Kingdom Hearts Zero Verse
Chapter 11: Rude Awakening
Frost jammed the end of her keyblade into the hard, stone floor and extended her arms above her head stretching. She then let out a big yawn before facing her opponent again. The look on her face showed very little interest.
"It's good to have you back Frost," he said with a smile.
She frowned at him. "Vexun; you look different than I remember you."
"Oh this? This is just a puppet body I am using. It's a nobody that I managed to bring back from oblivion just to welcome you back."
"Fascinating," she said in a nonchalant manner. "Why am I here? I never wished to be awoken."
"Frost your power is needed again!" he said approaching her. "You are the very pinnacle of what a keyblade master is capable of! With your power we could do unimaginable things!"
She watched him carefully. "My power destroys. That's it. Besides why would I work with you when I could easily end you right now?"
"My dear Frost, I wouldn't do that if I were you. The lives of those other people who came here are in my hands now."
Her expression suddenly changed. "You would harm them?"
"Ah I see that you remember them? Do the memories of that fragile husk still remain?"
"They seem to be. I remember their names and faces. I suppose the memories of the false heart merged with my true one. How irritating," she scoffed.
He waved his scythe through the air and laughed. "I see. Well regardless of that trivial detail will you help me Frost? Will you work with me and assist me in taking all that the worlds have to offer?"
She pulled her keyblade from the ground and turned to walk away. "You're a keyblade master too. Do it yourself."
"Come with me Frost! It's for you that I went through all of this! I played the parts I needed to in order to force your awakening! Granted some things happened that I did not plan ahead for but the result has been achieved! Are you not grateful?"
Frost shot him a sharp glare. "Grateful? You want to be grateful to you for reawakening me to this damned existence? I wanted to be put away! I chose to have my heart put to sleep!"
"A serious mistake Frost. You are destined for great things. No other can match your strength."
Frost let out a deep, irritated sigh. "Why is it that people never change? Are you never satisfied with the power you wield? Why must you always have more?"
"Because we must have it. That is all," he answered.
"You're pathetic. I want nothing to do with you. Look at you; you've taken another's body and are using it as a puppet because you are afraid to face me in person." Her voice had lost the disinterested tone and was now much more forceful.
He pulled the hood over his head revealing long pinkish hair. Frost eyed the man suspiciously. He smiled at her and held his scythe in a ready position. At the slightest movement of his body Frost was already upon him. He felt her hand on his shoulder and in his peripheral saw her in the air twirling her keyblade. Just as he moved she swung slamming her weapon down. The impact of the strike shattered the ground and shook the room. From the dust cloud Vexun leapt out sliding along the ground using his scythe to anchor himself. "Excellent Frost! I see you still remember the shadowrun! I'm glad!" He looked up to see Frost in midair before she descended quickly bringing her keyblade down for another attack. He held his weapon at an angle to guard the attack and let her keyblade glance off of it in order to counter her only to have her spin launching a kick at his head. Being forced to react, he blocked with his left arm as she sprung off of him and landed a few feet away. Before he had a chance to attack Frost vanished again only to appear to the right of Vexun. He swung his weapon clashing with her keyblade. As if triggered by the resounding noise of the clash, Frost faded into nothingness like a ghostly illusion. Vexun turned to only to be struck from behind by a sharp, glancing blow. Expecting to see Frost's barely visible image fading from view again, he turned but was instead met with the image of her keyblade flying through the air. His surprise had no sooner registered in his mind before a powerful grip on the hood of his cloak pulled him backwards. Frost had grabbed him and flung him backwards towards the wall. Quickly recalling her keyblade back to her hand she swung it in a quick horizontal motion followed by a loud, roar of air cutting through air. The invisible blast slammed into the wall as well as Vexun leaving a scar like impression behind. Vexun himself fell to ground, slumped over and motionless.
She watched him for a few seconds to make sure she had hit the real one. When time passed and he still did not move, she new the one before her was authentic. "Look at you Vexun; even after all of this time you still cannot stop me."
He chuckled a bit even as a seemingly painful cough escaped. "Is that…so Frost? You think me defeated so easily?"
"Face it old man. You are beneath me."
He slowly lifted his head and smiled at her. "There is something…you are not aware of Frost. Something is happening that you need to know."
Frost raised an eyebrow. After a few seconds of silence she smiled and most likely out of a general morbid curiosity answered him. "Go on."
On one of the lower levels of the castle, Sora, Riku, Axel, and Larxene had finished their conversation and were walking the halls. Larxene walked in front with Sora and Riku behind her. Axel stayed at the back of the group as to keep his eye on everyone but was all the while chatting with the two keyblade wielders ahead of him. "So you ain't shittin me are you?"
Riku shook his head. "Nope. We've been there and back."
"Damn I never thought I'd actually meet anyone who could explain what the realm of darkness was like. It's kinda weird but at the same time interesting. And this Frost girl, you're sweet on her aren't you?"
Sora let out a sarcastic 'ha' that got him a punch in the arm from Riku.
"It's not like that. I…I want to help her. Ever since she got her memory back it's like she's got this huge weight on her."
Axel crossed his arms and looked up to the ceiling and then started to speak like he was reading the words from up there. "Larxene, do you remember the library at the castle of the world that never was?"
The blonde young woman glanced back at him without breaking stride. "Of course I do I was always taking books from it. What about it?"
"Xemnas had one that I caught him reading once. When I asked what it was about he wouldn't tell me. He was pretty adamant about it."
"So?"
"Well-," he broke off mid sentence and glanced down the adjacent hallway to their left. "HEADS UP!" He shoved Riku and Sora forward knocking them into Larxene and tumbling forward with her as he jumped back narrowly avoiding a large slab of stone that flew past them and into the wall. Small chunks of stone and dust filled the corridor as the four tried to get their bearings.
"What the hell was that?" Larxene shouted trying in vain to see through the thick cloud of debris and dust.
"We've got company that's what the hell is it is," Axel answered looking in the direction the slab came from. Standing there were three cloaked figures; mere silhouettes behind a cloud of smoke. As the dust finally settled there features became more discernable. One was a middle aged looking man with short, blonde hair and a rather clean shaven beard and moustache. Standing to his right and left was a man of similar age with longer, black hair holding a lance in his hand and another older looking man with dark skin leaning on a large axe like weapon respectively.
"No way," Sora said in astonishment. "That's Xaldin! And Luxord!"
"And I know that big guy on the left. I fought him in castle oblivion on my first trip here!" Riku's keyblade flashed into his hand.
Larxene stood slowly from her crouched position and quickly glanced to Axel. "So you gotta plan for how to deal with this?"
"I'm working on it," he said watching their opponents.
Without warning the man in the center stepped forward his gaze fixed firmly on them. "Sora and Riku I see you've found my two runaway nobodies. Fortunately I have no need for them any longer."
Riku glared back at the man. "Nice trick Vexun. You can control the nobodies?"
"Wait what?"
"Yeah Axel he the one who brought you guys back. He meant to use your bodies and your powers for himself. He's controlling all three of them like puppets."
"No shit?"
"No shit."
"That's pretty screwed up," Larxene spat angrily. "Like being nobodies doesn't give us enough problems already."
Riku stepped forward causing the man to raise and eyebrow and cock his head to the side with smile. "What did you do to Frost? Why was her heart sealed?"
"Ah Frost. Her battle has almost reached its conclusion."
"Battle? What did you do to her?" he yelled swinging his weapon through the air.
"I did nothing. Blame yourself for what has happened to her. You unsealed her heart not I. Did you not stop to think that the seal served some purpose? No one seals things without a good reason."
"You sealed her true heart away! How can there be a good reason to just lock away all that a person is?"
He chuckled. "And what kind of person is Frost? Do you even know?"
"Yeah I know she's a kind girl and she didn't deserve that!"
This time he laughed even louder. "Oh how little you understand boy. Still, if not for your ignorance this would have never come to pass so I must thank you."
"Where is she?"
"The top floor of the castle. Make it there and you will see find her."
"Why do I feel a 'but' coming on?" Sora added.
"Because you will have to defeat me first!" The two other men launched themselves forward at the other's word. Riku jumped back dodging the axe as it slammed into the ground in front of him. The man with the lance lunged at Larxene who dodged easily enough. Sora attempted to attack from another angle but he produced a second lance guarding against his attack. Axel produced a flaming chakram and hurled it towards the man standing back but he dodged deftly enough and while the axe wielder attacked for him. Axel managed to avoid the swing of the axe before leaping away to put some distance between him and his attacker. Larxene drew a few of her knives and threw one like a bullet towards the spear wielder who knocked it away with one of his weapons. He then parried another blow from Sora before spinning and blowing him away along with Larxene who had attempted to attack him again while distracted. Riku tried to hit the axe wielder while he was attempting to attack Axel but his keyblade simply bounced off of the man's body. In his surprise he was hit by a hard punch that knocked him to the ground near Sora.
"Man that hurt!" he said as Sora helped him up.
"This is no good Riku these guys are strong and they are working together! We need to split em up!"
"That actually isn't a bad idea!" Larxene dodged a swing from the man's spear and dashed on past him catching him by surprise. Wrapping her body in electrical energy she rushed forward throwing herself into the man with the axe as hard as she could. Both of them tumbled across the floor and further into down the hallway. Larxene finally tossed him off of her, which took all of her strength to do, then hurled a couple of knives into the ceiling of the hallway. They pulsed with electricity before exploding into bursts of lightning that shattered the stone and sent it crashing down.
"Larxene what the hell do you think you're doing?" Axel yelled to her.
"Being a team player," she said turning her back to him and facing her opponent. "Just don't be late coming to get me Axel! I-," her last words were cut off as the debris sealed the corridor.
"I hear ya Larxy…I hear ya." He looked back at Sora and Riku. "You two take Xaldin! Luxord is mine!" Flames rose up around his body and he shot off like a dart towards the other man leaving Riku and Sora to face down Xaldin
"Looks like we got out work cut out for us Sora."
Sora sighed as Xaldin turned to them and twirled both of his lances. "I know, I know Riku. Man no one ever cuts us any slack."
