Jaixe

[Jaixe Furiael]

History of the Master of Darkness
"I am what others could only dream of being: Endless." - Jaixe, Seeker of Darkness

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Image credit to Sylleinseriin. Deviantart

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Emerging from the darkness that bore him, Jaixe was like all the rest: Nameless, formless, and filled with little but rage and contempt. He was a shadow of his former self, a shard of a being shattered in the misguided pursuit of discovery and curiosity. He was now a vestige of a blackness that would continually grow through adversity. Challenged time and again, his form evolved to better combat the ever-changing circumstances. First from a mere shadow, to that of a more humanoid appearance. Then, ignited by rage and frustration, he began to think. To learn. He grew curious with each evolution, both about things around him, and himself. Eventually, his thoughts grew more coherent and complete, and his questions about who he was, what he was became more insistent.

He later found he held a power that permitted him to transform at will, to become molded into any shape he desired. He used this newfound ability to craft a form for himself, one with elfin characteristics: thin and delicate, but still well-built enough to withstand punishment. He was regal-like in his demeanor, condescending to those of supposed lesser rank or power, and never viewing those who lived in the light as equals to himself. He was ever demanding more and more; be it more answers, more power, or more Darkness, he desired it all in equal measure. With every leap of understanding, his ego grew, until he found his other self. His Nobody, the decaying fragment that would serve as his key to greater knowledge and power.

This other half had called himself Xaldius, or perhaps he was given that name by someone or something. Regardless, he too sought what Jaixe had learned: the truth of their original self.

What they had learned left them wanting. A simple human, who stumbled upon power greater than himself, had simply gotten lost in it all, and succumbed to his own indiscretions. A failure, by Jaixe's standards.

But it was a trivial matter in the end. Now with an ally, and a grand vision of a world oppressed by the shadow of his power, Jaixe set to work. Ansem had just been defeated, but his great host of Heartless still roamed the Realm of Light, seeking the illusive Kingdom Hearts. He merely took control of the army so graciously left for him by his predecessor, and as the successor to a failure, the now newly crowned Seeker of Darkness sought to truly and decisively succeed where all else failed: For the light of all worlds, of all men, and all other creatures to be reduced to cinders and eventually snuffed out.

Many times was he defeated, though the second time it was by a keyblade wielder known as Chiasa, who had been kept secret from him as warriors gathered together to oppose him. It was in this battle that he arrived in the Omniverse, and where this version of Jaixe's backstory ends.

But in his original world, it would be far from his last battle. For, you see, he could not truly die. Not even by a keyblade wielder. Sure, his darkness would disperse, and his Heart would wander, but so long as his Nobody, Xaldius, also fell in combat, or even to his own blade, the two would soon return to being one, who would then become two once more. Thus the cycle repeats, and lasted long enough to cause devastation and ruin to many worlds and homes, as Jaixe's hordes never seemed to cease. With each defeat, he learned to do things differently. Every setback made him more cunning, more cautious. Time only made him stronger.

Though eventually this coalition of warriors that sought to stop him, and only succeeded some of the time, would elect to risk everything to wipe away the encroaching darkness. In the final battle, after many years of toil and struggle, the keyblade's chosen, Chiasa, and Telldranis, a Protoss warrior of significant skill and power, faced off against the Heartless master in his citadel, seeking to stem the tide at its point of origin. At the same time, his other self, Xaldius, was challenged by a man known as the Warrior of Light, alongside several others that aided him.

It was a gambit, and all were aware of it. Jaixe simply sought to let it happen, however, setting the board to his liking and ensuring the field of battle would be one of his choosing. Many warriors sought to add to the number that faced off against the duo, but were rebuffed by the swarm born of the night. It would be more accurate to say that those who had managed to withstand the torrents of Nobodies and Heartless that formed the ceaseless army had earned their place in the final battle. Jaixe sought to sweep the survivors away with ease, thinking them spent on the battles they fought to reach him.

Instead, he was defeated for his overconfidence in his ability and the lack of resolve in those that faced him. They were willing to sacrifice greatly to bring an end to his reign of terror. Telldranis was felled, forced to use his power to its greatest extent and beyond to even weaken the Seeker of Darkness. Chiasa, enraged by Teldranis's demise, tapped into power yet unspent, and sealed the Heartless's demise. At the same time, to ensure that the cycle remained incomplete, the Warrior of Light had poured the entirety of his essence, all of the light he could muster to him, as well as the borrowed light of other worlds and people, to seal away Xaldius into an eternal prison. The sacrifice of two great warriors had paved the way to peace. With the Heartless master reduced to wisps of energy, and Xaldius locked away for the foreseeable future, the Realm of Light had finally received the reprieve it desperately needed.

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Overview of Heartless
”The closer you get to the Light… The greater your shadow becomes.”

Heartless are beings of pure shadows born from the darkness of people’s Hearts, which is synonymous with souls. Heartless, of any type, can tear out the Heart of a person, with the resulting darkness of that void and the now missing Heart creating a new Heartless in the process. The greater the darkness they are born from, the more powerful a Heartless is. If the person that has lost their heart has a particularly strong mind and body, they can often become what is known as a Nobody (more on that later).

Heartless function on instinct, like a primitive animal, constantly seeking out Hearts in a vain effort to find or replace the one that they have lost. They don’t need sleep or food and are often attracted to great sources of light, including the Keyblade wielders. Heartless rarely show any form of intelligent thought or self-awareness. They do have a horde-mentality in large enough groups, and Heartless often come in numbers, except for some of the more powerful and larger ones.

Types of Heartless
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”They still need a name. Those who lack hearts... I will call them the Heartless.” – Xehanort (as Ansem)

Heartless come in two categories, two distinct types, that have differing characteristics unique to both. The first and most prominent variation are the Pureblood Heartless, which are those naturally born of darkness. For the most part, Pureblood Heartless are colored black or varying shades of purple, and typically have a color scheme reminiscent of shadows. The most generic form of Pureblood Heartless are Shadows and Neoshadows, and Purebloods are often more melee-focused in combat and the most numerous variant.

The second variation of Heartless are the Emblem Heartless which are more colorful and often have the symbol of the Heartless on their person. Emblem Heartless are often more varied and ones that can use magic are more prevalent. Emblem Heartless often take different forms relating to the Heart of the person they were born from or the theme of the world they are found in.

Emblem Heartless were originally artificially made by Xehanort, then known as Ansem, and were given the emblem to distinguish them from their Pureblood cousins. The one thing that is truly special about this type of Heartless is their ability to carry the Hearts of their victims while still making more Heartless in the process, typically more Emblem versions. The more Hearts an Emblem Heartless carries, the more powerful they tend to become, sometimes even changing forms and evolving. Pureblood Heartless typically lack this ability, and it is not known if they can also evolve or not.
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Realm of Darkness
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”I know I've been here a long time, wandering through the endless hours... unable to escape..." - Master Aqua

All Heartless are connected through Darkness, being entities of Darkness after all. Darkness represents negative emotions, fear, anger, hatred, as well as representing the lack of a soul, a Heart. The Realm of Darkness is the antithesis to the Realm of Light, where the worlds often lie when awake and not forced into a slumbering state when beings of Darkness overtake the world’s Heart. The Realm of Darkness is a chaotic, ever-changing place where time has no meaning, and Heartless are found in massive amounts. It is depressing, ever attempting to sap the life out of any victim that has found its way into such a place and extinguishes any light found within it.

The Realm of Darkness is the home of all Heartless, and as such, when a Heartless is destroyed by means other than the Keyblade, they simply are reconstituted here in amongst the twisting pathways, deep caverns, and sunless skies of the empty, bleak wasteland.

Deep within the Realm of Darkness is Kingdom Hearts, specifically the Kingdom Hearts of all Worlds, which is often smothered by a horde of Heartless ever clinging to the light it produces, but unable to truly reach it. There also exist doorways and gateways back into the Realm of Light, but finding such is a difficult and arduous challenge. With the constant wave of Heartless and the oppressive nature of the land, anyone that could survive here without having all hope and light extinguished and losing their Hearts simply to the oppressive darkness around them are truly powerful and pare in possession of a will of steel.
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Nobodies
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"The cycle of ruin that I have created is not so easy to "correct." For all your strength, you are worthless before me." - Jaixe, Seeker of Darkness

Nobodies are the remnants of people turned into Heartless. They are the body and mind that remain, lacking a Heart to feel emotion or connections. They can wither and disperse after a time, but the most powerful of Nobodies can sometimes reconstruct a new Heart. When such happens, they are considered a whole person, but would still have a Heartless version of themselves roaming about, and would share a connection to them.

Nobodies come in varying shapes and sizes, and are notably adaptable and malleable, as if barely held together. The most common form that one can find a Nobody in is the Dusk, which is the mainstay of Organization Thirteen’s forces. Other versions besides the human-sized Dusk are still plentiful, and often a Nobody of significant power would have lesser Nobodies of a specific theme related to them be under their control.

It is known that when a Heartless regains their Heart, they can regain their human form and abilities, but would still have a Nobody roaming around that is also part of them. This is best explained via the idea that Heartless that return to being human are still technically a Heartless by nature, but one of Light rather than Darkness in this case. They would continue to be an incomplete entity until they recombined with their Nobody. If a Nobody and their Heartless are both defeated and destroyed, the original human that they were born from would reconstitute in the place that they were slain, Heart, mind, and body all present and accounted for.
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Seekers of Darkness
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”If the light of hope has been extinguished, I shall henceforth walk with darkness as a friend.” - Ansem (Becoming DiZ)

In rare cases, such as with Jaixe, Heartless can evolve and develop intelligence and thought, creating an identity for themselves and a consciousness that is increasingly self-aware with every struggle and conflict it is a part of. For most Heartless, the ability to become self-aware is nigh-impossible to achieve. For Jaixe, however, fortune and circumstance favored his evolution, and fierce challenges frequently forced him to frequently adapt and overcome whatever was thrown his way. Eventually, he began obtaining fragments of his memories and a new personality molded by the constant conflict. Through it all, he became something far greater and far more sinister than what had come before.

Jaixe is a Seeker of Darkness, a being of great power and ability that terrorized the Realm of Light. Seekers of Darkness are those Heartless that have attained such power and intelligence as to have a humanoid form, one typically like the person they once were.  While not originally as powerful as his predecessor, Ansem Seeker of Darkness, he was still a force to be reckoned with. Alongside his Nobody, he consistently represented a threat that could not be extinguished for good, but instead lingered after every defeat, bringing a cycle of devastation. Utilizing the Heartless that Ansem had summoned, Jaixe mastered manipulating the battlefield to his whim and conquered worlds, swallowing them whole in the shadow of his ever increasing dark hordes, and either wholesale devoured or scattered their remaining populace. He was only finally brought low by the combined efforts of Keyblade wielders and fierce warriors, who sacrificed much to bring about an end to the ever-reborn Heartless master. Sealing his Nobody for eternity, and eviscerating his Heartless form, Jaixe could not be reborn again, and his once mighty swarm was left to scatter.

Allow me to note here that Ansem was a unique case in canon. Heartless cannot normally evolve into such a higher form, and while they may still hold fragments of memories of their past selves, they don’t have sentience of any substantial form. Furthermore, Ansem, when turned into a Heartless, did not have a humanoid form. He required a host with a Heart tainted by darkness, and willing to accommodate him, to affect greater control into the wider world.
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Changes due to Omniphysics
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The Omniverse has changed much of what a Heartless is. For starters, Heartless are similar in nature to demons and other entities of darkness, so Jaixe would seem to be familiar, and yet distinct due to lacking that infernal essence so common to such creatures of hellish worlds.

Secondly, the Realm of Darkness does not exist in the Omniverse and the Underverse is not a suitable substitute for it, especially since it is so thoroughly cut off from the rest of the multiverse. As a result, all Heartless are not linked to another and Jaixe cannot command them like he used to. To emulate that connection, or for others to attempt to command Heartless, telepathy would be required alongside a reasonable TEC.

Lastly, the ability to steal other people’s souls does not work quite the same on Primes as it would normally. Jaixe is capable of “harvesting” the Heart or the darkness of a person, though the process would take a considerable amount of time, and the Prime would more than likely just die from the attempt and respawn afterwords. This would leave some essence behind, which has little practical value to most, but which could be molded into a Heartless form. Heartless may still be able to steal the Hearts of other Secondaries that might succumb to their darkness, but such would be considered a simple transformation, akin to an infestation with a peculiar thematic appearance.
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