Day 52: Lunch

[purpletaint]

[from here]It was a race. A fight against patience and a Song's call. Still, the sedation's dredges churned through him. Two close at hand had a potent effect--much like the night that they were left in that town, and the morning after. Rubedo had came then. Came for them like something out of place, and wasn't that so ironic afterwards--when

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[scintillatingly]

The problem with talking to a Nobody was that it was impossible to know how they felt, because most of them didn't feel. Still, most of them also faked it, or at least behaved as if they knew what the appropriate emotional response would have been. Xemnas did none of that. He just watched him with those yellow eyes, hardly even blinking, quiet and calm. It was enough to make Sora uneasy, and he paused right before the empty chair across from the Organization's Superior.

He was called by his title, the one that he hadn't given to Buzz earlier in the day. That was all he was to this man; a tool, someone who could use the Keyblade and release those hearts he'd been so desperate for. That thought was enough to make Sora angry all on its own, and he felt his hands tighten around his tray of food.

"You know that the others are here, right?" he asked, not entirely sure why he was asking, except that this man was supposed to be in charge of Xigbar and Luxord and all the others. Demyx. Axel, but Axel had run away, just like Roxas. And Sora didn't plan on mentioning his Other to Xemnas, just in case he wasn't aware that the boy was here. Roxas didn't need to deal with this. Sighing, Sora finally took a seat, knowing that he couldn't just walk away from the conversation now that it had been started.

"What have you all been doing here, now that there aren't any Heartless to--" To make him fight, he thought to himself with a frown. And in the end, he didn't finish that sentence, not knowing how it should end.

[itneverwas]

The presence of others was something that Xemnas, too, had questioned. But II had provided an answer that was defined by its vague nature, granting the Superior little information other than the supposed presence of his subordinates being as unstable as the nothing that defined them. Other than the Freeshooter, he hadn't seen a single sign that indicated the presence of any others part of the Organization.

"They come and go," was what Xemnas said simply, and left it at that. Had Hinamori Momo spoken the truth, even he had been included in this shared fate of going back and forth between this world and the void. It was a fate shared even by those still holding their heart.

Still, the ones among the Organization's ranks were pawns he had already sacrificed, condemned to return to nothing without so much as a raising a finger, for he did not care; he did not necessarily rely on his subordinates to eventually acquire Kingdom Hearts once more.

The question that followed was of no surprise, even if the Superior no longer had the ability to experience the emotion provided by a heart that was no longer part of him.

"Indeed, there are no Heartless within this darkness," he affirmed. "There are no hearts that keyblade of yours can release. Indeed, what would the hollow shells who would seek these hearts do?" He paused, still watching the boy with that piercing gaze of his before shifting his gaze to the meal he was eating.

"Perhaps it holds little differences with what you have been doing," he said, making a nonchalant yet sweepy gesture with his hand as he spoke.

Unfortunately for Sora, Xemnas wasn't a man of straight answers.

[scintillatingly]

It wasn't so surprising that as the conversation continued (and it had barely started!), Sora got more and more annoyed. But the way that Xemnas talked about his own subordinates as if they were chess pieces rather than people who were loyal to him (for their own selfish reasons, but still, they were loyal) angered Sora. He knew it was hypocritical, as he had been the one to defeat the majority of them, and yet he'd done it for a good reason. Xemnas had brought the other members in only to disrespect them and treat them like items.

Still, what he said was true. Sora hadn't seen Xigbar or Luxord in the past few days, and it made him wonder if maybe they were gone as well. It was odd to think that was possible, as they were the two who had been in the place for the longest after him. Sora could have told Xemnas about how Xigbar had challenged him to a fight, but hearing that, it didn't really seem to matter anymore.

Did that mean Xemnas and Roxas were the only Nobodies left here? If that was the case, then Sora was going to have to be even more careful about keeping the two away from each other. He eyed his food with a hard expression on his face, and while he didn't much feel like eating, he wasn't going to give Xemnas the satisfaction (not that he could feel such a thing) of ruining his appetite. He picked up the taco and took a bite.

Hearing from Xemnas himself that there was no darkness here made it clear that that really was the case. Sora had always wondered if maybe the Heartless were hiding for some reason, but they would have been drawn to his Keyblade. But now that even Xemnas was saying that the Heartless weren't here, it might as well have been fact. He would have been able to sense them, right?

But it also meant he'd missed what had been done to Kairi, which was a very good thing. Xemnas never, ever needed to know about that.

Though the man's final comment caused Sora to swallow his food as quickly as he could while he glared across the table at him. "We're nothing alike," he said, his tone harsh and angry. There weren't many people who could elicit such a reaction from Sora, but Xemnas was definitely on that short list.

[itneverwas]

Xemnas' disregard for his subordinates was something that was merely logical, was it not? How could it be different, when he no longer possessed the heart binding him to emotions he had no use for, no longer had the ability to care. They were either useful, or they were not. The useless ones and the failures were disposed of; most of the others among their ranks were well aware of their own roles.

"Naturally," Xemnas agreed, the angry tone noted but not warranting a response. Instead, he merely continued to speak on the very same calm tone. "After all, I am but a hollow shell that does not truly exist, while you still retain your radiance."

He took a sip of his water before setting the glass back on the table, his movement slow but fluid. "But is what we nothings do so very different from those still retaining an existence?"

It was difficult to deny that those part of the world of light, too, sought power, wished to grasp it for their own desires. Every patient, part of an existence or not, had their own reasons for venturing out of their rooms at night. But eventually it came down to acquiring the answers still shrouded in darkness.

[scintillatingly]

When Xemnas talked about his radiance (which was a weird way to put it on his own), Sora could only take it as an insult. It was something about the man's tone, as if he didn't think highly of the light in his heart in the first place. Or maybe the man was just confused and didn't know for sure what he did or didn't approve of. Sora had never really been able to get a good opinion of what Xemnas' ideas and beliefs were on much of anything, except that he wanted Kingdom Hearts to be a success.

Still, Sora couldn't get on board with the Nobody's point at all. Maybe that was a good thing, since agreeing with any Nobody that wasn't Roxas or Axel would actually be kind of scary, but it made it hard to even progress the conversation.

"I don't try and steal people's hearts," he said as he glared at the man. He didn't care about letting his emotions show clearly on his face, since it wasn't as if Xemnas could really react to them in the first place. "I don't recruit people into helping me only to forget about them the second they're not useful anymore." More than that, Xemnas had sent them out to die. It just wasn't right. Sora was going to be in charge of a group of people soon enough, but he was going to watch over them as best he could.

What Sora did realize was that being stuck in this place put them in a similar position, but he didn't really want to think about that at the moment.

[itneverwas]

"No matter what you think, I cannot feel any remorse," Xemnas announced. "But you misunderstand, Keybearer, for I did not refer to you. I referred to others who are, too, part of an existence." He left it at that, as if he wanted Sora to consider the meaning of his words on his own. Or perhaps he simply saw no reason to continue speaking about the subject further.

A moment passed in silence at that, with Xemnas simply disregarding the boy's glares. The emotions the boy showed were clearly readable, and the Nobody merely took note of them rather than responding to them.

"What of those trapped within this facility?" he questioned finally, bringing the conversation back to what it was originally about. "Whether they are defined by light, darkness or nothing at all -- are they not all seeking the same answers?"

[scintillatingly]

Unfortunately, Xemnas had decided to bring up the one point that Sora had been trying to shove to the side. Because as much as he hated to admit it, the Nobody was right. Everyone here either wanted to get out or wanted to get to Landel and make him pay for what he'd done. They might be bad people or good people or just regular people who had gotten caught up in this against all odds, but most everyone had the same goals.

"Yeah," he finally conceded, though reluctant, "but there are still some people out there who would go out of their way to make trouble for others." What he needed to know was if Xemnas was one of those people. Sora didn't think so, since hurting people wasn't going to benefit him in any way here. Still, he wasn't someone who should be trusted, and most of the patients here probably didn't know that. He didn't have the heart to care if someone he was traveling with at night got attacked.

"Have you been working with other people?" Sora asked after another pause. He took a bite of food as he watched Xemnas for his response. "Or have you been working alone?" The other members of the Organization were more or less impossible to keep track of at this point, after all, and Roxas certainly hadn't been helping Xemnas out. So who, then?

[itneverwas]

"And you are wondering if I am one of those people?" Xemnas commented after swallowing another bite of his food. It wasn't a difficult conclusion to grasp; after all, the Keybearer's radiance was as strong as his desire to save worlds and people alike. Furthermore, Sora would hardly choose to mention the subject if he did not wish to know. But the boy's estimation was a correct one, as hurting others for the sake thereof would hardly be of any use, for he did not chase after false pleasures of sadism.

Another question followed, one that was rather obvious in nature. What other choice would one have, if they no longer held the power to do otherwise? "You are a curious one, Keybearer," he responded eventually, an echo of a smile appearing on his lips. "If I would tell you I have indeed been working with others confined within this facility, what would your next action be? Would you, perhaps, seek them out and warn them?"

It'd be an inconvenience were that to happen, so it was only natural Xemnas chose not to part with such information. The Superior of Organization XIII was hardly a fool, after all.

[scintillatingly]

Sora wasn't wondering; he was saying that Xemnas was that way. It wasn't something that he needed to ask or hear the answer to, because he'd already seen the proof of it in the past. Instead, he just glared at the man as he took a final bite of food. He'd done what he could to make sure that his lunch was mostly eaten, and he'd mainly succeeded at that. His plate was covered with taco shells and beans, but it most of it had made it into his stomach.

The boy didn't really like being called curious or being marveled at, not to mention those underhanded comments about his "radiance." This was why he had put off talking to Xemnas in the first place, especially since he wasn't getting any straight answers out of the Nobody now that he'd actually given it a shot.

"I wouldn't tell them to stop working with you, necessarily" -- not if Xemnas was actually being useful and wasn't planning to steal anyone's heart, which didn't seem to be the case -- "but I would at least tell them that you aren't the loyal type." Which was true, even here. If someone Xemnas was working with turned out to not count as "useful" to him, chances were he'd cut them loose and find someone else.

Sora could always use the bulletin, but that might turn into some sort of backlash. He could endure that, but at the same time... he had the club to think of.

[itneverwas]

[Sorry for the massive delay! ;A;]

The glare was disregarded once more, noted but not responded to. Instead, Xemnas retained his unnatural calm, only placing the emphasis on the very essence that he lacked. The boy was right in a sense; though he did not hurt others for the sake thereof, it hardly meant that the Nobody was above doing such a thing. A hollow shell could not hope to convey the feelings of remorse, for he could not feel them. None of his actions would result in regret or guilt, for a Nobody could not produce such emotions.

It indeed meant that the Superior would cut loose those he had no further use of. But the situation hardly allowed for the inconvenience of the boy making such a public knowledge. Even if half of the patient populace would not even care, as they were too focused upon finding a way home to likely heed the warnings of a single boy.

"That would be a shame," he told the Keybearer as he kept his gaze upon the boy. "After all, are we not all in the same situation? Would it truly be efficient to seek out these needless hindrances?"

[scintillatingly]

Well, of course Xemnas was going to try and convince him that he shouldn't get in touch with any of his so-called allies. Sora wasn't planning to go actively searching just yet, though. If the man hadn't stirred up a fuss yet, then there was a good chance Sora would just be wasting his time in the end, and he honestly had more important things to be worrying about at this point.

"How about this," he stated plainly as he eyed the Nobody, actually forcing himself to calm down so that there was some chance of the Superior taking him seriously. "I won't warn people off about you so long as I never see any mention of you taking advantage of people."

Because Sora kept an eye on the bulletin and he hadn't seen anything mentioned thus far. Xemnas had been keeping his head down and sticking to his own devices, so Sora wasn't going to make waves if he didn't have to. But that could change at any time, and if it did, then he was going to spring into action.