The blue haired boy sitting across from Isa is just so...young. Hard to think that Isa was ever that young.
But he was, wasn’t he? After all, this teenager is him. A younger him. A him of a different time and place. A version of him that looks softer and more feminine...hm.
Isa traces one gloved finger along his earlobe. Playing slightly with the dangling star earrings that Xion recently got him. Silver and bright, something based off an old keychain she found called Starlight.
If there’s a history where he hurt Xion and so many others, and a history where he chose not to as a result of the first...then another him that has a female body isn’t too out there.
Like Xion’s used to be male body, used to be Sora’s body.
(He mocked her about it, a lifetime ago. A cruelty he’ll never fail to regret.)
“Going to take a picture?” Seems snark is an inherent part of all Isa’s. That’s good. Relieving.
Isa smiles slightly. Well, he might as well ask. “He/him, I presume?”
Something flashes in those green eyes. Green so much more...green than his own, which are still a muddy mess of yellow-ish green. He doesn’t think they’ll ever return to what they used to be.
Not after that mess with Xemnas.
“...yes. Same with you?”
Isa inclines his head in a nod. He folds his gloved hands together in his lap. Wearing his Organization coat, without the normal extra coat he puts on top nowadays to represent the Union.
Strange. Why is he wearing that but with the earrings from Xion? Dreams are strange, he supposes he won’t waste too much time puling it out.
“How has it been? For you?” Isa tries awkwardly.
Green eyes are still watching him steadily. Not blinking once.
“Lea won’t stop talking about his new date Lauriam, how great he is. It’s been annoying.”
A test, to see what he knows. How similar they are.
Isa considers. “Lea would do that. Who is this Lauriam?”
The younger him tugs at his sleeves of the jacket he’s wearing. “You don’t know Lauriam? Pink hair, green eyes, always around flowers?”
Well. There’s only one person that Isa knows from his own life that even remotely fits that description. Did that man’s Somebody always live in Radiant Garden and Isa just never met him? Or is this another difference? “Marluxia. Marluxia and Lea are dating.”
That young face squints at him. “Marluxia?”
“A different name for the person I believe you’re talking about,” Isa explains. He tilts his head back, scar itching. “He and Lea...didn’t get along. In my time.”
The green eyes go to his scar. Of course they do, the thing’s getting more and more noticeable now with how it’s slowly tearing itself open. Not because of rage, perhaps related to the double full moon in this strange dreamscape.
Reacting to the moon’s power.
“It looks like a lot’s different.”
Isa smiles. Unavoidably showing off his growing fangs. How they itch to bite down on something. Anything. “A lot changes in...hm, ten years? Give or take a few years here and there. I used to look more like you when I was your age, believe it or not. Used Isa then as well.”
“Ten years?” The younger Isa looks aghast. “What happened?”
Isa puffs out a sigh. “Should you ever meet an older man named Xehanort serving as an apprentice under Ansem the Wise, I highly suggest you take Lea and run the other way.”
“...good to know.” Seemingly a little overwhelmed, eyes flicking to Isa’s eyes for some reason, the teenager changes the subject. Slightly.
“You said that you used Isa. What do you go by now?” Clever. Always too smart for his own good.
(Never smart enough.)
“Saix,” Isa offers. “The Lunar Diviner. Take your pick.”
The teenager doesn’t know what to do with that, it seems. Isa wonders what’s he thinking. It’s been so long since he was that age, he can’t really hope to guess. He can barely figure out Roxas or Xion or even Crocus on a good day.
“You mentioned Lea. Is he...okay?” The younger him looks concerned. He would be, of course. Isa still is, now. Some things don’t change, it seems.
Isa traces under his eyes. “Has his idiotic teardrops stained into his skin right here forever now. It’s almost funny.”
“How about everyone else?”
Isa considers. His scar might be bleeding, is that a warm trickle down his face? It better not, be a bit awkward to explain black blood away. Who would this Isa know?
“Zexion, you know him as Ienzo, has been busy with his programs. Dilan, now Xaldin, has been watching over a girl named Namine...” Isa’s earrings jangle as he moves his head, “Lea and I have watched over children ourselves.”
He flicks his earrings. “These are from the one I care for, a girl named Xion. You wouldn’t know her, she’s born in the ten years between us.”
“...guess I’ll have that to look forward to,” the younger him says quietly. A normal human wouldn’t hear it. Isa is still a Nobody and very much does.
Isa shakes his head. “You won’t most likely. She’s born of a terrible crime, that should hopefully never happen if the mess with the apprentice Xehanort is prevented. Which it might, since your life sounds different from my own at your age.”
“A girl that was never supposed to be born, is that what she is?” This means something to this Isa, but Isa doesn’t know exactly what. A family difference? A body difference? Who knows. “You accept her, though.”
“Of course. I love her.” The words come easily, even if the idea behind is hard sometimes. He wants to shield away from it, because Isa doesn’t deserve to love Xion. But he does anyway. Despite everything.
The younger Isa lets out a breath, tugs at his shirt collar. “That’s...good.”
Then he looks over at Isa again, does a double take. “You’re bleeding black. Is that...normal? For you?”
Isa blinks. Reaches up to touch the scar. Guess it did open up after all. “Yes. It is now. I’m a monster in a way you will hopefully never be. As long as you avoid that Xehanort.”
“I’m sorry.”
What is that for?
“Don’t be.” Isa tries for an awkward smie, the sort he uses with Xion. “Please, tell me more about your life. Ask me any questions if you have them.”
The younger him hesitates. But in the end, he does.
The double moons are high above as they talk deep into the dream. Talk until they wake up, his younger self to his own time and Isa to the bed he with a slobbering Demyx on top of him.
Guess he screwed up going that water-spiral-thing. Ended up...here. Wherever here is.
What a nice fountain this is, big enough for several people to stand in it. Surrounded by blooming flowers and carved up with all kinds of fairy pictures.
He traces a carving, humming to himself. What a nice place, full of the magic that tugs at his gills and encourages his scales to grow. The fountain’s water is especially full of magic in particular, splashing onto him.
“There’s someone in the fountain.”
Hm? A person? Who is that? Demyx looks over to see two people looking over at him. A muscly man, with black hair and freckles. Blue eyed too? Blacksmith looking guy. The other Demyx actually knows.
That blue hair and the hum of that Heart...even if a lot else is different, Demyx would know who that is anywhere!
“A baby Saix!” He waves.
The baby Saix stares at him. Almost the exact same glare too, funny. “It’s Isa.”
Demyx bobs his head in a nod. “Right, right, Isa.”
His scales are itching up his neck right now. Clear and obvious for everyone to see, like his exposed gills.
“Isa, do ya know this person?” The beefy man asks the baby Saix.
“He doesn’t,” Demyx says cheerfully before he can answer. “Don’t worry about it!”
“He knows a different me,” Isa confides in the man. Low enough that a non-Nobody wouldn’t catch it over the rushing water. Not that Demyx cares to point that out.
“Still, sharing names ca’ be dangerous.”
“I’m Demyx,” Demyx offers. He takes out Arpeggio, strums it. “If you want a name from me.”
“Alright. That doesn’t tell me why you’re here.”
“Accident.” Demyx strums a long chord, start humming a tune. Building up the magic in it. Maybe he should sing-
“Mind not doing that around here?” The man asks.
Oh, right. People don’t like when strangers start using magic randomly, without letting them know why they’re there.
“Right, my bad!” Demyx lets Arpeggio fades away, running his gloved fingers along the slick rock making up the fountain. Sitting down on the watery sill.
“You can come out, you know.”
He flaps a free hand. “Nah, I’ll just stay right here!”
Don’t want to risk missing the loop that got him here appearing in the fountain without him. Also, the water’s not too bad. He’s waterproofed his coat well enough and his overcoat will just take it in for later magic usage.
His overcoat’s a new one, patterned lace with seashells and waves and maybe a crescent moon or two. But who’s counting? Who cares? Just Demyx, that’s all.
The fountain burbles out slowly with water.
Lazy. Just like him.
Splash splash goes the water.
“Oh, who’s that?” Demyx perks up, looking at the newcomer with silver hair and a red scarf.
“I’m Ephemer,” the newcomer offers. “Who are you?”
“Demyx.” There’s a grey cat off to the side, watching them with thread blue eyes. “Oh, a Chirithy!”
The word comes out without him even knowing where it’s from. Inwardly he shrugs. Done a lot of stuff like that, it’s fine. Part of being a Nobody for Demyx.
The two kids exchange glances while the adult watches him carefully. In case he moves out of the water probably. The Chirithy looks him over.
“Heya, how’re you doing? Working hard?” Demyx asks.
“You don’t seem the type to work at all, but want all the benefits anyway.” The Chirithy tilts their head.
Demyx deflates. “Aw man, do you have to say it like that? Ouch.”
“Sorry,” the cat eventually says. In the end. After their silver haired owner nudges them with a foot slightly.
“Sure, whatever.” Hm, it’s getting boring just sitting in the wet without playing any music. His gills flutter as he scratches the back of his head.
There is one thing he can.
“Soooo...” he draws out. “Want any sea salt ice cream?”
Baby Saix jerks. “What? Why even offer that?”
Demyx digs into his pockets, pulls out a bag. Holds it up. “Have a stick!”
Silence.
Ephemer speaks. “Uh, it’s not blue? That’s brown. I thought it was blue.”
“Huh. So it is.”
The ice cream’s for Saix anyway. He’s sure the man won’t mind if a different Saix ends up with it in the end.
A little explanation, maybe. It’s sea salt ice cream from the world Demyx just visited/fell out of. But also not because he’s too lazy to actually find a store that sells the stuff in whatever world he’s visiting.
Nah, he finds an ice cream place with a willing maker/crafter/whatever who’ll try making him sea salt ice cream from pure description.
Demyx’s returned with some pretty interesting combinations that way. Like this one, not quite blue.
Look, it’s nothing special. Not really. Demyx isn’t even doing any real work, he’s making other people do the work of creating the ice cream. Most of the time it isn’t any good and Demyx just gets to see Saix’s face screw up in disgust at the experimental taste.
Just a joke, just funny.
“It’s homemade,” Demyx tries, shaking the bag. “I’m bringing it for my Saix, the look on his face is going to be hilarious.”
“Your Saix?” Baby Saix, Isa, lifts an eyebrow.
Ephemer, on the other hand, looks almost delighted. “You’re dating him?”
“...maybe?” Demyx tries, suddenly feeling wrong-footed. “What, you want to give me a shovel talk about it?”
Joke’s on them, Rinoa already did that.
“No. Just...” Baby Saix looks pained. “How would I ever want to date someone like you?”
Ah. “Well, I blackmailed him first.”
The looks on their faces-! Demyx almost folds over laughing. Waves a hand. “Nah, nah, it was more than that. I guess it was...”
He looks over at the fountain he sits in, the spray creating a rainbow. “Saw him in a different light, I suppose. He cares a lot but doesn’t care a lot about himself.”
Demyx shrugs again, putting his hands behind his head. His scales are probably pink at this point, oh well. “Need someone lazy like me to remind him to relax. Every once in a while. That’s all.”
“I see,” the grown man says, nodding his head. And it looks like he might, unlike the teenagers. “Yah didn’t use magic on ‘im or anythin’ like that?”
Demyx gives out a surprised laugh. “Nope! Saix would go berserk on my ass if I tried that, ha! The thought!”
Fizzy at the edges. Guess his time is up.
He tucks the bag of ‘sea salt’ ice cream away. Stands up straight.
“Guess it’s time to go! May your heart being your guiding key!”
Fade. Gone.
Back where he should be.
(”Demyx, this tastes like caramel. Did you ask for sea salted caramel?”
So. MOOP Xion falls into Pokemon land. With Bjorn. It’s pretty confusing, for the Berserker to suddenly become one of the native monsters and for Xion being forced to interact with the natives as a result.
Thankfully, a curious Zorua helps out, intrigued by this strange human that can illusion herself like a Zorua.
Bjorn becomes a Usraring that inexplicably knows one Fire type Move for no apparent reason and has the Unnerve Ability.
“Watch out for that girl. She’s got a Usraring that sets itself on fire.”
“Don’t you mean a Typhlosion?”
“No, it’s definitely a Usraring. You’ll understand when you see it.”
“...okay?”
Xion also gets a Blitzle (Motor Drive Ability) that reminds her of Rinoa, so she names it Rene.
Her Wooper (Damp Ability) she calls Dumbo due to his tendencies of running into walls. She tells Demyx that the pokemon reminds her of him, afterwards. He’s not sure if he should be insulted by that.
The Zorua is eventually named Axis, in honor of both Roxas and Axel. He thinks it’s a decent name. For a human one.
(Xion at some point gets hands on a Pokemon egg that she saves from Team Plasma. The resulting Noibat she fondly names Izzy. It’s more than a little surprising when Izzy uses Telepathy few short days after hatching to inform Xion that she needs to get them more berries.)
Since she first runs into a Zorua, she’s running around Unova. Particularly showing up to cause trouble with the enemy team there. Team Plasma is more slightly bewildered by this wild child who will throw hands at you alongside her pokemon. N is intrigued by a girl who apparently both carries a Zorua and can talk to her pokemon like he can. Ghetsis quietly plots to assassinate her.
The team: Usraring, Zorua, Blitzle, Wooper, and Noibat.
"So this world has giant pottery robots, monsters wandering everywhere, and every so often, the moon turns red to raise all of the beforementioned monsters from the dead?" Isa sighs, rubbing at his forehead.
Demyx's gills flap. "Er, yes?"
"I don't understand why you consider this a vacation spot, then."
"Oh, that's easy enough. Just avoid the monsters and you're fine," Demyx says assuredly, rubbing a finger along one gill.
Isa looks at him. "...Right."
"Speaking of the moon..." Demyx suddenly looks worried. "Do you think that'll affect you at all? I don't really know how your moon thing works."
"Demyx...will the red moon show up while we're here?" Isa resists the urge to rub at his forehead again.
The other Nobody shakes his head. "Nope. So...that your way of saying don't worry about it? Man, you really are nicer than you pretend, sometimes."
Isa frowns. His scars aches. "What do you mean sometimes?"
"Anyway!" Demyx settles down in the grass, leaning on the tree behind him. "Take a look at this view, it's pretty fantastic up here on this plateau."
Isa turns to look. He has to nod in agreement, the view is very good on this cliff edge. With a sigh of relief, he settles down next to Demyx.
"What are we doing here?"
Demyx looks affronted. "What, you don't know? Dude, you work so much, you need a breather without someone coming in on you."
"I do take breaks," Isa argues. "Much more than I ever have before, in fact." The most in either life, if he's being honest.
Demyx just looks at him. Even his gills are silent. "Without someone coming in on you," he repeats. He spreads his arms to indicate their surroundings. "And this place fits the bill. Quiet, secret, no other Union people around, perfect!"
If that's so...that's rather thoughtful of Demyx.
"Thank you," Isa says quietly.
Demyx smiles. His neck scales are bright yellow and orange, speckled with blue. The same blue as Isa's hair. "You're welcome."
hi! i found you through your ao3, and initially was introduced to you through your Moon Out Of Phase verse. i just wanted to say that i really love your fic, and how you wrote isa - he's my favorite character now, and MOOP is my favorite fic now (and also the first kingdom hearts fic i've ever read! definitely a good one to start with.) (it's hallwoed_nebulae from ao3, by the way! one day i'll go back and reread the series for a third time and leave a comment on every chapter). you don't have to answer this, i just thought it would be nice to say how much i like your stuff! have a good day :D
Ahh, thank you for you kind words!
I'm actually working on another fic set in MOOP right now (among others, but that's always the case, heh. ;) )
It's called A Basket of Ball Lighting and it's Rinoa+Larxene focused, post MOOP. Here, have a short under the cut!
Wide, round, woven wicker.
“A basket? Not a scythe?” Larxene can’t help but ask.
“A scythe?” Rinoa blinks, screwing up her face. “That sounds edgy.”
Marluxia is definitely edgy, she’ll have to say that to his face. She licks her tongue along the back of her teeth. Fights the urge to bite down. Was definitely edgy.
(Larxene can’t tell him that now.)
“But a basket?” Larxene says pointedly. “That’s barely a tool.”
“You can use a basket for lots of things. Like a hat, a shield, a frisbee...” Rinoa tilts the wide-brimmed woven object in demonstration of each example she gives.
“And as a basket.”
“Yep. And as a basket.” Rinoa agrees, moving her hands so they’re cupped underneath the basket once more. Holding it up to have something put inside it. “It’s for holding Hearts, you know. Her basket.”
“You talk a lot about your gods.” Not quite a sneer. But she’s working her way back up to it.
Dark eyes squint at her. “Uh...duh? I’m acting as a priestess on the behalf of the dead right now. Of course I’m bringing up the goddesses a lot. Why wouldn’t I?”
Just like that, Larxene’s irritation drops away into another emotion she’d rather not explore. Shouldn’t have, being a Nobody, no matter what the new boss says.
what would happen if tell me verse xion met moop xion?
See, the fun bit is that neither one of them are aware of how things would have gone in their lives if there hadn't been an outside intervention.
Which is to say, bad.
MOOP Xion has a much sturdier support system than Tell Me Xion (plus the added advantage of you know, not be part of an accidental manslaughter).
Tell Me Xion is really not at a point right now where she would look at MOOP Xion's life without envy, because her story is not done while MOOP Xion's pretty much is.
So, Tell Me Xion would ask "Why did I not have a Saix willing to step up for me?" Not knowing about the time travel bit (which MOOP Xion doesn't either), or the fact that she already has someone who has intervened on her behalf.
Namely, Ruse who is an individual that is not an adult and has not any influence in Org13 unlike time traveling Isa.
