DING DING DING!!

WINNER!! WINNER!! WINNER!!

Chiing–chiiing—chiiiing

Luis ignored the coins falling around his feet, stooped on the barstool and cradling a large, chilly bottle to his chest as he numbly watched the lights joyously flash in front of him. Once the machine was done celebrating, he pulled the lever again, letting the numbers and fruits spin by until the images became blurs…

BRRRR, LOSER!

BRRRR, LOSER!

BRRRR, LOSER!

“Dammit, Luis, you’re pulling this shit again?” Xaldin grumbled, grabbing the back of Luis’ shirt and pulling him off the stall.

“H-hey! ‘M just playin’.” Luis protested, protectively keeping his bottle upright while struggling to stay on his feet, stumbling against Xaldin’s grip.

“I came to hang out with you and we’re not hanging out with the fucking machine that screams ‘loser’ at you every damn five seconds.” Xaldin said, looking around, before chuckling as he threw Luis onto a new barstool, the machine in front of them lighting up as Xaldin said, “Come on, you’re racing horses with me.”

“Didn’t wanna race horses.” Luis grumbled, though he made no attempt to leave as Xaldin settled in next to him, the two reading the odds of the wooden horses in the track in front of them before pressing in their bets to the simple wooden console in front of them. “...Buttercup is gonna take it all.”

“Nah man, Bubbles is where it’s at, she never fails me.” Xaldin said, the two settling in to wait for the race to start. Which wouldn’t happen for another few minutes, as the game was set to give others a chance to wander over and place their own bets. No one else would, it was just them, but Luis’ world ran by certain rules and the game wouldn’t start early just for them.

“...you wan’d talk ‘bout somethin’?” Luis asked after a bit of staring at the wooden horses.

“Would it be fucked up if I was kinda into it?” Xaldin asked.

“Pffffff, oh nooooo.” Luis groaned, scrunching over and lowering his head onto the glass surface of the track, “Nooooo don’t ask meeeee.”

“Sorry, you poor bastard, you’re the only one I can ask. Aqua and Terra are his parents, in case you forgot, and Aeleus is married to one of the guys who I’m pretty sure was this close to just telling Dilan to replace me. Lexaeus and Luxord have both, maybe, said two words to me if I happen to run into them, and Aaxqu and Rax are the same ‘parent’ problem, but worse since I’m pretty sure they’d waterboard me–”

“Viz, tell it to Viz.” Luis tried, literally mouthing the glass as he spoke.

“She’s just gonna laugh at me. You’ll at least treat this seriously.”

“I dun wanna be the guy you talk to if you should be into the wee little pink lad.” Luis groaned, rubbing his forehead against the glass, “‘s weird for me too, y’know! Feels like he was crying over gettin’ his period just yesterday.”

“Yeah, okay, but that wasn’t just yesterday, that was… I mean, I don’t know how long ago, but it has to be years and years now. His voice was cracking all the time back then, like, he was a kid then.” Xaldin said, brow furrowed as he insisted, “But the ‘was’ has to count for something, doesn’t it?”

“Look, man, this sounds like rasioooonalis’ion and I dunno if it makes sense or not but it feels icky to be a part of.” Luis said, sitting up to take a long drink of his bottle, “‘m tired of being a coooooonfidant to shitty bastards bragging bout the poor sweet little things they’re hurtin’...”

Xaldin frowned, gripping his hands together as he leaned against the track, “...okay, but is that me? Because you’d know it maybe better than anyone. Even gets cruel when he’s trying to protect people, Aqua’s too invested, Lauriam is… well, he doesn’t know what the hell he wants, and Marluxia doesn’t give Lauriam enough credit. And I don’t give a shit what the others think about it all. You, though? I’d believe you, if you said this was a problem.”

“Fuck you, ‘m drunk, can’t trust me.” Luis drawled.

“Maybe, but I’m asking anyway. Is it fucked up if I was into it?”

“...hate you. Hate this. Don’t wanna…” Luis cradled the bottle, before taking another long sip, “...did you… wanna before the kiss?”

“Nope.” Xaldin said.

“You suuuure?”

“One hundred percent. Thought literally never crossed my mind, not once.” Xaldin said.

“....I mean,” Luis frowned, “...he’s not a kid…”

“Yeah, he’s not a kid.” Xaldin said.

Before they could continue, a noise like a tiny, tiny explosion happened, and with that the little wooden horses were off! Xaldin and Luis watched them race around the track on their little wooden sticks. Blossom won, and Xaldin and Luis both lost their bets.

“...you wanna know what I think?” Luis said, blearily looking at Xaldin, “I think that pink little lamb doesn’t have any good options.”

Xaldin winced at that, looking away. “...don’t love where this is going, but keep going.”

“‘M mean, think about it… who else here is a good choice for him?” Luis said, sighing heavily as he listed, “Lea is clearly smitten with Isa, even if the poor lad doesn’t seem to realize it. Isa… Isa’s going through some stuff, but I think he felt the same way. They’re off the table.”

“He could still fuck them.” Xaldin argued.

“Yeah, but that’s not what we’re talking about, is it? Let’s be honest, yeah? Yeah? Lauriam has a crush, not some weird muscle spasm or whatever Terra is going around telling everyone.” Luis said, before continuing, “Ienzo doesn’t seem interested in sex or relationships at all, and he gives me the vibe that he ain’t ever going to be. Meanwhile, if Demyx and Larxene are interested, it’s gonna be purely physical, they’ve both proven that. If Lauriam wants a relationship? Who’s left? Three guesses, and here’s a hint: it aint me and it aint our Viz.”

“...so I’m just what’s available.” Xaldin said.

“I think so. And as unideal as that is… is that really the worst reason to go through with it, in our situation?” Luis argued, “It’d be different, yeah, if we all walked out of here tomorrow and suddenly there was a bunch of people the lad could get to know, then yeah, one of the older guys who was like an uncle to you isn’t the play. That’s a bit ‘kissing cousins’ even if it isn’t. But… he doesn’t have hundreds of people to get to know instead. He haaaaas,” Luis gestured to Xaldin, “you.”

“...that kinda sucks.” Xaldin muttered.

“What’s new for us?” Luis said, sipping his bottle, before passing it to Xaldin. 

Xaldin took a drink, before sighing, “...okay, but what does that mean for my original question?”

“No,” Luis said, looking tired, “I don’t think it’s weird if you were into the kiss. Or if you’re into Lauriam. He’s an adult, he made a move, and the move worked. The others won’t like it. But no. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with it.”

“Hmmm.” Xaldin hummed. Drinking some more, before passing back the bottle. “...what do you think Zinxi woulda thought?”

“I wouldn’t wanna speak for her.” Luis said. “...but I remember her being someone who wanted you to be happy.”

“Yeah.” Xaldin said, “Yeah. She did… can I see the bottle again?” Xaldin asked, taking it back before lifting it in a toast, “To… to everything being okay. It’s going to be okay.”

“Yeah.” Luis said, watching Xaldin drink. “It’s going to be okay.”

-

Lauriam hadn’t been avoiding Xaldin and Dilan. He figured the fact that Marluxia wasn’t pushing the issue was probably the biggest sign that he wasn’t.

(The Garden Duo shared a lot, the line between them blurred even at the best of times, but there were certain things that kept separate, and considering they didn’t tend to clarify those moments through conversation, like the kings of communication they were… Lauriam hadn’t figured out that Marluxia very much was avoiding the Archeology Duo.)

He’d just been…keeping to himself more. Which wasn’t that unusual. So what if it’d been longer than usual of him not dropping by the ruins? O-or if suddenly everything and everyone else drew his eye whenever they were around? He just…felt like a jerk, and without even an answer to explain it, he didn’t want to make things worse. 

So Lauriam was just spending time by himself on the island, sitting back against a tree near Ienzo’s door with a book from the library. The ‘Basics of Drawing’ book open beside him, as he drew in his sketchbook, eyebrows knitted in concentration as he drew something that…looked like a lot of lines.

“Dandelion, I’m doing my best here, but that really just looks like a lot of lines.” Xaldin said from over Lauriam’s shoulder.

“!!” Lauriam bit into a small gasp before he looked up, giving Xaldin a slightly annoyed look before his gaze quickly averted. At least his drawing was something pretty reasonable to be focused on. 

“They’re perspective lines,” he explained, tapping the page of the book with the back of his pencil, “I’m trying to get better at drawing spaces, and perspective is a big part of that.”

…sure, his attempts at filling trees into that space were…more lines. But that’s why he was practicing, he guessed.

“Oh yeah? Sounds… artsy.” Xaldin said, patting Lauriam on the back… before letting his hand linger on Lauriam’s back as he asked, “Hey, you ever done any portraits yet?”

“An astute observation,” Lauriam huffed, teasingly amused, before…

…hm. Hm? Hmmmm…

Lauriam glanced over at Xaldin’s feet. “I’ve drawn people before, but I don’t know if you’d really call them portraits. I think you’d have better luck taking a survey through Indentureds if you wanted some new grand centerpiece to hang in the ruins.”

“Eh, you’ll only get better if you practice.” Xaldin decided, patting Lauriam on the back again, before walking around him, strolling to the space that Lauriam had already been trying to draw.

Then, looking at the grass for a good spot, Xaldin hummed to himself in satisfaction as he found what was roughly the center of Lauriam’s lines… before pulling his shirt off over his head, tossing it aside and stretching his arms up over his head, flexing his back and twisting his hips like he was getting ready to exercise, before he looked over his shoulder and smirked at Lauriam, “What’s my good side?”

That was the saying, wasn’t it. Lauriam wasn’t that invested in buckling down to become some great artist, but putting at least some effort into learning properly was at least something to do. Thus, why he’d cracked open a drawing book and was actually reading the advice and exercises inside, not just drawing whatever felt natu--

Flump.

Lauriam felt his thoughts screech to a halt as he saw Xaldin’s shirt drop to the ground, felt his face start to heat up as, without any thought or concern, his gaze started traveling up, seeing Xaldin…

(What was he doing?! W-wasn’t this the opposite of, like, everything everyone was talking about? S-sure, Xaldin had started teasing him about the kiss a bit, but he didn’t think that this was really--)

“Mmm, you’re kind of tall, so you’d look a bit strange in this perspective… Squat or bend over some?”

“Bend over? Eh, I don’t think I’m the type to bend over for anyone, Dandelion, we should probably clear that up from the jump,” Xaldin said, before smirking as as he got down on one knee, planting a foot down in front of him as he asked, “How about this?”

Then he frowned, looking down at the space in front of him, before adjusting his heel, spreading his thighs wide as he murmured, “No, probably need more space… hey, Dandelion, how big are your hips? You know off the top of your head? Like in feet.”

(AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA)

Lauriam snorted, getting actually pretty close to looking at Xaldin’s face as he smirked. “Can’t say I know in particular, though from my best guess? Yeah, you probably need to go wider. Leaning forward some might help with the composition too.”

“Tsk. Already trying to break out my back, huh? Alright…” Xaldin spread his leg a little wider, but rested his elbow against his knee, resting his other hand against his hip as he leaned forward, the curves of his pecks pressing together into a little heart sharp, some of the folds of his fat being tempered by the thick spread of dark hair across his stomach and chest as he asked, “How about this? This doing anything for you?”

(꩜//////ᯅ//////꩜)

(oh fuck)

Lauriam graciously penciled in a circle for Xaldin’s head into the framework he’s already drawn, a bigger, blockier shape for his body, before he tapped the end of his pencil against his lips. “Hmmm…I’m not sure about the depth. But as you did mention, practice makes perfect.”

Glancing up, Lauriam smirked at Xaldin. “How many hours do you think you can hold that?”

Xaldin grinned with all of his teeth, “I can definitely outlast you.”

“Sure, sure, I bet you think that,” Lauriam said lightly, looking back down to his sketchpad and starting to…well. Draw more like how the book was telling him, rather than his usual process. “I’ll have you know my wrist strength is pretty decent, though I know who I’m comparing it to.”

He laughed lightly. “Just don’t ask me to join a plank competition with you anytime soon, alright?”

“Hah! Don’t worry, Dandelion, I’d hold you steady.” Xaldin snickered, giving Lauriam a wink, “...but seriously, is this actually gonna take hours? Cards on the table, I don’t think I can hold this for hours.”

“You should’ve thought about that before inserting yourself into portraiture, huh,” Lauriam sniffed, voice growing a little haughty and uncaring, before he glanced up, pouting at Xaldin. “I will be pissed if this was all a grand scheme to sabotage my practice today. You’d really leave me with an unfinished work?”

“Damn, Lauriam, have some pity on me, I’m your sexy-ass senior…” Xaldin paused, before giving the other, younger, man a more tempered look, “You get that, right? We’re not talking with any blinders on? You and me… there’s a gap. Yeah?”

Lauriam was quiet for a few moments, working on his drawing. This…really was a ridiculously difficult pose to draw. Even in his usual style he’d never attempt anything like this. Like where…did the torso go? Without looking weirdly tiny?

“...yeah, I know. What, like…20 years, best guess?”

(...the same gap that had been between Xaldin and Zinxi.)

“Yeah, best guess.” Xaldin said, already sweating a little in the pose, “...and the others aren’t about to suddenly be cool with things. You get that too?”

Lauriam frowned a bit, dozens of recent conversations having weight in that mention. He bit the inside of his cheek for a moment before shifting, sitting up more as he glanced up at Xaldin. “...Mom and Dad did have a, like…’family discussion’ with me,” he said quieter.

Aqua and Terra, and their Nobodies, were his parents, yeah…but they were also Xaldin’s friends. 

“I don’t think they’re cool, but…they do believe us, and not the whole demon hunt Even set up.” He huffed a sigh, rolling his eyes lightly as he blew that air into his bangs. “Raxter asked again if I was sure I wasn’t interested in Demyx or Larxene, but…” Lauriam shrugged a little as he looked back down at his drawing. “They acknowledge that I’m an adult, and I can make choices for my own life. As much as any of us can, I guess.”

“I know that the broader consensus isn’t champagne popping and fireworks though, yes.”

“Larxene would eat you alive and giggle spitting you back up. That girl is ruthless.” Xaldin scoffed, “Besides, I think she and Marluxia have something going on. That’s been my guess anyway. They’re close as hell, that’s gonna turn into something.”

“And your folks are gonna beat my ass into the dirt, I guarantee it. They might be chill with it, but that’s not gonna save me when sparring time comes around.” Xaldin huffed, “...and this? Whatever the hell this is? I don’t need to know, right away, alright? When Zinxi and I first…”

Xaldin closed his eyes, briefly looking pained… before his face relaxed, opening his eyes as he said, “When we first got together, we had no idea what was happening or what we were doing. No one had names for the things we were up to. My point is… I don’t need things to make sense or have a name. I’ll be fine. I’m used to that. Alright? Mr. ‘Muscle Spasm’?”

Lauriam doubted it. It wasn’t like he and Marluxia put together sleepovers to talk about crushes--honestly that was more his and Larxene’s vibe--but…every bit of bleedover he got from Marluxia, and the things they did talk about, it never seemed like what was between Marluxia and Larxene was romantic in the slightest. Still, if anything did happen, then…well, Lauriam would be happy for his other half. And glad he hadn’t managed to ruin things for him. 

Because what did happen?

Lauriam’s eyes lowered a bit, that ache of grief squeezing, just as it seemed to for Xaldin. And even with the tease he ended with, Lauriam sighed. “More like temporary insanity, but, yeah, alright. Just…”

Looking a little awkward, Lauriam ran his fingers over the side of his sketchbook, a very rare nervous habit he’d picked up from Ienzo. “Are…you sure? I know you said we were cool before, when I apologized, but…I still feel like such an asshole, kissing you when we’d just been talking about Zinxi and your relationship with her. Seriously, I don’t want you to flirt with me just to make me feel better.”

Lauriam finally got himself to look Xaldin in the eyes there, serious about that. It had been a few years since Zinxi’s death, but only a few. If having… If flirting with someone new was just something Xaldin was doing for Lauriam’s sake, when the wound for his lover was still fresh, Lauriam did not want that. 

“Pfff. Like I’m some toy to be used.” Xaldin scoffed, shaking his head, “I’m not flirting to make you feel better, Dandelion, get that out of your head. I’m flirting because I want to and you’re lucky enough that I do. As for…”

“...I don’t really know what I’m supposed to do, about my feelings for Zinxi.” Xaldin admitted, looking away. Staring out into the fields of flowers, as he confessed, “Am I supposed to wait till I don’t love her anymore? I don’t know if that’s possible. Am I supposed to wait until it doesn’t hurt? I’m not counting on that one either. Honestly? I’m mostly worried she’d be upset with me. I keep wondering if she’d want me to wait longer, to hurt more, to love her more obviously… I know how bonkers that sounds, saying it aloud. But it’s just the truth. I worry she’d feel betrayed, that I’m not more miserable.”

“But logically, I know my Zinxi wasn’t like that,” Xaldin said softly, eyes still staring into the distance, “I trust my memories of her. The most beautiful woman in the world… any world. All of them. Beautiful and strong and unshakably kind, and I’ll defend all those traits to anyone who’d argue them, I don’t fucking care who it is or what they experienced with her. My Zinxi was the gentlest, sweetest, most beautiful woman in the world, who could also just bend you and break you and make you her own and I loved her for all of those things…”

Xaldin couldn’t hide the grief in his voice, even now, as he tried to reassure Lauriam that his history with her wasn’t going to be an obstacle. It wasn’t something he could talk about easily, not for anyone’s sake. Not even his own.

“...but she wasn’t jealous. She wasn’t selfish, or cruel. She loved me.” Xaldin murmured, “...she wouldn’t want me more miserable, longer, just to prove something to the world. She loved me.”

“.......” Xaldin sighed, losing the pose as he dropped from his knee, resting on his ankles, “I’ll be honest, Dandelion, maybe I’m not entirely over it regardless of anything. Maybe I’m not ready to rush into something. But…” Xaldin looked up, shugging tiredly, “I think we have time either way. Not like you’ve even admitted to liking me yet, you brat. We have time to figure things out.”

There was a part of Lauriam that wondered if he should be feeling jealous, hearing the grieving, loving tone in Xaldin’s voice as he expressed everything he had felt for Zinxi. If he did like Xaldin, then…that was something that should happen, right?

But he just didn’t feel that way. Instead, he only found a small smile coming to his lips as Xaldin’s memories spurred some of his own, the block in his throat and weight in his chest heavy, but somehow feeling good. Zinxi had been one of his best friends, and he loved her too, though obviously in a different way. But everything Xaldin said was true. Zinxi was gentle and sweet and beautiful…and she had been kind and funny and…something she shared with Inzi, she’d hate seeing people chain themselves so thoroughly to the past that it tore them apart. 

She loved Xaldin, more than anything. She’d hate seeing the rest of his life gone with her. The rest of his love. 

Lauriam looked to the side, wiping one of his eyes a bit and smearing some graphite across his nose. “I can just hear her saying something like…she’d give you something to be miserable about, if you were determined to do it to yourself.”

He took a shaky breath, before giving Xaldin a small shrug. “I think time’d be good, yeah.” He paused, before huffing, sticking his tongue out a little in a pout. “...and of course I like you. I don’t choose to hang out with you because I’m desperately that much of a masochist.”

“I feel like you being at least a little bit of a masochist would be a plus, but I hear what you’re saying.” Xaldin smirked, before rolling his eyes, “Don’t be dense. I’m saying you haven’t admitted you have, as Luis put it, a big ol’ damn crush on me. Because you think I’m sexy.” He snickered. 

Lauriam flushed a bit, cheeks turning pink. “I really don’t think sexiness is a requisite for a crush.”

“I didn’t say it was, I’m just saying I am sexy and you definitely noticed.” Xaldin said, pulling his shoulders back so his chest pushed out, looking down as he said, “Hold on, I’m pretty sure I can make these puppies dance. Give me a second to remember how to–hah! Knew I could do that. Look at ‘em go!” 

Xaldin looked up, smirking over his jumping pecs, “And yet. ‘Momentary lapse of insanity’. Uh huh. Like you gotta be insane to wanna kiss this.”

“SNNNNRKKKRKKRK!” 

Lauriam even surprised himself by the stream of snorts that left him as he bent over to the side in laughter. It was so abrasive it even triggered the physicality of making his head vibrate a little. 

(Admittedly, that was impressive, and, ahem… Interesting. In certain ways. But the euphemism and whole set-up was just…)

Coughing into his arm, trying to clear his sinuses while still laughing a bit, Lauriam shot back, “Look, not even my words first, but to each their own. Though I’ll still go to bat that there’s some insanity in kissing someone who, at the time, definitely wouldn’t want to kiss you back.”

“Hah, damn, that one got you.” Xaldin grinned, swelling up in pride a bit. He liked making Lauriam laugh. He had always liked it, but admittedly there was something more fun in doing it while flirting. It was cute.

Though, at Lauriam’s response… “Tsk.” Xaldin said, standing up and brushing the grass from his knees, before strolling over. And, feeling bold, he reached down to gently pinch Lauriam’s chin between his thumb and forefinger…

“...you’ve got five seconds to warn me off,” Xaldin said, ignoring the way his own stomach tightened in nerves as he counted down, “Five, four–”

A thrum of nerves and excitement shocked down Lauriam’s spine as Xaldin came over. 

He really hadn’t known what he was thinking, when he kissed Xaldin before. If he had been thinking at all. But in the giant mess it had turned into, Lauriam had been forced to think. About a lot of things but…about what Xaldin meant to him. His feelings for him. His feelings about…love and relationships at all. 

Even if he wasn’t saying it outright? Xaldin had become someone that Lauriam really…

{Three-Two-One} Lauriam rapid-fired, before leaning forward to press his lips against Xaldin’s. Purposefully, this time, and not immediately pulling away. Letting that spark of fireworks actually explode out this time. 

Oh thank god, because Xaldin was this close to chickening out. 

It felt like before. Nice. Exciting. It made Xaldin feel warm and a giddy sort of happy that was hard to sit in. It made Xaldin feel like he sort of wanted to go for a run. It was hard to explain. 

(It was a little bit like being eaten alive, but not quite. A different sort of excitement. Xaldin had been mostly playing up bravado when he said he didn’t think he was the type to bend over for anyone, but in truth, if he were to sit down and analyze his feelings? He just didn’t think he could do that for anyone other than Zinxi again. She made him feel exposed and vulnerable in the best way, he had loved feeling weak in her grip. He didn’t think he could recreate that particular thrill for someone else. It would have reminded him of her too much, and that would have hurt.)

(This was a different kind of thrill. A different type of excitement…)

(A different type of affection.)

It was Xaldin who eventually broke the kiss for a breath, letting that warm, affectionate feeling wash over him. “...we got that cleared up, then?” he asked, a touch dreamily.

Lauriam’s face was a deep pink, matching quite well with his hair by the time Xaldin pulled back, and seeing the look on Xaldin’s face, it made a grin that was equally shy and giddy grow on it too. 

“I dunno, I might need a little more clarification,” he teased. 

It was less nerve-wracking, leaning in for the second time. 

The third time? Even less.

-

It had to be someone meddling. First, that they got any more games at all. Even with the half-hearted excuse and continued mystery of just who in the chain of command had prompted the first batch of board and card games, with the batch they’d gotten, there was no way anyone in Togami would think they needed more. And second…Demyx had name dropped Twister specifically, calling it the best board game. 

And yet? No one was fessing up. 

Doing the inspection this time, Aqua finished carefully looking over the mat, before she gave Demyx an amused look. “Seems all good, so…think you wanna play a round, love? I’d ask for help folding this all back up otherwise.”

“Why not, we have it out anyway!” Demyx smiled, lightly tapping the arrow on the movement board to test its spin. As it kept spinning, he tucked it to his side as he went to Ienzo’s pallet, gently shaking his arm. “Hey, hey, bud! Wake up! You wanna play Twister with us?”

36, in charge of the body at that moment, opened Ienzo’s eyes and blearily blinked the vision into focus, looking over at Demyx. Regarding the board, then the mat in Aqua’s hands. 

“...did it come with a manual? May we read it first?”

“You don’t need the manual, it’s the easiest game in the world! Here, it’s simple, look,” Demyx said, showing Ienzo the spinning board, “Right elbow to red, right? So, if that’s where the arrow landed, that means we gotta get our right elbows onto a red circle, without moving any of our other limbs off the spaces they’re already assigned. If you do, or you fall? You lose! Simple, right?”

“...”

Ienzo’s face looked spacey at the best of times, but there was something truly blank about him for a moment, before Ienzo hummed softly. “So each spin is for all players? Are there any rules about using the same space as another person or another limb?”

Demyx opened his mouth to answer… before pausing. “Ummmmm… hey, Aqua! Can you pass us the manual?!”

Snickering, Aqua handed over the leaflet that had been in the box, shuffling scattered bedding and clothes out of the way to make a clear space for the mat. And as Ienzo looked over the manual, he noted that a lot of the terms were rather…vague. Which sounded…

Ienzo gave Demyx a small nod. “We’ll play with you. Dad’s been thorough with strength training, so Ienzo’s shoulder should be fine supporting his body’s weight, should it come to it.”

“Glad to hear it, Ze, but say something if it starts giving you any trouble, alright?” Aqua cautioned, before giving the boys an amused look. “Want me to spin for you guys?”

“Heck yeah, thanks Aqua!” Demyx said cheerfully, passing her the board before taking his spot on the other side of the mat, grinning as he bounced on his heels, “I’m gonna wipe the floor with you, Ienzo! Hope you’re ready!”

“That tends to be the expected result between experience and a newcomer, but I wouldn’t count us out,” Ienzo said evenly, a hint of a small smile on his face. 

“Aaaand things are heated up in the Room Two ring, a rivalry for the ages drawing cheers from the crowd!” Terra started commentating, having come by in search of Aqua after Raxter’s shift and had watched the game set-up from the door. Cupping his hands around his mouth, he started quietly cheering, like there was a distant crowd, before he joined his wife, giving her a kiss on the cheek. 

Giving him a fond look, Aqua spun the spinner. “Left foot green!”

As explained, Ienzo took a small step forward, stepping onto a green circle with his left foot. 

“A bold move from the underdog, taking a corner circle! We’ll see how that first choice will play out for him!”

Isa startled awake–he hadn’t been on Destiny Island, just genuinely asleep–at Terra and Aqua’s cheering, a small whimper escaping him as he looked worriedly around. 

“It’s all good, Isa, we’re just playing Twister!” Demyx called to him, stretching his arms out over his head and shaking out his hands, before triumphantly slamming his left foot down on the opposite green corner circle. “Root for me, Isa!”

Isa just huffed, laying back down. Though he did quietly watch.

“Ah, sorry, kiddo,” Terra sheepishly apologized, giving Isa a wave from across the room. He hadn’t thought the faux cheers were that loud, but, well, whoops. 

Aqua raised her eyebrows a little at the next spin. “Left foot blue.”

“A classic fake-out at the start of the game, dismantling plans and forcing a new starting position. Let’s see if our competitors decide to shake things up with this second chance!”

Ienzo…elected not to, just stepping forward again to take the outer blue circle just ahead of the green one he’d been on.

Demyx scoffed at that, grinning wide, before stretching his left foot alllll the way across the mat, to the one right next to Ienzo’s, smirking at him as he kept his right foot off the mat, hands on his hips. “Felt like I should give you a taste of your future, Ienzo! I’ve got the legs for this, shorty!”

Ienzo regarded Demyx moving right next to him placidly before he shrugged a little. “Height does seem to be a clear advantage, though I’d think straining yourself unnecessarily is more to your detriment than ours.” Ienzo blinked slowly. “Your stamina and endurance are kind of shit.”

Terra let out a snicker. “And the smack talk begins~”

“Don’t get too cocky, Demmy,” Aqua laughed lightly, “You only have a few inches on Ienzo. They’ll help, but not that much. Left hand red!”

From his position, all Ienzo needed to do was squat, placing his hand down on the nearby red circle.

“Maybe just a few inches in height, but I have legs for DAYS!” Demyx cheered, bending at the waist to place his hand on the red, “And who says my stamina is shit!?”

“.......ev…” Isa swallowed, “...every exercise we’ve ever done as a group?”

“Isa, man, really felt motivated to roast me, huh?” Demyx huffed, even as he started to sweat in the bend.

“Isa’s dedicated to the truth, we all know this,” Ienzo taunted, still in that light, unbothered tone.

Terra snickered more. “Hey, you’re always invited to work out seshes if you wanna work on it, kiddo, never let it be said we’re an obstacle.”

“I’ve never heard a less tempting offer given to someone,” Aqua laughed. “Left hand blue.”

Ienzo didn’t tend to be quick-moving, at least in the physical world, but there was even a small ‘pat!’ sound as he quickly moved his hand past Demyx’s leg, taking up the third circle down before Demyx could claim it.

Demyx pouted a bit and considered trying to go over Ienzo’s shoulder to the top blue, before just huffing as he gingerly moved his left hand further down, spreading his shoulders for the–

Briefly, she felt her heart stop.

After an eternity of barely being conscious of its endless thump, thump, thump, the quiet was eerie.

There was something both terrifying and oddly peaceful in the silence.

Then she took a breath.

–Demyx took a breath and put his hand down, triumphantly calling, “There! Easy peasy!”

“We would assume it’s rare for a game to end without all limbs in contention,” Ienzo mused, giving Demyx a considering look for a moment. He was used to the flickers and flashes of emotions from the others, and usually there wasn’t much purpose in deciphering all of them. So it really was a more idle wonder, what had been on Demyx’s mind, right then. 

“Depends on the positions, honestly,” Aqua shrugged, before calling, “Right hand yellow.”

And, like a shit, Ienzo gently placed his hand down on the yellow circle next to Demyx’s foot on the blue. Forcing Demyx to either twist and spread his chest, or lean further forward.

Demyx, again, pouted… before bumping his head against Ienzo’s shoulder.

“Foul,” Isa called lightly, “Sabotage.”

“No, I barely touched him!” Demyx insisted, considering his options. Twist or spread, twist or spread… he’d last longer spread, as he leaned forward more, wincing as he felt his back muscles stretch. “Ooooph, Aqua! A little help? Give us a good one!”

“I’m making a house rule distinction now, I don’t lose if you trigger a spasm by battering my shoulder,” Ienzo huffed.

“You know, that seems fair,” Aqua hummed, before giving Demyx a little laugh. “The spinner gives what it gives, but I’ll do my best. Left hand yellow.”

That one did give Ienzo pause for a second, before he twisted himself around, ending up with his arms crossed as he took the outer circle he’d left open.

“Hey, ladies and gents, we’re finally getting twisted!” Terra cheered.

“Hah! See how it feels–”

It felt like being possessed.

It almost felt like being held in the throes of love. Every muscle contorting and restricting, the skin around them embracing the inside of the body.

It was painful. It was consuming. It was…

…fun.

Demyx hesitated, distracted. He felt a little spaced out. He wasn’t sure why. Clearing his throat, he put his arm around Ienzo, resting on the yellow. 

Ienzo gave Demyx another searching look. 

“Right foot green!”

“Oo, all limbs on the board!”

Grimacing, Ienzo sighed before stretching his leg out around his arms, still successfully making it to the corner green circle. Though he did give Demyx a glance. “...you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Demyx said immediately, barely thinking about his answer as he looked for a good spot to put his foot. Actually, this was helpful! Steadying! “...actually, I’m not sure? I think Larxene is rearranging things in our world. It’s spacing me out a bit.”

“....” Isa swallowed, swallowed, swallowed, “Are you still feeling stiff from your punishment?”

Demyx blinked, peeking around the mess of limbs to Isa, giving him a genuinely bewildered look. “...punishment?”

Aqua and Terra shared a worried look. 

“Uh, yeah, kiddo,” Terra said, a little hesitantly, “Supes came and scooped you up yesterday. Or, Larxy, I guess. Guess it’s a good sign you aren’t still feelin’ the burn on your back.”

Not all of them had it, and not even just because some of them hadn’t been in the chair, but for anyone that scarred easily, or had taken multiple punishments on it? There was a two-pronged electrical scar at the base of the spine. They’d treated the burn left on Demyx when he had returned. 

“They put her in the chair,” Ienzo said softly, frowning sympathetically at Demyx. “It’s a pretty bad one. 11 doesn’t front for any punishments anymore after our first time.”

“Burn?” Demyx asked, his body shifting and tensing, like he was about to lift his hand to check… before he pouted, “Wait, I’m not losing to check. I’ll look after the game!”

Whatever tension had been building eased a little as Demyx, in typical Demyx fashion, didn’t seem to deem the situation as worthy of any actual drama, just looking expectantly at Aqua for the next call. 

Isa, though, sat up, a little more disturbed on Demyx’s behalf as he asked, “Did you really not know?”

“That I had a punishment? No idea. I didn’t even realize I had lost any time,” Demyx admitted, adjusting his weight to keep his balance better, “Larxene didn’t tell me at all. Or… I guess?? Maybe she hid it from me? Now that I’m thinking about it, it feels like I had to have been entirely unconscious through it, I’d have known something was happening if I was just on the island.”

Aqua and Terra exchanged another glance, before she sighed and spun the board. “Left hand blue.”

Just as quickly as last time, Ienzo untwisted himself to reach around Demyx’s leg to reclaim the third blue spot. 

“Well…she probably should tell you that something happened at all, if just so you’re not confused with any pain, but that’s kinda ideal, right?” Terra glanced to all the others. “If you can get by not knowin’ anything about the punishment, that’s probably good in the long run.”

…for Demyx.

{Aaxqu?}

{Got it.}

Pulling herself out of the ocean, Aaxqu was formed for only a brief moment, before she dissipated back into the pool under the waterfall, traveling into Demyx’s domain. 

“Yeah… I do kinda wish she’d stop, like… making me sleep? Does anyone else lose a lot of time? I feel like I lose a lot of time, she’s really good at making me unconscious,” Demyx said, before laughing as he reached over and put his hand between Ienzo’s legs to get to a blue spot. “You did this to us, bud. This is your fault.”

Beneath the waterfall, on Demyx’s side, the tunnel to the stage randomly lit up with lights as it was traveled through. Distant thunder accompanying every CRACK of sound that traveled through the ocean currents, fish and coral and the silhouette of a massive, resting kraken visible through every flash of lightning…

Larxene laughed as she snapped her fingers again, another set of lightning CRACK, CRACK, CRACKing into the stands, each shocking slash of lightning coming with a near deafening booming noise as it seemed to destroy a new seat at random. “I’ll have to lower the noise for the songs, I think. I wonder if I can get them on beat… I have a visitor,” Larxene realized, her hair suspending itself over her shoulders as electric currents raised the strands, looking to the water around the stage as she smiled, body sizzling as she called, “Did someone come to have fun with me?”

Within water itself, it was rare for Aaxqu to have a physical form, so she could see with full perspective how lightning had been integrated into the world, cracking down with blinding streaks and deafening booms. Seeming a little more coordinated once she got to the stage, the lightning targeted on the audience seating. 

Gold eyes appeared from the water, peering bodiless at Larxene for a moment before a stream of bubbles came from where ostensibly a mouth would be. “I’m glad to see you’re taking it all in stride. Depends on your definition of fun, love, but I did come by to check on you. We figured Demyx would pipe up if you two were having issues, but considering you really did take the entire brunt of it…”

The eyes looked around for a moment. “Feeling inspired, love?”

“It’s pretty, isn’t it?” Larxene said, looking up at the sky. Or, the water above them, which now swirled like dark thunder clouds, a whirlpool that within it was hiding the source of the lightning she was calling upon. Larxene, who usually looked fairly put together in her dressing and hair, had an almost manic, wild look to her in that moment. Static electricity jumping and snapping off of her clothes, singed with burn marks, as her hair levitated, rather than its usual slicked down appearance. “It’s breathtaking…”

“...you know what the supervisors get wrong, in all of their torture?” she asked, glancing over at Aaxqu’s golden gaze, “They’ve lost the beauty of it. The mystique, the rarity! We! You and me, babe!” Larxene gestured back and forth between herself and the water-creature, “We’re an EVENT! A rarity, in people's lives! Oh, sure, we’re the worst thing that’s ever happened to them, but… they’ll never experience anything like us again in the whole of the rest of their long, boring lives…”

Larxene’s emerald eyes brightened into yellow, then white glows, as thunder crackled above her. Her tone full of reverence as she said, “A moment of true submission, blinding pain, more excitement than their beating hearts can handle… shouldn’t that unique moment be beautiful? Shouldn’t it be exceptional?”

“I’ve always liked the way you do it,” Larxene admitted, smiling brightly at Aaxqu, “Yours are always so… intimate. You literally embrace them as they thrash and think they’re dying. You must understand what I’m feeling a little bit. And I bet a lot of your Indentured feel how I feel about it after… wow… what a terrifying, beautiful moment…”

Aaxqu gave Larxene a soft look, listening to the young woman gush. “They’ve likely lost it, because they don’t think it’s unique. After all, any of the supervisors can come and grab any of us whenever they want. A bit less special, in that case.”

And far more self-serving. Some of the punishments were spectacles, but for the most part, they just…sucked. Just pain, or just isolation, or just threats. Nothing more to it.

There was the impression of a smile, as Aaxqu bubbled fondly, “You are exceptional, Larxy. It’s no wonder you are for others too. The concerts are about to get a whole lot more electrifying, huh.”

“Though…” There would be the feeling of hands pressing over Larxene’s arms, lingering on the singes and burns. “Even inspiring, even grand artists need rest. Will you let me heal you?”

“But the memories are so fresh. I’ll forget, soon. What it felt like… what it all really felt like,” Larxene said, closing her eyes as she let her head fall to the side a bit. Smiling lightly at the feeling of gentle hands, tracing over her skin. “Minds are malleable. Memories are fickle. Are we tragedies, Aaxqu? To be made of such thin moments of brilliance? We put so much work into our performance, and they won’t even remember us when they leave… no one will remember us.”

“...do you think Saix died feeling special?” Larxene wondered, as the whirlpool above spun and spun and spun, “Singled out. Lingered on. Tortured until he disappeared. Tortured until he became an empty animal in the woods…did he at least feel important, in the end? I hope he did.”

Larxene’s hands gripped tightly, lightning dancing over her burn wounds, as she said, “I hope he died feeling so, so special. Look at the effort they put into destroying him. Surely it meant he was worth something, if they took all that time to ruin him.”

Aaxqu regarded Larxene for a moment, before a batch of large bubbles formed in the water as a sigh. Kid was exhausted, huh. 

“He was worth being a threat that they felt they needed to hurt,” she said softly, “But he and Isa were already special before the supervisors laid a hand on him. As much as some of them made us to be monsters, the Somebodies can’t escape that we’re their monsters, and that makes us special. Special things that they put into us, as we were made. Saix was an ease of comfort and prowess, a natural predator that Isa idealized. And he’s my friend, which I think is pretty special.”

“The Indentureds won’t remember us, but they are changed by us, and that’s a type of memory that remains far past any sort of reminiscing.” The water around Larxene grew thicker, like she was being enveloped in it. Or swaddled. “...and we remember each other. Our Somebodies remember us. And the island does too.”

Aaxqu’s voice grew softer as the ocean currents almost felt like rocking. “You matter, Larxene. Nothing the supervisors can ever do or say will change that. And while I think taking what they mean to hurt, and turning it into your own strength is wonderful, you’re too important to me to let that strength grow past you. To let your stunning, bright moment be a single, mind-blowing performance.”

There was an amused burble in the woman’s voice. “I don’t think you’re even close to hitting your peak, love.”

Larxene was tired…

She leaned back into the pressing currents. The water felt warm, like a gentle bath. And despite herself, her burns were starting to ease. Aaxqu easing the memory of pain.

“The island remembers him,” Larxene whispered, her voice drifting. Sounding sleepy. “The island remembers all of us. We remember.”

Larxene’s eyes peeked open, white and empty, as she looked at Amaina. “I’m not done.”

It was as if Amaina, watching the memory, had suddenly gone deaf and blind. And only Larxene was there, but only just barely. A faint, broken image of a woman reaching up with clawed hands that were barely visible through the dense, inky blackness of the water. A mouth opening up in a wail that only sounded like crackling static. Screaming at Amaina in the muted, insistent, zzzzzzrrppppppppppphhhhhhhhhhhhhhh aghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh–

Amaina blinked, and the memory forcibly changed itself around her. She had gone to follow Larxene and Aaxqu, but had been shoved back to…

“Okay! Okay, I think I’ve… reached!” Demyx shouted, just barely getting his fingertips under Ienzo, grabbing a green circle. “G-got it! I’ve got it!”

Ienzo glanced down, oddly calm for being basically stretched out across the mat as much as he could be, before he nodded in agreement. “You are touching it, so it counts.”

And Ienzo was touching all of his circles too, which counted, thank you very much, even if he had his knees down. But considering the illusion he’d casted to all the others, he’d skillfully circumvented any debate on that point. 

“Gettin’ pretzel-y there, Demyx?” Terra laughed. “Smooth moves, kiddo.”

“Let’s see if we can untangle you a little,” Aqua said, amused, “Left hand blue.”

Ienzo let out a little sigh, bringing his left hand closer. Sure, he wasn’t actually doing the worst push-up of all time, but it was a little uncomfortable to be stretched out so much. 

“Nnnngh, okay, okay, hold on, I can… I can totally do this!” Demyx insisted, shaking as he started the process of inching his hand over. If he could get to the circle, he’d be solid, but the issue was moving out of this pose in the first place. He should have never taken that far left foot red a few turns back, it had all been downhill from there. “Come on, come on, come ooooooooon…there!”

Demyx smiled, looking up at Aqua and Terra. “I did it! 

And then his sweating palms suddenly gave into the pressure and Demyx slammed his face into the ground as both hands slid left and right. BAM! 

Ienzo blinked. “You okay?”

“Ooph, good effort,” Aqua chuckled, before setting the spinner down and heading over to check on Demyx.

“What’s up?” Marluxia grumbled, looking bleary as he, like Terra before, had passed by the doorway and had peeked in to see the game. 

“Heeeeey, afternoon, Mars,” Terra said fondly, putting an arm around his son for a hug, even as Marluxia performatively bristled like a cat, suffering through it. “We got Twister, apparently? Demy and Ze’ve just finished a round, think you’re interested in playing?”

Marluxia raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean ‘just finished’? Zexion’s had his knees down the entire time I’ve watched.”

“What!? Ienzo, bud! Did you really!?” Demyx gasped, ignoring Aqua’s attempts to check on his bloody nose as he pouted at Ienzo, before reaching out to grab him, pulling him into a headlock. “You jerk! I was sweating there!! I want a rematch!”

Ienzo made a disgruntled gagging noise as he was put into the headlock, halfheartedly pushing at Demyx’s arms. Damnit…still 50/50 for Marluxia, huh. They needed to do some research for that. 

-

It had become customary to see a Zexion take up post near someone’s door whenever one of them were taken away by the supervisors. Though, this time he wasn’t the only one gazing up at the sky. 

Punishments always sucked, that was just universally true. However, sometimes they did feel a little rote. They sucked, but sooner or later they’d be over, their family returned, and they’d heal and pick up the pieces from there--it didn’t usually spur a concerned vigil by their door. 

Marluxia had started taking up odd break times for his Indentured anyway (still hiding from Dilan and Xaldin) and…he didn’t know. He wouldn’t mention it to anyone, but when the supervisors had called Terra out of their sector…he just had a bad feeling. And it was easy to keep an eye on the sky anyway, from just about anywhere on the island. 

…his dad would be fine, though. He always would, because

({Raxter grit his teeth, heart heavy with grief and fear. He couldn’t hesitate, Terra was right, and they couldn’t…they couldn’t do this to the others. But even still…

‘I love you all so, so much. My Aaxqu, my Aqua, my Mars and my Laurie… Everyone. I love you.’})

Marluxia’s eyes widened, shuddering at the feeling he…didn’t even know how to quantify. But he couldn’t even think about it, as every cloud in the sky suddenly disappeared. 

Scrambling up from the sand, Marluxia looked searchingly up at the sky in disbelief, murmuring more to himself than the Zexion, “...Dad?”

In his lab, Vexen’s eyes widened. Looking up from the ‘experiment’ he was performing on an Indentured, he rapidly sent the Indentured to sleep as Even raced through the lab behind him, Vexen asking, “What’s happened!?”

“What do you think!? One of our lines were cut,” Even snapped, the two older men heading out onto the island, roughly at the same time as many of the others, something eerie in the atmosphere. 

It was cold. 

Why was it so cold? 

Isa was one of the few who stayed in his world, hiding and whimpering in the trees. The brief message sent out to all of them hinting of a fear and pain that Isa was no longer capable of handling with any sort of grace. He buried his face in the fur of his wolf and whined, knowing something had gone terribly wrong. 

Demyx ran out next, Larxene staying behind as she murmured little prophecies of legends and memories. Whispered that the island never forgot, until Demyx couldn’t hear her anymore and stepped out of his door. “What the… did we lose Terra’s door!?” Demyx called out, staring at the cloudless sky, “How do we get it back!?”

“Dammit, dammit!” Xaldin shouted, rushing to where the door usually connected with the ocean, Dilan on his heels. Both of them having the same idea that maybe there was still a connection there, just weaker. Looking for it, both with their eyes and hands and feeling out for it with their abilities.

In his world, Luis sat against the wall and stared at nothing.

He was in charge of the connection on the islands… for Raxter and Terra to truly pull themselves away? 

Luis had to… let go…

Trembling, he held his bottle of liquor like a child might cradle a toy. Already trying to forget the feeling of Raxter looking back and pulling, pulling, pulling…

It was Axel who opened his eyes in the real world and got up, running for the connecting door in the kitchen. Banging on it as he shouted, “HEY! HEY! SOMETHING’S HAPPENED! YOU HAVE TO CHECK ON TERRA! SOMETHING’S HAPPENED!! DO YOU HEAR ME?!”

Lexaeus looked at the sky grimly, trying to feel…anything. Anything of his friend, a space that had grown comfortable and familiar over the years, and now was a glaring absence. 

They were different people, with different approaches, of course, but he and Terra had found kindred spirits in each other, both protective personalities. A terrible thing to be in this situation, but one that left them trying to spare and prevent pain for their loved ones in any small way they could. Aeleus, in ensuring his family would be strong enough to face the trials he could not fight for them, and Terra, in ensuring that light would never be completely lost in the darkness. 

Terra knew Even’s warnings. That, after being connected, leaving the island meant… So to choose it…

“Laurie. Love, I need you to open the door,” Aqua said with a sort of steel in her voice Lauriam…really had never heard before. 

She was squeezing his shoulders too tight. 

Lauriam glanced over to the door, trying desperately to tamp down on the panic that was rising in him. Maybe…maybe it wasn’t actually that bad! Things could change on the island without it being… S-sure, sure, maybe he couldn’t feel Terra anymore, b-but it was always hard to feel anyone when they were around those stupid sigils, s-so maybe he’d just been put in the quiet room, and they’d just see him--

“M-mom, they’ll - we’re not supposed to leave; if they catch you--”

Aqua grasped her son’s shoulders tighter, eyes dark. “Lauriam, I’m going to get Terra. Open the door.”

Swallowing hard, Lauriam nodded, getting the bits of metal he’d fashioned into pins and tension rods and starting to undo the lock on the kitchen door.

Axel shivered as he took a step back, giving Lauriam a wide-eyed look, before turning his attention to Aqua. “Don’t. Don’t. Aqua, they’ll kill you. Don’t…”

{Xaldin, Luis, one of you needs to come talk down Aqua!} Axel called, reaching instinctively for the two people he knew were closest to her. 

Xaldin winced at the beach and turned to Dilan, saying, “Keep looking, maybe you can draw him back!” before disappearing. 

Luis groaned, briefly, sincerely considering pretending he hadn’t heard Axel’s call… before he disappeared from his world. The two waking up in the real world and scrambling to their feet, running for the kitchen.

“Not if I kill them first,” Aqua said darkly, taking their kitchen knife as Lauriam worked on the door. 

Terra had been missing once before, and Aqua had torn the world apart looking for him. And she’d succeeded. She could do it again. It’d even been easier this time, a factory far less expansive than the rest of the world. 

She wasn’t going to let the supervisors take another member of her family from her.

Lauriam blinked, trying to keep his hands from shaking as he felt out the pins, his vision continually narrowing. Dad was okay, right? It’d be fine. He’d just do what Mom said, and she’d bring Dad back, and everything would be fine. 

Xaldin reached Aqua first, grabbing her arm and jerking her backwards, ignoring the knife in her hand as he demanded, “Are you losing it!? Don’t you make me put you down, Aqua! You take a god damn step back and take a breath!” 

“W-wait now, wait, Xaldin’s right, we need to take a second to breathe, none of us actually know what’s happening out there,” Luis said shakily, wincing as he saw how tight Xaldn’s grip was on Aqua’s arm, “Xaldin, you need to be calm too, mate.”

Aqua just glared up at Xaldin, her expression otherwise calm, though in the depths of blue, there was only fury. “Xaldin, I’m going to get Terra. You can either help, or get out of my way.”

Lauriam flinched at the steel (like a freshly sharpened sword, except for the fact he’d never felt so threatened on the other end of his mom’s swords) in his mom’s voice as there was a small click, the door opening.

“Aqua,” Xaldin said, gritting his teeth. The edges of his eyes red as he hissed, “You know that I know this better than anyone. If they’ve decided to kill him? There is no saving him.”

Aqua’s voice was quiet, and more than the steel, there was a desperation as her voice cracked. “I have to try.”

Kill him

Kill him

If the supervisors decided to kill Terra. 

A shout, a knife, a body. If they killed then they killed and you lost.

Lauriam’s hands abruptly stopped shaking as a sudden calm came over him. No indication from him at all before he suddenly ran out the door. Determined. 

Aqua quickly looked over, broken from her glare on Xaldin as her eyes widened. A new batch of fear jumping up her throat as she lunged against Xaldin’s grip on her arm. “Lauriam!”

“Oh, god DAMMIT Flower!” Xaldin shouted, letting Aqua go as he ran at Lauriam’s heels.

“Oh no, oh no, what do I do, what the hell…” Luis watched the others run out, the terror of being the only one who hadn’t gotten swept up in their fears or anger leaving him with the grim reality of what he was looking at. His friends were running to their deaths. They were running to their deaths and there was nothing he could…

…shakily taking a breath, Luis ran out after them.

Maybe, if it came down to it, he could beg for their lives.

Trade.

Orlette was in charge. She still called him her temptation, sometimes. Luis could trade. He’d do whatever she wanted. Just… fuck. Just hopefully she’d give them a chance.

As the Empaths ran through the halls, they would be heading into an emergency situation. By no means did the supervisors treat the Empaths well, but they were assets. Important ones. And generally, you wanted to keep important assets you had, so that meant keeping the Empaths alive. 

So when Terra had suddenly started seizing, that meant that punishment time was suddenly emergency medical time. 

Lauriam’s pupils became pinpricks and he’d swear his heart stopped, seeing Terra on the ground. 

And every supervisor not wearing a sigil would suddenly be overcome with rapidly growing flowers forcing roots and stalks and buds out of every orifice. 

“Who the hell let the Empaths out!? Who… w-what the hell!? Oh my god!” Seifer shouted, trying to kick the vines off what he first thought was growing around his boots, before realizing the vines were growing out of his boots, vines and flower buds pushing out of his fingernails next, ramming them backwards painfully as he screamed, feeling plants and petals rip out of his throat and nose. “NNNGH!”

Hayner, who just happened to be by the factory that day and had decided to participate in the punishment for fun, and was now trying to give Terra a shot of adrenaline to get his heart beating again. He dropped the used up syringe and backed away, feeling his eyes blind as leaves started to grow out of his eyelids, scratching at them to try to pull the leaves out. 

Orlette, wearing her sigil, stiffly watched her coworkers start to scream and writhe, before mutely looking over at Aqua, who was carrying her knife… and with calm, controlled grace, stepped back from Terra, motioning for the other supervisors who still had their minds to do the same. A quiet but distinct ‘stand down’ in her motion to them, as she watched Aqua carefully.

Aqua looked at the empty syringe, then at her husband. Not moving. 

Calmly, she came forward, dropping onto a knee as she put a hand on her Terrakion’s chest. Noting the redness and swelling of blunt impacts, wounds. The stillness under her hand. 

“You will give us our time with him,” she said quietly. But not asking. 

“You will call off whatever is happening to my men,” Orlette said, gesturing to the writhing supervisors. Asking. A trade.

With enormous effort, Aqua looked up from her husband, looking back at her son. “Laurie, stop.”

Lauriam couldn’t even hear her. Too green eyes fixed on Terra and only able to hear the blood rushing in his ears, his heart pounding far too fast. His body stuck stiff, but the rage and killing intent consuming his mind, and, as with what was happening to the supervisors, very active.

A tremble went through Aqua’s jaw, the thin plaster around her heart cracking and starting to fail in its sole purpose of keeping her heart from shattering. But she pushed herself back up and--

Aqua clenched her teeth as she darted forward just as Lauriam had, pinning him to the wall with her forearm against his collarbone, seeing the utter lack of comprehension in his eyes. 

Xaldin stared down at Terra’s crumbled body, before gritting his teeth as Aqua body slammed Lauriam. Getting Lauriam under control was always a trial, when he lost it like this. If he kept this up, Aqua was going to lose her chance to say goodbye. 

Luis caught up, warily watching the supervisors as he went to Aqua and Lauriam, placing a hand on Aqua’s shoulder as he whispered, “Aqua, please, calm down lass–”

{Marluxia,} Xaldin called, {We need your help.}

{Goddamnit, I’M TRYING!}

Marluxia wasn’t like Larxene. He couldn’t just take over Lauriam’s body whenever he wanted. Any time he was using the body, it was because Lauriam had given permission, as loathe as Marluxia was to admit that. Normally that was fine, because the real world sucked anyway and Marluxia hardly ever wanted to be there. 

But right now? When Terra… 

When Lauriam was freaking the fuck out, and even Marluxia felt sick and dizzy, something wrong in their world that would take a lot more than a little energy and some fancy glows to fix…

Damnit, Loseriam.

Everything was fucked up anyway. Who cared. 

Reaching into the energy of the island, and his connection with Lauriam, Marluxia delved deep, and shoved. 

Lauriam’s eyes started to roll slightly before they fluttered, Aqua just barely shifting her hold to catch him as he crumbled, thick streams of blood starting to fall from his nose. 

The flowers on the supervisors disappeared. 

Orlette watched as Lauriam crumbled, his nose bleeding, and in that same moment her men stopped panting and clawing at themselves, staring in bewilderment at their own fingers. So it was Lauriam that did that. Hmm…

“Y-you monsters, I’m going to–” Seifer got up, pulling a taser baton out from his belt… but Orlette raised a hand up to him. 

“Back to the employee room. All of you.” Orlette said. 

“But, Orlette–”

“Now.” Orlette said. Her tone not leaving room for argument. 

She watched at the others left, before looking back to the handful of Empaths that were here. Her gaze briefly drifted to Luis, who flinched and looked away, before looking past him, where the Empaths had come from.

They’d need new locks. And probably new rules. 

“You all might feel tempted to storm out of here. To try to take vengeance on us. Please rest assured, I have used zero of the tactics available to me to control you right now,” Orlette said, looking to Aqua, “And if you test my patience? I will start with the one who made a mess of my men here, and keep going until I’m satisfied.”

Pulling out a vial, Orlette made a show of opening it, before placing it on a counter next to her. A room started to fill with a strange, floral scent. “You have ten minutes,” Orlette said, heading out the door and closing it behind her.

Aqua didn’t bother looking at Orlette as she gently lowered Marluxia to the ground. His nosebleed stalling her for a moment in worry, but…

More of the plaster was cracking. 

As she turned back to Terra, grasping one of his limp hands, she said in barely more of a whisper, “Tell the others to come out. To say goodbye.”

{It’s safe to come out through the kitchen door,} Luis sent to the others, before worriedly looking at the vial. Wondering if whatever it was doing to the air could be tempered if they managed to close it up by this point, as he sent {Hurry.}

A part of Xaldin was fruitlessly hoping, as he knelt down and placed his fingers against Terra’s neck, looking for a pulse. Feeling inadequate for what he was trying to do, he whispered, “I’m going to send Dilan, he’s… better at this.”

And when he next blinked, Dilan gasped lightly… before placing his thumb more firmly against Terra’s neck. Then his temple. Then the back of his palm against Terra’s mouth…

“Nothing,” Dilan whispered, as more of them filed in. “Not even a flutter.”

There were many social norms of Luminary that Aqua didn’t entirely agree with, things she had been raised to believe that were different from a lot of her peers. But the idea of presenting herself in a certain way to younger folks, especially, for their respect, to be someone they could rely on and feel safe with, it was something she whole-heartedly believed in. 

But even as the others came in, Ienzo, Demyx, Lea…maybe even Isa, if someone else had gotten him. At Dilan’s whisper, a soft sob broke from Aqua’s mouth as she hunched over Terra’s body. The surrounding structure no longer enough to keep a heart from breaking. 

Aqua was not the only one, who believed in being strong for those they considered in their care. No one had ever accused Even of being the warmest individual. But he moved forward without hesitation, kneeling next to Aqua and placing a steadying hand on her back, letting her know he was there as he sadly looked down at Terra. 

Isa was there. He had walked in looking lost and bewildered, and the sight of what was happening only made it worse, as he whimpered, his eyes growing wide with greater confusion. His sorrow making him regress further and further, a keening, unhappy whine coming out of his throat as he wrung his hands together, hunching over. 

But Axel had him, pulling him in and turning his face away from Terra and Aqua as he whispered, “It’s okay, it’s okay. You don’t have to look. You’re okay,” as he pulled Isa’s head down onto his shoulder, covering his eyes and pulling Isa more to the back of the room. Would Isa regret missing his chance to say goodbye? Maybe. But like Lauriam, there weren't truly other options for him. Mentally he just couldn’t keep it together enough to do what otherwise he would have wanted. 

Demyx, who out of all of them seemed to handle tragedy the best, still let out little shuddering breaths as he drew close. “Isn’t there… isn’t there anything we can do, he…”

Dilan put a hand up towards Demyx, placing a finger against his own lips in a small ‘shhh’ motion. There was nothing they could do for Terra, it was too late. He deserved his moment of silence. So did Aqua. At least at this moment, where the pain was at its most raw. 

Aqua was his wife, and his love. They’d wait till she was ready to hear them. 

On Destiny Island, though, the Nobodies were convening around Aaxqu. Trying to comfort her, when it felt impossible to even grip her. Standing ankle high in the ocean water, calling out to her. 

“Aaxqu! Aaxqu, come on! Come back to us, it’s going to…” Xaldin grit his teeth, ignoring his own tears as he called out, “It’s going to be okay! Come here, Siren!”

“We’ve lost another one,” Vexen murmured, looking tired and miserable, “He was only meant to be going to a normal punishment. Why would they… all he did was miss quota…we lost another over quota…”

“We haven’t lost him,” Larxene said. 

“...Larxene, girl, it’s already happened. I saw it myself–”

“THE ISLAND NEVER FORGETS!” Larxene called out to the ocean. Gripping her hands into tight fists as she called, “WE NEVER FORGET! WE’RE NOBODIES!” She shouted, “ATUA DIDN’T MAKE US! THE ISLAND DID! AND THE ISLAND NEVER FORGETS!”

Zexion had only been able to look at Terra for a moment before he followed Aeleus over to Marluxia, helping his dad steady his brother as Aeleus tipped Marluxia’s head forward more, holding a cloth under his nose. Grieving in their own ways, by helping who Aqua couldn’t, in her own grief. 

The sliver Marluxia’s eyes opened were wholly unfocused, but Zexion did hope that it was enough for his brother to make his goodbye. 

On the island, Czativ helped look for Aaxqu, though her words felt choked by a song in her chest. Something that felt inappropriate to sing, but something that bubbled up within her anyway. Faraway feelings of a woman lost in the ocean another time. 

Because the island never forgot. 

The depths of the ocean were bundled tight around something small. A whisper, repeating ‘I love you, I love you, I love you’...

There were no clouds in the sky, so it was up to the ocean to rain instead. Droplets hurtling upward into the blue abyss. 

Xaldin gave Larxene a somewhat lost look. There was something almost religious in her gaze. A fervent belief that in this moment of grief she was clinging to. 

The island never forgot. 

Xaldin didn’t know what to do with Larxene’s belief any more than he ever knew what to do with Dilan’s, so he looked away from her and back to the ocean. Seeing the tight bundle beneath the water, Xaldin shuffled his way out further into the water, water droplets racing up and past him, pattering the underside of his hands and chin as he moved. “Ah, Siren… Siren, please let us help you…” he whispered, heading to the bundle.

As Xaldin touched the bundle, he’d feel something familiar. Too familiar. Something that they’d all felt as a constant for years. Loud, bright chuckles and assured grins; bear hugs that felt like the warmth of the sun beating down on well-worn paths; a spirit of fun and adventure and never-ending determination…

Love. 

Raxter’s voice in his last echo, {saying}

{I love you}

“...shit, man,” Xaldin whispered, “We love you too.”

{We love you.} Xaldin sent out. 

And instead of sending their own individually, Vexen started the process of sending his own energy out to the intent Xaldin had made. {We love you.} and then Larxene, adding into it, {we never forget love you}

{We never forget love you ♡} Czativ added, feeling her own energy seem to echo into it, which felt fitting being followed up by dozens of pieces of energy adding in synchronous {𝕎𝕖 𝕟𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕣 𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕘𝕖𝕥 𝕝𝕠𝕧𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦 ♡}.

There was a thrum that rang through it next, from Lexaeus.

{𝕎𝕖 𝕟𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕣 𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕘𝕖𝕥 𝕝𝕠𝕧𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦 ♡}

Struggling to hold onto consciousness…and Lauriam, there was energy that felt like a scream added to the intent, Marluxia still managing, {𝕎𝕖 𝕟𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕣 𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕘𝕖𝕥 LOVE 𝕪𝕠𝕦 ♡}

{𝕎𝕖 𝕟𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕣 𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕘𝕖𝕥 LOVE 𝕪𝕠𝕦 ♡} rang through the silence of of the room, the Nobodies crying out in the only true way they could. 

Luis closed his eyes, tears heavily running down his cheeks, as he whispered in the silence, “We never forget, and we love you.”

Even glanced warily at the vial on the counter. The floral scent of the knockout gas was impossible to ignore now. They probably didn’t have long, as he lightly rubbed Aqua’s back. “Of course we love him. Of course we’ll never forget.”

“T-Terra,” Demyx whimpered, having been a blubbering mess for a bit now, “L-love you.”

Isa whined into Axel’s shoulder and he whispered, “He knew, man. Of course he knew.”

“Could you imagine if my Aqua and my Laurie teamed up to really wild out on the supervisors?” the memory of Terra laughed, giving Amaina a grin as they watched a grieving family. “I know no escape attempt ever worked, and I’m happier they’re okay, but, man… Could you really call it bias that I think they had a chance?”

Of course he knew. 

OoO I was kinda hoping for a second there

O.O I mean I knew it wasn’t gonna happen because there’s still a lot of memories here left

OOO BUT IT'D HAVE BEEN COOL

Amaina looked over to Terra, before deciding to fly down onto his hand. But, she had to insistently kick his hand up so that he knew to put his palm up, before she landed on it, gazing up at him.

O.O

OoO this was sad. Do you wanna see a happier, more recent memory?

Terra was Lauriam’s memory of his father. So all of the more recent happy things he already knew. But maybe this was Amaina wanting a break, and just playing into her bit to have a reason. 

“Absolutely,” he smiled at the Chibi, “You think I love watching my family cry? Show me some smiles, Rainbow.”

OvO

Amaina did. Terra, or, Lauriam’s memory of Terra, was right, she just needed a moment away from the grief. Grief that in a moment was going to turn into each member of the family falling unconscious, the vapors from the vial doing its slow-acting job. And when the family woke up back in their rooms, there’d be new locks and new doors and lots of little things they had liked, now gone. 

And none of that would matter, in comparison to the grief. A relentless, terrible grief.

…but the memories Amaina showed Terra weren’t full of grief. 

She showed him parties on roofs and gatherings in water bars, where everyone got to feel a little fancy and a little indulgent. She showed him more board game nights, where Ienzo cheated whenever he could and Demyx always fell for it right until Marluxia or Lauriam called him out. 

She showed him little moments of Aqua. Aqua winning at spars and winning at making their kids laugh. Softer moments of Aqua stitching together little star decorations. The way she stared at Terra’s old star, held close to her chest.

Amaina lingered on the memories of the group when they were happy, or safe, or laughing. And she showed them to Terra. To reassure him–reassure herself–that grief did not consume forever. That life went on. That there was more to look forward to, even in the worst moments.

Amaina was a creature who had been designed to hunt for beautiful things. Beautiful moments. To live and live and live.

She just wished everyone could enjoy life as much as she did. 

She wished Terra had lived.

-

Amaina wasn’t the only one.

-

Things were…difficult, after Terra’s death. The changes in the physical world that the supervisors implemented, yes, but the weight of grief that pressed heavily upon all of them. 

Marluxia had struggled to maintain control over Lauriam’s body, struggling to keep his Somebody contained in the bone pits while the murderous rage blazed through Lauriam’s very being. He was never given a second to rest, to make up even a little of the utter exhaustion that ran through them, so when those fires finally burned themselves out into a deep depression, it was all Marluxia could do to find a comfortable place to collapse. 

It was different for Aqua, but unfortunately mirrored in her in certain ways as well. She mostly stayed at the bottom of the ocean, and that wasn’t an issue when conditioning continued, because as the ceaseless rain kept pouring into the sky, the boundary between the two melted. There was plenty of space. And in the physical world, Aqua could only dazedly walk around, as if in a dream. 

Until…one day, there were soft giggles on the island. A couple taking a walk, hand in hand, Aqua gazing adoringly up at Terra as they chatted. Peaceful and happy. 

Demyx was the first person to see them.

He had been strumming his sitar on the rock wall and had just… frozen. Hand mid-string as he watched the couple come down the beach. Openly and blatantly staring.

15 looked up from his book, having been hanging out with Demyx in what he’d learned was ‘parallel play’, when the idle music suddenly stopped. He looked up at Demyx in question, but before he could even ask, he followed his friend’s gaze and…

15 frowned lightly. Double checking his senses. 

“...that’s…a construct,” he mumbled to Demyx, trusting the energy he felt but still unsure, just from…well. What he was looking at.

“Oh,” Demyx whispered back, “I thought maybe the potatoes we ate for lunch had turned on me.”

Demyx and Ienzo watched Aqua and… the construct walk past. Neither daring to say anything. Just quietly observing whatever… this… was.

Luis was sleeping in the sand on the far end of the beach, a half empty bottle of rum buried into the sand by his head. He heard the sound of footsteps coming closer, and in his half sleepy state, heard the familiar sounds of Aqua and Terra laughing together and thought to himself, ‘ah, just those two’, before rolling over to go back to sleep.

…before his eyes popped open. Looking over his shoulder to confirm what he was hearing. 

“Look, I know me--you know me, but I know me, and in a different life? Pro-pit fighter, definitely,” Terra insisted. “And in that case? Pandemonium Riot would be on their third consecutive national championship.”

“Uh huh, like all pro-pit fighters haven’t already retired by their mid-30s, you’d absolutely still be going,” Aqua snickered, giving Terra a fond look as she bumped their arms together. “Just face it, no one’s fixing the capital’s losing streak by this point. All the hypothetical lost bets you can toss to the wind.”

Work in his physical body was needed, but Lexaeus was starting Lauriam off easy in pulling him up from his depression nest, just getting him to go on a run on the island. It wouldn’t help ward off atrophy, or give the endorphins Lauriam needed to do anything but miserably sleep all day, but it was still a form of warming up his mind to wake up in the first place. 

Honestly, Lauriam thought Lexaeus was trying to kill him. 

He heaved as he ran, trying not to lag too far behind Lexaeus, knowing that it’d be even worse if he gave up and tried to bury himself in the sand. 

Luis stared at Aqua, then Terra, then looking over at the–far too rapidly approaching–Lauriam—ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

“Aqua, T-t,” Luis grinned, scrambling to his feet and giving up on saying the other name, continued, “Hey, guys, can we go to my world? Let's go have drinks at my world. Right now. Can we go right now? Immediately?”

“Hey, Luis!” Terra greeted brightly, though he gave his friend a small quizzical look. 

“Uh, sure?” Aqua said, similarly confused by Luis’ frantic request. “Everything okay, Lu? Is there…”

She and Terra exchanged a look. A small movement that was painfully familiar.

“...anything you want to talk about?”

“Mhm, mhm, I’m VERY sad and if you two don’t come with me to my world immediately I’m going to drink myself to death, so you two need to come along alright, good, good, let’s go, I mean, I’ll drink myself to death, let’s go,” Luis said quickly, stiffly getting up and quickly walking towards the trees, “Time to go, time to go, ha ha ha, don’t want me to die! Oh fuck.”

{Xaldin, Aqua made Terra and I’m panicking, please help!}

{...I’m sorry, what the fuck did you just say??} 

“Don’t want me to diiiiieeee~” Luis whispered weakly, glancing over his shoulders to see if he had succeeded in delaying the upcoming catastrophe.

“U-uh, hey! Luis, that’s kinda - Luis!” Terra didn’t waste time heading after his friend, expression quickly going from ‘sort of confused’ to ‘deeply worried’. Not taking long to catch up with him, and Aqua not far behind him, Terra put a concerned hand on Luis’ shoulder. “Look, I’m not trying to call you a liar or anything, but if you wanted to talk, or you’re upset… Man, don’t joke about that, alright?”

Seeing some movement up ahead, Lauriam idly glanced over--

Before he stopped dead in his tracks. Watching Aqua run into the trees. 

…but before her, there was…

There was a questioning hum in front of him, Lexaeus noting that Lauriam had stopped, and going back to check on him. 

With a sigh, Lauriam rubbed his eyes a little. “...look, I know… I think I’m seeing things, can we, like…take a break at least?”

Lexaeus frowned lightly before nodding, putting a hand on Lauriam’s back to guide him over to the rock wall where Demyx and a Zexion were. 

“Who’s joking? Today is a bad day,” Luis muttered, escaping into his world.

Demyx glanced at Ienzo, before looking at Lauriam. Trying to gauge what was happening. Was this going to be a meltdown? How was it not going to be a meltdown? Demyx still didn’t entirely understand what he had even seen, but he knew well enough that whatever it was, Lauriam was gonna freak the hell out about it. He felt a morbid desire to ask why Lauriam wasn’t freaking the hell out. But that felt like a bad question overall.

Xaldin, in turn, had run out of his world and was bolting to Luis’, heading inside. He suspected Luis had misunderstood something. Was seeing things. Maybe Flower was doing his hallucinating stuff to him. 

But if he was, Xaldin was getting hit by it too as he froze, seeing Terra and Aqua sitting down with Luis at the counter. “Oh my god…”

Aqua and Terra exchanged another glance as they followed Luis inside, and it wasn’t long before Xaldin entered too. Aqua caught his eye, nodding her head a little towards Luis in concern, before redirecting her attention. 

“Threatening it, then,” Terra said with a wary grin. “Why’s today a bad day?”

Heavily dropping himself on the wall, Lauriam was still catching his breath from the run…before he could feel Demyx and Ienzo’s eyes on him. Giving them a tired, long look, he said, “What? You hate running even more than I do, don’t say crap.”

15 tilted his head a little at Lauriam. “...you were just running?”

Lauriam groaned, hunching forward to rub his forehead. “I’m really not in the mood for riddles, Ienzo.”

Demyx reached forward and grasped Ienzo’s shoulder, gently shaking him as he said over Ienzo’s head, “He probably just means you weeeeereeeee jogging! You know how our Ienzo is! So literal!”

Luis rubbed his temples, trembling a little, before he looked over his shoulder at Xaldin. “Mate, mate, I’m not okay to navigate this right now. Can you just…” he gestured to Terra and Aqua, before looking away, leaning against the counter, “I can’t, mate. I just can’t.”

Xaldin frowned. He kept trying to look at Luis, to look at Aqua, but…

“...” Xaldin tried to say ‘who are you’. But he couldn’t bring himself to do it. It felt too cruel. He knew who he was looking at, what name he’d be given, but… but…

“……hey, Aqua,” Xaldin said softly, “...where’s Aaxqu?”

Aqua wasn’t even aware she was doing it, as she took Terra’s hand and hugged his arm. Protective and reliant in the same action. She may be up and walking around, smiling and joking…

…but Aqua was still not alright. Very much not alright. 

And there was something desperate and almost fever bright in her eyes, as she gave Xaldin an amused look. “Sorry, who?”

Terra kept quiet, still looking like his usual easy-going self…but there was a mild strain in it. Looking at people he knew were his friends, his family…but not. 

To Luis and Xaldin, he quietly asked, {I know it’s not fair, but please just go along with it for now. Aaxqu’s okay, I can promise you that.}

Lauriam scoffed a little, still hunched into himself. “Could you two chill out for maybe two hours?”

“...fair is a hell of a word for it,” Xaldin murmured, a bewildered sort of grief running through him. 

Another down. Another gone. Aaxqu lost without so much as a whimper…

That was the fate of a Nobody. Here and gone on a whim. 

Oh, Aaxqu…

“........ah, Mermaid, what are we gonna do? Those damn kids of yours are gonna… dammit, there’s just no good way to…” Xaldin whispered, running a hand over his face as he looked away. Like Luis, he found himself immediately trying to think of who to pass the buck to, because there was no good way forward here. 

Aqua had lost it. Aaxqu was gone. A puppet dressed up as Terra was walking around, bastardizing his memory. Marluxia had only just started to get some real rest. Lauriam had only just started to interact with the rest of them again. The grief was far from gone, but everyone had only just started to get back to the new normal.

“Mermaid, this isn’t a solution,” Xaldin said a tad desperately.

“You don’t say,” Aqua said a little flatly, before sighing, a more fair expression smoothing out as she looked back at Luis, trying again to get him to talk to them. Still entirely focused on ‘his problem’, that absolutely had nothing to do with anything else going on. 

But a worried expression tightened Terra’s face as his eyebrows scrunched, and he glanced back at the casino doors. “...Laurie’s up today, isn’t he?” he softly asked Xaldin. Clear, in his desire to check on his son. 

“He is, and this. Isn’t. A solution,” Xaldin said stiffly, focusing on Terra, “You cannot go out there and do… this. To him. You can’t. It’s fucked.”

Luis buried his head in his hands. He couldn’t help, he couldn’t deal with this. It was so clearly an unavoidable disaster, and all Luis had managed to do was delay the inevitable. Lauriam was going to lose it, and then Marluxia would lose it, and all of that would cause Aqua to lose it even more, and that was just what was going to happen that day, it was all just now waiting.

Terra’s shoulders dropped a bit. 

He knew. His boys were going to flip, there was no easing into it. And yet, that knowledge was just despairing, because they were his kids. And the reality of not being able to help and comfort them when he knew how hurt they were, and that he would just add to that pain was…despairing. 

Aqua bristled…before abruptly smiling softly at Terra. “Why don’t you check on Laurie, Terra? I can wait out ol’ Lui-boy all day.”

Terra…hesitated, before giving his wife an amused look. “Uh huh, just turn my back when our lad specifically asks for help? Way to paint me out as heartless.”

“.....hey, Xaldin,” Luis said tiredly, looking up and over at his friend, “Maybe you should check on the others. Um… all of them.” He said tiredly, bags under his eyes, “While I talk with these two for a bit?”

Luis would distract Aqua by being very, very, legitimately sad. And Xaldin could warn everyone else what was happening.

Giving them a chance to prepare to see ‘Terra’ was at least… something. 

“Yeah, I guess I can do that,” Xaldin said. 

“Seems like a damn good idea,” Terra praised warmly, giving Xaldin a grateful look as he lightly rubbed Luis’ back. “Hey, Luis, think the bar wouldn’t be too offended if I just asked for a whole pint of those cute drink umbrellas? They really are adorable.”

On Luis’ other side, Aqua grinned. “We could see who can shoot one farthest blowin’ on them. That’d be fun, huh?”

“Yeah, that sounds fun,” Luis said uneasily, gesturing lightly for the wooden mannequin to slide over. 

Xaldin knew Luis hated this. Luis had good days and bad days just like any of them, but there had been a lot of bad days since Terra’s death, for all of them, yeah, but it seemed like all the insecurities and depressed coping methods Luis had were getting worse after the loss of one of his old friends. Xaldin had been trying to be there for him, but honestly, trying to be there for Lauriam and Marluxia too had been taking a lot of Xaldin’s attention, not to mention Aqua. Luis just falling by the wayside in the face of so many more people who needed more and more immediate attention. 

This was a bad situation for everyone, but Xaldin knew he needed to try to make time later to make sure Luis didn’t spend the next three days sitting obliterated at a slot machine that called him a ‘loser’ over and over and over again, hating himself in the comfortable isolation of being one of the guys on the island who didn’t have a built in partner to look after him. Fuck knew Luxord was never going to stand up and help, that guy didn’t care about anything.

But as much as Xaldin worried over Luis, as said before, there were absolutely bigger problems on the immediate horizon, as Xaldin stepped out onto the island headed down to the beach, looking to see… “Hey, guys!” Xaldin called to Aeleus, Lauriam, Demyx, and Ienzo, “Guys, we have a situation. Can I… I don’t know if I should be trying to get everyone grouped together at one or something. I need to talk to you all, it’s real serious.”

15 glanced towards the trees, where Xaldin had come from. “...we’re aware. If we’re going to talk about it, should we start preparing counter defenses for when Lauriam freaks out again?”

Lexaeus gave 15 a disapproving look, but he’d barely opened his mouth before Lauriam sat up, bristling at 15. “I know I fucked up, alright?!” he bit out, fists tight at his sides, “I’m not… I’m fine, I’m not going to ‘freak out again’, just…”

“Lauriam. A breath.”

Lauriam glared fiercely at Lexaeus for a moment, before for just a moment an anguished expression crossed over his face, before he hunched back over with his hands over his face again. Taking a breath. 

“...what is it, Xaldin?” he asked, voice deadened and muffled.

“..............is there? Something we can do to prep?” Xaldin asked, sounding genuinely curious. 

“Dude!” Demyx gasped, “That’s not funny!” 

“I’m not trying to be funny, I just…” Xaldin sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose, “...Aqua’s gone and made herself a Terra. And I think she’s forgotten he died.”

“...”

Lauriam slowly peeked over his hands. 

“...you’re…kidding, right?” he asked, voice small.

“They’re in Luis’ world right now. Her and the Terra’s she’s created,” Xaldin said, before wincing. “...Aaxqu… I don’t know what to say about Aaxqu. Aqua doesn’t remember her. It’s bad,” Xaldin said, looking specifically at Aeleus when he said that, frowning as he insisted, “It’s bad. She didn’t recognize the name at all.”

“Oh no,” Demyx whispered.

15 frowned, before writing in his Lexicon. And across the island and in the library, dozens of Zexions all looked at their own copies, a chorus of gasps and concerned groans and nervous shuffles echoing across the shelves. And amid the sudden frozen worry, Zexion read the new information, and took a breath. 

“Continue the research on grief and trauma responses!” he ordered through the shelves, “We’re taking a special focus on repressed memories and maladaptive daydreaming! 33-40, launch an investigation within Aqua’s world, have someone dedicated to mapping out the energy there! 55-62, continue the work into the psychic barrier, but be prepared to launch it at any moment.”

And, given direction and purpose, the Zexions got back to work. 

“That’s…concerning,” Lexaeus said softly. Even for those that did remake a Nobody, it wasn’t like they forgot the past ones. Viz had countless Nobodies over the years, but she still knew them all, even if she didn’t speak of them much. “I will inform the others, if you’d--”

Lexaeus was quick in grabbing the back of Lauriam’s shirt as the young man surged forward towards Luis’ world. 

(If he hadn’t just been seeing things, if that was T - o-or some - some memory of Terra, that his mom was just…walking around with… Pretending he was… Where was Aaxqu?)

“Let me go,” Lauriam growled at Lexaeus, but found no lenience in the older man’s face. 

“You’re grieving,” Lexaeus said bluntly. “We all are. The form Aqua’s has taken is alarming and upsetting, which is what you’re feeling now. Running straight for a confrontation based on those feelings will only leave you hurt, Lauriam. Take some time to process.”

“It’s probably not gonna be great for Aqua either, flower,” Xaldin warned him, having stepped aside when he saw Lauriam start to run, but mostly because he had been afraid the guy would literally bowl him over, “I know you lost your dad, but she lost her husband, and as freaked out as all of this is making me? It feels cruel to just go and start screaming that the guy she’s walking around with is a fake. She’s doing it for a reason.”

“I don’t know if letting someone forget their partner died is the best way to let them grieve,” Demyx frowned, before wincing, “...oh man. Okay, who wants to tell Even and who wants to tell Isa? I’m actually not sure who’s gonna have a harder time with it. Isa’s been nonverbal a lot lately, but Even can get kinda intense when stuff like this happens.”

Lauriam wilted at that, his eyes lowering as he stopped pulling against Lexaeus and lightly wrapped his arms around himself. He hadn’t…just wanted to yell at Aqua. If she was…if she was doing this, then something was really wrong, and if Terra was gone and Raxter was gone a-and now Aaxqu was gone, if…if Aqua was losing all sense of reality, then…

Letting go of Lauriam’s collar, Lexaeus turned it into rubbing his back, as he watched green eyes start to fill with tears. 

“I’ll tell Even and Vexen,” Lexaeus softly rumbled, before delegating, “15, go tell Isa, Axel will likely be there as well if he’s not working; and Demyx, see if Viz and Czativ are in their world. Tell Larxene as well, please.” He looked back over to Xaldin. “I doubt Marluxia will be awake, but I think it best if you two tell him.”

“Damn, I’m pretty sure Larxene had a crush on Aaxqu… ugh,” Demyx sighed, shaking his head before heading off to Viz’s world. 

“Geez, come on, flower.” Xaldin sighed, reaching over and grabbing Lauriam’s arm, pulling him into a hug. “Look at you all weepy-eyed. Kinda was waiting for you to pull one of your hallucination fire tricks, but this doesn’t feel much better. Come on, Aqua’s gonna be alright. She’s just going through a thing. For all we know this is just a ‘today’ thing, she probably just needed a mental break or something. A little mental time off. She’ll recover.”

15 didn’t move, but no one assumed that that meant that he was ignoring Lexaeus. In all honesty, there was likely already a Zexion in Isa’s world that 15 had simply passed the message along to. Lexaeus gave his son a pat on the head and Xaldin a nod before heading off towards the cave. 

“Shut up,” Lauriam grumbled, even as he ducked his head against Xaldin in the hug. “I’m allowed to cry.”

After all, his dad had just…

Aqua had gone through Things before. Lauriam had watched her before in worry, as his mom lost herself in feelings of grief so profound that he really worried that… She had been okay, eventually. They had each other, and would always care for each other, so while Aqua struggled, the rest of them became her safety net, and that was the space that allowed her to bounce back. 

Though, one of the biggest safety nets that time had been…

Lauriam shuddered, the tears falling as he silently sobbed. 

“Yeah, and I’m allowed to feel bad seeing it. Guess we’re stuck in a feel bad stalemate, huh flower.” Xaldin scoffed, though he just hugged him tighter at that, letting him rest against him.

Xaldin resented Terra, a little bit.

It wasn’t Terra’s fault he died, but at the same time… how the hell did Terra get himself killed just during a routine fucking beating? Now Aqua was lost in her own head and his kids were exhausted and depressed, and the one guy who was supposed to be there for them was probably buried in some shallow grave in the desert somewhere now, if the supervisors were even kind enough to do that for their bodies. 

In truth? Knowing them? Terra’s body was defiled in some furnace somewhere in the factory itself. Burnt bodies easier to keep secret and tucked away than buried. That was probably going to be the fate of all the Empaths.

Xaldin wished Terra was back and was taking care of his damn family. He wished Raxter was still here so that Xaldin could complain to the guy that things were going to shit again. He wished he knew if Aaxqu was dead or not. 

It was just one fucking thing after another… and everytime something happened, Xaldin felt unequipped to help. None of them ever got over fucking anything. Every damn tragedy just got pushed aside for the next one. Xaldin wished Terra hadn’t fucking died and started the cycle all over again. Xaldin wished it wasn’t going to inevitably be some new fucking thing that got them all to stop thinking about Terra, rather than anyone actually coming to peace with it. This all sucked. And now Lauriam was crying. And Marluxia was going to be pissed. Damn.

“We’ve gotta go tell the other flower,” Xaldin sighed.

“He was still sleeping, last time I checked,” Lauriam sniffed, embarrassedly rubbing tears away from his eyes, even if they hadn’t stopped falling. Marluxia was sleeping, which was also Lauriam’s fault, because he couldn’t hold anything together for two minutes. And it had gotten so bad that Marluxia had had to force his way into taking over their body and burying Lauriam as deep as he could, because otherwise…

He had wanted to kill everyone in that room. He had seen Terra, and that was just…it. The beast in him let loose again, the explosion ravaging in white phosphorus, set to attack and kill everything in sight. 

Lauriam grimaced as he felt the thrum of anger run through him again, but it felt more like the heat flash of a fever than pyrotechnics this time. It had just…made everything worse. He made everything worse. He couldn’t keep doing that, he had to get it under control, because right now? Marluxia was paying the price for it. And Lauriam had a sinking feeling the toll would be worse next time. 

…he didn’t want to do anything but just drop to the floor and hope the island ate him. But they did have to tell Marluxia. 

It felt like monumental effort to pull back from Xaldin, and even more to even put a foot forward, though he nodded. “Guess we can…wait till he wakes up. Should we tell Dilan?”

“What, like, in person?” Xaldin asked, shoving his pinky into his ear and scratching inside of it in a way that he, as a Nobody, really had no reason to do other than to show his absolute disregard for the idea as he offered, “I can just send him an intent. Old bastard is just gonna fret and fuss and pray about it, don’t see why we need to be his audience for it.”

Things had been better, between him and Xaldin, but Lauriam hadn’t really…talked that much with Dilan since…everything. He’d tried, when he got annoyed with himself enough to drum up some courage, and they still had had some conversations, but…

Lauriam gave Xaldin a mildly worried look. “...everyone else is getting told in person.”

“Yeah, fine, we’ll tell him,” Xaldin sighed, “You want to take a breath first? It’s not a secret this is hitting you harder than it will anyone else, excepting Marluxia. These are your folks, it’s a shit situation. There was a reason I was worried about telling ya, we can sit and just think about it for a bit. Dilan can wait.”

Lauriam gave Xaldin a tired look. “...if I sit down, I don’t think I can get back up. At least, like…today. Let’s just go find him.”

Though, as they left for Xaldin’s world…Marluxia was where he’d been for a while, absolutely passed out on a thick cushion of clovers in his own world.

Dilan didn’t know that Terra was ‘back from the dead’ or that Aqua had lost the plot a bit. But he did know that Terra had ‘recently died’ and that Aqua was grieving, and so was everyone else, and that Marluxia had been forced to take the brunt of Lauriam’s meltdown on his own this time. 

Dilan had been meaning to come see Marluxia since everything had happened, and honestly, it was a coincidence that just before Xaldin and Lauriam had looked over the beach to start walking to Dilan’s world, Dilan had stepped into Marluxia’s. 

He wasn’t sure what he was going to say. He had been avoiding Marluxia ever since his own embarrassing meltdown. He hadn’t been kind to Marluxia that day and Dilan had yet to confide that to anyone, other than some cryptic hints he had left Xaldin that Marluxia might not be pleased with them at the moment. 

Xaldin had called him a cunt who ruined everything and the two hadn’t spoken much since then either. 

It was lonely, being at war with your own mind.

But Dilan couldn’t justify sparing his own, ashamed feelings by leaving Marluxia alone when he had just lost his father…

……Dilan was grieving Terra too. But in a weird way, Dilan was grieving the relationship with Terra he could have had as well, but hadn’t.

While Dilan got along fine with people, it was no secret that Xaldin was the one who really, truly got close to people. When Luis needed someone to speak to and confide in, it was almost always Xaldin he went to, he and the Nobody bizarrely close. Oh, sure, Luis confided things to him too. But it was usually when Xaldin was also present. Dilan sometimes just feeling like people only liked him in that they associated him with Xaldin.

Which was a bizarre way to feel, for the true Somebody to feel about their evil Nobody counterpart. 

Perhaps Dilan was just feeling insecure–he was prone to it, sometimes–but he felt that was true for him and Terra too. That Terra and Xaldin had been the ones who were truly close, and Dilan had just been… also around. And now Terra was gone and Dilan had lost his chance to truly know the other man.

Maybe none of that was true. Maybe Dilan was letting his loneliness and sadness blind him to how close he actually was to the others. But he grieved not being better as a friend, now that Terra was gone.

Some of that regret was fueling him to reach out to Marluxia now, though he hovered over him uncertainly. He hadn’t expected Marluxia to be asleep at this time of the day. It felt unkind to wake him… Testingly, he said aloud, “Marluxia?”

Marluxia could sleep while Lauriam was awake, and it did help that Lauriam wasn’t exactly working their mind to capacity right now. But either of them being conscious at all did mean that they weren’t at true rest, a point that he’d heard Even and Vexen, to their disgruntlement at having to repeat themselves, make countless times over the years to a truly uncaring Ienzo and hoard of Zexions. 

Still, what Marluxia was currently doing was a deep form of rest that he, and their mind, desperately needed. 

So it made sense that, to being prodded, Marluxia just grumbled something indistinctly and flopped his arms over his head, trying to go back to sleep. 

Hmmm. 

Dilan sighed, sitting down next to Marluxia. This was just a bad time to do this, really. If Dilan was half as smart as he tried to convince the others he was, he’d just go and check in on Marluxia later. 

But he was here and he was sad and tired and lonely and so, so fallible.

…it was undeniable, that Marluxia was beautiful.

Dilan felt ill at that thought, pointedly looking away from the other man. ‘Other man’. When did Marluxia become a man? He had been a boy just a second ago. One of the kids. One who had just lost a parent in a stupid, thoughtless way.

And here Dilan was. Objectifying him. Like a bastard. 

“...I wish I could take you out of this terrible place,” Dilan said softly. Not looking at Marluxia, but just out at the flower fields. A pretty, peaceful place, really. If one didn’t think much of the graves hidden beneath the grass. “I’d take us all out of here, of course, but… I’ll admit, if I could only save one of us? I wish I could save you.”

“You’re so unhappy here,” Dilan murmured, looking around tiredly, “Connected to all of us. Trapped with us and by us. I’d free you, if I could. You could escape the factory, escape the island, escape us and the stupid, endless tragedies we bring into your life. Oh, Terra… how could you go and die on him… what did you do? Did you fight back? Did you move your head wrong? You should have been fine, and now your son…”

“...I hate how helpless I am to help you,” Dilan whispered, “To help any of us.”

“Don’t…fuckin’ talk like you know me inside out,” Marluxia sleepily grumbled, shifting closer to Dilan’s side, just to be able to see him as he barely opened his eyes. “What bullshit… Like I’d ever take a shitty offer like that, to leave while the rest of you dumbfucks would still be here. I’m an asshole, but I’m not that cruel, to condemn everyone to a Marluxia-less life.”

“...’n having a crisis of faith?” he huffed, rubbing an eye as he let out a small, sleepy sigh. “...’nothing the supervisors do is your fault’... Ring a bell, any?”

“...the one choice Dad did have, was that he didn’t want us to feel him die,” Marluxia said after a moment, voice lower, and calmer than it had been, though that calmness wasn’t exactly peaceful. “He realized he was dying, and he was thinking about us. How fucking him, right?”

Terra wouldn’t have left them if he could help it. In dying, in anything else. He had always been thinking of their family. What he had done was the only option of kindness and love he had, and it pissed Marluxia off that it had been the only option…but it was a sign of love that he wasn’t going to give up, because of everything else.

Dilan smiled thinly. “Ah, you are awake. Thought you were out of it. Didn’t mean to wake you.”

Nothing the supervisors did was your fault. And everyone here is on your side. Those were words that Dilan had been reassured with, when he first arrived to the factory, and one he told new people, especially if he was the one who found them first. He was pretty sure it had been Luis who had told Lauriam that. But, then, Dilan had told Luis.

“Terra was a good man,” Dilan whispered, “...he loved you so much. Him and Raxter both. You and Lauriam were his pride and joys. You’d have been embarrassed, the way he gushed about you in private. I think he and Even had a bit of a rivalry going on, really, in trying to talk up their kids to each other. Listening to Terra talk, you’d think you could have punched out the sun itself, Marluxia. He was so…”

Dilan sighed, closing his eyes. “I’m sorry. You didn’t say if you wanted to hear what I thought he thought of you. It’s just… hard. I miss him already.”

Marluxia grumbled indistinctly. He was out of it, though he wouldn’t say it. But Lauriam couldn’t exactly rot completely away, so Marluxia would be easily woken. Alas. 

He was quiet, listening to Dilan’s whispers. Threading a hand through the clover stems and digging his fingers into the soil as his chest squeezed. Of course Terra and Raxter loved him. Marluxia had been a little surprised about it, at first. After he was made, he’d quickly seen the divide between the Nobodies and Somebodies, so when Raxter started stopping by his world a bunch, and Terra helped Lauriam adjust to the real world, he just…figured Raxter and Aaxqu would be his parents, and Terra and Aqua would be Lauriam’s. 

Not that Marluxia had really wanted parents at first, nor Lauriam, though he had been more pathetically obvious about wanting affection, but…well, that’s what happened. But what had also happened was…Terra and Aqua spending time with him, and Raxter and Aaxqu spending time with Lauriam. No differentiation in who was really whose parents, the only difference really coming in the specific issues that came from their states of being, but that was so…small. Compared to everything else. 

…Terra was always so loudly proud of him. Marluxia was someone to be proud of, obviously, and he’d always have his own pride but…

(But sometimes he knew. Just the sort of weak link he was, among the Nobodies. The problem child. And, especially before Larxene joined them, when he could be truthful with himself, he knew that…there wasn’t a lot for the others to be proud of, when it came to him.)

(But his dads always were.)

“S’cause he’s not…he wasn’t an idiot,” Marluxia grumbled, his stomach tightening as he corrected himself. “If there is a way to punch the sun, I could do it.”

Marluxia closed his eyes again, digging his fingers more into the dirt. 

“Make a pillow,” he demanded, before uncaringly patting another part of the clover patch. “We’re depression napping.”

“Are we?” Dilan asked, a touch amused.

But, well, who was he to argue? He was depressed. He could use a nap.

He laid down where Marluxia had patted. Staring at the gently drifting sky. There were clouds here. Maybe more clouds than usual. The island had been mostly raining, since Terra’s death, though still in the opposite direction above the ocean. Not today though. It had been a nice day, that day. Maybe Aqua was feeling a little better.

“...I’m sorry I yelled at you,” Dilan whispered, “Last time we spoke. I shouldn’t have.”

Marluxia scoffed, though there was something soft and hollow to the sound. “Who am I to bitch for someone yelling? You were pissed, I get that.”

Marluxia chewed his lip a little. He wasn’t the kind of person that apologized, Lauriam had that in spades between them. Marluxia didn’t apologize because he didn’t regret the things he did. Every choice he made was something he wanted, because he’d never do anything he didn’t want, no one could make him do anything different, so what was there to apologize for?

“...I’m…sorry for manipulating you,” the Nobody said softly. “For treating you and your feelings trivially. I don’t…” Marluxia voice wavered for a moment, despite himself. “I don’t see you as a toy, or something I can just do whatever I want with. You really are someone I consider a friend.”

“Yeah, I know you don’t. I thought about it more afterwards, and I think what you actually felt trivial about was the concept of kissing itself. Not me,” Dilan said, watching the clouds scroll, “It was mean-spirited of me, to just assume you meant kissing me was trivial. You’d probably think the same about kissing anyone.”

“Hells, maybe it is trivial,” Dilan admitted softly, “But it felt like a real big deal in the moment. It’s why I freaked out on you.”

“It is kinda bullshit,” Marluxia grumbled, “But even bullshit things can glimpse significance by being a start. I was just pissed that Lauriam got his first kiss in the dumbest way imaginable, and it was still before me.”

Lauriam still hadn’t said anything about it to him, though. No taunts or jabs about Marluxia being a step behind. He knew Lauriam had been freaked out at first, but even after he got over himself…nothing. Like it didn’t matter to the point it didn’t even occur to him to…ask. 

And despite being a total weirdo about it all, Lauriam had completely repaired his relationship with Xaldin, even past that, while…

(No one wanted Marluxia.)

Marluxia cracked an eye open, looking at the clouds overhead with blurry vision. “...hey, during that, you said something like you’d be taking extra trials because of stuff Xaldin does. …do you think we’d only get to paradise as part of you?”

Dilan’s first, immediate thought was ‘of course’. But he gave himself a beat and a breath to really think about what that meant. Could the Nobodies get to paradise any other way…?

…Dilan couldn’t see how they could. As… convincing. As they were? Nobodies were just other parts of their Somebodies. Parts of themselves separated and othered, so that the Somebodies could retain some of their own humanity. Could live day to day without drowning in the guilt of the pain of others.

But the Nobodies were still just the Somebodies, at the end of the day. Their sins were the Somebodies’ sins as well. Telling yourself anything else was pure delusion, wishful thinking at best. 

Xaldin’s cruelty was Dilan’s cruelty. Dilan just literally gave his own cruelty a name: Xaldin.

…that was harder to say to a Nobody though.

They were just so… human-like. It was hard to remember that at the end of the day, this was just another side of Lauriam. Not his own, individual person.

That said. “...Yes, I think you could only get to paradise as a part of us,” Dilan said, “But, I think you all will get to paradise with us. I imagine our minds are still the same, once we lose our bodies. You would still be a part of us. You would come with us.”

Even if the sane thing to do would likely to be to dismiss their Nobodies, once the Somebodies no longer needed to torture people. Why else keep the Nobodies around? They had served their purpose, and now…

…it wasn’t a thought that felt good. 

Maybe all of the Somebodies had lost their minds a long time ago, and it was too late for that.

“Why?” Dilan asked, “Are you worried about Raxter?”

Marluxia closed his eyes again as he got the answer he’d been expecting. It was obvious to the point that asking felt pretty dumb. He wasn’t a real person, just a bit of make believe that Lauriam had made. The fact that he was so much better than Lauriam was a baffling part of it, but it didn’t change the reality. 

…and sometimes ‘better’ was…subjective. When Lauriam succeeded at things that Marluxia couldn’t manage even trying his best. 

He was around for a purpose, and when Lauriam died, their whole brain would die, and the only part of Marluxia that would exist was Lauriam. 

“Yeah,” Marluxia whispered, his stomach tightening again. “...I dunno, just…always sounded to be like the best part of Atua and all that was getting to see people in paradise again one day.”

But he’d never see Raxter ever again. Because Raxter didn’t exist anymore, and one day, neither would Marluxia.

“We’ll see him again someday,” Dilan whispered, absolutely certain, “Though, I should ask Aqua if she’s bonded with Terra properly. If she is, he might not even realize he’s dead yet. He could be waiting to wake up in his first trial with her. Atua not sending him on without her.”

“...I like to believe he’d get through his trials quickly,” Dilan said, “And that we’ll all get to see each other quickly.”

Dilan would like to believe that.

(But the screams and pain of too many people gave him his doubts.)

(Sometimes Dilan wondered, if it wouldn’t have been wiser to refuse to torture.)

(To die first.)

(Spare himself more and more and more and more and more trials…)

(...more and more and more…)

“Paradise will be better, than this terrible place,” Dilan whispered, “We’ll get our true chance to be happy, there. The factory is temporary. It’s just for now. It will get better.”

…maybe it’d be fine. Lauriam seeing everyone again. 

“I don’t think so. They were practically married before the factory, but it wasn’t, like, government official. And you know Mom doesn’t believe in Atua, so I can’t see her going through a pre-emptive bonding ceremony just for the hell of it.”

Marluxia sighed softly. If the trials and paradise were real…he hoped his dad was getting through them quickly too. That he’d scare the pants off Inzi, seeing her in paradise, and get the scolding of the afterlife for getting there so soon after her. 

“There’s enough happiness here, if you know how to make it,” Marluxia sighed after a moment, sleepily nuzzling down into the clovers. “We don’t have to wait and worship death, waiting for someone else to make the conditions to be happy. Seems like an annoying waste, to spend a whole life miserable.”

They hadn’t had a choice in the matter. 

The factory had taken–and wasted–their lives for them.

But Dilan didn’t argue that. Instead, he said, “Actually, there is a lesser god that is the worship of Death. Have you heard of Bathul? He’s a major character in several of the Saints’ stories, especially Saint Meridan. In some versions of the story, the God of Death was actually another suitor pursuing her, though Saint Meridan ultimately chose Atua.” 

Dilan chuckled lightly, “Can you imagine? Two gods fighting for your hand? Saint Meridan must have been something special.”

“Think you might’ve mentioned him, when you get into Story Mode,” Marluxia hummed, “...might be different, if she didn’t want the advances, but that does kind of seem like something that’d leave you feeling on top of the world. Hell of an ego boost, too. The whole of everything that was and is, and not one, but two divine beings think you’re the coolest shit. Crazy.”

Dilan laughed lightly at that, before falling into a more comfortable silence. 

“...your dad had a favorite Saints’ story. Did you know that?” Dilan asked. “I know he wasn’t the religious sort, but there was this one story he always asked me to tell if we were spending too long in Luis’ world. He got a real kick out of it. Want to hear it?”

“Well, prefacing it like that, how would I not?” Marluxia drawled a little. He peeked over at Dilan before settling down again. “Spin me your finest yarn, nerd.”

Dilan smiled lightly, closing his eyes as he said, “This is one of the more… fantastical stories. The temples usually make it a practice to not preach about any stories in The Good Book that have more clearly ‘imaginary’ features, like mythological creatures, or origin stories of other gods. Most people who only ever read the assigned passages of the Good Book, or read heavily altered versions of the text, don’t even know the books talk about things like giants or dragons or, in this story, mermaids.”

“I read those stories in my youth because I liked them, and my parents told me about them because there were often references to them in old archeology finds and artwork. They were much more popular before the oligarchy age, back in the Dark Ages,” Dilan said, referring to the time in history Luminary had almost no official historical recordings of, “You need to be familiar with them to understand even half of the engravings they put into their tapestries and walls… anyway. So, Terra liked to hear about the story of the soulless mermaid.”

“Well,” Dilan frowned, “‘Soulless’ is just one translation. In truth I think the translator might have gone too poetic with that descriptor, in the original Gaelic text the true word was probably something closer to ‘heathen’. Essentially, the mermaid was not Atuan, specifically. But most modern translations make her ‘soulless’ rather than ‘godless’, again, likely because it’s more poetic. Even translators can get caught up in their flights of fancy. And that’s assuming the Gaelic text they translated from wasn’t itself a translation of an even older language, which we don’t know the original name of but have mostly dubbed it ‘arabic’, since early translators thought it looked a great deal like Luthen’s language, which at the time was translated in Luminary to Lutharibic, though actual one to one translations show while the two languages might have had similar origins they were still clearly distinct… Anyway.” 

Lots of Dilan’s stories went like this. Dilan tended to interrupt himself.

“The mermaid, off Basacta’s western ocean, witnessed a terrible storm that was barraging a ship that was transporting goods between Luminary and Kimigashine, though, in the original texts, Kimigashine was named Midgar, which seemed to be Luminary’s name for the place, though, of course, like everything else, what Luminary called itself back then is lost to the Dark Ages, though of course every historian has their theories that they’ll swear up and down they have indisputable proof is fact. My mother’s pet theory was that Luminary might have actually been called Gerudo, at one point, based on this poem called Gerudo Valley that when translated does seem to reflect certain landscapes Luminary has to this day. Father, though, thought the addition of the word ‘valley’ essentially disproved its own evidence, as that didn’t accurately portray a landscape that was an entire country's size. Anyway.”

“The mermaid saw a man get swept off the ship, and in an act of kindness, attempted to save the man when he sank into the waters below. But the mermaid, while good intentioned, unwisely thought that the safest place to take the man would be deeper and deeper into the water, into the inky darkness where it was easier to hide from predators, up to and especially the sirens, who were known to hunt humans and mermaids alike.”

“Deep in the water was a cave with an air bubble that the mermaid was familiar with, and she dragged the sailor down to the bottom of the ocean to push him into this cave, with the belief that she would bring the sailor back up and out once it was safe and clear to do so. But while this was a perfectly reasonable method of survival for mermaids, human bodies were not designed to go that depth, that quickly, and the mermaid found that soon her human grew terribly ill, to the point where they both knew he would not survive a journey back to the top of the water.”

“The mermaid grieved her mistake, and did her best to get her human healthy enough to make the trip back up to the water. The texts don’t explain exactly how this worked, but whatever language the two of them spoke, it apparently only was a little understandable to both of them. The human understood the mermaid just enough to know she was trying to help him, and the mermaid understood the human enough to know that after some time, he was assuring her that once his body stopped moving, his soul would go somewhere else, so she did not have to grieve him.”

“But the mermaid didn’t understand what he meant, not truly. And while they only knew each other for a short time, the mermaid had grown to care for the man to the point that she asked if she could follow him where he went. Whatever the man answered, though, was too confused for the mermaid to understand, and the best she could gather was that she could, but only if she had a soul.”

“....again, the translation is likely off, and what he was actually explaining was she could if she was Atuan and agreed to go through the trials,” Dilan said, “And the concept of the trials and Atua was probably what was actually confusing for her and what he didn’t really have time to explain before he died. But translators short-handed it for soul, and now that’s how most people understand the story, so we all just sort of have to live with that.” Dilan scoffed a little, shaking his head in disapproval. 

“Anyway. The man did, in fact, die in the cave. And the mermaid, grieving, went to the Sea Witch… or the Kraken,” Dilan frowned, “The translations there are confusing, because it seems the original text itself uses both, which is strange. Most translators pick one or the other for consistency, but Father thought the translation was being accurate, if one considered that the Kraken was the Sea Witch. Which is an odd thought, but it’s an odd story.”

“Anyway, the Sea Witch was known for being incredibly powerful, and incredibly tricky. She seemed to delight giving people almost what they wanted, but with ironic twists. Who could say why. But the Sea Witch said this to the mermaid, who was trying to figure out where the man’s soul went: the mermaid could go live among the humans, as one of them, and see from them how to gain a soul. But, in a year's time? The humans would know what the mermaid truly was, and if they did not accept her as one of them, she would instead have to live in the tower of the Sea Witch, and be one of her harem, forever.”

“...I guess the Sea Witch has a harem, in this story,” Dilan laughed, sounding amused as he said, “Leave it to Luminary Atuans, to alway find a way to add sex to any story.”

As much as he poked fun, Marluxia did love ‘story time with Dilan’. The stories themselves were usually interesting enough, but Dilan would constantly go off on tangents, explaining context for certain details or chiming in with his opinions and musings on the subject. It was something Ienzo did too, actually, though his little brother was less prone to ever telling stories, but the habit was close enough that Marluxia had to figure it was something he’d picked up from Dilan. 

Maybe some people wouldn’t enjoy the constant interruptions, but Marluxia always got a kick out of them. It was something that rooted even the most fantastical story in real life. 

Eyes closed and breaths slowing, though Marluxia definitely wasn’t asleep, he listened to Dilan tell his dad’s favorite story. He had to smirk, hearing that it was a tale about a mermaid. Terra had always been a sap like that. Dude loved his wife. 

And it being a story of a mermaid in love? Of wanting to join their love in death… That felt a little too fitting, at the moment. 

Marluxia huffed a small laugh. “Don’t think it’s that weird for a giant squid to also be a powerful witch. Almost a little plagiaristic, never mind that this is an old story. And giving it horny stakes makes sense. Messing with people for fun is a fine enough reason as any, but anyone can understand a sex motivation.”

He smirked a little. “Maybe the deal was a kind of foreplay to the witch. Raising stakes for someone she had an eye on. Not a bad deal for the mermaid, honestly.”

“No way, you couldn’t catch me being part of a harem,” Dilan scoffed, “I wouldn’t care if it was the king of Luminary himself offering, harem’s just another word for ‘sex slave’. There’s a reason the temples had to step in to regulate the practice basically out of existence. It almost never worked out for the folks actually in the harem.”

“Anyway,” Dilan said, looking for his train of thought again, “So the mermaid gets her legs, and she goes to live in a city on the coast, near the water. She had to stay near the ocean, because if in a year’s time she turned back into a mermaid and the people around her couldn’t fulfill the witch’s requirements? She’d need to get back to the safety of the ocean as soon as possible. So near the ocean she stayed.”

“The mermaid, now a human, of course had nothing to her name, and barely understood the language,” Dilan mused, “But she lucked out, and the temples took her in, giving her odd cleaning jobs and teaching her more of the language. It was through her teachings at the temples that she first started to learn what ‘trials’ were, and she got a better understanding that wherever the man had gone? If she wanted to get there too, she’d have to get through the trials… and of course, there’s lots of ways to navigate the trials. Cooperation with your binding animal, wits, self-reflection, true repentance…”

Dilan smiled. “But this mermaid was a true Luminary to her very core; she joined a fighting tournament. As in, to practice for the trials. She didn’t truly know how to fight yet, and she didn’t entirely understand what tournaments even were, that they were meant to be for the best of the best. She simply heard that the way to find her man was to learn to fight, and figured fighting in a tournament, one by one, would be the quickest way to do it.”

“Now, this is actually a fascinating bit of pre-oligarchy history, but the story didn’t give her a year to fulfill the promise arbitrarily. It turns out, there used to be these massive fighting tournaments throughout the country, and each round of tournaments took one year. And even if you didn’t win the overall fighting tournament, which took several years? If you won that first year’s worth of fights in your city, you were named a champion of your city. It was a huge honor, and this story was clearly framed around the idea that the readers would have known that the mermaid signing up for the tournament would have committed her to a year’s worth of intense spars with championship-worthy competitors,” Dilan said, his eyes alight with wonder, “It’s a shame we lost the idea of City Champions through the Oligarchy era. It’s a romantic idea, isn’t it? You become the champion of your city, representing them to the point where you go by your city's name before your own name? Personifying your people and culture… I think it’s a romantic idea, maybe I’m just a sucker for people who want to become legends in their own right.”

“Anyway, the temples tried to warn the mermaid what she was getting into, but if anything, their doubt seemed to only make her more determined. If this was their greatest show of strength, certainly it was the surest path to her gaining a soul. So the mermaid trained day and night, and finally fought her first opponent, a man with two scars across his face, and an accent as foreign as hers. He was stronger than her in every way, but the mermaid’s endurance from a lifetime of swimming and fighting sirens kept her getting back up every time she fell, until finally she managed to knock the man out of the perimeters of the match. But instead of being furious, the foreigner saw a kindred spirit in the mermaid, and offered to train her for the next match. She took him up on it, and she and the man trained day and night, until she went on to her next match, who was quite similar in size to the previous match, and she was able to use all her original opponent had taught her. And funnily enough, her second opponent was also quite taken with her drive and ambition, and instead of cursing her, offered his aid as well…”

Dilan kept going, and why the story was a good drinking story became more readily apparent, as he regaled Marluxia with a story of essentially a mermaid amateur fighter who fought, and befriended, opponent after opponent for a year’s worth of battles. Each fight rewarding her with a new friend or ally who would teach her a little more, preparing her for the next battle, until finally at the last spar of the tournament she was up against the city’s toughest fighter, but with the whole tournament’s roster showing up to cheer her on and encourage her.

And the Mermaid, defeating her final opponent, became Champion of the coastal city on the same day that the witch’s spell wore off, the mermaid losing her legs, now laid flat and helpless on the arena floor while the sea witch came to collect her prize… only to be fought off by all the competitors from the year’s worth of spars, who refused to allow their champion to be taken, regardless of her origins. 

“And in the end, the mermaid got her legs back, and she was champion of that city for another ten years before finally being beaten, and in turn, mentoring the man who beat her… who, story’s twist,” Dilan chuckled, “was actually, she would discover, the youngest brother of the man she had tried to save in the ocean, and wished to reunite with. She mentored him to become the next champion, and mentored the next champion after that. And it’s said, for her steadfast dedication and ambition and kindness, when she died, Atua deemed her the Saint of Champions, and she was free to skip her trials so as to see the man she had done so much more. And she did… but she proved her sainthood by requesting to Atua to be as one of the binding Animals, and to go and mentor others struggling through their own physical trials.”

“They say if you’re lost in your trials, and cannot beat some great monster or terrible fighter no matter how much you feel like you’re growing or developing? Ariel, the Saint of Champions, will arrive in the form of a mermaid, and by the time you are ready to face the trial again, will have once again grown her legs back,” Dilan smiled, “And will be joyous, every time.”

Maybe for other people, but Marluxia was confident that if he had a harem, it’d be waaaay better for everyone in it than slavery. He did get not trusting anyone else to manage one though, no matter how rich or powerful they were. 

Marluxia listened to the rest of the story, a small smile resting on his face. A story about a kind mermaid, that then befriended a city’s worth of people to become the greatest fighter, and then mentored others to become great fighters? Hmmmm~ He could ooonly woooonder why his dad liked that story~

He knew that she had been learning all her life, but his mom was the strongest person Marluxia knew.

“I see why Dad always asked you to tell that one,” Marluxia said softly, still faintly smiling. “It’s a kickass story, and not just because you can draw so many parallels to Mom. Fighting a year’s worth of tournaments sounds exhausting, though…though I might just be tired,” he snickered.

“To be fair, in reality that meant a spar a month, if our interpretation of the old stories can be trusted,” Dilan explained. “So, if one spar a month sounds like too much trouble, I can go and let Aeleus know he’s been overworking you…” he said, a small, teasing lilt in his tone.

“Uuuuuuuuugh…” Marluxia groaned, rolling over onto his stomach to bury his face in the clovers. “You know, I barely do, but I really don’t envy Lauriam right now. I can only imagine the jogs or sit-ups or whatever he’s having him do right now.”

“Heh. When on earth would you ever envy Lauriam?” Dilan asked, mostly assuming Marluxia had misspoke and was teasing the flub lightly, “What does someone who’s ‘perfect in every way’ have to feel jealous of?”

Marluxia was quiet for a moment before he crossed his arms under his jaw with a huff, a dusting of pink across his face visible before he settled in them. “Oh shut it…”

Marluxia glared tiredly to the side, crossing his ankles and tapping the toe of his lower foot into the dirt. “I am perfect, and there isn’t a damn thing between us I’d trade.” Marluxia huddled more into his arms, voice growing muffled. “...but it seems like it’d be nice being the person people seek out, for once, rather than the other way.”

Lauriam didn’t…demand that other people acknowledge his presence. Usually when he was hanging out, or in a conversation…or flirting. It was because someone specifically wanted to talk to him. Marluxia didn’t need people to want him, that was pathetic.

…but it seemed nice, at least sometimes. 

“Oh, that?” Dilan scoffed a little, saying without a breath of hesitation, “Lauriam’s got one skill mastered that you don’t: he knows how to make everyone worry about him.”

After a beat, Dilan winced, looking a little ashamed, hearing himself. “I don’t mean to say he does it on purpose, he’s not manipulative, he’s just… ugh, I can be very unkind sometimes. He’s…dammit, Dilan…”

Dilan bit his lower lip a little, internally scolding himself… before he whispered, “You cannot repeat what I’m about to say, it’s just between us, yes? Lauriam is… charmingly helpless, sometimes. It gets him a lot of attention. And I know, that can be hard to compete with. It’s tough, being the one people don’t ‘have to’ look out for. You get overlooked a lot.”

Dilan paused, before looking at Marluxia, curious. “Do you feel that way, sometimes? I feel like I was projecting a bit there. Xaldin has had his… moments.”

How bullshit was that? That the skill that gained Lauriam love was just…being pathetic. One of the core things he’d designed Marluxia to never be. 

Tilting his head up a little, Marluxia gave Dilan a tired look. “...Di, I just spent the last few days holding our brain together with magic duct tape and sheer will. No shit I’m the one people don’t have to look out for, I’m the one keeping that moron from self-imploding.”

And yet the others sighed and snickered about how dramatic and volatile Marluxia was. Oh, nevermind Mars, he’s just self-aggrandizing again, no need to…even care he exists. 

He knew it wasn’t all fair. Larxene listened to him, his parents did love him, and even after their fight now, Dilan talked with him. But it was hard not to feel that way sometimes. 

Lauriam was pathetic, and that made him sweet and lovable. Marluxia knew what he was worth, so…he didn’t need anything, right?

“You did,” Dilan agreed, “It was impressive. Meanwhile… ah, I really shouldn’t shit-talk Lauriam, it’s not like he’s not going through something as well. I just…”

Dilan closed his eyes, frowning. “...I got a bit upset with him, if I’m honest. In that moment when Terra died. It’s not that he could help it, I know. And Terra is his father, both of your fathers, yes. But…” Dilan’s teeth grit together lightly, eyes peeking open to glare in frustration at the clouds, “...Aqua was losing her chance to say goodbye. So few of us ever get even the chance to say goodbye. And instead of getting her moment of silence with the body? She almost had to sacrifice the opportunity to get him back under control. In truth, Marluxia, if you hadn’t gotten him under control? My next step was going to be knocking his ass out and dragging him back inside. I wouldn’t have felt good about it, but…”

“...Aqua and Terra have been my friends for a long time,” Dilan whispered, “Aqua deserved a selfish moment. But Lauriam’s grief is so loud. It was about to take the entire group to manage it. So… thank you. For stepping up and doing what you did. You did your mother a service.”

Terra was already dead, when they got there. What Lauriam had done wasn’t dissimilar to what Aqua had tried, to be honest, each of them knowing the damage was done and there was no fixing that…but there were still people that could pay. Looking through the memories, Marluxia blamed the syringe. For a moment, it looked like there was a chance that Terra’s time wasn’t up yet, and that’s what had stalled Aqua. 

If he was obviously well and truly gone? Marluxia had a feeling that Lauriam and their mom would’ve tried to kill as many supervisors as they could get their hands on. 

Instead it had been frightening and confusing, and while Aqua had managed to stall her vengeful rage…Lauriam couldn’t. So he…

(He had stopped, once. Trying to save someone’s life. And nothing had changed, other than giving up more opportunities to fight back. There was no saving the dead, but you could sure bring more people down with you.)

“Yeah, yeah, I know I’m the best,” Marluxia mumbled into his arms, not looking particularly happy to say so, for once, “She can thank me too whenever.”

He closed his eyes, brows furrowing in frustration. “...it’s not like I’m not mad too. But that dumbass doesn’t know how to make a fire without using himself as kindling.”

Dilan smiled lightly. “See? Even you can’t help but do it. Worry about him, I mean. You’re literally laying here, exhausted from trying to undo the damage he did, entirely spent, ah, but it’s Lauriam who’s self-destructive. Lauriam who needs looking out for. Like I said… it’s a skill he’s mastered. Making others worry.”

“Uuuugh, fuckin’ bastard,” Marluxia grumbled. “You think everyone will still throw a fit if I keep him in the pit for another few weeks? I know we have literal evidence otherwise, but maybe that kind of isolation will mellow him out a little. Enough that either of us can get mad without being put on a suicide watch list or becoming a serial killer.”

“No, probably not.” Dilan laughed lightly, the chuckle coming from deep in his stomach. “It’d probably make it worse. No, look, some things you can’t really expect to ‘fix’. For instance, Luis,” Dilan mused, looking back up at the sky, “None of us can fix his alcoholism for him, that’d be something he’d have to choose for himself. And none of us can fix whatever the hell sent him down that road in the first place. People have wanted to, sure. I’ve wanted to. But you can’t change other people, no matter what any story tells you. All you can do is be there for them…if you want to be.”

Dilan paused, before saying gently, “And we want to be there for Lauriam. We want to be there for you too, Mars. And being there for you two means, well, sometimes you gotta be ready for some really big, really loud emotions. And that’s okay. That’s just part of you two.”

“But, it’s also alright to acknowledge how that can be hard, sometimes. Especially when you’re both stuck competing with each other for help.” Dilan said, “We can all try to be there for everyone exactly when they need us, always, but that’s tougher to do in practice than it is to want. And I just don’t want you getting left behind, because Lauriam’s a little harder to ignore. I want to look out for you. I care about you. I guess I just don’t want you to feel like I don’t.”

“...sorry,” Dilan said softly, “Not sure how we even got to this topic, if I’m honest. Or that conclusion. But yeah. I just want you to know I care about you.”

…yeah. There was managing Lauriam, but Marluxia didn’t think there was any fixing him. Not unless Vexen really pulled out all the stops with some sort of miracle lobotomy. 

…but even then, that probably wouldn’t be Lauriam anymore. And even aside from what that would mean for Marluxia’s capacity to exist, he just…didn’t want that. 

…

Marluxia’s blush burned brighter as Dilan said and repeated that he cared about him, and wanted to be there for him. That it was a desire, not just something that had to happen. “Like that’s a surprise, when we talk. Topics will weep for consistency. And I know that you c-care about me.” Though the soft way Marluxia said it wasn’t in the dismissive, confident way he usually said facts. It wasn’t unbelieving, but there was something almost…vulnerable in the way he said it. 

“...care about you too,” he mumbled, growing redder, “If you were fishing for reciprocation.”

Dilan smiled, brightening at that. “I wasn’t, but it makes me happy anyway.”

“...and while I know you were just trying to knock a task off your to-do list,” Dilan said, “It was flattering to be asked for a kiss by you. You can still do much better for a first kiss than a pudgy old man who rambles about history. But it was flattering.”

Huffing more, Marluxia pushed himself up, rolling on his hip slightly to sit up. Even if his bright red face was stupid he wasn’t going to be a loser and hide more and more behind his arms or something dumb like that. “Of course it’s flattering, anyone with half a working brain should be flattered if I want even a second of their time. And I can do better than literally everyone I’ve ever met.”

The blush had subsumed his ears and neck, by this point. And while he refused to fully hide, Marluxia still looked off to the side as he pouted, glaring in his embarrassment. 

“...but of that number, you’re still the best choice. Don’t let it go to your head too much, but I don’t mean that as a consolation either.”

Another deep, chuckling laugh. Clearly skeptical. Clearly flattered.

Dilan watched the clouds pass. A nervous tension building in his stomach. Thoughts half-formed, then abandoned, then half-formed again. Marluxia’s hurt when he was rejected, yelled at. Even’s accusations, and Terra’s discomfort. Years of being a friend to his own friend's son. Confusing, guilty feelings in the last few weeks.

A reddened face around pretty eyes under long, pink hair…

…it wasn’t like it meant anything to Marluxia.

Not letting himself think about it any further than that, Dilan shifted onto his side. Hoisting himself up onto his arm, and trying not to think, he reached over and gently cupped his hand against the side of Marluxia’s face, tilting his head back over to him. 

A dozen half-formed thoughts. He thought about asking ‘are you sure’. He thought about mentioning ‘you’re beautiful, did you know?’. He thought about trying to say something charming. Reassuring. Apologetic.

But he didn’t say anything. He just admired Marluxia for a moment, before leaning down. A gentle, lingering kiss.

In retrospect, much later, Marluxia would feel like an idiot. It was so obvious. But in the moment?

He let himself be nudged back into looking at Dilan, the hand cupping his face not forceful, but clearly encouraging, and Marluxia was never one to back down from even the smallest challenge. And while Dilan didn’t say anything…well, Marluxia was grateful for the moment. 

It was hard, looking straight at someone who so openly and blatantly cared about you. To look at someone and see adoration. Love, focused on you, without any games or benchmarks to meet. Just love given. 

And in the moment, Marluxia was surprised by the kiss, his eyes widening in shock for a moment, before they closed. A feeling, special and fun, as he kissed back, putting a hand on Dilan’s shoulder. And around them, puffy white flowers bloomed in full over the clover patch. 

Dilan had really just meant to kiss Marluxia once, and then pull back. Let the other man have his first kiss, so that he didn’t have to feel jealous of Lauriam. Or lonely. Unworthy.

…but it was hard to stop, once Marluxia started kissing back. The lingering guilt and shame in the back of Dilan’s mind fading as he focused on the warm affection of kissing someone that… yes. Dilan liked. Why wouldn’t he? Marluxia was charming and clever, strong and dedicated, loyal in a passionate way. 

It hadn’t occurred to Dilan in the moment, but upon reflection? Marluxia was a great deal like the mermaid of the story. 

Maybe later, when Dilan caught his breath, he’d tell Marluxia so. 

-

Terra had opened his eyes right in front of his wife. Someone he adored over almost everything in the world, and who adored him right back.

…along with a purpose weaved into the very essence of his being, to act on that adoration. To protect his Aquifer and prioritize her happiness. 

It was easy to fall right into the role, but Terra knew he wasn’t…’Terra’. The real one. When it was the two of them, that didn’t seem to matter, Terra could fulfill his purpose without a thought, and everything felt right. 

But there were other people Terra adored too, and being around them…

He thought of Luis’ desperate mutters and clear sorrow, the hesitation and betrayal in Xaldin’s eyes. He hadn’t even seen his boys yet, but he…Mars and Laurie were his sons, how could he ever want to push them into a breakdown? Something that would be achieved by just…standing in front of them. 

Terra had a duty to Aqua. But when she wasn’t around…he tried to make himself scarce. Not wanting to cause his family more pain. At least the distant sounds of the island were still comforting. 

While Even always kept his aging looks even in the Empath realms, embracing the graying hair and growing lines of his features as just an evolving version of himself, Viz had no issue changing her appearance to, well… whatever she damn well pleased, in that moment. In the real world her joints were growing thick and gnarled, her back starting to bend into a hunch that a mostly sedentary life had only exacerbated. Hair starting to thin, disappearing more and more down the drain of the shower every year.

But here? 

Lately, Viz had a preference for flying around on butterfly wings. With ease, she had grasped Even’s wrists and flown him up, and over, the trees, to what was, in theory the ‘other side’ of the island.

Theory was the best you could call it. The ‘other’ side of the island was a strange, distorted ruin. A strange mishmash of what seemed like different ideas of not only an island, but a city, a town. Nothing of substance, nothing that by itself was worth visiting. And it was less ‘abandoned’ and more ‘pushed together’, the odd mishmash of spacing. Like the island, at one point, had been too full of ideas that hadn’t stuck, and those ideas had been gradually pushed to the back.

There wasn’t much reason to go here unless you wanted to be alone, and somehow your world wasn’t alone enough. Viz smiled lazily as she dropped Even down, before landing on her toes, smirking up at him as she gestured to Terra. “Told you he’d come here. Where else is he going to go? Poor thing lost his door.”

“Viz, please have some tact,” Even whispered, before stepping forward a touch warily, “...Terra. Is it alright for me to call you Terra?”

Terra dismissed Earthshaker as he saw Viz and Even approach, taking a breath to cool himself down from the practice sets he’d been doing. Just because he was off sulking didn’t mean he had to just sit around! Though, he could only give Viz a small, tired smile at her comment. 

…hadn’t been his door. Not really. That was a pretty glaring difference, that he couldn’t recreate Terra’s world. Now the sea and the sky were one and the same. 

“It is my name, though I don’t doubt you could think up something else,” Terra laughed weakly. “What brings you back here, Ev, Viz? I will be flattered if it’s li’l ol’ me.”

Even hesitated more at Terra’s… ‘Terra’s’ question. 

This was already proving more difficult then Even was hoping for. Perhaps Vexen was right and he was the one who should have come to speak with Terra. This was, after all… Even was pretty sure this counted as…

“Terra, I am going to ask a question bluntly, not to be cruel but to clear things up quickly,” Even said, putting his hands behind his back, “You are aware you are a construct, yes? A Nobody?”

Terra chuckled softly. “Yeah, I know. Think we’d all be even more shocked and concerned if my Aqua had a knack for necromancy all this time.” His smile faded a bit as he looked to the others in concern. “...I know she knows it too. But she’s not ready to face it, so…please don’t bring it up to her.”

“You do get what an unreasonable request that is, don’t you sugar?” Viz smiled lightly, crossing her arms and tilting her head slightly at him. Well, up and slightly to the side. She was a great deal shorter than both of them in any world. “You seem to be a walking, talking example of how our girl is not coping. Not even a little. Now, I’m happy to see our young Terra walking around as much as anyone would be, but this…”

She gestured Terra up and down. “....this feels a bit insulting, if I’m honest. Especially considering we’ve really only just lost our boy. And now here you are. Playing dress-up with his skin.”

“Come now, let’s not…” Even hesitated, before sighing, looking around the morphed ruins, “There’s a marble bench and table halfway buried in the sand somewhere around here, if I recall. Perhaps sitting down for tea might ease some of the tension here.”

Terra sighed, reaching up to rub the tension in the back of his neck. He shrugged noncommittally to Even, though took his lead to find somewhere to sit, before he said quietly, “It doesn’t feel like dress-up to me. Even if, like…logically, or whatever, I know I’m not your Terra. I’m just…me.”

He chuckled softly. “I do get that it’s insulting, though. Why do you think I’m all the way out here, Vizzy?”

Viz smiled wider. “Oh sweetheart. Let’s not do nicknames right this moment, hm?”

“Viz,” Even whispered, a tad sharply, “Please.”

“Even, I’ve stepped back all these years and let you take the lead on how our relationships with Nobodies work.” Viz sighed, fluttering up and following Terra deeper into the beach, landing on the marble table, half buried in the sand, and lightly brushing the sand off the top of it with her foot. Her movement light, almost ethereal in the way gravity seemed to barely affect her, as she said, “Mostly because I agree. I’m sentimental as anyone, I get attached. A part of me was glad Dilan never fixed Xaldin, though he should have, and I advised him to, a hundred times. I sympathized with Vexen’s fears when we were all discussing if we should replace him, after what happened to poor… well, you know. I never even argued Marluxia should be replaced after seeing all the difficulties he and Lauriam had, or the way Larxene openly and frequently possesses Demyx. Ultimately, as bad as all of that was? The Somebodies were still in control. And that was always our biggest fears, wasn’t it? That someday we’d lose control?”

Spinning on the table top, kicking more sand off, not at Terra but letting the sand fall in front of him, she said sternly, “Aqua is talking to her Nobody like it’s her husband, and he’s alive. This is out of control. This is exactly what our own mentors, when they taught us how to make Nobodies, feared. At what point do we admit this has gone too far?”

“...” Even brushed some sand off the part of the bench he could sit on, and with a wave of his hand, tea supplies showed up on the table. “Your point is made. Can we cease the dramatics and sit down and talk about this calmly now?”

Viz gave Even a small wink, shugged, and sat down on the other side. “Take a seat, Terra. Don’t let me scare you off or anything like that. It simply had to be said.”

Terra winced. “Sorry.”

It didn’t seem right to call Viz anything else, though. Not when the nicknames were so natural for him that it felt like reading a script he’d just been shoved to try anything else. Thus, the whole reason he’d come out to the back of the island on his own. 

They were all his family. Terra wasn’t theirs. 

He wilted, hearing Viz talk about how Aqua had lost it, looking at the sand for a moment before quietly sitting down at the tea table. Starting to pour out the cups, as the youngest of the group, in multiple senses. 

“I know this ain’t coping,” he said quietly, “But I can’t do anything else. Pretending like I’m not who Aqua made me…I can’t do that to her. Even if I can understand how this is worse.”

“That is largely why, Viz, I am taking issue with how you’re speaking to Terra,” Even said, giving the woman a stern look, who sipped at her tea lightly, “This is not his fault, as it is, really, never their fault–”

“Putting all the weight of acting as if they’re not constructs just makes their lives harder,” Viz said, gesturing to Terra, “Look at the position Aqua’s breakdown has put him in, then. While Aqua gets to play out her fantasy, it’s going to be Terra here who has to deal with the anger and confusion his existence is going to cause in the group. He knows it. That’s why he’s on this side of the island. Taking responsibility for the wellbeing of the constructs we create means not putting them in the line of fire among each other, justifying their own existence. It’s cruel. This whole setup is why everyone should be regularly recreating their Nobodies.”

“We cannot force Aqua to recreate her Nobody, Viz,” Even said, “Nor can we pressure Terra here to be anything other than what he is. I did not seek him out to let you say everything you want to be saying to Aqua right now to him, I’ve sought him out… you out,” Even said, turning to Terra, “To try to work out some way to… ease you back into the folds of the group. Preferably without… causing undue harm.”

Even tapped his finger against the side of the cup, before sighing, “Of course, I mean Lauriam and Marluxia. I believe you still have not spoken to either of them yourself?”

Despite everything, Terra did give the two older Empaths a dry look as they talked around him, just placidly sipping his tea until they decided that the greater politics among them were better talked about another time, or they wanted to address him directly. 

They were both right, to a degree, but, like…damn dude??? What was he supposed to do about it??? One of the biggest choices Terra had was how he interacted with the others, and that…

Terra sighed, something regretful and pained tightening his expression. “Yeah. I think Xaldin’s right, that I shouldn’t… I mean, from what I’ve heard Laurie - Lauriam’s all mucked up, and Mar - Marluxia’s just barely gotten off damage control.” He smiled weakly. “You can imagine I wanna see ‘em, but…that will just make it all worse, huh.”

“I think your guess is as good as ours, how it might affect them,” Even admitted, still worriedly tapping at this glass cup, “In truth, I might have assumed a bigger reaction with them being aware of your existence at all. But, it seems we managed to get through the first, most trying shock well enough. Now the fear is if we’re just waiting to see if the reality of your situation is just waiting to hit them. Talking about you might be fine, but talking to you might set off an episode. How that episode would look is always impossible to say.”

“It’s a shame Inzi isn’t around anymore… she could always manage those circles of calm for a little bit. Maybe at least enough to get through the worst of it,” Viz sighed, “Unfortunately, I think the only one of us who’d be strong enough to recreate that is busy drinking himself into a stupor.”

“I’m not sure that would help either. Lauriam and Marluxia’s anger tends to build on itself. Even if we could calm them for a moment, their anger at being calmed by force would likely make it worse,” Even said, “No, I think the best approach is a careful, planned approach by you, Terra. A reintroduction, of sorts. Unfortunately, you doing so alone might be the best approach for those two. They get overwhelmed when too many people try to help at once. You’d be on your own for it.”

His sons were more than able to cascade situations into each other, but there was a part of Terra that wondered if Marluxia and Lauriam were just…too tired to freak out more. The others were already keeping an eye on them, and without either of them coming to him for a confrontation, maybe the dynamite just hadn’t truly been lit yet. 

Terra snorted softly. “Marluxia was pissed at Zexion for what felt like a month after the squirt made him walk into walls for a day, they hate Empathetically being messed with. I’m gonna have to agree with Even there, this is prolly gonna go best fully aware and consensual and all that.”

Which meant that he had to go for it. 

He sighed softly, his head dropping a little as he rubbed his neck again. “...I know Lauriam had some sort of power burst, and Marluxia took over their body. Anything else I should know before reaching out to them?”

“Xaldin is, apparently, now openly flirting with Lauriam,” Viz said, snickering a little, “I have no idea if Aqua knows yet or not. The reason I bring it up to you is if Lauriam has a meltdown, I wouldn’t be surprised if Xaldin arrives to white knight the situation. Which is its own problem. He’s not always the most stable construct either, our Xaldin.”

“It’s… very likely just a phase,” Even said stiffly, “We are keeping an eye on it. But yes, Viz is right. Xaldin might feel compelled to interfere when he shouldn’t.”

“Huh!” Terra said lightly, eyebrows raised, before he let out a small huff. “Glad those two actually talked it out. Know Laurie can talk himself in circles before just goin’ for stuff, and Xaldin can get surprisingly shy, but…good. Sucked havin’ ‘em avoid each other. Is Mars still avoiding him and Dilan?”

“Marluxia avoiding them? Why would Marluxia have been avoiding them?” Even asked, startled… before glancing at Viz.

Viz shrugged. “Don’t look at me. Wasn’t my day to watch him.”

“As always, Viz, very helpful,” Even said dryly, before looking back at Terra, “One important note… you are undoubtedly going to be asked about Aaxqu. You need to have an answer ready.”

Terra raised his eyebrows a little, but since he wasn’t asked again, he didn’t answer. It had seemed obvious to him, and while he didn’t know why Marluxia had been making himself scarce, he did have a few ideas. And they were all his son’s business, so he wasn’t about to go theorizing about ‘em in gossip. 

But a little more important to talk about, was Aaxqu.

Terra winced. “...it’s not gonna be an answer anyone’s gonna like.”

“You’re Aaxqu,” Viz said… before stretching her arms above her head, both her little antennae twitching, “At least, as much as my Czativ is Azvi, or Azvi is Mixvaz, and so on and so forth. She was reset into you. Poor girl.”

Terra blinked at Viz, before nodding sheepishly, though he muttered, “Reset’s maybe a word for it…”

Sighing softly, he chewed on his cheek before asking, “I know you at least spent some time in the capital, Even; you know those pre-Atua statues everywhere? I dunno if this is even the right way to describe it all, but, like… There’s one that’s kinda like two people swirling into one, becoming a new person. That’s what Aqua and Aaxqu were aimin’ for, when they made me. That Aaxqu mixed with every memory of Terra, to make me.”

There was, briefly, a deep sadness in Even’s gaze. “That must have been quite a choice for Aaxqu to make,” he said softly, before looking away, forcing his expression to calm. “...but, it is a choice you’ve made, and not something that can be undone, I expect. I’m not sure how you can spin that to the boys, unfortunately. I’m certain with time they’d understand her decision, but right now, it does seem like we’re about to ask them to grapple with the death of…”

Even hesitated, glancing warily at Viz.

“Go on, say it. Their ‘mother-figure’,” Viz said, giving Even an unimpressed look, “This has gotten out of control, Even. And someday, we’re all going to pay for it. We’ll lose control entirely… or, well, you all will. I’d be astounded if I’m still around in a few years to see it.”

“Don’t speak like that, you’re perfectly healthy,” Even said, ignoring Viz’s little snort at that as he looked back at Terra, “...I would recommend practicing your explanation for Aaxqu. That will not be an easy conversation.”

Even then hesitated. “...are you alright, Terra? I feel like the wrong person to ask, and in truth you don’t have to explain yourself to me. I know that as a Somebody there are things I can’t truly understand at play here. But… you seem to be coping remarkably well, in a situation I think I’d be quite alarmed in.”

Their mom. Just straight up. There was no pseudo anything about how Lauriam and Marluxia felt for Aaxqu, no different than how it was for Aqua, even being adopted in their pre-teens. They hadn’t raised the boys any other way. 

Just like Ienzo and Zexion hadn’t been raised to feel any differently for Lexaeus and Vexen. 

“Think I could get away sayin’ that I just transitioned?” Terra laughed weakly, knowing that he had a lot of brainstorming to do before trying to talk with his sons. Eeugh. Not exactly a strong suit for him. 

Shaking his head a little at Viz’s morbid humor, he gave Even a small grin with tired eyes. “Hey, Even, you know me.”

That was just it, though, wasn’t it. He didn’t. Everything in Terra’s bones felt like he’d be fine, just had to move forward…but that had always been easy, for the Terra that was surrounded by the family he’d made. 

It was…a lot harder to do alone.

The way Even’s gaze grew tired at Terra’s ‘you know me’ suggested the same depressing thought had run through his mind as well. No, he did not. Yes, perhaps in some way, this was Aaxqu… but it was an Aaxqu fundamentally changed. Her very being altered, refined, into a pseudo-copy of what had been, not even a week ago, a very real person. 

Even did not feel like he was talking to the water-being who had helped an ocean-shy Ienzo to learn, at least in their own minds, to swim. He did not feel like he was talking to Terra, who as a being made up of Aqua’s memories, would not remember a long, difficult conversation with Even one night over his fears of Zexion overwhelming Ienzo someday, which had turned into sad musings that their sons would not get to know a life of true independence from them. 

Even did not know this person. Time would change that. But in this moment? The connection just wasn’t there.

“...I’ll ask Vexen to check in on you later,” Even said, “I do hope the conversation goes well, Terra. Truly.”

“Thanks, man,” Terra laughed weakly, glancing over the mish-mashed rubble and towards the trees, “Me too.”

-

“I’m not a coward. And I’m not gonna let you be one either,” Marluxia grumbled, leaning against Lauriam as they looked over the note they’d gotten. He was feeling better, at least not needing to sleep every damn second he could spare, but Marluxia still wasn’t feeling great, and the damage to their mind was apparent. 

It did work out in a way that if Marluxia wanted to stand up without feeling so dizzy he just collapsed back down, Lauriam needed to pull himself out of whatever pit he was trying to become a part of to help him. Mutual aid, or whatever. 

“I wasn’t planning on avoiding him forever,” Lauriam muttered back, looking sadly at the note. It was better than Terra just strolling over to them and acting like nothing had happened, but…well, he supposed there was no way for this not to hurt. 

‘I know I’m not your dad, and I’m sorry. But I’m still a part of your mom, and I care about you, because she does.’

That…was easier to swallow than a lot of things. They hadn’t seen Aqua since everything either. But…

Lauriam sighed. “I’ll ask him to come over. Are you feeling o--”

“I’m fine,” Marluxia snapped, before huffing, “Let’s just get this over with.”

-

Immediately Lauriam felt like crying just seeing ‘Terra’. Who he’d last seen unmoving and beaten on the ground, now just… Like when Xaldin told them about ‘Terra’, and Lauriam realized he hadn’t just been hallucinating, he wanted to scream, and find just…some enemy to fight, for the world’s audacity at taking away his dad. 

But he did know ‘Terra’ wasn’t that enemy. 

“Hey,” Terra greeted softly, grinning slightly and giving the Garden Duo a wave, refraining from coming too much closer to them, “It’s nice to meet you two, thanks for readin’ my note.”

Marluxia grit his teeth. “Are you just saying that to say that? You know who we are.”

Terra’s smile saddened. “I do. But you don’t know me, so it still is a meeting.” He sighed softly. “Look, I’m not gonna just stroll in here and demand we all be familiar, alright? I know this sucks.” His smile strained into a bit of a grimace. “I know. It’s horrible, what happened to Terra and Raxter, and what Aqua and Aaxqu are doin’ now sure ain’t helpin’. But I am here, and I can’t pretend I don’t care about you guys. So…maybe it’d be easier to just start at the beginning.”

Lauriam chewed his lip a bit, listening to that…before he gave ‘Terra’ a wary look. “...what…happened to Aaxqu? The others say she’s gone, but…”

Terra sighed again, looking downcast. “She’s gone, in the way you knew her. She’s me, in--”

“In the way Czativ is Azvi,” Marluxia cut in, voice tense. His shoulders raised a bit, stiff. “But you’re not a ‘new’ character.”

“...yeah, pretty much,” Terra said softly. “...I’m sorry. I know--”

“You don’t know shit!” Marluxia snapped, “What, Aaxqu just decided that the best damn thing was to die too?! That letting a costume of Dad wander around was better?! Let’s just wallow alone at the bottom of the sea, not say anything to anyone, not say goodbye, and now all my fucking parents are dead!!”

Furious tears welled in Marluxia eyes as he stepped forward, starting to aggressively get in Terra’s face, though while Lauriam did his best to keep up, Marluxia’s face still abruptly paled as he crumbled, dizziness taking him over even in rage. And while Terra had just stood in the face of that anger--Mars was right to be mad, and maybe even right about more than that--his eyes widened in worry as his son collapsed. 

Not even thinking about it, he joined right by Lauriam’s side in catching Marluxia, before his lips tightened with sternness…that calmed into peace. All the flowers in the field (plants that had grown far beyond the scattered patches when Lauriam was a child. With every plant he learned about, and as he grew, so did they, to the point it was rare to see any significant area that was just some kind of grass) seemed to sigh in relief, as the soil turned over itself, aerating and bringing in new nutrients, becoming something…healing. 

And as Terra healed their mind…Marluxia broke down crying. Allowing himself, at least for that moment, to be held by his other half and…well. Someone that cared, at least. 

-

There were… rumors? 

Honestly, Axel wasn’t even sure if they could be called rumors. Maybe a few days ago they were rumors, when Lauriam and Marluxia started telling the rest that in their latest round of punishments, they had gotten some pretty decent evidence that Hayner was coming back with someone. Then, a few days later, the info was changed to Hayner was coming back with people, which was almost unheard of. Empaths tended to trickle in one at a time, but multiple at once?

This had caused Ienzo and Zexion to go on the alert, looking for more info. And Axel didn’t entirely understand how they knew–they had explained their abilities before to Axel, but as the absolute weakest Empath of the group, all Axel could really do was nod along–but one of them (he couldn’t tell which one. Zexion, maybe? It was getting harder and harder to tell these days) had taken Axel aside and whispered something odd about the energy signature…

…and there was just no way, right?

Axel had been waiting fretfully ever since Zexion had brought it up, trying to work out the logistics. Kairi had been little, when Axel had been caught and brought into the factory. She had been just a baby when Axel had been sold to the mafia to work for them. He hadn’t seen her in all that time, and admittedly, sometimes forgot he had a sister at all. Resigned to the reality that he’d just never know her.

…what were the actual odds?

……that was the thing, the more he thought about it? Not terrible. There weren’t, as far as he was aware, very many factories at all. And there was a policy of sending Indentured as far away from their home areas as possible, at least for the start of their ‘careers’, and this factory would still be the farthest point from where Axel, and presumably Kairi, grew up, not just the capital itself. 

Even was pretty convinced that there was some genetic factor to being an Empath. Axel didn’t know if that was true, it was just a theory, but… if Axel had strong Empath abilities, then Kairi potentially could too. And if Kairi was discovered like Axel had been, there were only so many places she could end up, and this factory was…

…….surely their parents would have protected her though. They had already sold one child, surely the gold they had gotten for Axel would be enough. Axel had always, sometimes hopefully, sometimes begrudgingly, held onto that thought. Yes, they were terrible parents to Axel, but maybe it was a one and done sort of deal, and they had gotten it all out of their system, and for their second child they’d be–

It was always the kitchen. Axel heard the sound of the kitchen door opening, and a shuffle of footsteps. The amount of footsteps made Axel hesitate to run inside and see, since it sounded like a lot of supervisors were in there, laying heavy things down. And then, the classic call.

“TWO WEEKS!” Seifer shouted, before the footsteps left and the door shut.

Once Axel was sure the supervisors had cleared–the supervisors were much quicker with beatings these days ever since Aqua and Lauriam had decided it was their personal life mission to make the supervisors’ lives hells; it was safer to stay out of the supervisors’ ways than risk giving the ‘wrong’ look–he stepped into the kitchen. Two boys who were entirely unfamiliar to him were both layed out onto their backs, but it was the girl in the center of them, eyes closed and peaceful, who drew Axel’s eye.

…..Axel hadn’t realized he had forgotten what his father looked like, until he saw him in that girl’s face. She was the spitting image of him, the universe balancing out the fact that Axel had always been told he looked more like their mother, he supposed. It was eerie…

“W… why are they unconscious?” Axel called. But no one answered. The three looked tranqed. Why? All three of them were literal sticks of kids. Even the tallest one, the silver haired boy, looked like his biceps had been blown like little balloons into otherwise noodle arms. They were just three kids. Maybe 10.

…if Kairi was 10…

“Six years,” Axel realized, his heart sinking into his stomach as he realized, “I’ve been here six years… I’m almost 30…”

…. “Guys!?” Axel called, back towards the hallway, “Anyone awake!? I need some help here!” 

-

When the three kids had woken up, they had immediately wanted to explore.

Not the island. They weren’t aware the island existed yet, not even close to ready to connect. No, the three of them had listened blankly to everyone’s reassurances that nothing that happened in here was their fault, that everyone inside these rooms with them were on their side and could be counted on, and that the three had been taken because of their special abilities.

The three swamp kids hadn’t said much to any of that. Just sort of quietly looking at each other… before the shorter boy, Sora, said to the other two, “Let’s go exploring!” 

“Um…” Demyx had looked around the third room–it was now the third room, anyway. Everyone realizing they needed to think about either sticking the kids into already cramped sleeping rooms, or giving up their much beloved but not always consistently used dining room–before saying, “Well, there’s not much to see here–”

“I bet I can see every room before you guys can,” Riku, the tallest boy, said to the other two. 

“No way! You’ll outrun us Riku! It should be whoever finds something cool first!” Kairi, who Axel couldn't stop staring at, insisted, “I’m the best at finding stuff!” 

“Then I’ll run in every room and find something cool first,” Riku said. “Sora, count us down!”

“Mmm, maybe we should talk about what happened before we got here… eh, we’ll talk about it after–321GO!” Sora said, bolting before the other two could realize what happened, running out of the room. 

“...oh no,” Even whispered, “My hair is going to grow even grayer.”

Aqua watched the kids (kids. Kid kids.) run off for a moment before she laughed softly, getting up with a stretch. “That’s if you don’t think you can keep up, Evvy-boy. A new burst of energy isn’t somethin’ I’ll complain about.” With a small smirk, she left after the trio. There wasn’t much to hide in their room, but if they were literally going to run up the walls, she wanted to be able to patch up scrapes, if not prevent them in the first place. 

18 had observed the introductions quietly, though he did glance after the kids. If they wanted to find something cool… It took a moment, but soon small, illusory stickers would show up in mildly hidden places in their rooms, simple diamonds with a simple palm tree silhouette in the middle, with small text reading ‘turn into the library for a prize’.

“...are you okay?” Lauriam asked Lea quietly. 

“Man, I don’t know. Should I be? Shouldn’t I be?” Axel said, running his hand through his hair, “...no, not really. But mostly because I wish this wasn’t happening. I don’t… we all know how bad this place is. Suddenly, boom, a little sister I haven’t thought about in years is here? And, like… fuck, guys.” Axel kept his voice low as he whispered, “...she’s going to be the only little girl here. The supervisors haven’t done anything I’ve heard about in a while, but… there’s nothing I can do to protect her. I’m already fucking worried about it. My sister is here and chances are someone is going to take advantage of the only little girl around…”

“Might I suggest breaking her nose?” Even said idly, “Though, hopefully that won’t be an issue for a while. The supervisors have only ever been consistent on waiting till we’ve gotten a bit older, at least. I suspect Orlette reels them in. For however comforting that is.”

“Not very,” Luis frowned, “But I think you’re right. She’s got some standards at least. We might not need to worry about it for a while. Might be more worth worrying how we’re going to get them all Nobody ready. Three at once is a lot.”

Lauriam tensed a little at that, eyes flicking down with a shame he had never quite been able to cast away, no matter how openly they talked about it. …he had been…probably 16. So they had some time. 

(Threatening the supervisors might just make them take things out on Kairi, or even Sora and Riku, even more. …he could try to flirt? Even the idea made his stomach churn, but if he made himself a bigger target, and it could spare them? It might be something worth paying attention to, in the coming years.)

Blinking dazedly, 18 drawled, “We’re not working at capacity, and first week quotas are always truncated. A matter of days may be functionally the same as ‘at once’, but we may consider having them join in stages. Considering their excitement for the ‘new’, it’d likely be out of consideration for our own adjustment, evening out power levels, than theirs.”

“...oh,” he said after a moment, nodding a little as if someone had corrected him. “That is, I mean to say we’d be willing to take on some of the workload, if only to stretch out the amount of time for them to adjust.”

“Yeah, Larxene would probably be up to it too,” Demyx said, reaching over to pat Ienzo’s shoulder, “We’ve got this! At least they seem to be already aware they have powers? They didn’t seem phased when we mentioned it. They didn’t seem phased in general, really. That’s pretty trippy, huh?”

“You were basically the same,” Dilan said, giving Demyx a small laugh at his bewildered expression, “No, you were. We were astounded at how well you took everything.”

“Well, sure, but I’m an adult. They’re just kids, so that seems weirder to me,” Demyx said, before looking over to Isa, “Hey, how much do you want us to warn them about your thing?”

Isa frowned, before swallowing, swallowing, swallowing… sighing as he gave up and sent, {I think we could get away with waiting for the ‘Isa can act off’ conversation. I’ve been okay for a few weeks now, I doubt I’ll regress in front of them.}

“You sure? Kids can be cruel, man, we might want to warn them that you’re not supposed to lean into the ‘dog’ thing… well, unless you’re Luis,” Demyx said. 

Luis shrugged. “Only when he’s fully regressed. I’m convinced it helps.”

{It does a bit.} Isa admitted, {...but yes, only Luis.}

“Well, let me know when you all are ready to introduce them to the fun part. I’m feeling achy, I’m going back to sleep,” Viz rasped, gesturing for Aeleus to help her up, before shuffling off and out of the room, heading back to room 1. 

As she shuffled by, Sora ran out of room 2 and stopped her, holding up 2 stickers. “Hey, what are these?”

“Magic, kid. Your life is about to be full of it,” Viz said, giving the boy a pat on the head, before continuing to shuffle to her room. 

-

Riku’s legs kicked a bit against the odd, colorful tiles on the floor, watching as the places he stepped lit up lightly. Riku liked Viz’s world, with its music and its colorful lights and the strange apparitions that appeared around, dancing and audience alike. He got a little shy around some of the apparitions that cooed at him, but they seemed to be–at least for when Riku was around–mostly decorations meant to send flattering comments, and would ignore him once he wandered far enough away from them.

But he didn’t hang out with Viz because he liked the bright, vibrant party vibe of her world or even the fun, relaxed way that she had of speaking that always blew a young Riku’s mind, to hear a senior speak that way. 

Riku found himself drawn to Viz, and learning from her, because he found himself impressed with the way she controlled her Empath abilities. It was something so… different, from the way the others did. For everyone else, Empath abilities felt like some extension of themselves. Extra limbs that they used well, but almost mindlessly. Talent, rather than skill. Even Aeleus, who seemed like the most serious of the group, seemed to forget his Empath abilities were skills he could train just as well as his body, and Even, who took himself the most seriously, seemed to find researching Empath abilities like they were bugs under a microscope more interesting than actually exploring their limits or refining them. 

Ienzo was closer, but while he was clearly learning to use and cultivate his Empath abilities in a truly interesting way, there was something so… wild and out of control, about his abilities. To Riku, the river of Zexions he saw all the time didn’t feel like a master craftsman showing off his expertise, but more like genius whose brilliance was literally flaking off of himself like dandruff, if dandruff was another Nobody, and then another, and then…

Viz was the only Empath who seemed like she understood exactly what her abilities could do, and did those things on purpose. It was hard to resist, for a boy like Riku, that sort of well-defined, powerful ability, like a beautifully made and well-sharpened blade… that was still, somehow, being used for cheap parlor tricks. Viz taking so little very seriously, outside of honing her own abilities.

Maybe it was just a casualness that came with both being really good at something and really old. Sora and Kairi didn’t see in Viz what Riku did. He saw the old, powerful woman, using her Empath abilities flawlessly and easily, and wanted a mentor. And for some time now, she had obliged. Amused, sure, and sometimes Riku suspected she was making fun of his earnest desire to learn from her. But she was teaching him still.

She had been surprisingly somber today though, when she told him she wanted him to stop by for a lesson after work that day. And even the dance club, usually so lively and full of life, seemed oddly subdued and empty that day, way fewer apparitions than usual, as he asked, “So what am I learning today?”

Viz bundled up her long, curling white hair into a loose ponytail, looking oddly stern as she said, “Probably the most important lesson I can teach you. How to reset a Nobody.”

Czativ was looking oddly somber as well, less energetic than the flirtatious bunny usually was. She was standing beside Viz on the dancefloor, but she kept glancing towards the door, something sad and almost longing in her gaze. But there was also a calm acceptance to it. 

And as Viz explained what little Riku was going to be learning today?

She smiled softly at the boy.

“Feel lucky, Ri-Ri, you’re gonna be the first to see my new debut~ It’s quite an honor, you know!” And knowing how some people felt about it, though she wasn’t sure the new kids really understood, Czativ still said more gently, “It’s not really a goodbye. But it can feel like it. Give Larxy a chance if she gets more prickly coming up.”

There was a flash of regret across the Nobody’s face. 

She’d…miss Larxene. They weren’t bosom buddies, not like her and Mars, but even past the more physical times they spent together, Czativ liked to think they were friends. And especially with Terra, from Aaxqu…she hoped Larxene would be alright.

Riku frowned a little, giving both Viz and Czativ mildly confused looks. “I don’t understand…”

“An aspect of Nobodies, Riku, is that by their very nature? They get better over time,” Viz explained, snapping her fingers. In front of Czativ popped up a full-length mirror, Viz walking around Czativ as she said to the Nobody herself, “I know you won’t remember this, but every one of my Nobodies gets to design the next one. You were designed by Azvi. She was quite proud of the bunny motif. She liked little animals, by the end.”

Looking to Riku, Viz explained, “Which is largely the problem. The others don’t like to talk about it, but Nobodies can become… too good at what we made them to do. Not conditioning, though they do get better at that over time and my new Nobody will need to learn to condition all over again. No… they become too good at being ‘themselves’.” Viz put her hand lightly on Czatic’s back, encouraging her to focus on the mirror. “Given time, they start developing preferences you didn’t give them. They create relationships. They have wants. Desires.”

“...is that a bad thing?” Riku asked, “For a Nobody to want things?”

“Tell me,” Viz said, “What does Ansem want?”

Riku paused, thinking about it. “...he… wants to be good at conditioning.”

“And?” Viz asked.

“......I didn’t give him anything else to want,” Riku admitted, “You all told me to just make him like conditioning. So I did.”

Viz nodded. “And for a while, that’s all he will want. But over time? And shockingly less time than you’d think. He’ll want more. And you can’t even begin to guess what he’ll want. Maybe he’ll want something benign, like to draw little pictures of rabbits because he thinks they’re sweet. Maybe he’ll want to spend more and more time with another Nobody, or even an Empath. Maybe…” Viz said, sighing a little, “He’ll grow a conscience, and want to stop torturing people. And every day's worth of conditioning will suddenly become harder, and harder, and…”

Riku frowned, glancing over at Czativ. 

Czativ smiled softly, hearing something about her predecessor, and the routine all of them had. It was nice, knowing that something so intrinsic to her as her appearance had been because of Azvi. She could hear stories about her predecessors from the others, sure, but it could be…difficult, sometimes. She did get the idea that Azvi had been well-liked, though. 

Looking at the mirror, Czativ took one more look at that design that Loved Azvi had made (something that’d soon be written over too). The curves, the surprisingly gothy clothes, the bunny ears and twintails… Fluttering eyes and smirk. 

Gently, Czativ reached out to lightly touch the reflection. Let’s…try something different this time. Different enough to not hurt as much, getting confused with memories. Let’s… She glanced to Riku for a moment. Someone who was looking for guidance. 

Long purple hair became short, and as Czatic smirked, fluffed up in the back. Lines became harder, revealing clothes became bulked out in a large jacket with striking lines of color that seemed to be made of light, a visor of a similar substance forming over eyes, while bunny ears became robotic spikes, inverting each others’ designs and colors in black and pink. 

Very softly, Czativ hummed under her breath. A half remembered song…

She glanced back over to Riku, smiling regretfully. “Hey, don’t give me that look. It’s fun getting to be someone new! I guess you guys have ways of doing it too, but you really have nothing on us,” she laughed. “Vizzy takes good care of us, it’s not a sad thing.”

“....” Riku frowned, before looking at Viz, “Then why do you look like you feel bad?”

Viz startled, having been staring at Czativ. She always got caught up in looking at her Nobodies at this part. While their expressions were bare, distracted by the features in the mirror. Trying on this color and that, their eyes briefly full of wonder, creating something for themselves…

“Because it’s sad, seeing a Nobody who’s so much a part of myself, and is so clever and sweet and refined, and knowing I’ll never see her exactly like this again,” Viz admitted, smiling lightly and shrugging, “That’s another reason you have to replace them, from time to time. You get attached. Maybe it wouldn’t even matter, that Nobodies want things, if you didn’t find yourself wanting to give them those things.”

“But the things Nobodies end up wanting, we can’t give them, Riku,” Viz said, looking to the boy again, “Think of Xaldin. Of Vexen. Maybe you don’t know this yet, but with time, you’ll start to see what I mean: they want lives that, no matter what Even thinks, or how much Dilan refuses to look at the truth, they can never have. They’re our two oldest Nobodies, and they’re refined to the point where there might even be an argument that they’re their own people. Perfectly developed constructs who, I believe, truly, deeply, want to live.”

“And we can’t give them that, Riku,” Viz said softly. “Not that we won’t. We literally can’t. It’s not within our power. And it’s, I truly believe, incredibly cruel to give something that we cannot give life to, the desire to live.”

“Czativ isn’t at that point. I never let my Nobodies get to that point,” Viz said, again gently placing her hand on her Nobody’s back, looking around her to see into the mirror, “...she looks lovely, Czativ. Would you like to give her a name?”

Czativ gave Viz an adoring smile at the sweet words, leaning against her Somebody and giving Viz a kiss on the cheek. Their system was so different from how all the newbies handled things, but none of them--and this was something Czativ couldn’t say with certainty, considering she never knew any of her predecessors, but it was something she felt deeply, and she’d never been one to ignore intuition--ever thought that Viz was stuck in the past, or simply making herself cold. 

A Nobody was as much the relationship their Somebody had with themself as they were other aspects in themselves. Viz loved them. That was apparent. 

She sighed a little at the mention of Xaldin and Vexen. “Regardless of how anyone feels about it, the truth of the matter is that Nobodies need some kind of maintenance, time to time. It’s getting to the point where Vexy might just let himself deteriorate out of fear and distrust for what that maintenance might be, what Even would decide. And Xaly…”

Czativ hesitated there. Xaldin…was in love. Or something like it. She’d heard he had been with Zinxi, but they were two Nobodies. Xaldin’s relationship with not only Marluxia, but Lauriam made it all…complicated. But still, Czativ couldn’t quite bring herself to frame it as a tragedy in the making. 

Was it truly so horrible to love?

She let the point go, before giving Viz a grin. “His name is Zyvix. Hasn’t already been taken, has it? Vizzy~” Czativ pouted, “Your name only has three letters, that makes it so haaaaard coming up with something new!”

“Oooooh, as our Luis would say, a handsome lad then?” Viz smiled, putting her arm around Czativ’s waist and hugging her a little, as she admired the man in the mirror, “What an exciting choice on your end, Czativ. I bet he’s going to have a lot of fun with the body you’ve made for him.”

“And I know.” Viz sighed. “It’s a silly tradition, but I like it, the way we play with names. You were right, Riku, to stay out of that whole ‘needs an X’ debate,” Viz said, giving Czativ another hug, closing her eyes for a moment… before she let go, stepping back, “Alright, Riku, so here’s the lesson. When you’re ready to reset your Nobody, you need an image already in mind, and you need to think of the energy you hold within them as something molding and melting within itself, not expanding or dissipating. It would also help for you to develop an external construct that helps focus that internal transformation, so that at no point does it feel like your Nobody is being ‘destroyed’, just altered. Having that external construction as a focus point makes it easier on you, easier on the Nobody. The transformation will feel peaceful and seamless, if you put in that effort beforehand, understand?”

Riku nodded. “I think so… this won’t hurt Czativ? You’re sure?”

“I make my Nobodies to have rich lives full of song, dance, and indulgences,” Viz said, “I would never hurt them… Czativ? Take a breath. And then step into the mirror. You did an excellent job. It’s time to rest now.”

“...bye, Czativ,” Riku whispered.

Czatic giggled, leaning into the hug and putting her arm around Viz’s shoulders in turn. Rubbing Viz’s shoulder slightly, a small reassurance. Viz’s words weren’t only for her own sake, they were true. Czativ’s life, for the slice of it it had been, was fun and colorful and filled with…well, people she loved too. It had been a good ride. 

And hopefully it’d be more fun for Zyvix than it’d been lately. 

Taking a breath, Czatic gave Viz another squeeze before letting her go. But before going right into the mirror, she grinned and threw her arms around Riku, spinning him around in a hug. “Bye-bye, Ri-Ri!! I’m going to have soooo much fun getting to know you again~”

Setting him down, she did a little hop over to the mirror, striking a pose with her finger by smirking lips. “See you on the other side! It’s time for something new!”

And with a hop back, she jumped through the mirror. 

The reflective surface glittered for a moment, before the glitter came in waves, becoming more geometric, and, in slow curiosity, Zyvix stepped out, looking around in wonder, before he smiled at Viz and Riku. 

“Well, well, well, what do we have here?” a smooth, mid-range voice said, lilting in obvious amusement, “This is definitely a welcoming party I can get behind.”

Riku watched the process in wonder. The process practiced and entirely in control. Viz showing Riku exactly what she–and he–was capable of, as she did in a moment a creating Nobody process that had felt like running a marathon for Riku not that long ago. 

And unlike all of the kids’ Nobodies, who had all come out sort of… weird. Unfocused and emotional and aggressive. Zyvix already seemed calm and put together and clear-eyed and…

Viz smiled, the sadness gone from her expression–whether that was just how she felt, or years of practice at this, Riku could never guess–as she said warmly to her Nobody, “Welcome to the world. It’s your turn, Zyvix. My name is Viz. I’m going to take care of you.”

Bowing--the movement almost effortless and casual, clearly conveying respect, but with the same vibe as a fond, approving smile--to Viz, Zyvix said, “I’m looking forward to being in your care.” As he straightened, he pointed back at himself with a thumb, a little cocky. “Don’t hesitate to rely on me, though! I’ve got your back.”

He gave Riku a grin, eyes crinkling fondly behind the shining visor. “That goes for you too, champ.”

Riku startled. A part of him was still sad. She had seemed okay, but he hadn’t quite come to terms with the reality that Czativ was actually gone. But the warm, easy confidence of the guy she had made?

…Riku grinned. “Yeah. Same. Um…welcome to life, I guess. I can’t wait to introduce you to the others. I bet they’ll like you.”

“....but if a girl named Larxene is a little prickly with you,” Riku said, thinking of one of Czativ’s last words, “Give her a chance. She’ll come around.”

“Hey, thanks for the tips!” Zyvix laughed before sighing, “I’m gonna be bullied already, huh? Something about that feels right. Eh, let’s do it.”

-

Zyvix didn’t ‘do it’ right away, though greater introductions didn’t wait too much longer. And as he slowly learned the great list of names and faces…

“Hey, Larxene, nice to meet you,” Zyvix greeted, as she and Demyx got their intros, “Seems you’re pretty popular around these parts, huh?”

Larxene had been warned beforehand. Well, a little beforehand. That was why there were still singe marks coming off of Demyx, though her hair was still puffing out, lifting under static electricity. 

“Larxene…” Demyx said, giving her a wary look.

Larxene smiled. “Oh my goooood it’s sooooo nice to meet youuuuuu. Wow, a whole new Nobody, huh? That’s fun! It’s that fuuuuuun,” Larxene said, smiling tightly, before holding out her hand, “Well, hey, bowing is formal, no fun at all. Why don’t you put ‘er there, champ! A good ol’ handshake, like the jocks do!”

As Riku had noted, Viz was a ‘party girl’, her world was a wild dancehall, there were shadows of hookers and playfulness was present in most of her interactions. None of that contradicted the fact that she was practiced and practical and observant. And Nobodies were part of their Somebodies.

Zyvix noted the singe marks on Demyx, the static electricity in Larxene’s hair, and given Riku’s warning…

He grinned wide. 

“Won’t turn that down.”

And as his hand touched hers, and the expected did happen…

As Zyvix was shocked to a crisp, not just pure light came off him, from her electricity, but a wild show of bright colors and scattering shapes came from his form.

“LARXENE!” Demyx shouted, immediately throwing her into a headlock and pulling her off of Zyvix, “No, down, bad!! Bad!! I’m sorry Viz! I’m sorry new guy who’s name I’ve forgotten!! Bad Larxene!” 

“Tsk, who am I, Saix!? Get offa me!” Larxene said, another ZAAAAAAAAAAAP throwing Demyx off of her, as she huffed, slicking back her hair. Warily looking at Zyvix, the dancing lights still a silhouette in her eyes. 

…one of them had looked familiar.

“......hmph. You’ve got a long way to go before you’re as cool as your predecessor,” Larxene still said, crossing her arms and tilting her head at the new guy, frowning, “...but sure, whatevs. Welcome and all that jazz. Ugh, where’s Marluxia? This is some new bullshit!” Larxene shouted, stomping off as Demyx gave a few hurried, apologetic bows before running after her. 

“You alright?” Viz asked her Nobody, patting his back lightly as she helped him back up, “That was the ‘prickly’ one. Riku’s right, she’ll come around.”

Her lightning was no joke, and for a Nobody with a sort of ‘android’ aesthetic, Zyvix was left twitching on the ground after his lightshow, all the ‘electronics’ on his body jittering and zapping off little sparks as Larxene stomped off. Though, he just gave a little laugh as Viz helped him off. 

“She’s definitely a little more ‘jump the crossbolt immediately to grand violence’ than I took his warning for, but I’m alright.” Shaking his head back into order, Zyvix smiled softly. “I’m not going to hold it against her, she’s just lost a friend, right? And she’s not wrong.”

Zyvix’s smile was anything but insecure or daunted. “I do have a long way to go to compare to the others, but I haven’t even had a day, and if they’re you and me? They were awesome. Just watch how far I can go with a few more hours under my belt!”

“Mhm~” Viz agreed, patting off the smoking singes on Zyvix’s clothes… before glancing over across the beach, where she could feel eyes burning into her, “I’m glad you know that. It’s always much harder for the others though, so just try to stay strong through this initial part. It always gets better.”

Vexen watched Viz grimly from the edge of the cave, before disappearing inside. Clearly not up to meeting the ‘new’ Nobody. 

Viz smiled sadly, before that sadness disappeared as she looked back at Zyvix. “Let me go introduce you to Terra. Yes, there’s lots of new Nobodies around right now, but. Terra is the one who’s closest to empathizing with your situation right now. If you find yourself struggling? He’s the one that you’ll want to commiserate with, not the brand new children Nobodies.”

Zyvix squeezed Viz’s hand gratefully for a moment. “Lead on, boss-lady~ Like I’d say no to meeting a potential bitch buddy.”

…there was something that Zyvix realized he knew in the core of himself, but was conceptualizing more and more as he met the others. 

The greatest thing they all had were their connections to each other. Their relationships. And in some ways, Nobodies were pure representations of those relationships. It was no wonder that people felt hurt or confused or even betrayed when those relationships were changed and disrupted, and it was why things would get better, because new relationships would form. 

(Zyvix had been born from a wish, a wish for certain relationships. It made sense he’d understand that)

He couldn’t be the same relationship Czativ was, but he could be his own.

-

The nickname ‘witch’ had started as one of Xaldin’s little nicknames. It hadn’t become derogatory until a long time later. Namine hadn’t started out as the only Nobody that made the other Nobodies shiver in fear. She had started as a little girl, quiet, who enjoyed watching people. 

Of all the new kids, she was only one who didn’t seem to have endless energy for running around. She still did, if only to keep up with the other children, running across the beach and through worlds. But once the kids had found where they felt like spending the next few hours? Namine, almost always, would end up sat against the wall or just off from the rest of the group. Thin arms curled around knobby knees as she watched the other kids play. Seemingly perfectly happy to just exist with them.

Ansem would, over time, always be bigger than the other kids, older looking, stronger, more intimidating. But to a young Riku, an older teenager was what ‘cool, older people’ looked like. It would only be years later that an older Riku would see the original Ansem design and realize, somewhat sheepishly, that he kind of just looked like a skinny punk. 

Ansem–the very first one of what he would find out later would simply be the start of a long series of himself–sat down on the beach with her, dripping wet. The other kids were all learning to swim, Aqua and Terra having them swim out into the ocean and correcting their form. It had come to most of the kids easy enough, after a few attempts, and now Riku, Sora and Roxas were all trying to race each other out to the edge of the sparring island and back, while Kairi and Xion had opted out and were just enjoying swimming circles around each other, discussing what it might be like to be mermaids. 

Ansem had been hanging out with the girls before he had wanted a break, and seeing Namine still dry on the beach, had wanted to know, “You don’t want to learn to swim?”

“...” Namine smiled lightly, tilting her head a bit as she watched Kairi and Xion, “...I think I already know.”

“Impossible.” Ansem said, far too seriously, his eyes far too intense for the simple conversation. Ansem was struggling to emote normally, based on how Riku had designed him. To say he had a resting bitch face was underselling it, as he always looked like he was glaring at someone, a casually menacing air radiating off him that he really had very little say over. It made even little things he said feel mildly offensive and threatening, regardless of how he meant it. And on top of that, he had a sort of… odd way of speaking, as he said, “We’ve only been tasked to battle the waves today. I’ve never seen you go further past your knees into the dark, pulling depths.”

“You’re right.” Namine said softly, brushing her hair back behind her ears, “...I think I know because other people know. How to swim, I mean.”

“Your light?” Ansem asked, nodding towards Kairi.

“No.” Namine said. “Any of them.”

The two sat with that for a moment. Ansem frowning as he tried to think of what that actually meant… before giving Namine a wary look, “All of the lights?”

“And darks.” Namine said, playing along with Ansem’s odd obsession for referring to Somebodies as the ‘lights’ and Nobodies as the ‘darks’. When asked, Riku had been a bit helpless to explain what had started that. It seemed to be just something inherit in his Nobody. “I think I have access to all of the light, and all of the dark. In a way the rest of you might not. At least I don’t think you do.”

“How would we be able to tell?” Ansem asked.

“...I’m not sure,” Namine admitted, closing her eyes, “...can you feel it? When you close your eyes? The way the island breathes?”

“No.” Ansem said, burying his hands into the sand in front of him, looking at the sand in fierce, glaring wonder, “Does it?”

“It does. I can feel it. The island breathing. It’s air is on my skin. I have…” Namine smiled lightly, burying her hand in the sand next to Ansem, nudging him with her shoulder a bit, as she whispered, “your hands. And mine. And more hands. I can feel so many hands. They’re holding a clipboard and writing about afterlives and what it might take to pull spirits into clay bodies. They’re clenched tightly around weapons and clashing against each other. They’re cradling a book, and a book, and a thousand more books.” Namine opened her eyes, letting out a breath, “They stutter in and out. When the island breathes in, I can feel them. When the island breathes out. I’m me again.” 

“That feels like a frightening way to exist. To be too many people, in every half-breath.” Ansem whispered, “...it sounds like you’re in touch with the island’s heart.”

“I guess that’s one way to put it.” Namine said softly, “But it’s a heart made of everyone. I’m not the only one in it, I think I’m just the only one who can feel it breathing. Beating. With everyone inside of it. Even more people than we know.”

“...A kingdom,” Ansem suddenly grinned, looking excited, “You’ve found a kingdom of hearts.”

“You have a nice way of putting things,” Namine said softly, “...I’m telling you this for a reason. It’s not a nice reason.”

Ansem frowned, looking at Namine. Their hands still dug into the sand, playing idly with the cool, shifting sand beneath the warm top layer. “......it’s almost my time.”

“I’m glad you know. I wasn’t sure if you did.” Namine admitted, “I can feel one of our hearts, and it’s ticking down. It doesn’t have much longer. And when that happens? I can feel it in another heart: that’s the moment he’ll embrace her teachings. And you…”

“...I already know, yes.” Ansem whispered. “I did not think that my light was even still debating my fate. I was told months ago. But you say my fate is only sealed at the loss of our matron?”

“Mhm.” Namine nodded, closing her eyes, “But I don’t want you to be afraid. You’ll change, but your heart is still here. I know that because I can feel it. Your heart is light, as much as it is dark. It can’t truly be separated from Riku’s. And you’re both already part of the kingdom.”

“I’ll still be in the kingdom of hearts.” Ansem whispered, shifting his hands beneath the sands, and finding Namine’s under there. Lightly grasping it, the two holding each other beneath the safety of the golden sands, “...will I still feel… about us…”

“No.” Namine said softly. “And yes. You’ll forget. And then forget again. And I won’t bring it back up, myself. I don’t want you to grieve, every time it happens.”

“Maybe I’d be okay with that.” Ansem whispered, “I enjoy feeling. Even painful feelings.”

“I don’t.” Namine said softly, “I think I’d bury all of my emotions, if I could. I think I might have to. Feeling you grieve every time would hurt me. I think I’d do something… drastic. Someday.”

“...I understand.” Ansem whispered. “You can let me forget. But know that… in every life? I hope I am always drawn back to you anyway.”

“...” Namine smiled, leaning against Ansem. Still holding Ansem’s hand beneath the sand. A warmth in the freezing stones.“You may forget. But the island never will.”

“The island never forgets.” Ansem whispered. 

-

It wasn’t always. To be frank, it was just too much hassle sometimes, but after being well aware of the pattern of Lauriam taking punishments less than gracefully when he tried to butt in, sometimes he and Marluxia just simply agreed to render Lauriam fully unconscious when the supervisors took them away, just to get rid of any temptation. 

And for the most part, that did work out. People liked to call Marluxia an emotional asshole, but he wasn’t nearly as bad as Lauriam, thank you very much, and he handled punishments way better. 

…usually. 

Marluxia knew not to rise to bait (it was a lesson he only seemed incapable of learning when the bait came from family) but…well, maybe it was something they had been feeling harder. Things were better with Terra these days (especially since he focused most of his energy on the kids) but they still…missed their dads and mom. And while it had been as gentle as possible, waking up in the middle of the night with a confused sense of loss still fucking sucked when it meant that Viz…

So maybe he was a bit stupider when the supervisors started taunting him about the recent deaths. How lucky it was to get fresh meat, that it had been Viz’s time anyway. How happy Marluxia had to have been, with toddlers more his own age than surrounded by old coots, when it was their fault his fucking dad had been--!!

There were marks around Lauriam’s jaw, indicative of the old muzzle, as his tranquilized body flopped uselessly to the ground in the kitchen, but while dark green eyes stared uncomprehendingly…

Marluxia seethed as he kicked their door back open, staggering out of it. The blue and pink asters that had covered the island at Viz’s death seeming to tremble.

Quickly, an introduction: please meet Sora’s Nobodies, Xion and Roxas.

…no one was entirely sure why Xion existed.

See, for the first few months, it had only been Roxas. He was a normal Nobody, as far as that standard went. He looked a bit like a color-swapped Sora, which was actually somewhat unusual, but beyond that he was a serious, somewhat surly boy who took to conditioning with a sort of grim determination. He didn’t seem to enjoy hurting people so much as he enjoyed the feeling of being useful, or good at something. He resented his job in a quiet sort of way. 

He was very, very hard to make smile. 

Sora tried! They all tried. The only one who could seem to get Roxas to relax even a little was, surprisingly enough, Axel. Roxas seemed drawn to Axel in the way a cat was drawn to the person in the room least interested in cats: Axel’s calm, somewhat confused acceptance of Roxas following him around seemed to only make Roxas want to spend more time with him. Roxas imprinting on the guy in a way that no one could explain, other then Roxas was just sort of an odd dude.

Roxas and Sora weren’t close. Sora, again, tried and tried and tried. But the more Sora tried to be close to Roxas, the more Roxas seemed to draw away from him. The more and more their relationship strained.

And then, one day? Xion stepped out of Sora’s world. 

The weird thing was, Sora couldn’t explain how that had happened. He remembered the moment it happened, had felt Xion, as he explained to the others, just sort of ‘sitting in my soul, waiting to be let out’. And when he noticed she was there, he had. Xion stepping out like a fully developed chick, cracking out of an egg. 

And in the same inexplicable way that Roxas had just imprinted on Axel? Roxas imprinted on Xion. Immediately just following her around. She did nothing to earn the friendship, seemed even a little intimidated sometimes by how Roxas had been drawn to her. Xion was nice, polite, and a little quiet and shy. But she and Roxas slotted together seamlessly… and in that moment, Sora seemed to lose interest in trying to get close to either of them. As if something about Xion’s presence had fulfilled his desire for that, and now he could focus elsewhere.

Xion and Roxas then both followed Axel around, and again, Xion’s presence seemed to fill whatever hole that Roxas was struggling with when it came to connecting with others, because now Axel seemed to actually enjoy spending time with the two kids together. Xion filling in moments of silence Roxas left open, and Roxas doing the same for Xion. The two of them together able to communicate easier with the world than either of them could do alone.

And Roxas smiled more. Easier. More human with Xion around. 

Introduction done? Xion and Roxas were making sand castles in the sand together, before both, at the same time, peeked up and over the pier wall, hearing Marluxia’s angry sounds. Glancing warily at each other, they both quietly observed him, before it was Roxas who risked calling out, “Are you okay, Marluxia?” as Xion nodded.

“Oh, I’m jus’ fuuuug’in’ fffffantastic~” Marluxia growled, slurring like he’d just spent hours in Luis’ world (nevermind that none of the kids would’ve seen Marluxia or Lauriam drunk, ever) despite very notably being on the island. Glaring (without much focus) at the kids, he demanded, “Th’ fuck’s Xaldin? Or Lexaeus, or, fffuckin even on’na my Indentureds, I don’t care.”

As he balled his hands into fists, algae started to wash up in clumps on the shore. Something that didn’t really happen these days, after Kairi’s influence had made the island, for lack of a better term, more storybook-like.

“....” Roxas quietly looked at Xion, who quietly looked back.

“.......aren’t we not supposed to take anger out on the Indentured?” Xion called this time, Roxas nodding along with her, “Isn’t that a rule?”

“Also you don’t sound alright.” Roxas said.

“You sound drunk.” Xion said.

“Are you drunk?” Roxas asked. 

In their world, Namine looked up from her drawing, frowning as she looked over to Kairi, who was reading something on her bed. “...I think I need to go to the beach.”

“Oh, what, now?” Kairi asked, looking up from her book, surprised. “Don’t we have a bunch of Indentured running through the tower? I thought you couldn’t leave the tower when that’s going on?”

“It stops the room's projections, yes,” Namine frowned, “But I… think something is happening to the beach. We need to go.”

“Okay,” Kairi said, swinging her legs off the bed, “I trust you, if you say we have to? Let’s go!”

“What are you, the news guard recruits?” Marluxia snapped, before staggering over to the pair, glaring fiercely at him. His anger permeating through the island. “Oh how nice~” his voice dripped with venom, “A moment of concern for little old me? Would’ve thought that line of questioning ran dry years ago, considering the persistent lush around these parts.”

Looming over Roxas and Xion, Marluxia heaved furious breaths. “Answer me or stop wasting my fucking time.”

Roxas and Xion both warily stepped back, subconsciously reaching for each others hand as they looked up at Marluxia, who was standing at the top of the pier wall they had been peeking over. Marluxia normally wasn’t a threat even if he was being loud and mean, they knew. But he seemed… off. And he was a much more experienced Nobody than either of them, a fight both of them would one hundred percent lose, as Roxas said warily, “We… we don’t know… it’s still conditioning time, we finished early–”

“Marluxia!” Kairi shouted, sounding far more pissed than either Xion or Roxas, stomping over from the tree house as Namine ran at her heels, “What the heck!? Don’t bully them! You’re like twice their size!” She said, being literally the exact same size as both of them. 

Namine frowned, whispering softly to Kairi, “I’m not sure he can help himself… he feels wrong.”

“Well, I’m not going to just let him!” Kairi said, crossing her arms and glaring at Marluxia, “Back off!”

“Well, well, well, a knight in shhhining armor, have we~?” Marluxia drawled, swaying a little as he turned to look over at Kairi. His gaze overshooting her before settling correctly. “Having fun, playing pretend lik’e you can save ev’ryone?”

Glaring even more furiously at Kairi and Namine, he growled, “Unless you’re volunteering to fight yourself? Fffuck off.”

Now, the sensible thing, if he were to continue the insensible thing and keep going, would be to leave and find one of his more usual sparring partners, as he’d been trying to do. But at the moment, turning away from the rugrats only painted a picture to Marluxia that looked like…defeat. Tucking in his tail and running from a bunch of kids because he was all bark and couldn’t even rip those fucking bastards to pieces--

A growl from Marluxia’s chest rattled as he seethed, small, but growing, licks of fire starting to flicker to life over his body, as the trees of the island started to droop. Over encumbered with leaves while the hanging vines looked less playful, like they were inviting a competition to swing from one to the next, and more…threatening. Like one wrong move would leave you hanging by your neck. 

Kairi trembled a little, but her determined look didn’t waiver. Though, she put up her hands like she was about to box, which was interesting, because she did not know how to box, and in fact, had very little practice with real sparring whatsoever, as she said with an urgent but wavering tone, “I-I can do it! I–oh!” 

Kairi stepped back, eyes widening with fear as the fire started to spread across Marluxia’s body, the island shifting and morphing around them. Behind her, Namine winced, placing her hand on her chest. Her breathing coming in little rasps now. Each half-breath filled with heat that burned her throat. 

“What’s happening?” Xion asked, stepping closer to Roxas as she looked around.

“I don’t know. Should we call for help–ah!” Roxas gasped, the two stepping back as more flames started to dance off of Marluxia, “We need to do something! Maybe we could drag him into the water!? At least to stop the flames!?”

“It’s getting hot.” Xion said, wincing at the flames grew hotter, “I don’t think we can touch him!?”

“I’ve g-got this! I’ll push and you two catch him!” Kairi said, “Then we’ll–”

{No.}

{Calm.}

Roxas, Xion and Kairi’s shoulders all fell slightly. Considering how the three of them had been trembling in fear a moment before, now they just stood there. Looking mildly curious.

All at once the flames went out, Marluxia’s seething anger and growls dropping off his face as he just…stood there. Unsteady on his feet, and kind of looking like he was about to--

“Easy, kiddo,” Terra said calmly, his quick emergence from where the ocean met the sky significantly more laid-back as he caught Marluxia’s sagging form. His gaze, like the kids’, more curious than the worry that had painted his expression just before. 

Looking over the younger kids as well, Terra casually asked, “You all alright? Aqua just found Laurie in the kitchen, seems like Mars got tranq’ed today. If he’s still up like this, then that’s not…great.”

It really wasn’t, but Terra only commented on it like an idle thought, before he tilted his head at Namine, a calm smile spreading over his face. “Have a new trick in the bag, Mi-min?”

Marluxia blinked heavily in Terra’s arms. Mumbling to Namine, “..wha’ar…y’ doin’?”

“I think so.” Roxas said, blinking numbly. “...that’s kinda weird, isn’t it?”

“Maybe kind of.” Xion said, tilting her head lightly, blinking numbly, “I feel fine. Better than a second ago.”

“I feel… why do I feel…” Kairi frowned, following Terra’s gaze to Namine who… had her hands clasped together, her eyes wide and blank. There was an energy coming off of Namine that was shifting her dress and her hair. More than that, her eyes, which were usually blue, seemed oddly lighter in color. Blue turning an almost white light-ish gray.

Her heels were up. It looked a little bit like Namine was struggling to not float away, standing gently on her toes… before Namine let out a breath she had apparently been holding. Falling back on her heels, her eyes darkening once more.

“...ow.” Namine said, before stumbling onto her knees. 

“Namine!” Kairi shouted, suddenly able to feel alarmed again, as she rushed back to her Nobody’s side, steadying her, “What’s wrong!?”

“Sorry, I’m tired… are you okay, Marluxia?” Namine asked, wearily looking up. Sweat on her forehead.

Terra’s eyes widened as Namine went down, practically throwing Marluxia over his shoulder to get on Namine’s other side, across from Kairi, figuring out a way to support both his kids. 

Slumping against Terra’s side as he at least got off his shoulder, Marluxia hummed softly, looking out of sorts in a…markedly more dazed and sleepy way. His anger not rekindled the same way the others’ concern and worry had been when given the space to. “...still pissed,” he mumbled, “Still wanna kick those losers’ asses…”

“...dizzy,” he said quieter. “...can’t keep Lauriam ‘sleep like this, but I think he’s jus’ gonna sleep anyway…” Marluxia closed his eyes for a moment. Voice softening slightly. “...Inzi used’t’ do that.”

Terra’s jaw tightened for a moment before he nodded, rubbing Namine’s shoulder soothingly, giving her an impressed smile. “Ah, yeah, huh. Know Ev’s got some fancy name for it, like ‘circle’ something, but that’s a pretty intense technique, kiddo! Thoooough…”

He gave her a gentle, sheepish grin. “One that takes a lot of energy, huh? Okay! Looks like it’s gonna be rest time for a few of us.”

Marluxia made a discontented grumble. “If you clap your hands together and say it’s nap time, ‘m gonna punch you in the face.”

Terra snickered. “I’d love to see you try, all drugged up like this.”

That said? {Hey, Xal? Could use a hand if you’ve got one--they tranq’ed Mars and Mi-min just bursted, I wanna get them settled in to rest.}

{Shit, is that what that was? Was trying to figure out where that energy came from, that was strong. Knew our witch had some serious ju-ju to her. Alright, on my way.}

Xaldin didn’t take long–with his quick step, he never did–and he was out and with the group while they were all discussing still what happened, herding his way through the sea of children as he said, “I’ll take the flower, you take the witch. Damn, Marluxia, how are you even still awake? You look way out of it.”

“He wanted to fight you.” Roxas said.

“Or Lexaeus.” Xion said.

“....or an Indentured.” Roxas said.

“No one likes a tattle-tale, kids.” Xaldin said, hefting Marluxia into his arms. “Also, you’re doing your creepy little ‘finishing each others sentences’ thing. Stop it. It’s weird, freaks me out.”

“Sorry.” Roxas and Xion said at the exact same time, in the exact same way.

It had been obvious to feel that Kairi was a powerful Empath. It was only just starting to become apparent just how powerful, though. 78, having been sitting nearby and had observed everything, wrote down those observations in his Lexicon. In a matter of moments, all the Zexions learning that Namine was capable of emotion domes, and fairly large and controlled ones at that. Soon, one of them in Even’s world would track down either one of their fathers to suggest a plan to give Namine some more focused training. 

Marluxia grumbled a bit, huffing as Xaldin picked him up, “Could still kick your ass any time…” before his eyes rolled a little back towards Xion and Roxas. “...use pops’cle sticks to press roof textures ‘nto the castle. Makes it cooler.”

Chuckling a little at that as Terra picked up Namine, he gave Roxas and Xion fond looks before looking to Kairi. “Kai? How’re you feeling? Even if it’s more okay, would advise ya to take it easy. We do have sorta different energy pools, but Somebodies and Nobodies are still connected at the end of the day.”

“I could use a nap,” Kairi admitted, rubbing her palm into her eye, “But… we didn’t finish conditioning? Our Indentured are still in the tower, just kinda waiting.”

“We can help, we finished early.” Roxas volunteered, while Xion looked down at their sand castle, considering where they were going to get popsicle sticks. Maybe Axel’s world? Axel had a thing for ice cream. “Just throw them in my city, we’ll let the shadows chase them for a while.”

“Man, you wish. Say that again when you’re not drooling on my damn chest.” Xaldin snickered, giving Terra a nod before heading to Marluxia’s world. 

“Geez, Marluxia. The hell happened this time?” Xaldin asked, glancing around at the world, which was sort of looking how the island had for a moment. Everything slightly melty, slightly off, “I mean, I know they tranqued you, but why didn’t you just take the L and go to sleep? Tranq sleeping is the best. Being awake sucks balls through it.”

“Sounds like a plan!” Terra praised, shifting Namine more onto one arm so he could rub Kairi’s back for a moment. “C’mon, let’s let you two chill out, and I can help gather up the Indentureds an’ bring ‘em over.”

Terra looked back as their groups split up, giving Xaldin a grateful nod.

“Don’t say that like you’re not already weak kneed from my drool,” Marluxia weakly sneered, before closing his eyes with a small groan as the already smeared flower field whirled in his vision. Though, he still quietly snapped, “I don’t lose.”

“...can’t sleep,” he admitted after a moment. “S’ that bullshit, too dizzy to pass out thing. ‘N wanted to make sure they didn’t try anything funny once they shot me up… Safer for them then tying me up again…”

“Yeah, I get that. Still, probably better to sleep through… eh, well.” Xaldin wanted to shrug, but considering the bundle of angry, drugged Nobody in his arms, just looked around for a good spot to lay him down. “Alright, we got ourselves some choice between… grass. And more grass. Some grass with flowers on it. Some dandelion grass. Where’s Lauriam, anyway?” Xaldin asked, laying Marluxia down on, you guessed it, some grass.

Not one to take things lying down, especially literally, Marluxia immediately pushed himself up when Xaldin set him down, groaning a little as one of his hands sunk through the grass, getting covered in melty muck. Shaking it off, he sighed. “Actually asleep. Sent him down when they pulled me out so he couldn’t mess anything up.”

Marluxia scoffed something both derisive and proud. “Good call this time. Even more than it always is.”

“They were that bad, huh? What’d they take you for anyway? You struggling with quota?” Xaldin asked, sitting down next to Marluxia, wrinkling his nose, “Why is everything wet? I shoulda taken you back to my world. Now my ass is damp.”

“Sure, sure, then we can enjoy coughing between ev’ry word ‘cause it’s so fuckin’ dry a chapstick business would be upper class setting up shop there,” Marluxia huffed back, before rolling his eyes a little. Or, he tried to, before the movement made him so dizzy he just had to hold his head for a second. 

“Nng… One of our ‘special orders’ is attached in a way those losers find funny, apparently,” he grumbled, “And humor is best expressed in bein’ a dipshit, for them. S’ barely even an excuse, so think they were just looking ffffor someone to mess with, today.”

…and this sucked but…

(...better him than one of the kids.)

“Ah damn, they got a new pretty little prize for some elite coming through, huh? You’re getting more and more of those lately.” Xaldin said, reaching out with one hand to lightly rub Marluxia’s back with gentle circles, mostly to keep him from falling backwards into the grass again and hitting his head, “Yeah, I’ve been noticing they’re getting restless too. They had Luis in there for no damn reason to the other day. Something to keep an eye on… not that they got to you.” Xaldin grinned, patting Marluxia on the back, “Nothing does.”

“Well, I am so good at it,” Marluxia sniffed, leaning slightly into the light massage, relaxing a bit into it. “Wouldn’t be surprised if my reputation proceeds me, nameless as it is, and suddenly alllll the elite want is a pretty personalized doll, just like Lord and Lady Whoever th’ Fuck from down the hill. Can’t let anyone else have something you don’t.”

It still was something special Marluxia could do, but with the amount of requests these days…it was starting to feel less like the bargaining chip it had been, and more like…just something the supervisors expected of him. 

They were getting bold. It was annoying. 

“Obviously,” Marluxia sighed, scowling…before he leaned a little against Xaldin’s shoulder. The moment natural enough that it could’ve just been him tipping over. “...they should just keep Viz’s name out of their fuckin’ mouths.”

“Shit,” Xaldin whispered, easily adjusting to let Marluxia lean against him, “They really should. Way too soon for that shit. I know it’s never not too soon, but…that’s still a damn fresh wound.”

The kids had been inconsolable for a few days at the loss of Zyvix. It had felt monstrous insisting to them that they had to get back to conditioning, that they couldn’t stop and grieve, but it had had to go like that. It was always tough to lose one of them, but the raw, new grief of the kids had made Viz’s loss a little harder to deal with then it might have been otherwise. 

Xaldin had just been… glad that she went in her sleep. Peaceful. More peaceful than they usually got. 

….still hurt like hell, realizing she was gone. But it hadn’t come out of nowhere, like Terra and Inzi. 

(Not that it was really helping Even. Dilan had been trying to help, but the older man had notably grown depressed since Viz’s loss. He had gone quiet and withdrawn, sticking to his lab and studying more and more about the afterlife and, well… necromancy. Even’s pet-passion. As much wishful thinking as anything.)

“Well, it’s all over now. Come on man, the hell are you staying awake for now? I mean, I get it, you’re too dizzy to sleep. But sitting up sure as fuck isn’t going to do it for you. The sooner you fall asleep, the sooner the tranq effects go away.” Xaldin reminded him.

Marluxia had never had anyone to mourn outside the factory, so he wasn’t super sure what the general etiquette was like, but…it probably hadn’t been much more than a week. Or something. Well within the time of considerate silence, and while placing the words ‘considerate’ and ‘supervisors’ anywhere close together was enough to start a laugh riot, digging into that loss was just another level of depraved.

He’d gotten a few hits in, but damn did Marluxia wish he’d gotten more…

Marluxia scoffed. “Fuck you. Make me.”

Xaldin smirked. And that was Marluxia’s warning as Xaldin reached to grab his collar, “Come here, you brat.”

Marluxia could only snicker as he wrapped a hand around Xaldin’s wrist…but still followed where Xaldin pulled. 

(Despite the jabs and protests, it was always him in the Archeology Duo’s orbit.)

Xaldin laughed, pulling Marluxia back down onto the grass, but letting him rest against Xaldin’s shoulder, wrapping his arm around Marluxia’s other arm and pinning him to his side, “There, you’re caught. Can I convince you to go to sleep now, flower?”

“Mmmm, maybe,” Marluxia taunted, snuggling right against Xaldin’s side like this was his plan all along. “You do make a better pillow than melting gore.”

Closing his eyes, Marluxia settled in with a soft sigh, and for a good few moments, there was quiet, like he really was going to sleep. However, he quietly murmured, more like he was reassuring himself, rather than asking Xaldin, “...always wears off ‘fter few hours. ‘Ll be okay.”

“Mhm. That’s right.” Xaldin said, lightly rubbing Marluxia’s arm, “And I’ll be here, so you can relax. I’ll look over you. So just relax and go the hell to sleep, Flower.”

“Don’ tell me what to do, you’re so presumptive…” Marluxia sleepily grumbled, though he did relax more. Fingers lightly curling into the cuff of Xaldin’s sleeve, as he let himself rest.

-

Kairi was given extra training by the older empaths, and after some research and observation, Even proclaimed that he was certain Kairi was the new ‘anchor’ of the island. Something most everyone already knew in a general way, when the island had shifted to suit Kairi’s aesthetics and preferences, regardless of how much she might not have wanted it to.

Namine was given extra training as well. And as far as anyone could tell, both of their training was going very well. Though Namine had this… edge to her abilities, that always made her use of their abilities seem far more instinctive and natural. Stronger and more controlled. No matter how much Kairi trained, she couldn’t seem to keep up with Namine. 

Kairi would find out, too late, that this was because Namine was getting extra training from one additional person. 

She would find this out the day Xion died.

-

The others didn't know, but Namine got to go on ‘field-trips’. 

They were mental field trips, of course. The sigils on their walls and doors–much smaller and more decorative in appearance than the ones in the quiet rooms–usually kept the empaths trapped within the factory only able to reach out and grab the Indentured in other carefully connected walls with their own carefully created sigils. But these same sigils kept the empaths from reaching the supervisors, or reaching out to any mind outside of the factory itself. 

These rules, for some reason, did not seem to apply to tethers that one Head Secretary Tengan made, both in and out. 

Tengan could seem to come and go, mentally, within the factory at whim and will, and no amount of research Even, Vexen, Ienzo and Zexion could explain how that worked. Not that they hadn’t tried. There was just some factor that they couldn’t account for that gave Tengan the ability to do so where they could not. Nor could they defend against his visits. 

All of them suffered these visits. Tengan seemed to like to use the empaths as a form of personal entertainment on otherwise dull evenings. He enjoyed upsetting the empaths, though some he enjoyed upsetting more then others. Lauriam often got the worst of it, his visits regularly more brutal and perverted. A few got off light, like Demyx being embarrassed and harassed on occasion with lonely memories of empty stages and cramped houses no one liked to actually play in. 

A few were almost never visited at all. Dilan and Axel could count the amount of times they had been visited on one hand. Even, oddly enough, Tengan only ever seemed to want to have idle, intellectual conversations with, like he was talking to a peer. Lexeaus had been visited all of once and Tengan had cut the visit short in apparent boredom, and never came again. 

Others were visited more often, but for seemingly some mix of practical reason. Isa confessed that he had been visited semi frequently for a few months during the worst of his regression for, he was fairly certain, Tengan to observe for a practical exercise. Tengan doing his own bit of research in observing Isa’s entirely regressed state.

Luis had been receiving regular visits from Tengan for literally almost a decade. Drunkenly, he had confessed to Aqua and Terra once that he suspected Tengan might consider him a ‘friend’ in some perverse sense. Luis did not feel the same way. 

All the new kids had each gotten a visit. Tengan doing his harassing little ‘bad memories’ routine with all of them. Laughing or tsking at the way they reacted. Cupping their chins and checking their eyes. 

Whatever he was looking for, he hadn’t found it in them, and had moved on. 

All except for Namine.

Namine. Not Kairi.

“Why me?” Namine had asked, going on the latest field trip with Tengan, the two stepping into what looked like a warm, maroon shaded apartment. It was a nice, cozy space, and clearly a more expensive one, with plenty of room and a hallway that led to multiple bedrooms that Namine could see from the living room. To the left was a reading nook that looked like it was well used, books left half open by a large, open window, all under the watch of a large clock made of gold and precious gems. To the right, a kitchen that looked like it had never been used once in its life. “I’m not a real person. Kairi is capable of everything I am. Why not her?”

“Kairi merely has the potential to do what you do.” Tengan said, looking around the apartment with the familiarity of a frequent visitor, “But not the drive for it. Not the courage or strength. Kairi’s raw potential has made something few empaths could ever hope to a achieve: she’s made a construct superior to herself. In almost every way.”

“...really?” Namine said softly, “Superior?”

“If I thought differently, I’d have picked Kairi instead of you, wouldn’t I have?” Tengan chuckled, though he shook his head a bit at the large, beautiful clock, “Foolish boy is going to be late again. Perhaps I’d feel some semblance of bad for this, if he wasn’t so content to mess up his own life.”

Namine straightened up, her gaze still politely low, but saying with more certainty, “I can’t be superior to Kairi. I am a Nobody. She is a Somebody. I exist to serve her.”

“I believe, young Namine, that if all were fair and just in the world? You’d exist to replace her.” Tengan said, looking back and smiling warmly at her startled expression at that, “Oh, don’t fret, I don’t mean you’d destroy her. You’d simply trade. She could live the peaceful, calm life of living within her own mind, and you? Powerful and clever as you are? You’d take the body, and go on to bigger and better things. Improving both of your lives.”

“I don’t want to replace Kairi.” Namine said, trying to sound brave, even as she fidgeted uncomfortably with the hem of her dress, “I am content with my life as a Nobody.”

“Even if it improves her life?” Tengan asked, chuckling as he heard a groan from down the hall, accompanied by a few curse words as the host of the apartment realized he was waking up late again, running out of his room and to the bathroom to get ready, “All of their lives?”

“...” Namine frowned, “...what does that mean?”

“You’re in competition right now, Namine, as you already know. You and two other prodigies, all competing to show who has the most promise for a life outside the factory.” Tengan said, listening to the sound of the shower starting, “But I am not so deluded as to think any of you would be content to leave on your own. Whichever prodigy wins my favor? I am certain they would insist empaths they care about would leave the warehouses with them. And I am aware that to deny them would leave me with an apprentice who would resent me. You proving yourself? Taking over? Well… I’d be quite tempted to open whatever door you want, in the Togami factories. Mid-level empaths can all always be replaced. But you?” Tengan smiled proudly at her, “You’re special.”

Namine felt her ears redden.

…she was special.

And if she could prove she was exceptional? She wouldn’t be the only one to benefit. Everyone she cared about would benefit. Freed from the factory. Anyone who came to replace them wasn’t her concern, if she could just get them out…

Kairi would understand the value in that.

“Dammit, dammit, Kore, you promised you’d wake me up on your way out!” Kaito grumbled, still soaking wet and dressed in now slightly damp clothes as he ran to the door, grabbing some boots and pulling them on as he hopped from foot to foot, grumbling, “God, I don’t even have time to do my hair, next time I’m setting my alarm, I don’t give a shit if he doesn’t like the clicking noise. Fucking giggling jackass, I’m so gonna let him hear it later–”

“Don’t allow him to leave,” Tengan told Namine, the two watching Kaito reach for the door, “But don’t let him realize anything is happening.”

Namine felt Tengan connect her to Kaito’s mind, and only had a few seconds. Working quickly, she reached in and grabbed a few memories, stitching them together hurriedly and mostly randomly as Kaito grabbed the handle, opening the door and stepping out of the apartment, closing the door behind him.

There was a beat of silence… before Kaito opened the door again, stepping inside and sighing warily, “Damn long day… kind of weird too…” Kaito muttered, stepping back into the apartment and closing the door behind him. Staring dazedly in front of him, before running his hand through his hair… and frowning as he looked at his hand. “Why am I wet…?”

Tengan watched as Kaito glanced over at the big, beautiful clock… and then just shrugged to himself, heading into the kitchen to look for some easy food after kicking off his boots.

“He thinks it’s 8pm,” Namine said, the clock on the wall also saying it was 8, “And that he had a full day of classes and spent most of the afternoon sparring with his friends. He believes he is tired and will likely go to sleep as soon as he’s done eating, and will likely not notice the sun isn’t setting before he manages to fall asleep.”

“Excellent work, Namine.” Tengan said approvingly, placing a warm hand on Namine’s shoulder and squeezing it gently, “I’m incredibly proud… this isn’t fair to the other prodigies. But I am rooting for you. Your position as a Nobody has given you an edge in mental manipulations. You would make an excellent apprentice someday.”

“Thank you, master.” Namine said.

“In fact? There really is just one last test I’d need you to perform to cement your place above the boys.” Tengan said, his grip on Namine’s shoulder getting tighter, “The position I’m envisioning for you, in the long run? Will require a hard heart. Sacrifice. I need to know you can make tough choices for the greater benefit. If you can prove that? I think I have my apprentice decided.”

Namine felt her heart swell with hope, even as she warily said, “What would I have to do?”

Tengan told her.

-

In the end, it was because Sora had two. 

Sora had two. 

It was the only rationale that Namine could come up with. The only one that didn’t (sacrifice the Nobody that was going to be reset in a year anyway. That didn’t make him look at her in fear and horror, as the only real choice, who had used to feel warm sitting next to her, talking about things only the two of them understood. That didn’t potentially destroy his last fragile connection to the island) make Namine uncomfortable. 

Nobodies were tools. 

Sora had two.

Sora didn’t need two.

Two tools.

One tool.

One Nobody. 

What was even the value of the life of a Nobody?

Sure, yes, Namine was a Nobody, but…

Namine was special.

Superior.

She was going to save everyone. 

She was going to open up the factory.

Everyone would understand, once she was the Head Secretaries apprentice. 

They would understand why she did it.

They’d be grateful.

It was all going to be worth it.

It would.

It would.

It was just… one… Nobody…

-

Xion stepped into the tower when Namine called for her.

Of course she did. Why wouldn’t she?

The moment she stepped into Kairi and Namine’s room? Her legs lifted form under her, lifting from the floor, as around her a clear, powerful flower bloomed around her, and then enclosed her. 

Xion saw Namine standing in the room, staring blankly back at her. 

The air whistled and warmed.

“Namine?” 

Xion just had the time to say, before the whistling sound got louder and louder.

It was getting harder to think under the noise.

The warmth was gone, and it was cold.

Xion felt dizzy, as she pressed her hands against the clear wall. Calling out to Namine for help. Trying to tell her something was wrong. 

Namine would come to help her, if she knew something was wrong.

She was just standing there.

Xion yelled louder, hitting against the clear wall. 

Screaming for her friend.

It was getting harder to think.

It was gtteign adrehr ot iht.nk

I̶̳͎͈͑͂͛̄t̢̮̰͍̀̈́̉͆̍̑̍ ͚͓̟̝̃̿͠͝w̸̻̜̙̠̉͊͒̑͠a͇̝̮̭͆͆̆͡͡s̻̩͍̹͈̏̎̏͆ ̡̻̳̯̤̤͐g̡̼̱͒̀͆̋͟e̯͔͓͈͊̋͗̃t̵̪̭̞̪͖̄̈̽̂̕t̸͎̻̭̲͇̳̠͋͆i̶̘͛͗̍̕ǹ̺̭̬̼̎̓͋ͅg̢̮̥̑̍͜ ͉̗̤̭͚̓̇̇̒̓͏ȟ̵͕̘̋͂͗̋̓̓͐ą̢̞̼͔̈́̒̽̈́̇͟͢r͔̯̤̫̝̿͂͏̚d̹͍͔̹̎̎͒͘͢ē̶̜̮͙͉̮͘͞r̪̖͇̟̜͒̑̈̋͂̋ ̷̴̡̡̧̗͇̅̈͞t̷̪̤͎̺̓̃̈̽͟o̷͔͎͈̭̊̈͆̾͟ͅ ̸̺̳͐̅͑͌́́͞͡ͅb̭̼̮̑̇̏͒̏́ě̶͍̤̥̻́́

“Namine?”

It. Was. Getting. Hard. To…

“XION!?” 

Xion looked back to see Kairi, running into the room, just in time to feel her eyes flutter close. Falling backwards.

Xion was gone by the time Kairi got to the egg. 

“Xion!? XION!” Kairi screamed, hitting against the clear cage, eyes searching the inside like there might be some remains she could salvage. But it was empty inside… and all Kairi could see was Namine on the other side of the room. The source of the major power burst that Kairi had come to check on.

“...it’s okay.” Namine said softly. Blankly. “Sora has another one.”

Kairi screamed.

-

She’d never given a reason. Of course they had all asked, when Sora melted down and Xion was nowhere to be found, though Kairi’s account didn’t exactly leave anything a mystery. Given the biggest benefit of the doubt, Namine had simply elected to say…nothing. 

Aqua and Terra still tried, of course, but even more than what you’d expect from a teenager, there was so little they could do to keep their daughter from growing away from them. From…everyone, really. 

Despite the mystery of motivation, Zexion had some…loose hypotheses. It wasn’t due to jealousy or anger, they had quickly been able to rule out, and while it wasn’t as conclusive, they doubted it was out of callous cruelty or a propensity for violence. Namine’s influence over the island, and thus all their minds did create the conditions for a sort of feeling of entitlement, but while she may not bat an eye looking for memories (a specialty she’d grown) or influencing their emotions, Zexion still doubted that entitlement had grown to encompass their very existences. 

It felt more like faith, than a logical guess, to say that Zexion believed that she had a reason that Namine felt was necessary--something for the greater good. Now, what that greater good was, who had described what something like that looked like…he couldn’t say. And as he and his constructs had worked with her for weeks putting Sora’s memories back in order, and trying to revive Xion to no avail…

…perhaps change was on the wind, in this unchanging place where one couldn’t feel the wind at all. 

There were significant power bursts to the east. And, after some time, there was something new on a growing number of Indentureds’ minds. A royal wedding. A peace treaty. ███████ years of a losing war coming to an end. Through the Second Son’s marriage. 

(Big Sis was saying goodbye.)

(Big Sis promised that she wouldn’t forget us. Obviously.)

(Despite the faint hope Zexion had that maybe her name would be absent in the coming years, new children coming through Sunny Side that had never met her, the name and faith only seemed to get stronger and stronger.)

(Until her name started showing up in other places too.)

The war was over, but The Reaper had returned to Luminary. 

14 laced his fingers with 13, the two of them watching the rare starlit night in Lauriam’s world and sharing a quiet moment in the forest. 

“...do you think she hasn’t forgotten us either?”

Because more and more it seemed that despite crossing enemy lines, the Sunny Side orphans had been right--they hadn’t been forgotten, and they hadn’t been abandoned. And while speaking about the subject in the library was forbidden, not something Zexion enforced so much as they could all feel the old pain talking about her brought so close to Ienzo, out here, just the two of them?

“It’d be nice, wouldn’t it,” 13 said, the response basically a non-answer, though he tilted his head against 14’s. “It’s annoying, not being able to keep promises that we actually meant.”

But none of them were about to hold their breath.

-

Like every time before, Dilan wondered how the FUCK this had happened again.

As he pressed Lauriam into the back wall of the closet, he miserably recalled to himself, Dilan… wasn’t the last time meant to be the last time? Hadn’t you promised yourself in the eyes of God and the Saints and Luis who he had drunkenly confessed to that he was going to stop making out with Lauriam? That he was going to put this particular sin behind him!?

It had been more or less decided years ago that Lauriam’s crush on Dilan had sprung, essentially, out of just genuine affection as he got older, and it was not a grooming session that either Dilan or Xaldin had done consciously or unconsciously… but the initial suspicion of the whole incident, and the shame and distrust it had filled inside of Dilan, had made Dilan decide sternly that even if a relationship between them was technically ‘fine’, it wasn’t something he himself would indulge in. That Lauriam could simply turn his affections and attentions to Demyx, or Ienzo, heck, Isa or Axel. It didn’t have to be Dilan, and Dilan would not allow it. 

That vow had been years ago. Dilan vaguely recalled the first time they had made out had been about three weeks–his best estimate–after that. 

And each time this happened, Dilan once again VOWED! SWORE! MADE A BLOOD OATH! That it was THE LAST TIME. 

(Dilan hated himself, that the guilt in his stomach was just as exciting as the way it felt to taste Lauriam’s breath against his lips. He hated that this was simply a truth, undeniable, about himself.)

Dilan took a deep breath through his nose, breaking the kiss for a moment as he whispered, “You’re not still feeling dizzy from the tranq yesterday?”

Lauriam didn’t know how this kept happening. Look, the fact that Dilan was bigger than him was some of the appeal, but Lauriam didn’t want to only ever be thrown around or, hellfire, have to stand on something or stretch on his toes to meet Dilan or Xaldin’s faces. It had been so fun, initially, pressing Dilan against the back wall of the closet they’d managed to claim, lightly grazing his nails through Dilan’s stomach and chest hair and teasingly flicking a nipple…

And yet? Here he was, pressed against the wall himself, head gently but insistently tilted to the side and holding Dilan’s shirt. 

It was magic, as far as he was concerned, how this kept happening. Not that he was too mad. 

“No,” Lauriam breathed, catching his breath for a moment, “I managed to sleep it off fine this time.” He laughed softly against Dilan’s lips, brushing his own against them. “I know he’ll never admit it, but I think Marluxia’s having a better time with me waking up once we get back here. Took us long enough to come up with a good system, hm?”

Kissing Dilan gently, though he lingered on his bottom lip, Lauriam murmured, “Thanks for staying with us, through it.”

“O…of course,” Dilan breathed, feeling his chest flutter with longing, “You’ve done the same for me. Just one friend helping out another.”

And before Lauriam could mock him for the corny, awkward way he put it, Dilan ducked his head down and kissed him again. His hands tracing tightly up Lauriam’s waist and side, before daring to slide back down behind Lauriam’s back, stopping just at the top of his ass. Dilan wanted to run his hands down Lauriam’s backside and squeeze, but the idea embarrassed him too much. Between the two of them, Lauraim was far more casual with touching, uh… what Dilan would consider more ‘intimate’ areas. It could be a bit overwhelming, sometimes. 

(Last time. This was the last time. Dilan swore it.)

Dilan managed to swallow the soft laugh Lauriam gave at that, along with the quiet sigh from feeling Dilan touch him. Sometimes he worried that…well, since Dilan tended to be more reserved, that Lauriam was pushing his boundaries too far, but every time he checked in? It was fine, and Lauriam didn’t want to keep playing a game of second-guessing himself, so…

Lauriam ran his tongue along the seam of Dilan’s lips, opening up this new round, as he did slide one of his hands down to grab Dilan’s ass. 

(...he’d been second-guessing enough, lately.)

{I would throw your words back at you, but I think I’d just laugh and get too embarrassed phrasing it like that.} A bright feeling of anticipatory and flustered laughs accompanied the intent Lauriam sent Dilan. {So I’ll be less cute with it. I’ve been thinking…}

This time, there were more nerves with the message, though there was an eager, optimistic…excited hope with it as well. {Do you want to have sex? With me?}

…………………………..

Dilan felt his skin burn in fluster, breaking the kiss as he sputtered at Lauriam, “Wha… like… like, in what sense?!”

Like he didn’t know. Like he hadn’t seen it in the intent. 

Lauriam blushed just from the force of Dilan’s surprised fluster, though he just smiled shyly up at the older man. “You’re more aware of all that than me. I mean in the,” Lauriam playfully rolled his eyes as his voice became more measured, like he was mockingly reciting, “purposeful stimulation of sexual organs for pleasure, sort of way.”

Lauriam’s voice softened. “...could be in the spiritual way too. Though, um, you know I wouldn’t just…barge into your faith with Atua,” he stumbled slightly, glancing to the side in embarrassment, “But I do know sexual prayer is a thing.”

Licking his lips lightly--there was definitely some of Dilan’s spit on them--Lauriam looked back up at Dilan, more serious. “...I know how it’ll sound, but I’m really not asking out of desperation, okay? I just… It’s been on my mind, what my first time would be.” Lauriam laughed softly. “I’m not spiraling into existential dread, promise, but I don’t know how else to say that I’m not sure… That I don’t want to spend the rest of my life here as a virgin.”

“And we have our thing,” as casually as he said it, what their ‘thing’ was, was likely the least discussed or defined thing on the planet, “And…I trust you. In ways that I don’t trust anyone else. So I wanted to ask.”

Dilan understood that. The fear of being a virgin too long. He loved his religion, he did, but there was absolutely a sort of cultural pressure to start your sexual journey as early as possible because of it. Sexual prayer absolutely being one aspect, yes, but there was also this undercurrent in Luminary that if you weren’t sexually active after a certain amount of time? Then that meant, in some fundamental way, that anyone who could have had sex with you must have rejected you. Perhaps not explicitly, but there was an ‘outcast’ feeling, to being a virgin as an adult. Which was why most people didn’t wait long.

(The idea of waiting until marriage wasn’t really a thing, though, there was an expectation that once you were promised to someone? Then you’d reject all others without their express permission; your sexuality in all of its forms, essentially, one of the things promised to your spouse.)

Dilan remembered having those exact same fears and desire to ‘catch up’ to his peers as early as 15, when all of his friends really started losing their own virginity. And like most of his peers, he had clumsily and shyly given it away to one of his friends in the temple prayer rooms. The ‘officialness’ of it all being what had given him the courage to follow through.

Lauriam was much older than 15, however old he was now. And he was asking, and eager, enthusiastic consent was a mantra of the temples. And, well, not even taking into the religious aspect of it all… Dilan quite… liked the idea of sleeping with Lauriam. Or, rather, being intimate with him. He liked Lauriam a lot. There was nothing wrong with it.

(...it was… a bit exciting, the idea of being with someone for their first time–)

(Atua will put another thousand levels in your god damn trials, get the thought out of your perverted head.)

“Sorry,” Dilan said, realizing he had been silent a beat too long, wrestling with himself. “Ah, not sorry for rejecting you! Because I’m not. Rejecting you. I’m just… sorry, I’m in my own head. You know how I can get,” Dilan said a little sheepishly, pressing his forehead against Lauriam’s, the other man feeling so warm in his arms. So enticing… “Apologies, give me a moment to think about this, Lauriam.”

…and because Dilan could self-sabotage with the best of them, he decided to take that moment to think it over and kiss Lauriam at the same time. Because, well, he was right there, and so, so enticing…

“You’re sure?” Dilan whispered against Lauriam’s lips, “None of the others make a more appealing first time? I understand feeling safe with me, but if it's about a fear of rejection, I’m certain most of them would feel honored you asked. You’re breathtaking, any of us would be lucky…”

…

Well, he wasn’t being pushed away immediately, so that was good! But Lauriam still started to shift a little as the silence stretched on, Dilan’s surprise apparently…taking some time to process. Which was fine! Lauriam had brought it up out of nowhere.

(Was bringing it up while making out out of nowhere, though? They’d even gotten a bit handsy in the closet before, so it wasn’t totally out of left field.)

Though, while Lauriam’s eyes widened a little at Dilan’s apology, he could only laugh as Dilan bumbled over his words. Murmuring an amused, “Take your time~” as his lips were claimed again. Maaaaaybe sweetening the pot a little as he slid the hand on Dilan’s ass down his thigh a bit, but who was to say?

“Flattering,” Lauriam more flatly mused, giving Dilan’s bicep a squeeze to convey his playfulness, “But I’m not just asking because I want to get it over with. I know Larxene would be down, if setting me up to be taunted about being a virgin until it ended, but…Dilan, I like you. I want to have sex with you, because of that stuff, trust and motivation, but because you’re hot, and I like making out with you…”

Lauriam’s grin was a bit sharper as he leaned forward, unfortunately going up on his toes to be able to whisper in Dilan’s ear, “And I can’t say I haven’t thought about it before. My imagination’s pretty good, but as well as I can imagine wrapping my thighs around you, I do know fingers will feel pretty different.”

Look, there was no un-crass way to say this: that whisper went straight to Dilan’s dick.

The same way he did everytime Dilan got a little too caught up–like magic, as Lauriam had noted before–Dilan found himself pressing Lauriam into the wall, firmly and earnestly kissing him. Subconsciously using his height and weight to his advantage as his palms lightly traced up Lauriam’s neck, cupping his head up for better kissing access.

Once they broke the kiss, Dilan nodded. “Alright,” he said breathily, “But we’re going to have to go slow and easy. I’m, uh…” Dilan looked away, clearly embarrassed to admit this, it sounding like a brag but really just Dilan earnestly trying to warn him, “...not the easiest person to take in.”

Then Dilan startled, looking a little guilty now, as he said, “Assuming that’s what you want. We can discuss it, if you had other things in mind. You just, well, mentioned fingers and…I don’t want to assume anything.”

Lauriam could only smirk into the kiss for a moment before getting swept up in it, the wall behind him needed as Dilan pressed upon him, kissing Lauriam senseless. He wasn’t unaware of the times his flirting worked. A lot of the time it was just words thrown between them, yeah, but times like these, when they could get alone? 

He wouldn’t admit just how much he had actually imagined this sort of thing. 

Having had to readjust to hold onto Dilan’s shoulders for balance, Lauriam looked up at Dilan with a hungry awe, feeling the back of his mouth start to water as he murmured, “I wanna jump you so bad.”

“Though slow and easy, got it,” Lauriam quietly laughed, able to slide his hands back down Dilan’s sides as he caught his breath again, though they lingered at Dilan’s waistband. “As much as it sort of sounds appealing right now, I won’t want you to actually split me open thinking back on it tomorrow.”

Lauriam gave Dilan a teasing, coy look through his eyelashes. “Probably.”

“I think you’d regret that, yes.” Dilan smiled lightly, his eyes flicking down to Lauriam’s body. It’d be far from the first time Dilan had seen Lauriam naked. But nine out of ten times, it was because Lauriam was injured in some way and needed assistance. The other tenth time being when Demyx had talked everyone into skinny dipping together that one time, swearing up and down swimming naked just felt ‘different’. 

It kinda had, actually. But that had still been more playful than anything, and honestly you didn’t see much when everyone was in the water either way. This? This was very different. 

…god, how did Dilan even start this, really. 

It wasn’t exactly like he had been purely celibate during his time in the factory. He and Viz had had a few moments when she was younger, and he had indulged in her prostitute constructs more than a few times. He had slept with Mixvaz once, and had slept with Larxene twice, once in her world and once in his. He had slept with Demyx once. 

Dilan was soft spoken and shy, but the days were long and the years longer. He had indulged. 

But, again, this felt different. Lauriam mattered a lot, to Dilan. Not that the others hadn’t, but, well… it was different. That was the best he could describe it, in this moment, as he imagined and rejected a thousand ways to start, worried each way would make this experience somehow just a little bit worse for Lauriam. Dilan wanted to do this right. 

…Dilan decided the best way to start was to take the initiative to start taking things off first. It felt polite, especially feeling the way Lauriam’s hands lingered on his waistband, as Dilan leaned back, and pulled his stitched shirt up and over his own head, tossing it aside. Then, feeling a little bolder, he reached for the hem of Lauriam’s... before he suddenly looked over his shoulder at the closet door, double checking that the chair was really jamming the knob shut. “I’d die if one of them walked in right now,” Dilan admitted with a small chuckle as he looked back at Lauriam, testingly starting to pull Lauriam’s shirt up. 

Lauriam’s gaze was eager as Dilan pulled his shirt off. Oh sure, he’d seen Dilan shirtless countless times before, but seeing him shirtless in this context? …okay, sure, he’d even drooled over Dilan before too, but he was more than allowed right now. 

And he was happy to do so in the dim light, but as Dilan checked their privacy measures, something…surprisingly but genuinely discomforted twisted in Lauriam’s stomach as he glanced over as well and gave a small, weak laugh. “We’re not that bad about disrespecting closet rules. I think we’ll be alright.”

Letting Dilan pull his shirt up, Lauriam didn’t waste much time getting the collar over his head before moving forward to kiss along Dilan’s collarbones, letting his teeth graze along the edge before, boldly, sliding a hand into Dilan’s pants to squeeze his ass without any barrier of cloth this time. 

Dilan shivered in arousal as he felt Lauriam’s teeth roughly tickle his skin, and thin, strong fingers sneak down into his waistband and–

Oh. 

Yeah, they were really doing this.

Dilan was trying to not get too in his own head about this, but everytime he got close to succeeding–and honestly, Lauriam’s mouth on his neck and shoulders and his hands exploring his waist and ass were doing most of the heavy lifting in that regard–sudden visions of furious green eyes filled Dilan’s head. Even’s furious questions, betrayed accusations, filling Dilan with an anxiety that no amount of his name officially having been cleared had ever entirely wiped away. 

Dilan’s lust for Lauriam still felt like a sin. An archaic concept that as far as anthropologists and etymologists could tell Luminary might have actually lifted from an entirely different religion in some far off coast, but had kept a foothold in Luminary language for describing an action that was in some cosmic way of thinking ‘wrong’. Its closest counterpart in Atua’s terminology being ‘to add to one’s trials’. 

There were many people in Luminary who used the word and had no idea where it came from, substituting it as an quick way to say one had broken the law, which riled Dilan up in his youth because well, actually, that wasn’t even close to the words intended purpose and in fact was so wrong that it directly countered the original definition, and yes, while words can change, there was a difference to the word being expanded to capture a more accurate use of its true meaning and just getting it wrong–

And there were even more people in Luminary who had never heard of the word at all. It not being a part of the culture or vocabulary, and would just tilt their heads at you in mild confusion if you brought it up either in its original context of breaking some divine code or its lesser context of using it as a substitute for ‘vice’ that some who only kind of knew the word adopted or its just entirely wrong, Susanna Harbor, yes it is, the word didn’t change just because you didn’t understand how to use it, Susanna from Sophomore Year–

Anyway.

Dilan had originally picked up the word in his own vocabulary because as a kid, he had thought it was pretty, and a little romantic.

His parents had liked to teach him rare, not commonly used words by giving him a new one every day when he was small and tasking him to try to use the word as much as he could that day. And while he had learned a number of delightful if someone socially unhelpful words that way, sin had taken his imagination by storm at nine. Something cosmically forbidden… a word entirely defined by the defiance of the will of god. As a religious child in a religious household, that had been so scandalous to a young Dilan. Especially once he had found out the word could change to define a person as well. 

Sinner: one defined by their defiance of divine law.

God, what a concept. Not a demon, which were creatures born and crafted from lesser gods to tempt Atuan’s away from their trials, and thus paradise, but a human who raged against cosmic law on their own. It was such a romantic concept to a young Dilan. A person who defied divinity so much that they became a cosmically defined creature themselves. How exciting.

…Dilan had felt more embarrassed and ashamed, the older he got, at how that concept had excited him as a kid… then as a pre-teen… then a teenager… until one day the weight of his own delight at the idea of romanticizing a concept that on its face was ultimately about harming other people finally got to him. Dilan learning about the evils and horrors of BDSM dungeons and Master/Slave ‘couplings’ and all the ways that people took Atua’s gifts of lust and sex and morphed and twisted them to harm others, all ultimately romanticizing the sin of rape, to the point that one couldn’t indulge in these romanticizations without making oneself complicit in that sort of violence done to others…

Dilan was a man with a lot of guilt these days. Guilt that had nothing to do with the false crimes the Togami factories had accused him of. Just the normal, every day guilt of someone tempted by the romantic beauties of a concept such as sin.

And the shame of Even’s accusations, along with the pleasure of Lauriam’s touch, all mixed together with the confused, uncertain, but exciting feeling that this was all somehow sinful…

{Oh god no I can’t do this}

That was the only warning Xaldin got when he opened his eyes in what for the body was merely a blink, startled by suddenly not working on his latest booby-trap to the point where he stumbled. Not prepared for the way Lauriam was pushing against him as he lost his footing and fell backwards, hitting the back wall and sliding down onto his ass, “Ow!” 

It wasn’t real fear. Just mostly the surprise of suddenly being ‘awake’ and suddenly Lauriam was…tackling?? Him?? That caused Xaldin almost entirely on principle to push back, scrambling to pin Lauriam’s shoulders down as he gave the other man a bewildered look… before demanding, “What the hell? Why’d you push me!?”

Lauriam startled slightly in surprise as Dilan fell back, though he couldn’t even get a word out in concern before the man was back up and pinned him back against the wall. Flushing lightly, Lauriam gave him a sheepish grin. “Sorry, got too overzealous then? Promise I wasn’t trying to trip you on purpose.”

As cool as he played it, though, Dilan falling wasn’t the quietest thing in the world, and so Lauriam went quiet for a moment, glancing nervously back at the door. They all tried to respect closet time, sure, but…sudden sounds could definitely counteract that…

Lauriam trailed a few fingers up one of the arms pinning him to the wall, giving Dilan an expectant look once he refocused on him, figuring that Dilan was probably going to get him back for pushing too hard, though…he was drawing this out. “I do realize it might be the point, but it is kind of hard to kiss you when I can’t move my shoulders, you know.”

“...” 

{DILAN WHAT THE FUCK IS HAPPENING!?}

{I’m sorry, I panicked, if you could just let Lauriam know I apologize and I just}

{...YOU JUST WHAT!? ALSO FUCK NO YOU COME BACK HERE YOURSELF AND DEAL WITH THIS}

{DILAN!?}

{...GOD YOU’RE SUCH A PIECE OF SHIT SOMETIMES!}

But Dilan wasn’t replying now. Leaving Xaldin to just… just what? To be the one to… to…

Xaldin glanced around the closet.

…oh shit they were in the fucking closet.

Oh, sure, when Lauriam was in here it was the ‘make-out’ closet. But for everyone else, especially the couples, who could kiss whenever they wanted and no one tended to bat an eye, this was one of the few places you could get real privacy. And what they tended to need that level of privacy for was something you couldn’t indulge in even a little among the others, and could sometimes feel a little disappointing in the fabrication of their worlds. 

Everyone knew it was a little different in the real world. And thus the closet was made a sanctuary. 

“No, that's not the point.” Xaldin said, mostly just to say something so he wasn’t being a freak pinning Lauriam down and not saying anything to him while his mind raced to catch up with what was happening. Xaldin releasing his grip on Lauriam and scooting backwards a bit as he said, “Sorry, I think I just… may have hit my head on the way down. Got a little confused for a second. You mind checking back there for a lump or something?”

Again, mostly just buying time as he called out to Dilan, {Dilan, you cannot leave me here to turn down Lauriam for you, do not fucking make me do that, I am going to beat the shit out of you for this later!}

Still no response. Bastard.

“...?”

Lauriam frowned a little, growing more unsure, before his eyes widened in worry. “Oh crap, I’m sorry, I…yeah, hold on. Kneel for me?” Lauriam smirked a bit, though it was more to cover his nerves. “Wasn’t really expecting to say that, if I’m honest.”

Gently combing through Dilan’s locs as he inspected for a head injury--mostly by touch, you could see in the closet, but the dim light wasn’t great for anything detail-oriented--he sighed softly. Insecurity ringing true in his voice. “Sorry. For…everything. I know I did kind of spring this on you suddenly. I just…”

He sighed again, frowning to himself. …it didn’t matter. 

Xaldin kept still for Lauriam’s inspection, still trying to decide how the hell he was about to bring up Dilan’s shitty switcharoo trick, before frowning as now Lauriam was drifting off on vague, final words. “You just?” Xaldin asked, and then briefly worrying his tone was more impatient then he really meant it to be–he was pissssssed at Dilan–he cleared his throat and tried to mimic what he thought of as Dilan’s ‘professor-wannabee’ voice as he said, “You can tell me, I don’t mind if it breaks ‘atmosphere’ or something. Me falling on my ass probably did that already.” Xaldin snickered, shaking his head a little. What a stupid situation. Dilan was an idiot. “Also, my heads cleared up, I don’t feel any pain. Thanks for checking.”

Lauriam let out a little sigh of relief. He hadn’t found anything himself, but Dilan feeling okay was probably the best sign. He was getting better with psychic healing, but he was still far from their best physical healer. 

Stepping back to let Dilan get back up, Lauriam smiled sheepishly and rubbed his bare arm. “Yeah…? Look, I don’t have expectations about my first time being ‘perfect’ or anything, but you really can just say no. We don’t have to make our thing any more complicated, if that’s not what you want.”

…even saying that, though, there was a tone of desire and disappointment in Lauriam’s voice. He had been the one to ask, after all, so if that wasn’t a clear sign he liked Dilan and wanted to bang him, he didn’t know what was.

Is that what the fuck was happening? {You’re an idiot AND an asshole}

Still no response.

God, how was Xaldin going to tell Lauriam that the guy he was trying to have his first time with literally ran away in the middle of it. FUCK! God, that was so shitty! That was so shitty. And Lauriam was someone who had already had enough shitty things happen to him, this was just ONE FUCKING MORE SHITTY THING GOD DAMMIT.

“I don’t want to say no.” Xaldin said honestly. Reaching out to grab Lauriam’s elbow, pulling him in and leaning in to kiss him, a motion that was familiar between the two by this point, “...I want this to be a good thing for you. And I want to fuck your brains out, because yeah, you’re fire and I can’t believe I even got this far–” {YOU IDIOT} “--if I’m honest. But you don’t need to hear about me having second thoughts. I’d be crazy to turn you down.” {IDIOT MORON IDIOT FUCKING ASSHOLE I’M GONNA BURY YOU IN THE GOD DAMN SCORPIAN PIT} “Damn best thing that could have happened to me today, really.”

Kissing Lauriam again, Xaldin said against his lips, “How filthy you okay going with this? You weren’t expecting me to get on my knees for you. Were you wondering what it’d feel like to get on your knees for me?” Xaldin grinned, giving him another kiss.

…?

The ping in Lauriam’s mind was almost immediately distracted by Dilan (?) kissing him, the familiar motions making him sigh and relax back into him. Even if some of the verbiage sent a fire through him, making it even harder to think clearly about things. Especially when Dilan was talking about…

Lauriam’s cheeks flushed during the kiss before he snorted a little against Dilan’s cheek. “We don’t exactly have lube, so that’s a solution, yes.” Or at least part of one. But not needing more of an invitation than that, Lauriam broke more from their kisses and started pressing his lips down Dilan’s neck, then his chest, his hands sliding down a little faster and aiming to actually pull Dilan’s pants down this time. 

…Okay!! Okay, Lauriam, you’ve got this! You know porn isn’t realistic, but you’ve probably read enough to get an idea! Don’t use your teeth!

Relax, Xaldin, you know what to expect here. You’ve read porn.

Dick sucking had not come up in the small handful of intimate encounters Xaldin had had before this. His dick had been in someone’s mouth before, yes, but he was pretty sure Lauriam wasn’t about to bite it and consume it while Xaldin’s whole body was numbed in a dizzying, warm venom. 

But more than that, he just wanted to be exciting and decisive for this. One of the things he had found so sexy about Zinxi was that, once you got past the shyness of convincing her, yes, he really wanted to be there, and yes, he was soooo down to be devoured, she knew exactly what she wanted and wasn’t afraid to tell you. When Xaldin had been new and inexperienced, that sort of demanding insistence had been a relief. Xaldin able to explore erotic desires without worrying if he was about to embarrass himself requesting something his partner would never give him. 

Xaldin knew it was nice to be openly desired, to have what you did openly desired. So he leaned against the wall and grinned as he pushed down his sweatpants–even during the warmer months, Xaldin tended to favor the sweatpants, since they felt more sturdy around his waist–and kicked them off, helping Lauriam in his pull down to get rid of them. Leaning against the wall once he was free of his clothes, Xaldin grinned down at Lauriam, lightly scratching at his own stomach as he snickered, “We’re a creative duo, we’ll figure something out for the lube.”

{HEY FUCKFACE WHAT CAN WE SUBSTITUTE AS LUBE I KNOW YOU’VE GOT SOME NERD SCIENCE IN THERE SOMEWHERE ON THE SUBJECT}

{....lube??}

{I’m sorry are you STILL HAVING SEX?!}

…oh fuck. 

Loooooook, look, look, look. Dilan was a great guy, there were a lot of reasons Lauriam liked him. But Dilan being fucking hot definitely contributed. And he’d seen Dilan naked plenty of times before! It was something you couldn’t avoid, living in such close quarters, even discounting all the bullshit from punishments and the supervisors trying out different ways to humiliate them, but in this context?

Lauriam felt the back of his jaw tense as drool filled his mouth. 

At least that wouldn’t be an issue. 

As he made his way down Dilan’s body, making it to his knees, Lauriam adjusted his stance a little for maximum balance and…well… No way through it but to do it. 

Taking Dilan’s cock--which certainly hadn’t been unaffected by their makeout session, Lauriam leaned in, taking a good few inches into his mouth. 

Oh wow, that was warm. 

It was a little difficult to see Lauriam’s face when it was, well, where it was. Xaldin still could, if he leaned forward a bit, but for the most part he could only see Lauriam’s hair and back past the natural bulge of Xaldin’s stomach. 

But even outside of seeing Lauriam’s lips wrap around his dick, which Xaldin was only mildly disappointed to be missing out on in the dim lighting anyway, the feeling of Lauriam’s tongue lightly licking against his head a bit of the ways down sent a rush of warmth up his stomach until it danced in his chest, the small, wet sounds of Lauriam breathing around his dick sending an entirely different rush of arousal along with it. 

Xaldin’s instinct was to whisper ‘damn, dandelion…’ and he guessed he had to admit to himself that he wasn’t being entirely honest with Lauriam in the moment when he swallowed the instinct down. Not wanting the nickname to out him.

…he guessed he was pretending to be Dilan, huh.

It hadn’t felt like an entirely conscious choice right up until this minute, but Xaldin now had to admit to himself that this was what he was doing. He should have just told Lauriam that Dilan had been an asshole and ran. It would have upset Lauriam, yeah, but… this was worse, wasn’t it? Pretending to be someone he wasn’t? This was probably worse. 

But Xaldin had already made his choices. And maybe Lauriam would never find out, if he was careful and had a long, preferably violent talk with Dilan later. What Lauriam didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him, right?

Yeah. This would probably be fine, in the long run.

Xaldin was basically supposed to be Dilan anyway, wasn’t he? Barely even a lie.

Dilan, in turn, did not feel the same way, as he sent back a {!?} which translated to ‘I cannot BELIEVE you two are still having sex, did you tell him I left!? Oh gods, if ANYONE is the sinner among us, I cannot BELIEVE I’ve let this happen, Atua is going to add so many levels to our trials–’

Xaldin blocked Dilan out. Yeah yeah, shame, guilt, sins, all that shit. He’d hash it out with Dilan later. He was having sex with Lauriam right now, as he reached down to lightly pet Lauriam’s hair, “That feels good. Can’t wait to get this thing deeper inside of you. You’re warm, you know that?”

This wasn’t so hard! Sure, sure, he wasn’t even close to getting all of Dilan inside his mouth, and every time he shied away from the back of his tongue, Lauriam was growing more and more doubtful that that was even possible, but…he was doing it! Suckin’ Dilan’s dick. 

Pushing the flat of his tongue against Dilan’s head, he bobbed forward again, pumping the base of Dilan’s shaft with a hand before he snorted a little. 

{What, surprised at the temperature of a non-corpse? I’d be a little worried if I wasn’t warm.}

…it was nice, knowing it felt good. That he wasn’t just entirely awkward through this, and Dilan was humoring him. What he said earlier, it didn’t sound that way, but it had been something Lauriam had worried about, when the thought of bringing this up at all to Dilan had bounced around his mind. What he said before was true; if he wanted to be humored, just to get through his first time, he could ask Larxene. 

But that wasn’t what Lauriam wanted. 

“Okay, for the last time, we did not fuck a corpse, that was a slip of the tongue, let’s go ahead and end the ‘mummy-fucking’ accusations, yeah??” Xaldin grouched, reaching down to lightly pinch the top of Lauriam’s ear–it literally did not occur to him to worry about teeth currently being wrapped around his dick–as he scolded, “Also, if you have time for sass, you’ve got time to lick more. Actually, try sucking my ballsack?” Xaldin asked, genuinely curious as he shifted his weight a bit, spreading his legs a bit more, “I’m curious how that feels.”

Lauriam laughed quietly around Dilan’s cock, twisting his wrist as he pinched his ear before he rolled his eyes a little. {I think I distinctly have time for both like this? This is just a straight advantage--plus one for psychics.}

Still, he did pull off Dilan’s dick with a slight wet sound, Lauriam’s breaths heavy before he leaned in more, lightly biting Dilan’s thigh before going in to take one of his balls in his mouth. Though…hm. May as well keep jacking Dilan off at the same time. That was, uh, kind of a necessity for, er, later. 

God, Lauriam was hot. 

“Mmmm, okay, yes,” Xaldin said approvingly, taking a deep breath as he felt Lauriam’s lips close around one of his ballsacks, licking against the bulge while his fingers moved up and down Xaldin’s dick. He could feel himself really getting hard now, that warmth turning into heat. He chuckled as he looked down and realized he could see his own dick now too, starting to rise and harden past the line of his stomach. Where the hell was that show when Lauriam was sucking on it? Way to let down the team, dick.

Not that Xaldin was feeling particularly let down. A lot of the fears and warning bells that he was doing something pretty shitty right now had long deafened, lost in a sea of lust-fueled waters. As far as the deceit he was doing was concerned, he was mostly wondering if it’d out him as Xaldin to start growling, or to maybe shove Lauriam back again and start figuring out this ‘penetration’ problem. 

Larxene had taught him a trick, last time. It’d had been in their worlds so it had been entirely cosmetic, but he bet it’d work in the real world for practical purposes. 

Was Dilan aggressive? Xaldin genuinely didn’t know. Xaldin would see how much he could push it before he stopped seeming ‘like himself’ as he encouraged/directed, “Damn, that’s good. Hey back up a little, I want to sit back down. I want to be able to see your face while you go down on me.”

He was nailing this. Virgin expectations who?

Pulling back, wiping his mouth a little, Lauriam gave Dilan an amused look. “You think that’ll help much? Or you just want to see me bend over even more? You don’t have to be obtuse about it, you could just ask.”

Still, while he waited for Dilan to sit down, Lauriam shuffled back a bit and stuck a few of his own fingers in his mouth. He didn’t really suck, as much as he tried to pool saliva in the back of his mouth to lave over them.

“You bending over more didn’t even occur to me, but now that you’ve pointed it out? Sure, I’m looking forward to that too. You’ve got a great ass. I bet it’d make a little heart from this angle… though that said,” Xaldin frowned, bringing up his foot and putting a toe through Lauriam’s waistband, tugging his pants down, “What are we waiting on this for? It’s not that cold, join me in the naked jungle. Besides, we’ll heat you up soon.”

“Also, what’s with the fingers?” Xaldin asked, genuinely curious.

Lauriam rolled his eyes. {Slow and easy, huh?}

Not that he was really keeping to that tempo either, admittedly.

With his free hand, Lauriam pulled at the other side of his waistband and pulled his pants down, taking the opportunity lifting each of his knees to get them off to shuffle forward again towards Dilan’s crotch. Though, he made sure that before he leaned down all the way, he pulled his drool-covered fingers from his mouth.

(Okay okay okay okay do it!)

And, as he leaned down to swallow Dilan in again, he reached around to start pressing his index into his ass. Letting out a slow, heavy breath against Dilan’s groin. 

“Oh! Oh, that’s what the fingers are for.” Xaldin whispered, eyes wide with genuine shock… before he let out a breath like someone had pushed his stomach in, relaxing into the corner of the closet, since that angle gave Lauriam the most room to move around in. “Ooooh, shit, your mouth feels good on me…”

Xaldin couldn’t help but just watch Lauriam for a moment. The way his body tensed and his back muscles flexed, trying to hold himself up and keep his mouth around Xaldin’s dick and reach back to push two wet fingers inside of himself. Lauriam’s eyes were tightly shut, and there was a tension to them that suggested this was quite the struggle. Xaldin couldn’t help but find that sexy-as-hell. He was a sadist by design, after all. 

“You’re really working yourself there…” Xaldin murmured, his dick hardening more, lightly running one hand down Lauriam’s neck and over the top of his spine, while idly running his palm over his own chest. “...you know, I was planning to eat you out. Could make it easier on you. I sure don’t mind the view though.”

Aaaaaaagh fuck fuck fuck… This wasn’t the first time he’d played with his ass. Times to get away with some privacy in the physical world tended to be on the rarer side and the, uh, shorter side, and they did have a whole mental landscape to use, but…well, doing it with your physical body felt different. And both created and relieved a certain kind of frustration that necessitated squirreling away some time for yourself. Lauriam was a curious young man and the kind of porn he read was explicit enough that the concept of messing with his hole had been something he considered early on. 

It just wasn’t. Often. And was difficult to do from multiple angles. And took a while, usually, because--

Lauriam scrunched his eyes through a small, sharp gasp as he pressed a little too quickly with his second finger, his throat swallowing just barely against Dilan’s head. 

{Oh fuck off.} Somehow even Lauriam’s intent was breathless, though the arousal and mild fluster were loud and clear. {Like you were planning anything.}

“I was! I was making all sorts of plans!” Xaldin chuckled, before wincing in sympathy, “That last bit sounded like it hurt. Alright, that’s enough prepping me. Time I return the favor. On your back, sugar-snack!” Xaldin said, tapping pointedly against the side of Lauriam’s face as he sat up, “Really, come on, I know a trick. Lean against the wall and spread your legs. Don’t say I can’t give as well as I can get.”

Forgetting his mental caution for a moment, Lauriam let his teeth barely graze Dilan’s dick as he pulled up, giving the older man a dry look. “...sugar-snack?” Still he did scoot back until he could hit the opposite wall, having pulled out of himself and bracing against the floor with his palms as he spread his legs. 

“Look, I do trust you, but the last time you said ‘I know a trick’, Zexion spent half an hour coaching Sora through focused teleportation to get out of that sand pit.” Flushing, Lauriam smirked a little. “If I get just as breathless, though, I don’t think that’d be a bad thing.”

Ah, right. No pet names. That was a Xaldin thing. 

“Yeah, that was dumb of me. I really should have asked Xaldin about his countermeasures to keep Indentured from literally just crawling out of those things before thinking it’d be a quick and easy way down to the next level.” Xaldin said dryly, rolling his eyes. Dumbass. 

Xaldin took a moment to admire the view–and damn, what a view. God Dilan was an idiot–before reaching down to trace his finger against the closed in curve of Lauriam’s ass, tracing across his already slightly throbbing pucker before going up and over his balls, tracing his finger up the center of Lauriam’s dick before tapping at his head a bit. 

“What a sight you are,” Dilan said appreciatively… before tucking his hands beneath Lauraims knees and pulling his legs up and wide a bit, spreading Lauriam’s asshole a little as he said, “Alright, bottoms up.”

It took a lot of bending for both of them–it wasn’t that big of a closet–but Xaldin got his head between Lauriam’s ass cheeks and, without much hesitation, licked Lauriams’ puckered asshole before shoving the whole of his tongue inside. The walls instantly closed around his tongue, but his tongue easily folded and adjusted to the constriction, Xaldin thrusting it in and out of the space and flexing his tongue to get a little wider every few moments, pushing and coaxing the walls apart. 

He chuckled as his efforts were rewarded with little sounds, taking a quick break to catch his breath as he kissed the inside of Lauriam’s leg, before diving his tongue back inside. Humming a bit against Lauriam’s ass as he sent {Still got your breath?}

“You’re such an insufferable show-off, sometimes,” Lauriam laughed quietly, fondness warming his voice. He knew exactly the position he was in, calling it out, after all. 

And, uh, his physical position too. 

Lauriam flushed at the almost tender, light trace Dilan made over his ass and up his dick, seeing a type of fondness in Dilan’s expression too. Though, it was probably the taps that made his stomach clench in want. …and Dilan hooking under his knees and…

Lauriam let out a shaky breath as he was nearly bent in two, and he quickly had to swallow what was likely a very embarrassing sound as, well, Dilan made good on his so-called plan and started eating him out. A much softer, much wetter force more gently opening him up, a type of tenderness that was agony in itself as, before too long, Lauriam felt his legs start shaking slightly in Dilan’s hands, his cock leaking down onto his stomach. 

An arm pressed over his mouth to help stifle any sounds, Lauriam glared heatedly through his legs. {Just get in me already, asshole.}

Xaldin didn’t know if it was a giveaway that he laughed against Lauriam’s asshole. Maybe Dilan would laugh too. It was very funny. 

Pulling his tongue out and giving one last kiss to his pucker, Xaldin got onto his knees, lewdly looking over Lauriam. He had invited him in, now would be a great time to do what he had been wanting to do for ages now, and just crawl on top of him and push in and ride out the endorphins to a grand finale…

“…hey, do you wanna ride me instead?” Xaldin asked, holding out his hand to offer Lauriam a hand up in sitting straighter, since he was kind of bent in half, “I don’t know how much that actually helped open you up, like, deeper, you know? And I think you’d have an easier time stopping when it starts to hurt on your own, rather then me just shoving my way in and stopping if you tell me too. Just feels like it makes more sense, doesn’t it? So it doesn’t hurt?”

Xaldin was a sadist. But he had never wanted to, and still didn’t want to, take that out on Lauriam. He’d rather it didn’t hurt.

Lauriam’s eyebrows rose a little, before his expression softened. Despite having imagined this in a lot of ways, he hadn’t really…had solid expectations for how this would actually go. For every dream about Dilan bending him over and railing him, or every personal moment imagining Xaldin pinning him to a wall, the most Lauriam planned was, in the midst of making out, as that warm closeness drove them together, to just…ask. And figure it out from there. 

So if Dilan was offering…?

Taking a small breath, Lauriam’s eyes cleared…and then focused. In a smooth, strong motion, he took Dilan’s offered hand, before shifting his weight forward even more over the other man, bracing his other arm behind Dilan’s head (just in case, he didn’t want Dilan to hit the wall again), pushing enough to end up in Dilan’s lap over him, one hand on his shoulder. 

“Well,” Lauriam smirked, canines glinting slightly, “If you think you can handle it. You’re really trying to get the best view of all this, huh?”

Did Xaldin mention Lauriam was sexy yet? God damn.

Also, the second Xaldin could figure out where Lauriam’s arm was going, he laughed, a bit flattered at the care. “Not gonna lie, it’s a plus. I like being able to get up close and personal like this,” Xaldin admitted, wrapping his arms around Lauriam’s waist and back and pulling him in for a kiss. Taking his time with it, feeling the heat radiating off Lauriam’s front and the heavy weight of him around his waist.

“...I know this is all about letting you adjust and stuff but if you don’t fucking hurry onto my damn dick,” Xaldin muttered against Lauriam’s breath. 

For all his shit talking, Lauriam laughed quietly as Dilan pulled him into a kiss, kissing back passionately, giving Dilan’s shoulder a small squeeze. Playfully booping his nose against Dilan’s as he muttered to him, Lauriam grinned. “Maybe shrink a couple inches and it’d be easier to do while we’re kissing. And if I don’t, then what?”

Despite the taunting, though, Lauriam didn’t actually call that bluff, getting desperate himself. Sitting up a little and reaching around, Lauriam did his best to more or less blindly line things up, and…maybe agonizingly slowly?

“...h….hhhn…” Lauriam couldn’t quite stifle his breathy groan as he sank down on Dilan’s cock. The first bit going in alright, but Dilan’s initial warning proving true soon enough, Lauriam scrunching his eyes as he slowly worked his way down. 

“Then what, he asks. How the hell am I supposed to answer… then I cry? What do you mean ‘then what’?” Xaldin grumbled, though he was playing up the dramatics a bit as he smirked lightly at the little boop. God, Lauriam was sexy. 

But Xaldin shouldn’t have been worried about what would happen if Lauriam just suddenly denied him sex. Turns out, he should have been worried about exactly what he asked for, as he helped line up his dick up to Lauriam’s ass, feeling a sense of relief and excitement run through him when Lauriam started to push down… and then like…stopped.

….ah?? Ah! 

“Nnngh, Lauriam, mm, not to rush but… you literally took more of me in your mouth. And I didn’t even get close to the back of your tongue.” Xaldin groaned, fighting the urge to buck up his hips or push or something as he felt Lauriam’s walls squeeze tightly around just below the head of his dick, the pressure both really nice and a little?? Ow?? “Oh, fuck, could you at least stop squeezing? You’re squeezing, right?”

“Shut up,” Lauriam grumbled, though he did take in a deep breath, trying to relax more, even as his eyebrows scrunched enough to form a line between them. He didn’t say anything through a few more deep breaths, feeling himself sink down more, but even with the new inches, it just…

“F-fuck,” Lauriam damn near breathily whimpered, Dilan’s cock solid and huge within him. It felt like his hole was spasming, trying to stay in its usual state, but it couldn’t, because Dilan’s fuckin’ cock was there, so instead his muscles just had to give up, which just let him take in more, and…

“...nnnng!” Lauriam whined, cheeks deeply flushed as his dick dripped with pre.

Again, Xaldin half suspected Lauriam was squeezing on purpose, because otherwise holy shit, it was like a viper had swallowed his dick and was contracting. 

Xaldin hadn’t put his dick into Demyx–they had mostly just played around with oral–and with Larxene it had been effortless in the world. This was the first time sex had felt like it took real, actual effort since Zinxi… and fuck, he had missed it. He hadn’t realized how much he had missed it until this moment, the sheer concentration and endurance and how real it made him feel. Like he was present in the moment because he couldn’t escape it. Every bit of effort this took reminding him he was here, and he existed. 

Mind rusted over with lust, Xaldin grabbed Lauriam’s dick and started to pump at it as he said with a low growl, “God, get down here, because I can’t hold still forever.” 

There was a note of something (not even close to a squeal, thank you very much!) before Lauriam abruptly cut his voice off, biting his lip as he shuddered on top of Dilan, the way he was handling his dick really enticing him to just do as told and force himself all the way down onto Dilan. But for better or for worse, Lauriam was historically awful at following directions. 

“Maybe if someone actually let me open myself up more, this part would go faster,” Lauriam grumbled, though there was too much want in his voice to actually read as angry. “Just hold on, I’m working on it.”

And he really was, as slow as it went. Though, as Lauriam finally sank to the point where his pelvis couldn’t dip any lower, he just had to…stop. For a moment. Breathing heavily with a pain-twisted pleasure across his face, his hands trembling as they braced on Dilan’s shoulders. 

After a moment, Lauriam squirmed. Staying still not helping him adjust, but every minute shift of his hips not helping either, though, before he knew it? He wasn’t exactly moving all along the dick crammed tightly up his ass, but he was…bouncing. A little. Every bit of him feeling full, and squeezing the intrusion in him. 

“Sure, like those slim fingers of yours would have stretched much,” Xaldin scoffed, before stealing a kiss. His palm moving up and down Lauriam’s dick, in a way that might have been rough had Lauriam’s pre-cum not made the motion much smoother. 

But when Xaldin broke the kiss, some of his discomfort was forgotten when he saw the look on Lauriam’s face. His face a bit splotchy, his eyes open but seeming to struggle with it, like he kept wanting to wince them close, while his mouth hung open, taking in deep, soothing breaths…

“...you’re so fucking sexy,” Xaldin whispered, tucking some of the loose strands of curls getting into Lauriam’s face behind his ear, “Anyone ever tell you that you could have had anyone? God damn I can’t believe you picked me.”

(Except… he kind of hadn’t.)

(But Xaldin wasn’t thinking about that right now.)

“Ngh,” Xaldin let out a small, desperate sound, his moan sounding a little wet and caught in his throat as he felt Lauriam start to bounce. Nowhere near enough to do what Xaldin’s dick needed Lauriam to do, but the motion of it was exciting enough on its own that a shocking flood of arousal ran through his body, filling him with adrenaline. Pushing his feet to be one flat on the floor and the other bracing against the other wall, Xaldin let Lauriam’s dick go to put his hands on either side of his hips. Not guiding or moving them, just helping to steady, as he started to buck his hips upwards, growling, “Damn, there we go. Now we can get it moving, huh?”

Lauriam hiccupped a breath, squinting away from the gentle gesture, even while he leaned into it. “I-I seem to remember that you did, some minutes ago.” Or however long they’d been in the closet, but if Lauriam’s sense of time was awful in the best circumstances, there was no shot he’d be able to keep track of anything now. “...n…’course I did. I like you.”

(That was true. No matter what.)

“...aaaah, fuck it,” Lauriam whispered. With another small, wavering sound, he took a deep breath and put more strength into his thighs, pulling off Dilan’s dick enough to involuntarily let out a small gasp of relief. One that was quickly short lived as he sank back down again, the end of air forming a squeak in his throat, though Lauriam didn’t even try to steady the trembling in his hands before trying the same motions again.

Tears forming in his eyes, as a fucking inferno ripped through his gut and through his dick. 

The two rolled and bounced into each other, Xaldin staring at Lauriam’s teary expression like a man hypnotized. Xaldin reminded himself that Lauriam could easily roll off of him, could stand up, could, he didn’t know, hit him across the face. He just couldn’t bring himself to slow down, to ask if Lauriam felt sure. He needed to trust Lauriam was enjoying himself, despite the tears. Because Xaldin found them too fucking gorgeous to want them to stop. 

But he did kiss Lauriam again after a moment. Covering his mouth and hearing the cries and gasps echo through his own, as Xaldin moaned and panted back into Lauriam. Grunting and groaning in satisfied, eager hums as his dick disappeared in long strides into Lauriam.

Xaldin wanted to do this forever, but his body was going to betray him soon as he felt his balls fill and convulse, something hot and urgent running through him as he held Lauriam tight, pulling his hips down as far onto Xaldin as Lauriam would let them as Xaldin convulsed and shuddered, groaning against him as he emptied out as deep inside of Lauriam as he could get. 

(It would take years for Xaldin to find out he, uh… wasn’t supposed to do that.)

Xaldin panted against Lauriam, holding him close… before he peeked down in between them… “H-heh,” Xaldin laughed, looking at the sticky web of cum connecting their stomachs together, “Sure hope that means it was as good for you as it was for me…god damn, you came a lot. What, were you saving up for me?”

It got easier, as they continued. Lauriam relying on Dilan’s hands steadying his hips as he bounced, each one getting faster as Lauriam really did start to open up, and as Dilan’s pre slicked things up more than spit could ever achieve, though that sort of ‘unrelenting’ feeling never quite went away. Lauriam more than overwhelmed in ways that had him digging his nails into the back of Dilan’s shoulders and feeling like he wanted to throw up, but bizarrely in a fantastic way. 

He felt laid bare and raw and uncontrollable, but instead of being at the mercy of himself in ways that were just scary and ruined things for everyone, it made Lauriam feel…safe. And like he could be alright, for once. 

That was kind of a scary feeling in itself, but Lauriam found himself chasing it as he felt dotted tears speckle his cheeks and Dilan’s dick piston rapidly in and out of himself. And as Dilan brought him in for a kiss, it was like he lost himself in the older man completely…

Until it all hit the breaking point, Lauriam letting out a very short vocalization as his fingers dug into Dilan’s back, teeth pressing into his neck as he felt a tight grip against his hips, and an almost painful release that rode on waves of pleasure…

“...ng….g’hah…” Lauriam looked wrecked as he panted against Dilan, though he still found it within himself to scoff. “You…ng…wish. H-hope I didn’t give you t-too big of an ego.”

“...holy crap…” he whispered, dropping his head back down against Dilan’s neck. 

“Hah!” Xaldin laughed, though he adjusted himself to make it easier for Lauriam to lay against him, placing little kisses against the side of his face. “Well, you took from me as good as you gave. I have no idea how much I released, but it sure felt like a lot. All deep inside of you now…” Xaldin practically purred, lightly rubbing Lauriam’s back.

…and then he chuckled, saying sympathetically, “Alright, I’ll wait for your go-ahead, but I gotta get the rest of me out of you. Probably better early before anything has a chance to dry and it hurts more to pull out. Lift your hips for me?”

Lauriam groaned a bit at the (very welcomed) kisses, laying bonelessly on top of Dilan. Holy crap was right. He’d wanted his first time, he was interested in sex, but…fuck. Wow. 

“Feels like a lot to me too,” Lauriam huffed, before he adjusted his arms, shaking for a different reason now, and lifted his hips, his wince this time just a pure wince, as he worked with Dilan to get his dick out of his ass. “I’ve never had to before, obviously, but that does feel like a pain to wash out later. Really wanted to straight-up cream pie me, huh?”

“Mhm~” Xaldin hummed, kissing Lauriam’s neck as he pulled himself up, giving a small sigh of relief himself once his softening dick was free, Lauriam settling back down on top of him, “I sure did.”

Xaldin just assumed Lauriam meant he was going to shower later. Like, duh? If anyone asked what he thought happened to the cum inside of Lauriam, or anyone else, he’d probably stop to think about it for a second before deciding it ‘absorbed’. Like, probably, right?

Xaldin felt good. It was nice, having Lauriam resting and warm in his arms. It made Xaldin want to take a nap. That shit was exhausting, Lauriam wasn’t the only one beat. Xaldin was still idly rubbing Lauriam’s back, grazing his thumb up and down Lauriam’s spine. 

…post-nut clarity warned Xaldin that this was his last chance to tell Lauriam about what had happened. It’d still be bad, he had still gone through with it, but this was his chance to at least have told him. If he didn’t take it now? He couldn’t make up for it by confessing later. It mattered now, while they were still sweating and chatting in each others arms. He should confess now…

“I think I only said it once, but you should know I kept getting floored by how sexy you are,” Xaldin said, “We have to figure out how to sneak to the showers later, but you want to rest with me a bit here? I like being close to you, I’m not jumping to give it up.”

…it felt really nice, having Dilan touch along his spine as they…well, this was just cuddling, wasn’t it? They never defined this thing between them, thus it being called a Thing. Just as concrete as the Thing he had with Xaldin, and the Things Marluxia had with each of them too. It felt like something that should be complicated, but it just…wasn’t. They were friends, they kissed sometimes, now, they’d had sex. 

Cuddling did feel more…romantic. Couple-like. But it could just be part of the Thing too, Lauriam supposed. Didn’t have to be anything different. 

As he rested on top of Dilan, Lauriam traced soft, apologetic touches over the raised lines he could feel on his shoulders. He didn’t think he felt blood, which was good, but, admittedly, it was a little hard to differentiate from sweat right now. 

Snorting a little, Lauriam grinned against Dilan’s skin. “Are you kidding? I’m waiting for a full on stealth plan to get to the showers, and until then, I’m not moving.” Flushing, he traced more gently over the scratches. “...thank you. There’s a lot of reasons I asked you, but…that was really amazing. You’re amazing, and just…thanks. For being my first.”

Dilan was an idiot.

“It’s an honor~” Xaldin said, kissing Lauriam’s temple, “And, seriously, seriously. Ever want to do it again? Say the word, I will come running. Damn.”

They wouldn’t. It wasn’t a conscious choice to not to, things just sort of moved along, time doing its relentless, if mysterious dance: the play continuing even if the factory’s inhabitants couldn’t watch. 

Outside, in the world, things were being set in motion. The universe had twisted itself into knots, conceiving the child that would put off one of the ends of the world. And around that universe expanding event, were thousands of other little stories, developing or starting or continuing, that would have little, graceful ripple effects on each other. 

A boy would be making the plans to escape his hometown, heading off to build the equipment that would one day make Ienzo and Zexion’s dreams that much easier to achieve. 

In another city, a teen–brand new to the world still–would be traveling with a man who would not call himself his father, heading to the capital that someday would fall asleep and for a night would dream a world that he invented for them, gentle and kind and the final trap of a genocidal tyrant. 

Deep in the earth was a door, still closed, that would lead to the island in the sky. Waiting for a monster-taming prince to come and save them.

On a different island, three friends drank and chatted and dreamt of a future, not able to guess at visitors from other realms, or friends across the sea.

A princess laughs with her friend, who might not yet realize he has a friend in her.

A cat and a Templar guide and befriend Wisdom itself. 

A librarian tries to find peace with herself.

A new king fails to find it, and will soon fall to his hubris.

The last dragon of Luminary dances with its castaway prince, their fury born from love and grief that will not end until she returns.

The world spins and spins and its people spin along with it. More even than mentioned above. So much more. Stories that would take years and years to tell and still would never finish. The Chonis Empaths just one more story in so, so many. The only ones of all of them unable to see for themselves time moving forward.

But it still was. And not long from now, the doors would open, and their world would change, and time would be something they could watch pass themselves. A part of the stage again.

Look… all that to say? This was a quiet moment for Lauriam and Xaldin. And the chaos of rejoining a busy, busy, busy world was going to rob them of the chance to linger on it. But they still had that moment. And they’d have more moments again, someday.

-

O.O

O.O

OoO wait, no. There has to be more.

OoO What happens next? 

-

Okay, breathed Lauriam’s memories. Breathing in with himself. Breathing out with the island. One last thing…

-

No one really believed it. Admittedly this was a new tactic; of all the empty promises and snide remarks, the supervisors had never tried to mess with them by saying they could leave before. More than that, saying that they had to leave, that the program was over, that guards would come to kick them out if they lingered too long. 

Yeah, fat chance. 

…but still, most of them had gathered around in Even’s world, trying to talk about what to do with whatever this ploy was. 

And as far as Marluxia was concerned, it didn’t really matter, and tomorrow would be the same as the day before, and the day before that, and the day before that…

But he opened his eyes into a grey box. 

“...tsk,” Marluxia grumbled to himself, turning over on Lauriam’s pallet, “Too stressed out to even get breakfast, huh? Dipshit… Always making me do everything…”

(Not even a grumble in response. Asshole.)

Well whatever. If Lauriam wanted to leave everything to him, then they could sleep in a few more minutes. He could hear some of the others starting to get up, though a sharp gasp was a little more…attention-getting. 

“...hey, uh…Laurie?”

“Nope.” Marluxia grumbled to his mom, folding his pillow over his head. 

Though he didn’t expect the small, stressed laugh that followed, prompting Marluxia to roll back over and squint up at Aqua. Who was…very anxiously rubbing the back of her neck. 

“Cool, cool, that’s…um,” Terra sucked in a breath. “Mars, can you…hear him?”

Marluxia squinted his eyes at…Terra. “...he’s probably asleep or moping or whatever. He didn’t say anything about putting me up front.”

“Sure, but,” Terra said quickly, giving his son a look that was…it couldn’t be panicked, could it? “Can you poke him again, real quick?”

Marluxia frowned but sat up in bed.

{Hey loser, Terra’s freaking out over something, can you pull your head out of your ass for two seconds to talk to him?}

…

…oh. That…

{...Lauriam?}

Marluxia only felt his thoughts echo back into himself.

{LAURIAM?!?}

Green eyes widened in alarm. 

There were similar revelations happening all over the room. 

Oddly enough, the most physically obvious was ‘Riku’. He was sitting up on his pallet, his eyes unusually wide. Almost full of wonder as he stared at his hands. Opening and closing them. Reaching down and placing them against the cold cement surface of the floor, the wonder in them only increasing as he gasped lightly at the shock of the texture, rubbing his fingers around it.

Ansem had never been in the real world before. He had never touched cement. Bodies felt different. 

Out in the hallway, ‘Demyx’s voice was coming in loud, his pitch a little higher than usual as ‘he’ shouted, “What do you mean you don’t know what’s going on!? You’re the ‘know what’s going on’ guy! It’s your job!”

“If you’d give me some quiet to think, I might be able to give you a better answer,” said ‘Even’, moving past Larxene as he peeked his head into the room, focusing on ‘Aqua’, “...I think it’d be quicker to ask if there are any Somebodies here at all, considering Sora over there is shaking like a leaf and Kairi is just laid out staring at the ceiling. Roxas and Namine, I presume?”

“W-what is happening, w-w-what is h-h-happening.” ‘Sora’ said through gritted teeth, trembling violently as he hugged his knees, staring at nothing. This felt too much like when he had lost Xion. He couldn’t feel Sora. At all!

“I believe everyone in our room is being affected by the same issue I imagine you woke up to in your room.” ‘Kairi’ said blankly, staring dispassionately at the ceiling, “Something has gone wrong… very wrong. I have been trying all morning, but I cannot find Kairi.”

Terra gave ‘Even’ a tense look, glancing over his kids for a moment before giving him a small shake of the head. Getting up, he headed over to Roxas, putting a firm arm around him…even if Terra didn’t have any answers either. “...no word from Aqua. I don’t come off the island much so something of a surprise to wake up here. Bet that’s hittin’ ya harder, Ansem.”

Marluxia looked at them all incredulously for a moment before pressing his hands over his ears, trying to focus. “C’mon you fuckin’ moron,” he hissed to himself, “You do this all the time, get so mucked up you’re basically not here. Just say something, you--”

“GET OUT HERE, IT’S WAKE UP TIME,” an annoyed voice shouted from the main room, “WE ALL HAVE TO BE OUT IN TWO HOURS!”

In the first room, Isa’s whole body literally jolted, like you could see his skin literally raising as a shiver ran through his whole body, as he curled and whimpered into the corner. Panting in fear, too overwhelmed to even whisper ‘no’ anymore as he pressed into the wall.

“H-hey, hey, it’s okay, you don’t have to be scared, uh… Isa? Saix? Shit, I don’t know who I’m talking to, everyone else has switched but Saix is… Isa, are you there?” Axel whispered, trying to be calm and soothing for his friend as he whispered, “I promise, no matter what they have planned, you’re not going to be alone–”

“HOW ABOUT YOU ALL GO FUCK YOURSELF!?” ‘Dilan’ shouted at the door, looking around its corner towards the kitchen, “HOW ABOUT FUCKING THAT?! WE’RE NOT PLAYING WHATEVER BULLSHIT GAME YOU’VE COME UP WITH, WE HAVE BIGGER FUCKING PROBLEMS!”

“O-oh, fuck, Xaldin, man, we’re not making this any easier on ourselves by goading them into coming in here to beat us.” ‘Luis’--only, yeah, literally just Luis, who like Axel, had no fucking idea how he should be acting right now–cautioned, looking warily over at ‘Aeleus’, “I don’t think Isa’s going to move away from that corner willingly…”

Lexaeus (and he…did believe he was Lexaeus. For a long time, Aeleus had compartmentalized himself so much that it had been a simple routine to believe that any moment of emotionality or letting his guard down was when he was Aeleus, and everything else was Lexaeus. And right now? His family needed Lexaeus) observed the situation around him, shoulders tense. Saix’s fear, Axel and Luxord’s confusion, Xaldin’s anger covering panic…

…Ienzo the same as always, visible eye half open, but not seeming to react to anything around him. Because the ‘same as always’ meant that this was…Zexion. 

Lexaeus took a deep breath and headed for the kitchen, ready to face the supervisors head on. 

“‘Bout time,” the same annoyed voice grumbled--Rosario, a newer addition to this department of the Togami Facility, “Look, whatever you freaks have going on, you’ll have to do it somewhere else. Get out yourselves, or have the guards do it, doesn’t matter.”

That was no more illuminating than what their Somebodies had been told…until Lexaeus was handed a stack of cards. 

…ID cards. 

And another supervisor was dragging in what seemed to be a box of…shoes. 

There was a deep sense of confusion and unease, at the sight of the boxes of shoes. 

The other supervisor was Seifer, who looked disgruntled to be hefting up a big box of essentially a variety of sandals. Decent sandals, the kind that came up over the ankle and around the back of the heel, sandals you could run in for a while if you had to. But still clearly cheap and haphazardly picked out, their decent quality perhaps only a sign of the fact that they had bought from somewhere in bulk, as he called, “Alright, we don’t know your shoe sizes, but orders from the top says you have to look halfway presentable heading out! That means you’re showering, you’re wearing your sweats, not your scrubs! And you need to pick out a pair that fit you! Like our guy here said, we only have two hours to get everything done, so don’t… the hell is his problem?” Seifer laughed, having dropped the box of shoes into the hallway and spotted Saix glued to the wall around the corner, “Awww, is he gonna miss us? Shit, Isa, I can take you home if you want~”

Axel protectively stood in front of Isa, relaxing his stance into the one he had used for his days running with the yakuza as he sneered at Seifer, “Give me an excuse.”

‘Hehe, after how long all of you freaks have been in here? I bet more than one of you will wish you had begged me to take them home after a few weeks out in the streets. You have to look presentable day one of leaving the ‘warehouse’, which is what you’ll find they call this place on the outside, but after day one? No one gives a shit what happens to any of you. I give all of you a month, maybe.”

Vexen stepped forward, glancing warily down at the shoes–he had not worn a pair in over a decade. For now, he’d realize soon, over half of his life, actually– before his eyes went back up to the two supervisors, “...I would like to speak with Orlette. Quite frankly, I’d like to call a truce for whatever scheme this is. Your empaths are all currently experiencing an emergency, and it will undoubtedly affect our work.”

“Yeah, good luck with that. Orlette stopped showing up for work three days ago.” Seifer huffed, shaking his head as he stepped back from the box, looking at the empaths, “Can’t imagine why. Hey, if all of you think you can play any sort of funny games with us after this? Just know we’re all leaving with our sigil necklaces. We’ve got nothing to fear from you.”

They weren’t allowed shoes in the factory. Not the Indentureds coming in for their rounds, though their shoes were stored with other personal belongings they came in with, usually to be given to their new contract holders for anything significant, but certainly not the Empaths. Each who had been brought in on their own, outside of the program, had basically everything stripped from them. The kids had already been changed when they were laid out, and while Lauriam had still had the clothes on his back…well. They’d been quickly gotten rid of voluntarily. Each piece torn and soiled to the point that they’d only be good for stuffing, if you didn’t care about health risks.

If they were given shoes, if they were given things that made them…visible. People who were accounted for, beyond the walls of the factory… The supervisors talking about time. About things outside the factory at all. 

{...it would be unwise to show them other forms of fear we’re more than capable of.} Lexaeus didn’t exactly ask Vexen that…but there was a certain confirmation he was seeking from his husband. Lexaeus just waiting for any reason to, if this was truly, sincerely a departure, give the supervisors a truly fitting goodbye. 

Marluxia, looking a bit haunted as he finally peeked his head out of his room, looked at what was going on in the kitchen, and while Lexaeus may be exerting caution, as Marluxia put things together?

He grit his teeth, canines bared as his eyes narrowed in on the supervisors, but before he could lunge--

“Don’t,” Terra whispered, eyes dark. “They still have weapons here.”

{Patience,} Vexen sent to the entire group, though it was in answer to Lexaeus, {We need to prioritize the safety of the group over our feelings. Either this is a trick, or it’s not a trick and we are about to enter a world that… quite honestly, no one currently awake has ever seen. We cannot make this harder on ourselves, the challenge is already great. Patience. Safety.}

Aloud, Vexen said, “So our tasks presented are to shower, to dress into our cold-weather clothes, and pick shoes…simply enough. Please leave us to our duties and we will be able to more effectively get them done.”

“No, I have to know!” Larxene said, stepping forward and glaring at the two supervisors, “What’s happened?! Why are we leaving!? What season is it!? Is it cold outside?!”

“That is tooooo many questions and I don’t feel like dealing with any of them. Glad to see you grew a backbone the literal last second though, Demyx.” Seifer said, rolling his eyes, “Where the heck has that been all this time? Long story short? Some of the Indentured’s got into a pissing match with the royal family and a freak famine gave them the edge they needed to win. Oh, and be ready for that: the capital is going through a famine, so rations everywhere have become really tight, food is suddenly crazy expensive. Yeah, like I said: I give you guys a month.” Seifer paused, before shrugging, “And I dunno, I guess it’s a little chilly. It’s spring.”

With that, Seifer turned around and headed back to the kitchen.

“...spring?” Luis whispered, eyes wide. Some of the redness in them not just him going through withdrawals, as he whispered, “It’s spring?”

{The rebellion won the war.} 93 notified the library, perhaps unresponsive in the physical world, but dutifully listening as always. {If this isn’t an elaborate mindgame…the rumors were right. The program may be over.}

“A famine doesn’t seem like the work of supernatural interference,” 68 hummed, in only one of many groups in the library muttering over this new news, “Damn, I really thought all the power bursts happening lately would be connected, if there was to be a culmination at all.”

46 rolled his eyes. “I keep telling you, coincidences can happen, but on a world-wide scale they’re rare. Not everything we can perceive is connected, simply by the fact that it’s made its way to us.”

Marluxia pushed against Terra for another moment, eyes trained on Seifer, before he stiffly relaxed. …spring.

“...lotta stuff in spring,” Marluxia muttered quietly, a complicated, tense expression on his face. “...it’d probably be easy to find a year on, like, a newspaper or something.”

Glancing back at the kids--Terra had held up a hand before stopping Marluxia, keeping them from engaging with the supervisors directly--Terra mustered up a small smile. “Think we all have a backlog to catch up on. What a time to celebrate, huh?”

It was odd, seeing ‘Sora’, ‘Riku’ and “Kairi’ all look so stiff and reserved, the three staring at Terra like they were afraid to make a move without him. Gone was any sign of their Somebodies easy confidence or playful demeanor, the three Nobodies simply looking terrified as they waited for the older Nobodies to tell them what to do. Too overwhelmed to consider otherwise.

“...but what about Sora?” Roxas said, the determined look on his face entirely offset by the way he clutched his shirt, like he was about to wring the fabric apart in worry as he said, “And Kairi, And Riku? What’s happened to them?”

“We will figure that out,” Vexen said, “But, we have to prioritize surviving today first. Our Somebodies are not people we can ‘leave behind’, they’re coming with us. We will… tackle today, and then later, we will see why they won’t respond to us.” Vexen paused, his mind racing… before he nodded, “Roxas, Ansem, Namine, please go and shower first, and quickly. Larxene, Xaldin, search through the kitchen, collect anything we could reasonably carry away with us either for food-prep or as weapons. Axel, help Isa pick out some shoes that fit and assist him in changing into his sweat-clothes, we’re not going to try to force him into the shower like this. Everyone else, check the rooms and the closet, see if there’s anything useful we can bring, and pick out your shoes and shower.”

Vexen sounded certain as he gave everyone his instructions. But when he looked into the box of shoes, and reached in to try a pair that would seem to fit, his hands were visibly shaking. 

With a plan set for them, everyone set out to complete their duties, really not that different from a normal day, if you ignored the actual content of what they were doing, and the fact that they were seemingly alone in their own heads, and they were interacting with the physical world, and…

Lexaeus put a hand over Vexen’s, squeezing it for a moment before he let his husband continue. 

“We have survived every cruelty something with endless resources could throw at us,” he rumbled quietly. “The fight against uncertainty will be different. But we will survive it as well. We are not incapable, as we are, or of learning.”

They were strong. And whatever they would find, a closed door with laughs, different masters, or…even the whole world, they would be able to face it.

Walking past a few times as he started collecting things, Marluxia scoffed before he pulled Zexion off his pallet, putting his hands on either side of his little brother’s head and shaking it (gently). “Oi, whoever the fuck number, get someone with motor skills up in front to start packing up.”

(...unless whatever had happened to their Somebodies had left only the numbers that…couldn’t.)

“Yeah, Zexy’s acting like a total spaz, even more than usual.” Larxene huffed, having been wrapping their blankets into each other, creating balls of blankets, “Zexion, you know those stories of bums carrying all their stuff in those sacks on the end of sticks over their shoulders? Go grab the broomsticks in the cleaning closet! We can totally recreate that! I’ve always wanted to be a bum with a stick and a bundle full of stuff!”

“Not sure how much stuff we should really bother bringing,” Luis admitted, looking at the small stack of boardgames, “God, years and years and years and they really did barely ever give us anything…”

“...bindle.”

Marluxia narrowed his eyes. “...what? Hey, is your brain actually broken?”

“The object Larxene is describing is called a bindle,” 14 said airily, before reaching up to rub one of Ienzo’s eyes. “...apologies, we’ll start helping.”

Scoffing under his breath as he watched 14 look around for a moment, Marluxia rolled his eyes before heading back to his own pallet. “‘Barely anything’ is still right, but! It’s time,” he said ominously. 

Getting on his knees, Marluxia started fishing into the cavity of the pallet. “Time to see just what the fuck however many years of Lauriam’s sticky fingers has gotten all of us.”

“Ooooh, that’s exciting,” Larxene said, draping herself over Marluxia’s shoulders and peering down at the pallet, “I call dibs on any money!” 

“Uh, no.” Luis said, listening to the sound of the shower turn off, “Larxene, why don’t you and I go next on the shower, just get it done real quick. Honestly, I’m trying not to hold my breath. We watched them pull this same shit on Isa… better to calm our nerves.”

“You’re really feeling not being strapped in your world anymore, huh Luxord? I’ll be honest, I expected you to be different! Hey, why the hell do you never talk to the rest of us?” Larxene asked. 

“...I don’t know,” Luis said tiredly, “I was busy drinking.”

“What a surprise,” Marluxia muttered, fingers glancing what he knew was an old booze bottle filled with paper stars, but leaving it for now, “That does seem to be the answer for what you were doing for most of anything.”

From within the pallet, Marluxia started pulling out…a lot of things. Small knives, both damaged and seemingly fine, which he put aside to add to the ‘weapons’ collection Vexen had asked for, stacks of old newsprint, their puzzles smudged beyond readability (and, notably, no places where there’d be dates), a fistful of pens, a few copper and even a silver, some game pieces that didn’t belong to any of the games they had in boxes, some tacks, paperclips, some bent and some not, weirdly enough, just some bits of metal, way too many hair ties, like, an absurd amount of hair ties, a few still-wrapped pieces of candy (over the years, the kids had found small treats under their pillows after some particularly rough days), three screwdrivers, all flatheads…

“Hells, kiddo,” Terra whistled, blinking at the stash that Marluxia was still adding to. “Like…I knew you guys were nabbing stuff but…damn.”

As Luis encouraged Larxene into the bathroom, three newly showered with fresh cold-uniforms teenagers hurrying out and running barefoot across the room, Vexen stepped out of the way of the kids before looking in, “Marluxia, Terra, we’ve put aside a few pair of shoes that might be close to your sizes. Are you dismantling one of the pallets? That might make decent weapons, actually… oh.” 

Vexen came closer, looking with interest at Marluxia’s pile… before gesturing to the hair ties, “May I have one of those? It has not been necessary to cut my hair in quite some time. This is the first time I’ve become concerned about it getting in the way.”

“Knock yourself out,” Marluxia shrugged, sticking his tongue out before making a triumphant noise as he pulled out a nearly full roll of duct tape, “I would wonder why the fuck Lauriam even nabbed all these, but it’s not like he does it on purpose half the time. Hey, Namine!” he called out over his shoulder, “Wanna claim any of these before Axel and Xaldin get ‘em?”

Namine peeked back into the room, before quietly heading over. Ignoring the gazes of the three men watching her as she looked at the items inside… before quietly reaching in and taking one of the knives. Giving Marluxia a small bow, before heading back out of the room. 

“...well,” Vexen sighed, “I suppose that’s fine.”

Marluxia blinked, before snickering to himself as he reached into his pallet again. “Guess I should’ve been more specific~”

“That’s my girl,” Terra hummed proudly, before he gave Marluxia a sheepish grin. “...if you are divvying these up, I’ll prolly nab a knife too. Probably will be useful in the hands of one of us that actually knows how to use ‘em for more than cutting veggies.”

“Go ahead,” Marluxia shrugged, pulling out a fraying pot holder, “Most of this shit that actually had uses we already gave to everyone. Just figure we may as well hold onto anything that’s actually ours, now.”

(...he remembered what having no money was like, in a place where that mattered. They would…figure something out.)

Sighing, he sat back on his heels. “I’ll go check the shoes out, we can just toss all this shit in a bindle or whatever for anything anyone doesn’t want specifically.”

“That’s wise. Though hopefully we won’t soon find ourselves needing scraps…” Vexen frowned, glancing around the room and its disheveled state, Larxene having stripped all the pallets…before nervously murmuring to himself, “We are not incapable.” as he headed back out of the room, clearly fretting.

Little by little, showers were had, clothes packed into bindles that were fastened mostly with broken planks of wood that in a pinch could be used as a decent bludgeoning weapon. A few of the Nobodies had taken to the sandals like how a teenager might take to heels, their movement uncertain and a little wobbly as they tried to get used to the feeling of not being able to touch the ground. It was almost time to go, according to the supervisor calling in, and after insisting everyone use the bathroom at least once, now everyone was lingering inside of the kitchen.

“...what’s our worst case scenario?” Xaldin asked, staring at a shivering, trembling Saix, Axel’s arm tightly wrapped around his waist partially to keep him from bolting out of the kitchen, “Just in case. What’s our actual worst-case scenario?”

“I don’t know if it’d help to think like that…” Luxord, as he’d be known for a while, said warily. 

“I’d argue our worst case scenario is that we’ve been sold, and this is how they’ve convinced us to neatly pack ourselves up for our buyers,” Vexen said, having boxed Zexion in between himself and Lexaeus, “...perhaps bought by Danganronpa.”

“Right… and how would we handle that?” Xaldin asked. 

“If we’re all together, quietly and without a fuss.” Vexen said, before glancing down at Zexion, “If they attempt to separate us… we will not allow ourselves to be separated.”

“They aren’t lying about the fact that there is or was an actual war going on, contesting the main power of Luminary and focused in part on the Indentured Program,” 14 said, looking just about as bothered and aware of his distinct positioning between his parents as he was of anything these days. “So it’s not an outlandish claim out of nowhere, if it is meant to fool us.”

Lexaeus had kept his gaze on the door, body purposefully relaxed. Ready. “Even if they are telling the truth, that truth isn’t something Danganronpa would want, and they aren’t the ones a war was fought against. We’d do well to remain vigilant against threats outside the supervisors, and perhaps outside Luminous bureaucracy entirely.”

“So everything sucks always, forever,” Marluxia rolled his eyes with a scoff (though maybe it was telling that he was standing next to Larxene, and not far from Terra, the three of them distinctly between the Heart Trio and the door), “Big whoop, that’s suuuch a difference I can’t believe it.”

Terra grinned with a hesitant hope. “...change does invite a certain amount of chaos. That does give us the upper hand if we need it.”

“Okaaaay, new question! Let’s say this is everything they’re saying it is, and we’re walking out of here, and no one is taking us anywhere else!” Larxene said, crossing her arms and tilting her head, “...then what?”

“We still do not separate.” Vexen said, voice hard. Like he was expecting an argument.

“We… find somewhere to stay, I guess?” Xaldin frowned, looking at the door that connected the kitchen to the rest of the factory. “Food, shelter. The basics.”

“Has anyone here survived outside of the factory before?” Roxas asked, nervously bouncing on his heels.

“The truth is no, but some of us still have memories of our Somebodies time on the outside. For instance, I remember first-hand quite a bit of the life Even lived.” Vexen said.

“Yeah, um, same.” Luxord said. 

“Nope,” Xaldin shrugged, “Not even a little. But how hard could it be?”

“...” Ansem looked back at the door that led to their hallway. Their rooms. “...are we still meant to get our quota done today? Did the supervisors say we could delay our conditioning today, considering none of us are allowed to work right now?”

“Oh, lad, no…” Luxord frowned, “I think unless all of this is some elaborate, stupid prank, we’re not… you don’t have to…”

Marluxia was almost surprised by how easily he wanted to simply answer Roxas ‘yes’. 

“I have fuckin’ everything, so that should be more than enough,” he sniffed haughtily. 

Terra… He did have memories, but they were…

Deciding just not to answer that part yet, funnily enough, he found it easier to smile brightly and ruffle Ansem’s hair. “We’re taking it day by day right now, kiddo, but I think we can safely say for today, no conditioning. Sorry I can’t promise that it’s a rest day,” Terra laughed apologetically. 

“...we have the amalgamated memories of thousands of people who have lived all walks of life on the outside,” 14 said dreamily after a moment, “It’s debatable if you want to call their circumstances ‘successful’, but they all didn’t fail at every debacle, so I think we can be confident to say for any problem pertaining to what would broadly be called ‘regular life’ on the outside, we’d be able to find examples of others navigating them well. In certain ways, we’re well-prepared in theory.”

“You know what? I’ll accept that as a reassuring note.” Larxene shrugged, “All else fails, we have a bunch of nabbed brains on our side!”

The group went silent at sudden, distant sounds. As comfortable and confident as that final sentiment had been, if only because Larxene’s enthusiasm lightened the tension a bit, the sound of approaching footsteps put the group right back on edge. Waiting to see what would happen.

…a man none of them recognized opened the door. He was wearing a basic guard uniform, the type you might see in any guardsman post. He seemed just as surprised to see them as they were to see him, as he said after a moment, “You’re the Indentured who worked the warehouse? Custodians?”

Vexen, of all of them, shot out a nervous, near barking laugh at that, as he said with blatant incredulousness, “Custodians?”

“Uh, yeah, or, sorry, housekeepers, whatever the term is…” the guard looked the group up and down, frowning at the odd clothing and the tense, haggard look to all of them, “...I was told you’d need an escort out of the building? For some reason? You know you’re allowed to just go, right? They’ve been putting out pamphlets for weeks now, I doubt you missed them.”

Marluxia balled his hands, letting his nails bite into his palms for a moment, before he let out an exasperated laugh, rolling his eyes in a comradely way with the guard. “Geez, right? But, yanno, between the workaholics here and, gosh,” he leaned forward a little, whispering a piece of gossip to the guard, “you wouldn’t believe how much work it takes to keep this ol’ place clean. Nevermind cleaning up after everyone going through, but everyone staying behind until close-down day? What, like they wanna clean up after themselves? It was kinda freaky how close they got to begging us to stay.”

“But!” he chirped, giving the guard a wink, “With you making sure we won’t get poached into personal cleaners just to save them the embarrassment groveling? Time to leave~ Thank you very much, sir~”

(It was fine it was fine Lauriam had brought every supervisor to their knees once, they were the same brain, he could do it too)

With a bright grin, he stepped forward, clearly giving the guard the go-ahead to start leading them out. 

It wasn’t like he knew the way to the door.

The guard’s face relaxed with understanding, nodding as he said, “Oh, yeah, I get that. I used to do the trash duties at the guard station, and its bonkers that one person has to stay hours past closing so that everyone else doesn’t have to throw their bins away when they leave. I mean, now I do the same thing now that the new guards are on trash duty, but it’s still shitty we do that. I’ll lead you out, though I think you’ll be safe from any orders. All the citizens employees seemed ready to rush off as soon as the cells had been emptied of the Indentured going through conditionings. As far as I’m aware? You’re the last ones in the whole building.”

“Damn near poetic, that.” Xaldin muttered, following close behind Marluxia. 

It was odd, walking through empty hallways. 

At first, it was painfully familiar, easy. Through that door was the employee lounge. Around that corner was the quiet rooms. Most of them had those spaces memorized.

But instead of right, they went left, through heavy, reinforced doors. And suddenly, they didn’t know where they were. Hallways they had never seen before, or maybe had only ever seen once during one of the worst days of their lives, formed around them like a labyrinth. There were signs on the ceiling with what seemed like simple instructions for Indentured who were going through normally: Stand here. Face the wall here. Don’t talk.  Stay on the right side of the hallway at all times. Refer to all employees with honorifics.

And then they went further and the empty hallways full of signs turned into what looked like government building hallways. The front facing offices and lobbies for visitors. There were murals and little decorations painted into the walls. The doors had clear and welcoming signs like ‘Admin Office’, ‘Refreshment Lounge’ and ‘Directors Office’. 

Luis couldn’t help but stop and stare in morbid curiosity at a wall full of what seemed to be letters from ‘Veteran Indentured’, or Intentured who had filled out their contracts and were now working as free citizens. The letters told happy stories of their lives now, where their contracts had eventually led them, the families they now had, the friends they had made. The letters all enthusiastically thanking the program for what it had done for them, and insisting the warehouses were doing good and supportive work that was changing people's lives for the better. 

His eyes scanned the letters, looking for any faces or names he might recognize… and then he felt a little ill at how much he hoped he would, looking away from the board. The letters were probably all fake anyway.

As the group headed to the front doors, to the left, a mural of the reigning monarch was hung to watch people enter and leave. A large painting of the new Queen smiled warmly from the painting, but another massive portrait of the recent King was just sat at the floor next to her, leaning against the wall, like whoever had changed out the portraits hadn’t had time to figure out what to do with the old one and had just left it when time was up. 

Axel didn’t recognize either monarch by looks alone. He hadn’t kept up with royal news before ending up in the factory. He was pretty sure the man was named Byakuya, the first son? He didn’t know the woman’s name at all. Some sort of cousin, he was pretty sure. 

Saix whimpered against him as they got closer to the doors, and Axel whispered, “It’s fine, I’ve got you, I promise.”

The guard politely held the door open when he walked out the front… before frowning as Vexen stood there frozen. Just at the point where the light finished crawling its way across the floor. Vexen staring at it on the ground, like he was afraid to touch it. “You alright? The front gates open, if you all want a second to say goodbye or something. I know some folks get sentimental about where they work. Feels like a second home sometimes.” 

Lexaeus felt something…hollowly disappointed within him, with each step they took through the building. He’d known that they had been securely nestled in the heart of the factory--sure, it was unrealistic to think they could bust through concrete walls, but if there had ever been structural damage from a natural disaster, it would’ve been imperative for there to be as many physical obstacles between the Empaths and freedom as possible. 

He’d contended with that, when he and the others had planned their escape attempt, all those years ago. He’d vaguely remembered it, coming into the factory in the first place. 

It still hurt, counting every step from the farthest point they had gotten to the outer doors. As they climbed into the tens, the dozens, the hundreds… It had been wise to give up. They hadn’t even gotten remotely close. 

Zexion was only moved along by Lexaeus’ hand on his back, though that wasn’t unusual. But he seemed to lag even more than usual, visible eye wide and darting quickly to every single particle of the generally unremarkable halls they walked through, the constructs in his head now truly realizing the opportunity granted to them, and scrambling to set up a map to plot everything down. 

…with every step forward, everything was new. 

While Marluxia had put up a good act to get them moving, even he couldn’t help his eyes widening as he saw…real sunlight. Viz had seen it, his mind whispered, not in Lauriam’s voice, She’d seen it kind of recently. And then she’d come back home.

Viz, Dad, Inzi, all the others you never met…you’re leaving the home you lived with them in. Nothing else will have…

“Yeah, you could say that,” Terra said softly, eyes fixed on the sunlight as well. They saw the sun nearly every day on the island, but… 

The guard nodded, “Sure, take your time. Who knows what they’ll do with this building now. Maybe just tear it down. Who could guess these days. Everything’s hard to predict all of the sudden. Nothing’s the same.”

With a small sigh at that, the guard shrugged, before leaving the door open as he headed off. 

“...is something wrong?” Roxas asked. The heart trio near the back, confused that the older empaths all seemed to be staring at the patch of light with apparent fear, “I don’t think it hurts or anything.”

“I don’t think anyone’s worried about sunburns just yet, kid, just… give us a second.” Xaldin said, notably shivering even as his voice steadily said, “I don’t think you get what this means to us, and you know what? I’m so fucking glad for that.”

Luxord suddenly, like he had been hyping himself up to do it, stuck his hand out. Letting his palm rest palm up against the light and flinching when he did so, staring at it… before he whispered, “It’s warm. It’s actually warm. Oh shit…” His whole body started trembling, as thick, round tears suddenly fell heavily down his face as he said, “I really gave up. I really, really thought I’d never see it again… it’s been so long and I just… I had accepted it, y-you know?”

“I do.” Vexen whispered, watching the light dance on Luxords hand, “I understand all too well.”

Terra watched Luxord’s hand, entranced, before he put an arm around his friend’s shoulders, face crumpling. Terra could’ve easily pulled an Aeleus part two, if not for the direct cautionary tale. …Aqua had determinedly decided she’d cast off everything in the world, to find her family. But there had been a reason their worlds were so natural. 

After a moment, Lexaeus followed in Luxord’s example, holding a hand out into the sunlight…and it was like a mountain shaking, the heavy, trembling breath that left him. The gentle warmth on his skin… 

Slowly, the other long term Empaths reached out…

But Marluxia’s eyes shifted, and in a quick motion--

“Gotcha!” he snarled at the other Chibi in his hands, grin full of teeth. “Having fun, Amaina~?”

OoO!!

QOQ NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

QqQ I was at the FINALE!!

QOQ WHO WALKS OUT FIRST? IS IT VEXEN? DOES TERRA TAKE CHARGE AND THE LEAD?! LARXENE STEPPING FORWARD BECAUSE SHE’S NOT AS AFFECTED!?

QOQ ARE THERE ANY COOL SPEECHES?! 

Rolling his eyes, Marluxia pushed through the frozen memory into the sunlight himself, opening his hands for Amaina. “Zexion. The Dork Brigade got impatient about cataloging sunlight and the outdoors, and he immediately cringed and covered his freak nose from whatever was on the wind. Worried dads weren’t far behind, making sure he hadn’t gotten a nerd allergy since going in.”

He smirked a little at the Chibi. “Since I know you’ve been poking around, you wanna know how we ended up at the tavern?”

O.O

OoO I mean yeah no doi 

OOO I AM SO INVESTED I HAVE BEEN AT THIS FOR SO LONG

O.O

OoO but also just today just sorta stumbled into here by accidents whoops

“Tch, brat,” Marluxia scoffed, poking her stomach, before he grinned wickedly. “We did a count off to all point in a random direction, and we walked off in the majority way. Pure chance, we found it.”

QmQ

QoQ I bet narratively there would have been some poignant and reflective moments that anyone could relate to despite the specific and nearly absurd harshness of your lives.

QOQ DARN IT YOU'RE RUINING THE FLOW OF MY FAVORITE STORY THAT I’VE BEEN WATCHING FOR–

OoO again just today it’d be unethical if I was doing this for months.

Marluxia narrowed his eyes at Amaina. “We haven’t even known each other for months. And if you were coming by before that meeting, and never bothered to say hello while, in your words, we were dealing with the nearly absurd harshness of our lives~?” He purred, before grinning sharply, holding a hand out to materialize Graceful Dahlia. “If you’ve paid any attention to your favorite story, then I bet you can guess which rerun I’d send you to!”

o.o;;;;

OoO did I say months I meant 

OOO;;; HOURS

o.o or seconds whatever gets me out of trouble

O.O

O.O

O.O;;;

OOO OH NO I LEFT THE MENTAL STOVE ON I HAVE TO GO NOW BYE

“AMAINA!!” Marluxia shouted as he swung his scythe, aiming to cleave Amaina, grin wide and fiercely manic.

-

Part of Amaina’s whole ‘thing’ was that she could traverse minds and peek at memories without the mind noticing, even an Empath mind. And, admittedly, while Marluxia hadn’t really caught her until the end, there were certain…feelings he had, that made him think she really wasn’t as sneaky as she thought she was. 

Though, once he chased her out of his and Lauriam’s mind, he was just…left. With those feelings. Which Marluxia had never been that great at just sitting in. 

“...goddamnit.”

-

“...hey, Di,” Marluxia told the stone door quietly, sitting against it as he glared half-heartedly up at Xaldin’s perpetually orange dusk sky. “If Xaldin’s even right, and you are snoozing in there. Bet the irony’s been long lost on you, being stuck in there while Xaldin’s stuck out here. Dumbass role-reversal.”

“...we’re in the mountains, now. Not you, but those of us heading east,” he explained, “I know there are all sorts of old mines and probably creepy tunnels in there, you’d be giggling your head off just thinking about exploring them. One of Linnea’s kids is an outdoorsy type, though not quite your brand of spelunker--he’s been sneaking off every time we stop to gawk or climb something. Riku mentioned he’s sorta religious, like you. Bet you guys’d have a lot to talk about.”

Marluxia tipped his head back against the door. “...I miss you. I thought we were all dumbasses to try and get you guys back, but after it kept working, and everything…and me coming back…I just thought I’d see you again by now. Coward.”

Huffing, Marluxia turned around and sat on his knees, glaring at the door for a moment before he put his hands flat on the ground in front of it. Xaldin couldn’t get the door to his torture dungeon open again…but the desert was a highly diverse and thriving ecosystem, and plants beat stone any day. 

Taking a breath, Marluxia concentrated. Feeling deep ironwood roots in the ground, and channeling them to the door. Through the door. Trying to get any sort of plant on the inside…

-

The first time Dilan had entered into a freshly unburied crypt, he had expected it to smell foul, like the corpses the crypt was protecting. He had been young, only 7 when he had been on his first excursion. His father had brought him strictly for the experience of it, Dilan wasn’t expected–or allowed–to touch anything inside or do any digging. But Dilan had felt so official in his little helmet, helpfully holding an oil lamp, and he had been determined he wasn’t going to throw up at the smell, because he wanted to be a part of the team!

He was surprised when, stepping inside, instead of corpses and rot and decay, he smelled… mint. And sage. 

As the team carefully headed inside, Dilan had stared, wide-eyed, at the little plants lining the wall, each a heavy, floral scent. His father noticed his staring and laughed. “Ah, surprised? When a crypt is meant to be permanently sealed, no more bodies planned to be entombed, the crypt keepers plant strong, scented plants throughout the mud lines in between the bricks,” his father explained, showing Dilan the lines between the cracks that the plants were growing out of, “They don’t need sun to grow and if left alone? Can grow and regrow for as long as the earth spins. You’ll find that consistent with the entire crypt, these plants leaving a pleasant smell everywhere.”

“Why?” Dilan had asked, staring curiously at the plants, “Didn’t the cryptkeepers mean for no one to ever open the crypts again? That’s why there’s all the boobytraps and stuff?”

“There’s a few different theories. Some argue that the plants used to be planted even earlier than their sealing, to make it more pleasant for the cryptkeepers and visitors. And that at some point we lost that particular part of the practice, though we’d still line the walls today for sealing new crypts.” His father explained, the two carefully heading in further, the other archaeologists going ahead, “It’s a fair theory, though I think it odd it would have been lost to time that way. Another theory is more supernatural, in that the plants are put in on the chance that the dead might rise, and the scent might soothe them in that moment.”

Dilan gasped, before saying proudly, happy to prove his knowledge, “That’s blasphemous! Atua would never leave anyone behind, or send anyone back! He only prolongs your trials! Because he loves you!”

“True,” his father laughed, patting his son warmly on the back, “But people get caught up in silly superstitions, so perhaps that was still the original reason anyway.”

“...You think something else,” Dilan said, smiling proudly again. Able to tell when his father was setting him up for a third idea that he really believed in. “Why did they really do it?”

“What I think?” his father asked, looking down the caverns. Into the long, dark hallways that no one had walked down for centuries. “I think that no one ever truly wants something they put a lot of care and attention to locked away forever. Even if a bunch of rich people pay for that specific service.”

“...eh?” Dilan asked.

“I think the cryptkeepers left those plants for us,” his father explained, “One small gift of welcome to future graverobbers… who they could probably guess would actually be historians, after enough time. A bit of welcome and invitation among a sea of commissioned traps and dangers. Telling us, come in. Come in and see who we were. Rediscover us. Bring us back into the world. We’ve been waiting for you.”

“They’ve been waiting for us…” Dilan whispered, looking at the plants with a new sense of wonder… before he laughed, “Just avoid the spike pits.”

“Hah!” His father laughed, nodding. “Yep. Come save us, and just avoid those spike pits!”

-

At the edges of the door, sage and mint started to grow, thick and strong. Like fingers creaking beneath the stone. 

Ugh, he should’ve known. Sage. 

But that was a sign that…well, Marluxia assumed it meant there was still space behind the door. For all the times that he had hung out in Xaldin and Dilan’s world, he had never actually gone inside the crypt where Xaldin did conditioning. If Xaldin was conditioning, then Marluxia usually was too, so there had been no need to go inside looking for him, and they just…never hung out there otherwise. The space strictly for work. 

As Dilan had intended it to be. 

Whatever. There’s space and natural flora in this world. Marluxia could work with that. Switching his energy and focus onto the sage and mint, Marluxia accelerated their growth, trying to sense…anything through them on the other side of the door. 

The plants grew and lined the floors and walls. The hallway quickly dipped into a long, steep staircase. Diving deep into the earth, before spreading into a labyrinth of hallways. The plants growing into the crevices between the wall and the false floors into pits. Buds growing through the small holes in the wall where spears would shoot out suddenly. In a few rooms, small crypts and pieces of treasure started to grow heavy with fungi and moss. But those rooms were false hopes for wandering adventurers, sage sprouts growing around the locking mechanism that would close the door and seal those who wandered in away, mint giving scent to the poison that would fill the air. 

Deeper and deeper, into the center of the maze. In the center of a vast treasure room. Was one single slab, where a body laid across it. Sage and mint growing around his still, waiting form. 

Fuck this place was huge. Considering the other ruins that the Archeology Duo made for fun, though, Marluxia shouldn’t have been surprised. Xaldin had always mentioned it as a monumental achievement when one of his Indentured had managed to make it out of the crypt.

But down, down, down… “Found you,” Marluxia whispered. “You’re really looking to be asleep a whole year, you fuck.”

“You yelling at my crypt, Flower?” Xaldin asked, chuckling as he walked up. “Well, not ‘yelling’, but I know your scolding voice when I hear you grumbling it. That’s alright, I do that too… that’s new though,” Xaldin said, frowning at the plants. 

Glancing over at Marluxia, his eyes searching for a moment… Xaldin sighed. “You know I’ve known how to open this door for ages, right? I told you from the beginning. I’m gonna end up fighting these bastards,” Xaldin said, gesturing to the statue guards. “Then the door will open. I can feel it in my very being.”

“...it’s a pretty quiet day. We’re heading to that big dragon place, right?” Xaldin said, staring at the door, “...he’d probably have fun with that. If you’re trying to get him out.”

Letting himself sense through the plants for another moment, Marluxia sat back up with a sigh, glaring unamusedly up at Xaldin. “Uh huh, that’s why you were playing patty-cake with the door and striking poses at it before--you weren’t actually trying to get it open, you were just having a bit of fun.”

He paused for a moment, clenching the back of his jaw. “...I’m not. I know how shitty it is for some asshole to wake you up out of consciousness out of nowhere. I just…” Marluxia looked away, shrugged a little. “...guess I was curious to see if he was actually in there, fuck knows I can’t trust your instincts about it. But he is, by the way. Waaay fuckin’ down in there. Kinda weird I can sense him, considering some of the shit that happened to the others, but that’s what’s going on.”

“Well, it’d have been nice if he woke his own damn self up and I didn’t have to do some dramatic sacrifice to let it happen.” Xaldin scowled, shaking his head a bit. “Half of us literally played out the act of dying to wake our Somebodies up. Vexen gave a clone of himself tools to do surgery on him and the second he died his clone became Even. How fucked up is that? Terra dramatically died in Aqua’s arms. You symbolically replaced Lauriam in his damn grave. We all had to kill a bunch of Zexions individually, that sure the fuck wasn’t a walk in the park, stabbing a guy I helped raise over and over again.”

“Who the hell knows what I’ll have to do. Maybe one of these spear-holding bastards will stab me through the stomach and my blood will open the door or something,” Xaldin said dryly, reaching out to tap the door as he called, “That what you want, Dilan!? Want me to get stabbed and bleed out for your damn resurrection!? How about you just wake the fuck up and spare me the memory!? No!? Fucking asshole.” Xaldin grumbled, taking a step back. 

Marluxia grit his teeth more. …it wasn’t fair. All they had done for their Somebodies practically their whole lives was sacrifice everything. All so they could do nothing. And even Ienzo, who’d fixed up Zexion in practically a blink, had still forced his Nobody to go through a freaky song and dance…not to mention leaving Zexion alone to handle things for years.

It was just…

Taking another breath, Marluxia put his hands back on the ground, feeling through the plants again as he growled, “Hey dipshit! Why don’t you take some responsibility for once in you damn life and fix this fuckin’ mess you made! Guess what?! If you really are one person split in two, then the other person still needs you, moron! You don’t get to run away from this, like you do everything else! You can either buck up and do it yourself, or force us to do it the hard way, and if your fucking guilt-complex, masochist self wants Xaldin to spill all the blood for shit that doesn’t fucking matter, I’m gonna make the rest of your life a fucking nightmare!!”

It was a bit insulting, the quiet that followed Marluxia’s shouting. 

Xaldin glared at the door, crossing his arms as he grit his teeth… before he scoffed. Turning around and summoning around him his javelins, staring at the statues as he said, “Marluxia, maybe you should go.”

“I’ve thought a lot about this moment,” Xaldin admitted, staring at the frozen, half broken guard statues, all protecting the crypt. “I’ve thought of asking everyone to come along. I’ve thought about having some sort of party before I do it. Hell, I’ve thought of it just being you and Lauriam, escorting me… and now that it’s looking like we’ll all be back soon. All the lost Nobodies…”

Xaldin scoffed, “I don’t need anyone to be an audience for me dying for someone else's catharsis. No one needs to watch me die, especially if I’m coming right back soon. When I lost Zinxi…”

Xaldin’s words choked on that. His breathing, briefly, a little heavier. Needing a moment to collect himself… before he said tightly, “When I lost her, I was just, just in time to watch her die. I’d give anything to go back and just be a little quicker. To push my quickstep a little harder. To get to at least touch her for a moment… but seeing her die is still one of the shittiest experiences I’ve ever had. I wouldn’t wish watching your love die in front of you on anyone.” Xaldin muttered, “So… if it’s gonna be today? And I don’t know. Maybe it should just be today. Maybe I’m ready without any sort of events, maybe I just want to get this done… I don’t want to be some shitty memory for you. Or Lauriam. Or any of them.” Xaldin glared at the statues, stepping forward. “I think I just want to do this alone.”

Withdrawing from the plants, Marluxia punched the door, scowling at it. And as Xaldin told him to leave, explaining that he didn’t want to make others suffer for what he’d go through, waking Dilan up…

That same mood carried over. 

Getting up, Marluxia glowered at Xaldin as he kicked him in the shin. 

“You’re insufferable,” Marluxia growled. “So what if we’re coming back! That doesn’t mean you get to martyr yourself--ooooh, I’m Xalllldin, I love my family and am annoyed at my dumbass Somebody, I should just do eeeeverything myself to avoid someone being unhaaaaappy. Whaaaat, nooo, Iiiii don’t count as someone to avoid being unhappy, that’s absurd~”

“Piece of shit.” Marluxia spat. “If Dilan’s gonna force you to ‘die’? Then you’re not dying alone.”

Swallowing, Marluxia looked away, gripping his hands into tight fists. His voice growing quieter. “...we didn’t think getting the Somebodies back was shit when it first happened. I…I fuckin’ thought Larxene was betraying me, letting herself be volunteered. I thought it was just us, so her going through it without even a damn fight…” Marluxia’s voice grew even quieter. “...you think I don’t regret every day not saying goodbye? Even if I am going to see her again, she’s still gone now, and it still matters.”

“...you still matter,” he murmured. “You don’t get to do this alone.”

“...hah,” Xaldin laughed, once he was done rubbing his shin with his other foot and wincing, listening to Marluxia… before laughing again, “Hah! Ah, fuck, flower, why do you always have to be a pain in the ass, every damn time? Why are you only ever cute when I’ve got you on your back, huh?” Xaldin asked, cupping the side of Marluxia’s face… before he sighed, resting his forehead against him. “...thank you.”

Alright,” Xaldin said, stepping away from him and letting his javelins to start spinning menacingly around him, looking back to the guards, “Hells, between the two of us? Maybe we’ll fucking take all these bastards out anyway. Dilan can think of some other stupid way to let us into the damn crypt, if we break all of his toys.”

“Come on, you bastards,” Xaldin grinned, glaring at the statues, “I can feel you. Know you’re constructs. Fucking wake up and fight me!”

The statues, after a moment, all turned to look at him. 

Standing at attention.

“...yeah! I’m ready!” Xaldin shouted again, his javelins still spinning around him as he waited to see which one would attack first, “Come on! I can take you!”

The statues waited. 

“...what the hells are you waiting for!? It’s been almost a damn year! I said I’m ready!” Xaldin scowled, “Let’s go!”

At that, the guards marched forward… right towards the stone door. Which was starting to noisily and roughly slide open. 

“........you know? He’s probably been hearing me tell everyone I know what his whole gimmick is gonna be, and literally just changed it to spite me,” Xaldin grumbled, watching the guards head into the crypt. 

Marluxia smirked lightly, closing his eyes as he pressed his forehead against Xaldin’s. “You’d get bored if I wasn’t an asshole. And probably would end up in some dark room moping all the time too. I know, I know, I’m awesome, though I do appreciate the thanks~” Before Xaldin fully pulled away, Marluxia pressed a kiss to his cheek. 

Snickering, Marluxia summoned his scythe, looking up challengingly at the statues. “Should’a known better than to make it a fight. Sorry not sorry we’re gonna turn this place into even more ruins than it already is~”

…though, it seemed that Dilan did know better than to make it a fight. Or…

His eyebrows scrunching in as he watched the statues march into the crypt, Marluxia bit his lips a little before unsurely asking, “...hey, Xaldin? A person laid out on a slab doesn’t have, like, I dunno, any weird meanings in a crypt, does it?”

“Uh, you mean laid out a casket or… oh, like an embalming slab?” Xaldin clarified, before frowning, “...oh hells, he’s on the embalming slab? The hell is he doing on that thing? That was where I put my really difficult Indentured. The sort who needed more hands-on methods than just letting them run around dark hallways getting themselves killed over and over.”

Xaldin sighed, following the guards inside, looking around a space that he was intimately familiar with and also hadn’t seen in a long time… with now a lot more sage and mint around, as he said, “The method was to let them get to the very center of the crypt, where alllll the treasure was. More gold and jewels and gems than you could ever hope to sell in a lifetime, sort of treasure room. Really make them feel like they’ve basically just become Momota wealthy, you know?” 

“And once they’re at their highest mood, daydreaming about everything they were going to do with this wealth, all the power and influence they were about to have? I’d coax them onto the slab, promising that Atua’s blessing was about to turn them into the next royal line… and then torture the shit out of them while mocking the fact that they ever thought they could be blessed by a god, let alone be a Momota,” Xaldin said, shrugging a little, “By the time they were all done? They were begging Atua and the Momotas for forgiveness, ready to admit they were the scum of the earth. That’s what my hunger conditionings accomplished too, though not as extreme. The traps too. Get them desperate. Get them convinced nothing can save them and their pain is their fault. And then…” Xaldin sighed. “Magically, all their wounds and pains are healed, and I make it look like Atua and the royal family ‘forgave’ them, and healed them, and suddenly bing-bang-boom, pure devotion. They can’t imagine turning against either of them. They owe the Momotas and Atua everything.”

“‘Basic Devotion Training’. Basic, they call it.” Xaldin scoffed, brow furrowing as he scowled through the dark. “I was quick at it and I was good at it and I could get everyone who came through our factories through my crypts and devoted in big groups and through one season, and they called it basic. Like getting my conditioning done was barely worth mentioning.”

“I terrorized so many people. ‘Killed them’, over and over and over and over. Let them starve. Watched them throw themselves into trap after trap. Dug their beating hearts out of their chests… and then ‘Atua’ would save them from me.” Xaldin scoffed, “And suddenly they were devoted. And the supervisors called it the least that could be done… Dilan called it the most ‘harmless’ version. He was grateful.”

“He never wanted to know what I did in here,” Xaldn muttered, “I’d try to tell him and he’d force me to stop. Literally take away my ability to talk. He never wanted to know what it took, to give them a ‘harmless’ conditioning. For decades. Decades where all I knew was the crypt…”

“For instance,” Xaldin sighed, looking ahead lazily, their pace slow because they were following the slow pace of the statues, “Up ahead is a pretty basic spike trap. There’s ways to get around it, but the floor seals shut permanently once someone falls through it. An easy way would be to just let one of these statue guys fall in. Maybe this’ll be easier than I thought.”

“......and Marluxia,” Xaldin said, looking to his lover, “I don’t want you thinking I didn’t hear you earlier. We were all treating the Somebodyings casually. No one went to see Larxene’s final show. That’s not your fault. I think just none of us were coping with it back then. You didn’t betray her, you were just as caught up in it as the rest of us.” 

Embalming? Well, if anything, they could call Dilan ‘difficult’, so that tracked…

Marluxia glanced over at Xaldin, listening to him talk about his conditioning methods, though he couldn’t help but glance around the crypt as well. Almost as creepy as his teen-self had gotten starry-eyed at the mention of…though his own addition of the plants did change the vibe a bit. 

The whole purpose of the Nobodies had been so the Somebodies could detach themselves from what the process of conditioning was, but even then, Dilan had always distanced himself above and beyond what all the others did. Even not counting those of them that had actually done conditioning anyway, like Axel or Demyx, or had had conversations about what it was like, like Ienzo and Lauriam. 

Dilan had just…blocked it all out. To the point that…

“...you know, one of the first things Lauriam thought when he met you was that it didn’t sound like you liked conditioning as much as everyone said the Nobodies did,” Marluxia remarked, mind still hazed with old memories. “Guess I know myself that Dilan never asked even that, though.”

He let go of a ragged sigh. “Being ‘caught up’ isn’t good enough. It’s an explanation for the moment, but not anything after once you’re not so overwhelmed you can think--and yet? People say all the time that they were ‘caught up’ to explain their mistakes, without ever doing anything to fix those mistakes afterward.” Marluxia grit his teeth. “...who cares if I thought the damn thing would work or not. She’s my best friend, I should’ve at least gone to watch the shit show.”

“Yeah, but she was also going through that ‘fiddle’ phase at the time, and for all we know she added a fiddle solo in the middle of it all and neither she nor Demyx has any idea how to play the fiddle… I’m kidding,” Xaldin laughed, patting Marluxia on the shoulder, “I don’t know man. Apologize when she’s back. Let her laugh and gripe at you a bit. We’re all getting second chances to be better. That’s more than a lot of people get.”

Getting to the flooring, all the statues had stopped, apparently also aware there was a trap there. Waiting for orders.

Xaldin looked around, before pointing to a statue that was particularly slow, one of its feet missing. “You. Go ahead. Let your sacrifice get us ever closer to my dipshit other.”

The statue turned forward, and with little hops, headed towards the drop floor…

“...AHH!” 

Xaldin’s eyes widened as, briefly, a scream ripped through the air when the floor opened up. And it was so quick that he couldn’t trust what he was seeing, but for a second, it had looked like a person had fallen through. A very familiar person, dreaded locs being the last glimpse he had gotten before the floor slammed shut, sealing with its victim. 

“.......the fuck was that?” Xaldin muttered, staring at the closed flooring. 

Marluxia sighed, leaning into Xaldin for a moment. “She’s going to razz me so hard. Watch, she’s even going to figure out how to stay full-sized all the time immediately so I won’t even get to tease her about being doll-sized.”

…he was looking forward to it, though. He missed her so much…

And Marluxia didn’t care if it was ‘unethical’ or whatever, he was absolutely bullying Demyx into bringing her back if the twerp started to hem and haw about it. 

Marluxia was quickly brought back to the task at hand, though, as he saw… Green eyes went wide. 

…a sacrifice, huh?

“...hey, gimme a sec,” he told Xaldin, before putting a hand on the wall, pushing his energy through the plants again. He was sure that the form in the treasure room was Dilan’s distinct energy, more than that of just their mind, but…

Dilan was still. 

Dilan was very, very still.

Dilan was stiff. Like he was made of something more solid than flesh and bone. 

Xaldin, in turn, stared warily at the floor, before whistling. “Alright, let’s go,” he told the statues, motioning for them to move forward. He watched them go ahead, before looking back to Marluxia. “You looking for something?”

Marluxia’s brows were furrowed in concentration. He was a fairly powerful Empath, sure, but…well… ‘Refined’ wasn’t a word typically used for his and Lauriam’s power. 

…what…was that?

“...you know, I had an idea, after you said that you knew Dilan was in here, that maybe he was taking the place of your Indentureds,” Marluxia said slowly, trying to really parse the energy he was feeling. “Like he was forced to try to escape the way they tried, but kept getting caught in traps over and over because he never listened to you talk about them. Like how Ienzo wasn’t just trapped in some formless consciousness, but in his own personal torture chamber built from the guilt he felt.”

“...but you guiding people into the traps would be more fitting for all that parallel shit, wouldn’t it?”

“...tsk. What an asshole,” Xaldin suddenly growled, staring at the statues, “Let’s test the theory out, there’s another trap not that much farther off. This fucking asshole…”

Xaldin determinedly led them to the next trap. And rather than hesitating or looking disturbed, he smirked as they got to a long, strange hallway filled with lit lanterns, pointing to a random statue as he said, “You~ Go on. Go ahead and go learn your ‘lesson’.”

The statue started its slow walk down the hallway… and when it tripped the right stone? 

“AH!” Dilan shouted, his side being jabbed with the first dart, on instinct running forward in a panic, before screaming as each step triggered more darts. Each dart knocking him around and off his footing, triggering more stones, which triggered more darts, until he stumbled sideways, and one of the darts got him right between the eyes. Dilan collapsing after that one, gurgling in pain for a moment, before going still.

“Lucky. Some people take a while to die in that hallway.” Xaldin tsked, shaking his head. Strolling forward and gazing down at Dilan, scowling at his body. “...you don’t even get it,” he told the corpse. “Who are you repenting to? The Indentured you ignored? The pain you didn’t understand? You bastard… you still don’t get it.”

“Come on, Marluxia. I’m about to take out some anger,” Xaldin said, strolling down the hallway, not sparing the body another glance.

Marluxia had seen a lot of horrible things in his existence. It was still…hard to watch some weird construct of his friend die. But Xaldin did have a point. 

Taking stock of the statues--quite a lot--Marluxia let Xaldin take the lead. After all the shit he’d been through, he more than was owed this kind of catharsis. But even so…

“Taking pain isn’t some ‘get out of jail free’ card, you know,” Marluxia muttered to one of the statues in the back. “You can’t just do shitty stuff and call it fine just because you punish yourself for it later--that’s still just shitty. You always sighed and called our Indentureds ‘poor things’, but you had no fucking idea what they went through, and you couldn’t even stand to look at them. You pitied them, but couldn’t deign to understand their reality. And there is a difference between acknowledging the truth, and traumatizing yourself, even I know that. Instead you just wrote everyone off and went off to play in your own sandbox. And I am including your prayer time in that.”

“You can’t pray for forgiveness if you don’t even know what you should be forgiven for.”

The statue didn’t look back at him. 

That didn’t mean he wasn’t heard. 

Xaldin was furious. While he had been content to let the statues go at their own pace for the start, now he kept barking for them to hurry, that they didn’t have all day. There was one hallway they didn’t go down that he sent a statue down, and explained when the hallway lit up with screams and fire, “You have to trigger that trap to open a door this way,” before he kept going, the scream lasting longer than the other traps had. “Tsk. Loudmouth.”

Opening the door, Xaldin walked past a door that had treasure obviously in it. At first he ignored it, before stopping and calling to the last of the statues, “Actually, you know what? Hey, you! Into that room! You wanna know what it feels like, Dilan!? You think that’s gonna help!? Go ahead! Fucking choke!” He shouted, watching the statue head inside, before the door slammed shut. 

There were confused muffled sounds, before a hissing sound that echoed through the vents. Xaldin didn’t stick around to listen to Dilan start to beat his hands against the door, trying to escape as he shouted back, “Enjoy your repentance!”

But each trap that went by, the more pissed Xaldin seemed to get. Muttering to himself, “He doesn’t get it. This is so fucking insulting, it’s offensive how much he doesn’t get it,” before he literally kicked one of the statues forward, watching impassively as the roof slammed down, leaving a smear when it lifted back up as he muttered, “That one’s too quick, I should have never let that one stay. They don’t have any time to reflect on that one.”

Every time a Dilan died, Xaldin either laughed or scowled or rolled his eyes. But it wasn’t until they got to the bottom floor that he started to rant to the last two remaining statues, “You know what I just can’t get over?”

“You could have given me a real apology, through all of this,” Xaldin said, the four heading into the massive treasure room. “A real one. You think you owe the people I conditioned an apology!? That wasn’t your choice! You know how I know it wasn’t your choice!? Because it wasn’t–” Xaldin grabbed a random ornament sword, and with a shout, slammed it into the face of one of the statues, “FUCKING! MINE!”

The statue, perhaps luckily, didn’t turn into Dilan as Xaldin wailed the sword against him, shouting with each hit, “I DIDN’T HAVE A CHOICE! I COULDN’T SAY NO, OR CLOSE MY EYES, OR PRETEND I WAS STILL GOOD AND PURE AND ATUA WAS PLEASED WITH ME!”

“YOU DIDN’T EVEN GIVE ME GOOD MEMORIES, YOU SELF-CENTERED BASTARD!” Xaldin shouted, chipping more and at the stone as he slammed the sword against the fallen statue, tossing the sword away when it started to shatter, pulling out his javelins and starting to send them flying through the air, stabbing into the statue, “EVERYONE ELSE GOT MEMORIES! PEEKS AT THE LIFE WE HAD! MEMORIES OF FAMILY! FRIENDS! A FUCKING CHILDHOOD!”

“No, not me. Not your evil half.” Xaldin scowled, staring with pinprick vision at the statue, basically debris now, at his feet. “I was given nothing. Nothing but a crypt and a sadistic streak and fucking an endless amount of guilt. Not innate, oh noooo, that’d be too easy! I had to learn guilt! From you SHAMING ME ALL THE TIME! And now it’s just IN ME! And you DID THIS TO ME!”

Kicking the statue, he glared at the remaining statue, gesturing for him to head to one of the treasures. “Go pick up the damn crown.”

It was…rough. Watching things that looked like Dilan die over and over. Marluxia was no bleeding heart, but it was…different. Enjoying the taunts and misery he put his Indentured through, and watching his friend in pain. 

Both friends in pain. 

It wasn’t like he and Lauriam hadn’t called out how Dilan treated Xaldin. Over and over and over--

{Lauriam} Marluxia sent, drawing in a quick breath as Xaldin turned his attention to the last statue.

{I’ve got you.}

And a familiar pink energy coating over Marluxia’s body, he appeared next to the statue in a flurry of petals, punching the crown out of its grip just as every coin suddenly shot towards it with alarming speed. Covering every inch. (Just because Dilan had never listened to Xaldin, it didn’t mean that he’d never talked about it. Marluxia was actually pretty fond of talking shop with the other Nobodies.)

…every inch of the twisting sunset bloom Marluxia had encased himself and the statue in, eyes squinted in concentration. 

“Hah. Oh, flower.” Xaldin sneered, raising his hands as his javelins spun… and then the treasure around him all melted, gems and gold mixing together and then reforming, hardening, into more and more floating javelins around him, all floating behind Xaldin like a tornado made out of blades. “Really didn’t think you’d take his side.”

(It was an understood reality that the act of Somebodying tended to make the Nobodies a little unhinged at the end. Violent and near mindless.)

(Xaldin had known this, when he decided to challenge the statues.)

(....he had admittedly forgotten. This was taking him by surprise.)

The spears all pointed towards Marluxia’s enclosure, and shot forward.

“He’s a fuckin’ prick,” Marluxia grunted, holding onto the energy around him and the statue, “And you’re right. All he does is run away, and then throw a pity party for himself about shit he imagines. You think I didn’t want to take his fuckin’ head off for forcing Lauriam into non-con?!”

Marluxia took a shaky breath. “...but I don’t think that’s him on the slab. And, fuck, maybe you killing this last statue is what’s suppose to happen.”

Gritting his teeth, Marluxia bared his canines through the flowing colors of the flower at Xaldin. “But I don’t give a fuck. You’re not allowed to run away either. You two aren’t getting away without taking responsibility and fixing this.”

Sucking in a breath, the pink energy licking off Marluxia’s form like flames, he made a stuttered sound from his chest as the spears shot at the enclosed bloom…but the flower remained sturdy. 

Even as some of the energy started to coalesce around Marluxia’s chest, beating like a glowing pink heart. 

“HE DESERVES IT! HE NEVER UNDERSTOOD WHAT HE PUT ME THROUGH! EVEN NOW HE’S NOT SORRY! HE’LL NEVER BE SORRY!” Xaldin shouted, bringing his hands down as more and more spears pelted down against the flower, trying to get to the statue as he screamed, “YOU WANT TO KNOW WHAT IT’S LIKE TO BE CONDITIONED, DILAN!? YOU COULD HAVE ASKED! I’D HAVE BEEN HAPPY TO MAKE YOU MISERABLE! I MADE YOU MISERABLE IN EVERY OTHER WAY, RIGHT!? I MADE YOU MISERABLE BY EXISTING!”

The statue stood still. It said nothing.

That didn’t mean it wasn’t listening. 

“YOU CALLED MY RELATIONSHIP TO ZINXI DISGUSTING! YOU SAID THE ONLY WAY LAURIAM AND MARLUXIA COULD LOVE ME WAS IF I MADE THEM! I DID EVERYTHING FOR YOU AND YOU TREATED ME LIKE A STAIN! I’m not sacrificing myself for you!” 

Xaldin’s feet suddenly touched the floor again, stomping forward as he slammed his hands against the barrier, glaring inside, past Marluxia, at the statue. “I’m not becoming WHOLE with you if I’m the side of yourself you’re always apologizing for! That you plan to burn away in the trials! I protected you! I took your punishments! I took the blame for what happened with Lauriam! And you let me! Me sacrificing myself for you over and over doesn’t mean I DESERVED IT! DILAN! CAN YOU HEAR ME?! FOR ONCE IN YOUR FUCKING MISERABLE LIFE, ANSWER ME!”

“I’m sorry.”

The stone didn’t shatter. That would suggest there was some obstacle, keeping Dilan from reaching out, and hearing Xaldin, all this time. No, he shifted in the same effortless way all the statues had, falling into their traps. One second he wasn’t there, and the next second he was, as he peered out past the barrier. Walking forward to the other side of it, placing his hands against it as Xaldin continued to batter the other side with his fists.

“...oh,” Dilan said after a moment of watching Xaldin rage. Watching him still punching the barrier, shouldering it, trying to scream in fury his way past it. “Oh… I did this.”

Dilan blinked, seeing his Nobody–his other half–lose himself to despair that had nothing to do with the factory, nothing to do with the conditionings, nothing to do with the punishments. “...it’s just me,” he blinked again, “I’m sorry.”

He didn’t. Dying? Having that part of his mind die? Hells, even waking up, but with Xaldin folded back into his consciousness? Those were all just more ways to run away, for time to go on without Dilan ever fucking confronting anything. And Marluxia wasn’t about to let that happen, no matter what either of his friends wanted. 

Marluxia had been told over and over by the older Empaths, even Dilan himself, that the way he treated Lauriam was ‘concerning’. Dilan had always just brushed it off when Marluxia turned that critical lens back on him. But with every insult or fight, Marluxia knew that his dynamic with Lauriam wasn’t even fucking close to how miserable Dilan’s relationship with Xaldin was. 

And that was even before they stopped talking. 

Marluxia could only grunt as his flower was battered against, the glowing heart growing brighter, as he lost his footing and was forced onto his knees. His projection starting to visibly sweat…but the flower staying closed, even if a few petals started to unfurl. Not about to let this chance go b--

Squinting up, Marluxia could only huff as the man of the hour deigned to show up. Drama queen. 

“No shit,” Marluxia grunted, his voice strained as he struggled against Xaldin’s barrage. “You never fuckin’ listen… Well?”

Strained acid green eyes glared up at Dilan. “It doesn’t matter how sorry you are, what are you going to do about it?”

“D-do about it? I don’t…” Dilan looked nervously past the barrier, “...Xaldin, perhaps you’d benefit from a prayer session with me? I find that in difficult times Atua can be very focusing–”

“I WILL FUCKING KILL YOU IF IT KILLS ME TOO!” Xaldin shouted, hitting the barrier one more time before taking several steps back, lifting his hands up as he shouted, “YOU WANT TO PRAY!? PRAY ATUA CAN FIND YOU BY THE TIME I’M DONE RIPPING YOU APART!”

As he lifted his hands, all the javelins around himself lifted again, vibrating with energy as he planned another strike with all of them against the barrier. He was not aware that his attacks were hurting Marluxia. He was not aware of anything other than how furious he was with Dilan. How much he had been wanting to do this for years. Decades. 

He didn’t care what it cost him. He didn’t care if it was irrational. He wanted Dilan to feel a quarter of the pain he had put Xaldin through all this time. And in Xaldin’s mind? That meant like straight up a hundred javelins in the face. That was about the equivalent, yeah. “DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE–”

“Are you fucking serious right now?!” Marluxia huffed at Dilan incredulously. But even through his irritation, as he saw the assault gearing up…Marluxia’s eyes widened, his face paling. He was powerful and awesome and he could beat Xaldin in a fight any day…

(...but something like that would…)

{...do you think you can hold up on your own for a sec?}

{I… Yeah}

{Good luck.}

The pink energy flared, before a flash of petals appeared in the treasure room, Lauriam already mid-air and mid-swing as he brought his scythe around the javelins, batting them off course.

And kicking Xaldin in the jaw. 

Marluxia couldn’t help but snicker before it turned into a small, pained gasp, a few more petals leaving his grasp and flowing out from the cocoon. 

“AH, FUCKING–!” Xaldin flew backwards, but caught himself by landing and kicking off the side of three javelins that formed like a wall behind him, glaring furiously at Lauriam as he clapped his hands forwards and the three javelins all went around him and towards Lauriam. Xaldin had no intention of explaining himself, no demands for explanations. He was just angry and fighting and nothing could stop him.

But Lauriam was quick, and by the time his javelins had gotten to where Xaldin had thrown them, Lauriam was long gone, not only landing on the floor, but kicking off it, swinging his scythe at Xaldin from below. 

Xaldin saw a point across the room and barely quick-stepped his way past Lauriam, appearing on the side before throwing his javelins as quickly as he could in the direction he had come from. He knew there was no time to think if he wanted to hit him, that Lauriam would be gone by the time Xaldin could check if he was still there. For a speed like Lauriam and Marluxia’s? Throwing blindly was often a better chance than trying to see them at all. 

Not that it was still a good chance, when Lauriam just spun around and swiped all three javelins, knocking them to the side until they lodged into the walls.

The javelins spun in the air like flies around a carcass, no longer grouped and organized as they tried to knick Lauriam out of the air. From the ground, Dilan looked up in concern, before glancing over at Marluxia. “Oh, shoot! Marluxia, you’re hurt,” Dilan realized, going to kneel next to him, frowning at the strain on Marluxia’s face. “Stop, put down the barrier. I don’t want you taking my blows for me… Lauriam either, but so far that doesn’t seem to be an issue,” Dilan noticed, as Lauriam randomly cackled out of nowhere, impressing himself as he kicked off one of the javelins and reversed its course to hit three more that were right behind it. “This isn’t either of your burdens. I need to… god, I don’t know. I have no idea what to say to him. He’s so angry,” Dilan whispered, looking up as Xaldin tried to attack Lauriam himself, riding some javelins like a surfboard, “I can feel it echoing back at me. It’s mindless. ‘Sorry’ doesn’t exactly feel appropriate, right this moment.”

Lauriam didn’t bother trying to call out to Xaldin either. Not right now. For one, he did need all the concentration he had to keep his upper hand in the fight, but two…he could only hope to tire Xaldin out to the point where talking would actually make a difference. And hope he could get there before Marluxia…

“At least you can recognize that,” Marluxia grunted, before he shook his head with a sharp breath. “But you can see what’s happening, right? It’s happened to most of us, when we try to wake you up, we fucking…f-fuckin’ go ballistic. I tried to kill Ienzo my turn, until the others threw me in a damn grave pit. I’m not gonna let you guys coward o…out again by makin’ yourself brain dead.”

He cracked a strained grin. “Only one of us gets to stay in a coma for a while, and I don’t humor copycats.”

Taking a heavy, shaky breath as sweat dripped down his nose, Marluxia managed a firm glare at Dilan. “What is he angry about, genius?”

“I, well, I mean!” Dilan sputtered, looking up at Xaldin, who was laughing triumphantly at apparently finally getting a knick in across Lauriam’s face, “You all have really put me on the spot! I’ve been asleep for almost a year, if what you all kept yelling at my door was any indication, I’m still drowsy, a bit cotton-headed, I could really use a coffee…”

“...I still don’t entirely understand,” Dilan admitted, shame running across his face, “I’ve really only recognized that he’s genuinely upset… today. This moment. Right now. And it does sound like he’s been angry for…”

“FUCKING HOLD STILL SO I CAN STAB YOU!”

“...a while,” Dilan said, wincing at the old, old anger radiating back at him, “I made a point to not allow myself to feel what Xaldin feels, all these years. I’ve kept us very separated. I don’t know how to unpack all of his emotions like this, right now. I need more time with him, before I pretend to understand.”

“I have very foggy, unclear memories of everything Xaldin has done this year, but…you’re still here, Marluxia,” Dilan said, starting to sweat, “How do I keep him? How do I, uh, what’s the word… Amaina-fy him?”

“Stop running away,” Marluxia growled, wincing, while Lauriam just scoffed at the bleeding scratch across his face, entirely focused on the fight.

Squeezing his eyes shut for a moment, Marluxia said, “...do you remember years ago, when you were being a loser about Xaldin and Zinxi’s relationship? You kept saying that you couldn’t understand how they liked vore, and you kept having this disgusted look on your face, and it made you have this whole loser disapproving air about everything in their relationship? I told you then how dumb it was.” Marluxia took in a shaky breath. “...and that you never damn needed to understand. You don’t need to feel what someone feels to recognize that they’re happy. Or that you’re being a shithead to someone. You’ve never needed to feel how pissed Xaldin is, to recognize that you’ve been an asshole to him your whole damn lives!”

Not even able to keep on his hands, Marluxia buckled over onto his elbows, making a small pained sound as more petals uncurled from the flower. “...I don’t know,” he admitted in a small voice. “Ienzo and Zexion are the only ones with the directions. But I do know it’s more than just the process. You need to redefine your relationship, what you mean to each other. What Xaldin’s meant to do as a part of your mind…even if that meaning is to just be a whole-ass person. You…y-you can’t leave him as a construct with no purpose and no support.”

“Di, you need to fix this.”

Dilan let out a shaky breath, before looking up at the battle that was now more or less happening above their heads.

…he had known, at the time, that his comments could be a little… unkind. He had just been embarrassed. It had felt like Xaldin was in this strange, unorthodox relationship not because he wanted to be, but simply to upset Dilan. Xaldin essentially going through a phase where he delighted in grossing out Dilan, and poor Zinxi getting caught up in the middle of Xaldin’s rebellious attitude. 

Then Zinxi had died and Xaldin still got this look on his face when she came up in conversation. Like he was barely holding it together. Like he had lost the love of his life… and well… by then it had been too late.

Lots of things felt too late. 

How was Dilan meant to make up for what sounded worryingly like he was being accused of a lifetime of… abuse? Of punishing Xaldin for a life Dilan had given to him. Dilan had always felt like he was being exceptionally kind, not going the way Viz saw things. Xaldin could scream and taunt and lash out and do worrying things like fall in love, and Dilan had allowed it. He had heard Even’s arguments and had found himself agreeing. Even had sounded right, that their Nobodies deserved a singular, sustained existence, that allowed them to keep the things in their lives that they liked. 

But Xaldin had been so difficult to leave alone. Even had made it seem effortless, with how he handled Vexen, but Dilan found himself arguing with his Nobody constantly. Constantly managing him. Constantly reining him in.

He had thought so, so, so many times, how easier it might have been, to remake Xaldin from the ground up…

…and he had never been able to do it. Because even if Xaldin had been better, he wouldn’t have been Xaldin.

Dilan didn’t know how to make Xaldin’s purpose simply to be. He already was. 

Dilan didn’t know how to conceptualize a lifetime of mistakes, nor how to make up for them. He only knew how to do that through religion, which was why he had asked for Xaldin to pray with him. He didn’t know how to atone otherwise.

Dilan didn’t… always know what it meant. To be good to someone. To be a good person. It had been something he struggled with his whole life now. Always feeling like he didn’t quite understand. Couldn’t quite get it. Looking endlessly for manuals to being alive that in practice always seemed so inadequate…

Dilan needed… Dilan needed…

{Carefully, fearfully, for the first time in decades, Dilan reached out to Xaldin…}

{...and changed something.}

Xaldin had already been struggling. Lauriam was a hard fight when he was really, really determined, and Xaldin had a few deep, heavy bruises across his face and shoulders to prove it, along with one long gash across his arm and waist. He was panting, staring at Lauriam, who was panting back, the two staring across a treasure room that had become a destroyed arena between the two, both of them briefly catching their breath for a fight they both expected to continue any second…

…and then Xaldin spun on his heels and shouted, “What do MEAN you don’t GET IT!?”

And dropping his javelins, he stormed back to the barrier, shouting through it, “How can you not understand why I’m upset?! What do you mean you need me to explain it to you, I literally already did!”

“You were shouting it and also trying to murder us and that’s not very conducive for conversations!” Dilan insisted, stepping back nervously as he stood up, stepping away from Marluxia in case Xaldin attacked again, “You know I struggle with this sort of thing!  I need you to explain it!”

“You can’t make me your fucking CONSCIENCE! For one, what am I, fucking Jiminy Cricket?! For two, you made me a sadist! I torture people for a living!”

“You used to torture people for a living,” Dilan said stiffly, “Now you explain to me what on earth I’m doing wrong all the time. For one, even making you a sadist and a torturer, everyone always goes to you for help before they come to me. Luis basically gives you credit for the fact that he’s alive right now, support-wise, which! I don’t understand how that happened! So that’s already one point in your favor for being suited for this!”

“What do you mean you don’t understand it!? Luis was fucking depressed because he had to play host to our abusers and his rapist on the regular and Tengan fucking singled him out to vent to, he was depressed! It was obvious!” Xaldin shouted, giving Dilan a bewildered look as he kept going, “He needed to not sit alone in front of machines he designed to insult him and needed to spend time with people, that’s not fucking hard!?”

“Well I didn’t do any of that, and I didn’t see it either!” Dilan said, crossing his arms and huffing, “I need you to tell me when I’m missing things like that! Because we both know I will!” 

“Uh huh. Sure. Like you’re missing that Marluxia’s about to fucking pass out over there.” Xaldin scowled, before looking over to the–other–chibi, as he shouted, “Marluxia, fuck this shit, you need Aqua’s healing. We can deal with this shit…nngh… ah dammit…” Xaldin winced, suddenly staggering, as he muttered, “...I feel funny. Why am I so tired?”

He said this falling to his knees. Starting to phase in and out… before he poofed into a literal puff of smoke.

“Xaldin!?” Dilan said, looking alarmed. 

And when the smoke cleared…

ʕ•͡ω•ʔ …

ʕ•̀ω•́ʔ Oh, I’m about to be so mad, aren’t I

As Xaldin stopped and turned to shout at Dilan--just shouting--Lauriam still kept a wary eye on him as he slowly came towards the flower. Using Graceful Dahlia to lower himself to his knees as well as he sat in front of Marluxia on the other side, looking worriedly over his Chibi. “...Mars?”

“I can do it…” Marluxia muttered, all but crumpled on the ground. “...you know this thing explodes when we let it go, I can… I can hold it.”

“Not forever,” Lauriam grumbled, before he stroked his hand along some of the unfurling petals. “...if I absorb some of it, then…maybe you can let it go alright, and--”

“No,” Marluxia grunted. “I can hold it.”

Lauriam clenched his jaw in frustration, before both of their attentions were brought over by the change in Xaldin’s voice, two pairs of exhausted green eyes widening in alarm as the puff of smoke went up. And as it cleared…

❀ȰᯅȰ …You turned our boyfriend into a bear, Chibi Lauriam faintly said.

Before there was a muted thump on the ground, Chibi Marluxia passing out. And as he did, the flower trembled, before…

There was a hissing sound, before a disturbingly wet explosion, bits of blood and snake meat littering the destroyed treasure room. A wild, sunset flower with its petals fully splayed still slowly settling. And to the unscathed Chibi Xaldin and Chibi Lauriam, Invi quickly bowed in apology. 

“I’m quite sorry for the intrusion, I noticed Lauriam bleeding and thought there might be trouble.”

ʕ•͡ω•ʔ Oh shit…

ʕ•̀ω•́ʔ The hell do you mean Lauriam’s bleeding??

ʕ•̀ω•́ʔ Flower, Dandelion, this is literally my Somebodying, how’d YOU TWO end the up the most fucking hurt by it!?

ʕ•͡ω•ʔ Oh, wait, Marluxia’s out, we should really bring him to Aqua,

ʕ•̀ω•́ʔ I’ll yell at him later for deciding using a bomb as a defense in my damn brain, like that was a fun and cool idea to him

“Invi! Or…” Dilan frowned, looking uneasily at the woman, “... I think that’s your name? I apologize, I’m a bit confused still, this has been a hectic first hour alive after being in a coma for a year. Lauriam’s bleeding?” Dilan asked, as he went to go carefully scoop up Marluxia.

Invi Did Not Know what to think about the little talking bear with Xaldin’s voice. Or the man who looked quite a bit like Xaldin, but clearly wasn’t him. More Weird Things about the Chonis Empaths, she had to guess, but now really wasn’t the time for questions. 

“He has quite a prolific nosebleed and has a psychic fever, Mr. Even is looking over his body currently,” Invi explained quickly, frowning at the flagging tiny Lauriam and, after a moment of hesitation, helping him up as well. She gave Dilan an unsure look. “I… Yes, I’m Invi, it’s nice to meet you, sir.”

❀-ᯅ- Seems a little too typical, huh, Chibi Lauriam murmured, looking more out of it by the second. Sorry, Xaldin. 

❀-ᯅ- …thanks, Invi, though, uh, could you help get us over to Mom?

{Mom}, said so clearly in intent, meant…

The gears in Invi’s mind turned as she gave Lauriam a dutiful nod. “Yes, of course.”

As Dilan and Invi took Marluxia and Lauriam to Aqua’s world, Xaldin used quick-step to keep up with them at first, before deciding to use quick-step to just keep ending up ahead of them and waiting for them as he said, ʕ•̀ω•́ʔ why the hell am I a bear?

“You have a very cute bow too. It’s quite charming, really,” Dilan said, finding himself sticking to a very formal sort of speech with the new person around. He hadn’t met a new person in literal decades. It was nerve-wracking! Supervisors didn’t count. “As for why? I don’t know. Did you not pick it?”

ʕ •̀ o •́ ʔ Why the hell would I choose to be a bear!?

ʕ•̀ω•́ʔ I’ve got two bad bitches I need to be able to keep entertained and you better hope and PRAY that they’re into literal god damn bears, Dilan

ʕง•ᴥ•ʔง Don’t think just because I’m a damn tiny adorable bear in a bow that I can’t throw hands

“Sorry, he’s not usually like this,” Dilan told Invi as they hurried into the water, “But, admittedly, that’s usually because he’s worse, so… take that as you will.”

Ah so…this was Xaldin’s ‘somebody’, named…Dilan, it seemed. Got it. 

Though, as Invi was addressed from their conversation, Invi looked a bit stressed. “Ah, no apology needed, sir,” she bowed her head, “Mr. Xaldin has been very kind in the time I’ve known him. I am…aware that he’s not usually a bear.”

She glanced to Xaldin. This would make his first meeting with Linnea…strange, to say the least. But she wasn’t going to presume anything, considering how stressed out Ira had said Lauriam was about introducing his mother to his boyfriend, and, well, the fact that they still hadn’t done it.

As they plunged into the water, reversing out into the space between sea and sky, it wasn’t long before Aqua showed up, feeling people enter her world. And quickly, her mild curiosity turned into shock, jaw dropping as she took in her passed out Chibi sons, Bear Xaldin, and Dilan. 

“What in the fuck happened?!” Aqua cawed, running over and looking incredulously between Dilan and Xaldin for a moment, before she punched Dilan’s arm and quickly took Chibi Marluxia from him, laying him out on the water as a light rain started to gather. “Invi, love, please set Laurie down here too, thanks so much for bringing him by.”

“Ow,” Dilan pouted, “Nice to see you too, Aqua.”

ʕ•͡ω•ʔ Aqua.

ʕ•͡ω•ʔ Aqua, I did my Somebodying.

ʕ•͡ω•ʔ …

ʕ•̀ω•́ʔ Aqua, I have regrets.

“He’s a bit put-out he’s a bear now. Something about having two ‘bad bitches’ he’s afraid won’t be attracted to him anymore. Honestly, Xaldin, are you dating two people now?” Dilan asked, looking mildly scandalized. “Who??”

ʕ•̀ω•́ʔ Aqua, I have so many regrets.

“Good to see you, Dilan,” Aqua said kinder once her sons were side by side, the rain coming down heavier, but able to focus just on them. She glanced up, giving him a grin. “Did think there’d be more of an announcement about it, but I’m happy you’re up and about. There’s a ton to catch up on, if you haven’t figured that out yet.”

Some of which, were…

Aqua sighed at Xaldin. “We’ve all got to live with them, big guy.” She paused, before she gave a brief, impish smile to the bear. “...or little guy, now. Let ‘Zo get to enjoy being taller than you for once for at least a little while, okay?”

Her gaze growing drier, she gave Dilan an almost challenging look. “Xaldin’s dating Mars and Laurie, Dilan.”

Invi glanced around the void-like world uncomfortably before she softly cleared her throat. “...I’m going to give Mr. Even assistance, if I can. It was nice meeting you, Mr. Dilan.”

ʕ•̀ω•́ʔ

ʕง•ᴥ•ʔง

“I feel you’re not doing a good job as your new purpose if your first act as a moral compass is to try to fight everyone as a bear,” Dilan said warily, picking up Xaldin as he tried to take a few swings at Aqua, “You are very soft.”

ʕ•̀ω•́ʔ Damn right

As Xaldin settled in Dilan’s arms, Dilan gave Aqua a bewildered look… before he gasped,” What?!” Before sputtering to Invi, “Oh, yes, you as well, lovely, um, Atua was pleased–WHAT!?” Dilan said again, looking back at Aqua bug-eyed… before he finally seemed to look at Lauriam and Marluxia and thought to ask, “Why are they BOTH doll-sized? I am very confused!”

Aqua snickered at the fight--bring it on, Xal--before she rolled her eyes a little, giving Invi a wave. And sighing, she started to explain. “Long story short? I don’t entirely understand it mechanically, but Laurie explained it as his relationship with Mars now being a true fifty-fifty. Each of them can function just as well as a being of the mind, or out in the physical world. I don’t know if just that means that they both go Chibi-mode when they’re tired, or if it’s because of what Vexen did, but it’s just what happens now.”

She gave Dilan another challenging look. “...Marluxia isn’t a construct anymore. He and Laurie are two people who share a mind and a body.”

“...oh?” Dilan said uneasily, smiling uncertainly, “...that’s… something.”

ʕ•̀ω•́ʔ He doesn’t get it

ʕ•̀ω•́ʔ It’s alright, I’ll badger it into his head later 

“This is all already very challenging,” Dilan murmured, “Getting caught up is going to be a process, I think…I’m remembering this correctly, yes? We’re out of the factory? Xaldin’s shared his memories with me, but they’re difficult to understand when I receive them like this. It’s hard to say right now what order anything has happened in, for one. And I’m not sure how to dig for relevant memories…”

Dilan paused, brow furrowing… before he gasped. “Xaldin, you can’t do that!”

ʕ•̀ω•́ʔ Don’t know what you saw, but I sure could.

“Anyway. Aqua, where even are we?” Dilan asked. 

Aqua snorted a little. “Join the club, Di.” Though, soon after, her eyes widened as something occurred to her, a true smile breaking out on her face as she turned, putting her hands on Dilan’s arm. “Dilan. When you open your eyes in the physical world, you can look out the window and see the sun.” 

Getting her head on again, she gave him a soft smile. “We’re in a carriage heading towards NGP, actually just a day or two outside of it depending on how long we want to spend at the canyon prepping. We…” Aqua looked up at him, full of hope. “...Ventus is alive, Di. We’re off to find him. And maybe get Ienzo his inheritance in the process.”

“O-oh!” Dilan said, fretting a little, clearly not sure what he should react to first as he tried to process all of that, “...oh! That’s… I’m sorry, what? Ventus is alive?!”

ʕ•͡ω•ʔ Yeah, that’s a fair thing to focus on first

ʕ•͡ω•ʔ But the sun thing is pretty awesome, you’re gonna dig it

Aqua laughed softly, giving Dilan’s arm a squeeze, before scratching behind one of Xaldin’s little fuzzy ears. “There’s a lot to take in, but take a breath, I’ll keep an eye on Laurie and Mars. Wake up, move your body around a little, look at the damn outdoors… And there’s gonna be some folks real happy to say hello again. I’ll catch you later, Dilan, Xaldin.”

-

All things considered, it was a happy day. The last of the Somebodies was awake, and without Xaldin having to go back to base essence. And all things considered, it was an exhausting day, the Garden Duo pulling off one of their more difficult techniques and maintaining it against an Empath purposefully trying to destroy it. Lauriam and Marluxia had been out as they rested in Aqua’s mind, sleeping through the other reunions happening that day, and that should’ve continued through the night. 

So of course that wasn’t what happened. 

Even had just straight out told them that they shouldn’t try to disappear when they were upset, but Lauriam knew that it’d still be shitty to wake everyone up from the rest that they were now getting with Big Feelings and…gross sniffles and…everything. So he was trying a compromise this time, Marluxia disgruntled, but allowing it. 

Lauriam had left the carriages, but wasn’t really all that far away from them as he pulled his jacket down to protect him from the snow as he sat down under a tree that looked like it’d fit right in with Isa’s world. And while his breathing had been unsteady and his jaw trembling since he’d woken up…it wasn’t until he settled out of earshot that Lauriam really let himself quietly sob. Pressing his hands over his face as a flood of hot tears spilled over, catching breaths not making much sound, but the little hitches as Lauriam breathed in hinting at potentially much louder, heart wrenching noises. 

The landscape was changing, the closer they got to the border.

For one, it was cold. Like, cold-cold.

Considering Chonis was considered a pretty eastern city already, the group–with the exception of Luis–had all thought they were pretty familiar with what cold weather felt like already. Chonis actually had seasons, which was more than most of Luminary to begin with, and even in the factory walls it could get pretty cold, hinting at the seasons outside. Luis was the exception to this belief, as he had grown up in a north-eastern farming town, where heading a little bit east would have gotten you to the Dicean mountains, and heading a little bit north would have gotten you to the thick, sometimes silver, forests of Danganronpa.

Luis’ old farming town, keeping sheep, had snowed. And he had warned the Dicean travelers that snow was a different ball-game and that they should be ready for a type of cold that bit. Mad Queen Maya had prepared them a little by sending them off with winter appropriate clothing, and Clara and Anthony had both also warned the group that snow was a very different beast. 

None of the warnings in the world could have really prepared the desert-folk for what snow was like though, as every single one of them slept fully clothed, beneath their bundles, and still shivered.

A campfire was being kept outside and that was the reason Sora had first headed out. Wrapped in his blanket still, sniffling and shivering, he had gone to go warm up a bit by the fire. In truth, Sora would have been tempted to fall asleep by the fire, letting it soothingly cook him throughout the night… but he squinted at the strange, treacherous snow. Which was still lightly falling from the sky, and seemed to have made smooth the floor around the caravans beyond Sora’s own footprints, and… one other set?

Sora’s curiosity got the better of him. He followed the trail.  

Lauriam quickly switched to put his hands over his mouth as he heard snow crunching--something that had been a little alarming, the first time they came across enough snowfall thick enough for it. Lauriam thought he’d known how different winter ground was with the frost that sometimes took over Romeliad. Mountain snow was not like that--squinting up through blurry vision. Clara had warned them of the wildlife, wolves and cougars and bears, but he had thought he was still close enough to their camp that there shouldn’t be animals wandering this fa--

Letting out a shaky sigh, Lauriam sat up out of his sobbing ball, taking a few tries to speak without it coming out incomprehensible. “I-I’m sorry if I wo-woke you up, Sora, go back to bed. I’m fi--” Lauriam’s voice broke from a sob, more tears spilling over his face, “I-I’m fine.”

“Ah! L-Lauriam!” Sora stuttered–both startled and cold–as he gave Lauriam a bewildered look. That confused look grew notably more distressed as he realized, “Oh! You’re crying? Um, um… are you hurt!?” Sora asked, glancing back down the trail through the snow, wondering if he should run for help, “Are you both fine and hurt!? Are you both fine and trying to nurse a sprained ankle!? Oh no, you didn’t walk all the way out here with a sprained ankle did you!?! That’s so dangerous!”

Lauriam huffed a little, pushing himself up and giving Sora a small smile, for how shaky it was. Closing the distance between them, he put a hand on Sora’s back through…this was his blanket. It was going to be so cold when he went back to sleep. “Not hurt, see? Can walk j-just fine.”

Nudging Sora a little, he tilted his head back towards the carriages. “I’ll go b…back in a bit. But you should go wa-warm up. And…” A sob caught the back of Lauriam’s throat and he had to look away for a moment, taking a few breaths to unsuccessfully steady himself as he rubbed the tears away from an eye. “...a-and if you’ve gotten snow on your blanket, just t-take mine when you go back to sleep, alright? It’ll still be cold, but not as cold.”

Sora frowned, and proceeded to not do any of those things. 

Instead, with a determined look, he plopped himself in the space beside where Lauriam had been crying, glaring at him from where he sat cross-legged… before his expression broke, shivering violently as he quaked, “W-w-wanna talk about it?”

Lauriam sighed a little as Sora walked past him, plopping right down in the snow. He was going to turn right into a Sora-sicle out here…

Sniffling hard, Lauriam managed to mumble out a half-assed, “Not really…”

…but that wasn’t exactly true. Sora even asking if Lauriam wanted to talk made him want to bawl, and fuck Lauriam didn’t want to be alone--or as alone as he ever was--right now, but… He also felt like this night had the potential for another huge mess, and he hadn’t wanted to disturb their family in the first place, and…

Sora was his little brother. And god talking about this with him was…

Lauriam half shrugged as he joined Sora back on the ground, aiming for something simple and a little dismissive, but completely failing as his voice wobbled and cracked, “...j-just miss Dad.”

Sora’s shoulders fell a little at that…

He scooted over, resting his shoulder against Lauriam’s, at first just trying to be supportive… but Lauriam was warm, so Sora leaned harder, plopping his head against Lauriam’s shoulder.

“...which one?” Sora asked. 

Even as Lauriam closed his eyes around a flood of tears, he put his arm around Sora. Least he could try to do was make sure the teen didn’t freeze to death out here. Setting everything on fire almost sounded kind of nice right now. 

Lauriam sniffled loudly, before muttering, “...do I just sound like a complete dirtbag to say my dads?”

He did miss Terra too, but…

…well, Dilan was back. Aqua had been vocal ever since Vexen’s plan came to light that she wanted to bring Terra back. Now that plans were opening up for that, there was a real possibility that Lauriam would get to see Terra again soon. 

But he’d never be able to see Terra and Raxter ag--

Lauriam choked over a deep sob, covering his face with his free arm. 

“No. I just didn’t want to say ‘you’ll see him soon’ if you won’t,” Sora said honestly, wrapping his own arm around Lauriam’s waist, “Because… you knew a person I didn’t. I know that.”

“...was there something that made you think about him today?” Sora asked. His tone was odd. Both sympathetic, but also matter of fact. Maybe it was because Sora was just genuinely not surprised by this. It made sense to sometimes just be really sad that someone was gone. Sora got sad too. Tonight was just one of those nights where the weight of that sadness choked you. Sora, who maybe understood people better than Kairi or Riku often did, could guess that Lauriam probably just needed to feel it.

But Sora wanted to be there to help, too, if he could. It sucked to be sad and alone.

Lauriam huffed a little, amused by Sora echoing some of his thoughts. He knew it was probably less surprising for their family of all people, but it was still a small oddity when it happened. 

“I dunno,” Lauriam sniffed, swallowing a few times. “Th-there’s definitely a lot I could think about f-from today. And I kinda thought I wouldn’t really be - be thinking at all once M-Marluxia and I passed out. But…just…” He swallowed again, chest shuddering. “...woke up and just…”

He let out a desperately aggravated breath. “I’m so tired of ruining everything.”

“Oh…” Sora frowned, running that around in his head… before he shivered at the smallest gust of wind, holding Lauriam tighter purely because brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr as he stammered, “W-what did you r-r-ruin? Maybe we can f-f-fix it?”

In pure response Lauriam held Sora closer as well, the two just huddling together under the tree. Though, Lauriam did lower his arm enough to give Sora an exasperatedly incredulous look. Like he was sure Sora couldn’t be seriously asking that. 

Shrinking into himself, Lauriam made a wet sound. “...there’s no fixing anything. I’m just bro--”

It was odd, the quiet Lauriam cut off into, though the wet scoff that followed after those few moments of silence were a big clue. 

“No, nuh-uh, nope,” Marluxia said firmly--or as much as he could manage still very much in the middle of crying his heart out--before he tightened his hold on Sora and wrapped his other arm around him, picking the teen up as he stood. “You two are not going to have s-some - some trashy heart-to-heart while turning into ice cubes. Fire, now.”

Practically dragging Sora over, Marluxia didn’t stop until they were back by the campfire, frustratingly tossing another section of firewood into it. And, sniffing harshly, he muttered, “What do you think I’ve been trying to do our whole damn lives? It’s never been anything but Lauriam Damage Control.”

Glaring wetly at Sora, Marluxia huffed, “You know one of the things he’s crying about right now? That it’s his fault we never got to say bye t-to Dad, and so fucking close to his fault Mom almost didn’t either. A-and you know?! It’s not his fault Dad fuckin’ died in the first place, but that fuck-ass bastard sure made a-a damn convincing argument about it that, sure! Why not just believe that too!? It’s not off base for everything else that always blows up!”

Sora laughed as Marluxia dragged him over to the fire, unable to help his delight at the bit of roughhousing as he was dropped into the cleared dirt around the fire. But as Marluxia built the fire back up again, explaining more, Sora frowned. 

“...what was the argument?” Sora asked. “That makes it Lauriam’s fault?”

It was so stupid to always be left with the dumbass things Lauriam did with their body… Ugh, why’d he even agree to let Lauriam go have a sobfest, he should’ve just forced them back to sleep. 

Sniffling, and furious for it, Marluxia sat back down next to his brother. Even in front of the fire it was too damn cold to be up and about. “...you heard the story, right? You three are too damn nosy to leave it alone. Dad was being punished, they fuckin’ beat him to death.”

Marluxia closed his eyes painfully, more tears squeezing out from the force. “His punishment was for not making quota. God, if it was because they were trying to take one of our punishments it wouldn’t even take convincing, but…” He huffed again, but it was starting to sound like Marluxia was forcing the breaths out to avoid hitching on any sobs. “It’s so dumb. And you know how Tengan is. Was. Whatever. It’s the dumbest shit, but he just says it in a way that you…ugh.”

It hadn’t been as bad then as it’d get in the years after the teens came to the factory, but Lauriam had been getting more specific assignments then. Custom ordered Indentured. Not more than Marluxia could manage, but it did mean that his share of ‘standard’ assignments tended to be on the smaller side. That wasn’t even something exclusive to him, just how the numbers worked out for those of them that had specialties. 

“Apparently it’s enough to lay blame by just not taking more of the load, so he wouldn’t’ve missed quota,” Marluxia grumbled.

“I know that doesn’t matter,” Lauriam growled, gritting his teeth. “Nothing that monster’s ever said should be taken to heart.”

But it didn’t change the parts that were Lauriam’s fault. That he had forced his Mom to choose between him and his dad, that he hadn’t been able to say goodbye, that he had, once again, just been this thing to manage afterward, all because, like always, he couldn’t get his damn emotions under control.

Like every time he set something on fire. Like every time he felt so depressed he couldn’t even wake up for days. Like picking fights with the supervisors, so he’d get hurt even worse and be a burden on everyone else. Like being someone the others always needed to walk on glass around. Like forcing them out of the tavern, and almost making everyone lose their minds. Like forcing Namine into a total meltdown. Like causing a riot in Romeliad. 

Like never giving anyone the damn space to feel their own emotions, because he was too loud always feeling his.

Sora frowned at all of that, before pouting. Wrapping his arms around his knees and lightly tapping his heels against the dirt, vibrating softly. 

“...I think it’s okay that you messed up,” Sora said softly, before shrugging. Giving Lauriam a small, hesitant smile. “I’ve messed up too. Doing my own stuff. I’d ask if you’ve just tried apologizing, but I think that’d be a dumb thing for me to say, when I haven’t tried to do that either. Though, I do think sometimes it helps to just sorta…” Sora frowned, not really having the language he wanted to convey what he meant as he said a tad weakly, “...look at it?”

Lauriam sighed, putting his arm back around Sora and giving his brother a squeeze as he tipped his head over onto chilled spikes. Nuzzling Sora for a moment. Appreciating that he was trying to help, but…

“...do you know how awful it feels, when you apologize, and all anyone can do is just sigh and say they know?” Lauriam said in a small voice. “When I say I’m trying to be better, and I never mean to do it, and people say they know I don’t?”

He huffed something reminiscent of a laugh, as a new wave of tears spilled over. “...everyone always forgives me, because we’re family, right? We stick together, we love each other, we give each other endless second chances, because we care.”

“...it’s just…awful. Feeling more and more that I’m just…not worth that effort,” Lauriam whispered.

“But you are worth the effort,” Sora frowned, looking sternly at Lauriam, “You’ve been there for us ever since we came to the factory. Why wouldn’t you be worth the effort? We owe you a lot.”

“But! I did have a point, before,” Sora insisted, “Maybe you should go look at it. The stuff you’re taking the blame for. Maybe it wasn’t as bad as you remembered? Or there were things about it that didn’t feel obvious in the moment? Lauriam, you’re not ruining everything. Maybe you just need to go back and look and see that.”

“...it’s one of the reasons I first made my keyblade,” Sora explained, “To clear my head. To let me do that. You could do it too. Maybe it all wasn’t so bad.”

It felt different, being a sparring partner, or stealing sweets, or fuck, even taking extra punishments, than all the shit Lauriam put his family through. He tried. Fuck, he’d tried so hard for the teens when they showed up. The kids. His little siblings. Sure, they’d been around for some of Lauriam’s ‘muck’, but he’d made damn sure he never got drunk around them or that Marluxia ever really followed through on any threats. That he never…lost it, around them, attacking the supervisors, or passed on any hallucinations. 

…that no one ever told them about the times he was close to just…

All that effort had really fallen apart since he’d woken up. And it just felt all the worse. 

So saying that Lauriam didn’t look convinced by Sora’s claim was a bit of an understatement. As was saying he looked unnerved at Sora saying he should look at the memories.

(...or the flinch he couldn’t quite mute at the mention of the keyblade.)

Sniffing, Lauriam dropped his head a little. “...S-Sora, I don’t mean to be painfully blunt, but… I-I think the last thing I wanna do, missing my Dad, is go look at his dead body again.”

“Okay, well…” Sora tried to poke his fingers into the dirt in front of him, wanting to make little images, but sighed when he realized the cold had frozen the ground beneath them. No little circles for him. “...what do you do that works? When you’re sad like this? I go look at things. What do you do?”

“What do you think you walked in on, kid?” Marluxia sighed. Before he scoffed lowly, tucking his legs against himself a little more. “La-La cries. Then he either gets over it, or gets mucky for a while before getting over it.”

He pouted a little before sighing again, something tight going through his jaw. “...I can’t actually blame him for it, this time. Going on a tour might work for you, but rifling through our memories on a fun visit to see people we love die I don’t think is the key here.”

He scoffed softly. “I caught Amaina-chan last night, doing that but I think way more extensively. She called our time in the factory ‘absurd harshness’, so it was her favorite thing to watch ever.”

Pressing his temple against his knees a bit, expression…pinched, slightly in pain, Marluxia softly admitted, “I wasn’t even the one watching, but that is why I tried to talk to Dilan this morning, and everything happened. Actually, you know? That might be why La-La’s sobbing his stupid little heart out--we’re forcibly nostalgic.”

“Actually, crying it out is probably okay. I also do that too,” Sora admitted, “You just sounded really hopeless. It made me think nothing helped, ever.”

“I didn’t mean for it to sound ‘fun’,” Sora said a tad defensively, before sighing, shrugging his thin shoulders a bit, “I don’t know, I’m probably not explaining it right. Amaina-Chan was watching your memories?”

Hearing that confirmed, Sora’s mouth scrunched to the side a bit, like he couldn’t decide how he felt about that… before seeming to put it out of his mind, focusing instead on, “I can see how being forced to think about a bunch of stuff you didn’t mean to could be a lot. I’m sorry. I kind of feel bad I interrupted you now. You’re going through it tonight, huh.”

…maybe nothing did in the long run. Maybe that was the wrong way of looking at it, when Lauriam genuinely did feel happy sometimes! But somehow it felt like it always ended up circling right back around to…

…well, he couldn’t talk to Sora about that. He probably already knew, but Lauriam would have to be in a pretty fucking dire situation before he’d talk that openly to his little siblings about feeling suicidal. 

Marluxia rolled his eyes a little, moving his arm up to noogie Sora a bit. “I know your head isn’t perpetually in the clouds so you can be a sun forever, Sky-High. I’m just saying that I really doubt the shit that upsets us most is just a matter of perspective. Strelitzia and Dad being murdered is awful. There’s no way to spin that.”

Letting out a heavy breath, Marluxia tsked. “‘Going through it’ could just be the tagline of the last few months. But I guess this is better than causing a riot then having a massive panic attack, or turning into a killer monster, so you can covet that award.”

Sora briefly considered trying to explain again… but he sighed, letting it go as he bowed his head dutifully to his earned noogie. 

Maybe Lauriam’s sadness couldn’t be explained away. Maybe his guilt couldn’t be analyzed into something less. Maybe all of it could be. But Sora wasn’t going to be the one to succeed at any of that. 

Laughing lightly at Marluxia’s non-joke, Sora smiled at them. “Was it going to be another fire flower thing? The last time was pretty cool, but I think everyone would get mad if you convinced them to… I don’t know? Jump through the caravan walls? I don’t think we can get more caravans out here, so that’s probably for the best.”

There was a deep, snotty sniffle. “I-I was mostly hoping it’d be just crying this time,” Lauriam admitted. “It was supposed to be just sleeping last time, but…”

“You’re so annoying when you just sleep for days!” Marluxia snapped. “We’re not locked in a handful of rooms anymore, the world can’t just stop for you to sleep until you melt into the dirt anymore!”

“I know,” Lauriam whispered, wincing. “I’m sorry, I don’t want to turn into a monster again either.”

“...” Sora didn’t like hearing Marluxia yell at Lauriam. To be honest, it wasn’t anyone in the group’s favorite thing. But Marluxia only yelled because he cared. Maybe… maybe that wasn’t enough, sometimes. But there wasn’t much any of them could do about it. Definitely not much Sora could do.

So instead, he reached around and hugged them. He thought about saying ‘it's okay if you do’, but he knew it wasn’t. They were all in the snow in the woods, it’d be bad. He considered saying ‘I know you won’t’, but he was afraid Lauriam would be more sad, because they knew that wasn’t true either. He might. It happened. 

After a bit, Sora said instead, “I love you a lot.”

Lauriam’s shame and regret softened at the hug, and he soon returned it, rubbing Sora’s back a little through the blanket. His eyes welling as he murmured, “I love you too.”

Looking out into the snow, Lauriam’s lips tightened, not quite forming a smile. “...I don’t think I ever did thank you. …thank you for saving me, Sora. Sorry that you’ve been waiting on that for a while.”

“When?” Sora asked, genuinely bewildered. 

Lauriam scoffed softly, though the extra squeeze he gave in the hug was fond. “When I lost my mind and turned into a monster. I’ve heard the others tell the story, but…I do have one memory from it. Seeing you when I was me again.”

“Oh…” Sora said softly, resting his head against Lauriam’s collarbone, “...okay. You’re welcome. I just…”

Sora paused, that silence brief but clearly filled with something, as the fire crackled in front of them. “...that didn’t feel like rescuing you. I just sort of stabbed you. And you were stabbed. And that’s not… super rescue-y, you know?”

Lauriam stiffened for a moment, before he resumed rubbing Sora’s back. “...yeah. But it doesn’t change that I’m still alive now, and that that’s true because you stabbed me. The way I heard it? The others formed this whole plan around you and powered you up like those reverse comics. Not getting any heroism from that?”

(...he’d noticed before, Sora hesitate over discussions of stabbing. Lauriam knew he had his own hang ups, the way he’d frozen when they were waking up Aqua, the scar on his chest in the mental world he still had trouble looking at, but…

…fuck. He couldn’t leave his little brother feeling like he’d done something wrong. Unsure of himself, when Sora was usually bursting with confidence.)

“No, that bit was cool,” Sora admitted, laughing a little. But the laughter quickly faded, Sora’s smile uneasy again as he thought about all of that. “I wish I hadn’t had to stab you to do it though. The keyblade was supposed to help. But it’s supposed to have this, like, laser that comes out of the end of it, that when it touches you it unlocks your heart. Unlocking your heart makes everything clearer. Easier. It makes it so you can look.”

“But I didn’t do that to you,” Sora said, “It wasn’t going to work like that. I can’t make that work on anyone other than me, yet. So I just stabbed you instead. I wasn’t even sure it would work. Everyone else just said it would and told me I had to. I don’t know why they thought it would work. Maybe it was just literally that you were big and I can fly and hit you at the same time. That’s what it felt like.”

Lauriam had been able to see once he’d been stabbed. And he’d seen Sora. (With the end of a metal blade right through his ches--)

Drawing in an uneven, shaky breath, Lauriam murmured, “I’m sorry everyone put that kind of pressure on you, it sounds awful… Maybe it was that. Ienzo, Zexion, and Uncle Vexen do tend to act like they know more about constructs than the people that made them sometimes, though. Maybe they believed in that faith of what they thought too.”

He let out another shaky sigh. “...you know, I was about to say that maybe it was for the best, because at least I couldn’t mess anything up as a ball of light, but…that’s not really true. Xaldin told me you guys weren’t really sure if I was ever going to wake up, and that’s…way worse than just…me.”

“Well, it’s not like that was super great for you either,” Sora shrugged, before laughing a little weakly, “I kind of killed you. Even if you lived. Sometimes I’m surprised you want to be around me at all.”

Lauriam let out a small wheeze. It was involuntary. 

(It had been hard to look at Sora, when he woke up.)

He just hugged Sora tighter and ruthlessly nuzzled his cheek on his head (even if Lauriam was trembling). “Hey. You’re my little brother, I’ll always want to be around you. Killing me doesn’t get you an exemption.”

Sora laughed, trying to escape the nuzzle without actually moving that much, before huffing with some exasperation, “I’m not a little kid anymore, Lauriam, you don’t have to protect me. I know I upset you.”

“I go back and look,” Sora explained with a shrug, “Those little moments where you flinch around me, or you can’t look at me, or you need to walk away from me. I go and I look at you do it over and over… but, well! Once it stops hurting, I notice that you never do it for long. You tend to come back, or shake it off. And I notice that there’s nothing I can really do to stop it. Most of the time I’m just existing and something happens by accident that makes it hard for you, for a moment. Which isn’t great, but I can’t prevent it. And, well…”

Sora shrugged, saying again, “I can’t prevent it. I feel bad, but I know you don’t want me to feel bad about it. I know you don’t hate me. You just get scared sometimes.”

He was only 16. That was little kid enough, for some things. And Lauriam didn’t think he’d ever want to stop protecting his little siblings. 

Though, he had to admit that they really were growing up. 

Lauriam’s reddened eyes widened in shock as Sora pointed out things Lauriam had always deeply hoped he never noticed. Lauriam…just being scared. Of someone he loved. Though Sora’s analysis of it all was…incredibly mature. 

With a slow, shaky sigh, he just rested against Sora. “...I’m sorry. I really wish I didn’t. I…” Lauriam closed his eyes and bit his lower lip, hating himself for it, but…

Being honest with his little brother. “I love sparring with you guys, and I hate that all I want to do is run when I see your keyblades. Some of your first versatile constructs, a-and they’re really cool, but…I just feel sick. And I hate that we can just…even be in the same room, and then for no reason I’ll just feel… It’ll be like I’m in that moment again, and like I can still feel the sword through my chest and it’s all such…bullshit.”

There was quiet, before Lauriam sniffled softly. “...maybe I should give your ‘looking at things’ a go, if there’s even a chance I just…wouldn’t get as scared from stuff.” A heavy breath, before Lauriam scoffed derisively. There was no question it was towards himself. “...gossip get around to you that I flipped out on Ira that last night in Romeliad?”

“Again, I stabbed you. You were kind of dead for a… kind of a long time,” Sora said, and briefly, he swallowed, something in his expression straining… before he laughed, “But you got better. You got better, so, you know…”

Sora trailed off. He didn’t know what he was trying to say. What anyone would ‘know’. That it was okay? That it all worked out in the end? That it was fine?

Just, well… you know.

Yeah.

Lauriam’s question gave him an out from trying to figure out what they ‘knew’, as Sora immediately nodded. “Yeah, basically as soon as it happened. I overheard the older guys talking about it. Even was mad. He kept trying to apologize for you, but the others kept saying it was fine. I think Ira felt bad about it too. Or, Riku said Ira felt bad about it, so you know he probably just cheated and looked at Ira’s heart.”

“I got better, it’s fine,” Lauriam softly murmured.

(Could you even kill something that was already dead? Maybe it shouldn’t have even been a surprise that he got up again. It wouldn’t have been the first time.)

Lauriam let out a heavy, tired sigh, hearing how pissed Even was and how he’d tried to apologize for him. He’d known how angry Even was that night, but…

…well, the same thing that happened every time happened, didn’t it? Some new catastrophe was happening to Lauriam, so it had to be pushed to the side. No one else getting to make their point. 

“I’m not sure if it’s cheating if he can’t help it,” Lauriam hummed, before getting to why he’d brought it up in the first place. Though…he did just feel worse learning about more perspectives of that night, than he did bringing it up. “...I thought he was a supervisor, for a sec. He didn’t do anything, but I was freaking out and just…I don’t know. Things clicked together in a way that scared me.”

Marluxia stewed, listening to that. Oh, he knew well what had happened. But he wasn’t going to tell Sora--their little brother!!--that Lauriam had been babbling over old shit enough for his stupid broken brain to look at Ira, a guy bigger and stronger than him, and immediately feel like he was back in the factory, about to be raped again. To the point where he didn’t just feel that way, but he started to see the factory again. 

“A supervisor out here?” Sora shivered, and this time not from the cold. “I’d freak out too, I think. Ira’s kind of lucky you didn’t attack him. I’d probably attack a supervisor if I just saw them out in the wild. If I can stab you I can definitely stab them,” Sora said confidently. 

Sora sighed against Lauriam, resting against him again, “I don’t know. I think it’s fine that you got scared. Not in a mean way, more just… I don’t think it’s weird. Any more than anything is weird, with us.” Sora explained, “Our lives are kind of scary. Even now. Though it’s better now.”

“I really don’t know if it was a fluke I went ‘full cooperation’ rather than, ‘intensely murderous’, but I think that was pretty lucky too,” Lauriam hummed, holding Sora a little closer. “I think I’d rather just never see any of the supervisors again, rather than thinking of the best way to handle it.”

And there was a good chance for that. The fact that Terra had confronted so many in Chonis? Yeah, it was scary finding out in retrospect how many of them had stayed around the same city…but that did probably mean that the ones Terra hadn’t seen probably hadn’t strayed too far. And now at the border to another country, they were likely in the clear. 

That was…

“It’s a lot better,” Lauriam murmured, before smiling tiredly at his little brother leaning against him. “We’re not exactly getting a lot of sun right now, but it’s still nice being outside. And I’m hoping the Dicean spring is as nice as Clara says once we get to a place that’s in the swing of it. And I know you’re the last person I’d have to entice with the idea of adventure… Are you enjoying this one?”

“Of course I am!” Sora said, his eyes brightening at the question, smiling wide, “This has been incredible. Hasn’t it been? We’re crossing a border! We’re going to see mountains! See a whole new people! We’re going to meet royalty, aren’t we? How many people can say they’ve done that? And that’s only the start! We’re only just starting!”

Sora paused, some of the glowing light that was just the sheer force of his personality fading a little, as he whispered, “Everyone talked like Viz was going to be the last one to see the sun, when they took her out. Ienzo’s been here since he was small. You’ve been here since you were a teenager… heh.” Sora laughed, shaking his head, “‘here’. Like we’re still there…”

Sora closed his eyes. Snowflakes settled on his eyelashes, as he said softly, “...I didn’t think we were really going to be there forever, until after we got out. And then I was so surprised, and I realized I hadn’t actually thought that. That I thought I was gonna be in those rooms forever.”

“So yeah,” Sora smiled, opening his eyes, and smiling wider to see the strange little puff of steam come out of his mouth, “I’m enjoying it. Aren’t you?”

Lauriam smiled fondly, watching Sora brighten with enthusiasm. The force of his excitement and joy warm enough Lauriam swore he stopped shivering for a sec--really powerful stuff, that. Marluxia was right, Sora wasn’t just happy-go-lucky, endless euphoria…but he was good at finding joy and fun in situations where it was easy to feel down or even just mildly bored. 

He was glad that Sora had that trait, though he had to remember it wasn’t persistent. 

“Hey, we’ve already met royalty, don’t forget,” Lauriam laughed quietly, “You can already add that to your achievement list.” The sound soon faded into the dense snowscape, followed by a quiet sigh. Lauriam pressed his cheek against Sora’s head. “I’m not sure if anyone told you the story… When I first got to the factory, I didn’t go onto the island much. I didn’t want to bother anyone, so I just stayed awake in the room when everyone was working.”

Lauriam smiled sadly. “I think I was barely there a week before it felt like I’d do anything to go outside again. Then, having that feeling, but realizing everyone else had been there years longer than I had? It kinda sunk in early, that…that was it. Sometimes I’m still just surprised by where we are, that we’re out.” Not grateful--though he was--but surprised. Like there was still a part of him that expected with every blink that they’d just be back in concrete walls. 

“Glad we both got proven wrong, hm?” he asked Sora softly, before laughing quietly. “Yeah, I am enjoying it. When I’m awake to, anyway. Even the pitstop back at my hometown.”

“Well, we picked up a lot of strays at your hometown, which was pretty exciting,” Sora said, smirking as he said ‘strays’, like he was being a little cheeky, “And your mom, though…”

Sora nudged Lauriam slightly, looking around before keeping his voice low, “...do you like your mom? Not Aqua, I mean. The other one?”

Lauriam snorted softly, before he went quiet for a long moment. A long, shaky sigh leaving him. “It’s…complicated.”

“It’s not totally your situation, I wasn’t ready to leave my parents behind when Hayner came for me and Strelitzia,” Lauriam said quietly, the thrum of grief that was ever-present around the subject of his sister hitting a little harder tonight. No surprise there. “But in a lot of ways, I barely knew my moms. I never thought I had issues with them, but after initially asking after them when I was brought in and,” Lauriam drew in a shaky breath once more, his voice hitching a little, “once Mom and Dad took me in? I…really barely thought about them.”

Lauriam glanced towards the carriages with a guilty look, lowering his voice more. “...Mom and Dad are more my parents than Mama and Linnea were. And then seeing my mother after all this time…I never realized how angry I was. I knew how bad our money situation was, but even aside from Linnea being kidnapped? Just how much she and Mama were gone normally, I… Strelitzia and I weren’t ready to be on our own that much.”

He gave Sora a difficult smile. “...by the time I was 7, and she was 15? We’d be on our own for a month or more, multiple times a year. I’m so grateful for how my sister raised me, but she shouldn’t have had to do that when she was still a kid too, and…it’s hard not to resent my parents for that. Even knowing their reasons.”

“Yeah,” Sora said, watching the fire dance a bit.

“I don’t miss my parents either. I think if I saw one of them by accident? I’d turn the other way and hope they didn’t recognize me. Assuming I’d ever even recognize them.” Sora laughed lightly at that. It was an oddly happy sound, for the grim subject, “Mom slept a lot and dad was gone all the time. I have almost no memory of either of them ever really talking to me, except for twice that I remember really clearly.”

Sora put up one finger, “Dad sat me down and said he wanted to teach me to drink. Said I was old enough. Riku was there. I remember sitting there with Riku, the two of us sipping at really awful drinks, stuff they make themselves in the swamp. I was so embarrassed, because dad started with trying to give us advice, and then he got more and more drunk and he just became… incomprehensible. I remember looking at Riku and…”

Sora sighed, suddenly getting up with a stretch and going over to the log pile, picking up another one. Putting it in the fire, he stepped back to watch the fire climb, pulling the blanket around himself tighter, “Riku was scared. You know Riku, he’s never scared. Even when he should be. My dad had scared him. And I remember in that moment just…” Sora frowned, something in his expression twisting briefly. Something genuinely, briefly, furious in his eyes, “...hating my father.”

…Sora laughed, the fury gone as he shrugged, looking brightly at Lauriam, “And I remember my mom fighting some other woman because of my dad. And again, I was just embarrassed. I spent all my time at Riku’s place. Kairi did too. His dad wasn’t much, but he never made any of us scared, and never embarrassed Riku. Sometimes I wonder if Riku might miss him. I don’t think he does though. I think we’re all like you, and we just… didn’t have real parents until we met Aqua and Terra.”

Sora’s eyes brightened, the fire a warm glow against him, “We got lucky.”

Lauriam smiled wanely. He hadn’t been planning on setting a foot in Romeliad, and he hadn’t even thought his mothers were still in the town. If Axel hadn’t been in trouble, Lauriam had no plans whatsoever to seek out literally anyone he had known in town, least of all family. If he had just ended up passing Linnea on the street?

…well, he felt like he’d go Sora’s option, but Marluxia might’ve had different ideas. 

Giving Sora a slightly incredulous look--Sora had been 10 when they met, so if his father had goaded him and Riku into drinking before that??--Lauriam sighed a little and let Sora go when he got up, giving him a small, thankful nod for stoking the fire. And while that spark of fury in Sora’s eyes was usually something that Lauriam was a little concerned about…

…well. 

“Fuck, what a loser,” Marluxia scoffed, “Your father’s lucky you never went beast-mode on him. Uuuugh, why do so many parents suck? We know just what shits Kairi and Axel’s parents were, Demyx’s literally left him to rot in debt, Ienzo’s were never around--”

“But we did get lucky, eventually,” Lauriam agreed with a softer smile. “Aqua and Terra are amazing.” And were amazing.

Glancing down for a moment, Lauriam let out a small, amused huff. “...are you excited to potentially get a new little brother? I know it’s different, since Ventus is already a teenager, but I do find it a little funny how you guys are going to get the pre-sibling anticipation with me this time.”

“Hah!” Sora smiled, before shrugging a little, “I hope he likes us. And isn’t a jerk. He was raised by elites, he could be a jerk… but you know?” Sora smiled, rocking on his heels a little, “I bet he won’t be. It’s just something I have a good feeling about. Maybe it wasn’t very long, but for a few minutes, he was a factory empath. And I don’t know why but… I just feel like I can feel that he’s still one of us.”

Sora tapped against his chest, “In my heart. You know?”

That…was one of the bigger concerns, to be honest. Elites were…ugh. Ienzo was fine, but in the tiny itsy-bitsy bit he’d still ever spoken about his childhood, Lauriam got the impression that his little brother had barely ever left his home, and he’d been forced out of elite society when he was 7. Lauriam couldn’t really believe he was thinking this about Ienzo, but that had likely done wonders for his social skills. In, yanno, not becoming absolute scum. 

Thirteen was still pretty young, though, and what Ienzo had told them Maki said about Ventus? Lauriam was happy to let himself be optimistic. 

Lauriam gave Sora a fond smile. “Well, if that’s where you feel it? Hasn’t steered us wrong yet.”

Lauriam paused for another moment, uncurling from his huddled ball a bit to lean forward and warm his hands more on the fire. Though, the look he glanced back up at Sora with was shy with sheepishness. 

“...Even said that later in pregnancy, there’s theories that babies can actually hear what’s going on, to an extent.” Lauriam looked into the fire, his eyes stinging again, and not just from the smoke. And, hesitating a moment, he reached into his coat and pulled out a pendant a little smaller than his palm. An old pink star. “...Dad and I used to talk to Ventus, when Mom was still pregnant. So if nothing else, that was a connection, I guess.”

Sora glanced down at the pendent, before brightening up a little. He reached into his shirt and pulled at a string of reinforced yarn, pulling out his piece of a greater star. 

The three of them were called the ‘Heart Trio’ largely because of that piece. When they had discussed getting their own star, as a representation of their place in the family? The kids had gotten excited at the idea of all holding one piece of it. To show that they were, and had always been, and would always be, a package deal.

Three kids. One heart. One Star. 

“I hope he respects us.” Sora sighed, crossing his arms and letting his piece hang against his chest, “I’m going to be his older brother. I’m three years his senior! He better respect my hard-won wisdom!”

“If you were wise, you’d know to whisper while everyone else is sleeping, young man.” Even grouched, stepping out of the carriage, blearily looking around, “What are you two doing? That fire was supposed to die out ages ago, you should both be asleep.”

“Ah! Sorry, Even.” Sora said, stepping back and bowing his head respectfully. 

…Lauriam could do without respect. But he did hope Ventus liked them. His baby brother, actually alive… Hopefully, getting to meet their Mom soon. 

(It had been chaos, in the aftermath of Aqua’s labor and Ventus’ kidnapping. By the time anyone thought to wonder about the green star, it had just gotten to the point where they just figured it was something the supervisors had taken. Lauriam had been more careful to hide his after that, and had passed on that lesson to the Heart Trio when they got theirs.)

Startling as Even caught them, Lauriam put a hand to his chest as he let out a breath, sniffing before bowing his head as well. “Sorry. We--”

Marluxia pouted through a glare up at Even, even with puffy, reddened eyes and a tear-streaked face. “It’s fuckin’ freezing out here, Mindfreak, what, you want a crash course in treating frostbite?”

Even peered at Marluxia’s red, puffy face, before sighing slightly. Likely thinking about how his hair was going to go gray, as he looked at Sora, “You. It’s late and we have a long journey still tomorrow. On top of that, you’ve ruined your bedding. Put those wet blankets on the wheel of the carriage, we’ll deal with them tomorrow, and go share a bunk with Kairi. You two are just small enough where you might fit comfortably.”

“Okay,” Sora said, not in the habit of arguing with Even. He gave Marluxia a small, parting smile, before laying out his blankets on the large carriage wheel, before shivering and hurrying inside.

“You,” Even said, shuffling over to Lauriam, peering at him with a frown, “...are going to get a cold. No doubt. We’re going to give you some fever reducers and a sip of Luis’ rum to warm you and try to make your morning a little less painful.”

Lauriam sighed a little. He would offer for Sora to take his blanket again, but…well. The Professor had Spoken. Returning Sora’s smile--he…really did appreciate his brother talking with him tonight--he sighed again before giving Even a tired look as he got up, already making a face at being even that far from the fire. 

“I’m fine,” he assured quietly, “I won’t get sick. Sleep will be just fine, no need to break anything else out.” He offered Even a small smile before bowing his head again. “Sorry for waking you up.”

“Lauriam,” Even said, stepping aside but frowning. Looking a bit exasperated as he said, “Marluxia. You can’t just will yourself well after, from what I can see, spending far too long crying in the cold. A bit of medication now will ease some trouble tomorrow. Certainly you don’t detest me so much as to ignore decent advice.”

(It was fine, they had extra money, they were even stopping somewhere soon for the next batch, as crazy as that sounds, they could easily buy medicine and other essentials, they had a stock of fever reducers, it wasn’t like by taking one they’d be stretching what remained to the limit, it was fine, it was fine, it was FIN--)

“PPPPPBBT!” The raspberry Marluxia blew was entirely unintentional, his eyes wide with shock as the breath escaped him before he sputtered, “I-I don’t--! Why do people keep saying I hate people?! Does everyone get regular aneurysms and I just haven’t been paying attention?!”

And crossing his arms, sniffing again, Marluxia haughtily said, “And you can will yourself to not get sick, it works.”

Even’s left eyebrow twitched at Marluxia’s raspberry, before he looked up at the sky for a long beat. One second. Two seconds. Three seconds. 

“I am going to bother to try to talk you into this,” Even said, like he was talking to himself, “So that you will not be even more irritable tomorrow. For the good of the group. I will not just let you get yourself even more sick for no reason.”

“Sit by the fire, I’m going to fetch the supplies.” Even said, shuffling back to the door of the carriage.

Marluxia gave Even a dry look before scoffing, crouching down by the fire again and crossing his arms over his knees. Not pouting. 

“...you are abrasive,” Lauriam said softly.

“No shit,” Marluxia bit, before huffing into their arms. “Everyone knows that, it’s not like it’s suddenly a surprise. And not like me calling out bullshit is some shocking turn heel to point out that I hate anyone in particular.”

“Yeah,” Lauriam sighed, tilting their head a little to rest. “I don’t get it either, I’m not saying I’ve noticed anything you haven’t. But…I don’t know. Maybe it just wears people down after a while.”

Marluxia frowned, gritting their teeth. “Not you.”

Lauriam laughed softly. “Not me. But I did make you this way. I’m aware we know several examples otherwise, but…I remember thinking it was dumb to make anything that I couldn’t deal with myself. I wanted you to be the best. So, you are.”

Marluxia blinked, before hiding a shy, pleased smile in their arms, his cheeks warming slightly. 

After a moment, a grumpy looking Even came out with the two things he had promised, along with a glass of water. Setting the flask he had stolen from Luis aside for a moment, Even opened up the fever reducer packet, letting the tablet fizz into the water for a moment, before he handed it to Lauriam, “There, drink. Get halfway through the glass, then drink a sip of the rum. That way you can chase away the taste with the second half.”

There was no turning back, once Even put the tablet into the water. It wouldn’t keep like that, and if Lauriam didn’t take it, then it was just a massive waste. Knowing that didn’t keep his stomach from dropping uncomfortably as he watched Even drop it, but it was enough that he accepted the glass with a deferring nod. 

He couldn’t help the huff of amusement as he drank through the water, though. “Really calling us out on how little we drink, huh?”

It was warranted, as Lauriam’s mouth did twist after he took a sip from Luis’ flask, and he did quickly chase it with the water. 

“I’ve rather always considered it a blessing, that you did not develop a drinking habit once we were outside in the world.” Even admitted, watching Lauriam finish the medication, “You had a few moments in Luis’ world that concerned me. Though, we all did, really. I ought to count our lucky stars that more of us didn’t rely on that particular crutch more, really. Luis himself is already difficult enough to handle, twelve more of him would have been impossible.”

And seeming to almost prove his own point, when Even took the flask back, he dipped it back and drank from it himself. Simply sighing around the mouth of the small container before closing it shut. “If I send you to bed, will you actually sleep?”

Lauriam glanced down in shame. It was lucky that he didn’t really drink at all in the physical world! Things could be a lot worse!

…but from the incidents he had had, it could’ve been a lot better. Though, perhaps that was a blessing in itself, that the bad incidents happened so at least Lauriam knew how alcohol could affect him. 

What Luis had was a problem, but it was one Lauriam could never blame his uncle for much. It was…enticing. To forget everything. 

“Alcohol is so expensive, I don’t know how I would’ve even justified it even more inclined to,” Lauriam sighed, before giving Even a small, guilty smile. “I will. I think Marluxia and I still need to owe up some of the deficit from this morning anyway.”

Even gave Lauriam a long look. Looking for hints of a lie… before he nodded, leaning back and gesturing towards the carriage. “Go. Sleep. I’m going to add more wood to the fire. Insulation from the blankets should provide the warmth needed to sustain all of us safely through the night, since you asked. But this initial fire is meant to heat the carriages up so that by the time we fall asleep, we have some heat for the blankets to insulate. More fire will help those of us who allowed the heat to escape our blankets, by this point.”

“So you’re aware.” Even said, waving his hand tiredly, “Go. Sleep.”

Lauriam nodded sheepishly, getting up again to go back into the carriage, before he paused. Hesitating a moment, before he squeezed Even’s shoulder fondly before continuing on. “...goodnight, Uncle Even.”

“...” Even’s expression softened a tad, before nodding. “Goodnight.”

Forget his hair going white, that was long past too late. His hair was going to fall out by this rate. Honestly. 

-

“...so we do have mountains then?” Demyx asked, his hand cupped over his eyes as he peered at something in the distance, eating some shaved ice as the hustle and bustle of the small tourist town happened behind their their carriage, the group having parked at the edge of town, “Because that’s a mountain.”

“I think it’s too small to be a mountain?” Luis said, looking miserable as he pulled his hood lower over his forehead, shading himself from the sun, “I think it’s a canyon. Just, uh… by itself.”

“Isn’t a canyon meant to be below the surface?” Demyx asked, gesturing around to the near flat earth around them, “We don’t seem below the surface.”

“I guess technically we are? Word is if we keep going, more of the canyon’s walls are supposed to reveal itself. Turns out this part of Luminary is essentially one massive crater. We’ve been in a canyon for days, just too far from the walls to see them.” Luis explained. “...least that’s what the lad who got feed for our horses said.”

The group had stopped at Tupac, a small tourist town built in good sightseeing view of the Dragon Skull, though not so close as to essentially lose the landscapes namesake’s image by being overshadowed by it. The group, since they had decided to spend the day sightseeing one of the landmarks they were lucky enough to be passing, had decided to splurge and get two hotel rooms with a view of the dragon canyon itself. Demyx and Luis spending time on the balcony of the hotel room, peering at the stone landscape.

“...okay, but it’s kinda eerie how much it actually looks like a skull.” Demyx said, “You can see where the mouth would have covered teeth.”

“It’s the eyesockets for me.” Luis said, “What in the hells managed to carve out two perfectly symmetrical eyesockets on either side? Water? The wind? I don’t know enough geology to say one way or another, but two identical caves forming on two sides of that thing seems unlikely.”

“Unlikely, the way we observe them, but not impossible,” Ienzo hummed, safely inside the shadow of their hotel room, happily writing on a postcard with the wonder of Luminary itself on the front. It hadn’t even been much of a bet to make at all to see if he could find a postcard of the dragon canyon, considering that was the entire reason Tupac existed (sure, it was a town near the capital, which was reason enough for anywhere, but for this town specifically it was the reason), but Ienzo was still happy to find it for Maya. 

…and, naturally, while he was writing in moderately small font on the card, it was all light observations, compared with the more dense letter he’d be sending along with it. He did warn her, and he figured this third batch of a postcard and letter was more than enough for her to simply expect it.

“It would actually make quite a bit more sense if the caves were connected to each other, implying that something had been passing through them at one point, or that they converge within what would be the ‘skull’, as that’s actually a rather common feature in rivers. Them being two entirely separate cave systems, mirrored to one another, would mark it as even more of a strange geological phenomenon than it already is.”

Ienzo glanced over, grinning lazily at Demyx and Luis. “I poked around to find the dimensions of the formation, it’s about 600 feet long. If one was to follow the folklore around it, that implies a size of a being that’s staggering.”

Demyx whistled low, peering at the distant landscape, before shrugging, “Not sure how big 600 feet really is, but if it’s what I’m looking at right now? That’s big.”

“As weird as that big heap of stone looks? I feel like that’s proof right there that dragons didn’t exist. At least not if they were that big.” Luis said, pulling out one of his unstolen flasks and taking a sip, “How could even one of those fit in the world, let alone a species? Doesn’t make sense. How would you feed it?”

“Maybe that’s why there’s no more dragons?” Demyx grinned, before heading back inside to the shade, kneeling down to glance at the letters curiously, “The latest novellas for Maya?”

“It’s big enough that this entire town has settled multiple miles away from it, just to see the canyon--as misnamed as that particular feature is--in its entirety,” Ienzo agreed with a hum, though he paused to consider Luis’ point. “...I feel as though the space we’d consider as housing a nation would end up in service to a dragon, if they existed at that size. Or…would be its domain, I suppose might be a better term. And I don’t think it’s unfeasible from a food standpoint. Some species of whales, the largest mammals we have records of, go for six months without eating at all. Perhaps a dragon’s metabolism had something similar, to ensure they would not end up devouring the entire world. Or perhaps their diet was something else entirely.”

Though, all the stories that suggested that a dragon’s favorite food was a wailing princess begged to differ. But it was all fantastical regardless.

Giving Demyx an amused look as he knelt, Ienzo huffed, “Not quite novellas, but otherwise, yes. I hope that she’s enjoyed the scenes of desert and artistry I’ve sent prior, but I’ll admit I have been looking forward to getting to send her something like this. Attraction, tourist trap, natural wonder, whatever you want to call it.”

He smiled thinly, half-shrugging. “A postcard is still a picture, no more special than any illustration in a book she may have, but if she is not granted the chance to see the world, I had hoped to send pieces of it back for her.”

“You’re sweet,” Demyx grinned, hugging his knees as he leaned forward to give Ienzo a quick, chaste kiss to the cheek, “Well, we’ve got the whole day to ourselves. You want to spend it together? The others have already gone out for stuff, and I’m gonna guess Luis is going to chill out at the hotel… Luis! Hey, are you going out?!” 

“I’m going to sleep for as long as my body will physically let me.” Luis said, drinking deep from his flask again, leaning against the balcony wall, “Driving is exhausting.”

“Alright, man, but we’re dragging you out tomorrow morning to at least enjoy some breakfast somewhere. You can’t just drink and sleep everywhere we stop.” Demyx insisted, before shrugging at Ienzo, “Well, like I said, we have all day. Wanna do stuff? See what the town has to offer?”

Ienzo smiled dreamily at the kiss, before he called over to Luis, “We’re still waking you up for dinner! This is a threat from Aqua, not from me, so you know its gravity!”

But he wasn’t about to begrudge Luis for wanting to rest, especially when that meant--

“I was hoping you’d be up for it,” Ienzo smiled softly, collecting the pages of his letter together before he stood up. “Ever since you first mentioned the canyon being on our way to the capital, I’ve been looking forward to seeing it with you, should we have the time. And since we do? We now find ourselves here.”

“I saw an advertisement for a place that has sketches of some of the caves prior expeditions have made--would you like to track that down, and see what other interesting things we see on the way?”

“Yeah? Heck yeah, let’s do it!” Demyx cheered, standing up and offering Ienzo a hand up, before calling to Luis, “We’re gonna go looks at weird cave drawings! Last chance to invite yourself and not spend all day being a hermit!”

Luis wasn’t one of their more aggressive members of the group. Which somehow made it funnier to Demyx when Luis just raised his middle finger over his shoulder. 

“Hah! Alright, I tried.” Demyx grinned with a shrug, looking back to Ienzo, “Okay, this should be fun! We should definitely get some desserts out here too, I am craving something sweet. I really thought my taste buds had actually died by the time we left the factory, but now that I’ve had sugar since then? Well,” Demyx laughed, gesturing to his now empty shave ice paper cone, “Going without while we travel between towns is agony again. Can we get another shaved ice cone on the way out of the hotel? These were really good, and they had a ton of other flavors.”

Ienzo snorted a little at Luis’ dedication to staying indoors. He did worry about Luis’ well-being, for a lot of very explicit reasons, but wanting to catch up on rest after several days of being one of three drivers wasn’t quite ringing the alarm bells. Perhaps there was something nice they could bring back for him, story or object otherwise, that’d be something pleasant to wake up for later.

As Ienzo gently took Demyx’s hand in his, as they headed out of the hotel room, Zexion nodded seriously from his position draped over Demyx’s far shoulder. 

ㅍ_ㅍ I saw that there was the option to choose multiple flavors in the same cone. We should experiment with something truly unique, it’d be a massively lost opportunity to not get more shaved ice.

“I’m not sure who you’re trying to convince,” Ienzo noted with amusement, “I wasn’t about to say no.”

“Hey Zexion!” Demyx grinned, glancing to his oher shoulder as he and Ienzo navigated the halls and stairways together, “You excited about the cave drawings? So, wait, are these caves that are inside the dragon skull then? Is that what you were talking about earlier, that the two holes might actually be a connecting cave system?”

Demyx asked like there was time to answer, but the hotel wasn’t that big and the ice cones were sold in a lobby on the first floor. The conversation was interrupted with a discussion of what cones to pick this time, which were all decorated with small squared chunks of fruit and bordered with sugar rocks or chocolate pieces or thickly hardened puffs of cream, depending on which flavor you went for. 

But when they headed out of the hotel, Demyx now happily munching through a strawberry-chocolate cone, he asked again, “Right! Cave system?”

Ienzo had found he quite liked shaved ice, and not just because the temperature was pleasant when contrasted with the ambient temperature. Because it was ice? It meant that it melted in his mouth, which was easier to get down than a lot of food. The same wasn’t true with the ‘add-ons’, but such was the trade off of most things in life.

Curiously trying his orange-pineapple root beer ice with chunks of kiwi, Ienzo nodded. “Precisely. Again, I don’t actually know if those two in particular are a connected system, but evidently there are caves in the formation, and people have explored them. I have to assume it’s discouraged for tourists, for both a liability reason and to maintain the area for that tourism, but advertising expeditions’ art of the caves is a neat way to sate that curiosity while addressing those concerns.”

ㅍ_ㅍ You think you’d ever want to spelunk, Sunshine?

“Oh, god no.” Demyx laughed, the answer so genuinely honest, though that laughter peeled off to a curious hum as he put more thought into it, “I guess I made my world around that idea, didn’t I? But as much as I made my world to be very cool and fun to hang out in, I also made it with the idea that it’s supposed to be intimidating, like all of our worlds in one way or another. If you had asked me what was scary about my world, I’d probably say Guppy, but Guppy only came with Larxene. So I think really it was that little cave system I made everyone swim through to even get to the stage.”

“Neat in concept! Very pretty to look through when you’re totally safe! But in the real world?” Demyx asked, shivering, “Yikes. Could you imagine if anything went wrong!? You were trapped in some creepy cave?! Nooooo thanks, no way, horsey. Would you? Because I’ll be honest, guys, if you said yes, and went spelunking, I think I’d legit vomit in fear for you guys. I’d be so worried.” Demyx admitted with a calm, casual grin. Clearly not as alarmed at the hypothetical as he would be the reality.

The look Ienzo gave Demyx was fond as he laughed through his immediate, vehement no. “You even went a step further, constructing them to be underwater caves, which are scarier by a significant degree. I agree, fascinating without any risk, but with all the considerations of reality, they might really be the most dangerous area of the entire island.”

Perhaps Axel’s lava was more immediately lethal, but applying the rules of reality, no one would even be able to get close to his dungeon. Underwater caves were things that people could feasibly get to. 

ㅍ.ㅍ I could see an argument for Xaldin’s dungeon, but there are places one can simply exist within it without coming to harm. Arguably, the worst thing you can do in an underwater cave is stay still.

Ienzo snorted softly. “True.”

The next grin he gave Demyx was a tad too unapologetic. “I am aware of the complete horror stories spelunking can be, but I’ll admit--the allure of the unknown within the bowels of the earth are intriguing to me.”

=_= It’s why we should likely simply never have the opportunity to go cave diving. We wouldn’t be able to resist.

“Yeaaaaah, no. As your boyfriend? I’m gonna go ahead and pull some boyfriend authority, and nag you until you don’t scare the shit out of me going spelunking.” Demyx scoffed, shaking his head and saying rapidly, “Nope, no. Nooooope. No. No. No. We all clear? What are we not doing?”

“Going spelunking,” Ienzo answered good-naturedly.

But perhaps not as good-naturedly as he really should’ve been, as Zexion glanced to the side.

ㄱ.ㄱ On our own, at least. Nothing outside of planned, vetted tours or expeditions.

“Unfortunately,” Ienzo mumbled.

“Guuuuuys! Nooooooooooo!” 

Demyx continued to whine and pout for a good two more streets, before he got distracted by a street musician. The three standing at the edge of a small crowd that was enjoying watching a woman playing a hurdy-gurdy. She was playing a jaunty tavern song that most of the crowd knew the words for and were singing along with the chorus, which Demyx enthusiastically joined in on, clapping when the song ended. The woman bowing as people threw coins into her instrument case. 

Demyx looked around to make sure no one was looking, before he gestured for the musician to lean close, slipping her a gold and giving her a wink before placing his index against his mouth. The woman eyes brightened at the gold, gave him a nod in thanks, but didn’t show off that gold, quickly slipping it into her pocket before stepping back, returning to playing. 

The group wandered away, and Demyx whispered, “If you tip big like that for a busting gig, do it secretly. If anyone knows she’s suddenly got a gold on her, she might get mugged while she’s playing.” Demyx explained, “You only show off the coppers and maybe as single silver to get left alone.”

Ienzo continued to sigh and lament about not being able to shimmy himself inside the deepest darkest crevasses of the earth, poking fun for just as long as Demyx pouted about it until they came to the busker. Ienzo didn’t quite know the words--and he wasn’t a singer anyway--but he was more than enjoying himself just listening to his boyfriend join the crowd with gusto.

And for a bright, fun moment like that? 

“I see…” Ienzo hummed in understanding, “That’s quite practical. I’ll admit, most of what I know about busking is from your and Larxene’s escapades, so it’s a rather small sample, though I’m not surprised you’re well-versed in the established etiquette.”

ㅍ_ㅍ We’d assumed there was a level of risk taken to having money out in the open like that while one is playing. It makes sense that the performer would monitor the amount for their safety.

“It was kind of you to show your appreciation for her art, as such,” Ienzo said quietly, for as vague as he left the words, nudging Demyx affectionately with his shoulder.

“Aw, it’s easy when you actually have some coin to throw around. It’s fun being rich!” Demyx said cheerfully… before wincing, looking around, “In theory! Not that I would know! Neither of us know that! Let’s go to a different street.” Demyx whispered, ducking the three of them into an alley, giggling as he pulled them to the next street over, “But yeah, it’s fun, actually being able to, like, make someone’s day like that. I got a gold busking once. I mean…”

Demyx snickered, “The guy was wasted and told me he wanted to suck my toes too. But he didn’t actually touch me or anything. He just gave me the gold, said he liked my songs, told me I was hot, toe sucking, yada yada, then he left! Great night! I bought drinks for all of my friends and still had plenty after! What do you think, Ienzo? Zexion? You guys think I have a gold’s worth of toes?” Demyx laughed again, lifting up his foot and wiggling his toes in his sandals. “But yeah, so long as I have money to actually give away? It’s nice being able to do that. I actually don’t get why more rich folk aren’t super into it, it feels good.”

≖_≖ I think that may be an experience we can make a ruling about without having to try. 

≖‎ࡇ≖

Ienzo snorted at Zexion’s grossed out look before pressing his lips to Demyx’s cheek in a brief kiss. “I think quite a lot of you is worth even more than a gold, without even accounting for the standard prices of the black market.”

“Though,” he sighed, “perhaps emblematically, what your probably hypothetical question’s answer is to do with power. ‘Giving away’ wealth, so to speak, gives others the means to better their lives and contribute more to the economy, thus raising the standard for all those within the system, as opposed to a centralized power having exclusive access to resources. There are those that find the feeling of having things others don’t more gratifying than the feeling of connection and gratification. Or, perhaps more fairly, that they’ve been socially conditioned into valuing that exclusivity, and thus maintain those behaviors not to lose their place within the social structure around them.”

Ienzo gave Demyx a small nod. “Thus the social perception that spending money on things you enjoy is a sign of poor management or hedonism, rather than a contribution to the community one is a part of.”

“Oh… hell yeah, I did some hedonism just now! Hah! And my old housemates thought I was such a prude.” Demyx laughed, leaning over and smiling imploringly, “Can I get another hedon kiss? Please?”

Ienzo gave Demyx an amused, fond look, before more boldly pressing his lips to Demyx’s in a brief but full kiss. “Given that a hedon is a unit of measurement for pleasure, may I ask how many you would estimate that to be? Unless you were implying that a kiss is the base measurement of one.”

Zexion rolled his eyes. They…really were massive nerds.

“Mmmm, I think we have to count it in seconds. So that one was one hedon, but I bet we can get two or three more hedons soon–oh!” Demyx, again, got distracted. Seeing something interesting down the street and pulling Ienzo insistently so they could go check it out. 

What Demyx wanted to go look at was a street stage play, that was half actors and half puppets. While it was being displayed in what was arguably just a half-circle a gate closing off an alley between two buildings, the staging was so elaborate that it was easy to guess that the play probably was put on every day, several times a day. The tourist town built and developed around new people visiting every day.

The play was already a bit of the way through its showing, and it was claiming to show what the dragon was like. The dragon itself was presented as a big, red puppet, worked by two different puppeteers, while two actors stood with the dragon, explaining its actions and referring to the crowd watching as if they themselves were people of old, witnessing the dragons flight. 

“And many asked, well, what did the dragon eat then?” one of the actors said, Demyx gasping and nudging Ienzo, pointing to himself as he mouthed, me, I asked that! As the actor kept going, “While the dragon enjoyed eating sheep and cattle as the occasional snack, what it truly ate… was sacrifice. It nourishes itself on the theft of others! To curve its appetite, every night it slept on hoards of stolen gold from the kingdom it inhabited, making the land and its people poor and starving! But the stolen wealth filled the dragon with energy, keeping it flying and strong!”

“Graaaaa!” Shouted the dragon, one of the puppeteers turning its head, “Your donations to the play with feed me! Feed me, or I will demand… your children!”

The crowds younger viewers gasped in shock… before one of the kids giggled when the dragon scooched forward, its giant puppet mouth nomming her head as the dragon shouted, “Gra gra gra! Blegh! No, not common children! My tastes are too refined for that! I need… royal! Children!”

“Oh, that’s alright then.” Said a boy next to the girl with the now mussed up hair. He winced as his parent reached over and twisted his ear. “Ow?? What???”

“Shush.” his parent scolded him.

“You see, dragons, once every generation, needed the ultimate sacrifice to sustain them for their long lives. So once a generation, they went to the royal family, and demanded to eat one of their children.” One of the actors explained, the other one gasping as suddenly a tiara was put on her head, the dragon looking at her menacingly–this got a laugh out of the kids when the menacing look lasted a beat too long, the ‘princess’ looking more and more nervous–before it roared at her, “Oh no! But! Don’t be worried about the princess! Because you know what happened?”

“What?” Demyx called, genuinely curious.

“The Danganronpa Knights Circle heard of Luminary’s plight, and sent their bravest knights to find Luminary chosen ones, and appointed them to be the first Knights of Luminary!” the actor explained, suddenly pulling out a sword and putting on a knights helmet, “And they vowed to fight the beast!”

Ienzo looked over the stage and play in interest as they joined the crowd, Zexion, in all his intangible advantages, full on pulling out his Lexicon to start sketching out the set-up. Along with, naturally, writing down a transcript of the play itself, even if it wasn’t from the beginning. Another story to hoard away in the library. 

Which seemed fitting with the plot of the play. 

Raising his eyebrows a little and giving Demyx a crediting nod--he had asked that, it was a good question--Ienzo listened to the story raptly, a dragon tale with a local twist that…huh. 

ㅍ_ㅍ Interesting that this tale frames Danganronpa as the establishing factor for what is seen as noble and orderly in Luminary. 

ㅍ_ㅍ It’s a narrative that seems rather convenient.

“I mean, we did get a lot of stuff from Danganronpa, I think?” Demyx said, tilting his head a bit as he watched the knights plan to attack the dragon, being gifted from Danganronpan knights some of the things that immediately came to mind, “Like, clothes, at least the kind of clothes we wear now. Aren’t there some pictures going around that show Luminary was basically naked during the dark ages? And armor, I heard we got armor from them…shoes?”

Demyx paused, frowning at that. For some reason the idea Luminary got clothes from Danganronpa hadn’t so much as made him hesitate, but… it was pretty common knowledge that Danganronpa style boots were pretty intolerable to wear in most of Luminary, really only something rich people who didn’t need to walk places could handle. So… “Man, why did I think of shoes? They didn’t show us sandals, right? I’m not even sure where I heard of any of this. Feels like something I’ve just always heard.”

Most things touted as ‘Danganronpa-style’ were incongruent with Luminary’s weather. Heavy clothes that’d drown you in sweat, shoes that would drag you down into the sand, food almost entirely made from ingredients you had to import…

“We may have ‘gotten’ things, but that hardly means there was nothing there originally,” Ienzo murmured quietly. “And ‘common knowledge’ is quite an effective propaganda tool.”

ㅍ_ㅍ Dilan’s been to crypts from the Dark Ages. One would have to assume that many fibers would degrade away, regardless of the sealing method, but he has mentioned finding different types of cloth and leather before. 

Ienzo paused, one of his hands going up to tap at his chin.

{I had assumed that a folkstory such as this would have reason enough to exist just for the mention of establishing the knight tradition. However, given our more recent discoveries…}

{Dragons do characteristically breath fire, one of the only ways I am aware of to truly hurt Flora. It seems beneficial to run a smear campaign against them, if they had been real.}

{Ooooooh, so it was a hit on the dragons?} Demyx said, the question sending with all the interest and excitement for a good story that he felt in it… before adding with a touch of sheepishness, {Not that I entirely believe dragons were real. Still feels pretty fantastical, even for us.}

As for the convenience of Danganronpa being the ‘benefactor’ that brought Luminary, quite literally as far as how they classified different sections of their history and how they judged their eternal literacy and organizational levels, ‘into the light’, their influence restoring Luminary into an actual functioning country… Demyx understood better, now, from Even’s and Dilan’s ramblings on the subject, that a lot of that was propaganda to get essentially specialized slave labor from Luminary. It was just still hard for Demyx to really understand how all of that had worked, in practice. He wasn’t a historian or particularly knowledgeable about economics or politics or anything like that. Other then growing up with the vague knowledge that Danganronpa was the ‘smart’ country that they got most of their cool, elite stuff from, Demyx wouldn’t have guessed in a thousand years how much of their economy went specifically to Danganronpa, how deeply one-sided their treaties and border policies with Danganronpa were, how the country literally got a tithe of people from Luminary once a year. 

If Demyx had ever been told–and honestly, he might have been at one point–that Danganronpa literally had multiple military bases inside of Luminary, that were not subject to Luminary law, and that those bases ‘aided’ in protecting Luminary resources they desperately needed, including ‘aiding’ in protecting the Danganronpa-Luminary border… Demyx would have probably shrugged and thought nothing of it other then maybe ‘yeah, that makes sense’. Because Danganronpa was the smart, wealthy country that had taught Luminary everything it needed to know. Why wouldn’t they have bases on their land? It probably helped a lot!

He knew a little better now. Anything he didn’t entirely understand was, admittedly, pretty easily explained by the revelation that Danganronpa people kept Luminaries, and apparently a lot of other people, like livestock. That particular twist tended to make it a good idea to look at anything Danganronpa inspired and go ‘well, okay, how does this help the whole ‘secret slave empire’ thing they got going on’ and just going from there.

It was… a lot! And Demyx didn’t think about it much when the others didn’t mention it. And despite recognizing propaganda when Ienzo and Zexion pointed it out… he still cheered when the knights vanquished the dragon and saved the princess. Clapping with the rest of the group as the actors gave their bows.

He paid a silver in donation, and asked Ienzo brightly, “Alright! Which way to the cave drawings again?”

Ienzo smirked a bit and leaned against Demyx’s arm lightly. {Says the man that extends his belief towards ghosts on nothing but faith.}

Though Ienzo was in a similar position--until finding proof one way or another, he would make no declarations that dragons did or didn’t exist. He could admit, though, that if his idea was correct, and the Flora had concocted a smear campaign against dragons… Well, the enemy of your enemy wasn’t always your friend, but Ienzo was more than willing to hear out an adversary of the Flora. 

Their regime may be in shambles, if not entirely dismantled, but their political actions had personally harmed him and his. He would not be quick to trust the nation without observing good faith actions.

Still, he joined in on the applause for the performance all the same. It had been entertaining art, and it was not a personal condemnation for falling for propaganda. 

As Demyx asked about their initial destination, Zexion’s Lexicon would float slightly from his hands before a bright orange arrow would pulsate lightly on the ground--a figment that Demyx would be familiar with, Ienzo having kept his promise to guide Demyx back home if he were ever lost. Nodding in that direction, they headed off. 

“That confident in your directions, hm?” a coy voice called out to them, a young woman with casual body language that betrayed the eager glint in her eyes interceded before Ienzo and Demyx had taken more than a step or two. “May not be the biggest town around, but having a proper tour guide can still save a crucial hour or two. Or you gonna rely on your friend’s memory, hey?” she asked Demyx.

“Boyfriend,” Ienzo corrected, almost off-handedly.

“Boyfriend!” Demyx said almost at the exact same moment, grinning cheerfully, “I don’t think we need so much a guide, if you could just confirm we’re heading in the general right direction? We’d appreciate it.” Demyx grinned, placing one hand on Ienzo’s lower back, the other hand going into his pocket. 

It wouldn’t have shown to the woman, but Ienzo would probably recognize that despite his grin, Demyx was nervous to suddenly be approached, and was fingering in his pocket a small smoke grenade. Like everyone in Luminary, the Nobodies kept self-defense items on them as a rule, but Demyx… wasn’t good at real life fights. Even his practiced ability to spar didn’t help much when fear tended to freeze him at the points where it counted most. 

So, one day Vexen had randomly approached Demyx, put the small pull away stick in his hand, and told him to keep it on him from then on, in case he needed a ‘quick escape’.

Demyx had had it for a while now and had never needed to use it. But his hand tended to finger it when he got nervous on the trip.

“Have more than a few days here then, huh? Alright, alright, though, I do appreciate someone willing to--”

Ienzo hadn’t missed the way the woman’s eyes had glanced the two of them up and down. And neither had Zexion. 

≖_≖

Gone from Demyx’s shoulder and now standing in front of him, the Chibi gave the woman a deeply unimpressed look, before she cut herself off with a muted startle, looking off to the side with a bewildered, “What the…?”

And ever casual, Ienzo hummed an unbothered, “Thank you,” before putting a hand on Demyx’s upper back and calmly walking away.

Demyx’s smile was, admittedly, a little mean as he gave the woman an interested look, curious as he watched her gaze dart away. Though, he eagerly allowed Ienzo to lead him away, once they got a bit of a way down the street vying for his hand as he laughed, leaning in to ask in a whisper, “What did you do?”

Ienzo tilted his head a little. “We didn’t need her services, but it’s only polite to thank someone for their time. She obviously had something more pressing to attend to, and we have the rest of our day as well.”

ㅍ_ㅍ Don’t know what you’re talking about.

Demyx just laughed again, before smirking into the kiss he pushed into Ienzo’s cheek, nuzzling his nose pointedly into Ienzo’s neck, trying for a ticklish spot there that he had discovered by chance once, “Thank you~”

“Okay, but really! Cave place! I’m genuinely curious what the inside of that crazy not-a-mountain place looks like. Wouldn’t it be wild if it looked like it could fit a giant brain in it?! That’d be so cool!” Demyx said enthusiastically, his left hand no longer in his pocket as he pointed enthusiastically, “Oh, wait! But I gotta check out that music store first! I won’t take long, I promise, I just wanna see what kind of instruments they’re showing off!”

ㅍںㅍ

Ienzo kept the blank look up for just another moment before he mirrored Zexion’s smirk, though that too was short-lived as his shoulders jolted, a shudder going down his spine as he choked on a snort. “Stop,” Ienzo laughed, gently nudging Demyx’s dastardly tickling nose away from his neck as he leaned back a bit. 

Rolling his shoulders to urge the ticklish feeling away, Ienzo nodded accommodatingly. “Sure thing. I am rather curious to see how a dragon-themed instrument might work, or if this is one place where centering their theme around the formation is just a little too far.”

“...ah, speaking of music,” Ienzo recalled as they headed towards the store, “Have you spoken with Sam recently? I recall you mentioning that he has issues with spring allergies, though I’d be impressed if the natural season really has managed to roll over that quickly considering we’re only a week in.”

“Not this week, no.” Demyx said, holding the door open for Ienzo before excitedly heading in, his eyes wide and curious as he looked through the dusty haze of the low-lit room, various instruments hanging from the ceilings and the walls, a few on center display. There was also quite a bit of music sheets in boxes, which Demyx started a cursory look through as he explained, “He’s been working all week, he said. Also, I’ll admit, I’ve been a little nervous to just hang out with him lately. Not because he did anything! Just… we’re getting closer, you know? To the capital?”

Demyx laughed, the sound a little weak this time as he shrugged, “It’s hard to relax sometimes, knowing how crazy things are about to be. I’ve spent most of my week playing my sitar, either on the beach or in the carriage. It’s the only time when I’m not kinda worried about things.”

Ienzo, after glancing around the displayed instruments--no touristy dragon themes as far as he could tell, damn--started leafing through some of the sheet music as well. He didn’t have the skill to conceptualize what a piece might sound like by looking at its notation, but he did enjoy simply looking through sheet music.

More pieces for the library~

Nodding a bit as Demyx explained himself, Ienzo paused for a moment before giving his boyfriend a weak smile. “...I’ve been trying not to psych myself out too much. The case itself is secondary, but I am going to take it seriously, if only to give us more time. Doing so, as in committing to the preparatory work, however, is…daunting.”

ㅍ_ㅍ And you have to start dressing in formal clothes once we get inside the city proper.

Ienzo grimaced, wilting. “Nnng.”

“Hah! At least you know how to hold yourself like someone who belongs in formal clothes. I knooooow the reason is ‘help keep Isa calm if he regresses’ and ‘talk for him in a worst case scenario’, but… okay, can I just say, now that we’re nearly there? Why me?” Demyx fretted, picking up some random sheet music and tapping it against his face, “That was such a bad idea! I can’t be a lawyer! Look at me!” Demyx said, stepping back and gesturing up and down to himself, “I don’t have an ‘elite’ bone in my body! I have no idea how to speak or hold myself or… ugh.”

Demyx sighed, shaking his head, “We should have insisted Even come. At least Dilan is here, he knows how to talk fancy at least. But me? I should nooooot be here. I’m gonna make a terrible fake lawyer, I’m not gonna be helpful in a fight, they won’t even let me drive the carriage. You fall asleep at the reigns two times and suddenly… no, the second time was pretty bad.” Demyx admitted, “Still!” 

Ienzo stuck his tongue out in distaste. Sure, maybe… He hadn’t just forgotten childhood etiquette classes, though he firmly believed that was not a basis for knowing how to act like an elite. But…

Sighing, Ienzo gently took one of Demyx’s hands. “You don’t need to be a lawyer, you need to be a performer--which is something you more than excel in.” Smirking, Ienzo said, “Honestly, you breaking some code of social grace might actually work better--you are meant to be someone only in the courtroom because of too much money and too many people liking your pretty face. Being a bit obnoxious will sell it more, in my opinion.”

Ienzo’s lips upturned just slightly in a small, sad smile. “I wouldn’t say I’d be upset if my dad were here. But I’m happy you’re here perhaps to a greater degree, and I believe we’ll be alright.”

Eyes going lidded, he said dryly, “And Isa has been giving you makeshift lessons about what to expect in court. I have to imagine that helps some.”

Demyx pouted, “But the lessons are haaaaard. What do you mean you have to approach the judge starting with your left foot?? Whyyyyyyyyyyyyy.” He whined, “Who’s even looking!?”

A head poked out from the back of the store, sawdust puffing out with him. The shopkeep clearly in the middle of working on an instrument and looking less than impressed as he said, “Ah. Tourists. Can I help you folks?”

ㅍ_ㅍ The rituals are intricate. Zexion nodded sympathetically. 

Looking over to the back of the store, Ienzo bowed his head. “Apologies for the ruckus, father. We’re looking over the sheet music--you have a rather remarkable collection.”

Tourists didn’t buy full-blown instruments. They sometimes bought small instruments that they’d never learn to play, though, so the shopkeep pointed them out to a few shelves full of harmonicas and ocarinas and a fiddle too tiny to be actually useful, the sort of thing you gave a kid to pretend to play on.

And like the tourist he was, Demyx’s eyes widened in curiosity at the ocarina, the small instruments the only things with any signs of dragons on them, buying one and, as they headed out, admitting, “I don’t know if I’ll ever actually play this one, but it’s neat looking, isn’t it?”

There had been a small smile on Ienzo’s face, appreciating the design of the ocarina and Demyx’s enjoyment of it…but it did deepen into something slightly devious as they left the shop. “If you do play it, you should learn some of the quatrains from Link’s Adventures,” Ienzo snickered. “Make Axel think his world is leaking out a bit. Or perhaps even manage to summon Volvagia from stone again.”

“Oooooooh, heeee~ yeah, I can definitely do that.” Demyx snickered, before giving Ienzo a bright look, the two walking in silence for a moment. “...you’re really good at this, huh? This, I mean.” Demyx smiled, gesturing around vaguely, “Taking a guy out, making him feel special. We’ve done no joke, like, four things I like since we’ve gone out. You chased off weirdo lady who I am betting was gonna mug us. I’ve eaten good food and have a neat trinket, and you were good to me when I was whining, even though you have things to be worried about too.”

“It’s just… heh~” Demyx laughed, looking away a little bashfully now, “I don’t know. I don’t know what I’m trying to say. Maybe I’m sorry for doubting you? Because you’re good at this. Yeah. That’s what I’m saying.”

Ienzo’s expression softened, and--

ㅍںㅍ Took you long enough to acknowledge it.

Ienzo rolled his eyes, scoffing in the back of his throat, before he smiled again at Demyx. “I appreciate the revision of your view. Admittedly I had no basis of experience for my confidence, but I enjoy making you feel listened to and appreciated. And I enjoy experiencing things I wouldn’t have thought to pursue in kind.”

He shrugged sheepishly, lacing his fingers with Demyx’s. “I may try to catalog everything I notice, but it’s not the same as truly paying attention to it. Keeping in mind what you’d enjoy experiencing, or simply listening to you when you declare it, reminds me to slow down and enjoy the moment as it’s happening, not simply store it to revisit later.”

“I have fun with you,” Ienzo summed up simply, leaning up to kiss Demyx’s cheek, “Though that’s hardly a new revelation.”

Demyx laughed, wrapping his arms over Ienzo’s shoulders and, gracefully accepting the kiss on his cheek, took a deep breath, as if steeling himself, before leaning in to kiss Ienzo fully on the lips.

One, two, three– “Three hedons!” Demyx declared, breaking the kiss and grinning triumphantly at Ienzo, “Pretty sure that’s a new record!”

Ienzo flushed lightly, though he looked entirely pleased with himself. Though--

Zexion, full-sized, leaned an arm over Demyx’s shoulder, his grin ruthlessly cruel. “Sunshine, are you forgetting that we do, actually, have a competitive streak?”

Ienzo glanced over, expression still sweet and pleased, even as he murmured, “You wouldn’t be cheating.”

Demyx’s face flushed a little–he was always a little flustered when he found himself between the two–before he looked around, whispering, “Button, I can’t kiss you out here. I’m gonna look silly, puckering at the air.”

“But I can still kiss you.” Zexion’s grin increasingly spelled death and despair. 

“Out here’ does seem to be a defining clause in that statement,” Ienzo hummed in agreement, happily pressing himself into Demyx’s hold.

“I feel like you two are conspiring, but I don’t understand how.” Demyx said a touch warily, lightly swaying with Ienzo.

“Us? Conspiring?” Zexion said slightly.

“Never,” Ienzo hummed, before sharing a knowing look with his Chibi. And, no cue given, they leaned in at the same time, each kissing one side of Demyx’s mouth.

“Heeeeee~” Demyx grinned, absolutely delighted as his face reddened, a rush of little breathless giggles ripping through him, “That has got to count for more hedon points. Hard to judge! Maybe a hundred.” He laughed, trying his best to keep composed, but clearly absolutely flustered as he grinned at them. “Hee~”

Ienzo could only grin as he held out his fist behind Demyx’s back, Zexion completing the fistbump with a matching smile.

-

It had been a lovely day out, and as both promised and threatened, their group had woken Luis up for dinner, but they hadn’t settled back into the hotel for long before Ienzo put out a call to everyone to meet up at the island. 

Truthfully, neither he nor Zexion really knew if there had been a logistical point in waiting for Dilan to wake up. If waiting so long--even if they knew that even the start of this whole journey wasn’t long in itself, only a couple months--was worth…they weren’t sure. The grief of reuniting, but still having to say goodbye to someone for a moment?

Not that that had happened. They’d still gone to visit Dilan and Xaldin, had looked over their new connection and tweaked a few things to make sure nothing would give them issue, but if they had been somehow able to know that Dilan would go through the process of making a Chibi immediately as well, Ienzo and Zexion truly wouldn’t have left people waiting for so long.

(Even if Vexen had said not to rush. That it was okay, he understood.)

But it was certainly time now. 

Waiting for everyone to show up on the beach, Ienzo and Zexion were quietly comparing notes, once again going over the procedure they had been working out since Vexen’s return to essence, when--

Zexion blinked. 

ㅍ_ㅍ Why do you look like shit?

“Go fuck yourself,” Marluxia grumbled.

The Garden Duo looked, okay, not under the weather, why would you even think to say that? But they did look a little…hazy. Out of sorts. Bleary, as they leaned on each other to stay upright, both looking a bit disgruntled to be there, but certainly not missing the meeting call. 

(They weren’t sick! But Lauriam had woken up a little…achy. With an annoying pressure headache that, sure, sure, maybe was caused by congestion, but he wasn’t sniffling or a snot machine or anything! They didn’t have much to do on the road anyway, it was fine that he kept dozing throughout the day, regardless of the looks everyone gave him as they continually pushed cups and thermoses of drinks into his hands.)

On the other hand, Sora, in turn, looked great! Bouncing along excitedly through the sand as everyone gathered together, asking, “Did something cool happen on your guys’ side? Have you reached the capital yet!?”

“Nah, though swing by my world later if you guys want to see views of the dragon and its really dense cave system,” Demyx smiled, giving the teens a thumbs up, “Ienzo and I got a lot of cool images to show off from today.”

“Aww, you guys sound like you’re having more fun than us. We totally skipped the latest town we passed, can you believe that? Clara says we’re trying to make an appointment, but I think she’s just mad we had to go looking for Gula the last place we stopped,” Kairi sighed, swaying on her heels, “Why is that our fault? We shouldn’t be punished for that!”

“I would like you to remember, Kairi, that joking about ‘group punishments’ around our companions is both unwise and insensitive,” Even scolded Kairi gently, who pouted, “It is a necessity we skipped that town, not a punishment, and I’ll thank you not to say that where the Ribata Empaths can hear you.”

“Well, they’re not here, so…” Riku said, nudging Kairi’s shoulder and rolling his eyes, Sora laughing a little when he spotted him doing it. Though all three teens looked sheepish when Even gave Riku a sour look. “I’m just saying.”

“Maybe this is a silly thing to gripe about, but can we think of a better thing to call your new friends other than by their factory name?” Luis said warily, looking a little clear-headed with now a lot of sleep and food in him, “I dunno, maybe just ‘the new Empaths’ or something? I wouldn’t want to be known as the Chonis Empath. Makes me feel too tied to that place.”

“Actually, I think the, uh, ‘new’ Empaths have some misunderstandings about what we call ourselves too?” Axel said, “I think they think we all refer to ourselves as ‘Nobodies’. Just, all of us. Regardless of anything. I heard them calling all of us that.”

“I’m not sure I mind that much. If I’m honest, I also think of us as ‘Nobodies’,” Isa pointed out, shrugging, “Regardless of anything. But perhaps that’s because where the line for me between being Somebody and Nobody was so confusing and thin. I really thought I was Saix for quite some time there. Those first few months out of the factory were… difficult. They did a number on me.”

“Man, on all of us. You realize how crazy I feel, the more I look back at the whole ‘everyone is faking being Nobodies’ thing?” Axel sighed, shaking his head, “How in the hell did I convince myself of that? How did I pull off pretending to be one too!?”

“Tell me about it.” Luis laughed sheepishly. “In the pretending part, at least. Though, it helped everyone thought Luxord was a recluse, but I had a few moments there too after we left the factory where I got very confused, genuinely, what I was. I had half convinced myself I really was Luxord, at times.”

“Guess calling them the west group is sort of the same thing,” Aqua hummed, thinking about new names, before she chuckled, “Think calling them Animal Collective would be going too far? You guys’ve said they still wear the masks around camp sometimes.”

ㅍ_ㅍ That may have some unfortunate connotations, should they choose to take it like that.

Aeleus nodded in agreement with Axel and Luis, having been fully convinced of himself as Lexaeus even within the factory, though Ienzo perked a little at the conversation, Vexen’s clipboard appearing on top of his Lexicon. 

“Actually, speaking of Nobodies, that’s why we called the meeting.” Smiling softly as he gave a nod to Dilan and Xaldin, Ienzo explained, “With every Somebody awake, we thought we’d propose bringing the remaining Nobodies back as Chibis again. Now, I know Vexen already talked to most of you about your initial decision and what the process would necessitate of you, but given that we know the specifics of a relationship can alter just how the Nobody can reform,” he nodded a little over to the Garden Duo, “we would like to ask everyone again for their consent.”

“I’m still all for it,” Aqua agreed without any hesitation. “I’ve been thinking a lot about how thing’s’d go with Terra coming back, and, well…” She smiled with a tinge of sad regret. “Things I could do while reforming him that’d be more fair this time. I miss him a lot, but there’s a lot about our situation that could be improved, and whether that turns out with him mostly hanging on the island again, or my best friend full-on sharing my brain with me, either way I’d be over the moon.”

“As someone with no stakes in this game other than, well… okay, I guess I’d be upset if everyone said no,” Axel admitted, shrugging sheepishly, “But! I’m still trying to figure out exactly how Dilan and our new fuzzy mascot over here just did it by themselves? Did Dilan become our new most powerful Empath out of nowhere, or what?”

ʕ•̀ω•́ʔ This ‘furry mascot’ is gonna kick your ass, Axel.

“Ah, no.” Dilan said, smiling a little sheepishly at the ‘powerful Empath’ comment, “Nothing like that. I believe our latest best guess was that Marluxia accidentally pumped a ton of power into me basically the moment I was trying to decide on a new purpose for Xaldin? A bit of intent given that much force between two different Empaths is apparently just literally what a Chibi traditionally is. And thus, our tiny Jiminy Cricket.”

ʕ•͡ω•ʔ I’m fine with being the cricket, best part of that story if you ask me.

“Heee~ hehe,” Demyx giggled, staring over at Xaldin, who in his chibi bear form was sitting on the edge of the rock wall, “I still can’t believe you ended up a teddy bear.”

ʕ•̀ω•́ʔ Again. Can and will kick ass.

“Well, I’m down for bringing Larxene back. Though, man, I have some stuff to talk to her about,” Demyx frowned, crossing his arms, “How long do you think I should give her before I ask her what the hell she was doing, pretending to be me and fucking half the factory with my body!?”

“Half feels like a bit of an exaggeration,” Luis muttered, still a bit embarrassed that the one time he had let himself be kissed a bit by one of the others, turns out it was Larxene playing games. It hadn’t even been a good makeout session. Luis had just ended it feeling a bit let down and humiliated by the whole process. He had thought Demyx had just been too nice a guy to ever bring it up again, after seeing how genuinely uncomfortable Luis had been. 

“...I’m still concerned that… perhaps I’ll reach out for Saix, and nothing will be there,” Isa admitted softly. “Saix was destroyed long before we were all buried within our own minds. I don’t know if the wolf in my mind really is him or is just a figment I keep around for comfort. I’d say I’m embarrassed my own mind seems to be out of my control, if I can’t tell the difference, but… half the time I’m the wolf, so… that’s nothing new,” Isa said grimly. 

“I feel the same way about Xion,” Sora admitted, his bright expression falling, “Roxas got a glimpse of her, I know he did. She was displayed on his mosaic, its other side. But… I don’t actually know if that means anything, when it comes to her being a Nobody. Namine destroyed her. Overwhelmed her senses until she… had to self-destruct to save herself more pain.” Sora said softly, not glancing at Kairi, though Kairi seemed to wince in guilt anyway, “Maybe that’s it. Maybe there’s nothing left to pull back. Maybe they’re just gone.”

“Ansem might not be strong enough to call back,” Riku said, after gently placing a hand on Sora’s shoulder, just to show him he was there before explaining his own concern, “I kept him weak and thinly developed on purpose. That was the point of replacing him all the time. And now with everything we’ve all talked about and done since I’ve been back… I don’t know how to feel, about bringing Ansem back with the idea that he’ll be permanent. A real… something.” Riku said, glancing uneasily over at the chibis, “I’m sorry, I know that’s a harsh way of putting it, but that’s how I was taught to see this. That this was something specifically we were avoiding. Isn’t our Nobodies seeming… real to us? The whole thing Viz was warning us about?”

“I get what you’re saying, Riku, but man… how many of the Nobodies could you really say don’t deserve their next chance at life?” Demyx frowned, “Maybe you trained yourself to see Ansem that way, but can you say it to Marluxia, or Zexion, or Xaldin? ...could you say it about Terra?”

Riku wilted at that, looking away. “...no. I want Terra to come back. I want everyone to come back. I just can’t stop thinking of what Viz taught me though…”

ㅍ_ㅍ You’ve always been adept at figment construction and mental alteration, Dilan. I believe out of all of us, you and Xaldin regularly changed major features of your world, and thus your mind, far more than anyone else by significant degrees. Perhaps that aided in your ability to change Xaldin’s function and your relationship, along with, yes, Marluxia seeding a significant amount of raw energy into your mind. 

“Heh,” Marluxia quietly laughed, as he and Lauriam nudged each other towards the wall by Xaldin.

{Zexy does have a way with words~ ‘Seeding’ you, huh~?}

≖‎ࡇ≖

Her expression softening, Aqua walked over to put a hand on Riku’s back, rubbing it gently. “Love, I won’t lie, we will sound like we’re trying to convince you to bring Ansem back. He’s family, it’d feel wrong to try and keep up some entirely neutral half-statement, but he is you, and no matter what, the decision is in your hands to try and bring him back or not. Okay?”

She smiled softly, before nodding to Even, Aeleus, and Dilan. “You three knew her even longer than me, but…I dunno, just our Nobodies being ‘real’ wasn’t the actual issue I always heard in her argument. If she really did always see them as tools or neat oddities, I don’t think Viz would’ve been so preoccupied with how they could get hurt. Every time a Nobody would start to be hurt by the conditioning process, when their purpose didn’t feel better than the way they had come to look at the process and how they felt about it, every time they got to the point where they wanted more… Viz never wanted to leave them in that pain, because there really wasn’t anything we could do about it. We couldn’t refuse to condition, and we couldn’t give any Nobody more…”

“...then,” she said softly, still rubbing a little circle into Riku’s back. “But out here, we’re not just creating something, someone, to one day feel dissatisfied or to take on our own suffering. We can give our Nobodies a life now.” Aqua smiled fondly. “And here’s my ‘no fair, Mom’ point, so brace yourself--I’m so. Happy,” there was a gravity in Aqua’s voice that made it tremble slightly, “That you all get to have a life now. That there’s more for you than a box you’ll spend your whole life in and a role you can’t escape from. That you’ll get to meet, and have already met, a whole world of people that’ll be excited to meet you in turn and will be awed by the endless possibilities you can take and excel in.”

Laughing, Aqua couldn’t help but pull Sora and Kairi into a group hug with Riku as she shook the lot of them. “You’re my kids!! I’ve always wanted to give you the world! …and Ansem, Xion, Namine, Roxas--they’re my kids too, so I wanna give them that chance too. Of everyone I could want freedom for, of course I’d choose you guys.”

It was well-said. And heart-felt.

So much so, that Ienzo and Zexion could only share an awkward look with each other before Ienzo awkwardly cleared his throat. “...ah, though. For some of the more uncertain situations… Zexion and I have been expanding on Dad’s research. We can’t make any promises, as goes with experimental science, but the two of us are reasonably confident we should be able to reform even the Nobodies that have been scattered into base essence more violently.”

“Mom…” Riku whispered, uneased by the waver in her voice. Even if the only argument was that refusing would make Aqua sad, that would have probably been enough to sway Riku. And in truth, he wanted to be swayed anyway. Because Aqua was right; in all of Viz’s lessons, there had been this tinge of sadness. Viz doing what she saw as some sort of necessary evil, in order to avoid doing something she saw as worse. 

Viz, ultimately, was someone who hadn’t agreed with creating beings whose sole purpose was to bear the suffering for them. And while social pressures that most of the Empaths currently around could not even begin to understand from the older Empath days had pressured her into complying with the idea, Viz’s compromise had been to not force any Nobody to take more than their fair share of said suffering. She had made joyful creatures and kept them comfortable and had made their lives brief enough that the suffering she asked of them didn’t have time to properly wear them down. She had not wanted any of them to develop enough to the point where their lives were endless grief that she could do nothing to alleviate. 

In many ways, her methods had proven themselves when all the Nobodies had been forced to take over for their Somebodies out of the factory. Ansem, while a bit awkward and unsure of himself, had almost had a childlike innocence and easy joy at just existing in places that none of the other Nobodies had possessed. Ansem hadn’t been a Nobody burdened by trauma and existential dread. He had easily been the first one to advocate for finding other ways to bring the Somebodies back outside of ‘thinking hard’, because it had felt natural for him to want Riku back, and when it had been time to go, he had mostly just wanted to be told he had done a good job before he left. Otherwise at ease with the cards life had given him.

No one else had found it that easy, to exist without despair. Riku’s careful maintenance had given Ansem that. Ansem had been happy.

Riku hoped Ansem would not regret this, as he nodded. “Okay. I’ll bring Ansem back. A second chance at a life.”

ʕ•͡ω•ʔ Well, that’s one holdout swayed.

ʕ•̀ω•́ʔ Now there’s just one more.

“One more? Who? We just established there’s a good chance we can bring back the damaged Nobodies too! This is great, what else do we have to worry about?” Demyx asked. 

Xaldin just looked pointedly at Even. Who had notably not said much of anything yet. His brow pinched in thought.

Aqua smiled and ruffled Riku’s hair affectionately. “And remember, you two aren’t alone in this.” She snickered a bit. “Know you’re getting well into your independent teens, but throw your mom a bone every once in a while, ‘kay? I’ll always be here for some scheming, or even just a talk. And I know your dad will be too.”

Because that’s what being a parent was. Being there for your kids. 

ㅍ_ㅍ

ó_ò

Zexion walked over to Even.

ó_ò …I’m aware his survey couldn’t include you as well, but I’d hope you had been giving it some thought anyway, Dad. 

“Quite a bit. It’s very often been the only thing on my mind, during the quiet hours,” Even said softly. “...I have a number of concerns. A number of reasons why perhaps I should not. I have lost a year of my life to a coma that our constructs put us all in. Some of us have lost even more time than that…” Even glanced over at Ienzo, before sighing, “Some of us have been forcibly controlled against our will,” Even added, looking to Demyx, before glancing over at Marluxia, “Some of us have been attacked with, from what I understand, lethal intention.”

“Vexen, I believe, wanted to manipulate all of our minds by force as well,” Even said softly, “In defense against me. Proving he sees me as an enemy. That is a dangerous way to live. To have an enemy in your own mind…”

“...but for all of my doubts and concerns, one matter keeps making all of it seem so… small…” Even said, before giving Zexion a wary, but stern look, “...Zexion. Would you like Vexen back?”

Ienzo’s shoulders dropped a little. But it hadn’t been Namine’s panic that had enclosed him in the depths of his own mind for years--it had been his own. Perhaps Zexion had enabled him, but Ienzo had chosen to bury himself away from reality more and more, and that had nothing to do with the Nobodies. It wasn’t a fair comparison. 

Though, he didn’t say anything, letting Even speak his thou--

“Hey, fuck you,” Marluxia grouched, giving Even the finger. But only as aggressive as that, since his shoulder was the only thing keeping Lauriam upright, Lauriam snoring quietly against Marluxia. “I’ve never tried to kill La-La, maybe base your theories off something true next time.”

Zexion let out a little huff, before blinking at Even.

o_o

o_o …well duh, of course I would. He’s my dad.

“It’s not a consideration to forget, but I don’t believe it’s accurate to judge one’s character by their moments of panic,” Aeleus said quietly to Even. “Vexen couldn’t bear a potential reality where the time and lives of half his family would be outwardly decided they didn’t matter. Neither of us can truthfully say we wouldn’t take drastic measures to save everyone when backed into that sort of corner.”

Aeleus’ voice dipped even quieter. “You two have always been concerned with the group’s well-being. And I’m aware it’s not entirely a selfless way of life, but…I would be happy for you to consider your relationship with yourself. You’re right, to live with oneself as an enemy makes for a difficult life. But as someone on the outside, who cares about you both very much, I believe you and Vexen have much more that unifies you than puts you at odds.”

It was a good argument.

But Even’s mind had been made up a long time ago. 

He couldn’t deny his sons their father. Even at risk to himself.

“Very well,” Even sighed, “I agree as well. Which means we will be attempting to bring back today Vexen, Saix, Xion and Roxas, Larxene–may the gods have mercy on us–, Ansem, Terra, and…” Even looked to Kairi.

Kairi smiled. “Namine. I know she put us through a lot. I know she’s dangerous. And I know I can’t promise anyone their safety. Namine and I are equally powerful, but she knows how to use our abilities more than I do. Honestly, I may have accidentally made my Nobody a genius.”

“...but she’s also my sister,” Kairi said, putting her hand on her chest, “And for all her faults, I know she loved us. She loved all of you. And I don’t want to give up on my sister just because she made mistakes.” Kairi gripped her hand over her heart, tensing. “She made mistakes wanting to save all of us. I can’t say if I hadn’t been offered the same things, that I wouldn’t have made those same mistakes either. The head secretary promised her our freedom, our lives, to convince her to do things that I know she found repulsive. I think I would have gone crazy too, if all of that had meant nothing, after everything it put her through…”

“I can’t leave her alone, inside myself. All of us are out here, waiting for her,” Kairi said, letting her hand fall… before smiling brightly at the others, “She’s going to be so happy to see all of us again.”

Zexion smiled softly at that. Namine really would be. Finally getting to see the fruit of all their family free, even if their method of obtaining it was different than she’d thought. 

{Okay, but imagine just how much Namine could catch Hao and Xehanort off guard after this,} Ienzo ‘whispered’ to his little sister, a smug smirk permeating through his intent. 

ㅍ_ㅍ Alright, then, if we’re all ready? Ienzo and I have worked out a way to get everyone back at once, we believe, but, naturally, we’ll need some assistance.

Nodding in agreement, Ienzo looked around the group. “Theoretically we would be able to tap into the island as an energy resource directly, but it would be much easier, and would more easily contribute to the collective nature of Chibis if everyone who is not bringing someone back would open themselves as a conduit to the island, please. …though…”

As Ienzo shot the Garden Duo a mildly concerned look, Marluxia rolled his eyes with a scoff and flicked Lauriam’s ear, the Somebody waking up properly with a small snort. “M’up! ‘M up… Yeah, we’re good to help, don’t worry about it,” he assured Ienzo.

Ienzo did not look entirely convinced, but he elected not to fight this battle today. 

“...well, alright. And for everyone who is bringing someone back, please focus on the new relationship you want to form with your Nobody, and I mean that tangibly. If you can envision their energy, that would be helpful, but if nothing else, just focus on the interpersonal bounds of creation.”

“You two seem a bit ill. Would it be unkind to suggest we delay?” Dilan frowned.

ʕ•̀ω•́ʔ aren’t you two supposed to be able to ‘will away’ illness?

ʕ•̀ω•́ʔ pretty sure that was a whole conversation we had once.

“New relationship…?” Sora asked, looking at the group in honest confusion, “What kind of new relationship?”

ʕ•͡ω•ʔ It helps to have a purpose. Weirdly enough, I think a part of us wants to fight the formation unless we have a goal in mind. The call for base essence is always there.

ʕ•̀ω•́ʔ and I say that as someone who really didn’t want to return to base essence.

“Man, I wish I was more sober for this,” Luis admitted, sighing as he rolled his shoulder, “Alright! Conduit time! Phoo! Can totally conduit right now, it’s my bread and butter.”

“Purpose… it feels strange, to give Namine purpose,” Kairi admitted, “She always seemed so full of purpose, right from the start.”

“...Sora?” Isa said, looking to him, “Could I request a small dose of concentration? Today is a good day for me, but the fog is never entirely gone, and I don’t want that to sabotage Saix.”

“Oh! Sure!” Sora said, concentrating, his keyblade forming in his hand, pointing the end at Isa and concentrating, {....wake up.}

A small beam of light shot out, connecting to Isa’s chest. Isa grunted in shock at the feeling, steadied by Axel’s hand, before Isa sighed. “...thank you,” Isa said, his eyes clear and, though it was never quite what it used to be, smiling with some of his old swagger as he said, “I always be grateful you can do that, Sora, in moments like these. It’s almost how it used to be, at least for a little bit.”

“I don’t know how it used to be,” Sora said, lowering the keyblade, “But I’m glad it puts you in a good mood. It’s nice to see you smile, Isa.”

“Smile… hmmm…” Isa hummed, turning that over in his mind. “...I wonder if Saix would be okay, with that sort of purpose…”

“Okay! I’m focusing! Not sure how much I’m actually contributing, but you all have my power, for whatever that’s worth!” Axel laughed, giving the group a thumbs up, “We can do this! Let’s bring our friends home!”

“We’re not sick,” Marluxia and Lauriam grouched in unison, both standing straighter just in defiance. 

“Uhuh,” Aqua hummed, unconvinced. “You’re lucky I’m not over there to pour some orange drink down your gullet. You two are absolutely taking a nap after this.”

“You don’t even have to be physically present for that to happen,” Aeleus said coolly, the look he gave the Garden Duo incredibly threatening for its unbothered assurance. 

Marluxia just stuck his tongue out, though Lauriam… He smiled softly, seeing Sora get his keyblade to work as intended. ‘Couldn’t do it for anyone but himself’, huh? Little sandbagger. 

Axel was the one to really sum everything up, though, so as he put out the call to action?

“Let’s do it,” Ienzo said softly. 

Each breathing in, he and Zexion held their respective Lexicons out, before every Empath would be able to feel a sudden surge of energy. The great tomes starting to float in front of the scientists, before starting to glow. And something a bit…odd, visually, started to happen. 

It was difficult to parse, but essentially the very ‘mesh’ of the island would become visible. But that wasn’t exactly what Ienzo and Zexion were doing. They were reaching beyond the metaphor, feeling out the space and energy of every mind connected together, and the new metaphysical space that they all made through that connection. Layers and layers of energy and memory weaved into something tight. Like taking books from distinct sections of a library and dumping out all their letters together to all be seen at once. 

And all Ienzo and Zexion needed to do were find the scattered pieces of words they once knew and--

(O_o?)

(Some of this wasn’t part of… But it was. It was here. But what was - no, who was--)

(Focus. One experiment at a time.)

As the very fabric of the island’s reality seemed to shimmer, there was another surge, but this one more emotional. Something that felt like joy and excitement and anticipation and mild confusion and… 

Something that felt like hope. 

And with that?

ᕙ( •́  ㅁ•̀ )ᕗ WHOA THERE, KIDDO!

٩(ˊᗜˋ*)و EASY, ZE, DON’T STRAIN YOURSELF

As he panted, caught as he’d started to dizzily fall, Zexion blinked up at--

으๐으 Terra?

More around the size of Amaina, Chibi Terra winked at Zexion, undeterred by a voice that sounded somehow like underwater singing, or eyes that were a few shades brighter than the more honeyed gold they had been. Looking quite a bit more like…well…Aaxqu’s. 

😁IN THE FLESH! OR, CLOSE ENOUGH, YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN

Ienzo, caught by the now Chibi-form Garden Duo when he wavered as well, blinked at Terra, before smiling warmly. They’d really…

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!

Did someone ask for an ENCORE~!?

“Oh geez,” Demyx said, though he continued to concentrate. He couldn’t count on one of the others always being there to bail him out, if there was danger in the real world. He needed someone with a backbone, someone who didn’t get intimidated when things got aggressive or violent. He needed– “Oh geez!!”

The tide had suddenly seemed like it rushed up to the sand, waves breaking around their feet, as out of the ocean sprung tentacles. Waving through the air menacingly as lightning pierced the sky, and for a second Demyx was worried he had brought Larxene back as a kraken… until one of the tentacles lowered down onto the sand, and off hopped a very small, very cute–

Ψ(☆ｗ☆)Ψ FINALLY! 

Ψ( ●｀▽´● )Ψ Took you all long enough to finally show up to my show! 

(｀▽´) Heeehehehe~ nah I know what this is. Who else is back!? Am I first??

❀ㆁ`、´ㆁ Gawd, you wish~

There was little actual tension, though, as with sudden movement Chibi Marluxia was tackling Chibi Larxene into a hug, little spinning flowers fading in and out through the air around them as he held her tight.

❀>ω< The bitch is back~

＜(●｀∀´●)＞THE BITCHES ARE BACK!!!

(｀▽´) Awwwww, someone missed me~~~

“Phoooo, I felt that one,” Axel said, though he was struggling to hear over the noise now. While Guppy had receded back into the ocean, wind was starting to pick up among the vague circle the group was concentrating inside of. It felt like more and more energy was gathering between all of them, as Axel said louder, “Any idea who’s next? Isa, how’s–holy shit! Where did you come from!?”

Quietly, during Larxene’s introduction, Isa had gotten onto his knees and was lightly petting a little, furry… puppy? Dog? Its fur too rough and coarse to really say ‘puppy’, its paws too big and dangerous looking even on its little body to say ‘dog’, but the expression on its face, when it turned to glance up at the cussing Axel, being…

●ᴥ● ?

“Hello,” Isa whispered, his voice shaking but a small smile on his face as he scratched behind the miniature wolf’s ears, “...I’m very sorry it took so long, Saix. I missed you quite a lot.”

●ᴥ● ♡

“Okay, well! That’s a good sign for the damaged Nobodies!” Demyx shouted, having to in order to get over the sound of the wind, “Sora, Riku, Kairi! How are we doing!?”

“W-we’re trying,” Sora said, Riku and Kairi beside him both looking equally tense, Kairi’s eyes closed and hands grasped together, Riku with his hands clenched into fists, “There’s so much here.”

“Do your best to find the thread to them,” Even said, eyes tightly shut as well, looking like he was also struggling, “I suspect it’s proving just as difficult for them as it is for us.”

❀ㆁ//^//ㆁOf course I missed you~ Marluxia sang quietly into Larxene’s shoulder. 

❀=^= Larx, I…~ He held her tighter. ❀=^= I’m so sorry~ I’ve missed you so damn much, and shit sucks out here~ Girl, there is so much I need to catch you up on~

Letting Lauriam hold his shoulders, Ienzo smiled softly as he saw Saix returned to them. He and Zexion had told the others exactly what the situation was, but he was pleased to see their projection was right. It’d be good to have Saix back again. 

But while it had felt like they’d gathered all the correct energy, it seemed like it was having trouble reforming for some of them, and Ienzo looked over to his dad and the Heart Trio in concern. 

Which Lauriam gave to him in turn. 

❀ㆁ^ㆁ…your dad mentioned that I was able to tap into, like…the ‘center’ of the island, once~

❀ㆁ^ㆁI could try again, if we need more of a push~

“That nearly killed you,” Ienzo dismissed, before sighing. “I think we have enough raw power. And providing the structure for someone else doesn’t quite work out in the long run, we’ve seen, but…perhaps just a basis…”

❀ㆁωㆁI’ll follow your lead, little brother~

Taking one of Lauriam’s dainty hands in his own, the two closed their eyes, refocusing on the conglomerated energy around Riku, Sora, Kairi, and Even. Sparkling flower petals that looked like little gems starting to drift down from the sky. 

The refocused power seemed to help, as Isa stood up straight and bowed his head, closing his eyes and adding his energy back to the group. Luis took a shuddering breath, his hands subconsciously reaching for a flask in his pocket, before he grit his teeth, forcing his hands to still by wrapping his arms around his chest, murmuring to himself, “Focus, focus, the younguns and your senior need a hand back. You’re a pillar, focus.”

Riku focused. Closing his eyes and looking inward. Looking for that piece of himself that always made Ansem. Come on, come on, surely he hadn’t… surely he hadn’t destroyed Ansem entirely, every time? Ansem had lived a year alone, without Riku’s influence! Regardless of how much Ansem felt like a limb of himself, that was a piece of Ansem Riku had no right to. Experiences he had no right to erase. Ansem had lived a life, short and strange as it had been. 

Ansem had been an experience. And his experience was his own. And it wasn’t. Done.

{Take a breath. Step back. It’s your turn.}

{I’ll take care of you.}

{Your purpose is to live.}

O.O

OuO Okay.

The sound was musical, but wispy and fading, like wind blowing through instruments, catching notes rather than being played. Riku let out a breath of relief as he opened his eyes, and saw at his feet a little shadowy creature that was both different and very familiar to him. Staring up at him with wide, curious yellow eyes. 

“...are you okay, looking like that?” Riku asked gently, kneeling down on one knee, carefully picking up the creature, “We can make you look more like the others.”

O.O I look like myself

O.O I am darkness

OuO It’s my nature

Like Riku, the others were realizing that there was more intent needed to get their Nobodies back. For instance, Even kept insisting, {Research assistant.}

Nothing.

Even grit his teeth, trying instead, {Knowledge organizer.}

More nothing.

{How on earth am I failing my own technique? What else do I need to do? Memory organizer.}

This bout of nothing almost felt mocking. 

{You fought to live. You fought for all of them to live. Why are you refusing my call now? We want you back,} Even sent in frustration, the nothing pointedly not responding, {Does your purpose seem inadequate? It’s not all encompassing. Do you need something more sentimental? Your purpose is to be a father. Your purpose is to be a mentor. Your purpose is to stop Aeleus from being upset with me so often. What? What else do you need?}

Silence. Heavy, purposeful silence. 

{......fine.} Even closed his eyes tighter, stepping further into the darkness, until it seemed to physically swim around him, like he had stepped into a vial of ink, {...your purpose is to give life. To give them life. Perhaps someday, they could have forms of their own. Perhaps someday, their lives could not be chained to us. Chained to the island. You will make the Nobodies stronger. Stronger than I could ever comfortably allow. You will do everything in your power to give them true, tangible freedom. That is your purpose.}

{........yes.}

(ΦωΦ) {That will do.}

A white cat settled on Even’s shoulder. It was clearly old, and a little malnourished looking. It had the strained look of a street cat. Its tail had a crook in it that suggested a bone had been broken and never healed right, twitching occasionally behind it. 

Xaldin looked at Ansem and Vexen and, admittedly, sighed a little in relief. Good. He wasn’t the only freak that ended up a damn furry. 

With Terra sorted, Aqua had refocused her own energy to help the others…but she couldn’t help peeking an eye open once Ansem formed. Roxas and Ansem had already gone back to Sora and Riku by the time she’d woken up, and…it’d been a long time since she’d seen Xion. 

But seeing one of her sons returned?

Aqua grinned wide as she came to Riku’s side, affectionately ruffling Chibi Ansem’s antennae. “You always did seem like you had fun makin’ your wild creatures, ‘Sem. Lookin’ good, love, it’s good to see you again.”

Terra had similar feelings, actually, having not gotten to see Kairi again before he reformed, but for as fond as he was, he didn’t distract her from concentration. Instead settling in front of her and smacking his tiny Chibi fists together, the ocean spray suddenly becoming more refreshing. 

And for one more reunion?

Zexion relocated himself as well, giving Vexen a happy, though very amused grin before plopping down in the sand by all his dads.

…Ienzo had said that they didn’t need a ‘push’, that raw power wasn’t the issue here, and while Lauriam had said he’d follow Ienzo’s lead…well. Careful construction was something Lauriam was much better at with his hands, rather than his head. 

It wasn’t like falling. It wasn’t that rushing feeling he’d felt once before, when he had first connected to the island. But as he followed Ienzo’s example of physicality over metaphor, feeling the true nature of the energy they shared, Lauriam got that same sense of being a speck among something massive. His sense of scale blown out at the sheer enormity of something that had been around him all along, like staring down into a giant abyss and…

Not falling. 

But sliding, slightly. 

Each fiber of woven essence sliding under Lauriam’s fingers as he moved through it, each one, oh. The taste of a cold, salty-sweet treat. A hint of something shiny in dark leaves. The squeeze of a warm hug. …the fine gossamer of spider’s silk. An echo of a song he couldn’t quite make out. Just the smallest flash of red…

Familiar gold eyes that Lauriam hadn’t just seen again. But instead of surrounded by brown, they were surrounded by blue, but it was all so…

{{{...hey…}}} Lauriam’s tiny voice barely even managed to echo in the gargantuan void he was descending into. Reaching towards that feeling that was so familiar in the most confusing ways. {{{...I…know you…?}}}

The figure–vague, shifting, but sometimes recognizable as the frame of a boy–looked up from where he had been staring. Golden eyes both wary and curious. 

He looked… familiar. Familiar in more ways than one. And as he lifted up his hand, he sent back, {{{...of course you… do… you’re my…}}}

And then these flickered in sad confusion. Reaching out further, reaching meaningfully for Lauriam’s hand, as he whispered, {{{.....Saber?}}}

But when he grasped Lauriam’s hand, the shadows faded off like cloth burning quickly to flame, and Roxas’ familiar blue eyes and golden hair suddenly replaced them. And Roxas in the depth of the island gave a small, relieved breath, before he opened up his other hand, and inside his palm was a small, glass-like egg. 

{Laurie!} Roxas called, holding onto his brother’s hand tight, {She can’t wake up, and I can’t find my way back to Sora. It’s confusing, it’s like nothing leads back to him. Can you pull us back?}

Lauriam didn’t hesitate a second before reaching out, uncaring of the massive space or the layers and layers of intricate fibers of essence, entirely single-minded on the fact that his little brother needed him. 

(Even if that brother was…)

(Who was Saber?)

Lauriam didn’t linger as he grasped Roxas’ hand firmly, the corners of his lips lifting a bit despite everything. It’d been a while since he’d seen Roxas. 

{I’ve got you,} Lauriam promised. He…wasn’t really sure where he was, or how to get out, but he wasn’t about to leave his little brother and sister to the darkness alone. (Even if he could feel that this was about as far from alone as you could get. That was one of the things that drove him and Marluxia crazy at times, after all.) {We’re all getting back up together, I promise. Just…let me try…}

There was a lot to sense, where they were, like how the emptiness of space wasn’t actually empty, but rather filled to the brim with dust and magnetic fields, but it was hard to really see. But like lighting a match in the middle of the night, there was suddenly a burst of a warm blushing orange as Lauriam cupped his other hand under Roxas’, a swirling bloom joining his fingers to cradle the glass egg. Something a little more substantial to protect it, and filled with…well. The affection of a sibling, which Lauriam had always considered to be one of the greatest healing powers on earth. 

But he wasn’t done with just that. 

Holding Roxas’ hand tighter, just to let Roxas know he wasn’t going anywhere, Lauriam closed his eyes--if he even did have real eyes in this space--and felt not just into the depths of the island, which was were they were, but the depths of himself, like a self-encircling paradox. 

And joining that initial flare, was a blip! …blip! ….fwoosh.

A pink ball of light shooting fireworks up and up into the massive space. Calling out for help. 

Sora opened up his eyes. “I’ve got it!”

He shot forward, catching into the air the shooting pink light before anyone else had seen it burst through the sandy floor. Sora gabbed it like a ball through the air, but the force of it threw him back, and up, into the air. Hurtling from the impact.

Sora usually couldn’t do this, not on the island. Too many rules suffocating his own. But in that moment, he felt connected to the island, as he spun through the air and then caught himself. Flying as he squeezed the light, and from it formed a keyblade. Its pattern thorny vines with blooming roses, but each rose the delicate pastel hues of the mosaics that Sora loved, could remember forming into puzzles, a toy he had been gifted by a stranger and one of the few truly beautiful items Sora had ever seen in his childhood, as he shouted, pointing to the sand, “Come back to us!”

And that beam of light that Sora used to calm the others shot down into the sand, and it was like the island opened an eye. But instead of revealing an eyeball, it opened revealing a deep chasm, down into the ‘center’, the land shifting like the eye of a hurricane, as Sora shouted, “Come on! Bring them home!” 

✪Д✪

Ienzo’s jaw dropped as he saw the island metaphorically open in front of them, the force of…of…whatever the fuck Sora was doing able to change the manifestation of the island. But even as his mind scrambled with this new revelation, he hurriedly straightened himself, holding onto Lauriam’s hand as he felt through the not Chibi Chibi where Lauriam had directed his energy, and once that was pinpointed?

ᕙ( > ᗜ < )ᕗ CANNONBALL!!!

With the very glaring X that had appeared, Terra jumped right towards it, Aqua just behind him, holding one of his nubs right before they touched into the inky darkness and--

꩜ᯅ꩜ 

Chibi Lauriam was laid out dizzily on the sand, one hand in Ienzo’s, the other in Roxas’, and Terra grasping around his ankle, Aqua holding onto Terra and the bright flower entwined with Roxas’ fingers completing the chain of very disoriented family members. 

Sora landed in the sand, the hole closing once the others had cleared it, panting and briefly looking very, very fierce… before he lit up with a bright smile. “We did it! You got them!”

As Sora and Riku hurried to help some of their family up, Isa whispered to Axel, “...is he supposed to be able to do things like that? That seems a bit much.”

But Axel wasn’t listening, as he suddenly burst forward. Kneeling down next to Roxas, Sora giving Axel a smile and shuffling back a little to let Axel lean in and over the small Roxas Chibi, who was clutching the burning flower tightly to himself. “Roxas! Roxas, hey! Hey!” Axel said, trying to grin, but his eyes watering as he did so, “Oh man! Wow, I just… you’re here! You’re really here and…oh, fuck, no one judge me for crying,” 

・_・Axel…

´･‿･` Did you miss me?

“Man, of course I did.” Axel growled, wiping his eyes before he carefully helped the small Chibi sit up. “You’re so small… Where's Xion? Did she… did she make it?”

Roxas lifted up the bright flower. It moved and danced like fire in his hands… but the heat coming off of it was comforting. Waiting.

Sora put a hand to his chest, listening for a second… before he said softly, “She just needs her purpose. Okay, Xion.”

Scooting closer, Sora reached down to gently take the flower from Roxas, Sora holding it carefully as he thought about it… before he said softly to her, “I hope you don’t mind, but it’s an important one. We’re not in the factory. We’re out in the world! And it’s big and exciting, and full of interesting new things! And it’s… big, and it’s scary. And we don’t always know what’s coming.”

“I wasn’t able to defend you, when you needed me,” Sora said softly, rubbing his thumb along the flower’s edge, “And now that I’ve been out here for a while? I’m not sure if any of us knows how to defend anyone. People come onto our island when they want to. They intimidate us out in the world. There are dangers we don’t even know how to look for. And I think… we need someone to learn. How to defend us. So nothing like what happened to you? Will happen again.”

“Xion?” Sora asked, opening his hands, “Will you defend us?”

・_・Yes.

Xion, admittedly, didn’t look intimidating. When she stood up, the flower and egg falling away from her, she looked like Roxas. Small, cute, with little beady eyes that seemed to look almost innocent in her curious glance around.

But in her hand, she held a keyblade that, not ten minutes before, had ripped a hole through the fabric of the island itself. Mosaic flowers with twisting vines.

Xion would defend. 

꩜ᯅ꩜

❀꩜﹃꩜b

Managing a shaky grin, Lauriam held up a thumbs up. Happy to help. 

( •́  ヽ•̀ ) YOU GOOD, LAURIE? YOU REALLY SHOULDN’T PUSH YOURSELF LIKE THIS WHEN YOU’RE SI--

❀ㆁཀㆁ

❀>ཀ< Namine get your ass out here before we literally throw up, oh my god~

Looking green, Marluxia muttered around the hand he’d put over his mouth. They didn’t have much time. One of them needed to wake up and move their body, like, now or it was going to be a vomit wave alllll over them. 

ʕ•͡ω•ʔ…

ʕ•̀ω•́ʔ heh.

“Honestly, Xaldin, you’re dating them,” Dilan scolded, kneeling next to Lauriam and waving air into his face. 

“I’m sorry, I’m doing my best,” Kairi said, still with her hands clasped together, still with her eyes tightly shut, “But she’s… I don’t know, she’s…”

Kairi gave a shuddering breath. “She’s fighting me.”

The wind had calmed down. The ocean was no longer shaking in waves. There were no holes in the earth or beams of light exploding. There was a sudden feeling in the air that none of those things were necessary. Not for Namine. Not for their strongest Empath.

It was just a quiet. A calm. 

A reluctance.

It was Luis who stepped forward first. Placing a hand on Kairi’s shoulder, who lightly gasped at the contact, but didn’t open her eyes. “Hey there, lass. I bet you can hear us… are you afraid?”

Kairi grit her teeth for a moment. “...she is.”

“That’s understandable,” Luis said gently, “You made some big, painful mistakes. It’s scary, coming back to face the people you hurt head-on. I’d argue one of the scariest things in the world. You’re not strange or wicked to be afraid.”

“But Namine, you don’t have to be!” Demyx called, picking up on what Luis was doing, brows furrowed as he said, “We all have things we have to face, now that everyone’s together! But we’re all going to get through it!”

“No one’s going to attack you, sis,” Axel said, stepping close, Roxas and Xion at his feet, as he looked down at them a touch warily, “...right?”

 ・_・(・_・  )

Roxas just looked to Xion. There was no anger in his expression. But out of all of them, Xion had been wronged the most, by Namine. He would defer to her.

( •̀ ◡ •́ ) 

Terra gave Roxas and Xion both a squeeze--there’d be many more hugs later, they could count on it--before he gave Xion a soft look and started to speak to Namine. 

( •̀ ◡ •́ ) …Mi-min, you’re not a monster, and you don’t deserve to be ostracized or punished. But you still did hurt someone. Refusing to come back, to live, isn’t repentance. It’s just avoiding the chance to ever try to make things right.

“And it’s not all on your shoulders to do it either,” Aqua said softly, putting her arm around Kairi opposite of Luis. “...we’re your parents; you feeling alone, like everything was up to you to decide painful things or to save everyone…we failed you. It never should’ve gotten to the point where you could hurt Xion…” Aqua gave Xion, her lost daughter, one of two children she’d thought she’d lost forever…and one of two that had returned, a heavy look. Because they had failed her too. “...I’m so sorry, girls.”

Marluxia knew he wasn’t even close to the last word, but he still gave Kairi a watery glare.

❀>ཀ< I swear I’ll throw up on you if you don’t get up soon~

Xaldin, again, laughed at Lauriam’s pain. Like a dick. 

There was a pointed silence, from the teens. All of them. Perhaps they didn’t know what to say. But more likely, it was a social calculation that none of them would have been able to explain if asked. Knowing that any of their words could have coaxed Namine back, tugging on her emotions. Knowing that any of their words would be cruel to Xion, pulling Namine back without her say-so. 

In Luminary, taking on enemies was a sign of love. And if Xion asked… it’d be a challenging moment, for any of the teens. Their love for both girls pitted against each other. Forced to take sides.

It was, ultimately, up to Xion.

Even if Ansem trembled a little in Riku’s arms. Suffocating in emotions he did not entirely understand. Burdened by lives he had lived. And lived. And lived. And forgotten…

(But never lost.)

(The island, still. Does not forget.)

(It never forgets.)

The little black-haired chibi, with her little colorful keyblade, shuffled over to stand in front of Kairi. Her small, innocent eyes peering up to what would be a giant for her. Her new keyblade, which had ripped a hole through the reality of their collective minds, held loosely in her nubby hand.

And then Xion took a breath. And she was herself again. A young woman, maybe a little older now, a touch taller. These were their growing years, after all. And the girl opened her eyes, and when she opened her arms, it was almost like she fell onto Kairi, rather than hugged her. Holding herself around her shoulders, while Kairi’s arms seemed to mindlessly wrap around her back, as Xion rested her forehead against Kairi’s.

“Namine…” Xion whispered, smiling as tears rolled down her eyes, “...we made it. We’re back.”

And Kairi took a step back, and Namine was still there. Still holding Xion as her face crumbled, trembling violently as Namine stuttered through a tight, watery voice, “W-we made it, Xion,” she sobbed, pressing her forehead hard against Xion’s, who laughed lightly at the pressure as Namine wept, “We’re back!”

And with Namine back?

Ienzo and Zexion let go of heavy, shaky sighs as they stopped directing energy through to everyone’s minds. A connection not lost between them all, never lost, but the depths allowed to sink again and the shallows allowed to lap around them. 

The hug between Xion and Namine was long awaited and sorely needed, but among family who had been apart in varying configurations for far too long, there was only as much respect as everyone could manage before the hugs piled in. Terra even popping into full size with a wide, bright grin as he pulled every single one of his kids together for a massive hug.

That was full for at least a moment, before Marluxia and Lauriam suddenly vanished. 

-

Invi looked up from where she was arranging the fire for the evening, just…watching Lauriam sprint from one of the carriages full tilt into the trees. A horribly wet and splashing retching noise soon coming from the direction he’d run towards.

Frowning in mild concern, she shared a quiet sigh with Ira, who was just returning with a batch of firepit fodder. “I’m a little surprised he has the energy for that, considering how sick he’s been all day.”

“Oh,” Ira frowned, wincing a bit in sympathy at the sound of Lauriam hurling, “I suppose at least he didn’t do that in the carriage. I thought all of them were spending an afternoon together on their island thing… alright, I’ll go bring him some water and get him back inside.”

Collecting some clean water from the carriage jugs and bringing a towel with him, Ira followed Lauriam into the bushes he had sprang for. “Lauriam? Or, uh, perhaps Marluxia? Are you… feeling better?”

Knelt over in the snow, Lauriam was shuddering violently despite having already been in his winter gear, the mess in the bush quite, er…extensive. Especially since his nose had started bleeding while he’d been throwing up, forcing out concerningly thick, slimy globs of blood and…other stuff Lauriam didn’t want to think about in a way that made him half think he’d just somehow expelled his entire brain. 

Coughing lightly before giving a sniff, Lauriam groaned, “...thin’g I might be sick.”

“Hmm. I think you may be dying,” Ira decided, only half-kidding as he gave Lauriam the towel, calling to Linnea and Xigbar, {Lauriam is outside and vomiting and bleeding a lot??? Help???}

“The hell do you mean he’s outside? That kid’s sick a dog, he should be in bed!” Xigbar called from the caravan window, scoffing as he got up from the small dining table he had been sipping tea on, heading out of the caravan, “Though I’m sure he’s not dying–holy shit! You sure he’s not already dead!?”

There was a part of Lauriam that did find a lot of humor in that last question, but there was no amount of coherence or energy in him that would let him laugh. And also probably the fact that he’d found actually laughing at any of Xigbar’s jokes was a really bad idea. So he just managed to mumble in his defense, “Mars’s z’erious ‘bout throwin’ up p’on Namine…” before throwing up another mouthful of bile into the bush. 

“Ammy,” Linnea sighed as she came upon the scene, kneeling to hold Lauriam’s shoulders up, though she frowned more, able to feel just how much he was shaking. “Oh sweetie… I thought Even said you’d already taken medicine, but…” She sighed softly. “Worse before it gets better, I suppose. Do you need to throw up more?”

Even as she asked, she motioned for Ira to bring the water closer.

Ira, of course, dutifully did. Though he glanced warily at Xigbar when the older man threw his arm around Isa’s shoulder, whistling as he peered down at Lauriam. “That’s a mess, he’s going to feel that waaaaay up his nose later. Probably needs a light painkiller or that’s gonna suck in a few hours… hey!” 

Xigbar looked over his shoulder, towards the fire, “Invi! Special mission! If you so choose to accept! We need a pain killer tablet! On the double!”

“Is someone hurt, sir?” Aced called out from the window of the carriage, a bored looking Hao peeking out with him.

“Mind your business, Aced, people don’t need an audience while they’re dying a bloody, awful death!” Xigbar called back. 

“Wait, who’s dying?” Ava called, coming back to camp with some firewood in her hands.

“What did I just say about minding your own business? I swear, I’m raising a circus!”

Giving Ira a quick, thankful smile, Linnea helped Lauriam drink some of the water when he at least didn’t protest it. And, taking the towel Ira had given him from where Lauriam was half-heartedly holding it, she gently pressed it under Lauriam’s nose as she rubbed the back of his neck. The blood had thinned out, so hopefully it’d clot soon just from some pressure. 

Despite the horror scene in the woods, this wasn’t actually ‘bleeding out’ amounts of blood, but even so…it couldn’t feel good, paired with Lauriam’s system already being on the fritz. 

Hearing Invi call out a distant, “Yes, sir!” Linnea sighed, keeping careful notice of Lauriam’s breath and the severity of his shaking. His eyes were mostly closed anyway, but she’d bet they wouldn’t be very focused. 

…the back of his neck was…concerning warm. She’d have to ask the others when the last fever reducer Lauriam took was. 

“After we make sure he doesn’t just throw up that pain killer, we should get him back inside,” Linnea told Ira and Xigbar. “Staying out here when he can’t regulate his body heat is a dangerous game to play.”

Most of the voices just swirled around Lauriam’s head as he mostly focused on breathing, just…trying to withstand the vertigo crashing through him and building up a migraine. But having a lot of back and forth with curious voices, that was familiar, of course. 

…familiar…

It was such a small sound that Linnea dismissed it as a wheeze, but in the heart of himself, Lauriam was filled with such wonder and hope as he muttered, “...Ven?”

-

Ventus was falling through the dark, but it was okay. He was safe. His brother had arrived and was reaching out to him–

-

–Flowers bursting like fireworks. Ventus stared at them and was {scared, angry, exasperated, worried, tired, beautiful, the lights were beautiful, damn shame they were probably going to kill all of us}–

-

“I’ve been having these weird thoughts, lately.”

-

–a storm was coming, thick and heavy with thundering clouds. Someone was upset. Someone had died again. Someone had been lost again. Someone {“Xion?!” “Ansem…” “Czativ.” “Zyvix!?” “Viz…” “I’ll find a way someday, Inzi.” “I think it’s going to be okay–” “Terra!” “Aaxqu?” “Roxas–Larxene–Marluxia–Namine–Dad?–Terra!!”}

Who’s Terra?

Why do you keep screaming his name—

-

“Like is any of this…” he gestured vaguely around himself, shrugging, “...for real?”

-

–Lightning laughed at the storm and screamed through furious tears, “DO YOUR WORST!”

“THE ISLAND NEVER—-”

-

“It’ll be a part of us that never dies,” the boy in the red scarf explained, showing his last-ditch plan to offer his companions any sort of comfort as they realized the walls were truly never ending. The light never coming on. “--a part of this world that never forgets us. Even if we’re buried—”

-

–the smiling musician never plays anything slow. Ventus sips his rum and feels a little lucky in the blur of numbed mind, that Demyx is letting him see this quiet moment, as the musician whispers, “Cockles, and muscles, alive, alive-oh. Alive, alive oh. Alive, alive oh–”

-

“He’s alive.” Terra whispered, staring at the bloody palms of Ventus’–

Mom?

Moꍳꎔꏿꂷꊿꊿꁤꊿꏨꂮꈴ

-

The colorful, curious eyes of a doll stares into Ventus’, and asks earnestly, “What happens next?”

Ventus smiles, and whispers, “Alright. One last one. The day we left the–”

-

F. a. C. t. O. r. Y. 

-

“Or not?”

Kaede smiled warmly at Ventus, giving him a beat, then two… “Oh!” she said brightly, “That’s the end of your thought?”

Ventus shrugged awkwardly. “That’s what it feels like, your grace. Ever since I’ve been trying to do the… techniques you want me to do? Strengthening my uh… ‘empath’,” Ventus said, unable to keep the quotation marks out of his voice, still highly skeptical of the queen’s fixation, “abilities? My dreams have become really intense. It’s genuinely becoming difficult to guess when I’m awake or not. It all is starting to feel the same.”

“Fascinating…” Kaede murmured, sipping at her tea as she thought that over… before sighing, “And alarming. It sounds like the methods we’re using might be proving to be a detriment to you. I’m sorry, Ventus… I was hoping to help you obtain incredible, life-changing abilities! Not sort of drive you insane.” Kaede frowned. “How do we fix this… I’m certain the intense dreams is further evidence of your abilities, so that’s a good sign, at least. But they’re not supposed to just give you intense dreams. You should be able to step into the minds of others. Change them. Or, maybe a kinder word is influence them.” Kaede smiled sheepishly, seeing the concerned look that flashes across Ventus’ face. “You can’t actually change somebody. Just… nudge them. To make better decisions, is my hopeful long-term goal.”

“Yes, your grace,” Ventus said.

“But not at the risk of your sanity! We’ll have to change course, figure out another method…” Kaede tsked, tapping her teacup, “I know for a fact there are some Empaths on their way to the capital, but… I don’t know how… willing they’d be to teach you. The old regime has made me some honestly powerful enemies and I need to be careful how I handle them. Hopefully my hands-off approach will have proved by now that I’m not planning to throw them into any dungeons anytime soon.” Kaede laughed lightly, before looking off into the distance as she murmured, “Which would be unwise, considering the watching eyes of my cousin. And every conversation we have he has the audacity to act like I’m the manipulative, dangerous one…”

“Yes, your grace,” Ventus said warily.

“Oh, Ventus, I’ve told you, you don’t have to refer to me as my title every time.” Kaede smiled warmly at him, the two sitting in Kaede’s royal tea room, carefully maintained plants decorating the well lit, beautifully detailed space. “I’m quite fond of you, and have grown fonder since we’ve started regularly meeting. You can’t think I only request your presence to hear you say niceties.”

“I thought you wished to understand my potential abilities more?” Ventus said. “And that’s why you approached me, uh… Queen Kaede?” Ventus tried, not sure what he should call her if not her honorifics.

“Well, that too.” Kaede shrugged. “Actually, the first reason was still because that lord was walking away with a kid over all of my guards’ dead bodies. Not in my castle, not during my reign. No more of that,” Kaede whispered, gripping her teacup tightly for a second, something genuinely dark rushing over her eyes… before she smiled brightly, “But seeing which kid I had just suddenly stumbled upon? After so recently getting so many reports about the noble families, and your name being so fascinating among them? It felt like Atua had gone out of his way to hand you directly to me, Ventus. Destiny.”

“Atua be pleased?” Ventus said.

“Of course,” Kaede said a touch dismissively, before sighing, “Atua, Atua, Atua…if I could just get Kaito to let some things go, Maki would likely not even notice anything was happening. And I can’t even begin to guess Prince Kokichi’s mindset on it… but I need some Empaths. At least one Empath. Someone who can teach you…how do I get my hands on one without them assuming I’m about to pull a Byakuya…”

Ventus assumed the queen was talking to herself, and startled when she looked at him, smiling warmly. “Any suggestions?”

“Y-your grace!?” Ventus sputtered, lowering his teacup, “From me?”

“Mhm~” Kaede laughed lightly, “You’re so surprised. I know it took me a bit of time to sprinkle some of the details of our Empath situation to you, Ventus, but I mostly wanted to take it slow to ensure you were someone who can be trusted with such information. And I believe, truly, you can be. You know…” 

Kaede smiled warmly. “You’re special. A prodigy, really. You’ve just lacked… guidance. Your family has underutilized you, and now that you’re suddenly their heir-apparent, they're attempting to pretend that they haven’t wildly under-trained you because they only meant for you to ever be a tool to your older siblings. But now? Now their prize-child is gone, and all the rest are duds. All except you. I bet even now, after placing all this burden on your shoulders, they’re still not treating you like the son they should have trained and cherished from the beginning…”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you sad,” Kaede said gently, as Ventus stared at his knees, a conflicted look on his face, “I understand what it’s like. To be underestimated by your family, to be raised as a tool for others. You’re too young to remember this, but my brother Haji at one point was being considered to be King. Above even Byakuya, the rightful heir. He was both King Leon’s and Queen-Consort Sayaka’s most treasured nephew, at one point. They adored him like their own son, to the point my mother willingly gave up her title, because it was starting to look more and more like the king and queen were going to ask Haji to step up and take the throne, even above their own children.”

“I know a little bit of this, your grace,” Ventus said, frowning, “But… didn’t your brother try for a violent coup? Why would he do that if they were going to give him the crown?”

“Because in the end, they weren’t going to,” Kaede explained, “Despite all the rumors and preparation and adoration and prestige they showered him with, their preference for their own son eventually won out. Byakuya was growing up to be another perfectly fine, strong, intelligent young man, and it wasn’t like there was a hurry for them to ensure an adult was heir, both the king and queen in fine health. Despite everything, Byakuya was going to be the heir, and my brother eventually realized that. And he couldn’t handle it…”

Kaede smiled. It wasn’t a warm smile, as she said, “Which is maybe the best thing that ever happened to me. That he couldn’t handle it. He got angry, he got greedy, and bit off more than he could chew. He died for it.” Kaede glanced out the window, smiling serenely. “That was a beautiful day, too. A sunny winter day, not unlike now. That was the last thing I ever said to him. Lucky you. You’re dying on such a lovely day.”

Ventus stayed quiet. After a moment, Kaede laughed. “Oh! I forgot my point! My point is, is that sometimes even if our family sabotages us, life has a way of self-correcting,” Kaede said brightly, looking to Ventus, “If one family is treating you poorly and not giving you what you need? Well, don’t despair! You never know…”

Kaede winked at Ventus, sticking out her tongue a bit. “A new family might sweep you right on up.”

-

Tupac had been an exciting detour, and getting the rest of their family back was a weight lifted off shoulders, so, all things considered, with everything going well, things should be feeling good!

Ienzo wasn’t entirely sure the feeling he was feeling was ‘good’, as he stared wide-eyed at the…he couldn’t even call this a city. This complex, this juggernaut of architecture and industry packed to the brim with people. He knew objectively he had been to the capital before, once, his parents being summoned for some socializing or administrative reasons and Ienzo coming along for once, but he had been entirely too young for even the memories to be recalled with much clarity. 

So essentially seeing it for the first time now, their entire group decked out in nice clothes, closing in on the castle to respond to their summons and play the social and legal game around a bunch of elites to buy time…

Not looking at him, Ienzo found Demyx’s hand and squeezed it tight. Becoming increasingly stressed as their plan ticked down into go-time.

Demyx whistled a loooooong whistle as he squeezed Ienzo’s hand back a bit reassuringly, the two keeping a steady pace in essentially the center of the small group, bordered by their companions who took the lead. “You know, I really thought I’d be prepared for all of this, I’ve seen plenty of cities. But this is… calling this a city feels like a massive understatement.”

“Technically once it was called an Oasis,” Isa explained, his voice surprisingly steady, for how pensive he clearly looked, his hands crossed over in front of his lap in a surprisingly deferring stance as he walked to Demyx’s right, his eyes darting around in fretting observation as he kept his head bowed demurely, “Records show that a good chunk of this land had actually been quite a large lake. The city rising around it. These days, there’s a fountain in the center of the castle that symbolizes the oasis water, but heavy living and several droughts dried it up long before even the oligarch period.”

“So, wait… we’re below sea level?” Luis asked, his hands shaking lightly as he pulled out his flask, taking a sip as he walked alongside Ienzo’s left. “That doesn’t make any sense. We had to go pretty uphill to get to this point since Tupac.”

“No,” Dilan said, taking the lead, guiding their way through the crowd with a surprising amount of confidence and assertion, somehow the only one among them not noticeably intimidated by the packed city, though perhaps he was simply covering up the best for it. “It’s a bit fascinating, actually. The city you’re looking at right now was essentially built on top of another city, whose foundations are now a massive series of ruins, catacombs, and underground bunkers and tunnels, all tightly packed together between several layers of dirt, sand and debris. It’s actually well-argued that right now even the version of the city we’re looking at is currently being buried by another layer of city. See those pathways up there?” Dilan said, pointed to criss-crossing beams above them, connecting the higher part of buildings, “As the city grows taller, buildings more dense, it’s theorized that the winds and time will eventually keep trapping sand from sandstorms in between the alleys and streets, blocking up sewage pipes until water will periodically overflow and create layers of rocks as well. Those pathways up there might someday be the new ground floor of a third, emerging city. Isn’t that incredible?”

“Incredible in the sense that it sounds like the game plan is literally, ‘let the lower half of the city get buried in storms and actual sewage waste, we’ve got an escape plan already’,” Luis muttered.

“And three guesses who’d be living in the lower city, the first two don’t count,” Aqua said dryly, bringing up the rear of their group. She held herself with purpose, perhaps not bringing the same level of visible ease that Dilan was projecting, but there was a certain stoicism that people expected from security detail that wasn’t the kind of tenseness that’d be alarming. And to bring that perception home, Aqua was the only one of them wearing a visible weapon, a short sword hanging from her waist, and…well, it was perhaps more of a joke to her than was wise for their situation. But while the necklace loops of her pendants were still secure under her jacket, she’d pinned the stars themselves to the front of her shirt on her chest, the sort of placement you’d expect to see badges or commemorative medals. 

It’d been a long, long time since Aqua had been back to her hometown, but she doubted that things had gotten more organized. To make themselves feel special, it had been common for an entirely new feat or achievement to suddenly be recognized for a noble who had too much time on their hands, so it was nearly impossible for anyone to know all of the badges and what they meant. Hers, worth every one several times over, would cause so much internal confusion if anyone tried to figure out what they meant. 

“If you wanted to be optimistic, you could say that continually moving everyone up solves some of the space concerns regarding new catacombs,” Ienzo muttered, clenching his jaw tightly. It turned out the face mask idea did help with the influx of pungent smells, but given Ienzo’s emotive tendencies, it didn’t provide a bonus in hiding him a bit more. Really, even with half his face still covered, Ienzo felt more exposed with his bangs pinned back and both eyes visible. “I doubt that optimism is very congruent with how reality would play out, though.”

“Before Dilan goes into a really morbid speech about how the conditions of a city buried in sewage wouldn’t be good enough for actual corpses, can someone please explain to me again the game plan?” Luis asked, looking around warily as people pressed in and past him, “I didn’t realize how unprepared I was to be randomly touched today, but boy, I was unprepared. Please tell me we’re going inside somewhere soon.”

“Not every part of the city will be this densely populated,” Dilan said, like that was an answer, “We’re simply on one of the main connecting pathways right now. Very busy, I know, but still the fastest way to get to the castle gates.”

Demyx glanced over in obvious confusion, before pointing between some space between the buildings. “Get close to the castle gates? The castle way over there? We never should have surrendered the carriage, if we’re going to spend so long getting to the castle gates!”

“The castle gates are just ten minutes down this road,” Dilan explained.

“...what!?”

“It’s actually easier to think of where we’re about to be as the noble district, or the royal district. Where the wealthier class are expected to travel around. The noble district is technically built within the castle gates. Then you travel through the noble district–faster by carriage, if we can get one to pick us up and drop us off– to get to…” Dilan smiled, eyes wide with eager delight, “the chasm.”

“.......okay, I’ll bite,” Demyx said, “What’s ‘the chasm’?”

-

The chasm had once been, in theory, a moat. 

But as the water dried up and the city grew taller, the castle growing with it, what that deep entrench of earth had eventually become was a massive, circular pit of rock, bricks and dirt, going down so deep that you couldn’t see the bottom from where the drawbridge came down. Looking down into the chasm was a quick way to give yourself vertigo, which said nothing of the strange, haunting sound that Dilan assured them was actually just wind going through the mortar. 

“Though it is said that there are actual windows into the castle dungeons down at the bottom of the pit. Or, rather, near enough to the bottom that no one above can see below to the windows and their occupants, but the ones in these cells can look up and see a distant light, taunting them with freedom. They say that those who have offended the royal elites or the guards themselves end up in those cells, with unlocked windows, tempting them to try to make an impossible climb, inevitably joining all those lost souls who find themselves at the bottom of the chasm, never to see the light again,” Dilan explained, while the guards checked their credentials.

“Huh… you guys ever feel like our kingdom might be a bit cartoonishly villainous, sometimes?” Demyx asked. 

“Nah, lad, we’re a delightful people. I’m sure every kingdom's castle is surrounded by a giant death hole,” Luis said dryly.

“Geez, even the dungeon-depths-ers got windows? Talk about capital favoritism,” Aqua dryly drawled, even if it wasn’t entirely a joke. She was sure it’d feel torturous for someone in that kind of cell to only see a distant light, feeling taunted, but honestly she felt like she’d take that ten times out of ten from no windows at all. 

“The hole does make defense easier, theoretically,” Ienzo lightly shrugged, glancing curiously over to where the land just…ended, dropping into the chasm. “I feel as though there would be much larger problems if a force one needed to defend against managed to make it through the city and the royal district in the first place. It’s all second-hand knowledge, of course, but I’ve read of many more examples of castles, capitals, and major cities erecting walls around the entire city, or having been established at the edge of a major water feature or edge of a plateau for those defensive reasons. The city of Eindyl in Danganronpa, for instance, is situated upon a massive plateau and is configured with three ringed walls around the city, built to withstand sieges. Just looking at a map, I did find that curious, since it seems as though it’s rather difficult to ascend the plateau at all, but I suppose over-preparation is preferable.”

One of the guards shared a look with the other, very ‘you hearing this’ to the odd flow of conversation among this group. 

The other guard shrugged minutely–rich people, man, what were you going to do?--before passing Isa back the entry letters the group had been provided. “The paperwork all checks out, and it’ll be our honor to have some of our guardsman personally escort you to our Accommodation and Service Center, who will have a liaison there waiting to show you your guest housing–”

“Housing?” Luis said, looking shocked, “What do you mean housing?”

The guard paused, not sure what Luis’ title or station was, and deciding to play it safe, bowed his head slightly in deferment as he said, “Apologies, I should have been more clear, sir. Your invitations indicate you are to be considered guests of honor, welcomed to and provided for during your stay within the castle walls. You will be given a liaison to act as your personal messenger and calendar keeper to assure timely communication with other elites of the castle, a staff to attend to you and your space, and should you so desire it, guardsman to guard said spaces, so you can be assured of the safety of your persons and items.”

“But we did actually get a hotel once we arrived to the city, where our things are all currently at,” Dilan pointed out.

“The liaison can have it arranged for your things to arrive within the hour,” the guard explained, leading them down the conjoining hall of the drawbridge, motioning for two more guards to come forward, “You are guests of the castle, and it will be up to your liaison to ensure you want for nothing while you are here. These guards will escort you. Please, have a good day, so that Atua is pleased.”

The pathway from the drawbridge to the Accommodation and Service Center–the liaison center, they’d quickly realize–would have been another long walk had a small carriage not picked them up to take them further within the castle walls. Those walls eventually opened up to sunny air again, and while the elite district had been wealthy and far less crowded than the outer districts, being within the castle itself? 

It was like walking through a personal, small city, designed just for you. There were people and servants still, yes, but they were sparse between the pathways, and most of them were only seen utilizing what at first glance looked like restaurants and shops, but on closer inspection became more obvious that no coin was being exchanged for anything. The servants waiting and taking orders and bringing food and drinks to elites at the castle because they either lived within the walls of the castle, had business inside of it, or were royal guests with their own liaisons, allowed to come and go. 

There was something both almost suffocatingly stifling about the sheer wealth and privileges just walking around the base of the castle provided, and also something cozy in the small spaces that were clearly only meant to accommodate a privileged few. The pathways were large to accommodate large crowds for balls or armies for defense, but the rooms and hallways themselves were meant to be comfortable luxuries, allowing if one desired to never leave the castle for anything, ever, in their entire lives, should they choose to do so.

The group was finally left to the liaison building, the reception hurrying to go find their designated liaison. Most of the group was struggling to grasp the sheer, absurd amount of wealth around them. Even Isa, who had been someone regularly traveling the noble district, had never been given access to the castle that hadn’t directly taken him to and from the courts, escorting his mentors at the time and watching them practice from the sidelines. Only the most powerful people got access to simply exist in the castle, walking around in it casually.

Not that they’d have blanket access to everywhere. Even within the castle, there were parts that were strictly for the royal family and no one else beyond the servants moving silently and unobtrusively to serve them. Their group, Isa knew, would never even come close to those spaces, and he suspected that was partly what the purpose of their ‘liaison’ was going to be. To serve them, yes, but also to keep an eye on them and ensure they only go where allowed. A system that allowed you to feel privileged to be directly surveyed and restricted. 

Luis wasn’t thinking of any of that. Luis was just wishing very, very badly that he was much more drunk than he was, as he looked around in a place that felt entirely out of his league. He was wearing a nice suit, and felt terribly dirty in these pristine halls. Had he shaved well enough? Perhaps this liaison person could get him a shaving kit while they waited for their…

…he recognized her before she greeted them. And in recognizing her, Luis realized that, of course, he’d recognize some of them. Of course the castle wouldn’t cast off what were likely still their very best servants, as a breathtakingly beautiful young woman approached them with a calm, sweet smile. Bowing low so that her long, brunette hair flowed over her shoulders, hands demurely crossed over her lap, as she said, “Good day, Lord Ienzo, his lordship’s guests. My name is Aerith,” Aerith greeted, standing up straight and smiling with perfect, beautiful poise. “I am pleased to be serving as your liaison today.”

Luis remembered this girl. She had been one of his, when she was small and just starting out. She had been going to be a housekeeper. 

He remembered her because one day, she had been sent back. Not to correct any mistakes, Luis hadn’t made any. But to get new conditionings. 

King Leon had liked how she looked.

{Hey, Lauriam, Marluxia, you’ll never believe this,} Luis sent warily, as Aerith spoke directly to Ienzo, explaining her services and that she would be taking them to their quarters next, if it pleased him, {You remember the wee lass we had to trade back and forth for a while there…? She’s still living at the castle. She’s our servant or somesuch.}

{...??}

{A bleary sense of sleepy confusion and sniffling}

{Aw shit, basket girl??}

{Crap… I guess it’d make sense that a place like the castle would ‘rehire’ people. Think I might’ve been hoping that people left, though.}

{There was a stomach twisting sense of unease.}

{Especially since…well…}

{❀눈3눈 Since the gross cuck that wanted to ogle a teen’s dead as hell?}

{Yeah.}

{...I’m sure Ienzo’s already thought of it if he hasn’t just done it already, but could you ask him if he’s given his anti-conditioning tool to her?}

{ㅍ_ㅍ We did, no worries.}

(Bundled up in his bunk in the carriages, Lauriam blinked hazily in confusion before muffling some coughs into his blanket. He…hadn’t thought he’d been talking to Zexion too, but…well, whatever. It was hard enough to focus, he probably bled a little or something.)

(Ugh. He hated being sick.)

(It was very obvious that Lauriam wasn’t talking to Ienzo’s mind directly, because anyone who tried would have to brace against the wall of ああああああああ!!!!! first.)

Ienzo had been making extremely polite conversation with Aerith, listening intently to her run down of their business relationship, thanking her for her duties, they were honored to be in her care, yes, thank you, they’d like to settle their living accommodations if she would be so kind as to lead the way?

“Of course! Please follow me. Unfortunately, there’s no pathways that make for easy transport, so we’ll be walking to your housing. I hope you all didn’t slack on leg days, there’s a lot of walking in the castle.” Aerith giggled lightly, gesturing for them to all follow her easy, poised sashay. 

…Luis wasn’t sure what he had expected as a reaction, from Lauriam, but he realized once they were done talking that it hadn’t been enough to match how he was feeling, in this moment.

This was his first time speaking to an Indentured–ex-Indentured–that he could remember from the factory. His first time coming face to face with someone he had, well… tortured. In the real world. Something he had been both thinking about and dreading since the day they left the factory, and he had found himself quickly looking through the letters on the wall, looking for names or faces he knew. 

Aerith had barely glanced at him. He felt pretty confident she didn’t recognize him, probably wouldn’t recognize Marluxia either. She had gotten access to the island just like everyone else; if she remembered anything, she’d recognize any of them. She just… didn’t know what happened to her. 

….oh god. Luis felt ill. 

Luis tried to remember how her conditioning had gone and found it way too easy to remember memories that by all rights should have been a blacked out mess. What was the point of getting wasted for conditioning if you didn’t black out!? But Luis hadn’t drunk to that point for a few of her conditionings, and as she guided them along, cheerfully pointing out different areas for them to enjoy and rest or have fun in, should they so desire to wander a bit, Luis could easily remember her breaking down at the roulette tables. Watching her confidence and agency ebb away little by little as every loss at the game came with terrible pain or screaming or punishment. The casino waiting for her to learn to listen, to obey, to stop trusting her own instincts or wisdom or even in the basic concept of luck as it punished her over and over again for any hint of strategy, any whiff of independent action, stomping down on even the concept of ‘hope’.

You played knowing you were going to lose, and if you won, it was because your better intervened on your behalf. You could not win without the orders guiding your hand. Any choice you made, any of them, was doomed to fail, and fail painfully. Salvation was in obedience. Do not think. Do not hope. Only look to your betters and put yourself into their hands.

Luis watched Aerith use all the charm and assured, cheerful ease Marluxia had shoved into her head, and wondered if breaking conditioning could undo years of being afraid to make a decision overnight. Probably… probably not… What was this girl’s life like now? What had Luis condemned her to with his machines that only ever let you LOSE, LOSE, LOSE…

The housing was, very nearly, an actual house. 

It wasn’t, the space carved into the walls and clearly designed to be a part of the greater castle. But its front steps let out into a sunny pathway, its open windows all designed with a Danganronpa flair of wooden doors and wooden shelves that held carefully maintained potted plants, rather than the thick and brightly colored, durable glass that Luminary tended to favor for their windows. When Aerith let them inside, the inside was perfectly temperate, brightly lit from elaborate, chandeliered lights, and three servants bowed when the guests all entered the well decorated, fully furnished living area. Aerith turned and introduced them brightly. “This is Quina, your chef. Ignis, your butler. And Tomberry, your housekeeper. While I’m certain you’re all familiar with the distinction, for anyone who was ever confused about the distinction, like I was in the past?” Aerith giggled, shrugging a little, “Your housekeeper will be expected to attend to your needs within the confines of your living quarters, while your butler will attend to your needs on the go. But of course, all four of us are at your service,” Aerith said, the four servants bowing. 

“I’m starting to get the feeling that the castle is not only good for keeping mobile, but a boon for navigational senses as well,” Ienzo said lightly, hoping he wasn’t visibly sweating. 

-

Shifting over in his bunk to lay more on his back, grimacing as he could feel the sludge in his head shifting around with the change in gravity, Lauriam looked lidded up into the dark underside of the bunk over his. 

He and Marluxia had known the names of their Indentureds. At least for a bit, names just part of the information they all got for every Indentured. But with the numbers they went through, there was no real reason to actively remember names, so…Lauriam had never really pushed the issue with some of the nicknames Marluxia had given to his Indentureds.

It wasn’t like they wouldn’t have to get used to it anyway. What sort of elite that wanted a special order cared about a person enough to use their name and humanize them?

Lauriam shivered violently, scrunching himself up under his blankets more. 

Basket girl. 

Marluxia had found that a lot of people tended to gravitate toward certain flowers in particular, in his world. That for one reason or another, there was one type that clicked with them, when it came to ensnaring their roots in their heads and making it all they could think about. One flower to ever care about for the rest of their lives. A privilege to do it. 

Basket girl had been a more unusual case. Marluxia still couldn’t fathom a guess why. But his world didn’t create sunflower fields or mounds of morning glory to surround her like it did for others--his field had…stayed the same. As determinedly diverse as it could be. And he could still remember that the first time she was in it…she had been picking flowers. Filling a basket with all types, looking at them all like…

Well, it had been very easy to get her to care about them. Less so, to get her to leave them in the ground, to not take ownership and dominion over them. With a slightly different order, he could’ve just shifted those feelings and they would’ve been perfect already. But not for hers.

Marluxia coughed breathlessly as he held his arms, trembling painfully as he gritted his teeth. God…she was still there? How had she not burnt the capital to cinders already? Fuck, he wanted her to pluck each brick from that stupid fucking castle just like her flowers and maybe just then she could turn it into something worthwhile…

He rolled over again, hunching over the tense, nauseous ball of his stomach, pained, frustrated tears beading in his eyes. 

Fuck…

-

Ienzo bowed back in greeting to the four servants, fighting against the urge to just make an illusion to go completely invisible (though he’d been less successful not casting other illusions as they’d walked around the city and castle). Instead, he just smiled softly. “It’s a pleasure to meet all of you, we’re in your care. I am Ienzo, and this is Isa and Demyx, my lawyers and legal advisors, and Aqua, Luis, and Dilan, my security detail,” he introduced, opening up the others for their greetings.

“Well met,” Aqua bowed. “We were told we could get some help bringing our things over? It’s been some time since any of us have been to the capital and we had booked a hotel in the city--Her Majesty’s hospitality is a pleasant reason to rearrange plans.”

“Of course, please leave it to me,” Aerith smiled, before nodding to Ignis.

Ignis, in turn, rallied the servants to start the process of cooking them food and offering them refreshments, showing them to their rooms and offering to have clothing pressed and ready should they desire to rest or bathe. Their items, as the guard had assured, quickly arrived, and by this point the group had insisted they could unpack their things themselves, Lord Ienzo’s entourage more than able to assist him with the effort, and so the upper stairs were left in relative privacy as the servants went about various tasks below and–

“Holy shit!” Demyx cursed, flopping onto the bed the second the group was alone in Ienzo’s master bedroom, “This is exhausting! Can we just order the servants to go away or what!? They hover! So much!”

“You can, but you kinda come off as a dick, and one trying to hide something at that. And even then, servants just get sneakier about doing their jobs,” Aqua snorted dryly, running a hand through her hair in exasperation. “At least, that’s sort of the vibe I always heard. It really is like this, huh.”

Ienzo forewent the bed entirely, just curling up on the floor. Eyes distant and glassy, calling back to his more usual expressions in the factory for a good few moments…before he blinked and sat back up, giving Luis a concerned look. “...Miss Aerith was one of yours? Luis, are you okay?”

“Miss Aerith was… really?” Dilan asked, glancing at Luis, “What are the odds of that?”

“At the castle of the capital? I wouldn’t be surprised if the staff was full of Indentured, freed or not,” Isa said warily, heading to the window and pushing open the wooden frame lightly, looking out, “...I’m not a fan of this window style. This does not feel like a way to keep people out. I’d suggest we make no enemies here.”

“All of their assassins would be our Indentured too,” Luis pointed out tiredly, sitting on an overly fancy, thinly stuffed chair, “Assuming they even still have assassins? Who knows how many people they’ve convinced to stay. Maybe Seifer wasn’t the only one telling people they wouldn’t last the month.”

“Not much of an answer for our bud here’s question,” Demyx pointed out, sitting up and throwing an arm around Ienzo. “Who’s probably also freaked the hell out right now. Who else is freaked out? Raise your hands!” Demyx said, raising his hand, “This is so much more than I was expecting this place to be. Does anyone else feel like they might have just stepped into the prettiest prison in the world?”

“Walls within walls within chasms within gates… this is a difficult place to enter if one is not guided inside,” Isa said, sighing, “And a difficult place to leave if one is not allowed. I doubt any of us are prisoners, but yes. I can see how it comes across to you as a gilded cage, Demyx.” Then, after a moment Isa raised his hand. “I’m also freaked out. But thankfully not regressed. Let’s hope it lasts.”

“To answer said question, I feel like shit,” Luis admitted, shrugging as he started patting his pant pockets for his flask, “I’ve made that little lass sob and scream, and she’s smiling at me not just because she has to, but because she’s got no idea that I did that. This is going to sound terrible, but it conveys how I feel: I feel like I’ve been set up on a blind date with someone I roofied a few years back.”

Dilan winced in genuine revulsion. “Ngh. Okay, that does paint a picture. Though, might I remind you that this is very much not that situation. You had as much choice in what happened as she did, and I doubt you took much pleasure in the process.”

“Still leaves me with a full deck of cards and her playing missing all of her kings and queens and aces,” Luis said miserably, finding his flask and taking a deep swig, “Game’s still wildly rigged in my favor.”

Ienzo nodded glumly, leaning back into Demyx’s arm as he raised his hand. “Out of their contracts and even more recently without conditioning triggers…a job in the castle, working for royalty and the heart of government in our nation is still a highly lucrative job. And there’s a lot to be said about the demon you know. Everyone might be well aware of the ways they’ll be exploited in their jobs, but that awareness is still an advantage, especially while receiving an actual paycheck now. Along with other personal freedoms. I wouldn’t be surprised about any particular percentage that decided to stay on their own, added onto those that were coerced.”

Though, there were definitely people that were coerced. 

Aqua sighed, walking over and rocking Luis from his shoulders back and forth slowly. “It always is, with us. Though,” she offered a weak smirk, trying to ease some of the worse feelings her friend was going through, “measuring you two up? You haven’t been keeping up with our subsection of the workout club, Lui, I’d place my bets on Aerith kicking your ass nine times out of ten. So that’s the rigged deck she has over you.”

Ienzo traced his fingers along the folded cuff of his dress shirt anxiously. “...I’m not sure how much it would help to hear this, and Miss Aerith is her own person, of course, but while neither of them wanted the memories of what happened during conditioning? I did make it explicit to Rantarou and Xiomara that we had tortured them. Perhaps it is that emotional distance that not remembering provides, but they did say they don’t hold it against us.”

“She probably could kick my ass. Goodness knows I’m not hiding six-packs beneath this outfit,” Luis grumbled, looking put out for a second… before he chuckled slightly. Leaning to affectionately press his shoulder against Aqua in gratitude. 

And at Ienzo’s point, the group went quiet. 

What to say about the people they had tortured, what to think about them… it was a difficult conversation that most of them hadn’t had yet with any sort of depth. Ienzo had dedicated himself to the project as soon as he was back, of course, Zexion starting immediately. But outside of those two, the realities of their roles as torturers was difficult to discuss out in the real world, partly because it was so… borderline mundane.

They had been torturers for years. Some of them decades. What difference did it make, being inside or outside the factory. What did it matter that their victims could be someone passing by them in the street, versus someone on the other side of a factory wall? Did being served by someone they had enslaved into service change literally anything about what they already felt about Indentureds since they had started creating them?

…the annoying answer was yes. Yes, it did make a difference, it did change the conversation, it did feel like something new was happening, even if nothing was. And most of them didn’t know how to talk about it, and hadn’t talked about it. This moment being as close as some of them had gotten yet, to opening up about their new reality.

“...it is nice to know we’ve made peace with two of them, at least,” Luis admitted, “Not to mention Shuichi and Maki. I guess that’s four we’ve made amends with. Pity there’s so many otherwise…”

“Well, we’re never going to be able to make it up to everyone.” Demyx frowned, before shrugging. “But it’s like that one story you hear about, how does it go… a girl walks the beach, tossing back into the ocean starfish that have gotten stuck in the sand? But there’s a ton of starfish, and someone points out she’s never going to get to all of them in time, so what’s the point? Or, no, it was ‘what difference does it make’?” Demyx mused, smiling a little, “And she points into the ocean and says ‘for the ones I got to? It’s all the difference in the world.’ Something like that. Anyway, we can’t hope to make it up to all the people we conditioned, no more than Ienzo and Zexion already have. But we can be not shitty to the ones we come across.”

Something heavy weighed upon Ienzo at Demyx’s point. He’d talked about this with Maki too, his knowledge that…nothing would ever be enough. For the years, decades of harm that they had directly caused or had allowed to happen, nothing would be enough for the years of suffering people went through. 

…even so?

“...every act done in goodwill is one more act of it in the world,” Ienzo said softly, eyes so lidded they were practically closed. “And whatever we, personally would deem ‘enough’ is an almost arbitrary, and likely constantly shifting abstract. Because they don’t know, they don’t remember? However we feel about our acts doesn’t matter to the people we harmed.”

Closing his eyes fully as he took a breath, Ienzo opened them after it to smile softly up at Demyx. “But trying to be considerate and respectful to the people we personally encounter will absolutely make a difference to them, even if it’s the difference of a small, nice moment in a day.”

“...though, yes, there are some structural changes that would tangibly help more, but we’re working on that,” he quickly muttered afterward, starting to sweat in nerves again. 

“Every wheel turning at its pace,” Aqua sighed, before she reached up to stretch out her back. “...alright. Well, in the vein of treating Aerith well, I’d feel kinda bad about immediately trying to give her the slip, but I’m going to see if I can play the tourist for one of those vendor spots you mentioned, ‘Zo. Know you said it was a longshot that a member of the Shard family would actually be around their contract shops, but it’s a place to start.”

“Hah! My worrywort~” Demyx laughed, now wrapping both arms around Ienzo, pulling him into a swaying hug. 

“Demyx, you and I should go and ask Aerith when we might start working with the case paperwork,” Isa said, “The fact that we’ve been given housing and a liaison and servants suggest that the castle is fully prepared for this to be a long process. I’m a little concerned as to why. Again, I strongly believe we’re not in danger of being prisoners, but…” Isa looked around the master bedroom, in all its fine luxury and comfort, “Just because they wouldn’t stop us from leaving, does not mean they’re not already putting effort into prolonging our stay. Escaping with Ventus could be as simple as walking out the gate together, or could end up being more complicated now that we’re staying in the castle.”

“If we are staying a bit, I do feel some temptation to see what the castle has to offer,” Dilan admitted, “Especially considering nothing offered here costs anything? Luis, perhaps I could tempt you to join me in finding out what it means to be spoiled?”

“I was really just planning to stay in and sleep,” Luis admitted, “It’s been a tiring day, if we’re not getting anything done otherwise. Though, Aqua, Dilan, you sure it’s safe to go wandering?”

Ienzo groaned, though he leaned into Demyx’s sway, appreciating his boyfriend’s support. This was going to be a long, long process…

By their design, but it seemed by someone else’s too. 

“We already knew it was suspicious that they fast tracked our case to court,” Ienzo mumbled, half muffled by Demyx’s shoulder. “We know there’s something more at play here. That suspicion is the advantage we have here, so until more clues are presented to us, we simply have to be aware of our surroundings.”

Which maybe didn’t entail going exploring, but--

“Nah,” Aqua shrugged, “But nowhere is really safe. I know I can’t count on finding Ventus today, but if my son’s somewhere in this city, then I want to start crossing off places to look right away.”

“Plus, remember who you’re talking to, Lui.” Aqua grinned, winking while there was a sudden image of Chibi Terra flexing confidently sent through intent to all of them. “I’m Lord Ienzo’s security detail~ I can handle myself.”

Ienzo groaned louder, melting against Demyx’s arms.

With that, everyone got up to go with their respective tasks. Ienzo and Luis staying behind in the house to navigate how things were going to work with the servants, Demyx and Isa fruitlessly trying to start discussion of their court case, Dilan very quickly discovering a nail salon that offered manicures and pedicures alongside the richest people in the capital, and Aqua…

Master Aqua Eraqus, at age 21, had lived in New Grand Panjandrum with her father in their dojo. While not a tradition maintained by a noble house, Eraqus Dojo had been noteworthy in its own right. They took the craft of swordsmanship seriously, but never closed their doors to others that held that same respect, regardless of skill. However, to be called a master, skill was a much bigger part of the conversation. 

For half her life, Aqua had lived and breathed swords and the martial lifestyle, and while it could only be mental for the second half, she had never abandoned it. 

So while she was looking at House Shard’s established space for enticing castle guests with weapons’ contracts to get more information about Ventus…

“Wow… been a good while since I’ve seen a beauty like you,” Aqua quietly cooed to the gleaming kodachi on display, admiring the craftsmanship. “Look at you… Balanced to the gram, huh?”

“It’s good, isn’t it?” a young, male voice said behind her. Stepping forward as he said, “It’s not for sale though, or considered one of the castle gifts. It was… made by the eldest Shard son. His thirteenth year challenge.” The boy paused, looking at the blade, before saying, “He was gifted as a blacksmith. His talent so innate that people thought he was the reincarnation of the Knighted Lord Shard himself. This shop hangs it here as a sign of respect to him.”

Straightening, Aqua turned to acknowledge the voice, half-stepping back to not be taking up the whole space in front of the displayed sword. Her eyebrows raised a bit, learning some of the history behind the gorgeous sword, before she let out a whistle. “Now those are some lofty expectations to put on a kid, but, damn, seeing this kodachi up close? I’m more versed in using blades than making them, but just thinking of how much time he would’ve put in at the forge to craft something like this…”

She closed her eyes, giving the sword a respectful bow. “Your creator put a lot of care into you. Seems just about right that you’re an emblem.”

Turning back to the youth, Aqua gave him a light smile. “Hey, thanks for sharin’ that with me.”

Seeing her bow, the boy bowed as well. His bow lingered for a moment, like he wanted to sit in the feeling of paying the eldest Shard respect… before he stood up straight. Smiling a little shyly at Aqua, as he said, “It’s okay. This place means a lot to me, I tend to visit it every time I come in and out of the castle. It’s nice getting to talk about it with someone who hasn’t seen it a million times, or just sees it as a… thing.” The boy frowned a little in distaste. 

The boy looked at Aqua curiously. While his dark hair and mask gave him a somewhat intimidating look if caught at a glance, his eyes were expressive, and those expressions were an honest curiosity and good nature, as he looked Aqua over, before admitting, “Apologies, ma’am, I don’t recognize you. While I visit this place frequently, I’ll admit, I came in this time because I saw you walk in. I’ve been… trying to place what your badges mean.” The boy said, gesturing to his own chest where Aqua had pinned her stars, “They’re… unique. I’ve never seen them anywhere else before.”

Aqua’s smile softened. Maybe it was just because of her field, but a sword was never just a sword. They were always made by someone, and someone with intent, and when you wielded one, she really did believe you could feel some of that. A well-cared for sword was a part of the balance a swordsmaster needed to achieve for true success. 

And a sword that was meant to honor its maker? Very far from just a sword. 

While she wanted to ask a bit about the boy’s fondness for the shop, he beat her to a question, and Aqua couldn’t help but let out a small, cheeky laugh. “Oh, hey, you haven’t missed anything, I just got into town a few hours ago. Used to be around a lot more, but you never really know where life will take you.”

Giving him a playful look, Aqua said, “Aw, I’ll be a little bummed if you said ‘unique’ instead of ‘kitschy’. Though one of the guys that made ‘em might still take that as a compliment.” Straightening where they were pinned to her shirt, Aqua showed off the blue and orange stars more. “If I’m honest, there’s a lot of meaning packed into these, but one of my favorites?”

Aqua’s smile softened with fondness. “They’re given to people who’ve formed bonds where the sea and the sky meet. The kind of connection that no matter how much time passes or how much distance comes between them, those people will be with each other no matter what. Hearts always pointing back to the north star home.”

“...bonds where the sea meets the sky…” the boy whispered, sounding genuinely amazed, as his hand landed lightly against his shirt… before he let his hand fall, looking back to the weapon on the wall. “...”

“...I should go. But… it was nice meeting you, ma’am,” the boy said, bowing to her, “Do you think you’ll be in the castle long?”

Aqua bowed back, grinning warmly. This was a whole different experience than she’d expected, having to schmooze with elites for however long. “It was lovely meeting you too, young sir,” Aqua said, giving the boy a friendly look as she rose. Though it was soon followed by a lighthearted eyeroll. “If you’re in and out of here a lot, then you’ll probably catch the gossip sooner or later--yeah, I’m staying for a bit. My ward is going through a whole legal battle with the castle right now, and while I’m no expert, the legal wonder duo keep saying that we should buckle in.”

“So feel free to say hello if we run into each other again,” Aqua grinned, “Though considering I don’t think I could stay away from this place for long, that might be more likely than not. Take care of yourself, kid.”

Ventus nodded, before leaving. 

Like most of his kind, he found himself more comfortable in elevated spaces. He quickly made his way up onto a roof, before settling in, watching the woman eventually walk down the street. Her strange, ‘kitschy’ badges proudly on display.

…he pulled out his necklace from his shirt. Staring at the star. Identical to hers, but green.

……Ventus had been 6, when someone finally told him what it was. 

It had just been something that had always been in his room, growing up. Hanging on a wall, above his bed. His mother hadn’t known what it was when she had asked her about it, and he hadn’t dared ask his father. His siblings, when it had come up, had said it was a sign he wasn’t like the rest of them, not growing up with his gifted birth weapon like they had.

It had been Saber who had reached out to Ventus’ nanny and found out that she had hung it there, when she had first been given an infant Ventus, because it had been hanging around his neck.

(It was a mystery, who had put it around his neck in the first place. To both know what it was, what it meant to him, to have access to it, to be able to send it with him… it had to have been a supervisor.)

(Who could say which supervisor had done that one, single act of kindness, in a sea of pain and degradation and selfish humiliation.)

(But it had to have been one of them.)

And that moment had been when Ventus had found out he was adopted. Not a secret, not really. Just something no one had explicitly said, up until that point. Saying that he had come from his original family with nothing but a name and a hand-crafted star. 

…where the sea met the sky…

“What does that mean?” Ventus asked the strange little star. Lightly tracing its edges with his thumb, as he looked back down at the disappearing woman, “...who are you?”

…………and why had she been in his dreams?

-

( •́  ヽ•̀ ) {...his eyes look a lot like Terra’s}

‘You think so too, huh?’ Aqua amusedly thought as she gave another more considering look at the kodachi on display. ‘It’d be too convenient, right? We’ve all been talking like this would take weeks to even find him. Finding him immediately feels…too lucky for us.’

( •́  ヽ•̀ ) {Maybe, but he does seem to be around the right age too}

( •́  ㅁ•̀ );;; {Though I couldn’t tell you how many 13-year-olds are in the castle}

(｡=︿=｡) {Proooooobably more than one?}

‘Probably,’ Aqua huffed in amusement.

٩(^ᴗ^)۶ {He was a sweet kid, though}

‘He was. Next time I’ll try to remember to ask for his name.’

( •́  ヽ•̀ )

( •́  ヽ•̀ );;; {WHOOPS}

-

The Nobodies weren’t the only ones who had arrived to the castle that day. 

And while Kaede had been tempted to greet the Empath lord when he arrived, news got to her about who else had shown up in her city that felt mildly more… pressing. 

Kaede had been put in a unique and somewhat unforgiving situation, when her coup had worked and she had gotten hold of the throne. She had taken the crown from someone who, not even a year before, had publicly and violently stolen the throne for himself, his own much smaller, much quicker, but just as notable coup having already sent the castle into turmoil. 

In a normal situation, Kaede would have taken time and special care to ensure that the entire regime of people her court would have surrounded her with had been gotten rid of and replaced with her own specially chosen people. This included high ranking positions in the temples, displacing certain highly powerful noble families and replacing them with new noble families loyal and grateful to her for elevating them, and taking out certain wealthy elites who might not have toed the new royal line and tried to take advantage of their elite but slightly unmanageable titles. 

Maki had had an entire wall of names, dedicated to the regime change Kaede had wanted. Kaede planning the replacements for years, but knowing that if she wanted those changes to occur, she’d need someone unstoppable who could take, if not all, then most of them out at once, so that the remainder didn’t have time to organize and retaliate to save themselves.

Kaede still believed it would have worked. But then Byakuya had happened. And suddenly the old regime which might have been loyal to King Leon and Queen Sayaka, all for their own reasons, were under the thumb of a wannabe boy tyrant who had decided there was no time left for coyness and restraint, and had thrown his father out a window. 

And Kaede’s coup now looked less like a violent regime takeover, and more like Kaede was saving the kingdom from a mad king. A benevolent figure, now more loyal to King Leon than anyone could have guessed, ‘avenging’ his murder. 

Which meant the old regime was loyal to her… or, loyal enough. That her taking any of them out would turn the kingdom against her, Kaede’s motives and intentions now too overwhelmingly chaotic for anyone to trust. Her taking out the regime to steal the kingdom from Leon would have made sense to the people she elevated. Her avenging Leon and then killing his regime would have terrified anyone who would have aligned with her before that, too scared of what she’d do next. 

That was why the high-ranking figures Kaede had planned to kill were still alive. 

Why the old regime’s servants were still around was largely because Kaede couldn’t make them quietly disappear anymore, now that most of them were freed and Makoto Naegi was in the court, and had made it one of his priorities that the servants and Indentured who had been vetted in the old regime weren’t replaced with new servants that could be groomed to love Kaede. 

All that to say? Kaede had always planned for Maki to die in her coup. Maki was a beloved figure among the Indentured, her death would have inspired the team of Indentured that Kaede was planning to have her lead to finish the job Maki had started, and Kaede’s coup would have been assured.

But more importantly, it had been important for Maki to die, so that Nekomaru Nidai and Kyoko Kirigiri could have both been disposed of without consequence. Maki would have let a lot of things go, to change the kingdom and improve the lives of her siblings. But the death of her mentors? No. Not a chance. Kaede would have died in a fortnight.

Which now left Kaede in the unfortunate circumstance of standing up in her office as the door was opened by one of her servants, smiling warmly, as two of the most dangerous people she personally knew walked into her office and bowed to her. “Nekomaru, Kyoko,” Kaede smiled warmly, bowing her head lightly back in response, “Welcome back. I trust your vacation to Dicea went well?”

“Good day, Queen Kaede,” Kyoko said, straightening up and nodding lightly, “It did, thank you. Shuichi and his daughter are adequately being cared for. It put my mind at ease, I would like to thank you again for allowing us the journey.”

Kaede stared at Kyoko, trying to read her. 

As always, Kaede saw absolutely nothing when she stared at the woman. She never had. She knew Kyoko had tells, because Shuichi had once tried to explain to Kaede all the little emotions he noticed in his mentor that let him know if she was happy or upset or wanted something in particular. But Kaede still couldn’t see those things herself. 

Which was unfortunate. Since Kyoko had been a hard won but loyal follower of Kaede’s. But Kaede had never entirely trusted it. 

See, Kyoko had given Kaede her loyalty, sworn and knelt, when Kaede had saved Shuichi from Haji’s influence, saving her friend from being implemented in the coup that he had been goaded into by her older brother. By all rights, Shuichi should have been executed along with the other handful of followers Haji had for his own coup attempts, but Kaede and Kyoko’s combined influence had saved him, successfully arguing to Leon that Shuichi had been a double agent. 

(There was a reason Shuichi had never been excited at the idea of another coup attempt. It wasn’t like he hadn’t already tried.)

But Kaede suspected that Kyoko suspected that Kaede had actually helped influence Shuichi to join Haji’s crew in order to use the knowledge he’d accumulate there to aid herself, regardless of the risk it put Shuichi in. Kaede suspected Kyoko thought she did this, because that was what Kaede had, in fact, done, and Kyoko was the Royal Detective, and very little escaped her. Kyoko owed Kaede a debt for saving Shuichi, and had no love for Leon, Sayaka, or Haji or Byakuya… but Kaede knew she also didn’t like Kaede. Kaede being used by Kyoko to protect Shuichi as much as Kaede was using Kyoko by dangling Shuichi’s future in front of her like bait.

Now Shuichi was fine. He was far away and safe and perfectly happy. And Kaede would have felt much, much better if Kyoko had just decided to stay in Dicea, with him. Kaede didn’t know why Kyoko had returned. She knew it wasn’t out of love for the Momota regime, and it wasn’t out of compulsion for her work. Kaede had not ordered her to return, so her conditioning had nothing to do with it.

So why had Kyoko come back?

Kaede wasn’t sure. 

Then the other one…

“HAHAHAH! And wouldn’t you know it, your grace?! My Maki’s gone and found herself a pretty new little thing! Sweet, gorgeous, another little fighter! Fucking finally, am I right? Was sick to death of her chasing after Momota meat.” Nekomaru snickered, his grin at the queen all teeth. “Was gonna be the death of her someday, I swear… that Kaito boy, I mean.”

“Hah~” Kaede laughed, smiling brightly at Nekomaru, gripping the edge of her desk a bit, “Come now, Neko! Kaito’s not that bad.”

“Better than some, at least,” Nekomaru agreed. 

Why out of everyone, had this one decided to stay in the castle?!

Nekomaru was just dangerous. Point blank. Honestly, Kaede had spent nights in bed, staring at the ceiling, trying to think of how she was going to get rid of Nekomaru. Bizarrely enough, with everything Kaede had looked into about the man, both in public and in private, Nekomaru had… liked King Leon. And the queen. Or, at least, he had spoken sympathetically about them. In fact, it was tough to find anyone Nekomaru strongly hated. His temperament didn’t seem to lean towards grudges, at least not as far as any of Kaede’s sources could figure out. He hadn’t been coaxed into joining the resistance. Hadn’t been outspoken about any particular regime or politics or idea, again, either publicly or in private. As far as anyone could tell, Nekomaru didn’t seem to have an opinion on anything.

Which wasn’t possible. 

It was that mystery, that inability for anyone to understand Nekomaru’s thought process or feelings about his life as an Indentured, the royal family, the rebellions, any of it, that had made Nekomaru impossible to even attempt bringing him into the coup. Nekomaru was impossible to guess. He didn’t seem to want anything. He didn’t seem to believe in anything. He didn’t seem to care, one way or another, about anything that happened to anyone. Not in ways that mattered.

Kaede didn’t even entirely believe in Nekomaru’s apparent adoration for Maki. Sure, he talked a good game, but Nekomaru had been given many wards in his time as the royal assassin, and most of them had died, and Nekomaru had never seemed affected by that. A child he had doted on and played with and praised could end up dead, one misstep from jumping across the roof splattering them into the sidewalk, and Nekomaru wouldn’t so much as pause training. Leaving the body to be recovered by others. 

Kaede knew this because it was a memory that haunted Maki. And Kaede believed her. 

Who was this dangerous, brutal man who didn’t seem to hate anything but didn’t seem to love anything either? What was he loyal to, if not compelled by conditioning? Kaede was terrified to try to find out. Nekomaru was only safe if he could be bound and tightly restricted by magic or literal, actual chains. Even now, Kaede was counting on Nekomaru’s conditioning, as she smiled warmly, saying, “Well, now that you two are back, please don’t feel like you have to jump back into working. And that is an order, do not do any activities that relate to either assassination or detective work until I give you clear, in person permission to start again. Repeat that back to me.”

Kaede resisted the urge to nervously lick her lips, waiting for the conditioning to trigger. It should, she was the queen Momota, their conditioning should have them both recognize her as their current master, regardless of the law or how Naegi and Maki felt about it…

…she did notice Kyoko and Nekomaru glance at each other. But immediately afterwards, both said, “We will not perform any assassin or detective activities without your in-person permission.”

….good. Okay. 

“Because I want you two to relax a bit!” Kaede smiled brightly, “Vacations with that much traveling is its own sort of work. I hope you don’t mind, your rooms are still available to you, but I do want to talk to you both about perhaps… updating? Your living spaces? It’s not like you’re Indentured anymore, and I always thought it was a bit of a shame, to keep some of our most valuable assets in those tiny little rooms. You guys have earned better living spaces!”

“No kidding? Well, isn’t that a fine ‘how do you do’, eh Kyoko?” Nekomaru laughed, nudging Kyoko a bit, “Not together though, right? I’m pretty sure Kyoko’s sick to death of sharing sleeping spaces with me. I fart in my sleep, you see. Terrible! Would stop if I could! It wakes me up sometimes too! HAHAHAHA!”

Kaede’s grin strained a little. “Yes. Ha. Different living quarters, of course.”

Kyoko bowed. “We’d be honored, your grace. And while we will of course wait for our orders, we are looking forward to supporting the new administration in their care of Luminary.”

‘You could have supported it better dying in your trip through the mountains,’ Kaede thought tiredly, as she smiled. “Of course. And we’re so excited to have you! Again! Welcome back!”

-

From what Ienzo remembered about the habits of the rich, snobby, and powerful, there were two general options he could take that were well expected. He could play the total tourist, make it a personal challenge to use as many amenities in the castle as possible, or stay firmly within his housing, refusing to socialize with anyone, if socialize meant ‘breathe the same air’. To be honest, it was tempting to stay in outside of the few things he’d planned, simply because…it was a lot. And while they hadn’t heard anything about the case yet, every moment of there potentially being word strung Ienzo tighter and tighter with anxiety.

But this wasn’t just some routine court case. Sure, Ienzo wasn’t exactly trying to win, per se, just taking his own side seriously enough to make it a reasonable thing to discuss in court, but there were other players with hidden stakes in this, and Ienzo didn’t take kindly to being manipulated. 

Also, he could just see Aeleus’ disappointed frown at him avoiding the sun. 

So, much like Aqua was doing, Ienzo had set out to cast a few vague nets out, seeing what he could hear. 

…and also to potentially find the more public sector of the castle library, because, let’s be honest, of course he’d go looking for it.

A heavy hand fell on Ienzo’s shoulder, as a voice–far above him–chuckled in a gruff, full-body baritone. “You look lost, lordling.”

A body leaned in, and grinning over Ienzo’s shoulder, a behemoth of a man with spiky black hair, a sharp goatee, and two long, symmetrical scars running from the top of his forehead to just off his jawline grinned at Ienzo with all of his teeth, as he said, “What are you looking for? I could probably show you the way!” 

Ienzo couldn’t help the jolt through him under the hand, and it was only the utmost restraint that kept the man from being lost in a foggy crater. Ienzo knew that he could get a little caught up in his head even trying to pay attention to things around him, but…he hadn’t heard this guy come up behind him at all. 

…hm. 

Blank-faced as always, Ienzo blinked up at the man. “...ah, I was on my way to the library. It’s quite kind of you to offer to show me the way, though I wouldn’t want to cause you to detour from your own plans, sir.”

“HAH! Sir.” The man laughed, looking absolutely delighted as he laughed some more, patting Ienzo on the back as he said, “Shit, maybe I should be!? That’d be fun! Bet I could swing it too. So many bastards around here would grind their teeth to dust, hearing they lorded or knighted me. That’d be so fucking funny!! Hah! Right!?”

The man said all of this like Ienzo would, of course, be in on the joke, not bothering to explain himself as he looked around. “Alright, the library? Sure, easy enough! Gotta warn you though, they make the book nerds work for it! Gotta go up a few flights of stairs! Not gonna collapse on me, are you lordling?” the man asked, patting Ienzo’s back again and pushing him forward, “Come on, this way.”

…hm. 

Massive begrudging feelings for moving up the hierarchy, amused by being called sir. And the way he kept saying ‘lordling’ in that manner… Of course, that wasn’t much evidence, considering certain timelines, but…

Ienzo just shrugged a bit at the pat and the joke. “There is a significant source of amusement some can find in dramatic irony--the trope, if one were to compare real life to literature, of ‘just desserts’ is one that reports a high sense of satisfaction.”

Following the man’s nudges, Ienzo nodded softly. “I will be physically capable of climbing stairs, thank you for the warning.” After a few steps, he gave the man a more considering look. “At the very least you’re portraying the knowledge of who I am, but for the sake of niceties, I’m Ienzo. May I ask your name, sir?”

“Lord Ienzo Seisear,” the man mused, shaking his head a bit in apparent near exasperated amusement, “Now that’s a name that hasn’t been spoken above a whisper around these parts for some time. But now! You’re the talk of the town, did you know that? Lots of rumors and gossips from these busybodies all focused around you. You spook a lot of these stuffy bastards, you know. Like you’re some ghost walking among them, all ill-omens and bad luck. Heh. Word to the wise, lordling? You can use that sort of anxiety to your own favor. Frightened people are easy to manipulate.”

“As for me? Eh, an ex-Indentured still hanging around his old post. What can I say, I’m an old man stuck in his ways! Hah!” the man laughed, giving Ienzo a grin, “Name’s Nekomaru Nidai. Not a name that means much of anything anymore, beyond being a guy who can lead lost tourists around! Don’t let any of these pansies convince you otherwise! HAHAHAH!”

Ienzo let out a small, amused hum. Like a ghost walking around? Xaldin would be pleased to hear his nickname was still holding true. 

“I suppose that’s true. It’s not often that people who are disappeared end up showing up once again.” Ienzo tilted his head a little in thought. “...given the due process of the court, perhaps I actually should see into getting my name changed here after all. It seems we should have the time… Ah, that is, I go by Ienzo Seisear-Dareka these days.”

Ex-Indentured hanging around his old post, but not given the same job, so…

Recognition lit up in Ienzo’s eyes. “Oh! You’re Maki’s dad!”

Pausing for a moment, Ienzo gave Nekomaru a more respectful bow.

Nekomaru’s eyebrows raised in genuine surprise, before he crossed his arms, tilting his head as he stopped to let Ienzo do his bow, nodding back in a small half bow out of respect, but still clearly puzzled. 

“...I’m not surprised you know Maki’s name, my baby-girl has herself her own little reputation now. But… do you know my Maki?” Nekomaru asked.

Ienzo gave a small, sheepish smile. “In one of the looser interpretations. We lived at Sunny Side Orphanage together before our first trip to the factory; that is where I met Shuuichi as well. Back then, I did consider her a friend, though you might imagine there isn’t much substance to that connection after so many years. However, more recently, through what half feels like a coincidence of people we both know, we were able to speak again.”

The sheepishness grew. “That’s not to say I have not been affected by her more recent reputation, however. While the entire revolution was carried by the actions of many, Maki’s specific involvement in pressuring the Indentured Program to end means a lot to me and those I care about.”

“Ah, another Sunnyside boy. I suppose I did know that,” Nekomaru mused, scratching the inside of his ear as he led the way through the castle again, still intent to show Ienzo the way to the library, “Was one of those things probably everyone knew for a week or so, before time buried the rumor. Making the lordling boy an Indentured. Damn outrageous that was. Sort of thing that scares nobles to stop talking about it, hearing one of their own getting sent to their own shitty program.”

“Ey, confirm another rumor for me, Lordling,” Nekomaru said, giving the boy a curious look, “Word is you’re back to prove your parents were murdered by the old regime. That true?”

Ienzo gave Nekomaru a curious look for a moment. Maya had mentioned that she’d found out easily enough that he’d been sent to an orphanage, and then to the program…though he supposed he had to keep in mind that she had only looked into it years after he had already been in the factory. It made sense for something that scandalous to the elites would spread like wildfire. And likely intentionally. 

It wasn’t just to shut his parents up that their executions had been ordered. Yes, it had been framed as a suicide, but to anyone who would’ve heeded his parents’ activism in speaking out against the war…they likely knew what had happened. And that was a message sent. 

A message that there wasn’t much point in reversing now.

“I am,” Ienzo said softly. “Changing their cause of death won’t bring them back, or change anything of the last 16 years, and I’m not particularly concerned with the reputation of my family name. But history is more and more difficult to parse the more time that goes by, and I would like the truth of their deaths to be recorded, rather than the convenient excuse of an old regime.”

Ienzo smirked slightly. “I’m here for one court case, and it took far too long to travel. May as well get all my legal contests out of the way in one go.”

“Mhm,” Nekomaru nodded, before giving Ienzo a raised eyebrow, “Okay, but be real with me. If you’re itching for some vengeance, you have to know there’s easier ways to get names than that, yeah? It’s more than fine if that’s not your goal and you really are just here to set some facts straight, history is the sort of thing that matters to some people. But I’d hate to watch you put yourself through this whole court thing for things as simple as getting the names of who was involved with what. Bureaucracy around here is its own special sort of hellfire, I’d feel like a jackass to not clue you in there’s faster ways for that.”

“I’m aware,” Ienzo hummed with amusement, though the sound wasn’t unkind. “But those that I would want revenge against… I’m not self-important enough to assume that it was the late king’s sole, personal decision to execute my parents. It was a political decision, so that implies more cogs in the machine. However, the war is over and the names heading that regime are dead. I have much more personal and less convoluted people and designs to desire vengeance over than for something that happened long enough ago it’s changed the entire course of my life to the point I can no longer even imagine the person I would be otherwise.”

Ienzo rolled his eyes lightly. “...I’m not saying I would thank those involved with my parents’ murders, but I’m not about to trade the outcome of my life for dreams.”

“HAH! I get that. Samesies. Do the kids still say ‘samesies’? They should, it’s a good word! Gets to the point!” Nekomaru chuckled.

They approached two large doors, each side filling in a grand archway, and Nekomaru said, “Alright, this here is the library. Oh, you said you talked to my Maki? When? Only ask because I’m curious how she seemed to you. She always wants to keep a stiff upper lip for her old man, I figure if she’s having any problems maybe her little friends would notice before I would.”

“We last spoke about four weeks ago, so relatively recently. She seems to be in good spirits, though we didn’t delve too much in…to…” 

Maya’s library had been astounding. The kind of thing that had sent Ienzo reeling and bursting with energy to catalog as many titles as he could and start collecting the first ones he wanted to read. 

The castle library?

Ienzo entirely trailed off into shocked silence as they opened the library doors. This library stunning him completely still. Or, well--

{DAD DAD DAD DAD DAD DAD!!!!}

{LOOK!}

Two sets of eyes glanced out through Ienzo’s. 

{Goodness,} said one, {Perhaps I went with the wrong group after all…}

While the other ‘appeared’ on Ienzo’s shoulder, looking around the library in earnest curiosity.

(ΦωΦ) Splendid.

(ΦωΦ) I’m already curious what’s in their restricted section.

(●ↀωↀ●) I bet at least one or two blacklisted scientific theories

“HAHAHAHAH! Awww, we got ourselves another little nerd! Look at you, drooling over a bunch of dusty books! You and my boy Shuichi would have gotten along, I bet!” Nekomaru laughed, slapping Ienzo’s back.

(ΦωΦ) Who is this person and why does he keep hitting your back?

“Anyway, I may be out of work these days, but I still know this castle inside and out. A Sunnyside boy who’s friends with my Maki? Feel free to reach out if you need anything, lordling!” Nekomaru said, slapping Ienzo’s back again, “It’ll be fun, watching the trouble you cause! A good show!!”

That strange, low humming sound vibrated through Ienzo’s throat. His excitement likely palpable to anyone able to see him, and any Empath within a corridor or two at least. 

{I will have to observe the area first, but sneaking into a restricted section likely shouldn’t be too difficult,} Ienzo giddily agreed with his father, {And this is Nekomaru Nidai, the former Royal Assassin, and Maki Harukawa’s father.}

It was difficult to snap himself out of the utter awe of the library, even with Nekomaru’s slaps, but somehow Ienzo did manage it, giving the man a thankful bow. “Thank you for the offer--and for someone my old friend cares so much about, please consider me a resource as well. If nothing else, it seems I am the main act of the circus for the near future.”

(ΦωΦ) An assassin…

(ΦωΦ) I cannot remember who conditioned him. He might just be old enough where it was before Viz’s time. If not, it was likely her.

(ΦωΦ) Has he already been given your breaking method? 

(ΦωΦ) …it might be wise to allow him to remain conditioned during your stay

“HAH! You’ll do great, these folks are all sorts of shaken up already, shouldn’t be too hard to knock them back. Good luck, lordling!” Nekomaru said, giving him a nod before heading off. Chuckling to himself.

Ienzo always had trouble connecting to other people without help, which was the biggest reason his process in passing out his transcription factor was so slow. However, the ‘call sign’, so to speak, that he asked Empaths to place down to signal that someone already had the factor, was a bit shallow and obvious. 

So Ienzo very quickly felt the tilted square on Nekomaru’s mind. 

{Too late, I’m afraid. But I would be a little surprised if this was a casing set up to dispose of me.}

“Thank you,” Ienzo called back, before turning back to…fuck. It was like an entire manor itself just for books. That low humming sound followed Ienzo right in as he scurried into one of the most beautiful places he’d ever seen.

-

ʕ•̀ω•́ʔ …

“...” Dilan glanced over at the bear, observing him observing back, before he looked back down at his book. 

ʕ•̀ω•́ʔ …

ʕ•̀ω•́ʔ …

ʕ•̀ω•́ʔ I’m your conscious.

“I know. I was there when I gave you that job,” Dilan said, flicking to the next page.

ʕ•̀ω•́ʔ Ask me what I think you should be doing right now.

“I should be doing what I am doing, which is enjoying a good book about–”

ʕ•̀ω•́ʔ GO PAY THE FLOWER DUO A VISIT ALREADY!

“I have seen both of them, plenty of times, since I’ve arrived,” Dilan said, sighing as the bear glared up at him, Dilan lounging against one of his ruin pillars, “And you being ‘my conscious’ does not mean you’re not biased. I know you think I have some sort unresolved feelings I need to deal with from them, but I assure you–”

ʕ•̀ω•́ʔ You are out of your mind if you think you don’t. Someone doesn’t seem to want to admit that most of the time, it was you pinning those two to walls, ugly kissing them

“Th-that was one or two times–!”

ʕ•̀ω•́ʔ I have access to all your memories in the factory now. You want me to go back and count? You wanna know what the actual number of times you made out sloppy style with Lauriam is?

“No,” Dilan said, glaring at Xaldin, before sighing, “And like you said, it was Lauriam, not the both of them. And in truth you’ve sort of preoccupied both of their attention now, haven’t you?”

ʕ•̀ω•́ʔ You’re out of your mind, again, if you think Marluxia wasn’t affected by all that shit too. If you’re turning them down? They deserve to hear it from you.

“...there’s nothing to ‘turn down’, no one’s asked–”

ʕ•̀ω•́ʔ I WILL GET THAT FUCKING NUMBER OF SLOPPY MAKEOUT SESSIONS IF YOU DO NOT GET YOUR HEAD OUT OF YOUR DAMN ASS AND ADMIT YOU NEED TO ACTUALLY TALK TO THEM ABOUT THIS SHIT

“Ugh! Fine! Fine,” Dilan said, throwing his book into the sand, standing up, “But I don’t know what you’re expecting.”

ʕ•̀ω•́ʔ That’s because you’re an idiot, Xaldin said, the two heading out of their world and to the Garden Duo’s.

The Archeology Duo would find the Garden Duo in deep conversation. They hadn’t had many visitors the past, well, nearly week, in part because neither Lauriam nor Marluxia were even conscious enough to project their surface thoughts onto the island or their world. Most of their time had been spent sleeping, and any time awake was usually spent being cajoled in the physical world to take care of their body.

But now they could stay awake for longer and weren’t coughing and sniffling all the time, so back in their world they were. 

“...like, I don’t even know. We know I don’t…that sometimes the stuff I think I see is wrong. Maybe it was just some…weird inversion, or some hope I didn’t realize.”

“Maybe, but I don’t think it’ll work out for you to just ignore everything now just on the chance that it could--oh.”

Marluxia looked over, spotting the Archeology Duo, visibly brightening before he smirked, giving them a lazy wave. “Well, well, well, look who the cat dragged in. Or bear, I guess. You do realize we’re not mentally contagious, right?”

Dilan smiled sheepishly, giving them both a nod as he headed over, the warm, floral air admittedly a nice change of pace from both the hot, sandy air of his world and the capital city. “Sorry, I wasn’t making a point to avoid you. Just haven’t really had an excuse to come by and bother you.”

ʕ•͡ω•ʔ Hey you two. I’ll make the effort to unchibi right now if it means I get some kisses out of it. 

“X-xaldin!” Dilan sputted, giving the bear a scandalized look as the Chibi headed to the two sniffly Empaths, “Have some decency!”

Marluxia rolled his eyes. “You keep a guy from getting stabbed to pieces and he can’t even think of a reason to give you his never-ending gratitude. Damn, what’s the world coming to? And you better, Xaldin, I gueeeess I can understand you figuring out new Chibi stuff, but seriously, can only laugh at us while we’re throwing up. Jerk.”

Lauriam had given…well, what he probably meant to be an understanding smile to Dilan, but it noticeably strained at his non-excuse. Instead, he refocused on Xaldin, tilting his head. “You can do that? I guess I know Zexion switches back and forth when he feels like it, but I kind of figured that anyone who stayed in Chibi form was more comfortable that way.”

“Why do you think I’m asking for bribes? Unchibying feels like holding something heavy, but that something is your body,” Xaldin explained, stretching as his next step was in the body more familiar to them. “Tires me out. But a kiss or two can give me some energy,” he insisted, wrapping an arm around Lauriam’s waist and pulling him in for a quick kiss, before gesturing for Marluxia to get close. “Come here, come on, let’s test how not contagious you are, flower~ you can laugh at me if I start throwing up.”

Dilan winced at the whole display. He couldn’t help but feel like Xaldin was trying to prove some sort of point. But the only thing he was taking away from this was a sense of being somewhere he did not belong. 

A soft laugh escaped Lauriam as he was snagged, though he gently cupped his hands along Xaldin’s jaw as they kissed, giving his boyfriend a fond look. Though it grew amused as he enticed Marluxia over next. “Uh…is the hoodie on purpose?”

“Now that you’ve asked, it is,” Marluxia huffed, rolling his eyes before he came over to pull Xaldin in for a kiss. “And I will laugh, thanks. I’m not really one for being a copycat, but La-La got plenty of fodder when he blew out his head into the bushes.”

Clearly looking a little uneasy at Dilan’s winces, Lauriam still offered him a small smile. “...how’ve you been, Dilan? I think I’ve been half-imagining conversations over the past few days, but I think I caught that you guys are getting settled in the capital?”

“We have been. We’re actually a little more settled then we’d like to be. They gave us so much urgency in arriving that I had half hoped the process of starting the court case would be given that same sense of urgency, but no. If anything, in a very odd way, it almost feels like we’re… on display?” Dilan said, frowning a bit, “Not in a literal sense, but we’ve been given a place to stay within the castle, we’ve been given all this access to luxury and servants, and instead of paperwork everyone we speak to keeps insisting we try out all the accommodations the castle offers. It’s like they want us to be seen by the other elites enjoying ourselves, though it feels silly to say that. I can’t imagine why?”

“The damn queen hasn’t spoken to us either,” Xaldin scoffed. “Though Isa and Ienzo keep getting told how much she’s ‘looking forward to speaking with them’. We’re getting the runaround, no doubt. Makes me glad Dilan’s in charge of the body, means I can come and spend time with you two rather than dealing with that nonsense. Much rather be spending time in the garden. Love the new work you’ve done on the dragon wings, Marluxia,” Xaldin noticed, letting Lauriam go–who was looking uncomfortable–and wrapping both arms around Marluxia’s waist, placing a kiss against his cheeks as he asked, “Did I fail to notice that before or did you get a burst of inspiration while you were sick?”

Lauriam started to glower, his jaw tightening. Sure, sure, he was happy his family was in a safe, comfortable space, but… “Of course something like that would happen… Can’t have elites literally acknowledge anyone else without it being some stupid ploy or display. Ugh, I know it isn’t the point, but I hope you guys demolish them in court.”

“Or outside of it,” Marluxia drawled, having similar feelings to Lauriam, but aware of what Lauriam wasn’t saying in his tirade. “You’re skipping town anyway, what’s a little mass arson between enemies~”

Though, he was more easily distracted from his ire than Lauriam, leaning happily into Xaldin’s hold as he hummed approvingly. “The forget-me-nots look great in them, right? I don’t think we were bursting anything worthwhile while sick, but they showed up the next time I woke up here after getting everyone back.”

Lauriam glanced back at the dragon, some of the fight in him draining as he considered the new flowers. 

“...I think they’re because of Xion.”

“Ah, right. Our new little defender. I sure hope Sora knows what he’s doing with that. If we lose Xion again, I think there’s a few of us who’d lose our damn minds,” Xaldin mused, kissing Marluxia’s cheek again, before glancing over his shoulder, “...ugh. You could look less like I’m giving him a blowjob or something. I’m literally just kissing my boyfriends, Dilan. You know, if I had known you’d be like this no matter who I was with, I’d have had an easier time reassuring Zinxi.”

“I’m not being judgemental,” Dilan said stiffly, crossing his arms uncomfortably, “I’m not in the wrong if you’re trying to get a reaction out of me, Xaldin.”

“I’m not. I’m trying to get a reaction out of Marluxia. Mostly a blush, or some warm and gooey feeling in his stomach,” Xaldin scoffed, before letting Marluxia go, “Sorry, flower, let me give you guys some space. At least until Dilan stops giving himself an aneurysm.”

Hopefully there wouldn’t be much to defend against in the first place. Sora was a powerful Empath in his own right, and with the keyblade he’d made from some of Lauriam’s energy…well, Lauriam trusted Marluxia when he said Sora literally ripped the island apart with it. Lauriam just hoped that his little sister wouldn’t have to use the full force of all that power against anything. That nothing would make her. 

(The dragon would’ve always protected her anyway, as part of the island. But now as something that could work in tandem with her? It was just more Xion had at her disposal.)

Pouting as Xaldin let him go, Marluxia narrowed his eyes before starting to stomp up to Dilan--only for Lauriam to catch his wrist. “Don’t,” Lauriam said meaningfully, a rare sort of sternness in his expression. 

Marluxia scoffed, though he notably didn’t twist his wrist out of Lauriam’s grip, just putting his other hand over Lauriam’s. “Don’t look at me like that; the hell do you think I’d do?! Just…ugh.”

Glaring at Dilan from that distance, Marluxia called, “Why the fuck does it have to be about you, huh?! Xaldin has a life outside of you, and he’s not so obsessed with you that every choice he makes is about you. You think we’d agree to date a guy who’d treat us like objects?!”

Lauriam had been staring grimly at the ground, but as Marluxia finished, he just said softly, “...if you thought we were that gross, you could’ve just told us.”

Dilan winced at all of that, sputtering, “I don’t think you’re gross, I just… Xaldin!”

Xaldin gave Dilan a somewhat bewildered look. “What? You want me to explain how you feel to them? I share a head with you and I barely understand what your hangups are about. Actually, I think I understand enough to know you don’t know what your hangups are about, because instead of thinking about any of it you give yourself these little fits and say a bunch of prepackaged prayers rather than look at any of it. Hell, you literally just shoved off your ‘moral responsibility’ thoughts to me not even a week ago.”

“You needed a purpose!”

“Yeah, we all did. You’re the only one that gave one of us a ‘think my thoughts for me’ job though,” Xaldin scoffed, before shaking his head, “Actually, this shit? This is me enabling you right now. Stop talking to me, talk to them. I don’t have any answers for you. You have to figure this out.”

Dilan fretfully wrung his hands together, looking briefly like he intended to argue with Xaldin some more, before he glanced over at Marluxia and Lauriam. Their anger still clear on their faces. “...I didn’t mean to imply he was treating you poorly, or that I find something repulsive in you. I just… he just…there’s a lot to talk about, and I’m finding it difficult to start, with him all over you both.”

Xaldin rolled his eyes, put up his hands, and notably took several steps back.

Marluxia let out a frustrated breath. Noting that Lauriam hadn’t let his wrist go, but he still didn’t try to pull away. “I feel like we’ve had at least parts of this conversation over and over over the years, but the fact that it still keeps coming up? Just makes it look like you’re never listening. You get that, right?”

“What do you want to talk about, Dilan?” Lauriam asked quietly. “How much of the fact that we’re dating Xaldin is your business?”

“I’d argue we’ve never had quite this conversation,” Dilan muttered, looking around a little fretfully again, “...can we sit down somewhere? That is one unfortunate aspect of both our worlds. We really didn’t assume we’d ever need proper seating. Luis has an advantage on most of us, with that.”

“Uh uh, no way,” Xaldin said, crossing his arms, “You are not talking us into Luis’ loud-ass, distracting world full of booze. That’s just running from this conversion again, and also, Luis doesn’t actually always love us randomly making our romantic problems his business by bringing all of our drama into his brain. We’re not going anywhere.”

Marluxia stuck his tongue out a little. If Luis didn’t want that, then he shouldn’t have made his world a good place to chat and drink. He wasn’t about to start regretting that one bit. 

Sighing, Lauriam finally let Marluxia go to gesture at the flower patch they were all standing in, much like he had for Vexen, creating twisting vines that formed into seats, blooming into flowers when someone sat down in them. “The conversation about us formally dating? No. But…”

Lauriam let out another sigh, though this one was a little more frustrated. “We’ve all been involved with each other without calling it anything for years. Nothing about that is new. But with Xaldin, Marluxia, and I finally confronting our relationships and making something out of it, that’s supposed to make things clearer, and, at least I think, easier. What’s so difficult about it?”

Dilan took one of the seats, feeling a little less adrift that way, but Xaldin remained standing, standing near Lauriam as he just glared at Dilan. 

When it didn’t seem like Dilan had anything to say about that, Lauriam just looked more exasperated, and he opened his mouth again.

But before he could get anything out, Marluxia said quietly, like a precise dagger rather than a hucked bomb, “We know you switched with Xaldin Lauriam’s first time.”

Xaldin shot Marluxia a small, surprised glance, but didn’t say anything.

Dilan sputtered, a ‘what are you talking about’ on his lips, but he couldn’t seem to make the words audible, as he looked around nervously. 

“...” Dilan opened his mouth, closed it… before suddenly seemed to get frustrated, “I didn’t think Xaldin was going to go through with it. He shut me out when I protested!”

Xaldin frowned…but his shoulders fell, and he did take a step back from Lauriam’s chair. Crossing his own arms and glaring at the ground, but not saying anything still. 

Dilan almost seemed more overwhelmed by the lack of reaction Xaldin had to that, as his expression fell. “...admittedly, how I left in the first place was… cowardly. Lauriam.”

Lauriam had similarly given Marluxia a surprised look, before looking distinctly uncomfortable. With everything. This was… C’mon, Mars, they didn’t have to talk about this right now, especially out of nowhere, it was the kind of thing to build up to, maybe, or--

“I was still kissing you when you left,” Lauriam growled lowly. “Nevermind how that made me feel?! You just dumped Xaldin into an intimate situation without his knowledge or consent! It’s not just cowardly, Dilan, that was incredibly shitty to all of us!”

“Hey, Dilan~” Marluxia purred, the saccharine turnaround spelling danger as he perched up on one of the chairs. The roses blood red. “If you had to guess, when do you think my first time was?”

“I had no intentions of…I just wasn’t sure how to explain to you that I…” Dilan sputtered some more, still struggling, scrambling, for an excuse that would absolve him. Something that would make what they were accusing him of less bad. Because yes, when you say it all like that, it does sound… terrible and… Dilan wasn’t terrible, he was the good one and–

Dilan’s skin darkened ever so slightly, as he tripped up at Marluxia’s question. A vision flashing through his mind that had been one of the first things that Dilan had accidentally ‘recalled’ when he had first woken up with a year's worth of Xaldin’s disjointed memories. Both Marluxia and Lauriam looking up at ‘them’ with this half-feuding, half-playful excitement and… “A-ah-ah, um, I believe… recently? With Xaldin again.”

“Mhm~ Good job, gold star~” Marluxia purred. “Now, doesn’t that, mm, perhaps strike you as odd~? After all, I’m sexy and charming and anyone would have used up all the luck in their life to even get a chance with me, and yet… The first time I’ve had sex was about a month ago.”

“Hm…strange, isn’t it, I bet you’re thinking,” Marluxia nodded knowingly. “After all, La-La first had sex over a year ago, and I’ve still been the one awake this whole time, and, well… You know very well how I felt about him getting his first kiss.”

Marluxia gave Dilan a twee, cutesy smile that was dripping with condescension. “Now~ Why do you think it took me so long~?”

Dilan gave Marluxia a genuinely confused look. One that screamed ‘why should he know why it took so long?’...before he asked dryly, “Because apparently Xaldin was capable of keeping it in his pants for five seconds–OW!” 

The clump of mud that hit and then splattered against Dilan’s face genuinely hurt, but he was more offended than in pain as he wiped the mud off, giving Xaldin an outraged look as he said, “What!?”

“God you drive me fucking crazy, should have left you in the damn crypt,” Xaldin muttered, it both an exaggeration and something genuinely sincere in that statement. “Could you for five fucking seconds try not to blame every fucking thing you don’t like about yourself on me?! At least long enough to hear them out!?”

Dilan twitched, still wiping the mud off…before asking tensely, “Why did it take so long?”

Marluxia glowered through the sweet look for a moment, but calmed as Xaldin took matters into his own hands. Giving his boyfriend a nod, Marluxia took a breath--

Before in a flurry of flowers he was suddenly perched on the armrest of Dilan’s chair, voice low and deadly as he said, “Because I saw how much of a wreck you left Lauriam. I was the one cleaning up that mess, because as you can imagine, he didn’t exactly want to talk to the guy who he opened his heart to, then ran away.”

Lauriam flinched a little at that, looking to the side as he rubbed his arm anxiously. 

Dilan’s eyes widened as his vision was suddenly entirely Marluxia. Pushing his back into the chair–which notably had only grown mushrooms and moss when he had sat down–as he stared warily at Marluxia, genuinely frightened… before his shoulders fell. “...I… I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to… cause you harm. Either of you. I…”

Dilan gave Marluxia a pained, soft look, as he asked, “Did I make you afraid to open up, Marluxia? I’m sorry. I always wanted you both to have a better man than me.”

Marluxia scowled at the accusation--one of his own truths he didn’t want to admit. It was already so hard to trust people, just from the fact that one day they’d die and, even if it was inadvertent, that’d mean that trust would be broken. But having Lauriam seek him out in one of the more private areas of their world, whispering to each other about what had just happened, hearing that Lauriam had gone to one of the people he’d trusted most in the world with something incredibly vulnerable, and just…

It had barely mattered to Marluxia to actually explain the acts of what Dilan had done. He’d broken Lauriam’s heart, even if Xaldin had done his best to repair the pieces. But even then, between the two of them, they’d broken Lauriam’s trust with himself, something that was a weak wisp of a thing in the first place.

And seeing the brief confidence Lauriam had managed to build up once again crumble (after it being torn down again and again and again), and not even able to confide in the people they usually would? Marluxia had been furious.

(...he’d been hurt too. He’d been scared.)

Marluxia scoffed in frustration. “The only shitty parts of you are the parts that insist you’re shitty!! Why is it SO FUCKING HARD FOR YOU TO EVER REALIZE THAT?! You’re not an asshole because you’re an Empath, or that Xaldin exists, or you like to laugh when people get owned! YOU’RE AN ASSHOLE BECAUSE YOU FEEL GUILTY FOR THOSE THINGS AND THEN MAKE IT EVERYONE ELSE’S PROBLEM THAT YOUR GUILT EXISTS!”

“I am shitty!” Dilan shouted back, gripping his hands into fists and banging them roughly onto the top of the armrests, glaring up at Marluxia, matching his fury, briefly, one for one as he shouted, “How hard was it for us to just not touch you!? Lauriam confessing to Xaldin was traumatizing for the whole group! Even went on a damn crusade that raised paranoia among the rooms and had everyone second guessing their actions, Terra insisted that Lauriam had just been experiencing fits or muscle spasms to explain away what happened, and Lauriam was put on their terrible display of his first kiss being treated like the worst thing that’s happened to our group since his rape!”

Gripping his hands tighter, Dilan hit the armrest again. And then again. The wood creaking and chipping beneath his blows, as he said, “All I had to do–all we had to do–was leave you the hell alone until everything calmed down and passed! Until you lost interest in us and moved on to someone who didn’t make everyone afraid you were a victim again, that brought all those terrible fears and paranoia and grief over the little control we all had over our sex lives back onto you! All we had to do was not be attracted to the boy we raised!”

“But no,” Dilan whispered, eyes starting to water, “I couldn’t even do that much. I was weak, and cruel, and I kept tempting you back over and over… loving you two made me hate myself. It was your first crush, it shouldn’t have been that dramatic or terrible. But I kept fucking up, and I just… wanted better. For you. But I never took the actual step I should have, which was just… saying no…”

“...because I didn’t want to,” Dilan murmured, letting his head fall, suddenly exhausted, “I liked it. I liked all of it. And I’m so sorry… that I made this all so much harder for all of you. Just not wanting to admit that I liked it…”

As Dilan shouted back, Marluxia looked furious, and by the way his fists shook, Lauriam was genuinely concerned that Marluxia was going to physically fight him. …but…the Chibi’s fists were stayed. Just listening to Dilan actually talk.

Lauriam flinched again as Dilan compared the kiss to his rape…or, how the group treated it. But that still wasn’t quite…

“Yeah, we know,” Marluxia grouched, glaring tiredly at Dilan. “That’s what I was saying. If you ever actually said no? Our feelings wouldn’t have just evaporated overnight, but we would’ve put in the effort to, like, stop flirting with you. But you never did, and instead started flirting first in a lot of cases, and you said yes when Lauriam asked you to have sex with him.”

“But because you didn’t want to own up to that? But still never said no? Then your fucking pity party over ooooh how tempting you are, what a shit~ just made everyone miserable. Because newsflash! We hate seeing you miserable! And being the fucking props to your self-flagellation makes us feel like trash!!”

“...Dad gave me and Marluxia his blessing, before he died,” Lauriam almost whispered, his eyes squeezed nearly as tight as his grip on his arm, his whole body tensed. “He was surprised and worried when I kissed Xaldin, yeah, but…when he and Mom talked to us…”

Lauriam’s breath wavered for a moment. “...he said he just wanted us to be happy. And as long as Xaldin or you or whoever we’d want to be with made us happy, then he’d always approve.”

From that difficult, soft admission, though, Lauriam opened his eyes, glaring furiously at Dilan. “And I know how everyone treated the kiss sucked. That it wasn’t fair in the slightest to you. That’s why I was so freaked out about it. But you… You don’t get to compare yourself to my rapist. You might want to drag yourself down to that level, but how hearing that feels to me? As the person that went through it? It makes what happened lesser. And like it was my fault.”

Dilan’s eyes widened at that, as he said suddenly and urgently, “No, no, that’s not how I… that’s not how I meant it Lauriam, I…”

Dilan’s voice trailed off. It’d have been easier if someone had cut him off, tore into him again, got angry. But instead there was only silence, Lauriam’s latest point awkwardly and heavily hanging in the air. Dilan increasingly miserable to sit in the reality of it.

“...I don’t know how to explain, how shocked we all were when that happened to you, Lauriam,” Dilan murmured, “It had been something many of us had worried about, as you got older. I don’t know if anyone ever told you, about the debates we’d have to try to stop it from happening before it ever happened. If it would ever happen.”

“It had been a much more serious and regular occurrence, in the group of Empaths I joined when I first entered the factory,” Dilan murmured, “We were all blind and couldn’t move, and it would just feel… random. Suddenly you’d hear sounds. Suddenly someone you were talking to on the island, their face would just… strain. And there was nothing anyone could do about it…”

“And then it all seemed to stop. It even stopped for our Viz, who for so long…” Dilan's eyes closed, tired and with an old grief, “...it all stopped. And then we got the two new, pretty ones, Aqua and Terra, and we were all waiting for something to happen… and it didn’t. And then, fuck, we got the kid. The little kid, who was quiet and obedient and was just awkward enough growing up that we hoped nothing would… and then nothing did again. And for a minute there we all thought maybe all of that was really done for good. No one but on occasion Viz’s constructs, shadows basically on the wall, getting the supervisors’ attention in that way.”

“...you were so different, right from the start,” Dilan said, eyes far away, “We all knew you were the first real, serious temptation those bastards would have. Something had happened before they had even brought you in that had covered you in this foul scent of sex and violence. You came in smelling like that. And when we cleaned you up, you were this stunningly beautiful kid. And we all knew, fuck, if anyone was in serious danger now, it was going to be the beautiful boy with the tan skin and the bright pink hair and those bright emerald eyes…we were so fucking worried for you…”

“......then of all people, Luis was the one it happened to first. After a long break of no one being touched at all. No one saw that coming. And I think that just left us all scrambling. Everyone’s theories had been wrong, how we were all prepared to deal with it had been cut at the knees. We tried to stay calm for him and I think we ended up just leaving him feeling alone in it. And then out of nowhere, one random day after being with supervisors who hadn’t abused you for so long, you came back and you were destroyed. Devastated. And again, no one knew what to do. It was just this helpless, vulnerable chaos of realizing we couldn’t predict these people at all and…”

“...maybe this all sounds irrelevant to what we’re talking about,” Dilan mused, “But I’m trying to explain that if it seemed like everyone was treating you harshly over what happened? Blowing it out of proportion? It was just the first bit of abuse any of us could have possibly, actually done something about. And I think everyone was hoping to do better, at this second chance of helping you, at stopping your rape…and I had felt like I had failed again. Only this time, worse, because this time I was attracted to it.”

“So I don’t mean to compare our situation to your rape,” Dilan murmured, “I know that’s not a fair comparison. But at the time, with the way the group reacted? Your rape was on all of our minds. And that was why it was hard for me to separate the ideas. I’m… sorry. That’s not fair to you. It’s just…what I think happened. And I’m sorry.”

Lauriam deflated a bit, nodding softly and vaguely mumbling, “Xaldin told me,” about how the adults had addressed him being a potential target of the supervisors. Maybe it hadn’t happened in a while, but it had still been on everyone’s minds enough that Lauriam had been warned that the supervisors may cross that line. It hadn’t been something completely off his radar, for as much as it had shocked and freaked him out in the moment. And…especially with Luis’ rape just before his. 

It was a punishment. Nothing they could do to prevent it. Just as much comfort as they could manage after it. Nothing they could do to stop the supervisors (nothing they could do to stop Tengan). 

…he’d talked to Viz, in the few years before her death. She’d given him a knowing look, the first time (of more than a handful) he’d come back from a punishment without his clothes. They had scoffed in derision about the supervisors’ lack of creativity when it came to clothing-based punishments. 

The only thing they could affect was their relationships with each other. 

Lauriam sighed softly, curling into himself as his posture slumped. …he was so tired always being such a… That people looked at him and only saw tragedies. That he was only something to be ashamed of. 

…covered in the scent of sex and violence even before he came to the factory, huh?

“Hey,” Marluxia snapped, suddenly off Dilan’s chair to get in Lauriam’s face, gripping his shoulders. “You don’t get to skip out on the conversation either, pull yourself together.”

Lauriam took a slow, shaky breath. “...thanks for the apology.”

Xaldin sighed, before he walked past Lauriam’s chair and stood beside Dilan’s. Resting against the side of it as he said, “Man, this form is hard to hold. But I am not doing this as a tiny bear. Not happening.”

“I’m not going to stand in the way of you three’s relationship,” Dilan suddenly said, as he rested his elbows on his knees, pressing his palms together as he stared at the ground, “And I’m sorry that it keeps ending up with me seeming like I’m condemning Xaldin’s relationships, even though I really have tried to just… stay out of it. Give you space.”

“One of these days I’m going to force you to look at all the memories of you talking about me and Zinxi’s relationship and you’re going to feel embarrassed at the ‘seeming’ comment,” Xaldin said dryly, before he swatted the side of Dilan’s head, “And you’re still an idiot. I didn’t drag you here to get your approval for me dating the Garden Duo, I don’t give a shit if you think I should or not. I dragged you here because I’m tired of watching you string them along. You’re fucking telling them how you feel. Now.”

“If you know how I feel, then please, feel free to enlighten me, because–”

“I don’t,” Xaldin said, frowning. “Not really. You still keep this wall between us, and honestly, I think it’s always going to be there. I don’t think you can help it. Even with us sharing memories more, there’s still this separation you hold onto that others me in your mind, and you know what? Fine, I’ll live with that. But it doesn’t actually matter how you feel about all of this, for what I’m trying to do. Maybe you’re about to turn them down. Maybe you’re about to call them disgusting. Maybe you’re about to swear your forever allegiance to vaginas or to Atua or to your right hand. Who gives a shit. They–” Xaldin nodded to Marluxia and Lauriam, “deserve you being honest with them about whatever it's going to be. You hate yourself for never saying no? You better be fucking ready to say no, now. And if not? It better be a fucking yes.”

Marluxia huffed before shoving Lauriam a bit, Lauriam stumbling but looking far less like he was going to dig a pit and lay in it as he rolled his eyes. And as the two of them stood side by side…

“I told Xaldin when the two of us got together that I’m not about to follow uselessly after someone that’s ashamed of me, and I’m not gonna let Lauriam do it either,” Marluxia said firmly, crossing his arms over his bare chest. “It was nice, the fuckin’ clusterfuck the four of us had in the factory. But I’m done with not labeling things and never being sure where any of us are standing. You commit, or we’re over.”

Lauriam gave Marluxia a soft, grateful look, before he sighed quietly. Offering Dilan a small smile. “...you’re still important to me, no matter what. Nothing can change that. But how I express that, or the specifics of our relationship--I need more of an answer than you think kissing me is nice sometimes. Especially when we’re not going to be in person in months?”

Lauriam huffed, pouting a little at Xaldin. “I know we still see each other all the time, but I still miss you. How dumb is that?”

Xaldin smiled, canines glinting, as he chuckled low, “Are you kidding, dandelion? I’m losing my damn mind wanting to be physically close to you two again. Why do you two think I’ve been so handsy in the worlds lately? I miss both of you like crazy.”

It was always just a little different, in the real world. 

Dilan fretted a bit. Pressing his palms in together, worryingly looking at Marluxia. He didn’t… know what he wanted.

But he knew he felt sad and afraid, hearing whatever it was they had would be over.

“Can I have some time to–”

“Nope,” Xaldin said, “You’ve had it. Time’s up. We both know you won’t actually think about it if we let you go. You’ll distract yourself with something else. Gotta think it out in front of us now, dumbass.”

“...w-what would it even look like?” Dilan sputtered, fretting again, “All four of us… I have the memory of all three of you, um, being… close. Would Xaldin and I take turns–”

“Get your mind out of the gutter for five seconds,” Xaldin said, rolling his eyes, “We’re asking you to tell them how you feel about them. We’ll figure out logistics after, just tell them if you want to fucking date them.”

“Of course I want to–hasn’t that been the whole problem?”

“No!” Xaldin said, whacking Dilan in the back of the head, who glared up at him, “Us wanting to date them has NEVER been the problem! It’s you refusing to talk to any of us about it that’s always been the problem! There are no ‘of course’s, no ‘assumptions’, no ‘obviouslies’! Spell it out! God knows you have a thousand words to use!”

“Much more than a thousand,” Dilan said, looking briefly offended, as Xaldin just scoffed and rolled his eyes at him, “...”

Dilan stood up. It felt more polite, standing when everyone else was, as he fretfully wrung his hands. “...even after all of this? Even after how confusing and frustrating I’ve proven to be… would you two still be happy with me? Truly?”

Lauriam flushed, pleased, as a few bleeding heart dicentras swayed in the light breeze. Not that he really thought he would’ve been seeing much of Xaldin anyway the past few days if they had been in the same physical space, but…still. The amount of genuine longing that periodically rushed through him felt silly.

Both of the Garden Duo let out their own versions of exasperated huffs at Dilan’s ‘of course’, though Xaldin summed it up well. There was no ‘of course’ because HE’D REFUSED TO EVER TALK ABOUT THINGS!

Lauriam sighed, but gave Dilan a soft look. “As genuinely frustrated with it I am? …I know that you’ve never been an ass about things to hurt us. Me. Maybe it’s been a little hurt, but you’re still someone I trust more than anything. And really…I just want you to be happy for once, Dilan.”

Marluxia rolled his eyes a bit and opened his mouth…before he paused. Something considering running over his face, before he looked over to Xaldin. “Hey, permission to kiss this moron?”

Xaldin looked briefly, genuinely startled…before the smile on his face was oddly warm. Like he was a little touched that Marluxia would even think to ask… before he chuckled, smirking, “If you want to, flower.”

“W-what!?” Dilan sputtered.

Snorting, Marluxia stomped forward and grabbed Dilan’s collar in a fist before smashing their lips together. But for how aggressive it started, the kiss quickly turned soft before Marluxia pulled away, glaring firmly up at Dilan. 

“...do you remember what I said, when you gave me my first kiss?” he asked quietly. “Yeah, I do deserve better than you, but even with how massively you fumbled me, and even him,” Marluxia nodded back at Lauriam, “...Di, no one is up to my standards. And we all know trying to compare yourself to something that doesn’t exist will just drive you crazy and make you miserable. So for someone that does exist…” He grinned, sharp canines looking more playful than threatening. “You’re pretty damn good. You should own it, one of these days.”

“No one lives up to his standards, he says,” Xaldin muttered, leaning against the side of the chair as he huffed, “Clearly I need to stick around after this, remind him what stars look like.”

Dilan gave a soft, stuttering breath when Marluxia broke the kiss. His heart was pounding, it felt like he had just run a race. This was all so much to keep up with, and Dilan was overwhelmed, but… Dilan was always overwhelmed. It was maybe a core part of who he was as a person, that nothing would ever be slow or easy enough that emotionally he felt like he could keep up. There was no gradually warming up someone like him. Someone either dragged him along, or he wasn’t coming.

…and he wanted to. Come.

….as in come along for the ride. Not otherwise. 

……………though he wasn’t opposed to otherwise.

Gah!

Dilan sputtered, overwhelmed by his own crude thought process, before he sighed, shaking his head. Just trying to clear his thoughts for a moment, catch his breath… before he placed a hand on the side of Marluxia’s face. “...I was so cruel to you, that day… I’m so sorry… I wish I had…”

…but Dilan hadn’t. Not then.

So he leaned in this time, and he met Marluxia’s harsh, urgent kiss with a gentle and slow one of his own. His hands light on Marluxia’s skin. Afraid of clutching. Afraid of harming him. 

When he broke the kiss, he admitted, “I think I’ve been in love with you both for quite some time. And I just want to be able to be close to you both. And for it to be okay. I’m so tired of hurting you.”

Lauriam stifled a snicker behind his hand, giving Xaldin a fond look. Hey, he wouldn’t be opposed~ (...even if they were still a little sniffly. But that didn’t matter too much in the mental world.)

As Dilan leaned down to kiss Marluxia back, and it was…so soft, but present. His touch so light, but still there. Breaking, to say that he…

Lauriam raised his eyebrows a little at the cluster of little white diphylleia flowers that suddenly bloomed while Marluxia’s face lit up bright red. But he could only manage a soft huff of a laugh as he bluntly asked, “So will you date us?”

“If you’ll have me, yes,” Dilan said, still lightly running his thumb over Marluxia’s cheek. Speaking to Lauriam, clearly. But staring warmly at Marluxia. “I would love to.”

“Finally,” Xaldin huffed, walking past the two of them, wrapping his arm around Lauriam’s waist, pulling him in and giving him a quick kiss, “That’s for how much of a bitch this whole thing has been, dandelion. I apologize for my Somebody, he’s embarrassing.”

“I know,” Lauriam laughed softly, catching Xaldin with another kiss before he straightened too much.

Marluxia’s lips parted slightly as Dilan stroked his cheek, but no discernable words came out. Just an eventual steaming kettle noise as the flush traveled over his ears. 

“...aw crap, I still have to introduce you both to my mom,” Lauriam muttered.

A poof of smoke later and–

ʕ•͡ω•ʔ

ʕ•̀ω•́ʔ shit.

-

Rantaro politely bowed his head to the guards as they allowed him past the gate of the drawbridge, though instead of heading down the wall’s inner hallways like the Nobodies had, Rantaro just walked straight ahead, heading down the opening pathway. 

It was a long walk from the castle drawbridge to the center of the castle, where pathways into and around the castle truly started. But sometimes Rantaro liked the walk, when it actually happened. Most times though, one of the carriage drivers, making their rounds to and from the drawbridge and how far the small carriages could actually get, would notice him walking and– “Rantaro!” 

Rantaro looked up at the carriage that had just pulled up beside him, smiling as the carriage slowed down to a near crawl. “Zell.”

“Hey man, get on! I’ll take you the rest of the way.” Zell grinned.

Rantaro glanced at the carriage door–there was likely a person inside, if Zell was making a round–but nodded, getting onto the front and sitting next to Zell. The carriage picking up to full speed again as he said, “Thank you, Zell.”

“Course! When did you get back? They had me driving around this annoying yuppie personally for like a month, so if you’ve been back a while I missed it.”

“A little while,” Rantaro shrugged, “Just a few weeks. You might have missed me either way, I’ve been maintaining her grace’s family manor within the noble district. I haven’t been by much.”

“Must be weird, to walk around without her these days. I feel like I never saw you without her being an arm’s length away. Maybe a handful of times, when you were running errands, but just walking around? Is it weird?” Zell asked, glancing curiously at Rantaro, “I mean, ever since the program dissolved, it’s got to have changed your responsibilities. You must get, like, days off and stuff now! That’s gotta be exciting?”

Rantaro smiled warmly. “Our queen wasn’t so unkind that I never had time off… but yes. It’s different now.”

A little.

“Aw, I know, I wouldn’t suggest she was… well, anyway!” Zell grinned, nudging Rantaro a bit as he went through the carriage roundabout, “Now that you have more time off, you should let me drag you to one of my pub crawls! A few of us from the castle like to get together and jump to a few different bars on the outskirts together, ya know, safety in numbers! We wouldn’t let anything happen to you, it’d be a fun time!”

“When is your next get-together?” Rantaro asked, not quite committing by asking. 

“End of the week? If you show up at the drawbridge at 8 we’d pick you up on the way out. Think about it, we’d love to have you!” Zell said to Rantaro as he hopped off the front seat, heading to the carriage door to allow whoever was inside out.

Rantaro gave Zell a nod, before hurrying off before whoever was inside came out. Never knew who was going to be inside a carriage, and the wrong person could complicate your day. Rantaro sighed as he headed farther inside, to the ‘public’ spaces of the castle, slightly busier in the middle of a work day. 

He should probably just head straight into the inner part of the castle. Kaede had asked to see him today, but she hadn’t given him a strict time limit. He could, if he wanted to, linger in the social areas a bit… but, well, it wasn’t always the easiest thing, being this tightly packed in with people who had business with the castle. The nobles still saw him as an Indentured, and guests or people with a unique, special privilege to visit tended to either treat Rantaro worse because they could sense the nobles’ dismissal of him, or worse, find out that Rantaro had ‘connections’ and decided he might be easy networking bait… still, there was that one cafe that served those amazing pastries, Rantaro could get a coffee and maybe go sit in the closest servant quarters…

…Rantaro stopped. His heart suddenly in his throat. 

No way…

It wasn’t quite raining. The commerce area of the castle, with its open roof, would probably be far less crowded if a flash thunderstorm was suddenly occurring, though Ienzo would wager that one still could form from the barely-there drizzles currently sprinkling down. He was not in the habit of literally spending every second he could in the library, thank you very much, and he wasn’t missing meals, but as he’d come down for a coffee fix--and, like…real food for lunch, he guessed--Ienzo found that the light rain was worth walking through the castle-goers.

It had…rained in Sora’s world, at least while Roxas was conditioning. But other than that… He’d seen it a few times since being back in control of his body, but even still, experiencing that water from the sky…

Ienzo held his hand up slightly, feeling the mist, just enchanted. 

And then he raised his gaze, and something else unbelievable was in front of them. 

Ienzo blinked, looking right at Rantarou Amami. 

…

…he waved. 

Rantaro waved back, eyes still wide as circles… before he looked around. And then all at once his shock was gone from his face, a warm, calm, very obvious mask coming over his features as he calmly walked over to Ienzo, smiling warmly at him, giving him a small bow… and then grabbing his arm and quickly, sternly, guiding him around the corner, into one of the doorways. 

It was an artisan shop full of small glass statues. Rantaro had picked it because the artisan who was sponsored by the castle to make the glass artwork was bad about sticking around for people interested in taking one home, so predictably the shop was vacant, something Rantaro knew intimately because he had been here his whole life and holy smokes-- “What are you doing here!?” Rantaro whispered urgently, glancing over at the open door to make sure no one had followed them inside, “How did you get inside the castle walls!?”

Ienzo had just started to give Rantarou a bow back before he (mostly) stifled a sound that likely would’ve been something similar to “Uurwohrg!” as Rantarou pulled him into a, well, very beautiful glass shop. And if it had been just about anyone else in the world but Rantarou, his friend that Ienzo and Zexion had done mental experiments on for months, it would’ve been very alarming. 

But otherwise?

Ienzo blinked. “I was invited.”

With a little breath, Ienzo adjusted his mask and hushedly explained, “You know the business I mentioned that would take me away from Chonis? This is it. I, erm…” Here Ienzo did look a little sheepish. “I may be in the middle of a legal dispute with the government. Or, would be in the middle, if we were to ever get our court dates or any of our paperwork.”

“...I will admit, I did think there was a chance you were from the capital, but…” Ienzo smiled softly. “It’s nice to see you, Rantarou.”

Again, Rantaro glanced at the door, then around the shop. Ensuring they were alone, and still keeping his voice down as he said, “So… you’re not here about… about your experiments?” He subconsciously straightened his shirt, smoothing it out, as he said, “Unless, that’s what the court case is about? The laws for interfering with conditioning aren’t exactly well-defined…”

“No. While I have proliferated the knowledge somewhat, I’ve thought it best to not mention my experiments to anyone here. I’m not exactly sure just how much the government really knows about how the factories were run,” that was, he wasn’t sure who in the government knew everything, “but for my endeavors this past year, that’s not a commodity I’ve offered up.”

“No, um…” Again Ienzo looked a bit awkward as he shifted his weight a little. “I’m…here to contest my inheritance.”

Rantaro let out a small breath of relief, notably relaxing. Okay, good, nothing to do with the experiments… though… “Inheritance?” Rantaro asked, though in his relaxed posture he smiled more naturally now, “This sounds like a whole story. Would you want to get some coffee with me? I’d love to hear all about it.”

Ienzo gave his friend a considering look for a moment. Of course, Rantarou could’ve been worried for his sake, which was kind, but Ienzo hoped that he’d given Rantarou the impression that even if Ienzo was going more public with his anti-conditioning research--though…Ienzo had no clue how he would even begin to explain that to a non-magic court--he would take care to not implicate Rantarou in it. 

But that wasn’t happening anyway, so…

“It’s a downer, I’ll warn you, but I’d be quite pleased to get coffee with you,” Ienzo nodded with a small smile. “I’d been on my way to get some in the first place. I’m sure it’s old news for you, but the castle library is astounding and despite my insistence on better life choices, it’s rather tempting to literally spend all my time there.”

“Ah, the library? Yes, it is pretty impressive,” Rantaro agreed, like someone mentioning it reminded him that it was there at all. Like most things with the castle, too used to it to remember how extravagant it all really was.

Rantaro led the way into the cafe, and a server bowed to them as soon as they walked in, clearly in deference to Ienzo… but then straightening up and smiling more familiarly with Rantaro. “Her grace’s balcony table is ready. Will she be joining us as well today?”

“No, but if it’s alright I’d still like the table,” Rantaro said, smiling a tad sheepishly, “I think she’d forgive me wanting to enjoy the view with my friend here.”

“Of course! Please head on up, I’ll make your usual. And if sir here knows what he wants already, I can bring it up all at once?” the server said, smiling imploringly at Ienzo. “If not, I’ll bring you a menu immediately.”

As they walked back out of the glass shop, Ienzo immediately looked back up in wonder at the drizzly day. Rain wasn’t nearly as cool as more tomes than he could read in a lifetime (unfortunately), but it was still pretty damn astounding in its own way. 

On perhaps the less enjoyable side of astounding, though…

Ienzo stared blankly in panic at the server, put on the spot.

“He’ll want the menu and some water,” Rantaro said, the server bowing again and quickly going to fetch the small menu, Rantaro taking it from her and bowing, before gesturing for Ienzo to follow, heading up the stairs. 

The balcony was dry, a gazebo covering that protected from both the rain and the sun over head, and a small, nicely decorated table in the corner of the balcony, one that gave them a view over the small market, but was specifically angled and decorated in a way that it was much harder to see into the balcony from below than it was to look out of it. 

Normally, if Kaede wasn’t here, Rantaro would have just eaten downstairs. It was considered bad form to potentially delay the queen even for a moment if she decided to come to the cafe and discovered her spot needed to be cleaned and prepped for her, recently used. But Rantaro was allowed special privileges with anything Kaede owned, which almost everyone in the castle knew of from her time even just visiting the castle as one of the potential heirs. And this spot was much easier to have a private conversation, as the two settled down, water somehow having already been delivered to the table before they managed to get there, which Rantaro immediately poured into a glass for Ienzo as he said, “Apologies for butting in. You seemed alarmed. The servers here are nice, they just put a lot of emphasis on getting food and drinks out quickly.” 

{ㅍ_ㅍ You’ll get it next time, it’s okay.}

Ienzo quickly bowed in thanks to the server before following Rantarou up, looking over the…yeah. Premium table. That was the queen’s reserved table here. Because Rantarou worked for the queen. 

Which of course Ienzo had considered as an option, with everything that Rantarou had mentioned, but it had been safer not to speculate, so having it just suddenly confirmed…

Ienzo sighed softly, glancing at the menu. “No, you’re fine, I appreciate it. Restaurants are still relatively new experiences, so if the people here pride themselves on promptness, it’s likely good you intervened.”

“So it is Kaede that you work for, then,” Ienzo confirmed quietly. “She’s continued your job since your return?”

“I knew my cover was blown the second the server approached us,” Rantaro laughed lightly, though he had the grace to look a little sheepish as he gestured to the table, “I’m always asked if Kaede will be joining me, wherever I go. I hope this doesn’t feel too showy, there was just no avoiding the reveal once I saw you in the castle.”

“Yes, Queen Kaede is my…” Rantaro trailed off, looking briefly lost for a word, before shrugging slightly, “...friend? Now? Not my contract holder, not my employer, not… well, you remember.” Rantaro sighed. “I’m still very much fulfilling the role I was conditioned for, with her. Though, now, I must admit, it’s entirely my own doing. I…” Rantaro smiled, eyes softening with genuine gratitude as he whispered, “don’t have to be here. Not if I really didn’t want to be. I could leave. Nothing is compelling me to stay.”

“Nothing more than a genuine desire to think all of this through more. Who I am and who Kaede is to me and what all of this is to me… I’m grateful that’s a choice I get to make, Ienzo,” Rantaro said, bowing his head slightly to him, “...don’t delay reading the menu, I give it one more minute before my espresso and crepe arrive. As I said, they’re efficient.”

Ienzo smiled softly. “I don’t claim to truly understand your lived experience, but I can understand the fact of your celebrity status, of sorts, within the castle, and I’d imagine, greater capital as well. So that’s to say, it doesn’t feel showy, it’s simply the reality around you.”

Rantarou’s actual relationship with the queen, though, Ienzo knew was…complicated. At least from Rantarou’s side of it, so he nodded--he did remember--but…well, it was a complication that Rantarou now had more agency with. 

“I’m grateful that it’s one you can make as well,” Ienzo said softly back, smiling gently, “And more that things seem to have been going well for you. I did assure you there were some failsafes I had in mind, but as of yet, it doesn’t seem as though you or anyone else needs them. And that’s been quite a relief as word’s spread.”

His shoulders slightly bouncing with a silent laugh, Ienzo did look over the menu more, still a bit sheepish but more confidently asking for the house blend and a popover when their server did indeed come up within the minute.

Taking off his mask to sip at his water when they were left alone once again, Ienzo took a small breath. “I suppose to sum it up briefly, I was born a noble, but, as you know, ended up in the Indentured Program after my parents’ deaths. Since I’m now a free citizen again, I’m petitioning to regain my inheritance.”

“A noble… I’ll admit, I wouldn’t have guessed,” Rantaro laughed lightly, though it wasn’t an amused sound. More just a little sad, as Rantaro quickly imagined all the things that must have gone wrong for Ienzo for him to have ended up where he did, “To which lords’ house do you belong to?”

And when Ienzo told him, “Seisear,” Rantaro said, looking genuinely surprised, “I might actually remember all of that. I was young, of course, but I can remember Lady Ibuki discussing it with Kaede and his late lordship, Haji. Cautioning them that no one was truly untouchable… in retrospect, I feel like they took the wrong lesson from that.” Rantaro gave Ienzo a new curious look. “I had no idea they had a son.”

Despite Rantarou not being amused, Ienzo did let out a small, soft snicker. Yeah, he doubted many people at all would pin him as a noble, if not for the announcements he could only figure had gone out when they arrived at the castle. He could pin his bangs back, wear clothes that had buttons and ties, but he was a weirdo scientist to his core. 

Sipping his--indeed quickly brought out--coffee with a sarcastically amused look as he agreed with Rantarou’s musing about what Lady Ibuki’s children had gotten from his family’s story, the amusement sobered a bit as Ienzo shrugged. “They rarely came to the capital in the first place, and I only theoretically know of ever leaving Seisear Manor once or twice. I’ve looked into enough to know that my existence wasn’t purposefully hidden, but a lack of socializing with other Luminaries likely did the trick enough. I was pretty surprised that our initial letter to the castle was approved for the courts so quickly, though. I figured there had to be some sort of vetting process for impostors, but perhaps that would be more easily investigated with me actually here.”

…Ienzo…wasn’t really trying to interrogate Rantarou. He was his friend, and since Rantarou had been so surprised to see him, Ienzo doubted he knew anything about the case at all. But if he did happen to know anything about strange circumstances around court cases, well, Ienzo wasn’t just going to ignore that information. 

Rantaro seemed to guess as well what Ienzo might be hoping to ask, as he gave a guilty smile. “Unfortunately, Kaede hasn’t talked to me about it at all. She’s had something else on her mind recently, honestly; if it felt urgent when you got the letter and now doesn’t? It’s likely our queen is just distracted by her new… pet project,” Rantaro said, wincing a little, like he hadn’t appreciated his own wording for it. Taking a sip of espresso. “But I can make some inquiries, if you like? My guess is if you can’t get anyone to engage with you, it’s because when this first started Kaede told them she wanted to be part of every step of the process. But now that she doesn’t have time, everyone’s putting everything on hold until she can be involved, like she requested.”

Rantaro suddenly laughed tiredly. “This was the exact sort of thing Kaede used to complain about, actually. People believed getting the attention of one of the royals would fast-track their issues, but in truth it usually did the opposite. If a royal wanted to be personally involved, it meant no one who normally did the process felt comfortable making any sort of decision without input. Because eyes were on it, right? Which only fast tracks the issue if the royal themselves was actually willing to follow through on the process, checking in daily or allowing themselves to be reached out to or putting themselves onto other people’s timelines. Turns out that sort of personal attention is difficult, when you’re the head of the royal family. Difficult and less rewarding, not when everything will sit and stop and wait for you indefinitely.” Rantaro chuckled weakly, “Kaede had a reputation for being reliable for this sort of thing, but that was because back then she wanted that reputation, and went out of her way to get it. It made her better liked by word of mouth alone than Byakuya–he was king for a brief time, before your release–who wouldn’t pull strings for anyone. But now? Well, it’s Kaede’s world. We’re all just living in it.”

“...I must sound so spoiled,” Rantaro whispered, looking guiltily down at his beautifully made crepe, “It was easier to complain in your tavern, where we weren’t surrounded by the luxuries I got to enjoy, being the favored pet of one of the heirs. I’m aware of how…backwards it was for both of us. You were a noble raised in a prison, while I was a slave raised in a palace…our titles suggest our lives were very different than what they were. I had it better than most. I shouldn’t complain.” 

“It might sound strange, but to be honest I’m not in much of a hurry, and if the sudden silence on the case is due to her grace’s attention simply being elsewhere, that’s one of the more benign reasons I can think of,” Ienzo hummed quietly. “We had just come into the castle at all before Demyx compared it to a gilded cage. We’re no strangers to bars, but one of the most comforting things you can have within them is expectations. If all we’re doing is waiting, I can live with that.”

He still wasn’t letting his guard down about the other agenda his case was serving, but it had occurred to Ienzo--and through many of Isa’s worries--that the queen may simply feel safer with the Empaths she had a tenuous relationship within reach. Enemies closer, and all that. Ienzo supposed that theory came down to how many of their names she knew, if they couldn’t skate by notice having people assume that everyone but Ienzo was someone he’d allied with after the factory, and weren’t more Empaths themselves. 

Pausing at Rantarou’s whisper, Ienzo gave his friend a considering look, before speaking clearly. Not loudly, still aware of keeping this a relatively private conversation, but not portraying a subdued nature in the slightest. “I suppose one must mind their audience, but in our cases? Comparing misery does one no favors. We’ve both undergone struggles in our lives, and ones I would not label arbitrary in the slightest. You do not sound entitled ruminating on the politics you were raised around, you sound thoughtful and capable, synthesizing information you know intimately. You don’t sound spoiled, enjoying the luxuries of a castle, when we both know the price you paid for them.”

Ienzo offered Rantarou a small smile. “...one of my brothers, someone I grew up in the factory with, also lost family because of it. He has a rather prolific disdain for the elite and higher classes, and after my heritage came out to everyone? I felt…ashamed, even trying to talk to him, nevermind that we’d spent most of our lives together by that point. And my uncle pointed out what I’ve said to you. It does more harm keeping one’s mouth shut around an awkward issue than not, and we have more in common than those that created our circumstances.”

Shrugging, he admitted, “Perhaps the point of commonality is not entirely true for the two of us, but I still don’t believe that the privileges of your life negate the hardships, and I don’t begrudge you speaking of them.”

“Thank you,” Rantaro said softly, bowing his head respectfully, “I can’t actually imagine what living in the warehouses was like. On that point, with our mutual friend in mind, I can’t imagine what growing up in one of the whorehouses was like either… I hope she’s doing alright.” Rantaro sighed. “...I’m sure I don’t actually have to say this, but I’m going to just to be certain. If you can, please don’t tell anyone my conditioning is broken. I’m still exploring, emotionally, what that means for me, since so much of my conditioning was meant to control those emotions. I’m still figuring out what I want to say to Kaede. And I’m worried that revelation will speed up that conversation before I’m ready to have it.”

“...I think I still love her,” Rantaro admitted, brushing his thumb along the edge of his cup, “I just don’t entirely understand why now. I want to understand myself better, before I explain myself to her.”

“I’m glad you can’t,” Ienzo said simply, before sighing softly. “I have sent her a letter since I’ve left Chonis, since I’ve been writing to my penpal regardless. I haven’t exactly had a return address, however, so it’s somewhat been words to the void, but…yeah. I hope she’s doing alright too.”

Frowning slightly with a more serious expression, Ienzo nodded before bowing his head for a moment. “Of course. Just because there’s no explicit legal ramification, I know how dangerous it can be for that information to get out beyond one’s control. And just…like, uncomfortable too.”

Forcing himself to eat--it was good! But eating was always difficult--Ienzo shrugged a little. “You have spent the vast majority of your life with her. That’s not just what makes love, but it’s hard not to be involved with someone you’ve spent that much time with one way or another.”

He offered Rantarou a small smile. “I hope you gain a spark of enlightenment soon. Clarity with one’s relationships is a relief, if I can sound a little spoiled now.”

Rantaro’s eyebrows lifted slightly…before he smirked lightly, sipping at the espresso. “Oh?”

“My family is quite close,” Ienzo explained, blank-faced…before he smirked back. “...and I may have gained a romantic relationship since we’ve last spoken.”

Rantaro nodded knowingly. “The pink-haired one.”

Ienzo blinked before grimacing. “No,” he said, a little haunted. “I’m dating Demyx, the guy who kept trying to come in to help with the experiments. Lauriam’s dating Dilan, though I don’t think you ever saw him so I’m not sure any descriptor would help.”

“Oh!” Rantaro said, looking genuinely surprised…before clarifying, “The blond? Loud? Kind of…” Rantaro looked for a kind word, “...goofy? I wouldn’t have guessed, you don’t seem… well, you two are so…” Rantaro paused, “...is he rich?”

Ienzo pouted, looking genuinely put out. “You too? Why does everyone assume we’re so different? It’s baffling…”

Ienzo sighed before shrugging. “As much as I am. That is to say, our funds are the same. I like Demyx because he’s an incredibly insightful person with immense skill and a persistent joie de vivre. I’m not gold-digging.”

“A persistent… oh,” Rantaro said, blinking… before nodding knowingly, “Oh, I see. The… athletic type. Certainly, understandable.”

“But that’s good to hear, I’m happy for you,” Rantaro smiled, “Is he with you now? It seems like you’ll have some time here, and as much of a challenge as it can be just in the time it takes, you can leave the castle, if you’re planning to be tourists. I could recommend some places.”

Ienzo blinked back, more uncertainly tilting his head. “Oh, no. Demyx despises exercising. We used to find places to hide together when my dad insisted on group exercises.”

It was an easy point to let go, however, as Ienzo smiled softly, just thinking about spending time with Demyx. “Thank you. And he is, he’s assisting with my case. I would appreciate recommendations from you, Rantarou, thank you, though…”

Ienzo suddenly trailed off, something…conflicted crossing over his face. He did trust Rantarou, but he was not endangering Aqua’s chances to search for Ventus by explaining the real reason he was in the capital. But for explaining some of the other things going on…

Glancing towards the balcony door, assuring that it was just them for the moment, Ienzo lowered his voice again. “...though, I have gotten quite a few date location recommendations from Prince Kaito.”

Rantaro’s eyes widened… before, surprisingly, he laughed.

“Ha–hahahaha,” he half-laughed, half-giggled, looking genuinely amused as he leaned back into this chair, smiling wide as he said, with full, obvious exasperation, “How? How is he still doing this?”

“Sorry, sorry,” Rantaro laughed, shaking his head a bit, “I grew up hearing people be endlessly surprised, and endlessly upset, that somehow, some way, Kaito had already managed to make a connection with someone they were trying to manipulate. Not that that’s what happening between us, but if Kaede knew that you knew Kaito? After doing whatever it is she’s doing, luring you here to the castle for… whatever reason,” Rantaro sighed, shrugging, “especially considering he’s been driving her crazy lately. Outside of her new project, most of what she wants to talk to me about is complaining about Kaito. Again, unfortunately nothing new for me. I wonder if that man has any idea, how much time people spent being frustrated that he was somehow always underfoot, no matter what scheme they were working on… that’s so funny. He’s in Dicea and it’s still happening.”

Rantaro giggled some more, before giving Ienzo a curious look, “You don’t have to tell me. But I won’t be compelled to tell Kaede later, how you know him. Largely through your efforts.”

Ienzo’s eyebrows raised in surprise at Rantarou’s giggles. He supposed that with the confirmation that Rantarou had worked for Kaede it was reasonable he would know Kaito, but getting some tea on just what a meddling nuisance Prince Kaito was to castle schemes was…unexpected. And incredibly amusing, given the very few brief encounters Ienzo had had with the man. 

He huffed in small amusement. “Ah, you make it sound tempting then to keep that in my back pocket if it’d be something to catch her off guard…but I don’t think that’d be a good idea.”

Smiling thinly, Ienzo shrugged. “Well, we would have something of a meager connection anyway--I lived in the same orphanage alongside Maki Harukawa and Shuuichi Saihara. It wasn’t much, but I did hear a little about Kaito from the other Sunnyside kids over the years.”

Lowering his voice again, Ienzo confided, “...but more directly, Prince Kokichi offered my family, and another group of factory workers asylum in Dicea. That’s where most of my family is headed now, actually. While working out the logistics for that I was able to speak to Kaito a bit, and that’s how I know him more personally.”

“Oh,” Rantaro said, before sipping his coffee, “...hmmm.”

“........normally, I’d ask if you were certain that’s the path you wish to take,” Rantaro admitted, “Someone paying you to go across the country for them, a whole group of… people able to do what you’re capable of? I’d imagine you’re going to find yourself trapped in a new prison. Creating new slaves for new people. It almost seems inevitable, on paper.”

“.......but, if Kaito’s involved?” Rantaro shrugged, like it was obvious, “No. You’re fine. It’s a sincere gift. Though he might try to sleep with some of you. That won’t decide if you do or don’t get the gift, mind you. He tries to sleep with everyone. Just be aware.”

Ienzo’s gaze dropped, as a weight seemed to be draped upon him. “It’s a possibility, yes. And one we’re facing with more certainty here. Just because we lived in the same city as our torturers and executioners and nothing happened does not mean that luck would hold out forever, or that information would not be sold to someone more proactive. We did our best to keep our heads down, but every day is a new chance for everything to just…repeat.”

There were no protections for Empaths in Luminary, and for all Ienzo knew, the more sinister reasons he’d thought about for why their case wasn’t spoken about, their group had just walked into the queen’s personal prison for them. There were no promises about that in Dicea either, other than…

Ienzo glanced back up, blinking in surprise. “...huh?”

“Kaito is incredibly fixated on his husbands,” Ienzo blinked again, “I know some nearly absurdly dedicated couples, and I’d call him dedicated.”

“...” Rantaro tilted his head a bit, genuinely bewildered. “...Kaito Momota? The prince, yes? Red hair, purple eyes, a better body than he really has any right to? Maybe a touch overly expressive? Goatee?” Rantaro kept going, waiting for the ‘Oh, different Kaito’ moment. But when Ienzo still seemed certain it was one and the same, Rantaro just hummed curiously. “...that’s hard to imagine. Not emotionally dedicated, Kaito was always a man that felt things fiercely. But I think it became just an understood thing for a while that if you were dating him, you were sharing him. Perhaps he’s learned to be more subtle in Dicea. Unless his husbands actually managed to contain him, in which case…that’s genuinely fascinating to wonder about. I know many officials who tried. Bailsong must be rolling in her grave.”

To Ienzo, it was probably a silly, maybe even petty sort of statement to make. But Ienzo wasn’t around the castle when Kaito sleeping around was a genuine scandal, over and over again. Rantaro had overheard Byakuya once float the idea of just straight up cutting Kaito’s cock off to make the scandals stop, and his entourage had legitimately had to talk him out of it. Mostly by arguing that Kaito would just have sex in other ways. Kaito’s libido had been, essentially, political news in the capital, and if you were making schemes around the royal family, you had to account for it. 

“But regardless… Ienzo,” Rantaro frowned, “On a more serious note. If you do go missing here? I can sincerely say I would work to help you. I don’t believe Kaede is planning anything like that, I think I would have heard about it, if not been given a task involved in it. But you’ve done a lot for me. I won’t stand by idly if you disappear into the dungeons. I swear it.”

Ienzo just nodded with each descriptor of Kaito, before he could only shrug. “He wasn’t married here, so maybe that’s the difference. And I sincerely don’t mean to discount Shuuichi, but Kokichi is a truly terrifying person, and Kaito seems to revel in that.”

If the Dicean heir weren’t so genuinely dedicated to altruism, Ienzo would be sincerely worried for the world at large. He had already failed at scheming around Tengan, and Kokichi was on the level of the person that took the head secretary out, along with being allied with them. It would be a near impossible battle.

But not all powerful people rendered him helpless.

“Thank you,” Ienzo said, a heartfelt gravity in his voice, before he smiled fondly at his friend. “Truly, I appreciate that you would still choose to help me with that strain on your allegiances.” With that sincerity, though, Ienzo smirked a little afterward. “I have heard tell I’ve become something like a castle ghost to the other residents. If nothing else, I’ve created a reputation for reappearing after a disappearance.”

“I’m a little out of the loop with castle gossip, but if you’d like I could keep an ear out for what people are saying about you and your group?” Rantaro offered, “In exchange for more coffee time spent together?”

“I’d be a fool to say no to some of the best ears in the castle,” Ienzo smirked, before giving Rantarou a fond look, “And just a straight up idiot to not want to spend time with a friend. I’d like that, Rantarou. I’m not sure what I’d be able to provide to you in your own domain, but consider me a place to ask favors.”

Ienzo’s lips parted slightly in an awkward smile. “...though, preferably ones unrelated to my old job.”

Rantaro laughed, before raising his cup. “Agreed.”

-