Chapter 6: Betrayal
Mikage sat in her jail cell hugging her knees to her chest. She looked up as Zexion appeared on the other side of the bars. You can read my mind, can't you? he asked mentally. She nodded to confirm it. He continued speaking aloud, "This is your fault, you know, for having such a strong heart. If you had been born into this world a Dusk, then it wouldn't hurt as much."
Mikage jumped up and grabbed onto the bars. "My fault?! Whoever sent those monsters to attack everyone in town is at fault!"
Zexion sighed. "They're called Heartless." He explained to her what had happened.
"It was you? But why?"
"It was an experiment, but it failed. We should have listened when he told us to stop. We should have known better. Are you angry with me?"
"I'm not pleased." She folded her arms across her chest and turned away from him. She decided not to tell him about her run-in with Ansem the Wise upon her arrival as a Nobody.
"I don't know why I asked. It's not like our emotions are real."
"Not real? You've got to be kidding me!" she shouted, turning back around. She resisted the urge to grab his ear and give it a good twist.
"What did you expect without a heart? By the way, how did you come up with that name for yourself?"
"I was trying to remember my name, but it came out jumbled and sort of stuck that way."
Zexion couldn't think of calling her anything except Kage-san, so that worked for him. If Xemnas had made an anagram of her first name with an X, he wouldn't have recognized it. He'd thought about calling her by her first name, but it sounded inappropriate coming from him. While he would have been required to call her by whatever name Xemnas had been about to give her, it would have taken a while to get used to.
"Aren't you going to apologize to me?" she asked, interrupting his thoughts.
"What?"
"Say you're sorry."
"But I'm not sorry. I mean, this isn't what any of us had in mind at all, but the experiment...even though it was a failure...it was worth it to find out..."
"Find out what?"
"Never mind. I've said too much already. I have to get back to work. I'll see you around."
She watched him go. All she had were more questions. She vowed to make use of her new power and get to the bottom of things.
Zexion had to admit to himself that he did have a twinge of guilt, but there was nothing he could do about it. He had been okay with what they had done, even if he didn't like the results. The consequences of their actions were all around them, but Mikage had been his friend. Although she had been his babysitter, she'd treated him almost like an equal. He remembered a conversation he'd had with her once before about books and holiday worlds.
"Once when I was six, I had a nightmare that the library was closing and I was only allowed to choose one book and I couldn't decide. It was awful," she'd said, laughing.
He'd laughed too. "Yeah, that sounds pretty bad," he'd agreed.
She'd spotted the Halloween Town book on his shelf. "Hey I have this one too. I wish the holiday worlds were real. I'd like to go there."
"Me too. It looks like it would be fun."
"Then let's go together someday."
"Right." They'd both laughed again.
His only regret had been the outcome of the experiment, that was for sure. Mikage was part of that outcome, so it followed that he regretted her heart being devoured as a result of the Heartless overrunning their world unchecked. He had to make it up to her somehow, even though nothing could measure up to what he and the others had caused.
He approached her cell again the next day. "Kage-san, I'm sorry the Heartless got out and took away your heart. I understand if you won't forgive us, but I have something to show you. Have you figured out how to move through the darkness yet?" he asked. She shook her head. "If you promise not to run away, I'll teach you."
"Where would I run? I wouldn't leave you guys," she replied.
"Even after what I told you?"
"I don't like what you did, but you had to have had some reason for doing it. You're still you, after all. I'm not giving up on our friendship."
Zexion smiled. "Okay. Reach your arm out like this and focus." Mikage opened up a portal from the inside of her cell and reappeared outside of it next to Zexion. "Now you can go wherever you want to...with permission, of course. In fact," he added, opening a portal of his own, "I have to go to Twilight Town to do recon. It shouldn't take that long, so you can go with me if you want. We'll be back before anyone notices you're gone."
Mikage agreed and held his hand. They were about to step through the portal, but Vexen suddenly came up behind them and stopped them. "And just where do the two of you intend to go skipping off to?" he asked disapprovingly.
"I'm taking her to see Twilight Town, that's all," Zexion replied.
"Neither of you has any business going out on your own."
"Then why don't you come with us?" Mikage suggested, grabbing Vexen's hand.
"Well...fine. For the sake of the research," Vexen conceded reluctantly. Zexion didn't want him to be their chaperone, but if they hadn't brought him along he would have told the Superior on them.
As they skulked around the streets of Twilight Town, Vexen having warned them that they should try not to be seen by the inhabitants, Zexion tried to shake off a strange inkling of familiarity. They had not been to Twilight Town too many times already, so it wasn't that. Mikage still had not let go of their hands, and if anyone had seen them they probably would have thought they were a family. They weren't, of course, but Zexion had memories deep in his subconscious of his real parents that were being triggered by walking around with these two.
Soon, though, Vexen had had enough and told them they had to return to the castle. "We haven't been gone that long," Zexion protested.
"If any Heartless show up, we won't be able to fend them off," Vexen pointed out.
"Why do we need to be worried about Heartless?" Mikage asked. "We already don't have hearts. What more can they do to us?"
Vexen let go of her hand so he could summon his shield for no reason other than to point out that he was the only one with an actual weapon. "They are still very dangerous, and the two of you are practically defenseless. What would you do if I hadn't come with you?"
Zexion let go of her other hand and summoned his lexicon. "I could cast an illusion to confuse them. That's my specialty."
Vexen scoffed. "You wouldn't have time if they jumped you out of the blue."
"I can also sense them as soon as they appear. That's my other specialty."
Mikage backed away as they continued to argue about the usefulness of their abilities. After a couple of minutes they realized that she wasn't with them anymore. Vexen was furious. "She's run off! This is your fault for taking pity on her."
"I was just trying to apologize to her for what we did!" Zexion explained.
Vexen looked at him solemnly. "Nothing can make up for that."
Zexion hung his head dejectedly. "I know."
To their surprise, Mikage returned with a sea salt ice cream for each of them. "Don't go off on your own like that, young lady! You know I hate that!" Vexen scolded.
"Sorry for not saying anything. Are you done arguing now?"
"You went and got ice cream because we were arguing?" Zexion asked in disbelief.
"What? You thought I was running away? I told you I wouldn't do that."
They put their weapons away and accepted the ice cream. None of them got a winner stick, but Mikage kept them anyway as a memento.
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