Here is the next chapter! I feel like I'm on fire posting all these chapters one after another!
I do not own Kingdom Hearts, its characters, settings or terminology.
A young woman stood at the shoreline of a sandy white beach, gazing into beautiful crystalline waters as blue as her own eyes. Her long, obsidian tresses blowing softly in the gentle breeze along with the bottom of her amethyst colored dress. She could feel the coolness of the waves crashing on her bare feet and the moistened sand seeping in between her toes. Though the sun's rays were warm and welcoming, its glare reflected on the water made it hard for her to look forward.
And she wanted to keep her gaze out into the ocean, for even with the sun's reflection in the water, she could make out the silhouette of a tall man with wispy silver hair.
"Xion." He called to her in a soothing voice.
Undeterred by the sun's glare, she took a step forward to where he stood. The more she pressed forward, the more she could see more of him, though his back was facing her. His hair and his dark blue cloak rose into the air as the wind picked up its pace.
"Xion…" he said lovingly, making her heart jump. He turned around to face her completely, and she felt her heart beating erratically. But much to her disappointment, his long bangs completely obscured his face, even with the wind blowing. He held out his right hand to her and whispered, "Come with me."
Xion didn't hesitate and reached out to him, but before her hand met his, an enormous tidal wave formed behind him and crashed over them painfully. She struggled against the opposing current, determined to grab his hand, but he just floated away from her. Xion kept fighting the waters that pushed her away from him, but the water carried her no matter how much she wanted him to help her.
"Wait!" she yelled desperately. "Wait!"
But he drifted away from her, not even struggling against the water, simply letting it carry him away.
"Wait!"
The raven haired young woman lunged forward and ended up falling face first onto the grainy ground beneath her. Her oceanic eyes snapped open and she looked around her tent, taking in every inch of space. She got up from the floor, dusted her pale legs and then sat down on her cot.
That's the third night in a row that I've had that same dream. She ran a hand through her short dark hair and let out a shaky sigh. Who is that guy? Why do I keep seeing him?
Three months ago, Kairi had stormed into Xion's bedroom excitedly proclaiming that they alongside Naminé would be traveling to the Keyblade Graveyard. The oldest twin said that she was heading out first to help set up the campsite just outside the Keyblade Graveyard itself, an area referred to as the Badlands. Apparently, even the government of The Land of Departure, whom held the entire place under its jurisdiction, was superstitious and afraid of the place. Xion had been quite skeptical that their government would let Kairi pass, but they let her…but only after she showed the necessary documentation proving that she was there for scientific research and not a vacation.
Once Kairi left first, she kept in contact with Xion and Naminé, updating her relatives on the progress about getting stationed in the area and how the crew was starting to show up. Unfortunately for the enthusiastic redhead, she was still several helpers short. Namely she lacked the much needed security as grave robbers were not above from stealing equipment. So Xion got in contact with an old high school buddy of hers, Axel Cross. She knew that he had worked as a security guard at a concert venue and knew how to handle miscreants, so she asked him for the favor. He agreed, but only after Xion promised him quite a hefty sum of munny. Axel had left Radiant Garden about a week ago, after he had quit his job and Kairi called Xion to thank her…multiple times.
But three weeks ago, Kairi was forced to come back to Radiant Garden as her dance studio was left under the care of one of the other instructors. Kairi felt that she had to stay home until she could decide the best option for her beloved dance studio. It was then that Xion decided to head out to the Keyblade Graveyard. In truth, Xion had been dying to go, but she didn't want to seem so obvious. So when the opportunity presented itself, Xion had told Kairi (in very aloof manner) that she would head out to the campsite to make sure things were running smoothly.
And here she was now, sitting on her cot, in her very own tent. Xion was truly impressed with how Kairi had handled every aspect. From getting hikers and manual workers to lend a hand and setting up the various tents for research. But even with all of that, several key crew members were still missing: a field medic and most importantly, a cook. Xion had no clue how the current men and women survived on nothing but beef jerky, stale pretzels and water. She had only been onsite for three days and she was already disgusted. Even though they had a gigantic military-style tent for a mess hall, it wasn't well staffed and most of the food tasted pretty horrible as a head chef was missing. The food sadly went to waste rather quickly even when there were several fans located across the mess hall. All of the electric appliances were able to operate thanks to a gigantic battery-operated generator, which was also the main source for electricity around the entire campsite.
Xion lay down on her cot and covered her face with her arms, her thoughts drifting back to the silver haired man. She had seen him in a daydream once before, but that had been almost three months ago. It wasn't until she had arrived at the campsite that she saw him in her dreams again. She knew it was the same man, even after the first night she had the dream, she knew it was him. But whoever he was, she had no clue. Xion sat up and shook her head wearily; she was just wasting her time trying to analyze who the man was…he was clearly just a figment of her over romanticized imagination. Xion looked up at her tent's entrance when she heard the sound of approaching footsteps.
"Xion?" Called a young woman's voice. "Are you awake?"
"Yeah, I'm up!" Xion called back. She got off her cot and walked over to her large suitcase that was on the floor and quickly rummaged through it to find a better set of clothes than what she was currently wearing: her bra, a thin camisole and her panties. She found a periwinkle colored tank-top and khaki shorts. Once she was properly dressed, Xion grabbed her socks and desert boots and quickly put them on. She walked over to her tent's entrance and unzipped the flap open; she was greeted by young woman with bright green eyes, brown hair that kind of stuck out a bit on the sides, but yet still long enough to drape down both of her shoulders. "Hi Olette."
"Good morning, Xion!" Olette smiled. It was then that Xion noticed the clear clipboard in Olette's arms holding in a manila folder. "I hope I didn't wake you."
Xion shook her head and smiled back. "No, I woke up on my own."
"Oh good." Olette sighed in relief. "I'm here to tell you that the last of the crew has finally arrived."
"Really? About time." Xion said disapprovingly. "How come they took so long to get here?"
"Well, the field doctor had the most amount of paper work that needed the government's approval." Olette answered. "I have his documentation right here." She pulled the manila folder from the clipboard and handed it to Xion.
Xion took it and began flipping through the documents. "Hmm, highest test scores of his class and a glowing recommendation letter from Lord Eraqus himself. Wow, this Ventus guy sounds like a prodigy."
"He's very modest, too." Olette giggled. "When I praised his accomplishments he blushed and said thank you in such a shy way, that I wanted to hug him."
Xion raised her eyebrows in an amused manner. "Whoa Olette, don't let Hayner hear you saying that."
Olette scoffed. "That husband of mine has nothing to worry about. I was just saying how I found Ventus to be incredibly adorable even though he's twenty five."
Xion shook her head, but laughed anyway. "Who else is here?"
"Oh, Ventus's twin is also here and…" Olette frowned slightly. "You know what? Why don't you come to the main tent and meet them yourself? I have to go do something else at the moment."
"You know, I think I should." Xion smiled and then closed up her tent. She thanked Olette as she watched the lighter haired brunette walk away. Xion trudged her way past several other tents until she reached her destination. It was the second biggest tent on the site next to the mess hall; its main purpose was all of the needed technological tools for the expedition: from various types of recording devices, to cameras, to hand held devices, scanner and computers. Xion moved aside the tent's entry flap and found two blonds looking around at the equipment.
One was looking at the various flash cameras on one rectangular table while the other sat on the chair in front of the computer. The twin that was standing up was wearing a green apple colored tee with light grey shorts, and a black-and-white checkered pattern wrist band.
The other twin was wearing a red tee shirt with black squares on the margin of the sleeves, dark grey colored shorts and a black-and-white checkered pattern wrist band. But this twin's wrist band had the reversed pattern of the other twin.
Xion placed the manila folder on the nearest table and then cleared her throat to announce herself. At once both twins turned to face her with different expressions. The twin with the green shirt smiled at her politely, while the other twin smiled at her fondly; like as if she were a relative that he hadn't seen in a long time. Said twin stood up from his seat and walked over to her, as did the other twin.
"Hello." She said kindly. "I'm Xion Coeur, I'm currently in charge of this campsite."
"Nice to meet you, Xion." Said the twin in the red shirt. "I'm Roxas Gemelo."
"Hi Roxas." As she said his name, Xion couldn't help but feel how strangely familiar his name sounded to her. She turned to face the other twin, whose smile proceeded to look absolutely endearing.
"I'm Ventus Gemelo." He said brightly. "But call me Ven!"
The two sounded so alike, but yet completely different at the same time. "I'm glad to have you on board at last."
"Sorry about that." Ventus said earnestly. "Since Land of Departure's laws are very super strict, we had to get through a lot of paperwork."
"No kidding." Roxas mumbled. "Since I haven't been doing much since I got my degree in Ancient Art, they wanted to make sure I was serious."
"Why is that such a problem?" Xion asked.
"You'd be surprised how many people will just get any degree under the excuse to come here." Roxas said. "But they never do much other than study the weather patterns."
"Oh, so they didn't want another meteorologist." Xion said. "That makes sense. So, you specialize in ancient art?"
Roxas nodded. "Yeah, all I do is look at a piece and then decide from what era it is. Or if it means something…things like that."
"Guess that means we'll have to put you close to Naminé's tent." Xion mused.
"Who's Naminé?" Ventus asked in a tender voice.
"She's my cousin." Xion answered. "She's a part of this expedition."
"Is she here?" Roxas asked.
"Not at the moment." Xion replied. "But she will be here in three weeks."
Before any of them could say anything further, a distraction appeared in the form of an energetic brunet entering the tent with a big toothy grin. The spirited young man looked a bit like the twins as all three of them shared the same facial structure. The hair was also spiked; however, while the twins' hair was styled to their right side, the chocolate haired youth's hair was spiked in all directions.
"Hi!" the brunet said sheepishly. "I'm Sora Fabre!"
Xion raised her eyebrows in fascination as Sora's energy alone was something she hadn't seen. Not even Kairi was this energetic. "Hi Sora…um, are you here with them?" she pointed at the twins behind her.
"Yeah, they're my cousins." Sora smiled.
"That explains the resemblance." Xion chuckled.
"Ha! I told you guys that we looked related!" Sora said loudly as he moved to his cousins and placed an arm on each of the twins' shoulders.
"Great." Roxas mumbled irritably, though his thinly veiled smile betrayed his tone of voice. "Now I won't be able to deny any familial ties to you."
"Gee, thanks Roxas." Sora said dryly. "I can feel the love."
"Aw, you know that I'll always be proud to have you as my cousin, Sora." Ventus said brightly.
"And that Ven, is why you're the cool twin." Sora said bracingly.
Roxas shook his head. "God, why me?"
Xion giggled. "You guys remind me a lot of myself, my sister and my cousin."
The three cousins smiled at her; it was clear that they understood what she meant, though Sora's expression did light up with curiosity.
"You have a sister and a cousin?" he asked. "Are they around?"
"No, but they'll be here in three weeks." Xion replied. "They just have some things to do before they get here. So until then Kairi put me in charge."
"Kairi? Who's that?" Sora tilted his head.
"Oh, that's my sister and the leader of this expedition." Xion answered. "So um, Sora, what is your field of expertise?"
"Oh, I'm a fencing instructor." Sora said proudly.
"Wow, that's really cool and all…but I don't we'll be getting into any sword fights, to be honest." Xion said apologetically.
"I hope not." Sora chuckled. "But I can still be of some service."
"How so?" Xion asked; she felt like she was being a bit mean to him, but she just didn't want to hire someone that would be a burden rather than a helper.
"Whatever you need help with, I'm more than willing to lend a hand!" Sora replied simply.
"Hmm…" Xion hummed thoughtfully. "We will need extra hands around, but I'll have to wait and see what Kairi says."
"I hope she'll say yes." Sora said excitedly. "Oh, before I forget, Riku needs help bringing down the stuff from the truck."
"Who's Riku?" Xion asked him.
"Oh, he's my best friend." Sora answered.
Xion gave Sora an uncertain look; while it was nice of Sora's best friend to lend a hand, Xion wasn't so sure that it would be a good idea having another guy around for no real reason.
"What Sora's forgotten to mention is that Riku is actually the chef that you guys hired." Roxas said, giving his cousin a dope slap.
"He is?" Xion felt inward relief, though she remained composed outwardly.
"Yeah, mainly that." Sora said sheepishly. "Anyways, we should go help him out."
"Is he still outside by the truck?" Ventus asked.
"Yup!" Sora answered and then he clapped both of his cousins on the back. "Come on guys!"
He was the first of the three to walk out of the tent, with Ventus right behind him. Roxas shook his head and gave Xion a resigned look. The two of them ended up smiling at each other before they walked out of the tent.
"So am I to assume that this chef guy is another relative of yours?" Xion chuckled.
"Actually, no." Roxas replied. "Riku isn't related to anyone of us. He's Sora's best friend, though."
"Ah, I see." She said. Xion noticed how Roxas was looking at her in a rather expectant manner, like he was waiting for her to say something else. "What?"
"Nothing." Roxas replied instantly. He came to a sudden halt when he saw a tall, lanky red haired man was looking over at Sora and Ventus walking over to a silver colored truck.
"Axel, don't just stand there!" Xion chided. "Go give them a hand!"
"Nah, I don't think I want to actually." Axel replied lazily. "I like my current spot, thank you." The redhead turned around with an amused eyebrow as he looked at the blond next to her. "Roxas?"
"Axel, long time no see!" Roxas said jubilantly as they shook hands and one armed hugged each other.
"You guys know each other?" Xion asked amusedly. The only friend of Axel's that Xion had ever met was some guy named Isa…or was it Saïx? Either way, the blue haired man was one of the most unpleasant human beings that Xion had ever met.
"Yeah, Roxas and I go way back." Axel said cheekily. "Think thousands of years back."
Roxas rolled his eyes. "Yes, because we look absolutely old and decrepit."
"You guys found the fountain of youth, didn't you?" Xion said teasingly. "Care to share?"
"Not likely, Xion-kins." Axel said, as he placed an arm on the top of her head, effectively using her as an arm rest. "So Roxas, where'd you go after high school? I haven't seen you since graduation."
"Um, when you were a senior, I was a sophomore." Roxas said dryly. "So when you graduated, I still had two more years to go through."
"Oh yeah, huh?" Axel chuckled, whether at his own memory lapse or because Xion moved away from him, she wasn't sure. "So are you some kind of scientist? You must be if you're here."
"Well, I studied Ancient Art." Roxas replied offhandedly.
"Is that where you look at old ass doodles and try to figure out what they mean?" Axel asked and then he looked over at Xion. "Isn't that what Naminé does too?"
Xion nodded. "For the record, they're not 'old ass doodles', they're archaic pieces of visual art."
"And I don't look at actual drawings," Roxas explained. "What I do is look at pieces of ceramics, tile or fabrics to determine in what era they were made."
"It's the same thing, Roxas." Axel deadpanned.
"It really isn't." Roxas insisted. "Anyways, we can catch up later; I gotta go help out my brother and my cousin."
And with that, Roxas walked past Xion and Axel. Xion crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow at Axel. "Why aren't you helping them out?"
"Because I'm head of security, not a moving service." Axel scoffed.
"Axel, come on." Xion frowned.
"Tell you what," Axel said slowly. "How about I go to the mess hall and see if there is space for their stuff. It seems that that Riku guy brought something Kairi forgot to add when she called up the cooking service."
"Which is?" Xion asked.
"A fridge." Axel replied. "This explains why we can't eat anything other than beef jerky and pretzels. Everything else will just go to waste in this damn heat."
"Oh okay." Xion said reasonably. "But once you do that, you're gonna come back out here and help them out, right?"
"Yes, yes." Axel said offhandedly. "I'll be back in a bit."
Axel walked in the opposite direction that Roxas had walked. Xion instead went in Roxas's direction, stopping only when she saw Roxas, Ventus and Sora unloading various items from the silver Titan truck. She could tell that there was another person standing in the back of the truck, but she couldn't see much.
Sora waved at her upon seeing her and then turned to his right side. "Hey Riku!" he called. "Get down there and say hi to the boss!"
Xion shook her head, though she gave Sora an appreciative smile. I'm only the 'boss' until Kairi comes back.
She heard movement from the trunk's back when a tall, handsome man suddenly jumped down. He had long, flowing silver hair that reached past his shoulders. Xion felt sense of overwhelming apprehension as he made his way towards her. His blue v-neck shirt was extremely form-fitting; she could easily see every one of his muscles with each movement he made. She tried her hardest to not let her eyes wander down to his jeans…but that failed, though she quickly looked right back at his face.
He removed his sunglasses and Xion was granted the view of his eyes; they were the most breathtaking shade of green she had ever seen, greener than the grassy fields of Radiant Garden. But yet, they also had a tint of cyan on the outer borders of the iris. She felt completely entranced by his viridian orbs; it was like a magnetic pull was drawing her in, rendering her immobile.
"Riku Prionsa." He said in a low, smooth voice.
"X-Xion Coeur." She said breathlessly. "…have we met before?"
What is wrong with you? You just met the guy!
Riku raised a skeptic eyebrow. "Not that I'm aware of."
"Right, of course not." She said shakily. "You just seemed kinda familiar, that's all."
Riku shrugged. "Maybe we have met before, we just don't remember."
"Maybe." Xion said thoughtfully. "So um, Sora said that you're the cook?"
"I brought all of my paperwork in case you need to see it." He told her.
Xion nodded. "I'll have to take a look to make sure everything is in order."
Roxas walked over to the truck's side and opened the passenger's door; he pulled out a leather briefcase and handed it to her. "Here Xion, otherwise, we'll probably forget to give this to you later."
"Thanks Roxas." Xion smiled, glad to not be looking at Riku's perfect face. She grabbed the briefcase and then looked over at Sora, who was handing Ventus a suitcase from the back of the silver truck. "Sora, I'll look over your papers and then see where you'll be until Kairi gets back!"
"Okay!" he yelled back as he gave Ventus a large cardboard box.
Ventus placed the large cardboard box down on the ground and then walked over to her. "Where will Roxas and I be stationed?"
"Hmm…"Xion hummed thoughtfully. "Well, Roxas can set his stuff in the research tent and you can set up your things anywhere you like, Ventus."
"Please, just Ven." He chuckled.
"Right, Ven." Xion giggled. "Actually, Hayner had set up a tent with the first-aid kit. You can take over that one."
"Where is that at?" Ven asked.
"Oh, it's the tent right before all of the housing tents." She then pointed in the direction she was talking about. "It's that way, you can't miss it."
"Okay, got it!" Ven said with child-like enthusiasm.
Xion let the four men continue bringing their belongings down from the back of the truck. She was quite impressed with all the things that they managed to bring, though admittedly it wasn't much in comparison to all the things that Hayner, Pence, and Olette had managed to get for the expedition: all the construction machines, the tents, the electronic equipment, the permits, everything else.
Xion walked away back to the main tent with the briefcase Roxas had given her firmly held in her left hand. Once inside the tent she walked over to table where Ven's file folder was laying. She pulled the chair out and then sat down; she pulled the manila folder closer to her and then opened the briefcase. She pulled out the folders inside the briefcase and was rather surprised to find that each file had been named with a tag label. She began reading the papers inside the files, looking through all of the diplomas, degree certifications, resumes, school transcripts and various report cards.
Roxas and Ven were natively born in Twilight Town, but had received citizenship from Land of Departure at a young age, while Sora and Riku were both born on Destiny Islands. All of them, save for Sora, had attended well-known and prestigious schools throughout their schooling years. Sora had apparently decided to skip college altogether in favor of his fencing lessons, which led to him becoming an instructor. Sora certainly had more jobs on his resume than Riku or his cousins combined; clearly Sora was a natural helper than a scholar. Riku for his part was class valedictorian, having the best grades in his graduating class. Upon his high school graduation, Riku attended a four year college before going to culinary school.
Xion looked at the picture of Riku on his high school transcript; there was something about the silveret that seemed eerily familiar, even though she had just met him. His eyes more than anything else were affecting her, even when she was looking at a picture of him, she still felt like he was looking directly into her soul. She felt her cheeks heating up under his photographed gaze with every second she looked at it, so she put away Riku's file and then grabbed Ven's, placing all four files inside the briefcase.
"Xion." A voice called out to her.
She stopped what she was doing and gasped softly. That voice sounds just like the man from my dreams…but that can't be! I'm not even asleep!
She looked around the tent to make sure no one else had walked in while she was busy reading the files. But there really wasn't anyone else; she was completely alone.
"Xion?" the voice asked in a slighter louder voice, startling her. "Where are you?"
The voice sounded like it was coming from right outside the tent. She hesitated for a moment, mentally arguing with herself for even believing the possibility that the man from her dreams could be real. She shook her head and moved the entrance flap aside; she closed her eyes the moment that the sun's light hit her eyes. She was about to raise her arms to block out the harsh rays, when a man's shadow covered her.
"Is that better?" asked the man in a soft, soothing voice.
Xion slowly opened her oceanic colored eyes; the first thing she found was a fit, muscular torso, with a few strands of silver hair at the base of the neck. It wasn't long before her eyes adjusted and she was finally able to see Riku clearly.
"Riku?" she said confusedly. "Was that you calling me?"
He nodded. "Yeah, I came to tell you that all of the kitchen supplies are all set."
"Oh okay." She murmured. "Wow, that was quick."
Riku raised an amused eyebrow. "If by quick you mean the last 45 minutes, then yes, it was really quick."
"45 minutes?" Xion asked in genuine surprise; she had assumed that at least 10 minutes had passed, 15 at most. "How did I lose track of time?"
"It happens to all of us." Riku shrugged. "Anyways, do we set up our tents in the same area as the rest or…?"
"Yeah, just set them up where the others are." She replied. "Do you know where the tents are?"
Riku turned around, but didn't move from his place so that he still covered Xion from the sun's rays. "I'm assuming it's that area where all the other tents are, right?"
"Yeah." Xion said. "Tell you what, why don't I show you?"
Riku looked back at her and smiled; an act that made him look even more handsome. "That'd be great."
She hastily smiled and then began walking towards the area in question, with Riku walking right behind her. As the two of them walked past the main research tent, Riku picked up his walking pace so that he was closer to Xion. An act that put her on edge, but she did her best to remain outwardly composed.
"So Roxas tells me that you're out here doing an excavation of some kind?" Riku asked idly.
"Yes." Xion answered.
"Why here?" the levels of Riku's curiosity seemed to rise. "Isn't this place dangerous?"
"I'll admit that I have my doubts about this." Xion said succinctly. "This whole land has remained unexplored for many years for various legitimately concerning reasons."
"You mean the many reported crazy, giant tornadoes?" Riku chuckled. The two had finally reached the area where there were several smaller sized tents.
"Besides those." Xion answered. "The terrain is unstable, there's possibility of grave robbers…"
"With all those hazards, why are you here?" Riku stopped walking and looked at her pointedly.
Xion herself stopped walking and turned to look at Riku. That proved to be a difficult task since he was much taller than she was and the sun's light was right in her face. But just like before, he stood right in front of her to block out the sun.
"My sister, my cousin and I believe that there's something here." She said firmly.
"Like what?" His voice indicated that he was genuinely interested.
Xion looked at him directly in his eyes. "That…I honestly don't know."
Riku looked confused. "So you're all looking for something…you just don't know what."
Xion sighed. "I know that as researchers that's a really weak motive. But ever since we were little the three of us have been fascinated by…history."
She had almost blurted out the words 'a story'.
That'll go over very well. What better reassurance to your team than to tell them that the real reason we're all here is because of an obscure fairytale that Aqua told us.
"You mean the Keyblade Wars?" Riku asked. "That's the only connection that this place has to history."
Perfect!
"We want to know what really happened." Xion said steadily. "What truly led to the Keyblade Wars."
Riku crossed his arms. "Be careful what you wish for."
Xion looked at him with uncertainty. "Why do you say that?"
"…what if the answer is something you'd rather not know?" he said seriously.
What does he mean by that?
"Riku!"
The two turned around to find Sora jogging towards them, his arms waving around enthusiastically.
"Did you set up our tent?" Riku asked his best friend. The silver haired young man walked past her, but not before he ruffled her short raven hair.
Xion's heart began to race, her face heating up as she walked Riku meet Sora halfway.
"Yup, everything's all set!" Sora replied. "I told you I could do it."
"Well excuse me for being skeptical." Riku said with a laugh. "The last time you tried to set up a tent, you failed miserably."
"That was a lifetime ago!" Sora said defensively. "Jeez, why can't you ever forget about that stuff?"
"Because someone has to remind you of them." Riku said simply.
Sora crossed his arms. "I'd rather not be reminded at all."
"Tough luck, buddy." Riku said as he slapped Sora's arm.
"Ow!" Sora snapped. "That hurt, you jerk!"
Xion couldn't help but laugh during their exchange. The two guys looked at her and smiled at her. Sora then indicated to the two of them where he had set up his and Riku's tent. It was a relatively larger tent than the rest in the area, certainly big enough for two people to fit comfortably.
"Allow me to give you the grand tour!" Sora said to Xion.
Riku looked at Sora warily. "Are you sure about that? What if you forgot to put away your underwear?"
"My underwear are all safely put away, thank you very much." Sora said playfully. "Your underwear on the other hand…they're all over the place."
"Great." Riku grumbled and Xion laughed.
The three of them walked towards the guys' tent with Sora leading the way. "Well, here we are!" Sora said. "Home sweet home."
He moved the entry flap to the side so that Xion stepped inside. The tent was certainly big enough for two fully grown men to fit comfortably without it feeling cramped. Xion noticed how at the very back of the tent several boxes were neatly stacked on top of another. She assumed that those boxes contained their clothes and toiletries. She looked over at her left side and saw two cots; it was quite obvious which one belonged to Sora and which one was Riku's: one had a red pillow and the other had a blue pillow.
Kinda like how Kairi has pink pillows and I have purple ones. She couldn't help but smile at that thought.
"What do you think, Xion?" Riku asked.
Xion turned to look at him and smiled. "It's cozy, that's for sure."
"Right?" Sora said proudly. "I told you I'd get it done!"
"I gotta say, I'm genuinely impressed." Riku said appreciatively. He clapped his best friend's back as he made his way to his cot. He passed right by Xion and for one crazy moment her vision blurred.
Instead of seeing the two cots and the inside of the tent, Xion clearly saw Riku's back, but everything else was the same beach she had seen in her dreams. Right down to the huge tidal wave, Riku's movements slowing down as he began to turn.
But in the blink of an eye she was back in their tent, and Riku was moving at a normal speed as he laid down on his cot.
"I gotta head out guys." Xion said steadily. Her heart was hammering nervously, though she somehow managed to remain composed on the outside. "I gotta let Kairi know that you guys are her."
"Okay!" Sora beamed. "When's she getting here?"
"She'll be here in three weeks along with our cousin Naminé." Xion answered as she began walking away. "Thanks for the tour!"
"Don't be a stranger!" Sora said loudly. "Come back and visit us!"
Xion laughed and turned to look at Sora. "I won't!"
"Sora, we'll see her all the time." Riku said, his gaze meeting hers. "We work here now."
Xion nodded and then looked directly at Riku. "That reminds me, I know you guys must be tired from traveling, but dinner's at 4pm."
Riku sat up straight. "What time is it now?"
Sora pulled out a cell phone from one of his shorts pocket. "It's 12:30pm"
"Oh okay." Riku said lightly. "Don't worry Xion, I'll have dinner ready by that time."
"Thank you, Riku." She said gratefully. "I'll see you guys later then."
"Bye Xion!" Sora smiled broadly.
"See you." Riku said pleasantly.
She waved at the two of them before she walked out into the burning light of the sun. Her eyes took a moment to adjust to the brightness of her surroundings but she walked forward nonetheless.
What's happening to me? Is it the heat getting to me? Maybe I should go ask Ventus about it.
She turned to her right and walked to an incredibly large tent that had a red cross on top of the tent. She moved one of the two flaps and slowly made her way inside. "Hello?"
She stopped walking when she got to a rectangular table that had several open boxes of medical supplies like bandages, gauzes, cotton balls and other things. She looked around her and saw that Ventus hadn't settled in; there were several unopened boxes behind the table, some were even labeled 'Roxas's stuff' in very horrible handwriting.
"Hello?" she asked a little louder this time. "Is anyone here?"
"I am." Came a reply from the back of the tent.
Xion looked over and saw one of the two twins walking towards her holding a large cardboard box in his arms. He placed it on top of the table and smiled at her warmly.
"What can I do for you?" Roxas asked.
"I wanted to see how you guys were doing." Xion replied.
"Well, we're still not done unpacking." Roxas jerked his head in the direction of the unopened boxes. "But that's mostly because Ven packed an entire hospital."
Xion laughed. "I see what you mean."
Roxas grabbed a knife from the table and cut the tape on the box. Xion noticed that he kept glancing at her as he began to pull out small pill cases from the box.
"Is your brother here?" she finally asked. Xion realized that her voice sounded more anxious than she would've liked.
"Yeah." Roxas walked a little towards the back of the tent and yelled. "Ven, Xion's looking for you!"
Xion heard some rustling from the back of the tent and then Ventus came bustling in clumsily. He smiled at Roxas then turned his gaze to Xion and smiled sweetly at her.
"Hi Xion!" Ventus said brightly. "How may I help you?"
"Um…" Xion nervously played around with the longest strands of hair by her jawline. "I was wondering if…it's possible to suffer heat hallucinations…"
Both Roxas and Ventus looked at her concernedly. Ventus walked around the desk and grabbed two stepping stools. He placed them down on the floor, indicating for Xion to have a seat.
"Have you been drinking a lot of water?" Ventus asked as she sat down. He quickly looked over at Roxas and his twin rapidly dashed out of the tent.
"Yeah, I've been drinking more water than usual because I'm out here." She replied.
"Okay." Ventus said thoughtfully. "What exactly is it that you're seeing?"
Xion bit her lower lip. She honestly had no idea how she was gonna explain it to him that what she was constantly seeing was flashes of her dream. A dream that kept appearing every night ever since she first arrived at the campsite.
"I…don't even know how to explain it." She said quietly. "I see a giant wave…it swallows me and this other person…"
Roxas returned with an ice cold water bottle and gave it to Xion. "A wave?"
"Thanks." She said as she took the water bottle from Roxas. "I'm at a beach and then the wave just appears and crashes over me and this guy that's there in the middle of the ocean for some reason."
She lowered her head. Oh god, this sounds worse when I say it out loud.
"You know what?" she said as she suddenly stood up. "I'm just stressed. Heat, plus stress and lack of sleep are obviously getting to me. I'm so sorry I bugged you guys."
"No, not at all." Roxas said, his brows creasing in confusion.
"I'm hoping that you'll come to me when you're not feeling well from now." Ventus said tenderly as he stood up. "I am a doctor after all."
"Will do." Xion smiled. "I have to get back and file away some papers. I also have to let my sister Kairi know that you guys are all here."
"You said that Kairi will be here in three weeks, right?" Roxas asked.
"Yeah, her and our cousin Naminé." Xion answered. "I'll see you guys later."
"Bye!" Ventus smiled.
"Bye Xion!" Roxas said.
The moment that Xion opened the tent's flap her vision blurred again. The colors all swirled around her making her blink rapidly. She staggered a bit, unable to gain steady footing. Hey eyes caught a faint silhouette walking towards her. It was clearly a man, he wasn't much taller than her but he was built. He walked closer to her and then there was nothing but darkness surrounding her.
"Hello, your highness."
I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and I'll be back again real soon! Bye!