Difficult Conversation

[thesilenthero]

Characters: Lexaeus and Isa
Content: Isa has some questions for Lexaeus in the wake of everything. Not that we're blaming you or calling you out by name, Sora.
Location: Lexaeus' room
Time: Shortly after the new week begins
Warnings: None


Lexaeus rather thought he had prepared himself well for this conversation, but given that it was Isa who would be asking the questions, he reflected that he probably had not. He left his door open, and seated himself on the bed. His actual bedding was tucked away in a corner, as the bed itself was only somewhat adequate for his needs.

At least he'd managed to obtain clothes that were not emblematic of his status as a Nobody. It would have been difficult to face the young man attired in the black coat that was as much a symbol of the Organization as anything. As it was, his clothing was emotional armor enough that he could sit and wait calmly for Isa's arrival.

Comments

[beforethemoon]

Isa wasn't sure he wanted to have this conversation, with anybody, but he figured Lexeaus was the best person to ask in this regard.

He walked up to the former guard's room and knocked on the door.

[thesilenthero]

"Come in," Lexaeus called. It was good that young Ienzo wasn't around for this. That relationship would remain untainted.

[beforethemoon]

Isa entered the room and looked up at the wall of a man. He instinctively shrank back in fear for a moment before shaking it off. There was nothing to be scared of right now.

"You... you are from Sora's time, right?"

[thesilenthero]

"I am from somewhat before his time, but I am from roughly ten years after your time," Lexaeus said. He could tell that Sora had outlived him merely by the boy's appearance. It was hard to tell quite how long it was, though.

[beforethemoon]

Isa went over to sit on the bed, looking down at his feet. "Something bad happens in those ten years, doesn't it?" He may as well get this over with quickly and cut to the chase.

"I can tell Sora and his gang don't really want to talk about it... I'm not sure I want to hear about it. but..."

[thesilenthero]

"It does," Lexaeus said. He hesitated. It was cruel to inflict this truth on a child, but Isa had asked. "A great catastrophe occurs in Radiant Garden. As a result of those events, you and I and some others...suffer the loss of our hearts."

[beforethemoon]

"...Oh." He tried to keep his expression unreadable, he didn't want to seem upset, but it was fairly difficult.

That explains the restoration Riku was talking about the first time they talked. But how could someone lose their hearts?

"And Lea." It wasn't really a question on Isa's part. It had to happen to Lea as well, or people wouldn't be acting the way they did when they met him.

[thesilenthero]

"Yes, Lea as well," Lexaeus confirmed. "From what I could gather, you and he remained close regardless." Lexaeus paused again. "The loss of one's heart leaves one with limited ability to experience emotions. In order to recover our hearts, we formed an organization. The man you may remember as Xehanort took charge of all of us."

[beforethemoon]

"And we changed our names because of it. Anagrams of our names, but with an X in it." Isa was observant, to say the least.

"What does Sora have to do with all that?" He asked, honestly curious, "I mean, if anyone has a heart, it's that guy."

[thesilenthero]

Lexaeus was silent for a long moment. This was an admission he'd rather not make, though neither Isa nor Saix seemed to be the sort of person inclined to share this sort of information. Still, it was difficult to admit, even now.

Finally, he spoke. "We needed the strength of the keyblade on our side in order to recover our hearts and make things right. We would have - are going to - make everything right again. To this end we recruited Roxas. But Sora's power would have helped as well, as would have Riku's." He paused, then continued, "In addition to this, in our effort to regain our hearts, we ventured into actions that were not wholly...honorable." It hurt to admit that, in that place where his heart should have been.

[beforethemoon]

"So we're their enemies." He replied, rather matter-of-factly.

He leaned forward with a sigh, burring his face in his hands, "Lea can't know about this, he knows too much already, and this... this will hurt him too much."

[thesilenthero]

Lexaeus reached out to pat the boy comfortingly on the shoulder. "They cannot hold you accountable for what you may do in the future. You and Lea, like myself and Ienzo, wish only to regain what we lost. I do not know where this may have taken you, past the point when I came here."

He has been lying to himself. It is a startling realization. He has prided himself on acting with honor, but truly, where was the honor in attacking children, even gifted children, in order to fulfill his own selfish needs? They sowed so much destruction in the name of recovery. Truly, they would have fixed things; of that he was sure. But fixing what you had broken initially was the least that honor required.

"I confess that Axel's - Lea's - current actions at the time of my...coming here...left me bewildered. However, he did seem to be taking a personal interest in Roxas. Perhaps that relationship developed for both of you. But perhaps not. I would not address it in front of Lea, but you might inquire of Sora."

[beforethemoon]

Isa flinched when Lexeaus patted him on the shoulder, not out of fear, but simply because he hadn't been expecting it and didn't particularly like physical contact most of the time.

"Bewildered?" His echoing of the word was his only reply to Lexeaus.

[thesilenthero]

"I could not discern what plans you and he had made together," Lexaeus explained. "His actions appeared contradictory to what he claimed were his intentions." It would be unkind to tell Isa everything that Axel did. Particularly given that it seemed to be some sort of plan orchestrated between the two of them. Well, Lexaeus had no particular proof of that, but they had seemed inseparable even over the nine years in which they lacked their hearts, and so a cooperative effort between Saix and Axel was likely.