In which Max's 'condition' is used to Nexan's advantage

Max winced as she pried her eyes open and propped herself up on her elbows. For a minute, she was in complete confusion, unable to remember where she was, what she was doing there, and how she got there. Then she did recall, and wished she hadn't.

"Oh good, you're not dead," was Nexan's simple statement. "Well, I guess that's a perk."

Max glared at her Superior, who stood a few paces in front of her, facing away. She thought it was strange, Seycax taking her all the way to Radiant Garden without any real hesitation. It all made sense now.

"This was planned, wasn't it?" Maxsodin accused, finally regaining control of a bit more of herself, including her voice.

Nexan turned at gave Max a cool look. "What, the whole "go out of control again" thing? You could say it was semi-planned, yes."

Maxsodin felt like attacking Nexan, but quickly stopped herself. She wasn't fully recovered. Part of her, no, make that most of her, was still under the Darkness's control. She was lucky to have almost all her mind back under her control.

"Why?" was her feeble question. She had thought the Superior cared enough to not risk her life so carelessly.

Nexan turned at gave Maxsodin a sorry look. She helped III to her feet and supported her.

"Here," she said quietly, perhaps rethinking her rash actions herself. "I'll show you."

She led Max over to where she had been standing. Now on her feet, Max could see the landscape below. It was Radiant Gardens, Seycax's old house in Radiant Gardens. Max remembered the place, yes. This was near the place she had lost all control.

It was the moment she did lose control that bothered her the most though; not why Nexan was showing her Seycax's house. Usually, the Darkness would trick her into the illusion of control, more like letting Max fall asleep inside herself and not know it. But this time it hadn't waited. It simply sunk Max into the depths of her own mind until she was crushed into unconsciousness. Like one would yank a child away from a delicate object after foolishly trusting them with it.

"Max?"

Maxsodin snapped herself back. She had been zoning. "Hmm, what?"

Nexan rolled her eyes. "Did you catch anything that I just said?"

"Sorry, no." Max's face was void of emotion.

Nexan tisked unhappily and muttered something under her breath. "Okay! So you know that's Seycax's house, right? More accurately, Casey's house."

Max nodded.

"Well, Casey had a uh, friend... there, that had vast potential. We needed her on our side, and I wasn't sure just how to do it." She checked Max for any sign of understanding. Finding none, she continued. "You see Max, Seycax became a Nobody when you attacked her unwillingly. As in, while you were under... 'influence'."

Again, Max nodded.

"And so, we decided that the safest way to make her friend Raven a Nobody was to repeat our, or should I say your, actions. In a much more controlled environment, that is."

"Safe for who? This Raven girl or me?" Menace oozed into Maxsodin's voice.

Nexan glared at Maxsodin, warning her to cut the attitude. Max dropped her gaze, but the questions still hung in the air, unanswered.

There was several minutes of silence between the two until Max dared to pipe up again. "Nexan?" she asked hesitantly. When she received no chastisement, she continued. "Where's Seycax now?"

Nexan pointed at the house. "In there, probably mourning about the lose of her friend."

Max began to feel panicked. "I didn't kill her, did I?"The pitch of her voice rose more than she would have liked.

Nexan laughed a bit and patted Max's head, like one would do to a dog who had run from a hissing cat. "No, you didn't kill her, silly! But to Casey, a the girl's Somebody meant a lot to her."

Max mulled over this information for a second, then dared to throw in her opinion. "I don't see why she's wasting her time here. She could be back at the castle, awaiting her friend's Nobody to wake. As far as I'm concerned, Nobodies are not different or worse than a Somebody."

Nexan gave a sidelong glance at Max an her stubborn beliefs, and sighed. "For once, I agree with you, Max."

Again, the two lapsed into silence. This time, it was Nexan who broke it.

"Well, she's taking an awful long time. We better get you back to CO, Max, before you collapse or something. And you can't go alone, so I guess I'll have to come with you."

"What about-?"

"I'll send someone back to fetch Seycax later. I don't think she'll want to come back for a while, but I'll give her another few hours, tops."

As Nexan and Maxsodin made their way back to the closest portal, Max's mind was uneasy. The unanswered question haunted her certainty: "Safe for who? This Raven girl or me?"