Tonight's Entertainment [Emi, Furiae, Zexion]

[Castle]

July 13, 2010

After being lost in space for a week, a feat that Castle still didn't know how Emi managed to achieve (he blamed her, she was the pilot), even this weird looking world was the most beautiful sight in the universe. He practically leapt out of the gummi ship after it landed, though his legs felt like noodles once he was standing on solid ground again. He stumbled a few steps and fell to his knees, but covered up his lack of balance with exaggerated, or maybe not so exaggerated, relief,

"Land! Beautiful land! I missed you so much, gravity... huh?"

His own hands caught his attention. He lifted them up and examined them, wondering for a moment if he was going crazy. He still had his gloves on, but the fingertips were longer and pointed, like claws or the hands of a Shadow Heartless. They also appeared to have iron nails fastened into them, as if to secure them to his arms.

"What the?"
He stood up and looked himself over. The gloves weren't the only things that had changed. His clothes were weirdly tattered at the hems, and there were chains in place of the straps on his pants. The color scheme was slightly altered as well, with black instead of gray and more red and purple than yellow.

And to top it all off, something felt different. Castle raised his hands to his head and found spiral horns, like the horns of a ram. A second later, he noticed something touching his leg and looked down to see a thin, black and red tail. His tail. With a spade shape on the end of it. Though he couldn't see them, there was a pair of small bat wings, all show and no functionality, between his shoulder blades, too.

"Uh... Emi?" he said tentatively, turning back toward the gummi ship, "What the heck happened to my clothes?" And my head? Maybe being stuck in space for a week had driven him insane without his noticing...

[Oathkeeper Emi]

You look stupid. HahaOHMYGOD.
--

Emi hadn't meant to get them lost. But you know, out in the void of space everything started kind of looking the same and after a near miss with an asteroid they'd gotten all turned around. Not that they really had any destination in mind in the first place but they hadn't planned on spending a little more than a week floating around with no land in site. Of course she had dashed right towards the first world they found. Though, now that they had landed she was a bit wary of stepping out. After the last world... but when she had determined that it was safe and there was solid ground and no giant dark death puddles, she hopped out.

She almost laughed at Castle's crazy antics but even if it wasn't for the vibes coming from this world, she didn't really feel like a chuckle. The most it got from her was a twitchy smile... at least until Castle stood up and faced her. Seeing his transformation, she cracked a grin and pushed herself off the door frame she'd been leaning on.

"Hahaha! I don't know what happened, but that's a good look for you,[/color]" she said, walking over. "Now you look as stupid as you act.[/color]"

Of course, she hadn't seen her own transformation yet. She held up a hand in order to point and laugh at him and saw that he hands had also grown claws, sharp looking ones. "...the hell?[/color]" she gasped, as her gaze traveled from her hands up to her sleeve. Definitely not the sleeve of her precious leather jacket. No, it was a hideous rusty orange color. Orange was her least favorite color. She even hated all citrus fruit because of it.

She looked down at herself. She was wearing a miniskirt, with a rust and crimson zigzag pattern. Beneath that, striped footed leggings in the same color scheme. Instead of her sneakers, she now had on some kind of elfin footwear, the kind with the upturned toes. A little bell adorned each foot and they jingled when she walked. Her shirt jingled as well, the clownish collar around her neck also adorned with bells.

She shrieked and ran to the nearby fountain, jingling the entire way over. She wasn't afraid of the fountain because that was not water coming out of the spout. She gaped at her muddled reflection in the liquid. Her long black hair had been pulled into high pigtails on the top of her head and secured with comically large bows in the same crimson color as her shirt.

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?[/color]" she shouted at Castle. She spun around, eyes furious behind a masquerade mask that matched the rest of her outfit. When she opened her mouth to scream at him, it was revealed that she had apparently sprouted vampire fangs. Lovely.

[Slash]

Furiae awoke, lying down on rocky ground.

Where was she? Who was she? She paused and considered this.

...

Furiae Shepard. That was her name. Or used to be her name. She felt no connection to it. But where was she? And why was she here?

Memories came trickling back. Radiant Garden...that Ava thing...and then...

Her heart. She had lost her heart.

She put a hand to her chest, taking a second to realize that it was not cloth or flesh she was feeling, but ice.

Ice? She looked over herself. She was some sort of...collection of ice crystals, floating of their own accord to create a humanoid shape. She could use one of the many reflective surfaces on her body to see her face- besides the mouth, it was a solid chunk of ice, with bright blue, unblinking jewels in the place of eyes.

Was this her new form as a Nobody? Had she failed to take a human form, instead having to exist as some sort of golem? She was horrified.

No. Wait. No she wasn't. She just vaguely knew that she should be horrified. She felt nothing. Nothing?

She ran through every emotion she used to be able to feel. Nothing. She could remember what she was supposed to feel, but didn't really feel them. She couldn't.

She reveled in her own apathy, and the lack of joy that accompanied it made it all the more sweet.

No matter what her physical appearance, this was worth it. But there was still something missing, a dull longing that she could not place. Certainly it was not for her heart.

No, not my heart. Iceheart. Where is my scythe?[/color]

Her scythe. She felt inadequate without it. Sitting straight, she wondered if she had lost it forever. That scythe had been her very identity. Without it, how could she complete her goal?

Where is it? I need it.[/color]

Something scratched at the back of her mind. She held out her hands, summoning the scythe as if it was a living thing.

Iceheart. Come to me. I cannot exist alone.[/color]

There was a flash of light, and Iceheart took its rightful place in her hands.

She held it close to her, coldly content. This was the ideal existence. Disconnected from emotion. Free of the heart, of its pointless, troublesome burden. She immediately set to casting aside her memories of emotion, cleansing herself of that unwanted scourage. She would exist as a perfect, blank slate, completely unable to even feign emotion.

There was a town, but Furiae had no reason to go there. Wandering the outskirts, she worked on getting rid of her memories but was interrupted by yelling. Lots of very loud yelling.

She walked to the source and saw two strange-looking people, a boy and a girl. Also, there was a fountain. It was only slightly less interesting than the boy and the girl.

"Why do you scream so loud? He is right there," she asked flatly, walking to the fountain. That wasn't water. Did it freeze? She was unable to feel annoyance, meaning that she could turn temperatures around her colder at will. She sat up at the top tier of the fountain and did so.

Nope. Not at that temperature, it didn't. She would have to make it colder. Why was it green? She considered this with detached interest.
_______________
Picture of Furiae

[Fate]

Semblance of Normality

As he embarked on Halloween Town, Zexion only had one initial thought: a certain human-swallowing Heartless had better not be present.

A Corridor of Darkness sounded in the graveyard and appeared, signaling his arrival. It vanished moments later as he stepped out and looked around, his hood down. Everything seemed normal as far as Heartless levels were; well, as normal as they could be with the darkness diminishing as it was. That was something to write down in his report after he finished this reconnaissance mission, which was only serving as something to do before the big events took place. Before the official disposal of Xemnas could take place, things had to appear normal to their great leader, including the activities of Number Six.

To be quite honest, there was not much for him to see in this world. The Heartless activity was where it should be and he was not able to collect hearts; that activity required a Keyblade Master of sorts, which he did not have access to at the moment. Halloween Town never grabbed his attention either, not a world that he would frequent. In fact, he was about to turn around and go straight back to the World That Never Was or visit another world if it were not for one thing.

Visitors. And he recognized all three.

In the middle of town, not too far from his location, he picked up three scents. Two of them belonged to Emi and Castle oddly enough, making him raise an eyebrow. What were the two of them doing in a world such as this? He could not say he minded them being here, though he hoped that if he was seen, it would not result in another hammer to the head... or roof tiles for that matter. However, their scents were not what intrigued him more. The other scent he detected was slightly familiar, though one thing was clear about it: it belonged to a Nobody. It was not a Nobody he knew either, which made things all the better.

Zexion started making his way to the town center, all three of them seemingly congregating around that oddly colored fountain for some reason or another. He had to be careful in approaching this Nobody, especially if he was considering trying to get them into the Organization. The last two recruits had proven to be less than satisfactory, Nyxar a traitor and Axas more irritating than Vexen on a bad day. He had yet to see any sort of power come out of the Nobody other than the ability to get on the entire Organization's nerves.

Hopefully, this Nobody would be the opposite of that. He arrived in the town square, the three standing near the fountain. He had to say that all three of them looked quite ridiculous, or at least Castle and Emi did; if he had a heart, he might have laughed. The third looked slightly familiar and, as he got a little closer, he started to recognize where he saw her: Radiant Garden when he was meeting Sephiroth. This was the one that could put up a fight with ease. She had not been a Nobody then, but she was now, making him more interested.

"Good evening," he said, his voice devoid of emotion as expected. He kept his distance some, not wanting to get too close at this point.

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[Castle]

At first, Castle just stared at Emi's new outfit. Then, when she saw it for herself and began to freak out, right after making fun of the way he looked, he laughed. Hard. He ended up doubled over for the next minute while she ran over to the weird fountain (jingling all the while, which didn't help him stop laughing) in order to get a better view of her transformation. While he laughed, he was totally oblivious to the fact that he was exposing his newly sharpened teeth. Not only the canines, but every tooth in his mouth was now pointed.

"Oh man, Emi," he gasped finally, slowly straightening up and wiping tears from his eyes, "I have no idea, but..."

Suddenly, someone else approached the fountain, causing him to cut his sentence short. Well, he was pretty sure it was someone and not something, mainly because it just talked. She just talked. It was a woman's voice coming from what looked like a golem made of ice.

Momentarily taken aback, he watched the newcomer climb up to the top of the fountain. Maybe it was his imagination, but the air temperature seemed to drop a few degrees just then. He didn't have much time to analyze that, however, because yet another person came into the area from a different direction. This one he recognized.

"Zexion?" he blurted, "What're you doing here?" A small pause. "And why don't you look any different?" Even though he was talking to Zexion, he cast a brief glance back at the ice golem, since she was a little hard to ignore.

How long does someone have to be in space before they totally lose it? he couldn't help but wonder.

[Oathkeeper Emi]

Dear god why am I a clown.
--

Still reeling because of her shocking change of clothes, Emi definitely wasn't ready for company. And yet, who walked up than none other than her bestest Organization buddy Zexion... and some lady thing made of ice.

"What kind of world is this?[/color]" she muttered, arms going limp at her side even as she looked towards the dark sky for some kind of divine intervention. And then she snapped, jerking her chin downwards and screaming. "Oh my god, really? REALLY. Did you have to show up now of all times, Zexion? We really have to stop running into each other like this,[/color]" she groaned. "And you... what the hell are you anyway? I'm screaming so loud BECAUSE I'M FREAKING ANGRY![/color]"

Not good. Not good, notgoodnotgoodnotgood.

Her heart started pounding again but she knew this feeling. Her own voice echoed around inside her head and she felt her jaw clench, her hands curl into fists. She threw her head back and screamed, turned and proceeded to kick the crap out of the fountain before she tackled somebody.

"Let's. Just. Ask. About. Arc. And. Get. Out. Of. Here. SOON,[/color]" she muttered, punctuating each word with a hard kick. Of course, no one could have taken it seriously since she was jingly like a freakin' Christmas elf the entire time.

[Slash]

Unmoved

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She didn't react at all to the yelling, instead considering the question proposed by the girl in the midst of it.

"I am a..." She looked at herself. "I don't know," she admitted finally. "Why are you kicking the fountain?"

She turned to look at the newcomer. She knew him. He was the one she met in Radiant Garden, the one who had given her practice by sending Nobodies after her. Presumably he was a Nobody, too. His lack of emotion now made sense to her.

She took her attention completely off of Emi and Castle, as the Nobody- Zexion, did they say it was?- was much more interesting.

"Hello," she replied, just as emotionless.

[Fate]

What Did I Do Now?

It was a good thing he kept his distance this time. Emi did not seem to want to see him and was angry at something. Castle simply wondered why he was here and why his attire had not changed like everyone else's did. The Organization's attire never changed when coming to this world, most likely due to the nature of the cloaks. Zexion could not say he knew everything about what the cloak was capable of doing, but he knew that even if his attire had changed upon entering this world, he could simply render it normal again; mastery of illusion gave him that privilege.

The woman, who resembled an ice golem currently, was the only one who was actually polite instead of just blurting out his name and asking why he was here. He was going to choose not to answer where Arc was at the moment; he just spent all of the previous day tracking Sora and then Axel to send him a Dusk. He was not going to give himself another headache at the moment. "I cannot help you find Arc. I could not tell you where he is," he stated in a matter-of-fact manner. He now turned to the ice golem of a Nobody and studied her for a second. She definitely had Vexen's element and she had great prowess on the battlefield. As far as he was concerned, her fighting ability had already been proven.

"We have been previously acquainted, though only briefly," he said, stating an obvious fact before moving on. He was not going to do what he did with Nyxar, which was test both his physical abilities as well as his mental. This woman had proven her fighting ability and all that needed to be seen was her mind. After the most recent addition to the Organization, Zexion was a stronger advocate for a sound mind. Though, whether or not this Nobody would even consider joining the Organization was questionable at best.

"Tell me, how long have you been a Nobody? In Radiant Garden, you were human. What provoked the change?" Her answer would feed his curiosity and, possibly, show at least a small bit of what this Nobody was like. He would bring up the Organization later after he received this answer.

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[Castle]

Castle quickly found himself ignored. Emi was freaking out, rather spectacularly, and the ice-woman on the fountain was... weird. Apart from being made of ice, which was unusual by itself, the way she talked was pretty darn strange. It was like she had no soul or something. Was she actually some kind of robot? Then again, he knew of a certain wooden puppet who had way more of a personality, though he'd heard a rumor that the same puppet was a real boy now...

Zexion provided some more interesting developments. Evidently, he knew this ice-woman, who was apparently human at some point. The word "nobody" was used strangely, which piqued Castle's interest. It didn't sound like he was referring to an unsatisfactory social status.

"A 'Nobody'? Does not being popular make you a different species now?" he asked with a sarcastic smirk, settling back into some of his old composure.

He couldn't help but notice something else strange. Maybe it was just him hearing things, but something about the way the ice-woman and Zexion talked was oddly similar. He thought it might be as simple as tone of voice, but for some reason, it seemed deeper than that. It would be difficult to explain out loud.

[Slash]

Furiae listened intently to Zexion. He was certainly interesting enough to warrant being responded to in the most complete way possible. "I have been a Nobody for perhaps...two minutes," she said. "My heart was taken." She wondered if he would want to hear that she had basically given it away, then decided she'd hint at it. "It is not a great loss for me. I did not use it often."

Now, tentatively, she asked a question of her own. "There are other men like you, with cloaks. I saw one on the Islands, fighting a man who talked a lot. The cloaked man had one eye. Do you know him?" She had a notion that they both belonged to something bigger. That would be highly interesting, enough to warrant observing in person.

[Oathkeeper Emi]

I know when I'm not wanted.
--

Emi narrowed her eyes at Zexion and started to say something, only to be brushed off as the Nobody turned to speak to the ice lady. Miffed, Emi crossed her arms (the action lost some of its bitterness considering the jolly bell jingling that came along with it) and muttered "Some help you are. Hmmph.[/color]"

She didn't bother paying as much attention to their conversation as Castle did. She had a vague idea as to what a Nobody was, and the Organization. She attempted to recall if Zexion had explained all of that to her back at the Castle that Never Was but it was useless. She shrugged to herself, turning to walk away, figuring if the information was really that important she'd figure it out eventually.

"C'mon, midget. Let's get out of here and look for Arc and leave Zexy and his new lady friend at peace,[/color]" she called over her shoulder, beckoning for Castle with one hand. It was obvious they had things to discuss, that ice thing and the Schemer. Organization things. The seventeen year old- almost eighteen, she remembered- had no desire to be part of that conversation. Social visits could wait until business was complete, and she had business of her own to attend to.

Besides, they would run into Zexion again knowing their track record for bumping into each other in the strangest of places.

[Fate]

To Be Or Not to Be

"In a way, yes," he answered to Castle, a small smirk on his face as well. It was of course not that simple, but the Organization wasn't that popular and they were most definitely not human, which fit the description. He watched out of the corner of his eye as Emi started to walk away, obviously not happy with him now for some reason. He just got here and she expected him to help her with finding Arc? Just because he was Xemnas's errand boy for the time being did not make him everyone's errand boy.

He turned his attention back to the ice golem in front of him, listening intently. She had not been a Nobody for too long, the change recent. Though, he had to raise an eyebrow to her next statement. She did not miss her heart? It was not a loss to her? Most Nobodies would disagree with such a statement, even the ones that displayed the least amount of fake emotion; Saïx pretended the least, yet wanted his heart the most. Though, he could not count her claim as unusual; Superior seemed to be along the same mindset...

She then asked about the Organization and how she met one that only had one eye. Oh who could that be? Certainly not number two of course. That must have been when he was recruiting Axas. "Yes. That was Xigbar, one of our other members. He and I are part of Organization XIII, a group of Nobodies currently made up of ten members. Our goal is to complete Kingdom Hearts in order to obtain our hearts again." This most likely would not appeal to the woman in front of him, but he could work with it. "However, that is not our only goal. We are also working to keep the light and darkness in balance."

Obviously, this was not Xemnas's goal. Although, this did go along with the Organization's goal to gain their hearts as far as the Keyblade Masters were concerned. He studied the woman again before asking another question. "Do you remember your name?" Most Nobodies did remember their names when they lost their hearts, but Zexion wanted to be careful. He also, if this woman decided to join the Organization, would be responsible for the short naming ceremony; more of Xemnas's slack to pick up.

[/size]

[Slash]

They wanted their hearts back? That was a strange goal. However, maybe it was only strange to her. She knew that she understood others very little. They had probably not wanted to lose their hearts.

She had no interest in getting her heart back, and probably would have outright refused if offered. However, she wasn't required to take up that goal if she joined, since apparently they had a second goal in keeping light and darkness in check. Also fascinating, if only because she figured that would require force.

They were members of a group, a powerful group if Xigbar's fighting prowess was anything to go by. If what they wanted done involved fighting, she was in. The idea of being surrounded by people who were stronger than her would certainly keep her focused on becoming a better fighter, and she was curious about meeting the other ones. What would they be like?

Zexion asked her what her name was. That was an easy question. "My name is Furiae. Furiae Shepard."

She paused for a while, then said, "I have little interest in reclaiming my heart. But if that is what you want, and your Organization wants, then I would help. If I would not be a hindrance."

She couldn't feel nervous, but she did have a high interest in whatever his response was going to be. Hopefully, they did not refuse people made of ice. However, everyone in this world looked strange, so perhaps it was just an effect of being on this world's surface...

[Castle]

Considering that Castle hadn't expected the sarcastic part of his question to be taken seriously in any way, even a figurative one, Zexion's answer was very confusing. His smirk faded as his eyebrows raised. The ice-woman, who soon introduced herself as Furiae, conversed with Zexion, talking about how she'd lost her heart. Now that was interesting.

Emi was ready to leave, but Castle wasn't. He glanced back at her and put a hand up briefly, "Hold on, I want to hear this."

As it turned out, Zexion was part of some group called Organization XIII. It sounded kind of cultish, and he wondered if that was why Zexion wore that coat. Was it some kind of uniform? And what the heck was "Kingdom Hearts"? Aside from that, the way Zexion was talking made it sound like he didn't have a heart, either...

"Okay, wait a minute," Castle interjected, even though he really had no part in this conversation, "Are you saying you guys are a couple of Heartless? You sure don't look like them."

He glanced at Furiae briefly as he said the last part, but didn't amend it. She may not have looked totally human, but she didn't look like a Heartless, either.

[Fate]

Much Less Problematic

She knew her name and, as predicted, she had little interest in lining up with the Organization's goal. Gaining a heart back that she had not used much, or so she said, would be rather pointless. However, she told him that she would still join the Organization and help if she would not be a hindrance. The Organization could use some more able-bodied Nobodies to fight for them and this Furiae seemed to have a sound mind as well. She was able to use logic by the looks of it, which was always a good thing in Zexion's book.

"You would certainly not be a hindrance," he replied, "We would certainly appreciate your assistance in achieving our goal." Naturally, recruiting any new Nobody came with risks. What if, under the cold exterior, she was as nasty as Saïx in his berserker state? What if she held an alliance with another like Nyxar had? From what he could judge, she did not seem the type to hold secret alliances; there was also the fact she had just become a Nobody, rendering that idea impossible. This was a much less risky recruitment than the last two.

Castle now asked another question of them, asking if they were Heartless. Zexion sighed; he would have to explain this now, wouldn't he? Being polite was his best option instead of forming more enemies, so he might as well give a short explanation. "Not quite. We are what's left when the heart is consumed by a Heartless. One must have a strong will to become a Nobody, and an even stronger one to retain human form. We lack the ability to convey emotions properly because of the lack of heart, thus the goal of the Organization being to obtain it once more." And that was all he was going to say on the matter.

He raised his hand and summoned a Corridor of Darkness in front of the two Nobodies. "This will lead back to the World That Never Was. We can quickly arrange for a new name and sleeping arrangements there. Our Superior is currently busy, so I will be doing this task." He then looked to Castle and Emi, now attempting to fill his nice quota for the day. "The Champion of Darkness has been on the move and after warriors of light; travel safely." With that, he stepped into the Corridor of Darkness and vanished, allowing for Furiae to follow.

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