SUMMARY:
When Xigbar suddenly takes an interest in the former princess of Radiant Garden, will the Organization's plans for her tear them apart or bring them closer together?
A Xigbar/OC fanfic that will have eventual smut. Lots of plot twists and wild turns await.
Notes:
I'm a huge Xigbar fangirl but am always sad at the small number of fanfics there are centering around him, so I decided to write my own. This fanfic features my OC, Reina, but I plan on eventually making an alternative version that's XigbarxReader and written in second person. For now, I'm better at writing at writing in third person so that's my primary focus.
Expect lots cheeky, fun Xigbar goodness with a feisty OC, and tons of smut and fluff in later chapters. Complete with tragic backstories, exciting action, and intense drama. This will be very a long fanfic so come join me on this adventure of my first Kingdom Hearts fanfic. Please excuse any spelling or grammatical errors; I will edit these chapters more closely at a later date! For now, I'm just excited to get up the first chapter.
"Are you sure you want me to do this? Once I erase her memories, I may not be able to ever get them back exactly as they were. I know you said you wanted me to replace them with new, specific memories, but is this what she would really want?"
Namine never liked altering people's memories, especially whenever someone from the Organization commanded her to do it. It was just so cruel, so unfair, and it was for reasons like this that she wished she never had these powers in the first place.
"Don't ask questions. Just get to work. Do it exactly like we discussed. I don't have all day here, 'ya know." Xigbar let out a low groan from the back of his neck as he kept his expression as relaxed as possible, trying his best to seem more bored with the whole ordeal than bothered by it. "It doesn't matter if she wants this or not. In the end, it's what's best for her."
Although Xigbar was normally laid-back and never acted like anything ever truly got under his skin, Namine could see right through carefree attitude. She could understand his reasoning that this was ultimately for the best, and even if she didn't like the idea of tampering with this girl's subconscious mind so that the reality of her past would be swapped with an alternate, forged version of hey life's key events, it was probably the only thing that could help the situation at this point. Namine was hesitant to keep voicing her concerns on the matter as she watched Xigbar carefully place the unconscious young woman down on the bed his room. She was in poor shape, but it wasn't anything a little healing magic couldn't fix; nothing life threatening, at least. It would be easy for her to manipulate the girl's memories while she was out cold, but the guilt for what she had to do was weighing heavily on Namine's chest. She knew she didn't have all the details of the situation, and Xigbar was an enigma she'd never fully understand no matter how hard she tried, but it still just felt wrong.
"What will you do with her once I alter her memories?" Namine asked before she bit her lower lip, unsure if she legitimately wanted to know what his answer would be or not.
After a long moment, Xigbar shrugged and waved a dismissive hand in the air hoping to quell any anxieties she had over the matter at hand. "Don't worry about a thing. I'm going to take her back where she belongs. She'll be far away from here, and I'll make sure no harm comes to her. I'm not going to make the same mistakes again…Not this time. Not ever."
That wasn't exactly a reassuring statement coming from the second ranking member in Organization XIII, but she had to trust him. What other choice did she have? If erasing the girl's memories meant erasing her pain, eliminating the sorrow and anger that had darkened the light inside of her heart, then maybe it would be easier for Namine to forgive herself for doing such a dreadful thing to yet another victim of the Organization's cruel hands.
The little blonde witch frowned as she watched the sleeping maiden's face, taking note of how pale her skin was and how many cuts and bruises decorated her skin. "Xigbar…What did you do to this poor girl? I don't understand. If you cared about her, then…then…Why?"
The older man hesitated to answer at first, and instead released a deep sigh that he had been holding back. "Why even bother asking? You're about to find out the truth yourself when you start tearing apart her memories. I wouldn't want to spoil any of the fun." A lazy grin spread across his face, but Namine continued to press him, still convinced that there was so much more beneath the surface.
"When I look into a person's memories, I'm only seeing things from their perspective; only one side of the story. Other things may have happened behind the scenes, and it may not be as black and white as she perceived them to be," the blonde went on to explain. "So I wanted to offer you the chance to maybe explain what happened through your eyes. She seemed to really care and value you despite the fact that you're a Nobody and she's a princess, so there must be more to the story. Maybe there is another way to solve this problem, one that doesn't require her losing all her memories of what happened, all her memories of you."
"My side doesn't matter. She's better off forgetting ever knowing me or what really happened to her family. Bad guys like me don't get to tell our sides, so just do as I command and change her memories. It's not fair to make her keep suffering when we both know that you can fix the mistakes that I made," Xigbar growled, this time his voice holding a touch of ferocity in his tone as he narrowed his eyes at the blonde. "So just be a good little witch and start tearing apart her memories, each individual fragment, piece by piece. Do it all, Namine, and make sure you start erasing them from the very beginning, when it all happened…"
There was nothing else that needed to be said. With a solemn nod, Namine approached the girl and whispered a tiny apology under her breath before she got to work.
"SHEESH! Could this forest get any weirder?!"
From the singing flowers to the purple cat that talked in riddles, Reina was getting extremely fed up with the oddities of Wonderland. This was only the first world she had traveled to on her own since she left her small home in Traverse Town, but she was not only starting to question her decision to even embark on this ridiculous journey but she was also starting to question her sanity as well.
"I know Father said he left one of the keys here…But nothing is making sense anymore. Wonderland is even weirder than what he mentioned. It's like nothing would be what it is, and nothing would be what it isn't…So which is it?!"
She was thumbing through the pages of the thick, leather-bound journal in her hands, flipping through page after page to make sense of her father's detailed instructions on how she should find the first missing piece of the puzzle he had buried here all those years ago. She felt like she had been wandering around Lotus Forest for hours, and her feet were starting to get blisters inside of her thick, black boots. Sweat was sticking to the back of her neck even though the sun couldn't be seen from the thick foliage of the woods, and she wished she had something to tie back her long hair with since the chestnut-colored strands were starting to frizz out from the heat. The only good thing about Lotus Forest was that there weren't any bugs or gnats swarming around her head to make her even more annoyed, although she had seen an odd-shaped butterfly earlier that looked suspiciously like a piece of toast with butter on it.
Hmm, a butterfly that looked like bread…Wait, did that mean it was supposed to be a Bread & Butterfly? Ha, I get it now," she said aloud to herself, temporarily distracted by the clever pun before she delved back into the contents of the journal.
Wonderland was full of anomalies like the Bread and Butterfly, Reina was quickly learning, but after being here all day, she was ready to hop back in her Gummi Ship and get as far away from the craziness as possible. Too bad she couldn't leave yet, though. She had a mission to complete, after all. She couldn't kiss this world good-bye until after she found what she had come all the way here to retrieve.
"Okay…Let's see now…The map says to cross through Lotus Forest and head to the entrance of the Bizarre Room that's just past the Mad Tea Party…Hmm, a tea party? If Father wrote this journal almost seven years ago, I can't imagine everything stayed the same since the last time he was here. No party would ever last that long, right? And even if there is a tea party that's been continuously happening for nearly a decade, I don't think I'd want to be anywhere near it considering it has the word "mad" in it. I've had enough of all the mad people as it is," the brunette grumbled to herself as she brought the book closer to her face, hoping it would help her understand the hand-drawn photo of the map her father had carefully traced out.
Reina had always found it better to gather her thoughts if she spoke them out loud, but if anyone had been listening to her chat away by herself, they might have assumed that she was the one who had gone mad. Truthfully speaking, she might very well still slip into insanity if she didn't get out of Wonderland sooner than later. This place was full of insanely annoying characters, and she could have sworn she had seen that same damn white rabbit pass her by several times now, complaining how late he was for an appointment. Whenever she tried to stop the rabbit so she could ask him for directions, he would snap at her and tell her he was far too busy to waste any time pointing her in the right direction. If he was so focused on not being late for whatever it was he needed to attend, then why did he keep circling around Lotus Forest over and over? So rude! A sharply-dressed, talking rabbit wasn't even the wackiest character she had met so far! A walking deck of cards had been roaming around the edge of the forest, carrying lances and swords, and they had immediately charged at her with their weapons upon spotting her. Cards weren't supposed to have legs, and they weren't supposed to talk, either. Luckily, she had managed to shake them off before they lopped off her head with their weapons. It was fortunate for her that their cardstock bodies weren't as quick and nimble as a human girl, but after her brief encounter with the aggressive card soldiers, Reina had decided that it would be in her best interest to avoid the natives and stick to trying to navigate her way through the world on her own. The Cheshire Cat, another one of the world's signature residents, had showed himself to Reina several times to try and trick her into walking in the opposite direction of where she needed, filling her head with jokes and riddles that made little sense. He seemed harmless, at least, but he had been more of a hindrance to her adventure than an asset. The journal had warned of such whimsical residents of Wonderland, but it was mostly full of simple pieces of advice like "Don't anger the Queen of Hearts" or "Try not to overstay your welcome at the Mad Hatter's Tea Party".
Reina was getting more aggravated by the minute as she realized she was getting nowhere with all of this. "Gee, thanks, daddy, for all the helpful advice. Why couldn't you have just buried the First Key somewhere less crazy, like on a deserted island or something? Ooooh, or maybe somewhere fun like Disney Castle? I hear it's nice this time of year, and I've always wanted to go…" Her voice trailed off as she realized she was once again speaking her thoughts out loud, this time a bit louder than usual. She really needed to be more mindful of her volume since she didn't want to draw any attention to herself from the natives, or even worse, the Heartless.
This journal had only been in Reina's possession for a few days, but she had spent almost every waking moment with her nose glued to the pages, trying her best to memorize the guidelines her father had laid out and so she come up with a game plan as to how she would locate the Five Keys of Radiance that he had hidden away amongst the various worlds. The journal containing the keys' whereabouts had been stored away in safekeeping within the hands of Merlin, Traverse Town's local wizard and magic teacher, before finally being passed down to Reina once she was old enough to understand the truth about what her father had been trying to protect up until his disappearance.
After all these years, she was finally finding clues about what happened to her father after he mysteriously vanished approximately seven years ago when she was only thirteen, and she had a feeling these five golden keys would give her some sort of answer to his whereabouts. The thought of leaving Traverse Town and venturing throughout the worlds to follow the map her father had left in his journal had been so enticing at first, so thrilling, but this little "scavenger hunt" was turning out to be way more intense than Reina had anticipated. Wonderland was the first outside world she had been to, besides Traverse Town and her childhood home of Radiant Garden, and this was the first time she had really been out on her own. Up until last year, Reina had always been by her mother's side, helping her out in the textile shop they owned to make ends meet. Now that her mother was gone, she had no choice but to learn to be independent and actually do something with her life now. It turned out that the very thing she needed to do was find these stupid keys that she didn't even know existed until her 20th birthday last week.
According to the pages written in the book, her father, Ansem the Wise, decided to hide away the Five Keys of Radiance a few days before he disappeared to avoid them getting into the wrong hands. Reina didn't know much about the keys other than what he had written about them, and the more she deciphered his reports, the more she realized that she really didn't know much about her father or the research he had dedicated his entire life to either. She had been only a child when he vanished, after all, and her mother had tried her best to keep his secrets from her out of fear that Reina would get mixed up in the same dangerous business as her father and would end up suffering whatever fate he had. Reina hadn't blamed her mother for keeping his research a secret from her after all these years; she probably would have done the same if it was her own child. All she knew was that her father closely studied the nature of hearts, and thus his research brought him dangerously close to the darkness, something no parent wanted their child to go anywhere near. The journal was full of notes about the darkness, but it also contained very valuable information about a tool that could help lock up the darkness for good. The Five Keys of Radiance could combine together to form one ultimate weapon of intense light, the kind of weapon that could eliminate the darkness forever, or if fallen into the wrong hands, could bring nothing but an eternal chaos onto the world. Well, at least that's what she had gathered so far, although she still wasn't quite sure what that all meant.
Her father had been so determined to keep the Five Keys of Radiance safe, to keep them away from those who had sold their hearts to the darkness that would want to use the power to wreak havoc on all the worlds. The keys were only powerful if branded together so separating and hiding each of them had been Ansem the Wise's best bet at preserving the peace of the worlds until the right time. The most important piece of information was written on the very last page of his journal, and Reina often found herself referring to it whenever she felt discouraged.
"The Five Keys of Radiance are this universe's only hope of conquering the darkness for good. I have seen this weapon, the Blade of Radiance, that the five keys have forged together to create, but I am regrettably unable to test the tool's true abilities for myself. Its power is more than an ordinary man can handle, and I strongly believe only an individual with a heart full of pure light would be able to successfully harness the Blade of Radiance without the pull of the darkness offering the sweet taste of temptation to wield its power for their own selfish gains. I fear that my days of researching are coming to a halt and that my current safety is no longer guaranteed. I must hide the five keys in worlds I have familiarized myself with, and with the aid of my dearest friend, King Mickey, keep them hidden until a worthy hero is able to step up and finish the work I could not complete. My journal shall be kept locked away in a vault with Merlin until that worthy hero of light shows themselves and demonstrates the courage needed to find the Five Keys of Radiance and form the strongest weapon of light.
May the Queen of Radiant Garden and my beloved Princess continue to remain prosperous if I am no longer around after the keys have been hidden.
She had read those parting words over and over until she had each sentence memorized. Shortly after her father vanished, Reina and her mother had fled the kingdom to Traverse Town since Radiant Garden wasn't the same after Ansem the Wise disappeared. Merlin, the wizard of Radiant Garden that ended up fleeing to Traverse Town as well, had kept Ansem's journal safe all this time. For seven long years, he waited to give the book to someone with a strong, pure heart who could find the Five Keys of Radiance without being tempted to use their power for evil, but he had grown discouraged over the years since he hadn't encountered anyone strong and brave enough to take on such a daunting task. Something had told him a trusted hero would eventually come for the book to seek out the five lost keys, and it wasn't until Reina was old enough that he realized that she was the only one who needed to carry on this task all along. The power of light ran strong through Reina's veins, and if anyone could read the contents of Ansem The Wise's private journal and not be tempted by the darkness, it was her. He had waited until he believed she was ready to learn the truth about her father, and unfortunately it had to wait until long after her mother's passing. Reina had needed time to heal, time to accept that no amount of light or magic could cure her mother of her illness, and he had chosen the day of her twentieth birthday to place the journal into her cautious hands.
But was she really up to the task of gathering the keys to eliminate the threat of the darkness once and for all? She wasn't exactly "hero" material. Up until recently, Reina had never really fought any creatures of darkness but Merlin was concerned that there wasn't any time to waste on training for her battle and sent her on her way. At the time, she supposed she was as good of a candidate as any to find the keys and create the Blade of Radiance, but if she could somehow do that without having to do much fighting, that would have been ideal!
But life seldom worked out the way she wanted it to.
Exhausted after wandering around in endless circles all day, Reina found a large mushroom the size of a chair and took a seat atop of its spongey head, taking a second to close the journal and catch her breath. With a strained groan, she slid off one of her boots to examine a particularly painful blister on her ankle, and she found herself regretting her choice of footwear for the journey. The longer she spent out in the humid woods of Wonderland, the more she questioned her wardrobe in its entirety. Wanting to make a good impression on any individual she encountered, Reina had dressed to impressed in her favorite outfit. It was an entirely hand-sewn outfit that her mother had made her for her nineteeth birthday, but maybe she should have gone with something a little more practical for her "adventure". The black leather shorts were starting to uncomfortably rub against her thighs that were now slick with sweat, and the lace of her black bra was beginning to make her chest itch from the scratchy fabric. The lilac, off-the-shoulder cardigan complimented her figure so well as the length only reached just above her navel, and it especially looked cute tied in the front with a black, lacey bow, but now the sleeves were smeared with dirt after the numerous times she wiped her forehead on them. She had once seen a trendy young woman walking around Traverse Town with a fancy, layered sash that draped around her waist like a cape for her hips, and Reina had begged her mom to make one for her just like that. She had wanted the colors to be a beautiful blend of light purple and white—her two favorite colors—and the long, flowy fabric of the sash had been the perfect addition her outfit needed to give her a unique, stylish look. Now that she was out here in the "wild", surrounded by trees, talking plants, and muddy grounds, she really wished she had traded "fashion" for "comfort". She hadn't even thought to pack any sneakers in the small, brown backpack she carried with her, and she was going to pay for it later.
"This whole thing was such a bad idea," the brunette groaned before slipping her blistered foot back into her boot. "I'm in way over my head here but it's too early to give up, I suppose. I've gotta' find that stupid key and get out of here as quickly as possible before more Heartless show up."
"And the mome raths outgraaaaaaaabe~!"
As Reina was just about to carry on with her mission, a songlike voice rang out from the tree limbs above her, startling her to the point that she dropped the precious book in her hands. A few pages that hadn't been securely strapped to the book's binding flew about, and she was quick to reach for each individual page before the wind could blow them away. The voice from before was no longer singing but instead burst into a low cackle, amused at the way she scrambled to snatch up all the scattered pages in the blink of an eye. Once the sheets were all safely stuffed back into the book, Reina looked upwards to narrow her jade eyes in the direction of the voice.
"Oh? Have you finally decided to lend me a hand, oh, wise, Cheshire Cat?" She huffed while stuffing the journal into her bag to prevent any more mishaps, sarcasm filling her voice. This wasn't her first run-in with the purple-striped cat, but something told her that he was going to be just as helpful as he was the first three times he had appeared before her, which was absolutely zero.
"Why would I land a hand," the cat grinned from ear to ear, "when it seems like you already have two of your own?"
Nope. It was already apparent he wasn't going to be of any help at all and do nothing but waste her time again.
"Ha, ha, very funny," she rolled her eyes. "Just as funny as the Bread and Butterfly. Now can you finally tell me how to find the Mad Tea Party or are you just going to ask me another riddle? I need to get to the Bizarre Room on the other side of it." Normally a cat-lover like herself would have been thrilled to have the opportunity to chat with a cute, chubby kitty, but she was on a mission and didn't have time to waste. She was already tired and irritable from being lost in the woods all day, and all she wanted was to hop back in the Gummi Ship she had borrowed from her ole' pal, Cid, and head onto the next world in hopes it would be a little less whacky somewhere else. Unfortunately, her visit to Wonderland couldn't come to an end until she found the First Key of Radiance.
"Riddle me this, riddle me that," the feline began to chant as it stretched out its fat, furry body on a nearby tree branch. "All I can do is riddle, my dear, for I am just a cat."
She should have expected as much. "Well…Can you at least tell me if I'm headed in the right direction? Just say 'yes' or 'no'."
The cat's head was soon detaching from its body as he began to roll it around in his paws as if it were a ball of some kind. "All directions are the right direction if you're looking for the right thing. All directions are the wrong direction if you're looking for the wrong thing."
While she should have been disturbed that the cat was playing around with his own head like it was an ordinary occurrence, it honestly wasn't the weirdest thing she had seen all day. Everyone in Wonderland could have been able take off their heads and play with them like toys, for all she knew.
"Well, I know I'm looking for the right thing. My father said in his journal that he hid something very valuable here in Wonderland, so I'm going to find it. I just need to find the right direction," she explained, causing the pesky cat to grin even wider, if that were even possible, as he began to stand on one leg upon his head for a silly little balancing act.
"Something valuable, so you say, but isn't value in the eyes of the beholder? What is valuable to you may be junk to someone else. So how would I be able to tell you if the valuable thing you seek is in the right direction, when something valuable to me may be in the wrong direction?" He spoke again in a whimsical riddle, only serving to further the poor girl's confusion and add to her irritation.
"I'm not really in the mood for your games, kitty cat," she sighed. "I just want to find the First Key of Radiance and get out of here. The sooner I find it, the better."
The cat suddenly seemed interested in what Reina was saying, and he stopped playing with his severed head and placed it back in its proper place on his shoulders. "How do you know someone hasn't gotten to this valuable Key of Radiance first?"
Reina brought her hands up to the necklace that hung loosely around her neck. A key-shaped pendant was draping down from the golden chain, and she held the palm-sized key out towards the Cheshire Cat to see. "My father hid Four Keys of Radiance amongst the various worlds. The fifth he had apparently entrusted to me on my birthday when I was still just a kid. If someone else had known about his journal and where he hid the Five Keys of Radiance, they probably would have tried to come after me first which makes me think no one else but him, and maybe his best friend, knew where he put them. I've been wearing this around my neck for over seven years now, waiting for the day I could see my father again, but I had no idea the necklace he had given me was so important until I got a hold of his journal."
His journal laid out precise instructions on where the other four keys were. They were in specific worlds, stowed away in specific locations, with specific means of getting to them. The location of the four worlds were clearly outlined on multiple pages: Wonderland, Olympus Coliseum, Halloween Town, and Beast's Castle. The fifth key, however, wasn't buried away like a secret treasure in any of the worlds. No, he had settled on something quite different for its location: close to the heart of a person he loved dearly.
Reina had received this necklace for her thirteenth birthday, just days before the king of Radiant Garden inexplicably vanished. He had told her it was a very special gift, something she needed to protect with her life and always keep close to her. Growing up as a princess, Reina was used to receiving lavish gifts for her birthdays. She could have gotten anything she wished for—a fancy dress, a pony, or toys of any shape and size—but out of everything she had ever received as a present, this important "key" had always been her most prized possession.
"He told me this key would end up protecting me later on if I protected it, and I didn't know what he meant until today," Reina continued to explain to the Cheshire cat as she pulled the necklace over her head to cradle it in her palm. Outstretching her hand, Reina's palm began to glow as the small key transformed in her grasp. It was no longer a tiny pendant but now an elongated weapon the size of a sword but still in the shape of a key. The hilt was brilliant shade of gold while the blade was as silver and reflective like the finest of metals.
With the large key still in her hand, Reina winked at the Cheshire Cat whose grin had neither widened nor faltered as she showed off her impressive weapon. "Pretty cool, right? I was attacked by some Heartless earlier, but my necklace turned into a super-awesome Keystick and I was able to smack them away!"
Wonderland, like many other worlds, had been invaded by creatures of darkness known as the Heartless. Even Traverse Town had seen its fair share of them, but they could be defeated with magic and normal weapons. Her friends back home had been able to easily protect the civilians from the creepy, shadowy monsters, but Reina wasn't the best warrior and always got in the way whenever she tried to help them fight. Even now, with a weapon of extraordinary strength, she could barely handle more than two Heartless at a time.
"You must be a brave and fearless fighter to take on the shadows. Wonderland will be safe in your capable hands, I see!" The Cheshire Cat continued to stare at her weapon with unblinking eyes, and Reina realized she was giving herself way more credit than she needed to. She had chosen to leave out the part where the Heartless nearly had the jump on her since she wasn't exactly sure how to wield this marvelous weapon of seemingly great power. It was almost a miracle that she had managed to knock one of them away after swinging the large key like it was a baseball bat, and while it was knocked off its feet, she had fled the scene and ran away as fast as her legs could carry her. Between the angry Ace of Spades card and the Heartless, Reina had done more running today than she had in her whole life. She really wished she would have cut back on the ice cream Hughie, Dewie, and Louie were always pestering her to try and focused more on working out all these years. She had been so underprepared when Heartless started popping up in the Second and Third Districts of Traverse Town many months ago, but luckily her friends, Leon, Yuffie, and even Aerith, were competent enough to help ward them off.
There had been quite a few mentions of Heartless in the journal, but nothing too detailed. Whatever these Heartless were, but it looked like Ansem the Wise didn't have a lot of intel on them. He was still in the process of studying them before his disappearance so there weren't a lot of records on how to handle them or even defeat them. His book mostly only talked about the Five Keys of Radiance and where to find them, but oddly enough, there was no mention of a mystical weapon in the shape of a key that could fend off the Heartless. What she was holding in her hand must have been a fragment of the Blade of Radiance, but to think something as small as her necklace could turn into something so dangerous was mind-boggling. The other Four Keys of Radiance could probably turn into weapons, too, and she wondered if they would all be in the same shape as the one she had. The magical Keystick—at least that's what she fondly referred to it as, since she had never seen a key-shaped weapon before in her life—would probably end up being an invaluable tool to defeat the Heartless, but she had never really been trained in combat before and was a complete moron when it came to magic. Merlin had been trying to teach her magic spells over the years so she'd be able to protect herself if push came to shove, but she had never been particularly good at wielding a wand. He had tried to teach her how to use a "Fire" spell, but it was extremely difficult for Reina to summon the power to make a ball of flame appear. Some people had the gift of magic, others just didn't, Merlin believed. It had taken her weeks just to create some fire balls, and she had lost count of how many times she had singed the old man's beard by misfiring her attacks. Her Blizzard and Thunder skills weren't much better, either. Reina was certain she saw steam come out of Merlin's ears when he found out she had accidentally frozen his owl friend, Archimedes, while practicing in his chambers one day. The owl ended up being fine, thanks to Merlin's healing magic, but she had felt so guilty for turning the poor thing into a popsicle on accident. She had lost her magic lesson privileges for at least a month after that, and sadly she never really got much better even after her continuous afternoon practice sessions with Merlin.
"I was pretty shocked when the necklace my father gave me turned into the Keystick today as soon as I was ambushed by a few Heartless," Reina went on to explain to the Cheshire Cat. "One minute I was standing there, losing my cool as I thought I'd be eaten by those things for sure, when suddenly—TA DA! My necklace started glowing and a giant sword-thingy appeared in my hand! It was like something out of a movie!" She was very animated with her gestures, swinging the Keystick around as if to give the cat a demonstration of her "heroic" fight. "But just between you, me, and the fence post, I don't really know how to use it yet. I think I'll need some practice before I can really jump headfirst into battle. Once I find the First Key of Radiance, I'll be headed to Olympus Coliseum to find the Second Key. I hear that's a great place for rookies to train and polish their skills, so I'll hit two birds with one stone while I'm there! It's a solid plan."
Reina wasn't sure if it was such a good idea to relay all this information to the mischievous, always grinning Cheshire Cat, but he didn't seem like he was an enemy. He may not have been helpful in giving her directions, but he had also tried to warn her earlier about the Heartless hanging around Lotus Forest and that she needed to keep on her toes if she wanted to make it out alive. He was an ally of some sorts, she liked to think, even if his jokes and riddles annoyed the hell out of her.
"Ah, yes, what a remarkable tool of light," the Cheshire Cat enthused as he clapped his two paws together in a thunderous applause. "But, alas, my child, with great light brings great darkness. In fact, I think I can hear them now…Pitter patter, pitter patter~! They're coming for you, they're coming for me, but without a key, I must just flee!"
The purple cat was now singing a silly song as his body began to fade into transparency, indicating it was high time he took his leave. At first, Reina wasn't sure what he meant by how he was able to hear them coming, but a cold shiver ran down her spine.
He was right. Something was coming.
The brunette set her bag down on the ground by her feet, her shiny new weapon in hand, as she watched a few black creatures emerge from a nearby bush—Heartless!
They hopped out in front of her, dressed in rigid armor and helmets like they were small soldiers. With their beady eyes, big, silly shoes, and wobbly stature, they almost looked cute and comical, however, their red claws encouraged Reina not to let her guard down.
"Not these guys again!" Reina hissed, panic rising in her chest as they stalked closer to her. There were only three of them, but she didn't have a lot of experience in fighting just one of these creatures, let alone multiple ones. This definitely wasn't the time to freak out, though. Surely she could take these pipsqueaks on! They were half her size, after all, and they didn't have any weapons of their own, save for their sharp claws.
Just breathe, Reina. You got this! You have a magical Keystick after all! Father promised you that it would protect you!
Once the Heartless Soldiers closed in on her, the brunette lunged forward and held her weapon like it was a golf club. She pretended the little bugger was a golf ball and she swung with all her might, whacking it a good distance away. Had this really been a game of golf, she would have made a hole in one!
Well, not exactly.
As soon as the armored shadow fell back on its back, it immediately jumped back up and continued its pursuit of her. Okay, maybe golf wasn't a sport she should have tried to imitate with her KeyStick. Maybe she should try a different approach, like Whack-A-Mole!
As soon the second creature ran right in front of her, she brought the blade of her key down on its head like a pounding hammer. Its helmet, unfortunately, was a lot sturdier than she gave it credit for, and her hit bounced off its surface, nearly knocking her backwards from the force of the impact.
Okay. Her methods were clearly not working. Time for a different tactic!
Instead of swinging it around blindly, Reina held the tip of key out towards the pesky soldier. "I didn't want to have to resort to magic, but you asked for it!" She steadied her aim, pointing the tip of the key at one of the Heartless before channeling her magical energy into the weapon as if it were one of the wands she often practiced with at Merlin's house.
"THUNDER!"
Tiny zaps of electricity emerged from the air above the Heartless's heads, but each bolt of lightning missed her target within inches of them. A few holes in the dirt were what was left of her spell's touch, and she bit back a few curse words as her aim was just as reliable as it had always been. It didn't matter what tool she used to expel her magic, whether it be a wand or a powerful and mighty key of light; she just sucked at magic all in all.
Not giving up just yet, Reina continued to fling a few more spells in their directions until her magic energy was all but depleted. All of her Fire spells had missed as the Heartless dodged them with ease until the balls of gleaming flames fizzled out. One of her Blizzard attacks managed to hit one of them as an icicle hit its leg, but it hadn't been enough damage to do anything but temporarily slow it down.
If physical attacks and magic didn't work, how the hell was she supposed to handle these guys?!
The amount of spells she had cast in such a short period of time left her exhausted and drained of all mana, and all Reina could do was back up and look for a way out of the fight. There was no shame in running from a battle you couldn't handle. Even the bravest of warriors knew when to run away.
Warmth was flowing in her hand, reminding her that the Keystick wasn't an ordinary weapon and that it wasn't time to give up just yet. If this key was supposed to protect her, maybe she didn't have to do anything at all! Maybe she could just point it at her target and power would just flow through her, eliminating her enemies. It sounded crazy, but it was worth a shot, right? She had to believe in her father's words, believe that if this key was a crucial fragment of the universe's most powerful weapon, and trust that it possessed the power to save her from all danger. There had to be a way to trigger its ultimate potential, to activate its hidden power. But what was it?!
Thinking fast, Reina began to shout out commands to her Keystick. "Oh, mighty and powerful KeyStick!" Reina used a deep, powerful voice that strained the back of her throat. "I command thee to save me! Bless me with your incredible powers and rescue me from danger, just like Father said you would!"
The front of the blade was pointed at the Heartless, and while Reina had expected some magical beam of light to shoot out from her Keystick and obliterate them, nothing was happening. Nothing at all.
"Wh-what? Come on, Keystick! You're supposed to protect me! Do something! Shoot out a laser beam or form a forcefield around me!" Reina shouted at the inanimate object in her hand as if it had ears to hear her with. She tried waving it around in circles like a magic wand before forcefully shaking it, but no matter what she did, the Keystick just wasn't responding and the monsters were inching closer to her. There was no way to tell if the shadows possessed the capability to think coherently, but for a moment Reina was certain she could see a hint of judgement on the face of one of the armored ones as she continued to sway her weapon around in the air in hopes of triggering a magical event. Well, maybe not. They all kind of wore the same empty expressions no matter what she did.
While Reina was busying herself by trying to make the Keystick respond to her, one of the ironclad shadows decided to strike. It lunged forward, pointy claws slashing at her legs. Its nails scraped across her thigh, leaving four deep gashes in slanted lines before rearing its arm back for another attack. Pain shot through her leg, forcing her to act on sheer impulse and retaliate before it could scratch her again. She swung the heavy key downwards, the ridges of the shaft slicing through the dark soldier's chest. The tip had slashed through the small creature's body, and it was just fatal enough to do the trick. The monster vanished in a small puff of black smoke, leaving no trace of its body behind.
With both hands clutching onto the hilt, Reina exhaled a heavy breath she had been holding in. She had managed to extinguish one of the creatures on her own, but there were still several left. It was hard to focus on which target she needed to eliminate next as blood began to trickle down from the claw marks on her thigh, the pain becoming too distracting. Why couldn't she have dedicated more of her life to training for battle?!
She had been too young and sheltered during her peaceful days in the castle of Radiant Garden, and Traverse Town had been protected by some pretty tough fighters and magic users like Leon and Yuffie so they had never really needed her help. All this time she had spent her days helping her mother in their textiles shop, making clothes and sewing intricate garments, while simply waiting for the day her Father would return and tell them it was safe to go back to their home in Radiant Garden. That day had never come, and all that wasted time could have gone towards training herself in the ways of the warrior, or at the very least, getting better with magic spells. She hadn't been a little princess protected by her father's armed guards and servants since she was thirteen; the time for her to learn how to defend herself was long overdue, and if she didn't catch on quick, she'd be toast.
Two more of the ferocious Heartless Soldiers were dashing towards her, and Reina held her ground, waiting for them to come to her. "Ha! You guys want some more? Fine then! Bring it on!" She taunted them, suddenly confident in her abilities to strike the pesky critters down. She had managed to kill one of them, so how hard would it be to kill three more?
Apparently incredibly difficult.
Reina had been so focused on her first kill that she hadn't realized three more had popped up in its place. There were now six of them, and still only one of her. Where did these others even come from? There wasn't any time to really ponder on that since another one was already charging towards her, claws outstretched. Reina knocked it back using the Keystick as if it were a sword, penetrating its stomach and making it writhe in pain before exploding into black dust. These things, she noticed, didn't make any noises when they were killed. They didn't bleed, either.
As soon as she killed the second shadow, another set of three emerged from dark pools of liquid darkness on the ground. It looked like a portal had opened up, leaking more Heartless into Wonderland.
"Wh-Where are all you coming from?!" Reina sputtered out as she slowly backed up. They were crowding around her, wobbling back and forth as if there were dancing to an imaginary tune to taunt her. With her key still firmly in her grasp, Reina watched as more and more seeped out from the black portal in the ground. Their numbers were growing to ten, twelve, fourteen… A whole hoard of them had her surrounded her. She really should have fled and escaped with her life when there was only a few of them!
Reina kept sneaking backwards to put as much distance between herself and the Heartless as possible until she was backed up against the trunk of a fifty-foot tall tree. They had cornered the clumsy "Keystick" wielder, blocking off any means of escape. They weren't charging at her just yet, their empty, golden eyes simply locking onto her while they waited for her to make the first move.
"Stay back! I'm warning you!" Any trace of confidence in her voice was now gone. She hadn't expected their numbers to increase so rapidly, and if her sliced open thigh was any indication, there was no way she could handle fourteen monsters at once.
This was it. Her journey was coming to an end right after it just started. Fourteen-to-one was just not the kind of fight someone like her could handle. There was nowhere for her to run, no chance of escaping their sharp talons, and her demise was inevitable. She couldn't believe how careless she had been; how naïve she had been to even think someone as weak and inexperienced as she could ever hope to achieve such an ambiguous goal like traveling through the worlds and gathering the Five Keys of Radiance. She had not only let her father down, wherever the man may even be, but she had let the entire universe down, too.
Reina knew when to quit. There was just no way of getting out of this. Getting torn to bits by the claws of these empty, mindless creatures was going to be a horrendous way to die, but maybe they would finish her off quickly. Heartless were lucky when they died. They didn't bleed or even suffer; they just vanished in a puff of smoke when they were killed. If only it could have been the same for her mother. The former Queen of Radiant Garden died a slow, agonizing death as the sickness weakened her body, shutting down each of her hard-working organs one by one until she eventually found it too strenuous to even breathe with her fragile lungs. It had been so hard for Reina to watch her mother struggle to move to eat, and it was almost a relief that her suffering had come to an end after battling her illness for so many years. At least now Reina would be able to join her. It was just a shame she couldn't even complete the one goal her Father had outlined for her, and with her being the only one who held the journal, what was going to happen to the Five Keys of Radiance? Would the Heartless rip her body into a million pieces before shredding the pages of the journal? Merlin had told her he never made a copy of the book to help preserve the secret knowledge within, but maybe he could verbally recount the details to a more deserving individual down the road so someone else could take her place and help keep the worlds from falling deeper into ruin. Merlin wouldn't have been stupid enough to not have a back-up plan in case something happened to the daughter of Ansem the Wise, so at least that was comforting.
Life always had a sick, twisted way of mocking her. She had been a princess who lost her kingdom, lost her family, lost her purpose, and now she was going to lose her life. Hopefully the after-life would treat her better, whatever the afterlife may be.
The Heartless were getting agitated and were no longer interested in standing by idly. They all jumped in for the attack at once, determined to finish her off with one all-out assault. Reina lowered the weapon in her hands, closed her eyes, and braced herself for the imminent death at the hands of the dark creatures.
"Oh, man. Giving up already? I thought Keyblade wielders were supposed to have a lot more guts than that!"
At the sound of an unfamiliar male voice, Reina's eyes fluttered open, and a tiny gasp escaped the back of her throat as she looked to see a tall figure dressed in a long black cloak leaping down from above to land gracefully in front of her, shielding her from the Heartless.
The trembling girl didn't get a chance to speak as the cloaked figure materialized two weapons of his own—purple guns? Or were they knives?—and sprang into a chivalrous act of heroism by blasting the shadows one by one with his unusual weapon. Purple beams were flying through the air with expert precision, making the creatures explode and disintegrate into dark clouds by just one hit. Reina's eyes could hardly follow the trail of the glowing bullets as her savior continued to rapidly fire his ammunition until every menacing Heartless was gone.
"Jeez, what a pain. My orders were to scope out Wonderland, maybe even eliminate a Heartless or two, but absolutely and not meddle in anyone's affairs under any circumstance, but how can I just sit back and watch a pretty little thing get devoured by some weak-ass Heartless?" The hooded man's voice was light and airy despite the dark and dreary demeanor he carried by having his black hood draped over his head. With the mysterious weapon still in his hand, he turned around to face the girl he had just rescued. She wasn't saying anything, her guard still clearly up, as she stared back at him with wide, mystified jade eyes.
He was still holding his dual Arrowguns in each of his hands, showing no signs of retracting them at the moment. "What's the matter, sweetheart? Cheshire Cat got your tongue, or were you just too amazed by my mad skills that you forgot how to speak?"
Finally remembering she had a mouth and throat that could help her form words, Reina shook off her stupor and finally managed to speak up.
"Who are you?"