***Please note that there will be spoilers for ALL Kingdom Hearts Games: Kingdom Hearts, Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days, and Kingdom Hearts II throughout this fan fiction. No material discussed only in Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep or Kingdom Hearts: coded will play a role in this story. Please read at your own risk.***
Chapter 21: Saviour
"Xemnas!" cried Justin and Zexion together.
"You do not look to happy to see me," Xemnas replied curtly.
"How did you find me?" Justin asked with a level voice.
"I had a feeling that your interest in the Keyblade Master would lead you to his home eventually, but I did not expect to find one of my former subordinates in your company."
Zexion glared at Xemnas but said nothing.
"I've made my decision, Xemnas," said Justin, breaking the silence.
"I can see that. You have clearly chosen to ignore the power and purpose that could be yours. It is very simple and—ahem—relatively painless to become one of us, Justin. And Xunjist does sound quite pleasant, in my humble opinion."
Zexion scoffed at the notion of Xemnas being "humble."
"May I help you?" Xemnas asked him.
"I'm quite all right, thank you," Zexion replied.
"This power you speak of is very tempting, I won't deny that," Justin said. "But I've seen what it has done to these people—Organization XIII. Most of them have become corrupt puppets that you manipulate in order to satisfy your own dastardly designs. I have no desire to become a pawn and sacrifice my freedom—or my heart for that matter."
"You seem quite sure of yourself," Xemnas said with mock admiration.
"I am."
"Will you be so sure once I have eliminated everyone you hold dear in that heart of yours?"
Justin gaped at Xemnas; it felt as if countless weights had pinned his stomach down rather painfully.
Xemnas smiled triumphantly. "Do we have a deal? You join me and not only will I forgive your initial qualms and give you great power, but I will also spare your beloved Twilight Town." He extended his hand toward the dumbstruck human before him.
"I...I..." Justin couldn't find the right words; he felt tongue-tied. Xemnas had gotten him. He had no choice.
He turned his back to Xemnas. "Zexion, I need you to go. This is it for me. There's just no other way."
"But...I don't understand," said Zexion.
"Look at me," said Justin. "Just get out of here. I need to do this."
Zexion looked at Justin for a moment then said: "Fine. I understand what's going on."
Justin waited until Zexion had vanished through a Dark Corridor before turning back to face Xemnas. "I guess this has to come to pass, doesn't it?"
"You know the alternative," said Xemnas.
"But I'm not ready yet. Can't you give me a little time to prepare? You're giving me a choice to become a Nobody—more or less. At least have the decency to allow me to put my affairs in order."
"Affairs? What sort of affairs would a boy as young as you need to put in order? I think you are just stalling."
"So what if I am? I'm not yet prepared to relinquish my heart and join the Organization, Xemnas. And I won't let you coerce me into going into this until I'm ready. I'm sorry, but that's the way it is."
"I see. Well, Justin, you will be putting me greatly behind schedule, but if this is the only way to recruit you...fine."
"Thank you, Xemnas."
"I will give you a week to prepare yourself. I think that is quite generous."
"I do as well. I really appreciate it."
"Then do not waste your time. Once the week is up you will become one of us, no excuses or further extensions."
Justin stood among the shadows of the Secret Place and watched Xemnas leave. Then he sighed and sat down. He'd just bought himself much more time than he'd hoped.
"RIKU! WATCH OUT!"
A deafening blow to the stomach; a crunch as Riku collided with the wall.
Amidst the piercing cries of Kairi and the other Princesses of Heart, Saïx strutted to Riku's limp, crumpled body and laughed.
"AAAARAHHGGGGGHHHHHHH!"
Kairi rushed over to Saïx, Keyblade in hand, and slashed him wildly, psychotically. The Beast grabbed her and dragged her over to the Princesses, who immediately took hold of her, trying to calm her down.
Saïx let out a primal roar and lunged toward Kairi. The Beast lunged back at him, effectively stopping him in his tracks. He scratched Saïx's face fiercely.
Saïx shoved the Beast off him and licked the blood streaming from his scratch wounds. He smirked and stood up slowly. "You're a violent little girl, aren't you?" he said almost seductively. He put a finger to his eyes, where the blood was now obscuring his vision, and then put it in his mouth. He sighed in ecstasy.
Kairi's rage had since turned to fear as she watched this masochistic display. "What's wrong with you!?" she had the courage to ask.
"I've learned to embrace pain, my dear," Saïx answered, licking his lips as the blood flowed between them. "It helps ease the suffering. Of course, not having a heart helps a little as well."
Kairi was horrified by how insane this man was. She switched her focus to Riku who still was not moving. On top of that, he was now bleeding from several spots: his arms, his back, his head.
The Beast threw himself back on top of Saïx as Kairi made a run for her friend. With a swift punch to the head Saïx fell silent, unconscious.
Kairi's allies ran to hers and Riku's sides. Aurora gently moved Riku onto his side so that the damage could be assessed. The Beast came over as well to hold Kairi and comfort her.
"Is he... Oh, Riku!" Kairi burst into tears.
Suddenly, Riku stirred, then groaned.
Kairi shot upright. "Riku!"
"Ugh! Kairi..." Riku grimaced as he tried to turn his head to face her.
"Don't move! You're hurt!"
"Yeah—ugh! I can see that."
"I can feel quite a few broken bones, but I don't think any of your injuries are life-threatening," said Belle to Riku.
"That's good to know. But where's Xemnas? What happened to Saïx?"
"I knocked Saïx out," said the Beast, "but Xemnas doesn't seem to be here."
"But we've searched the entire castle! Where did Xemnas go?"
"Collecting his 'recruits' most likely," said Alice.
"We might be better off leaving for right now," said Jasmine to the entire group. "Riku's hurt too badly to fight and he's our strongest ally."
"Not to mention Mickey and Maleficent aren't here either," Cinderella pointed out.
"That's right, I forgot!" said Snow White. "Yes, they said they were going to talk to Master Yen Sid, didn't they?"
"Ugh, yeah," Riku moaned. "But we gotta stop Xemnas!"
"But we can't right now, Riku, that's the point!" said Kairi.
"Ugh, fine. Beast, could you at least kill Saïx for me, please? Then I won't feel like this was all just a waste of time."
"Uh, Riku? Saïx is gone!" Aurora gasped.
"WHAT!?" Riku tried to turn around to look but fell into his back and let out a bloodcurdling scream of agony.
Kairi got up and looked around the room. There was no sign of Saïx.
Until she caught a glimpse of a black coat in the air.
There was a hooded figure in an Organization coat holding Saïx's insentient body delicately floating just inches under the ceiling.
"So, you're Kairi, aren't you?" the figure said. It was a girl's voice, completely unfamiliar to everybody. "And those are the Princesses of Heart, correct? Oh, and Riku! Yes, Lord Xemnas has told me much about all of you. He sends his regards and says that he regrets not being able to stay and chat. Could you please accept his apologies?"
No one said a word; they merely stared at the girl.
"Speechless, are we?" she scoffed. "Or do you want to accept my master's apology in person!?"
The hooded girl swiped Kairi and disappeared so quickly that it took a few moments for Riku to scream and hurt himself trying to move.
"Kairi! Kairi! KAIIIIIIRRRRRRRIIIIIIIII!!!!"
Tears mingled with blood and Riku's sobs were riddled with sharp gasps of pain, both physical and emotional. Kairi had been taken from him yet again, just as they had been gloriously reunited.
And now he lay there on the cold floor, broken, alone, and helpless.
Terra sat on her bed, unmoving, silent. No thoughts crossed her mind, as it had been for months. She had been a mindless puppet of Vexen, Marluxia, and Kuja for so long and she didn't even have a dissenting thought.
But the limits of the Slave Crown were about to be tested far more than they should when Kuja contacted her.
"Hello, dear Terra," his smarmy, eloquent voice chimed in her head. "I thought you'd be interested in knowing that I've found your home. Vexen went through your memories and was able to pinpoint your world's location. Isn't he a genius? Anyway, I found someone I think you might like to see soon. Does the name 'Maduin' strike a chord?"
Terra's eyes widened quickly, then returned to their normal, glazed fixation on nothing.
"Yes, I believe he's your father, is he not? It's amazing what you can learn when people are afraid of you and your powers. Well, you're not people, are you? I believe your kinfolk called themselves 'Espers.'"
It was clear that Kuja was trying to get a rise out of Terra, but under the Slave Crown's influence, it was impossible for Terra to make any sort of outburst.
But then Kuja pushed the Crown's limits too far.
"I've never seen such powerful creatures, you know. Especially your father. But, alas, I was able to overpower them all. I think Vexen would be very intrigued by Maduin's powers. And wouldn't it just be lovely for you to see him? Of course, don't be offended if he doesn't acknowledge you, my dear. Vexen's working on another Crown, just for him. Doesn't that sound like fun? Ma ha ha ha ha!"
Terra trembled. Kuja's taunts had sparked a part of her subconscious, and after a moment she started to shake violently. The Slave Crown shattered when she fell off her bed. Her eyes flashed in a rainbow of colours, finally settling for a subtle shade of blue; her blonde locks became green.
Terra slowly sat up a looked at her hands, her free hands. Then she looked at the fragmented remains of the Slave Crown, the source of her oppression. This sparked anger in her mind which then turned to flat out rage. With a feral cry Terra began to shake again, almost to the point of a convulsion. She felt her blood burn in her veins as she morphed into a bright pink and purple creature. She was frightfully dangerous in this new form, yet she maintained a certain beauty in her fury.
Terra screamed incessantly and flew around her room, scratching and scraping every surface in a frenzied effort to escape. At last she managed to burst the door open and darted around the floor, leaving destruction in her wake: the walls had deep gashes in them; the pillars and columns came crashing down; chunks of the floor were torn up and hurled around, forming large holes in the walls.
From the floor below she heard Vexen's voice calling her name and wondering to himself what was going on. Her eyes flashed with sadism and she bolted down to the twelfth floor.
Sora and his group could hear Terra's cries and Vexen's cowardice as they made their way across the twelfth floor of Castle Oblivion.
"She's gone mad! Terra's gone mad and the Slave Crown's broken!" Vexen cried hysterically as he ran past.
"This isn't good," said Trace. "She's going to end up destroying the whole castle unless we can do something."
"But what can we do?" Sora asked. "She's going nuts! We can't fight her like that."
"Too bad she didn't finish Vexen off," Larxene muttered.
Just then, Marluxia approached them. "Well, well, well. So we meet again," he said.
"I don't believe we've met," said Trace.
"Of course, forgive me. You must be Trace, correct? Unfortunately I will have to deal with you all in a moment. I must stop Terra's rampage."
"Well, let's follow him!" Sora said.
On the thirteenth floor they saw her. She had made quite a mess of the place and Marluxia was already pretty close to her, trying to coax her back to sanity and her normal form.
Sora and his companions stared at Terra, unable to comprehend how she had transformed. But it was clear that this new form was only making her stronger.
Terra caught sight of Marluxia at last and flew down toward him, ready to kill. He managed to avoid one swipe but Terra came back and tore his back to shreds.
Naminé gasped at the brutal sight, tears welling up. When Terra made a fierce, horizontal scratch across Marluxia's face, she buried her face into Roxas's chest and sobbed uncontrollably.
Larxene ran forward and tried to shock Terra to her senses; each spell was reflected back to her and shocked her companions as well.
Once Sora and Roxas regained mobility, they waited for Terra to get distracted by a still-standing pillar and went after Marluxia, hoping to finish him off. They were subsequently knocked back by Terra and Marluxia together. Axel, Demyx, and Trace joined in the fight, Axel and Demyx taking Terra on; Trace helping Sora and Roxas. Larxene stayed back to keep Naminé safe.
"THIS IS THE LAST STRAW!" Marluxia bellowed. He broke through his attackers and made his way toward Naminé. "Good to see you again, Naminé! You've caused enough trouble for me. Say goodbye to your friends!"
"Oh no you don't!" yelled Sora as his Keyblade slid into the groove of one of Marluxia's back wounds."
Marluxia shrieked in anguish and slapped Sora out of the way. Roxas repeated Sora's manoeuvre and blood spilled everywhere.
Terra escaped from her battle with Axel and Demyx and flew toward Marluxia, Sora, and Roxas, blindly willing to kill anyone in her madness.
Just then, Marluxia jumped away from everyone and closed his eyes. "This project was a failure! Vexen, you fool! You've destroyed us all! I now have no choice but to take you all down with me. Farewell."
Marluxia concentrated all his might into creating a pink orb of energy. The orb then sprouted thorns which covered it and grew. The look of his face was a mixture of pain and triumph.
As the orb became a colossal wall, Terra began casting a spell of her own. Trace ran in between them and focused. The spells from both Terra and Marluxia were taken from them before they were finished; Trace was obliterated, an agonising, bloodcurdling shriek piercing the entire castle.
As the castle flooded with light, Marluxia managed to escape unseen through a Corridor of Darkness.
When the light dissipated, Trace was gone, destroyed. Terra was dazed by the light and continued flying aimlessly around the party, but she was no longer screaming. She burst through the wall and darted off into the night, without any word from the others.
Sora and his allies were dumbstruck. Trace had actually died this time. He had sacrificed himself to save them and their hearts—the Illumina Heart had given itself up.
Suddenly, Sora gasped as the thought crossed his mind. "The Illumina Heart! Trace was the Illumina Heart! But he sacrificed himself. He died! So what's going to hap—?"
He was interrupted by three loud heartbeats. Then Sora collapsed.
End of Volume One – Covenant
- VESTIGES OF THE HEART -