This is chapter thirty - six. Thank you TWI1IGHTMAST3R, Bookworm Gal, and caitlinkeitorin for reviewing last chapter!
Chapter Thirty - Six: Reaching Out
Shadow and Angel jumped to either side as the Heartless charged past them. Shadow spun around, Keyblade clenched in both hands as she dashed forward. The Heartless snarled, lowering its head and swinging it rapidly from side to side. Shadow jumped back to avoid the blow, but felt a flash of surprise when she realized that it was still doing it, even after she'd left. "Hey, is something wrong with it?"
"Better for us," Angel responded, dashing forward. He slashed his Keyblade across the Heartless's lowered head, eliciting a roar. It stomped around furiously, head swinging from side to side as if trying to slash its assailant. Angel, however, was already out of range.
Shadow glanced at him as he headed to her, noticing the thoughtful look on his face. "Did you see its eyes when you were up there?"
"Uh, no?"
"They're closed. And look burned." He fixed her with hard brown eyes. "Who do we know who can use fire magic?"
"Oh!" Shadow grinned slightly in response. "I guess Axel fought this thing first."
"Yeah. 'Axel.'" Angel looked angry at that, but apparently decided not to comment on it. Instead, he turned his attention back to the hulking creature before them.
Shadow was dashing forward already. "Let's do this, then!"
"Shadow! What did I say about not doing something stupid?"
"I can't hear you!"
She grinned when she heard him mutter something behind her, then jumped and lifted her Keyblade high above her head, bringing it down on top of the Heartless's.
Unfortunately, it seemed to know she was there; it swept its head up as she started to come down, catching her Keyblade with one of its horns. She floundered in the air as she was sent flying, unable to right herself before she crashed into the ground. She quickly rolled back to her feet, running back towards the Heartless.
She realized belatedly that Angel was by her side this time, slashing at the Heartless's legs with his Keyblade in a reverse grip. The Heartless reared up, shaking its legs as if to force back the metal-haired boy. Shadow took the opportunity to jump up, landing on top of its knee and pushing off higher before stabbing her Keyblade forward. The tip of the weapon sunk into the Heartless's dark flesh, and the Heartless cried out as she dangled from it. Her legs swung forward in an attempt to brace herself against the wild thrashing of the monster, first finding themselves pressed safely against the solid flesh, then slipping off and swinging, then scrambling against flesh again.
She heard the Heartless release another roar, and glanced down to see Angel had cut deeply into one of its legs. The Heartless jerked suddenly as it fell, dropping to one knee and shaking the ground. Angel ran up the Heartless's bent leg, jumping off it and slashing at its stomach. Shadow jerked her legs up as he flew past under her and landed on the Heartless's upraised knee.
She let out a yelp of surprise when a large hand suddenly wrapped around her, jerking her away. "Wait, I thought this thing couldn't see!" she protested as both she and her Keyblade came free of its body.
Then she was flying through the air. Her breath was driven out of her as she landed hard on the ground. Her vision flickered with spots for a few moments; she pushed herself up once it had cleared. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Angel doing the same.
The Heartless growled at them, then disappeared into darkness.
All she could do for a few moments was gape. When she snapped out of her shock, she managed to exclaim, "Wait, what? Where'd it go?"
"I don't know." She looked at the dark expression on Angel's face. "Just like I don't know why you like to rush headfirst into things."
She flashed him a grin. "It's more fun that way."
"This isn't a joke, Shadow! You could end up seriously hurt."
She cocked her head to the side. "What's the big deal? I do it all the time."
"That's the big deal." Apparently her confusion still showed, because he ground his teeth in frustration and responded, "Just…never mind." He stalked past her, saying, "Come on; I don't think there's anything more for us to do here."
"There's nothing for us to do anywhere!" She was finding herself wishing more and more that Sora and Riku would hurry up and finish their Mark of Mastery exam so that she and Angel could do their job.
At the very least, they'd have something to do.
"So, how exactly are we going to reach Sora from here?"
Roxas frowned at Ven's question, cupping his chin in his hand. Eventually he let out a sigh. "I don't know; I'm still working on that."
"We could try just talking to him, like we did with Roxas," Xion suggested quietly.
"I don't know if that's going to work," Roxas responded. "You guys were in a special Station of Awakening when you did that, and I haven't been able to reach him from here before."
"But it's worth a shot," Ven argued.
Roxas did have to admit that they weren't getting anywhere fast with their other plans. With a nod of acknowledgement, he lifted his head and called out, "Sora."
Nothing.
"Sora, can you hear me?"
Still nothing.
"Maybe we should all try?" Xion asked.
Roxas looked at her skeptically.
"Hey!" Ven piped up, drawing the attention of the former Organization members. "Roxas, you remember when you fought Lea, I partially took over your body, right?"
"Yeah."
"And I could talk to you when that happened. So do you think it'd work if we tried that with Sora?"
Roxas blinked in surprise at the suggestion. "I don't know. Maybe. But who's going to do it?" Two pairs of blue eyes looked expectantly at him, and he sighed. "Right. His Nobody." He stood, walking away from them and staring out across the crashing waves. But how am I going to do it? "Ven, what were you thinking when you ended up helping me?"
"Just that I wanted to help you fight."
That's helpful. Roxas grimaced and closed his eyes. Okay, then; I really want to talk to Sora. He tried to focus on his Somebody, attempting to touch on the link to his mind and heart, but to his frustration, he felt nothing new. His eyes cracked open and he released a sigh. "Nothing."
"Well, what now?"
"We're back where we started." Roxas walked back over to his companions and slumped into the sand. He slowly clenched and unclenched his fists as he turned over possibilities in his mind, carefully examining each one and wondering if any could be the right one.
Unfortunately, it seemed he wasn't going to come up with anything better.
He looked at Xion and Ven, who were looking back at him with similar dark expressions. He felt his resolve tighten, and suddenly he was on his feet, stalking off along the shore of the beach. "Roxas! Where are you going?" Xion called.
He stopped and glanced back at her; she was standing and part of the way to him at this point. "You and Ven told me that I had to guide Sora. I'm not going to let something like this set me back." He turned away from her and continued down the beach. "But I need to do this on my own."
"Roxas-"
"No." I know you just want to help, he added silently, but I think this is something that only I can do.
Or maybe he was wrong. After all, he'd been manipulated by the Organization and DiZ, and failed miserably in his attempt to get back at them. His fight against the Time Racers may have redeemed him somewhat in that regard, but in the end it had required the assistance of others to defeat them. Even when fighting against Zylen he hadn't fought alone.
But there is one thing that I did on my own; no manipulation, no aid. Just me. And that thing was reaching out to Sora in The World That Never Was. Which was what led him to believe that he may be able to do this, even though he may end up doing it on his own.
At that moment an idea hit him, causing him to come to an abrupt halt. "When I contacted him, I brought him to the Station of Awakening," he murmured, eyes widening slowly in realization. "We started out in the physical world, but we ended up in an internal one. So if we could get Sora to dive deeper into a world that's not physical, then…" The idea still half-formed in his brain, he spun around and began to head back to Ven and Xion.
His footsteps hesitated for a few moments. Shadow. Angel. He smiled, then started to laugh. Maybe I won't be doing this on my own. He continued forward, first walking, then running. I think I'm going to have to ask for your help just one more time.
Lea waited by the Old Mansion, leaning against a wall in anticipation for Isa to return. I wonder if the Heartless really finished them off. For some reason, he decided he preferred not to think about it.
He released a shaky laugh, rubbing his forehead with a hand. "What am I doing? Is this really what I want?" He thought it was, but after Zylen's words, he really wasn't sure anymore.
The sound of a Corridor of Darkness opening drew his attention. He waved at the blue-haired man who walked out of it. "Hey."
"I came to check on your progress." Isa's amber eyes narrowed. "I'm assuming that this means you finished them off?"
"Yeah." No need to say that he didn't actually know if they were dead or not. His stomach clenched, but he ignored it, continuing, "So, what's next?"
Isa eyed him for a few moments before turning around. "Next we go to The World That Never Was."
Is he serious?
He could feel Axel's surprise clearly; he supposed it was because the world used to be the Nobody's home. However, that place had no meaning to him, and he followed with complaint as Isa opened a Corridor of Darkness and led the way in.
When the two emerged from the swirling vortex, they found themselves in what looked like a large, white, circular room with thirteen 'thrones'. Lea frowned as he looked at it. "What is this place?"
"This is…someplace special," Isa responded cryptically. As he continued forward, he added, "Perhaps a place where you will one day sit again."
His confusion at the statement was quickly brushed aside by the implication. "Wait a minute! I'm Lea, not Axel."
Isa glanced back at him, a glint in his amber eyes. "Are you sure?"
"Of course!" If not, I'm talking to myself.
Isa snorted. "It seems odd that you wouldn't remember this place. Was their something wrong when you were reborn?"
Lea almost answered 'no', but hesitated. Wait. When Axel and I first started to fuse together, I pulled away. Does that count as something wrong?
Yeah, Lea. I'd imagine it does.
He wondered why the Nobody's voice sounded so sad.
"Hmph. It appears so." Isa turned away from him, his footsteps echoing off the floor as he walked through the empty corridor. "Regardless, it's time we got to business."
Lea shook himself to try and clear his thoughts. "R-right." As he followed behind the blue-haired man, however, he couldn't completely dispel the uncertainty that crashed against the walls of his mind.
That'd be the end of chapter thirty - six. Reviews are always awesome!