Chapter 10: Meeting
"Xion, you okay?"
"Huh?" Xion looked up to see her friend leaning closer, a hint of concern in his eyes.
"You zoned out for a minute there. Are you okay?"
"Y-yeah, I'm fine. Just thinking." Xion mumbled, swinging her legs as they sat on the clock tower. She smirked after a moment. "Wait, you're concerned about me zoning out? Look who's talking, Roxas!"
The two laughed, but Xion had to force it a little. She had been thinking about the dreams of the boy in red when she zoned out. Could she talk to Roxas about them? Xion wasn't sure, he'd probably think she was crazy. She was actually starting to wonder it too, since she never seemed to be included in her own dreams. Talk about weird.
"Hello, earth to Xion?" Roxas snapping his fingers in front of Xion's face brought her back to reality. The concern on his face was much clearer this time. "You did it again. Should I start collecting seashells in advance?" All humor faded from Roxas's face. "Really, be careful. Not just up here where you could doze off and fall, but in general. You only woke up from that coma a few days ago."
"Right..." Xion pulled up her knees, hugging them to her chest.
In an obvious attempt to make their discussion more lighthearted, Roxas started telling Xion about his latest mission. He said something about pirates and pixie dust, but Xion couldn't really bring herself to listen. The dreams she had during that coma kept flashing through her head.
While Roxas was explaining some embarrassing something-or-other Axel had done during the mission, flailing his hands around wildly to express his points, Xion stood up. Her best friend trailed off and looked at her in confusion. All Xion gave was a soft "Sorry, I'm tired," pulled up her hood, and walked off.
x-x-x
"Roxas?"
Xion sat up. Her whole body ached and her head was throbbing. The sound of rushing water was constantly in the background of this place - wherever this place was – and it wasn't helping. Xion's eyes narrowed as she realized what she had just said. Who was Roxas? She knew she had been dreaming, but already the details were slipping away as dreams tended to do. All that stood out was the boy with blonde hair.
Struggling to stand up, Xion took a glance at the area around her. The ground was a floating platform of blue stone, and there were others floating all over. She was in a valley with waterfalls all along the walls, though Xion could swear the water was running upwards.
A new sound broke the constant current of the waterfalls. Was someone… crying? Xion looked to her left, and her heart skipped a beat.
Stitch was on the edge of the stone platform they had landed on, staring up at the early morning sky. The ground beneath him was wet, and Xion had a sneaking suspicion it wasn't because of the waterfalls.
"L-Lilo…?" Stitch was quieter than Xion had ever heard him be.
With that one word, the last few hours came rushing back to Xion and hit her like a truck. Growing weak in the legs, she slid down to her knees. Lilo, Jumba, Agent Bubbles, and everybody else in that world… gone. They were all gone.
"Stitch, I…" She said quietly. His ears perked up and he turned to her.
"Xion! …Ohana is…" Stitch walked over slowly and sat down next to her. "Stitch's Ohana is gone…"
Xion just stared at him, tears beginning to form in her eyes. She scooped Stitch up in her arms and held him close. He struggled in surprise at first, but eventually put a comforting hand on Xion's shoulder.
"I'm sorry, Stitch. I am so, so sorry…" Xion choked out between sobs. "This is all my fault."
x-x-x
Riku hesitated. He was planning to jump in and grab Xion before she had a chance to argue, but now she was crying about something to the little blue thing. No matter how much Riku strained his ears he couldn't pick up what Xion was saying
If only I could get just a bit closer… But then she'd notice him and run off all over again. Grimacing, Riku put his coat back on and pulled up the hood. Maybe if he just watched Xion for a bit, gave her a chance to calm down, then he could talk to her and convince her to return to Twilight Town. It was worth a shot.
As Xion and the blue creature finally began moving, Riku jumped from his stone to another nearby, trying his best to avoid making too much noise and being spotted. They were at the end of the Rising Falls now, and the beam of light that would carry the platform to them shot down from the castle. Xion jumped back in surprise and the little blue thing growled at it.
From this new vantage point, Riku heard Xion say "I think it's okay, Stitch." The blue thing stopped. So Stitch was its name.
While the two of them rode the platform up to the castle, Riku opened a Dark Corridor and teleported to the castle gates on a ledge overlooking the platform's dock. He still had some time to kill before the two of them arrived, so Riku began looking around at how the restoration had come in the last year. Construction equipment littered the castle, with cranes several stories high all over the walls. But what really caught Riku's attention was the swarm of Heartless and Nobodies fighting down below. No doubt Xion and Stitch saw them too; they were sailing right over them.
Riku did a double take when he saw a group of five at the base of the castle. The woman was unfamiliar and he only vaguely recognized the man, but there was no mistaking that boy with the spiky brown hair or the two next to him. The woman handed something to the other man – Leon, Riku thought his name was – and walked off. Leon, Sora, Donald, and Goofy then headed into the castle's lower levels while the woman stepped onto an elevator. Riku swore. She was probably heading up here, so now there'd be a third person he had to hide from. And what if she met Xion then introduced her to Sora?
…What would happen if Xion and Sora met?
Xion and Stitch's platform docked as that thought entered Riku's head. DiZ probably wouldn't want that to happen, and Riku did have some concern about the idea, but on the other hand… maybe if they did come in contact Sora's lost power would "leak" from Xion into him and Riku wouldn't need to kidnap her… or maybe Xion would start absorbing Sora's power like she had Roxas's. Or nothing at all could happen. There really was no way to know.
The stench of darkness coated the air as Xion and Stitch looked around, and the shadows on the castle walls sprang to life. "Heartless!" Finding himself against a Wyvern Riku drew his sword, Soul Eater. He spared a glance down below, where Xion had summoned her Keyblade and was against two Morning Stars. "No time to focus on her for now!"
Though it was easier said than done, fighting without calling attention to himself. Riku rolled out of the way of the Wyvern's corkscrew dive and struck at its back with Soul Eater. The Wyvern spun around and slammed its wings into Riku's face. He stumbled back to the ledge and called on a Fire spell to blast the Heartless away from him.
"Give in to the dark, Riku."
The voice pierced his thoughts, and Riku glanced to see his hands shrouded in a blue flame instead of orange. No! I'm… better than that! Riku willed away the Dark Firaga, opting instead to dig his blade into the Wyvern's stomach as it soared overhead. The Heartless screeched and tumbled through the air, vanishing a second before it collided with Xion.
Riku pressed himself against the wall as Xion looked up in confusion. The last Morning Star was defeated by Stitch, who tossed it over the edge of the castle. The girl shrugged and shook her head when she didn't see anything, and Riku relaxed. This would be the perfect opportunity, jumping in before the woman in the elevator arrived and forcing Xion back to Twilight Town. But…
DiZ won't like it, but I'll just keep watching for now.
Let Xion calm down from whatever it was that had shaken her and that Stitch creature, then talk to her.
x-x-x
She stared up at the walls of the strange castle, trying to find signs of… anything, really. Why did a Heartless come falling down from there?
"Xion?" Stitch's voice pulled Xion's attention away from the balcony.
"Sorry, Stitch. I thought I saw something… but I guess it was nothing." She kneeled down and patted him on the head. "Let's keep going."
A new sound made Xion stop mid-step, though. It kind of sounded like that weird platform they had taken up from the Rising Falls, actually. Was someone else using it? Xion looked behind her. No, it was still sitting completely still.
Stitch climbed up Xion and sat on her shoulder. He said something in his language and pointed to a beam of energy similar to the one their platform had ridden on, only this one was vertical. Xion spared a glance over the edge to see an elevator rising up from the ground far below and tightened her grip on the Keyblade. The person was wearing black, so was she with Axel?
The wind picked up at Xion's feet and swirled around the Keyblade. When the elevator arrived the woman's eyes widened in shock, but she only had a split second to react before Xion tossed the Keyblade in an Aero-boosted Strike Raid. She jumped off the elevator, over Xion, and landed right behind her. Before Xion knew what was going on, the pointed edge of a large red and silver shuriken was against her neck.
"Who are you and what was that about?" The woman asked. "You should know better than to attack a Turk."
Xion didn't reply. Instead, Stitch jumped onto the woman's arm. She stepped back, struggling against him while Xion recalled the Keyblade back to her hand. She spun around and hit the woman on the wrist with the flat of her blade, sending the shuriken flying where it clattered to the ground a few feet away,
"A black outfit and a familiar weapon," Xion said. "Are you with Axel? Because if you are, I'm not going anywhere!"
The woman glanced to her shuriken but didn't move to get it, since Stitch was currently holding his claws to her neck. "Axel? I don't know anyone named Axel." Her eyes fell on Xion's Keyblade. "…and if that's what I think it is, then it appears we've had a misunderstanding."
Xion's gaze moved to the Keyblade. In all honesty, she wasn't surprised at people knowing about it anymore. She didn't reply, but Stitch relaxed his claws.
"Call off your pet, and I promise I won't attack you."
"Stitch isn't a pet! He's a… friend, I guess..." Were they friends? Did Stitch even care for Xion after her screw up?
"Ih." Stitch removed his claws of his own volition and climbed down from his perch on the woman's shoulder. She rubbed her neck as she watched Stitch run over to Xion's side, and then nodded when she didn't find any scratches. But she didn't seem relieved or anything, her face was really hard to read.
The woman retrieved her shuriken and glanced to the two of them. "Okay, friend. Not pet. My mistake. Now, I see you have a Keyblade. How about introductions? I'm Cissnei." She held out her hand with a smile, and Xion raised an eyebrow. Was she really that forgiving, to try and make friends not even five minutes after being attacked? Cissnei's face was once again unreadable, that smile had an air of fakeness around it.
She keeps things professional, I guess. Probably wants to throttle me on the inside. Hesitantly, Xion took Cissnei's hand and shook it. "I'm Xion."
"Meega Stitch!"
"Xion and Stitch. How did you two get to this world? It's pretty obvious you're not native, but there haven't been many gummi ships flying around."
Xion looked down at her feet and Stitch's ears drooped. "I'm… not entirely sure how we got here, really. But the last world we were on…" How to go about this? "The Heartless came and- I did my best to fight them, I did! But Stitch got taken, and I didn't make it in time, and…"
A beeping sound interrupted Xion and she gave a silent sigh of relief. Cissnei pulled out a radio, apparently the thing that was doing the beeping.
"Leon, what is it?"
A man's voice came from the other end. "Cissnei, we found the way into the lower levels."
Cissnei's façade broke for an instant and she frowned. "Already? But I've been looking around this place forever!"
"You don't have a key that opens anything!" A new voice said, and Xion felt like she just got kicked in the chest. Something about that voice was eerily familiar, and it made her uncomfortable.
"No, I suppose not. Speaking of which…" Cissnei looked up at Xion. "Never mind, I'll keep it a surprise. I'll be down in a minute." She pocketed the radio and moved over to the elevator. "Okay, come with me."
"How do I know you're not working with Axel after all?" Xion asked, but she didn't really believe it. That boy's voice and the "key"…
"It sounds to me like you arrived here after a world was destroyed." Cissnei crossed her arms. "In that case, you could use help with the Heartless. You don't have to believe me, but I really don't know anybody named Axel. Let us help you, Xion."
Xion sighed and patted Stitch on the head when he gave her a concerned look. She really didn't have any better options.
The ride down the elevator was uneventful, but as a group of four came into view Xion had to keep herself from falling over in shock. The man, the duck, and the dog were vaguely familiar, but that boy! His blue eyes were exactly the same as the blonde boy in her dream.
They all seemed equally shocked to see Xion, the duck saying something that sounded like "Is that…", though with his scratchy voice it was hard to tell. The boy stepped forward, putting his hands on Xion's shoulders and staring at her with wide eyes.
"Kairi?"