Hello everyone! Because you've all been so helpful with my translation needs, I've decided to post this chapter as a thank you. We're getting close to the end now, I can feel it. So just sit back and enjoy this chapter of Oblivion is Eternal!
It came faster than anyone anticipated. Roxas, now a moderately capable exorcist, was allowed to exorcise spirits on his own (without a watchful guardian), and he had even mastered the chants and hand signs that would give the rosary more power. Like Axel had noticed before, the kid learned fast. But no amount of training could prepare him, or anyone else, for what was about to happen.
--
August 21 dawned as a normal day. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, etc. and everyone was happy. Well, almost everyone. Thirteen people were tense, awaiting the inevitable.
Luckily, or maybe unluckily, the 21rst was a day off. So that gave Roxas a whole day to focus on nothing but the task ahead. Roxas had convinced his mother to let him stay at school for the week's break. He said he was behind, and she believed him. Almost too easily, Roxas thought wryly.
"Should we evacuate the school?" Demyx asked at the meeting.
"We can't, it would arouse suspicion," Saix replied.
"But we could say a gas main exploded or something!" the blonde argued.
"No, because then people would make us leave, too, Demyx," Zexion reminded him in a patient voice.
"Oh yeah."
"What about a mandatory movie night?" Roxas asked, and everyone turned to look at him.
"A what?" they all said.
"Mandatory movie night," the boy replied again. "We had them all the time at my old school. You force everyone into the same room and make them watch a movie. It was actually more fun than it sounds." The others blinked.
"Hmm, a mandatory movie night, eh?" Xemnas mused. "Sounds like fun. We'd have to have people on the inside, though, people we can trust. All of us will be needed tonight."
"What about Naminé?" Demyx asked. "Though I hate to put her in a situation like this…"
"I can ask Hayner, Pence, Ollette, and Seifer to come in, too."
"We can't. Having 'normal' added just makes it harder."
"You don't understand. Those guys all belonged to a club similar to this one, 'cept Seifer. But his dad was a ghost hunter so I imagine he'll be all right. I never joined 'cause I thought they were crazy." Roxas shuffled his feet in embarrassment.
"Kinda like us, huh kid?" Axel remarked, smirking.
"Yeah. Kinda like you. But keep in mind that my mind hasn't changed completely."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Calm down," Saix interjected. "Tell us more about this club."
"Like I said, it's kind of like this one. They met every other night. They had…I don't want to call them rosaries – well they weren't –"
"Slow down."
"Right. They had…stars; that was it. Necklaces with star pendants." Xemnas and Saix exchanged glances.
"Roxas, tell me. Do you know someone named Cid?"
"Cid? Yeah. He owned the auto shop down the street."
"Yeah, that's him." Xemnas pursed his lips.
"What?"
"He and Cid had a disagreement a while back, you see," Axel filled in.
"Yeah," Demyx added. "I heard it was quite a spectacle. You were there, right Zex?"
The young man nodded. "I was," he affirmed as he slid his eyes over to watch Xemnas pace back and forth.
"Well what was it about?"
"Xemnas's brother and Cid's adopted kid. Sephiroth and Cloud had a kind of…well, they had a complicated past."
"Wait wait wait. Sephiroth is Xemnas's brother?!"
"You know him?"
"Yeah! He's a creep!"
"How do you…?"
"I met him. I've never met Cloud though."
"Not true, kid. Cloud Strife. He's our History teacher. Haven't you ever wondered why we always had meetings during History?"
"That's Cloud? That's the guy Leon's going out with?"
"Yup. How did you meet Le—"
"That's not important," Xemnas interrupted, placing his fingers on his temples. "How fast can they get here? We'll need all the help we can get."
Miles away, a black cell phone rang.
"Hello?"
"Seifer?"
"Roxas?" The blonde man pulled away from the sandy brunette he had been talking to. "What is it?"
"Roxas?" asked Hayner. "Give me the phone! I want to talk to him!" Seifer stopped Hayner's dash for the phone by placing his hand on the boy's forehead and keeping him at arm's length.
"Seifer, listen, this is gonna sound really weird, but have you ever exorcized ghosts?"
There was a few minutes of silence.
"What was that, lamer?" Seifer asked. He could almost hear Roxas cringe on the other side.
"What? What are you talking about?" Hayner whined.
"Ghosts. Have you ever exorcized them?" Seifer was impressed. The kid had said it twice. That took guts. Seifer decided to take pity on the boy.
"Yeah, I have."
There was obvious relief in Roxas's voice when he spoke again.
"Okay. Can you come give us a hand, here at my new boarding school? We have a massive exorcism to do tonight and we can't evacuate the school without panic."
"You're going to Oblivion, right?"
"Right."
"I can be there in a few hours."
"Great, thanks Seifer. Can I talk to Hayner?"
Ollette was doing Naminé's hair when her phone rang.
"Hang on a sec, babe," she said with a wink and giggled when Naminé shifted uncomfortably.
"Please don't call me that," she whispered.
"Ha ha ha ha…Hello?"
"Ollette?"
"Roxas!" Her shout attracted the attention of the blonde man at the counter and the brunette boy sitting in the chair, as well as Naminé's.
"Roxas?" Pence asked.
"Roxas?" Cid asked.
"Oh," said Naminé. She sat back and waited for a call from Demyx.
"Hey Ollette, I have a favor to ask of you and Pence. Cid too, if he'll come."
"Sure thing Rox, ask away."
"Are you guys still in that…club?"
"The exorcizing ghosts one that you thought was a load of crap? That club?"
"…Yeah, that one."
"Yeah, why?"
"I need you're help."
"With…ghosts? Are you teasing me?" Pence and Cid were staring now, and Naminé calmly answered her ringing phone.
"Yes, Demyx?"
"No, I'm not teasing you. I believe that ghosts are real now."
"Oh, why is that?"
"It's because…"
"Yes?"
"Because I joined an exorcist club here." Ollette's eyebrows hit her hairline.
"Why on Earth?"
"Because the minute I got here I started being attacked by homicidal spirits who were being trapped in the house by the spirit of my murderer grandfather's dead lover. I'm in pretty deep shit."
"Oh my God, how did that happen?"
"It's too long a story to tell over the phone, but I need help. There are only 13 of us, plus Seifer and Hayner, against a hundred or more of them."
"Don't worry Roxas, we're on our way." She glanced around at Pence, still oblivious about Roxas's problem, Cid, who might be hard to convince because of his feud with Xemnas, and Naminé, who was already gathering her stuff.
"We're on our way," she said again. "All of us."
--
They stood, assembled in the courtyard like soldiers before the battle that would end the war. Cid and the others from his group stood slightly apart from the black robed figures that stood in a strait, silent line facing them. After a few moments, one of the cloaked figures broke out of the line.
"Thanks for coming, guys," Roxas said, pulling down his hood. The two people who had stepped out behind him also pulled their hoods down.
"No problem," Seifer said, eyeing the pointy red hair the hood had revealed.
"Oh, this is Axel," Roxas said, gesturing over his right shoulder. "And this is Demyx, Naminé's brother." The blonde waved.
"I'm Zexion," said the figure on the end of the line. He removed his hood, revealing a shock of blue hair. The rest pulled their hoods down as they introduced themselves.
"I'm Xaldin."
"Xigbar."
"I'm Larxene."
"Marluxia."
"Lexaeus."
"Luxord."
"Vexen."
"I'm vice-principal Saix."
"And I," said the last person, "am Xemnas."
Cid's eyes narrowed. Xemnas pressed his lips together and drew in a deep breath.
"Look Cid, we're going to settle this right now. I'm sorry for my brother's actions, but I am not in charge of him, nor can I control him. It's not my fault. Take it up with him." Cid sighed.
"Fine."
"Now that we've gotten that out of the way, let's move on to business," Zexion said, pulling a book out from under his arm. Roxas, Demyx, and Axel stepped back into line. Opening the book, Zexion stepped into the middle and began to pace.
"I'll…mind-melt this to you all later, but they need to hear the process." Zexion opened his mouth to begin.
"Wait" if this 'mind melting' is anything like Shared Trance then we all can handle it." Zexion looked startled. Xemnas looked smug.
"See Axel? That's what it's called."
Axel stuck his tongue out at Xemnas.
"All right." Without speaking everyone formed a circle.
"Zexion, you need to lead this. If I do it, I might miss something important." Zexion took a deep breath and nodded. Taking Axel's and Demyx's hands, he closed his eyes and breathed. Then his eyes snapped open.
"Wecken Sie, mein Gedächtnis."
A floor plan of the school stretched out in front of Roxas's eyes. As he watched, a thirteen pointed star appeared in the center of the first floor.
"This," Zexion's voice rang out, "is the exact center of the school and the property. Listen carefully." Roxas waited as Zexion gathered his thoughts.
"Those who hail from Twilight Town, take note of the room highlighted in blue. This room will contain all of the students who live here at the school. Your job is to guard this room and make sure nothing enters – or leaves." Roxas could almost feel the agreement coming from the others.
"Organization." Roxas's focus snapped back to the floor plan. " Listen, you each have a color, to make things easier.
"Roxas – Red. Axel – Orange. Demyx – Yellow. Saix – Green. Larxene – Blue. Luxord – Purple. Marluxia – Pink. Vexen – Lime. Xigbar –Navy. Xaldin – Lavender. Lexaeus – Teal. Xemnas – Black. And I am white." A wave of impatience cut off all complaints.
"Your color will draw a line to the point of the star you are to occupy. Any questions?" Zexion's voice seemed to fade slightly. Roxas felt a little of his energy leave his body.
'Zexion's fading,' he realized.
He watched the red line spread until it reached the fountain where he had first met Axel. He wondered, dimly, if the head would be there. Probably calling him Jonathan.
"Everyone…got…it?" Zexion breathed. There was an echo of various agreements and the connection ended.
Roxas's eyes snapped open as Demyx's hand ripped itself from his and flew to support Zexion.
"Zex? Zex!" The blue-haired boy's eyes didn't open. "Zexion!"
"He's sleeping," Xemnas said. "That took more energy than he could spare. But he gave me the rest of the plan with what energy he had left.
"Basically, we all go into Shared Trance at the center of the star and then release hands, still in the Trance. You go to your point on the star, hold your rosary in your right hand, put it over your heart and speak 'Oblivion is Eternal' in any language you please. Touch you r left hand to your forehead and hold your right arm out strait and close your eyes.
There should be cold, and then you will hear the screaming. When every scream has stopped, the ritual will be over and you can all rest and release your minds. That is all." Xemnas looked around at the circle of people and smiled.
"Don't look so scared. We'll all be fine." As if to emphasize this point, Zexion's eyes flickered open. Demyx pulled him close.
"I just hope you're up to Mind Melting for that long, Xemnas," said Xaldin.
"Xemnas?" Zexion questioned weakly. "No, it has to be Roxas."
--
Roxas froze. Everything around him seemed to slow down to an unrealistic pace.
"I'm sorry?" he asked, and his voice sounded far away and unused to his ears. Everyone else was looking from him to Zexion and back. Axel's eyes didn't move from Roxas's white face. Roxas cleared his throat.
"What?" he tried again. Zexion, with Demyx's help, pushed himself up into a sitting position.
"It has to be you, Roxas. You need to be the leader of this particular Trance."
"Why!?" Everyone turned to Axel. His outburst had startled them all.
"Because he's the one they're after," Naminé said softly, realizing the truth.
"Exactly," Zexion nodded. "You see, any one of us would be able to lead it in a normal ritual of this scale. But, since there is a focus—"
"I remember," Roxas said quietly. "If there is a focus of the malignant energy, it either has to be present at the exorcism, right in the center, or destroyed."
"And we're not about to destroy you," Xemnas said. "We also can't spare you."
"Why not?" Axel all but snarled. All eyes went to him again.
"What's with the intense reaction, Axel?" asked Demyx. "It's not really that bad news." Axel turned a withering glare on him.
"Because," he growled, "inexperienced people have died from exerting themselves with this! Zexion passed out and he's been doing this for years!"
Silence fell.
"Great," Roxas whispered. Axel quickly turned to him.
"Damnit, I'm sorry Roxas. I never should have—"
"No, it's better that I know what I'm getting myself into before I decide."
"I'll ask again," Axel said, turning to Xemnas, "why can't we spare him? All of these people heard the instructions!" He gestured at Cid's group, who were watching quietly, not getting involved either way; but Hayner, Pence, and Ollette looked like they wanted to join Axel and tell Xemnas where to stick it. "They're all trained, aren't they?! It's almost like you want Roxas to get killed!"
"Axel!" barked Zexion, "you're creating chaos." Indeed, some of the other exorcists were starting to look leery about using Roxas at all. They also had some indescribable looks trained on Zexion. Demyx moved behind Zexion and put a protective hand on his shoulder, glaring around at the others.
"Listen," Xemnas's voice broke out of the murmurings and drew all eyes to him. "Axel, it's terrible that you suggest that Zexion wants Roxas dead." Axel looked away from the calm face for a moment in shame. "We understand that you want to protect Roxas, but trust me, he'll be safer performing the ritual."
"Why can't we just have him at the center of the star?" Axel asked, but he sounded less confident now.
"Because," Zexion said, suddenly sounding weak and very tired, "it's dangerous there." Axel looked confused.
"Why?"
"Didn't you pay attention at all during the lessons I gave you?" Zexion snapped. He was fading fast back into unconsciousness. "You aren't allowed to do any other exorcizing after the cult ritual has begun. At least, not with a silver rosary, as all of our rosaries are connected. It diverts the flow of energies." Zexion paled and leaned back against Demyx, closing his eyes.
"Zex—"
"Roxas doesn't have time to learn how to handle a star pendant, so don't even start on that. They are more unpredictable than rosaries and he could end up making his hand disappear instead of the spirit." Axel flinched. "And in case you didn't know, the center of the school on the first floor happens to be the center of the cafeteria. All of the spirits are there. He'll be ripped apart before we could say two words." Zexion collapsed back into Demyx and closed his eyes. Demyx picked him up and laid him on a nearby bench.
"Besides," said Xemnas, "Cid's group doesn't have rosaries. All of the channeling devices have to be the same and we don't have any rosaries to spare. You can't use someone else's rosary to exorcize spirits."
Once again, all eyes shifted direction and landed on Roxas. Though his face was white with apprehension, he nodded.
"All right, I'll do it."
Dun dun duh. What will happen now? ...I don't exactly know. Damn. Anyway, I realized that it's very fun to write as Seifer. Maybe I just enjoy calling Roxas 'lamer.' A mystery.
Anyway, another very big thank you to my translators. I really couldn't have done it without you; my grammar would be horrible. And a very big thank you to my readers and reviewers. You all make me want to write!
VIELEN DANK!!
