"Port Royal already? It feels like we were just here." Roxas says as he stretches his limbs, preparing for the adventure that awaits him and his companions.
"I guess? Compared to other worlds it really hasn't been that long though. . ." Xion comments, grabbing a few ethers from their pile of random supplies that they leave unorganized near the back of the gummi ship.
"I chose to go here simply because it was convenient for us since it was so close by." Says Namine, grabbing her sketchbook and preparing for a long session of doodling. Roxas and Xion prepare to descend to the world below, but before they do they tell Namine one last thing
"Hey Namine, don't fall asleep this time." Says Roxas
"Yeah, we don't know how much worse things have gotten in other worlds." Says Xion.
"I'll try not to," Namine says with a smile, Roxas and Xion smile back before they disappear in a flash of light, before reappearing in the world of Port Royal. The two once again find themselves at the fortress nearby a town, and yet again make their way to where everything went wrong previously.
The three make their way to where Pete talked to Barbossa, only to find Jack Fighting multiple skeletal pirates at once.
"Hey, Roku, Shio, Little assistance?" Jack asks
"It's Roxas and Xion!" Roxas says. Jack sighs
"Will ye leave a mate to perish?" Jack says, looking back at Roxas and make an over-dramatic pose that resembles a man reaching for help into the air.
"Aye aye. . ." Xion says, running to Jack's aid, and materializing a keyblade. Roxas does the same. Xion casts a thunder spell, shocking the enemies long enough for Jack and Roxas to slice through them with terrifying efficiency. Once everything settled down, Xion noted something.
"Those pirates. . . they were cursed." Xion thought out loud, before turning to Jack. "I thought we broke the curse of the Aztec gold."
"Yeah, what gives?" asks Roxas.
"Someone must've gotten a tad greedy and stole it again," Jack concluded. Jack looks at the two and gets the general idea of what they're thinking. "Oh, I know what's going on. You don't trust me, do you?" Roxas and Xion nod. "A wise choice. I am a pirate, after all, mates."
"Jack! Roxas! Xion!" says a familiar voice coming from the town. Elizabeth Swann runs over to meet the three.
"Elizabeth? What's wrong?" asks Xion.
"The cursed pirates are back. And Will left to find out why. . . I fear something awful has happened to him. Can you please take me to him?" Asks the noblewoman.
"Hold on, I see no profit in this for me." Says Captain Jack Sparrow.
"Of course, You'll be rewarded for doing so," says Miss Swann begrudgingly
"And you still owe him for saving your life y'know," Xion says. Jack looks at the three, before sighing yet again.
"Alright, alright. Come along, the black pearl is this way." Says the captain walking towards the dock. The four board the ship and set sail to Isla de Muerta. After dealing with some ambushing heartless, Roxas notices something
"The Interceptor! Over there!" Shouts Roxas. Jack steers the ship's sail parallel to it, Upon getting a closer look, they see Will turner, Passed out on the deck's railing.
"Will!" shouts Elizabeth. Jack puts his hand on his chest and looks down, acting as if Will is dead.
"Oh, Stop that Jack!" Elizabeth snaps, before turning to Roxas and Xion. We've got to rescue him!" Says Elizabeth. Roxas and Xion nod before leaping across the water to the nearby ship. They retrieve Mr. Turner, before taking him aboard the black pearl. Upon waking up, He tells everyone the unfortunate news. The stone chest and the cursed medallions had all been stolen.
"Next thing I knew, I was attacked. But I couldn't see who it was- his face was shrouded. . . in a black hood." Says Will. Suddenly, the voice of Namine rings in Roxas and Xion's minds.
"A black hood? Do you guys think he means an organization member?" Asks Namine.
"It most likely is a member of Organization Thirteen. They've probably been trying to keep tabs on us since we've left Hollow Bastion." Says Xion.
"That's not good news. Do you two have any idea on who it could be?" Asks Namine
"It's probably not Xaldin since he's likely still at Beast's Castle." Says Roxas. "And I don't think anyone will be forgetting Demyx anytime soon," Roxas adds on, rubbing his neck while doing so, before looking at Xion.
". . . Yeah," Xion says, before taking a deep breath and pushing the bad memory out of her mind. "We can also rule out Xemnas and Siax. They're too high up in the chain of command to do anything like this. They would probably task someone else with doing this." Xion comments. "That leaves only two people. Luxord, and Xigbar." Xion says.
"I bet it's Xigbar, he has an eyepatch and everything." Says Roxas.
"Roxas, I don't think having an eye patch would make him more likely to be in this world. Besides, look around you. How many people in the room you two are in have eye patches?" Asks Namine. Roxas looks around.
". . . Well, it was worth a shot." Says Roxas. Suddenly, Roxas and Xion are snapped back to reality by what Will says next.
"He sent strange white creatures after us. I was the only one that made it back to the ship. . ." Will says before passing out. Elizabeth sets Will on a chair and lets him rest.
"So what will we do now?" Asks Elizabeth. "We have to stop the man in the black hood." She says, before being interjected by Jack.
"Ah, I think not actually. I've had enough monster encounters in my life. I'm turning this ship around." Says the captain.
"You're giving up just like that?" Asks Elizabeth
"Just like that," Jack says. He opens the door to leave before he stops.
"I don't remember invitin' you." Says Jack, Roxas and Xion follow him to get a better look at who he's talking to. On the center of the ship's deck lies the stone chest filled with Aztec gold, and standing next to it, a man in a black coat. The three run to the deck, while Elizabeth closes the door and locks in, attempting to form a barrier between the hooded man and Will.
"I knew it was the organization." Says Xion.
"We'll handle this," Roxas says. The two materialize their keyblades, but before they can take action. The fellow in the black coat raises his palm. The two stand still and watch the man's movements. He lowers his palm and begins to pace around the deck while he speaks.
"The darkness of men's hearts- drawn to these cursed medallions; and this Heartless- a veritable maelstrom of avarice:" Roxas and Xion recognize the voice of the man in the black coat, but before they can confirm so, a large heartless appears behind the man in the black coat. "I wonder if they're worthy of serving Organization Thirteen."
"And you want an answer now?" Asks Jack.
"Precisely." Says the man in the black coat, who disappears into a corridor of darkness, leaving the heartless behind to attack the three. Jack immediately tosses a few bombs at the heartless, causing small explosions that knock it away. The heartless retaliates with a massive swing, but Xion forms a reflective barrier. The hits are absorbed into the barrier before orbs of light are released around it. Roxas attacks the stunned heartless and swings at it many times, before finishing with two large slashes that knock it back.
The heartless spins around its weapon wildly before disappearing in whisps of wind, before reappearing behind Xion. It takes a large swing at her, to which she barely blocks in time. She's knocked back quite a ways away, but she's caught by Roxas before landing on the ground, with that, in combination with her successful block of the attack, leaves Xion unscathed. Roxas sets Xion down as more of Jack's bombs go off, knocking the heartless into the air. Roxas and Xion run together in sync before Xion leaps into the air and falls on Roxas keyblade before Roxas pushes her even higher into the air. Xion aims her keyblade at the heartless and casts many blizzard spells, While Roxas and Jack coordinate an attack, slashing through the frozen heartless and knocking it overboard and back into the seafloor. Roxas runs back and catches Xion before she could land on the ground, he sets her on the ground. She giggles a little
"Roxas I'm fine. I can land by myself." Xion says, not exactly complaining about Roxas's new treatment towards her.
"Oh, sorry," Roxas says. Rubbing his neck as his cheeks turn a tad pink.
"Hey, you two. Quit messin' around. We're not exactly done yet." Says Jack looking at the stone chest as the corridor of Darkness reforms and the man in the black coat reappears. Roxas and Xion join Jack's side. The man pulls off his hood, His short blonde hair, beard, and many ear piercings indicate clearly who this is to the former organization members.
"Knew it. What do you want Luxord?" Asks Xion
"Who cares what he wants. Throw him overboard." Jack commands
"Aye aye captain!" Says Roxas. The two are about to charge when Luxord quickly raises his hand
"Parley!" Shouts Luxord. Jack motions for them to stop their assault.
"Parley? Jack, what's that mean?" Asks Roxas.
"It's a bit of pirates' code, mate. Anyone who invokes parley must not be harmed 'til negotiations are complete." The pirate explains.
"What-? Jack! This isn't the time for rules!" Says Xion, keeping her eyes on the target.
"Maybe. But as we're honorable pirates. We should always stick to the code." Says Jack, approaching Luxord on his own.
"Guys, is this really a good idea?" Namine asks in the minds of Roxas and Xion.
"I don't know. If there's anything I know about Luxord, it's that he's a gambling man and a good one too. Every decision he makes is tactfully chosen. He picks the best moves that give him the greatest likelihood of success." Xion explains. Before communications cease and a deal is made.
"I will hand over the chest with my humblest of apologies." Says Luxord
"Rather accommodating of you, mate. And for that you want?"
"Just a few souvenirs. . . for the memories," says Luxord, grabbing a few cursed medallions and throwing them into the air. Four nobodies appear out of thin air and grab a cursed medallion. Before jumping overboard and disappearing.
"Why you-!" Roxas says. His burning stare met with a smirk from Luxord.
"Our friend's about to learn what it means to cross a pirate," says Jack as he draws his blade.
"Oh? Are you sure about that?" asks Luxord. A booming roar is heard from below as the heartless, known as the grim reaper, rises from the water and floats to be on the same level as the heroes. The heartless casts a dark spell a viscous dark winds push them off the black pearl and onto the Interceptor. The three get back on their feet just in time to see Luxord command multiple nobodies to fire upon the Interceptor. The Interceptor is blown to smithereens as the Black Pearl sails off.
Roxas and Xion open their eyes and get up from the ground. Around them are the remains of the Interceptor, which seem to have gotten caught in a series of large rocks. The two look over to find the skeletal Jack Sparrow, alive and kicking. Xion sighs
"Jack, did you take another medallion?" asks Xion,
"If only I were that fortunate." says the captain.
"What do you mean?" Asks Roxas.
"Perhaps I got a touch o' somethin' from that monster. Yet, why's the skin restin' right on you two?" Asks Jack. Roxas and Xion think, before shrugging. "Well, whatever mates. We've got to find ourselves a ship that'll float." Says Jack as he exits the shipwreck. Roxas and Xion join him. The three make their way through the ship graveyard, making sure to avoid any heartless that doesn't notice them. The three walk along when suddenly, something catches their eye. A nobody stands on a shipwreck, holding a cursed medallion.
"Quick! After it!" Says Jack, as the three charge at the nobody. The nobody was powerless to stop the attacks from the three heroes. It was quickly destroyed, and its medallion was taken.
"That's one. Only for more to go." Says the captain, but Roxas is focused on something else in the distance.
"Ship Ahoy!" Roxas points, Xion and Jack look in the general direction and see the Black Pearl sailing to their location. The ship stops near the wreckage, on it they see two familiar faces.
"Ahoy, mateys!" says Elizabeth Swann, waving her hand.
"Ridiculous imitation- and yet, I'm flattered," Says Captain Sparrow. The three make their way aboard the ship and explain the current situation as to Jack's skeletal appearance.
"What about Luxord? The man in the black coat. Where did he go?" Asks Xion.
"We saw them leave from inside the captain's Stateroom. They entered some kind of dark whole." Will explained. "Roxas. Xion. We'll need your help. Without all the medallions those creatures will remain invincible."
"We'd be glad to help." Says Xion.
"Where should we go first?" Asks Roxas.
"Isla De Muerta. They won't be expectin' us to go there so soon. They may have more than one medallion there." Says the skeletal captain as he goes towards the helm of the ship. Upon arriving at the island Jack, Roxas, and Xion make their way to the caves while Will and Elizabeth stay behind on the ship. While on their way to the ship, Roxas and Xion feel an incredible pain in their skulls and collapse.
Roxas and Xion open their eyes and get up, only to find themselves in a completely different environment than before. The area was the inside of some sort of building. With a white floor, walls, and ceiling.
"Is this-?" Roxas asks, but the two already know the answer.
"Yeah, it's Castle Oblivion." Says Xion.
"Wait, how did we even get here? We were just with Jack a moment ago." Roxas asks.
"I don't know. The last thing I remember is my head hurting, and then-" but Xion is cut off by the sound of laughing behind them. They turn to see a slender figure in a black organization coat. Roxas and Xion materialize their keyblades.
"Who are you!?" Asks Roxas. The figure laughs in response, from under their sleeve the mysterious figure draws multiple yellow throwing knives, before removing their hood. Their yellow hair and blue-green eyes are unmistakable. In front of them is number twelve of the organization, Larxene.
Before Roxas or Xion could react to the seemingly dead Larxene's sudden reappearance, Larxene yells with power, engulfing herself in lightning before disappearing and reappearing behind the two, however, suddenly there were two of her! The two Larxenes suddenly charge at Xion, who barely creates a reflective shield in time to stop the attack, the two Larxenes are knocked back by the explosive burst the shield generates. Roxas and Xion split up to fight a clone separately. Roxas Blocks multiple attacks from the Larxene in front of him before he slashes away at her with his keyblade. Xion is able to reflect an attack from the Larxene in front of her knocking her away before Xion dashes behind her and knocks her into the air. Roxas leaps into the air and hits his Larxene in the back, knocking her into the other. The two Larxene's writhe for a moment before merging as one yet again and falling to the floor.
Xion sees this as an opportunity. The yellow gemstone on her ring glows as she envelopes herself in yellow energy, entering Master form, and drawing her two keyblades, Pain of Solitude and Missing Ache. She hacks and slashes at Larxene before Larxene summons a bolt of lightning sending her to the floor. Roxas jumps and hits Larxene over the head with his keyblade, sending her to the floor as well. Xion lands on her feet and casts a fire spell, burning Larxene as she lands on the ground
The two attack her in unison, Xion casting powerful magic with one keyblade, and slashing with the other, while Roxas slashes away with his keyblade when he can. Larxene overwhelmed, knocks the two away with a shockwave of lightning, before shooting beams of lighting from her arms, and spinning around the Arena. Roxas and Xion are knocked away and are burned horribly by the lightning. The two recover as quickly as possible though, as Larxene creates more clones and dashes across the arena, Roxas and Xion barely dodge in time to avoid taking major damage from the Larxenes. They quickly disappear, before reappearing right next to Roxas, and stabbing him a multitude of times, Xion casts a powerful blizzard spell, forcing the Larxenes to disappear. Xion runs to Roxas's aid, before the Larxene's surround her, and charge. She holds Roxas in her arms as she creates a reflective shield, knocking away the Larxenes, before using a large amount of her magical energy to quickly heal Roxas, forcing her out of Master form.
The Larxenes attack again but this time It's Roxas's turn to save Xion. He quickly envelopes himself in the dark red energy and enters limit form, he creates a massive explosion with his keyblade, knocking back the Larxenes before slashing at them myriads of times before finally shooting homing projectiles of light at them, before throwing his keyblade and piercing one of the Larxenes. All of the other ones disappear as the pierced one screams in pain. And glows with vast amounts of light. Before disappearing, leaving nothing behind but black dust. Before Roxas and Xion can even react to what had just happened, They felt a great pain in their skulls once again and collapsed. The two open their eyes to find themselves on the Rock Face of Isla De Muerta yet again.
"You know mates. It's a lot easier to get those medallions if you didn't trip over yourselves." Says Jack Sparrow, The two keyblade wielders pick themselves up from off the ground and continue to go to the caves with Jack. The voice of Namine however, suddenly chimes in.
"What was that!? You guys tripped over and suddenly gained a large number of memories in such a short time. Who even was that girl?" Name asks within their minds.
"That was number twelve of Organization Thirteen, Her name is Larxene," Roxas replies.
"Okay, but why were you guys suddenly fighting her in Castle Oblivion?" Asks Namine.
"I. . . don't know." Says Xion. She thinks for a moment, before remembering something. "Wait! Back at Olympus Coliseum. Demyx mentioned something about the shadows of the fallen attacking when they please. Do you think this is what he meant?" asks Xion.
"What? I forgot about all of that. I thought he was just speaking nonsense." Says Roxas. "Geeze. To think Demyx is still inadvertently screwing with us even after he's dead. He really is a pain." says Roxas.
"We really did underestimate him huh?" says Xion.
"Well, whether or not this was a coincidence, or what Demyx was talking about, we should be careful from this point forward. We don't know if we'll run into more of these. . . things." Says Namine.
"What are we gonna call these things anyway? Shadows of the fallen is really wordy." Says Roxas.
"Hmm. . . How about Absent Silhouettes?" says Xion.
"Works for me." Says Roxas
"Alright then. Just be careful guys." Says Namine, before cutting communications between themselves. Roxas, Xion, and Jack are on their way to the Isla de Muerta caves when they find a nobody with a medallion. Roxas and Xion quickly cast many thunder spells as it tries to run, and Jack manages to catch up to it and finish it off, getting them their second medallion. They enter the cave itself and there's seemingly no nobodies in sight. Roxas is about to move on when Xion says something.
"Roxas, don't you think those crates are kind of suspicious?" Xion asks. Roxas looks at the crates conveniently covering holes in the cave, and shrugs.
"I guess." Roxas shrugs. He approaches a pile of crates, and suddenly, they explode, knocking him far back. Xion catches Roxas and the three see a nobody that was hiding behind the crates, holding yet another medallion. Roxas regains his composure and the three slash at the nobody, The nobody slashes back, but it doesn't stand a chance against the three, who take it out with ease and get yet another medallion.
"That's three. We just need one more." Says Xion. The three continue to move and make their way to a large area, right outside where they fought Barbossa some time ago. Suddenly, the three are ambushed by a large number of cursed pirates. Roxas and Xion cast spells when they can while also dealing with cursed pirates. Jack throws bombs around and blasting them away and slashing at the pirates. After taking out the pirates, another nobody appears, holding a medallion. The three strike with all their might, and take out the nobody before it can even retaliate, getting the fourth and final medallion.
"That's four medallions! We got them all!" Says Roxas. Holding the four in his hands for Elizabeth and Will to see.
"Yeah, but the chest is gone." Says Xion.
"If we find this "Luxord" character, we'll find the chest," Will says.
"The only place we haven't checked is at the port," Jack interjects.
"That's probably where he went. Organization Thirteen, the group Luxord is a part of, is looking to gather people's hearts. And to do that, they're going where they'll find the most people." says Xion.
"So they'll hurt the townsfolk?" Asks Will
"No, of course not mate. They're bringing them flowers and treasure." Says Jack sarcastically as he makes his way to the helm of the ship. It takes some time, but they arrive at Port Royal once again. They get off the boat and run off the dock towards the town, but as they leave the dock, they find exactly what they're looking for, The stone chest filled with Aztec gold stands in the center of the clearing, and next to it stands the grim reaper heartless.
"Go. He's for me!" Says Jack. Splitting off from the group and running in a random direction. The heartless follows Jack, while Xion, Roxas, Will, and Elizabeth run to the chest.
"Alright. It's time to break the curse." Says Roxas. Dropping the four medallions back into the chest. The four look over to see Jack running circles around the grim reaper, whose red and black appearance changes, to a blue and silver one. But Jack still remains skeletal.
"Jack must still be cursed because of the heartless." Says Xion
"Then I guess that just means we have to take it out!" Says Roxas. The two draw their keyblades as the grim reaper turns their direction and charges it takes a big swing, and everyone dodges. Its weapon lands in the chest, causing medallions to go everywhere,
"You three! Deal with that monster!" Says Will Turner
"Will get all the medallions we can!" Says Elizabeth. Running off to the outer edges of the clearing to gather any stray medallions. Xion distracts the grim reaper by casting many magic spells, stunning it for short periods of time while Jack and Roxas gather the medallions close to the chest. From a distance, Will and Elizabeth throw medallions into the chest, and once they're all back in, the heartless turns back into its blue and silver color, leaving it vulnerable. Roxas, Jack, and Xion slice at the heartless with their blades. Xion chose not to use magic, as she needed all the magical energy she had whenever the heartless couldn't be attacked normally.
The grim reaper teleported away and appeared next to the chest. It cast a wind spell and sucked in a ton of Medallions, Xion thought quickly and grabbed the heartless's weapon, she span around the staff-like handle of the double-sided scythe, before kicking the heartless right in the face, knocking it back. She picked up the scythe and span it around before throwing it at the grim reaper, knocking it away and stunning it even further, and dropping all of its medallions. Xion attacked the heartless while Roxas and Jack put in the last of the medallions. They turned and joined Xion in slashing away at the heartless.
The heartless, having enough of this, spins around rapidly, knocking away the three, before teleporting onto the chest and sucking in all of the medallions. The grim reaper transforms into three massive skulls and smashes itself in the general area, creating fiery shockwaves with every stomp. the three skulls come together and reform the grim reaper. Roxas and Xion cast lightning magic while Jack throws multiple bombs at the creature. The three take turns attacking the creature and returning medallions to the chest. The grim reappear eventually becomes vulnerable for the last time, as Jack throws multiple bombs at it, blowing it high into the air, for Roxas and Xion to finish it off, with crossing slashes. The heartless collapses and disappears in a cloud of snake, and Jack regains his normal form once again.
"All better?" Roxas asks. Jack looks at himself, before looking to the docks "Not quite mate." says Jack, drawing his blade once more. The two look to see Luxord walking out of a dark corridor. He extends his hand and from the heartless comes a heart, to which he takes.
"Roxas, Xion, bravo," Luxord says with a smirk before stepping back into the corridor of darkness. Roxas and Xion chase after him but the corridor closes before they can even get close. After calming down and getting their energy back. The five carry the chest to the black pearl, and sail far out, away from any known island, and throwing the chest overboard.
"All right then mates, now, about that reward," says Jack, getting straight to the point.
"Ah. . . yes, your reward. And what would that be?" Asks Elizabeth.
"Hmm. . . how about that blade of yours." Says Jack, pointing at Roxas. Roxas and Xion are taken aback, before looking at each other, and giggling. Roxas materializes his keyblade and offers it to Jack.
"All right then. Here you go." Says Roxas. Jack looks wearily at the blade.
"Hold on! That was far too easy. What's the rub?" asks Jack. Roxas only extends his arm and offers Jack the blade. Jack approaches Roxas, and looks at the Kingdom Key closely, before taking it by the handle. He holds the blade for a moment and gives it a good look. Before it dematerializes and reappears in Roxas's hand. "Ah, there it is." Says Jack. Roxas and Xion giggle a bit before speaking again.
"Well Jack, you always have the Black Pearl." Says Xion.
"That I do. But someday, I'll gather a blood-thirsty crew, and come to take that blade. Chance by then I'll have the way to wield it. And if I succeed, I'll ask you two to join me. That'd be reward enough."
"Done." Says Elizabeth. Will turns in surprise
"Who knows Jack. Maybe someday you'll be able to use a keyblade after all." Says Xion. Jack drops the four off back at Port Royal, before sailing off into the vast ocean. William Turner and Elizabeth Swann say their farewells to Roxas and Xion, before leaving the two alone, sitting next to each other by the docks. The two talk to each other, their hands intertwined.
"Do you think Sora would've liked this?' asks Roxas.
"Liked what?" Asks Xion
"Sailing the seas with a pirate, going on adventures with his friends," Roxas says depressingly. "All these things he's missing out on. . ."
"Yeah, maybe. But I think most of all. He'd want to be home again." Says Xion. staring up at the sky.
"Home. . . What exactly is home?" Roxas asks. "Sora can go back to Destiny Islands. But where can we go? We don't have anywhere to live, and The World that Never Was isn't exactly the best place to live."
"Yeah. We don't have a physical place to live. But we have Axel, Namine, Hayner, Pence, and Olette." Xion says. "As long as we're with them, we're home." Says Xion smiling.
"Heh, yeah. I guess your right." Roxas says staring at the skies. The two sit there and take in the atmosphere, living the moment for as long as they can. But eventually, everything has to end. "Namine is probably waiting for us. Want to get going?" Roxas asks, looking over to his significant other.
"Sure," Xion responds. The two get up and materialize their keyblades. They point them to the sky and disappear in a flash of light. Ready for whatever the next world has in store for them.