Chapter 23 The Search for Xion
Day 297
Day Off Today!
"All right Roxas, we did it! That's right everyone! We all got a day off thanks to me and Roxas. Let me here your thanks!" Demyx sang
"Thank you Roxas." Xigbar mocked
"HEY!" Demyx shouted
"Axel…" Roxas said to Axel with a determined look that Axel returned with a nod.
"What are you two planning?" Xigbar asked
"What makes you think we're planning something?" Axel asked
"It's written all over your face." Xigbar said
"Planning? I'm just going to bed." Axel yawned as he stretched his arms tired
"Uh, me too!" Roxas added
Xigbar just chuckled much to Roxas's confusion.
"If you keep running wild, somebody might have to throw a leash on you." Xigbar laughed much to Roxas's shock
"Do you think he's onto us?" Roxas asked after Xigbar left
"Don't worry about that now. Let's just look around worlds for where Xion might be." Axel said as the two left.
Agrabah, Halloween Town, Never land, the Colosseum, Beast's Castle, Wonderland…All of these places, there was no sign of Xion.
Currently, the two were on Destiny Island looking around. Roxas saw a sea shell and picked it up.
"This looks like the one Xion gave me. I wonder if this is where she got it from." Roxas muttered
'I was hoping she would be here. After all, this is his home.' Axel thought.
"Is there anywhere else to look?" Roxas asked
"We've been everywhere we know how to get to." Axel said
"What about Castle Oblivion?" Roxas asked much to Axel's surprise. "Before she went missing, she was on an important assignment, right? And whenever you had to leave on important business, it was at Castle Oblivion. Then, maybe she's there."
"There is nothing there anymore." Axel said
"Don't lie to me." Roxas said much to Axel's surprise. "I just have this feeling that everyone is hiding things for me lately. We're best friends, right?"
Axel was silent.
"Do you know something?" Roxas asked
"Xion…came from Castle Oblivion." Axel admitted
"What?" Roxas asked in shock. "Maybe if we go there, we can figure out where she went. Why didn't you tell me?"
"I just found out about it not too long ago." Axel said
"Please Axel." Roxas pleaded.
"Fine. Let's go." Axel relented as he summoned a Corridor of Darkness to Castle Oblivion.
Roxas and Axel stood before Castle Oblivion
"Is this Castle Oblivion?" Roxas asked
"Yep. It can be a massive maze inside, so stay close to me." Axel ordered and Roxas nodded as the two opened the door.
Entering the white halls, Roxas suddenly grabbed his head in pain.
"Are you okay Roxas?" Axel asked concerned
"My head." Roxas groaned
"That's it. We're out of here." Axel said as he grabbed Roxas.
"No…Xion might be here!" Roxas protested "AGH!"
"What's wrong?" Axel asked
"All these images rushing in my head!" Roxas cried
"That's it, we're leaving!" Axel ordered picking up Roxas and walking through a corridor. Roxas had passed out as he was carried through.
"Giving up already? I thought you were stronger than that!" Riku's voice echoed through Roxas's head
"RIKU!" Roxas gasped awake.
"Are you okay?" Axel asked kneeling next to him.
"Where are we?" Roxas asked looking around. He was no longer in Castle Oblivion, but instead, an alleyway.
"We're back in Twilight Town. I had to get you out of that Castle." Axel said "Do you remember what happened?"
"I remember walking in, and then I got a massive headache." Roxas said
"Well, let's just take a breather." Axel offered
"We can't! We have to go back." Roxas declared
"Don't push yourself man." Axel sighed before he sensed something. "WHO'S THERE?!"
Up ahead of them were two figures with their hoods up, but Roxas was able to tell who one of them was.
"Xion?" Roxas asked
Xion looked hesitant for a moment as Roxas slowly approached her. But she summoned a Corridor of Darkness and ran through it.
"Xion! Wait!" Roxas cried out trying to give chase but the other figure blocked his way.
"Out of my way!" Roxas ordered summoning his Keyblade as the Corridor Xion summoned closed
"You. You're the imposter. Or at least one of them." Axel said
The imposter said nothing, but instead ran off to the underground tunnels nearby.
"WAIT!" Roxas shouted giving chase.
"Roxas! Wait up!" Axel shouted following Roxas into the tunnels of Twilight Town.
Riku ran through the tunnels with Roxas and Axel not that far behind.
'I just need to give them the slip in here and then meet back up with Xion.' Riku thought, but was stopped by a gun fire that caused his hood to drop from the close call it made to his face.
"Don't move." Xigbar ordered pointing one of his arrow guns at Riku.
Riku tried to run a different direction, but a lance was thrown in front of him stopping him.
"So, you are the imposter." Xaldin said with another lance in hand.
Luxord and Demyx also appeared blocking more of Riku's escape path.
Roxas and Axel caught up to the carnage ahead.
"What's everyone doing here?" Roxas asked
"This is quite a rare card. A six-man operation against the imposter." Luxord commented before turning to Roxas and Axel. "As for your question, we were all chilling out in the castle, when one of the Dusk reports informed us of the imposter's location, and we were sent to take care of him."
"You are surrounded imposter. There is no escape." Xaldin declared
"Best you surrender." Xigbar teased
'Well, didn't see this coming, but this is our best bet.' Axel said as he summoned his weapons and got ready along with Roxas.
Riku tried to remove his blindfold, but Xigbar fired at him again causing him to dodge roll.
'There's too many of them. Even with my dark power, my odds aren't looking comforting.' Riku thought as he looked for a way out.
"Well then, if no one else is going to make the first move, I will!" Xaldin declared as he tossed another lance at Riku who managed to dodge, but the lance came close to hitting Demyx as well.
"Watch it!" Demyx cried out
"My apologies, but this is a small space." Xaldin dismissed
Xigbar fired more rounds at Riku, but the Guardian appeared before him and blocked the shots.
"What is that?" Roxas asked
'That's the thing that attacked me back at Castle Oblivion when Riku…' Axel began
'How the hell does this kid have that?' Xigbar wondered shocked
'This can be my chance.' Riku thought. He started to fire a round of Dark Figaras all around the ceiling causing pieces to fall, lights to break with sparks flying, and dust to spread. Riku used this opportunity to flee, firing more shots to keep up the lack of visibility in the tunnels. Once he was far enough, he used a corridor of darkness to flee.
"Where did he go?" Demyx asked looking frantically while covering his head from the falling debris.
"He's can't have gotten far, find him!" Xaldin declared
"What is all that noise down there?" A random voice asked from above
"Crap! The noise attracted attention. We have to bail, NOW!" Xigbar ordered summoning a corridor of darkness to escape. Demyx and Xaldin followed suit
"Very cleaver imposter. Seems you still had some cards on the table I didn't see." Luxord laughed as he vanished in a corridor of darkness
"Come on Roxas. We have to go!" Axel ordered
"But Xion…" Roxas began
"She likely fled already, but if we get spotted, it will be big trouble, so let's go!" Axel ordered as he pushed Roxas through a Corridor.
Once everyone had fled, some residents came down to observe the damage
"WHAT THE HECK HAPPENED HERE?!" One man cried
"Some kind of vandalism?" Another guessed
"Well, we can worry about how it happened later. Let's just make sure everyone clears out of here." One said as the three left. These tunnels would be closed for quite a while.
Riku and Xion watched some construction crew board off the tunnels until the damage was repaired
"Not the cleanest escape, but beggars can't be choosers." Riku sighed
Xion just looked sad
"Do you want to go back?" Riku asked
"I don't know." Xion admitted
"Come with me. We should talk." Riku offered. Xion nodded and the two left for the forest.
'Roxas…' Riku thought remembering one of the Nobodies that gave chase, and what he had in his hands. 'That was no doubt a Keyblade. He is Sora's Nobody.'
"Xion has betrayed us." Saix said in the break room where everyone but Xemnas gathered
"We don't know that!" Roxas retorted
"The creature was seen with the imposter. What more evidence do you need?" Saix asked
"She could have been forced to!" Roxas argued
"Spare me your display of human sentiment." Saix dismissed
"What does that mean? It won't kill you to have SOME faith in your allies!" Roxas retorted
"Enough Roxas!" Axel ordered before Roxas dug himself a hole
"Axel. I am tasking you with recovering Xion. If it proves to be too troublesome, you are authorized to use more…permanent solutions." Saix ordered
"So, you want me to do it…fine." Axel sighed much to Roxas's shock
"As for the imposter, he has proven to be more of a thorn then we originally thought. He is to be terminated on sight. Same for the other one as well." Saix ordered. Everyone nodded and was dismissed.
Axel, you aren't seriously going to follow through, are you?" Roxas asked
"Relax. We don't know if Xion is going to resist." Axel assured
"How can you be so relaxed? Everyone is treating her like a criminal." Roxas asked "Why does it hurt so much? I'm supposed to be a Nobody."
"I'll think of something. Just be glad it's me doing this. If it were someone like Xaldin, Xion would be destroyed." Axel assured
Roxas gave a light punch in the chest.
"I'll be waiting at the Clock Tower with some ice cream." Roxas smiled as he ran off
"It hurts huh? How ironic." Axel muttered. "I should be glad I am a Nobody. I don't think I could deal with the pain."
At the alter under Kingdom Hearts:
"He had the Guardian?" Xemnas asked surprised
"No doubt about it. He had it." Xigbar said
"This is strange..."Xemnas pondered "For now we focus on getting Xion back. We will deal with Riku after."
Xigbar just nodded as he left
And that's a wrap!
So, for a little clarity. I you got an update on chapters that were already out, that's because Fanfiction was being a pain. Gamerkid28 pointed out that Chapter 21 was where chapter 19 was suppose to be. Probably happened when I went to fix the dates. Yet, no matter what, it would not fix. I had to delete the chapters and docs for chapters 19 to 22 and re-upload them to FINALLY get them fixed. So here's to hoping nothing else goes wrong.
Anyway, we are almost to the 300 mark for Days, meaning we are almost done with this arc. Still have a bit more to go though, but I should hopefully be able to start on Kingdom Hearts 2 before Summer hits. No promises though.
As for the chapter, I did enjoy the idea of the Organization trying to gang up on Riku that was done in the manga, maybe that's why they never fought in groups...Until Kingdom Hearts 3.
Anyway, Next chapter Roxas and Xion learn a bit about Sora as Axel works to capture Xion. Stay tuned.
Reader: You'll have to wait and see
Guestwithideas:Technically yes the Heartless would not be affected by Mikoto's barrier since they don't really have any will and just move on instinct. Though right now, the Heartless are relatively mellow in the world of Fates, though that may change after the barrier falls and the war begins. XD
As for Silas interacting with the Royal Family, we'll see. Right now, he's trying to avoid Kamui in case she recognizes him as a Nohrian Noble so he's staying low, though I might make an interaction with Ryoma since he knows he's there.
