Welcome, my friends, to chapter nine. I just realized that we haven't even been through a third of the story yet, and this is already pushing at the length of Invader. The actual KH3 story is going to be even longer. What have I gotten myself into? :P
Anyway, let's get going!
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Unforgettable
Chapter IX
Fury
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"My former colleges are not as scattered as you seem to think."
"Then where are they?"
"Two in Olympus, two already, shall we say, in rivaling employment."
"And how do you know this, exactly?"
"Well, I'm sure you keep up with the actions of old friends."
"Friends? Were they your friends?"
"In a way. In a way…"
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There were several words that came to Xion's mind at the scene she was witnessing, but the most prominent one was infestation.
Shadows, at least two dozen of them, were all over the beach, making a mess of the local flora and fauna. To make things worse, they were moving in a way Xion had never seen—in a single wave, like army ants. It was terrifying, and after defeating so many herself, she was surprised to be feeling such an emotion from these basic opponents.
She retreated back into the jungle, where Roxas and Ventus were standing by, Keyblades drawn. "Namine sure wasn't kidding. What do we do?"
Ventus twirled his Keyblade in his hand. "Well, fight them off. What else can we do?"
Xion tugged on her collar. "Uh, maybe if we leave them alone, they'll go away on their own…"
Roxas raised his eyebrow. "Heartless don't work that way. You know that."
Xion waved her hand dismissively. "Yeah, yeah, it was a stupid thought…I think I'll sit this one out…"
"You okay?"
"No!"
Roxas stepped back a bit. It took a second for Xion to register her outburst. She cringed. "Sorry," she muttered. "It's just…I don't feel…right. You know?"
Roxas walked up to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "It's okay. You can stay if you want."
Xion scratched the back of her neck. "Well, I don't want to be useless…"
Ventus walked over. "Are you afraid of them?"
Xion blushed. "Yeah…they're swarming…"
"No need for shame, then." He pointed to a bush. "If you really want to help, you could use magic to attack from a safe distance."
Xion smiled. "That's a great idea, Ven!"
"Hey, no problem."
As Xion ran over to the indicated bush, she caught sight of Roxas' face. He was staring at Ventus with a look of…jealousy? But he had never acted that way before. Actually, he had been acting really spiteful towards Ventus all day. What was going on in his head?
I can show you what he's feeling.
At the sound of the Voice (she had no other name for it), Xion shut her eyes. "No," she whispered, trying not to be heard by her companions. "Get out of my head."
But Puppet, don't you want to know why your friend is suddenly so—
"That's not my name," Xion choked out. Somehow, she managed to make the whimper sound defiant. "I'm Xion. I'm not a puppet…"
Okay. I get it. A dazed, almost sleepy feeling seized her. It's probably not fun being a disposable object, on top of not existing.
"I'm not!" She managed to fight off the feeling with the anger filling her. "Are you trying to make me mad?"
Only for your own good. I want to help you, Puppet. Part of that is being honest with you.
"But I'm not a puppet…"
Don't lie to yourself. It's unpleasant, but it's true. The sooner you accept it, the happier you'll be.
Xion's vision got blurry, like she was about to pass out. She couldn't see her own hand, let alone Roxas or Ventus. "Shut…up…"
But don't you want to know what Roxas is feeling? Why he hates Ven so much?
She tried to say no, but she couldn't, as if the word itself was catching in her throat. "Wha…what did you do to me…"
Pointed you in the right direction.
"I…would prefer if you…" Xion clutched her throat, trying to get the words to come out. "Please…I want you to…gah…"
Nice try. Come on, just one little word. Yes or yes question here.
Xion was getting overwhelmed. She shut her eyes tight, trying to keep back tears. "Fine, fine, fine, just do it, get it over with, make it stop…"
Good. Time for you to see the truth.
Xion's eyes burned, like someone had sprinkled salt in them. She yelped and grabbed them, rubbing as hard as she could. When she opened them again, she wasn't hiding in the bush, but was instead on the beach, staring down the Heartless swarm. She noticed she was holding Oathkeeper and Oblivion, and realized that she was seeing through Roxas' eyes. She wasn't afraid of the Heartless anymore—actually, she felt the flame of berserker rage deep in her core.
She watched as Roxas leapt toward the Shadows, spinning his Keyblades madly. He was screaming an animal-like cry of anger, and it felt as though it were coming out of Xion's lungs. She barely had time to catch her breath on her end before he slammed into the swarm, taking out five Heartless in two swings. Then he jumped back, actually using one of the Heartless like a launch pad, and shot off multiple fire spells, using his dual Keyblades like Xigbar's arrowguns. Xion would have been impressed by this display of force, if she wasn't too focused on the fact that her own energy was draining.
The remaining Heartless had become scattered. Roxas did not lose his ferocity for a second, plunging Oathkeeper into one of the enemies as he came down from the sky. He threw Oblivion into another one, and the Keyblade bounced between a few Shadows before coming back to him. For the finale, he raised his Keyblades in the air and brought down huge pillars of light, hitting the remaining Heartless square on and destroying them instantly.
As Roxas panted, Xion found herself panting with him. She wanted him to stop, to give her a chance to recover, but she couldn't cry out, or even speak at all. Without knowing what harm he was doing to her, Roxas spun around and pointed at Ventus. "Why didn't Xion help?"
Ventus just whistled. "Maybe because you didn't need the help?"
"Yeah, she would do it anyway."
Xion found unwanted anger towards Ventus rising in her. She tried to breath deep breaths, but since Roxas wasn't doing so, she had trouble. She had a blaring headache and felt sick to her stomach. The strange thing was that she got the sense that the headache and nausea were from Roxas, not from her exhaustion. How could he bear it?
Ventus sighed. "What, you think I did something to her?"
"You read my mind."
"And why would I do that?"
"I…I…" The headache got worse. "I don't know, but I know it's true!"
"Roxas, you're being ridiculous."
"No, you're being dishonest."
This is it, Puppet.
"Roxas, please just calm down."
This is his anger.
"I'm going to see Xion right now, and if you try to stop me, you won't like what happens to you!"
His hatred.
"I have no reason to stop you. I'm going to see her myself."
His FURY.
"No. Only I see her. The one she can trust."
Can you feel it, Puppet?
Xion hit her head on the ground to snap back to herself. "STOP IT! STOP IT! STOP IT!"
Roxas and Ventus both dropped their Keyblades and ran toward the bush. Roxas bent down and held Xion in his arms, and she stared up at him, tears making him hard to see. "Please," she murmured, trying desperately to get air into her lungs again. "Don't fight…it hurts…a lot…please…"
Roxas' eyes went wide with horror. "I…hurt you?"
"…Don't blame yourself…" Xion almost reached for his face, but realized that would probably bring back memories he didn't want and decided to hold his arm instead. "It's not your fault, not really…but it's not Ven's fault, either, okay?"
Roxas closed his eyes. "I'm so sorry…"
"It's okay. I know you're mad at him. But you have to fight that feeling, because it's not real. Someone's manipulating you. Both of us. We can't give in. Promise me you'll try not to hate Ven."
After a moment, Roxas nodded. "I promise."
Ventus waited a moment to make sure the moment was really over, then crouched down next to Xion. "Can you tell us what happened?"
"…I…what happened was…" Xion found that she couldn't get the words out, no matter how hard she tried. "Actually…I can't."
Ventus cursed under his breath, then squeezed Xion's free hand. "Want to go home?"
"Yes, please…" Her eyesight went black around the edges. "May I sleep, please?"
Roxas looked frightened for a second, and he tightened his grip on Xion, but Ventus raised his hand to signal him to relax. "Yes you may," he answered, his voice sounding faint, filtered by the creeping unconsciousness.
"Thank you," Xion whispered before she became enveloped by darkness.
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One would think that a Gummi Ship owned by a king would be truly massive in size. However, the ship owned by King Mickey was the exact opposite—tiny to the point where housing two people—as it was now—was cramped. Both crewmembers had to sleep in sleeping bags laid out on the floor. But this was perfectly acceptable living conditions for Riku. After all, he had dealt with much, much worse.
The silver-haired boy sat in the copilot's seat, his hands locked behind his head, looking out towards the stars. Even after all this time, it still amazed him how many there were. Every single one had its own world to explore. Of course, he had learned his lesson about rushing off to 'see the worlds', but he couldn't help but feel a sense of childlike wonder at it all. Maybe being reunited with Sora was bringing all his good memories back to him.
Even the ones that the universe itself thought lost.
He heard a familiar voice behind him. "You okay, Riku?"
Riku nodded at the mouse. "Yeah, I'm just thinking."
Mickey sat down in the pilot's seat. "Where to now?"
Riku sighed. "I don't know. I think the name of the person we're looking for is Aqua. Does that sound familiar?"
Mickey closed his eyes. "Yup."
"Friend of yours?"
"A good friend. But last I heard, she was trapped in the Realm of Darkness."
Riku turned his chair to face Mickey. "The same one we were trapped in after Sora closed the door to darkness?"
Mickey nodded. "That's the one."
"Well, then, I guess we get in the same way we did the first time."
Mickey shook his head. "That wouldn't work. Sora sealed that door, remember?"
"Good point."
"You're not going to like hearing this, but our best bet is probably Dark Corridors."
Riku's heart sank. "That's a place…I don't want to go again."
"I know. I'm not too eager myself. I wouldn't suggest it if there was another way."
"I understand…"
Mickey patted him on the shoulder—an impressive feat for the short mouse. "Don't worry, Riku. No matter how dark it gets, you'll always find the light again."
Riku made a small smile. "I really wish I was that optimistic."
"You can be. You just gotta let the light take you."
"If you say so." He looked back out towards the stars. "Let's head to Twilight Town. Should jog my memory…"
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And that's chapter nine done. I hope I did King Mickey right. He's a hard mouse to write—using a lot of words like 'gotta', 'gonna', etc. I like to think I did well, but I'd like to hear your feedback. I want to make this story better, after all. :)
I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Remember, reviews are always appreciated. Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for chapter ten!
