Chapter 20: The Return

Xion came out, oddly, in the Alleyway to between. "Strange... I swore I made the Corridor right to my room."

Castle... probably... shielded...

Xion frowned, feeling anxious. "Miss Voice... I mean it, are you okay? Do you need me to go rest for a week or something?"

No... time... left...

She hesitated. "I... I know I have to stop Xehanort, but... you don't sound so good, at all.

It's... fine...

Xion sighed and started walking through the city. She didn't get far before she was stopped, a number of Nobodies barring her way, weapons drawn.

"Xion! What the heck?" came a cry.

Xion turned her head to see Xuffiey approach, looking almost distraught. "YOU were the cause of the alarm? You turned on your own comrades? On the Organization?"

"I did what I had to do," she said simply, eyeing the crowd.

This... might get complicated.

"And what, exactly, was it, that you deemed it so appropriate in order to murder one of our own?" came a cold voice.

Xion turned to see Xithera coming behind her, her staff in her hands.

"Xehanort is a liar, he's not going to use Kingdom Hearts to help any of you," Xion replied.

There was a bunch of scoffs through the crowd.

"Yeah right, the Superior has been looking out for us from the start! For the last ten years!" came someones Voice.

"You are in a whole mess of trouble kid," came Dxic's voice, spear in the man's hands.

X-xion... this is... bad...

"Xion," came a stern voice.

She turned her head to see Nexol approach, he didn't have his sword drawn, but he had a hard look on his face. "Your going to have to come with us. If you come quietly, we have the Superior's word you wont be killed."

"She ought to be executed!" came a cry.

"I'm already heading back to the Castle," said Xion simply, unfazed, giving Nexol a cold look.

Nexol frowned. "Willingly?"

"Let's just say, the Superior and I have... words... to discuss," she said coldly.

Nexol froze, staring at her in disbelief.

"That fuckin tone, I recognize dat anywhere," came Baxerrt's voice, "Kid? Did you seriously fucking say what I think you just said?"

Xion turned her eyes to eye the brown man, but said nothing in response.

"She just threatened the Superior!" came a empty angry voice.

When members of the crowd started towards her, Nothing's Watch spread out to keep them back.

"She's going to be taken, alive, back to the castle," warned Nexol, "Got it?"

Xion could have sighed. They thought they were helping, but they didn't understand.

"Xion, give us your weapon, now," demanded a 'very' angry Xifta, glaring at her.

"I can't do that Xifta," she began.

Xifta pursed her lips. "Xion, you LIED to me. You had better give your Keyblade up, or else. I haven't had to discipline you in years, I really don't want to now."

Xion smiled softly, Oathkeeper and Two-Become One appearing in her hands and spoke cheekily, "Which one huh?"

Xifta's eyes went wide and took a step back. "Two?"

A murmur went up the crowd.

"Xion," said Xithera, "I suggest you reconsider. There are a great many of us, and only one of you. We do not wish you harmed or destroyed, if you fight us, that will be difficult to follow through on."

Xion stared at her silently. Inside however, she was full on panic. She wasn't scared, but, if she cut loose and unleashed her power to break through, she could easily accidentally kill one of those she cared about. She didn't want to do that. What was she supposed to do?

"Kupo!"

Xion paused at the strange noise and glanced up. She sighed Xokie and a flying Mogo next to her standing on a windowsill high above.

"Kupo! Eiko, use Terra Homing!" said the Moogle.

The girl smirked, twirled her flute, and and brought it to her lips. "'kay!"

The moogle vanished, and the ground around Xion exploded as a multi-colored mist coated the ground. Rocks were sent everywhere, bombarding the crowd of Nobodies and forcing them back. A giant winged lion like creature landed next to Xion and gave an ear splitting roar. What the...

She... summoned... it... she's... a summoner... like Garnet...

The lion roared, swinging its hands and unleashing a massive nova of blue light in all directions, sending the crowd flying back and crashing to the ground.

Xokie leapt down and onto the lion's shoulder. "Let's book it Mog!"

"Madeen," corrected the lion.

"Mog!" countered Xokie.

The lion sighed, grabbed Xion, and took off running.

"Uh... Xokie?" said Xion.

The little girl grinned a real grin down at her. "I've been spending so much time with Garnet, Xion. Ever since you brought me to her. I... I swear I began to feel little things, and then Mog came back to me!"

Xion smiled a warm smile at her. "You're starting to regrow your heart Xokie, or should I start calling you Eiko?"

The little girl thought for a moment before giggling. "Eiko! If what you said about the Superior is true, I don't want any name made by him!"

"It is true," said Xion.

Eiko scowled. "And of course the dumb grown ups don't believe you. Whatever, us kids gotta stick together then!"

Xion giggled. "Thanks!"

"Eiko, the summoning wont last much longer," warned Madeen/Mog.

"Just get us to the bridge to the Castle, I'll handle the rest," said Xion.

"Let's go Mog!" said Eiko with glee.

The lion nodded and gave a roar, barreling through a crowd of Nobodies and lesser Nobodies heading there way. They came to the Brink of Despair a moment later, and Madeen/Mog set them down before reverting to a Moogle in a flash of light. Xion eyed the see through bridge with a bit of remorse, wishing the last time she had ran down it had been, well, the last time.

"Alright, so we're gonna go bop the Superior? Right?" said Eiko.

Xion shook her head. "I am, you're going back to Garnet."

"Whaaaat?!" whined Eiko.

"This is something I have to do alone, I don't want anyone else getting hurt," said Xion.

"But Xion... you're my friend, and friends help one another," said Eiko, giving her a desperate look.

"I'll be fine," said Xion, starting across, "You already helped me out a lot. Thank you Eiko."

"Xion...," came a quiet whisper.

Xion started up the pathway to the castle, at the top, she turned, twirled her keyblades, and stabbed them into the bridge. The bridge shook and collapsed. She figured they'd be able to remake it, but not before she was done her. She glanced down sadly at Eiko, who was still at the other end, staring up at her sadly and... wait...

Xion's eyes went wide to see a man in rusty looking armor with the Nobody symbol on it and a sword drawn approach Eiko from behind. "Eiko! Look out!"

She didn't know if Eiko heard her, or felt it. The little girl turned...

Only for the man to grab her by the throat, lift her up, and drive his sword right through her.

"EIKO!" screamed Xion, shocked.

She watched, horrified, as the little girl's body faded into nothingness, the Moogle beside her vanished in a flash of light. She stood there, stunned and horrified.

"I... I should have... taken her with me," she whispered hoarsely.

It's... not... your... fault...

She glared hatefully down at the rusty armored man before more and more Nobodies began to show up at the other end. Xion saw Nothing's Watch standing there, staring at her almost pleadingly. She slowly turned away, and went into the castle, feeling bitter and angry. She was glad the moment lesser Nobodies appeared, they were just the outlet she wanted right now. She tore her way into the castle, cutting down each and every one of them until she reached Twilight's View.

There, waiting for her, were Xaldin and Lexaeus, weapons drawn.

"So, the traitor returns," said Xaldin, lances floating behind him at the ready.

"Xion," said Laxaeus calmly, "Have you returned out of sorrow, or revenge?"

Xion stared at him for a moment before answered, "Neither. I'm here to stop Xehanort and set Kingdom Hearts free."

"What?" demanded Xaldin, "You would rob us of our only way to get our hearts back?"

"It's a lie Xaldin!" she yelled at him, "The Superior is lying to you all! He's not going to use Kingdom Hearts to help anyone but himself!"

Xaldin scoffed. "Fool child, you honestly expect us to believe that?"

"I don't want to kill you," said Xion.

"You say that, yet Zexion met his end by your blade, and Saix is still in recovery," said Lexaeus.

"Zexion was an accident," said Xion, "I never meant to kill him, and I did give him a chance to leave."

"Zexion knew his duty to the Organization," said Lexaeus, hefting his sword over his shoulder, "So do we."

Xion frowned. "You two wont last five minutes in a fight, don't make me do this..."

"You fought Saix and Zexion alone, the two of us are more than capable of handling you together," said Xaldin.

Xion shook her head. "No, your not. Neither of you are as powerful as Sora was, and, I don't really know why, but I feel even stronger than I was when I beat him."

Xaldin frowned. "The Keybearer...?"

Xion brandished her Keyblades. "Back down or... what?"

She stared, baffled, at Oathkeeper. The Keyblade looked even worse than it had when she fought Sora. It looked almost completely broken, and Two-Become One looked almost completely whole. What was going on?

Its... a... almost... t-time... X-xion...

The pain in the Voice's voice wrenched at Xion's heart. Alright, enough was enough, she'd deal with this two, then it was time to figure out what the hell was going on.

She swung her Keyblades and unleashed twin waves of light, slamming into the two Nobodies and crashing them against the walls of the room. She aimed her Keyblades at them and unleashed twin Shocks, light exploading at the two and sending them crashing to the ground. The two shakily rose to their feet, eyeing her with disbelief.

"How... in the world...," began Xaldin.

"Focus," ordered Laxaeus.

"Wind and Darkness!" yelled Xaldin, his spears whirling through the air, a torrent of wind and steel swirling around the man as he charged at her.

Xion aimed her keyblade dead center of the mass and sent out a beam of light. It broke right through the mass and blew clean through Xaldin's right shoulder, sending him to the ground, his spears clattering. He tried to rise, only to collapse unconscious.

Laxaeus threw his sword at her, glowing red with energy. She batted it right back at him. He staggered a bit to catch it.

He narrowed his eyes. "So be it."

Red energy began to cackle around him and glow like an aura. She felt his strength increase by an impressive amount.

He leaped into the air and brought his blade down to stab at her. She dove out of the way and then yelped as the floor shifted and bucked at the impact of his blade. She turned and rushed at him as he began to drag his blade out of the floor, swinging both her keyblades and slicing into his back. To her surprise, rather than collapse as she hoped, the man merely grunted, turned, and backhanded her hard across her face.

She staggered a bit, hissing at the red mark now on her face. "Oww! That hurt!"

Laxaeus scoffed. "Infantile child, you are in battle!"

The man crashed his sword on the ground, sending the floor spiking up at her. She leaped to the side and then charged at him, swinging her Keyblades in seperate arcs. He didn't block, rather, he leaped back, his aura increasing tremendously, and then leaping so high into the air, Xion's jaw dropped.

"People can jump like that?" she whispered in disbelief.

The air and room began to tremble as Laxaeus came crashing down, his sword aimed straight for her.

X-xion! S...s...salvation...!

Xion nodded and spun. "LIGHT!"

Laxaeus's charge met her light and a massive explosion ripped across the room, bleaching the walls black or white, depending on what energy hit where.

Thud.

When the explosion cleared, Laxaeus was on the ground, his sword clattering a few feet away from him.

The man struggled, trying to rise, only to collapse, his coat bleached white by light and in tatters. "Zexion... forgive me... this was... not a fight... we should have started..."

She watched, sadly, as her former comrade disintegrated into nothingness. "Why... why did it have to be this way?"

"Xion! What the hell?!" came a shrill yell.

Xion froze, looking up to see Larxene on the above balcony, staring down at her in disbelief. "Larxene..."

Larxene kicked off and leaped down, landing a ways in front of her. "What are you doing Xion? Leaving is one thing, turning on us like this?!"

"I'm not here to turn on anyone but the Superior," said Xion.

Larxene scoffed. "After that shit with Marluxia? Really?"

Xion winced a little. "Uh..."

Larxene narrowed her eyes. "Xion, put down the Keyblades, now."

"Larxene... please...," Xion begged, "I dont want to fight you."

"I don't want to fight you either," murmured Larxene.

"Then go, go to Twilight Town and stay with Aqua," said Xion.

Larxene closed her eyes, sighed, and drew her knives.

"Dammit Larxene!" yelled Xion.

"Dammit me? Dammit you you stupid dope!" yelled Larxene back, "I'm trying to save your life!"

She couldn't... she couldn't raise her Keyblades against a dear friend...

X-xion... use... light... chains...

Xion's eyebrows furrowed. "Light chains?"

A memory suddenly hit her, of Kairi using chains of light to bind a flying cluster of shadows, and Xion acted instantly, "Light Chains!"

Chains of light flew out of her Keyblade before Larxene could reacted and wrapped around the woman, taking her to the floor. "What the heck?!"

"Sorry Larxene, guess I'm the one trying to save your life now," said Xion as she walked passed her.

"Xion no! Xion!" cried out Larxene.

It hurt, to walk away from her, but she did. She stared ascending the castle again. This time though, it was suprisingly empty. Not a single Nobody, humanoid or lesser, stood to bare her path. It gave her time to think on something that was really bothering her.

"Miss Voice, what's wrong?" asked Xion.

Don't... worry... about... m... me...

Xion stopped walking. "It's hard NOT to worry. Miss Voice."

Just... focus... on... Xehanort...

"Miss Voice...," she whispered.

After... he's... gone... please... look after... my friends... and... family... and... and... miss... blue lady...

Xion's eyebrows furrowed. "Miss Blue Lady? Do you mean Aqua?"

Aqua... is that... her name?

Xion's eyes went wide with disbelief. "How can you forget about her? You knew of her before I even did, she sounded like she meant so much to you!"

It's... getting... harder... to... remember... anything...

Fear, pure raw fear rocketed down Xion's spine. "Miss Voice... why... why does..."

She chocked a little. "Why does it sound like you're... you're... dying?"

There was silence.

"Please Miss Voice," she begged, "Answer me."

This... couldn't... last... forever... Xion...

"What do you mean?" she asked.

I... I've... been... dying... for... awhile... now...

Xion's eyes went wide. "W-what?! Please! Tell me what I have to do to help, to save you!"

There was a sad chuckle.

Xion... I'm... sorry... for the... hell... I put... you through...

"Miss Voice... please," she begged.

It's... Xehanort's... fault... Xion...

She froze at that. "What?"

Put... an end... to him... and free... Kingdom... Hearts... and I'll... be content... to go...

Xion bowed her head, her voice cracking. "Miss Voice... please... I... I don't want to lose you."

Don't... worry... Xion... even... when... I'm... gone... I'll... always... be... with... you...

Xion started crying. "Please... please don't go..."

There was a silence, her only clue to the Voice's continued survival a faint raspy breathing in the back of her mind.

"Xehanort...," whispered Xion.

"XEHANORT!" she yelled in fury, "Where are you!"

She'd find him, she'd find him and make him tell her what was wrong with Miss Voice!

She took off and top speed up the castle until she came to the round room, feeling his presence inside. Of course he was in there, he was always in there. She sliced the door in half and kicked it in before charging inside. There, sitting up on his throne, looking rather casual and indifferent to her interruption, was the Superior.

"Where IS she?" demanded Xion.

The Superior glanced down at her. "Who?"

"The Voice in my head! Where IS she!" yelled Xion.

The Superior frowned, an annoyed look crossing his face. "So that's it, is it? She's been whispering to you, turning you against me, my puppet."

"Who? Who is she! Where is she, why is she dying?!" she screamed at him.

The Superior chuckled. "Isn't it obvious by this point?"

"No?" she answered.

The Superior vanished off his throne and reappeared a ways in front of her, his hands clasped behind his back. "Still so blind. So shall I make you see?"

She glared at him. "No games, no more lies."

A cruel smirk played across his face. "As you wish, my puppet."

"I'm not your damn puppet, now answer me!" she yelled.

He made a motion to her hair. "Are you telling me, even with the memories you see, her voice in your head, her keyblade in your hand, and the change of your hair and face, that you haven't honestly figured it out?"

She clenched her keyblades tightly.

He sighed and shook his head. "Such a pity, but I suppose at this point it doesn't matter if you know. I doubt she'll survive this battle."

He raised a hand. "Reflect."

Xion stared at the reflection of herself through the Superior's barrier in shock. "What's going on?"

Her hair... it was almost completely red, and her face, it hard hardened so much, she almost didn't look like herself anymore...

The Superior smiled cruelly at her. "You are at last fulfilling your function, my puppet, at long last, you are so close to fully consuming the heart placed within you, and becoming MY Princess of Heart."

Xion lowered her Keyblades, confused. "I don't understand... I... knew I had a heart, but, I have someone else's heart in me? Whose heart?!"

The Superior laughed. "The heart of the one you've been asking about for so long. Kairi's heart."

Xion's eyes went wide with shock. "W-what?!"

"It was what you were created for Xion. You are a Replica of the Keyblade Wielder and Princess of Heart, Kairi. You were created from a copy of her memories as your body to house and consume Kairi's heart. It took a long time for you to finally force open her power and awaken it for yourself, but you did at last, like a good puppet," mocked the Superior.

Xion stared at him, numb. "I... I'm not even a Nobody... I'm a Replica...?"

Then she registered the second half of what he had said, and her arms trembled in anger. "I... I forced NOTHING! The Voice... she... Kairi... let me use her power..."

The Superior looked surprised for a moment before chuckling. "Fool girl, holding back her power and full access to her heart was the only thing staving off her consumption. She ought to have tried to get you to take her to the Keybearers if she wanted to live. But then again, that would kill you, and I'm certain your naive innocent nature wormed it's way into her heart, didn't it? She didn't want to kill you to save herself."

He laughed. "It would seem that her heart led her to obliteration. I'll have to be sure to remember that when I reclaim my own."

Xion bowed her head, suckering in a breath. She... she was killing someone for this power...?

Xion... it's okay... use... me... to stop... him...

"No... no it's not okay," whispered Xion, mortified by what was happening.

The Superior stared at her. "What are you babbling about?"

Xion... we can't... let Xehanort... win... use... me to... destroy him... and set... Kingdom Heart's free!

Xion clenched her fists over her keyblades tightly, tears streaming down her face. "No... I..."

The Superior frowned at her. "What are you waiting for? You want to destroy me, don't you? Use her power, use all of it! Kill her, consume her, become her, replace her! Become complete!"

Xion aimed Oathkeeper at him, rage, hate, and... guilt... radiating through her. "I..."

She turned the Keyblade away from him and aimed it behind her, shooting off energy, breaching through whatever barrier stopped them, and formed a Dark Corridor. "I won't do it!"

What?

Xehanort echoed the voice. "What?"

Xion knew what she had to do. She closed her eyes, smiled briefly, turned, banished her Keyblades, and rushed through the Dark Corridor, following her heart...