Chapter 21: The final battle, part 1

I've been hunting through endless corridors, numerous rooms and huge halls of the white castle for almost 45 minutes. I was still furious with Roxas. If it wasn't for him, Zelix would be here to help me find and defeat Xemnas. I desperately wished that Xemnas would just appear in front of me so I could end this right now. I wanted to go home.

The castle was still very cold. It was not hard to realise that it was almost empty. The endless silence was the one thing that got to me the most. I expected Axel to loose his patience and roar with anger, but nothing came. I expected Roxas to ask me questions about meaningless things, but none came.

I was alone. It was only me, Xemnas and the drowning silence.

As I looked around,I suddenly realised were Xemnas was. He would always sit in the Room of Thirteen Chairs. Always.

I now knew where he was. The only the problem was, I didn't know where the room was. I regretted leaving Zexion behind. He would've leaded me to the room.

I slapped my forehead and sat down in a corner. I didn't care if it was childish, but I was just going to sit there and sulk, even if the three boys found me. I was annoyed at Zelix. It was hard to believe that he took orders from a person younger than him.

So I just sat there, arms crosses, knees pulled up to my body, head buried in my knees and very angry eyes burning a hole into the alabaster floor.

Someone entered the hall I was in. The footsteps were as clear as crystal and approached me. I was expecting it to be either Xemnas or one of the boys but in the end it was someone completely different.

"What are you doing here?" A familiar gentle, deep voice asked while the stranger it belonged to looked down on me.

I knew that voice.

'Zelix!'

I met Zelix's gaze. The miserable face was gone. He looked completely different when the others weren't around. He looked almost happy, but the gravity was always present in his features.

He repeated the question.

"Ria, what are you doing here?"

I didn't answer. It was like a silent staring contest. His face grew puzzled and frustrated with every passing moment of my silence. With a sigh he threw his long-bow onto the ground and crouched down in front of me. His trustful eyes stared into mine silently. I turned my head sharply, avoiding them. They ran a shiver down my back that I had wanted to avoid.

"Ria, if you don't tell me what's wrong, I won't be able to help you." Zelix's voice was slightly assertive. It woke my previous anger.

"Oh, now you want to help, do ya? Who was the one that decided to do a disappearing act earlier? You! I offered you once and you made the choice not to help me!"

He sighed again. I kept avoided his gaze. There was no way I would forgive him that easily. I had realised that I had been way too soft with the boys. From now on I would toughen up a bit.

"Ria, look at me." Zelix ordered firmly.

I snorted and ignored at him. With his icy hand, he turned my face so it faced his. The icy touch made me shiver, again. His eyes were narrowed, he was annoyed. Well, he could be as annoyed as he wanted to be, it wouldn't change a thing.

"Leave me alone! If I wanted company, I would have stayed with Roxas, Axel and Zexion!" I yelled explosively. He immediately retreated.

"Fine, I see how it is. Good-bye, Ria. I wish you good look with defeating Xemnas."

His sarcastic voice faded away as quickly as he did. He was gone again.

"Whatever. . ." I mumbled darkly.

'Enough sulking!'

With great effort, I lifted myself off the ground and stretched.

'I'm going to show Zelix that he isn't the strongest around. I am!'

I began searching again. This time with a little bit more confidence and determination. The silence didn't bother me as much anymore.

I tried looking for some sign that would lead me to Xemnas. But there were none. It really felt like I was constantly in the same rooms, halls and corridors. It began to creep me out.

In the end, I started calling Xemnas every bad name I could think off. I hoped it would make him angry (which I doubted because he had no heart) and force him to show his face to me. The longer it took, the louder I got.

I seriously need some anger management program! Or I should become a vegetarian. I read somewhere that meat was the reason for most anger problems. Weird, I know.

On the verge of snapping, I focused on what my instincts were telling me. They had nothing to say.

I never had to search for so long for any of the other members. Angrily, I yelled one last controlled threat. That worked.

"Why are you interrupting the calming silence with you're absurd threats?"

I recognized that deep, gentle voice immediately. It was hard to forget that voice once you have heard its weird calm tone.

"Xemnas. . ." I uttered, almost silent. He finally came to meet his end.

"That is right. It's nice to finally meet you. I heard a lot of stories about you. It seems like you're quite fond of us Nobodies." Xemnas' face looked thoughtful.

No matter how strong he was, I had to defeat him, before he led me to the door which only I could open. I had to be cautious.

Xemnas wore the basic black cloak, boots, and gloves. He had amber-orange eyes and tanned skin. His hairstyle resembled Xehanort's more than his Heartless counterpart's did, but it was silver, layered and much messier, with some of it falling over his shoulders.

After a long silence, I replied.

"I am. But you're not included in that." I stated calmly. If this was a game of 'who is the calmest', I would win.

He was a lot calmer than any of the other Nobodies I fought before. It was like he wasn't even expecting a fight. He circled around me with his thoughtful face.

"When I heard about an assassin out there to destroy the Organisation, I expected a little more. . . Well, more." Xemnas stated a little disappointed.

I growled and summoned my keyblade.

"I'm stronger than I look." I claimed. His eyes surveyed my face.

"I bet you are. Let me make it easy for you. I feel revolted of the idea of vanquishing you. It would be a shameful waste. You could join me and forget about those little make-believe friends you got there. I can help you get to your world. It would be my pleasure to."

Xemnas' lying words angered me. I knew he was a snake in the grass (A/N if you are confused about the last sentence, as me.)

"I'll never join you! What for? All your words are lies! You have absolute no remorse over anything you do because you've got no heart. You probably don't even remember what it was like to have a one. You would only use me as a puppet and I bet you wouldn't care if I died in battle. All you care about is power over all!"

His face filled with false distaste. His silence said it all. I lifted up my Keyblade.

"I'm sorry Xemnas, but it's the best for everyone." I apologized quietly. Even if he was evil as anything, the poor man was only doing things that he thought were right.

He stared at my keyblade while I positioned myself for an attack.

"WAIT JUST ONE SECOND!" A voice yelled, full of imaginary authority.

I flinched and turned around in disbelieve.

'That better not be Roxas and the others'

It was, but not just them. The voice had come from Riku. My mouth dropped open when I saw him. Behind Riku stood Sora who tightened the grip around his keyblade. I observed that Xion, Kairi and Naminé weren't with them.

Their eyes were narrowed and fixed on Xemnas.

Beside Riku stood a furious Roxas, a strange Zexion and a full-of-hate Axel. Every one of them had their weapons ready.

They wanted to fight, but not if I had anything to say in this. I was going to defeat Xemnas by myself.

"Guys, why are you here?" I asked, annoyed. Xemnas growled.

Riku rolled his eyes.

"What d'you think? To fight of course!" He snapped. There was no mistake that he felt like I wasn't up for the challenge. I frowned.

"No." I said clearly and I crossed my arms.

They all stared at me like stuffed chickens. It was almost funny if I wasn't angry.

"What?"

"You heard me. I don't need you to protect me. I can do this by my self." I said flatly.

"But you're a . . ." Riku's voice trailed off.

"What, a girl? So, that doesn't mean I'm not strong enough to pull this off on my own. You all got your fair share of playing hero. Now, it's my turn." I stated with authority.

"But-" Riku was interrupted by Roxas.

"She's right. She can do this on her own. I know she can." Roxas smiled at me. I smile at him too. All the anger I felt from earlier was drained from my body. Once again it showed what a good friend Roxas was.

Axel and Zexion agreed with Roxas too. They supported me. Yay!

"Sorry Riku, but she's right. She was chosen for this." Sora commented. I looked at Riku, smug. Riku sighed and then apologized.

"Your heart is strange, Ria. Your friends have angered you, but instead of punishing them, you forget about it." Xemnas made a thoughtful gesture.

I clutched my Keyblade and pointed it at Xemnas' face while narrowing my eyes.

"It's time for you to be eliminated." I stated coldly. The five boys nodded.

Xemnas smirked. It made me worry because it wasn't a good sign.

Then he lifted his hand and clicked his fingers once. Immediately we were surrounded by a dark, thick, black wall of nothingness. It was weird. If it was nothingness, why was the colour black present?

I couldn't see Xemnas. Everything was gone. There was only the dark nothingness which surrounded me. I felt frightened. I tried to talk but while my lips were moving, no sound was produced.

I was certain that Xemnas was gone too. I was all alone in a dark place with nothing.

Devastated, I collapsed, sobbing. I was sure that Xemnas would leave me here till I went insane and surrendered. Or would he kill me? The truth was that I didn't know. And the uncertainty was frightening me. I was completely helpless.

'This is it. It's over. Freakin' well done Ria! You failed after having a big mouth and telling everyone how flipping strong you were!'

While I curled up and thought about my failure, angry tears slid down my face.

'It's not fair! Why me?'

Me: That's all for now. I was actually going to write more for this chapter but if I had, it would have been very, very long. It would also take me a lot longer to write so I decided to split one chapter up into two.

Anyway, it creates a bit of excitement if it's split up and you only find out what's going to happen in the next chapter.

One more thing, I need help to decide something. I wanted to write a sequel but now I'm thinking about adding the things in the sequel to this story. What do you think?