Bittersweet Irony [Emi, Castle]

[Fate]

Above the Situation
Hollow Bastion

The phrase "If it's not done right, do it yourself" was beginning to make perfect sense to Zexion as he returned to Radiant Garden. He was not here for a social visit this time, however; last time may have been, but this time he needed to right what Demyx wronged. Number Nine's report lacked any sort of substance for the Schemer and he was determined to gain more information. It was not only for the Organization's benefit, but it was for his own. If he worked things in the right way, it could please the Superior. He knew that Number Six was diligent and failure was never an option; if he played his cards correctly, he could possibly earn something out of this.

It had been a week since he had been to this world, making him quite the frequent visitor. Radiant Garden always seemed to have something of interest going on, always attracting something into its walls. This dark attack was no different and by the looks of it, this was not the work of a known enemy. He had seen Maleficent's handiwork before and this was most certainly not it. This was someone different, someone more powerful than the witch. That could be considered a threat.

Zexion observed the damage from near the castle, looking down on the town from a distance. The main center of the marketplace had been destroyed; in fact, much of the town seemed to be in disrepair. It could almost be considered ironic that the Radiant Garden Restoration Committee was working so diligently on restoring the town when a powerful force came and brought them back to square one. They deserved the bitter irony; Radiant Garden would never be what it once was.

Deciding it best to observe the damage from a closer distance, he started making his way to the town with his hood up. Hopefully, he would be able to deduce more from seeing the damage up close.

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[Castle]

Mr. Ornery the moogle was on his lunch break again. Castle sat on the overturned bucket behind their makeshift stand, the one they built to keep the item shop in business after their building was destroyed in the recent attack. Well, the moogle's building. Castle was just the hired help. He rested an elbow on the counter and put his chin on his hand. This was always a boring part of the day, but at least it gave him a break from construction work.

He sighed. Business always seemed to be slower when it was him at the stand rather than the moogle, not that it wasn't slow already. Maybe people just liked buying things from a cute n' cuddly fellow rather than a teenage boy who "looked like a delinquent," as he could have sworn he heard someone say once.

Suddenly, the approach of a new figure caught his attention. It was a person, a guy, probably, judging from the stature, who was dressed all in black with a hood drawn up. Now, seeing strange new people was old news to someone from Traverse Town, but something about that guy seemed... off. Castle suddenly thought of the mysterious marketplace-destroying man from several days ago and straightened up, removing his elbow from the counter.

"Hey, check out that guy," he said to Emi, who was working on the house that they'd started fixing the roof of the day before. Whether or not she could hear him from there was yet to be determined.

[Oathkeeper Emi]

"At least now I know this isn't a good career path for me..."
--

Emi didn't hear him, she was too busy silently fuming over her work.

She was crouched on the slant of the roof, her hair pulled back, working in a tank top with her jacket tied around her waist. She had a hammer in one hand and was using the other to steady herself. She was angry because she'd just realized she'd done a whole section completely backwards and she was going to have to take it out and redo it.

"Oh, come on,[/color]" she groaned. "I spent all morning on this! STUPID ROOF![/color]"

In her anger, she pulled her arm back and threw the hammer with all her strength. It went flying... right for a familiar cloaked face. This could either be a good thing or a bad thing... Emi though as she watched it fly, almost in slow motion. If that's Zex, this could be a bad thing... but if its that pervy guy... I hope it hits him right in the eye.

"Hey watch out![/color]" she yelled, going with her gut instinct that it was her friend.

[Fate]

Out Cold

The damage looked harsher when he looked at it closer, the Schemer now in town and walking around. He made sure to avoid the eyes of most, keeping to the shadows as he observed the damage and inspected it. The stench of darkness was still strong, a definite sign of the power this force had. Maleficent's stench had been bad enough, but this one seemed to linger longer than hers. Debris lied on almost every street he walked down in this part of town. The center seemed utterly destroyed; it would take weeks, perhaps even months, to repair everything once more.

A familiar scent came across his senses for a moment, the scent recognized instantly; Emi was still here then and was in town. He was not here to visit her, meaning he would likely have to do a bit more work to disguise himself so he would not be found. He did not need to be distracted on this mission. Refusing to get distracted, he did not turn his head in her direction and kept walking; if she noticed him by now, then he would have to make an effort to not have her follow him. He wanted this mission to go perfectly.

That ideal of perfection was quickly dropped. If he had turned his head in her direction, he would have noticed the hammer coming straight for him. If he had bothered to pay attention to his hearing in time, he would have heard it and would have been able to dodge or repel it. Sadly, the hammer's short flight was almost silent until it made contact with the Schemer's head. The force was enough to send him to the ground, his hood coming off in the process. He managed to get a look at what hit him before he felt his eyes close, everything going to black.

When he woke up from this, he would need to have a little chat with Emi and her violent nature toward him. He had told Vexen that she would not be an issue and here she was throwing hammers at him; how kind.

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[Castle]

It took Castle a moment to register what he'd just seen. Did Emi seriously just brain that guy with a hammer?

"Geez!" he exclaimed loudly, jumping to his feet and knocking the bucket over in the process. He ran to where the guy lay motionless on the ground and dropped down to a kneel beside him. The cloak's black hood was down now, and the guy's face and hair were totally exposed. Maybe it was the fact that he was unconscious, or that the unconsciousness was a result of a single hammer blow that would take down the average man anyway, but he looked a lot less suspicious now.

"Hey, you okay? Can you hear me?" Castle called, trying to wake the guy with a few very light slaps on the face, which didn't really do much. Was it even okay to touch someone's head after a blow like that, no matter how lightly?

He looked over his shoulder at Emi. "I told you to check the guy out, not throw a hammer at him!" he said, even though he knew it wasn't really her fault. He thought he'd heard Emi try to warn the guy, anyway.

[Oathkeeper Emi]

"Well, I guess I better go see if he's dead yet."
--

Emi wilted. So it was Zexion after all. She had really been hoping it was the pervy old guy.

"I didn't throw it at him, I just threw it and it happen to hit him,[/color]" she whined. She decided it was probably a good idea to go check on him, so she climbed down the ladder and ran over. She knelt over him, patted him on the face and said "Enh... I didn't kill him did I?[/color]"

Inside her head, she asked What happens if a Nobody dies, anyway?

Nope. He was still breathing. He probably had a concussion though. She felt bad, she really did.

"Let's get him out of this heat,[/color]" she said. Partly out of concern for his wellbeing, partly so she wouldn't get caught. She looked around, trying to spot a shady spot. She was going to pick Zexion up with Castle's help but when she tried she ended up just dragging him along in the dirt.

She stopped and dropped his arm. Hnn. His deadweight was a lot heavier than she expected.

"You need to lay off the cheese puffs, dude,[/color]" she told him, fully aware he couldn't hear her.

[Castle]

When Emi started to pick the guy up, Castle thought that he was going to help carry him, like they were probably supposed to do. However, before he could get a good hold on him, Emi just started to drag the poor man through the dirt like a rag doll until she finally gave up and dropped his arm. Castle cringed a little in sympathy, even though the guy most likely didn't feel a thing.

"Whoa, hey, how about we carry him together instead of having you kill him like that?" Castle said with a bit of a sardonic edge as he took the few paces needed to catch up to them. Was it bad that this whole thing was somehow coming off as comical to him?

He did a quick glance-check of the area. Surprisingly, nobody seemed to have noticed their little situation. Yet. He wondered if Emi would get in trouble if the truth about this guy's injury was revealed, which it probably would be when he woke up. But, it wasn't like she'd done it on purpose, so how could they blame her? Then again, Mr. Sexist Construction Boss seemed like the type to look for any opening to get her fired.

He spotted a stable, shady overhang that was formed by another recently reconstructed roof and gestured to it,
"We could take him there for now, I guess."

[Fate]

Dizzy Moment

Zexion's eyes squinted open for a moment, the sun making him want to close them again. His head was pounding fiercely, his mind now racing to remember what just happened. Oh yes, Emi threw a hammer at him. It must have knocked him out; his head was not exactly made of steel. No matter, he could continue this mission as soon as his head stopped pounding. It would mean a slight delay on him returning to the World that Never Was, but that would not be too much of an issue; he could work around that.

Two people seemed to be standing above him, one of them Emi and the other a scent he did not recognize. He managed to keep his eyes open a bit longer to study both of them for a moment. All three of them were lucky this had not caused a scene of any sort; otherwise, things would not have turned out as well. He moved one of his arms to feel his head, wincing as he moved said limb. It seemed that he was not bleeding, which was a good thing he supposed. Though, he was not sure why his arm was hurting; he did not remember hitting that at all or even falling on it.

Either way, he could not lay on the ground for too much longer. He pushed himself off of the ground and stood, swaying dangerously as he did. He immediately found a wall of sorts to lean against and hold him steady for a moment, the shady area that Emi had been trying to pull him toward. A dizzy feeling washed over him, the area around him spinning for a moment. He was not about to linger here too much longer though if he could help it. However, he did not think he would be able to get very far like this; he had a feeling the two of them would not let him. He stayed against the shady area, holding his head again.

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[Oathkeeper Emi]

"Want me to kiss it and make it feel better?"
--

Emi hovered, arms crossed. Not angry crossed. It was almost like she was cold, but in this heat? She looked on at Zexion. She really was concerned, and guilty, but she had a weird way of showing it. She followed Zexion into the shade, tailing him like a lost puppy.

"I'm really sorry,[/color]" she said. "It was accident. What can I do to fix it?[/color]"

She did this. She would get mad, break something- someone in this case- and then feel bad about it. But breaking stuff always seemed to calm her down. She did feel calm now, but at Zexion's expense. She wouldn't offer to fix anything for just anyone. He was a special case. Now, if she'd hit Castle with the hammer, she probably wouldn't even send flowers to his bedside.

She was curious as to why the illusionist was even in town. Especially walking around in town wearing his cloak, which he had told her a hundred, thousand, million times never ever to do. No one could see it. There was something going on, she felt. What had she interrupted?

[Castle]

Castle was surprised to see the guy stand up. He started to say something, a few times, as he watched him go over to lean against a wall, but the way the guy said absolutely nothing was kind of confusing. Wasn't he even going to ask what had happened, or if he already knew, why someone had thrown a hammer at him in the first place? Maybe he was still too disoriented. Castle went over with Emi to stand by him in the shade.

Did the guy have a concussion or what? He wasn't sure of any medical procedures for this sort of thing, but something told him that being up and walking right now may not be the best idea.

"Hey, maybe you shouldn't be moving around just yet," Castle suggested carefully, "You got whacked pretty hard."

Apart from that, Castle couldn't help but notice the way Emi worded her last statement. Fix it? He got her meaning, but it seemed like a weird way to say it. Well, it was Emi. Who knew how her mind worked.

He glanced back at the item stand. The moogle still wasn't back yet. Funny how he chose today to take his time eating lunch and miss all the action.

[Fate]

One Never Intends to Get Hit in the Face With a Hammer

Zexion was right; both of them followed him over there. Emi seemed apologetic and the man, who ironically was shorter than him, seemed concerned. He closed his eyes for a minute or so, attempting to will the pounding in his head to disappear as he thought of how to respond to this situation. Unfortunately, it would not be easy to make a quick getaway unless it involved using a Corridor of Darkness. That would be an unwise move to make, especially in front of someone he had never met before. He most likely looked suspicious enough with his cloak as it was.

That left him two options: he could persuade the two that he was fine and then attempt to continue his assigned mission, or he could sit for a moment. Admittedly, the second option sounded more practical; he did not remember his head throbbing this much before and would feel thankful, if he could, that the hammer had not been Lexaeus' Skysplitter. That blow would have undoubtedly knocked him out cold for much longer than this.

He opened his eyes and looked to the man who spoke, nodding his head. This action was immediately regretted, his gloved hand quickly going to hold his head. Zexion was not one that liked to pause in the middle of a mission or admit defeat, but continuing this mission with a throbbing headache was not going to get him very far and the Superior would be less than satisfied with the results. He turned his gaze to Emi, deciding to answer her question now.

"I would appreciate it if you did not make a habit of this," he replied, his voice a bit quieter than it typically was, "I would prefer we go inside where we will attract less attention. Is that a possibility?" After his initial sarcasm toward Emi, he chose to be civil and polite. The only thing he felt he needed at the moment was to sit, make the throbbing stop, and then politely leave and continue his mission. After all, he had not intended this to be a social visit.

[/size]

[Oathkeeper Emi]

"...or you know, a hospital or something?"
--

Emi looked over her shoulder nervously.
"Where should we take you? I have to get back to work soon, or at least get the boss off my back.[/color]"

She wasn't sure what to do. She didn't think it was a good idea to bring him back to the library. It was too far away and she didn't want Castle to stumble in on the little set-up she had going on there. She wasn't sure if any of these other buildings would do.

She assumed Castle didn't get whatever kind of bad vibes everyone else did from the cloak, and she also realized that he wasn't aware she knew Zexion. She didn't know if she should keep that a secret, either.

She straightened from where she'd been examining Zexion's head and looked around. The building she'd been working on repairing was empty on the inside, mostly. Sure there was a giant hole in the roof, but it was mostly abandoned and clear of debris. As long as it didn't start raining, that would be the most logical spot.

"Come on, this way,[/color]" she said. She was sure to make certain the coast was clear before beckoning the two young men forward with a hand. No need to cause more trouble.

[Castle]

So the guy could talk after all, if not very quietly. From the sound of it, he was either really embarrassed right now or really self-conscious overall. First, he came into the Marketplace with that hood up and sticking mostly to the shadows, and now, he wanted to get out of sight as quickly as possible. That made him one of two things; a very shy man, or a convict on the run.

For now, Castle would give him the benefit of the doubt, but he was starting to get curious. This was turning into a pretty interesting day.

Emi beckoned them out of the shade, and even though she had already checked out the area, Castle glanced around again for good measure. Man, that moogle was eating his lunch slowly today. Castle wondered how mad he would be if he came back and found the stand unguarded. Very mad, probably, but he could handle that. This was more important, anyway.

"Need help?" he asked the guy in reference to his ability to walk in a straight line. He didn't seem too disoriented or anything, but Castle still thought he was acting... weird, so he wanted to make sure.

[Fate]

Civility and Lilacs

Emi seemed to know of an area to make sure they were out of sight, an empty building that looked like it was in the process of having its roof fixed. Zexion was no architect, though he was relatively sure that the tiles were backward; whoever built it hopefully knew that they needed to fix it. He was not about to say anything toward that though; if this was the style that the people of Radiant Garden wanted, who was he to say anything against it? Either way, he needed to get into that empty building and out of sight.

The other man was giving him a look and still seemed to be genuinely concerned. Though, Zexion partially had to wonder if he was suspicious. It was not everyday that a man in a black cloak came walking through Radiant Garden; the clothing was not everyday wear one might say. The Schemer had to be on his toes that he did not make this one too suspicious. That would end up being a tad harder than normal since Emi knew him already and it would be rather difficult to pretend to not know one another. Though, perhaps that could be the key; if Emi knew and trusted him, then this man could be influenced to do the same.

Now, whether or not to accept this man's helpful gesture was another thing entirely. Zexion studied him once more, attempting to think with his head throbbing; perhaps that was not one of his best ideas. It could not be that difficult to walk to where Emi was going, the distance short. There was still a feeling of dizziness, though he felt he could manage. "I believe I can manage, but thank you," he said politely at his normal volume, attempting to keep this civil act going as he started taking a couple of steps toward the house.

That did not go as well as planned. Dizziness decided that it did not want Zexion walking any farther than a few steps, causing him to sway again and quite nearly fall upon this other man who smelled strongly of lilacs; an odd scent, but a scent nonetheless. Thankfully, he managed to stand still and not let himself fall; if he had a heart, he would be a bit agitated at himself for not being able to walk in a straight line after getting hit with only a hammer.

He managed to get into the house without swaying too much again, nearly falling on the door when he reached it. He found his way inside the empty house and went to lean against a wall while standing and holding his head. His eyes closed for another moment, his hand moving to pinch the bridge of his nose. "This is very kind of you both," he chose to say, "I apologize for causing an interruption. Tell me, who is your friend Emi?"

Without elaborating further, he conveyed two messages through that. He told the man who smelled of lilacs that he did in fact know Emi, which could explain why she was a bit more concerned than she would be for anyone else. He also conveyed to Emi that telling him this information was fine. Introductions were now in order and he always waited for the other to make the first move before he introduced himself.

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[Oathkeeper Emi]

"I hate apologies. So much."
--

"Oh. That's just Castle. He works with me,[/color]" Emi said, with a shrug. They weren't exactly friends yet. She held grudges for a long time. She and Castle had gotten off on the wrong foot if only for a few seconds and that bothered her.

Obviously Zexion didn't mind if it was thrown out there that they knew each other. Then again, that could have just been the head injury speaking. Just to be safe, Emi didn't elaborate on their relationship.

"You aren't causing an interruption,[/color]" she added. "I was just working on that roof. Did it backwards.[/color]" Her face reddened, ashamed of her mistake. "So I got frustrated. You know how it is. I'm really sorry. If anyone was causing an interruption, it was me.[/color]"

She gave him a look. She was still wondering what had possessed him to show up in plain sight. Was it some kind of... of mission? From that group he was with, back in the castle he'd taken her to? It definitely wasn't a social visit; he didn't do stuff like that. There was always a reason and he wouldn't have put himself in danger like that- although she was sure he hadn't been expecting a hammer to the head- just for a visit.