Heart'sgem: I'm back! I didn't lie this time :)
Sora: What's with the smiley face?
Heart'sgem: Well, it's- you know, I don't feel like having this conversation XP
Sora: Okay... I don't even know what that is.
Heart'sgem: So anyway... This starts in Riku's P.O.V, then it goes to *drum roll* NAMINE!
Namine: Eeepp! Really?
Heart'sgem: Yep! I own nothing from Kingdom Hearts, and I hope you all enjoy this chapter!
I sat down on Yen Sid's desk and rested my head on my hand. My heart was beating twice as fast as it normally did, since it was fighting the darkness. And I had been hearing a weird voice in my head lately. Step forward, parry, dodge roll, lean to the right, and so on. I wasn't ready to go against Anse-I mean, Xemnas yet.
I gasped in pain as I felt a familiar crushing force in my chest. I clenched my shirt and started to breath heavily. The familiar darkness from Ansem was seeping into my veins and I couldn't hold it back. Why? I had been able to hold it back before. Why is it so much stronger?
My vision blurred and I knew that soon I would be locked inside myself once again. As I lost consciousness, I thought of something strange and relatively unimportant.
The voice was gone.
…
I looked over at Roxas anxiously as he gave orders for what we were about to do. I was barely listening as he went over the plans for invading the castle. What happened to him all of a sudden? It was like he suddenly found a plan from an outside source. . .
I stopped thinking as realization came to me. Sora; of course!
Sorry that we kept you in the dark. You seemed a bit busy fighting Axel, and we figured we would tell you later.
"Well," I thought, "can you tell me what's going on?"
Not really. Roxas has told everyone everything he knows, since we haven't told him anything much. We have a plan, but we agreed to not talk about it to you in case you got scared.
"Scared? Why would I be scared of a plan?"
It might be . . . controversial. We will tell you when it's time.
"Thanks," I thought sarcastically. I tuned back to what Roxas was saying.
He looked at Aqua. "So, do you know what to do?"
She nodded and summoned her keyblade. "You two should go first, so Demyx doesn't have to worry about too much."
"Thanks," Demyx said carelessly, but I caught a hint of relief in his voice. He summoned the portal and Roxas walked towards it. He summoned his weapon, and we all followed suit. Aqua nudged me towards the portal and winked.
"I know you weren't listening to a thing he said. You are in this patrol, and you are searching for Axel," she whispered kindly.
I blushed and nodded. "Thanks." I quickly rushed towards Roxas.
We walked in the portal and waited for our destination. He grabbed my hand and when I looked up he smiled, but I caught a glint of fear in his eye. I don't blame him. I mean, his best friend had all of his memories destroyed, and it was up to him to follow a plan that he didn't even know about. Our party kept getting smaller and smaller. First Kairi and Sora, then Axel, and finally Riku. Sure, Roxas and I were found again, as well as Xion, Aqua, and Ven, but I had a feeling that it wouldn't stay like that for long.
The stark whiteness hurt my eyes as we approached the castle, and a started to have darker thoughts. What if Demyx led us to a trap? Can we trust him?
I relaxed as we arrived at the door to the castle. It would be hard to get in, but at least we weren't in a cage somewhere. Aqua, Ven, and Demyx came out behind us and the portal disappeared.
"Here we are," Demyx said bluntly. "Now what?"
Roxas looked up. "Namine and I will head to Axel's room, because that is where he probably is. You three should split up and look for Terra. We should all retreat to out here as soon as there is trouble, and then we escape with the portal."
"What if we lose Demyx?" Aqua asked.
Roxas frowned. "Then we'll make a last stand out here, or wherever we end up. But let's not dwell on that." He walked inside and guided me along. I let go of his hand once we went inside in order for Roxas and I to hold our keyblades in our dominant hand.
The castle looked exactly as it had when I last saw it. White, heartless, and powerful, just like the members. Well, other than the white part. I shivered in my thin dress and pressed up to Roxas for a spark of warmth. He wrapped his arm around my waist so that we could still hold our keyblades and attack if need may be. Our keyblades made a soft clink as they came together, the way they were supposed to be.
Roxas stopped and pulled his hand back as we came to Axel's room. It was right between Demyx's and Saix's room, who wouldn't be there, but we couldn't make a ton of noise. He might not even be in his room, and he might be on a mission instead. But like Roxas said, we shouldn't dwell on that.
Roxas turned the door slightly and we heard it click softly as it opened. He opened the door slowly and stayed outside the door once it was open.
Axel was sitting on his bed and his chackrams were lying next to his hands. He stood up unarmed and sent the chackrams away, but I knew that he could summon them in an instant.
He grinned and gestured to our weapons. "You might as well put those away, since I know you won't attack me."
Roxas tightened his grip on his keyblade and narrowed his gaze, so I kept mine out too. Axel sighed and ran his hands through his hair. "Both of you know that I could have made toast of you before you entered the door, and I'm just being considerate because of my curiosity." He looked closely at Roxas. "You could have finished me off multiple times in our last fight, but why didn't you? And why is Demyx with you guys now?" He chuckled. "I hope that you know he's practically useless; our weakest member currently."
Roxas met his gaze evenly. "You are free to join us, you know."
Axel smiled. "And why would I do that? I have everything I want, but you are still avoiding my questions."
Roxas was about to make another smart comment, but I cut him off. "Demyx is with us because we told him that he could get his heart back, and we are making the same offer with you."
Axel and Roxas blinked at me in disbelief, but then Axel smiled. "You do know that we are trying to get a heart in the Organization, and I don't need to go with you to find mine."
"It won't work," I said. The Organization members have all been trying to get hearts without success, but we can assure you that if you help us that you will be guaranteed to get one."
He narrowed his eyes. "Why should I trust you? I don't even know you, and I'm not scared to hurt you."
"Come with us," said Roxas. "We can tell you about your lost memories."
Axel eyes narrowed, but glistened with greed. "I'd rather not go to a batch of enemies, and you could be telling me lies."
Roxas' eyes saddened. "We can meet one on one, and you will know if the memories I tell you will be true or not. Trust me on this."
Axel sneered. "Trust a Nobody?" He looked at Roxas closely and his expression turned more playful. "Well, I will play along and trust you, since your eyes look sincere." Roxas blinked in surprise. "But where should we meet?"
Roxas collected himself before he continued. "Twilight Town. I'm sure you've been on a mission there for recon," he said duly.
Axel shrugged. "Sure, I've been there, but it's pretty uninteresting. Let's meet at the train station. Alone," he said, glancing over at me.
"Of course," said Roxas. "I'll be there all day tomorrow, so come when you can."
He smiled. "Deal. You should probably leave before the other members come." He took out one of his chackrams, and Roxas and I stepped back in preparation. Axel grinned and made a long cut in his arm, cutting through his cloak. He hissed in pain and made his chakrams fade away as he sat down. He glanced back to us and yelled, "Go!"
Roxas looked at him in desperation, then grabbed my arm and started to run out. I heard footsteps all around us, and I hoped that Aqua and the others would meet us where we were supposed to be.
My prayers were answered as I saw Demyx at the exit with a portal ready for us. Roxas and I didn't need an invitation to go in.
As we waited in the portal, I could tell Demyx was dying to ask us what happened, but he thankfully didn't say anything. I looked over at him questionally. "Do you need to be in a portal to transport others?"
He shrugged. "Anyone with a portal can, but it takes a lot of energy out of you. Well, I should rephrase that. If you are strong, you will feel very weak, but people that are already weak don't feel much of a difference."
I nodded and leaned up against Roxas as I made Oathkeeper disappear. Roxas did the same after a few seconds, and he sighed after he wrapped his arm around me. I gladly leaned over and rested my head on his shoulder and tried to forget all the terrible things that were happening.
When we arrived, I stood up and let Roxas take his arm back. I looked around to see who was already there, but I was dismayed to see that it was only Aqua and Ven, without Terra. Their expressions reflected when they saw Axel wasn't with us.
"So," Roxas said, "What did you find out?"
Aqua shook her head. "Not a lot, or maybe a major clue. We ran into Zexion. Well, to be exact we ran into an illusion of him."
Roxas narrowed his eyes. "And what did the schemer have to say?"
Ven sighed. "He told us a riddle. 'The spirits of the lost ones can be found in the hearts of the new.' Whatever that means. He said to look at the 'dark hero' for answers."
"Riku!" I blurted out. Everyone looked at me oddly and I blushed. "Riku; he's the dark hero. He's the only person alive who fits in that category."
"Hmm," Roxas said thoughtfully. "But where is our 'dark hero'? He was supposed to be here, but he may have ran off, so he could be anywhere."
"Then we will have to find him before something happens," said Aqua darkly.
"My dear, I am afraid it is too late for that."
Heart'sgem: Dun dun dun! What will happen next? Find out tomorrow in the next chapter!
Sora: Well, that was a short speech.
Heart'sgem: Oh yeah! I also want to thank everyone that has remained with my through my ginormous writer's block! I hope you have a great day, and I will talk to you all tomorrow!