Catching Up [Emi]

[Castle]

Emi's unhappy reaction made him regret speaking, but only a little. Ix-nay on the ericho-Jay (which shouldn't be too hard. Castle didn't like to talk about him, either). The tension between them seemed to be getting to her, too. If it was just him and Zexion here, he wouldn't have cared, but as it was, Castle just crossed his arms and shut up for once.

Zexion claimed that he was now in search of a way to restore his heart, and the statement caught him by surprise. He had almost forgotten the nature of what Zexion really was. If what he said was the truth, then Castle wouldn't have a problem with it. Maybe if he got his heart back, he would realize a few things about the other stuff he was doing.

Then, the encounter shifted in an interesting direction. Emi wouldn't let Zexion leave again, but this time, she was asking him a pretty meaningful question, if Castle's first instinct was correct. When she glanced at him, he returned her gaze and gave a nearly imperceptible nod.

He kept his arms crossed and remained silent, for now.

[Oathkeeper Emi]

"Well, it's kind of a funny story," she said, with a nervous chuckle at the the end. "I'll just spit it out. I think my dad may still be alive... and I want to meet him so I can beat the shit out of him for leaving my mom and me."

She shoved her hands into her pocket and looked up to meet Zexion's eyes. "His name is Nikolas Rosenthal. Do you know him? Apparently he's like some big shot baron or something. You grew up around the castle, so maybe you've heard of him or even met him?"

It wasn't too much of a stretch that Zexion had at least heard of the man. If he had met him, great...maybe that would make it easier to find him.

[Fate]

I'm not encouraging violence here. Nope.
--

Zexion couldn't say he was expecting that one. Emi never mentioned her father once while he knew her in both of his lives, only her mother. Neither of them really asked about each other's parents, Emi finding out from Even that both of Ienzo's parents had passed. Zexion only knew about her mother passing, but never anything about her father. The fact that he could possibly still be alive was... interesting. His curiosity was piqued.

And, admittedly, it would be better to see her beat on someone that wasn't him.

She gave him a name, which also sounded familiar. Ansem had met with barons before and the like on a regular basis; only occasionally would Ienzo ever get to meet one. It would be terribly ironic if he had the chance to meet this once in particular. Either way, the name and occupation would allow him to focus on certain scents of the world. "The name sounds familiar to me, though I am not sure if I met him," he told her politely, "I will still be able to find him. I will tell you once I do."

He moved into a place that wasn't in the middle of the street, leaning against a wall for support. His eyes were closed for a second before opening again, becoming glazed over as he entered a sort of trance state. It wouldn't take him too long to find the scent, but he needed to concentrate on sifting through all of the other ones Radiant Garden held first.

[/font]

[Castle]

Zexion was surprisingly cooperative. He didn't even seem to have an ulterior motive or anything. Castle still wasn't going to trust him fully, but in this case, he grudgingly accepted the fact that he was probably sincere.

Just like that, Emi was one step closer to finding her deadbeat dad. Castle wondered if she really would beat the shit out of him if they found him. He couldn't blame her if she did. He would gladly hold the guy still for her, if necessary.

Given Zexion's general bookishness, he expected him to find Mr. Rosenthal via research or something, probably sometime tomorrow since it was getting so late. Instead, the Nobody went over to the side of the dark road and... did what? Castle peered at him and raised an eyebrow. He looked kind of tranced out.

"Uh... what is he doing?" he asked Emi quietly.

[Oathkeeper Emi]

"I...have no idea," Emi said, a little disappointed. She had almost expected Zexion to jump through a corridor and return minutes later with her father in tow. But, Zexion had to be all contrary and weird and stand around looking like...well, herself, a few years before when she was all strung out on god only know what kind of drugs.

She wasn't sure if they should just leave him to do his thing and continue on their way to the waterfalls or hang around tocsee what happened next. She took a hesitant step and then something, the thought of what might happen next, made her choose door number two and stay put. Besides, Zexion was kind of looking like he might need some medical attention soon. Maybe that hammer to the head had shaken him up a little? And of course, Emi couldn't take this seriously. She smirked and leaned in to whisper to Castle. "Heh. I would kill for a juice box to squirt up his nose right about now."

[Fate]

I swear I'm not on anything. Really.
--

The only good thing that came out of this was that there weren't quite as many scents to sift through as there once was. If Emi had asked him to do this while Radiant Garden was prospering, before it got destroyed by the Heartless and the apprentices, it would have been much more difficult. A few minutes later, maybe more since Zexion could never truly keep time while he was doing this, and a short gasp, he came to.

Looking straight at Emi and Castle, he said, "I have found him. Interestingly enough, I do recognize the scent..." That meant that he might have actually met this one while being Ansem's apprentice. He certainly wasn't one of the ones experimented on, that was for sure. "Follow me. He started walking in a different direction with the air of 'I know this world better than you so just follow me'.

[/font]

[Oathkeeper Emi]

"Whoa, hey, wait a second,", Emi said, and ran to catch up with him. She didn't want to go tonight. She wasn't ready. But then she thought Hey, I can just find where he is and go back tomorrow. That way I don't have to rely on Zexion.

Over her shoulder, she yelled "Are you coming, shorty?"

[Castle]

Castle snickered at the juice box comment. "Yeah, really," he agreed.

Not long after, Zexion came back to reality, claiming to know where Emi's father was. Apparently, what he was doing just now was a form of... smelling? It took Castle a second to put two and two together and realize that whatever he did was extrasensory. He felt sort of stupid afterward for not knowing sooner.

When the Nobody just started walking off into the dark, Castle hesitated, the mistrust rising again. However, Emi was already following him, and he shook it off and jogged a little to catch up.

"Yeah, yeah, coming," he said.

[Fate]

I should never be left bored.
--

All three of them were heading in the direction of this man's house now. Though, Zexion couldn't help but wonder something. Did Emi even want to see her father? She certainly hadn't wanted to see her mother before when he performed that illusion, though there were slight differences here. He didn't know what she learned about her mother since he saw her last or her father, nor was he about to ask. Still, was her saying she wanted to beat him up just a front to hide fear?

Why not ask? He was good at asking annoying questions like that. "Are you sure you even want to see him right now? This seems rather sudden." He was incredibly curious to see how she would react to him, even what this man was like. What would thsi baron be like? Was he even anything like Emi? Although, if she didn't actually intend to see him this evening, illusions were always a viable option. Always.

[/font]

[Oathkeeper Emi]

Return of the headers.
--

[/right]
Emi snorted at his comment. "Actually, I don't really want to see him. Not tonight, not in this...state,[/color]" she muttered. "Mostly I just want to scout the place out so I can come back later, you know?[/color]"

She was thinking something along the lines of Zexion. What was her father like... what if he was actually a really nice guy? Could he tell her stuff about his mom? Briefly, she imagined how weird it would be if the reunion actually went well. What if he like... invited her to live with him or something? It would be strange, actually having something resembling a family, and a house to live in. But she didn't think she would even go through with it if he offered. She didn't like the idea of relying on someone like that... and she already had a family.

Sort of. If you counted Castle.

She came to a short stop. "Is this place much farther? You wouldn't believe it, but I'm actually really, really tired. Long few days, you know, with the whole being imprisoned and almost burned alive thing...[/color]"

[Fate]

Hey, it's better than getting smashed again.
--

It looked like he wasn't going to get to meet Emiline's father today. That was probably for the better on his part, especially if the man just happened to remember him; that could end in possible catastrophe. To Emi's other comment about being tired, he only smirked. "Ahh, so you've kept busy. Very good to hear." He wasn't going to ask about the circumstances of all that, not even truly caring. Besides, if she had wanted him to know more, she would have said more-- simple as that.

He summoned his Lexicon and opened it to a blank page, taking a pen out of his pocket and writing down the address. He tore the page out and handed it to Emiline, his Lexicon then disappearing. "It is a large house somewhat near the castle. You should be able to find it with ease." With his house being that close to the castle, Zexion did have to wonder if this Nikolas Rosenthal ever stopped in to see Ansem the Wise. And if he was there.

He might have to find out himself later on his own; that would prove to be interesting. But for now, he needed to find something else to do. "See if he ever met with Ansem the Wise. That might make for interesting conversation." Yes, interesting. "I believe I may just do the same as you Emiline and pay that sort of visit. Do tell if your visit goes well." And that was all he had to say. He started walking in a different direction away from the main center of town and into the outskirts. The cemetery was there, right? Might as well pay it a visit.

[/font]

[Castle]

And that was that. They had the address, and Zexion was making himself scarce. Night had fallen completely, and the few street lamps that were around were lit. Castle noted vaguely that the last time he was on these streets this late, he ended up meeting a crazy, darkness-obsessed witch. Hopefully, that wouldn't happen again.

He yawned behind his hand. "What now? You still want to find that waterway?" he asked.

[Oathkeeper Emi]

I can do this. I can do this.
--

Emi silently took the paper from Zexion. While he was talking, she was looking at it and not paying much attention to him. "Hey...thanks,[/color]" she said, looking up as he began to walk away. She waved the paper at him. "I really appreciate this....so, keep in touch? Yeah.[/color]"

Now that he was gone, Emi turned her attention to Castle. She smirked, folded the paper and put it in her pocket. "Yeah. Let's do that. We could go to the house but you know, it's late and I don't want to get caught sneaking around the property.[/color]"

Though, at the word "water", her heart sunk a little. As they walked towards the waterway, she was trying not to psych herself out. It was foolish that she was still scared of a little water after everything that had happened. She told herself that everything was going to be okay. She had survived being dunked in the ocean, visiting a beach, visiting a very dark beach. Castle was with her, and everything would be okay. So, she smiled.