King Mickey meets Sora, Donald, and Goofy further down the canyon, helping them defeat the many Heartless crawling around that whole area, all which came from the lake of Heartless Maleficent had gathered and now commanded to attack the residence of Hollow Bastion. At one of the many cliffs that form this large canyon, a portal appears, and the leader of the Organization, Xemnas, steps out. The group sees him, and they prepare themselves for battle. Xemnas smiles down to Sora, pointing at the keyblade in the boy's hand. "Hero of the keyblade. Show us what you're capable of." He fists his hand and darkness seeps out from it, attracting the Heartless that falls down the cliff behind Xemnas like a waterfall of darkness. "Let me bear witness to the power within your hands."
They all were forced to fight against this flood; otherwise, the Heartless will consume and most likely steal their hearts as well.
Then out from seemly nowhere, the same kangaroo creature arrives, landing right among the Heartless, creating a soundwave that destroyed every Heartless surrounding it. The kangaroo didn't seems alright though, it is twitching like it got a tic and when turning to the group, its feline pupils and the darker shade of blue are gone from its eyes, instead only the ice-blue color is left. The eyes are wide, like one consumed by an unimaginable fear. The kangaroo screams up to the air, creating powerful and repeating soundwaves, not only hurling the Heartless away but making the heroes struggle to stand. When the creature stops, it collapses onto its front feet. The neon green markings begin to break, and behind the markings, a strange void in colors of blue and purple that swirls around appears. This void begins to leak out from the markings, dropping onto the ground like thick water. The surrounding Heartless got some of this strange liquid onto them, but wherever leaked out from the creature; the Heartless got torn to shreds and destroyed. The liquid then would claim the released heart, dragging it into the void shaped from the pool formed by the constant flow from the kangaroo. The kangaroo then throws itself onto the ground, thrashing around as if in great pain, before it suddenly jumps back on its feet where it starts running around, screaming and leaving a trail of whatever is leaking out from it.
Jumping away from the creature, startled by the sudden and rapid change of behavior. "What's going on with that thing?!" Sora asks the king, trying to chase the kangaroo off by throwing his keyblade at it, but this time. The kangaroo didn't even seem to notice, way busier thrashing around and leaving that clearly dangerous stuff all over the place. The only good thing is that it did take out the Heartless as well.
But Mickey has no idea what's going on with that kangaroo creature. "I don't know, never seen anything bearing that kind of sigil," he admits, but what he can tell from this radical behavior, "but we need to take it out before it consumes this whole area in that stuff!"
Sora, Donald, and Goofy nods, ready their weapons, and run at the creature.
On the same cliff he had appeared on, Xemnas watches the kangaroo Keeper, and smiles at how it is destroying this pitiful world. He does not know why it became Feral this moment, but from earlier reports; Xemnas knows that when a Keeper starts leaking their magic and unless stopped, the world will be dragged into the same place where these creatures belong.
Another portal and out from it, Saix walkout. His eyes have become a lot colder than before, and yellow specks have arrived. He is aware of this but no longer has the capability to fight the shadow affecting his very soul. It's only a matter of time before he's Xemnas puppet once again, so he needs to hurry before the remaining control over his own actions has been lost.
Tracking down Sora is quite easy; the boy is having a fight with the kangaroo Keeper, who has completely lost it for some reason. Taking the others' distraction to his advantage, Saix teleports right up beside Sora, and grabs the kid's arm. "Let's have a little chat." He tells the startled boy and teleports them both a bit away from the battle. Sora staggers from the sudden teleportation but is more than strong enough to resist that quick trip through darkness and ready his weapon. Six eyes the kid; those eyes, no pity in them, good, Sora is getting there. Now to make sure there won't be any mercy from Sora's blade. "Tell me, Sora, how is the Heartless slaying been going?"
Sora glares at the blue-haired and scarred man, he knows this man's strength, and although he has gotten stronger since their last meeting, Sora is wary as he's not certain if he can defeat this one. "I got nothing to say to you." Won't stop him from being difficult.
Saix would've been feeling a ghost sense of amusement, but he feels nothing, unable to recall how the emotion felt. Not that it matters, all that does is awaken the rage in Sora. "You better start showing me some courtesy, Sora, unless you're not concerned about Kairi's well-being." Saix lectures the kid coldly, as expected, that got the boy's attention. Sora's eyes wide in shock, then anger and the boy shouts.
"What have you done to her?!"
"She's in our base," Saix replies, the lure is out. Now to make sure Sora will follow the bait and bite. "tell me Sora, how important is she to you?"
"More than anything." Sora replies, without a second hesitating.
"Show me how important." Saix replies. The boy hesitates, but only because he got a bit confused about what he meant. Then with a determination, one Saix did not recognize at first but is very certain it's an emotion that makes one willing to bite down one's own pride for the safety of others. For Sora goes down on his knees, in complete submission: "…Please." Yeah, he made the right choice in using her as the bait. "So, you really do care for her. In that case—" Saix turns around, "the answer is no."
Sora jumps onto his feet, enraged but also scared for Kairi's well being "you rotten…!" the only thing keeping him from attacking is knowing how strong this guy is.
Saix glances at the boy "Are you angry?" he asks haughty.
And the boy easily fell for the taunt. "Don't screw with me!"
Six eyes narrow, for at that moment, he didn't see Sora but Roxas and to keep a promise to a friend. He will do the opposite of what he usually would've done when Roxas got angry. "Good. Aim your rage out on the Heartless." He snaps his fingers and Heartless appears, attacking Sora. The boy takes them out, but Saix makes them let on coming. Eyeing these things, Saix speaks, "Pitiful Heartless, mindlessly collecting hearts. And yet, they do not know the true power of what they hold." He's starting to go yellow eyes lands on the keyblade. "The rage of the keyblade releases those hearts, making them masterless and free. And they gather, where all hearts go: Kingdom Hearts." And one day, it will grant him back the heart that once belonged to this body. Saix watches some of the released hearts being collected to gather at the Kingdom Hearts in The World That Never Was. "That's the way Sora. Keep on collecting the hearts." The boy did not get the hint at first, but when Saix made himself smirk, the boy's eyes widen in horror.
Sora looks up and sees the hearts disappear into small dark portals. "No, the hearts!"
Now with that settled, Saix teleports away with: "There's only one way you can stop this, Sora." and that's to eliminate the whole Organization.
Enraged by what that man had said, but unable to do anything, all Sora can do is get rid of that gone insane kangaroo. He leaps off the cliff and charges at where the creature is trashing around. Sora chases the gone mad creature, and unlike before, it does no longer look as if noticing being hit. He feels great sympathy for it, but Sora is too worried about his friends and especially Kairi's well-being that he cannot try and figure out a way to save this tormented creature. All he can do… Sora plunges his keyblade deep into the kangaroo's chest: is sets it free from this agony. The creature freezes up for a moment, then goes limp, and its body starts breaking apart. Right as it drops to the ground, it has utterly dissolved into the same stuff it was leaking out.
With it gone, Sora realizes that this gone insane kangaroo has, unknowingly destroyed the flood of Heartless that threatened to consume this world. Still leaft large pools of that weird stuff, but Sora figures that it will be easier for Hollow Bastion's Restoration Committee to clean up. Besides, with the Heartless gone, it will give the residence of this world the chance to rebuild without worrying about getting overrun by Heartless.
With this done, Sora returns to Donald and Goofy, taking notice that one is missing. "Where's the king?"
"He jumped through the portal of this Xehanort fella" Goofy replies and Donald hums, disappointed they have lost track of their king once again.
Sora is disappointed too, but nothing they can do about it at the moment; besides, King Mickey can handle himself just fine. He decides to focus on the one they left behind, and hopefully, Leon and the others might be able to help with Michi's memory issue. Sora hurries back to the city gate, but all he finds… is the shattered orb that held the bull Michi used to get around. Sora fears the worst and can't but blame himself that their once mysterious friend might be dead because he left him behind…
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Sora is now set on obliterating them, but before Saix goes back, he got one last string to pull before turning into Xemnas puppet again, this time for real. He leaves the portal, walking into the same office where he found Even. The man is there, along with Ienzo. It did not take long for the two to notice him, "Saix? What happened outside?" Even asks, he is tense but has realized they are allies. Ienzo is giving him an odd stare, but Saix does not bother with him. He only needs the head scientist. "I need to speak with Even in private." Saix tells Ienzo.
The young man hesitates but does leave after telling Even: "Be careful." and with him gone, Even turns to him, now looking quite nervous and for very good reason. "This is the last time I will be on your side." Saix explains to the older male, "If you see me again after this; don't let your guard down. I will be Xemnas puppet and not hesitate to strike either of you down."
Even nods slowly, understanding the situation. "I see, but that's not why you're here." He concluded correctly, Saix didn't come here to give him this headsup.
He came here to make one last ball rolling, one final act of his own free will. "For the sake of a friend of mine. I need you to resume the replica program." The scientist is confused only for a moment, then he gets a gleam in his eyes that shows he realizes why he made such a request. The man straightens up and thoughtfully nods in agreement.
He can see why Saix asked this, several of their allies lack a body, and they could use all the help they can get. But if Saix needs this from him, then he needs something in return. "I need my research notes, all of it." Even cannot get it himself, he lost the power of darkness from his recompletion and Even does not dare to try to meddle with such powers again. Saix nods and teleports away, doubt it will be this younger male who will return, for as Saix said: this would be the last time. Something must be going on with him, something to turn Saix into Xemnas loyal puppet. But what can it be? Maybe the same thing that caused Ienzo to grow so tense? The young man does have the ability to pick the scent of darkness— speaking of which. "You can drop the illusion now," Even calls, well aware that Ienzo hadn't left the room. For better or worse, that young man has become incredibly nosy regarding others' affairs. Something he lacked as a Nobody.
A second later, Ienzo drops the cloaking illusion he had sat up, reappearing at the door. The young's sharp blue eyes are on the spot where Saix stood a moment ago. "He got the same darkness as Riku— the darkness of Xehanort." Ienzo points out and sounds quite disturbed about this find. Even eyes him but does not voice his thoughts about this observation from Ienzo. Saix clearly knew about it and seems to think he wouldn't be himself after this meeting. Every Nobody is not themselves, but the way Saix said it… Even dreads what Xemnas has done to that once boy to turn him into his puppet. "Unfortunately, there's nothing we can do about it." He replies the young man. They do not have the resources for such research; it's a wonder the computer still works after ten years of neglect. They have a long way before anything resembles how it used to be, but for now, Even resumes work on improving the claymore recognition program. Something Cid wouldn't know how to do as he hasn't been a Nobody nor done profound studies on the Heartless. 'For all the wrong I have done, at least my past experiments can help our home.' Even though it's a minimal consolation compared to the piecing regret he feels. Sometimes he has caught himself thinking of becoming an unfeeling Nobody again, all so he can avoid this constant regret. But every time these thoughts sneak into his mind, Even gets angry at himself for thinking like that. 'Only a coward runs away from his problems.' And Even might be many things, but he refuses to be a coward anymore.
"Are you in need of my assistance?" Ienzo asks. Even shakes his head and is still surprised about this change of behavior when Ienzo takes off his lab coat with: "Then I will see you later this evening." Even watches him head out, dumbfounded that Ienzo is leaving the castle on his own account. He never did that back when he was a child nor when he was a Nobody. It's a good change but still a bit weird not to have Ienzo hovering around him all the time.
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Inside his room, Saix gathers all of Vexen's old notes he made Axel get to him back when Shion was deeply affected by Sora's memories. He is about to return back with them, but one of his personal Dusks appears with an important message. em"My liege, the superior call a meeting."/em
Not the best timing, but Saix knows better than to let Xemnas waiting. He puts the research papers into a folder, seals it, and whistles after Swift. The small but friendly monster appears in a pool of darkness, looking up to him curiously. Saix takes a clean piece of paper and quickly writes down a message, and puts it onto the folder before handing the creature the research papers. "Bring them to Shion." Swift takes its bigger form, takes the research papers and runs off to do the delivery. Saix then teleports to the meeting.
"You were in Hollow Bastion; tell us the outcome of the battle," Xemnas commands.
Ah, so that's what this is all about. Not sure if Xemnas is suspicious or just want to know how many Heartless Sora destroyed. "The keyblade chosen has eradicated all of the Heartless." Saix reports, and from the quick reports he got from the Dusks: "He also managed to destroy the Keeper and knows the truth about our plans with him." No longer able to feel even a hint of fear, he turns his head towards the quietly watching Xemnas. "This new knowledge will make him that much harder to control." He speaks calmly up to the man.
The laugher from Xigbar makes Saix turn to that elderly man, and think he should be annoyed, but not a darn thing. It would've been disturbing, but even such a thought won't come to him as it used to. It's better this way. "What does it matter, really?" The one-eyed man shrugs, "Whatever his circumstances, Sora has never been able to help himself from saving people from the Heartless. It's what his pure little heart wants."
Xigbar holds a strong point. It's not in Sora's nature to leave people to suffer from the Heartless. Whatever the boy likes it or not, he has to fight the Heartless and give the Organization the hearts they want.
"It's a weakness, but Sora has the uncanny ability to gain alliance wherever he walks." Xaldin points out. His thoughts went to a very bittersweet reunion, which reminded him of how far he had fallen. "It would be unwise to underestimate him."
Xigbar laughs at what the other former guard said but does agree with that statement. "As if, it simply makes it easy knowing where to aim." He pretends to be aiming at Xaldin. "Making him dance after our wish." The other man's reaction is a simple stare.
Luxord throws two of his dice, catching them with; "The dice have been cast. Things are in motion. He can't stop this."
The gambler's words made Saix think about his own fate, one he is unable to stop. Quite the irony, really, and yet. "We can never fully know the outcome of a battle." He tells Luxord, he sure hasn't been able to predict that the belief he lost Axel in Castle Oblivion would make him fight against the tainted darkness clinging to his soul. Giving him a chance to repair his relationship with Axel and earned him two more people to call friends.
Xaldin agrees with Saix on that part and that's saying a lot from how that man has been acting lately. He's up to something, but Xaldin can't make himself care about that. Less so when he has his own problems that involve a remnant of his past. "Nothing is set in stone, and if the dice aren't in your favor, you will share Demyx's fate." Which he has been reminded that he cannot afford to fade away. This goal of theirs has to succeed. It's the only way he can make things right.
And that is so true, but for Luxord, "Ah, but that's the fun of not knowing." He summons some of his cards and shows the spear-wielding man the Jack of spades, a wildcard in this current game. "What's the point of betting on something if you already know the outcome?" And his bets are all over the place this time around. It's been long he last had this much fun playing one of his games.
Xigbar rests his head up against his palm, chuckling at how things are going. "Come to think of it… we might all end up fighting him to the death." and yet he does not seems at all worried about it. "But in the end; no one will be able to escape the Organization." His yellow eye lands on Saix, who returns it with a cold and also yellow-eyed stare.
Sex does not move; he has kicked the ball and as Luxord said, the other Nobodies will only realize too late that this ball is rolling over to his oldest friend.
The now second in command looks up to Xemnas, asking him; "Are you sure that defeating him won't derail the Organization's plan?" Though again, Xigbar does not sound overly worried about this.
"If he is to die so easily," Xemnas replies in his always slow and trying too hard to be an emotionless voice. "He is of no use to us."
"That's exactly what I wanted to hear." Xaldin speaks up, after all, even without a heart: "It's not in my nature to hold back."
This is the last chapter where I will write about the 'good' Saix, which is a pity as I really enjoyed writing about him. I'm also kinda sad about the destruction of the Kangaroo Keeper, but each time I came to the conclusion that it had to be destroyed for the story's sake. Pity, I really liked that one.
At least the next chapter is one of those I enjoyed a lot to write and I hope you guys will enjoy it too.
but until then, I'll see you the next time.