"There's a certain type of weapon that can do it," Lea said, "but those are pretty rare, and people that know how to use them to do that are even rarer. More often it's because of Heartless; again, with a capital 'H'. They're likely sort of similar to you world's deamons, but they don't really have blood or anything; they're mostly incorporeal. They're sort of like... darkness made solid and those that don't form naturally in the Realm of Darkness are formed when a person's heart is completely consumed by darkness."
"Unlike Nobodies, they can't really think or plan, and with very few exceptions just act on instinct, like wild animals. Unfortunately, that instinct is to make more Heartless. They're drawn to people's hearts, or more accurately, the darkness in people hearts. Pretty much everyone has at least a little, and a little is all a Heartless needs. They attack people and tear out their Hearts. The Hearts are consumed by darkness, and become new Heartless, which go on to attack more people, and it just goes on from there if they're not stopped. It's part of why it's darn near impossible to completely eliminate them once they've got a foothold on a world; wherever there's people, they can potentially replicate."
"Heartless aren't really supposed to be able to get out of the Realm of Darkness, and them being a major problem in our world is a relatively recent development, like in the last decade or so. But when they become a problem they become a big problem, and Nobodies along with them. Nobodies something that wasn't ever supposed to exist. And technically, according to my world's physical laws, they don't properly exist, because without a heart, they can't contain either light or darkness. But they're also very sold mostly physical entities and... yeah, safe to say, they're weird. Most of them look the part too, looking kind of like whiteish or grayish empty suits of clothes that can more on their own. But the strongest ones maintain roughly the same form they had when they were human, along with their memories, so they can sort of act like their old selves if they want to."
"But it is just an act, at least at first; Nobodies are born without hearts, and so they can't feel anything. And we used to think that they were pretty much stuck like that too. But relatively recently, we learned that wasn't the case. Nature abhors a vacuum, as the saying goes, and it turns out that Nobodies can sort of... grow a new heart over time. It happens faster if they interact with people and make an effort to form connections, but at least for the strongest ones it's likely to happen eventually regardless. Plus, if both the Heartless and Nobody are destroyed in a specific way, the whole person can be recompleted, though best not to try that unless you know what you're doing."
"So in a way, Nobodies could be considered a type of zombie, I guess, but they're not gonna be shuffling around looking for brains or anything. In fact, there're actually two Nobodies here in Auradon now: Roxas and Vexen. Both of them are pretty far along in developing new hearts, so it's hard to tell, but neither of them is technically human. Which I figured was better to tell you now, with an explanation, rather than have it come out later and maybe have it cause an unnecessary panic. Neither of them is gonna hurt anybody; as it stands, they're just... people in a really weird life situation, I guess is the best way to put it."
And if Prompto had witnessed Lea or others interacting with either of them, or even interacted with them himself, he'd know that was true. Especially for Roxas, who Lea spent a good deal of time with and clearly considered a friend.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2025-05-05 02:44 am (UTC)"Unlike Nobodies, they can't really think or plan, and with very few exceptions just act on instinct, like wild animals. Unfortunately, that instinct is to make more Heartless. They're drawn to people's hearts, or more accurately, the darkness in people hearts. Pretty much everyone has at least a little, and a little is all a Heartless needs. They attack people and tear out their Hearts. The Hearts are consumed by darkness, and become new Heartless, which go on to attack more people, and it just goes on from there if they're not stopped. It's part of why it's darn near impossible to completely eliminate them once they've got a foothold on a world; wherever there's people, they can potentially replicate."
"Heartless aren't really supposed to be able to get out of the Realm of Darkness, and them being a major problem in our world is a relatively recent development, like in the last decade or so. But when they become a problem they become a big problem, and Nobodies along with them. Nobodies something that wasn't ever supposed to exist. And technically, according to my world's physical laws, they don't properly exist, because without a heart, they can't contain either light or darkness. But they're also very sold mostly physical entities and... yeah, safe to say, they're weird. Most of them look the part too, looking kind of like whiteish or grayish empty suits of clothes that can more on their own. But the strongest ones maintain roughly the same form they had when they were human, along with their memories, so they can sort of act like their old selves if they want to."
"But it is just an act, at least at first; Nobodies are born without hearts, and so they can't feel anything. And we used to think that they were pretty much stuck like that too. But relatively recently, we learned that wasn't the case. Nature abhors a vacuum, as the saying goes, and it turns out that Nobodies can sort of... grow a new heart over time. It happens faster if they interact with people and make an effort to form connections, but at least for the strongest ones it's likely to happen eventually regardless. Plus, if both the Heartless and Nobody are destroyed in a specific way, the whole person can be recompleted, though best not to try that unless you know what you're doing."
"So in a way, Nobodies could be considered a type of zombie, I guess, but they're not gonna be shuffling around looking for brains or anything. In fact, there're actually two Nobodies here in Auradon now: Roxas and Vexen. Both of them are pretty far along in developing new hearts, so it's hard to tell, but neither of them is technically human. Which I figured was better to tell you now, with an explanation, rather than have it come out later and maybe have it cause an unnecessary panic. Neither of them is gonna hurt anybody; as it stands, they're just... people in a really weird life situation, I guess is the best way to put it."
And if Prompto had witnessed Lea or others interacting with either of them, or even interacted with them himself, he'd know that was true. Especially for Roxas, who Lea spent a good deal of time with and clearly considered a friend.