Meeting of Opposites [Vexen/Axel]

[Matt]

[August 7, 2010]

Revisiting a Corpse

Vexen stood in the now abandoned study of Ansem the Wise, surveying the circular room. The room was lined with bookcases filled with various volumes (though a large portion of them appeared to be on the floor; a testament to the Castle's most recent inhabitants' disregard for knowledge) and several scientific diagrams were dispersed across the wall. The entire building was in ruins, even more so than the rest of the crumbling world; a pity, considering the grandeur it once possessed.

He looked down at the oil painting that leaned against the wall, examining it almost as if he expected to find something particularly insightful in doing so. The familiar face within it stared back at him, cold and calculating as ever, its yellow eyes looking almost real. It was still hard to believe that the Superior was gone, and even harder to believe that the Organization itself had all but totally crumbled into Nothingness. Even this corpse of a Castle seemed more lively that the Castle That Never Was as of late.

Not that the Academic could say he was surprised with the way things had turned out. He had expected as much to happen after Xemnas's death... He had warned Zexion of the consequences, not that the little fool would listen, and naturally he had been right. And as satisfied as he was in knowing that, it didn't make proceeding from the current situation any less tricky. The short and yet not-so-simple question remained: what to do next?

Picking up a battered-looking, maroon-colored book off of the old desk, he began flipping through it casually. For the time being the scientist was content with his research, he supposed, which in all likelihood would be much easier to do without having to deal with all of the frivolous affairs that had come along with being a member of the Organization. Still, there were obvious drawbacks that would also accompany the change. At the very least he would no longer have the lower members to boss around.

[Aerith]

There aren't any promises left.
--------

For the first time, he knew what it was to be simultaneously filled to the brim and yet empty.

Why was he here again?

There were nothing but the shattered remnants of a long-forgotten existence strewn in the streets of this place. He could no more pick them up and put them back together than he could turn back time. And that's what he would have to do--grasp the hands of the clock and force them to take him home. This had been his home once. But it could never be that again.

He had heard the saying many times over that home is where the heart is. Literally speaking, his heart was lost to him somewhere in the darkness. Yet, he could not call the darkness his home. The saying was, of course, more metaphorical than that, implying that home is with the people you love and care for.

He didn't have that, either.

Damn, this isn't like me at all. I'm starting to act like him now. All mopey and weepy.[/color]

With a sigh, he shook his head. So what if he had no one left? He could make it just fine on his own. And if he found his heart along the way, all the better.

The Flurry of Dancing Flames shifted from his position against one of the old Castle's walls. There had been a time when most of his energy had been put into trying to breach this place. Now, it was so easy to walk inside. He didn't expect to find anything of interest, but maybe inspiration would strike. With the Organization in shambles, he was lacking in the activity department.

After taking his time winding through the various hallways, Axel soon realized he was not alone. Not because of any sixth sense, but because of the sound of rustling paper. Curious, he followed the sounds straight to what he guessed to be an old study.

Unfortunately, Vexen was the source.

Ugh. Not really who I was hoping to see at this point.

On the other hand, Axel was just desperate enough to hold a conversation with anyone, including the Chilly Academic. It was better than listening to nothing but the wind. And he had never thought he would think that.

"Looking for something to do?" he said nonchalantly and leaned against the door frame.[/font]

[Matt]

If I said it were a pleasure I'd be lying...

Vexen pursed his lips, surprised and more than a little bit irritated to hear a voice behind him that he recognized immediately: Axel. The scientist had hardly been looking to run into any of his fellow Nobodies, least of all the former Number Eight. Hard as it might have been to believe, he wasn't particularly fond of having people attempt (not to mention succeed) to incinerate him. And no, he was never going to let that go.

"Hardly." he replied rather stiffly, not looking up. "Unlike yourself, I'm not so reliant on the orders of others that I can't function on my own." After flipping through a couple more pages, he closed the book and turned around to face Axel. "Speaking of your master, where is he? Off scheming to destroy some other organization, I'm guessing?"

It occurred to Vexen that it probably wasn't a good idea to provoke Axel too much; he hadn't forgotten the last time that he had done that just yet. But still, he wasn't worried... not yet, at least. And if things did end up taking a turn for the worse, escaping wouldn't be extremely difficult.

[Aerith]

You ask questions I really don't know how to answer.
--------

Maybe it was the heightened awareness of his hollowness, but Axel hardly acknowledged the insults. Instead, he scanned the clutter in the room. Vexen must have been here for a good while.

"You mean Saïx?" he said with uncharacteristic quietness. "I don't know where he is."

It was strange being here after all this time. He could have easily come here ever since he had learned to use the Corridors, but something had kept him away. He had wanted to come here with Saïx--with Isa--and as long as they were Nobodies, the experience would not be the same had they been able to successfully infiltrate the Castle when they had still been human.

[Matt]

Curious

"I see." he replied thoughtfully, giving Axel a look of intense scrutiny. The manner in which he was acting was very unusual for him. His voice seemed unusually quiet and empty-- sad even, though obviously he couldn't feel said emotion-- and his eyes seemed to lack the mischievousness and infuriating gleam that they always did. Clearly something had happened to him, and Vexen almost felt as if he ought to be enjoying his obvious unhappiness.

"Had some sort of a falling out, have we?" he asked, allowing a hint of amusement and curiosity to trail into his voice. This was a bit of a wild guess, but it seemed fairly probable given what observations there were to be made. "A rather serious one, I would suppose, based on sullenness of your attitude."

[Aerith]

If you leave this alone, I'll play nice.
--------

"You could say that, I guess."

He wanted to leave it at that. He really did. The longer they lingered on the subject, the longer Vexen would have to mock him. And as much as he didn't care about insults right now, there was no telling if that would hold true after prolonged exposure.

Looking for something, anything else to talk about, Axel ran his eyes over a pile of books. "Doing research? Not making another Replica, are you? Might be bad news for Zexion."

Hell, I can hardly crack jokes anymore. What a pathetic attempt.

[Matt]

I might let you avoid the subject... for now.

Vexen smirked, giving a small shake of his head. "Rather desperate to change to conversation, I see." It didn't seem that getting the verbal story out of Axel would be very likely, which was a bit of a disappointment, even if not a surprise. Still, the Academic could put two and two together; it wasn't hard to presume basically what happened.

"And yes, if you must know I am doing research of a sort, though nothing specifically related to the Replica Project at the moment." he gazed down for a moment at the book in his hand and back up at the red-headed Nobody. "It's a bit above your head though; hardly something I would expect you to understand."

He moved over to the desk, setting the book back down and picking up another one. Idly he opened it and began glancing through it. "Besides, you and I both know good and well that you have no interest in my research. So tell me: what are you doing here?"

[Aerith]

Could this be the beginnings of a civil discussion?
--------

That was the question of the hour. What was he doing here? The truthful answer would have been that he had come here purely out of nostalgia, desperate for any relief from the emptiness. Of course, he would never tell that to Vexen.

However, there was a different but equally truthful answer. "That depends on what you are researching. Tell me, Vexen. If you're so intelligent, why haven't you found a way for us to get our hearts back yet? There has to be some other way besides a loose hope in Kingdom Hearts."

He shrugged a little. "I don't even think Kingdom Hearts is a way to begin with. Xemnas claimed he only wanted it for power at the end. He said nothing about also retrieving his heart in the process. But what else could there be?"

A small part of him was willing to put aside his pride just so long as Vexen could tell him anything useful. At this point, finding his heart was all that mattered.

[Matt]

Define civil, I suppose.

"Well, aren't you clever." he replied with disdainful sarcasm, not looking up from the book that he was reading. "I could have told you from the beginning that there was no real scientific basis behind Xemnas's plan-- if you could have even called it that. No part of his 'plan' ever involved what would be done after Kingdom Hearts was assembled." The scientist paused for a moment, smiling wryly. "Not that anyone ever bothered to question him on the matter."

At least several seconds passed before Vexen said anything else. Finally, evidently having lost interest in it, he closed the old book he was holding and brought his stare to the other Nobody. "And to answer your first question: perhaps I haven't found a way because I haven't really been looking." And that was the real fact of the matter. Unlike most of the others, including Axel, he wasn't so obsessed with the idea of getting his heart back. In fact, he really did want it back at all.

[Aerith]

In this case, civil means I'm not trying to burn you to a crisp.
--------

Axel shouldn't have been surprised. Having or not having a heart made little difference when it came to experimenting. "So, you only joined the Organization because there was nothing else to do? Heh...so much for a uniting goal."

He idly rubbed his thumb and forefinger together. It seemed Vexen was not the place to go for ideas on how to get his heart back. All Axel knew for certain was that Kingdom Hearts was not the answer.

"Got any ideas on how a Nobody can have his heart again?" Anything, any starting point, would be helpful.

[Matt]

Not sure I feel like helping you.

Vexen frowned at Axel. "I did not join the Organization, I was one of its founders." he corrected brusquely. "And it proved to be a perfect means for furthering my research, even if I didn't care much for our supposed goal..." Pausing, he smirked. "Not that I was worried that said goal would ever be reached."

Turning around, he walked over to a nearby bookcase and began to browse slowly through its contents. "Besides," he continued in disinterest. "Don't pretend as if I was the only one not drawn in by our so-called 'uniting goal'; at least half the members were never really seeking to reacquire their hearts." Apparently finding what he was looking for, he replaced the book in his hand for one on the top shelf.

"Don't think that Saïx was the first to suspect Xemnas's true motives. He was simply the first to realize and care enough to do anything about it." At the mention of the Diviner, Vexen glanced at Axel out of the corner of his eyes. He wondered how the Flame would react upon hearing his old friend's name again. It was fairly clear that that was a pretty sensitive subject at the moment.

"And yes, if you must know, I do have some idea of how one might go about getting their heart back... But I hardly see any reason in sharing it with you."

[Slash]

Finally, tangible results.

[/center]

Aixfeur almost fell through the portal. It wasn't surprising that she was so injured. Xaldin was a senior Nobody, and she was not. Still, he would be delayed for a time due to the injuries she had given him in return.

She didn't regret it at all. It had been a fantastic battle, and she was looking forward to the next one. And she finally had something worth presenting. A struggling, hard-to-control something.

It took her a second to track down the Academic, who was currently in the presence of another Nobody- the Flame of all people. She regretted disturbing them, and she very much regretted looking so disheveled. If she was human, she would have been covered in her own blood. As it was, she was cut up terribly, with a large hole in her sleeve where a spear had passed through.

"Sir, I-" She was interrupted by her captive struggling and screeching furiously. The bird-like girl was beginning to grow feathers again. She was merely pathetic as a human, but as a bird she was powerful. And fast. Especially with the wind behind her.

"Silence!" Aixfeur knocked her out quickly, before she transformed enough to retaliate. The Soldier then stood up straighter and reported what she could.

"I apologize for my long absence, sir. I was tracking the Lancer for a long time. I believed that he was up to something, but he was careful enough that it took me a while to find out exactly what. This...thing was it. She is not much to look at now, but she is quite powerful. She has different...forms. I would have arranged a demonstration, but she is hard to contain. I suspect she can not speak, although she is capable of simple noises. As you have seen."

The creature stirred a bit. It didn't stay down for long, no matter what. Aixfeur had learned that the hard way.

"Under the circumstances, I believe referring to her as a weapon is more accurate than considering her a conspirator. I captured her just a bit ago. The Lancer will be delayed greatly due to his own injuries. I thought it appropriate to give the creature to you."

[Aerith]

You again? You seem to have a knack for inconvenient interruptions.
--------

"What a waste, then. Why bother masquerading at all?" Axel saw little sense in pretending as a whole Organization. If the desire for a heart was never there, there was no need to claim otherwise.

"As for Saïx..." He studied one of the room's walls very closely. "I--"

A Corridor opened before he could finish the thought, and none other than Aixfeur stepped out, dragging some...thing. The explanation was probably more interesting than Axel gave it credit, but his mind was on other things more important than the exploits of Number Twelve, the Monster Hunter.

Vexen's claim to know something had not gone unheeded.

"Guess you have other things on your plate right now. We'll have to continue this conversation some other time."

He glanced only briefly at Aixfeur before turning to leave the way he had come.

[Matt]

Well, isn't this an unexpected interruption?

Vexen was surprised to see the Relentless Soldier suddenly appear through a portal into the study, and even more surprised to see her dragging some sort of strange human-bird hybrid. "Oh, what do we have here?"

Apparently the creature was some recently acquired pet of Xaldin's, whom Aixfeur had captured in a battle with both of them and brought back to him for further instruction. "I see..." While it was impressive to hear that she had been able to not only take on the Lancer but his pet as well, the Academic wasn't entirely pleased to hear she was making enemies with such a dangerous Nobody. Especially if there was no evidence to suggest that he was planning to make a move that against them.

The Academic was distracted from his thoughts by Axel's farewell and departure. He watched as he left, thinking assuredly to himself that it would not be long before he saw the Flame again. No doubt the fool was far from finished with searching obsessively for his heart.

Once the red-head had gone, Vexen looked back to the Soldier. "Tell me, do you have any of idea of what it was Xaldin was planning to do with... it."

[Slash]

I have something of an idea.

[/center]

"He's been training it on powerful Heartless. Elemental ones, mostly fire and ice." Aixfeur picked up the bird-girl carefully, in case it woke up. "He speaks to it of targets. It does not respond, but he acts as if it does- I believe it has an alternate form of communication."

She paused for a second. "It is still not entirely certain what targets he was referring to, but when I revealed myself I made sure not to show any aggressive intent. He sent the weapon after me, without hesitation and without a word."

The bird-girl once again woke quickly. Its eyes were barely intelligent, and Aixfeur didn't think it had a reasoning ability beyond that of a child. It was completely worn out, and Aixfeur easily kept it from attacking.