"Here you go, Miss Xion…"
Xion looked at the blonde boy who was serving her a cup of tea. He had a handsome face and a gentlemanly demeanor. Despite the fact that she was a Replica, or rather a clone of a boy, Sora, she still identified herself as a girl. Due to that reason, she found herself blushing upon being put under the boy's attention.
"T-thanks…" Xion stammered before she immediately turned to look at the cup of tea the boy just served. She could smell a pleasant fragrance from the cup of tea. Somehow, it calmed her down.
"I thought that the herbal tea might be good for you," the boy informed her. "Oh, where are my manners? My name is Yuuto Kiba. It's nice to meet you, Miss Xion," he introduced himself before he flashed Xion a smile.
"L-likewise," Xion replied before she took the cup of tea to have a sip. She was caught off-guard by how delicious the warm beverage was. "I-it's… it's tasty!" She exclaimed.
The boy, Kiba, just chuckled. "I'm glad you like it. It's a special blend from the Underworld. You could never find it anywhere else…"
"Underworld?" Xion blinked. "The place where Hades resides?" She inquired.
"Ah, no… that's a different thing altogether," Kiba said. "Well, that aside, I believe we should go straight to business, now that you have calmed down," he said before he looked at the red-haired girl who was sitting on a couch opposite the one Xion was sitting on. "She's all yours, Buchou…"
"Buchou?" Xion gave both Kiba and the red-haired girl a confused look.
"Thank you, Yuuto…" The red-haired girl who introduced herself as Rias Gremory earlier said. Then, Rias directed her gaze on Xion and said, "So, do you understand about your current situation now, Xion? About the circumstances of your near-death experience and your resurrection as a Devil?"
Slowly, Xion nodded. Earlier, Rias and the others in the room explained to her about the new circumstances about her new state of being. Apparently, when she was dying earlier back at the forest, Rias, who was investigating the area where a Stray Devil was found dead, stumbled upon her. Seeing that she was dying, Rias offered her a chance to live in exchange of being put under her service as a Devil. Using one of her Evil Pieces, which was actually a Chess piece, Rias saved the dying Xion from death, and Xion was reincarnated into a Devil.
When Rias explained to Xion about her being a newly-reincarnated Devil, a pair of bat-like wings randomly popped out of her back. Confused, Xion checked the leathery pinions that suddenly emerged from her back before she started moving them.
"Well…" Xion began. "I… I actually didn't expect this sort of thing to happen. I mean…" She looked aside. "I just woke up, and…" She trailed off.
"Hmm… you woke up, you say?" Rias regarded her curiously. "Why don't you tell us about yourself? Where do you come from? What were you doing back at the forest?"
"I…" Xion hesitated. She's not prepared to tell Rias and the others about the circumstances of her being in this world. She was meant to vanish completely without a trace after being killed by her best friend, Roxas. She knew that she would need to tell Rias everything about herself eventually, but she was not prepared for that. So, she decided to hide the truth for the time being. "I don't know."
Technically, it's not even a lie. She did not know how she managed to materialize again after losing her physical self upon being killed. Still, she felt bad for hiding the truth from the one who had saved her.
"I see…" Rias mused. She seemed to be mulling over something, as if thinking whether Xion was telling her the truth or hiding the truth from her. Either way, she didn't seem to comment about it any further. "Well, that being said, you are now under my care, Xion. Feel free to ask me anything, okay?" She gave the newly-revived Replica a motherly smile. Somehow, Xion felt relieved upon seeing the smile.
The smile reminded her of the pleasant things that she had prior to her death. Sea salt ice creams, the Twilight clock tower, the sunset, two of her friends.
"That reminds me…" Rias added. "Now that you are one of my minions," Xion raised an eyebrow when Rias called her 'her minion' "you will need to be enrolled into Kuoh High School…" Then, she gestured at the others. One of them was a petite, white-haired girl who Xion assumed was around the same age as her, and a beautiful girl with long, black hair. Just like Rias, Xion noticed that this girl also had a rather sizable bust, which Xion noticed was bigger than Rias'. "They will be showing you the ropes while you're at it."
"Are you going to give her a new name?" Kiba asked, curious.
"Ah, well… about that," Rias looked at Xion. "So, do you have any particular attachment to your name?" She asked.
Xion thought about it for a moment before she answered, "I'm not sure." Like all the members of the Organization, her name is an anagram of her name prior to her being inducted as its member, with a letter 'x' being added in her name. Her real name was 'no.i', an imaginary number. And if she were to answer that question, she didn't particularly hate that name.
"I think I like the sound of her name," the black-haired girl who was with them said. "And her name sounds like 'Shion', right?"
"Hmm… well, that'll probably work," Rias said. "Okay, Xion… we'll get you enrolled into Kuoh High School, but we need to go through several procedures first. But don't worry about it," she smiled at the younger girl. "It'll be dealt with in no time, believe me. Now, you need some place to live in, so…" She looked at the white-haired girl with petite body, who was currently eating a cake. "Koneko, will it be alright if Xion becomes your roommate?"
The white-haired girl, Koneko, stopped nibbling her cake as she looked at Xion. Both the girls, who seemed to have similar body type, stared into each other's eyes for a moment. Then, Koneko nodded before she continued eating her cake.
Xion blinked, unsure what to think of this particular girl.
"Good!" Rias said. "But first, I need to bring you back to my house. We need to give you everything you need as a student, after all. We'll get you enrolled as soon as possible, so don't worry about a wrong size for your school uniform!"
Xion was unsure of what to say when Rias beckoned her to the corner of the room they were currently in. There was some kind of sigil which was red in color on the floor. She could feel magic energy from the sigil.
"As for the rest of you…" Rias looked at the others. "Yuuto, go and inform Sona about Xion's enrollment, and make sure to tell her to immediately contact me as soon as possible. Koneko, go prepare your room and make sure you get an extra bed for Xion. Akeno, come with me. We need to talk while we're at it."
The others gave Rias a chorus of responses. Satisfied, Rias looked at Xion.
"Don't worry, Xion," Rias gave her a reassuring smile. "No matter what happened to you before, I'll make sure that you will start over together with us. Now that you are mine, it is my responsibility to take care of you." She ruffled Xion's black hair. "I understand if you still don't feel like telling us everything about you, but believe me that I really want to help you."
"I…" Xion stared at Rias' face. "I understand," she said in meek tone. "Once I'm ready, I'll tell you everything."
"Good," Rias nodded, satisfied by Xion's answer.
Tides
High School DxD and Kingdom Hearts Crossover
Chapter 02: A Replica Who Becomes a Devil
The process of getting herself prepared to be enrolled into Kuoh High School was surprisingly going smooth without a hitch. In just a short amount of time, Xion got everything she needed as a student of the high school. Thanks to Rias providing the funds, Xion got a lot of new clothes for herself; a few pairs of school uniforms, a handful of casual clothes, sleepwear, extra clothes and undergarments.
For some reasons, Xion seemed to prefer casual clothes with zippers on them. Lots and lots of zippers, in fact. Rias was curious by her preference, but made no comment about it.
After the preparation was completed, Xion followed Koneko to where she lived, with Kiba helping her out by carrying all the new items that she got. After three of them left, only Rias and the black-haired girl whom Rias called Akeno remained in the room.
"Well, that's another thing solved…" Rias sighed before she plopped herself on the couch. "Seriously, that girl has a rather unhealthy obsession with zippers. Still, it's not my place to judge her taste, of course," she shrugged.
"Speaking of unhealthy obsession, we may as well talk about yours, Rias," Akeno said.
"Huh? What do you mean, Akeno?" Rias asked, quirking her eyebrow.
"You've been making it a habit to pick up stray puppies again, you know that?" Akeno said as she looked at Rias. "It's just like that one time when you found Kiba."
"Are you suggesting I should've left her to die?" Rias asked coldly as she looked at her friend.
"Of course not," Akeno replied, waving her hand. "It's just that you're adding another member into your peerage without actually thinking of what she can contribute to your peerage. Of course, saving someone from death is not a wrong thing, so maybe I'm just being a devil's advocate here," then, she giggled as she realized that she just made a pun.
Rias sighed. She had been friends with Akeno for a long time, and she considered her insights and opinions to be valuable. Still, she knew that Akeno was questioning her reasoning behind her using one of her Evil Pieces to reincarnate Xion into a Devil. As far as they knew, it was unknown whether Xion could contribute to her peerage or not. They didn't even know Xion's true combat capability. Well, she was found in a site where a Stray Devil was murdered, and she had a stab wound on her chest when Rias found her, but all those didn't add much.
"Well, others may think that what I did was waste one of my Evil Pieces, but I didn't want to leave her to die," Rias admitted. "And… while we're not sure of her combat capability yet, I can tell that she's definitely not a normal human. Of course, that wasn't what I had in my mind when I resurrected her with a Knight piece, but just like Yuuto, I'm sure she'll turn out just fine."
"We'll see about it, then…" Akeno said. "Changing the subject, there's something interesting that I found in Xion's pocket when we asked her to remove her coat so she could try some new clothes on." She took out some greenish-yellow diamond-shaped gems from her pocket and handed them to Rias. "For some reason, I almost thought they are money." Then, she added, "Oh, I asked her if it's alright for me to keep them, by the way."
"Hmm…" Rias studied the gems. "Ah, I remember seeing these in my brother's room some time ago. These things are called 'munny', the universal currency."
"Munny? What an odd name for a currency," Akeno commented. "And what do you mean by 'universal currency'?"
"For your information, munny can be used as a currency at any part of the world. There's no need to convert your money if you have munny in your possession," Rias explained. "Plus, they can also be used in the Underworld."
"Still, why does she have them? Xion, I mean…" Akeno wondered as she studied the munny that Rias held in her hand.
"Hmm… that may suggest that she's not from Japan," Rias said. "While the shops here accept munny as payment, they are not widely used, In fact, these things will be considered worthless if you were to convert them into yen."
"So, where do we find this munny commonly used?" Akeno asked.
"I'm not sure, but maybe my brother knows," Rias answered.
"Huh…" Akeno took back the munny from Rias and studied them. "Well, perhaps these things can be the clues for the origin of your newest minion, Rias. I don't think a normal girl can get a hold on these things."
"Perhaps you're right…" Rias said as she brushed her red hair off her forehead. "Still, there has to be a reason why Xion didn't want to tell us about herself. I can understand that…" She sighed. "Even Yuuto refused to elaborate what had happened to him before I found him dying in the snow at that time. All we can do now is to make her feel welcome in our group and give her a chance to begin anew. Whatever her past is, it's already been left behind…"
Akeno smiled. "Here you go again, planning to pamper and spoil your subordinates…"
Rias just shrugged. "Hey, I'm free to spoil my minions whenever I want. Plus, Xion is cute. Who doesn't want to spoil someone that cute?"
"Alright, here goes…" Kiba said as he put down all of Xion's belongings on the floor when the three of them finally arrived at Koneko's place. Both Xion and Koneko would be sharing a room for the time being, and the white-haired girl had already prepared an extra bed for Xion.
Xion noted that the room was much bigger than the one that she had back at the Castle That Never Was. While Koneko's room was sparsely decorated, it was much better than Xion's old room. She also saw a few colorful pillows on the beds, each of them shaped like a cat's head.
Speaking of cat heads, Koneko also had a hairpin which was shaped like one. Xion was unsure of its significance. Perhaps it was nothing.
"Well, I'll be leaving now," Kiba said as he prepared to leave. "You two better get to know each other in the meantime," he smiled at both Xion and Koneko. "In case if you need my help, feel free to call me, alright?"
"Got it," Xion said.
"Understood," Koneko told the blonde boy.
"Good," Kiba nodded. "See you tomorrow, Xion."
After Kiba left, Xion just stood there, unsure of what to do. Koneko went to the fridge to take out rice cakes before she took a seat on her bed. She took one of the rice cake before she said to Xion, "Want some?"
Xion stared at Koneko for a while before she answered, "Gladly."
Sitting next to each other, both Koneko and Xion were enjoying their snacks together. While both of them didn't say much, it seemed that both of them were alright with each other's presence.
Back then when she was still a member of Organization XIII, Xion wouldn't call herself the most talkative member of the group, but she was sociable enough that she managed to befriend Roxas and Axel. But now that she was with Koneko who didn't say much, she didn't know what to say.
While thinking of her own past, Xion almost didn't notice that Koneko was staring at her intently. She had stopped nibbling her own rice cake as she looked at the one that Xion was eating. Blinking, Xion asked, "W-what is it?"
"How does it taste?" Koneko asked, referring to the rice cake Xion was eating.
"Umm…" Xion took several seconds to process the question before she answered, "It's… it's delicious."
Upon hearing Xion's answer, Koneko's lips curled up into a small smile. "Good." And so, she continued eating her rice cake.
Xion stared at the white-haired girl beside her, blinking a few times before she focused on eating her own rice cake. Perhaps that's Koneko's way to break the ice? Xion was uncertain whether that was the case or not.
In the end, both Xion and Koneko spent most of the day exchanging a few words and eating snacks together. All in all, Xion didn't mind it at all because delicious snacks were involved. If there was one thing that both girls seemed to share, it was their love for delicious foods and snacks. And Xion loved snacks as much as she loved sea salt ice creams. She might as well introduce Koneko to sea salt ice creams when she had her chance.
The gigantic white castle which was the stronghold of Organization XIII, the Castle That Never Was, was a megastructure which defied all sorts of logic. It was a floating castle that floated above the Dark City in the World That Never Was. In the sky, a heart-shaped moon loomed over everything in the world where Heartless and Nobodies gathered.
Of course, the moon was in fact Kingdom Hearts, or rather, the fake version of it. It was an accumulation of thousands of hearts. The hearts came from the Heartless, the hearts that were lost to the darkness. Only a special weapon known as a Keyblade could release those hearts, and the released hearts would weave together to become Kingdom Hearts.
But, after the defection of the Organization member Number XIII, Roxas, the process of collecting hearts had stopped. It was due to the fact that Roxas was the only member of the Organization who could wield a Keyblade, and without him, hearts couldn't be collected, and the Kingdom Hearts couldn't be completed.
It had been three days since his defection, and Organization XIII was in a great conundrum. Without the Keyblade-wielder to collect the hearts needed to complete the Kingdom Hearts, their goal couldn't be realized. As all the members of the Organization consisted of Nobodies, the beings whose hearts were lost to the darkness, the fake Kingdom Hearts was created so that all the members of the Organization could regain their hearts, becoming while and complete again. But, without Roxas, their goal in achieving completeness could not be reached.
The remaining members of the Organization were in the Round Room, also known as Where Nothing Gathers, discussing about what to do with their rogue member.
"You continue to be a disappointment, Number VIII," a dreadlocked man with a muscular stature clad in the standard black cloak of the Organization, groused as he addressed another member of the Organization, particularly the one with spiky red hair. All of the remaining members, excluding their Superior, were in the throne room, and all eyes were set on the Organization member Number VIII, The Flurry of Dancing Flames, Axel.
Axel rolled his eyes as he heard the dreadlocked man's rebuke. "Hey, you can't exactly blame me for failing to track him down, alright? That kid disappeared into thin air just like that." He shrugged. "Even by sending Dusks and my Assassins around, it'll take some time to find some clues of his whereabouts…"
The dreadlocked man huffed as he crossed his arms over his broad chest. "Hmph… I expected you to be more competent in doing this mission, considering your track records, but now, you have nothing good or substantial to report." He held out his right hand. "Hence the disappointment…"
"Now, now… don't be like that, Xaldin," a laid-back man with an eye-patch covering one of his eyes said casually, addressing the dreadlocked Nobody whom he called Xaldin. "As far as we all know, the kiddo's Flamesilocks' best bud. Of course he's gonna have some reservations about finding and turning him in," he grinned at Axel. "I mean, he couldn't get his heart into the job, right? Getting sentimental and stuff like that."
A certain Nobody with blue hair scoffed as he focused his yellow eyes on the eye-patched Nobody. "Don't be ridiculous, Xigbar. Axel, like the rest of us, does not have a heart." Then, he dismissively waved his hand and said, "The most pressing matter is that without a Keyblade-wielder, the task of collecting hearts has been halted, which in turn stop our progress in completing Kingdom Hearts. So…" He shifted his focus on Axel. "It is prudent for you to find the missing Number XIII as soon as possible."
Axel sighed. "Yeah, yeah… you've been telling me that many times already, Saïx. That's the sixth time you mentioned that to me," he grumbled. "Fine, I'll double the effort. You happy now?" He asked, disregarding the fact that no one in the room was capable of feeling happy due to the aforementioned lack of hearts.
"You better double your effort, Number VIII, or else I may have to personally get involved in this matter," Xaldin said, shifting his position while sitting on his throne. "And there's only one thing I will do to those who betray Organization XIII," he brought up his gloved hand and clenched it into a fist. "Key of Destiny or not, Number XIII will be personally annihilated by my own hands…"
Axel's expression hardened when he heard that from the Number III of the Organization. He knew that the spear-wielding Nobody was a resolute person and a man of his word. He meant every word he said.
Meanwhile, Saïx gave Xaldin a disapproving look. "I care not what you are planning to do to Number XIII afterwards, but we still require his power to collect more hearts to complete Kingdom Hearts."
Xaldin harrumphed and said, "Very well. I shall leave him functional enough to use his Keyblade in case if I were to capture him, but…" His eyes glinted dangerously. "Once his task is over, I will kill him. A traitor like him has no right to earn anything that the completed Kingdom Hearts has to offer to us…" He looked at the rest of the members of the Organization. "Anyone has any objection to that?"
"A pity…" A goateed Nobody who was tossing a pair of dice on his palm said. "I have to admit that young Roxas is a very enjoyable fellow to have around. He somehow reminds me of the time when I was young and complete." He caught the dice into his fist as he opened his eyes, revealing his electric-blue pupils. "Still, I have nothing to object. After all, who am I to argue for the result of the cast dice? Roxas simply dealt himself a very bad hand…"
"Well, if you ask me, I think I'm gonna miss him if that's gonna happen," a lazy-looking Nobody said while tuning his sitar. "But, yeah… nothing to argue here." He looked at Xaldin. "You're the one calling the shots after Superior and Saïx," he smiled blandly. "It's not like anyone's gonna listen to me anyway."
Xaldin nodded. "Both Number X and Number IX already made their opinions known…" He looked at Axel. "What about you, Number VIII? Do you have any objection in my own decision?"
Axel just remained silent. Before the dreadlocked Nobody could comment any further, dark aura began to form on the throne of their Superior before Number I, Xemnas, came into being.
"Oh, Lord Xemnas, didn't expect you to actually show up," Xigbar said, raising his hand in greeting.
"Welcome back, Lord Xemnas," Saïx said. "We were wondering where you had been." He looked at the leader of the Organization, Superior of In-Between.
"There were some businesses I had to attend to…" Xemnas said in a deep voice, booming with authority. "And those businesses are something that I would like to bring up today in this meeting." He put his arms on the armrests of his thrones as he paused dramatically. "As you all know, there are countless worlds out there, with the majority of their inhabitants unaware of the existence of the other worlds."
Xemnas paused again, and the members of the Organization focused themselves on their leader. They all knew of their Superior's knack of dramatics.
"When I was traveling the worlds on a whim, I found myself in a world that is deeply connected to two other worlds, and these worlds are under the domain of a higher being…" Xemnas said. "Or more precisely used to be under the domain of a higher being."
"Three separate worlds being deeply connected?" Xigbar mused. "Do you mean the inhabitants of each of the worlds are aware of the existence of the other two worlds?" He asked. It was unexpected for someone like Xigbar to be the first one to ask that question. But, it still made sense, considering that despite his roguish appearance, he was still the Nobody of Braig, one of six apprentices of Ansem the Wise.
The Nobody of another apprentice of Ansem the Wise, Xaldin, also gave Xemnas an inquiring look. Just like Xigbar, he was also curious of what Xemnas was trying to tell them.
"Not entirely, no…" Xemnas said. "Also, those worlds are also protected against the Heartless thanks to the efforts of the higher beings there. As a result, Heartless never got their chance to set their feet on those worlds." He shifted his position before he continued. "And… there is also another matter."
He paused again. Thanks to that, even the laziest member, Number IX, Demyx, was also paying attention.
"Due to the effort of one of the higher beings in those worlds, Number XIV was revived…" Xemnas said.
"Number XIV?" Axel blinked. He was about to comment that there's no member of the Organization designated with such number before he flinched. "X-Xion?"
"W-what do you mean, Lord Xemnas?" Demyx asked. "I thought we only have thirteen memb- waaaait a minute," just like Axel, whatever fog that had been obscuring his memories had been lifted. The rest was also the same for the other Organization members, leaving them confused.
"So… Poppet's somehow alive, huh?" Xigbar was the first one to recover from the confusion. "Now that's unexpected. Like, totally unexpected."
"For what purpose anyone would like to get by resurrecting… that thing?" Saïx sounded bitter when he said that.
"Whatever the reason, it is now a fact that the Replica has returned to being," Xemnas said. "And… due to the fact that it is still the Replica of the Keyblade-master, it is possible that it is still capable of wielding a Keyblade."
The one with goatee, Organization member Number X, Luxord, seemed to catch on. "Ah, so you decide to bet on her instead?" He pulled out a playing card from his sleeve. "For a wild card to suddenly appear, what else to do but to make use of it?"
"Still, it is uncertain whether Number XIV is still capable of wielding a Keyblade or not…" Xigbar expressed his concern, or whatever equivalent of concern for a Nobody, considering that a being without a heart was incapable of feeling concern in the first place.
"I had no chance to ascertain that fact, considering that I was preoccupied with my own personal matter at those worlds…" Xemnas stated. Then, he shifted his golden eyes on a certain red-haired Nobody, who had been silent the whole time. "Axel, suspend your mission in tracking down the missing Number XIII for the time being. You will go to one of those worlds in order to investigate the matter and discern whether the Replica is still capable of wielding a Keyblade or not."
"Huh," Xigbar looked at the leader of the Organization. "So, we're giving up on the kiddo already?" He shrugged. "Well, kinda understandable, since Poppet's meant to be a replacement anyway…"
Xemnas shook his head. "No. I will relegate this mission to someone else." He looked at one particular blue-haired Nobody. "Saïx, I shall leave it to you to decide which one to replace Axel in tracking down our wayward member."
Saïx bowed respectfully. "Your will be done, Lord Xemnas."
As for Axel, he remained silent. Xemnas looked at him again, one eyebrow raised.
"Do you have any reservations about this new mission of yours as well?" Xemnas asked.
The red-haired Nobody closed his eyes before he reopened them. Then, his whole body was engulfed in dark aura.
"I'll do it, Lord Xemnas…"
And he disappeared.
As a Replica being put under the guise of a Nobody, Xion never got to experience what attending school actually felt like. On her first day at Kuoh High School, she was overwhelmed by almost everything right after she introduced herself to her classmates. Almost everyone came to her and asked her a myriad of questions like where she lived and what her favorite food was. She was lucky that Koneko, who was also in the same class, bailed her out before things got out of control.
In public, Xion was known as Shion Tetsuma. Rias was the one who gave her that name, and the red-haired Devil seemed proud of the fact that she came up with that name.
Despite being overwhelmed by all those new things, Xion found herself enjoying them all. It was a new experience to her, and she was eager to learn more of this new life of hers. It also helped that everyone who was with Rias was willing to lend her a hand.
If there was one thing she'd like to complain, it would be the length of the skirt of her school uniform, which was unbelievably short. She never wore anything except the black coat of the Organization.
When the school was over, Xion, together with Koneko, went to the clubhouse where the others were waiting for them. Rias in particular didn't stop gushing over her cuteness.
Speaking of cuteness, Xion somehow became an instant idol at school the moment she showed up at school. It was due to the fact that she came to school together with Koneko, who herself was well-known among the school body, and added with her cute looks, she became one half of the now famous Black and White duo, with the other half being Koneko. Xion was unsure what to think of this turn of events.
"So, doing fine so far?" Rias asked Xion.
"W-well… everything's new to me, and there are a lot of things for me to take in," Xion said, scratching her cheek as she glanced at Koneko, who was enjoying some foods while sitting next to the blonde boy, Kiba, on the sofa. "But thanks to Koneko, I think I can manage somehow," she smiles at the red-haired girl.
Rias chuckled. "That's good to hear. Now, why don't we talk? Now that you're a Devil, we may as well explain to you what we always do."
So, Rias explained to her about contracts. Devils in general need humans to sign contracts with them in order to increase their powers and standings in the Underworld, the native world of the Devils. In order to get the humans to sign the contracts, the Devils need to first fulfill their ends of their bargains. These tasks range from something incredibly menial to ridiculously insane.
When Xion was about to ask something, Rias quickly added that the contracts did not require the souls of the contractors, and the former Replica sighed in relief.
Rias also explained to Xion about Stray Devils, or the Devils who diverted away from their Masters. Xion remembered Rias telling her that she stumbled upon her while investigating something about a Stray Devil around the area.
A Stray Devil without their Master could not keep their powers in check, which often resulted in them becoming a great threat if their power went beyond their control. Every Stray Devil needed to be killed on the spot due to their unstable nature. And for that reason, Rias and her peerage would sometimes be tasked in eliminating any Stray Devil in the area.
"While we're at it, we may as well learn of your combat capability, Xion-chan," Akeno said as she came over to Xion's side. Xion blinked, unsure of what the additional suffix added after her name was about. "Can you fight?"
Xion nodded. "I guess I can use magic and a little bit of swordsmanship." Back then when she was still a member of Organization XIII, she had trained on how to use magic and wield her Keyblade in order to make her an efficient fighter who could harvest hearts from the Heartless.
"Swordsmanship, huh?" Kiba mused. "We're the same, then. I can use swords too," he said as he smiled at Xion.
"Hmm… you claim to be a sword-wielder, but I didn't find any kind of sword on your person, unless if your sword is a Sacred Gear or something that you can summon at will," Rias said.
"Sacred Gear?" Xion gave Rias a questioning look. "What's that?"
"Well… let's just say it's some kind of weapon, but let's put that question aside for the time being. Can you show us your sword?" Rias asked.
Xion thought about it for a moment before she nodded. "Alright. Well… I don't think it's right to call it a sword, but," she smiled apologetically as she held out her right hand. "Here goes…" She closed her eyes, picturing the image of her Keyblade in her head. Her hand glowed and something began to materialize before the Kingdom Key came into existence. The sound of its keychain dangling was heard once it showed up.
"This… is your sword?" Rias asked, blinking as she looked at the newly-manifested giant key in Xion's hand.
"Doesn't look like a sword to me," Kiba commented.
"Well, like I said, it's not really right to call it a sword," Xion said, feeling a little embarrassed when everyone was looking at her Keyblade. "But I use it to fight and wield it like a sword. This is a Keyblade."
"Fascinating," Akeno mused as she poked the Keyblade with her finger. "I can feel something special about this thing. If I didn't know any better, I might have thought this to be a Sacred Gear."
Even Koneko was curious as she looked at the Keyblade. She even stopped eating as she studied the giant key with interest.
Then, Rias suggested, "If that's the case, why don't we test it out? Xion, I want to see how you wield this Keyblade," she then got up and put her hand on her waist. "Let's see how good you are with it, Xion."
TO BE CONTINUED
Author's Note: Hello, this is me, Prince Arjuna. This is the first update of the year. I'm sorry for the late update because I was busy with my day job. Well, I'll be updating my stories from time to time, including this one. While we're at it, I'm waiting with anticipation for the release of Kingdom Hearts 2.8 this month. And I really hope that Kingdom Hearts 3 is released this year (seems unlikely, but a fan can dream, right?).
Also, special thanks for Sorata Shioya for beta-reading this chapter, like always. You're cool, buddy.
So, I hope you guys enjoy this story, and please leave your reviews. Without reviews, I won't be able to motivate myself to write more chapters of my stories, which is bad. Also, while it's already late, I wish you a Happy New Year! Stay tuned for the next chapter, Chapter 03: A Keybearer Named Xion.
Prince Arjuna (2017)
