The Fateful XIII
Chapter 11
Get your Ass in Gear!
Disclaimer: I'm not feeling dedicated today, so I'll just lay it out and say once again that I don't own Kingdom hearts.
On a more inspiring note however; I got two reviews within ten minutes of each other...this is a big deal to me! I thank both riku118 and Michael Torres for the reviews. Now both reviews came with valid suggestions, and I feel i should make my thoughts clear on these subjects.
First, riku118 suggested that Hikari should have a darker personality. To answer this I must point out that she is a much more upbeat person because she hasn't gone through the same hardships as Riku, and she has much of her mother's (Selphie) optimism. He/she also suggested I should draw my characters. I hate to break it to ya, but I my writing abilities completely offset my other artistic abilities. I have the drawing skills of a fourth grader.
Secondly, Michael up there suggested that I include the world of Bleach in my story. To put your mind at ease Mikey, it's definitely a consideration, and is most probable. (I'm a big Bleach fan.)
Sorry about the lengthy A/N, don't let me keep you. Read on!
When the pair of teens exited the corridor, they ended up right back in the main lounge. They looked around to see if there was anyone nearby. There was; Becxal –who finally decided to put his hood down-, was sitting in a corner reading. Meanwhile, Nevax was rummaging through his personal mini-fridge and bringing out multiple ingredients for whatever he was going to eat. Roxas got curious and wandered over to the counter across from the red headed nobody and looked on at the crazy concoction he was creating.
"What exactly is that Nevax?" asked the brunette.
"Oh, hey Roxas; well since you asked, it's a mashed potato, chocolate pudding, French fry, butter, and pickle sandwich," he said casually. (A/N: I know; I get grossed out every time he eats that crap to.)
"Is that lunch or laxative?"
"It's not that bad, it's actually quite good if you give it a chance," he said, waving the disgusting looking sandwich in his face.
"Thanks, but I'll stick with normal people food."
"Hey, variety is the spice of life my friend. Anyway, how'd your mission go?"
The memories of the entire fight from yesterday were coming back to him in waves.
"It wasn't pretty; not quite as easy as we hoped. We might have found out something really important though, so we're just waiting for Xelskyr to get back."
"Well as far as I know he and Hyrxs are out on information gathering missions and probably won't be back until the end of the day," he said with a mouthful of his Frankenstein like sandwich.
"Well, I'll see ya around; I'm gonna go do…something."
Walking down the halls, he wondered what he was actually looking to do. He'd only spent two weeks here, and while that was good enough to know how to get around the base, he wasn't sure how he could spend his free time here. Of course he knew where Axnes and Elkxyse would be; the Ops Lab, but he wasn't much of a scientist so he'd probably just be in their way. Becxal wasn't much of a talker so he was out, and he definitely didn't want to stick around with Nevax while he was creating more abominations to the human taste buds.
Xelskyr and Hyrxs were off the base, but frankly, neither of them were his favorite people anyway. Aehxcilm was definitely not a possibility; he was probably his least favorite person…well, ever. Rhcxis was probably meditating, and he'd learned early on it wasn't a good idea to interrupt him.
Eventually he just decided to get in an elevator and move up to the top level. The top level was actually just the top surface of the plateau; and he'd gone up there once before and liked the view.
He pressed the button for the top floor and the doors closed; thankfully there was no lame music in the elevators. He wasn't exactly sure how they pulled it off, but the elevators in the base seemed to be able to get anywhere else in the base as long as there was an elevator door there. It continued to baffle him, and even Elkxyse said she didn't know, saying that Axnes was the one who designed and built the upper floors, and that included the elevator system.
When the speakers gave a computerized beep indicating the elevator had arrived at its destination, the doors slowly slid open and a nice breeze hit his face. The sky was cloudless and the sun was shining, it felt like a summer's day back on the islands. He also noticed something else; there was someone up here already. Moving in closer to the edge of the plateau where the figure sat, he saw the light brown -almost blond- hair and remembered it was Venxdi.
"Hey Roxas," she greeted without even looking back at him.
"Hey, what're you doing up here?"
"I could ask you the same thing. If you want to know though; I'm sketching the landscape; I get the best view from up here."
He looked over her at the drawing; it was surprisingly life-like. The shading was incredible, and if she took the time to color it, it would be one of the best drawings he'd ever seen!
"Wow, that's really good! How'd you learn to draw so well?"
"I've just always known; my somebody was an artist, or at least was aspiring to be one," she said, still half absorbed in her drawing.
There was a bit of a silence filled only by the breeze and some unknown bird chirping in the distance. Roxas took a seat next to her and let his legs hang over the edge.
"Hey, I asked Xelskyr once if he remembered his somebody, and he said you guys don't like to talk about them because you don't want to be like Organization XIII, he said he doesn't want war, only to be left alone."
"Yes, and?"
"Well…I guess I just want to know why you guys are helping us at all if you wanted to be left alone."
For the first time since I sat down, Venxdi put down her sketchpad and sighed.
"Look Roxas, all I feel comfortable telling you at the moment is there's a lot more to Xelskyr than people think. In a way, he thinks helping you is his responsibility."
"Why is that," he asked, even more confused.
"I won't tell you everything, it's not my place; Xelskyr will tell you when he has to. What I will tell you is that it goes back to before he formed the Fateful, a long time before any of us ever met him."
She grabbed her sketchpad and got up from her seat. She looked down at me with a smile that almost looked sad; it almost seemed to have emotion behind it if you looked hard enough.
"I'll see you around," she said as she walked back to the elevator.
"Yea, see ya."
After she was gone, Roxas still sat on the edge of the plateau; thinking.
Back down in the lounge, Hikari was sitting on one of the large couches. She went back and forth between watching Becxal read and Nevax scarf down his monstrosity of a sandwich. She wasn't exactly sure where Roxas had wandered off to; she just hoped he wasn't getting into trouble. She decided it was probably a good idea to go look for him, he was probably annoying someone or touching something he wasn't supposed to by now.
She walked down the halls which, for some reason, all looked pretty much the same. She passed a bunch of empty rooms and one or two of the members rooms, but she hadn't bumped into anyone so far. Until of course she saw Venxdi walking down the next hall over. She quickly ran down the hall to catch up with her.
"Hey Venxdi, have you seen Roxas anywhere?" she asked her when she was close enough.
"Yea, he's up on the top level, just head to any old elevator and it'll take you up there."
"Oh okay, thanks."
After talking with Venxdi she began searching for an elevator. It was easier said that done; the entire base was like one giant labyrinth. A few minutes of looking payed off though, as she finally found one and pressed the button for the top level.
Once she heard the elevator make a thump sound, she knew it had come to a stop. The doors opened slowly and the breeze hit her face almost instantly. She took a few steps out and could recognize his white jacket right away. He was sitting slouched over the edge of the plateau, just staring out into space by the looks of it. The view, even from where she was standing, was incredible; the plains, the mountain, everything was visible from up here.
She walked up behind him and took a seat next to him, letting her feet dangle over the edge as well.
"Hey, what're you doing up here," she asked him.
He was silent.
She waved her hand in front of his face. "hey, anyone home?"
"Huh? Oh, hey Hikari. Sorry, I guess I was just thinking a little to hard," he said scratching the back of his neck.
"You've been thinking a lot lately, what's up?"
"It's just...I think we might have gotten in a little over our heads here."
Hikari just leaned back and sighed.
"Of course we are, we've been in over our head since two weeks ago but that didn't stop you then."
"That was before yesterday when all my fighting skills were blown out of the water," he said with a nervous laugh.
"I mean, I didn't even land a hit on that guy; he just broke Oathkeeper like it was nothing and that was it," he continued with a slightly more depressed tone.
They were both silent for a while, neither of them doing anything except looking out at the landscape in front of them. Hikari finally decided to speak up again.
"So what were you talking to Naruto about yesterday, the thing you said you were thinking about?"
"Oh, I asked him what a nindo was, and he said that it was like a personal code of honor. His was to never go back on a promise, so I decided to make one to."
"Have you thought of one yet," she pried.
"Yea."
"...Well?"
"Well what?"
"Well what is it, what's that nindo thing that you came up with?"
"Oh, it's to always try to get stronger and protect the islands."
When he looked back at her, she was giving him an annoyed glare. Which was her signal for, 'you just did something stupid, now fix it or else'.
"What I do?"
"You're 'code of honor' is to get stronger and protect the islands, yet you're sitting here on your butt whining about how you got beat! That's so hypocritical it's not even funny!"
"But I-"
"No, you don't get to talk yet! Here I am busting my butt trying to make up for all the times I could've helped you but didn't, then you go and decide that you're giving up because suddenly there's someone stronger that you? That's pathetic," she said, practically yelling now.
"I don't know what you're going to be doing, but I'm gonna be training my ass off so the next time we meet him, we can plow that bastard into the ground! You're the one whose always been the confident leader, the one who'll go through an army of heartless to save somebody, what happened to that guy?"
While all this yelling was going on, Roxas just sat as still as possible, trying to give his friend as little incentive to scream at him more as possible. He felt as though he was five again, getting yelled at by his mother for doing something stupid.
"Besides, don't you remember all the stuff your dad and my dad did when they were our age? If they could do it, so can we!"
Suddenly her voice got much calmer. "Your dad always said that you were better at this stuff than he was at your age, and I've been learning a lot from you teaching me. I don't think you realize how easy you make all this stuff look. You're really really good."
She looked up at the clear sky and leaned back a little farther. "I remember the first time I saw you fight the heartless, and couldn't believe how cool you looked. The times I watched you fight were the only times I really wanted to be a keyblade master...I guess in a way I really just wanted to be like you."
She slipped her hand on top of his and squeezed lightly. "What I'm trying to say is...I have faith in you."
Roxas just sat there in a dumbstruck state. He'd known Hikari long enough to know that when she blew her top like that, she meant whatever she said completely. What amazed him more though, was the fact that she said she had faith in him, she almost never said something like that straight up. She'd always layer it with sarcasm or yelling; if was one of her first actual compliments toward anyone...ever.
Roxas held his hand out in front of him and summoned the Oathkeeper. The magical white blade as completely repaired, it was back to its former glory. With that new information, he scooted back and stood up.
"Where are you going?" asked Hikari, a little frustration still in her voice.
"Are you gonna spar with me or what?" he asked back with a smirk.
Hikari's mouth curved into a smile and she leaped up and summoned her own keyblade. She stood across from him and got into her fighting stance.
"I won't be holding back this time," he informed her.
"Wouldn't have it any other way," she shot back.
With that they both leaped forward at each other, and their blades clashed.
FINALLY! This chapter was a bitch to wright. It took me a good while to hit my stride, but I think it turned out pretty well. It had some nice little tidbits in there. Like Venxdi hinting at some of my past and Hikari kicking Roxas' ass back into gear after his manly pride was bruised.
Also, I know I've been absent the last few chapters, but I'll be back in the next one! (I know you all missed good ol' Xelskyr.)
Keep the reviews coming, because for every review you don't submit, another heartless is born. We don't want that now do we?