It all seems to fall at your defense.

[theschemer]

Ienzo ached all over.

He wasn't sure he could remember the last time that he felt so exhausted. He had slept well enough in the hotel bed, but a single night's sleep was nowhere near enough to soothe away the strain of travel. He had, thus far, been unsuccessful in his request for a second one.

Just under a week ago, he had been informed that one of the Ryoka had defected from the main group and relocated to Daguerreo, an ancient, vast and half-submerged library out in the wilds of Nabradia. The Ryoka in question, a man described as being tall and very similar in appearance to an Al Bhed, could only be Vexen. Or Even. Whatever he was going by now -- Ienzo didn't know.

Under ordinary circumstances, Ienzo would have pointed out that Vexen was a scientist and that a trip to a repository of information like Daguerreo would not be out of character for him, certainly not enough to count such a trip as being a defection. However, these weren't ordinary circumstances, not now. He remembered Ulquiorra's recording of the battle following the Fall of Midgar. More precisely, he remembered Axel's participation in said battle, and the fact that he was fighting alongside Saix. That, Ienzo was sure, would definitely be enough of a push to get Vexen to cut ties with the group once and for all.

After the revelation came to light (something that L was responsible for), a quiet meeting was held with some of the other members of Khamja. From there, it was decided that he should be ... collected. It wasn't that Ienzo was concerned about him returning to the Order that had made him agree to do it, it was more that he wouldn't put Vexen's elimination past certain members now that he had shown a desire to leave them behind. Clan Khamja was not exactly safe, but it was certainly safer than going it alone in a still unfamiliar world, with enemies behind you, even in a remote location such as he had chosen.

A brief discussion later and a small party was decided upon. It was a carefully picked group of powerful fighters, friends and, it had to be said, enemies.

The group that left the Desert Palace consisted of Lumi and Marluxia, a pair of full Khamja members with enough firepower between them to subdue an unwilling addition to their ranks; himself, due in part to his long association with Vexen, his similar circumstances and the knowledge that Vexen would not trust Marluxia or his partner in the slightest without someone to vouch for them; Ulquiorra, now known to be an associate of his and someone Aizen could trust not to let him escape; and Neliel, because she was strong, non-antagonistic and it was safer for two of Aizen's minions to go on a trip such as this than one, especially given the company.

So far, the journey had been arduous, at least as far as Ienzo was concerned. For a start, it had all been taken across ground, or under it, instead of by airship. They had travelled more of the Zertinan Caverns than Ienzo had known existed and, in spite of the fact that some of it had been undertaken on chocobo-back, there was rather more walking on his own two feet than he would have liked. The second leg had been across the desert, all mounted. The longest part thus far had been through a great tunnel called the Fossil Roo.

That had been the worst.

The Caverns were bad enough, but the tunnel was long to the point of being seemingly endless and, as if that wasn't bad enough, it was also full of air so stale that it had been recommended that masks were worn for that part of the trip.

The aspect of it that had unnerved Ienzo the most was the fact that the Roo stretched from one continent to the other. Underwater. The idea that there was no hope of escape in the event of a cave-in was not his idea of a good time. The huge Gargants that scurried along the long-dead root systems that sprawled across the ceiling was not much fun either and they had, at least to begin with, spooked the chocobos quite as much as they had spooked him.

Well, they were giant spiders.

It had not taken him long to work out that, when the tunnel was built by whichever ancient culture had carved it out, the path between Dalmasca and Nabradia had probably not been submerged at all. Indeed, the sea above them was very likely to be considerably shallower than the rest of it. It had, to his reckoning, been some sort of land bridge recently enough that an intelligent culture had made and, for the duration of their stay, maintained the path. It was a minor miracle that it had survived for so long without its integrity being compromised.

Alternating between riding and walking, they had made the trip from one end to the other in a few long and, after a while, rather painful days. The only positive aspect of the Roo was that it was, for the most part, free of monsters brave enough to bother a party of their calibre.

They had come up some distance inland on Nabradian soil. The nearest city and, as luck would have it, their destination, was Luxerion. It took the group more than a day to reach it, but it was visible long before that thanks to the sky-piercing spire of the city's Cathedral. Luxerion may have even lived up to its name if it wasn't permanently overcast and swirling with Mist of the sort of density that could probably be described as 'low-to-moderate-risk-to-foreigners'.

They arrived late and in darkness. Luxerion did not have much of a tourism industry, not since Nabradia's fall, so the party had no trouble getting a hotel room for the night.

With dawn having broken, the city was beginning to come to life again. Shops opened their doors as the cathedral's bell tolled and, an hour later, Ienzo found himself sat inside an open-fronted café in the railway station, nursing a cup of rapidly cooling tea.

Comments

[tozasemurcielago]

When the news had come that another of the Ryoka had abandoned The Order, Ulquiorra had expected that a party would be sent to collect them. Zexion had been collected in much the same way by Marluxia, Lumi, and Kuja; Khamja would hardly let the opportunity to further swell their ranks with The Order's defectors pass them by. He hadn't expected, however, that Zexion would be considered necessary enough to risk sending him out of the Palace.

It seemed that Zexion was considered precisely that important for this, however, and since Ulquiorra had become acquainted with him, Ulquiorra had been tasked with keeping an eye on Zexion.

Lumi and Marluxia were not important to Aizen-sama's plans, but Zexion had been, and may be again. Ulquiorra considered that his task was not only to ensure Zexion didn't attempt to escape, with his introduction to Khamja being partially involuntary, but also that Zexion made it back to the Palace in one piece. Ulquiorra was aware that Zexion's relationship with Marluxia and Lumi was tense at best.

There were similar tensions between Marluxia, Lumi, and the Ryoka they were going to collect, which was why Zexion was so important.

Neliel was in attendance to keep a lid on the situation, should one arise. She was also, Ulquiorra knew, there for his own protection. Aizen-sama would not have been content to allow a single Arrancar to travel with three Ryoka to pick up a fourth defector, as it would imply far too much trust.

They were travelling on the ground. It had begun with the caverns, then chocobos across the desert to the Fossil Roo, and from there to Luxerion. From Luxerion, they would take the train. Daguerreo was hard to reach, and a trip by airship would still have required leaving the ship in Alexandria to travel by foot or by chocobo across into Nabradia.

The train was a morning train, and so the party was up earlier than Ulquiorra would have preferred. He travelled with a minimum of fuss and complaining, but long days on foot or bird had taken their toll even for him, and a night's rest in a hotel had been appreciated. It hadn't eradicated the muscle aches and tenderness of the journey, and even though a shower had helped somewhat, Ulquiorra would have appreciated perhaps another couple of hours or so to sleep.

Instead, the party had temporarily disbanded to acquire supplies from Luxerion. Neliel had headed that way, and Ulquiorra had opted to stay in the station, with a cup of questionable quality coffee with a little more sugar than usual to mask the questionable taste, and Zexion.

He also had a newspaper, although there wasn't much of interest in it. The local news was of no concern, and the national news was of no great importance, but it had been worth a look to at least ensure that being out of contact with Khamja's main base for a while, and coming out into the Mist swamped lands of Nabradia, hadn't meant they'd missed anything significant.

They hadn't. They also hadn't attracted any attention themselves, as far as they could tell, which was good.

Ulquiorra folded the newspaper, half skimmed, and half unread, and put it on the table. The others would meet them before long. Then Ulquiorra would have to endure their company once more.

[theschemer]

Ienzo sipped his tea unhappily, staring off into space, eyes unfocussed.

"Another night here really would be nice," he said, quite pointedly, putting his cup back down with a bit of a sigh.

His shoulders and neck ached from carrying his travel supplies in a backpack for so many days and his legs hurt from both walking and from staying in the saddle of a chocobo for long stretches. Like Ulquiorra, he had had a shower, but what he really wanted was more sleep and a long bath.

[tozasemurcielago]

Ulquiorra murmured a wordless response, picking up his coffee and taking a sip. It was still poor, even with extra sugar, but it was hot, sweet, and had caffeine, so Ulquiorra dealt with it.

"The train will be a more comfortable mode of travel than we have used so far," he said, feeling rather than saying the 'at least'. A train was going to be infinitely more comfortable than a chocobo saddle, that much was certain. "We will hopefully stop here again on the return."

When Ulquiorra got back to the Palace, he was going to soak in a bath until the water went cool, and then sleep for a day.

[declaregamuza]

"Might have known you two would find the shop with tea," Nel said in greeting. Zexion looked like he could take some more sleep, easily, and Ulquiorra, well, to be honest, he just looked like Ulquiorra usually did. Nel couldn't tell if he was approaching this mission with his usual steadfast commitment to getting it over with the minimum of noise, or whether this was how Ulquiorra suffered.

Nel had suffered, though quietly. She was sick of chocobos, sick of travel food, sick of sleeping where they could, and sick of not being able to wash her hair properly.

She'd had a room to herself, and the opportunity to sprawl out in a real bed the night before, and shower for half an hour this morning had done a lot to lift her spirits. She'd be glad when they got to Daguerreo, and even more glad when they got back to the Palace, but Nel was, like Ulquiorra, a professional.

Especially around Marluxia and Lumi. Those two gave her the creeps; Marluxia was a smug bastard, and Lumi was just off in ways she could never put her finger on, but it was enough to unsettle her. Not that she let it show, because Nel had dealt with a lot of creeps in her time, and she knew better than to let them know they bothered her.

Besides, it was less bothering and more instilling in her a desperate desire to smack Marluxia so hard his face landed on the other side of his head. Lumi was the sort of creepy she could deal with because she had to, but Marluxia was that bit too smug, and kept his creepy pet just close enough, that she kept wondering how smug he'd be if she kicked him in the nadgers.

That was probably the grouchiness from travel talking.

Maybe.

She put a restocked backpack (more food, a couple of extra ethers, more water, and most importantly, more dry shampoo) down at the next table, and went straight up to request a tea for herself from the vendor.

[theschemer]

"Hopefully for a few days," Zexion muttered to Ulquiorra, pushing idly at the handle of his teacup with a fingertip, turning it halfway around in the process.

He looked up as Nel arrived, snapping out of his zoned out state.

Ienzo didn't mind Nel. She was kind to him, and pleasant. He knew very well that the reason she was there was to mitigate the potential risk to Ulquiorra as the otherwise lone Arrancar on the trip, but he was glad that it was she who had been picked. Mostly because he was half sure that Marluxia's partner would have killed any of the others if they'd irritated Marluxia enough for him to idly make such a suggestion.

Probably.

He wasn't entirely sure of the dynamics of their relationship.

"The tea's about the best thing to have happened on this trip so far," he said, sounding rather more sullen than he'd have liked. "Other than the hotel room, anyway."

[tozasemurcielago]

Ulquiorra eyed Zexion out of the corner of his eye, but Neliel's appearance interrupted before he could respond. Ulquiorra had no objection to Luxerion, or to Ienzo, or, for the most part, to Neliel, but he'd prefer to be done with this task sooner rather than later.

Instead of admitting that, however, he kept quiet, picking up his coffee for another sip.

[declaregamuza]

"Well, I'll agree with you on the hotel room," Nel said, before making her way back with a cup of tea. She smiled softly at Zexion as she sat down. "At least the next part of the journey is easier."

She wasn't particularly looking forward to the long and subterranean road back, but she'd prefer not to think about that right now.

Zexion was having a rough time of it, she could tell. He didn't seem the type who used to spend long days travelling and getting dirty and fighting monsters. He seemed like he was more at home with his nose in a book, and a chair under him, and a desk in front of him.

She looked around, sensing reiatsu while non-clandestinately spying out anyone earwigging, before she said, "So go on, without those two around, what's the poor soul we're going to 'collect' like?"

They had information, of course, but there was a difference between information and someone who actually knew them. Nel knew that their target would be more inclined to listen to Zexion than the other two, which meant Nel was willing to give him a chance from the off, but other than that, information about what the person was like, as opposed to what his knowledge and abilities were like, had been scattered at best.

Nel wanted to know what she was walking into.

[gracefuldahlia]

Marluxia had suffered a crick below his right shoulderblade since the chocobo ride. He wasn't sure whether it was the ride itself, or that he hadn't trained with his scythe since the start of the journey, and he was now starting to feel it. Zexion knew about it, as did Lumi, but Marluxia wasn't prepared to risk any techniques in the presence of Ulquiorra, or Nel.

Especially Ulquiorra. That one had the unique ability to replay anything he'd witnessed, in detail, for later analysis by third parties. Unfortunately, he'd had no good reason to reject Ulquiorra's company, especially in light of the fact that no one, including Zexion, trusted him with Zexion without an escort, and Zexion had become acquainted with Ulquiorra.

So Marluxia was forced to deal with the boy's presence. Nel, at least, was more pleasant company, and much more personable. Though she too could be a little stiff, when the time came. He couldn't quite understand Nel; she was loyal to Aizen but was far too genuinely nice to have any good reason to be loyal to someone like him.

Marluxia wanted to get this over with. Vexen would, inarguably, be an asset. Marluxia didn't like the man, although he wasn't about to pretend that the notion of having the three of them reunited under the same roof once more wasn't amusing. With both Vexen and Zexion nearer himself, and cut off from The Order, Marluxia had access to their innovations and discoveries where the likes of Xigbar no longer would.

It would cripple The Order, and boost Marluxia's power within Khamja, provided he could get Vexen to set aside his grudge for long enough to ally with him.

Luxerion was a strange place. Grim and haunting at night, it seemed much more pleasant by daylight. The church dominated half the city, and the other half was given over to shops and the train station.

They'd taken the opportunity to resupply, and were on their way to the station so they could catch the train to make the next leg of the journey.

"Have you ever been on a train before?" He asked Lumi. He'd discovered there were a few experiences Lumi was lacking, on this journey, and if he hadn't been on a train before, this had the potential to be an interesting part of the trip for him.

[thesilentstorm]

"Once or twice," Lumi replied, glancing around at the sights of the city.

It looked different in daylight.

During the night, when they had arrived, it had seemed sombre but full of the splendour of a large, modern -- for a given value of 'modern' -- and potentially lively city. Windows had been illuminated in the darkness and the late-opening shops had cast inviting rectangles of light across the richly tiled floors. Wrought iron metalwork had gleamed darkly in the streetlights and the frontages of the train station and surrounding buildings had looked impressive and well-kept.

Now, in the thin morning light, Lumi noticed that the ironwork was spotted with rust, some of the tiles were broken and the plastered walls were ingrained with years of accumulated grime and chipping in places. It was as though the light had washed away the city's delusions of grandeur.

"Bullet trains," he elaborated. "The journeys were short. I don't imagine that this one will be."

He swung his bag up onto his shoulder and expertly kept the wince he felt from his face. The travel was taking its toll. He ached and he was tired. Lumi had barely slept on the journey through the underground, catching only snippets and snatches of sleep when it wasn't his turn on watch. He had gone out like a light almost the moment his head hit the pillow once they had checked into the hotel, but it hadn't been near enough.

On the upside, the next leg of their journey was at least a day's ride by steam train across the country. It was slow and likely to be dull and uneventful, so he should be able to catch an hour or two. When they came back through Luxerion, however, he was going to insist on spending more than a night there to catch up on his rest before they headed back towards that damned Roo.

[gracefuldahlia]

"No," Marluxia agreed, "this one will take most of a day." Marluxia privately welcomed the opportunity to rest that the train ride would offer, too. In the very least, there wouldn't be any tedious monsters, they wouldn't have to carry their bags, and there would be no chocobos to deal with.

Marluxia didn't mind chocobos, exactly, but you could definitely have too much of them. Around the point where you were accustomed to the smell was where you'd had too much.

"And then Vexen," he said, trying to picture that man making the return journey with them and struggling. Recruiting him without restraining him and forcibly carrying him back with them was going to require all of Zexion and Marluxia's talents at diplomacy.

[thesilentstorm]

"And then Vexen," Lumi echoed, glancing at Marluxia.

He blew out a short sigh and looked up at the nearest clock -- Luxerion did seem to have an unusually high number of them. They still had some time to kill before they would find themselves cooped up with Zexion and the Arrancar.

"What should we expect from him?" He asked. "I understand that you and he do not see eye to eye."

He knew that much, but the swift nature of the mission's start and the current company had not given Lumi chance to ask his opinion on how things were likely to go. Now, away from the others, was the first opportunity he had found.

[gracefuldahlia]

Marluxia glanced at Lumi, and then smirked. He'd picked up on that much, then, even if no one had been overly explicit about the fact that they didn't get along.

"I ordered him killed," Marluxia said, with a smile. "He's a tedious, shrieking harpy with an inflated sense of his own importance, whose presence is as aggravating as that of Szayel," although Vexen's presence didn't constitute a low-grade sexual assault all on its own.

He looked at Lumi, and shifted the weight of his own bag before he added, with a sigh, "Unfortunately, he's also a singularly talented scientist, which means that, as much as I don't relish the idea of bringing him to the Palace so I can be in close confines with the man, having him and Zexion on our side is of significant benefit. The two are a scientific dream team, and if there are any edges or talents available to us as Ryoka, they will be the first ones to discover and master them. They will also be able to discern a lot of information from this world that we may find useful."

They might, also, spot flaws or weaknesses in the other people in Khamja, including the Arrancar, or in their abilities, and Marluxia would welcome that information, should it come his way. That, however, was a possibility, and not something Marluxia considered key to Vexen's potential value.

"If nothing else, we should take the opportunity to keep him out of Xigbar's hands."

[declaregamuza]

The train had been a welcome break from a chocobo. The seats were more comfortable for a start, and there was a refreshment trolly that served tea of dubious quality, and sandwiches of even more suspect quality, but after so long, even a bad cup of surprisingly hot tea was welcome.

Ulquiorra spent most of the journey in what Nel considered his Power Save mode, speaking when spoken to, and otherwise very still, like someone who was dog tired and didn't have the energy to hold a conversation. Not that this was unusual for Ulquiorra. She certainly knew the feeling; she had aches where she had no business having aches, and she could have easily stayed in Luxerion for another night.

They couldn't risk someone from The Order beating them to Daguerreo, unfortunately. Once they had their target in the grasp, they could take as long as they needed to get back, but the thinking was that if Khamja knew he was there, others would soon find out.

Nel wasn't sure how likely that was, but L had been a bit spooked about losing all of his informants in Rabanastre, and was playing it safe as to the risk of there being a leak, or him having been beaten to the information about Vexen's departure, due to his sudden and unexpected lack of informants.

Nel had got through two out of date women's gossip rags on the journey. Anything to avoid pretending to be social when she was too tired to put the effort in. Marluxia and Lumi appeared obnoxiously wide awake, which didn't do much for Nel's mood regarding the two of them.

They'd waltzed up to the station with coffee. Nel hadn't commented on it, but had been amused to notice Lumi carrying a cardboard cup ticked off with the markers for 'latte' and 'vanilla', meaning he had something in common with Szayel.

When she'd read every scrap of idle gossip and sad story one upmanship in the magazines, such as the woman whose husband left her for a Seeq, and the other woman whose husband left her for a Bangaa while she was pregnant, and other such tales of romantic woe, she discarded the magazines. She was tempted, briefly, to offer them to Lumi, but thought even he might catch that dig, so she refrained, and checked on the kids.

Not that Ulquiorra and Zexion were kids in anything but the technical sense, but she felt like they were her responsibility in a similar way.

"Not long now," she said, snapping Ulquiorra out of his doze to get a nod from him and a small noise that was basically a grunt of recognition.

[theschemer]

Ienzo sat by a window trying not to doze off.

Instead of sleeping, something he really, really wanted to do, he zoned out and watched the countryside whizzing past. Sadly, in Nabradia, what passed for countryside was a lot of warped grassland, peculiar rock formations, marshes all covered in Mist and old, ruined cities. There were some clear patches, but much of it was drear and dull. It didn't help that it was starting to grow dimmer and dimmer as the day drew closer to evening, either.

At any other time he might have been interested in what Mist could do to ravage a landscape, but exhaustion pushed the curiosity away and turned everything on the other side of the glass into a grey and green blur.

Conversation might have kept him more alert, but nobody seemed interesting in talking and trying to keep a conversation going, or even attempting to strike one up, didn't feel right given everyone's mood. Lumi and Marluxia seemed content to sit in silence closest to the door of the carriage. Nel sat in the middle, between Ulquiorra and Marluxia.

He looked across at Nel when she spoke and nodded.

[gracefuldahlia]

It was on journeys like this that Marluxia really appreciated the nuances of Luxord's company. They'd played poker, once upon a time, although Luxord had a somewhat cavalier attitude towards cheating. He never broke the rules, but he'd certainly push them as far as they'd go.

A game of cards might have made the time pass more quickly. Marluxia was reasonably sure Lumi had caught a catnap at one point, although even Marluxia wasn't sure, which meant it was unlikely anyone else had noticed.

He was fighting exhaustion himself, now, but he'd kept himself awake by mulling over what lay directly ahead of them. Vexen was not going to be pleased to see him, by any standards, and depending upon how bad a day Vexen had already been having, Marluxia's chances at getting an icicle aimed at his head increased drastically.

The scenery outside was dismal. It brought to mind some of the fragmented worlds, broken by the Heartless and whatever other forces lay in the Darkness. This world had seen fit to make him a Geomancer, which had entailed learning how to manipulate Mist to use the environment for magic, and Marluxia could feel how powerful and abundant it was here, even from inside the train. The landscape had been flooded and ruined by it.

"I'm sure our appearance will make Vexen's day," he said, softly. No one had pretended that Vexen would be pleased to see them; no one is pleased to see an envoy from Khamja, but no one had explicitly said, aloud, and to the group, that Vexen would be displeased to see them, either.

Well, they'd find out soon enough.

[declaregamuza]

Nel eyed Marluxia. If their target hated him as much as Zexion said, then he'd need a good spiel ready before he went in there, and so would Zexion.

"What's your plan?" She asked, of both of them. She knew what her plan was, hers, and Ulquiorra's: stick close, observe the situation, and subdue the target if necessary, but they were there to subdue by force.

Zexion, and Marluxia, were there to try words, first. Better to have someone join Khamja willingly than be dragged in as a captive, and not just for the whole bother of getting a captive all the way back to the Palace. It'd be much better for their target, too.

She wasn't sure what Lumi's plan was. Possibly, kill the target if all else fails, but he probably had some role before that point, even if it was to make sure no one got it into their heads to kill Marluxia while he slept.

[thesilentstorm]

Lumi listened.

He sat upright and very still, but not still enough to be stiff. His eyes were closed, his legs were crossed and his hands were folded in his lap. He looked... if not relaxed, then definitely at rest.

He wasn't, though. He was alert. He hadn't been for the entire train ride, though. He had, as Marluxia suspected, catnapped on and off.

[theschemer]

Ienzo thought about it and gave a bit of a shrug.

"Appeal to his better nature," he said, quite cheerfully.

Of course, what he meant was 'appeal to his ego', which he had told Nel earlier on. He looked across to Marluxia and Nel, eyebrows raised a bit.

"I'll speak to him first," he said, as if that part of the plan wasn't obvious, "though you," he nodded at Marluxia, "should accompany me. Nel and Ulquiorra, you two might want to hang back. I'll tell him we need him, flatter him, point out that it will be dangerous for him if he doesn't on account of certain members of the Order possibly tracking him down."

He left off the 'and killing him' because that much was obvious. Particularly to Marluxia.

"If that doesn't work, we'll point out that the base will have a degree of privacy, lab space if he's willing to convert a spare room and like-minded morally challenged members willing to fund his experiments." He paused and backtracked a bit. "I might not put it like that, but it's about the size of it."

[tozasemurcielago]

Ulquiorra opened his eyes, his gaze flickering to Zexion, but he didn't interrupt. When Zexion finished, Ulquiorra intoned, his voice deep, and low, "We will be observing from outside. Any aggressive spikes in reiatsu, and we will intervene."

Uninvited. Ulquiorra didn't expect that Zexion was going to get aggressive, but there was the possibility that Vexen would once confronted with Marluxia, or that Marluxia would if he considered the moment without the Arrancar presence to be an opportune one. Ulquiorra wasn't here for Marluxia's safety, but he didn't trust him any further than he trusted Gin, and Vexen was an unknown quantity.

[declaregamuza]

Nel opened her mouth to speak, and then stopped again when Ulquiorra spoke. Then she murmured, quietly, and dipped her head in half a nod. She agreed with Ulquiorra's sentiment, at the very least; they would not be far behind, even if they had to stick behind.

She glanced at Lumi. "I take it you're waiting with us, then?" He didn't seem to be part of Zexion's plan to entice Vexen; that one was on Marluxia, and himself, which left Lumi in the unenviable position of either being a spare prick at a lesbian wedding and making things awkward, or having to stick about with the bodyguard crew of herself and Ulquiorra.

Because waiting for Marluxia and Zexion to coax a crotchety scientist who in the very least would rather see Marluxia dead than join him was exactly what Nel wanted to be doing while in the company of two guys for whom emotions were things that happened to other people.

On the other hand, if Lumi went in with them then she knew Ulquiorra would object. Potentially out loud.

[thechillyacademic]

Vexen had been ensconced in his room's reading chair, as comfortable and as relaxed as he ever got, when he felt the air turn ... wrong. He looked up from the yellowed pages of his book and closed it over a finger, scowling to himself.

The thick, heavy wooden door, four hundred years old if it was a day, muffled any voices outside it, but it didn't dampen the trace amounts of energy signatures that he could feel. The familiarity of it cut through the ambient background noise of Daguerreo like a hot knife through butter and he felt the unpleasant prickling on the back of his neck before he fully realised what it meant.

Before he fully realised who it was.

Every instinct in him wanted to freeze the door closed, to coat the inside with ice and lock himself inside, but he sat there, unmoving save for a tremble in the fingers of his free hand, barely breathing. If he felt them in here, he knew that they'd be able to feel him out there, especially if they were looking for him and they had to be.

They. They.

How had they found him? He'd taken a strangled route to Daguerreo, going from Lindblum to Alexandria and then by sea instead of by train. He hadn't given anybody in Rabanastre any inkling that he was planning to leave at all, let alone where he was going to. He supposed that it was an obvious place for him to go -- it was the biggest library in the world -- but the more logical course of action would have been to lose himself in a populated city.

Preferably on Dorstonis.

He'd been foolish to think he might be able to stay at a remote location, even a remote library, without it coming to anybody's attention. He had expected the Order to come after him, some sniffer dogs sent by Xigbar at Saix's behest, perhaps. He almost laughed at the idea. But no, it was 'envoys' from Khamja. Five of them.

He supposed he should be flattered by the number. Zexion was there, as was Marluxia. He didn't know the other three, but he suspected that one of them was the associate of Marluxia's that he had brought with him. Reports said that they were inseparable.

The other two? He didn't know. The feel of them alarmed him for reasons he couldn't place. If he thought about it, he knew he'd be able to work out why, but the slowly rising panic made it difficult, even for him, to think, to put a finger on the memory. He'd subconsciously filed them into the 'dangerous' category already. He'd undoubtedly find out why, later.

He sat, very quietly, and jumped when he heard the rapping on the door. The deep, hollow knocks reverberated around his cold stone room and then cut off abruptly. Silence followed. It almost felt like they were giving him the option of responding.

That was laughable.

If Khamja was there, he knew had no option, not really. They were there to either recruit or kill him. If the former failed, they'd undoubtedly fall back on the latter. Maybe that's what Zexion was there for, to lessen the chance of them killing him like a schoolyard bully making the most of the 'if I can't have it, nobody can' mentality that bullies everywhere employed.

His suspicions were confirmed when he heard the scraping of the lock being picked.

[gracefuldahlia]

Marluxia stood back while Lumi worked at the lock, mildly interested if only because he hadn't seen Lumi do this before. Part of him wondered how often Lumi had done it before. Especially here on Spira, for that matter. He'd have to ask him, later.

Once the lock clicked open, Marluxia moved in to open the door. He met Lumi's eyes once, before turning to Zexion, and nodding. He opened the door carefully and peered inside, without crossing the threshold.

He'd half expected to see Vexen brandishing his shield already, raised, and ready to fire off a round of ice spells that would have made for a chilly greeting as only Vexen could give. He wasn't. Marluxia couldn't decide if he'd been considering his options instead, and realised that he was too outnumbered to defend himself if it came to a fight. His best option would be to hear them out, perhaps even to play along, and make a bid to escape later, if he could manage it.

Once it was clear that the doorway wasn't about to become the target of a barrage of icicles, Marluxia held the door, and stood aside so Zexion could enter, before stepping in himself, and delicately closing the door behind himself, shutting the other three on the other side of it.

"It's been a while," he said, as greeting. "Though I'm sure you don't consider it long enough."

[theschemer]

Ienzo glanced up at Marluxia as he spoke, but stepped forward all the same. Vexen didn't seem threatening. He seemed, as Ienzo thought he might, scared by their presence but trying very hard to make it look like he wasn't. He wasn't sure whether to take it as an encouraging sign or not. Vexen was smart enough to know what was going on.

He steeled himself, determined to look more confident than he felt. He hoped that he looked more awake than he felt, as well.

He didn't miss the chill in the room. The rest of the library wasn't what he would consider warm, but Vexen's chamber bore a definite difference in temperature, different enough to make his breath visible in the air. He resisted shivering. Not even the beeswax candles burning in holders and sconces did anything to raise the temperature.

"Vexen," he said, as a greeting. "I expect you know why we're here."

[thechillyacademic]

Vexen narrowed his eyes at Marluxia, torn between definitely not dignifying that ridiculous comment with an answer and snapping at him. It was a difficult choice.

As luck would have it, Zexion's comment, timed to cut off his train of thought halfway, was enough to get Vexen to turn his slitted gaze on him instead. He gritted his teeth for a moment, only half able to keep a lid on his annoyance. It was almost enough to override his fear.

Almost.

"What do you think?" He said haughtily. "If five members of Clan Khamja showed up at your door, what would you think it was about?"

[gracefuldahlia]

Marluxia nodded, slightly, and gave a short sigh before he began, "Then we'll cut to the chase. We know you've left The Order," he said, gesturing with one hand, and painting the words into the air, "and we know at least some of the circumstances under which you've left." He glanced towards Zexion, before looking back to Vexen, "We know of Saix's betrayal, and continued betrayal, and," he emphasised the word, "we know Axel is here."

He dropped his hand, taking a breath before he sighed again, more heavily this time. "If nothing else, Vexen, we have a common enemy. Two of those three standing out there fought Axel and Saix as a combined force not long ago." Nel had nearly killed Axel, even, and Ulquiorra had tried, but failed. Saix's reaction to Axel being in such danger, however.... "It's safe to assume they're firm allies once more, and we're no happier about that than I expect you are."