Challenge [186]: Black and White; Nothing
May. 11th, 2009 10:19 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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kh_drabbleChallenge: 186 - Black and White
Title: Nothing
Word Count: 597
Comments:
Woo! I've been wanting to write this for a while! Thanks for the challenge that finally made it work!
This takes place between Kingdom Hearts and Chain of Memories on the one hand, and... let's call it between 3 and 4 on the other.
Xemnas waited impassively while the old wizard listened to his apprentice's report. The mission had been a success, and another of the light warriors - 'knights,' they were called - the apprentice tirelessly hunted was dead.
"Very well," the wizard said when the apprentice fell silent. "Continue the hunt. I have heard reports of suspicious activity on Ord Mandell; you might search there."
"At your bidding, my master," the apprentice said, bowing his head, and his image abruptly disappeared. The technology behind communicating via such perfect liknesses had interested Xemnas for a time when he first arrived, but ultimately he had decided it was a parlor trick, like many of the wizard's skills, the telekinesis or the bolts of pure energy he had demonstrated for Xemnas once. No, it was the old man's subtler talents that had kept Xemnas on this world so long.
"I apologize for the interruption," the wizard said, his dark throne rotating to face Xemnas once more. "You said you had something to ask me?"
"Yes, your majesty."
"And yet you've shown little interest in my teachings, lately."
"In your magic I have no interest. It is not the source of your power."
"Oh yes?" The wizard folded his gnarled hands and smiled hideously. "Explain."
"Your magic comes from the darkness: anger, hatred, revenge. I see these things in your apprentice. The slightest push would make him Heartless, and a strong Nobody as well, I have no doubt. But I have watched you very closely, your majesty, and I see none of these things in you."
"And what do you see? Hm?"
Xemnas smiled, an eerie, empty expression almost as unsettling as the wizard's leering grin. "Nothing."
The wizard cackled in delight. "You see nothing, stranger? Then what is the source of my power?"
"Nothing is your power." Xemnas began to pace before the wizard's throne. "Your enemies, these knights, they scurry about helping the weak." He sneered. "I know the type. Your apprentice, he goes from place to place, driven by rage and regret. I've seen that before as well. But you..." He stopped in his pacing and turned to face the wizard. "You alone study... and understand. That the strengths of lightness and darkness are also..."
"...their weakness." The wizard stood up, smiling, and to Xemnas' surprise, embraced him. "Well done! Ha! I've spent decades building a world where neither the light nor the dark could stop me, and now, at last, someone understands." He shook his head fondly. "Twenty years ago, your 'knights' numbered in the thousands! Then my apprentice appeared, and in his power and his darkness I saw their destruction, but also my own."
"So you turned them on each other."
The wizard nodded. "Light and dark are both blind. They see only each other, they destroy each other. Neither will ever rule the world. If you want to do that, you have to use each against the other."
Xemnas nodded and smiled his uncanny smile again. "Thank you for letting me learn from you, your majesty. I will take my leave now. I think I have found what I needed to set things in motion."
"Wait." The wizard reached for his belt and pulled out a short rod. Xemnas' eyes widened. He had seen other weapons like it at work on this world, and admired them. "Take it, Xemnas. A gift from an old man to his one true apprentice."
Xemnas took the lightsaber and extended its glowing red blade. "Thank you, Emperor Palpatine. I had better go. The Castle That Never Was is far, far away."
Title: Nothing
Word Count: 597
Comments:
Woo! I've been wanting to write this for a while! Thanks for the challenge that finally made it work!
This takes place between Kingdom Hearts and Chain of Memories on the one hand, and... let's call it between 3 and 4 on the other.
Xemnas waited impassively while the old wizard listened to his apprentice's report. The mission had been a success, and another of the light warriors - 'knights,' they were called - the apprentice tirelessly hunted was dead.
"Very well," the wizard said when the apprentice fell silent. "Continue the hunt. I have heard reports of suspicious activity on Ord Mandell; you might search there."
"At your bidding, my master," the apprentice said, bowing his head, and his image abruptly disappeared. The technology behind communicating via such perfect liknesses had interested Xemnas for a time when he first arrived, but ultimately he had decided it was a parlor trick, like many of the wizard's skills, the telekinesis or the bolts of pure energy he had demonstrated for Xemnas once. No, it was the old man's subtler talents that had kept Xemnas on this world so long.
"I apologize for the interruption," the wizard said, his dark throne rotating to face Xemnas once more. "You said you had something to ask me?"
"Yes, your majesty."
"And yet you've shown little interest in my teachings, lately."
"In your magic I have no interest. It is not the source of your power."
"Oh yes?" The wizard folded his gnarled hands and smiled hideously. "Explain."
"Your magic comes from the darkness: anger, hatred, revenge. I see these things in your apprentice. The slightest push would make him Heartless, and a strong Nobody as well, I have no doubt. But I have watched you very closely, your majesty, and I see none of these things in you."
"And what do you see? Hm?"
Xemnas smiled, an eerie, empty expression almost as unsettling as the wizard's leering grin. "Nothing."
The wizard cackled in delight. "You see nothing, stranger? Then what is the source of my power?"
"Nothing is your power." Xemnas began to pace before the wizard's throne. "Your enemies, these knights, they scurry about helping the weak." He sneered. "I know the type. Your apprentice, he goes from place to place, driven by rage and regret. I've seen that before as well. But you..." He stopped in his pacing and turned to face the wizard. "You alone study... and understand. That the strengths of lightness and darkness are also..."
"...their weakness." The wizard stood up, smiling, and to Xemnas' surprise, embraced him. "Well done! Ha! I've spent decades building a world where neither the light nor the dark could stop me, and now, at last, someone understands." He shook his head fondly. "Twenty years ago, your 'knights' numbered in the thousands! Then my apprentice appeared, and in his power and his darkness I saw their destruction, but also my own."
"So you turned them on each other."
The wizard nodded. "Light and dark are both blind. They see only each other, they destroy each other. Neither will ever rule the world. If you want to do that, you have to use each against the other."
Xemnas nodded and smiled his uncanny smile again. "Thank you for letting me learn from you, your majesty. I will take my leave now. I think I have found what I needed to set things in motion."
"Wait." The wizard reached for his belt and pulled out a short rod. Xemnas' eyes widened. He had seen other weapons like it at work on this world, and admired them. "Take it, Xemnas. A gift from an old man to his one true apprentice."
Xemnas took the lightsaber and extended its glowing red blade. "Thank you, Emperor Palpatine. I had better go. The Castle That Never Was is far, far away."
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Date: 2009-05-12 09:50 am (UTC)this drabble is my goddamn wet dream. xD; OH GOD STAR WARS IS MY SECRET PASSION I WILL MARRY YOU IF HAN SOLO IS THE BRIDESMAID
/Wow/. xD I loved this. It was like... even if it wasn't Star Wars, it was super intriguing. That they would team up is very realistic. xD
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Date: 2009-05-12 01:23 pm (UTC)Just. That understanding between them is scarily believable, I shall hide now. o.o XD
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Date: 2009-05-12 04:16 pm (UTC)I love this. It works so well and you wrote it just right, and it makes for a very interesting explanation for Xemnas' weapon of choice. Thanks for sharing!