another story ; au background info
I. Prologue: A Creation Born of Ignorance
I've been playing Saïx on LiveJournal (over at claymoredingly) since late February 2009. However, he's been in my headspace ever since about October 2008 (holy shit, really?). I originally picked him up because my friend and I were going to write a story focusing on all of the Organization and neither of us had him in our headspaces yet. It was... an interesting process. He stayed at the peripherals of my mind, just barely there, only occasionally talking to me, walking closer and backing away, as if he was trying to test me and see if I could really understand him.
Clearly, I gained this new muse long before word of 358/2 Days had even been breathed (at least to the public), and so in order to flesh him out, I wanted him to have a strong past, one that defines him and explains why he is who he is, one that gives a bit more depth to that Luna Diviner title he carries in the Organization. And, having a fondness for fantasy world building, I created a whole new world for him.
Eventually, he became quite a strong voice in my head, despite the fic falling through and his refusal to make friends with anyone else in my headspace. One of my friends played at roleplayedingly and after she talked about it so much and kept linking me to threads, I decided to join, too. There was almost a full Organization there when I joined, and one of the open spots was Number VII. Not long after I joined, pretty much the entire KH cast dropped out of existence. I stayed on because my friend was still there, and I (and Saïx) had made a new friend. Plus, it was just plain fun.
And then 358/2 Days was announced and came out. I didn't get to play the game until January 2010, but I had heard word that they had given a bit of background for Saïx, and now, apparently, he used to be ~best friends~ with Axel, and the two of them came from the same world.
"Well, shit," I said. "Now what?"
I considered stripping this alternate background from my Saïx, but if I did, it would just... destroy his character. And after two years, he is his own person and I love him and I couldn't bring myself to do that to him. So, I've decided "oh, what the hell," and am sticking it out. Yeah.
Now that he's more active both in my head and on LJ and in IM logs, I've decided that it'd be a good idea to put up a post explaining the basics of his AU background, for the sake of the people who interact with us wherever.
DISCLAIMER: This is all meant to be for fantasy pretendyfuntimes. I am still doing research into the culture and mythology of tribal people, especially various African and Native American mythologies, and I mean no offense to any person of any culture. I'm afraid that there will be generalizations until I manage to pin down the specifics of Aïs's culture for the purpose of my readers understanding what I'm getting across, but if I screw something up and/or say/do something offensive and/or there's a better way for me to phrase something, please please please let me know (contact post here, hmd here) and I will fix it to the best of my ability. I want to handle this as respectfully as I can, so please help me do so!
i. Terminology: Utter Silence
Aïs: EYE-is. The original ("true") name of my Saïx. Comes from the phrase aïsen latorhun. Roughly means moon.
Aïsen latorhun: aye-EE-sen le-TORE-hoon. "Follow the moon's path."
Aera: AY-rah. Borrowed from Navajo mythology, though they call it chindi. Summary from Wikipedia: "the ghost left behind after a person dies, believed to leave the body with the deceased's last breath. It is everything that was bad about the person; the 'residue that man has been unable to bring into universal harmony.'" This is the term Aïs used for Heartless after his first encounter with them.
All: Simply put, "all of existence." Life, death, people, animals, world, heavens... All spirits of all things that exist.
Balliol: The name of Lae's colonial hometown.
Lae: Lay. The original ("true") name of his Axel.
Oba-sey: OHB-say. The title of the elder who raised Aïs. Yes, the a is silent. Go figure.
Selfae: sel-FAY. Someone born with chaotic magic. Believed by Aïs's tribe to be out of sync with All.
Selfaerayel: sel-FAY-ray-el. A selfae child.
Semi-sedentary: "The practice of residing at one or two established locations during most of the year, but occupying temporary encampments during part of the year." (from here)
II. World: In Its True Form
His world was a simple one, not unlike Earth. Maybe the colors of things are different; Saïx remembers prairies of silver grass, for example (though he informs me that's just that particular species of grass that's silver), and, well, let's face it, Saïx has and had blue hair. But the atmosphere, the more-water-than-land, the humans -- all the same. The main difference is the existence of magic.
The typical Kingdom Hearts/Final Fantasy spells exist, of course, but it's a matter of culture. Whereas the civilizations across the sea utilized that kind of magic, the people of Aïs's tribe did not, instead calling to and communing with the spirits around them for guidance.
Yes... Tribe. Aïs was born into a tribe of semi-sedentary people who lived on the plains. The culture of these people was similar to that of the Native Americans, especially in their respect for all things on the world. (See more about their beliefs here.)
However, the plains did not belong to the tribal peoples alone. There were people from across the sea moving into their lands in search of survival, freedom, and riches, establishing small towns that are slowly growing in size. Other tribes had met and clashed with these new people, but, having heard the stories, Aïs's tribe had stayed away as much as they could, preferring to keep to their own. As a peace-loving tribe, they were wary of the possible conflicts and hoped to avoid them.
III. Culture: Something So Simple
(Adjusted from here.) "A principal tenant of our belief is that all things are connected and we are related to all things in the circle. All things on Earth Mother and all things in the Universe are capable of being Spirit Guides. Why? Because [all things in creation have spiritual energy]. All things are connected and worthy of our respect and reverence. All things of creation are equal and necessary, worthy of respect and honor. Our way is to seek balance and harmony within the complex tapestry of life called the Great Circle of Life. As we move within the circle, we emphasize these truths:
Everything on earth is alive;
Everything on earth has purpose;
Everything on earth is connected;
Everything on earth is to be embraced.
Each thing on Earth Mother and each thing in the Universe has its own particular appearance, traits and other distinguishing qualities. In a general way, we can draw certain lessons from these traits and qualities for each object or thing in the universe. Truly, the intellect of animal is different from that of man. Animals are taught differently and speak in different ways. When intelligence is measured in human terms, the animal does not fair well, but if the test were reversed, humans would fail to measure up to animal standards."
Aïs's people did not believe in a god or a creator. They did not believe in a beginning of existence or an end of time. They believed in an All had always existed and would always exist. When someone died, their spirit did not leave and transcend or fall to another plane of existence; they are a part of All, as much as everyone is a part of All. (They did, however, believe in an "otherworld" of sorts, one where spirits are visible as they truly are. Often, this otherworld is visited in dreams and by shamans in meditation.) "Everything on earth is connected." "Everything on earth has purpose." There is nothing of nature that is inherently evil or inherently good; it is all about balance. It was possible to become disconnected from All to varying degrees for many many reasons, and that was the true source of wrongdoings in the world; where there is imbalance, there is suffering. These were teachings heavily stressed to the people of Aïs's village.
However, this also means that they did not believe that concepts traditionally considered "evil" by other cultures truly were evil... such as darkness. Unlike the cultures of the colonies moving in, they saw nothing to be feared of the darkness. To them, darkness was associated with the night, and thusly it was linked to the passage of the sun and the moon. "The sun disappears in the west, sinking behind the western mountains and so slipping into the mythic darkness of the [other]world," wrote Clyde W. Ford in his book The Hero with an African Face. "The [other]world journey of the sun is, then, specifically related to the cycles of death and renewal in life: the daily round of human consciousness from the light world of day to the dark world of dream and back again; the planting of seeds in the fertile darkness of the earth, or the female womb; or the journey of the human soul must take on its way to realizing its own divine nature." This leads to Aïs's belief of darkness not being a thing of evil, not a thing to be feared; it, too, is a part of All, and is to embraced and accepted.
All the same, the people of his tribe associated the darkness with the unknown. At night, one cannot see the predators sneaking up to attack. It is easy to lose one's way and wander in the darkness, to fall off the path one means to walk upon. It is in those times that one must follow one's heart and one's spirit guide. In Aïs's case, he was taught to look to the sky, where there is indeed still light to see by: the light of the moon and the stars. Aïs's tribe saw the progression of night and day as a story of survival and balance, one that people are meant to draw strength from. It is a lesson used to explain how all must work together to make it through life, through the night and the day.The sun illuminates the world, and gives it warmth, life, and protection from the cold and the darkness. But the sun tires, it, too, can grow weak, like we mortals, and so it must rest. In its absence, the darkness comes and takes the world, disguised as the harmless night, which hides from our eyes all that is familiar to us. But in the deepest darkness, the moon shines. It shines the brightest where the sun has gone away. But, as the sun does, as the mortals do, the moon, too, weakens, slowly, and will withdraw upon itself into its shell to recover. But the darkness is not complete, not even then, for there are the stars. They are small lights, yes, but they are many in number, and draw strength and power from one another. Together, the stars provide enough light for the weary and the fearful so they may find their way back.
And, just as the sun rises to return to the sky, just as the mortals pick themselves up and dusts themselves off to walk again, the moon, too, returns. Slower, perhaps, to come out of its shell, but it will shine again, bright as ever, when its time comes. The sun, the moon, and the stars take their turns. They are all weak, they all falter, just as we do, but when they work together, they provide the balance to help those who are lost and support for their fellows so they may rest to shine again another day. The sun is bright, but it can only light the world for so long. The moon is shy, the moon is slow to trust, but it is reliable for it is there when the darkness is deepest. The stars are consistent, the stars are small, but together, they find strength.
Important to his tribe, also, was the guidance of the spirits. Every person in the tribe had a spirit guide, usually an animal, but occasionally there would be those who would be bonded to others, such as the celestial bodies (like in Aïs's case). This spirit was more than just something to identify with; it was more about learning from it life lessons, finding guidance from its wisdom during difficult times. There were many ways to follow spirit guides. Some people would stay with one their whole lives; the guides of others would change throughout their life as they grew and changed; there were those who had one main spirit guide and then another that would change depending on the challenges they faced. There was no right or wrong way, as it was all about what worked for the individual, what helped them adjust to life changes, what helped them become better people as time went on.
A person's name reflected the stage of life they were at. When a child was first born, their parents would give them a birth name, one they would go by until their coming-of-age ceremony in their teenage years. In this tribe, a person came of age when they found their spirit guide, typically after a dream, meditation session, or life challenge. At their coming-of-age ceremony, a name would be chosen for them (either by themselves or by someone close to them), one that suitably reflects the core of who they are. This would be the name they were called for the rest of their life, unless they become someone highly acclaimed. In such cases, a title was bestowed upon the person, and with it, a kind of "crown name." A person's "crown name" is the most formal of the types of names, a sign of respect; a person's birth name is the most personal of the names, only used by close family (usually parents and siblings) and the closest of friends. To use someone's chosen name when they have a "crown name" is extremely disrespectful, but not nearly as much as using someone's birth name without permission. The latter case is the worst insult one can do any person, ever. (Saïx never reveals his birth name. It's debatable whether or not his Axel even knows it.)
The language of his people was a deeply complex thing and lacked, for the most part, hard consonants. It was an artful language, one of connotations and context. Each word is vague, with one or two main meanings and then layers upon layers of connotations. In order to specify a certain definition, one would string together several words with the same or similar connotations. One can also define many words at once this way, and this is how one sentence can mean many, many things at the same time. It took Saïx a long time to adjust to English; to him, it is very confining, and there are times where he would be very frustrated with it if he could be. To use a friend's analogy, speaking English is like playing a piece meant to be on violin on a piano. The notes are the same, but the feel is different, as is the sound and the emotion of it. Aïs's language is meant to be a symphony. There are so many instruments, and if one wants to get a certain meaning -- a certain chord -- across, one has to have several instruments placing certain notes.
As mentioned above, Aïs's tribe was very peace-oriented. This was because they believed in the proverb, "I am because we are, we are because I am." Basically, as summarized in The Hero with an African Face, "For when I see that my existence is predicated on others' and their existence is predicated on mine, then I must also see that doing violence to others is doing violence to myself." They did not believe in war, but that did not mean they wouldn't defend themselves if they were attacked. Their strategy, however, was to incapacitate their enemy by delivering non-lethal blows and then holding them prisoner until a peace arrangement was made with the other side.
Aïs's people also believed that, should someone die with unfinished business or strong unresolved feelings, their spirit could be weighted by it and kept from properly connecting with All. If these are especially negative, they become spirits called aera, which plague the people the spirit once knew in life. It is a shaman's responsibility to bring aera to peace so they may return to All's embrace and move on in the Great Circle. After the arrival of Heartless on their world, the tribe believed that they were physical manifestations of the aera of the tribal and colonial people who were dying in the battles against each other. The strength of their agony while dying was so great that it led to their taking of physical form.
Everything in All has magic. People are born with magic, and it is part of what helps tie them to All; even if they never use their magic, it is still there. There are those who are born with "chaotic" magic, and instead of helping connecting them to All, it pushes them away from it, making them disconnected from the start. These people are called selfae, as children they are called selfaerayel. Once a selfaerayel is identified, usually as a toddler due to episodes of violence and skill in magic beyond their age, they are given to an elder specially chosen to raise them. This elder is given the title oba-sey and is responsible for helping the child learn to control themselves, connect with All, and generally grow into a happy, productive adult. Aïs was a selfaerayel, which was why, if he had to explain himself as a child, he would say he was a "troubled youth."
Aïs's -- and thusly Saïx's -- "chaotic magic" is the source of his berserk mode. It was often triggered by high emotions, the most common example being anger. His personality did not help this at all, as he was a very passionate kind of person, though it didn't typically show on the surface. His magic increases his physical capabilities in his berserk mode and causes slight mutations of his body, such as the coloration of his eyes, the sharpening of his teeth and nails, and the shape of his scar. It also allows him to use his magic, which takes the form of the blue-gray auras around his weapon, himself, and the shockwaves he can create with his weapon, which channels his magic and also thusly changes form when he berserks.
His magic can be called "incomplete," as it seems to draw its power from the magic radiated from the moon. However, it's more that his magic is compatible with the moon's magic, and his is a kind of magic that absorbs other sorts compatible with it. The serenity he finds while basking in the moon's light comes from this, as does his increased power while doing the same. His magic takes in the moon's, adding it to his own, thusly giving him a power boost that allows him to activate his Limit Break for extended periods of time without having to be in low health, as he did during his final battle with Sora. As a Nobody, he could turn his berserking off and on at will, due to the fact that he didn't have a heart and therefore no emotion to trigger it. This is why it only happens during battle, when he needs it most when his health is low.
IV. Story: A Fragmented Tale
Apologies for vagueness. I'm still working out details of this. It's kind of hard to do when the muse isn't being cooperative. 8|
i. Childhood: The Memory Beyond
☾ Recognized as a selfaerayel in his toddler years
☾ Taken from his parents, like all selfaerayel, and given to a village elder to raise
☾ I'm still trying to figure out what the heck happened with his parents after that. He won't tell me. D8
☾ Had temper issues
☾ Got into physical fights with not just other kids, but with anyone (though it wasn't always effective against adults :|)
☾ Began to calm under his oba-sey's seemingly-eternal patience and gentle-yet-firm nature
☾ Oba-sey quickly became his 'favorite person'
☾ Did manage to injure Oba-sey on more than one occasion while berserked. Began to feel guilty about hurting people because of this
ii. Development: The Gathering
☾ Grew into the silent, withdrawn person he still is today at a fairly young age
☾ Preferred the company of his oba-sey or himself to that of his peers
☾ Awkward when he did have to socialize; never knew what to do or how to react to other people
☾ More prone to make acquaintances than friends, even in the close-knit tribal setting
☾ More comfortable with nature and the spirits, liked to train and meditate alone
☾ Took well to training and lessons, quickly on the path to being a good hunter; especially good at tracking
☾ Good at the subtle, intuitive things, which lent him to picking up details while tracking, becoming well-spoken in their language, and especially good at communicating with the spirits
☾ It wasn't that he didn't want to be a part of the community. He saw the closeness everyone had and it made him feel lonely and alienated. Because of his personality, his reaction was to close off instead of to try and reach out
☾ This led to a feeling of always feeling out of place, and he felt even less keen to spend time with his peers as he got older
☾ The fact that everyone began finding their spirit guides didn't really help
☾ His oba-sey, noticing how much trouble he was having fitting in, began to gently and subtly hint at possible directions for him to go
☾ One night clear in Saïx's memory is when he found his oba-sey staring up at the night sky. The conversation led to the story of the celestial bodies, as well as his oba-sey telling him, "Be as the moon." It stuck. Suddenly, he had his spirit guide.
iii. Friendship: We'll Go Together
☾ Lae: Colonist from the nearby settlement called Balliol. Immune to fire. Rebel child with from "another world." Didn't speak Aïs's language
☾ The boys met in the forest in the spring by chance. Aïs was practicing tracking, and it turned out he was tracking Lae. Once this discovery was made, both fled
☾ But that forest was a sanctuary for both of them, so of course they met again
☾ Eventually they tried communicating, which... didn't go well... lol language barriers
☾ But this turned out to be a moot point; they still managed to understand each other
☾ The friendship began to form, despite being an odd thing. Words weren't necessary.
☾ Over time, it became one of those "comfortable silence" kind of friendships
☾ When autumn fell and Lae's village began struggling to survive, Aïs taught him ways to prepare and make it through the harsh winter
☾ Lae began to pick up on bits and pieces of Aïs's language over time, though Aïs was faster picking up Common. Considering how complex Aïs's language was, no one was really surprised
☾ Lae has been to Aïs's tribe at least once
iv. Deterioration: HEARTLESS
v. Ending: The Eyes Will Close
V. Canon: The Thirteenth Order
The events that take place during 358/2 Days, Chain of Memories, and Kingdom Hearts II all occur as they do in the games. Here are some behind-the-scenes things that explains Saïx's mindset concerning certain people.
i. Axel: A World Without You
☾ Axel was his stable person, his steady rock, and the only person he even trusted. or. came close to trusting. or. it was more like he knew Axel would do what he told him to. XD
☾ Didn't realize why he was losing Axel, only knew that Axel started to drift away from him and started acting against the Plans they made (don't ask me what they were, idefk)
☾ Followed his first instinct: try to reign Axel back in under control
☾ ... via manipulation and trying to turn Axel against Roxas and Xion. Yeah, that went well
☾ Doesn't think he's at blame at all for this. He did nothing wrong. It's all Xion's fault. B|
ii. Xion: You Are Not My Concern
☾ His treatment of her was completely out of line with his people's teachings and everything he once believed in. Why? Because... well, shit got personal
☾ Saïx blamed Xion for his losing Axel
☾ He didn't blame Roxas because Xion, being a replica, was lower on the hierarchy being a replica. That made her more offensive than Roxas. Somehow. Shut up, it makes sense in Saïx World
☾ Axel only truly started working out of line with Saïx's Plans until after he came back from Castle Oblivion and made friends with Xion
☾ Roxas was also not screwing up missions, so he was allowed to come down harder on her, and she wound up becoming his punching bag
iii. The Organization: ENDLESS
☾ Always knew there was Something Wrong about Xemnas from the very beginning
☾ Never trusted him because of that
☾ After he lost Axel, he lost his steady rock and had nowhere to turn... but Xemnas
☾ Still didn't trust him, but became almost attached just because he was the only thing he had left other than his soul
☾ Xemnas gave him purpose. gave him direction. gave him something to do, something to aim for
☾ Saw all of the rest of the apprentices as competition for the top
☾ Xaldin and Xigbar were untouchable. Luckily, Xaldin wasn't a scheming type. Xigbar, however, kept getting in the way and there wasn't anything Saïx could do about it
☾ Zexion, being smart and scheming and behind-the-scenes and keen on detail as he was, definitely had to go
☾ Vexen... Saïx had something of a personal vendetta against him, as much as a Nobody can hold a grudge
☾ Vexen was the one who told Saïx-the-freshly-created-Nobody that the moon is just a hunk of rock that reflects the sun's light
☾ Under most circumstances, that wouldn't have changed Saïx's view of anything, but it was like a slap in the face because it made him realize what kind of a world he was in now. Pure logic. Nothing he knew of the way life worked and All mattered or, as he thought then, was even applicable
☾ Vexen shattered his world, basically. Yeahhhhh. Also, he made too much noise
☾ Lexaeus, Demyx, and Luxord were ignorable, neither a hindrance nor useful, and therefore expendable
☾ Marluxia and Larxene were going to get in the way with their rebellion. It was time for them to diaf
☾ Roxas and Xion were tools, the end. Until Xion started getting in the way of shit with Axel, and that just was not going to fly
(work in progress)
I've been playing Saïx on LiveJournal (over at claymoredingly) since late February 2009. However, he's been in my headspace ever since about October 2008 (holy shit, really?). I originally picked him up because my friend and I were going to write a story focusing on all of the Organization and neither of us had him in our headspaces yet. It was... an interesting process. He stayed at the peripherals of my mind, just barely there, only occasionally talking to me, walking closer and backing away, as if he was trying to test me and see if I could really understand him.
Clearly, I gained this new muse long before word of 358/2 Days had even been breathed (at least to the public), and so in order to flesh him out, I wanted him to have a strong past, one that defines him and explains why he is who he is, one that gives a bit more depth to that Luna Diviner title he carries in the Organization. And, having a fondness for fantasy world building, I created a whole new world for him.
Eventually, he became quite a strong voice in my head, despite the fic falling through and his refusal to make friends with anyone else in my headspace. One of my friends played at roleplayedingly and after she talked about it so much and kept linking me to threads, I decided to join, too. There was almost a full Organization there when I joined, and one of the open spots was Number VII. Not long after I joined, pretty much the entire KH cast dropped out of existence. I stayed on because my friend was still there, and I (and Saïx) had made a new friend. Plus, it was just plain fun.
And then 358/2 Days was announced and came out. I didn't get to play the game until January 2010, but I had heard word that they had given a bit of background for Saïx, and now, apparently, he used to be ~best friends~ with Axel, and the two of them came from the same world.
"Well, shit," I said. "Now what?"
I considered stripping this alternate background from my Saïx, but if I did, it would just... destroy his character. And after two years, he is his own person and I love him and I couldn't bring myself to do that to him. So, I've decided "oh, what the hell," and am sticking it out. Yeah.
Now that he's more active both in my head and on LJ and in IM logs, I've decided that it'd be a good idea to put up a post explaining the basics of his AU background, for the sake of the people who interact with us wherever.
DISCLAIMER: This is all meant to be for fantasy pretendyfuntimes. I am still doing research into the culture and mythology of tribal people, especially various African and Native American mythologies, and I mean no offense to any person of any culture. I'm afraid that there will be generalizations until I manage to pin down the specifics of Aïs's culture for the purpose of my readers understanding what I'm getting across, but if I screw something up and/or say/do something offensive and/or there's a better way for me to phrase something, please please please let me know (contact post here, hmd here) and I will fix it to the best of my ability. I want to handle this as respectfully as I can, so please help me do so!
i. Terminology: Utter Silence
Aïs: EYE-is. The original ("true") name of my Saïx. Comes from the phrase aïsen latorhun. Roughly means moon.
Aïsen latorhun: aye-EE-sen le-TORE-hoon. "Follow the moon's path."
Aera: AY-rah. Borrowed from Navajo mythology, though they call it chindi. Summary from Wikipedia: "the ghost left behind after a person dies, believed to leave the body with the deceased's last breath. It is everything that was bad about the person; the 'residue that man has been unable to bring into universal harmony.'" This is the term Aïs used for Heartless after his first encounter with them.
All: Simply put, "all of existence." Life, death, people, animals, world, heavens... All spirits of all things that exist.
Balliol: The name of Lae's colonial hometown.
Lae: Lay. The original ("true") name of his Axel.
Oba-sey: OHB-say. The title of the elder who raised Aïs. Yes, the a is silent. Go figure.
Selfae: sel-FAY. Someone born with chaotic magic. Believed by Aïs's tribe to be out of sync with All.
Selfaerayel: sel-FAY-ray-el. A selfae child.
Semi-sedentary: "The practice of residing at one or two established locations during most of the year, but occupying temporary encampments during part of the year." (from here)
II. World: In Its True Form
His world was a simple one, not unlike Earth. Maybe the colors of things are different; Saïx remembers prairies of silver grass, for example (though he informs me that's just that particular species of grass that's silver), and, well, let's face it, Saïx has and had blue hair. But the atmosphere, the more-water-than-land, the humans -- all the same. The main difference is the existence of magic.
The typical Kingdom Hearts/Final Fantasy spells exist, of course, but it's a matter of culture. Whereas the civilizations across the sea utilized that kind of magic, the people of Aïs's tribe did not, instead calling to and communing with the spirits around them for guidance.
Yes... Tribe. Aïs was born into a tribe of semi-sedentary people who lived on the plains. The culture of these people was similar to that of the Native Americans, especially in their respect for all things on the world. (See more about their beliefs here.)
However, the plains did not belong to the tribal peoples alone. There were people from across the sea moving into their lands in search of survival, freedom, and riches, establishing small towns that are slowly growing in size. Other tribes had met and clashed with these new people, but, having heard the stories, Aïs's tribe had stayed away as much as they could, preferring to keep to their own. As a peace-loving tribe, they were wary of the possible conflicts and hoped to avoid them.
III. Culture: Something So Simple
(Adjusted from here.) "A principal tenant of our belief is that all things are connected and we are related to all things in the circle. All things on Earth Mother and all things in the Universe are capable of being Spirit Guides. Why? Because [all things in creation have spiritual energy]. All things are connected and worthy of our respect and reverence. All things of creation are equal and necessary, worthy of respect and honor. Our way is to seek balance and harmony within the complex tapestry of life called the Great Circle of Life. As we move within the circle, we emphasize these truths:
Everything on earth is alive;
Everything on earth has purpose;
Everything on earth is connected;
Everything on earth is to be embraced.
Each thing on Earth Mother and each thing in the Universe has its own particular appearance, traits and other distinguishing qualities. In a general way, we can draw certain lessons from these traits and qualities for each object or thing in the universe. Truly, the intellect of animal is different from that of man. Animals are taught differently and speak in different ways. When intelligence is measured in human terms, the animal does not fair well, but if the test were reversed, humans would fail to measure up to animal standards."
Aïs's people did not believe in a god or a creator. They did not believe in a beginning of existence or an end of time. They believed in an All had always existed and would always exist. When someone died, their spirit did not leave and transcend or fall to another plane of existence; they are a part of All, as much as everyone is a part of All. (They did, however, believe in an "otherworld" of sorts, one where spirits are visible as they truly are. Often, this otherworld is visited in dreams and by shamans in meditation.) "Everything on earth is connected." "Everything on earth has purpose." There is nothing of nature that is inherently evil or inherently good; it is all about balance. It was possible to become disconnected from All to varying degrees for many many reasons, and that was the true source of wrongdoings in the world; where there is imbalance, there is suffering. These were teachings heavily stressed to the people of Aïs's village.
However, this also means that they did not believe that concepts traditionally considered "evil" by other cultures truly were evil... such as darkness. Unlike the cultures of the colonies moving in, they saw nothing to be feared of the darkness. To them, darkness was associated with the night, and thusly it was linked to the passage of the sun and the moon. "The sun disappears in the west, sinking behind the western mountains and so slipping into the mythic darkness of the [other]world," wrote Clyde W. Ford in his book The Hero with an African Face. "The [other]world journey of the sun is, then, specifically related to the cycles of death and renewal in life: the daily round of human consciousness from the light world of day to the dark world of dream and back again; the planting of seeds in the fertile darkness of the earth, or the female womb; or the journey of the human soul must take on its way to realizing its own divine nature." This leads to Aïs's belief of darkness not being a thing of evil, not a thing to be feared; it, too, is a part of All, and is to embraced and accepted.
All the same, the people of his tribe associated the darkness with the unknown. At night, one cannot see the predators sneaking up to attack. It is easy to lose one's way and wander in the darkness, to fall off the path one means to walk upon. It is in those times that one must follow one's heart and one's spirit guide. In Aïs's case, he was taught to look to the sky, where there is indeed still light to see by: the light of the moon and the stars. Aïs's tribe saw the progression of night and day as a story of survival and balance, one that people are meant to draw strength from. It is a lesson used to explain how all must work together to make it through life, through the night and the day.The sun illuminates the world, and gives it warmth, life, and protection from the cold and the darkness. But the sun tires, it, too, can grow weak, like we mortals, and so it must rest. In its absence, the darkness comes and takes the world, disguised as the harmless night, which hides from our eyes all that is familiar to us. But in the deepest darkness, the moon shines. It shines the brightest where the sun has gone away. But, as the sun does, as the mortals do, the moon, too, weakens, slowly, and will withdraw upon itself into its shell to recover. But the darkness is not complete, not even then, for there are the stars. They are small lights, yes, but they are many in number, and draw strength and power from one another. Together, the stars provide enough light for the weary and the fearful so they may find their way back.
And, just as the sun rises to return to the sky, just as the mortals pick themselves up and dusts themselves off to walk again, the moon, too, returns. Slower, perhaps, to come out of its shell, but it will shine again, bright as ever, when its time comes. The sun, the moon, and the stars take their turns. They are all weak, they all falter, just as we do, but when they work together, they provide the balance to help those who are lost and support for their fellows so they may rest to shine again another day. The sun is bright, but it can only light the world for so long. The moon is shy, the moon is slow to trust, but it is reliable for it is there when the darkness is deepest. The stars are consistent, the stars are small, but together, they find strength.
Important to his tribe, also, was the guidance of the spirits. Every person in the tribe had a spirit guide, usually an animal, but occasionally there would be those who would be bonded to others, such as the celestial bodies (like in Aïs's case). This spirit was more than just something to identify with; it was more about learning from it life lessons, finding guidance from its wisdom during difficult times. There were many ways to follow spirit guides. Some people would stay with one their whole lives; the guides of others would change throughout their life as they grew and changed; there were those who had one main spirit guide and then another that would change depending on the challenges they faced. There was no right or wrong way, as it was all about what worked for the individual, what helped them adjust to life changes, what helped them become better people as time went on.
A person's name reflected the stage of life they were at. When a child was first born, their parents would give them a birth name, one they would go by until their coming-of-age ceremony in their teenage years. In this tribe, a person came of age when they found their spirit guide, typically after a dream, meditation session, or life challenge. At their coming-of-age ceremony, a name would be chosen for them (either by themselves or by someone close to them), one that suitably reflects the core of who they are. This would be the name they were called for the rest of their life, unless they become someone highly acclaimed. In such cases, a title was bestowed upon the person, and with it, a kind of "crown name." A person's "crown name" is the most formal of the types of names, a sign of respect; a person's birth name is the most personal of the names, only used by close family (usually parents and siblings) and the closest of friends. To use someone's chosen name when they have a "crown name" is extremely disrespectful, but not nearly as much as using someone's birth name without permission. The latter case is the worst insult one can do any person, ever. (Saïx never reveals his birth name. It's debatable whether or not his Axel even knows it.)
The language of his people was a deeply complex thing and lacked, for the most part, hard consonants. It was an artful language, one of connotations and context. Each word is vague, with one or two main meanings and then layers upon layers of connotations. In order to specify a certain definition, one would string together several words with the same or similar connotations. One can also define many words at once this way, and this is how one sentence can mean many, many things at the same time. It took Saïx a long time to adjust to English; to him, it is very confining, and there are times where he would be very frustrated with it if he could be. To use a friend's analogy, speaking English is like playing a piece meant to be on violin on a piano. The notes are the same, but the feel is different, as is the sound and the emotion of it. Aïs's language is meant to be a symphony. There are so many instruments, and if one wants to get a certain meaning -- a certain chord -- across, one has to have several instruments placing certain notes.
As mentioned above, Aïs's tribe was very peace-oriented. This was because they believed in the proverb, "I am because we are, we are because I am." Basically, as summarized in The Hero with an African Face, "For when I see that my existence is predicated on others' and their existence is predicated on mine, then I must also see that doing violence to others is doing violence to myself." They did not believe in war, but that did not mean they wouldn't defend themselves if they were attacked. Their strategy, however, was to incapacitate their enemy by delivering non-lethal blows and then holding them prisoner until a peace arrangement was made with the other side.
Aïs's people also believed that, should someone die with unfinished business or strong unresolved feelings, their spirit could be weighted by it and kept from properly connecting with All. If these are especially negative, they become spirits called aera, which plague the people the spirit once knew in life. It is a shaman's responsibility to bring aera to peace so they may return to All's embrace and move on in the Great Circle. After the arrival of Heartless on their world, the tribe believed that they were physical manifestations of the aera of the tribal and colonial people who were dying in the battles against each other. The strength of their agony while dying was so great that it led to their taking of physical form.
Everything in All has magic. People are born with magic, and it is part of what helps tie them to All; even if they never use their magic, it is still there. There are those who are born with "chaotic" magic, and instead of helping connecting them to All, it pushes them away from it, making them disconnected from the start. These people are called selfae, as children they are called selfaerayel. Once a selfaerayel is identified, usually as a toddler due to episodes of violence and skill in magic beyond their age, they are given to an elder specially chosen to raise them. This elder is given the title oba-sey and is responsible for helping the child learn to control themselves, connect with All, and generally grow into a happy, productive adult. Aïs was a selfaerayel, which was why, if he had to explain himself as a child, he would say he was a "troubled youth."
Aïs's -- and thusly Saïx's -- "chaotic magic" is the source of his berserk mode. It was often triggered by high emotions, the most common example being anger. His personality did not help this at all, as he was a very passionate kind of person, though it didn't typically show on the surface. His magic increases his physical capabilities in his berserk mode and causes slight mutations of his body, such as the coloration of his eyes, the sharpening of his teeth and nails, and the shape of his scar. It also allows him to use his magic, which takes the form of the blue-gray auras around his weapon, himself, and the shockwaves he can create with his weapon, which channels his magic and also thusly changes form when he berserks.
His magic can be called "incomplete," as it seems to draw its power from the magic radiated from the moon. However, it's more that his magic is compatible with the moon's magic, and his is a kind of magic that absorbs other sorts compatible with it. The serenity he finds while basking in the moon's light comes from this, as does his increased power while doing the same. His magic takes in the moon's, adding it to his own, thusly giving him a power boost that allows him to activate his Limit Break for extended periods of time without having to be in low health, as he did during his final battle with Sora. As a Nobody, he could turn his berserking off and on at will, due to the fact that he didn't have a heart and therefore no emotion to trigger it. This is why it only happens during battle, when he needs it most when his health is low.
IV. Story: A Fragmented Tale
Apologies for vagueness. I'm still working out details of this. It's kind of hard to do when the muse isn't being cooperative. 8|
i. Childhood: The Memory Beyond
☾ Recognized as a selfaerayel in his toddler years
☾ Taken from his parents, like all selfaerayel, and given to a village elder to raise
☾ I'm still trying to figure out what the heck happened with his parents after that. He won't tell me. D8
☾ Had temper issues
☾ Got into physical fights with not just other kids, but with anyone (though it wasn't always effective against adults :|)
☾ Began to calm under his oba-sey's seemingly-eternal patience and gentle-yet-firm nature
☾ Oba-sey quickly became his 'favorite person'
☾ Did manage to injure Oba-sey on more than one occasion while berserked. Began to feel guilty about hurting people because of this
ii. Development: The Gathering
☾ Grew into the silent, withdrawn person he still is today at a fairly young age
☾ Preferred the company of his oba-sey or himself to that of his peers
☾ Awkward when he did have to socialize; never knew what to do or how to react to other people
☾ More prone to make acquaintances than friends, even in the close-knit tribal setting
☾ More comfortable with nature and the spirits, liked to train and meditate alone
☾ Took well to training and lessons, quickly on the path to being a good hunter; especially good at tracking
☾ Good at the subtle, intuitive things, which lent him to picking up details while tracking, becoming well-spoken in their language, and especially good at communicating with the spirits
☾ It wasn't that he didn't want to be a part of the community. He saw the closeness everyone had and it made him feel lonely and alienated. Because of his personality, his reaction was to close off instead of to try and reach out
☾ This led to a feeling of always feeling out of place, and he felt even less keen to spend time with his peers as he got older
☾ The fact that everyone began finding their spirit guides didn't really help
☾ His oba-sey, noticing how much trouble he was having fitting in, began to gently and subtly hint at possible directions for him to go
☾ One night clear in Saïx's memory is when he found his oba-sey staring up at the night sky. The conversation led to the story of the celestial bodies, as well as his oba-sey telling him, "Be as the moon." It stuck. Suddenly, he had his spirit guide.
iii. Friendship: We'll Go Together
☾ Lae: Colonist from the nearby settlement called Balliol. Immune to fire. Rebel child with from "another world." Didn't speak Aïs's language
☾ The boys met in the forest in the spring by chance. Aïs was practicing tracking, and it turned out he was tracking Lae. Once this discovery was made, both fled
☾ But that forest was a sanctuary for both of them, so of course they met again
☾ Eventually they tried communicating, which... didn't go well... lol language barriers
☾ But this turned out to be a moot point; they still managed to understand each other
☾ The friendship began to form, despite being an odd thing. Words weren't necessary.
☾ Over time, it became one of those "comfortable silence" kind of friendships
☾ When autumn fell and Lae's village began struggling to survive, Aïs taught him ways to prepare and make it through the harsh winter
☾ Lae began to pick up on bits and pieces of Aïs's language over time, though Aïs was faster picking up Common. Considering how complex Aïs's language was, no one was really surprised
☾ Lae has been to Aïs's tribe at least once
iv. Deterioration: HEARTLESS
v. Ending: The Eyes Will Close
V. Canon: The Thirteenth Order
The events that take place during 358/2 Days, Chain of Memories, and Kingdom Hearts II all occur as they do in the games. Here are some behind-the-scenes things that explains Saïx's mindset concerning certain people.
i. Axel: A World Without You
☾ Axel was his stable person, his steady rock, and the only person he even trusted. or. came close to trusting. or. it was more like he knew Axel would do what he told him to. XD
☾ Didn't realize why he was losing Axel, only knew that Axel started to drift away from him and started acting against the Plans they made (don't ask me what they were, idefk)
☾ Followed his first instinct: try to reign Axel back in under control
☾ ... via manipulation and trying to turn Axel against Roxas and Xion. Yeah, that went well
☾ Doesn't think he's at blame at all for this. He did nothing wrong. It's all Xion's fault. B|
ii. Xion: You Are Not My Concern
☾ His treatment of her was completely out of line with his people's teachings and everything he once believed in. Why? Because... well, shit got personal
☾ Saïx blamed Xion for his losing Axel
☾ He didn't blame Roxas because Xion, being a replica, was lower on the hierarchy being a replica. That made her more offensive than Roxas. Somehow. Shut up, it makes sense in Saïx World
☾ Axel only truly started working out of line with Saïx's Plans until after he came back from Castle Oblivion and made friends with Xion
☾ Roxas was also not screwing up missions, so he was allowed to come down harder on her, and she wound up becoming his punching bag
iii. The Organization: ENDLESS
☾ Always knew there was Something Wrong about Xemnas from the very beginning
☾ Never trusted him because of that
☾ After he lost Axel, he lost his steady rock and had nowhere to turn... but Xemnas
☾ Still didn't trust him, but became almost attached just because he was the only thing he had left other than his soul
☾ Xemnas gave him purpose. gave him direction. gave him something to do, something to aim for
☾ Saw all of the rest of the apprentices as competition for the top
☾ Xaldin and Xigbar were untouchable. Luckily, Xaldin wasn't a scheming type. Xigbar, however, kept getting in the way and there wasn't anything Saïx could do about it
☾ Zexion, being smart and scheming and behind-the-scenes and keen on detail as he was, definitely had to go
☾ Vexen... Saïx had something of a personal vendetta against him, as much as a Nobody can hold a grudge
☾ Vexen was the one who told Saïx-the-freshly-created-Nobody that the moon is just a hunk of rock that reflects the sun's light
☾ Under most circumstances, that wouldn't have changed Saïx's view of anything, but it was like a slap in the face because it made him realize what kind of a world he was in now. Pure logic. Nothing he knew of the way life worked and All mattered or, as he thought then, was even applicable
☾ Vexen shattered his world, basically. Yeahhhhh. Also, he made too much noise
☾ Lexaeus, Demyx, and Luxord were ignorable, neither a hindrance nor useful, and therefore expendable
☾ Marluxia and Larxene were going to get in the way with their rebellion. It was time for them to diaf
☾ Roxas and Xion were tools, the end. Until Xion started getting in the way of shit with Axel, and that just was not going to fly
(work in progress)