Axel frowned, still reeling from the very idea of all of this but intent on paying attention and absorbing the rest of it.
"His eye's been gold as long as I've known him," he said, squinting a bit. "I always figured the yellow eyes and pointy ears meant something, but I never managed to really figure what--Saïx has the same unusual features, but with Xemnas, those three were the only ones." A shake of his head. "Saïx... broke away, though, once he came here," he said, more to himself than to Riku. "Even as much as he wanted his heart back, as much as he changed, he never really went along with Xemnas' plans. Hell, we were planning to try and usurp Xemnas for a while there."
Had Xemnas' control over him tightened at the end, though? Was that why Saïx had hunted him down and left him for dead? He didn't want to think about this.
His eyes slid back to Riku then in the semidarkness of the room, his expression somber. He couldn't sympathize, exactly. Even if he had a heart now with which to do it, he'd never really embraced the idea of that darkness within him. He'd lost his heart, but he was still fundamentally the same person in the end. He had Roxas and Xion to thank for that. Axel was arrogant, certainly, but he knew that without Roxas and Xion's influence he might have folded to that darkness he'd kept in his pockets when he'd annihilated his cohorts in Castle Oblivion. His hand moved, unbidden, to his chest, and he pressed his fingertips into the fabric of his shirt.
"You beat that darkness though, right?" It was less a question and more just a statement; he knew Riku had quashed the shadow of Xemnas--'Ansem'--in his heart. He had done it before, and Axel had no doubt the kid could do it again. He was just that damn stubborn.
He shook his head then, something still niggling at the back of his brain. He would worry about wrangling with the idea of his heart and all the complications of that later--right now, there was a more pressing question on his mind.
"So why just Xigbar?" he asked. "If the point was to take the whole Organization, why are the rest of us here unaffected? Me, Demyx, Luxord... Roxas..." He wasn't sure if Xion counted in this equation, as a replica, but she was there in spirit, as it were. Why had Xigbar ultimately been the only other member affected? Axel had no illusions that he was stronger than Xigbar, so what was the trick? What had he somehow managed to do so wrong that he'd ultimately... done something right?
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"His eye's been gold as long as I've known him," he said, squinting a bit. "I always figured the yellow eyes and pointy ears meant something, but I never managed to really figure what--Saïx has the same unusual features, but with Xemnas, those three were the only ones." A shake of his head. "Saïx... broke away, though, once he came here," he said, more to himself than to Riku. "Even as much as he wanted his heart back, as much as he changed, he never really went along with Xemnas' plans. Hell, we were planning to try and usurp Xemnas for a while there."
Had Xemnas' control over him tightened at the end, though? Was that why Saïx had hunted him down and left him for dead? He didn't want to think about this.
His eyes slid back to Riku then in the semidarkness of the room, his expression somber. He couldn't sympathize, exactly. Even if he had a heart now with which to do it, he'd never really embraced the idea of that darkness within him. He'd lost his heart, but he was still fundamentally the same person in the end. He had Roxas and Xion to thank for that. Axel was arrogant, certainly, but he knew that without Roxas and Xion's influence he might have folded to that darkness he'd kept in his pockets when he'd annihilated his cohorts in Castle Oblivion. His hand moved, unbidden, to his chest, and he pressed his fingertips into the fabric of his shirt.
"You beat that darkness though, right?" It was less a question and more just a statement; he knew Riku had quashed the shadow of Xemnas--'Ansem'--in his heart. He had done it before, and Axel had no doubt the kid could do it again. He was just that damn stubborn.
He shook his head then, something still niggling at the back of his brain. He would worry about wrangling with the idea of his heart and all the complications of that later--right now, there was a more pressing question on his mind.
"So why just Xigbar?" he asked. "If the point was to take the whole Organization, why are the rest of us here unaffected? Me, Demyx, Luxord... Roxas..." He wasn't sure if Xion counted in this equation, as a replica, but she was there in spirit, as it were. Why had Xigbar ultimately been the only other member affected? Axel had no illusions that he was stronger than Xigbar, so what was the trick? What had he somehow managed to do so wrong that he'd ultimately... done something right?