( FYI,
What is currently written here will spoil the entirety of Birth By Sleep & 358/2 days. I do not own Kingdom Hearts, or any of the characters.
Now that that's out of the way, on to the story!)
That's it…
I have joined him.
Roxas will rejoin as well.
Eventually.
I should no longer be, but I still am.
Even though I was originally created from his memories, I made my own, and will still exist, forever, inside him.
I see another. He looks like Roxas, but I know Roxas hasn't returned to Sora yet.
Who is he?
(Once Xion, a young girl who appears to be fourteen years old with short black hair, was destroyed by Roxas, the memories that made up her physical form returned to Sora. As a side effect, Xion's partial heart came as well.
For over ten years, Ventus, a fourteen year old blond boy with a shattered heart, has stood, as a silent sentinel, waiting, watching, healing. Soon, his heart will be completely healed , and when it is he will extend his influence into Sora, so that his heart may rejoin with his body, in the Land of Departure, although it's more recent name is Castle Oblivion. Aqua left his body there, to protect it from the darkness.
Also, in the corner, there is a dark figure, who looks suspiciously like Sora. He is muttering to himself, completely oblivious to what is going on around him.
Currently, Roxas is trying to fulfill Xion's dying wish, to see Kingdom Hearts destroyed. Somehow, through the broken existence of Xion, and Ventus' shattered heart, Roxas is now able to wield two Keyblades. Inside Sora's heart, the two will encounter each other, and watch as Roxas advances on The World that Never Was, and within, The Heart of all Men, currently called Kingdom Hearts.
Also, this is how I talk to the audience, and how I will say what Roxas is doing.)
" Who are you?" They both said, instantly on their guards.
" My name is Ventus. Call me Ven. Who are you?" He said, questioningly.
" My name is, was, Xion. I'm not so sure anymore. My existence was only possible because of Sora's memories. Once my body perished, everyone ceased to remember me. I don't know who I am anymore." Said Xion, looking confused."Wait, how are you here?" She continued.
" My heart joined with Sora's heart around ten years ago, after Vanitas( Ven points at the boy in the corner )and I fought inside of my heart. It was fragmented and, somehow, the conscious part of it found it's way here. Soon, my heart will be completely healed, and I can return to my body once more." Explained Ven, looking critical, and sad. He didn't like to think about that day. Because of Vanitas, and Xehanort, unnecessary bloodshed was caused, and more than a little heartache. Because of that day, Terra may never return to normal, Aqua may be forever trapped in the realm of Darkness, Eraqus is dead, and Xehanort was able to cause much more heartache and pain, though Terra's body.
(His big brother figure, Terra, was possessed by Xehanort, while Vanitas had forced a fusion with Ven, nearly forging the X-blade, and because of this, he nearly killed his big sister figure, Aqua.)
Breaking through Ven's internal cloud of nostalgia, a confused Xion said this " You remind me of my friend, Roxas. Based on how all the other Organization members look, Roxas should look like Sora. Instead, he looks like you. Was your heart somehow involved in Roxas' existence, kinda like how Sora's memories are what my body was made from?"
( Ven knows who Sora is, because he has been inside him for around a decade. He also met Kairi during KH1)
" ...Possibly. I never encountered these things you call nobodies. If that were the case, though, Kairi should have been involved as well." Said Ven, lost in thought.
" Maybe that's where Namine came from!" Exclaimed Xion, finally seeing the resemblance.
" Who's that?" Asked Ven, completely confused.
" Uhhhh, a girl who can mess with Sora's memories, and those connected to him." Explained Xion, who thought that this boy would know Namine, because Sora had met her, and he was inside Sora.
" Maybe this girl can mess with our memories as well, because I recognize the name, but I cannot connect it to a face, even though I'm sure I met her before." Said Ven , trying to picture who this girl could be. The closest he got was a blonde Kairi around the same age and height as Aqua, so he promptly forced it out of his mind.
" That would make sense, because we are part of Sora, technically. Wait… What's that?" Said Xion, looking at a large white screen that had appeared.
" I assume it's to let us see what Sora, or, in this case, Your friend, is doing." Said Ven, not at all surprised. He had seen this before, while Sora was saving his friends, and fighting heartless. But what he saw was surprising.
(Currently, the screen is showing Roxas approach Memory Skyscraper, and see Riku on top.)
"Why is Riku wearing that coat? The last time I saw one of those, it was on an evil man-girl named Marluxia. Uuuuuugh( Shudders ) that was really odd. Why would a MAN wield a giant pink scythe, and sprout petals with nearly every action?" Said Ven, seriously weirded out, while thinking of Xehanort as well. A mental image of Xehanort with pink hair entered his mind. He immediately tried to smash his head into a wall.
" That's Marly for you. I honestly think that he's…...Ven? What are you doing?" Asked Xion, having no clue why he would be bashing his head into the wall.
" Pink...Xehanort…Make it...stop…Uuuggghhh…" Moaned Ven, desperately wanting to rid himself of these images.
" Uhhh, is there anything I can do to help?" Asked Xion, worried for this boy.
" Uhhhhhhhhh, I'll probably be fine in a minute.
Want to see what my clone is doing?" Asked Ven, desperately wanting a distraction.
" OK. I'll go turn on the screen…" Said Xion, noticing that it was turning in my itself.
( Roxas is fighting the Heartless, and climbing up Memory Skyscraper. He throws Oblivion at Riku)
" First off, how the heck is he running up a vertical building?! Do physics even work!?
Secondly, why is he throwing spiky things at Riku?
And lastly, HOW THE HECK IS HE WIELDING TWO KEYBLADES!?"Yelled Ven, immensely frustrated.
" I think that Roxas is throwing the Keyblade at Riku because he doesn't know him.
secondly, if two entities can exist inside a sleeping boy's head, we can FLY, and we can summon giant keys out of thin air, why must gravity work?" Said Xion condescendingly." Not much of what is known as "laws of science" by the voices in the sky work here all of the time. As for the two keyblades, I have no clue." She continued.
" (sigh). Let's keep watching." Said Ven, glad the was able to vent, and that the terrible images are gone.
( After returning to the ground, Roxas and Riku destroy the remaining Heartless, then turn on each other. The banter happens as follows:
" Who are you?" Asks Roxas
" What does it matter? I'm here for you." Replies Riku cryptically.
" Why are you trying to stop me?"
" Because I want back the rest of Sora's memories."
" Sora, Sora, Sora! Enough about Sora!"
" Do you have some kind of plan?"
"I'm going to set Kingdom Hearts free! Then everything can go back to the way it was! Me, and Axel, and...and her can go on eating icecream together…" Roxas shudders, forgetting her name
Riku looks at Oblivion, then says," Her? You mean Xion? It's a struggle just to remember the name now, isn't it? Either way, I can't let you go do something crazy."
" I have to find this Sora person, and freeing Kingdom Hearts is the only way! I want Xion back. I want my life back!"
" If you try and make contact with Kingdom Hearts, the last thing you'll get is your life back. The Organization will destroy you."
" Shut up!" Roxas yells, then moves to attack Riku.
" ROXAS WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" Yells Xion, worried for her friends
" Hey! No need to yell!" Said Ven, whose head had started ringing from Xion.
" Oops, sorry Ven. It's just… I thought that Roxas wouldn't be this violent when he met Riku. I also thought that he would realize that to see me again, he would need to join with Sora." Said Xion thinking that she made it that reality perfectly clear.
" You obviously don't understand how naive your friend is. He takes everything at face value. When you said you were returning to Sora, he assumed that it meant that he could get you back, if he found Sora." explained Ven, understanding his pain perfectly. He lost those dear to him, and he knew that he would, and did, do everything in his power to protect, or get back, Terra and Aqua."He also assumed that he would need to destroy Kingdom Hearts for his fantasy to happen. He thought that with your dying breath, you hid a clue. A clue that would enable him to get you back." He continued.
" ...Wait a minute, how do you know what I told him?" Asked Xion..
" The same way we are seeing and hearing what Roxas and Riku are doing." Said Ven." I also saw what Sora was doing, up until he went into a large castle. We were led there by a strange person in a black cloak." He continued.
( Ven's memories of Castle Oblivion are really patchy. He has very few left, so he doesn't realize who led them there, yet remembers Marluxia.)
" How did you meet Marly?" Xion asked, not knowing what happened at Castle Oblivion
" I first saw him after Sora entered Castle Oblivion. it's strange… Although he never explained his motives for wanting to overthrow the Organization." Replied Ven, perplexed.
" Do you think that he knows something that we don't?" Asked Xion.
" Possibly. We will need to wait and see what happens after Riku's fight." Said Ven, starting the video again.
Roxas knocks Riku down.
" Why? Why do you have the Keyblade?" Asks Riku.
" Shut up!" Is Roxas' only reply.
We see, not quite real, but still there, a memory of Axel, Roxas, and Xion eating ice cream. During the fight, Xion is slowly fading out of the memory, until Xion fades out completely, leaving Roxas and Axel alone on the clock tower, eating ice cream by themselves.
Back on the World that Never Was, Our combatants fight hard, with Roxas nearly overpowering Riku. Riku then proceeds to knock Roxas down, and plunge Oblivion into the ground next to him. Then, Roxas gets back up, and tries to hit Riku with Oblivion. He fails, with Riku dodging out of the way. Roxas then says," Why don't you quit?"
Riku pauses, then says," Come on, Sora. I thought you were stronger than that."
Roxas replies, just like Sora did,"Huh? Get real. Look which one of us is winning." He is stunned at what he said, because those words weren't his own.
After a short pause, Riku says, unfazed" So it's true. You really are his Nobody. Guess DiZ was right after all."
" What are you talking about? I am me. Nobody else!" Roxas yells, getting more upset and confused by the moment.
" We have to stop them!" yells Xion, worried for her friends.
" What can we do? We can't influence the real world from in here." Says Ven, confident that he's right.
" I don't care. I have to at least try." Xion says, then proceeds to stand in the middle of the room, and yells to Riku," Riku, please! You have to stop him!"
" Stop that! your yelling is useless. All it does is make me annoyed. I'm gonna start watching the fight again." says Ven, heavily annoyed at her naivety.
Out of nowhere, a voice is heard. " Riku, please! You have to stop him!" neither combatant recognizes the voice, but it's Xion. Roxas summons Oathkeeper and Oblivion, then moves to attack Riku. His first attack misses, but he hits riku in the arm with his second.
Roxas yells," How many times do I have to beat you?"
" Alright. You left me with no other choice." Riku says, struggling to stand
" What?" Roxas says, confused.
" I have to release the power in my heart. The dark power that I've been holding back." Riku says, taking off his ever-present blindfold." Even… If it changes me forever!" He then starts yelling, engulfing himself in a pillar of darkness. Roxas stands his ground, holding his Keyblades defensively. Riku has taken the form of Ansem, Seeker of Darkness. Using this form, he grabs Roxas, and then the boy collapses. He then says," I have accepted it." In Ansem, Seeker of Darkness' voice. Soon, DiZ comes out of a Corridor of Darkness.
Riku pulls up his hood, then says,"... DiZ. He could feel Sora."
"Oh, he told you how he" Felt" did he. Ridiculous. A Nobody cannot feel anything." DiZ replies.
" If he had met Sora, things might have been different." Riku says, looking at Roxas.
" ...That ended well." Ven says sarcastically.
Xion is still stunned that what she said had been heard by Riku, even if he didn't realize it.
" there's a little bit left. Want to watch it with me this time?" asks Ven, holding the remote.
" Hang on a minute. I want to see if I can tell Roxas something. If it worked with Riku, it should work with Roxas." Xion says, walking to the center of the room again, and starts talking.
" Roxas, don't be sad. I came from you and Sora. You'll forget me, but the memories themselves will never go away. Memories of you and me will always be together, forever, inside him." Xion says, as if it was the last chance she had to talk to him.
" Now that that's over, want to see if it worked?" asks Ven.
" Sure, why not." Xion says.
Out of the aether again, the voice says," Roxas, don't be sad. I came from you and Sora. You'll forget me, but the memories themselves will never go away. Memories of you and me will always be together, forever, inside him."
The screen then fades to black.
" How in the world is that working!?" Ven says, really confused. Why is Xion able to talk to people like that, but their conversations in here weren't?
" I don't know how, but it is." She says, puzzled.
" Do you know why Riku looks like Ansem?" Asks Ven.
" I don't know. Can we see where they take Roxas?" Asks Xion, curious where they're taking him.
" I think that they're taking him to Sora. Based on their track record, I think that they'll try and make Roxas rejoin with Sora." Says Ven, worried." They will want a solution, and will most likely be hasty." Much like Xehanort used me and Vanitas as a hasty way to get the X-blade, Ven added mentally. If Xion knew what had happened that day, she would just end up worrying about him, too. In that way, she reminded him of Aqua.
" Ven? Are you okay? You look a little pale." Xion asked worriedly. Even though he wasn't Roxas, or even her friend, she felt like she had to help him.
" I'm fine. Let's look for what DiZ and Riku are up to." Ven said, a little confused.
DiZ and Riku-Ansem have returned to the Abandoned Mansion in Twilight Town. They take Roxas to Namine, and have her erase his memory. Then, they go into the basement, and send him into DiZ's digital Twilight Town.
Roxas wakes up in a room that he thinks is his, and starts talking.
'Another dream about him." He says. He obviously believes that his memories of Sora, and of his previous life, are just dreams. He shakes his head. then opens the window, and looks over the town. A few moments later, Roxas is running to meet up with Hayner, Pence, and Olette. He says, " Maybe… Today we'll finally go to the beach!" As he's running, the screen fades to black.
"...That ended well." Ven says again, his voice still sarcastic.
" I don't understand. Why would they trap Roxas in a digital Twilight town? And why would Namine erase his memories? Why?" Xion asks, immensely confused.
" I don't pretend to know their motives, but it has to involve Sora." Ven says, all sarcasm gone from his voice.
" You're probably right. Let's wait and see what happens next." Xion says, her voice fading into the background…
End of 358/2 days