eyes like the dead [open]

[Arixbaan]

FaLL !

don’t you really want to F A L L from a
S T A R ? you know that H E A V E N ’ S
not that far from a S T A R

It seemed the mystery behind Gilgamesh would never be solved. The six-armed swordsmen fell heavily to the metal ground, deft hands still clutching the swords he scoured this planet for. His companion, a strange wolf, had fallen long before, laying sprawled on the bridge feet away. Over the body of the Ancient Man of Mystery, the victor stood, her body releasing from the tension of a battle. She stood strangely motionless now, perfectly erect, dead emerald eyes studying the fallen warrior. Suddenly, she blinked, the movement breaking her statue-like poise and turning into a cat-like grace that moved her shapely figure toward the loser of this fight. While she knew of the bounty on Gilgamesh's head, she had not killed him for it. She would not collect. What she had come for was not the money. The woman had come under orders that were law to her, that were everything and all she had to hold on to. What she had come for were the weapons Gilgamesh still held to, even in death.

There were men in this world stronger than this Gilgamesh, men with weapons just like the one's he held, men that could wield them far better. Men that were threats to the New Order. The woman that bent down beside the corpse was part of that Order, the tenth member, and arguably the most loyal. Fingers that looked almost delicate reached out, stroking over the dead hands without emotion to release the hilts of the broadest weapon and the one above clutching the hybrid. Her own weapons, as harmless looking as she, were put away, allowing her to pick up the two swords simultaneously. As she did, she stood, holding the weapons in front of her as if they weighed nothing.

Dull eyes moved slowly from the hand guards upwards, feeling as pleased as a Nobody could be. From behind the white collar that shielded the bottom half of her face, a soft voice murmured, smooth but not muffled despite the makeshift mask. "Mission: complete." She turned the weapons slightly, observing the craft before she set to the task of releasing the remaining four weapons from the deceased man. It was a flash of gold on a monotone weapon that stopped her from doing just that. Her chin lifted a notch and the hilt spun in her hand until the other side of the blade was shown. Slender eyebrows slid downward, the emotionless glint in her eyes hardening. It was perhaps the most emotion she would ever replicate. Ironic, at this juncture.

They were fake.

All of them. Every sword the man had held were nothing but counterfeit. As if to mock her, the word "replica" was branded on the side of the Buster Sword and the gold chocobo that had caught her eye was painted on the Gunblade. Barely noticeable, there was a slight flicker in the woman's eyes, the hilts slipping from her hands and dropping unceremoniously to the ground. If she could have felt rage, it would have boiled from her than, but Arixbaan was deadpan as ever, her eyes skating over each weapon Gilgamesh had called legendary. They were not. No, they would be useless against the real ones. This Gunblade was nothing without a trigger; this Buster Sword would become but a busted blade against the original.

Arixbaan may have completed her mission, but the mission itself had fallen through. However, in her loyalty, number X did not blame it, but only herself. She turned away from the corpse without a second glance, without a prayer, without remorse, and stared out into the clouds that formed a mist over the bridge with a look that could match the dead man on the ground. "Mission: failed."

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[Xiruk]

Light. He rushed towards it, escaping from the Corridors of Darkness. Oh how he wished for another form of transport, as he hated the darkness. He had been trapped there for as long as he could remember. He glanced about at his new location, violet eyes expressionless in scanning. The corner of Xiruk's mouth moved up in a smirk as he noticed a woman with the same expressionless mask on her face. His silver cloak glistened in the sunlight as he walked towards her. She might know something.

[purple]Hello there. The name's Xiruk.[/purple]

He glanced behind her, noticing the corpse of a man on the ground. He grimaced, maybe talking to her wasn't such a good idea. In any case, he held no doubts that he could defend himself from her. He was after all, a keyblade weilder.

[purple]I was wondering if you could tell me where I am, as I appear to be lost.[/purple]

He didn't bother to tell her that he was really just bouncing around randomly, hoping to find Sora and Kairi. The first few times he tried that it had been counter-productive.

[Arixbaan]

FaLL !

don’t you really want to F A L L from a
S T A R ? you know that H E A V E N ’ S
not that far from a S T A R

For a moment, Arixbaan gave no indication that she had heard him, let alone realized she was no longer alone. The silence stretched before she turned slowly, with a mechanic sort of grace to the other Nobody. Her eyes met his, silently recognizing that despite the personality he seemed to carry, he was the same as she. Unlike herself, however, there was the animations of a regular being, one with a heart, one with emotions. The contrast was stark. Behind her mask of a collar, the only shifts her lips made were into words. She did not smile nor did she frown. She felt nothing and she did not pretend to. On extremely rare occasions, a ghost of her past would change the smooth, motionless expanse of her face but now was not one of those times. She set eyes as full of life as a corpse on the other Nobody, locking their gazes in a stare that would be uncomfortable to one that could feel it.

Number X blinked languidly, his words replaying in her mind. Xiruk. She stored his name like a file in a cabinet. She did not return the greeting. What did she care for formalities? So, she moved on to his question, not bothering to end the silence that continued to stretch with the answer. Time meant nothing to her, like most everything else in the worlds. Instead, she took her time studying him, taking in his face and his cloak and his demeanor, if fake. It was all information that slipped into the mental folder she had made for him. Xiruk. X-I-R-U-K. Her eyes flickered slightly, not in emotion but in thought. Before her eyes, unseen by her companion, her company’s name lost it’s ‘x,’ and the outside letters slid inward. R-I-K-U. Arixbaan blinked her lazy blink again.

Behind her collar, full lips parted. “Lhusu Mines,” she answered shortly, the emptiness in her voice sounding like virtue. She watched him for another beat before turning her head to observe the fallen Gilgamesh once more. Her head tilted slightly and she bent down, grabbing up the Buster Sword, the word ‘replica’ laughing at her. She would take it back to Superior. She would show him that Gilgamesh was a worthless tool. Arixbaan turned back to him, realizing she had not perhaps answered his question. “In Bhujerba.” She wondered patiently what to do with this Nobody. Perhaps the trip was not wasted? Riku was a Keyblade weilder. Perhaps his Nobody, if it was his Nobody (but of that she was quite certain), wielded the keys as well. A powerful weapon. Would superior find use in him? Or was that a mistake not to be repeated.

The motion was almost an afterthought. She lifted her free hand, a tan index finger extended toward Xiruk. “It is that way,” Arixbaan added. She was referring to Bhujerba as a whole, to where it was positioned to them, to which direction to go to exit the mines. But Arixbaan was obviously either not good or not ever up for long conversation.

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[Xiruk]

Xiruk listened closely to what she said, which wasn't much. He nodded as if he knew where Bhujerba was, then he decided to get right down to business.

[purple]You're a Nobody too, aren't you? Tell me, do you know your true name?[/purple]

It was a risky question, there was a good chance that she could snap and try to kill him on the spot for just ASKING it. On the other hand, her emotionlessness confused him. Did she not miss her heart at all? Did she not remember ever having a heart? The mere thought made him want to comfort her, but that would probably be pushing it, so he simply quietly faced her down, his face becoming as emotionless as hers.

(Sorry for da short post)

[Arixbaan]

FaLL !

don’t you really want to F A L L from a
S T A R ? you know that H E A V E N ’ S
not that far from a S T A R

Her hand was moving back to her side when Xiruk spoke. It stopped midway for one, two, three seconds, than continued its journey to hang at her side. Again she seemed to loose any knowledge that he was there, save the fact that her eyes bore into his.

Unhurried, she remembered being found by Superior. He had asked her a question startlingly similiar to the one that had just poured from Xiruk's mouth. Back than, she had not understood the words "true name." She had answered correctly out of pure luck, because it was the only name that she knew. It was a name that was not her's anymore. Faintly, in the back of her head, a fading voice called it. Arixbaan could not feel the sadness she was sure to have felt in different circumstances. She was no longer that person. And she could not see the one that had called. Arixbaan was sure that she would like to, could she, but not now, not now that she was without heart, not now when it would be meaningless to her.

The blonde's head turned slightly, staring again at the clouds that wafted through the bridge. She wondered how it was she was supposed to answer. No one besides Superior had asked her that, not even the other members of her Order. There was a slight flicker of movement on her face, easily missed if one was not paying attention, as she struggled with a solution. "I remember," she answered, characteristically soft. She turned her head back to him. It was more like she could not forget. Unlike her comrades, Arixbaan had not forgot and would not forget her previous life. Something rawer than emotion kept her from letting it go.

If there was one emotion Arixbaan did replicate, it was curiosity. What would knowing her true name do for him? No one else had asked her so it couldn't hold any worth. Her head tilted slightly, golden bangs whispering across tan skin. "What relevance has it for you?" Even if she could have expressed it, there would have been no angry from defense. She already knew his true name. Her's would not be so easily unscrambled.

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[Xiruk]

Xiruk was pleased that she replied calmly, although with slight hesitation. He wondered about her question. He thought about it for a few seconds until he came up with an answer. The only change on his face was a slight downword turn of the lips as he thought, never once breaking eye contact with the female Nobody before him.

[purple]I guess I'm just curious. I can't remember my true name. I can only remember two names, Sora and Kairi, my friends. I'm searching for them right now. There's another name though....like you know...when you have a word on the tip of your tounge and it just won't come out...[/purple]

He caught himself babbling and almost chuckled at himself before remembering the complete lack of expression on her face, and matched it perfectly. His eyes sparkled something, was it hope?

[purple]I believe its my true name.[/purple]

[Arixbaan]

FaLL !

don’t you really want to F A L L from a
S T A R ? you know that H E A V E N ’ S
not that far from a S T A R

The emptiness in her chest seemed to swell at the words that repeated like an echo in her head. Her chin lowered, collar hiding more of her face. It looked like the movement of the saddened, but Arixbaan’s face was just as still, if less visible. That less-than-a-feeling that made her remember her time with a heart was reaching out to Xiruk. She knew his true name just as she knew his. All he wanted was to know who he had been. His intentions were pure to someone that loyally served something that was, perhaps, the opposite.

But that part of her. It nagged at her, and roboticly, like data, told her over and over that she knew and she should tell him. What harm could come from it? “Do you.” Arixbaan cut herself off abruptly. Was this okay? She did not know what knowing your true name meant besides being aware of what you had been. She did not know if telling him was breaking laws of her Order. Arixbaan did not know if Superior would punish her. She did not want that. The Order was important to her in ways she could not explain, could not fully understand without a heart. She could not "disappoint" Superior or even any of the others.

Emotions had become like data to her and while she did not feel, she could think. Strangely enough, thinking came easier without emotions blocking the way, but the answers were no where near as quick or as simple as the emotions themselves. And she knew now, that if she wanted to know who she had been . . . Arixbaan listened to her own breathing for a moment, amplified by her collar. In. Out. In. Out. Idly, she decided she would like to feel that soothe again. But that was for another time. Her head lifted, eyes finding Xiruk, finding Riku.


“Do you. Want me to tell you?” She murmured. Something stopped her from just telling him. Something from knowing her own name. It was on the tip of his tongue. Perhaps he wanted to say it himself? She did not know, nor did she care. She could not. She wondered how she would feel in his situation and if, they both could feel, if he would feel the same. “Your true name.” She added, reassuring he knew what she would tell him. Perhaps he had stumbled upon her for this very purpose. Arixbaan’s purpose. The words filled her in the same way that they did not.

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[Xiruk]

Xiruk watched her closely. So far she had shown no emotions at all. It was startling, though he knew that he was, in essence, the same as her, he always tried to keep from unnerving people by acting like he had the emotions he remembered. He was so deep in thought that it startled him when she spoke again. [purple]Know my true name? We've only just met!

Well of course I do, but how would you know? I've never met you before. In fact, I don't even know your name![/purple]

This was bothersome. How could a complete stranger know his true name if he didn't? For his part, he did manage to keep all his frustrations from reaching his face. To him it had become a contest. First one to show emotion lost. He was losing. But not in his face. In fact, if some random human were to walk in right now he would see two expressionless faces staring at each other, almost as if they were statues. Xiruk stepped closer to her, as if he were trying to look past her expressionless eyes.

[Arixbaan]

FaLL !

don’t you really want to F A L L from a
S T A R ? you know that H E A V E N ’ S
not that far from a S T A R

If it was a contest, he had already lost. There were shadows of emotion in much of his movement, even in his words. He spoke like one with a heart: confused, vulnerable, pleading. Even when he did not show emotion, his own hollow words betrayed him. Arixbaan did not disrespect those that feigned emotion. Her own superiors did it, most of them, to an alarming degree. She did not mind. Number X knew that they were fake and that they only wanted that emptiness to fill. If they found solace in pretending they were not empty, she would respect that. Showing emotion, if fake, was a way to cope. Just like resisting it. She chose the latter. She was not who she was and she would not pretend to be. It was how she lived, or did not, she supposed, with her non-existence.

Arixbaan had half-expected the words. They were not familiar and neither had any bonds to the other. Not even their Somebodies had been acquaintances. She was silent again, a pause shorter this time before her lips parted, unseen. "I am Arixbaan," she replied, establishing a loose trust before she stated what he wanted. She would give him his true name, but her own was sacred to her. Arixbaan's knowledge of who Xiruk had been came from her Order. She had information stored like data in a computer from the Organization, taught to her to understand the goals and needs and threats and necessities of the coven. Her lack of emotions amplified her memory and thought. She could flip through information as if through a Rolodex. X had done so on his introduction and had easily deducted who he was. She knew much about Sora and the other Keybearers. They were dangerous to her state of non-existence. But Arixbaan could not feel fear.

She did not acknowledge that he had moved forward. Instead, her chin lifted slightly. "Your true name," she muttered, trailing off as she had one last conflict with herself. Her own raw need, her Order, her Superior, her loyalty: they fought, changing the words that would spill softly from her lips. But she had come this far, she understood without feeling but with it, she understood the importance, the false desire that felt strangely real. Arixbaan closed her eyes, repeating her own true name silently. Yes, she would tell him. To know it, she supposed, would fill a hole that was not mandatory in a being like them. Her eyes flickered open, ever-dead.

"Riku."

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[Xiruk]

Xiruk allowed a smile to grace his lips. So she finally relinquished her name. [purple]Arixbaan, eh? Thats an interesting name.[/purple] He had since given up trying to remain expressionless, it was far to difficult for him, almost as if he still had a heart. He listened closely as she spoke.

[purple]Riku?[/purple]

The name struck a chord inside of him, it seemed familiar to him. It hit him then. This was indeed the name that he had been trying to remember.

[purple]My....true name...[/purple]

He smiled, memories overtook him. He was on a beach, sitting on an almost horizontal tree. He looked to his right and saw Sora and Kairi leaning against the tree. Sora smiled up at him and he grinned back. The memory ended. This was a new one. He glanced up at her, not realizing that his eyes had teared up at the short, yet happy memory.

[purple]Thank you.[/purple]

[Arixbaan]

FaLL !

don’t you really want to F A L L from a
S T A R ? you know that H E A V E N ’ S
not that far from a S T A R

Arixbaan blinked, a bit quicker than normal. Her head tilted a notch as her fingers tightened on the hilt of the Buster Sword. He was going to cry. Those were. Tears. In his eyes. Tears that would well up and trail down his cheeks. The fraction that her eyes widened was unnoticeable. Could Nobodies cry? The thought seemed impossible to her. Sure they could feign emotion, but crying was on a completely different scale. It was, if to put labels, an emotion Arixbaan considered too advanced. One could frown and pout or lay down and tell themselves they wanted to die, but crying. Crying was something you had to feel. You had to be rocked from the core, your defenses shattered and your emotions broken down.

You could not break down emotions that were not there. Nobodys couldn't cry. She believed that Superior would tell her the same thing. She would find him after this. But. If a Nobody could not cry . . .

She bit back her question because she found it to be stupid. She felt him as a Nobody. Instinctively she knew, and therein he must be. There was no emotion to make her think otherwise, no denial to push aside. Her race called out to his because they were one and the same. Arixbaan pushed her thoughts of tears and emotions away. She accepted his thanks silently, listening to the sound of her breathing around her. The Buster Sword made a harsh cry against the metal bridge as she moved her arm. "He is not gone."

[/color] The words came before she'd thought about them. Was telling him so much still okay? What harm would he do? A crying Nobody. And, everyone Nobody desired their heart, desired to fill that hole in their chest, to be whole again. She would tell him, this last bit. "Riku."[/color]

Her dead voice filled the clam silence around them. Arixbaan glanced at the corpse of the wolf-dog not far from Xiruk. "Your somebody still lives." Her head tilted after a moment, finding Xiruk's gaze again. "Will you seek him out?" She could not be curious but she wanted to know. Arixbaan would find her other. But she was gone. Arixbaan was the only one left.

[/blockquote][/size]

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[Xiruk]

Xiruk didn't even notice her tighten her grip on the sword. While he normally would notice such a thing, at the moment he was confused as to why his cheeks felt wet. He reached up andwiped at them with a finger before looking at it. It seemed like water, but why was it on his face? It wasn't raining... He licked his finger and tasted the salt. Tears. That was impossible. He had no emotions, how could he cry? He was so confused that he almost didn't even hear her speak. He blinked in suprise. He looked up at her, confusion on his face and tears on his cheeks. Two emotions he wasn't supposed to have.

[purple]I....don't know...I...I just want my friends...[/purple]

He didn't know what to do now. He wanted his friends. That was all he was sure of. They were the only anchor in his life. If it wasn't for his memories of them, he would have no reason to live. He had lived in darkness for almost two years, it had drained life from him. He now only had two things to live for. And their names were Sora and Kairi. But to know that Riku still lived and was the one who truly had been with them shook him. What if he was still with them? What if they didn't want him? His tears strengthened at the thought, this time with sadness instead of happiness.