I don't want to bore you with long descriptions of each battle with the remains of the Organization, so here's how it all went. I actually managed to beat Luxord, but I ended up getting my dorsal fin kicked by Saïx, Xaldin, Xigbar, and Xemnas.
"Pitiful," Xemnas sneered, looking down at me after I collapsed during my last day of extra training. I seemed to be hearing that word a lot lately. "I expected improvement before you meet the chosen bearer of the Keyblade in the Radiant Garden."
I sat bolt upright in terror, the bruises Xemnas's aerial sabers had given me screaming in protest. "Radiant— Hollow Bastion?! Superior, no! That place is crawling with Heartless! I won't only have to fight Sora, but Maleficent, Pete— I can't do it! You're sending the wrong guy!"
"The other adversaries you may face will save me the task of destroying you should you fail to eliminate Sora," Xemnas said coldly. "I expect you in the Castle Gate by tomorrow afternoon. Displease me, and you shall never see the light of Kingdom Hearts again." He teleported out of the Hall of Empty Melodies, and I sat there, sobbing.
"Dyme." It was Merydia's ghost again, sounding close to tears. "You can do it, darling. I know fighting isn't in your nature, but you can do it. You'll win. You'll come back to Atlantica. You'll turn back into the merman you should always have been."
I wiped my eyes. "Thanks, Merydia. Will you be waiting for me if I…." I trailed off.
"I've been waiting for you ever since you were brought up here." She smiled and kissed my cheek. "You should get some sleep before tomorrow."
I nodded mutely, taking in every detail of her beautiful face, wishing I could kiss her just one more time. "I love you," I croaked. Merydia only smiled and faded, leaving me to teleport to my room for the least restful sleep I've ever had.
"Number IX," Xemnas boomed over whatever he used instead of a loudspeaker. "It is time for you to embark upon your journey to Hollow Bastion to dispose of the Keyblade master. Remember what awaits you should you fail to accomplish your goal."
I squeaked, sniffling, as I grudgingly pulled apart the darkness into the portal to Hollow Bastion. I dried my tears in Betwixt and Between, and masked my terror with a wide grin when I stepped through to the Castle Gate. There were Roxas, the duck, and the dog, right on cue. I sniffed once more and chirped, "Hey, you guys are looking lively!" Being friendly never hurt when trying to get somebody to go with you, right?
Wrong.
"Scram!" yelled the duck.
"Didn't we catch you messing around in the Underworld?" Roxas sneered. "How'd a wimp like you get into Organization XIII?"
Oh, no, not this again. Why did everyone think I was a wimp just because I wasn't very strong? Roxas didn't even know he knew me! How could he treat me like this at first… well, second sight? I trembled, trying to think of a comeback. "I bet you can't even fight," he sneered. No, I can't. I'm not meant to fight. But that's no reason to treat me like a sea slug! The Organization weren't the only humans who couldn't feel. Everything I'd ever heard back in Atlantica was right on the sand dollars.
"Yeah, but we can!" agreed the duck.
Finally, a reply popped into my head. "You shouldn't judge anyone by appearance," I reprimanded, wagging a finger in front of his face. They didn't even say anything, just readied their weapons like they were going to attack me. Why, Roxas? What did I ever do to you? Just because I'm stuck in this Organization doesn't mean I'm evil!
I turned away, terrified, hoping that that would be enough to show them that I didn't mean any harm. "I told them they were sending the wrong guy…" I moaned.
"Who is this kook?" Roxas jeered behind my back.
"Remember, the Organization's made up of Nobodies," the dog reminded him. I wasn't a Nobody! I may have been dragged away from everything I ever loved in the ocean, but that didn't make me like them!
"Right!" Roxas remembered. "No hearts!"
I turned back around, insulted. Again, just because I have legs now doesn't make me human! I'm not heartless like them! I'm not! "Oh, we do too have hearts," I told him. "Don't be mad!" It was a little late for that, but it's not my fault Roxas gets mad if you look at him wrong. His Other and his friends were apparently no different.
"You can't trick us!" cried the duck, totally missing the fact that I wasn't trying to trick them at all. I just wanted to get out of here alive.
"Get him, Dyme," Merydia's voice whispered in my ear, tinged with hatred towards Roxas. "I know you can do it."
I sighed and forced my face into the glare that humans always looked at me with. "Silence, traitor," I said as dangerously as I could. I summoned my sitar with a huge splash, and the fight was on with a cry of "Dance, water, dance!"
I started out with the water clones just like in the Coliseum, except this time there were more of them. Hey, I could hope they'd stop him, right? Unfortunately, they didn't, and I had to fight myself. I spent most of the battle running away from Roxas's Keyblade, attacking with geysers and rain. Every time he would get in near me, I'd yelp and smack him with my sitar in panic. I tried to keep sounding human with taunts like, "Come on, kick to the beat!" but the whole thing felt unnatural to me. I guess that's to be expected, though— I'm not human. I'm just here so I don't get killed, and I can get my fins back.
A hit from the Keyblade caught me off guard and knocked me to my knees while I was mentally bemoaning the loss of my tail. My sitar melted away, and a glance at my hand made me scream. Black flakes were streaming off of it— I was fading! "No!" I howled. "No waaaay!" Tears streamed down my face as I slumped over, sobbing almost as hard as I had the day Merydia was killed. I wasn't complete yet! I was still human! Let me die a merman! Please! This couldn't be happening! But it was happening, and before long, everything went black.
I had failed, I realized as I sobbed. I'd never get back to the ocean. I'd never feel the water caress my body as I zoomed through it. I'd never feel my powerful tail cut the water behind me as I swam— not walked, swam. I'd never lay eyes on the sea's beauty, and all because I'm as weak and worthless as the humans always told me. Everything faded into darkness, and I was still on land.
