The Corruption Of Light (Open)

[Slash]

Ah. It was good to be home. Jericho leaned against a building, looking calmly around at the people walking past, at the nice, appealing architecture of the buildings, the calm of the eternal sunset.

Oh man he was going to tear this town a new one. He didn't hate the place, but out of obligation to Carter he'd destroy it. When he was done, a red mist would hang in the sky and the streets would be lined with viscera. Carter had died in this world- Jericho would make sure that the world itself died, too.

There was some very petty crime around here- he'd work with what he had, but if the local thugs weren't enough, he'd bring in some good friends from Traverse Town. He doubted he'd have to do that, though. He was skilled at getting people to follow him, to make them do horrible things that they'd never normally do. He'd get more and more people to become criminals, set up factions, set them against each other, and watch this world tear itself apart. It was only fitting.

He was interrupted in his thoughts by a nervous girl. "Um, excuse me, do you know where the armor store is? I'm lost..."

"Hm?" Jericho went over the directions in his head, then nodded knowingly. "Oh, you must be new around here, huh?"

She smiled nervously. "Yeah..."

"Well, I've been away from this place for a while, but I'm pretty sure I remember where everything is. Just take a left down that way, walk straight for a bit, and it'll be on your right. You can't miss it, it's got a huge sign on the front." He smiled.

"...Are you sure?"

What kind of a stupid question was that? He looked down the direction he was sending her in, as if he was actually considering whether or not he was right. Unless they happened to remodel the entire place in the few seconds from when he had passed by the shops, it was there. Which they would never do. This stupid world was stagnant, unchanging. But he'd fix that.

None of his thoughts or the emotions associated with them had shown outwardly in any way. He was good at keeping up the facade. Outwardly, he just looked as if he was going over the route in his head, making sure it was right. After a second, he nodded.

"Yeah, it's the right way."

"Thank you!" The girl walked off, in a much better mood than before.

[Axel]

Familiar Places

This place hasn't changed at all.

Why he had ended up here of all places was not something Axel could answer sufficiently enough. There were plenty of other worlds where he might find Saïx, but something about Twilight Town drew him. Perhaps it was because he was coming off a fresh encounter with Sora and needed to revisit this old haunt. Maybe he was experiencing the faint glimmers of that powerful emotion called hope, as if in coming here, he would find his best friend.

The clock tower still dominated the sky of this world, always more than just a mere time keeper. So many memories had been made atop that structure. So much ice cream had been consumed, so many words spoken. Or even no words at all, just the experience of sitting in the presence of good company. No one sat up there at the moment, and Axel lowered his eyes back down to the town proper. Staring in vain at the tower wasn't going to make Roxas suddenly appear.

He was currently in the Tram Common, near the passage in the wall that lead toward the old mansion. There wasn't any immediate need to go there, and even if there was, Axel would have been reluctant to do so. Thoughts of that place were not in any way pleasant. He hadn't been able to keep Roxas from going there and hadn't been able to keep him from rejoining with Sora. While failure didn't normally sit well with him, that particular failure was especially galling.

There wasn't any use in staying in one place if there wasn't anything of interest happening, so he pushed himself off the wall and casually wound his way through the streets of the Tram Common. He would have to be careful about potentially running into Organization members. A fight was the last thing he wanted right now.

[Slash]

Intuition

Twilight Town. An uninteresting world.

Saix stood in front of the clock tower, looking around before walking slowly into town. The eternal sunset here was supposedly appealing- he did not see the attraction. Eternal sunset meant no night, and no night meant that the moon never rose. It was a deep flaw in this world. The lack of night and the negative emotions associated with it showed in the world's inhabitants. They were incredibly complacent, and even the ones who fancied themselves powerful and combative were nothing compared to the tougher stock of other worlds.

There wasn't anything abnormal here he wanted to investigate, nor did he wish to engage in some perverse form of tourism as some of the other Organization members occasionally did to pass time.

No, he was simply looking for someone. A traitor, to be precise.

They had been friends, but Saix held nothing but contempt for Axel. A short-sighted, muddled Nobody who put himself at the control of emotions he did not even possess. He should have been turned into a Dusk ages ago.

This was the world where he had spent most of his time- it would not be surprising if he was here. If he was- well, Xemnas would be rid of one less worthless member. Besides, Axel was the most blatant traitor, so anyone secretly trying to betray the Organization yet again might have contacted him. Organization XIII had its share of traitors before, and it was highly unlikely that the revival of the members would change this. Saix would eliminate them all before they had a chance to do a thing.

Where to start? He'd comb the area thoroughly. He'd begin with the Tram Common, then move from there.

You're quite skilled at hiding, aren't you, old friend? But I am quite persistent in my efforts. You can't hide from me forever.[/color]

[Administrator]

Clang clang, Maxwell's silver hammer made sure that he was dead...

Random colors seemed to swallow a part of a wall near Axel. It was definitely not natural, and drew the eye, with the sickening shades of all of the colors making you want to look away, but your gaze staying upon the swirling, chaotic colors. This Window of Chaos was used by none other than Avarice Entropy, who stepped through a moment later.

Stretching out, the Heartless looked around. He noticed the smell of the Nobody before he even saw him. Grinning, Ava waved. "Hi there! I can smell you're a Nobody." The words nearly ran together, and, without even drawing a breath, the creature of the dark continued to his next sentence, introducing himself with rapid speech. "My name is Avarice Entropy, some call me Chaos Incarnate, but I go by Ava."

Taking a short break for a breather, and to let the Nobody process his words, Ava waited a moment, tapping his foot. He was rather impatient, since he could smell that there was someone with some rather negative emotions in the area. He could almost tell where it was coming from, but not quite, alas. "What is your name, Nobody? It would tiring to just call you by what you are the whole time."

Looking around, Ava searched for any traces of the person he smelled. Man, he thought. It was too musky to be a female scent. Then, he noticed a new scent. Another Nobody, who smelled like...light. But not the anathema kind. No, a softer yet harder light. It was...the moon? That's odd, Ava thought. I can't remember anybody smelling like that. Turning back to the Nobody, Ava grinned all the wider. After all, there was going to be a party here. And he would have much fun.

[Axel]

New Faces

Even with the occasional person moving about the common, Axel had still been alone. After all, these people didn't really care about the purposes of a random cloaked stranger. However, he was not alone in that sense for much longer. A strange discoloration coated a section of the wall where he had only moments before been leaning, and an interesting dark-skinned... creature emerged. That was the best word Axel could use to describe him. There was a gaping hole in its chest, and that prompted the raising of an eyebrow. Clearly, this wasn't a human. A sinister aura tinged with a hint of crazy bled off this newcomer. But he spoke, so obviously it was intelligent.

He's a chatty one, isn't it?

"Ava, huh? And you think I smell?" He made a show of picking at one of his sleeves, bringing it to his nose, and then sniffing it. "You must have the nose of a bloodhound. You remind me of someone I know..." Only as far as that scent ability was concerned, though. Zexion was not nearly this animated. And if he were, that would be a simultaneously scary and hilarious sight, indeed.

Since he had immediately been rewarded with a name without having to do any work, Axel already knew this wasn't that Everto Zexion had told him about. But that look in Ava's eyes told him all he needed to know about his alliance. Further proof was found when Axel's eyes ran briefly across Ava's hand and saw the Heartless insignia. His gaze jumped quickly back up to Ava's yellow eyes, and then it hit him. Ava was a Heartless. A sentient one, at that.

In his state of surprise, he almost didn't hear Ava's request for his name. It was true. Getting called "Nobody" repeatedly was going to get annoying. After regaining his usual composure, he put a hand to his chest and smirked. "The name's Axel." He paused for a moment, then tapped a finger to his temple. "Got it memorized?"

[Slash]

Ohhhhhh. That was interesting, those two figures passing by. One was a black-cloaked man with bright red hair and equally bright green eyes- there wasn't much interesting about him, save for the strange fact that Jericho couldn't read him. He was a complete emotional blank. Weird.

The other one was far more interesting. A man with blackish-purplish skin, predatory yellow eyes, a shock of white hair, and of course a giant, gaping hole in his chest. There were some strange, sickening colors moving around slowly on the edges of the hole in place of blood or organs. His clothes were black and red, the colors of a Heartless, and on the backs of his hands were the Heartless insignias. This one did have emotions- they appeared and were discarded within seconds, but the primary one seemed to be a childish sort of happiness.

Fascinating. An aware, humanoid Heartless. It was imperative that he get this little monster on his side. And whoever was walking with him would probably be a good idea to recruit, too. They'd make fantastic additions to his collection of loyal thugs.

He waited until they were close, taking a quick look around to make sure nobody else was around, then pointed at Ava's chest wound.

"You might want to cover that up. Some little ass thinking they're some big hero might try to take you on. Not that I don't think you could handle the little punks here, but there's probably a lot of them buzzing around here like mosquitoes. It'd get irritating fast, and their hearts probably won't be worth the annoyance." He smiled. "As a display of invincibility, though, it's quite impressive. Did you do it to yourself, or is it from a fight?

[Administrator]

What ho- ohhhh...that hole.

Ava cocked his head to the side. Wait, I have a hole in my chest? Already the Heartless had forgotten, it had become so much a part of him. Looking down, Ava saw the hole, poked at it a moment in thought, and then, suddenly, remembered where he got it. Furiae, he thought with a grin. She really hates me a lot. Tilting his head back to look the man in they eyes, Ava showed off his grin.

"Play doesn't tire me," he said simply before continuing on to the next part of his speech. "But I got this from a woman who hates me. I toyed with her. She didn't like it. Scythe blade." The grin widened extremely. "Cold girl got maaaaaaaaaaaaad." Just remembering the delicious pain was enough to make the Heartless chuckle darkly to himself, as if recollecting some grim joke.

Turning back to the Nobody, Ava nodded his head. "Axel, I got it," Nodding, he said, as an offhanded remark, "You look like someone I know. He's short, and has a big book." The Heartless was sure Axel would know who he was talking about, since they dressed so similar. The more similar people looked, the closer related they were. It was a fundamental law of the Kingdom Hearts realm.

Sniffing around, Ava noticed the fourth scent again. "Somebody smells like white light, and it isn't you, and it isn't you," Ava pointed to the man first, then to Axel, "but he smells kinda like you. The non-scent." The Heartless wasn't sure how that would help either of them, but he assumed one of them could go off of that. Maybe. If not, it was just something else he could point out and then, maybe, find someone to play with him~

Maybe the human would play~

[Axel]

Luck or Misfortune?

A third person joined this strange gathering, a rather tall and lean man wearing nondescript clothes and glasses. He was very out of place next to the Heartless and the Nobody. The newcomer approached and asked Ava about the hole in his chest, for the most part ignoring the Flame. He wouldn't have taken offense to this, even had he been able to feel true offense. Instead, he would simply return the sentiment in kind and ignore the man.

Ava mentioned knowing a short Nobody who carried a book. That could be none other than Zexion, but Axel wanted to make sure before jumping to conclusions. “Would this Nobody's name be Zexion, by chance?” The look on his face as he asked was one of disinterest. If this Ava was yet another ally of the Schemer, then he possessed a network of far greater range and variety than Axel had originally assumed. If, however, Ava was an enemy of Zexion, then it would be best not to appear on the side of the Schemer.

The Heartless was sniffing again, using that sensing ability of his. He could smell white light? Another Nobody? Axel thought for only a moment before it clicked. Ava must have been talking about moonlight. And that could only mean one thing: Saïx. The Diviner was around here somewhere. Though there was no external change to speak of, Axel was suddenly alert, intently aware of his surroundings and the possible appearance of his former best friend. To Ava, he simply said, “Oh? Wasn't expecting to find another Nobody here. Any ideas where he might be right now?”

[Slash]

Nowhere to run.

Axel had not made himself hard to find. A shock of very bright red hair stuck out in most crowds, and the black-cloaked clothes of the body attached to it was rather incriminating. He was standing out in the open, talking to an odd, sentient Heartless-like creature and some human. Axel would notice him any second now. It was to his advantage to preempt this and cease any sort of stealth. There would be a fight. He was sure the man wouldn't be a problem, but the Heartless creature might be a powerful foe. Saix didn't know- he hadn't seen a creature like this before.

He wondered what Vexen would give to study such a creature. Without any sort of amusement or hesitation, he concluded that Vexen would give approximately two fingers, half of his hair, and three of the toes on his left foot. Calculations aside, he walked out into the open, summoned his claymore, and set it down, watching Axel.

"Axel. You used to be more skilled at hiding. Perhaps you lost some of your mind in temporary oblivion."

_________________________________

Jericho watched the proceedings, interested. Another emotional blank. Nobodies? Perhaps, although most of the Nobodies he'd seen looked like discarded clothing. Then again, he'd never seen a sentient, humanoid Heartless before today, either. The day was full of surprises.

There was probably going to be a fight. If so, he'd do the right thing and stay on the sidelines. After all, it wasn't like he was involved in the conflict.

Hell, if they're both powerful enough, the fight might destroy a bit of Twilight Town without me having to do a thing.[/color]

[Administrator]

I don't like this one. Can I has kill him?

Ava brushed up against Axel while turning to look at the newcomer. "The other one had that name, yep." He felt kinda funny now. Like, he could sense where Axel was. And how he was feeling, metaphorically speaking. It was really, really weird. But, oh well. Things happened for no reason sometimes. It was the way of Chaos to be random anyways. It wasn't that important.Looking at the newcomer, Ava pointed. "There he is. That's the one I smelled." It was fairly obvious that it was that one, but just in case, Ava said it anyways. Sometimes, people didn't see the obvious. It just happened. Grinning widely, Ava stretched his hands out as ooze began to pour down from the hole in his chest, running across his arms and gathering in his hands, taking the general shape of two swords.

Swinging the blades around, Ava brought them back to a rest position. The twin blades were a pair of katana, made of whatever material was inside of him. They shifted in color like him, but they looked sickeningly sharp. It was obvious that you did not want to be cut by those swords. Of course, Ava wasn't sure why he immediately felt like killing this one, but he supposed he was just bored. Well, not really feel. He just thought he should kill this one.

"Hey Axel, do you mind if I kill this one?"

The mystery! One of the three has been revealed to be Axel, with whom Ava now has a bond.

[Axel]

Walking the Line

Saïx possessed an imposing enough presence that didn't need any verbal announcing. But when the Diviner spoke, there was no question Axel had found him. Or rather, Saïx had found him. The specifics didn't really matter at this point. The Flame turned his head nonchalantly in the direction of the familiar, flat voice. The claymore was already visible. Was Saïx only expecting a fight, or did he actually want one? Axel couldn't say for sure. Not that the Diviner would claim to truly desire anything other than his heart back. Obsession was his trademark.

"You. Didn't think I'd ever see you again." The attempt to goad him into a temper merely rolled off. "And who said I was trying to hide? I've actually been looking for you." He smirked for a moment, then turned serious and indicated the claymore. "How about you put that up before you accidentally trip over it? It'll be easier to talk that way."

He suddenly felt Ava brush up against him, which was a bit odd, but since nothing unusual happened as a result, he paid it no mind. He had heard his new acquaintance confirm that he did know Zexion, so that bit of information was filed away for later. Right now, his primary concern was Saïx. Even though he would enjoy--as much as he could pretend to--killing the Diviner, Zexion had said not to do so before getting the necessary information out of him. He wondered how far he might take this, now that he thought about it. Saïx would be familiar with how well he could play parts, but perhaps including a little truth would spice things up a little. And it might make for an interesting show later.

"Woah, woah. Hold on there, Ava." He held up his hands when he saw Ava now clutching two swords. He was asking Axel if he could kill Saïx. Normally, he would have been inclined to give him the green light. But having Saïx alive for the time being would be more entertaining, as long as he could convince the Diviner not to attack him on the spot. "A fight isn't really necessary right now. I've got a few questions for him first." He paused, considering. "And I've got some news he might want to know, as well."

Crossing his arms over his chest, he gave Saïx a weighty look. "Would you be interested in knowing that you have also been labeled a traitor by Xemnas?" It was a bit of a stretch, since Axel didn't know for certain if that had been made official. But Zexion had made it sound like he was going to mention to Xemnas the plans of Saïx to take over the Organization. Technically, telling his former friend this might be a violation of his current partnership with Zexion. But he wanted to see what sort of reaction that would get out of him.

[Slash]

Conversation

Saix listened to Axel ask that he relinquish his weapon for the time being. Well, he certainly wouldn't do it out of respect. Axel was a traitor, and certainly he was the worst of them. The other traitors (the fact that he had once been a traitor himself was quite unimportant) had sought to simply take over, believing that they could reach their goal quickly. Axel had sided with the Keybearer and had helped him reach his goal of eliminating the Organization. He died for the faint, meaningless memory of Roxas, and ensured that the living Organization members would die with him.

Not that Saix had any animosity towards him for this. But because of his actions, Axel was an obstacle blocking his goal. And as such, Saix had no doubt that he would eliminate his former friend.

But talking could give him some more information, which he was at need of at the moment.

"You are correct. To hold a weapon while talking would increase the tension of a conversation." The claymore vanished, and he listened to Axel, unarmed.

Ah. A traitor. How interesting. And who had told him? Certainly not Axel. Xemnas was no fool, and he wouldn't have so easily accepted the words of a known traitor. Axel was undoubtebly working with someone. Who would it be? He eliminated the obvious wrong choices- Demyx did not have the ambition, Luxord was too wrapped up in his games to consider it, and Xaldin and Xigbar were both quite loyal. Vexen would do it, but Axel had killed him so he was unlikely to look to him for protection. That left Marluxia, Larxene, Zexion, and Lexaeus. He certainly had his...suspicions as to who it was. However, to make sure, he would eliminate most or all of them in turn. All for the safety of the Organization.

While pondering all of this, the only physical reaction Saix had was putting his hand close to his chin in a gesture of deep thought. Afterwards, he set his hand back down and said, "A curious event, if true. And one that you could not cause yourself. You should save us both some time and state who your fellow conspirator is."

[Administrator]

IDON'TCAREWHATYOUSAIDI'MGONNAKILLHIM!!!!
HE'SIGNORINGMETHATSONOFA-!!!!!

Ava lowered his weapons when Axel told him to hold on. Of course, that was before the other Nobody, who apparently knew Axel, completely ignored him. Anger surged in Ava. He wasn't sure exactly why. He'd never been the particularly vengeful type before. All he knew was that he wanted to kill the Nobody, and he wanted to do it now.

The twin katana were a dark, stormy color, some combination of colors that ended up looking like a volcanic eruption. The blades spun in violent circles, and Ava, with a sudden burst of speed, flicked the right katana up to rest pointed at the Nobody's neck. "You, X-face. No ignoring me." He tapped upward with the katana. "If you want to play, we can play. But no ignoring me. You got that?"

Drawing backwards, the creature of Chaos harrumphed. He wasn't used to people just ignoring him like that. It was not nice. He should have been paying attention to him. Ava crossed his arms; his face a blank expression, his mouth a straight line. The katana were pointed down, both of them. He had, when he drew back, removed the katana from that Nobody's throat, of course. He didn't need it there anymore, so long as the Nobody understood that he could kill him faster than he could move.

"And I have a name, so don't just look at me and call me 'Heartless', 'cause I know you want to." Ava had a light, mocking tone to his voice, a trait not commonly found. "It's Ava, you got that?" Pointing the katana at the Nobody a moment, Ava nodded slowly. Then, all of a sudden, he yawned. "You're boring, X-face. You should go someplace else." And with that, Ava promptly turned his back on the Nobody and looked at the human

"You, you haven't said your name either. And since you know mine, it's only fair you give yours." Fair was fair, after all. The feeling of other that Ava hadn't realized was there was gone. All except for that vague sense that he could tell exactly where Axel was, how he was physically, and that he shouldn't kill him. He didn't know why he shouldn't, just that he shouldn't.

Maybe it was tied to that feeling of other and his 'status' sense. Then again, maybe not.

[Axel]

Fact or Fiction or Both?

Good. Saïx knew the value of information just as well as Axel did. The claymore vanished, which meant fighting would be put on the back-burner for now. Killing could come later. Possibly much later if he phrased his words well enough to be convincing. The Diviner was asking him to name his fellow conspirator outright. That wouldn't be happening at this point.

Before he could say anything in response, however, one of Ava's swords was suddenly at the Diviner's throat. But it was just a threat. Apparently, Ava didn't appreciate being completely ignored. He said a few words to Saïx, then turned his back on him and started talking to the other man present who, it seemed, had decided to remain quiet throughout this whole exchange. Axel had to suppress a smirk after Ava had said Saïx was boring. The Flame was beginning to like this strange, colorful creature more and more by the second.

With the threat of violence averted, Axel returned his full attention to Saïx. Time to start lying through his teeth, injecting just enough truth to make everything he said plausible."Conspire? Me?" He put a hand to his chest and gave Saïx a hurt look. "Hey, that might have been a habit of mine in the past, but I'd prefer to stay out of Organization politics."

That was, of course, the complete truth. He could care less about who ran the Organization, and therefore, he didn't take much interest in orchestrating the potential rise or fall of particular members. At least, not directly or intentionally. He certainly wouldn't mind if somebody took out Xemnas, but only because the guy just rubbed him the wrong way. Internal power struggles were intriguing only for so long before they lost their charm.

"The only reason I know about your new status is because I ran into Zexion in Traverse Town. Xemnas has, naturally, ordered my death, but Zexion and I decided to exchange information instead of try to kill each other." Picking his words carefully before saying them, he began to dance around the truth a little. "I learned from him that most of the Organization is back now. But there was also something else he let slip."

He leaned forward, cupping a hand to the side of his mouth as though sharing a huge secret. "You remember Vexen, right? And how he was always concerned about rank? Well, Zexion seemed to imply that, since you didn't show up to the big reunion meeting of the loyal members, Vexen has decided to try taking your place as the new second-in-command." He paused to let that sink in. "And Zexion said that he thinks Vexen is the one who persuaded Xemnas to call you a traitor. But he didn't say if Vexen actually knew about the arrangement you and I had. And I wasn't about to ask, since I didn't want Zexion to know something he might not already know." More lies, but these would, ironically, help to build trust if Saïx actually bit.

[Slash]

Jericho looked at Ava, amused. "Name's Alan Jericho. It's nice to meet you, Ava. Are you going to try to eat my heart? It wouldn't be too surprising, although as far as hearts go you could do much better. Mine'd leave a bad taste in your mouth. I have an idea that might get you the hearts of a good deal of this world's population...but let's leave that for after this little spat."

Dance of Lies

Saix tensed the Heartless as the katana was held to his throat. Just as he was about to rip the sword out of its hand and destroy the mad thing, though, it subsided as soon as it spoke, turning instead to the nondescript human on the wall. Its insult to him bounced off completely, as all insults did. Trying to goad him into anger was like trying to destroy a brick wall by throwing crumpled bits of paper at it. Actually, he didn't feel anger, so it was more along the lines of trying to destroy a wall of reinforced steel by giving it a nasty look.

And so the dance began. The dance of lies and twisted truths, of carefully chosen words and closely monitored gestures. It was a precise and difficult technique, and one slip could give the other valuable information they could use. He had been a part of this dance many times before.

His original list had been narrowed down to only Zexion, but the possibility of Vexen had been raised. Would the Academic try to rise to his position while he was absent? It was likely. He was a snake, slithering his way into power while avoiding any danger. But anyone else could move into that position, people stronger and more determined than Vexen. Xaldin could easily block him from the spot, and Xigbar could most likely accomplish it. Zexion could, as well. Even Luxord could, provided he felt like it. In fact, the only people he saw as having less of a chance than Vexen were Demyx and Larxene. Of course, it was also possible that Vexen was weaving a careful web that showed all other contenders as traitors...but that seemed like an awfully risky venture for the coward.

But he couldn't let himself get too distracted from the possibility of Zexion. Axel had mentioned correspondence between them. It was possible, even likely, that he had told Zexion of their old plot, who in turn had told Xemnas. In any case, Zexion was a prime target, no matter what Axel said to steer his suspicion in other directions.

Still, he would temporarily accept the possibility of Vexen's plot, if only to gain more information out of the Flame. Accusing Zexion would only lead to Axel denying it and becoming more evasive.

"Interesting. But Vexen is weak and is known for his cowardice. He is ambitious, sure, but the Superior has many other, better candidates from which to choose another second-in-command. Even if he has convinced the Superior that I am a traitor, how can he hope to rise? Manipulation would only get him so far. Surely he would not think himself a match for Xaldin should he show interest in the position. Xigbar, Zexion, and even Luxord would all be able to take it from him, as well. And to have them all declared traitors would take much more influence than the Academic possesses."