

Summoning one of his javelins, Xaldin idly spun it, tracking the movement… before he floated it above his head, smirking as he said, “Gotchya.”

Before throwing the javelin into the fire.