Character Development Saix had several huge shocks to his system when he first arrived in Marina. Timeline-wise he’s from KHII’s prologue—before Roxas gets reabsorbed, before Axel abandoned the Organization (and, by extension, personally betrayed Saix), and before the Organization’s plans got so thoroughly derailed by Sora and his friends. One of the first things he heard after arriving, from Namine no less, was that Axel was dead, and he’d played a direct role in it. He was still clinging stubbornly to the idea that getting his heart back—getting both of their hearts back—would mean being able to return to a Radiant Garden where they were both still Isa and Lea, as if nothing had ever happened. The truth of just how much he had changed, and just how far apart both he and Axel had grown, had still not sunk in. As such, this information was fairly devastating.
The first person he met face to face, after hearing all that, was Euphemia (from Code Geass). Actually interacting with someone who had a heart—and a very good one, at that—was not only jarring, but had an affect on him that he didn’t fully realize for a long while. Later, after a fight with Sora and Riku that nearly killed him, Euphie helped him hide while he recovered. Baffled by why she’d help a stranger she owed nothing to, and assuming he had some sort of debt to repay, he paid more attention to her than he ever would have otherwise—trying several times to repay that ‘debt’.
The reason the fight with Sora and Riku didn’t manage to finish him is that Xion showed up and fought alongside him—ultimately casting the cure spell that saved his life. He had no idea who she was—for a while he assumed she’d been an Organization member who joined after the point in time he’d been taken from. She was a familiar element from home who didn’t a)hate him (like Roxas) or b)a threat (Larxene and Marluxia).
Axel arrived not long after—time-line moments before his death, and as such wanted nothing to do with Saix. The two of them spent a very. Long. Time. Going from tentative truces to full-out animosity, both of them often wondering if it was worth salvaging anything of what had once been such a close relationship when they’d still had their hearts. It wasn’t until fairly recently, when Axel had his stolen soul (courtesy Thief King Bakura of Yu-Gi-Oh) returned with Saix’s (and Willow from Buffy the Vampire Slayer) help that the two of them finally came to a mostly permanent resolution.
Overestimating Namine’s abilities and underestimating her ethics, Saix took it upon himself to be her watchman/bodyguard—keeping her powers and whatever potentially damaging information she may or may not have possessed from Marluxia and Larxene. She wasn’t given much of an opportunity to refuse, but she did get protection from those two out of the deal. Disproving ‘familiarty breeds contempt’, Saix eventually warmed up to Namine; who, despite being afraid of him initially, was still kind to him. His objective went from ‘Keep Namine’s powers away from Marluxia’, to ‘keep Namine away from Marluxia’, to ‘Protect’ Namine from Marluxia’, and finally just to ‘Protect Namine’. It took a while, but she became someone that Saix doesn’t want to lose.
As for Xion, she was the only person in the prison for a long time who both knew who and what he was, and didn’t hate him. She actually cared about what happened to him—a fact that took a great deal of repetition and finally a punch to drive home. For someone who’d become convinced that no one would notice if he were to vanish, this was a Very Big Deal.
Saix himself has spent a lot of time, by virtue of necessity, actually looking at the person he’d become. He’s had to realize that his single-minded pursuit of a heart had cost him him best friend, his humanity, and eventually also would have cost him his life. He knows what his fate would have been if Sentience hadn’t intervened and brought him to Marina; avoiding the mistakes he would have made and not repeating the ones he already has has been something of an obsession. He knows there was nothing noble or redeemable about him when he first came to Marina—if nothing else, he’s gotten just a little bit better than that.
He met Fou-Lu (Breath of Fire VI) by chance early on in the game, not long after Axel had arrived, and while he was at a particularly low point. Fou-Lu gave him sympathy and listened, unasked and without expecting any sort of repayment. It made for an odd tableau: a Nobody who was miserable yet desperate to feel more, and a Dragon God who thought a heart was a burden he’d rather be rid of. A mistake on Saix’s part not long after threatened what rapport they’d formed—but Saix did manage to redeem himself, and Fou-Lu eventually forgave him. That relationship has been a very long time in the development—which is probably its own essay, but it’s safe to say that they found a kindred spirit in each other.
His relationship with the AI responsible for kidnapping him in the first place is an odd one (with shades of Stockholmes, probably): he’s grateful for what she did, since it gave him a chance to not screw up as horrible as he would have, and gave him a chance at personal redemption. In return for a favor done for her, Sentience promised him a heart. He’s currently in a preparatory stage (Sentience told him she couldn’t just give him one without him laying the groundwork for it first), a sort of limbo between both states. Since Sentience was replaced by a newer AI, it is unknown whether that process will be completed—a fact Saix is very much aware of.
There’s easily over two hundred logs that Saix has been a part of since I started playing at Marina—it’s been nearly a year since I was accepted into the game. Not all of them are publicly accessible—due to some RL problems considerations (as in, my housing situation might become dire because I have a homophobic sibling who regularly trawls the site for reason I still don’t understand—who’s whim could get me kicked out of house and home). As such, I can understand things seeming incongruous for someone not part of the site.
I won’t claim perfection; I know my characterization has been wobbly at points, especially near the beginning where I was finding my footing. I know I don’t tag as many other characters as would be ideal—that’s something I’ve been working on improving, and something that comes with having a fairly anti-social muse. I’m doing my best.
And please, please, if you have some sort of questions or concrit, leave me a note on Saix’s journal. Or our monthly HMD. Or use my easily-accessible contact information from the site to IM me. I will listen. I may disagree, but I will hear you out and consider what you have to say.