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Entry tags:

koios,
roxas

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Who: Koios, Roxas
What: Koios wants that talk. Roxas doesn't.
Where: Alexandria
When: The day after this thread.
Status: Ongoing

The door closed. Koios sighed in relief; those idiots had been getting annoying. And they had a serious problem with mood swings. One minute, the lot of them were ranting and raving about how they'd lost the advantage, and the next they were celebrating the fall of a world important to their enemies and the recapture of a Keybearer. What they didn't seem to realize was that none of them had actually done anything to make it happen.

Some days, he really just wanted that whole damn organization to fall apart already. He was counting the minutes until it did.

With a roll of his eyes, Koios made his way through the castle to the eastern wing. The prisoner would be there, watched carefully by the castle guards. Not that they were necessary; it was more of a formality. A stupid one, in his opinion, but he'd decided to bite the bullet - they didn't want to risk another unexpected escape.

He finally reached his destination and suppressed the look of distaste he was certain he had. The kid was already going to be stubborn about this; Koios had already gleaned that from their fight yesterday. He didn't want to make him even less likely to talk. So he forced his expression to be neutral, reminding himself again that that shouldn't be so hard to do anymore.

Guards dismissed, he walked in the room, shoved his hands into his pockets, and loitered, pointedly ignoring the prison he'd crafted for the moment. It was a cage made of pure glass, without a door or a lock. He'd made sure that it was big enough to be comfortable - he'd had even thrown the kid on a mattress before he'd made the thing - but the one thing he couldn't help with now was the temperature. A distinct lack of glass in the windows made that a little difficult. Maybe they could put some tapestries over them.

Time to give up the charade, he thought. Turning around to face the cage and its occupant, he said, "So, Keybearer. You ready for that talk now?"

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Well, wasn't this a fine mess? Roxas had suspected the involvement of a Higher Nobody since the rescue. Nothing else could get so many Lesser Nobodies to work together. His fight with that Nobody has been a massive blunder. He'd let the guy's manner and clothing cause him to misjudge the situation. It had been obvious that this Nobody was still fairly new to his powers, but it had also become apparent that he was also a quick study. Having been beaten in the fight was bad enough. That it had been done by his opponent battering him with a bunch of large, blunt chunks of glass was worse. Using the shovel to knock him out rather than one of the glass chunks was just plain mean.

Speaking of that, however, Roxas wasn't sure just how long he'd been unconscious. Waking up to find himself lying on a mattress in a glass cage had been a little surreal, at least until he recalled how he'd wound up unconscious in the first place. Discovering that his hands were bound and with yet more glass, this time in the form of glass shackles, had caused him a small bit of panic and a bit of pain as his struggles put unnecessary pressure on his injured wrist. He was uncertain as of yet whether his wrist was broken or not. His panic had briefly gotten worse when he realized there didn't seem to be any lock to either the cage or the shackles. It had taken a bit of effort to calm himself, but he had and now was inspecting his prison. It was tempting to kick at the bars and see if they'd break, but given that Nobody's powers and his likely allies, that had probably been taken into consideration. Idly, Roxas wondered if the nature of this prison was the reason for the lack of glass in the windows of largish room that housed the cage.

For all that he might have seemed calm, though, he was inwardly still a bit panicked. While he hadn't been severely injured, he had been just a little disturbed to note that his injuries hadn't been tended. Was it simply because his captors hadn't gotten around to it or was there another reason?

He was in the process of making another circuit of the cage and pondering on the possible reasons for all this when the Nobody entered the room, letting go a relieved sigh before turning to face the cage. Obvious question was obvious.

"No." Obvious reply was also obvious and while Roxas had considered saying more, he decided not to simply because there really wasn't anything more to say.

"Y'know, if you weren't so stubborn about this, we probably wouldn't be here," Koios said with a sigh. He shook his head and turned to go look out of one of the windows, leaning on the wall. There were soldiers training in the field below, he noted without interest.

Stubborn. But why? What was the point of refusing to talk, anyway? It wasn't like he was asking for the secret to destroying his friends or anything. What was this kid trying to accomplish like this?

"Kid," he began, "I'm not here to screw with you, alright? I'm not a villain or whatever you think I am. I'm just a Nobody who wants a goddamn heart again." His eyes narrowed, and he took a few breathes before regaining the neutral expression and turning back to Roxas. "So c'mon, kid. Just tell me what I want to know, and you can go. I'll even have someone look at those wounds I gave you - sorry about that, by the way; I'm sure you know how stubborn kids can get sometimes. And then you can go right back to your friends and do whatever you want."

He walked up to the cage, looking intently at the boy. "So tell me how to a heart."

Roxas would've said something about the 'kid' crap, but he really didn't have a valid argument for it. He was physically seventeen, but technically... technically, he didn't like to think about it.

"You're asking someone who was a Nobody once to trust a Nobody," Roxas replied, "Do I have to spell out what's wrong with that?" Not that having been a Nobody was his express reason for not trusting Nobodies. There had also been the fact that pretty much every single other Nobody he had known had been a habitual liar and generally untrustworthy.

He doubted that any promises of release could be trusted and so was not really budged by it. Even if this Nobody was really willing to let him go, his allies were another story.

"You know, kidnapping someone isn't the best way to get them to tell you what you want to know, no matter how stubborn they're being." He sighed. This was going to get nowhere. Never mind knowing how stubborn children could be. Nobodies, driven by the maddening ache of their missing Hearts and a lack of any kind of moral compass, were probably the most stubborn of all. With another sigh, he added, "It may not be worth the trouble. Getting a Heart, that is."

Oh come on. If this was what gaining a heart got him, Koios wasn't so sure he wanted one anymore. This idiot couldn't see far enough past that anger of his to see that he might not be a such a bad guy after all, even for a Nobody.

"You're not going to trust me just because I'm lacking a heart? Isn't that prejudiced? Racist? Heartist?" Maybe that wasn't the best term for it. He started pacing before the cage. "And besides, I didn't kidnap you. I told you before, I just want to talk about this. If someone hadn't attacked me, we could have gone somewhere and had a nice, civil conversation over some coffee. But here we are," he said, spreading his arms wide, "and we're not going anywhere until you give me an answer."

His arms fell back to his sides. "You should know, right? You have a heart. But okay, I'll bite. Why wouldn't it be worth it?"

The prejudice remark would have earned a face palm from Roxas if his hands weren't bound, not because of the accusation itself, but because of the corny route it had taken. If he didn't know a kickass dork in Sora, he would never have thought it possible.

"Not out of hand, no," he said by way of clarification, "I've never known a Nobody who was trustworthy. Hell, I even knew one who was painfully honest and he still couldn't be trusted. As to attacking you, thanks very much to you, I have no clue if the friends I was looking for even got off that world safely. That was where I was going and why I didn't want to talk right at that moment and you weren't taking 'No' for an answer. Aside from that, I can't help thinking you intended to use force anyway."

It wasn't particularly helpful that Roxas wasn't sure how to answer that question without telling the Nobody things that shouldn't be shared. Honestly, even having his own Heart, Roxas wasn't sure it had been worth it. How close they'd come to losing everything. He'd partly helped to bring it about, at least until he found out there wasn't actually going to be anything in it for him. He was afraid that telling this Nobody about this could lead to the same thing.

"Let's just say someone screwed up somewhere and leave it at that," he said after a drawn out pause, "And it's not a screw up I would see repeated."

He gave Roxas an offended look. "Now, that's uncalled for. There's always an exception to the rule, you know. Who's to say you haven't met him?"

At the mention of the refugee kids, Koios sighed and walked to the door, popping his head out for a moment to speak to a guard. Once the man was on his way, he closed it again and went back to the kid to resume the conversation. "I told you. I wanted to talk, and got deprived of the chance once. I wasn't going to let it go again. And no, I didn't intend to use force, but I know how stubborn you Keybearers get sometimes, so I was prepared for it, just in case."

"'The Dreaming,'" he drawled, spinning on his heel and walking a few steps away. "Is that what you mean? Xemnas' great plan to rewrite the multiverse?" He turned back, eyes narrowed. "I'm not that stupid, kid. There was a reason that failed - it would never work, and I'm not going to bother trying it. All I want is my goddamn heart!" He'd been moving closer to the cage with each word, and on the last, he slammed his fist against the bars. After a moment's pause, he continued calmly, "You're not giving me any reason to want otherwise."

He wasn't a hundred peercent certain that he wanted to know what had been said to the guard.

"Our experiences tend to leave lasting impressions," Roxas said flatly when the Nobody returned, "When the one Nobody I had any reason to trust chose to lie to me to my face, I found it hard to even consider trusting any others after that."

And that was unnerving. So this guy knew about the Dreaming. Roxas waited out the Nobody's rant, though he was a bit startled when the bars were struck. He halfway expected them to break, what with the one who most likely made them pounding on them. Getting cut on glass hurt like hell, no matter how it ended up happening. But they held. Roxas took a steadying breath and thought over his response. His captor was closer to the answer than he realized. Saying the wrong thing would tip him off and telling him he was so close was out of the question.

"I don't think we have anything else to discuss," he said as calmly as possible, "You want an answer I'm not willing to give." He supposed he could explain that having a Heart was what made him so adamant on this point, as he saw giving this answer as a threat to those he loved, but that might be throwing fuel on the fire and he didn't need to be doing that.

Koios nodded, backing away and turning from the cage. It wasn't as if he hadn't been expecting that. The stupid kid was so fucking stubborn it was unreal. Not even any of his so-called allies were this bad... well, maybe a few of them were. But that was beside the point.

The heart - one thing all Nobodies lacked. It gave humans power, he was sure of it. There may be some degree of power in being unable to feel, but those with hearts did feel, and he'd noticed that it gave them all a significant boost when they got passionate. As Koios was now, he couldn't get that; his abilities would remain the same no matter what happened. But if he could have a heart again...

The problem was how to get it. He'd decided that figuring that out would be best accomplished by talking to a former Nobody... but look where that had gotten him. He knew there were others, though - at least two that he could easily track down. Both of them were the kids friends.

His friends. Maybe that was the key.

Koios turned back around and crossed his arms, pinning Roxas with a level gaze. "Y'know kid, you're right. We don't have much else to discuss. But I'm sure I can arrange something with a couple of your friends. I can always get my answer from one of them."

How did he mean that? Did he simply mean chatting them up and getting someone to tell him how any other known Nobodies had gotten their Hearts? Or did he mean to threaten them to force Roxas to talk? It was a bad prospect either way.

In all honesty, if he thought he could trust the guy to think and not try to recreate the circumstances, Roxas would go ahead and tell him how he'd gotten his own Heart. But he knew from experience that the lack of a Heart also meant a lack of moral grounding. The ends justified the means, no matter what the means were, hence the lengths the Organization had gone to in their pursuit of the Heart of All Worlds and Xemnas's personal actions towards the Dreaming.

There really wasn't much Roxas could do about this situation. Sure, if this Nobody went and asked Song, he'd be given the less dangerous of possible ways to get his Heart. But Song could only help him get his Heart back. She couldn't help him get a separate Heart from his Other, which was what he had specifically asked about. Roxas and Namine had been the only ones to remain separate from their Others and there was only one known way to manage such a thing.

"I don't think it'll be the answer you want," he said quietly.

"Yeah? So what answer would I get, then?"

This is why he hated those of the Light. The brats were so uppity and righteous and stubborn that they refused to see anything that wasn't from the Realm of Light as anything more than something to be destroyed. That was what they'd tried to do before; and look how well it had worked out. And not a one of them were as bad as any of the Keybearers, their "heroes."

One way or another, he would get the answer he wanted. It didn't matter how. One of them would crack. He just had to find a way to make it happen. This one, Koios judged, would be through his friends, the other Keybearers and the Princess in particular. The girl... judging from her past, wouldn't be too hard to break. As for the "refugee" woman... he didn't know, just yet. But he did know she had an affinity befriending for those her friends considered "evil."

He really wished right now that this kid hadn't been the ideal person to ask about this. It was starting to be more trouble than it was worth.

"They might advise a little more patience for one thing," Roxas growled, "For another, they may not be anymore willing to answer your question than I am."

It occurred to Roxas that part of the problem here was this Nobody being more or less alone. Had he the guidance of another Nobody or had he at least met someone a little more knowledgeable about Nobodies, he would probably have known better than to try to get his answers by trapping or kidnapping someone who knew those answer.

This was probably asking to get hurt, but Roxas felt a need to inform this Nobody of where he had fucked up, "You know, if you hadn't started out with getting in my face and in my way, you might have been able to get some answers out of me."

"I never 'got in your face,' kid," Koios said quietly, and flicked his hand. Immediately the glass in his shackles began to thin as it shifted to form small spikes digging into Roxas' skin. The kid was lucky Koios couldn't feel anger anymore; he'd had a terrible temper when he had a heart.

There was a knock on the door, and after getting the order to enter, the guard came in with a laptop in hand. Morgan's laptop. He spared no glance at Roxas, instead delivering it to Koios and leaving immediately. Koios smiled slowly as he turned it on and found the correct site. He looked up at the boy in the cage and walked up to him, turning it around so he could see it - it was the refugee website.

"Your friends," he said as he scrolled down the page, voice devoid of any hint of emotion, "are fine. Every last one survived, and each in good condition, physically, if not emotionally. They're moaning about your precious, lost Radiant Garden, and arguing amongst themselves, but they are all alive and well." He set the computer on the floor, just out of Roxas' reach, and stepped back. "And you know what the best part is? They aren't even aware that you aren't with them yet."

Roxas winced as the shackles shifted and turned sharp. Wasn't it bad enough that he had a possibly broken wrist? Actually, probably not, given that he was dealing with a guy that... while he might understand right and wrong... he didn't give a damn. Given the display of 'anger' so far, it was probably a safe bet to assume it might be worse if the guy did have his Heart. Then again, if the guy had his Heart, they probably wouldn't be here.

"What do you call getting in my way and refusing to get out of my way when I was too busy for you, then?"

He didn't give the guard any more than a passing glance as the man handed a laptop to his captor. He had a feeling he knew what was going to be pulled up. It was a bit relieving that his friends were okay, but that didn't mean he had to forgive this idiot the trouble he was causing. Though he sort of suspected that his absence wouldn't be noticed right away or at least not realized for what it was, the reminder of it was still mildly unnerving. Rather than call attention to it, he took something else that was mentioned and went with it.

"Speaking of vanished worlds... you wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you? I mean, you were holding the Princesses of Heart captive and their worlds are among the worlds that have vanished." Bravado. Stupid, but it might help him at least a little bit. That and it distracted him from the pain in his wrists.

"Determination."

He was really getting tired of this crap. The kid wasn't going to cooperate, he'd figured that out already. If he was going to get the answer he wanted, Koios would have to get at some of the kid's friends. The Songbird might do well enough for that; she liked dreams, right? And she'd helped the others get Hearts, and restored her own, or something to that effect? Maybe she could help him, too.

Or maybe the Mistress of Evil herself would oblige. That was always an option, and a much more tempting one at that. Maybe he would explore that one, instead.

Koios raised an eyebrow in surprise at Roxas' question. "And why would I care about the Princesses of Heart, or the vanished worlds? I'm just a Nobody who wants his damn Heart back."

Roxas thought bull headed stubbornness might be more accurate a description than determination, but kept his mouth shut on the matter. His captor's impatience on the matter of getting a Heart suggested to Roxas that even if someone else was willing to help him, he might not like their methods, not to mention again the issue of what he wanted versus what he'd get with a safer answer to his question.

"I didn't ask if you cared. I asked if you knew," he replied, trying to keep his tone even, "Then again, it's probably a stupid question. You wouldn't tell me if you did know how they vanished. Which is fair enough, I guess." He didn't want to suggest that the dude stop wasting his time and go do something else because he already knew what that something else was going to be.

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