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nadziejastar · 5 years

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Saïx’s Jealousy

“Something you find amusing?”

“Oh, the things you hear from a guy with no heart,” Xigbar said through his hilarity.

None of us have hearts, Saïx was about to remind him, when Xemnas spoke again.

Totally 100% agree. KH3′s “resolution” to Axel and Saïx’s broken down friendship totally baffled me, since it didn’t even try to build off of everything we saw in all the previous games. It just tried to deflect your attention to a new mystery girl. Someone I talked to online wondered why Saïx was never truly humanized the way Axel was in Days. They said he should have been, if he and Axel were supposed to be such close and important friends, and if Isa was going to be there in the epilogue, totally welcomed by everyone.

Of course, it’s obvious if you think about it. They had to make Saïx as ruthless and irredeemable as possible to explain why Axel would betray the organization in KH2, leave his best friend behind, and spend the whole game chasing after Roxas, constantly calling him his best friend. Axel needed to experience betrayal and heartbreak from Saïx on a such massive level in order for him to side with Sora, and for him to say that Roxas was the only organization member he liked and wanted to see again, when he was dying. Without Saïx being that awful, Axel doesn’t seem like a very good friend, let alone best friend.

“Understood.”

Xemnas disappeared nearly before he heard his order acknowledged.

“Don’t let us down now, kiddo. Shouldn’t be too much trouble without a heart,” Xigbar told Saïx.

KH3 made it seem like Saïx wasn’t even Norted and that he wasn’t constantly being monitored by the Recusant’s Sigil. If his possession had no influence on his personality or behavior, how could their friendship even be repaired? How do you repair the relationship between two best friends, where one tries to kill the other, with a smile on his face...all because he was jealous that he started spending more time with two kids? Saïx even said Axel deserved what he got when he died. He said Axel got nothing and was nothing. That’s a pretty damn cold thing to say about your best friend. You need a very good excuse for that.

And Saïx did have a good excuse, in my opinion. Being possessed, the solution is very simple. Once Isa’s heart is freed from Xehanort’s clutches, Lea can instantly forgive him, since he was not in control of himself. But in KH3, Saïx and Isa are the same person. And even worse, Saïx was the same as any other Nobody and had the ability to nurture a heart the whole time---that was the biggest problem, IMO. That is reeeeeally hard to fix. KH3 had absolutely no way of doing that. They were in waaaaay over their heads and they knew it. Nothing they could have written would ever have been enough to realistically patch things up by the end of KH3. So, they didn’t even bother trying. Not even with an actual apology. They just instantly made Saïx act “normal” and he and Lea were automatically cool again because...he brought Roxas back, I guess. Ugh.

Saïx heaved an exaggerated sigh. In a way, Saïx put more effort than any of them into pretending he had a heart, Axel thought. And yet, he was more lacking than any of them.

You’re right that they both had good reasons to be hurt and upset. Axel’s is obvious. He didn’t choose to spend all of his time with Roxas and Xion because he lost interest in his relationship with Saïx. Not at all. He chose to spend so much time with them because Saïx emotionally rejected HIM. Axel desperately longed to get back the closeness they had as humans. He tried over and over to connect with Saïx, but he just never had the same capacity for human emotion that Axel did.

It was unfathomable to me that Saïx’s twisted personality was entirely attributed to simple jealousy in KH3. Was Saïx jealous? Oh yes, absolutely. I have no doubt that he was. But...it still was not really that simple. He was messed up long before he became jealous of Roxas and Xion. There was a LOT more wrong with him than just that. They never explained why he was so jealous, either. He was free to rekindle his friendship with Axel any time he wanted to, right?

Well, no. Saïx wasn’t just jealous that Axel was spending time with Roxas and Xion more than him. He didn’t seem to care that Axel befriended them or was close with either of them in the beginning. If anything, he thought it might make it easier for him to spy on Xion. It was convenient for Axel to be close to Roxas, too. Saïx wasn’t jealous...at first. But that all changed at a certain point. This was the huge secret that was supposed to make Isa redeemable. Not Subject X.

He’d never deluded himself that tracking down Riku would be easy, and neither had Saïx. It was just that if he went back and reported that he couldn’t find anything, he would have to deal with those attempts at “personality”—the sneers, the snide remarks, the only trappings of human emotion that Saïx ever showed. Not that Saïx was even capable of annoyance or disappointment, of course, what with the lack of a heart and all.

Saïx was a very complicated character and KH3 did him no justice at all. He had his own reasons for how he acted, even if his behavior was obviously not justified. This is what Axel was thinking just before he showed up on the clock tower and told Roxas about pushing the wrong buttons. Axel was always thinking about how human Roxas and Xion seemed and how inhuman Saïx always seemed compared to other Nobodies.

“You’re calling her defective just because she couldn’t beat Riku? Seems a little harsh.”

“…Is it?” Saïx retorted.

“Well, why are you—?”

Saïx promptly cut off Axel’s question. “Go to whichever world you want to try first. Just track him down, find out what he’s doing. That may give us some clues leading to the hero of light.”

Guess I won’t get any more answers today, Axel thought. But seriously, what is your problem with Xion?

Xion was hurt by Saïx calling her a failure, and wondered why it upset her so much, when she supposedly had no heart. She ran away when Roxas said they were both “special”. Xion did have a heart, which is why she got so upset. Roxas got so upset because he had a heart, too. And right around this time, Saïx also started showing more human emotion. Axel seemed confused that he was not just cold and indifferent towards Xion. No, he truly hated her.

“So, Saïx, what am I doing to—? Oh, boy. Awfully early for such a bad mood, don’t you think?” Saïx had whirled to face him with a rather pronounced scowl.

“…Nobodies do not have ‘moods’ to be ruined,” he said at length.

“Well, sure, technically…”

Of course, with no hearts, they couldn’t have moods or fits of temper. If something went frustratingly awry, their faces might reveal shadows of remembered emotion, no more. Still, for a remembered shadow, that was a mean glower on Saïx’s face.

Saïx wasn’t capable of feeling things like hatred or jealousy until that time. He was in a really bad mood when Xion failed her mission. The whole point of “The Wrong Button” was to show how special Roxas and Xion were.

Day 152: Like a Real Person

Author: Axel

Roxas and Xion must have had it out over something. Knowing them, it's something dumb, but still. Watching them, it's like they're human. It's messing with my head. I kind of wonder if Roxas understood all that about the wrong buttons. I get the sense a lot of it went right over his head.

Roxas was just like a human, worrying over hurting a girl’s feelings and getting his own feelings hurt. Axel thought they were having a typical lovers’ spat and laughed it off.

Something must have happened that Roxas didn’t understand the reason for either, thought Axel. An emotion somewhere in my memories.

“Girls are complicated, aren’t they,” muttered Axel, and Roxas looked up at him, surprised.

“How did you know I was thinking about Xion?”

“Cause you’re simple, Roxas…Well, all us Nobodies are simple, though.”

“Are humans complicated?”

He’s just like a human. Axel found this funny, and he laughed out loud.

And around this exact time, Saïx started acting jealous of Axel spending so much time with Roxas and Xion, but not him. But he still rejected all Axel’s attempts to connect with him. If Saïx had shown the tiniest bit of openness to friendship, Axel would have come running back to him with open arms.

“Well, this is a rare occasion.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means you hardly ever come looking for me these days.”

“So? I’ve got something to discuss with you, for a change.”

“Is it about the failure?”

Axel shrugged. “Mind reader, are we?”

“It’s because you’re simple, see… That hasn’t changed.”

“Simple—you’re a rude bugger,” Axel replied, sitting down on a shelf right opposite Saïx.

The way the story is written in canon makes no sense. Why didn’t Saïx just spend more time with Axel? It’s not like it wasn’t obvious that Axel wanted nothing more than that. Axel was always totally open to Saïx, even when he behaved deplorably. If Saïx was so hungry for Axel’s affections, he should have been the easiest Nobody to awaken a new heart. But instead, he was the most difficult. In canon, there was no good explanation for this, so they created the stupid Subject X obsession as his motivation. The original Saïx was so much more interesting, though.

“You’re ready now—ready to take on Castle Oblivion. You will need to follow your memories. Trust what you remember and seek what you forget. Then you’ll find someone very special.”

I think he knew full well that Axel was using Roxas and Xion as a replacement for him. Saïx always wanted to feel friendship, but he rejected it because he truly was incapable of feeling it. He didn’t actually believe that Axel was capable of feeling it, either, and didn’t want to even bother pretending. Axel didn’t seem particularly bothered by this in the beginning. They were Nobodies, after all.

“But be forewarned… When your sleeping memories awaken, you may no longer be who you are now.”

He started thinking about friendship after he met Roxas and he started growing a heart after coming back from Castle Oblivion, around Day 72, appropriately named “Change”.

Those two had lobbed so many questions at him as they grew as Nobodies. Was it just their curiosity that had him thinking so much? But it hadn’t started when they joined the Organization. It was after he’d gotten to know Xion, after Castle Oblivion.

Whatever the catalyst, he had to acknowledge that something in him was different. The old Axel wouldn’t have wondered about all that. He was changing. But why? His train of thought rambled on until suddenly he felt someone else with him. Irritated, he sat up. “Ever heard of knocking? You should try it sometime.”

Saïx was standing there beside his bed. Axel decided not to look at him and focused on a random point on the wall. But Saïx made no sign of caring one way or the other. His voice was as dispassionate as ever. “Tell me what Xion has been doing.”

He encountered someone very special there: Sora, and even more importantly, the Isa from his memories. He started remembering things from his childhood and began feeling things he hadn’t felt since becoming a Nobody. From then on, he began to change and he found it a lot more difficult to be around Saïx. When he got back the second time, he had a totally new perspective on his memories of the past. Before, he said they were baggage. Then, he said they were too precious to lose.

The heart probably had secrets unknown even to DiZ. The Heartless were an embodiment of the darkness in the heart. When a Heartless was born, it created a Nobody, too—an empty physical form.

Then…a Nobody is……

Sora had to be the one who held the key. By coming into contact with him, the heart would awaken.

The fact that Nobodies like Axel were able to awaken a heart was a very big deal. The secret of the heart was absolutely crucial to the Xehanort Saga. Nobodies did have hearts.

“I think DiZ—I mean, Ansem the Wise—has some kind of plan.”

“Hey, Naminé… Is there something you haven’t told me—well, haven’t told us?” She looked at the floor.

“…I’m not sure of it yet. The secrets of the heart…aren’t something I can talk about, not yet,” she told him in a tiny voice and took another bite of ice cream.

Naminé constantly mentioned the secrets of the heart.

“This is the only time we have to talk,” she argued. “Do you think Nobodies really don’t have hearts? Who told Axel he doesn’t have one? The heart—there are secrets that—”

“Naminé!” Riku had to interrupt. Nobodies were crawling out of the corners, and one sprang straight at her.

Saïx was a special Nobody. And he also nurtured a heart, but it happened later and it was different than what happened to Axel, no doubt because Isa’s heart was captured at the time.

“I feel bad for you, too,” she told him.

“What are you talking about?” Saïx towered over Naminé.

“You haven’t even noticed yet…that you have a heart.” Several Nobodies emerged from a rift out of the corridors.

“A heart? I have a heart? No one wants your nonsense!” Saïx raised his sword over Naminé—but Riku was there with Soul Eater to intercept the blow.

“Hmph. I don’t have time for these games.” Darkness welled from a rift behind Saïx. “Run along and help your dear hero.” With that, he disappeared.

“Are you all right?” Riku helped Naminé to her feet.

“Now I understand…,” she murmured.

“Naminé…? You understand what?”

She was silent for a moment and quietly shook her head as she stood. “It’s nothing. We have to find Kairi.”

Naminé also sensed that something was unusual about Saïx’s heart.

The shards of what stays with us, those fragments of memory—they won’t disappear. Even if the chains linking them together are broken, the memories don’t die.

I knew that I had the power to line them back up, the pieces of memories scattered in the depths of the heart, so how… How could I have forgotten something so important?

I understood that. I just couldn’t remember. It’s because I didn’t want to remember. I didn’t want to discover the secrets of the heart. I didn’t want…to unravel the mysteries of what a Nobody is.

“I always thought…that Nobodies were doomed to fade back into darkness,” Naminé murmured as her gaze dropped.

The secret of the heart was connected to Ansem the Wise’s research results that he put inside of Sora and also the heart’s connection to memory. Key memories never disappear, and they are able to awaken one’s heart.

“Naminé, Roxas, and Xemnas… The Nobodies of those with strong hearts are peculiar beings. My—that is, our theories proved fruitless. Coming into contact with a strong heart transforms a world. And not just worlds, but people themselves—and even Nobodies.”

Naminé, head lowered and hand extended with the ice cream for Riku, perked up upon hearing those words.

That’s it… Yes. The mystery of the heart. When we encounter someone special…the world changes. Our hearts change. Everything changes.

As a memory witch, Naminé was able to understand this secret better than anyone else. Saïx’s heart began to stir starting around Day 117, appropriately named “Secrets”. It was all about special Nobodies, who remember their past. They were born of people with strong hearts, just like Ansem said.

The way she moves, you wouldn’t even think she’d ever forgotten how to use that thing for even a moment. She’s almost as—no, she’d probably be even stronger than Roxas.

In any case, I don’t really get why I had to go on a mission with her right at this time. There are certainly a fair few Heartless, but with the force Xion has now, I think she could fight just fine without my help.

“These Heartless here are the last, I think.”

“Xion, fight fight fight~” Axel clapped, as she turned around.

“What are you doing?”

“What am I doing… I’m praising you, you know.”

“You’re weird,” said Xion, laughing. Just then, Axel suddenly felt like Xion’s face had blurred, and he rubbed his eyes.

“Is something wrong, Axel?”

“Nah…” For a second, the Xion I saw there had the face of… Naminé.

During the mission that day, Axel was praising Xion playfully, then suddenly he saw her as Naminé. I think the organization could monitor the memories that Xion absorbed. And they knew Naminé was involved with Xion. When Xion ran away, Xemnas asked Saïx where Naminé was and he was confused. That’s when Xigbar realized he couldn’t see Xion. She probably looked like Naminé to Xigbar and Xemnas at one point.

The Replica’s memories were being rewritten, just like Sora’s. Watching the puppet asleep in the flower-bud pod, Axel murmured to the girl beside him. “That’s an incredible power you have, Naminé.”

“But…the only thing I can really do is string together bits of memory in different ways,” she said. “I can’t put in pieces that were never there to start with.”

“Doesn’t that mean that as long as you’ve got the data, you can pull it off?” Axel wondered. The Organization already had the technology to convert memories to data.

“But I need something to hold it,” said Naminé. “Like a container.”

“A container, huh…?” So in this case, Axel thought, the Replica was the container.

“And besides,” she went on, “Nobodies like you are at the mercy of their memories. It might awaken something similar in the Replica.”

“What do you mean?”

“A heart—” Naminé began to say something more, but at that moment, Vexen burst into the room.

Naminé almost told Axel the secret of the heart in Castle Oblivion. That might be why he saw Naminé when he looked at Xion that day.

Xigbar, standing and watching their exchange with his arms folded, opened his mouth. “You’ve been working really well lately haven’t you, Poppet.”

“…Thank you,” Xion replied in a small voice.

“Thank you? Why do you have to say thanks?

“Well, you were praising me, weren’t you? Was I wrong?”

“Haha… Yeah, I guess you could see it like that.” He pressed his hand to his mouth and snickered.

“Did I say something funny?”

“No, no. You’re fine.”

Xion looked up at Xigbar, anxiously. Beside them, Saïx didn’t show any notable reaction. He just watched.

In the game, Saïx started hating Xion after she failed her mission to capture Riku on Day 149. But in the novel, we see it actually started earlier than that. He started hating her after Xigbar started teasing him on Day 119. This scene implies that Xigbar was able to observe the memory that Xion absorbed from Axel while fighting alongside him.

“Did I miss something?” Axel wondered.

“Xion has collapsed again.”

Now Axel frowned. He sure had missed something. “Did she get hurt or what?”

“No,” Saïx replied, any hint of expression vanishing from his face. “It’s just that the failure was functioning better than expected until recently.”

“‘The failure’? Is that what we’re calling her now?”

It was apparently a very special memory to Axel and it started to have an effect on Isa’s heart as well. This is probably why Saïx seemed to hate Xion way more than Roxas. Of course, he hated Roxas later, in KH2. But in Days, he hated Xion more because Axel remembered a special moment between Lea and Isa while fighting with her. In the past, Lea must have praised Isa, who was fighting better than expected. I think it was before Isa tried to give Lea a day off to relax and sleep. Isa was confident, but he failed. Saïx rubbed Xion’s failure in her face so badly because he was jealous of Axel praising her. That was something special between him and Lea. He hated Xion being included.

Roxas: But I've heard him say he wasn't cut out for combat. I guess everybody in the Organization is good at different things.

Axel: That's right. Everybody's unique.

Xion: Even Nobodies? Don't you need a heart to be unique?

Axel: Oh, I think we have other things that set us apart. Like our pasts.

Xion: What past?

Roxas: You remember stuff from before?

Axel: That's one of the things that makes the Organization members special. Unlike lesser Nobodies, we remember who we were.

He might have also been upset that Xion was “working really well” lately and being specifically praised for her ability to fight. Maybe he thought Axel valued her more as a friend because she was more “useful” than Isa was. That was probably a huge insecurity Isa had. So, Saïx took extra special pleasure in berating her for her failure. It wasn’t right for him to act like this, but I can totally understand why he did. Especially since he knew Xion wasn’t human.

Xaldin: Trust no one. Feed your anger! Only anger will keep you strong.

Beast: I've had enough of strength. There's only one thing I want---

Xaldin: What? To love, and be loved in return? Who could ever love a beast?

Day 119 was also the day Xaldin went with Roxas to find the Beast’s weakness, which would make his heart a captive. Eventually Xaldin used the Beast’s love for Belle as his weakness. He convinced the Beast that he couldn’t trust her and that no one would ever love him. He’d isolate himself and fall to darkness. And I think he and Xigbar did the same thing to Saïx. They exploited his insecurities and probably convinced him that Axel was trying to replace him, since he did the “fight fight fight” thing with Xion. So, he felt very jealous and it caused him to push Axel away.

Roxas: I found out about love on today's mission--that it's something powerful.

Axel: That's true. It is. But I'll never get to experience it.

Roxas: Nobodies can't love?

Axel: You need a heart, man.

It wasn’t true or anything. Axel still did care a lot about Isa and had no idea what was going on. He did similar things with Roxas and Xion that he did with Isa because he was so lonely. He felt like Saïx didn’t care about him. But he always had Isa in the back of his mind. That’s why he started to nurture a heart in the first place.

“Axel this, Axel that… Sounds like you’re thick as thieves.” Xigbar restlessly jiggled his crossed legs. “Makes me wonder what you two are up to.”

“I might wonder the same about you,” Saïx retorted, and the tension was so thick it was hard to breathe.

“We have but one objective,” said Xemnas. “Be sure to keep that in mind.”

Saïx looked up at him.

There’s also the fact that Xigbar and Xaldin appeared to be manipulating Saïx to think that Axel was plotting behind his back. That’s a big reason their friendship fell apart so badly. Saïx was cold and dispassionate, but he still felt very loyal to Axel and trusted him. Xigbar and Xaldin tried to destroy that trust.

“Did you take care of Axel?” Xigbar asked.

“Most likely,” Saïx replied. Technically, he hadn’t seen Axel’s end. But it was hard to imagine that he had survived.

“Are you certain he’s gone?” Xaldin demanded. “He’ll be back to cause more trouble if you didn’t eliminate him.”

Xemnas put a stop to the interrogation. “Leave Axel for the time being.”

Saïx was reluctant to eliminate Axel. He really didn’t want to do it. But he was convinced that Axel betrayed him, and he was furious and jealous and hurt.

Xigbar turned to the other remaining member. “What’s happening with Axel?”

“I can’t find him,” Saïx replied, his scarred brow darkening with a frown.

“Were you looking?”

Once Axel started nurturing a new heart into existence, I think Xigbar was afraid that the same thing might happen to Saïx. He was probably jealous himself, too. He was uncomfortable with how close Saïx and Axel were and concocted a scheme with Xaldin to drive them apart. This is also a reason why I think Xemnas finally decided it was best to eliminate Axel in KH2. Now that he had a heart---a very strong one, at that---he had the potential to awaken Isa’s heart. That’s not good for a vessel. He was no longer working in the organization’s best interests.

Roxas closed his eyes for a moment, as if he had to say something terribly important, and took a breath that he let out in a sigh. “Saïx called her ‘defective.’”

Axel sighed, too. He had his doubts that Saïx realized just how special Roxas and Xion were. How they seemed to process things with an emotional quality that none of the other Nobodies had. Speak in those cold, dispassionate terms to one of them, and it would provoke the opposite reaction—just as if they had hearts.

But whether they were unknowingly reliving emotions from when they were human, or whether it was something unique to them, Axel couldn’t have said. Roxas was the Nobody of the hero of light, while Xion (he suspected) had something to do with the same person. Maybe that made them more special than even he knew.

Saïx didn’t understand that. Despite the lack of a heart, he could imagine what it was like to have emotional responses based on what he remembered from his human life. And he must be able to remember how much trouble it was.

Lea made the promise to Isa to always bring him back. That’s why it was always so important to Axel that Saïx trusted him. That promise meant a lot to Lea. Saïx was genuinely hurt when he thought Axel chose Roxas over him and abandoned him in the organization. Axel really did try his hardest to eliminate Roxas for Saïx’s sake, but he just couldn’t do it.

It was wrong and not what the real Isa would have wanted. Saïx thought Axel simply ditched him in favor of his new best friend. It confirmed what he already believed. That he’d never be able to experience genuine friendship or love ever again. He hated Axel and wanted him dead for that. It wasn’t for betraying the organization or Subject X. It was for leaving him after promising him that he’d always be there to bring him back.

All of it disgusted him. Saïx looked up at the skyscrapers, tracking Axel’s presence. He wanted a heart more than anything. But what could he do to get one? Here he was, yearning for a heart so badly, while Axel had managed to gain one without doing anything at all.

The blue-haired man had been the very first to join the organization after the founding members. He should have been special. The way number 13—Roxas, wielder of the Keyblade—was special. Axel was not. And yet…

He remembered what the witch Naminé had said. Axel seemed lonely. The man himself had denied it, but she was absolutely right. Axel was lonely. He’d lost Roxas. Lonely. Didn’t that mean he had a heart?

How had he gained one? Why only him? Was it an effect of his contact with the boy, or was there something else at work? He had no idea…

What made Saïx truly enraged was when he overheard Naminé say that Axel was lonely. He grew a heart, then discarded him for Roxas. He thought that he was unworthy of Axel’s friendship since Roxas had a heart and he didn’t. Roxas was more special than he was. And that was the root of his jealousy. He wanted to be special to Axel, but thought that he wasn’t anymore and never could be again.

“Love is what happens when there’s something really special between people.”

“More special than friends? Like…if they’re best friends? Inseparable?”

“Well, you can care about your friends, but that’s not exactly it…” Axel paused, groping for words that might make sense to Roxas.

When Axel left, it devastated him and that’s why hated Roxas and wanted to kill Axel. But unlike characters like Xigbar or Xaldin, Saïx always wanted to feel friendship and love, and Axel knew that. Saïx was definitely not in his right mind at any point in KH2. Axel wasn’t, either. He kidnapped Kairi because he was so unstable. Both of them wanted nothing more than to be loved by the other. This is no doubt why Lea had such an easy time going after Isa in KH3D and forgiving him. I was very put off by how KH3 made Saïx seem so casual and “normal”. IMO, it was easier to forgive him when he was acting deranged.

Vanitas: The X-blade is made of your heart, too, idiot. If you destroy it, your heart will vanish forever.

Ven: Whatever it takes. Anything to save Terra and Aqua.

Vanitas: Hmph, it's always about your friends, isn't it?

Ven: At least I have some! I've become a part of their heart, just as they've become a part of mine. My friends are my power...and I'm theirs!

Sora did feel sadness when he was saying goodbye to Hayner, Pence, and Olette. He was sad when Axel died, too. But Ventus’s heart still did not awaken at either of those times. He needed to relive the moment Aqua was about to be killed in the Keyblade Graveyard by Vanitas. That was when he was willing to sacrifice himself. He said his friends were his power. This was the event that led Ven to willingly shatter his own heart in BBS. It was his most selfless act, when his heart was at its most powerful, filled with love for his friends. That was the only event to cause powerful enough tremors to wake Ventus up.

Luxord: Perhaps he was ready for it. Perhaps he put his existence on the line and won what he'd been longing for.

Saïx: That's absurd. He won nothing and is nothing. He couldn't stand the emptiness of being without a heart, and that led to his demise. He was foolish and weak.

Xemnas: But...Weakness has the power to awaken that which is dormant. It is clear that through his actions, however foolish they may have been, Axel has touched Sora's heart. Perhaps HE will soon awaken.

Isa’s heart was asleep just as much as Ventus’s was. Because of that, Saïx felt stirrings of emotion like rage and jealousy. But his heart still was not truly awake, either. I think Isa’s heart would have been stirred into action to rescue Lea from Xemnas during his final battle. But I don’t think his heart would be fully awakened until Lea used the power of waking on him. I didn’t like how KH3 made it seem like Saïx was a typical Nobody who made a choice to reject his friendship with Axel. No, it was much more complicated than that.

#kh saix #kh isa #kh axel #kh lea #leaisa #akusai #kh3 ending #kh3 #kingdom hearts

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anangelicday-mrwolf · 3 years

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Wolfsbane : Noblesse Fanfic (post-ending)

(previous chapter)

Chapter 53 – Battle and Blight

‘Damn it. Damn it. Damn it...!’

Rael furiously grit his teeth, his eyes trembling, as he watched how the smoky trace of a small missile was slowly dissipating.

The fact that the missile was undoubtedly ejected towards the exact coordinates of the KSA headquarters fanned his fear.

He knew he must destroy the machine Yuhyung just activated.

He could not dare fire himself after the missile; the machine was still whirring under Yuhyung’s hand, and he did not want to be too hopeful and turn blind on the chances that the machine could shoot second or third or more of its missiles.

‘So he wasn’t after me.’

Technically, Deneb was after him, and he was willing to stage a battle right here, right now.

However, he did not want to simply eliminate Rael; he was going to make sure Rael will not be able to thwart Yuhyung’s plan, as proven by his poised stance as he stood between Rael and Yuhyung.

“That should be good enough to practically uproot the entire building, right?”

Asked Deneb, his head cocked a little towards the human.

“You’re correct, sir. And the area within the vicinity will be affected as well.”

“Good. Very good. I can’t make an accomplishment unless there’s something for me to accomplish. I’ll check things out as soon as I’m done here.”

That was when Rael at last released his shaky voice, and Deneb’s eyes directed themselves back onto the Kertia’s face as he was snickering.

“Are you saying you will use the innocent people here for your personal ambition? These people have already suffered on multiple basis, losing their homes and beloved without even knowing why. Why would you shove them into yet another pain? Just... Just why would you do this? Just how much of a big accomplishment do you wish for? Is it worthy enough to push others into forced sacrifice for?!”

“...Now I did not see this coming. You’re actually standing in favor of humans, when you used to be the most hardcore human-hater among our kind.”

Deneb’s eyebrows nearly touched his hairline, as if he were genuinely caught off guard by Rael’s speech, making Rael’s mouth automatically shut.

“Not to mention how you refuse to abort your courtesy, which I find even more surprising. I was expecting you to drop your formality, if not outright curse at me. I didn’t see this coming at all – you playing a head of a clan despite the situation.”

Playing a head of a clan?

Rael was so very inclined to bark at him, to demand if he has any idea what he goes through every single day, when at least for that very moment he was mortified to be dubbed with a title that Deneb also possesses.

Still, the Kertia managed to exercise every last bit of his patience to hold onto his remarks, upon which Deneb made a sinister smile.

“Or is this how you complain how much pressure and obsession you hold for your position? Is that why you are feigning all that elegance and poise and grace, when I wouldn’t be surprised to see Sir Gechutel or our lord to jab me with the most profane of all language? Yes, that must be it, seeing how you still look like... That.”

And what about my looks?

His anger was short-lived, however, and Rael’s hand slid across his face to touch on the bountiful lock of hair draped across a side of his head.

It was true that even after Deneb’s invitation, during which he screamed at Seira before he could stop himself, Rael had not relieved his hair of its new style, for a reason he could not fathom.

He knew he could not blame his tight schedule; it would have taken him mere 5 seconds before bed or during dress-up.

And of course, he told himself a lie when he thought that he did not know why.

It was one of his desperate endeavors to become a head of a clan that will make his father and brother proud – no, a head of a clan just like his brother. Hence he stylized himself in imitation of Razark.

Deneb nodded, seemingly having seen through this.

“So you’re feeling immense pressure for what you have at hand. Why don’t you take this opportunity to just die and hand over the title of the octaclan to me?”

Deneb blurted out, his manner so mundane as if sharing what he had done for the day.

Nevertheless, the contents of his speech were what Rael had not once imagined, and his mind that was very close to being scattered sharpened at once.

“You will die here. And you will not die Rael Kertia. You will die as a gruesomely shameless sinner, brought to justice by my hands.”

Rael’s mouth fell open beneath his mask, his eyes rolling at what Deneb was muttering.

“You lost your war against the patriarchs of Kertia and decided to bring Union into your vengeance upon Lukedonia. And I, Deneb Illiness, will be the one to stop you, betting my life for the task. And so I will save the humans who very nearly lost their future without the knowledge of the cause. Thus the Kertia clan will lose all its authority and radiance, just like the traitorous clans of Lukedonia, with a vacancy available among the octaclans. And I will not miss my chance to win Seira’s heart, since she is particularly fond of humans, as well as the lord’s recognition, to ultimately take over the Loyard clan and replace Kertia’s name with Illiness. That is my dream.”

Rael did not veil his stupor; Deneb’s plan was nothing short of what the traitorous heads of clans plotted against Raizel several centuries ago.

“All the evidence and testaments are ready, partially thanks to this human here. And you must be wondering why I’m spilling all this for you. Simple – you will not make out of this place alive. Like I said, dead men tell no tales.”

“...You think I’ll just watch you doing all that?”

With his head fully comprehensive of Deneb’s scheme, Rael could feel fury tinted with responsibility boiling within.

Ironing the corners of his lips and forehead clean of twitches and wrinkles, Rael fixed his edged eyes upon Deneb.

“What you are attempting is manipulation, calumny, and murder of your kind for your twisted ambition. Have you ever given a thought about what your ancestors would feel if they are to behold what...”

“I’m telling you, there’s reason why time is not altogether powerless upon us nobles. Just look at you, once-the-greatest-trouble-of-noblekind lecturing me, rubbing in my face how you switched your allegiance from anti-human propaganda to become a human-lover, keeping yourself well-mannered even now... Which isn’t like you.”

Not like me.

The idea what had been incessantly tormenting him and ridding him of his sleep ever since his permanent return to Lukedonia mauled upon his calm as if on a cue.

Which is why he could not react on time when Deneb lunged towards him, a rare occasion for him.

“Ugh!”

Deneb’s attack, his pointed hand as a weapon, was not even close to average.

Nonetheless, Rael got to learn how distraction or underestimation can backfire as a fatal weapon.

He succeeded in avoiding the hand that was aiming dead center towards his heart, but instead his shoulder was sliced, skin underneath exposed.

Deneb was relentless with his charges and blitz, obviously not willing to let Rael take the lead of their deadly dance.

Notwithstanding, Rael’s combat experience was still alive and breathing, and he did not change his mind about finishing this battle as quickly as possible.

Which is why once again he called forth his Grandia.

And once again his soul weapon did not return his call.

Deneb made a sickening smile, in the course of his survey on the blonde noble.

“Normally I would have been less than a snort to you. But I heard from that human your soul weapon is unavailable for now.”

Rael made a humongous flinch as he evaded a series of razor-sharp strokes from Deneb’s hands, in the meantime peeking at the human researcher who was awfully peaceful in his observation.

“And I know that you want to capture me, not kill me. You wouldn’t want any of the evidence or testament I mentioned to be published posthumously.”

Deneb smirked like a child at an amusement park as he bickered.

“Given that your soul weapon is not responsive while you are not allowed to kill me, I will surely have a chance against you!”

Rael could no longer hide his dismay, his eyes captivated by Deneb throwing himself forward once more.

“Goddamn it...!”

*****

Meanwhile, at the KSA headquarter

“What the hell is going on here?!”

M-21 shrieked, trying his best to deliver his voice past the ear-splintering siren.

The men gathered at KSA director’s office were in the middle of panic, once the siren ripped its way through all floors, following the duet of a light quake and shatters of glass and concrete.

“What happened?!”

The doctor yelled in frenzy to the transmission just delivered to Taesik’s phone on the desk.

<S-sir, a mini missile just penetrated the wall of the night shift duty room, 4th floor!>

Although it was the time of the day when KSA building is mostly unoccupied, there were few people who were staying overnight for work or getting some shuteye in the said chamber, which was the most densely populated area as of now.

The party’s faces turned pale; they could already see the massacre that took place on the 4th floor.

“So... What’s the casualty?”

Taesik squeezed his voice box in inquiry; as the head of the KSA, he was painfully aware that being dumbstruck with grief was not an option for him.

<Uh... None, it seems.>

“What are you talking about? I can hear the siren as we speak.”

<I-it appears that this missile is not meant to detonate or destroy lives. It resembles a capsule, so I’m guessing it was designed to carry and spray someth... Huh?>

The four humans did not like that the agent’s speech was met with a question mark at the end; unnerved, they repeatedly crossed and exchanged looks with each other.

<W-what the...?! Sir, this missile is releasing gas...!>

Gas? What gas?

Wait a minute.

Could it be the...?

At that point they were reminded of THE gas – the one that Yuhyung used to study as a weapon against Union-affiliated modified humans.

The gas that could not be calibrated as needed in targeting their desired foes, because of which it was canceled and disposed of.

And about which its file was opened and scrutinized by its composer before his departure to Lukedonia.

Without a single word dispensed, they sprinted to the 4th floor.

They had no patience to spare for the elevator to pick them up, so they chose the stairs, which was already clouded with gas that was permeating from the 4th floor.

Taesik and the doctor led the way, their mouths and noses covered with handkerchiefs just in case, and Tao and M-21 soon found themselves at the night shift duty room, the floor hardly visible due to milky-gray smoke.

And they saw a hole with debris dropping from the corners, with beds and desks tossed away from their original positions.

“This is bad. Looks like some of the gas leaked outside on the streets.”

Tao added after poking his head beyond the hole.

“But is it just me, or this smoke kind of... Sticky?”

“I was thinking the same thing, too. That guy must have done something to...”

At then, the doctor and Taesik groaned and wobbled on their feet, and their bodies hit the floor when Tao and M-21 looked behind them.

“Sir! Doctor!”

The two RK’s kneeled to inspect them, and that was when they realized they were surrounded by at least half dozen KSA agents and employees that had lost conscious prior to their arrival.

“What are we supposed to do?”

“Uh... F-first, let’s move them somewhere safe. For now we could make use of the lab that’s...”

Slap!

When Tao reached out towards one man, his hand viciously yanked Tao’s wrist in his grip.

‘W-what in the...?!’

Tao crooked his brows, the man’s force far past moderate, firm enough to astonish a modified human like him.

And the owner of the hand slowly raised himself, his eyes gleaming dangerously, his movement reminiscent of something that people would usually see in zombie films.

The other agents and employees rose in mimicry, their eyes in synchronization as they gazed at Tao and M-21.

The two men froze in sensing how things were definitely taking the wrong turn, and soon enough their audience emitted low growls.

(next chapter)

And thus begin the battle and blight... *Dun dun dun* It surely is a challenge trying to feature separate places all at once as the highlight of this fic is unfolded, but I will do my best. Once this battle is past, the finale will be staged very soon lol. I’m almost there, and I won’t stop until I make it! :D

#korean webcomic #korean webtoon #fanfic #noblesse #frankenstein #lunark #frankensteinxlunark #lunarkxfrankenstein #wolfsbane #Mr.Wolf #AnAngelicDay

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