[ having alhaitham listen with actual interest is encouraging, even as xehanort's enthusiasm fades a little as he recalls, again, his lack of traveling companions. he stares at the keyblade in his lap for a long moment, rotating his wrist to turn it over - impractical as it may have looked, it almost hummed with the strength of his own heart - before letting it vanish back into motes of light.

the question has him blink up at alhaitham, it not quite being the query he had expected. the world order had already been a rule that his group had been willing to... bend, though definitely not break, in their search for clues. he brings a hand to his chin, thinking for another long moment. ]

I suppose it would affect how a world develops. Most are unaware of the Lanes, of us, and of other worlds. [ he makes a vague gesture around them. ] It's not right for a visitant to influence that with knowledge or power the world wouldn't naturally develop on its own.

[ sure, they meddle a bit. but the meddling was coated in excuses and kept away from local's eyes as much as possible. they're guardians of light, that's what they were supposed to do - fend off the darkness and keep the worlds alive, functional, and able to continue their stories.

he puts the pawns he'd been demonstrating with back into their rightful places on the board. ]

This world feels different. [ he smiles, only a bit sadly. ] Literally falling out of the sky isn't how it usually works, for one.