This chapter FINALLY brings me up to 35k, a huge milestone. Now the words needed to get to 50,000 can be whittled down quickly, as long as I work hard. Therefore, I am quite proud of this chapter. :) Go on, read it already! There's more fighting in it…
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The Longest Night
Chapter XXI
Running Around in Circles
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"Roxas! You finally made it up here. Good boy."
"Shut up! Where's Xion and Namine and the real Roxas?"
"Trust me, they aren't here anymore. The guy who welcomed you took them down to the basement. Riku, too. Better hurry if you want to help them out…"
"WHAT?!"
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After everything that had transpired since Roxas woke up, and since he had entered this stupid castle, the fact that he was in Xion's body, on the thirteenth floor, inside the main file room (you know, that one room with the AUTHORIZED MEMBERS ONLY sign on it), with Xion in his body not too far away, watching Axel pin Marluxia to a wall wasn't really as jarring as it should have been. Of course, after you spend a certain amount of time in Organization XIII, nothing really surprises you.
Axel had both of his chakrams summoned. "What happened to those files, Marluxia? Where did they go? What did you do with them?"
Marluxia laughed. "I didn't do anything with them. You'll want to talk to Xigbar. Once we catch him, of course."
Axel was about to stab him with one of the chakrams, but Saix grabbed his arm. "We need him," he said slowly. "Unfortunately."
Axel shoved Marluxia away and whipped around. "He's not going to help us at all! He's just waiting for the right opportunity to kill us all!"
"I'll make sure he never gets one."
Marluxia shook his head, still smiling. "Honestly, Axel, I need you."
Axel scowled. "What do you need me for?"
"Not just you. All of you."
Saix gave him a cold stare. "If what you need us for is betraying the Organization, then you'll find that we aren't on board with your plan."
Marluxia shook his head. "Good thing that isn't it, then. But I can't tell you what it actually is yet."
Roxas finally got tired of waiting and butted in. "Look, what do we do now? Because once the weirdness and novelty wears off, being in your best friend's body is just kind of stupid and annoying."
Axel rubbed his eyes. "We're working on it. You know, I never thought I would fantasize about going home and drinking the coffee, but what do you know, I am. Go figure."
Zexion scratched his chin. "Come to think of it, Marluxia is probably right. If Xigbar wants to get rid of the Keybearers, then obviously he would hide the files. The question is, where are they now…"
A smug voice came in from behind. "Not here, you can confirm that."
Lexaeus, being the closest to the door, summoned his axe sword and took a swing at Xigbar, but as usual he just warped out of the way. He reappeared on a balcony nearby, overlooking the room. "I've got to hand it to you guys. You are entertaining."
Xion yelled up at him. "Why are you making us go in circles like this?"
"Because it's fun." Xigbar locked his two arrowguns together, making a sniper rifle. "Now, obviously that first fight only got rid of two guys. Not enough. So let's see how you dance."
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Namine had elected to stay behind in Lexaeus' room. It was a little lonely, but she felt much safer this way. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't stop thinking about what Saix had said about Nobodies and fading into nothing. She couldn't even comprehend that, so it had to be pretty scary. No way was she going to risk it happening to her. Besides, Lexaeus was right. The best thing she could do for her friends at the moment was to stay put and stay calm. At least, she hoped so.
She heard some murmuring near the wall and went over. The Riku Replica was starting to get up. Unsure what to do, Namine tried holding his head down. "Um, stay asleep, stay sleepy, please…"
The Riku Replica gasped. "Namine?"
Namine stepped back. "How do you know my name?"
The Riku Replica pushed himself up into a sitting position. "Because I remember you…"
Namine rubbed her face and shook her head. "Look, this is a really long story…"
"Long story? What long story? I remember your name…I don't know how, but I know your name…"
Namine rubbed her hands together. "I, uh, actually don't know the whole story, I wasn't too involved…but you never knew me. Your memories are…kind of sort of false."
Riku drew in a breath. "…False?"
"Look, I know it's hard, but you have to believe me because things are a little crazy right now and—"
"No…that isn't possible…" The Riku Replica got up, and his eyes seemed to glow with the onset of a slowly rising anger. "Why do I have memories of you?"
Namine scratched the back of her neck and started to step back. "Well, there's this guy who put the memory inside you, I think, but I'm the one who made it…don't hurt me, I'm sorry I gave you false memories, I really am, please don't hurt me…"
The Riku Replica drew in a breath, then let it out again. "I won't hurt you, okay? I like you. I want you to be safe."
Namine blinked. "You like me?"
"Yeah. I think…I think I'm your friend."
Namine smiled and breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, okay…what's your name? Like, what do you call yourself?"
The Riku Replica answered without hesitation. "Riku."
Namine sighed. "Well, there's this other Riku, and I don't want to get you two mixed up…sorry, don't be mad at me, um…can I call you, um…Repliku? Like, 'replica' and 'Riku' combined? It kind of sucks, but I can't think of anything better…"
The Riku Replica thought about this. "…All right, sure. Now, tell me where I can find this person who put these memories in me."
Namine bit her lip. "Um, well, I think he's kinda dead…but he worked for this guy called Zexion, who works for Marluxia. I think you've met them before…I'm sorry, I'm really bad at explaining things…"
Repliku nodded. "It's okay. And yes, I do know those names. Where can I find Marluxia?"
Namine tilted her head. "Uh, I think they're on the top floor. But why do you want Marluxia?"
"Because he stuffed a false memory into me, then threw me aside like I'm trash."
Namine scratched her neck again. "Yeah, that kind of is a good reason to want to get someone, isn't it…do I have to come with you?"
"Actually, yes."
"Oh, no…"
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Xigbar aimed at Roxas and fired. Roxas summoned his Keyblade and managed to block the shot just in time, deflecting it and sending it back. Xigbar dodged the shot and cringed a bit, though he was still smiling. "Ah, you clever little snake. Guess I'll have to be a little bit more direct."
Xigbar warped down right behind Roxas and took aim. Before he could fire, Xion came up from behind and swung at his legs, knocking him to the ground. He warped away before she could bring her foot down on him, causing her to stumble and fall to the ground.
Xigbar appeared on the balcony again. "You guys are all kind of stupid. You left the files back at the basement."
Roxas narrowed his eyes. "Why would you just casually tell us where it is while you're trying to kill us?"
"Again, because it's fun. Want to use that info? Then keep on dodging, buddy!"
Xigbar took aim again, this time at Zexion. Another bolt came in, but Zexion opened his lexicon and used it as a shield, trapping the bolt in the strange world inside the book. Then, he snapped his fingers and created a new illusion. A seemingly infinite number of Zexions appeared, interspersed with an equally large number of Roxases, Xions, Axels and other members of the party.
Xigbar grinned. "That's the kind of thing I want to see. Maybe you are strong enough to make it through this. But I still have to try, don't I?"
He took his arrowguns and fired them in a wide arc, blasting several of the doubles. But there were still lots more, and though he had unlimited ammo, he was still distracted. Axel took the opportunity to use a dark corridor to get up to the balcony and give Xigbar a nice fist to the face.
Xigbar grabbed his nose and stumbled back. "Heh. Feels like old times, doesn't it, Flamesilocks? Only this time, there's no one here who's going to stop us from killing each other."
Axel lunged again, throwing frenzied punches. "Shut your mouth!"
Xigbar took a few hits, but managed to warp away to the other side of the balcony. He called. "What are you so afraid of, Lea? Losing your 'friends'? Or should I say 'children'? Because sometimes it seems more like children."
Axel summoned his chakrams and threw them. "I said shut your mouth!"
Xigbar warped again, just to the left so that the chakrams hit the wall next to him. "Face it. These are your last days as a daddy. You might as well make sure you enjoy them!"
Before Axel could retaliate, Xigbar warped away again. This time, he was gone.
Axel took a few deep breaths, then dark corridored back down to the center of the room. Zexion dispelled the illusion and ran over. "Are you hurt at all?"
Axel shook his head. "I'll be fine. But Xigbar…he's going down. Very soon."
Marluxia opened a dark corridor back down to the basement. "Why don't we go make sure of that, hmm?"
Roxas crossed his arms. "I still think it's a trap."
Zexion sighed. "I know it's a trap. But we don't really have a choice, now do we?"
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You know, I just can't get over how I'm finally in the home stretch of this thing. This thing is going to be done in a mere something thousand, something and something something words. I'm finally getting my second wind. This is going to rock. :)
I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Remember, reviews are always appreciated. Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for the next chapter, with a special bonus surprise…