Chapter 13 already... and I started this in like.. February? I think... I thought... Anyway... Not much to say here really. And the story's probably going overboard. Oh well... This may be too extreme... Grr... I suck...
Disclaimer:
Khazan: She doesn't... wait... she does own us doesn't she?
Sincos:Well, yeah... Us she does.. but not the characters from that one game... that game... game...
Sora:The titles right below that line!
Khazan:Chapter 13? What kind of name is that?
Roxas:... Kingdom Hearts maybe...
Sora:Chapter 13, my god... and I thought you guys were an intelligent race...
Amix/Khazan/Essentrice:Grr...
Chapter 13
Kingdom Hearts
"Hey Sincos, if you've seen Sora before when you left him on Destiny Islands, how come you thought Roxas was him?" Max called over the winds as Sincos easily leapt over 13-28 feet wide gaps in the canyons they were traveling through.
"I never saw Sora. Only Essentrice did. Me and my brother, Khazan were guarding the island when Essentrice went to see him. We just kept to our posts." She replied, slightly turning her head to look at them.
Roxas looked toward the horizon ahead of them for the next few silent hours. He didn't even know this part of Radiant Garden existed. Well, he knew about the Bastion Canyons but beyond that he was totally oblivious. What was Sora doing in the middle of nowhere? So help him if anything happened to his friend heads will roll. And with these two being there at the wrong place at the wrong time, wasn't a very good idea.
A couple hours later, they came upon a large castle like place. It was a lavender 3-story building built in a medieval manner, though it did seem it was a fort made out of ice crystals. Roxas and Max hopped off of the dire's back and took in the sight. Roxas looked at the door handle and noticed it wasn't made for hands and had a pattern of deep dents in it.
"Maskorion doors. Only my people can open them." She explained before Roxas could ask.
"Is this your castle?" Max asked, almost tipping over from leaning his head back so far.
"Castle? Oh Lord no… These are the dungeons of Edymaskoria." Sincos answered with a chuckle, gripping the handle tightly with her jaw and pulling the 15-ton doors open.
Max jumped in shock and surprise at this, "What? I'm almost afraid to see your home if this is only your dungeon keep."
He ran to catch up to them inside. They passed through a thin dark shadowing in the corridor as Roxas turned and found Sincos wasn't beside him anymore. Instead, it was a girl that looked about his age. He jumped and summoned the keyblade, the Bond of Flame and glared at her.
"What?!" was all he could say before she raised her hand in silence.
"Relax Roxas. It is me. I am a changeling… No doubt you have heard of this power for my brother?" she asked as she walked on.
"Oh… Yeah." He answered with embarrassment as he let his keyblade fade away.
Max held a hand to his head with a sigh as he followed silently.
"Well, his sibling's share in just about all his abilities. Do not fret." She continued, her stride unceasing.
Roxas eased up quite a bit compared to his parannoyance, matching her stride. The form she chose had long black hair in a ponytail with long bangs framing her lightly tanned face. She wore a short-sleeved jacket much like Sora's only without buckles and shoulder guards, though it was still black with a white edging. A blood red baby belly T was worn underneath it as a string necklace with a sapphire diamond on it hung around her neck. She also wore knee long tight denim shorts with a skull belt and knee high black combat boots. She also wore black/blue sweatbands and rings the match her sapphire eyes.
Overall, she wasn't bad looking. Roxas would've fancied her if he weren't… well… you know…
"Hey Sincos, what's the deal with this girl?" Roxas asked with an eyebrow cocked.
She looked down at herself as she walked, "Oh… It's my human alias, Amix. I used her to sneak into Organization 13 to get in on secrets before I slipped away. They probably still don't know it was me."
"Ah…" Roxas ended the conversation, continuing to walk on in silence as Max followed them.
After a few minutes of figuring out the maze of a keep, Amix started running toward a room a few feet in front of them.
"Khazan!"
Roxas and Max followed pursuit, turning to see her kneeling next to another large dire lying unconscious on the ground. It was blue and red and slightly more masculine then she, though he still had a runt-ish body compared to Essentrice. They kneeled beside him, checking any signs of life in his body.
"Khazan?" she called, carefully petting the fur between his ears.
At her melodic voice his silver eyes fluttered open and he snapped his head back to look at her image, "Sincos?"
"Ai brother… It is me…" she soothed, silently crying tears of joy as she smiled at him, seeing her brother for the first time in many a year.
He shakily stood up, a giant compared to their small forms as he looked at them all, "They have him… I was struck from behind from a fast black blur before passing out. But with his attitude, I don't think he will go easily. Who are they?"
He pointed his snout in the duo's direction as his hoary eyes studied them. Amix looked at them before explaining, still wiping tears from her cheeks and recovering from shock at the news.
"This is Max, Sora's companion, and Roxas, Sora's nobody." She introduced quickly as each smiled at the dire in response.
"So… The prophecy is accurate after all…" Khazan chuckled with a smirk, looking down at the blond.
"Khazan, we must retain human forms if we are to get him back. He's in the World that Never Was." She interrupted with anxiety.
"How do you know?" he questioned, snapping his head to look at her in all seriousness.
"I can feel Essentrice there."
Roxas and Max stumbled off of the teleportation platform onto the World that Never Was. They weren't exactly used to traveling like that as Amix and Kale stepped off without effect.
Kale was Khazan's alias. He had accompanied Amix on her mission to sneak into the organization and collect information. He too was a boy their age with black spiky hair but looked like a thorny crown and had emerald eyes. When they left Radiant Garden, he wore a normal black leather jacket with a red undershirt and black fingerless gloves. He also wore black baggy jeans and combat boots. But now they were in the World that Never Was and Roxas noticed that Amix and Kale were in Organization cloaks. He noticed he and Max were now wearing them as well. He looked at the duo with a questionable glance.
"I put them on us as a sign of a type of 'return' to the organization." Sincos explained simply, her and her brother striding passed them as Max stopped beside the blond.
"So… anything I should know about this 'organization' cause I'm kind of just going along with what you guys are doing… And really, my dad didn't say anything about it." He said, looking at him.
"Really Max… All I can say is that you'll get immensely annoyed more than once. The only helpful thing I can say is watch your back." Roxas answered with a sigh.
He wasn't up to seeing them again. And he wasn't all too sure that they had returned, and he had only taken Sincos' word for it as they were traveling to the keep. She had said that the organization had returned with hearts of their own for some reason, and they were serving Gishnuruk. She had informed that even the Superior served his power. Now this was bad…
As they caught up with the two dires up ahead, they entered the courtyard in front of Memory Skyscraper. It was way too quiet in the world. Even the wind wasn't heard, it wasn't there. The four jumped as a ball of dark smoke appeared a few yards in front of them. As it dissipated, there stood number X. Roxas grimaced at the sight of Luxord standing with a smirk in front of him.
"Hello my former members. Is there business within our borders that you want?" he taunted with a mock raised eyebrow.
"Shut it gambler. We don't have time for this! Where is he?" Kale growled as he stepped toward the former nobody.
"Oh not very friendly are we? Though I must admit you're right. Time is not on your side." Luxord chuckled wickedly, gently scratching his chin.
"Tell us where he bloody is!" Kale snarled once again, curling his fists in threat.
"Here."
The dire froze at this. Roxas and Max stood in confusion, and Amix's eyes widened in bewilderment.
"In only a moment… Your business will be claimed. The friend you know, is no more. Say hello to the true Keyblade Master…" Luxord sneered happily.
"Your wrong… You didn't…" Amix persisted, a hint of plea in her gentle voice.
"Yes… He has become his destiny, all because of the Key of Destiny over there. Roxas parted from Sora… So we came back with our own hearts in effect, so then we could fulfill our roles of telling him the truth after all this time. But now, he can tell you himself before it will happen. Even though it is only the 27th of August." The gambler explained cheerfully with a smirk.
Max looked at him with his confused expression all the more bewildered, "It's the 27th of August? That's impossible! It's…"
"True…"
Kale interrupted, growling in his own frustration.
"Like I said, time is not on your side…" Luxord repeated slowly in a monotone, "And so my fellow former nobodies… The child you once knew has been destroyed… Meet your new lord…"
On that note, 12 other balls of darkness appeared behind him. One was exceptionally big that revealed the Superior sitting in a large throne in the middle. Axel was on his left and Sora stood emotionless to his right in an organization cloak of his own. The brunette no longer had glistening pools of sapphire sight, but instead, had pitch-black shadow that conquered his entire optic so not even the pure white was showing, just as Roxas' were when he was overtaken with rage. They were just like the dire eyes, only mystic and dead.
Roxas stared unbelievingly at the sight of Axel and Sora, his partners. Axel looked like he didn't even know who the blond was and Sora… Sora had no expression whatsoever.
"Sora!" Roxas yelled, running to hug him.
He hadn't seen him in days now… Weeks… But he felt something stop him from a pressure in his left shoulder. Kale was pulling him back, preventing him from going any closer to him. Roxas looked at him and snapped his head back at the organization in front of them, waiting for their next move.
"Don't you ever listen? Your friend is gone. Destroyed. This is Sora's true form. What time has molded him into, what he has been for a while now. You really think a kid with his kind of past would seriously be that cheerful?" Larxene stepped up, looking at her former co-member as if he were insane.
"As if! Don't waste your breath Larx. They're idiots if they couldn't see it before." Xigbar on Axel's left cut in, surpassing a slight chuckle in his voice.
Zexion, who was standing between Larxene and Sora, smirked at this, "Took the words right out of my mouth…"
Xemnas raised his hand and everyone quieted. He nodded toward Sora next to him who simply nodded back, proceeding to walk toward the four and a levitated-like trance. Stopping a foot from Roxas, who Kale had recently let go, Sora silently studied him.
"…Sora…" was all Roxas could say as he stared at the brunette's tenebrous black eyes.
"Keyblade Master…" Sora responded as if addressing him at work.
"What did they do to you?" the blond whispered, refusing to let tears slip passed his lids.
Sora looked at him with a smile, though it wasn't one of his bright charming smiles, but a distant hollow smile that meant nothing, "They did nothing to me. This is me… What life has done to me, and what I have done to my life… It's me Roxas…"
"Yes… I guess it's true… This is you… But there is something missing. Where is the part that I looked up to? Where's the part that made you my best friend?" Roxas asked quietly so only the three behind him could hear.
"He is no more… In fact… He was never there…" Sora answered slowly, his words silently dripping with venom as his voice spoke too softly.
"You were my brother Sora! My father, my mother… My friend! My partner! I loved you!" Roxas yelled, a tear escaping his eye.
If you really focused on his mouth, you could see him quietly mouth the words, 'Though less than I love you now…'
"Yes, yes… Your brotherly love… A bit blurry but now I see it. You and he were quite close weren't you?" the figure reminisced, caressing his chin in thought.
"And we still are now! You just don't see it do you?" Roxas barged in, lashing his arms out to his sides in disbelief.
Before anyone could say anything more, Roxas rushed toward him and caressed the brunette's cheek before thrusting his lips into his, tears falling freely now. He let his hand rest on his other's chest, placing the kiss passionately. The taste was the same. It was still his Sora, the Sora he knew. The feel was no different either. This was Sora.
All Sora managed to do was let his hands jump up in surprise on either side of the boy as he froze and the others just watched with quirked eyebrows and shock as the scene unfolded. But if you looked closely at Sora's eyes, you would manage to see a flicker of the blue pool that was once there before. Finally Roxas slowly pulled away, letting his hands fall to his sides as he looked at Sora with a tearstained face, waiting for his next move.
"I love you…"
Sora stared back as he let his hands slowly drop to his sides as well, his face expressionless.
"I know…"
That tone… That voice… That wasn't the Sora in front of him, that was the friend who saved him countless times, the Sora he had come after.
Suddenly the brunette's face hardened again, glaring at the blond with pupiless eyes. He clenched his hands as he looked at Roxas with annoyance.
"Axel. Larxene."
The pyro and nymph appeared at his side in a matter of seconds, ready for an assignment. It seemed since Sora was so keen in their destiny, they would obey him just as they obeyed Gishnuruk. Roxas could see the Superior sitting quietly with patience, Zexion and Xigbar at his sides, staring with content.
"Show our guests to their quarters, and Axel, give my old friend the special room." Sora ordered, turning and beginning to walk to the Superior before stopping and narrowing his eyes as he looked over his shoulder, "And, show him the meaning of flame."
With that, he disappeared in a ball of dark smoke along with the rest of the organization. Axel grabbed Roxas' arm and began to lead them to the castle as Larxene stood next to where he was, looking at the three remaining with a smirk. She then called upon her kunai and shot one out at each of their right wrists. As they flew through the air, they could see that they were attacked to mini chains that she held in her hand as they wrapped around their wrists, binding them to her. Dragging them to catch up to Axel, she smirked each time one nearly fell over.
Roxas, who was slightly uplifted by the grasp of Axel's hand, was too heartbroken to say anything about what just happened recently, but wanted to know why Axel was here.
"Axel?"
"What?" he answered, a little too irritated.
"Why are you doing this?" the blond asked, looking up at him.
The pyro looked down at him for a second before answering, "Because I now work here."
"When you finally have a heart?" Roxas asked in disbelief.
"Why would you care? You were my best friend and then you abandoned me and left to find your precious somebody!" the flurry growled, refusing to look at him.
"Then how come you weren't as ticked off when your conscious drifted into my mind?" the blond asked sternly, his voice turning cold.
Axel looked down at him on this, "What?"
"So… Why don't you fight? I mean with your legendary strength, can't you take me down?" Larxene questioned, leaning next to the door, twirling a knife.
"Yes…" Kale answered, leaning against the opposite wall with a glare.
"Okay… and you refuse to rebel… why?" she questioned further, letting the knife spin on her finger like a basketball.
"Because our master is here… And we aren't leaving without him." Amix interrupted, sitting next to Kale with her knees pressed into her chest.
"Are you talking about the bounty hunter dude, or Sora?"
"Our brother can take care of himself. It's Sora we won't leave without." Kale mumbled, looking away from her.
"And I guess with him all in a trance like that, it won't happen." Max added, sitting sprawled next to Amix.
"Okay… So Sora… He's gay?" she inquired, changing the subject.
"The reincarnations of the Keyblade Master cycle are naturally homosexual. It was certain that Sora would be no different." Amix explained once more, looking up at her.
"Ahh… Of course... So… I just want to let you guys know, I'm on your side." Larxene finished, dropping the knife in her hand and walking out of the pure white cell, leaving them to ponder silently about her last statement.
"LIAR!"
Another burning hot streak of pain sliced itself in a thick line across Roxas' back. He bit back another yell, refusing to fill the castle with his screams of agony. Axel caught his returning chakram and shakily glared at his former partner's lashed back. This was strike eleven of fifteen, and the blond's back was scarlet with blood and burns caressing the thick slits in his flesh. Axel had stripped him of his cloak so only the baggy leather pants remained as they continued their conversation from walking up to the castle and Roxas was chained to two titanium poles.
"Axel… I didn't abandon you… I left because I wanted to know about my life and how I could still feel when I wasn't supposed to have a heart. We were partners, and watching you die like that broke me down. I'm sorry I forgot you when I was in Twilight Town, but that was DiZ who screwed up my memories. It didn't happen like you think." Roxas continued to explain, pressing the truth.
"No… Stop messing with me Roxas! Stop feeding me these damn stories!" Axel repeated his refuse as he whipped his other flaming chakram at the blonde again.
Roxas choked back another scream of pain, clenching his teeth as he denied unwanted tears to flow. He felt insignificant, kneeling and facing the once pure white wall now tattered with his own scarlet regret. As another fatal strike slashed trailing his spine, he tightened his fists, evading another yell.
Maybe he deserved this, maybe he didn't. All he could think of right now was Sora and what he has become and what he had said.
'I love you…'
'I know…'
That made Roxas want to cry tears of joy, sadness, guilt, pain and anger, all at the same time. Probably making him glomp Sora in the process. He didn't care what he was doing now, the old Sora was in him somewhere. Roxas knew that the worlds would be covered in eternal darkness for sure now… But he didn't much care.
He gasped as a horizontal gash crashed from shoulder to shoulder, followed quickly by two hacks that met at the bottom of the neck and parted as they reached his hips. These three cuts were deeper, and probably permanent from the force. Meaning Roxas would walk around with an 'A' on his back for the rest of his life. He heard the door close behind him and let his body grow limp as his chained wrists kept him kneeling.
'If this is what he wants, so be it…'
Roxas hung loosely with dried blood layering his numb figure. He heard a silent click but shook it off, uncaring as to what it was. He was half dreaming and half awake, but barely conscious. He could pick up silent footsteps of a pair of boots but still didn't care as his lids levitated, half open.
"Oh my god…"
The voice was gentle, embracing in a way. He noticed three other sets of footing nearing him, but couldn't find the strength to move, much less open his eyes. It had been seven days since he had received his scars, and yes, today was in fact… The day, of the prophecy. Sora would fulfill his destiny and become the Dark Prince of Death today, and Roxas couldn't gather himself enough to even care.
That's when he felt a gloved hand softly lower itself to his shoulder. The feeling was nice after being isolated for so long. But something was wronge… Was someone… crying?
"Roxas… I'm so sorry…"
That voice… He knew that voice… Gaining his strength with great effort, he managed to open his eyes and look up at a blurred image. As his vision cleared, the first thing he saw was the pair of crystalline pools of ocean blue that gazed guiltily down at his own. His eyes widened, looking up into Sora's face.
"S-… Sora?"
Roxas noticed out of the corner of his eye, that Max and Kale were silently breaking the chains that bound him to the room. Falling over, Sora caught him and let him lean forward into his chest, resting his head on the brunette's shoulder. Amix ungloved her hand and lightly touched his back, tracing the scars.
"I can heal him, but these three will leave their mark permanently. The flesh will be tender for a few more days."
"I'm afraid we don't have that kind of time." Sora replied with doubt, lightly stroking the blond's check with his thumb as his right arm protectively wrapped around his waist and tears quietly fell.
"So, meaning we have to get out right now huh? Let's go!" Max rushed as Kale agreed with him.
As Amix quickly finished up, she gloved her hand and stood up as Sora recloaked the blond and stood with Roxas bridal style in his arms.
"No… Ya'll have to leave. I'll stay to give you guys time. It's happening no matter what, exactly at midnight and it's 11:30 already. You and Roxas have to go without me." Sora argued, running in front next to Kale as Max and Amix trailed behind.
"We're not leaving without you, you know that as well as we do." Kale debated, leading them around the corner and out of the castle.
"And as your Master you will obey me! My darkness has thickened. The worlds will be covered in shadows if we like it or not." Sora bickered back.
"And as your friends, you will listen to us! Your coming with us whether you like it or not!" Max yelled after the duo, running in step with Amix.
"Guys! Look what I've done to you, to Roxas! You don't think my future betrayals could be worse?!" the brunette continued to refuse, lightly hugging Roxas to his chest as they sprinted through a large maze.
"Well really does that matter!" Amix joined in, grinding her teeth at the keyblade master.
"What's that supposed to mean?! Of course it would matter!" he answered, exiting the maze next to Kale.
Skidding to a stop, they observed four balls of gloom appearing to block their path, revealing Xigbar, Xaldin, Marluxia and Luxord, in that order, standing side-to-side with smirks.
"See… This is what happens when you take the front door." Xigbar began.
"And this is what happens when you're stupid enough to run around arguing your heads off as you try to escape." Marluxia finished, calling his scythe to appear in petals in his right palm.
Sora wasn't listening though; Roxas had said his name once again as the remaining three fenced him from view of the four.
"What trance did they put on you to make you like that?" Roxas mumbled with his voice cracked.
Sora smiled sadly and looked down into his mirrored pair of eyes, "It wasn't a trance Roxas… That was me… Rather me as I should've been all these years. All they did was break the mask. None of it was a lie. Your listening to the part of me that takes control over my darker side. This, maybe to your relief, is me as well."
Roxas understood immediately with both sadness and joy. This would explain his trances when he got pushed to the edge. But he didn't care though, he had found who he was looking for and it wasn't in vain.
"How the hell is it 11:55 already?!" Max asked, checking his own watch to see it proved true.
"Time flies when you're playing games…" Luxord answered with a smirk, shuffling a stack of cards in his hands as Xigbar and Xaldin called upon their weapons.
"This isn't a game." Amix growled poisonously.
Her usual soft and gentle voice was a surprise to hear filled with malice and spite. Even Kale seemed shocked to hear her tone like this. And all this time she was under the shadow of a large base ruin of a tower as her sapphire eyes shined viciously through the darkness, making her form even more mysterious. Walking slowly toward the four in a haunted movement, she morphed as if the light revealed her true form. Sincos stood with her teeth bared ruthlessly as she lowered her head to about Marluxia's height, a growling escaping her throat.
Kale morphed as well, exposing his dire form with a snarl as he lowered his head to meet Xigbar's eyes. Max stood to Sincos' right, ready on his skateboard (that he miraculously acquired from nowhere).
Sora walked up between the two wolves and looked at the scene. The dires were menacing enough to make the four flinch, but not enough to make them back down.
The four weren't looking for a fight though. They were stalling.
Before Sora had realized it, it was too late. He heard a large bell alarm throughout the world, marking midnight. He could feel himself and Roxas being encased in their shadows. Roxas dropped down onto his feet and hugged the brunette to him with his oncoming strength. Sora embraced him in return; burying his face in his other's shoulder.
"I will never leave you again." He whispered into his ear, regretting all that he had done.
"And I'd follow you anywhere anyway." Roxas replied, squeezing him tighter as they became their anti-selves.
The universe shook beneath their feet, all darkness drawing toward them, filling their strengths and their weaknesses. They could hear the sound of debris and walls crumbling as the earthquakes refused to cease. They clenched their teeth as the rumbling stopped for the moment, leaving them in temporary silence. Then finally came the outburst.
A huge pillar of shadow encased them as it grew into a large mushroom bomb, the wind carrying them to float in the sky within the pillar. It was happening… The end of all hope. They could feel the embodiment of darkness surrounding each and every living thing, power taken from them and given to them at the same time. The pillar parted into two thick tentacles that rose into the sky, clashing at a certain point and slowly turning the sky gold, a large moon. Finally, a huge explosion forced winds to blow through the universe and Sora and Roxas to fell to the ground unconscious.
The one living spirit of Kingdom Hearts overshadowed the universe now, taking the shape of a heart-shaped moon like Xemnas' only a lot more powerful. And with Sora's last breath, he let a single tear drop down onto the soil beneath him and whispered.
"No…"
And no guys, Sora did not just die. He just fell unconscious if that's what you were wondering. See I told you I was thinking a was getting a bit into an extreme state here with the whole Kingdom Hearts thing. And ya'll got to see the true side of Sora here, atleast, according to me. But seriously, you think a kid with that kind of life would be that cheerful all the time? I wouldn't think so. But yeah, he does have a cheery side, don't worry. And don't think this is the end, this is just the beginning... kind of... sort of... almost...
Anyway, review if you can and I'm glad so many people are getting into my story though this chapter may have just ruined it for you! I hope not...