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Who: Koios, Song, and Sora
What: Koios requested a chat with a certain refugee, and the Keybearer tagged along.
Where: Mirror Earth
When: Thursday, July 1st, 2010

Finally, finally, Koios would get some answers. That brat Keybearer he'd had before was far too stubborn to be of any help, but he'd expected that. It hadn't stopped him from trying, though; Roxas was the closest to what he wanted than any of those former Nobodies he knew of. But it didn't matter, he supposed. This Song would be more than willing to help him out, if her history was anywhere near accurate.

He fell onto the couch, lying his head on one armrest and using the other to recline his feet. They'd be here soon, she'd said. Koios eyed the teapot on the stove for a moment. He wasn't really used to the stuff, but his roommate was trying her damnedest to change that. There ought to be plenty of different flavors in the pantry for his guest to choose from.

All that was left for him to do as the water warmed was wait for her to arrive, and hope the files were correct. And damn, if he didn't hate doing that.

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Okay, so he was good at not answering questions that weren't asked. That was inconvenient. Song wasn't very fond of being direct.
Nothing for it, though. She wasn't here to waste time on tricksy word games, no matter how much she enjoyed them.

"Oh, I tried. But that's not the reason you called me out here, I think. Why don't you tell me, precisely, why it is you need me." She was still careful to keep her tone from sounding antagonistic, if not her wording. The last thing she wanted was to make him an enemy. That would just be frustrating.

Time to put on the act. He hesitated to speak, glancing down at his tea instead. It wasn't all a lie, though; he was a bit nervous about this - well, as nervous as he could be. He was about to reveal his hand to this girl, and that was a dangerous move, considering her allies. On the other hand, the benefits of it could be great. The fact that he'd made Song take the direct approach instead of the letting her worm something out of him was a satisfactory bonus.

"I want my heart back," he told her, voice low. He didn't need the Keybearer catching that little tidbit of information, especially after the show he'd already put on for them.

She gave no reaction at first. No widening of eyes, nor even a twitch of her lips. Of course, she'd been expecting it, but the unsurprised act was really just that. She didn't know what to expect from him, especially now, so she was keeping her own heart on a tight lead.

"I see." She sipped her tea, slowly.
"I should be honest with you. The only Nobody I truly saved was myself. I got a long way with another. We both believed it was a success... but he was only living a memory of emotion. It was false, and it faded." She met his eyes over the rim of her cup. "Myself I saved with the help of the Refugees and the good fortune of luring in my own Heartless. It can be done, but..."

But it wasn't terribly likely, and neither was another Deus Ex Machina event like the Dreaming.

He let her words sink in as he took a sip of his tea. It was a minute or two before Koios spoke again, and when he did, he sounded emotionless. It suited him, he thought bitterly.

"But you don't think it will happen," he finished. He sighed and sat heavily on the couch. "That's great. I don't know why the kid couldn't have just told me that in the first place." He gulped down a mouthful of tea, shaking his head in an impression of frustration. "It's just annoying, y'know? Being able to remember this stuff, but not being able to actually feel it. There's just nothing there, and all I can do is try to be who I was, but I'm just some kind of shadow. And there's only so many people I can talk to about it, since people like me aren't exactly regarded as heroes. Hell, if I told anyone here, they'd probably come after me with torches and pitchforks, after what that Xigbar guy did way back when."

This was pointless, he thought. He never should have asked her to come. The risks far outweighed the benefits of the situation, and all he got out of it was the belief that he wouldn't get anywhere with this. Fan-fucking-tastic.

She shook her head calmly. "I don't think it's impossible. I gave you that warning because I don't want you to expect me to fix everything with a snap of my fingers. I made a vow, when it all started, that I would save every Nobody within my power. I'd hoped that was over when Xemnas' Dreaming restored the rest, but now you are here, and I'll keep my promise. If I can help, I will, but it's going to take some creativity..." Her gaze fell unfocused to the cup in her hands as she considered what to say next. She still had some questions for him...

"Is your roommate like yourself? For that matter," she mumbled, "I don't think I ever caught your name..."

"I never expected that. I... Your friend said you were the person to go to about it, because you'd done it before. All I need is some guidance, and I know I can get it back. Any help you can give me, I'd be grateful for."

He stared thoughtfully into his cup. "Queenie? No, she's fine. It's just me, as far as I know." He looked up at her suddenly with a sheepish grin at her last comment, rising and offering her a hand. "Right, right, sorry. Could have sworn I'd told you guys a while back. Name's Koios. Nice to meet you."

She smiled, though she didn't know how much it would really mean to him - how much it could. Still, you didn't need a heart to benefit from a little reassurance.

"Koios," she repeated, and shook his hand a little awkwardly, simply because it wasn't a gesture she used frequently.
"I would advise telling the Refugees the truth. Some of them suspect it already. Honesty would earn you a lot more trust than secrecy. They don't hate Nobodies on principle, even though it might seem that way. Remember, three of the Organization members besides myself joined the Refugees, before the end."

He took a deep breath and set the tea down. Tell the heroes of the multiverse what he was, eh? He supposed the idea had merit, but if he found out about this, Koios would be reduced to a Dusk. That is, if he was lucky. If he wasn't...

He didn't like to think about that.

If Miss Song here thought it was a good idea, maybe it was. And if Koios played his cards right, maybe this could work out for them. The problem was with some of the more fiery Refugees. It would take time to get them to accept him, let alone to trust him. He believed he could do it, given the right opportunities and the right words, but it would definitely be a challenge.

"Yeah, but they knew those Nobodies from that game." At least the girl lived up to her file, he thought, heaving a sigh. "But okay. If you really think I can do that without getting killed, I'll do it. I still don't really believe they'd trust me, but I'll do it."

She nodded her head, pleased by the answer. "I'm sure of it. As long as you don't give them a good reason to fight you, the Refugees will be glad of the alliance. In fact, we might need you. Just having someone who can travel the Dark Corridors is an asset we've sorely missed over the last year, and I'm sure you can do more than that. It will also be easier for me to work on your heart problem if I can talk openly about it. If there's a way to do it without, you know, destroying the universe, we'll find it."

The was trying not to show it, afraid of insulting him, but she was actually excited to have the new and familiar project. It was her enthusiasm, at least in part, that blinded her to the idea that Koios might not be telling the whole truth.

The corner of his mouth quirked in a small smile. "What, you don't have other means of transportation? I don't want to be just a chauffeur for you guys..."

She did have a point, though, he'd give her that. Doing this, while possibly fatal if the wrong people discovered it, was more likely to get them to trust him. And if he managed to get on the inside, he'd have personal access to all sorts of good information, and not have to keep on stealing the Queen's laptop to spy on them.

He nodded, seemingly convincing himself that this was the right thing to do. "Alright. I'll tell them." He smiled wearily at her. "Thank you."

"Good. I'll support you, of course."
She was smirking at his comment about transportation, and added wryly, "we all had to serve as the taxi at some point. But no, actually I'd rather use you as a spy. I've been trying to work with a Dusk, convincing it to bring back clues and bits of information, but I can't talk to them anymore, so it... doesn't really work so well."