Just Another Day [open]

Axel stepped from the Usual Spot that the Twilight kids typically hung out at. They were off somewhere else which left the small back alley vacant and a perfect place to enter this world. It felt like it had been so long since he had last been here. He and Roxas didn't come here often anymore, finding new ways to end their days. Apparently, spending the evening atop the clock tower eating sea salt ice cream had become outdated.

Perhaps it was the fact that they didn't have Xion with them so it didn't feel right? He didn't see that as a viable option, but it could still be true. He shrugged it off, making a mental note that he would need to bring home some of that salty sweet treat. For now, he was just going to check out the Heartless situation here. Maybe there was a little bit of guilt that he hadn't wandered this world recently, but it didn't truly matter as much as it used to. With the blond by his side, he could care less where he ended up.

Green eyes tracked a few locals as they passed by the alley way. They were oblivious to his presence which made him wonder how so many people survived. With so many threats lurking in the shadows, it was a miracle that all of the worlds hadn't gone dark. Well, with little purpose now, he needed to fill his time with something. He hadn't heard much from Maleficent and it didn't seem like Marluxia had much use of him lately. The others were returning to the castle at their leisure if they had come back into the worlds.

His attentions hadn't been all that focused on finding out why the Organization members were returning as Nobodys. It didn't seem all that important so he was doing odd jobs simply for the need to do something. Hopefully there would be something interesting to keep his mind occupied.

She hated these things.

Between the two species - Heartless and Nobodies - it was obvious that there was one thing that just didn't belong. These things were like parasites to all of Heartless, her brothers; she hated them with a fiery, burning passion. Of course, that fiery, burning passion was about to be opposed with fire itself. White eyes were scanning the figure from the shadows, and she was watching him very cautiously, carefully. Her gray skin was not visible in the darkness, her body having mended in with the substance. The redheaded Nobody was very oblivious as to what was following him.

Asphyxia would scan the others to find that there was nothing particularly interesting about them, and they would surely succumb to her at some point in the future. As far as this specific Heartless was concerned, all hearts were hers for the taking, and she didn't seem to understand repercussions to that frame of mind. To her, there were none.

The fiery man was winding through the alleys, keeping his emerald eyes peeled for something, and it was obvious that he was on the hunt. For her kind, no doubt. Asphyxia scowled invisibly to anyone other than herself - something told her that this man was going to be bothersome, but yet.. Intriguing, in a sense. How long has it been since she'd had a fight out of anyone, again? Oh right.

Never. She rolled her eyes at the thought.

Traveling through the shadows, she darted quickly to stand behind the redhead, her short height making no difference as her body began to levitate to mimic his height and dissipate the difference.

"Hi," She cooed out gently, close to his ear in a chilling voice that could send shivers down just about anyone's spine. "My name's Asphyxia." When the Nobody would turn, he would be met with a pair of milky eyes with an eerie glow, black pinpoints for pupils, and a large grin with pointed teeth showing through her pair of gray lips.

"Are you looking for me?"

This was beginning to feel a little pointless. Twilight Town had always been boring over all. That was why he and the squirts had come here to relax after each mission. So why look for something to do here? Perhaps it was nostalgia. He missed that little bit of comfort that they had created. He missed not having to wonder how or what brought them back. He didn't want to have to think about when Xemnas showed up again and how pissed he would be. His Organization was in absolute shambles and if he tried to push them into regrouping, he didn't think the thirteen of their name would stand true very long.

He gave a small sigh as he came to a stop. The Nobody stood in the shadow of a building, looking out at the town center. He wasn't sure he could really call it hustle and bustle, but there were people milling about. Verdant eyes tracked the three kids Roxas had befriended in the digital version of this world. They were still happy and laughing and very obviously just let out of school. He had made good timing in using their spot and moving on quickly.

The Flurry shifted his shoulders as he felt an odd sensation come over him. It was as if there was someone watching him, but he knew none of the locals would find him. A chill ran down his spine a voice whispered in his ear. He twisted around quickly, coming nose to nose with a very odd looking girl. No, that was a lie. He gave the floating creature a once over and quickly realized what had addressed him. I suppose I am now, He replied. He narrowed his eyes a little, finding this very strange. Since when did Heartless take a form such as this? Had this heart just been that strong or was she closer to a creation like the Seeker of Darkness?

Funny thing, never had a conversation of one of you. Does it get lonely being the only one who can speak? The redhead asked. He didn't bother to back up, unconcerned with the threat this weird Heartless presented. Even as something sentient, this Asphyxia would react on emotion since that was all she was made up of. He had everything else which meant he could easily detach himself and work on pure logic and strategy. What was there to be scared of when he had that to his advantage?

This was.. Peculiar. Usually behavior within these beings was easy to predict, but this one was proving her expectations false. She narrowed her milky eyes, pinpoint pupils examining his facial expressions carefully, finding that there wasn't an ounce of fear within him at the current moment. Usually any creature would be at lest startled by her sudden appearance, but emerald gems were simply.. Examining her. As though she were a normal occurrence. At his first statement, all she could do was blink, that smile ultimately fading from her face to morph into something more along the lines of confusion.

Does it get lonely being the only one who can speak?

Confusion turned into a snarl, and an ugly one at that. Who did this redheaded Dusk think he was? How dare he insult he brothers and sisters when he had no idea what he was even speaking of? Her sharpened teeth were easily visible to the other, and she had the fearsome appearance of some sort of succubus, though gaining this man's "love" was not her intent.

Or.. Was it?

Upon closer inspection, she did begin to notice that there was something radiating from this particular Nobody. That was confusing, to say the least - intriguing; usually there was nothing to be examined inside of these things, but, once again, she was being proven false. She had only been in the redhead's presence for a few seconds, and he was already managing to throw Asphyxia for a loop. Questions that had been answered in the past were now showing their uselessness - perhaps there was more to a Nobody than she had originally perceived? The tiniest glimmer of light was signalling itself to her, causing that smile to slowly find a way to reform.

"No. Does it get lonely knowing that you're finding some way to build a new heart for yourself, only to find that there is no one waiting for you when it reaches completion?" The Heartless whisked around, circling him as though she were some sort of predatory animal. Whatever was growing within his chest, she would definitely be claiming it for her own. She didn't know if it would create another brother for her to befriend, but it would be interesting to see what had been birthed inside of the husk.

She stopped in front of him again, levitating closer to where she had began, reaching out to place her hand atop his chest, which was considered empty at the beginning of this odd interaction. "I wonder what's in there..." She was silent for a moment before leaning in close enough to where their noses almost touched.

"Say," Asphyxia began. "You things aren't supposed to care about anything, right? That means you wouldn't mind if I... Took it?"

This would be an admirable test. If he truly was a Nobody, a thing that lacked all emotion, then he wouldn't care one way or the other. Let's see how far this black sheep could go...

This was the strangest encounter with a Heartless he had ever had. Clearly this was a female and it was entirely sentient. It understood his words enough to be bothered by them. Unless these things could communicate telepathically, then he had never known them to have a form of communication. It was strange to think that he was just learning something new about these little monsters after so long. Axel still found himself superior.

He raised a brow as Asphyxia's smile returned, the razor sharp teeth a little intimidating. He didn't particularly want this creature to bite him with chompers like that. What was more disturbing was that this thing thought that it had found a heart. She knew what he was, knew that he was empty, and yet she thought that he could actually feel? It was his turn to smile. The shine in his eyes dimmed, leaving them utterly empty of anything. I can't feel loneliness, Phyx. My other half, your buddy, has all that good stuff, He replied quietly. He had no idea what his heart looked like now, nor if it was still around. Hell, Roxas might have been the one to send it on and they wouldn't even know it.

His dead gaze followed her as she slipped around him as if looking for something. He knew that Heartless sought out hearts to add to their horde, but this was ridiculous. There had been a reason he stuck with the Organization. Xemnas had promised them hearts, that they would become whole again if they could complete Kingdom Hearts. It wasn't possible for him to find that completion any other way. Had that been a lie as well? That was a question for another time. He couldn't allow for himself to show anything other than the emptiness that was in his chest.

The Flurry lifted a hand to touch the Heartless' hand and move it away from his person. He didn't bother to back up to gain more space between them, but she didn't need to have her hand there. You can't take what isn't there, little thief. I'm a convincing actor, I know, but surely I can't fool one of you, Axel sneered. The higher ranking Nobodies such as himself prided themselves on being able to pretend they still felt something. Yes, it was a lie they told themselves everyday, but at least things wouldn't be boring.

That lie was strong enough that he wanted to try and love anyway. His small blond was the only reason for his continued existence right now. The redhead wanted to try and show anything toward the Key. No one else made it seem like he had a heart again; he was grateful that it seemed like a little less of a lie. Regardless, no matter what Roxas did for him, he didn't think there would ever be anything to fill his heart again.

Sure, what she was being told contradicted everything that her senses were telling her, but the fact that the redhead sounded so sure of himself was.. A little unsettling. This was the most peculiar situation the Heartless had ever come into contact with - and to think it would be with a Dusk? Hah! Today was getting more and more interesting as the seconds ticked by with this man. She was sure that whatever was inside of him would be hers for the taking, though she didn't even know if it was strong enough to form a brother for her to keep under her wing.

Asphyxia narrowed her vision when she was given the demeaning pet-name, and her eyebrows raised in obvious disinterest. She gave herself that name to be respected an revered, not for it to be defiled because a disfigured remnant was too lay to flap his lips a bit more.

-but I surely can't fool one of you.

"Wrong." She chimed, the power of her levitation slowly coming to a halt as she eased her way down to the ground, standing even shorter than Roxas. She was a little entity, but the amount of power that she packed within her small frame was downright uncanny. She looked borderline innocent, and there were many people that fell for her trickery. Asphyxia was well-versed with Nobodies and the stunts they tried so desperately to pull. Nobodies along the lines who created that disgusting Organization (she was guessing that this was one of them) loved to try and fool themselves when it came to emotions. This husk was well aware of the facade, and was attempting to defend it, but..

There was something. The smallest glimmer... It was more than enough to pique the small girl's interest, however. She began to walk around him, continuing to circle him as though she were a vulture waiting for its next meal to succumb to the ways of mother nature; her movements were so fluid that they looked almost animated, drawn and planned out for months so they could be performed without the slightest of failures.

"You things are so oblivious." The Heartless sneered, showing her obvious detest towards his kind. "Oh no! I seem to have lost my heart! How ever will I get it back!" She waved her hands directly in front of her to give the statement some theatrical attributes. As she was speaking, the concentrated heavily on his energy, a disgusting smile appearing upon her gray lips when she realized... This was all too familiar.

"You want to see it?" She was off of her feet again, rising up to his level to return to her place where she could stare into the eyes that were feigning emptiness well, but there was a hint of something else within. Something that could not be denied.

"You want to see what happened to what you used to be?"

She was giggling.

Axel let his lip curl in distaste. Heartless were nasty little things as it was, but this one managed to get under his skin just that little bit more. The fact that it could actually speak was somewhat surprising. It led to the question of if this heart was just that strong. The will of the Somebodies that had died and formed such human Nobodies had been very strong. Could the Heartless turn out similarly? Could this be Larxene's heart?

Her sharp, demeaning words certainly fell in line with that train of thought. Whether this was the electric woman's Heartless or not in truth meant nothing as he was going to chose to believe just that. With the same irritating personality, how could it be anyone else's? Asphyxia seemed to know just how to poke at the wrong buttons. At least I'm not a mindless, heart-eating mess, He snapped back. While he might know himself to be an empty shell, he had still conditioned himself to react as if he could feel. Anger was often one of his go to's and this little monster had provoked him just enough.

His anger dissipated just a little when he saw just how small she was. Yes, he knew she was short as she floated at his eye level, but wow. He didn't think that anything that could speak could be smaller than Roxas other than a child. This thing did not seem at all like a child. She still couldn't be trusted or underestimated. He was good at keeping that kind of thing in mind. He wouldn't allow her to twist things so she had the advantage.

The Flurry narrowed his eyes at the grey skinned Heartless. You don't need to show me. I remember my Somebody, He growled back, purposely "misunderstanding" what she meant. He wasn't sure if he wanted to know what his Heartless was like. How would she knew which one was his? Was it even still around or had Sora gotten to it already? If it was still around and they found it, would it know its other half? Do Heartless have memories? Can you feel how incomplete you are? This was perhaps the strangest conversation he had ever had. Who in their right mind would try to talk to a Heartless and expect an answer?

Well, anyone that met the Seeker of Darkness, but this being of pure emotion looked nothing like him. She was a lot closer to her typical brethren than he had been. That looped back to the question of "was her heart just that strong?" The other question was if she was created, experimented on in a lab. Hadn't that been one of the big problems with how things were today? Ansem and his minions experimented on something that shouldn't have been touched and now here they all were, asking such odd questions. It seemed that each of his of his lives just had to be weirder than the last.

Everything that was coming out of his mouth was infuriating, to say the least, but there was a certain aspect that Asphyxia had on her side. Although she was a being made out of pure emotion, qualities lingered within her that a majority of her kind lacked. She had a mind capable of putting pieces together and the ability to incorporate thought and strategy into anything she were to do. Not only did she know how to destroy, but she knew how to toy with her playthings. This made her an admirable foe - one that was just about as fearsome as she looked, despite her.. Small stature.

"I'm writhing in fear." The creature smiled to accompany her sarcasm regarding the fiery male's last statement. It was cute; he hadn't a damn clue what he was talking about. Thinking that he was all high-and-might just because he was told so. He didn't even know what was truly out there, how Heartless were consistently looked down upon.

"You poor, poor dusk." Her smile did not falter, in fact, it was growing each passing second, becoming a little.. Unnatural. "My brethren and I are the hearts truest form. We are nothing but the heart itself." It was hilarious, because she was right. When the heart was taken away from the body, it was given life by the darkness inside of it; it would sprout, form a new body, and that body was driven by nothing but the heart's energy. The majority of her brothers and sisters didn't get to experience the level of strength Asphyxia possessed, but she made them all a promise to protect them, to help them and guide them through whatever struggles they were facing.

Constantly being driven by instinct could be a challenging path to follow.

A cesspool of darkness suddenly opened up in front of her, ending just before it hit Axel's feet.

"Brother! I have found something you will enjoy!" She called into the endless pit, a pair of yellow eyes suddenly opening up, lacking pupils, but she could feel it staring right at her. "Come! Come!" In a way, she sounded almost like a big sister, enticing her younger brother to see what was stashed under the tree on Christmas morning. It was unnerving, to say the least. The heartless' hand found its way out of darkness, grabbing the ground and pulling itself out of the depths. It's body was long and lanky, the black and purple substance smoking off of it like a haze.

"I've found what's left of your body." She stated as it was finishing its ascension from the realm of darkness. The resemblance between the two was uncanny, and their energies were practically identical in the sense of identification. The creature tilted its head towards her, red energy flowing from its eyes to the top of its head, that same coloration appearing on several parts of its body, as though it was lava. It turned, eyeing the Nobody and taking a few steps towards it, its body stature hunched over in an intimidating manner.

Its movements were jagged and unpredictable, its head twitching every once in a while as odd noises game gurgling out of its being. When it came face to face with Axel, the area between its nose and chin began to separate into somewhat of a disfigured mouth; shards of its "flesh" remained in tact to represent jagged teeth, its breath smelling of nothing but the rotting darkness that inhabited its body cavity. The gurgling noises turned into something that could only resemble laughter. Like it was pitying the sad existence in front of it, and Asphyxia joined in with it, levitating beside the two of them. Her eyes were wide with enjoyment, as was her smile.

"Isn't it pathetic, brother?"

Of course, leave it to a Heartless to think that just the heart mattered. It was important, extremely so, which was why so many of the Organization members followed Xemnas. They wanted their hearts back so much that they listened to his lies. He included himself, though he had made peace with not getting his back after a time and started on other ventures within the group. Simply surviving them had become a task in itself. It wasn't as if Asphyxia could understand that. Without a mind to plot and scheme, she needn't worry about others turning on her.

The heart alone doesn't mean you're whole. You need the mind and soul, He put a hand to his chest for emphasis. Neither is complete without the other. You're no better than a Nobody in that. She might be able to speak and have some capability to think for herself, but that was very rare. How many other Heartless has she herself come across that could think the way she could? Was she still not ruled by pure emotion and reacted on that rather than pure logic? Without his heart, he had nothing but logic and his soul tried to be his conscience. It was there, that moral compass, but it had gone askew and it wasn't as if he could really care about it.

Much like he didn't think he had it in him to truly care about the darkness pooling at this feet. He looked into the inky blackness and expected Shadows or something equally as bothersome to crawl out. He calling to a single entity was a little strange since he was somewhat purposely trying to irritating the small girl like creature. What he didn't expect was a somewhat properly formed hand to reach out of the nothing. He took a half step back as a new Heartless crawled out. His brow furrowed as he took in her "brother" and the aspects of himself that he saw in it. Was this really his heart?

Axel stared at his counterpart with a mix of confusion, disbelief, and pity. Had his other half truly fallen to be this misshapen, hapless thing? Perhaps it was a mercy that it couldn't do anything but feel hunger for other hearts. He took a deep breath and shook his head. He would be so disappointed in us, He said quietly to the thing hunched in front of him. He ignored the comments Asphyxia was making at the moment. He was hardly the pathetic one. They were just disappointments to the Somebody they had come from. Lea would not have been pleased to know what came of them.

The Flurry turned his attention back to the sprite like being of darkness. Did you have a point with this? He asked her. Showing him the malformed version of himself, the twisted mess that his heart had turned into, gained her nothing. He thought no different of Heartless, no less superior about his own standing. If there was a goal here, he couldn't see what it was.

Hmm, this one certainly was a tough nut to break. His outer shell was incredibly thick to the point where Asphyxia, for a moment, considered that she wasn't getting to him whatsoever. She told herself, however, that this odd event would be stuck in his thoughts later. How could it not?

The creature heard the words, about their former self being disappointed. For a few moments, all it did was stare, its yellow orbs trying their best to bore down into those opposing emeralds, but the more it tried, the more troubled and disoriented again.

"You'll find that out soon enough." She answered calmly with a chilling smile, reaching out to the Heartless to grab its attention, and as she did so, the creature reared its head to look at the one who had made a large promise to take care of it and protect it. Another pool of darkness opened up, and the little being lead the larger dark entity back into the depths from whence it came. She turned her head half way just to lay one of her milky eyes upon the husk.

"Very soon." That chilling smile turned into a grin that could rip the soul straight from its host. "Whatever is inside of you isn't strong enough to make one of my kind, but..." The girl turned her back ot the Nobody, showing no fear in front of him whatsoever. Asphyxia was a cold, and menacing temptress, one that showed no mercy in any situation she was faced with. "You'll be an interesting science experiment."

Something about that statement sounded a little too familiar.

The Heartless stepped into the darkness, her body slinking into the substance and, eventually, disappearing within it. She would be keeping an eye on this Nobody. There was something about him that was rather.. Intriguing.

[End]