Chapter XXIV; Overcoming Anger
X trailed after Sora, Donald, and Goofy as they entered the Beast's Castle. The entryway was just as dark as it had been. X had hoped someone would have been able to brighten the place up since their last visit. But there was no change, save the outfit the Beast was wearing. X could see how nervous he was and frowned glancing around. Was something going on?
"Hey there!" Sora greeted as they approached the Beast.
"No Heartless and no Nobodies!" Donald announced as he looked around.
"I think they're close though," Goofy said, glancing around himself. Sora nodded in agreement.
"Better watch out!" he said. X sighed heavily looking down.
"Can you guys not read a mood?" he asked. Sora looked at X in confusion his head tilted to the side. X had to take that as a yes. It was clear the Beast didn't want their interference today. Trouble usually followed them after all. The Beast gave an exasperated sigh.
"What are you so mad about?" Donald asked.
"Why are you here?" the Beast asked.
"The Nobodies' world has to be out there somewhere. We're looking for a way in," Sora explained. The Beast looked at him for a moment, clearly frowning before looking away.
"Hmph," he said as he looked up the staircase. Belle had appeared wearing a very formal yellow dress, her hair in an updo that must have taken far too long. "Tonight is very important." Beast gave no further comment before he went to join Belle and lead her into the ballroom.
"Uh, maybe we came at a bad time," Goofy said, finally catching on.
"Well, there's only one way to find out," Donald said before he ran up the stairs and into the ballroom.
"Donald!" Sora yelled after him. X sighed once again.
"And there he goes," he muttered.
The remaining three didn't have much choice but to follow Donald. They easily slipped into the ballroom which was brightly lit, with all the servants gathered in front of the Beast and Belle.
"Now then, Monsieur, Mademoiselle. Please, enjoy the evening. And of course, our honored guests are welcome, too," Lumiere said motioning as he spoke with his arms, which held lit candles. If that was how he always talked it was a miracle the castle hadn't caught on fire yet.
"Welcome indeed," a deep voice reverberated through the ballroom. X quickly drew his daggers looking up to the balcony over the ballroom. He glared up at the hooded figure, grip tightening on his weapons.
"Looks like we're not the only one's gate-crashing," X commented.
"The Organization!" Sora yelled, summoning his keyblade.
"You don't know when to quit," Xaldin said. Even with his hood up X could feel his gaze.
"Oh yeah! We'll show you!" Donald yelled, readying his wand.
"Get out!" the Beast yelled at Xaldin charging toward him.
"Not tonight!" Belle said, sounding angry for the first time. Xaldin simply snapped, summoning a rush of dragoon Nobodies. The Beast pushed past them easily, knocking them to the side.
"I've come to take something you hold very dear," Xaldin said calmly. The Beast roared in response, which only made Xaldin chuckle. "Yes. Let your anger grow." Xaldin vanished leaving behind a rather large group of dragoons.
"Beast! We have to get rid of these guys first!" Sora called to the Beast, who had stopped staring where Xaldin had disappeared. X had already started the fight, taking out the dragoons with a few well-aimed strikes.
It didn't take long for them to take out all the Nobodies. The group stood, looking around and panting as they looked around the ballroom for any sign of more enemies.
"Where's Belle?" Sora asked, searching the room.
"Over here!" Belle called as she and the servants came in off the balcony.
"Whew, she's ok," Sora said, relaxing his grip on his keyblade as he looked around the room. Everything seemed to be accounted for. All the servants were still there, and Belle was clearly alright, not even shaken. But that was probably because she had been kidnapped before.
"Guess Xaldin didn't take anything after all," Goofy said glancing around. The Beast ran out of the room, shoving the doors so hard it was a miracle they didn't break off the hinges. X frowned watching him go. Was there something else Xaldin could have taken?
"What's wrong?" Sora asked, looking to the others. Belle followed the Beast without a word. Sora watched her with confusion. "Belle? What's with them?"
"Maybe Belle isn't the only thing precious to the Beast," Goofy suggested. X gasped as he remembered.
"The rose!"
"C'mon!" Donald said before leading the group to the Beast's room. It was clear to tell upon their arrival the Beast was fuming.
"What's wrong?" Belle asked, carefully moving closer to the Beast. "Please, calm down!" The Beast turned on Belle, almost hitting her with his claws. X bristled at the side, sliding one of his daggers into his grip.
"Calm down!? You just had to have a party, didn't you? Don't you see what's happened?" the Beast asked angrily.
"Hey. What's with you?" Sora asked in annoyance.
"The rose. My rose," Beast said, hiding his face in his hands.
"What, that? He took it?" Sora asked in confusion.
"But surely, you can find another rose," Belle said softly.
"Silence! You don't know anything!" the Beast snapped, swiping at Belle. In seconds Sora and X stood in front of her, Sora with his arms outspread and X with his dagger pointed toward the Beast.
"That's not fair, Beast. Don't take it out on Belle. It's not like she stole it!" Sora said simply as the Beast stared at them in shock.
"And you can't fault her for not understanding if you never try to explain it," X added calmly. He kept his gaze calm as the Beast looked away, looking down at his hands.
"I'm sorry," Belle said softly.
"You don't have to apologize," Sora said firmly.
"But," Belle began. X cut her off by shaking his head. She was hardly at fault here. In fact, none of it was her fault.
"Belle. Sora. I want you to leave the castle," the Beast said still not looking at them. "Look at me. Look. This is what I am. When you first got here, I tried to change. But I was only fooling myself. I can't be any different. I'll always be a beast. So, I should live like a beast. With no one, alone. Goodbye, Belle." X frowned lowering his dagger. He hated to admit the Beast was probably right. Changing wasn't easy, and he didn't seem to be putting effort into it, expecting Belle to forgive him every time. If that was the case she would be better off away from him.
"You can't mean that," Belle said softly. She reached out to the Beast, but he made no move, not even looking at her.
"I think his mind's all made up," Goofy said.
"Yeah," Sora agreed. The group left the Beast's room and stood in the hallway in a tight group. "Look, Belle. Leave this to us. If we can get the Beast's rose back, he'll calm down." Sora said crossing his arms. Belle nodded and X frowned.
They all left the West wing and remet with all of the servants in the ballroom.
"Poor child," Mrs. Potts said.
"How could it have come to this?" Cogsworth asked shaking his head.
"And they were so looking forward to this evening," Lumiere added with a wistful sigh. He stared off into the distance dramatically.
"Now, now- no need to be so sad. Once the rose is back safely, this will all be over," Mrs. Potts said looking around at the group nodding her head determinedly.
"What's so special about one rose, anyway?" Sora asked.
"If the master can love and be loved in return, the spell will be broken. We'll all be human again," Cogsworth explained. X frowned, they had already been told that on their last visit. And if he remembered correctly they already knew why that rose was important.
"Yeah. You told us," Donald said.
"But there is a time limit. He must find his true love before the last petal falls from that rose," Lumiere explained.
"Ah, but that is not all," Cogsworth said. "Over time, caring for that rose has become a cherished part of the master's daily life."
"It's as though all his hopes and dreams are tied to that single bloom," Mrs. Potts said.
"Poor Beast! Then we have to get it back," Sora said firmly. X sighed heavily. There was no way to talk Sora out of something when his mind was made up, no matter how wrong it might be. Though, X supposed the servants deserved a chance at getting back normal at the least.
"Please do!" Mrs. Potts said.
"Xaldin won't have gone far, there's a reason he's here. We should be able to find him around the castle," X said, crossing his arms and glancing at Sora.
"We can't without the Beast, though. If it's that important to him, he's got to do it himself," Sora insisted. X sighed heavily nodding in agreement.
The group returned to the Beast's room, entering with no fear showing. Which, X supposed that gave them the advantage since they weren't afraid of him.
"Hey, Beast," Sora greeted. The Beast sighed heavily, not even turning to look at Sora.
"Leave me alone," the Beast said. X was very tempted to just leave there.
"C'mon, you need to hear this," Sora said stepping toward the Beast. "You used to be fearless. You would have given your life to save Belle. Don't you know what that meant to us? You gave us all courage. Hmph, maybe you should have kept some for yourself. I mean, are you really gonna throw your happiness away? The rose is your only hope, isn't it? Well, it's the only hope for Cogsworth and the others too. So, don't throw away their last chance. Remember what it was like before Belle lived here?" He paused for a moment watching the Beast's reaction calmly. He smiled as the Beast straightened up. "See? You can't give up. Not now."
"I know one thing," the Beast said.
"What?" Sora asked.
"This castle belongs to me. Xaldin will never be welcome here," the Beast said firmly. The group all nodded and returned to the entrance hall.
"So, Beast," Xaldin's voice greeted them. They looked up around finding Xaldin floating in front of a stained glass window, rose in his hand. "You came after all. You had me worried. I was afraid you'd given up for good."
"What do you guys really want?" Sora asked, taking a step in Xaldin's direction. He was silent for a moment. Though his eyes were covered it wasn't hard to tell he was glaring.
"Kingdom Hearts," Xaldin said, flipping his hood off. His dark brown hair fell around his shoulders, blue eyes narrowed at the group. "When Kingdom Hearts is ours, we can exist fully and completely. So you see, Beast- that's why we need your Heartless and your Nobody!"
Xaldin summoned a group of Nobodies to him. It wasn't too hard to take them down as it was before. But it was long enough for Xaldin to escape from their sight. They went out into the courtyard looking for Xaldin. There was no sign of him as X searched over the area. Where did he go? What was his plan?
"Look! It's the rose!"
X turned quickly looking up at Belle's voice. He caught sight of her, holding the rose just as Xaldin grabbed hold of her.
"Belle!" the Beast yelled. Xaldin smirked at them before taking Belle and jumping to the bridge.
"Hurry!" Sora yelled. They all ran toward the bridge, taking only a moment to be standing opposite Xaldin again.
"You! Get out of my castle, now!" the Beast yelled.
"With pleasure, but I'd rather travel light," Xaldin said, keeping his smirk. "What shall I leave behind? Belle? Or the rose?" The Beast growled in response and a look of worry crossed Belle's face.
"Belle!" the Beast yelled running toward Xaldin. Belle suddenly moved, elbowing Xladin hard enough he released her. She grabbed the rose and ran down the bridge toward the group.
"Nice," X sais smirking as Belle passed them.
"Good one, Belle!" Sora said, smiling brightly.
Xaldin glared at them, holding his hands out to the side as the wind around him roared. He summoned six lances to his hand as he glowered at the group.
"Where's the fun in this?" Xaldin asked in annoyance.
The fight against Xaldin was one of the more difficult fights they had had on their journey. They were trying to block six different weapons and the wind Xaldin used, not to mention he would occasionally disappear into thin air and drop down on them from above. It was a hard fight, but in the end, they managed to push him back.
"Is this the end?" Xaldin asked as he stepped back, black and white thorns enveloping him as he stumbled to the ground. X frowned, watching sadly as yet another Nobody fell, the same way all the Heartless would one day.
He shook his head, ignoring the strange look he was receiving from Sora as the group went back to the courtyard. Belle handed the rose back to the Beast, looking down at the ground.
"Here. It's yours again," she said simply. The Beast took the rise, looking at Belle with an unreadable expression.
"Belle," the Beast said.
"I know. You want me to leave the castle," Belle said cutting him off. He was silent for a moment before continuing.
"What matters is, you weren't hurt by Xaldin. You're safe. And, I'm very grateful to you, for bringing the rose back to me. Thank you," the Beast said slowly picking his words as he went.
"It's the least I could do. You've been good to me. And you didn't have to be," Belle said. X frowned crossing his arms. The Beast set the rose on the ground, looking at Belle.
"Listen, Belle," he began.
"Yes?" she asked. The Beast attempted to form words, but seemed to be unable to. He glanced to the side where all his servants had gathered with Sora and the others.
"Say it!" Sora said.
"Go on!" Lumiere encouraged.
"C'mon!" Donald snapped.
"You can do it!" Mrs. Potts said.
"We have confidence," Cogsworth insisted.
"Don't be bashful, now," Goofy said with a chuckle.
X rolled his eyes and looked away, offering no support or advice. If it meant that much to him he should be able to do it without their help.
"Belle, I'd like you to stay. With me. Please?" the Beast asked. Belle smiled and held out her hands, which the Beast took.
"I will," she agreed. The Beast smiled at her and soon they were back in the ballroom dancing together.
"Hey, did you see the look on Belle's face when she grabbed that rose?" Sora said as they stood off to the side. He was grinning broadly.
"Yep, she sure was havin' fun, all right," Goofy said with a chuckle.
"She is rather unique, isn't she?" Lumiere said.
"Always ready for a little adventure," Mrs. Potts said.
"The two of them do seem made for each other," Cogsworth said with a smile. They at least had hope now.
"Yeah, they sure do!" Sora agreed.
Sora, Donald, Goofy, and X all returned to the Gummi ship shortly after. X leaned against the walls looking out the window. It probably would have been best for him to sit down, but he really didn't want to.
"Hey, X," Sora said.
"Hm?" X asked not looking at the brown haired boy.
"I, uh, I'm sorry," Sora said. X frowned turning to look at Sora. He quirked an eyebrow at him, keeping his face as neutral as he could. Hadn't they already gotten past this?
"This again?" he asked.
"No, I just. You looked upset when we beat Xaldin. Did you know him?" Sora asked. X blinked in surprise looking back out the window. He hadn't thought anyone had noticed. After all, it wasn't the first time he had shown emotion while a Nobody had died. He had been appalled watching Demyx return to nothing.
"Oh, no. I didn't really know most of Organization XIII, not past their names. Xigbar, Larxene, and Axel are the three I'm most familiar with," X explained, hoping to avoid any explanation.
"Then, why did you look so down?" Sora asked. X sighed looking out the window into the vast space between worlds. He almost missed being able to use the lanes between with Terra. Maybe he could convince Yen Sid to teach Sora how to use keyblade armor one day.
"In the end, Heartless and Nobodies aren't so different. When I go down, I'm going to go down just like them. I just, I remember when I wanted Kingdom Hearts just as much. I feel bad for them," X explained, his eyes tracing the stars.
"You can feel?" Sora asked. X chuckled.
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure I can. Pretty sure we all can," he said. Even the ones who didn't know it.
*3*
Y hummed to herself as she worked on the computer in front of her. Programming was actually going well for once. They had a good start on whatever the code was. She knew it involved hearts now, judging from code she could see already made. She glanced over her shoulder to find DiZ standing in the doorway. He was staring at her, lost in thought, not even reacting to what was in front of him. Y sighed heavily and turning back to the screen.
"You're staring at me again," Y said simply.
"Am I?" DiZ asked, seeming to come out of his reverie.
"You do it a lot. There a reason?" Y asked as a way of confirming it. DiZ was silent for a moment, and Y wondered if he was even going to answer her. Sometimes he seemed especially spiteful towards her for what she was.
"You remind me much of a young lady I once knew," DiZ finally said. Y glanced at him once again.
"Oh?" she asked.
"It was a very long time ago," DiZ said calmly. Y nodded turning away from the code entirely. She stared at DiZ for a moment, taking in the features she could. He seemed much more human to her now. Before he was just as cruel as a Nobody, but as time went on he was seeming more and more like a lost person. Looking for something he could cling to.
"I see," she said quietly. She watched him for a few more seconds before looking down at her hands. "You're Ansem the wise, aren't you?" She looked up to meet with his very surprised eyes. She smiled softly to herself. That was all the answer she needed. "I was just thinking, you have all this hatred towards Xehanort and the organization, and they were his apprentices."
"You are quite clever, aren't you?" DiZ said. Y smiled and shook her head turning back to the computer.
"Nah, I would have guessed sooner if I was. I only guessed after looking at the computer in Radiant Gardens," she said. "So, why go after them like this. I mean, I get Xehanort, but the rest were just following him. He probably tricked them," she asked, her eyes scanning through the code.
"You think so?" DiZ asked. Y nodded without much thought.
"The Xehanort I knew was a master at tricking others. He probably lied about you to them," she said.
"The Xehanort you knew was a different one?" DiZ asked. Y shrugged.
"Honestly, I'm not sure. He doesn't look like Xehanort, but he seems just like him. I think there's more there than I'm willing to admit," she said, slowly looking down. She clenched her fist, her expression souring.
"And what wouldn't you be willing to admit?" DiZ asked. Y closed her eyes, letting out a breath.
"He used to be my friend."
