Lost and Found [Zexion/Vexen]

[Fate]

Everything Starts With a Quest for Power

Vexen seemed to be willing to be less cryptic at the moment and gave him some answers. The Lexicon was summoned as Vexen gave his answers, Zexion not wanting to waste a moment of getting this information and possibly forgetting it as he went back to the castle; he didn't quite have an eidetic memory. He immediately started writing what Vexen was describing as the massive conflict between Keyblade masters of darkness and light. They were fighting for the long sought-after Kingdom Hearts and its unimaginable power. This was not too terribly surprising to the Schemer; many conflicts seemed to happen over the mystical Kingdom Hearts.

Wait a moment though, did Vexen say world in the singular form? Zexion wrote that down, though he looked back up directly after he did with a raised eyebrow. Vexen continued to say "world" instead of "worlds" when he spoke more, this world separating into other worlds. These were the worlds that existed today that had started with their boundaries, or they were until Xehanort's experiments tore them down again. The worlds most likely held something like this myth in them somewhere, though Zexion wasn't about to go hopping from world to world again just to find it. He had all that he needed right here.

Though, this of course brought him to another question that he thought he just might keep to himself. It was unquestionable that the worlds were in danger since the boundaries were down; that was obvious, especially with someone like the Champion wandering between them now. However, were they in danger of another catastrophic Keyblade War? Zexion had his doubts about this one, especially since there were so few Keyblade Masters to begin with right now. There was Sora, Riku, Kairi, Mickey, Arc, and Everto that he knew of. That wouldn't be enough to create a war. No, nothing like this large scale of events.

"I see..." he said, stopping his writing and letting the Lexicon disappear,"The tale of this world is truly quite remarkable." He wasn't sure how many questions he had left, even if he had any at this point. Vexen had answered them rather concisely, which was a bit different than his usual cryptic nature. He walked over to one of the Keyblades on the edge of the path and held it without removing it from the ground. Aside from the blade's weight, he felt nothing. Keyblades were somewhat mystical weapons that would disappear from the hand of the non-wielder and into the wielder's within seconds. However, the wielders were no longer alive, but their blades were left here.

"I wonder, is there anything left in these blades even though their true wielders have long since passed," he continued, letting go of the blade and turning to Vexen again, "Tell me, where did you find all of this information? And how long have you been keeping this a secret?" Now he was a bit suspicious. How did Vexen happen upon all of this knowledge while the Schemer was left in the dark? Where did Vexen find all of it? There had to be connections of some sort at the very least...

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[Matt]

Most Things End the Same Way

Throughout Vexen's telling of the Keyblade War, Zexion wrote furiously in his Lexicon, evidently trying to get every bit written down word for word. He would be reviewing the information later, no doubt. The Schemer was constantly compiling knowledge he came across into the big black book. Similar to the way the Academic recorded data, although while his things were spread out across many different reports, virtual and physical, Zexion kept everything he knew in that one item, and no one else was ever allowed to borrow it. It was undoubtedly full of numerous intriguing secrets...

Blinking, he saw the book, which he had just been staring at, vanish from it's owner's hand. "It certainly is." he replied, nodding his head. "Also a rather worrisome one, wouldn't you say?" Why exactly, was not something Vexen saw a need to explain. Feeling like returning to his more cryptic ways, he choose to leave that at this. Zexion ought to be able to assume what he meant anyway; it wasn't that obscure.

"Possibly." he conceded to Number Six's wondering. The thought had actually already caught the Academic's curiosity. It was an interesting quandary and it was something he intended to look into. His immediate hypothesis to the question was "yes". Some sort of trace of life likely remained within the key. But that could not be assumed, and would have to tested naturally.

Was Zexion really demanding more information? And so soon after he had so generously been given such an amazing history lesson? Vexen did not think so. "I believe it is your turn to tell me something that I don't know." This may have been partially to momentarily avoid the question at hand, but he also did wish to hear what the Schemer had to say. "Although I am sure it will hardly compare with the fascination of what I have shared with you, be sure to make it good."

[Prythian]

A golden flash, and elsewhere amongst the field of keys, a silver-robed figure appeared.

The sword vanished from his right hand, and the Champion lowered his hood. In his left hand, he held a single item... a Keyblade.

He strode forth to the section that he'd set apart for himself, an area that no Keyblades had been... one on the edge of the fields. Now, of course, there were many Keyblades set in this spot, with words carved into the ground next to them.

Kashunk! He embedded the Keyblade into the ground on the edge of the growing spot, and summoned a sword of darkness to his hand, raising it into the air and then bringing a blast of darkness on the ground before it, carving these words into the ground:

Here lies the Keyblade of one who died seven days ago. She fought well.

Every other Keyblade in this small field was also new, in contrast to the many ancient ones that made up the bulk of the Graveyard, and they each had the same words. Only the last sentence was different. She fought well. He was brave. She was wise. He was peaceful. Many variations on this final sentence could be found, but always the first stated the death as seven days prior.

He glanced over his shoulder at the mountain in the middle of the Graveyard, remnant of some ancient battle, and nodded. Then with a flash of a golden sword, he vanished.

[Fate]

Overwhelming Discovery

Of course, Vexen was going to try and get something out of him now after showing him this world. After all, he had immediately asked questions upon their arrival, making now no different. Zexion was not all too sure he could give anything of interest to Vexen. He had met with Sora recently, though that wasn't truly interesting and he couldn't tell that; the Academic would wonder why and Zexion couldn't afford to disclose that. He also couldn't disclose his meeting with Axel yesterday, that of which he did not remember all that well in the first place. There was ice cream involved though, and something about Lexaeus.

In other words, he had to keep everything to himself. He couldn't trust Vexen. Or anyone else for that matter. Though, perhaps he wouldn't have to.

As Vexen was speaking his next line, the Schemer completely zoned out to what he was saying. His senses were suddenly overwhelmed, his eyes now wide with shock from it. It was unmistakable of course, only one scent capable of overwhelming Zexion's senses: the Champion. The Nobody froze, now seemingly petrified. What was the Champion doing here of all places? No one else but these two Nobodies were here. He wouldn't need to go after beings that didn't exist, only ones of light. What could he possibly be doing here?

And just like that, the scent was gone and the world felt normal once more. Zexion gasped for air, not even aware that he had been holding a breath or two. Now his mind was moving at a quick pace. The Champion hadn't been too far from them, and now he wanted to know why. Of course, Vexen would want to know this too. This could be his interesting addition for the day.

"The Champion was just here," he said, his voice a bit quiet. It wasn't every day that he was startled like that. "He has left, but I know where he was." He didn't wait for Vexen to follow, merely just going straight to where the Champion had been. He was quite nearly running at this point, though still kept his pace at a fast walk. Vexen would be able to keep up fine, but at this point, he didn't care. He was too eager to know what the Champion had been doing here when he had been so elusive after the visit in the Deep Jungle.

Minutes later, he arrived at another field of Keyblades. However, this particular field was different than the rest. The Keyblades looked new, not ancient like the others, and had words written next to them. Many of them said "Here lies the Keyblade of one..." with a numerical amount of days. There had to have been at least forty Keyblades, most likely more, and one of them looked as if it had just been added to the collection. A new collection of Keyblades in this wasteland? That was what the Champion was doing? Adding to it?

Realization struck and Zexion took a step back from the field. "The Champion has been killing Keyblade Masters. These are the ones that he's killed." His face and voice were completely serious. This proposed a new problem to the Organization. If the Champion was killing off Keyblade Masters, that was bad news.

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[Matt]

"Inconceivable!"

As Vexen was finishing his last statement, Zexion's eyes suddenly widened. A look of shock, perhaps even greater than the one that had appeared at the arrival at the Keyblade Graveyard, covered his face. Ever muscle in the Schemer's body seemed to freeze, almost like he had been frozen by some sort of time spell. Vexen glanced around in confusion, completely uncertain of what it was that could have brought about such a reaction in the typically calm and collected Nobody. "What is it?" he asked curiously, unable to even formulate a logical guess.

The Academic raised an eyebrow at the answer when it was finally given, also quite surprised, though not nearly as openly as Zexion. The Champion had just been there, in the Keyblade Graveyard? Doing what, he wondered... "Oh...?" Without speaking another word, Zexion took off a much hastier speed than he normally used. Apparently, with his nose of a bloodhound, he was heading straight to the location where this unexpected appearance had occurred. Vexen followed him, making sure to keep up with his fast pace.

When they eventually stopped, reaching what was presumably the area that Tool of Darkness had recently been in, they had left the Graveyard, or at the least the main part of it. Of by themselves, stood approximately fifty keyblades, very different from the rest of the ones that could be seen. "They're... new?" Vexen asked incredulously. How could that be? The answer had just begun to dawn on him, when Zexion came forth and said it. These keys had been put there by the Champion. They were the keyblades of wielders that he had killed.

This was bad news for the Organization, who's master plan relied totally on having the hearts of the heartless released by the keybladers to form Kingdom Hearts. Without the wielders, Kingdom Hearts could not be formed. And without Kingdom Hearts, the Nobodies could not hope to regain their hearts which they had lost . Very bad news indeed...

Managing to recover from the initial daze caused by this realization, Vexen quickly started to count the weapons in the small patch. "There are fifty-three here." he announced definitely. Fifty-three Keyblade Wielders, struck down by the Champion. A hardly believable number.

He also took note of the writing along with each of them. Every one of the messages said the same first part: "Here lies the Keyblade of one who died seven days ago." What varied where the last parts, each one of which varied slightly. "I wonder." he murmured slightly to himself, though also to the Schemer. "What is the significance of his holding onto to the weapon for seven days?"

[Fate]

Very Conceivable Unfortunately

Zexion could not help but continue to stare at the Keyblades, taking all of this in. Vexen gave him an exact number of how many Keyblades were there, a number slightly over fifty. It was too high of a number, at least as far as the Organization was concerned. They needed as many Keyblade Masters as possible to fill Kingdom Hearts so they may retrieve their hearts. However, if the Champion continued to kill the wielders of these weapons at this rate, there would be none left. They wouldn't have to worry about Xemnas stealing Kingdom Hearts anymore; there would be no Kingdom Hearts.

Vexen then asked a question, a musing of sorts. "I cannot say I know," he said, thinking to himself. Seven was an interesting number he supposed, exactly a week. There might be symbolism in putting a Keyblade in the ground exactly a week after the wielder was killed. It allowed the Champion to carry the dead weapon that long, though why would he? There was something important missing from this scene. There was most definitely symbolism in this sort of act, but Zexion couldn't place it. Every Keyblade had the same words next to it except for the newest one. That one said the Keyblade Wielder fought well.

"Seven days... what does the number seven have to do with the Keyblade Masters...?" He couldn't be sure. He would need to dig deeply into the collections of his Lexicon to find this one out. It would take a while though and it might just be another goose chase. However, if he found something, it would be worth it. "There is certainly significance in the number, but I cannot say what it is. I don't know what it has to do with." Of course, that wasn't something he ever liked to admit, but it was true.

"We need to return to the Castle and report this to Xemnas immediately," he said, going onto a different track, "We may need to take a course of action now that we have seen what the Champion is doing. If he continues down this, we will never achieve Kingdom Hearts."

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[Matt]

On Second Thought...

Zexion did not seem to have any more of an idea for an explanation of the Chamion's peculiar rituals than Vexen did. Though he was certain that the number seven held some sort of importance for Keyblade Masters. "Hmm... Perhaps the significance of the days is not related to the Keyblades, but to the Champion himself." Despite the fact that many appeared quick to forget it, the Tool of Darkness was human-- more or less. Like any action his must have possessed motives, and those motives were likely tied to his past somehow. Not that knowing that did much good.

Moving away from the general pondering of the details, primarily for the assume reason of not having much else to add, Zexion declared that they must return to the Castle That Never Was immediately, and report what they had found to the Superior. The startling discovery was certainly worth reporting-- as the Schemer had pointed out, if the Champion was out to eliminate the Keyblade Wielders, than a serious hitch would be but in the Organizations plan-- but could it not be worth keeping quiet even more? At least for the time being.

"I must wonder why you would be so fast to report back to someone you clearly do not trust." If Number Six believed that Xemnas did not have the group's best interest at heart, why continue to do his dirty work for him? "Not to mention someone who hardly seems to even care. Constantly sleeping..." Best interests in mind or not, there was no denying the Superior to be rather lazy in his pursuits. He probably would barely take action at all even if he were informed.

"With our two best minds already on it... The Academic clearly being the best, with the Schemer a still commendable second. "Do we really stand to gain from involving the simpletons, or our terribly idle leader?" Of course not. Aside from a few slightly shocked reactions, they would receive nothing from them; definitely nothing helpful. "Until we can come up with a favorable course of action, best not to worry them. Wouldn't want anyone doing anything too rash, now would we?"

[Fate]

A Very Good Question Indeed

Before Zexion could even motion to summon the Corridor of Darkness back to the Castle, Vexen stopped him in his tracks with a rather significant question, causing him to turn to the other. Indeed, why was he so quick to report to Xemnas when he did not even trust the Nobody? The question was easily answered by that it was routine to do so and Zexion was very easily persuaded into routines. He had gotten used to the way things worked in the Organization, not even bothering to prepare much for the changes that would occur. He truly didn't need to tell Xemnas about this at all. Though, he did need to start thinking about a course of action in response to these findings.

He raised a slight eyebrow as Vexen spoke about the two of them working together. While the two were very able-minded and did generally think well together, Zexion was not so sure he could work with Vexen at the moment. Everything seemed to be happening at once: these findings of the Champion, the coup plan moving forward and almost ready to enact, Sora still needing to be exposed to more darkness to obtain Roxas, new Nobodies arising... The Schemer had his work cut out for him. Though, that had to be expected.

Zexion nodded his head to Vexen. "You do bring up a valid point," he said, shifting into his thinking position. "Though, we had best consult at least one other about these happenings. Lexaeus should know." The one Nobody that Zexion trusted needed to know about this not only because he was trustworthy, but because he was extremely valuable to the planning stage. The Schemer was not about to forget the happenings of Castle Oblivion; he lived as long as he did because of Lexaeus.

"A favorable course of action will be difficult to conjure, though doable," he continued, remaining in the same position for a minute before shifting his hands to his sides. "As a last resort, we may have to consider facing the Champion ourselves." That was not a pleasant thought at all. Zexion had met with the Champion once before and only once, but he felt his scent twice. He could track the man fine, but being in the same world again would be difficult.

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[Matt]

Back to Base

It seemed that Vexen had succeeded in his attempts to steer the Schemer away from sharing what they had found with the rest of the Organization. This was no surprise of course, considering how unquestionable his logic was, as usual. Though Zexion seemed to think it best they consulted Lexaeus on the matter. "I suppose." he replied simply. If they must tell someone else, he supposed it best that it be the Silent Hero. Number Five was trustworthy enough, and aside from being fairly intelligent he provided good physical strength, were brawn to be needed for whatever reason.

Vexen nodded. It was true, a particularly favorable course of action might be difficult to come up with in this case. Ultimately, they might have to just choose the best course of action, even if it was problematic in some way. Though the possibly of facing the Champion personally seemed much closer to being the worse option possible. If a fight became the only option, they still needn't do that themselves. "There's no reason to face him ourselves so long as we have our little heros to take on that responsibility. We need only pull their strings correctly."

They could only hope that Sora and his friends were powerful enough to take care of him. If they of all people weren't...

"Well, I suppose we might as well be leaving now." he declared. Now that they had already seen everything he had intended to, along with quite the something extra, there was no reason to linger any the world any longer. "Let me know when you decide to meet with Lexaeus." Raising his hand, Vexen summoned a corridor of darkness back to the Castle, and walked through it. It occurred to him that he had never told Zexion were he had found the information on the Keyblade War.

[Fate]

Letting the Dust Settle

Zexion acknowledged Vexen's points through a nod, staying silent. He seemed to think that they could still use the Keyblade Masters to fight for them against the Champion, a man who had taken on Radiant Garden's best fighters and had overwhelmed them all quite easily. If everything boiled down to a fight, then the Organization might need to move out of its neutral position. Though, Zexion was going to make attempts to avoid that sort of thing and attempt to keep the Organization from having to do that. Besides, things were far too chaotic inside of the group for it to be able to do much of anything substantial.

Though, that would be fixed soon. Plans were moving at a fast rate.

Vexen left after telling him to forward a message to him when he had arranged a meeting with Lexaeus about all of this. It would be some time at the very least, after things had cooled down. Though, of course Vexen left without telling Zexion what he wanted to know about where he had gotten all of this information. The Academic seemed to be hiding something as well. No matter then. The Schemer always had a way of finding such things out sooner or later.

Zexion waited until Vexen had fully disappeared, continuing to look at the Champion's work for a moment. There was most definitely something about the number seven. It was going to nag at him of course, especially with his need to know every last detail. It could prove to be important too if he managed to figure it out in time, though he wasn't going to do that by standing here and staring at each blade. Hopefully, if he ever decided to return, the number would not have substantially increased. Without further ado, he created a Corridor of Darkness and vanished, leaving behind the Keyblade Graveyard.

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