AN: Hey all, what's up? It's Ventusblade with another chapter of I Am Me. I've been having major writer's block so I'm not sure how this chapter came out. I couldn't decide whether I wanted to focus on Roxas and Xion or the RWBY cannon. I eventually decided to mix the two. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the chapter.
(Xion POV)
I found myself floating in a sea of pure white. There was nothing; no pain, no warmth, no light. There was only the vast nothingness of oblivion.
This is how it should be.
Now that I had returned to Sora everything would be as it should. Sora would regain the memories buried within me, the power that had flowed into me from Roxas would return to its rightful owner, and all memories of me would vanish as though they never happened.
I took comfort in that last detail, knowing that my friends wouldn't have to mourn my demise. You can't feel sorrow over what you can't remember.
"Xion!" Roxas's voice cried in a chocked voice. "You can't disappear! Who will I eat ice cream with?"
I was shocked. It requires a heart for someone to be able to cry, yet my best friend was in tears over my death.
"How did this happen?" This time I heard Axel's voice, despondent and defeated.
Did I really cause my friends so much grief?
"I've caused all of you so much pain."
This voice…Sora.
"You, Axel, Roxas. All your lives were torn apart because of me and the battle for Kingdom Hearts." The Key bearer's voice was not the same as the carefree boy I had seen in his memories. Instead his voice sounded grave and sorrowful. "I can never undo what has been done, but I can give you a second chance."
A second chance?
"A chance to live as yourself," Sora continued. "I know that won't make up for what you went through, but it's what I can offer." The bodiless voice paused. "You're finally ready."
With that, the white scenery grew dark and my consciousness slipped below the water.
(Ventus POV)
My mind was a mess as I made my way to General History, the silent halls of Beacon allowing my thoughts to run rampant.
What are we going to do about Xion? Everyone's already nervous about Roxas being a Nobody. Maybe we can hide her? I shook my head at the idea. That's idiotic. We might as well just try to hide the fact that she's a Nobody. I sighed, feeling the beginning of a headache. "We're going to need to get her something besides her coat."
"Beg your pardon," demanded a hurried, but authoritative voice.
I started in surprise at the unexpected voice, finally tearing myself away from my thoughts. I was standing in the back of a lecture hall, my hand still on the door knob of the entrance.
When did I get here?
The seats were raised to provide students in the back rows a better view. In the front of the room was a semicircular desk that was littered with papers strewn about haphazardly and map plastered to the wall behind the desk with news articles affixed to different locations connected by red pieces of red string. Standing behind the desk was the professor, a thermos in one hand and a wooden pointer in the other.
Professor Oobleck, as my schedule had informed me, looked more like a mad scientist than a history professor. First of all, he had a mess of green hair that he wore slicked back and wore circular wire rimmed glasses. He wore a plain white button down shirt with a yellow tie, and a pair of dull grey slacks. However, the collar on his shirt was upturned, the collar was left unbuttoned, and only the left side of his shirt was tucked into his slacks. It was as though he had woken up late and had been in a rush to get dressed.
"Nothing!" I exclaimed hurriedly, desperately scanning the room for anything that could help me out of the uncomfortable situation. The first thing I laid eyes on was Weiss, who was adjusting the top button on her uniform's jacket. "I was just talking about Weiss's coat," I mumbled, my cheeks burning as the rest of the class began chuckling.
Professor Oobleck glared at me, less than pleased with disruption to his class. "Well then Mr…"
"Ventus," I offered quietly, staring at my shoes.
"Mr. Ventus. If you are through inspecting Miss Schnee's attire, would you kindly take a seat? There is an open desk next to Mr. Arc."
I dragged myself to the front left of the classroom and fell into the seat beside Jaune, who had been unsuccessfully trying to hide the smirk on his face.
"Seriously?" Jaune whispered as the professor continued his lecture. "Weiss's jacket?"
"Shut up," I growled, ripping a piece of paper from Jaune's notbook and stealing his extra pencil. "It was the best I could come up with."
"Alrighty then," Jaune relented. "Why are you so late? Class started twenty minutes ago."
I could only sigh in response. "Roxas and I ran into a little trouble," I answered simply, not wanting to divulge too much information.
"What kind of trouble?" Jaune demanded in a whisper, his voice losing its lighthearted tone. "Those Heartless things? You didn't leave Roxas alone to fight those things, did you?"
I was still in the middle of coming up with a plausible lie when Professor Oobleck's voice interrupted Jaune's and my conversation.
"Mr. Arc, finally contributing to class, wonderful, simply wonderful," the professor exclaimed without pausing, zooming to Jaune's desk in the form of a green blur. "Now, what is the answer?"
"Uh," Jaune floundered, searching the room as if the answer to Oobleck's mystery question would appear on the walls.
One row back, I noticed Pyrrha pointing to her eyes and miming binocular.
"Binoculars," Jaune declared proudly.
Once again, that class began chuckling as Oobleck eyed Jaune in disappointment. "No," he replied simply. "Cardin, perhaps you could share your thoughts on the subject. What was the advantage the Faunus had over General Lagoon's forces?" The professor directed toward the student sitting behind Jaune and I. He was leaning back in his seat and had his feet resting on his desk sending a clear message that he did not care about the lecture.
"Well," Cardin began with a smirk. "I it's a lot easier to train an animal than a soldier."
"You're not the most open minded of people, are you Cardin?" Pyrrha demanded before anyone could get a word in.
"What, you got a problem, girlie?" Cardin jeered.
Wow, that guy is a jerk.
Pyrrha sighed in irritation. "No, I have the answer. Many Faunus have a type of night vision that allows them to see almost perfectly in the dark. General Lagoon made the mistake of trying to ambush the Faunus in their sleep and his troops were wiped out."
"Precisely!" The professor exclaimed, satisfied with Pyrrha's answer. "Class is dismissed. Mr. Arc, and Mr. Winchester, please remain here for a moment. I would like to talk with the two of you."
Almost immediately students began collecting their personal items and heading for the door. I patted Jaune on the shoulder apologetically and hurried to catch the rest of team JNPR before I lost them in the horde of students.
I hope Roxas and Xion are alright…
(Xion POV)
Pain.
That was all I was able to process, searing pain like a stake being shoved through my skull.
I forced my eyes open, fighting the nausea and dizziness as the sudden influx of light caused me to cringe in pain. After what felt like an eternity, my eyes adjusted and I was able to slowly take in my surroundings.
I found myself lying on a somewhat narrow bed beside three other identical beds in a sparsely furnished square room that had ornate grey and beige wallpaper and black carpeting. On my right was a large rectangular window overlooking a breathtakingly lush forest.
Where am I?
I turned my head to the left and found myself face to face with a boy with windswept blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes. The boy was dressed in a pale white button down shirt with a vibrant red tie, a black vest with gold trim, and a pair of black slacks.
"Do I know you?" I could have sworn I'd seen the boy before, but I wasn't sure. The pain induced haze plaguing my brain definitely was not helping my attempts to identify him.
The unnamed boy simply stared at me, mouth agape and eyes wide.
Without warning my vision doubled and another wave of agony assaulted my brain, forcing me to double over and cry out.
"Xion!"
That voice…
I felt a pair of arms wrap around me, threatening to break my ribs. "I missed you so much," Roxas breathed, his arms trembling.
My mind cleared in single that instant. My body moved on its own, leaping from the bed and practically tackling Roxas. We stayed like that for a moment, neither of us saying a word, before Roxas gently disentangled himself from my arms.
The initial shock of seeing Roxas having faded, I fixed my best friend with a serious gaze. "What happened to the Organization? To Kingdom Hearts?"
"The Organization is gone, defeated by Sora in the battle for Kingdom Hearts, and Sora gave up his heart to become Kingdom Hearts." Roxas waited as I digested the information.
"But we were both in his heart. Shouldn't we have disappeared for good?"
"Sora found a way to send the three of us to a world called Remnant."
"The three of us?" I was about to question Roxas further when my stomach rumbled its opinion, causing the boy to chuckle in amusement.
"Maybe we should hold that thought until you've had some food," Roxas suggested, offering me a hand.
"What a gentleman," I teased.
Roxas shrugged. "Don't get too used to it." With that he led me out of the room and down a quiet narrow hallway.
(Roxas POV)
"Remember, try to act like you belong here," I told Xion for at least the fifth time since we left the dorm. "Don't look around too much, or ask too many questions."
"Roxas." Xion patted me on the shoulder to get me to relax. "I'll be fine. You said this was a school, right? They probably get new students all the time."
"You'd be surprised," I muttered, continuing to lead Xion toward an empty table in the back of the room. "Anyway, I'll introduce you to Ven tonight when we go back to the dorm. He's the third person I was talking about." I glanced over my shoulder, expecting to see my black haired friend keeping pace with me. All I saw was empty space.
Where did she go?!
"Leave her alone!" I heard Xion demand angrily.
My eyes dashed around the room, frantically searching for a black coat, before resting upon a small group at table near the front of the dining hall. In the middle of the group sat a female student with long brown hair and a pair of rabbit ears sprouting from the top of her head.
Sitting around the girl, as if to box her in, were four male students. One I instantly recognized as the guy I'd fought during Combat Theory, Cardin Winchester. He was pulling on the girl's long ears with a smirk plastered to his face as his team laughed and cheered him on, the crying out in pain as he continued to pull.
Standing before Cardin was Xion, her eyes ablaze and her fists balled. Even with Cardin sitting down, Xion was just barely taller than him.
"Did you say something?" Cardin demanded menacingly, releasing his grip on the girl with rabbit ears to glare Xion.
"I said, leave her alone." Xion stood her ground, returning the boys glare.
I began moving quickly, pushing past other students who were already turning to watch the confrontation.
"She's always in the middle of something," I muttered.
AN: And that brings chapter 9 to a close. I'm really sorry about the short chapter, but I just wanted to give you guys something. In case you couldn't tell, I decided to follow the cannon plot of RWBY. Right now I'm working on the Jaunedice arc. However, I've already planned some things to deviate from the plot…(cough) heartless (cough). ANYWAY, shall we move on to the reviews?
Antex-The Legendary Zoroark: Indeed Xion is back. We started to see a bit more of her this chapter and will continue to do so. I plan on making her a major player in the Jaunedice arc.
Lorion: Glad you like the last chapter! I also will take your suggestion to skip around considering some plot lines are less integral than others. For instance, I may create some original stuff that focuses on the Keyblade Trio (as I'm calling them) and then go right to Blake's faunus arc.
Kamen Rider Sting: Glad you like Xion. She's a really cool character, and I'm hoping she comes back in KH 3! Also, who's your favorite character if Xion's your second favorite? Mine is Roxas.
Kuroyami Fukaikuro: All the points you made about WBY are completely valid, but I just wasn't being very attentive I guess…sorry about that. I'll try not to deviate from their personalities so much in future chapters. Also, I haven't really considered Xion's fighting style too much. In 358 Days, they make a big deal about how Xion's keyblade is just like Roxas' and how she fights just like him. However, that was due to Sora memories that were within her, so I'm not sure what to do. I want to give her a keyblade other than the Kingdom Key, but I'm not good with making up weapons. Finally, Roxas and Sora being ambidextrous makes sense. Thanks for the continued support!
Guest: Honestly, I was going to have Roxas only use one keyblade, like in the majority of 358/2 Days. I could explore the possibility of giving him a second keyblade, but it would take some major BSing on my part. Like I said, Roxas was only able to dual wield because of Xion returning his power. Now that she's back, her keyblade has returned to its rightful owner. Sorry if you were excited about Roxas dual wielding, I was too, but I just couldn't make it work. Sorry again.
Maya I. Hendricks (formerly Kuraikaze52): Hells yeah she is! Also, I'm still confused about who Syn is…. Do you two share the account? Is Syn a figment of your imagination or an alter ego? Whatever, as long as he/she/it are enjoying the story, it's all-good. Finally, cool name change!
And those were all the reviews. Now, to quote my favorite anime reviewer (Arkada), "ladies, gentlemen, and others until next time…stay frosty." Read, Rate and Review. Rinse and Repeat.
-Ventusblade
