Author: I'm finally getting around to typing this story again!
Xion: It took you long enough!
Author: HEY! Just be thankful that I'm not one of those people that only get around to typing something every other month!
Aqua: He has a point, now calm down, Xion
Xion: Tch, fine!
Ventus: That's good to know, now who has the disclaimer today?
Author: Mickey does
Mickey: The author does not own Kingdom Hearts, Disney, or Final Fantasy
Author: That's right! Now stop trying to send your lawyers after me because I'm more cunning than all of them put together!
Chapter 10
Separation
"Bad day, bad day, bad day!" Xion shouted out as she ran as fast as she could away from the cloud of darkness that Vanitas summoned that threatened to consume all of Castle Oblivion.
"This way! Hurry!" Aqua shouted out as she zipped by Xion and pointed to a rather large door on the right.
"How are we going to open this thing in time?" Xion blurted out impatiently while skidding to a halt.
"Like this" Ven said as he summoned his Keyblade and slashed the door open and landed in the center of a room filled with portals.
"Welcome to the room of portals" Aqua said as she darted to the center of the room.
"Is there a room that this castle DOESN'T have?" Xion asked.
"I think its missing a Room of Tropical Birds" Mickey randomly added.
"Nope! It's got that too! Just two floors down, third room on the left!" Aqua piped up with a smile.
"Can we just get a move on and choose a portal to go through before the darkness that Vanitas just released overtakes us?" Ven shouted out urgently.
"Ventus is right! We need to get a move on before we're stuck here forever!" Mickey shouted out as he headed for a portal that looked like the castle at Hollow Bastion, "Quick! This way!"
However, before anyone could join him, a small tremor knocked everyone either flat on either their backs or onto their butts. Xion then looked at the entrance to the room and saw the darkness that Vanitas summoned entering the room.
"We're out of time! Everyone, just head for the closest portal! We'll find a way back to each other later! Getting out of here in one piece is our number one priority right now!" Xion shouted out in desperation.
Everyone then followed Xion's advice and headed for the closest portal they could find, which unfortunately separated all four of them. Mickey jumped into the portal to Hollow Bastion. Aqua jumped into a portal that showed a permanent sunset, a clock tower, and a run-down mansion. Ventus bolted into a portal that showed a dark cave with a creepy green river, and Xion leaped into a portal that lead to a beach about a half-mile away from an island.
All four of them barely managed to escape getting sucked into the darkness that threatened to consume everything in its path.
Mickey landed in a roll as he leaped out of the portal that allowed him a quick escape from the fallen Castle Oblivion. He then looked around and noticed that he really was back in Hollow Bastion, and he then decided to go back to the computer room to see if he could find anything out on Vanitas and the Unversed.
"Oof!" Ventus grunted as he landed on the rocky ground with a thud, "That could have gone better…"
Ventus looked around and noticed that the cave and noticed that there were floating green orbs floating all over the place. That alone was proof enough that this is not an average cave.
'I guess that I might as well explore this place a bit before I find a way out… AND FIND SOMETHING TO EAT BECAUSE I STILL HAVEN'T EATEN ANYTHING IN THE PAST 11 YEARS!'
Ven then ran off in desperation for food, in hopes of finding anything edible, because right now, Ven was willing to even eat his least favorite foods.
*growl*
"Quiet you! I know you're hungry, but there isn't any food anywhere around here! You'll just have to wait until later!" Ventus grumbled angrily at his stomach.
*GROWL!*
*Sigh…* "Great… I'm having conversations with my stomach now…" Ven sighed sarcastically.
Aqua landed flat on her face when she jumped out of her portal. She then groaned and got up to realize that she was standing at the base of a giant clock tower.
"I guess I might as well take a look around while I'm here" Aqua said to herself as she started to walk down the street, but then stopped when she saw a group of three buying ice cream. The three of them together almost reminded herself of her former group of three… Terra, Ven, and herself. She decided that now wasn't the time to dwell on the past and continued her walk through town.
Out of the entire group of four, Xion had the least amount of luck when it came to landings. The others just simply fell about a foot or two, but Xion on the other hand, took a two story drop into a large body of water between two islands.
'How did I get myself into this mess?' Xion mentally groaned as she fell from the sky and landed in the water with a magnificent splash, and then passed out from the sheer force of the impact.
Kairi thought that today would just be another average day. With both Sora and Riku still gone, and her still refusing to go to the island that she and her two closest friends used to play on until they returned. However, that all changed when she saw an object fall from the sky and create a small display of waterworks from the impact. Kairi decided to let her curiosity get the best of her and ran to the shore to see if the thing that created the splash washed up on shore.
Kairi wasn't very far from the shore at all, so it only took her about five minutes to reach the beach. When she got there, she then saw a girl in an orange jacket with the hood covering her head. The first thing that Kairi did was check to see if the she was even alive or not, so she ran up to the beached stranger and checked for a pulse, and see if she was breathing or not. Once she found out that the girl was breathing and was just unconscious, she let out a sigh of relief, glad that the girl was unharmed.
However, her curiosity of just who the beached stranger was got the best of her and pulled her hood down, and what she saw was without a doubt, the most shocking thing she ever saw. While her eyes were wide with surprise and her hands were momentarily clasped over her mouth, Kairi gasped out.
"She looks just like me…!"
"I really need to find some food, or at least another person in this place!" Ven yelled to himself as he ran as fast as he could for anything that he believed to look like an exit, or at least a path to an exit.
However, Ventus didn't get very far before he heard what sounded like a few very large dogs barking, and decided to check it out in hopes of finding an exit to this dark, dank place, or at least something that could pass for food. At this point, he was even willing to eat his least favorite foods in the most obscure combination imaginable!
Ventus managed to reach a clearing in a matter of seconds and saw a battle between a swordsman, a magical duck, a shield wielding dog, a Keyblade barer, and a giant three-headed dog that he recognized as Cerberus. However, the battle wasn't exactly what interested him at the moment, what was interesting him was the giant door on the other side of the battlefield.
'That door has to be the way out of here! Time to make like a banana and split! Mmmm… bananas…' Ven thought, while accidentally thinking about a tropical fruit.
Ven then decided that he could both help the group out, and get out of here as fast as possible by just simply flooring Cerberus and darting for the oversized doorway at the same time. So he decided to do just that.
Ven darted at Cerberus at amazing speeds by activating his Speed Rave Command ability, and then fired an air-based spell at the ground to propel himself into the air. He then landed on one of Cerberus' heads and slashed it with as much force as he could muster while jumping onto the middle head, ignoring the surprised yelp that Cerberus let out, and repeated what he did to the first one while getting the same results. He then did the same again to the last one, and then fired an Aeroga spell at Cerberus as he fell to the ground, and then once he was done with his attack run, he immediately bolted for the exit while deactivating Speed Rave, not really caring about if Cerberus was down for the count or not, mostly because all he really wanted right now was some food for his now angry stomach.
Ven then entered an area that had what looked like what could be described as a stairway to heaven, but he knew that couldn't be entirely accurate. After seeing Cerberus, he knew that he is now currently at the Underworld section of the Olympus Coliseum world, thus meaning that the stairway must lead to the coliseum section of the world. Not wasting any more time, Ventus ran up the stairs, hoping to see a familiar face, and a lot of food.
'Who would've thought that I'd find a mansion in a place like this?' Aqua thought as she walked through the front door. When she entered the ruined lobby, she took note that the door to the right would be inaccessible due to it being blocked by excessive debris. Then choosing to look around the top floor first, (saving the ground floor for when she leaves) Aqua walked up the stairs and took a left turn towards the single room to the far left.
What she found when she entered was the last thing that she expected. The room was completely white and littered with pictures all over the place. Aqua then took the time to take a look at some of the pictures. She barely recognized a few of the people in them. One of them showed the two kids from Destiny Islands; Sora and Riku, with the Seventh Princess of Heart, Kairi. While another one showed three people in black trench coats, one of them was taller than the other two and had wild red hair. The other two however, looked familiar. One of them had hair exactly like Ventus, while the other one looked like Xion, but with shorter hair.
"You recognize some of these people, don't you?" a female voice asked from out of nowhere.
Aqua was now immediately on high alert and turned around to see a blond haired girl in a white dress sitting in one of the chairs that were pulled up next to the table. Aqua then relaxed, realizing that the girl was harmless and asked, "Who are you? And do you know the people in these pictures?"
"My name is Naminé, and yes, I do know who the people in these pictures are. The three people on the island are Sora, Riku, and Kairi. Do you know them?" Naminé asked.
"I saw each of them at one point or another about eleven years ago, back when they were still just little kids, but Kairi was on a world called Radiant Garden. How did she end up on Destiny Islands?" Aqua asked.
"Who knows? I don't, and she doesn't either" Naminé answered.
"How would you know if she does or doesn't?" Aqua asked.
"The reason is because, in a way, I am her"
"What do you mean, in a way?"
"I'm her Nobody, because when Destiny Islands fell to darkness a year ago, her heart somehow left her body and took refuge in Sora's. Then later, Sora used a Keyblade that had the power to unlock people's hearts to set her heart free, however, it also released his heart as well. Doing this created both me, and Roxas, who happens to be the boy in the trench coat in the other picture that you were looking at" Naminé explained.
"So that's who he is, for a second there I thought that he was Ventus for some reason, and that also finally explains how a Nobody is created. That was something that I was wondering for a while now" Aqua said.
"Now's my turn to ask a question, can you please tell me who this Ventus person is?" Naminé asked.
"I suppose I can answer that. Ventus is one of my closest friends and a fellow Keyblade wielder. Just like the people that you have in those pictures, he's a part of a trio as well. The group was composed of him, Terra, and me, and the reason why I thought that Sora's Nobody, Roxas was Ven is because Roxas looks exactly like my friend Ventus" Aqua explained.
"I see…" Naminé mumbled in thought.
"I have one more question that I'd like to ask, Naminé."
"What is it?" the female Nobody asked.
"Why does the girl in the Nobody group look like a short-haired version of Xion?" Aqua asked.
(Play Xion's Theme)
"That's because she is Xion" Naminé answered, causing Aqua to gasp at Naminé's revelation.
"But how is that possible? I met Xion earlier today and I could clearly tell that she has a heart, which is something that a Nobody DOESN'T have!" Aqua blurted out in surprise.
"I don't know how she came into the possession of a heart, or how she even managed to survive her duel to the death with Roxas. All I really know is that she somehow managed to survive and then somehow become a Somebody. The only theory that I have would be Kingdom Hearts giving her a second chance, and a heart."
"That would explain her becoming a Somebody, no matter how far-fetched it sounds" Aqua added, "but I would like to ask who her other was before she became a Nobody. I just want to know if she was somebody I knew."
"Xion never had an other" Naminé answered.
"How is that possible? Doesn't a Nobody need an other to come from to enter its semi-existence?" Aqua asked.
"Xion was an exception. She was actually an experiment lead by a Nobody called Vexen, and was then given form when she unknowingly absorbed some of Sora's memories when I was piecing Sora's memories back together after I was forced to take them apart."
"I'm not even gonna bother asking… however, I would like to know why she looks so much like the Princess of Heart, Kairi" Aqua interrupted.
"And I thank you for that because I'd rather not explain. The reason why Xion looks like Kairi would most likely be because the memories that she absorbed would be Sora's memories of Kairi."
"You also mentioned Xion having a duel to the death with Roxas, how did that happen?" Aqua asked.
"That is probably the worst part of Xion's past life. You see, Xion was actually the one that forced Roxas to fight her, regardless of the fact that they were best friends. She did this because she learned that she was the reason why Sora wasn't waking up from his memory scatter, and since she couldn't kill herself, she forced him to do it instead. It was because of her sacrifice that Sora's up and moving again, but how she somehow came back is something that I think only she knows" Naminé explained.
(Fade Xion's theme out now)
"Thank you for telling me all of this, Naminé. Now I think I have a better grasp of what's going on, and what I missed" Aqua said gratefully.
"You're welcome, Aqua" Naminé responded.
"Wait! How do you know my name? I never told you" Aqua asked quickly.
"Actually, in a way, you did. If you remember correctly, I am Kairi's Nobody, thus meaning that I have access to her memories, and you did tell her your name when you met her eleven years ago."
"Oh, you're right, I did…" Aqua trailed off sheepishly.
"Well, once again, thanks for the information, Naminé" Aqua said while heading out the door.
"You're welcome, again, Aqua" Naminé said as she disappeared mysteriously while Aqua left the room.
Xion currently has a headache… scratch that, a migraine fit the description better because it feels like her head was splitting in two at the moment. The black haired girl then slowly started to open her eyes and see nothing but blurs and black splotches. She then started to hear people talking too, and then groaned from the pain of her migraine. It was obvious that she must have hit the water headfirst.
"Hey, I think she's waking up now!"
"She really does look like Kairi, ya."
"How exactly did she get here anyway?"
"She fell from the sky and landed in the water between the mainland and the island. Maybe she's from another world, just like I am…" the last voice trailed off.
"Where am I?" Xion asked rhetorically.
"Hey, she's up now!" a fourteen year old boy with blonde hair said.
"Who are you?" Xion asked.
"We should all introduce ourselves, shouldn't we, ya?" the guy with the weird haircut suggested.
"I'll start! I'm Selphie, pleased to meet you!" the hyper girl in a short yellow dress.
"Tidus" the youngest one said.
"Wakka, ya" the guy with the weird haircut said.
"And I'm Kairi, what's your name?" the girl that could pass as Xion's twin asked.
"I'm Xion, and it looks like you could pass as my twin, Kairi" Xion teased and introduced at the same time.
"I was about to say the same thing, Xion, but would you mind telling me where you came from?" Kairi asked.
"It's kinda a long story, one that none of you will probably believe" Xion said.
"Try us! We've heard some pretty crazy stories before that somehow happened to be true. One of them would be our world being destroyed and then coming back, and that's because we witnessed it and lived through it!" Selphie piped up energetically.
"Alright, but I really doubt you'll believe a story about Keyblades and light magic" Xion said doubtfully.
"Somehow, after what you just said, Xion. I think that I will believe you" Kairi responded.
"This place hasn't changed at all…" Ven said to himself as he looked at the entrance to the coliseum. Also observing how little the entrance changed, still showing off its columns and the two giant brass warriors clashing swords at both sides of the entrance while Ventus walked through the front door. When Ven saw what was on the other side, he saw that the only thing that really changed was that there were a few more trophies lying around then before. Ventus then saw the person that he was looking for… that half-goat, half-man combo… Phil! However, if there's one thing that hasn't changed, it would be his tendency to think that you're somebody else while he's working on something fight preparation related.
"Hey champ, how 'ya feeling? Better rest up for tomorrow's match" Phil said, oblivious to the fact that Ven is not Hercules while dusting a few trophies.
'Same old Phil…' Ven thought while shaking his head.
"Nobody's gonna want to see a worn out hero… capiche? Remember what I told you, victory in the games comes down to two simple words: eat, bathe, and sleep!" Phil lectured to the wrong person, clearly unaware of his horrible math.
'His math skills are still as horrible as ever as well!' Ventus thought while chuckling, poorly smothering his laughter.
Phil heard this however and turned around angrily while shouting, "What's the big idea! And who are you anyway?"
Ven stopped laughing at that point, but a mirthful smile was still clearly visible on his face. He then chose to respond by saying, "I know it's been a while, but don't you remember me at least a little, Phil? It's only been about eleven years."
Phil took that moment to search the rarely used innards of his memory and located the events that transpired eleven years ago.
"So… you're saying that you're Aqua?" Phil asked, clearly not fully remembering what happened, causing Ven to face-fault.
"WRONG! I'm NOT a girl, Phil! Try again!" Ven shot back up, red with embarrassment and clearly humiliated for being mistaken for his closest friend, who just so happened to be a girl.
"Terra?" Phil guessed again.
"Warmer" Ven hinted, still a little red from Phil's previous guess.
"Oh! Ven! It's been a while! Sorry for not recognizing you sooner, but it's been eleven years! Where've you been, kid?"
"… Places…" Ven said vaguely, not quite sure if he should answer the question or not.
"Yeah, well that's good to hear and all, but you should at least make sure to visit every once in a while to make sure that you don't end up being a stranger."
"I'll try to remember that…"
"So what are you doing here anyway, kid? Are you looking to take part in the games?" Phil asked.
"Maybe after I get something to eat because my stomach feels like it's eating itself right now" Ventus answered with his stomach now roaring for emphasis.
"Yeah, we should fix that; you can't fight in the games on an empty stomach after all!" Phil said while leading Ven to the food court.
"Thank you!" Ven whispered to the heavens in tears as he was lead to a place where he could finally get the one thing that was on his mind after he escaped Castle Oblivion… FOOD! GLORIOUS FOOD!
'I never would have thought that I would find a place like THIS underneath an abandoned mansion!' Aqua thought in awe of what she just found. She found the basement that Sora was sleeping in for an entire year, looking at all of the machinery and gizmos.
"Hmmm… a computer… I wonder what it was being used for…" Aqua thought out loud as she sat down and attempted to log on.
"Damn! It needs a password! If I knew who was using it then I would at least have a chance to figure out the password, but I know nothing right now! *sigh* I guess I'll just have to look around before leaving…" Aqua said to herself.
Aqua did just that, she looked around and saw a room that was completely vacant, and then one that looked like a hallway with pods attached to the wall, and the two at the far end of the hall looked like they were recently used too.
"Hmm… I wonder where this leads to…" Aqua thought out loud as she saw a lone door at the end of the hallway. She then opened the door to find a pure white room with nothing but a giant pod in the middle of the room.
'This pod was recently used too, but who was in it? And why? I'm sure that Naminé would know, but Naminé already left, so I guess I'll just have to store this away in my memory for the time being. I might be able to find some answers later…'
"Well, see ya! I'd love to stick around, but I've got places to go, and people to see!" Xion called out to her new friends as she prepared to open a portal to the world that she saw Ven jump into. She knew that if there was any place that all of her friends would eventually flock to, it would be Hollow Bastion. So because of that, she chose not to follow Mickey and instead, search for Aqua and Ventus, and then return to Hollow Bastion. She didn't get to see where Aqua went, but she did catch a glimpse of where Ven went. She managed to see a green river in a dark cave, so all she had to do was imagine that place and open a light corridor and she'll be there in a snap.
"How exactly do ya plan on getting there, ya?" Wakka asked.
"I did tell you guys about my light corridors, right?" Xion asked rhetorically.
"Then show us! I really wanna see this with my own eyes!" Tidus practically demanded in excitement.
"Alright then! Just keep your pants on, Tidus!" Xion chuckled as she opened a light corridor, causing everyone to gawk for a moment.
Kairi however, was the first to recover and asked, "You said that you already know what the place that this Ventus person went to looks like. Could you tell me about it? I'm really curious about the other worlds."
"It looks like a dark cave with a glowing green river" Xion bluntly stated.
"Sounds disgusting… and poisonous" Selphie blurted out.
"And that's why I'm going to do this before entering!" Xion chirped as she casted Aura, surrounding herself in a veil of pale light.
"If I ever doubted your story before… I definitely don't now!" Tidus mumbled, but Xion ignored him.
"Well, I'll see you guys later!" Xion bid as she jumped through her light corridor.
'Why do have this odd feeling that I'll be seeing her again real soon?' Kairi thought to herself.
Author: YES! I'VE FINALLY MANAGED TO COMPLETE THIS CHAPTER!
Xion: This was quite possibly the worst chapter you've ever written…
Author: Well excuse me for suffering from a horrible case of writer's block…
Ventus: Writer's block? Well, at least that explains why it took so long for you to update.
Aqua: Yeah, it must be a real pain for you to put up with.
Author: Yeah, I really hate writer's block… I HATE IT! I HATE, HATE, HATE IT! WHY DOES IT HAVE TO EVEN EXIST? IT HAS TO BE THE BANE OF MOST WRITERS ALIVE! I HATE, HATE, HATE IT!
Xion: HEAD FOR THE HILLS!The author's having one of his psychotic episodes!
Mickey: While we're running, who's going to say the review request?
Aqua: Should I?
Ventus: I'll do it! I'm prepared this time!
Xion: Alright, we'll let you have another shot at it.
Ventus: Alright then… review or we'll force you to have to listen to the author rant on and on about how much he hates writers block, and you won't be allowed to leave until he's done.
Mickey: Last time he got like this he ranted nonstop for a week!
Author: I HATE WRITER'S BLOCK! I HATE, HATE, HATE IT! IF I COULD FIND A WAY TO KILL IT I WOULD HAVE ASSASSINATED IT NINJA STYLE YEARS AGO!
Aqua: It's going to take a while for him to go back to normal, or at least what's normal for him…
Ventus: Normalcy is overrated…