WOW. Long time no update. In my defense, I had several chapters half done on my jump drive and...then I lost the jump drive. I was so mad because I had just finished this chapter too . And you'd think writing a chapter you already wrote would be easy, but no, it isn't. Thank goodness, I have parts of it written in several notebooks as well as other chapters, and the more critical moments are all in my head of course^^ I'll try to update again relatively soon. It would be different if I was spitting out great literature, but I can't really write (I'm going into an engineering major, math and science, the opposite of writing), It ends up being mostly summary and dialogue and I still don't write fast :P Oh well. That's why it's only fanfiction.
"Roxas, don't be sad. I came from you and Sora. I am you, the same way that I am Sora. You'll forget me, but the memories themselves will never go away. Memories of you and me will always be together, forever, inside him."
Oh, the lies we tell ourselves to deal with the pain.
"Sora?"
Kairi's hands were outstretched to where Sora had been a few moments before. She then pulled them in and hugged herself. Why? Why did something always pull them apart?
"Xion," said Riku slowly, still holding Hotaru in his arms. A sad look came across his face.
"Who's that?" asked Mickey.
"Remember when Naminé had trouble piecing together Sora's memory?"
"Yeah. It was because of his nobody, right?"
"Not just him. It was her too." He turned to Kairi. "You probably weren't able to see it, but she looks just like you."
Kairi tilted her head up a bit. Her eyes were watering. "Like me?" she questioned, her voice quivering as if she might lose it any second.
"Xion was a replica. The Organization made her in order to copy the keyblade's power and collect hearts for Kingdom Hearts. She was built from Sora's memories. Originally, she only had a few of them, but eventually…the memories Naminé scattered in Castle Oblivion found their way into her, and became a part of her. She resembles Kairi because that's the memory that Sora holds closest to his heart. It was also the memory he almost lost inside Castle Oblivion."
Goofy scratched his head. "So, are those memories inside Xion now?" he asked fearfully.
"What?" said Kairi. "You mean Sora doesn't remember me?"
"From what Riku told us, it's possible," said Yen Sid. "Most disturbing…it is possible that, along with Xion, Sora's memories were extracted from his heart. After all, if they are what comprised her to begin with…" he trailed off. "But tell me: where would this…puppet…be headed now?"
Riku paled. "The Oranization's castle. If they did return, and they're there…and Sora followed her…"
"Wack! We have to go after him!" said Donald.
"No," said Yen Sid. "It would be too dangerous and reckless to simply go to Organization XIII's headquarters now."
"We were able to beat the Organization last time!" protested Riku. "We can't just leave him there!"
"Since their heartless and nobodies have been destroyed, they have come back as whole beings—complete, they are more powerful than they were separated. Furthermore, to go there and fight them all at once would be foolish!" There was more Yen Sid wanted to say—to warn against the threat of Xehanort, if he had indeed returned as he did before—but decided now was not the time to bring that up.
"So we just leave Sora to face that?" Riku replied defiantly.
"Don't worry," croaked Hotaru from Riku's arms. Riku looked down at her, his anger momentarily gone. She smiled weakly. "You have to believe in Sora. That kid's always all right."
Riku sighed. "Look Hotaru, we can't just go on blind faith alone."
"Think about it: Whatever the Organization put into Xion didn't take effect until now. They probably had to activate it themselves. They probably have plans for him and Xion."
Riku opened his mouth but didn't know what to say. Hotaru had a point. "But still…"
"There's nothing we can do," said Yen Sid. "Sora would understand."
Hotaru nodded. Riku helped her get to her feet only for her to wobble and all into his arms. They both blushed a bit. Hotaru forced her eyes away quickly and looked resolutely towards Yen Sid. "There are more things going on then most of you know. I suspect you understand," she said to him. He nodded. "I'm not sure how I know…but I feel like what just happened had to happen." She shuddered. "Something is coming. Something bad, and we have to be ready for it. There are hurts out there to be mended…many hurts. That will be the key to everything."
Yen Sid closed his eyes. "I will think about this for a few days. In the meantime, you will continue to train here. You are not to leave. Am I clear?"
"But Master—
"No buts!" he boomed, his voice full of authority. "As Hotaru said, there are many delicate things going on. We mustn't act rashly, or the enemy will win!"
Riku looked down. "You're right. I'm sorry."
"I understand," he said a little softer. "You are worried about your friend. Which is why it's crucial not to lose our heads. Now…" He clapped his hands, and a puff of smoke surrounded the door. "Go through there, and you will all find your rooms. I will summon you back here in a few days once I have decided what our next move is."
Everyone started to move except Kairi. Hotaru came over towards her and wordlessly took her hand. "It'll be okay, Kairi. Sora will be fine. You'll see." She squeezed her hand for emphasis. Kairi smiled slightly, her eyes still dripping with tears. "I know. I shouldn't be worried about him, but…I can't help it." Hotaru smiled sadly. "That's what love does to you. Now come on." Kairi slowly followed Hotaru to their room. It resembled Kairi's own room back home—the walls were bright pink, and her dressers were all there. There was a bunk bed at the end of a room by the window.
"Boy, this place is strange," observed Hotaru looking around. Kairi said nothing; she suddenly hated the fact that she had kept so much pink around her room; it felt so stupid and silly, and so the opposite of what she was feeling right now. Fresh tears began to well up in her eyes.
"It's okay," said Hotaru, running over and hugging her. "I'm sorry," said Kairi through the tears, sincerely trying to stop. "It's just…for a long time, I wasn't even sure Sora existed. I could barely remember anything at all—not his voice, not his face, not even a name. He really disappeared from me completely. And we finally found each other again, finally admitted our feelings, only for this to happen. And now he might forget me this time…"
"Sora could never forget you. Not really. You two mean too much to each other. Even when he was a heartless he remembered you, right?" Kairi smiled now. "That's right. Even then he came for me."
"Everything will be fine. Just wait and see."
Sora groaned. He couldn't feel any of his limbs, and was barely conscious.
"Ah! So that's what it was," said Vexen, the memory suddenly coming to him.
"That's what what was?" asked Zexion curtly.
"I planted something within Xion that would destroy Sora's heart through his memories. It seems that the keyblade wielders extracted whatever it was and destroyed it…but Xion was taken out also, probably along with a few of Sora's memories. Such power the keyblade holds…"
"Power we will soon hold."
Sora groggily tried to move his arm. He was rewarded by his efforts with a splitting headache, and realized that he was strapped down anyway. He still couldn't seem to wrench his eyes open. The only sense that seemed to be working at all was his hearing, which he used to hear several more figures enter the room.
"So, the keyblade hero came here himself…that certainly saves us trouble," said a voice Sora recognized as Marluxia's. A sense of urgency overcame him as he realized that he must be at the Organization's headquarters—but he still couldn't move! Why did he feel so weak?
"What do you mean us?" came a snide voice—the girl from the islands?
"Please," said Larxene's unmistakable voice. "We all know you're worse in battle than Demyx."
"Hey! Now that's just plain rude!" Larxene shot him a look and he whimpered.
"Enough!" said a new voice—a female one, completely unfamiliar to him. Sora was finally able to open his eyes, but everything was blurred. He looked towards his constraints and saw glowing chains, the links of which were nobody symbols.
"Ooh, he's waking up!" came a high pitched voice. "You're not getting out of that!" The voice giggled giddily.
"You! Get to work on him," said the woman who had spoken before. Sora still couldn't make out anything but thought he saw a glint of gold.*
"And you, Xion: go with Vexen, dear. He'll help you to remember everything."
"Xion!" shouted Sora—no, not Sora, Roxas. Somehow, he had woken up within Sora again. A hooded figure, the shortest of then all, turned for a moment, then walked off.
"Now this won't hurt a bit…"
Kairi dove at Riku. Their keyblades locked together. Riku smiled and pushed Kairi back, sending her flying, but she recovered quickly enough to get to her feet. She shot off a fire spell, which he blocked.
"You're improving."
"Yeah, right. I'm no where near you or Sora."
"Well, we are taking the mark of mastery. But you've come pretty far in just a few weeks. It's kind of strange…"
"That probably means something bad is coming," sighed Hotaru from the other side of the room. She had been watching them train in the special training room Yen Sid had conjured up. Mysterious Tower indeed.
"What makes you say that?" asked Kairi, her keyblade disappearing from her hand. Hotaru shook her head. "I don't know. Nothing. It's because you're a princess of heart," she replied too quickly. "I mean, you're practically built to fight the darkness."
"Hotaru…is there something you're not telling us?" asked Riku. His look was so full of concern that she wanted to tell him about the nightmares, about the all too familiar waking up covered in sweat, dreams of darkness and death and destruction. All too familiar dreams of the end. But what would that help? She couldn't remember any specifics—she only woke up in the morning with a sense of doom, and they were already doing everything to beat the enemy.
"Hello? Earth to Hotaru?" asked Riku.
"Oh…it's nothing!" said Hotaru, lying unconvincingly, but Riku decided to let it go. "So what do you think Yen Sid is waiting for? It's been a few days already and he still hasn't made a decision."
Kairi's face fell. Riku reddened. "S-sorry, I didn't mean to—
"It's okay," said Kairi. "I'm curious too. I have to know…Where's Sora?"
A flash of light cut through the shadowy remains of the destroyed pureblood heartless. A figure in an organization coat, hood covering his face, picked up the kingdom key that had been stuck into the ground. The figure looked at the keyblade thoughtfully for a moment, as if trying to remember something.
"We're supposed to leave purebloods alone, remember?" came Axel's voice. The two were in Twilight Town, in front of the station plaza. The keyblade disappeared from the figure's hand. "Right. Only emblems release hearts. I just…whenever I see a heartless, I feel like I have to destroy it."
"Huh," scoffed Axel sarcastically. "I talk from experience when I say that you should focus less on what you feel and more on what you're supposed to be doing."
"Right." Axel shook his head. What was the Organization thinking? This could only backfire on them, probably worse than the last time.
The hooded figure suddenly turned as the heartless appeared. He moved to strike the heartless. It raised one of is blade arms, and moving the other sent columns of ice at him. The hooded figure fell over, his hood falling off and revealing the spiky brown hair and blue eyes glaring full of determination.
"Fire magic, Sora. Geez, do you even read the mission reports?" Axel shook his head as Sora went charging back at it.
"Is that idiot still at it?" said a girl stepping out of a corridor of darkness. "Here I was, thinking I'd be late…"
"Very funny, Xire. Why don't you help him out?"
"Same reason you won't: we have to collect hearts."
Sora came flying, landing flat on his but in front of Axel and Xire. The both rolled their eyes. "We'll never be getting any hearts at this rate…"
"Hey, I'm new at this!" complained Sora. The heartless came towards Sora. Axel and Xire stood, ready to fight it despite orders when it suddenly stopped and was incinerated.
Xion stood there, beaming brightly. "Lying down on the job? Sora, you lazy bum."
"Give me a break, Xion!" the laughed at each other while Xire and Axel gagged.
"The heartless have suddenly swelled in both number and power and power across the worlds."
"What?"
Yen Sid opened his eyes. He had assembled everyone into his study to hear his decision. "The heartless had dwindled to almost negligent numbers…but now, despite their inability to destroy worlds, they pose a great threat to the realm of light. One that cannot be ignored."
"Does it have something to do with Sora?"
"There are indeed many coincidences piling up…the darkness is rising in strength. It is probably safe to assume that the heartless are being controlled by the organization once again. Riku, Mickey, Kairi: Your keyblades will be necessary to quell this rising darkness."
"But, Sora—
"—the heartless will lead you to the Organization's plans, and therefore back to Sora. I don't know what the organization has planned for him, but you mustn't fear for his safety. Now, I will send you in two teams. Donald, Goofy." Donald and Goofy stood to attention and saluted. "You will accompany Kairi, as well as Hotaru. Mickey and Riku will be the second team. Unfortunately, we cannot complete your Mark of Master exam…but you've already mastered many new abilities that you will be able to perfect with experience.
"I have fashioned another gummi ship for you two. I sense something…unusual in the darkness. Using any pathway near the darkness could be dangerous. Now go out to the worlds and fight whatever threats arise."
"Yes master," they all said in unison. They all began to head out.
"Hey, Riku!" called Hotaru. "Huh?"
"Take care of youself. And don't forget what I said before." Riku blushed. "Right. You too."
As they emptied his study, Yen Sid sighed. He could feel the weight of his many years suddenly crushing him. If she were right, that could only mean…
Something he already knew, anyway. He'd known it would happen when Xehanort first inquired about Kingdom Hearts and the Keyblade Wars.
"So begins the end of what began so long ago…"
Ooh. The plotline thickens finally. What could Yen Sid be going on about? Surely nothing referenced in my other fanfic Sailor Hearts...actually, I don't think I've refrerenced it yet. And I realize that I'm on chapter 10 and I've barely gotten into the story yet. This is going to take forever :( I mean, Kairi and Riku are just leaving...and we haven't even touched on Terra, Aqua, or Ven! (They won't be "Main" characters in this-Sora, Riku, Kairi, and those more recent in the plotline will be the focus, although there will be some saving, more or less. Just wait and see!)
Also, I think Kairi is too often written off as a useless character, even by me occasionally. But she's had her share of suffering-she lost her heart, forgot Sora, is always trailing behind, unable to help her friends, getting kidnapped...the girl is pretty strong willed, and doesn't shy away from literally leaping into danger. She just...happens to, until now, have been powerless. She isn't useless on purpose, and I think that when Kairi finally does get a keyblade, as a princess of heart she will be a force to reckon with. I always imagine her fighting story as being like Aqua's-not very fast or strong, and probably not as good as avoiding attacks as Aqua (Cartwheeling with her is so fun!), but awesome at magic. I actually thought of that (And I'm not alone) before BBS ever even came out. So...yeah. Hope you enjoyed!