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

[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.

[theschemer]

Ienzo took a moment to think about it. How best to describe Vexen to someone who had never met him? There really was no point in sugar-coating the truth, he supposed. Vexen wasn't a bad person, but it was a little difficult to describe him without bringing up his faults.

"Anything but a poor soul," he started, not having to try hard to imagine how unhappy he would look at being called such. "He's proud, short tempered and cantankerous."

As for his negative traits... he didn't say, instead sipping the last cold dregs of his tea and smiling wryly.

He thought about what else he should say. He doesn't suffer fools gladly? He can't bear to be undermined by somebody he deems inferior and he's very taken with the concept of hierarchies, but only when he's at or near the top..? No. It was all true, of course, but none of it was worth mentioning. Not really.

Ienzo shook his head, looking at Nel through his fringe. "He's a scientist and he takes his work very seriously. He won't be easy to prise out of Daguerreo, not with all of that information there, but the draw of a library and possible lab space elsewhere should be an attractive prospect... and he's proud enough that flattery might help."

Which sounded ridiculous, but what else was he supposed to say?

He glanced around. He was relatively confident that he would be able to catch the scent of Marluxia and Lumi's chakra before they got close enough to overhear, but he wasn't one hundred percent sure. Not with this much Mist saturating the air.

"He doesn't know Lumi as far as I know, but he has no love for Marluxia." He said just about managing to keep the tension from his face. "The two, to put it very mildly, were enemies. The only person he hates more than him is the red-haired man that Ulquiorra fought. That fact is our greatest asset."

[declaregamuza]

Proud, and grumpy, Nel thought, well he'd fit right in with Khamja's happy crew, at least he had that going for him. Despite what Zexion said about him not being a 'poor soul', however, Nel was inclined to disagree.

Anyone being collected by Khamja was in an unfortunate position, whether they consented to it or not, because the thing about Khamja was that the individual's consent was neither here nor there. They joined willingly, or unwillingly, or they'd be eliminated, because Khamja was of a mind to break things it couldn't have just so that others couldn't have them, either.

It wasn't even like joining willingly was protection against eventual elimination, anyway.

She felt sorry for Zexion. He was young, and smart, but some of the powers in Khamja had decided that, since he'd fallen out with The Order, they should have him instead, and now the boy would spend the rest of his life with Khamja's leash around his throat whether he liked it or not. A leash that, at the whims of others, could readily become a noose.

Aizen had already made us of him, and that didn't sit well with Nel, either. Aizen left her feeling that way a lot. Sometimes she wasn't sure what he was after, sometimes she was reasonably sure that what he was after was the better option, and sometimes, even when it was the better option, she didn't like Aizen's methods. But she was loyal, and had to stay loyal, because even when she disagreed with something, she had to think of the other Arrancar who were variously too young, too impetuous, or too damaged to protect themselves.

Aizen was complicated, and Nel's loyalty to him was complicated, and sometimes that kept her awake at night.

And Zexion had been thrust into this world, and now another was being dragged into it.

She tilted her head at the mention of Lumi and Marluxia. No love lost between him and Marluxia made sense, because Nel could understand that point of view very easily, but not knowing Lumi? "I thought you were all part of a group?" She asked, and then shook her head, dismissing that thought for a moment. "Or were, anyway." There had obviously been rifts, between this man and Marluxia, and, from the sound of it, everyone except the berserker, and the fire elemental, which now meant a rift between the berserker and everyone else, too.

[tozasemurcielago]

Ulquiorra listened to Zexion speak with his eyes closed. The information was useful, not least the fact that the man, a scientist, and that was part of the stated reason for being so keen to bring him into the fold, was of a personality to require appeasing, but also the tension between him and Marluxia.

Ulquiorra wasn't present to appease anyone. He was here to guard Zexion, and potentially subdue a reluctant acquisition. It would be down to Neliel and Zexion to appeal to the man's ego and entice him to join them willingly.

If nothing else, the fact that Nel had nearly killed the fire elemental in their encounter might hold some encouragement, if he despised the fire elemental as much as he despised Marluxia.

Not knowing Lumi, however, made Lumi, who felt powerful, and who seemed as loyal to Marluxia as Ulquiorra seemed to Aizen (Appearances could be deceptive a voice whispered, internally, and Ulquiorra shut it down), might deter Vexen from joining. Lumi was too much of an unknown quantity, and the fact that Marluxia kept him close enough to bring him on a mission such as this despite that possibility only made it worse.

"Lumi and Marluxia should not have attended," he said, quietly.

[theschemer]

Ienzo looked at Nel, but addressed Ulquiorra's comment instead of her concern. He wasn't sure how much Marluxia would want him to say. The two weren't really allies, but they had come to an understanding. Enough of one for Ienzo not to want to bring his partnership with Lumi into question.

"It's best if they're here," he said, scowling. "If we're going to get Vexen to come with us, he needs to strike up a truce with Marluxia sooner rather than later or he won't agree to join at all, not knowing he's there."

That, however, was going to be the hard part. Marluxia had ordered Axel to kill Vexen just as Saix had ordered Axel to kill him. Ienzo held his elimination in Castle Oblivion against Saix just as much as Axel, but it wasn't the fact that Saix had ordered it that had forced him to leave, it was the fact that he'd kept that information hidden until he'd slipped up and revealed it unintentionally. The deception of the human had done more damage to any notion of trust within the Order than the plans of the Nobody.

He couldn't be sure that Vexen would feel the same, but it was worth appealing to his ego anyway.

"They'll never be allies, but they should be able to put their differences far enough aside that they are able to stay in the same Clan without trying to kill each other at every turn," he said, rather hoping that he was right about that.

[declaregamuza]

Nel gave a wry half smile, and looked at Ulquiorra. "Besides," she said, "those two were not going to let Zexion and two Arrancar go off to recruit another Khamja member."

She caught Zexion's eye, briefly, twitching the corner of her mouth up at him as she did. Zexion seemed to trust and like Marluxia about as much as she did, and while Ulquiorra might be less concerned with the delicate internal politics outside of matters that concerned Aizen, she expected Zexion felt them a little more acutely.

"Fortunately, Marluxia seems as intent on bringing this man back alive as we are, and he's just charming enough that I don't think he'll accidentally jeapodise the chances of it." He didn't seem the type to put his foot in it unless he wanted to, so they had to hope that he really did want to recruit this one, and didn't change his mind before they got back to the Palace.

[tozasemurcielago]

Ulquiorra responded with a quiet grunt. He still disliked travelling with Lumi and Marluxia; things would be less complicated if they weren't in attendance, and not just because Ulquiorra would be escorting Zexion to protect him from outside forces, and not, potentially, ones from within their own travelling party.

Not that he was going to admit to any such opinions in Nel's presence.

He picked up his coffee in both hands and took a drink before he asked Zexion, plainly, "Do you believe bringing Vexen to the Palace is the best course of action?"

He sounded difficult to work with, but so was Szayel, and like Szayel, despite the downfalls, he had a lot to offer. The question was whether he'd be prepared to offer it, whether he would be an ally of Zexion's, whether he would be an ally of Aizen-sama's, and whether taking him to the Palace where he would be less easily reached by others would be worth the effort of doing it. They were investing a lot in retrieving this man; he would need to be worth it.

[theschemer]

Zexion looked at Ulquiorra and nodded.

"I do," he said, quite seriously. "As a scientist, Szayel would probably pale in comparison to what he's capable of. He's bad tempered but he's brilliant."

Of course, he also had the arrogance to go with that brilliance, but an ego didn't invalidate his ability in his field. Vexen could make replicas outside of Spira, there was no saying what he could achieve here with the research materials, equipment and laboratory space that may be available to him in Clan Khamja.

He sighed, picking up his cup and then putting it down again when he remembered it was empty.

"He's worth bringing in. He'd be an asset," he was sure about that. "If we don't, there's a good chance that one of the Order will take him out and he's valuable."

He chose not to play his 'he practically raised me' card. He decided that it may be worth using later, should he neel to appeal to Nel's gentle nature, but he wouldn't let Ulquiorra know about that, not just yet.

[tozasemurcielago]

That answer wasn't quite enough to satisfy Ulquiorra, but he hadn't expected better. If Zexion considered the man worth bringing in, then that would have to be enough. It certainly sounded as though Vexen represented a lot of potential value, which would be why they'd been tasked with retrieving him.

If he turned out to be too difficult to work with, he would either have to stop being difficult, or be eliminated. Since they already worked with Szayel, he'd have to be extraordinarily difficult to be too difficult.

Ulquiorra nodded his head, just once.