[Episode 195852] [Episode 195852]'I had also taken personal note of a world that took the 'keeping the magically unable ignorant' to a whole new level, actually constructing spells to deflect the attention and interest of any non-magical sentient on their persons and property. No matter how times I see it, it was beautiful, the half-truths, the lies, the cover ups, all that effort and precision and will power, just to keep a little truth hidden from their fellow flesh and blood human beings. I actually clapped at it, just cause I don't feel emotion, and no longer see values in ideas like 'right and wrong' didn't mean I couldn't appreciated such a master piece, it wasn't just a craft, it was art!'
'Also, since the spells were consider standard issues, and basically something magically able humans saw no reason to protect or even keep secret on how to make, I could likely walk into a library, read up on the subject, and walk out with the information, or failing that, just pose as a janitor for a few days, weeks, months, years, and slowly glean the information needed to recreate this spell that made it nearly impossible those who couldn't control mana or it's many cousins to perceive that which the caster didn't want them to perceive.
What made it all the more perfect was that recently, a radical had attempt to shatter the walls of lies and illusions, weather for selfish or noble reason I don't know or care, but it was always just so sweet, to see those with the courage and ability to protect innocents in these worlds were nearly as often as not those who protected these kingdoms of illusion.'
"Are you gonna internally monolog all night?" Nixma voice pulled him out of his reading of his book. She must have just gated in. "Or can I have the lesser nobodies fight each other again to kill time?"
"Neither." Zexion said to the third number in a typical flat voice sitting in the crystal throne that was never meant for Neo Queen Serenity. "I was merely reviewing information could be of use to the cause."
Nixma knew she should have felt infuriated at Zexion indifferent attitude towards her, but she realized she wasn't, she just wasn't, the part of her that enabled her to feel such a state was simply missing.
"So how did your newbie hunt go?" Nixma asked having already guessed the answer but wanting to see if she could get a reaction out of him.
"Failure." Zexion said, not returning to speaking and reading his book simply because he knew Nixma would make more trouble for him if he did. "The heart of the AI, 'Mia' had been already translated into the data of a weapon item, while her shell, had already found a puppet master in the form of the same player who was her friend before she had her functions extracted leaving her personality information to fragment into nothing."
Nixma as normal didn't pretend to understand most of Zexion said, she only cared that she understood that their el facto leader had come up empty handed.
"Now please sit down," The new first number, Zexion ordered taking note of the time, "The others will be returning soon." Nixma complied, sitting down in the chair never meant for the adult Sailor Venus along the table never meant for the senshi of the Crystal Millennium. Zexion noted she made no curt remark at his ordered, and prepared for something unexpected. Nixma meanwhile was certain Zexion wasn't expecting anything unexpected.
The forth number, Xiyu, came through a dark gate directly into the throne room, and sitting down in her assigned crystal chair, she had quickly adapted to the role given her, after all, purpose starved off the consuming nothingness inside her.
"You found no one." Zexion said, not asking.
"Correct." Xiyu said, "Your book's information was correct, there were too possible non-entities we could have added to our number on my own world. However, shell of the the first one whose self was transfered into a computer was already dead when the separation took place. The second fit all criteria needed, but the shell had already killed itself by the time I arrived. I believe that over examining information on targets might result in a delay response that in the mean time, due to our delicate means of existence, could risk the farce existence of those who could join us."
"Agreed." Zexion said, Xemnas would have gone into a speech about those who dared question him or his designs, "From now on we shall focus only on finding out the compatibility of a possible new number before attempting retrieval. Our numbers are too short now to risk losing possibility members. However, by that same fact, -extreme- caution is to be taken at all steps in retrieval of possible numbers."
"Understood." Xiyu said bowing her head slightly, Nixma just stayed silent.
They waited a bit longer for Kurix, yet he didn't return at the appointed time, it occurred to Zexion Kurix might be dead, the world the target was on was rather chaotic. This was a rather large set-back, since Roxas and his keyblade was what had sped up the organizations original construction of their artificial kingdom hearts.
Zexion got up intending to use a dark gate to teleport directly to the lab that was never meant for Sailor Mercury in this never was world.
"Hey, where are you going?" Nixma asked not having sprung her 'surprise' yet.
"Kurix is late, his death is a possibility without a proof of existence yet constructed to monitor his non-life force. Our time can be better spent than simply waiting for him. Using this world's lost space of it's heart for the basis of our goal will still take a great deal of research on my part to begin the harmonization process of one heart linking together with another other than the original kingdom hearts." There was also the fact that for the first organization, there had been six of them, six scientists all students to Ansem The Wise, all working together to recreate kingdom hearts with their own hands. Now Zexion was forced to bear the weight of six scientists opposed to one.
Xiyu spoke, "You need to properly dissolve the ego borders of the individual identities while at the same time not dispersing the metaphysical presence of the souls as they are recombined into one, made harder by the fact you must assimilate them one at a time as they come in, rather than all at once which would be much simpler if possible. Since hearts attract hearts, if you were to harmonize the basis of the attraction with what would have been this world's heart, it would make their assimilation onto a man made kingdom hearts much more simple."
Zexion stared at Xiyu, feeling something akin to kinship, and said, "You are coming with me."
"Now hold on!" Nixma said ripping attention back to her. "I've got something to show all of you! Well, since Kurix isn't here, I guess I'll just show you guys!"
This got both nobodies attention, Nixma stood up dramatically and with a wave of her hand opened a dark gate, out of it shuffled a pale figure in aristocratic clothing, being led by Nixma's new Ivy Blade nobodies.
"How?" Zexion didn't need to say how to what.
"I told the lesser ones to keep a surprise for you." Nixma said managing to feel pride for herself somehow.
"Never do so again." Zexion said brushing her aside and looking upon the empty shell.
Nixma just stood there open mouthed as Xiyu stood and walked past her without so much as a glance.
Zexion looked at the empty shell, pale blue skin, red eyes, black hair, he also noted the fangs. Zexion looked deep into the eyes, and recognized what he saw. It wasn't a overwhelming desire for identity though that was there too, nor was it a great confusion at who or what the shell was. It was drive, greed, and ambition, all of them surviving the heart being torn from it's resting place, leaving the dark gunk behind, Zexion had seen these eyes before.
With a thought, one of Zexion's Mimic nobodies appeared behind the shell, the Mimic copied the Ivy Blade's weapon, and with one motion, beheaded the shell, and proceeded to cut the shell into more dismembered pieces, and the shell began to dissolve back into nothingness as it's head rolled backwards across the crystal floor before the head too feel apart into nothing.
"HAVE YOU GONE CRAZY?!" Nixma exclaimed seeing her surprise get trashed.
"Why did you do that?" Xiyu asked politely.
"I've seen those eyes before." Zexion said no regret or loss in his voice, "I recognize them without fail. They were the same eyes Marluxia had, the same Marluxia whose actions started the downward spiral that resulted in the destruction of the first organization. If that shell had been made a number, he would have plotted and schemed with the one desire to claim the power of the organization, even daring to endanger the cause. I will not repeat that mistake, I shall never repeat that mistake, I will not allow another Marluxia to set the cause on a direct road to failure as the first one did. I shall not."
Xiyu accepted this answer without question. Nixma didn't feel the slightest bit sorry that the shell she had brought in had been destroyed. It had just been a way to show up one on Zexion after all, now she found herself in even deeper than before.
Too bad that other fanged empty shell had turned to dust after it's soul was stolen after it had lost that 'shadow game' she had found on that one world, Nixma was certain Zexion would have accepted that one, right?
Xiyu and Zexion ignored Nixma as Zexion opened the dark gate and Xiyu followed.
"You're not ending the meeting without me are you?"
Kurix. He was alive. This was noted with all the joy of a rock by all members, and the satisfaction with Zexion was of someone who didn't need to go out and find a replacement rare car part.
How long had Kurix been in the throne room? His element -was- darkness, so none of the nobodies could be sure. Kurix all the same marched into the crowd of his fellow nobodies and swept a hand behind him.
"Since I don't see any new faces, I take it you guys didn't do so well, but hey, we can't all do good right?"
Another! Yes another! Our lieges, another!!
Zexion pushed Xiyu aside who didn't mind in the slightest and spied the new prize that Kurix pulled along.
He saw short red hair, blue eyes, searching, a desperation all consuming. She could moved on her own, and Zexion saw again he was still the oldest in the room.
The shell moved her hands to the back of her neck in looked like a repeat motion of a factory robot, "My pony tail, where's my pony tail? The dragon whisker... where is it?"
She was wearing a red and black chinese shirt and pants, she was slightly short (but so was Zexion), but quite muscular.
"I will help you find them." Zexion said.
First glowing chinese characters glowed like a hologram in front of her face, then to japanese kanji, before finally becoming english letters. To Zexion's surprise and intrigue, the letters mutated and shifted before stabilizing. She looked at the name, but couldn't recognize it.
Zexion began the needed process. The letter spun for a few moments, before Zexion struck the 'x' in the center for the name of this crossed out person. That was the secret origin of these names, for it was not an x in the middle at all, it was a name that had been crossed out.
"Knox...ra. Knoxra." Knoxra said, feeling saner by the second, as the name gave her mind something that was her own to hang onto, to center around. And the shadow swept around the creature of twilight, until the familiar black rain coat formed around her body.
"Your new you, Fifth Number."
Outside, thunder crashed, and rain poured down on the hallow crystal city like hail.
"Where am I?" Knoxra asked with perfectly focused eyes.
"Among your new family." Zexion said formally.
"How come he didn't chop her head off." Nixma pouted.
Knoxra took one look at Nixma and said, "You, are seriously uncute."
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(Posted Wed, 17 Oct 2007 18:35)
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