Chapter Fourteen: Sora Explains
Roxas's Point of View
The more I struggle to get away, the tighter the grip on my arms becomes. We had reached the Castle that Never Was now, and why I still am trying to get away, I'm not exactly sure. I mean, it's pretty hopeless by now. Upon reaching the familiar dungeons in the castle they drop me in a cell and lock it. I rub my arms and watch as they shove Isa into the one neighboring mine. Unlike me, he simply goes along with it. I growl in frustration, tugging on the iron bars.
"This is a messy situation..." Isa says, trailing off into silence. He stands with his arms crossed, glaring outside of his cell.
I scowl at him. "Got a plan?"
He glances at me briefly. "Not exactly. But I do know that kicking the cell like a spoiled child isn't going to help anything."
I glare at him, but do step away from the bars. If only I had my Keyblade still! Then I could be out of here so quickly. Wait...I can't use my Keyblade, but I should still be able to open a portal. I hold out my palm, I'm both surprised and annoyed to hear a scoff from Isa.
"You can't open up a portal inside of these cells, I'm surprised you didn't know that," he says. Yeah, he is anything but helpful.
I sit down against the back wall. I glare at the floor, feeling immensely frustrated. I'm glad that Xion and Lea got away safely, I really am, but this sucks. Isa suddenly saying my name from his cell catches my attention some amount of time later.
"What is it?" I ask.
"I have a plan... One that the organization wouldn't suspect me of," he tells me, sounding lost in thought.
"I'm listening," I say, getting to my feet.
He frowns. "They know full well that it's impossible to keep me caged when I enter into berserk mode. But they also won't think I would do anything that wouldn't help me in our current situation. So yes, since they left us unattended, this should work."
I walk over to the bars that separate our cells. "Great, let's go then."
His eyes are glowing yellow when he looks over at me, he chuckles. "Sometimes you are very much like Sora. Tell Lea that it's too late for me, I'm already mostly Xehanort. Now, I'm counting on you people on the side of light, to defeat Xehanort. Because, I don't want to remain his puppet."
Before I can say anything in response a burst of power surrounds him briefly as he goes fully into his berserk mode. Pulling out his Claymore he crashes, what seems like easily, through the iron bars of his cell and turns towards mine. I duck to the side in time to dodge him only a moment before he barrels into mine, leaving a gaping hole. I race past him outside of the cell, and hearing the sound of rapidly approaching footsteps coming from the entryway into these dungeons, I open a portal.
I pause with one foot inside of it, looking back over at Isa. "You're not coming then?"
He glances at me, his eyes fading back to normal. "No."
"Okay," I say, smiling at him slightly. "You're not as much of a jerk as I thought you were."
He merely chuckles, turning away as I step fully into the portal before Xehanort has the chance to stop me. Pulling up my hood I take off through the twisting corridors.
Xion's Point of View
"We're here!" Sora yells.
Lea hops down from the gummi ship and I follow, accepting his outstretched hand to leap down as well. My boots hit the soft sand and I straighten up, staring out across the island. I'm unable to keep a small smile from my face as I watch the trees sway from a harsh breeze that sweeps past us. It's been awhile since I have been on this island. And it hasn't changed at all. Only this time, I don't have to wonder at the mysterious boy, named Sora, from my memories that lived here.
Behind me, Sora gets out of the gummi ship. He grins as well. I'm not surprised he's happy to be home.
"I landed us out here so we wouldn't surprise everyone on the main island," Sora says, walking along the waters edge. I follow, as does Lea. "I'm sure my parents won't mind if you guys stay in our house for a bit. But I should probably warn them..."
We only defeated the last of the heartless with Sora a little over an hour ago, even though we do need a break, I hate that we can't just go after Roxas now.
"Don't worry Xion, we'll rescue them," Sora says, seeming to read my mind. He gives me his best grin, and I smile in return. His optimism is contagious. Though Lea doesn't seem to have picked up on it at all. My red haired friend has been walking around gloomily. Not that I'm not gloomy, he's just showing it more than I am at the moment.
Sora leads us to a rowboat and hops down into it, grabbing the oars. Lea and I settle down across from him. It's only just wide enough for both of us. As soon as we're settled, Sora begins rowing back to the main island using smooth strokes. Lea frowns into the water over the side, the wind whipping his red hair to and fro. Noticing my watching him, Lea looks over and smiles at me. I smile quickly and look away, a blush rising to my cheeks. I look down into the water as well before turning to gaze back over my shoulder at the rapidly approaching main island.
"That's right. You went on missions here before didn't you, Xion?" Lea says.
I nod. "Yeah, quite often actually. It's really nice here."
A few more minutes, spent listening to the gentle sounds of the waves, and we're pulling up to the beach. Sora hops out first, tying the boat up and Lea and I follow him. Within easy walking distance is a small group of houses. I wonder if Sora lives over there? This proves to be the case when Sora leads us to one of said houses.
"I'll just let my parents know about you guys, I'll be right back," Sora says with a smile, before hurrying inside of it.
Lea walks a short distance away and leans against a tree, crossing his arms over his chest. I walk just past him, gazing out across the ocean. Sora comes back out just as the sound of a portal opening comes from by the sea. Sora runs with us to hide behind some bushes. Sora peeks up first before immediately straightening out grinning.
"Hey, it's Roxas!" Sora says, walking past us.
Roxas? No, this must be some kind of trick... There's no way Roxas could be here. Trick or no, I straighten out as well and run after Sora, hearing Lea's footfalls as he follows. The portal having closed, Roxas turns from greeting Sora to smiling at me. I barrel into Roxas, giving him a quick hug before stepping back.
"Roxas! What happened? How did you get away?" I ask, grinning.
"Isa helped me escape. Don't worry, no one was following me. Or at least, if anyone was they weren't close enough to see where I was going," Roxas says.
"I'm glad you're safe, buddy," Lea greets him. "Did Isa get out too?"
Roxas shakes his head no apologetically. "He didn't. He told me to tell you that it's too late for him. He just wants us to hurry and defeat Xehanort, he doesn't want to be his puppet."
When Lea looks away sadly, I place my hand on his arm. He doesn't look at me, but instead glances at Sora, who was watching our exchange worriedly.
"Let's go, we can discuss what to do next once we're inside," Sora says.
Two hours later and we're all gathered around Sora's room. His mom made dinner for all of us. Both of his parents are being very kind to us. Assuring us that Sora often invites people to stay, and that our presence isn't a bother.
I lean back against the wall. I'm seated on Sora's bed and Roxas sits beside me, while Sora is seated in a chair at an old desk. Lea finally quits his pacing and leans back against the wall. I know he must be worried about Isa. But we're no closer to figuring out a way to rescue him, or if he was right, and it is too late for him.
"Sora...I'm curious about something," Roxas begins, gazing up at the ceiling. "I can't use a Keyblade anymore...do you know why that is exactly?"
"Well, back when you were created I had someone else inside my heart. Someone named Ventus. You got his heart. Since you were my Nobody you could wield my Keyblade. And even unlocked Ventus's heart so you could wield his Keyblade as well," Sora says. "But when you were brought back into being again. Ventus was as well, separately. So you no longer can use his. And since you're in the process of becoming your own person, and no longer my Nobody, exactly, you can't use mine either. But you can still get your own Keyblade. If someone gives you one, by letting you touch theirs. And usually by saying a certain speech...I can't remember it at the moment. But Riku told me about it."
That makes sense. Though I wonder who Ventus is. However, I have a different question to ask.
"Do you know why I can I now use a real Keyblade? My own Keyblade?" I ask.
Sora looks slightly surprised by this information and frowns. "I don't...I mean you could use one because you were originally supposed to be a replica of me. But I have no idea why you have a different one."
Roxas speak up from beside me, giving me a smile. "I have a theory."
I rest my chin on my hand. "What is it?"
"Well, remember when you couldn't use a Keyblade for awhile? And I let you use mine?" he asks. When I nod he goes on. "Well, you touched it. And that Keyblade was really Sora's...so I think that could pass it on to you. Couldn't it Sora?"
Sora nods in affirmation. "Yeah it could."
Okay, that also makes sense. I am thrilled that I have my own Keyblade. And hopefully Roxas can get one too. I smile at both of them, just as another thought occurs to me.
"Sora, how exactly did Roxas and I get brought back?" I ask curiously.
Sora scoots his chair around until it's facing Roxas and I. "My mission has been to save all of the hearts. Bring everyone back. Yen Sid helped me to accomplish this. He helped me unlock all of the hearts within my own. But I'm afraid everyone went to different places. Something we didn't expect to happen. Yen Sid also released Naminé from Kairi's heart."
Roxas looks slightly surprised, but happy. "Naminé's back?" Sora nods enthusiastically and Roxas grins at me. I smile back. Naminé seemed nice in the short time I knew her.
I glance over at Lea, to find him staring at his shoes, still looking just as sad as before. When he notices me looking at him he steps away from the wall.
"I'm going to go outside for a few minutes...wanna come Xion?" he asks, turning his eyes to mine.
I follow him from the room, hearing Roxas and Sora start talking again before the door shuts softly behind me. I walk out of the front door behind Lea. He continues walking until he reaches the waters edge and sits down in the sand. I sit down beside him. Enjoying the sound of the water lapping up against the sand. It touches my boots, making the sand stick to them. I lean my head against Lea's shoulder, staring up at the now dark sky. Lea rests his head on top of mine. I love the ocean, it makes me feel strangely at home. Especially knowing that Roxas is safe. And with Lea beside me.