Test 432: A Being of Light and Dark

[III]

So.

All things considered this had been a most eventful day. A descriptor which, normally, would have been good. Excellent, even. While hormones were but a minute portion of what constituted ‘emotions’, Dilan had been an adrenaline junkie through and through. His Nobody subsisted on the fractured remnants of that particular ‘routine’, lively as it was. It brought new experiences that had once been assimilated and incorporated but now merely acted as gauze on the festering wound of an incomplete existence.

Usually a day wherein copious action, much adrenaline, a little bit of berserker fury was l’ordre de jour would have truly been excellent.

Then again, most such days did not involve Xaldin having to deal with hair loss.

Growling as he came through the Corridor of Darkness, the Nobody grabbed the Darklight off of his self (losing more hair in the process) and flung it bodily at the Organization’s de facto head researcher. His steaming lances followed, as did little interested chirps from the Dark that had caught scent of the Darklight and were interested in pursuing a more vigorous debate with it.

“Happy?” He asked the Organization’s Fourth. “I found your test subject.”

[IV. Vexen]

It was a calm place.

Leaning over the elongated table, Vexen's finely attuned eye for science kept his fingers still as they slowly inched... for... the Orichalcum...

WHAM went one Twilan against Vexen's back.

Stumbling forward, Vexen fell over the object laying over a piece of white tarp. The bar-like piece of Orichalcum dropped from his hand, falling to the floor and shattering into an even five pieces.

And as Vexen turned to face the ursurper with an enraged face, streaks and smudges of gold and purple paint across his cloak and face.

"Blast it-- XALDIN!" Exasperated, the Nobody's hands were flying into the air expressively as he continued to voice his rage, "I'm in the middle of something far more important than-- than..."

Vexen stopped. His twisted features regained some composure as his scientific muse entered the equation.

Immediately, the Chilly Academic noted the sparks of Darkness and the less-than-mature nature of the being brought before himself.

"...Xaldin, what is this?"

[Homac]

Reykian pulled himself up to his feet after having been flung across the room. Sideburns hadn't lied, that had been fun!

Turning to Xaldin he held up the hair he'd taken off, and said, "Look Sideburns, Reykian got some!" If Reykian hadn't had the mind of a child, he might have noticed Xaldin's expression darkening as he said this. However, he did, and didn't notice at all.

He then spun around again, facing Vexen and said, "Oh! you must be the fun-fun friend that Sideburns was talking about! Reykian is happy to meet you!"

The twilan held out his hand to the Chilly Academic, completely ignoring the heartless that had entered the room with them.

[III]

His quest completed, Xaldin dismissed the Darklight from his thoughts. He had more pressing issues to manage - his hair being paramount amongst them - and devolved into the boring specifics as he fussed with the sad remnants of his dread mop. Only half-paying attention to his lances which were happily dicing the brave little Heartless that had made it out into the real world, he recited his theoretical observations as if the Darklight was not there-

(In many ways it wasn't. Certainly not as an equal or a sentient. An important scientific speciment, at best. He might have felt guilt once, but no longer. Xaldin no longer considered humanity to be a defining characteristic of his selfhood.)

"It's a test subject," Xaldin growled as he realized that one long braid would be unrecoverable, "not of the Heart but as a novel organism. First of its kind I was able to grab. Light and Dark aspects appear to be immiscible. It appears to draw on both aspects without harm."

"It is Balance. Perhaps."

He gave up on his hair as the last of the Heartless were summarily executed. "Is my presence required for anything you have in mind?"

[IV. Vexen]

Balance.

His still freshly wet (and painted) glove rubbed against the bridge of Vexen's nose as the scientist's mind ravaged the banks of knowledge and experience he held for possible conclusions.

Myriads of possibilities, plethoras of uncompromisable proof, and a single, puerile example... towering, though it may very well be.

But first things first. Vexen slowly reached out... and took the child's hand. He didn't bother shaking it-- that would defeat the purpose of taking it.

In a flurry of cold sparks and hazy temperatures, the creature was frozen in a solid block of ice.

A smirk-- such was Vexen's intellect, his power; surely he was entitled to a small grin of self-appreciation?-- and the Chilly Academic removed his hand. "A pleasure."

"Indeed, Xaldin," Vexen said, not especially focusing as he turned and shoved his previous project off to the side of the blue and grey laboratory-grade table top, "I would have you stay and assist me."

Drawers-- no amount of them could appease Vexen's endless amount of supplies and needed resources. Abandoning the search, the Nobody walked over to a closet to the side, where boxes and crates of things that had no smell lay at rest in the darkness. "The creature.. I must have more information regarding it's inception into this, oh drat, this existence."

There was a crate on the floor preventing access to a small box in a corner. Oh drat indeed. Hefting himself up onto the crate, and then immediately over, Vexen grinned with some echo of anticipation in his eyes as his hands gripped fast the corrugated container.

"I can confirm, quite possibly, the creature's nature and physiology through invasive methods-- " for the uneducated, this is fancy-talk for slice him open like there's no tomorrow, "-- but I cannot, presumably, take such information to any great use unless I have a more subjects, or factual data regarding the subject's creation."

Vexen stepped out of the storage room, brown box in hand.

"This is where you come in, Number III."

Closing the closet door, the grey memory of Even placed the shoebox with diligent care atop the counter top.

"I need you to hold the being still as I ask it the needed questions. Or, if you rather, I shall need more samples to make up for the unasked questions." Vexen opened his palms wide, as a shrug.

Hypotheses ran buck wild across Vexen's imagination, as a mental design of the malignant being's inner workings began to be made up in the mind's eye... the slightest crease muscle made against skin, the impression bone forced habitual methods and postures into the genome... nothing was missed.

Saved for what lay unbeknown, from the eye.

Even so, the possibilities of such technology-- a creature of the Dark capable of wielding the power of Light-- were limited only by dreams of grandeur. Something Vexen was not limited in.

"What say you, Xaldin?"

[Homac]

Reykian was shaking hands, and then everything got cold! Reykian wasn't used to being cold, as he usually stayed in Twilight Hollow, but it was a fun feeling!

But...he didn't like staying still for very long, and the ice wasn't letting him move. That just wouldn't do. So, he formed a twilight portal around himself, and reappeared behind Vexen.

Of course, the supposed impossibilty of this didn't stop him, and he immediately moved to look at the ice cube that he'd been in.

"Wow! Look at that Sideburns, there's another me in there! He just doesn't have anything about me but my shape!"

Then, he turned back to Vexen, "That was fun! Let's do something else though, the cold is really cold!"

[III]

[ooc: Homac, I don't think you can escape from a status effect. It'd be like being able to avoid being poisoned by teleporting the poison out of your blood.

...unless it's not a status effect. I'm confused. Anyways, none of this teleporting stuff the moment you engage in battle, k'?

Uhhh... someone PM me and explain to me what's going on. *_*]

[Rocket!]

[ Erm, my freezing him wasn't really an ability, given the manner it was done didn't follow any of the abilities. I was kinda improvising, to give Vexen and Xaldin a chance to coordinate. ^^;;

So, technically, Reykian could warp outta there.

Beyond that, dunno. ;D ]

[III]

[ooc: all is well then]

Xaldin quirked an eyebrow. His own scientific curiosity, however slight, had been cultured by one of the greatest minds Radiant Garden (and very arguably the multiverse) had ever known. That escape had been... most interesting. It was a corridor of Light and Dark. It was as if the thing was manipulating the border between two diametrically opposed elements...

"As long as you deem it necessary, Academic."

Unwilling to lose any more hair (oh there would be REPERCUSSIONS if that thing got within fourty inches of his head) Xaldin switched back to his baby-talk voice. "Yes, Vexy, show us another trick, why don't you? Your anti..." at this point, only tangentially aware of Vexen's research, he was forced to fumble for a placeholder word and managed an undignified, "'thingamabobbers' should be looking for something to do, no?"

[IV. Vexen]

Vexen gritted his teeth. There was truly no support for his scientific research as of late, was there?

Something to remedy.

The wash of both Light and Darkness had not been missed, however. Piqued is what his curiosity was.

Vwrr.

Data swirled upwards from below Reykian. Streams of numbers and analytical information, moving in rapid streams, surrounding the hybrid. Below the twilan's feet was an undulating Nobody insignia.

Vexen's Data Collection Field. He'd activated it!

In such close proximity to the main server of Vexen's works-- thoroughly hidden, mind you-- the data collected in this room would be quite permanently stored.

"Though a possibility," Vexen replied to Number III, "I have no interest in risking anything of-- anything that could draw undue attention."

Why was Xaldin hesitant to act? Usually, the lurking whirlwind lancer was more than avid in the way of apprehending nuisances...

[Homac]

Reykian stared at the symbol below his feet.

"Wow! What is that?" Poking at it, he eyeballed it closely.

Of course, his attention jumped from the data collection field quickly, though he hadn't moved yet.

"Hey, Sideburns, can you make your lance-thingies turn into brooms again? That was funny!"

[Note: Reykian will get bored in 2 turns. This is bad for everyone else in the room. Get started keeping him occupied!]

[III]

Xaldin blinked. For some reason it felt like nearly a month - no, a month and five days and a few spare hours - had passed.

Bizarre.

He shook his head, dislodging the cobwebs. It was a simple request. He wasn't entirely certain when Reykian had seen him do such, but short of some form of mind reading ability (which he somewhat doubted the child had, or else he would be gone and not still sitting there, he must have demonstrated it at a certain point.

"My name is Xaldin."

Well. It wasn't like Axel listened to him either when he said that. With a whisper of darkness, the lances winked in and then out of existence - closely followed by the presence of broomsticks. They orbited around him in a slow circle before heading towards the Darklight.

It would be easier to subdue the Darklight and extract information in that manner but-

Something was holding him back. An odd... pressure.

Strange.

Dismissing the feeling as unimportant, the lancer turned once again to the resident scientist. "Do you feel that... we are, perhaps, being monitored?" His voice wasn't quite hushed (no, never that) but it betrayed a sense of urgency. Not quite fear but... significance. No doubt the scientist understood what he was getting at.

[Rocket!]

A faint frown overshadowed the scientific curiosity previously present on the chilly academic's face.

"Xaldin, you think so little of me!" Shaking his head, Vexen went on, confident, "No, I only think that such a delicate operation might require focus-- having someone barge in while we are at work could result in unfortunate implications. I, for one, have no interest in chasing this inane being all across the castle."

He paused. Giving the creatue ideas probably wasn't a good idea...

"Now then, Reykian..." the harsh, calculating green eyes turned their icy glare towards the creature. "Inform me of your inception, with all due detail."

[Homac]

At Vexen's words, Reykian blinked.

And then blinked again.

"Huh? Reykian isn't even sure what inception is. If you want to know how Reykian got created, Reykian can tell you that!"

Reykian sat down cross-legged on the symbol that Vexen created, and prepared himself for his story.

"Reykian was made when a guy called Sora beat a big Heartless that called himself Ansem! Then, when the light got overflowing, and the dark was really weak, Reykian was made out of the strong light and weak darkness. So, Reykian is a Light Twilan, not just a normal Twilan! Or at least, that's what Lord Inekyas told Reykian, and he's normally right."

As he trailed off, the Twilan looked sure of himself on his story.

[III]

"Really." Xaldin mused thoughtfully. "So your composition is dependent on the relative concentrations of light and dark at the point of birth...?"

He shot Vexen a look.

"Is that even possible...?"