Note: I would like to disclaim Final Fantasy X as well. Also, note that there are a few people missing from the FFX cast. I have reasons for this, and you need only ask, but I'm not going to write them in, unless it makes sense. Out of sight, out of mind. This message will self destruct in ten seconds.
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We had all gathered in a village that was pretty close to the beach where we'd landed. The architecture of the place was pretty nice. There were a bunch of small, blue, spherical huts, all lined up fairly nicely among the dirt. In the center of the dirt road that ran through the village, there was a circle engraved in the ground, with a few markings around it. I figured that it was some sort of community fire pit.
There were two buildings that weren't huts. One of them looked to be a lodge of some sort. It was rather large, built of some sort of blue canvas, and had a few beds visible from the half open door. The other building was absolutely massive, in comparison to the rest of the village. That's where most of the people of the village had taken cover. It was made of some blue stone, and it also had a bit of an outset from the building itself, which wrapped around the entire thing, protruding outward, into the village. Along the outset, there was an elegant canopy, which seemed to also be made of some sort of solid material, but not stone. The door was closed, so I couldn't see inside. Still, it was quite impressive. When I asked what it was, I was told that it was a temple. It seemed fitting that people would seek safety there.
When the rest of the group had joined Yuffie and I, they brought along new members. One was a man dressed on a red robe, with one sleeve hanging to his side. The arm that was supposed to be in the sleeve was slung inside the robe itself, pulling it open a bit to reveal a skin tight, black shirt underneath. His hair was mostly black, but there was a bit of grey mixed into it. I couldn't see his eyes, as they were covered by a pair of shades, but I did notice two ends of a scar on his face that would have lined up with an eye. In the sleeved hand, he held a long, somewhat broad sword, which he flung on his shoulder. Below the sleeve, I noticed a white canteen of some sort, tied to the belt that held the robe closed.
The second man that had accompanied the rest was much younger than the first. If I had to venture a guess, I'd put him at 20-ish, around the same age as Riku and Sora. He had blonde hair, which was spiked down and out. Around his neck, there was a pendant which resembled a stylized 'T', with barbs which had barbs, and odd curves. Most of his chest was visible, but he did have a shirt on. It was yellow, and extremely short. It also had a white hood near the base of the neck. Along his left arm there were various leather straps and metal cuffs, which made up a makeshift sleeve. Two blue straps extended around the shoulders connected to what appeared to be a black skirt with a zipper down the middle, and a black belt across it. Under that, was a pair of black shorts, the right leg being longer than the left, and bearing the same odd 'T' as his pendant. This man held a rather impressive sword. It wasn't as long as the robed man's blade, but it seemed to have a similar length to broadness ratio. At the end of the blade, it hooked back around, ending in a barb. The whole thing, minus the handle, seemed to be made of a transparent metal, which was filled with a vibrantly blue liquid.
"Hugo," Sora addressed, "I'd like you to meet Tidus and Auron." He held out a showcasing hand respectively, first to the blonde man, then the one in the red robe. "We go back a bit. They're gonna help us clear the Heartless from Spira."
I nodded to each of them. "Nice to meet you."
"We'll have to be short on formalities," Auron said, "We've much work to do. The longer we sit here talking, the worse it gets for the rest of the world."
Riku stepped up to give a few orders. "Right. So, Auron and I will take care of the forests in the area. Leon, you, Cloud and Tifa cover the ruins near the falls, as well as the surrounding area. Kairi and Yuffie, you two go back to the ship and work your way along the beach and the river." He stopped briefly to offer Sora a glance, then resumed. "Sora, you, Hugo, and Tidus guard the village."
Everyone nodded, including me. I wasn't too thrilled about staying here while everyone else went out got to plat hero. Then again, the smaller the fight I got myself into, the less chance I had of losing control. At least that was relatively reassuring. As the rest of the group left and split up, I made my way to the temple steps, taking a seat. It wasn't long before Tidus and Sora sat down next to me.
"Looks like we drew the short straw," Tidus sighed.
"Yeah," Sora responded with a sigh of his own, "Well, at least it gives us time to catch up."
I interrupted, trying to keep my mind in shallow water. "So, how do you guys know each other?"
"Well, Tidus used to live with Riku, Kairi, and me on Destiny Islands. We lost contact when the Heartless attacked the place," Sora started explaining.
"While he was out playing hero," Tidus picked up where Sora left off, "I washed up here. We came across each other again a few years ago, when he was looking for routes through darkness."
It seemed simple enough. I wasn't really all that interested. It was just conversation to keep me occupied, delaying my insanity that much longer. "So, why did you stay here when Sora visited, instead of going back to your home world?"
He offered a small chuckle. "This is my home world now. After a few years, I made a bunch of good friends. Besides, this place is a little nicer than that tiny cluster of islands." He shot a humored glance at Sora, who seemed to be someplace else, perhaps lost in the past. I picked up the feeling that he was only kidding about the last bit. "So, what about you? What's your story?"
"Me?" I asked, trying to assemble a noble history as I gave them random syllables to work with. "I-I'm not really sure if my story is worth telling."
"Hey," Tidus chuckled, "I don't mean to pry. But, every story is worth telling. Some people just find certain ones to be more interesting."
When he put it that way… "Well, I'm from a world called Earth. I think there's another name for it. Gaia? Anyway, I didn't even know that there were other worlds out there until a few days ago. That's about it. There's not a whole lot to tell, unless you want to know about my struggles during my adolescent years."
He seemed distracted. "That'll have to wait. We've got company. Hey, Sora, snap back to reality here."
Tidus was right. We did seem to have company. While we'd been talking, a hoard of Heartless gathered outside the village. By now, there was a slowly advancing river of black. These ones, though, were different than the ones I'd fought before. There were some that looked like anorexic, shadow dogs. Others appeared to be humanoid, but with two sets of arms, and were very muscular, as well as large. There was something tugging at the back of my skull. Something about this wasn't right. The Heartless were moving too slow.
That didn't stop Tidus or Sora, who had jumped into the middle of the group. I could see black hearts being thrown into the sky, knowing that the two of them were attacking relentlessly. I held out my left hand, trying to call upon Gaia's Torment. Nothing came. Relaxing the arm at my side, I drew a deep breath. I didn't have the Keychain anymore. It disappeared with the blade when I dropped it on the sands of Destiny Islands. I didn't want to break out the second one yet, in case I needed it later. Micky forgot to tell me that the Keychains were, apparently, expendable items.
I finally realized something else odd. As I watched Tidus cut through enemies with his brilliant, blue blade, and Sora, now dressed in red, crushing them with two Keyblades at once, I noticed that it was actually me watching. There was no back seat driving. The machines seemed unresponsive. Of course, they picked a great time to not help me fight. I held my hand out again, trying to concentrate on the Keyblade I'd used before. Nothing.
My attention turned back to the fight. The Heartless' numbers were growing exponentially, even with the rapid rate that Tidus and Sora were slaying them. It was, for all intents and purposes, a stalemate. However, at the current rate, it wouldn't last long. A roar turned my attention to my left, where one of the massive, four armed Heartless took me by surprise. A shadowy fist connected with my gut, sending me flying. I landed in the lodge, breaking the table that broke my fall. Lying motionless from the pain, I could hear the footsteps on the dirt outside. They were getting closer. I tried to get up, but only made it into a sitting position before another fist threw me through the back of the lodge. My back collided with a tree, a loud crack sending pain through my entire body.
I was able to get to my feet this time, but not quick enough to avoid a third blow, which pushed me further into the forest. More Heartless were gathering around me at this point, as I was a fair distance from the safety of the village. One of the dogs pinned me to the ground, its vibrant, yellow eyes hanging mere inches away from my own as it growled.
This was it. I was going to die here, in the forest of some random world, at the hands of dogs and ape men. Tears gushed from their ducts as I watched more creatures crowd around me, all seemingly ready to strike, yet willing to wait until the dog on top of me was done.
I began desperately wishing, hoping, begging for a way out. The dog's head reared back, the mouth opening wide. My heart stopped, and the chest it sat in burned with pain. Time seemed to slow down, relishing my absolute terror in my last second. I begged and pleaded for something, anything. I just wanted to live. The price didn't matter. That's when a voice whispered in my ear.
"Legacy, do you wish to live?"
"Yes," I cried in desperation, though no words came from my mouth, "Please. I'll do anything."
"You simply need to open your heart. Let the darkness in. You will find your salvation there. Simply think my name, and I will be there."
"Let the darkness in?" I let my heart start beating again, and a slight sensation came with it. I started falling backward, away from the row of sharp, black teeth that were about to tear my face off. Before I got too far, I called the name of my savior, letting the darkness in my heart beckon it to come. "Gaia's Torment."
A bright flash shot forth from my left hand, through the dog's abdomen, protruding through the spine. The light solidified, taking the familiar shape of black and red vines. The heartless was now impaled on Gaia's Torment, quickly turning into a cloud of black smoke, the open mouth simply passing through my skull. I slowly rose to my feet, no longer in control. A smirk crossed my face as my Keyblade shifted into Hell grip. The Heartless around me didn't stand a chance now.
I leapt at one of the four armed ape men, stabbing Gaia's Torment into its chest, my feet connecting with its abdomen. Before the beast turned into smoke completely, I launched myself off of it, sending myself through a back flip, and ultimately landing on the back of one of the dogs, using my blade to decapitate it at the base of the neck. One of the humanoids charged me. I simply held my weapon out at my side and stepped to the right, letting Heartless cut itself in half. Not wasting a second of time, I began running back to town, spinning Gaia's Torment around myself in reverse figure eights to cut through the legion that had assembled while I was pinned down. A large hand crashed into my shoulder as the lodge came into view, and was strong enough to push me to the ground. I didn't stay there for long, rolling backward, lunging at the ape man who'd assaulted me as soon as my feet made contact with dirt. Needless to say, the beast was now a wisp or two of black smoke.
I stepped through the hole I'd made in the back of the lodge, and over the broken table, back into the village itself. Tidus and Sora were still quite occupied with an endless stream of Heartless, but it seemed that they were starting to gain ground. The machines paid little attention to this, making their way to the crowd where they fought, targeting a Heartless within the fray. Gaia's Torment was shifted back to Heaven grip as it rose above my head. When it came down, it hit nothing but a solid wall of ice.
The machines gave me my control back, even if only to have a chance to think about current circumstance, which was… cold. As I pivoted myself, I noticed that everything was covered in a thick layer of frosty ice. The ground, the buildings, my companions, even the Heartless were all frozen solid. My breath was a visible, white puff of fog, and I could feel my skin start to ripple into goose bumps.
"So, you are Gaia's Legacy," came a voice from behind me. I turned around to see a figure at the top of the temple steps. They were dressed in a deep blue suit of armor, a black cape attached to it. On the breastplate, there was the insignia of the black heart, the two barbs off the elongated point, and the red 'X' in the middle. The suit covered every inch of the figure, from a full, blue helm, which let long, tan hair fall from the back, to azure greaves. Perhaps, though, the gauntlets were the most interesting. They were massive. What looked like a smooth, blue shield covered the forearms, ending with a short, but seemingly sharp blade that protruded past the open hands. The hands themselves were covered in blue plating as well, and each finger ended in a curved claw that looked capable of slicing through diamonds. "I must say, I'm not very impressed."
"And just who the hell are you supposed to be?" I asked, the machines adding a bit of a sneer to my tone.
"Where are my manners? My name is Vexless. I am one of the eleven Heartless Knights." His voice was rather deep.
"So, these critters behind me, the ones encased in ice. I'm assuming they're your troops?"
"Mere pawns. They serve me only one purpose: To draw you out. Now that they've done that, I have no qualms about letting them stay that way."
"To draw me out?" I didn't like the sound of that. "And just why did I need to be drawn out?"
"Well, I highly doubt you would have come to us peacefully."
"You have a point." Gaia's Torment found itself back in Hell grip, held behind me as I lowered into a defensive stance. "And what business do you have with me?"
"You ask a lot of questions. It's nothing but a waste of time." The figure started down the steps, and toward me. "I'll cut you a deal. If you come with me without putting up a fight, then I'll give you all the answers you desire."
"Not a chance." He never made it to the bottom step. I let the instinct machine take the reigns again, lunging at the knight. His reflexes were sharp, and held me in mid air by deadlock. My blade connected with the shield of his gauntlet, which was held out before him now, and stopped there.
"Such a pity. Why must all the 'heroes' be so close minded?" He extended the arm that I was attached to, flinging me backward. As I corrected myself and landed on my feet, I slid at an alarming speed, slamming into a frozen hut.
"I'm no hero." It was my true self talking through the machines. If I was to let them turn me into some sort of bloodthirsty monster, then I deserved no such title. I picked myself up, pushing off the hut I'd run into. By now, Vexless was running at me, his clawed and out to his side and open, ready for a swipe. I ducked under the attack, pushing with my back foot to send myself into a slide as I swing my Keyblade at his shins. My attack connected, but bounced off the azure plating. Taking Gaia's Torment and slamming it vertically through the ice, I used it as a pivot, slinging myself back at the blue knight. I pulled my weapon from the ice, sliding into a shoulder charge. That was a bad idea.
My shoulder, covered in only in black cloth, collided with his blue plated chest. It hurt quite a bit, but there was now permanent damage done, maybe some bruising at most. I did, however, succeed in knocking him over, as well as myself. I scrambled to get back to my feet, only to have them swept from underneath me, crashing into the ice again. As I tried to get up again, a greave connected with my chest, pinning me down. It wasn't over yet. I wouldn't let it be. I grabbed hold of the armor clad ankle attached to the captivating foot, pushing forcefully as I sent my body into a roll. Surprisingly, it worked, and I had a chance to stand again. The machines craved offense. I let them have it.
I rushed Vexless, swinging the Hell gripped Gaia's Torment upward and across his abdomen. A clang sounded out, but the impact seemed to distract him long enough to allow me a second strike. I hooked the blade around the back of the knight's neck, pulling it back to my side. He followed the force, face planting into the ice at my feet, quickly rolling out of the way as I stabbed downward at him. He used his claws to handspring back to his feet, in a crouching position, the blades on his fingers still stuck into his fingers. I didn't give him a chance to relax, lunging and slashing at his head. Again, nothing came of the attack but a clang, but it knocked him back to the ground. When I tried to pin him to the ground as he did me, I realized that my feet weren't moving. I looked down to find them covered in ice.
"You're tenacious as all Hell. I'll give you that much," the azure knight said, climbing back to his feet, "To be honest, I didn't really think the fight would have lasted this long. Maybe I underestimated you. I guess that means I can stop going easy on you."
Vexless raised a clawed hand, bringing the blades down on me. I braced for impact, closing my eyes, unable to move. There wasn't one. Only the sound of metal hitting metal came. I opened my eyes, noticing that a black Keyblade was jammed into the shield of the claw that had been raised. It wasn't long before Riku rushed in to retrieve his weapon, pulling out of the gauntlet and not hesitating to attack the knight. Vexless jumped back. Riku followed, staying on the offensive. His black Keyblade was cutting through the armor where Gaia's Torment had failed. It wasn't long before Riku found himself frozen in mid swing. My chest sank. I was too confident in him.
Vexen made his way back to me. By now, the machines knew that they wouldn't get any more action, and had let me back to the forefront. There was a rumbling from behind me. I turned as far as I could, and looked to the sky. A massive creature sat in front of the clouds. It looked to be a gigantic whale, two large fins on its back. It had four fins that looked more like the legs of a quadruped, and a long lizard like tail. Even at this distance, I could see the black, barbed heart emblem on its chest.
The blue knight now stood before me, his armor cut up and letting blood seep through. "I was hoping to have a little more fun, but I haven't much left fight in me after that little incident. Well, Legacy, it looks like you're coming with me." Before I could ask any questions, a shielded gauntlet slammed into the side of my head. I felt myself fall over, numb, as everything went black.
