Depressing: Well, I hope you'll still read, even though it's "one of those after-the-fact fics". Oh, and some of the original characters will make appearances. 3 of them, to be exact. Anyway, hope you enjoy the fic despite a lack of canon characters.


Chapter 7: Battle on the Giant's Back


"Tell me what he meant!" demanded Daxtin, ignoring the girl's introduction.

"Who, the Superior? Well, if I told you that, he'd get really mad at me, and I wouldn't want that now would I?" replied Exeamine with a vicious grin. "But perhaps if you could beat me…" Her voice trailed off, the offer clear. Holding her hand up above her head, a single pink petal fell out of the air to her open palm. As it touched her hand, gloved in black, it shimmered, and in a flash of light was replaced by a long, wicked scythe. The green handle was long and slightly curved, going up to the cross like points that supported the long, pink blade that curved gracefully. "Prepare to face Organization Member X, the Lovely Reaper!"


"Incoming!" warned Cid loudly. Kicking off of a menacing knight, he shot out of the battle field down the Heartless's arm, grabbing Kairi and Anya as he shot by. Passing Okina on her way out of the falling hand, he skidded to a stop, then coiled his legs and leapt with the prodigious power of a master dragoon. Flying up towards the hand that moments before threatened to smash them, he reached the apex of his arc, just short of the arm. Throwing the girls up onto the giant shadow limb of Behemoth, he then swung out with his spear, stabbing into the thick skin of the monster. Sighing in relief at having avoided falling back underneath the hand, he gave a grunt of pain as his back was used by Kentaro as a stepping stone to give him the final boost up onto the arm with Kairi and Anya. "Screw you!"

"Hurry up," said Okina with a straight face as the engineer clambered up onto the limb. Running up the forearm, they staggered as the hand smashed onto the arm they had originally been on, killing any number of Heartless that had appeared and absorbing them into the monstrosity. Even though one arm had been destroyed, Behemoth gave no indication of slowing down. "We have to get to the head. Kill that, and the rest doesn't matter."

"There are people up there," observed Anya quietly as they ran. "One's Daxtin… they're fighting." They stopped short as more Heartless appeared to stop them on their ascent of the beast.

"Hold on, Daxtin," said Kairi worriedly before becoming engulfed in the battle.


"Is that all you have?" laughed Exeamine, dodging easily as Daxtin swung out with both aura blades, over extending himself. With an easy flick of her wrists she knocked him in the gut with the flat of her scythe, sending him flying backwards. "I just saw you slash the frickin' arm off this sucker! Don't tell me that was it!"

Daxtin skidded to a halt, landing hard on his feet before charging back at her. He blocked as she sent a pink arc of energy flying his way from the blade of her weapon, then dodged as she rushed forwards in a flurry of petals with an upwards slash. Seeing an opening, he slashed down at her exposed back, only to be knocked away again as she jumped and spun in the air, jamming the butt of her scythe into his stomach. Quickly, Daxtin used a boost of energy to reorient himself in midair before he fell off of Behemoth, then executed a flip before shooting down at her, blades out. Slamming down, he struck with a double downwards strike with both blades, the swift Nobody jumping up into the air out of the way. Reacting quickly, he threw Divider without hesitation at her, her scythe coming up too slow to block. The blow knocked her out of the air and she landed hard on the ground next to where the other two Organization members concentrated on using Behemoth to eliminate Daxtin's allies.

"Not bad," she grinned, wiping the blood from the corner of her mouth. "Maybe I should take you seriously." There was a flash of light as she disappeared and a scattered cloud of pink flower petals where she had stood only a moment before. "Hello," she whispered from behind him.

Daxtin cried out in pain as the blade slashed down his back, just barely moving forwards in time to avoid a fatal blow. Spinning about, he barely blocked her next slash then dodged back as she shot another energy scythe slicing at him.

"You really sure you want the answers?" asked Exeamine, her voice tinged with amusement. "You sure aren't fighting very hard for them." Appearing behind him in a shower of petals, she mused, "Maybe I should just kill you now."

Cold steel pierced his skin as his vision filled pink and red with petals and blood.


Kairi crested the monster Heartless's shoulder just in time to see Exeamine slash open Daxtin with her long, cruel scythe.

"Daxtin!" she shouted, running forwards, the other four right behind her. "Fire!"

Exeamine jumped away from the stricken Daxtin, easily dodging the incoming projectile. The boy hit the ground hard, bleeding profusely from the twin slashes across his back.

Kairi slid to a halt beside Daxtin, already at her knees and cradling the fallen boy. Okina and the others came to halt between her and the three Organization members, taking defensive positions.

"Well, well, the gang's all here," said a bemused Exeamine as Kairi worked her spells to heal Daxtin. Looking about, the Nobody noted, "Six to one's hardly fair, don't you think? Fuuen, Maieri, care to help?"

"We are trying to keep control of this lumbering menace we're standing on, or didn't you notice?" said the tall one blandly.

"Pff. Just use half of your mind to do that, half to fight," sneered the blonde. "Easy enough. Hell, I'll even help you with it."

"Well, then," replied the other, relaxing and shaking out her arms to limber herself up. "I'll take the dragoon."

"Fine with me," grinned Cid. "Up there," he said, pointing upwards towards the giant Heartless's head. When the tall Organization member nodded, he leapt up as she disappeared into a portal of darkness.

"Kentaro, you're coming with me to get the blonde," commanded Okina.

"She's mine," asserted Daxtin, rising unsteadily to his feet. His arms shook, but his eyes were steady with determination. Okina looked at him, pausing before replying.

"Fine. We'll take the short one. You three can have her."

"M-me?" asked the shortest Organization member, backing away as Okina and Kentaro approached her. With a wave of her hands, a strong gust of wind kicked up, blowing the two of them back before picking up the diminutive girl in the black cloak and flying her across the beast's chest to the other shoulder. The captain of the guard and the thief took off after her immediately.

"Tch. Be that way," smiled Exeamine, watching her two partners leave. "Well, three brats should be easy enough."

"You're not any older than us!" pointed out Kairi, getting ready to fight.

"Heh. 'Brat' doesn't refer to your age," said the reaper before disappearing in a storm of pink. She finished from behind them, "It just refers to your uselessness."


"So, what's your name, lovely lady?" asked Cid flippantly as they stood amid the curling darkness atop Behemoth's head.

"How do you know I'm lovely?" asked the hooded figure.

"I'm never wrong," said Cid smugly as she pulled back her hood, revealing her face. Her eyes were thin and ice blue, her mouth smug. Her white skin was framed by tumbling locks of light blue hair that escaped from under and above the white cloth she wore knotted at her forehead. A large pony tail from just above the band fell and mixed with a shock of hair from under it that covered her right eye mostly, curving off to caress a long strand that was tied and braided there. The majority of her hair tumbled down her back midway down. "See? I was right."

"So you were," agreed the woman. "My name's Maieri."

"I'm Cid," grinned the man, brandishing his spear. "You gonna fight without a weapon?"

"Number XII, the Frost Queen, is never without a weapon," she said with a thin smile, holding out her right hand. The air crackled with cold around her, and ice shot out in a long, jagged shard from her hand, forming a dangerous looking sword on her arm.

"Well, this should be interesting," murmured the engineer, frost tingeing his beard as he smirked.


"Ah…n-nice to meet you!" said the short girl, bowing suddenly and taking Okina and Kentaro by surprise with her politeness. As her head came back up, her hood fell back, revealing the face of a young girl, maybe fourteen years old, with medium length black hair that covered almost all of her shy face except one large brown eye, held out of the way by a pair of white hair clips. Also, he cloak differed from the others in that the sleeves were overly long and wide-mouthed, completely covering her hands, and she wore a white sash around her midriff, all giving her a cutesy diminutive look, like a small child. "My name is Fuuen. I'm number XI, the Whirlwind Dancer."

"She's just a kid!" exclaimed the cat-boy in shock.

"And so are you," reminded Okina. "Don't underestimate her."

Pulling back her right sleeve, Fuuen revealed a folded fan, which she opened with a deft flick of her wrist, revealing a white paper with no pattern but a print of the Organization's symbol, the cross and upside-down heart.

"Um… let's begin, if you're ready," she said timidly.


Even with three people, the fight against Exeamine seemed hopeless, a task not helped by the constant appearance of Heartless which attacked them. The Lovely Reaper held no regard for these allies, destroying any that got in her way as if they weren't even there.

"Hahaha! Now this is fun!" she laughed, her giggles like the tinkling of glass chimes. She swirled in mid air, releasing a shockwave of energy that blew away Kairi's magic and buffeted Anya and Daxtin, sending them flying back down to the Behemoth's shoulder. Raising her scythe high in one hand, she brought it down in one swift slash, sending an enormous arcing energy scythe at them. Anya and Kairi dodged to one side, Daxtin to the other. Then suddenly, she was behind the boy, scythe poised to strike.

"Bye-bye," she said with a smile before slashing down.

However, Anya was there, her hair and clothes flying up in a surge of energy shooting up from all around her, Exeamine's scythe blocked by the Shadow Lance, that deepest black darkness given form. She gripped it so tight, her knuckles should have been white with strain, but instead were black with the creeping shadows of her true nature. As the Nobody watched with widening eyes, the darkness crept across the girl's face, towards eyes already black except for glowing white points. Suddenly, however, she staggered, and fell back, clutching her head with her free hand as the Shadow Lance disappeared.

"Anya!" cried Daxtin in surprise as the girl stumbled. Quickly recovering, XII swiftly slammed the suited girl with the butt of her scythe, then sent the girl flying back with a powerful slash of her blade.

"Now, where were we?" mused Exeamine, returning her attention to the stricken boy lying before her. "Ah, yes, your death."

"Thunder!"

She grunted in pain and shock as a lightning bolt came crashing down, striking her upraised scythe.

"You little bitch," she hissed, turning to Kairi. Charging forwards with unnatural speed, she twirled, disappearing as Kairi's fireball tore through a cloud of petals, appearing behind her, then cutting her down with ease. "See ya."

"Kairi!" shouted Daxtin, stumbling to his feet.

"And what are you going to do?" asked the blonde with a bemused expression. "You can hardly stand, boy."

"You… you hurt Kairi," panted the teenager, aura blades glowing hot. "For that… I can never forgive you!"

Shooting forwards with surprising speed, he appeared right in front of Exeamine before sliding down and kicking upwards, catching her in the jaw and sending her flying into the air. Leaping up beside her, he struck out with merciless blows, aura blades flying in a relentless assault that ended with a final upwards strike that sent her flying higher into the air. Landing hard on the ground, he crouched, then launched himself back in the air at her, arms crossed as he held the twin blades ready to strike

"Nightsever!" The world flashed black for a second as he struck, then he was past her, blades held out at his sides as he hung in the air momentarily. Then, explosions of darkness rang out behind him and they both fell to the ground. Landing first, he pulled back his arm then threw Divider at the falling form of Member XII. "Final Darkness!"

The blade became a line of shadow that shot through, piercing the blonde in mid-air before disappearing. Her face was a mask of stunned surprise. However, Daxtin's sense of victory faded as her body peeled away in a flurry of petals. It had been nothing. By the time it hit the ground, it was just a floating shower of pink blossoms.

"If that had really been me, that might have actually hurt," praised Exeamine from behind him. As he spun around, she added, "I guess I will take you seriously now."

As she approached him, his hopes sinking, the entire beast they stood on suddenly shook, knocking them to their feet.

"It's out of control!" cried Fuuen, teleporting right next to the Lovely Reaper. Momentarily, Maieri appeared also.

"It's absorbed too many Heartless, and sustained far too many injuries," noted Maieri clinically. "Its rage is more than we can control."

"Damn it," cursed Exeamine. "And just when I found someone interesting to play with. Guess we'll just have to kill it and add its heart to the great heart."

"O-okay," nodded Fuuen.

"Roger," agreed Maieri.

"Well, you got off lucky," said the blonde, turning to face Daxtin. "I'll be seeing you later, okay?"

Then, the three disappeared. Daxtin stared at the empty space with stunned numbness, too tired to say anything.

"Daxtin!" shouted Kentaro, running up with Okina coming up behind him in a strange hop-skip, limping on the run. Cid came flying down from above, looking a little beat up and fairly exhilarated.

"We have to get out of here," said the older boy simply. "Behemoth's out of control, and they're going to destroy it, and us too if we don't move. Cid, could you grab Anya? I've got Kairi."

Nodding, the man picked up the small girl as Daxtin lifted the unconscious and bleeding princess. With that, they took off at a run down the treacherous monster to the city below.


"Maieri, prepare a deep freeze," ordered Exeamine from where they hovered above Behemoth, lifted by Fuuen's winds. "We'll cover you."

Nodding, the blue-haired woman began chanting softly, arcane symbols forming in the air around her as she did. While she did this, the other two turned their attention to the Heartless below, which was turning to face them as it sensed the gathering energy.

"Scatter, One Thousand Cherry Blossoms!" shouted Exeamine, raising her scythe. A spiral of petals shot out in a blazing storm, firing down and engulfing the enormous Heartless in a pink storm of slashing petals, immobilizing the beast in the deadly winds.

"Wind!" cried Fuuen, swinging her fan in a swift series of motions. As she did, a fierce gale kicked up before forming into a single concentrated blade of air that sliced down the center of Behemoth, leaving a long, deep cut. The resulting squalls tore across the monster's body while Exeamine showered blades of energy down on it.

"Okay, ready!" warned Maieri, spell ready and glowing between her hands as the other two Organization members cleared out of the way. "Absolute Zero!"

Jagged shards of ice the size of towers shot out from under the titanic Heartless as it froze completely solid, turning to ice. The air glittered and shivered with cold around the frozen statue. Then Exeamine shot down, her scythe cutting a swift straight line of pink energy down the frigid enemy.

"Buh-bye," she said, turning to look at the Heartless as it exploded into shards of ice and darkness. And then they were gone.


"That's unbelievable," gasped Cid, staring as Behemoth became nothing.

"Such power," agreed Okina in an awed voice. Turning, she then regarded Daxtin, who stood beside Kairi and Anya, who had just finished being healed by some of the guards under Okina's command. "What are you planning to do?"

"What do you think?" asked Daxtin. "I need answers. I'm going to the World That Never Was."

With one move of his hand, he opened a corridor of darkness and stepped through, closing it as Kairi and Anya followed after him.