Disclaimer: All characters belong to their respective owners and not me with some exceptions. Only this story is mine, nothing else. Please read and review. Helpful reviews welcome, really bad flames shall be ignored and/or deleted. Enjoy
The Twilight Will
By Demonabyss
Chapter 25: Day 397: Dragonians and Demons
Within Deep Dive, Naminé looked on worriedly at what she was now assuming to be Roxas' area of Sora's Heart. It had been several days since her last encounter with that demonic cat and much longer since Roxas had disappeared. DiZ, Riku, and she had relocated to Hallow Bastion to hide from the Organization and to continue their search for the lost Key of Destiny. They had checked all the worlds he had visited once before as well as the worlds Sora had visited on the off chance he would've gone there due to his Sora's memories. They had found no trace of him anywhere though. As a result, everyone's plans were on hold. In order for DiZ's or the Organization's plans to move forward they needed a Keyblade user and the only one known was Sora. Without Roxas to awaken him, Sora would remain incomplete and asleep.
Even more alarming was that the separation between Roxas and Sora was getting worse. The main pillar that showed Roxas was now over halfway complete, showing more of the Keyblade he was holding, though only the neck portion which had the same black and white coloring and had an etching of the number XIII on it. The other smaller stations had also evolved. The one containing the Twilight Thorn had become a miniature version of the Castle That Never Was with four main towers holding the creature in place with white, leather ribbons and a number of smaller towers and darkened windows shaped like Nothingness symbols lining the side.
There was also the fact that the pillar holding the Red Demon was now complete. It was a twisted medieval castle-like structure with chains extending from the base, wrapping around the Red Demon and ending with manacles attached to its wrists, ankles, and neck. The image on the station was that of a dark haired young woman with the most piercing green eyes that Naminé had ever seen and a small, twisted grin that pretty much proclaimed her lack of sanity. She wore a blue petticoat with a blood stained apron and had her arms crossed holding a highly engraved blade similar to a butcher's knife to the right side of the image and a twisted looking staff with a demonic eye at the end to the left. The outer ring of the station was black and red and had the four card suits running along it. There were five smaller circles around her head showing images of other beings that she didn't recognize. To the left side of her head was the face of a twisted man in a top-hat with large nose, and a gear sticking out of his back. Below that was the image of some kind of dragon-like monster with a long fanged snout and burning eyes. To the left side of her head was a large, insectoid face with a pipe and fez on its head. Under that one was the unmistakable picture of that demonic cat she had met before. Last but not least, in the circle directly above her head was the portrait of a young child-like girl wearing a small crown and had a strange look in her eyes that would make someone think twice about confronting her. There was no doubt now that this station and that blasted demon cat were connected.
That thought made her shiver, or it could have been the new addition to the area, another station. This one like the other two before was only partially complete but she knew it was dangerous just the same. It seemed to be in the shape like an oriental style pagoda with large paper screen doors/windows going up several levels. The main colors of this station were black and dark blue and image itself on the station was not of a human like most other stations, but of some large white canine creature with strange markings and what looked like a large sword of some kind. Similarly the paper screens had images of various scenes involving creatures that were neither Heartless or Nobodies. The thing that made this station unique was that it was covered in snow and ice and seemed to have a weird mist filling its perimeter, obstructing the image of the creature within. Naminé had no doubts that there was some sort of creature in there, but what it was she couldn't say. All she could see as the mist shifted were a pair of narrowed, calculating, and glowing blue eyes that watched her like a predator watches potential prey and several swaying forms behind the ghostly face that held those eyes. The Nobody dared not approach it as she could hear low growling coming from the blue station.
The only good thing these past few days was that she hadn't seen that cat when she came here. Apparently as long as she didn't try to alter anything he left her alone, though it wouldn't surprise her if the thing watched her the whole time like the now three captive creatures did. This made it difficult for her to do much as the connection between Roxas and Sora was now degrading and warping more and more. From what she could tell, it was like Roxas' part was trying to separate itself from Sora by any means necessary while Sora's heart was keeping a death grip on that part but was losing its grip slowly with each new station formed. If this continued, even if they found Roxas he may no longer be compatible with Sora and would not be able to merge. She sighed and turned towards the decaying walkway leading from the center of Sora's heart to Roxas' portion. If she couldn't affect this area without alerting that cat, then she could at least strengthen the connection between the two areas.
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Everyone stared at where Roxas had been just before the Water Dragon had risen up and swallowed him whole along with a portion of the cliffs. The rock spires were damaged from the creature's strike, several pieces falling into the water below even now. It was silent except for a few seagulls for a moment as everyone tried to process what had happened. Issun was the first to react, turning towards the priestess in rage, bouncing up and down with steam practically shooting from his ears. "What was that thing!? It was huge!? Nobody told me something like that was on the loose around here! It ate Roxas!" he screamed at her.
Rao was shocked at his shouting and accusing tone. She stuttered a response, still shaken from the encounter and from what she witnessed. This sight of the boy taking the beast head on and summoning a bolt of fire from the sky left her shaking from the devastating power he had displayed along with the beast's counterattack. "I … I'm sure I mentioned something about the Water Dragon … Didn't I? In any case, the Fox Rods were not on that ship. Where on earth are they!?" he replied sourly, crossing her arms under her ample cleavage.
That comment just seemed to tick Issun off even more. "The Fox Rods!? Roxas was just snapped up like a bite of sushi and you're concerned about those things!?" Amaterasu growled and barked in agreement, also annoyed by the priestess's seeming heartlessness.
The woman was stunned again before answering. "I apologize, please don't misunderstand. I am as worried for him as you are, assuming he's still alive, but there's little we can do against the Water Dragon without the Fox Rods. If they are lost in the vast ocean, its realm, then the situation is dire," she explained, calming the two down somewhat.
Amaterasu whined, worried for her friend. Issun echoed her sentiments. "I know Ammy. There has to be some way to find that over grown eel and get Roxas back," the Poncle said sadly.
Rao then tentatively spoke up. "There might be a way. It is said the Dragonians are the ones who control the Water Dragon from beneath the waves. However, getting to their palace under the ocean is no easy task," she explained.
Both Amaterasu and Issun perked up at this. "Perfect, if we can find these Dragonians we can make get that Water Dragon under control and have it spit out Roxas!" he said bouncing up and down in excitement while Ammy barked in agreement, tail wagging at the thought of saving their friend.
The priestess shook her head, "It is not that simple. Ever since the Water Dragon went mad, the entrance to the Dragonian's palace has been hidden. All I know is the entrance is located somewhere in North Ryoshima Coast. I can get the guards to let us pass through the gate, but we will be on our own from there and there is a large curse zone in effect."
"Bah," Issun scoffed. "We can handle the curse zone. Come on, the city and the mist will have to wait, let's get going!" he cried out as the three of them headed for North Ryoshima Coast.
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Roxas groaned as he slowly regained consciousness. His head was pounding and the putrid smell of decaying fish and burning acids assaulted his nose, nearly causing him to empty his stomach. His body was sore all over as he got up slowly. He could hear a type of thumping sound, almost like a heartbeat, as he slowly stood up, leaning on some debris for support as he did. His vision slowly returned as he started to look around. What he was leaning on was the remains of a ship that looked like it had literally been chewed to bits by something. The area he was in was only partially illuminated by what looked like a bioluminescent moss or gel covering various parts of the wreckage and walls. There were also dangling balls of light from the sides of most of the walls which themselves were various shades of blue and indigo. On the ground were patches of what looked like fungus, some of which were the size of trees. There were also patches of crystals growing out in various places. "Anybody get the number of that zoomer that hit me?" he moaned rubbing his head.
The area he was standing in was cave like with several holes with water, what he assumed was water, flowing down. The thumping sound was coming from the walls themselves and the whole place was incredibly hot and humid, combined with the smell it was difficult to breath and was worse than Haven City's sewers … almost. As his senses returned to him, which were a mixed blessing given where he was, he replayed what had happened to him in his mind. First was the old man, then the haunted ship, the crab demons, the Spider Queen, that mutated Heartless, the Lucky Mallet, and then … the Water Dragon. "Great, I escape a haunted ship only to be eaten by a mutated catfish. Which way do I go to get out of here?" he asked out loud.
Surprisingly … or not, he got a response. "Paths that end in trouble are all the same, they only appear different when you don't know where they lead," a smooth voice answered as the Cheshire Cat once again appeared next to Roxas. Once again his grin was in place as his demonic, black marked form faded into existence.
Roxas just chuckled at the feline, glad to see a familiar face, even one as disturbing as Cheshire's. "I was wondering where you went. Why haven't I seen you around?" he asked the feline.
The cat growled out his response. "While fighting like cats and dogs is only an expression, it is one I do not wish to test with a divine canine. Regardless Roxas there is more to all of this than you realize ... and there is certainly more down here than nasty leftovers, the main stomach is especially fascinating if you can stand the vile stench," he said before fading away.
Roxas shook his head as he turned to go deeper into the digestive tract of the Water Dragon. "I can't believe I'm willing going down into the gut of a mutated catfish. This had better be worth it you mangy furball," he muttered to himself as he started down into the stomach.
Before he could take a few steps however, another voice broke through his thoughts. "You keep strange company child of the Void," a familiar female voice said. The Greater Nobody looked around in surprise, wondering where the source was as it sounded close. It was then he felt something crawling up his leg. Looking down he was surprised to see a massive spider, though this wasn't a normal spider by any means. For starters it was huge, easily four inches long from front to back with each of its legs being twice as long. It was colored a pale off white-gray on its main body and legs with pale blue on the tips. Its abdomen was dark green where it connected to the rest of its body and paled into a light forest green going from the body to the end. The strangest thing was that it had a humanoid head on a neck with black hair and long fang-like mandibles on the sides. It was the head of the Spider Queen. What was different now was that she had eight eyes facing forward, two large, rust colored ones with six smaller ones around them. The new form of the Spider Queen crawled up until she was on Roxas' left forearm which he brought up in order to properly look at her.
While the eyes were all one color and looked more like small gems, they were actually very expressive and were now showing curiosity and intrigue, which was returned by the Nobody. "Spider Queen? Where did you come from and how did you end up like this? Last I saw you were nothing but a ghost," he asked curiously, recalling the transparent head he had seen on the ghost ship. He hadn't seen her since before he faced the Soul Serpent. Considering that the former Heartless had fed on souls, he hadn't blamed her. Still what was she doing here?
"I am a queen no longer child of the Void. Call me Kumotome for now," the spider said calmly. "As for how I came to be in this form, I am unsure. I was just outside the room while you battled that serpent Dark One, watching what happened. I saw your transformation and victory when the remains of the entrapped souls were released. I was caught in their reformation but mine was different. While I did absorb some of the energy they used I did not become one of them. Since I was still aware during my reformation I attached myself to your coat as you left the ship. I was surprised at your willingness to take on the Water Dragon and nearly defeating it. You passed out after its last attack and I've been waiting for you to wake up," the spider explained.
Roxas looked at her oddly, going over what she had told him. "So you absorbed the Nothingness and tried to reform into what you were before, but only got this far?" The spider gave the equivalent of a nod while he stood silent in thought. He knew Nobodies were formed when a person with a strong will lost his or her heart to Darkness and their soul refused to fade away. That soul would draw on the power of Nothingness and form a Nobody. Lesser Nobodies were the result of souls who had enough will to survive but not enough to completely reform their shell. Greater Nobodies as far as he knew were souls that did have enough will. However, what Kumotome told him just now didn't fit quite right with that. She had been a spirit, a soul that still had its heart, Darkness, and Light. So theoretically, she should have been able to reform into her original form which he assumed was much larger then this was. A thought then struck him.
"You said earlier that your essence had been taken, what did you mean by that?" he asked her as he started to walk forward deeper into the stomach.
Kumotome tilted her head in curiosity before answering. "My original body was taken from me along with most of my youkai. It was as if they were taking everything that made me a demon and leaving only the parts of me that had once been human, though very little of that remained after so much time and I was able to hold onto some of my youkai, but only a few scraps. Do you know what happened Void child?" she asked calmly.
Roxas was deep in thought. Kumotome had tried to reform herself into her demon form but only had her atrophied human side and a few broken pieces of her demon side. To put it simply, she didn't have enough of her original self to reform her original body and thus ended up in this diminished form … just like lesser Nobodies. They were simply beings who lacked enough of their original selves, specifically their hearts along with their Light and Darkness, and thus ended up in "lesser" versions of what they originally had been. But that brought up the question; what was the difference between lesser Nobodies and greater Nobodies? He relayed this all to the spider now sitting comfortably on his shoulder.
The spider hummed in thought for a moment before responding. "That is a reasonable theory Void child; it would also explain why my emotions seem a little faded at the moment. But as you said, the question becomes what is the difference between lesser and greater Nobodies? What do you know of greater Nobodies?" she asked him as they carefully made their way deeper into the stomach of the Water Dragon, avoiding the remains of fish, ships, and any creature that had been unlucky enough to be caught in its path.
The Keyblade wielder mentally went over everything he knew of greater Nobodies and subsequently Organization XIII. He knew they all had memories from their life as a Somebody, a weapon unique to them, total control of an element, commanded lesser Nobodies, could survive in Darkness … wait a moment. An element. Roxas stopped in his tracks as his mind latched onto that thought. Each of the Organization members had commanded an element, not one of the Prime elements like Light or Darkness, but a more common element like fire, water, ice, etc. As far as Roxas knew, no lesser Nobody could create or control a common element. In fact they didn't use elements at all, just the power of Nothingness in various forms. The more he thought about it, the more it made sense. Heartless used elements all the time, even the lower ranked ones, and they were theoretically the missing halves of Nobodies. If a soul wanted to reform into what it had once been, it would need to find a substitute for the missing heart and the missing Primal elements of Light and Darkness, most likely the more common elements found on various worlds.
He mentally went down the list of members of Organization XIII, comparing them to the elements they wielded. Xemnas was cold and logical, a perfect match for the power of Nothingness and thus had probably drawn in much more of it during his reformation than the standard soul. Xigbar was a guy who was never direct, always coming at things from odd angles and never answering things directly, complimenting his power over space. Xaldin was serious and brutal, always pushing his point of view, much like a tornado or hurricane. Vexen had been cold and aloof, thinking himself flawless like a sheet of ice. Lexaeus had been quiet but powerful, preferring to let his rock-solid strength do things for him. Zexion had been a planner, using cunning and deception to get what he wanted and to mislead others with illusions. Saix was definitely like the moon from which he drew power, calm, and peaceful at first glance but contained a dark side and controlled far more power than one would think. Axel's personality had been fiery, preferring to do his own thing, matching his element well. Demyx has been a lazy slacker, always wanting to take the path of least resistance like water tended to do. Luxord was definitely a man of patience, taking his time to observe the game before making a play. Marluxia represented his element of plants well, being tempting and endearing at first glance but hiding the poisonous part of his personality. Last was Larxene who never liked to be held down, was always moving, and while beautiful, was as swift and deadly as any lightning strike. Even Xion and himself confirmed the theory as their Somebody had been closely aligned with Light, so his soul had tried to draw that Light in to recreate itself, resulting in the two of them and the powers they wielded.
Each soul had tried to find a replacement for the heart it had lost and drew in the closest matching thing or element to that heart. Now that he thought about it, it was obvious that each greater Nobody attracted the lesser element that was most closely related to their original personality and used that as a replacement for the Light, Darkness, and heart they had lost, reconstructing their original shells with that element. It also explained how they could use those elements with such ease. He relayed this to Kumotome as they came to a large open area of the stomach. The spider agreed with the theory as it made the most sense for the time being
Looking in the center of the "room" was something suspended high in the center above a platform of flesh suspended by tendrils of stomach muscle. It looked like a glass sphere with a carved coral dragon wrapping around it. It was pulsing softly with energy in time to the heartbeat of the Water Dragon. Roxas brought up his arm and flipped open Compass. "Compass, analyze object and its connection to the Water Dragon," he ordered, staring at the strange ball.
[Analyzing object …object analyzed. Object is crystal sphere with an internal coral network attached to exterior dragon sculpture, radiating energies matching those of current environment. Pulses match those of brainwave activity and heart rate. Conclusion: 89.2% chance object is sustaining entity known as "Water Dragon" by acting as secondary power source and cerebral relay,] the computer intoned, surprising both the Nobody and the demon spider on his shoulder.
"Interesting device child of the Void. An artificial spirit guide of sorts. I have seen many contraptions scattered throughout Nippon, but none with a design like this. But what did it mean?" she asked curiously.
He closed the computer, staring up at the orb. "Call me Roxas and what it meant was that this orb acts like a power source and second brain for the Water Dragon, relaying info form its central mind to the rest of its body. We take that and I'll bet the Water Dragon will be out of business," he said while summoning Two Become One and Twilight Blaze.
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Waka watched in distaste as Rao, Amaterasu, and Issun made their way to the sapling in North Ryoshima coast. Normally the sun goddess would have never been able to get close to it due to both the guards and due to the fact that demons finally wised up about the cursed zones. They had placed the curse zone in such a way that the sapling had been surrounded by it, unable to be approached by anyone not used to or immune to demon taint. The Tao master would've revived the sapling himself after the sun goddess stopped the mist in Sei-An City, but because of that false priestess they were able to create a path in the cursed zone to the sapling and were getting ready to revive it. Oh he knew what she really was and what was going on, he had planned all of this, but now his plans were being forcefully reorganized, all due to that … boy.
The brightly colored swordsman scowled at that thought of that … creature Roxas. He had changed everything as soon as he and the Dark Ones had appeared. The Dark Ones were now servants of the demons and added to their forces considerably thanks to their strange and varied forms. Even he, a thoroughly experienced Tao master and swordsman had limited effect on them as he had never seen them before. Roxas however seemed to know them intimately and had countered both the lizard creature and the spell binder at the gate easily. Because of this he had allowed him to remain with Amaterasu despite not knowing what the boy truly was. Now however it was apparent he would be a problem. He had gotten Amaterasu to ignore him and now instead of going after the mist, she was going after the Water Dragon.
He was broken out of his thoughts by the holy shockwave emanated from the sapling, clearing out the curse zone and opening the path even more for them towards the Dragon Palace. It would not be long before they found their way to the bottom of the sea and to the lair of the Water Dragon. They would soon learn how to summon Orca and make their way to both Catcall Tower and to the Dragon Palace to find Roxas. Waka was under no illusions that the boy was dead, he had nearly taken down the Water Dragon with his power even after his trip through the cursed ship. 'Once he reappears, I may have to deal with him myself,' he thought grimly and made his way back to the city to reorganize his plans.
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Roxas scowled at crystal orb hanging in the center of the chamber. He had tried different Keyblades but the result was the same. Two Become One's abilities; Twilight Edge, Aura Blade, and Chaos Blades were ineffective as the rubbery muscle that held the sphere absorbed and shrugged off a lot of the force behind the attacks. Any damage that he did was quickly healed and any progress lost. Twilight Blaze also ineffective as the muscle seemed to be highly fire resistant which made some sense given that the Water Dragon seemingly ate anything and everything. "Well … now what?" he asked dejectedly.
"Perhaps I might be able to help," Kumotome said as she leapt off of Roxas and onto one of the strands of muscle holding the orb. Crawling down the strand, she went to where it held the orb in place and then bit down on it, injecting her acid poison into the fibers. The result was immediate as the tissue let out a hiss and melted away, unable to regenerate because of the poison, showing that while her form was diminished, the former Spider Queen was still very lethal. The spider continued to dissolve the strands until only one was left, hanging from the top of the chamber. Roxas positioned himself underneath it and made ready to catch it. The white spider bit into the last strand, causing it to fall into his waiting hands.
The room convulsed a little bit at the orb being disconnected from the beast. He held the orb that was still pulsing softly as Kumotome crawled back to his shoulder. He tucked it under his arm and made to leave when he saw a bright purple light appeared in the room. Nine violet colored flames appeared in a circle around the two of them. Each of the flames rose up and started to dart around like agitated fireflies. "What are these?" Roxas asked as he summoned Two Become One.
Kumotome watched the darting wisps as she spoke. "These are demon fires Roxas … specifically foxfire," she quickly explained as they both waited for an attack. However, to their surprise after the former Spider Queen spoke, the chaotic purple flames seemed to calm down, no longer acting angry but now floating around them as if on a soft breeze. They were giving off the feeling of curiosity now, as if studying the two of them. This was confirmed when several of the flames seemingly spoke as one in multiple distorted female voices.
"Child of the Void, taking the Dragon Orb, allied with the sun goddess, we should attack," several of them seemed to say in unison.
Several more replied. "But he allies with a demon cat and the once Spider Queen, enemy of the sun goddess. Why?" they asked confused. "What is your purpose Child of the Void?" they addressed him directly.
The greater Nobody slowly lowered his weapon though he did not dismiss it. "To stop the Heartless, the beings you call Dark Ones from destroying this world. They may be under demon control now, but that will not last. They will break free and everyone will pay that price, human and demon alike," he explained watching the foxfire cautiously.
"What of the city?" the demon spirits asked. "What is your connection to the city and why do you defend those who inhabit it?"
He raised an eyebrow but answered anyway. "The same, to keep it from falling to the Heartless. If it falls to them they will get out of control." He then decided to ask a question of his own. "What is your connection to Sei-An City? Why do you want its people destroyed?"
The balls of foxfire were silent as they seemed to debate with one another. Finally they answered, only this time it was a single voice from a single flame. "We are the spirits of the kitsune, a tribe of demons that once lived on the shores of Lake Beewa. However, almost two hundred years ago we were driven from its shores by the humans and they began to build their retched city on the ruins of our home. Even worse is that they hunted us down, all thanks to that man that led them," the spirit explained.
"What man?" Roxas asked curiously.
The spirits seemed more agitated but did not move to attack. "We do not know his name, only that he had great spiritual power and hair the same color as yours. It was only a scant few weeks ago that one of our few remaining descendents found our graves and was able to take our power to avenge us. They took our home and sought to exterminate us! Even now that man still lives and plots against us!" the spirit raged.
"Roxas," Kumotome interrupted, "that was around the same time of Orochi's and my revival."
"Okay," he said to himself before turning to the demon spirits. "I don't know what's exactly going on with Nippon, but I don't believe in coincidences, especially involving multiple demons of great power all appearing at the same time. This all stinks of a set up of some kind and I will get to the bottom of it. In the mean time, do you want to stay in here or would you rather leave with us?" he asked them.
The foxfire spirits were surprised at the offer. Confused, the single voice spoke again. "You would … grant us passage out of this place? Why?"
Even Kumotome was looking at Roxas oddly, waiting for an answer. "Look … I understand you want revenge for what was done to you, believe me I know too well what it's like to be screwed over by someone else's plans. However it sounds like you want revenge against this blonde haired guy and not the people of the city. They probably have no idea that the lake used to be your home considering it was several hundred years ago so killing them would be no different then what was done to you years ago. Would you be willing to leave the city alone if I were to provide a new home for you and any other demons as well as revenge against this blonde guy?" he offered, already considering where he could send the demons where they would be accepted.
The demon spirits were even more surprised now. This strange boy was offering a new home and vengeance just to save the city? Then again he did have a point; the people of the city were ignorant of their own history and while most demons were vicious and indiscriminant of whom they terrorized, kitsune were smarter and had more morals then most. Not many more mind you, but a few more. The violet flame representing the single voice came forward slowly even though all the voices spoke as one now. "We must reunite with our Lord before we decide. We will come with you, child of the Void … Do not disappoint us," it said ominously. The nine lights swirled around and then forged together to make a strange object. It looked like a bundle of bamboo tubes tied together with a strange ribbon marked with various kanji. The tubes themselves varied in size, shape, and length with each covered by a paper cap of a different color. The bundle was about the size of a pan flute with nine different tubes. Roxas carefully picked up the bundle, knowing that these were the Fox Rods Rao had spoke of earlier
He carefully placed it back into his coat as Kumotome spoke to him in a warning tone. "Those are the Fox Rods Roxas, a legendary artifact among demons, said to have been created by one of the first kitsune. They hold a terrible power and were thought to have been lost long ago. Use extreme caution with them." Roxas nodded in agreement as the entire chamber suddenly started convulse.
It then hit Roxas that the Dragon Orb had acted as a power source and relay for this thing's nervous system and without it, everything was failing. "Time to go!" he said as he jumped up and ricocheted off the walls, using Flow motion to get out of there as fast possible. As he did he noticed that the stomach of the Water Dragon was shrinking, fast, as if the whole beast was imploding on himself. He pushed himself as fast as he could with the remains of the Water Dragon's various meals closing in on him as space in the stomach quickly vanished. He saw the shrinking exit of the Water Dragon's mouth, now barely the size of a normal door with a tsunami of corpses, wreckage, and stomach fluids behind him. With one last burst, he rocketed past the beast's teeth and out of its mouth …
Only to go flying though a pair of ornate doors made out of polished blue stone with a gold image of the Water Dragon on it, covered in puke, and scaring the crap out of the guard who barely avoided the doors as they swung open. He bounced across the tiled floor like a small stone going across the top of a pond with his arachnid companion hanging on for dear life. He bounced a few times before landing on his back and skidding to a stop in the middle of the lobby, staring up at a beautiful chandelier made of what looked like coral.
Kumotome nudged the side of his head with one of her frontal legs from on top of his chest. "Are you okay Roxas?" she asked worriedly.
She got a groan in response as he lifted his head to look at her. "I've just be been barfed up by biggest eel in history, I'm covered in its leftovers, and I feel like I've been shot out of a cannon. What do you think?" he said sarcastically.
The spider snorted at him. "Well there's no need to be rude." He just groaned and laid his head back down on the tiled floor of the Dragon Palace, content to just lay there and take a nap despite being covered in puke.
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Otohime, the queen of the Dragonians was shocked to learn that her husband, Wada the 27th king of the Dragonians had returned. She had all but given up hope ever since battle with the Dark Lord, when he took on the form of the Water Dragon, took the Lord's dark instrument, and went mad as a result. As the Water Dragon, he had destroyed countless ships and killed many innocent people due to his madness. Even worse was that the transformation could not be undone as they had no way to retrieve the Dragon Orb, the sacred item necessary for the change.
Now she was being told by her guards that a strange human boy in a black coat had been launched out of the Water Dragon's lair holding the Dragon Orb with a small spider demon on his shoulder. The boy himself was covered in the remains of the Dragon's meals and seemed exhausted, injured, but was still alive. Going into their lair they had found her husband, weak from his extended time as the guardian deity of the ocean, but still alive and would make a full recovery eventually. This was all truly a shock to her as she had been told by the prophet of Sei-An City that the sun goddess Amaterasu would retrieve the Orb, though her husband would not survive. Had he lied to her? Was his prophecy a false one or had this boy somehow changed her husband's fate? Regardless she now owed him a great debt and possibly a debt to the spider demon as well. She turned to her waiting guard, "Have him cleaned up and his wounds attended to. Let him rest and when he is able, bring both him and the spider demon to me," she ordered. The guard nodded and went to carry out her queen's orders.
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Rao ran up the side of Catcall Tower, keeping up with the sun goddess as they headed higher and higher. Thanks to the young man Urashima, they had learned how to summon the Palace Emissary Orca by waiting on a nearby dock at dawn. However, due to the rampage of the Water Dragon and the rise of demons and Dark Ones, they could not go to the Dragon Palace until they discovered its hidden entrance, passing the test set by the leader of the Dragonians Otohime. Hearing the echoing cat yowls all through the coast, they had ridden Orca to this island first for any clues. Surprisingly the tower was covered in the mark of Kabegami, the brush god of walls and barriers. As a result, they were now running up the tower towards the top to see what secrets it held. Already they were far higher than most trees and even some mountains and still going higher. Whenever they got past a certain point a field of energy of would emerge, creating a floor or net to catch them if they fell off. Even stranger was that there was a common housecat on each level.
As they rose, Rao's mind wandered to the powers that Roxas had shown. His weapons, two very strange swords, changed forms as needed and could become a powerful long range weapon, one that could even affect spirits from what she had seen. There was also his unsettling transformation. She had watched him absorb the power of those lost souls and become something else. The mark on his back had named him a wraith, a powerful undead creature, though it seemed more a title than an actual label. The way he had moved and the attacks he had thrown against that Dark One worried her. Such power was not something to be taken or used lightly. What was even more troubling was the fact that he was not surprised by it, as if such a transformation was normal for him. It made her wonder if had become that wraith thing before or something similar. There was also the matter of that strike from the sun he had summoned against the Water Dragon. 'That could be a problem for my plans,' she thought as she continued to follow Amaterasu up the tower.
There was also his warning about the Dark Ones, what he called the Heartless. He said that they would grow too powerful to control and would eventually run wild. The way he spoke hinted at something far worse than those creatures simply going out of control of the demons. She shook her head, dispelling the thought. 'He was wrong, they can and have been controlled and will continue to be until their usefulness to the demons has ended. I will not let this chance slip through my fingers,' she thought until they finally reached the top of the tower, high above the clouds. At the top was a shrine like dwelling with a massive cat statue on the roof. As they made their way through the shrine, they came to the source of the meowing echoing all over the coast … a common black, white, and orange housecat.
Issun was the first to voice their confusion. "Look over there, it's another kitty cat. Wonder what's it doing all the way up here? Surely it didn't climb all the way up here, did it!? I mean there's nothing to eat all the way up here," the tiny artist said surprised. The wolf agreed and calmly approached the feline with the priestess watching in curiosity. Reaching into her supplies, Amaterasu gave the whining cat some fish that she had with her. After eating its fill, the housecat meowed one last time in thanks, curled up, and started to take a nap, purring as it did so. "It stopped meowing," the Poncle stated happily, not that Rao could blame him, that yowling was starting to grate on her nerves.
Before she could get them to continue their search, a strange light filtered from above, sparkling gently down on them. Looking up they saw a patch of the night sky appear despite it still being mid-day. It shocked the priestess to no end and was even more surprised at Issun's words. "Eh? A constellation? Here!?" he exclaimed as the patch of night sky showed a cluster of stars, or more accurately only two stars. It seemed they were placed in some sort of picture, but were missing some other stars. Watching carefully, Rao saw how Amaterasu applied the missing stars like the artist she was with her celestial brush, completing the picture and the constellation.
The constellation flashed as it filled in showing a wall screen with the image of a tree on it and a carved fish on top. Sitting on the side of the tree was another housecat, though this one was much larger than the others in this tower and was colored much differently. It was white and had sacred red markings identical to those on Amaterasu as well as flowing fur extensions just like hers. The cat leapt down and landed in front of the sun goddess. When it landed, the area around them faded into the sacred realm, a calm world covered in white clouds with mountains and trees seemingly painted in the background, almost like a nice dream. The cat looked at Ammy and noticed Issun sitting on top of her head. Crouching down, it leapt up and snagged the Poncle in its mouth. Surprised, the wolf turned around to see the cat batting him around back and forth like a ball of yarn. Barking in playfulness with tail wagging, the two ran off, Issun bouncing between them as the landscape became even more beautiful, blossoming into a field of wildflowers.
Rao watched them play, eyes narrowing slightly before they finally stopped, sitting across from each other with Issun dazed between them looking punch drunk for the most part. The priestess had to chuckle at that. 'Serves the little pervert right,' she thought as a female voice broke the comfortable silence.
The cat spoke, her voice melodic and soft as well as respectful as she addressed the wolf. "Ah … Amaterasu. Origin of all that is good and mother to us all. The swirling whirlpool of evil below has driven me to this height. From this perch, I observe the world below and its descent. If my power is needed once again, I, Kabegami, god of walls and barriers, shall gladly offer a bridge of hope to the realm below!" she said with conviction. Light pooled around the cat goddess and formed into the kanji for wall. The ball of light shot forward, leaving a stardust trail, circled around Amaterasu once before merging with her. However, something was strange here. Normally when a brush god gave their power to Amaterasu, they themselves faded away along with the celestial realm. This time however, they remained as it seemed Kabegami had more to say. "Oh great Amaterasu, I have seen your friend, the child of the Void from my perch here above and he has already quelled a part of evil whirlpool. Be aware that not all is as it seems as the lines of what is good and evil will be blurred and that there is a difference between demons … and monsters," the white cat intoned before everything faded away, leaving the priestess and sun goddess back on the top of Catcall Tower with the power of the Catwalk and an irate Poncle covered in cat and dog slobber.
The tiny artist got up, ticked at being batted around. "Hey! I'm not you personal toy to be played with like that!" He then shook it off and took his place back on Ammy's head. "That was one of the brush gods, Kabegami, the one with the Catwalk brush technique. With that there's no place we won't be able to climb to!" he said excitedly, bouncing up and down in excitement. However, he stopped after a moment and stood in thought. "But it was odd that she stayed behind to talk more. Most of the brush gods just gave you their power and left it at that. She said the child of the Void had quelled part of the evil whirlpool and that there was a difference between demons and monsters." He stood silent for a moment before Rao decided to add her thoughts to the matter.
"Child of the Void, did not the former Spider Queen call your friend Roxas by that name?" she asked tentatively.
Issun perked up at this. "Yeah, that's right babe she did, but what does that mean? What is he anyway, we still don't know anything about his weapons, or that weird form of his," he grumped.
A thought struck the priestess and she decided to voice it. "What about those … Nobodies that appeared on the ship? Roxas had said they were the souls of those who had lost their hearts to the Dark Ones and had to draw on Nothingness, on the Void to try and reform themselves. He said that most of the souls that try are unable to truly reform the shell of who they were and ended up in those deformed states. But … what of those souls who are able to reform their shell?" she asked as it started to dawn on all three of them just what Roxas was.
Amaterasu cocked her head to the side as she thought about it. It made sense somewhat. Roxas knew about the Heartless, the supposed counterparts to these … Nobodies. He had felt like he wasn't truly there, like a cutout in a painting but different filler all together, as if someone had started to put a clay mold in a spot previously occupied by paper and paint. He had a wide variety of strange powers and those other Nobodies had obeyed his commands without question. However there was a problem with the idea. Roxas had said that Nobodies were beings of logic without any emotion and while he was certainly smart and observant, he was not emotionless. No one could fake a reaction like his when the Water Dragon first appeared to them on the boat. They would have to find out when they found him again as Kabegami's words echoed in her mind. "Be aware that not all is as it seems as the lines of what is good and evil will be blurred and that there is a difference between demons … and monsters."
Back in the celestial realm, Kabegami watched as Amaterasu and her companions left her tower, grinning a little to herself. She turned her head as a strange mist formed and solidified into another feline form, though this one was far less divine and far more demonic. "Ah Cheshire, advisor of the mad empress and emissary of Wonderland, it is good to see you," she said calmly and respectively.
The tattooed cat bowed in reverence to his divine counterpart. "Indeed Kabegami, I see you have given Lady Amaterasu a warning," he said as he too watched the group leave the tower and continue their search for the Dragon Palace.
The white and red cat nodded. "Yes, while my loyalty to Mother Amaterasu is absolute, I could not tell her what I truly knew with the … priestess and the Poncle being there. Still, my warning will have to suffice. It will remain in her mind and keep her cautious of what is to come. Do you think it will be enough to spare those who are innocent?" she asked him curiously.
He chuckled a little before responding. "Who is to say my dear? The strands of fate and prophecy are being cut and rewoven thanks to the intervention of my charge. He may have once bore the title of Key of Destiny, but that title has been thoroughly extinguished and he now may yet earn a different title all together. What will happen, will depend on his findings, but even now I can see the wheels turning in his head, putting the little pieces together. It will certainly be interesting to watch though," he said with a chuckled.
The cat goddess sitting on the wall chuckled as well, her mouth sporting a grin a well though nowhere near as wide as Cheshire's. "It always is. As I said, my loyalty to Mother Amaterasu is absolute, but that doesn't mean I can't have some fun of my own," Kabegami said as she turned to see how everything would play out, knowing her fellow feline understood all too well. They may have been on opposite ends of the divine/demonic spectrum, but they were still both cats after all and cats do not give straight answers.
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Roxas woke slowly, his mind coming out of the fog he was in. Waking up from sleep was a lot different from being knocked unconscious and thus his head didn't hurt as much as last time. As his senses returned, he realized he was not on the cold hard floor he had fallen asleep on and was instead on a very soft bed. Slowly sitting up he found that most of his clothes were missing. He had been stripped down to his boxers and several of his wounds had been attended to. While the Mikos had healed some damage back on the ship, it was only a temporary fix at the time. Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, he saw that he was in a well furnished room with the main colors being blues and purples. It was lightly furnished with a small table where his clothes lay, washed, dried, and folded neatly. Sitting next to them was the bundle of bamboo rods that made up the Fox Rods. "What happened?" he asked out loud, trying to focus his mind.
A female voice from above answered him. "You fell asleep after being launched from the Water Dragon's mouth. Considering the night you had in the cursed ship and in the dragon's stomach it's not too surprising," Kumotome said as she lowered herself on a silk thread from the ceiling. "Afterwards the Dragonians found us. I was able to explain what we had done and it turns out they now owe us a debt. The Water Dragon was actually the Wada, the king of the Dragonians. That orb we retrieved, the Dragon Orb, is a sacred relic that he used to become the Water Dragon. He had used it to fight off the Dark Lord of Oni Island. The result was he took the Lord's dark instrument, the Fox Rods, but they in turn drove him insane, making it so he was unable to change back. Because we were able to remove both the Orb and Rods, the king reverted back to his normal form. He is currently resting but will make a full recovery. The Dragonian Queen Otohime wishes to see us as soon as possible." Roxas nodded and donned his clothes and jacket, pocketing the Fox Rods as he did so.
The Nobody exited the room with his arachnid companion once again on his shoulder. The Dragon Palace was truly magnificent, as if the entire place was made out of coral, which may very well have been the case all things considered. Various shades of blues colored every surface and glistened in the light of the various bioluminescence they used to light the place up. Following the spider's directions, he made his way to an elevator that took him to the main throne room where Otohime waited. Entering the room, there were a number of small floating balls of light which upon closer inspection were a type of weird fish. Shaking it off, Roxas strode forward to the waiting queen and her guards.
Each of her guards stood by her side, in deep green battle kimonos that reminded him of seaweed with a lighter green sash tied around each of their waists. One had what looked like a sea anemone on her head while the other had coral. The woman sitting on the throne wore a regal pale blue kimono with dark blue on her torso and a red sash around her waist. Around her was a large wreath around her with a gold box like crown on her head. All of the women had extremely pale skin and dark black hair, though upon closer inspection showed that they had patched of incandescent scales on their shoulders and arms. Their most unique feature was that in place of ears they each had fin-like extensions where their ears would be, the queen's being notably larger than her guards.
Queen Otohime herself gave off an aura that was much different than the royals Roxas had met in the past. The Red Queen of Dark Wonderland had giving an aura of terrible, dark, twisted, yet controlled power, of someone who could and would kill you if the mood hit her. Damas in Spargus had the air of a warrior king, old but wise in the ways of war. Ashelin was definitely a royal who had belonged on the battlefield and front lines and had that military aura around at all times. Otohime however had an aura of a refined and gentle ruler, someone who would listen to her people and had a quiet strength to do what was needed. Roxas bowed in greeting which she returned. "Lord Roxas and Lady Kumotome, I am Queen Otohime, ruler of Dragonians. I welcome you to the Dragon Palace," she said with a calm smile on her face.
"Thank you milady. Kumotome informed me of what had happened after I passed out and what was going on with the Water Dragon. Hard to believe it was really your husband. Still with the Dragon Orb you should be able to take on the Dark Lord, especially now that I have his dark instrument, the Fox Rods, right?" he asked curiously.
The queen shook her head. "Sadly it is not that simple. After the first battle with my husband, both the Dark Lord and the fortress under its command vanished. Without the Fox Rods I assume he has been hiding in a lesser form somewhere trying to rebuild his strength. The Lord's stronghold on Oni Island appears and disappears each day and is never in the same place twice. Queen Himiko is divining its location as we speak, however the mist that covered Sei-An City blocks her sight. Until the mist is removed it will take some time for her to locate the stronghold if at all," she explained.
Roxas nodded and thought back to when he had been in the city. It would make sense for the Demon Lord to do so. Since it lost the Fox Rods it would need to hide to recover its power. If Queen Himiko could find its hiding place, then again it made sense to somehow blind her and that was the purpose for the mist, or at least part of it. The only confusing part was that he had seen the mist coming from somewhere inside the city, in the aristocratic quarter to be exact. Why had no one found its source yet and how in the world did it get in the middle of the city in the first place? Something didn't add up here. "In that case, I'd better get back to the city. I have an idea of where the mist is coming from. Once it's cleared we can work on invading the stronghold."
Otohime nodded. "Very well. Our emissary Orca is waiting just outside the palace and will take you back to the surface. I wish both of you luck in your endeavors," she said to both of them. Roxas nodded and left the Queen to head back up to the surface, the Fox Rods in his coat.
Once outside he saw two familiar forms walking towards him, Rao and Amaterasu. As soon as they saw him, Ammy barked and ran up to him, leaping up and licking him in the face with her tail wagging like there was no tomorrow. Roxas laughed at the sensation. "Okay, okay, enough already. It's good to see you too Ammy," he said with a smile as he wiped away the dog slobber.
Issun bounced up and down on top of the wolf's head. "Hey kid, good to see ya. You're looking good for someone who was eaten," he said, not bothering to ask the obvious question.
He sighed before speaking. "Tell me about it, that thing's breath was the second worse smell I've ever had to deal with. Long story short, the Water Dragon was the Dragonian king who went nuts after taking on the Demon Lord and swallowing his dark instrument. I was able to retrieve it with the help of Kumotome and now he's recovering, so the Water Dragon is no longer a problem. We need to head back to Sei-An City to clear out that mist. Once we do that, Queen Himiko will be able to locate the Demon Lord's stronghold and Otohime the Dragonian Queen will use the power of the Water Dragon to help us bust in," he explained.
The small artist bounced up and down in excitement. "Then we can go in and take that demon lord down. All right, let's head back to the city!" he crowed as they turned to get on Orca. It then occurred to him what the boy had said. "Wait, who's Kumotome?"
Said spider decided to make her appearance by crawling up from Roxas' back to his shoulder. "Hello again you miserable bug," she said haughtily. Rao blinked in confusion while Ammy stared in disbelief. Issun however got over his surprise quickly and unsheathed his sword in rage.
"Don't call me a bug! How are you here? What are you doing with Roxas?" he asked threateningly.
The white spider huffed disdainfully at the Poncle. "If you must know I reformed using the same power that the lesser Nobodies on the ship did and as to why I am with Roxas, that is simple. I did say that he could name his reward for freeing me and thus I will stay with him until I repay my debt," she explained calmly.
Rao raised an eyebrow and tilted her head to the side in thought. "If you reformed using the same power as those Nobodies, wouldn't that make you a Nobody as well?"
"Sort of," he replied. "She would be classified as a greater Nobody since she had more than just her soul to use to reform herself, despite not being back in full form."
The priestess nodded and decided to ask the question both she and Amaterasu had on their minds. "I also want to ask, are you a Nobody Roxas?" she asked tentatively, not wanting to upset the boy.
The blonde's eyes widened in surprise but he immediately calmed down. Given his explanation on the ship and the weird things he could do, he wasn't surprised that they figured it out. Deciding honesty was the best policy here, he started to explain. "Yeah I am," he said much to their shock. "I am what is called a greater Nobody, a soul that used the power of Nothingness and another element to completely reform their shell, though my personal case is a little unique," he said as he turned away from them, looking down at his hand in thought. "They … we … are different from lesser Nobodies in that we can replicate emotions from the memories we have leftover from when we were complete … at least at first," he said more to himself then to his companions.
They looked at him in curiosity, both from his explanation and the tone of his voice. Rao asked the question they were thinking. "What do you mean at first? Does something change?" she asked quietly.
He spoke quietly, as if unsure himself about what he was going to say. "I … I'm not sure. When I was first formed I joined a group of other greater Nobodies. I was told our purpose was to regain our hearts and become whole, but now I'm sure that was never true. In any case, I spent nearly a year with them and while my emotions grew, they were still muted and limited by what few memories I had. However, after I separated from them and went out on my own, meeting new people and such, my emotions have grown dramatically, I have grown. The only real explanation I can figure is that while I was in that group, there was a rule that we were not allowed to interact with normal people during our missions, only each other. After I left and started interacting with other people, people who still had hearts, that's when I started to change in more ways than one. The few memories from my Somebody show that I'm much different from him." He then turned to them with a cocky grin, "For one thing, I'm much better looking and not nearly as naïve as he is. In any case, we should get going; that mist needs to be taken care of." He turned and walked towards the dolphin-like Orca, not saying any more on the subject. Rao, Issun, and Amaterasu stared after him for a moment before following, trying to decide how they felt given his explanation.
Journal Entry 396
Greater Nobodies
Up until recently I've never really considered the difference between lesser and greater Nobodies. Now though, the idea that it takes something extra to create a greater Nobody makes sense given what happened to Kumotome. Every greater Nobody that I've known has had access to Nothingness and a second element. The control over Darkness came from living next to the realm of Darkness. The only possible exceptions were myself, Xion, and Xemnas. Xemnas was a cold, logical bastard so maybe his soul simply attracted more Nothingness to it. Xion was originally a … puppet … made to contain Sora's memories and power so that explains her. Me … I was Sora's Nobody and he had a close connection to Light, so that explains that.
There is one thing that been starting to bug me though. If souls use Nothingness and a second element related to the original personality to recreate their shells to become greater Nobodies that are like what they once were, why don't I look or act like Sora? Why didn't I have his memories when I formed? Why am I so different? Was I formed differently like Kumotome was? This is something I'm going to have to look into later.
AN: Another chapter that took on a strange life of its own and went longer than I thought it would. In any case, what I put in here about greater Nobodies makes sense to me as far as I can tell from the games. This also sets up the return to the city and more of what's to come. Again I ask those who have played Okami not to reveal anything as I have a few interesting ideas for this arc that are going to be fun to write. In case anyone is wondering why the king lived instead of dying like he did in the game, the reason is in the original game Amaterasu had to basically tear a hole in the Water Dragon's intestines and use the stomach acid to release the Dragon orb and then fight the kitsune spirits for the Fox Rods all in the Water Dragon's stomach. Roxas on the other hand did not tear open a hole or fight the kitsune and the Dragon Orb was removed much more gently thanks to Kumotome.