I don't own Kingdom Hearts.

Welcome to the newest incarnation of The Nymph's Blade. I hope you enjoy the revamped prologue. I believe that it better conveys the tone I am aiming for here.

For those new to the story, let me explain that Sora's going to very slightly OOC (probably less so than in the original). He's still the same person that you know from the games, mostly, but he's going to be smarter, and just slightly darker than in canon. Don't worry-he's not going to be dark and sadistic. He will, however, be willing to lie and deceive when necessary.

Pairings:

LarxeneXSora, SoKai, and RiKai will all appear, but I won't tell you which ones will come to fruition.

There is no Slash in this story.

Notation:

"Talking"

'Sora thinking.'

"Larxene talking in Mindscape."

"Larxene talking from mind."

'Larxene thinking.'


I know naught but pain…

Clinging to existence by a thread is an unimaginable agony.

I know only a fragment of a fragment of a half-life.

I was there though.

I was there, killing Marluxia.

I was there as Axel sacrificed himself.

I was there as Xemnas died.

Yet I did little.

The Bearer knows not his true power.

With each life he took, he grew stronger.

With each life he took, he carried a fragment of what was taken.

The knowledge and abilities of all he has defeated at his fingertips, and he knows it not.

Now, here in Oblivion, I wait until I can return.

When I return, lightning shall strike with savage fury.

Where will it strike though? Where?


Sora stood at Coast of Darkness. He was speaking to Riku, they had just defeated Xemnas at last. "We'll be the Darkness…"

As he gazed out to sea contentedly he saw something floating to shore. He grabbed it, and found something…strange.

It was a knife, a kunai to be more precise.

As he grasped it, it glowed. There was a flash of light and when he looked back at the knife there was a keychain in its place. It was composed of eight miniature kunai, blades facing each other.

He touched the blades, and was surprised when electricity rushed through him. His hand came away bloody. Slightly confused, he shook it off and hesitantly placed the keychain on his keyblade.

It took on a flowing, curved shape, the blade bending in three places, the bit of the blade became a trio of kunai, and it seemed to course with electricity. The blood on the keychain glowed, and he felt his magical power being drained slightly. Lightning stuck in front of him, and where it struck, a black portal appeared.

He looked at Riku, who had been watching the whole time, "Did you-?"

Riku cut him off, "I can't use the Darkness anymore, remember?" The silver haired swordsman shrugged, "Still though, it can't be worse than being stuck here forever."

They went through together.


They stepped out of the portal on Destiny Islands, Kairi, Donald, and Goofy could be seen, looking out to sea, waiting for them.

Suddenly Sora fell to his knees, gasping. Riku could only watch as he collapsed. Riku got down on his knees, checking for a pulse. Sora's pulse was weak, but seemed to be stable.

He grabbed Sora, and dragged him to the others as he called out, "Kairi!"

Kairi and the other two turned around, faces lighting up in joy, and saw Sora. Kairi went pale and ran over, "Is he alright?"

"He's alive, but I don't know if he's alright. He just collapsed suddenly."

"Here, let's get him somewhere safe." They carried him to one of the small huts covering the island.


Sora stood in a familiar void.

The Station of Serenity was quiet, the platform he stood on depicting all of the different organization members. A door stood before him.

He approached it.

Before he could reach it, it opened, and an unfamiliar sight appeared. A woman in a black organization cloak stood before him.

The hood was thrown back revealing a delicate face with blond hair. Her hair was slicked back, and had a strange pair of lightning bolt-shaped strands standing up slightly.

A shadow of a memory flickered in his mind, but failed to become clear.

The woman spoke. "Hello Sora, it is wonderful to see you again." Sarcasm was dripping from every word, but there was a slight hint of emotion beneath it.

"You don't remember me though, do you? You don't remember the woman that you killed! You killed me!" She was yelling now, and Sora could only stand there shocked, a woman he didn't know was accusing him of killing her. It was impossible.

She continued her rant, "Because of that pest Namine, you can't even remember me! Well, now I can remedy that. Normally I'd just kill you, but I can't live if you die, so instead I'm going to make sure you survive…"

Suddenly she was behind him, whispering in his ear, "and someday I will find a way back. Then, and only then, will I kill you. I promise you that it will be a horrific death."

A sadistic smile was alight upon her face as she vanished, reappearing in front of the door.

Sora, having been in worse situations, regained his composure fairly quickly and asked the obvious question, "If I killed you, how are you talking to me?"

The woman laughed. It was an amused sound, but there was a mocking undertone.

"You're so blind! You just think you're weapon's a giant key?! You're wrong!"

She was suddenly right in his face, a snarl twisting her features, "THAT THING IS AN ABOMINATION!"

With a flicker, she was standing back to back with him, "It doesn't just kill…no…that would be a mercy. It cuts…out…your…heart."

The last words were but a whisper as she twisted around in front of him and punctuated each word with a poke to the chest. A crazed grin had engulfed her expression.

Suddenly she was circling him, lecturing like some crazed school professor.

"…or at least a part of it. The Keyblade is designed to cleave off and absorb pieces of its victims essence-it's Heart, if it has one. Otherwise, well, it cleaves off a chunk of whatever serves in the Heart's place. Even I'm not sure what it that is.

Whatever you take away from your enemy becomes yours and is bound to your Keyblade. It is this which gives you your strength-not some abstract growth born of 'experience.' Your power is taken from every Heartless and Nobody that your beloved weapon has devoured."

She vanished from her place to his left, reappearing in front of him. Not in his face, but closer than he would like. Her face was calm, but he could swear she was on the verge of rage-or, perhaps...terror?

She spoke slowly and softly, a slight tremble to her voice, "…but it isn't that simple. The most stubborn beings can hold themselves together after being devoured. They can live on the edge of your blade, forever feeling the pain of death…unless, that is, you awaken them."

Her voice grew hushed, but fervent and quick, "Then…then they come here. They become part of you. More importantly, they come back."

She was closer now. He could faintly feel her breath upon his face as she whispered the last word.

A word fell from his lips, "How?"

A smile graced her features, a pleased one. It looked almost sane-almost, "Now, you have asked the important question. It's simple; I came back because you needed me. You wanted to go home; you wanted it so much that you called me back to open a portal for you. All it took was your blood, and that Keychain-my Keychain-the Savage Nymph."

Suddenly, she seemed calm. It was like the madness just drained out of her (not that that suggested sanity), "Here's the good news, though. I'm on your side-at least for now."

"I get to teach you how to use your Keyblade properly-how to control the beings you have imprisoned. Maybe someday, you'll even be able to summon us forth-wouldn't that be fun?"

Her tone suggested that he wouldn't think so. She continued cheerfully, enjoying some small payback, "Oh, and by the way…from now on, I'll be watching from in here-inside your mind. I'll explain the rest later; your friends are calling you, and I don't want to have to deal with them taking you for medical treatment or something, so wake up!"

Sora felt himself being thrust back into reality.


"Sora!"

'Riku?'

"Wake up, Sora!"

'Kairi!'

Sora opened his eyes to his friends sitting around him.

Kairi's face was red, as if she had been crying, but a smile was now visible.

Riku was smirking in his direction, acting like he hadn't been worried. The nail marks on the arms of his wooden chair told a different story.

Donald and Goofy were celebrating in their usual, noisy manner. It was touching, but also more than a little annoying.

"So now the truth comes out! You just barely put up with them, don't you?"

Sora blushed furiously.

"Really, I've been looking through a few of your memories. If I didn't know better, I might think you only joined them for their Gummi Ship. Am I right?

'…maybe back then, it was. Now though, I trust them! They're my friends, my comrades!'

"Uh huh."

Shoving the topic aside, Sora switched to a more urgent topic, 'Forget that! Why the hell are you in my head! Who gave you the right to look at my memories anyway?!' \

"I'm here because, as I said earlier, you absorbed me. I'm not just a spirit or something. I am, effectively, part of you-at least for the moment. Obviously, being you, I have the right to look at your memories."

Sora just groaned.

Ignoring the woman, he spoke, "What happened?"

Riku answered, "Why don't you tell us? One second we arrived home; then you suddenly collapsed."

"Sorry, I don't really know. The last thing I remember is arriving on the beach."

"So you can lie? Maybe you're not as pure as they think."

'Well, what should I tell them? This entire series of events just sounds insane. I'm sure that would go over well, right? What's your name anyway? If you're going to be hanging around in my head, I can't keep thinking of you as just 'the woman.'

"My name was Larxene, and I was number 12 in the organization."