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[ryuuzoku-aya.livejournal.com]

WHO: Aya and Koios
WHAT: Aya wants to keep her promise. Koios isn't sure if he really wants that. A much more awesome deal is struck instead.
Where: Ozmone Plains, Ivalice
When: Sometime after Aya signals her "hiatus"


As Aya had loudly announced, the Dagda and his crew had officially "split," traveling into the deeper reaches of Gummispace. After some deliberation, Aya did wind up making the decision to set a course for Ivalice to get some business in order there before heading off to parts unknown. A small part of this, though, was that she didn't want to go too far or make it too difficult for Koios to find them. He'll have been warned in advance though, and privately: the Dagda was currently resting on the Ozmone Plains.

Aya sat outside the ship, letting her legs dangle over the edge of a ledge surrounding the entrance to a cave.

A Dark Corridor appeared silently inside the cave. Koios stepped out without a word, eying the ship as he cautiously approached Aya from behind. "Didn't keep you waiting, did I?"

Aya's shoulders tensed a little at his appearance from behind but she at least didn't spaz out. "Not that long at least. Figured you'd be able to get here pretty quick with your corridor." She looked at him over a shoulder, "How've you been since then?"

He shrugged. "Still here, aren't I? I told you, it'll take more than just Chernabog to take me down." The fight had worn him down, but he'd never admit to it. The demon had been just as tough to get rid of as it had been for Jagannatha to tether him to Alexandria. "What about you? Looked like they hit you and your, uh, summon thing pretty hard there."

"We're fine. We basically got the fullheal from the Light once the others were able to release it." Aya explained, resting her hands behind her. "Then we got sent to a place where Jagannatha and his keyblader flunkies were waiting. Sora did his thing and the day was saved."

She paused, "If you don't mind me blatantly changing the subject, I've gotta ask...what world are you from?"

He sighed. It always had to be Sora, doesn't it? It was starting to look like none of them could do anything without the kid. How redundant. Maybe one of these days, things would get interesting, and someone besides a Keybearer would take the lead for once.

"Mirror Earth," Koios replied curtly. "I was... a glassblower, back in the day."

Story of Aya's life! Not to mention one of the reasons she had distanced herself from the whole Refugee thing, heading out to strike out on her own and make her own "legend" as it were. Results so far had been adequate at least. "Huh, guess that explains the whole sand thing then." She motions for him to sit beside her, should he want to.

"Do you want to go back to that? Heck, just to being whole?" One of her hands started to fiddle with her goggles around her neck. Of course they were with her. Now that the secret was out, she had to be super careful with them.

He sat on the ledge with her, letting one leg dangle and resting an arm on the other. The plains stretched out below them. It was brighter here in Ivalice than Koios was used to anymore; Jagannatha, of course, had always kept the castle in Alexandria cloaked in Darkness, and well, he hadn't been able to get out as much lately. A monster wandered past the cave without a second glance at them as he mulled it over.

Did he want to go back?

"I don't know yet. That's what I came to you for." He looked at her from the corner of his eye. "Thought I told you that already."

"Guess I must've forgot that in the excitement. Sorry." She didn't look at him when she spoke, merely watching the monster wander past with passing interest. "Going back would mean giving up your sand powers and probably the corridors. Sure, you could train up in another kind of magic like, I dunno, quake, but it'll take time. Going back is also risky..."

Now she looked at him, "According to the notes I've got, you either need to merge yourself with your heartless OR both you and your Heartless need to die. To throw another wrench into that, I think your Heartless would have to be killed with a keyblade."

He snorted. "All we'd have to do is find the thing and offer it to Roxas. He ought to be more than happy to oblige if it involves killing me." Koios heaved a sigh and averted his gaze, looking irritated as he turned back to face the plains. "That's just the thing, though. I'm not sure that it's actually worth the effort. And no one's bothered to convince me that it is yet."

"Well I do have a small advantage to finding things." Aya tapped on one of the glass lenses of her goggles with a finger. "I dunno if I'd even go to Roxas for it either. We don't get along. I wouldn't get a favor out of him, though you're right about the 'killing you' angle I think."

Again, Aya was a little caught off guard by Koios. She always assumed that Nobodies just inherantly wanted their hearts back. "What do you plan to do, then, for the rest of your life now that you're not serving the First Darkness anymore? You've gotta have some kind of goal."

"We could always try Sora. The way that kid makes friends, he ought to have no problem doing me a solid," he said dryly. Then again, he was still a Nobody. Keybearers seemed to have some sort of innate prejudice against his sort. But after all that Organization XIII had gone through? It was probably a good precaution to have.

That didn't make it any less irritating.

"First goal would be to find an answer. I keep hearing different opinions from everyone - Jagannatha said the Heart was a hindrance; you guys seem to think it gives you strength or some horseshit - but still nothing is really definitive enough for me to decide yet. Once I get that, I'll either start looking for a certain Heartless, or for a new goal." He paused, expression bleak. "Whatever that might be."

Koios barked out a sudden laugh. "Or maybe I'll just join up. Become an exalted Refugee. Find one of their girls to fall in love with," his voice was sarcastic, mocking, as he spoke, "to make me feel like I have a Heart. That worked for some of the Organization, right?"

"Sora and I are on good terms." Aya said brightly, lowering her hand so she can use it to prop her back up from behind again with the other. "So I'm sure I could get that favor outta him. Heck, I don't think he even needs to know it's your Heartless he's offing."

Suddenly, she made a face, "Hey I think it gives me strength! It's where my awesome willpower comes from! Without that, I would have died in a hedge of thorns years ago when my world ended. Can you even remember what it was like when you had your heart, Koios?"

Aya actually joined in his laughter, nudging him with an elbow. "Nah, you should join up with me. C'mon, it'll be fun, we'll roam the galaxy looking for new stuff to pull out when the next threat shows up." Or in her own case, a way to keep her soul safe after she dies. "If I were you, I wouldn't go with the shacking up with a Refugee method to getting that Heart. I think it didn't actually work!" She smirked, looking back at him lazily, "But if you're THAT dead-set on making out with a Refugee, I think Ren is single. She's the one bound to Alexander."

He waved a hand vaguely. "That's exactly what I meant. Yeah, I do remember. I remember getting stuck learning the family business. And I remember not giving a damn about it. That's when I became the man you see before you today." The words dripped with bitterness before Koios just shrugged halfheartedly and smiled slyly over at Aya. "Become a sky pirate, eh? I might just have to do that. At least it'd give me something to do other than wander the galaxies, searching for some sort of answer I'd never get. 'Sides, you're more likely to give me that than any of the others, I think. They don't call you a Kickassian for nothing, right?

"...ohhhhh." Understanding suddenly registered on Aya's face. If complete apathy at a dead-end fate was the last thing he felt when he had a Heart, no wonder he wasn't all that convinced getting one back was a good idea. "You know, the way I see it, I can ruminate on how much I like having my Heart all I want but I don't think I'm going to be able to pull the reason /you/ should have it out of my ass. I think this is something that's going to take us time to figure out."

She shrugged, only to promptly start smirking again, "Damn straight! We can get you a hat and everything." At this point, Aya pulled her legs up and moved to stand. Giving the plains one last look, she turned to head back to the Dagda, beckoning Koios to follow.

...If that was pity on her face, Koios decided, he was going to bury her in sand and leave right then and there. But it didn't... entirely look like what he remembered pity to be? It had to be his imagination. As it was, he raised an eyebrow. "I'm not asking you to. Never said it would be easy, did I? I never expected it to be. But I've got all the time in the world." With a sigh of something like relief, he pushed himself to his feet and sauntered after her, a shit-eating grin on his face. "A hat would be nice, boss."

It didn't seem like pity at least. Whatever was going through her mind over this revelation passed pretty quickly so even if there was pity there, it's gone awful fast as Aya was wont to do when it came to pitying things. "Well yeah, I know that." she said, looking a little flustered, "Though I do hope I get you an answer someday, y'know?"

For a few moments she considered assuring him that she really didn't give a crap if he was a Nobody. That her legendary hate of Nobodies prior stemmed from the fact that they wanted to follow Xemnas's crazy plan to create the Dreaming. But given their conversation thus far it seemed...unnecessary. She hadn't put her Spine through him, that was probably evidence enough.

"'Boss', huh? I kind of like the sound of that. Welcome to Clan Kickassia, Koios."

"Yeah, yeah, we'll get around to it." He brushed it off with a wave. "In the meantime, I should probably be feeling honored, right? Now I just have to meet the whole family."

"You can feel honored after we're done hazing!" Aya said a little too cheerfully, making it extremely hard to tell whether or not she was kidding about that. At that she also reached over to give him a smack to the back of his nearest shoulder. When she continues, though, she does sound a little sarcastic, "You can fight, right? Because everyone in the clan has to be able to fight in case any traitorous Rakaths sneak aboard the ship."

Her voice quickly became directed inward, calling to the crew. "HEY YOU GUUUUUYS!"

He simply rolled his eyes and kept following Aya, voice casual. "Nope, can't say that I can. But I think I can give it a shot. Maybe I'll get lucky."