Dive Into the Heart: Mirrors

[Charme]

The pillar stretched into infinity, the ominous music of the Destati drifting around it in a flurry of darkness. The Darkness settled on the top of the pillar, and Ienzo fell from it, the oily shadows dropping from his form.

He landed on his hands and knees, his mind still moving uncontrollably, leaving him drowsy, the pillar moving underneath his form. He stood up, his balance failing him, and stumbled to the side. Slowly, his mind began to sharpen, and he looked around him with a dark expression.

Where was he?

Underneath his feet, an emblem glowed. A gray image, with two figures, back to back. Ienzo, his jet black hair running over one eye, his steely eye looking down with a saddened expression. To his back was him again- No, not him. It was... The other. The one he had never met. The one he'd always wondered about. The man had dark blue hair, with bright blue eyes, and a dark cloak.

Zexion. The Cloaked Schemer. Ienzo didn't know if he hated the man, but he didn't know if he liked him. He was a stranger, but at the same time, Ienzo had met Nobodies. Many a time, he had learned that they were very self-centered and arrogant.

He sighed. Wherever this place was, he expected he already knew what was about to happen.

[poseidon]

Seconds after the sigh, more Darkness settled on the other side, revealing a man. Though standing, he stumbled forward, stopping in a kneeling position with his left leg up, hunched over and supporting himself with his right hand on the floor. Breathing heavily, it took the man a moment to be able to observe his surroundings.

All around the structure he was on was pitch-black darkness. The top of the structure, which he was now attempting to stand up on, had a sort of emblem on it. Two figures, back to back. One was himself- steel-blue hair, black Organization cloak. He was standing on the half of the structure with himself facing outward, but the other half...

It was someone similar to him, but not. With jet black hair, and a sad, downward gaze. It looked familiar, but it was as if it was from a distant memory. After looking at it for a moment, he realized that someone else was on the other side. And that someone was the person that was on the structure. After looking at it for a moment, he realized that it was his Dark XII counterpart, Ienzo.

Wondering why he didn't realize it before, he settled, for his sake, on the reasoning that it was probably the trip to this odd place that disoriented him. Speaking of which, he really wanted to know where he was. Could this be the Dark Realm? No, there were no structures in the Dark Realm. Then where...

He couldn't help but be distracted by his other. He decided on saying the first words, to establish his superiority. It meant nothing, but it was psychological for him. He looked straight into the eyes of Ienzo, and said, "Hello, Ienzo. We meet once more. It has been a while."

[Charme]

Ienzo nodded, looking around. It had been a while. He couldn't even remember. The shadows washed away distant memories as they erode the past and built the future. The last time they met... That was long ago. Perhaps, before the rise of the Dark XII. The silver-eyed shadow looked around them.

"So is this an illusion? Or have I fallen into something greater?" he responded, looking down to the glowing emblem at their feet. The Victorian-esqe design didn't seem like the Schemer's style. He sighed. What the hell was going on? His expression, the steely expression of his Nobody. What did this emblem mean?

Whatever the meaning, he wanted to know his Other's answer first.

[poseidon]

The Cloaked Schemer's mind was working overtime (and for Zexion, that meant something) to figure out what in the worlds was going on. Two parts of a whole, suddenly appearing in the same place, neither knowing why they were here. This didn't seem to be an illusion- Zexion would know, of all people- but something much more. Something... spiritual, maybe?

"It doesn't seem to be an illusion... though looks can be misleading. What exactly were you doing prior to now? Perhaps there is some sort of connection between what we were doing at that point," he said.

He looked down at the structure under them. Perhaps this meant something. A Heartless and a Nobody, each part of the other, standing back-to-back. Perhaps they were to "have each other's back," as it were? How would they accomplish that alone? Maybe they would have to fight an enemy. That is, if this was much more spiritual than he could assume.

[Charme]

Ienzo chuckled. What had he been doing? That was funny. He had been doing nothing whatsoever. The Dark XII had gone quiet, and thus, he was left drifting without purpose. He stayed with Note, his first friend, for a while, but Note had found his way home. Ienzo looked to the small twig that he had made into a necklace, hidden under his shirt. He would miss that child.

But his Nobody, this was a problem. Nobodies and Heartless hated each other. Ienzo didn't really care about petty rivalries, but... "I don't know if speaking is good. No offense, but it seems we've been labeled rivals by our Organization." This place wasn't an illusion. They had both been dragged here.

A voice rang through the air. Two of different allegiance, looking into the mirror... Your brethren have left you. Ienzo jumped and looked around, his steely eyes unable to locate the source. There weren't even any shadows to help him. Perfect.

He looked up to the voice. "My brethren...?" A smile crossed his slim face. This voice, it imprinted words upon his mind while he could never hear a sound. "Wow. Since when were we related?" He remembered many a time Relena had tried to stab him. And Dilan. Even was a little better... But Elaeus, Ienzo missed him. He was once good friends with the Earth-user, but they slowly drifted apart. Thus, he fell into shadows again and found himself wondering what it felt like to be happy.

Then he had found Note. The young boy showed him how to laugh again. A real laugh. And he gave Ienzo the ivory branch. Ienzo realized that he could not feel Light... He wanted to now. He confessed to Tifa and even committed treason by protecting a person from the Heartless.

[poseidon]

Zexion shook his head. It wasn't time for his opposite to be worried about his organization. If either wanted to get out of here, they had to figure out how to do it together. As a matter of fact, the Schemer didn't mind leaving the Heartless behind ads long as he could get back to his research.

Then, he heard the voice. It wasn't audible, either- it was more like a thought. One that he hadn't come up with. Two of different allegiance, looking into the mirror... Your brethren have left you. Zexion looked around like his other, albeit with less jumpy movements, but he couldn't find the source either. How odd...

He could hardly consider any of the members of the Organization his "brethren." Even excluding the fact that Larxene was a female, none of them were too close to him. The nearest to a friend he had was Lexaeus, who wasn't even really a friend, much less his brother. Though he supposed it was more of a metaphor, as in for Nobodies in the Organization.

He looked at his other and thought for a moment. Then he heard the voice again: One became two, and thus two should act as one. Venture forth, and gain what it is you seek. Suddenly, a slightly transparent path, that looked like glass but had a rainbow of color on it, as if coated in oil, faded into existence.

Looking at Ienzo, Zexion smirked. "It seems that fate has conspired to force us to work together. Are you willing to live with it, or must we each attempt to proceed alone?"

[Charme]

The Heartless listened to the voice and chuckled. Act as one? As if that was possible. The voice, whatever it was, truly had no idea. He was a Heartless, devoid of Light. An eclipsed human, he had no chance of finding what he wanted most. He looked to Zexion, who was smirking.

Perfect. This guy already had a plan or goal, it seemed, and Ienzo was still focused on other things. The path before them luminated, covered in an oily sheen, and Ienzo shrugged. "Actually, working doesn't seem all that ideal." His gray eyes met with the Schemer's. "Fate conspired us to be together? That's fine, but how can you trust this voice? How does it know what we want? What does it want?"

He stared into the darkness with intensity. "Whatever you are, you hold no power over us. You show us a door without an address and expect us to walk through it." Shadows burned into life in his palm. "What exactly do you want?"

[poseidon]

Zexion shook his head. He had heard of instances like this. People would find themselves in a mysterious place, which would then lead them to some sort of revelation or something of the like. Of course, it was only rumors, and it could be hallucinations or drugs, but here was Zexion, right in the middle of it. He didn't recall using any drugs, and it would be quite unlike him to do it, anyway. And he was sure he'd know if he was hallucinating. Did he not study intensely on the subject?

"The voice, whatever it may be, cannot be addressed. I've heard of instances similar to this- a person would wake up in an unrecognizable place, and then they would start on a sort of trial-type venture, and come upon a revelation of some sort. We are both familiar with the concept of fate or destiny, I'm sure, whether you believe in it or not. As I said, I believe we are to work together to get through this. I repeat: Will you work with me or try to go it alone? I don't want to do this any more than you do, but I'm interested, for research purposes, what will happen."

Naturally, that was true as anyone who knew Zexion even slightly could attest. But he was also interested for another reason- what is it that the powers-that-be want him to see? It could be anything, but the fact that Ienzo was here made him wonder. Could it have to do with Kingdom Hearts? The Keyblade? The relationship between the Nobody and Heartless of a person? That is what he wanted to find out.

[Charme]

So this was about the Heart. Their Heart. His Heart. The Heart that was tainted and worthless. How perfect. After Note had already left and Lily didn't even know his name. Now he was getting his chance? What kind of ill fate had he gained?

Ienzo sighed and threw his hair to the side. "Yeah, sure. I'll help you." He stared into the Darkness, awaiting the voice that he knew would never respond. The voice... Where did it come from? His own Heart? Or...?

Then he looked to his Nobody. A man he knew nothing about, even though they were so closely related. He nodded. "Let's go, I guess."

With those words, he stepped onto the mysterious path that had been laid out before them. It was time to venture further into the Destati, the Darkness that had consumed him so completely. Maybe he would find the answer he was looking for in this place. Would he ever see Note again? Would he ever feel the things that Note and Lily both felt? Was Tifa right to let him return to Radiant Garden?

He would know soon enough, hopefully.