Complicity

I wanted to write a scene in which Xehanort tricks Ienzo into helping him, since Ienzo is credited with asking Ansem to build the secret room. We saw Ienzo staring at him and Braig, calling Ansem's attention to them like he didn't trust them, so it would have taken something like bringing his parents back to turn that around. To do that, I had to think of a way that could have possibly sounded like a persuasive argument (I'm still not clear on how everything works since there have been so many exceptions). Ienzo being a kid doesn't have much to do with it other than his vulnerability, since all the adults were fooled by Xehanort too. The apprentices never wanted anything bad to happen; they just wanted what they could get out of it, which turned out to be a lie.

"Whose kid is that?" Xehanort asked Braig.
"You mean Ienzo?" Braig remarked. "His parents were apprentices too, but they died in an accident. We take care of him now."
"I see..."
"Hey, go easy on him," Braig warned, not knowing what he was up to. "No one messes with him but me."
Xehanort approached Ienzo when he was alone. "I heard about your parents. I'm sorry." Ienzo shifted uncomfortably but didn't say anything. "You must want them back more than anything, don't you?"
"There isn't a way," Ienzo murmured.
"Have you tried?"
Ienzo took a step away from him, not trusting him. "No. Even can make replicas using people's DNA, but that isn't the same as bringing them back. Once they're gone, that's it."
"You poor thing...You don't know about the heart of all worlds."
"Huh?"
"Where does a person's heart go when they die?"
"It stops beating."
"Not that kind of heart, their life essence. People's hearts return to the heart of the world. If you were to add that to replicas, then wouldn't they have the same personalities and memories as when they were alive?" Xehanort was using clever words to trick him, and it was working. "I'll help you find them, but first you have to help me."
"What do you want me to do?" the boy asked uncertainly.
"All you have to do is be a good boy and follow my instructions to the letter. Can you do that?" Ienzo thought about it and then nodded slowly.
***
Their research went on in secret until Ansem caught Ienzo accessing the secret room one night. "Ienzo? Why are you going down there this late at night?"
Ienzo froze. Xehanort had told him this day would come; he'd have to choose between his parents and his master. "X...Xehanort asked me for a favor..."
"Does this favor involve opening the door to the heart of the world? I told him it's forbidden. You would do well to go back to your room."
"Is it true?" Ienzo whispered. "Can he really retrieve my parents' hearts from there?"
Ansem was shocked and fearful. "What has he been telling you?!"
"If it's true, I...I want to try! Please, Master!"
"No! Go to your room, and I'll sort this out with him."
Ienzo went down the passage instead. When he and Ansem reached the secret room, Xehanort was already there lying in wait. Before Ienzo could react, Xehanort banished their master to the Realm of Darkness.
"Don't blame yourself," Xehanort said when Ienzo didn't move, still staring at the space where Ansem had been. "It was the inevitable result of his meddling."