Second Chance.
Note: I might not write for a while because my sister is in hospital and I want to be aware of what's going on without getting too distracted. So, here's chapter 3.
CH3: Home Nothing Home.
Sora didn't look convinced as he studied Axel's face, and, while they were a bit wet from the rain, the spiky-haired Keyblade wielder didn't think that it was rain, and that the way Axel reacted when Roxas disappeared, made Sora wonder if Nobodies did have hearts after all.
"Oh, we do too have hearts! Don't be mad!"
"You shouldn't judge anyone by appearence."
"Now that was plain rude."
Flash-backs spun backwards of when Sora and his friends confronted Demyx and how such a whimp the nobody was before he strange Nobody was weird, not to mention how even he couldn't stand up against Hades, let alone confront him. Sora remembered when he and his friends were about to confront him in the Underworld when Demyx just instead ran past him.
"Run! Run away!" Demyx had cried out before disappearing, which was utterly confusing to Sora back then.
But before either of them could say anything else, Donald and Goofy approached, puzzled and confused on what just happened. Apperantely, they didn't see Roxas or what just happened.
"Are you okay?" Donald asked.
Axel shrugged, guessing that the question was directed to Sora who asked, "What happened?"
"Gawrsh, I dunno." Goofy shrugged, "You and Axel just disappeared, then me and Donald had to fight some Nobodies."
'We just disappeared?' Axel thought, finding this strange.
Sora asked Axel's unasked questioned, "Didn't you see the other guy in the black coat? He said...that he defeated Riku, and, we're pretty sure it was Roxas."
"Roxas?" Donald asked.
"Yeah." Axel nodded before Sora did. "It was definately him. He's gone now, though." the redhead said.
"But how?" Donald asked.
"Yeah, nobody can defeat Riku." Goofy added. He and Donald only rechieved Axel's skeptical look which silently asked, 'Seriously?' to which they and Sora were reminded about what happened and even Axel knew about Riku.
Sora then replied, "Even so, is Riku okay?"
"Don't worry," Axel assured, "Just because someone lost to a fight doesn't mean that they would go down so easily. Even I would know that Riku's tough, like I'm tough too."
Even though Sora was still worried about his best friend, has to admit that Axel was right; Riku is tough and he'll be alright.
After this, the group continued on and once again met up with Mickey and the five of them finally approached the castle. Unfortunately, it was dead end and the fortress was floating above on the other side, much to their dismay, and even Axel smacked himself in the face and groaned loudly.
"Drat, I forgot there was no bridge." Axel grumbled.
"Isn't there any other way to get to the castle?" Mickey asked.
The red-haired Nobody sighed, crossed his arms and then began to pace and think, while Sora and the others glanced at each other, then tried to think of a way themselves. All five of them thought of any possible ways of getting through, and Axel already pointed out that he didn't want to risk in making too many portals since if Sora and his friends entered too many in one day, then it's serious trouble with their hearts and bodies, especially since they didn't have any coats to protect themselves.
They kept thinking hard until all of the sudden, light flashed and shined through one of the windows of the castle, causing Sora and the others to stop and gaze at it while shielding their eyes so that they wouldn't get blind. Suddenly, the Kingdom Key-Keyblade appeared in front of Sora who gently took it, and then he just had an idea. Aiming the Keyblade at the castle, a beam shoots out, and, surprisingly, a glass-like bridge appeared, connecting it both to the castle and on the edge the others were on.
Axel hated to admit it, but he was impressed. Then he remembered the window and said, "That window is where the dungeon is." though he had no idea what caused the warm light. Maybe it was from Kairi? He didn't think that Naminé was there, though something inside him was saying that the white-haired female nobody was around, and he hoped that she was safe. The last thing he wanted was another young girl in trouble, having to rescue two damsels in distress.
"Kairi...We're on our way." Sora whispered.
Naminé was exhausted after summoning up a corridor of darkness which she learned from both Riku and Axel, and now, she was leading Kairi and Pluto down as fast as they could towards an exit to get away and find Sora, the two girls hand and hand, though Kairi had no idea that she was holding hands with her other half-her nobody.
Suddenly, Kairi noticed that Naminé's body was shaking and fuzzing slightly before she returned to normal, but both of them and Pluto stopped just as huge Beserker Nobodies blocked their only exit, and Saix appeared from the corridor of darkness, emotionless as usual.
"Naminé, there you are." Saix says to the blonde Nobody who just glared at him.
Kairi glanced at the other girl, repeating Naminé's name in slight confusion.
Saix then turned his attention to Kairi and says, "Kairi. I'm afraid leaving is not an option." before holding out his hand and offered, "I'll take you to see Sora." but the Princess of Heart got into defence, and the blue-haired nobody lowered his hand, inquiring, "You don't want that?"
"I do, more than anything." Kairi replied, then gets into a defence and fighting stance, adding, "But not with you around!" finding herself not afraid anymore. She was tired of being the damsel in distress, tired of being scared, tired of being weak, and tired of being helpless. She wanted to help and wanted to fight, and she felt it was now her turn to protect Sora.
Namine, seeing her original half's determination, just like when she herself was determinded to keep Sora safe, realised that they were the same person, having the same determination. So, the blonde-haired nobody also got into a fighting stance, also tired of being a helpless girl. She would not be used as a tool ever again, not if she and Kairi had anything to do with it.
Saix just stood there, muttering, "If I had a heart, this would be where I die of laughter." just about to order his Nobodies to seize the two girls, when suddenly, the Beserkers were struck down and disappeared, caused by another figure in a black coat, his hood up, but with a Keyblade in hand. Saix noticed this and realised who this man was.
"You." he adressed to the imposter, "Didn't Roxas take care of you?"
Relived, Namine said to the imposter, "You can take if from here, Riku."
"Riku!?" Kairi whispered in shock, before turning to the cloaked hooded man who seems to be Riku. At the sight of the Keyblade was a similiar design to Riku's soul-eater sword Maleficent gave him a year ago, the Princess realised that it was Riku after all, while not noticing that Namine disappeared with a sad smile as the blonde glanced at her other self.
Riku, not revealing his face just yet, de-summoned his own Keyblade, and mustered up and fired a Dark firaga are Saix who blocked the attack with his arms, but was caught off-guard when the former dashed at him, grabbing him roughly and pushed him against the wall. But the blue-haired Nobody had other ideas, as he summoned a portal of darkness behind him and seeped through with a smirk, causing Riku to let go of him.
He was about to follow Saix when Kairi ran up to him and cried out, "Wait!" causing Riku to pause at his friend's voice. Pluto then barked and approached him happily, to which Riku stepped back a little, stunned that the dog recongised him, even in the current state he was in. Pluto didn't back away and still looked happily at him.
Kairi then got up close, relief filled her heart. "Riku...you're really here." she said as she removed the hood, only to reveal another familiar voice who looked away. Despite the surprise, and not sure how it happened, Kairi just nodded. Just because the man had the face of the evil Ansem, didn't mean that it was Ansem. Ansem didn't have the look this man had now-the look of shame. And he didn't have a Keyblade that resembled to Riku's soul-eater either, and he definately wouldn't come to her or Sora's rescue.
Axel lead Sora and the others into the entrance of the castle, the redhead looking around carefully. He sighed and said, "At least there aren't any of those security cameras or whatever around here. But it's still pretty much uncomfortable to live in now."
To his dismay, Sora (unknowingly) decided to be stupid and yelled out, "Kairi! Where are you!?" just as Axel slapped a hand over the boy's mouth.
Even Mickey went up to Sora and shushed him, whispering, "Remember where we are! This is their stronghold!" before running out to find Ansem the Wise, the real Ansem.
"Wait! Your Majesty!" Donald called out, but Mickey was already too far ahead of the group.
"Where's he goin'?" Axel asked as he realised Sora, only for both of them, Donald and Goofy sense incoming Nobodies and heartleses and braced themselves for a fight.
Goofy then said, "Be careful. I think we got company." causing Axel to roll his eyes, and the redhead muttered in sarcasm, "You think?" before stating, "It's mainly because Sora here had to go and open up his big mouth." to which Donald, who still didn't trust him, had to agree with a nod.
This made Sora sheepish at this, and he mumbled, "Oh, sorry."
Axel sighed and said, "Nah, nevermind. Gotta fight our way in anyway, though I was kinda hoping that we wouldn't." as he summoned his Chakrams. Sora summoned his Keyblade, Donald summoned his staff, and Goofy summoned his shield, all four of them racing in as quickly as they could, slashing against both several heartless and non-human-form-nobodies.
Eventually they arrived at the Crooked Ascension, where Axel told them to be extra careful.
"Say, Axel?" Goofy spoke up.
"Hm?" Axel turned to glance at the humanriod dog who asked, "I was just wonderin'. How come you and the other Organization fellas look and act like human?" to which gave Sora and Donald a pause and glanced up at the red-head who was also surprised at the question.
Now that it was mentioned, even Axel didn't know. So he shrugged and replied, "Dunno. Xemnas told us that those with even the strongest heart and will can keep their human forms even after turning both a heartless and a nobody. See, a person who lost their heart end up turning into a heartless as you guys know, while their souls and bodies form into nobodies. So, you can guess that my heart was powerful enough to let me keep my human-self instead of turning into a dusk."
This only confused Sora, Donald and Goofy, and Axel sighed. 'Geez, they're really slow.' Then he tried again, "Translation; let's say that Sora's heart is strong and powerful, that he turns into a heartless, right? If said heart is strong enough even though it's lost in the darkness, a nobody is created. And, if the heart is extra powerful, stronger than those who end up creating the dusks, a special nobody is made, but take up the human form of their original selves, except with a couple of differences. Got it memorized?"
"So, you mean to say that even your heart was powerful before you lost it? It's the same with the other Organizatino members, right?" Sora sumised.
"Bingo!" Axel replied, before admitting, "Though, back when I was human, I never knew that my heart was special like yours or Kairi's. Always thought I was just a normal person like everyone else. Lost my heart when I was your age, actually-around ten years ago."
"What!?" Donald exclaimed.
Axel nodded, "Yeah, though I don't remember how that happened. I still haven't recovered some of my memories, and without a heart to remember the important part of my childhood, it's kinda hard too."
That's when Sora realised the entire thing. "Organization XIII were creating Kingdom Hearts to get hearts of their own-to become human again." he said in shock.
"That was the idea." Axel approved with a guilty smile, "Though, I guess there's a downside to that. Xemnas might know something more than the rest of us are bargained for. Like I said, Roxas was the only one I liked."
"That kinda sounds like when Maleficent didn't know that she was bein' tricked by Xehanort's heartless." Goofy thought, remembering when Xehanort's heartless possessed Riku's body to stab Maleficent into the chest before she was defeated and, well, nobody knows how she revived herself earlier this year.
At this, Axel furrowed his eyebrows, "Xehanort?" he asked, thinking deeply, "Why does that name sound familiar?"
"He's the original of both Xemnas and his Heartless." Sora explained, sensing Axel's confusion, "Xemnas is Xehanort's nobody."
Axel gasped at this, before saying, "I thought it was Ansem who was the original of Xemnas!" then realised what he said, and stated, "Unless..." realization dawned upon and he knew now on what was happening.
"C'mon! Let's get goin'!" Axel declared, "First we find Kairi, and then handle Xemnas. I gotta get answers from him."
"You mean..." Sora realised, "Xemnas lied to you?"
"I knew that he was up to something, but I didn't think that he lied to most of us." Axel shrugged, "No wonder Roxas left." though he knew better than that, but right now, Roxas' connection with Sora wasn't important.
The group entered the Twilight's View to head over to the Hall of Empty Melodies, which Axel knew was the entrance towards the dungeon to find Kairi. Unfortunately, a certain blue-haired emotionless nobody appeared on the very elaborate high ledge, spying on them.
"Sora, you've done well." Saix's voice caused Sora and the others to stop before glancing up and noticed the blue-haired nobody, to which even Axel glared at. Despite that the redhead now understood half of the truth, he knew that the Isa he knew when he was Lea is long gone.
Saix then turned his attention to Axel, and added, "As for you, traitor. You knew better than to run off to find the other traitor."
"Yeah, yeah." Axel grumbled, "Tell me something that I don't know. Roxas left for a good reason, and that reason is what made me leave too, and I'd say it's the best decision I made in years. And if I remember correctly, wasn't I ordered to find Roxas and either bring him back or destroy him?"
"And yet, you failed." Saix reminded.
Axel grunted. This guy really got on his nerves. "And I seriously didn't want to get turned into a dusk. But enough of that. I believe Sora wanted to find his girlfriend."
That last sentence made Sora blush, before shaking his head and demand at Saix, "Where's Kairi!?"
"Who knows?" Saix replied, "I expect she's catching up with her friend from the darkness."
Axel furrowed his brows in supicion, while Sora asked in anger, "What do you mean!?"
Saix just simply said, "She doesn't need you anymore."
"I'm supposed to believe that?" Sora challenged, as Axel stated, "You do realise that the kid's not gonna fall for your lies, Saix. Besides, Kairi only has two friends, and the other is Riku."
"Well, he doesn't have to." Saix replied to Axel's comment. "But he can believe this. Organization XIII has no further use for either of you." before telling Sora to gaze at the heart-shaped moon.
"Our Kingdom Hearts." Saix continued, "Thanks to you, we've collected countless hearts...Can you hear their euphoria?"
Axel knew what was going to happen, and cried out, "Don't! Kingdom Hearts isn't the answer!"
"Oh? And since when did you learn this...Lea?" Saix questioned, mocking calling Axel by his original name, causing the redhead to flinch and trying not to yell out in anger.
"Lea?" Sora repeated, before glancing at Axel and asked, "Why did he call you 'Lea'?"
Axel sighed, trying to control himself. He really didn't want to reveal his past, but now it was mentioned, he hestiatedly answered, "It...it was my old name before I lost my heart. Xemnas rearranged everyone's names with an 'X' after we were all born as nobodies."
Now that he mentioned it, Sora and the others did notice that the members of Organization XIII all seemed to have X's in their names. Heck, even Xehanort's name starts with an X. Was there a connection?
"Enough of that. I believe this will keep you and your new friends occupied." Saix says, and with a snap of his fingers, several heartless began to appear, surrounding and trapping Sora, Axel, Donald and Goofy who all backed up until their backs touched, knowing that they were in serious trouble. Axel alread summoned his Chakrams, and Donald and Goofy both summoned their weapons, but Sora knew that if he fought, more hearts will end up within the Organization's Kingdom Hearts.
To add to everything else, on another ledge, Maleficent and Pete arrived, and only Saix noticed.
"Well, well. Will the intrusions never end?" Saix chuckled as he teleported away from the oppesite side.
Maleficent in the meantime marveled the way the stronghold is and says, "Why, Pete...this castle is perfect. Perhaps we should...acquire it."
On the other hand, Pete looked nervous. "Well, the setup is...kinda nice, I guess, but...what about all the Heartless?" he asked before stating out his worries, "This in-between world-it's way too close to the darkness! They ain't gonna listen to us here!" shaking his head.
But the evil witch smiled, and replied, "Once again, you underestimate me."
Meanwhile, Mickey was running through the higher levels of the castle, knocking out both Heartless and Nobodies that tried to attack him. He knew that he had to find Ansem the Wise and fast, and hoped that Sora, Donald, Goofy and Axel found Kairi already. As he made it up the last ramp, he saw a familiar figure, lying on the ground, trapped and buried underneath nobodies.
Gasping in horror, Mickey quickly rushed over to save the man who he recongised as DiZ and takes out the Nobodies. Once the enemies were gone for now, Mickey noticed an odd looking device, but decided to worry about that later. He helped DiZ up, and to his surprise and confusion, the man in red robes hugged him, before standing up, and, for the first time since meeting him back in Castle Oblivion a year ago, DiZ removed his long red sash that covered his face, revealling himself as a man in his mid fifties, short blonde and smooth hair with matching small beard, orange eyes and an expression that made Mickey realise he already found the man he tried to find for a long time.
"It's been too long, my friend." said DiZ who is now known as none other than Ansem-the real Ansem.
And Mickey wasn't impressed, despite being younger. "Ansem the Wise." he stated, before asking, "Why didn't you come to me before things got so bad?" placing his hands on his hips. He couldn't believe that Ansem has disguised himself as DiZ for the entire time and Mickey himself didn't even realise it.
"Xemnas, the Organization's Superior, is the Nobody of Xehanort, my foremost apprentice. The burden was mine to bear." Ansem replied.
"Is that it?" Mickey asked, as he watched Ansem approach the railing-wall.
The blonde-haired man then explained, "I won't deny there was more. I was...obsessed with thoughts of revenge. My apprentices stole everything precious to me-my research, and my pride."
Hearing this made Mickey realise how much his old friend wanted Xehanort to pay for everything that's happened, especially in Radiant Garden. Still, he approached his human friend and stated, "I can't help you with revenge."
Mickey knew that, and he knew that some others would know that as well.
Sorry to cut this short, but I didn't want to make this chapter long. In the meantime, I have to wait for the results on how the surgery went with my sister. I pray that she'll be alright-I'm not ready for her to die yet! She's my only sister.
Anyway, keep up those wonderful reviews and I'll see you in the next chapter.
