Roxas, Xion, and Namine walkthrough Hollow Bastion as they make their way to the postern. They had received a message from Aqua earlier that day about a strange cave Cid and Leon found, and they're going to investigate.
"Roxas, are you sure you're up for this?" asks Xion
"Of course. I can't let Riku show me up." Roxas responds.
Namine sighs. "Roxas, it's not a competition. Don't overexert yourself."
Roxas backpedals as he hears disappointment from his friends. "It was just a joke. . ." He insists. As they get closer to the postern, Xion speaks up.
"Go on ahead without us Namine, I want to talk to Roxas privately." Namine nods and leaves the two behind as she approaches the castle postern.
"What'd you want to talk about?" asks Roxas, as he turns to Xion.
"I think you know," she says. Roxas groans. "Listen. I know you don't like Riku. But he's my friend, and Namine's too. So please, be nice to him." she request." can you promise me that?" she asks as she caresses his cheek so he looks her in the eyes. He takes a deep breath as he looks at his beloved.
"Alright. I promise." He says as he puts his hand on hers. Xion smiles a little.
"Thank you," she says. She gives him a quick peck on the cheek before the two run to catch up with Namine. They arrive at the castle postern. Upon arriving they see Namine, Riku, Kairi, and Master Aqua looking at a large hole in the side of the castle. "Is that it?" asks Xion.
Aqua nods. "Yes," she says simply.
"Any of you checked it out?" asks Roxas.
"No, we wanted to wait until everyone was here," Riku explains.
"I guess that means we should get going, right?" asks Kairi, now that everyone has finally arrived.
"Yeah. We don't know what we'll find, be on guard everyone." Master Aqua says as she materializes her keyblade.
"Right." everyone else says as they materialize their own keyblades. They hop into the hole and climb down the latter, upon arriving at the bottom, they find themselves in a large cavern. As they navigate the tight rocky corridors they find a large opening.
"Look! Over there!" Namine points to a large white door at the end of the open cave.
"Guess we know where we're going," says Kairi, beginning to walk along a path that'll take them to the door, the others follow. As they're making their way to the door they encounter many strong heartless, but with their numbers, they're able to take them out with ease. Upon opening the door they find themselves in tighter paths, some of which require moving in strange ways due to pipes protruding from the walls of the caves.
After navigating through the cave system for some time, the group finds a section of the cave that looks different. It looks like some sort of old mining area. Aside from even more pipes that run along the walls, they find strange machinery that moves around, almost like some sort of obstacle course. However, their path is blocked, as some of the machinery doesn't seem to be working.
"Hmm . . . Maybe with a wind spell?" Xion proposes. They give it a try, and to their surprise, it actually works. They make their way past the obstacle course, making use of wind spells to reach areas that are too high up, until eventually running into another large white door. Upon opening it, they find a small mine shaft that leads to a large engine chamber. Aside from powerful heartless flying around the room, the keyblade bearers experience some trouble, as not only is there a conveyor belt on the floor forcing them in one direction, but pipes are bursting left in right around them as they navigate the engine chamber. But with enough determination, they reach another short mine shaft, which leads to another large white door. They open it and to their shock, it doesn't lead to more caves.
"This place. . ." Namine utters.
"It looks like castle Oblivion," says Xion. They walk down the white halls cautiously, but quickly. Kairi runs her fingers through the left wall as they walk, though it's not really a wall, as it is a waterfall.
"Has this place been under the water the whole time?" asks Riku, in awe of how he's never seen this area before. Suddenly they stop, as they feel intense darkness ahead.
". . . guys, is it getting closer?" asks Namine worryingly. No one has time to answer though, as suddenly, a rush of dark wind blows past them. Everyone closes their eyes as the strong winds of darkness blow past them. The darkness obscures their vision and they're unable to see each other. They stand their ground as best as they can, but the wind is too much, and they're blown away, and knocked out.
Aqua opens her eyes as, she picks herself up from off the ground, and sees the floor is no longer that of the white corridor she was just in, but instead grass. She looks up, to find herself in a wooded area, in front of a gate that leads to some sort of mansion.
"Where are we?" Aqua says looking around, before panicking. "Where's Roxas!? Xion!? Riku and Namine!? They're gone!" she looks around as Kairi gets up from the ground and looks around.
"Why are we in Twilight Town?" asks Kairi.
"This is Twilight Town?" asks Aqua. She's heard of the town before, and how beautiful the sunsets are, but she's yet to visit it personally. Their discussion is interrupted, however, as a strange sound catches their attention. A strange swirling pillar of ones and zeroes appears in front of the twilight town gate, before suddenly disappearing, revealing a man with dull blonde hair, wearing a black coat.
"What the- The organization!?" Kairi exclaims. Aqua leaps back and stands by her side.,
"Isn't the Organization dead?" asks Aqua s they look upon the man, who summons a large blue shield in front of him.
"I guess not. We'll just have to take down what's left!" Kairi exclaims. The two materialize their keyblades and prepare for battle. Kairi dashes at Vexen and strikes his shield with incredible force, but is knocked away by the power of two large snowflakes that spin around like massive buzzsaws. Aqua leaps over the snowsaws and lands behind Vexen she swings her keyblade but Vexen turns around and blocks the attack with his shield, only to be struck from behind by Kairi. His shield dematerializes as he loses his focus, allowing the two keyblade bearers to attack him with all their strength.
As Vexen is knocked away by the flurry of keyblade slashes, he re-summons his shield and casts a powerful blizzard spell, freezing the two in place long enough for him to create a data-circle on the ground. As the two break out of their frozen prison, the data circle appears below Aqua, and she's suddenly knocked away as a blast of darkness reveals a shadow-like copy of herself. The data copy attacks Aqua, But Kairi jumps in front of her and blocks the attack with a reflective shield. The data copy is stunned by its own kinetic force, giving Kairi the opportunity to slash at it many times with her keyblade, before shooting glowing light projectiles at it, killing the dark copy instantly.
The two quickly run at Vexen, who attempts to stop their approach with many blizzard spells, but he fails in doing so, as Aqua and Kairi manage to get to Vexen's location and strike his shield with such force that it shatters. The two attack him with incredible force and precision, every strike being perfectly calculated to hit where it'll hurt most. Finally, Vexen is sent flying in the opposing direction of Aqua and Kairi, the two parties stare each other down as they stand defiantly against one another. Aqua and Kairi dash at Vexen as he resummons his shield and casts his strongest blizzard spell out of desperation. Four large ice crystals appear before him and swirl around him like an extra set of shields as he approaches the two keyblade wielders. Suddenly, the ice crystals fly away from Vexen and hit the two with incredible force, knocking them away.
They land on their feet and manage to cast a reflect spell just as Vexen reaches their location, destroying his ice crystals and knocking him away. As Vexen lands on his feet, he looks at the two and pushes his arms forward as he casts one final spell, a massive spike of ice protrudes from below the two keyblade wielders. Kairi is launched into the air as she's blindsided by the attack, but Master Aqua manages to dodge out of the way of the attack as it's cast. She strafes over to one side of the arena before dashing at Vexen and piercing him with his keyblade. Vexen groans as his body disappears in a pillar of ones and zeroes, leaving the area empty, save for the two keyblade wielders. Aqua runs over to Kairi and lends her a helping hand.
"Are you okay?" asks Aqua as she pulls Kairi onto her feet.
"Yeah, are you?" she asks, Aqua nods.
"It's strange how they appear and disappear like that," Aqua comments as she looks where Vexen once stood.
"You mean those ones and zeroes?" asks Kairi. Aqua nods a little. "Hmm . . . It might have something to do with computers. I remember Xion mentioning something like that. We'll have to ask them later."
"Yeah. Hopefully, we find them soon." Says Aqua as the two begin to make their way into the dense forest. As they approach though, they're suddenly blinded by a strange light. They block the light with their hands, but it's too bright, and they're forced to close their eyes as the light gets brighter and brighter.
Namine opens her eyes as she regains her consciousness, she presses her hand against the soft ground and looks up, only to see that she is not on the ground, but rather, on top of the unconscious Riku. He groans as she pushes against him
"Ah! Sorry!" she says as she tries to hide her flustered state.
"I-it's fine. You can get off me now. . ." Riku says, his pale face turning slightly pink. Namine notices this as she gets off him, but chooses not to comment on this, instead choosing to help her friend back to his feet, before looking around. "Wait, why are we here?" asks Riku. they're once again on the destroyed destiny islands. Dark clouds fill the skies as a strong wind push against their clothing. Suddenly their attention is turned to the ear-piercing sound behind them. A pillar of data appears and with a flash, a blue-haired man in a black coat appears before them
"Zexion!" shouts Namine as she materializes her keyblade. Riku materializes his as well and quickly attack him. Zexion is sent flying back by the keyblade strikes, before opening his tome and casting a strange spell. Riku and Namine are bound by black and green thorns as everything goes dark around them, a crushing force slowly suffocating them.
Riku roars as he breaks open his bindings and escapes his tome-prison. "Namine where are you!?" he yells as many tomes fly around him. A group of tomes start flying at him and he slashes straight through them with his blade, a tome comes charging from behind, when suddenly, a nearby tome bursts open as Namine appears in a cloud of smoke, escaping her bindings. She swiftly slashes through the book behind Riku.
"Right here," she says as a smirk forms across her face. Riku smirks back at her and the two quickly begin dealing with all the tomes. Namine hacks and slashes at nearby books while Riku makes use of the darkness and casts Dark Firaga, lighting nearby books on fire. As they destroy tomes one by one, their options grow smaller and smaller. Namine leaps into the air to slash at a book, and a loud shriek is heard as she does so, the darkness around them disappears as the copy tomes fade away, and Zexion falls on his knees to the ground. Namine and Riku and Namine quickly strike at him with everything they have, magic is cast and wounds are formed as the two attack in Unison. Desperate, Zexion calls upon his final attack. The area goes dark, save for three areas. Zexion hides in a single tome. The book begins teleporting around the three lights. The two focus closely as the tome quickly teleports. As it teleports for the 13th time, Namine and Riku sprint to the book's location, to avoid the oncoming meteors. Riku makes it, but Namine does not. As the meteors fall she raises her keyblade and forms the strongest reflective barrier she can, Riku looks on as meteor after meteor strikes her barrier. Namine looks over to Riku and yells "Get Zexion!", Riku nods and quickly turns and strikes the floating book. Causing the meteors and darkness to disappear as Zexion falls to the ground. Riku grabs Zexion by the arm and throws him over to Namine as her shield explodes. He's knocked into the air by the explosion before Namine quickly leaps into the air and strikes him down with one final slash. Zexion disappears into a puddle of ones and zeroes as he hits the ground, disappearing permanently. The clouds begin to clear above now that he's disappeared.
"Him again? How is he back?" asks Riku. This is the third time he's encountered the fallen member of organization thirteen.
"It could be another absent silhouette." Namine hypothesizes. Though she doesn't know for sure.
"Yeah. that could be it," Riku responds. Before either can think of any more explanation, the bright sun shines brightly above them and nearly blinds them as they shield their eyes.
Xion's eyes flutter open as she reawakens. She presses her hands against the cold hard ground below her and picks herself up, Roxas beside her groans as he does so too. They look around and are shocked to find that they are once again at the broken fountain in Hollow Bastion.
"Did we get separated from the others?" asks Roxas as he looks around, finding themselves all alone.
"Maybe . . . We should go back to the town and see if they're at the postern." Says Xion. Roxas nods, and they're about to turn away when they suddenly see a pillar of ones and zeroes emerge from the ground, before flashing white and disappearing, leaving behind a blond man in a black coat holding a sitar. "No. . ." Xion says in complete disbelief, as she realizes what's going on. Demyx spins his sitar in front of him and begins playing some music.
"Dance water dance!" yells Demyx as he surrounds himself in a watery barrier, from which water clones begin emerging. Roxas and Xion materialize their keyblades and prepare to battle with The Melodious Nocturne of Organization Thirteen, Demyx. Roxas is surprised when the water clones quickly begin using a variety of attacks on them. They barely did anything before, but now they're much stronger. Luckily, Xion anticipated this, Grabbing her boyfriend and forming a reflective shield, destroying nearby clones before the two separate themselves from each other and begin attacking with intense ferocity, only to find out that the water clones completely ignore their regular attacks.
The water clones strike them with incredible force, knocking the two keyblade wielders into the cliff-face. They leap at them like a horde of monsters, but Xion grabs her keyblade and quickly casts a thunder spell, reigning electricity upon the arena, utterly destroying every single water clone. Xion gasps for air as she realizes how much energy she put into that attack, they don't have much time to think though, as they're suddenly launched away from each other as pillars of water erupt from the ground below them, As Xion tries to stand up, Demyx looms over her. Stoping his little song as he looks into her eyes.
"Like it?" he taunts before swinging his sitar at her. Xion puts her hands on her keyblade and holds back the sitar with all her strength. Demyx pushes harder when he's suddenly struck from behind.
"Not this time!" yells Roxas. With Demyx stunned Xion casts a wind spell and manages to launch him into the air, before the two focus their energy and engulf themselves in a white energy, entering Final Form. Roxas flies into the air and knocks Demyx to the ground with Oathkeeper and Oblivion. Demyx gets up and is immediately met with Xion's twin keyblades, Missing Ache, and Pain of Solitude. As he's knocked towards the edge of the arena, he stands shakily and stares the two down, the playfulness drained from his face. He pulls out his sitar and finally takes things seriously.
"Dance water dance!" Demyx commands as he plays a riff on the sitar. Another water barrier is formed and water clones yet again begin to emerge from the barrier. They're slowly destroyed as they're met with a variety of elemental spells, primarily thunder and blizzard spells. Eventually, though, the barrier flat out explodes as Demyx falls to his knees, and nearly one hundred water clowns appear before them. The water clones swiftly approach them. Roxas and Xion put forward their four keyblades and begin casting the strong thunder spells they can muster, shredding the clones as they get ever closer to them until finally, the last one falls. The two stare down Demyx as he supports his body with one hand and looks up at them. He laughs nervously. "Hehe, sorry?" he says, hoping it'll change his fate. News flash, it doesn't.
"Would you like to have the honors?" asks Roxas. Xion nods.
"Gladly." She raises her keyblades and swiftly slashes straight through Demyx, who yells in pain before disappearing in an explosion of ones and zeroes. Xion looks at the two numbers flying into the skies. "Just as I thought." she sighs.
"What do you mean?" asks Roxas.
"That wasn't the real Demyx," she explains. "It was a replica of him made from pure data," she explains. "Unlike real replicas, like myself or the replica Riku used in castle oblivion, they don't have bodies. They're just data taking physical form." she goes on. "Though it looks like these ones seem to be modified data since that Demyx was much stronger than the real one."
"Yeah, definitely," Roxas says, not completely understanding what she's saying, but knowing she's right nonetheless. "Do you think the others are fighting data replicas too?" asks Roxas.
She nods. "That could very well be a possibility. We should be careful."
"Right" Roxas responds. Suddenly, a bright light emerges from the stairs behind them, and they're forced to close and shield their eyes as it glows brighter and brighter.
Kairi and Aqua open their eyes and lower their hands as the light dims. Their eyes widen as they find themselves at an unfamiliar location. They stand on a stone bridge, behind them is a gate that leads to a castle, and in front of them lies another gate, leading to a wooded area.
"Where are we?" asks Aqua as she looks around the general area. It reminds her of another place she's been, but definitely not the same world. Her attention, as well as Kairi's at the other end of the bridge, appears another data column, which flashes white and disappears, revealing a tall muscular man in a black coat, with several lances surrounding him. He swiftly grabs his lances and stares the two girls down. His black dreadlocks floating in the wind.
"Not again. . ." Kairi says, a hint of frustration in her voice. Xaldin floats into the air and spins his lances in a strange manner, before shooting out blasts of wind at the two keyblade wielders. Kairi and Aqua are blown away by the Xaldin's magic, barely managing to land on their feet. Xaldin quickly appears before them and stabs at them with his six lances in a cylinder-like motion. Kairi and Aqua Dash away from each other and dodge the attack He quickly turns around and slashes at them with his six lances in a cone-shaped formation, Kairi forms a reflective barrier while Aqua leaps over the attack and moves closer to Xaldin. Kairi's shield lets out a kinetic burst and stuns Xaldin long enough for Aqua to slash at him with her keyblade multiple times.
She leaps back as Kairi dashes at the Whirlwind Lancer. Slashing at him multiple times before knocking him away with many light projectiles. Xaldin groans as he regains his focus and leaps high into the air before disappearing. It doesn't take long for him to reappear above Master Aqua and stab down at her. Aqua barely manages to block the attack in time, The two stare each other down as Kairi runs to the master's aid, only for Aqua to push Xaldin back into the air with her own strength, and raise her keyblade to the sky. She begins to spin around elegantly like a dancer as ice and snow swirl around her, a little technique she calls spell weaver. Xaldin shouts as the blizzard magic from spell weaver pierces his body and causes him immense pain.
"Now!" Aqua shouts as she stops the use of spell weaver. Kairi leaps into the air and dashes straight through Xaldin as she stabs him. She repeats this technique she learned from Sora so long ago, before getting one last strike in, knocking Xaldin into a wall. Xaldin grabs his six lances as he grows desperate he connects his lances together and spins them around as he moves across the bridge, not only giving him increased range, but also protecting him from his foes. Finally, he rides his lances through the air before connecting them together. Three lances on the end open up, wind swirling between them. Aqua and Kairi put their keyblades together and form the strongest barrier they can as a powerful blast of wind is beamed from the lances. Luckily, the barrier is just able to withstand the attack thanks to their combined powers. Xaldin lands back onto the bridge as he finishes his final move, Kairi points her keyblade at him and casts a magnet spell, forcing him to the ground and restricting his movement as Aqua leaps high into the air. Once Aqua's above him she dives down at him and pierces his body with her keyblade, finishing him off as he explodes into ones and zeroes.
"This is starting to get exhausting. . ." Kairi admits as she droops her shoulders.
"Yeah. do you think that was the last one?" asks Aqua. suddenly, their attention is turned to the sky as the moon begins to glow brightly, brighter than even the sun.
"I don't think so. . ." Kairi says as she shields her eyes, Aqua does the same, and they're both engulfed in the light.
Riku and Namine slowly open their eyes as they notice it getting darker. They lower their hands and look around as they yet again find themselves in an area resembling Castle Oblivion, though in this case, it looks like an actual place inside the castle, rather than resembling the general look of the castle. Namine sighs as she looks around.
"I'm getting real tired of seeing bright white walls, floors, and ceilings."
"Yeah, guess you have seen a lot of white rooms during your life huh?" Riku asks jokingly. Despite her physical appearance, being that of a fifteen-year-old, she's technically still only around two years old at most. Before Namine can answer her joke, however, a data column appears before them and flashes white before disappearing and revealing a slender blond beauty in a black coat. Her looks perfectly contrast her killer instinct.
"Larxene. . ." Namine says distastefully as she and Riku materialize their keyblades. Larxene draws her throwing knives from under her sleeves and bears them like knuckles as she stares down her foes. Namine and Riku leap forward at Larxene, but they're sent flying back as she reigns incredible amounts of lightning from above. She stops casting thunder spells for a moment and dashes at Namine, excitement filling her as she closes in on her prey. Riku, free from the electricity coursing through him, casts a Dark Firaga spell, catching Larxene off guard just moments before she reaches Namine. Namine lands on her feet as she recovers from the lightning strikes, before quickly slashing at Larxene with her keyblade.
Namine calls Riku over as Larxene lands on the ground and prepares more thunder spells. As thunder reigns from the sky Namine manages to form a reflective barrier around them, protecting them from the electric attacks. Larxene shows visible signs of frustration as her thunder bounces off the shield and back at her. She yells as she's engulfed in yellow-orange energy. She disappears for just a moment before she appears on the opposite side of the arena, Riku and Namine are caught off guard, however, as suddenly, another Larxene appears beside the other one. The Larxenes dash at Riku and Namine. The two barely manage to dodge the attacks from the two. The two disappear and reappear, but instead of two, there are now many, and they're surrounding Riku and Namine. They dash at them with the intent to kill, only to be blasted away by the kinetic force returning back at them, thanks to another reflective barrier. The clones disappear as they're struck, leaving only the original Larxene falling to the ground.
Larxene gets on her feet with a desperate look in her eyes. She yells as she uses as much power as she can muster, shooting beams of electricity from her arms as she spins around Riku boosts Namine into the air and over the attack before running in the opposite direction. Namine lands and takes aim at Larxene as she runs in the same direction as Riku, running slow enough so she won't run into the electricity in front of her, but fast enough so the one behind her doesn't catch up. Namine takes aim at The Savage Nymph. Larxene lands on her knees as she's unable to keep up the attack, before getting blasted right in the head with an ice spell, falling to the ground, and disappearing in a cloud of ones and zeroes.
"Another Absent Silhouette?" asks Riku in between breaths.
"I don't know. They could be, but those ones and zeroes are throwing me off. . ." Namine says as she thinks deeply. The two don't have much time to talk though, as the lights in the room grow brighter in brighter, blinding them as they're enveloped in the light.
Roxas and Xion open their eyes as the light dims. They once again find themselves in The Castle That Never Was, inside the room where they were once given missions. It doesn't take them long to guess who their next foe is. As the column of data appears and disappears, so does Saix. before Saix can even enter his berserk state, Roxas and Xion already strike him back with their keyblades. The Luna Diviner is slashed at from all angles, but he manages to push the two keyblade bearers off of him as he floats into the sky. He's engulfed in a blue flaming aura as his eyes glow a bright yellow. He dashes around the arena as he strikes the floor, creating large blue flames as he goes alone. He every strike of the floor causes massive burning shockwaves which Roxas and Xion are barely able to dodge. Finally, he leaps high into the air and throws his claymore at Xion.
Xion leaps back and dodges the attack with grace, before Saix summons another one and charges at her, but before he reaches her. Roxas jumps in the way and enters a blade lock with Saix. Saix pushes Roxas with tremendous force and nearly knocks him over when he's struck by Xion, wielding his own claymore. He's knocked into a wall as he's forced out of his berserk state. He stands shakily on his feet, before feeling a piercing sensation in his stomach. Saix looks down to see Xion holding Rejection of fate, the end of which is within his body. She pulls out the keyblade and steps back as Saix falls to his knees, and hits the floor, blasting into a series of ones and zeroes and disappearing completely.
Xion sighs as she dematerializes her keyblade. "I'm so pathetic," Xion utters as she stares where Data-Saix once stood. Roxas approaches her as he looks with concern. "I let him control me, control us for so long when he was all just talk in the end. . . I'm so stupid!" she clenches her fist as she dwells on her past more and more. Suddenly though, her self-loathing disappears, as Roxas wraps his arms around her from behind.
"It's not your fault Xion. We weren't strong enough then. What matters is that we had each other, we forced each other to get stronger, to the point where we were able to take him down like this." Roxas reassures her. "You're not pathetic, and you're not stupid. So please, stop talking yourself down like that.". Xion takes a deep breath and smiles, as the two close their eyes, anticipating the bright light coming from the heart-shaped moon outside.
Kairi and Aqua open their eyes as they look up to the sky, Aqua gasps as she sees the heart-shaped moon in the sky.
"Kingdom Hearts. . ." she utters in disbelief. Kairi looks around and recognizes the general area.
"We're in The World That Never Was now," she says as she looks on at the dark buildings below.
"That's the organization's homeworld, right?" asks Aqua, to which Kairi nods. Their conversation is cut short as they hear an ear-pierce noise behind them. They turn around to see a data column disappear and leave behind a blonde man with green eyes and many ear piercings, in his hand, a hand of cards
"And that is Luxord. . ." Kairi says as she materializes her keyblade. Aqua summons stormfall by her side and the two prepare to face off with The Gambler of Fate. The two charge at Luxord, Aqua manages to strike him before hearing cries from behind her. She turns to see Kairi shrouded in thorns, constantly being slashed at by flying bladed cards. Aqua runs by her side. And slashes away the thorns, the cards disperse and fly back to Luxord. "Watch out. . . he's a tricky one. . ." says Kairi as she steadily gets back on her feet, ignoring the cuts on her arms and legs. The two suddenly dodge away from each other as two massive bladed cards spin around as they're thrown at them. The two turn back to Luxord and attack with all their might, dodging and weaving around his attacks as they slash and strike him with their keyblades.
Luxord leaps back as Kairi stabs at him. He summons three cards, before suddenly disappearing behind one of them as they flip around.
"Pay attention to his card! We need to attack it!" Kairi exclaims as she pays close attention to the shuffling cards on the ground. As the cards stand up and face away from them, Kairi attacks one with her keyblade. The card disappears into a cloud of smoke and thorns, revealing a vulnerable Luxord. The two strike him with their blades before he throws two massive bladed cards at them, forcing them to give him space before disappearing into a group of five cards that shuffle on the floor. It doesn't take much focus for them to track Luxords, even if the cards on the floor shuffle at a relatively high speed. As the cards rise, one card is slash right open by Aqua, sending Luxord out of the card flying.
Luxord lands on his feet before being blasted away into a wall by many light projectiles shot out by Destiny's Embrace. Finally, he tries performing this trick once more, disappearing into a group of ten cards. The two lose track of Luxord before the cards rise. Kairi tries to look for Luxord's card when Aqua gets an idea
"Thundaga!" Yells Aqua as thunder reigns from the sky. The cards are destroyed instantly and Luxord yells as electricity courses through his body. Luxord stands shakily on his two feet as the electricity disappears from his veins. Luxord, using his strongest attack out of desperation, puls out many bladed cards and throws them at Aqua and Kairi, who manage to block the attack. As the cards grow in size on the ground. Luxord disappears behind one large card before one card on the ground behind them flips over as Luxord uses it almost like a portal. He grabs the large bladed card and pulls out his other one before swinging and spinning the cards with incredible force. The two manage to dodge the attack before Luxord stops and stands still before them. Massive cards surround the three and make a small enclosed arena before Luxord pulls out four cards and lightly lets them go in the air, they float in front of Aqua as they face away from her.
"Pick a card. . ." Aqua panics internally as she has no idea which one to pick. Going with her gut feeling, she picks the card on the far right and sees that it's a red joker. Luxord stumbles as she picks the correct card. "How did you-?" but before Luxord can get an answer, all the cards on the arena shrink and fly into Aqua's hand, Aqua shows off her hand confidently, before throwing the bladed cards at Luxord, finishing him off as he screams in agony as each card cuts him over and over again. He falls to the ground and disappears into a puddle of ones and zeroes. Aqua and Kairi catch their breath as they defeat their third foe.
"How much longer will this go on?" asks Aqua to Kairi, not expecting her to actually know.
"I don't know. . . But if we're fighting the organization again, then the others may be as well. We'll have to push on until we see them again." says Kairi. Aqua nods. They have no choice but to continue. They instinctively close their eyes as the heart-shaped moon in the sky begins to glow brighter.
Namine and Riku open their eyes as they find themselves in a new room.
"Are we still in castle oblivion?" asks Riku as he looks around the unfamiliar room.
"Yeah, in fact, I think I know who we're fighting." Says Namine. Their attention is turned to a data pillar appearing before them. It flashes white before disappearing, revealing a tall man with pink hair and a scythe. Riku and Namine materialize their keyblades as they prepare for battle against the former lord of the castle, Marluxia.
The two strike Marluxia with their keyblades, not for a second underestimating their foe. Marluxia lands on his feet and slams the end of his scythe into the floor, creating large pools of darkness around him. Namine and Riku are forced to jump away from Marluxia as the pool grows larger. Marluxia takes this opportunity to leap at the two and swing his scythe at them. Namine casts a reflect spell and manages to knock Marluxia away from them by using his own force against him. The pools of darkness disappear as Marluxia is sent back. As he lands on his feet Riku dashes that The Graceful Assassin, slashing him with Way to the Dawn, with incredible force and precision.
Marluxia swings his scythe overhead as he tries to counter Riku's attacks, Riku jumps back and Namine lands on top of the scythe as the blade pierces the ground. She slashes at his face twice before knocking him into the air, Riku leaps and meets Marluxia in the air, hitting him with his keyblade and sending him flying back. Namine knocks Marluxia's scythe out of the ground with her keyblade and grabs it. She charges at Marluxia as he lands on the ground and slashes at him with his own scythe. She knocks him into the air and throws his scythe at him, the blade of the scythe piercing his chest. As he lands on the ground he pulls out the scythe from his chest and looks at the two in front of him, the area goes dark as Marluxia disappears, suddenly, spouts of darkness appear below the two, and they're forced to run in order to dodge the appearing spouts of darkness. Namine stops and forms a reflective barrier instinctively, suddenly the familiar scythe comes spinning at her, swirling around her as it hits her shield repeatedly. The scythe rises into the air as Marluxias reappears and dives at her, striking her shield once again, before the shield explodes and sends him flying back towards Riku, who stabs him with Way To The Dawn mid-air. Marluxia groans as he disappears into a cloud of ones and zeroes, leaving the two alone.
"Are you okay?" asks Riku
"Yeah *huff* never been better *puff*" Namine catches her breath after the intense battle. Riku smiles a little.
"That's good," says Riku, proud of how far she's come. They don't have much time to talk though, as the lights in the room grow brighter and brighter.
Roxas and Xion open their eyes and look around. They find themselves in a large rectangular room.
"Isn't this below the mansion?" asks Roxas.
"Yeah." says Xion "I don't remember fighting anyone here though. . ." Xion says, trying to think of anything that happened here. Just as she remembers, they hear an ear-piercing sound behind them and turn to face it. their eyes grow wide as they look at their deceased friend.
"What's wrong guys? Aren't you happy to see me?" taunts the data replica. "Come here. . .' it says, in a false comforting tone. Fire erupts around them in a circle, creating a small enclosed arena "I'll make it all stop!" yells Axel as he summons his two chakrams.
"No . . ." Roxas says, voice shaky as he and Xion materialize their keyblades.
"Burn baby!" shouts Axel as a pillar of fire erupts from beneath the two. They hop back and avoid it, but the fire spreads to the entire floor, and their feet and legs burn as they stand atop the flaming ground. Axel jumps back into the fire and disappears, the two turn around and jump back as he reemerges from behind them, creating a series of flaming pillars behind him. Roxas hesitantly throws his keyblade in a spiraling motion at Axel, knocking him into the air. Xion dashes at him as he lands on the ground, Axel jumps back and runs backward along the flaming wall as Xion chases him, running on the wall as she slashes at her friend. Axel blocks the attacks before jumping off the wall. Xion leaps off the wall and over Axel, before knocking him straight down to the ground. She winces as she stabs him in the stomach, before leaping off him. Light erupts from Axel as the fire on the floor disperses. Axel gets up and Roxas tries to attack from behind.
"Got THIS memorized?" Axel taunts as he turns and throws his two chakrams over and over again at Roxas. Roxas blocks the attacks as best as he can but his keyblade is launched out of his hand as one of the Chakram hits it from the wrong angle. Roxas tries to grab it but he's hit over and over again by the flaming spiked Chakram.
"Roxas!" shouts Xion she dashes at Axel to help but Axel turns and stabs his chakram into the ground. Flaming pillars erupt in front of him and knock Xion and her keyblade to the ground. Xion reaches out to her keyblade but Axel throws a chakram at it and sends it through the fire out of reach. He approaches Xion with murderous intent in his eyes. He crouches down and pulls back his chakram when he stops. Axel looks down at his stomach and sees the end of Two Become One piercing through him. He laughs a little before disappearing into a cloud of ones and zeroes, alongside the firewalls around them. Roxas takes a few long shaky breaths before falling to his knees and dropping his keyblade to the floor. Roxas begins to weep as tears form beneath his eyes. Xion crawls over to him and hugs him as tears fall from hers as well. Even as the flames die out, the light grows brighter, and they disappear in the bright light as they cry together.
Kairi and Aqua reopen their eyes as they find themselves in yet another room inside The Castle That Never Was. Seeing the pattern by now, Kairi deduces who their next foe is.
"Xigbar. . ." Kairi utters as a data column appears and reveals the one-eyed free shooter.
"So that's your name. . ." Aqua mutters, anger rising within her
"You know him?" asks Kairi, looking at Aqua, and then back to Xigbar.
"Ten years ago he sided with Xehanort in the conflict that lead to Ven losing his heart and Terra falling to darkness. I couldn't forget that face even if I wanted to. . ." Aqua materializes her keyblade as Xigbar raises his guns. Kairi summons her keyblade as well and they begin battling with the man in front of them
Xigbar immediately teleports above them, almost walking on air as he stands upside down. Aqua and Kairi dodge as he shoots them. Aqua takes aim with her own keyblade and strikes Xigbar. He teleports and takes some potshots at Aqua before getting struck from behind by Kairi. Xigbar turns to retaliate but is hit from behind by a blizzard spell shot by Aqua. Xigbar groans as he gets more and more irritated. He warps to the landing below the hallways above. He connects his two guns together to form one long sniper rifle and takes aim at Aqua and Kairi. Kairi is knocked back as she's pelted by bullet after bullet. Aqua dives before casting a reflective spell, blocking the bullets as she grabs onto Kairi. She heals her as best as she can before Xigbar's gun released a charged shot, shattering the shield. Aqua leaps back while holding onto Kairi before setting her down on her feet. Xigbar takes aim again and shoots, but this time Kairi and Aqua manage to dodge the barrage of bullets. Xigbar takes another charged shot, which Aqua anticipates, she parries the shot with her bullet and sends it towards Kairi, who parries it again and sends it right back at Xigbar. Xigbar nearly topples over as he's hit in the head by his own bullet.
"Clever little sneak. . ." Xigbar utters. Xigbar teleports to the center of the arena as it suddenly shrinks down to the size of a small square. Xigbar begins to emit a strange aura as spins around shoots blue laser bullets from his gun. Aqua and Kairi and knocked back by the sudden power increase, before Xigbar begins teleporting around and taking some potshots at them. The two keyblade wielders manage to dodge the bullets before XIgbar goes to the center of the small square platform yet again, he opens two small corridors of darkness before putting his hands in. More small dark portals appear around the arena, blue bullets emerge at incredible speeds from the portals, forcing Aqua and Kairi to stand back-to-back and put all their strength into creating one last reflect spell. The myriads of bullets bounce off the shield, each plunk sound creating more and more tension in the two as they hope their shield just lasts a little longer. Finally, the bullets stop as Xigbar clutches his skull. The two immediately break the shield and finish him off with two blizzard spells in his face. Xigbar groans as he explodes into ones and zeroes, disappearing from view. The two pant as their exhaustion begins to get the better of them.
"How much more is left. . ?" asks Aqua, looking over to Kairi
"No. . . Idea. . ." Kairi says in between breaths. They don't have long to talk though, as they hear a strange sound coming from the room ahead. Suddenly, strong winds of darkness return once more. They try their best to stand their ground but they're too exhausted and are set flying with ease before things go dark and the two fall unconscious.
Riku and Namine open their eyes and look around to find themselves in the dark forest in Twilight Town.
"It seems we're outside castle oblivion, finally," says Riku, a bit tired of the last three battles all technically taking place within the old castle.
"Heh, you can say that again." The two laugh together for a moment, before that ear-piercing noise returns. They look and their eyes widen as The Silent Hero, Lexaeus emerges from the data pillar. He puts his weapon, skysplitter, over his shoulder as he forms a battle stance. Riku and Namine materialize their keyblades and prepare to fight the giant of a man before them.
Lexaeus runs skysplitter along the ground and forms wave after wave of earth and rock. Namine and Riku dodge as best as they can but Lexaeus moves surprisingly fast for his size. He slams the ground repeatedly, forming large rock below Riku and Namine as they run along. They try their best but Namine trips due to her sandals not being built for running at such speeds. She's sent into the air, and Lexaeus raises his weapon and prepares to knock her away when Roxas casts a dark firaga as he dashes towards Lexaeus. While Lexaeus is distracted by the fire, Riku manages to catch Namine before she lands
"Are you all right?" asks Riku
"Y-yeah," she says, masking the pain of the attack. Suddenly they're pushed with incredible force as Lexaeus hits them from behind with another wave of earth. The two fall to the ground and drop their keyblades. As Riku gets up, a spike of earth emerges below him and launches him into the air, Lexaeus runs up and hits him with skysplitter, knocking him through a tree and onto the ground. Roxas tries to lift himself off the ground, but he can't muster the strength to do so. Namine looks up in horror as she sees Lexaeus in front of the struggling Riku, raising skysplitter and preparing to finish him.
"NO!" She screams, her keyblade immediately resummons in her hand and she takes aim, suddenly a beam of light shoots forth and pierces Lexaeus's body, before shooting a myriad of light projectiles. Lexaeus is stunned long enough for Namine to run up behind him and jump on top of him to stab him right in the back. Lexaeus lets out a roar as he puts his hand grabs Namine off of him. He squeezes his hand around her neck as she slowly loses the ability to breathe. Riku is filled with adrenaline as he witnesses this sight
"Namine!" he yells. He raises his hand and spews forth dark fire at Lexaeus, before resummoning his keyblade and stabbing him in the stomach. Lexaeus's eyes widen as he lets go of Namine. Riku catches her before collapsing. The two hold onto each other as Lexaeus falls forward and appears to fall on them, but as he makes contact with them, he disappears into a cloud of ones and zeroes.
"Are you. . . alright?" asks Riku, in pain.
"Maybe. . ." Namine struggles to say. The two look into each other's eyes for a second, they move their faces closer together as they prepare to share a moment, when something catches their eyes, Their eyes open wide in shock as winds of darkness come from the mansion, and blow them away farther into the woods, knocking them unconscious.
The sound of weeping is heard as the light dims and fades away. Roxas and Xion wipe away the tears as they look around, her breath is shaky, but Xion manages to say something.
"Why are we here?" she asks. The two find themselves on the stained glass platform yet again, though this time it's different. IN the middle is the image of the slumbering sora, and on the two sides are images of Roxas and Xion. The two look around the empty expanse, taking in the scenery as they begin to collect themselves when suddenly, the familiar ear-piercing sounds of data columns are heard from across the platform. Roxas and Xion's eyes widen as two figures wearing black coats emerge from the data. The two stare at them, and they stare back before the data copies form battle stances. The one on the left summons two keyblades, Oathkeeper and Oblivion, while the other summons a single Kingdom Key.
"Number thirteen, number fourteen. . ." Roxas utters.
"The keys of destiny . . ." Xion utters after him. Roxas materializes Two Become One, and Xion materializes Rejection of Fate and the two parties dash at each other. Roxas clashes with his data copy as they push each other with incredible force. Data-Xion runs to Roxas and prepares to strike him while vulnerable, but Xion leaps in front of the fake and casts an incredibly powerful blizzard spell, pushing away the data copy, before running up to it and slashing at it. Roxas pushes back his data copy and strikes at its ribs. The copy winces and continues to clash with the true self.
Keyblades clash and spells collide with other spells as the two fight on, but eventually. Things change. Roxas slashes at his copy, knocking it into the air. Data-Roxas drops his keyblades to which Roxas reaches out to. Oathkeeper and Oblivion swirl around Roxas as he charges at the copy with three keyblades. As the copy lands Roxas stabs at it, piercing it with the three keyblades. The copy looks almost shocked, before going limp, and disappearing into ones and zeroes, alongside the copies of Oathkeeper and Oblivion. Suddenly, a cry is heard that catches Roxas's attention. It's not Xion's cries though, but her Data copy's
"Roxas!" cries the data copy, as it looks towards where it once stood. It immediately forgets about the real Xion and dashes straight at Roxas with incredible speeds. The two clash and enter a blade lock, but her fate was already sealed the moment her comrade disappeared. The copy is hit from behind by a blizzard spell, distracting it and allowing Roxas to push her back. Data-Xion can't even land on the ground before rejection of fate pierces her from behind.
Xion pulls her keyblade out of her data copy as Data-Xion falls to her knees. Her keyblade disappears before uttering her last words.
"This is how . . . it's supposed. . . to be. . ." she falls to the ground and disappears into a series of ones and zeroes as she makes contact with it. Leaving only the original Roxas and Xion behind. The two catch their breath as they lean into each other and use each other as support. They're incredibly exhausted, mentally and physically. Zero words are exchanged between them, they just hold onto each other as they take deep breaths. The endless expanse around them hides the fact that the winds of darkness return. They don't even see it until it blows them off the platform and into the darkness below.
Six keyblade bearers lay on the ground as the strange image of Memory's skyscraper looms over them. They open their eyes and get off the ground, before noticing the presence of the others. They look at each other and see the scratches, the cuts, and the bruises each one has gained from their last battles.
"So which data replicas did you take out?" asks Xion.
"Data replica?" asks Namine. Xion quickly explains the existence of data copies of each member of Organization Thirteen.
"We took out a blonde man with a shield and a guy with some lances. . ." says Aqua
"So Vexen and Xaldin. . ." Roxas notes.
"We also dealt with Luxord and Xigbar," Kairi adds on.
"We ran into Zexion, Larxene, Marluxia, and Lexaeus." Says Riku as he stands beside Namine.
"Okay. . . well we dealt with Demyx, Saix. . ." Roxas hesitates for a moment, before going on. "Axel. . . and ourselves. . ."
"That just leaves one more then. . ." says Namine, and right on cue, they hear a familiar ear-piercing sound, the group turns and materializes their keyblades as they face the silver-haired man in front of them. Aqua's eyes widen as she looks at him.
"Is that-" but she's cut off by Roxas.
"Yeah, it's Xemnas. . ." He says, irritated.
"So that's Xemnas. . ." Aqua tries to push a thought out of her mind, but she can't help but think about it, about how much Xemnas looks like Terra. Xemnas draws his two ethereal blades as he stares them down.
He suddenly starts spinning around and slashing his ethereal blades in a strange manner as he approaches keyblade wielders. Roxas and Xion are forced to reflect the attack while everyone else manages to leap away from the attack. The shield eventually explodes and knocks Xemnas away, immediately after that he's pelted by magic attack after magic attack from the likes of Aqua, Kairi, and Namine. Xemnas teleports behind Aqua and attempts to slash at her when Riku jumps in the way and enters a blade lock. He tries to swing his other blade at Riku's back when Xion jumps in and blocks that as well. Leaving Xemnas wide open, Roxas engulfs himself in dark red energy before he and Kairi run in and slash at Xemnas a number of times, before leaping back and shooting many light projectiles at him. Xemnas is sent flying but before he can land on the ground, Aqua slides below him and performs her spellweaver technique hitting him with incredible magic power before finally launching him near the base of Memory's skyscraper.
Xemnas recovers himself and lets out a yell as electricity shoots from his arms. The electricity runs along the ground and strikes all but one person, Namine. Everyone louts out cries and screams as the electricity courses through them. Namine watches in horror as she sees her friends in pain before turning to Xemnas. He smiles before leaping up to the top of the building. Namine runs and hops onto the building before running up along the side of the building. Xemnas smirks as he sees this, Jumping off from the top and erecting his two ethereal blades. The two meet in the middle, right in front of the TV monitors, which show a memory of Namine talking to Riku in the white room of the Twilight Town mansion.
She stabs at him, but Xemnas dodges and hits her in the back with one of his ethereal blades. She shouts as she's launched into the air. Electricity finally stops coursing through the bodies of those on the ground. Riku looks up and sees Namine and Xemnas falling. He quickly casts a Dark Firaga before sprinting towards the base of the building and running up the side of it. Xemnas tries to slash at him as he runs by, in retaliation for being struck by the Dark Firaga when he's hit by many light projectiles from behind. Riku catches Namine as she falls faster towards the ground, before landing hard on his feet. The two look over to see Master Aqua finish off Xemnas, with one final stab.
She pulls out her keyblade as Xemnas falls to his knees, the group quickly turns and makes their way over to Riku and Namine to make sure they're okay. They heal their injuries as best as they can when they notice something, or rather, hear something. They turn around in shock to see that Xemnas has not disappeared like the other data replicas. Data-Xemnas laughs before letting out a large roar suddenly, incredible light comes forth from and everyone is blinded for a moment. Upon opening their eyes they find themselves in a large white void-like area, similar to that of a corridor of darkness, in front of them, stands Xemnas, in his Final Form
"Allow me to show you. . . how Anger and Hate, are supreme. . ." Xemnas says as he slowly rises above the ground, hovering above it a little as the keyblade bearers stand on their feet. Roxas and Xion engulf themselves in white energy, entering Final Form as they stand beside their friends. This time, they take him out together.
Xemnas shoots out two orbs of electricity as the six dash at him, they dodge around it and the sounds of blade clashing are heard as Roxas and Xion's keyblades are met with Xemnas's ethereal blades. He pushes them off before shooting out black thorns from his sleeves, forcing them to fly away in order to dodge. He's so focused on them that he's caught off guard by the light projectiles shot out by Kairi and Namine. He glares at them, before teleporting behind them and grabbing them by their throats.
"You shall go together!" says Xemnas as he throws the two into the air. Black thorns are erected from the ground, knocking them higher and higher into the air as Xemnas takes turns swiping at them with his ethereal blades. Suddenly, Xemnas turns as he blocks a set of ice and dark-fire attacks from Riku and Aqua, He prepares to turn back to Kairi and Namine when he's suddenly pierced by Xion's keyblades, Missing Ache, and Pain of Solitude. She pulls them out and dashes down to catch Namine and Kairi as Xemnas turns to strike her. Roxas dives in and slashes at Xemnas from behind with Oathkeeper and Oblivion, before using his keyblades to black Xemnas's retaliation of black thorns.
Xemnas disappears, everyone regroups quickly before Xemnas reappears alongside a Xemnas apparition, the two shoot out ethereal blades from their hands like lasers, forcing the keyblade wielders to dash, fly, and block the attacks as they teleport around. Growing tired, Riku, casts a dark Firaga at the two, while Namine and Kairi join in, shooting out light projectiles from their keyblades. Xemnas and the apparition block the attack, only to have Roxas and Xion take these opportunities to attack from behind, Xion flies right through her target while Roxas stabs the real Xemnas. Roxas spins around and throws Xemnas off his keyblades as the apparition disappears.
Xemnas groans as everyone regroups. Xemnas stands tall and looks down on those who face him. He reveals his two palms that emanate electricity, before putting them together above his head, releasing meany black vines that wrap around everyone, enshrouding them in darkness. For a moment, there's nothing but black around them. Then one red ethereal blade appears, then another, then another, then many more, until they're surrounded by a dome of ethereal blades. The six people chosen by keyblades tighten their grip and prepare themselves for what's to come. Xemnas does a throwing motion with his arms, and the ethereal blades start raining upon the keyblade wielders. They spin and slash their keyblades as they parry and block each one, this goes on and on and one as the ethereal blades rain faster and faster, and they deflect with more and more accuracy and precision until eventually, the blades start exploding as they hit each other. Once the smoke and fire clears, Xion immediately puts up her blades as she anticipates Xemnas's next attack. Roxas flies up to Xemnas and slashes at him with Oathkeeper and oblivion, sending him flying. He stops himself but is hem with slashes from Riku, Kairi, and Namine, before being pelted with spells of light and Darkness, they leap back and allow Aqua to perform her spellweaver technique once more. Xemnas groans as he's shredded by the powerful magic.
Xemnas is launched back and as he stops himself yet again and prepares an attack, he feels a sharp piercing feeling in his stomach. He looks down a little to see Xion Stabbing him Missing Ache and Pain of Solitude. Before he can react, Roxas flies and slashes straight through him, finishing him off. Xemnas shouts in pain and anger as he slowly dissolves into a series of ones and zeroes that fly into the white void above. Xion and Roxas float back to the ground and revert out of Final form, nearly collapsing out of exhaustion.
"That makes fourteen. . ." says Riku as everyone regroups.
"Now we can finish looking through. . . the rest of the caverns. . ." Namine says between breaths.
"You know, I forgot about the caverns," says Kairi.
"I don't blame you after all of. . . THAT," says Aqua. the six laugh together for a moment. Just living in the moment, when the bright light returns once more. They shield their eyes, before closing them from the blinding radiance around them. As the radiance dies they open their eyes and find themselves in the white corridors yet again. The sound of the rushing waterfalls to their right gives them peace in knowing that maybe, just maybe, the fighting is finally over. They walk down the hallway and find themselves in front of another white door.
"I swear if there are more caves after this, I am going to lay on the ground and take a nap right here." Says Roxas as they stare at it. The group laughs for a moment, before finally taking action and pushing open the door. They stare in awe as they see the waterfalls around them, forming a circular platform around them with walls made of the waterfalls. Emerging from the waterfalls are thirteen large, red keyhole-shaped doors with symbols on each one, having the weapons of an organization member on them.
"Looks like we can come back here and fight the data replicas whenever we want." Says Xion.
"Hmm. . . interesting. . . this could be useful for training. . ." says Master Aqua, in deep thought.
"Oh no, Xion why'd you have to giver her ideas" Namine groans. The group chuckles as they make their way to the center of the platform, which contains a single monitor. Xion interacts with the user interface and a disc pops out.
"What's that?" asks Kairi.
"It's a disc, containing some strange data from this computer. It's encrypted, so I can't make any sense of it. We'll have to give it to Cid and have him check it out." says Xion.
"Does that mean we'll have to crawl all the way back through that cave?" asks Namine
"Not quite. . ." says Riku, looking over into a set of staircases ahead of them. The group takes it and finds a door at the bottom of the staircase. They open it and find themselves back at the restoration site.
"Well, that's good! Looks like we won't have to do any backtracking," says Xion before walking out of the hallway and making her way out of the restoration site. "Come on! Let's go to Merlin's house!" says Xion as Roxas, Kairi, and Aqua start to follow.
"Alright! Riku and I will catch up later!" Namine shouts as they get farther from them.
"You want to talk about something?" asks Riku as she guides him towards the edge of the cliff behind the destroyed fountain.
"Yeah . . ." she says, with mixed emotions.
"Is it about the memory displayed on that TV?" asks Riku, she nods.
"If they obtain the power of waking, Roxas will be able to have his own life. . ." says Namine. "But Xion. . ." she trails off.
"We never told her about why she'd have to disappear," says Riku, thinking back on when he had met Xion.
"So you didn't tell them? Even if it would change how they saw you forever?" asks Namine. Riku nods.
"It would make things less tense between me and Roxas, but it would also change how they feel about you too. I don't want you to suffer for my benefit Namine. . ." Riku says, trying to hide certain emotions from her. "Besides. . . I promised I'd never tell, right?" he looks over to her and smiles. To which she smiles back.
"Thanks, Riku. . ." she hesitates for a moment, before saying what she wanted to say after they had defeated Lexaeus. "I love you."
Riku is taken aback by the sudden confession. He rubs his neck as he lets out his suppressed emotions. "I love you too. . . Namine." they stare out at the vast canyons in front of them, as the nearby winds howl.