Xion and Kairi awaken, their eyes fluttering open as they push themselves off the ground. The two go through their usual wake-up routine, looking around to see what world they've woken up in this time.
"Wow. . ." says Kairi as she gets a little sparkle in her eyes. The two look upon the large carnival in front of them. "This world is so pretty. . ."
"I should bring Roxas here sometime after we've finished our exam," says Xion, making a mental note to remember this place. They don't get to gawk at the carnival for long, as they hear a voice right in front of them
"That Pinocchio- he must have his poor father worried sick." the two look around for the voice, but can't find it anywhere, at least, until they look down near the stairs. "Still, that little fella's some miracle. Imagine Mr. Geppetto's wooden puppet, brought to life by the Blue Fairy!" Jiminy seems in awe at the idea, even now. "She made his wish for a son come true because he's given so much happiness to others. Now Pinocchio needs me to guide him and be his conscience, so maybe one day, he can be a real-" Jiminy pauses as he laughs to himself a bit "Well, now, let's not get ahead of ourselves, Jiminy." Jiminy Cricket pushes himself onto his feet. "First, you gotta find Pinoke." Kairi smiles as she recognizes the small companion she had briefly met while fighting alongside Sora.
"Hey, Jiminy!" says Kairi, as she waves to the cricket, who had yet to notice them.
"Hmm? Who are you two? You young ladies shouldn't be here!" says Jiminy. Kairi is taken aback by her friend not recognizing her, only to remember the complexities of the sleeping realm.
"How come? Is this a dangerous place?" asks Xion.
"Yes! This is a terrible place! People are allowed to wreck things and loaf around and make jackamules of themselves!" Jiminy starts pacing around as he explains this. "And poor, lost Pinocchio, he wandered in here on my watch."
"Hmm, well I can see why you're worried about him, but I don't think that's too dangerous. . ." says Xion
"That's not it! He'll turn into a donkey like the rest of the boys if he stays here too long!"
"Wha-! You could have mentioned that earlier! We'll have to find him quickly!" says Kairi.
"Really? You'd help me find Pinocchio?" asks Jiminy
"Of course! We have no reason not to," says Xion.
"Thank you so much!" says Jiminy, Kairi crouches down and invites Jiminy to sit on her shoulder. He hops on and the three are off in search of Pinocchio. They walk around, and not too long after starting their search, they find him.
"Pinocchio! There you are!" says Jiminy
"Pinocchio, it's not safe for you here. Listen to Jiminy and go ba-" but before Kair can finish, the Pinocchio in front of them explodes into a cloud of confetti, revealing a jester-like nightmare. This catches the group off guard, but they manage to destroy the nightmare quickly and without much effort.
"That dream eater was pretending to be Pinocchio. . ." Xion thinks aloud.
"Something tells me finding Pinocchio isn't gonna be that easy. . ." says Kairi in a mildly dejected tone. Jiminy looks around as he stands on Kairi's shoulder until he notices something.
"Up there! On the tower!" Kairi and Xion look up to the top of a nearby tower and see Pinocchio sitting on the edge. "Quick! Let's go!" says Jiminy
"Right!" Xion says as the two run towards a rollercoaster that seems to be left unused, with no cart running along the tracks. They jump on and rail-grind on the coaster tracks using flowmotion, allowing them to get the height needed to reach Pinocchio.
"Gee, Pinoke, how'd you manage to get up here?" asks Jiminy
"Come on, let's go home-" says Xion, only for Pinocchio to yet again explode, revealing another nightmare. The nightmare sticks his tongue out at the group before disappearing. Jiminy sighs
"Another impostor," says Jiminy. Xion steps near the tower's edge and looks around. With the height of the tower giving her a better view, she's able to spot Pinocchio, walking down a path.
"I see him!" says Xion, pointing in the direction of Pinocchio
"Well sure, if that's really him," says Jiminy dejectedly.
"Don't give up, Jiminy. Come on, let's go!" Kairi insists, the two girls Jump off the tower and Jiminy clings on for dear life as they fall. Xion uses wind magic to make sure they land safely on the ground before they run after Pinocchio. They follow the path until they find themselves in front of a building called the Pleasure Circus.
"That's uh. . . quite the interesting name. . ." says Kair awkwardly.
"How so?" asks Xion. Kairi looks with a bit of surprise, she only wishes she were that innocent..
"Never mind, come on let's just go," she says as she runs into the circus
"Hey! Wait up!" yells Xion as she runs after her. The group traverses the twists and turns of the circus with ease, thanks to their flowmotion abilities. Eventually. They reach the end of the circus and find a room with many walls of net and trampolines. They look around and see Pinocchio with donkey ears on a suspended platform surrounded by Komory Bat nightmares.
"Pinocchio!" they shout. He looks down and sees the three near the entrance.
"Jiminy! Help me, Jiminy!" Pinocchio pleads
"Oh, my stars above! We've gotta do something!" says Jiminy in a panic
"Already on it!" says Xion. She dashes into the net-surrounded area and uses flowmotion to dive into a trampoline. She's sent high into the air and is able to jump onto the suspended platform. She slashes through the weak nightmares with ease, before picking up Pinocchio and bringing him to Jiminy
"Oh, Pinoke! Look at ya!" says Jiminy as he notices the donkey tail that has sprouted from his body. Xion sets down the boy.
"You two need to get out of here," says Xion before turning to face the rest of the nightmares that begin to approach them. Pinocchio and Jiminy, nod, before running out of the room. Kairi materializes her keyblade as she steps by Xion, and they prepare for a bloodbath. The two girls jump and dash from wall to wall as they slash and strike the nightmares they pass by. The two manage to defeat all the nightmares, not without some cuts and other minor wounds, but they're alive, and that's all they care about. The two quickly do a 180 to leave the room, only for them to be cut off by a corridor of darkness opening in front of them, with a face that has become more and more familiar to them emerging from it. Yet silver-haired boy yet again stands before them.
"You again?" Kairi says with rising fury. From the corridor emerges Xemnas behind the boy.
"Oh great, you too," says Xion. They stand their ground, not letting themselves get pushed into a corner again. Xemnas smiles.
"My my, a hollow puppet that's managed to grow a heart. Just imagine that," says Xemnas
"Pinocchio isn't anything like you!" shouts Xion.
"Yeah! At leats Pinocchio has a heart! Can't say the same for you." Kairi taunts. Xemnas laughs deeply.
"Are you sure about that?" Xemnas asks. The two girls are caught off guard. The two fall silent, as they don't know how to react to the prospects created by the single question Xemnas asked. Xemnas smiles. And walks into the corridor of darkness. Finally, the young man speaks.
"It was fun seeing how this unexpected occurrence would play out, but I think it's about time things returned to how they're supposed to be." the boy says as he materializes a black and blue keyblade. The two girls try to retaliate but are sent flying back by a wave of dark winds produced by the boy. They try to fight the darkness, but are unable to go on, and pass out.
Some time passes before the darkness disappears, and a ball of light comes out of Xion's body. In a flash, Strela appears lying on the ground. She gets on her feet and shakes her fat body as she wakes up, before turning to the sleeping Xion. Strela nudges Xion with her face, before licking her. Xion stirs as she feels the cat's tongue licking her cheek.
"I'm up. . . I'm up. . ." says Xion as she pushes herself up from the ground as Strela moves to the other person beside her. Xion scratches her head, running her fingers through her hair as she tries to shake off the drowsy feeling. Suddenly, she hears a boy-ish groan next to her as Strela wakes up the other person in the room. She quickly looks over and widens her eyes as she sees a spiky-haired blonde boy in a coat similar to hers right beside her. "Roxas?"
Roxas perks up as he hears the familiar voice, quickly turning to face Xion. "Xion!?"
"Roxas!" she smiles and embraces him. She gives him a quick peck on the cheek before letting go. "I missed you!" Xion says cheerfully.
"Yeah, I missed you too," says Roxas, a small smile forming on his face. Xion notices his seeming lack of enthusiasm, but Roxas changes the subject quickly. "Where are we?" asks Roxas as he looks around.
"I don't know what world this is, but this place is called the Pleasure Circus," says Xion.
"Pleasure Circus? What a weird name. Doesn't exactly roll off the tongue." Roxas remarks before pushing himself onto his feet.
"Yeah, maybe that's why Kairi thought it was interesting," says Xion.
"Maybe. . . Well, we can ask her after the exam," says Roxas
"Right! Plus, we need to find Jiminy and Pinocchio," says Xion. as she says that name she remembers Xemnas's remark from earlier, she thinks for a second but chooses not to tell Roxas. Not wanting to worry him about Xemnas, if Roxas even knows he's alive. Roxas feels something rubbing against his leg and looks down, finally getting a good look at the creature that awoke them.
"Oh! A dream eater! What's its name?" asks Roxas as he pets the meow-wow
"Her name's Strela," says Xion.
"Strela huh? I like it," he says, Rubbing the meow-wow's belly. Strela plops onto the floor before compressing into a ball of light energy, before disappearing into Xion's body. "I see yours does that too," Roxas says Jokingly as Xion touches her stomach where the ball of light just entered
"You have a dream eater too? What's its name?" asks Xion
"Flynn, he's a Komory bat"
"A bat? Honestly, that's oddly fitting considering Riku's keyblade." Xion laughs
". . .huh, I never realized that," says Roxas before snapping back to reality "Wait! Didn't you say we need to find Jiminy and Pinocchio?" asks Roxas. Xion also snaps back to reality as Roxas brings that up.
"You're right!" says Xion, before the two of them backtrack through the Pleasure Circus. As they run through the long twisting hallways of the circus, they talk some more.
"Geeze, it feels weird not being around Riku all the time." Roxas comments.
"Oh? Have you two made up?" asks Xion.
Roxas chooses his words carefully. "Well, I guess you could say that," says Roxas as they continue to run through the halls. Xion is intrigued.
"What happened?" she asks.
"Well. . ." Roxas doesn't know what to tell her, unable to muster the will to tell her that everything they've been doing will kill her, but he doesn't want to lie either.
". . . you see, while in one of the other worlds, we ran into Ansem," says Roxas.
"Ansem!?" Xion gasps
"Yeah, the seeker of darkness." Roxas clarifies. "We don't know how, but that guy with yellow eyes and silver hair somehow brought him back."
"What'd he do?" asks Xion worryingly
"Well, he threw me off a roof, and tried to get Riku to be one with darkness or something. . . you know, the usual before he just left." Roxas explains. Suddenly, Roxas turns to Xion, as he doesn't know if she knows everything he does. "You know about the guy with silver hair and yellow eyes right?" asks Roxas. Xion nods.
"Yeah. . . He's caused a lot of trouble for me and Kairi. . ." Xion hesitates, before filling Roxas in "It seems he's also managed to bring back Xemnas." explains Xion. Roxas's eyes widen as he hears this
"Really!?" he asks, Xion nods. Roxas groans as they reach the entrance. "That guy just doesn't know how to stay dead. . ." says Roxas. Xion stops, and Roxas stops too once he notices this.
"They're not here," says Xion as she looks around.
"Maybe they're somewhere else?" Roxas suggests, only for the two to be suddenly distracted by the bright light emerging from the clouds. The two instinctively materialize their keyblades as they prepare to awaken another sleeping world, only to realize that it's not forming into the shape of a keyhole and that the light is also getting closer. They shield their eyes as the bright light reaches the ground. They look on as the light dims, and they see a tall woman in a blue dress in front of them.
"You must be Xion. . . and?"
"Roxas." the lady smiles, before reverting to her neutral expression.
"Well, Xion, Roxas, I'm afraid that I have grave news. Good Geppetto went off to look for Pinocchio, and he was swallowed by a whale named Monstro."
"What!?" Says Xion, shocked. Roxas doesn't seem phased, however. "Have you told Pinocchio and Jiminy yet?" asks Xion.
"Yes, and when I told them Geppetto was still alive inside the whale, those two little ones ran off at once. They're very determined to save him."
"That's crazy! They can't do that alone! We have to find them!" says Roxas, determination filling him.
"Do you know where we can find them?" asks Xion. The Blue Fairy looks over and points towards a nearby tunnel. Roxas and Xion nod, thanking the lady as they run after Jiminy and Pinocchio. They run through the rocky cliffside as they make their way closer and closer to sea.
"You said you ran into Xemnas right?" asks Roxas, Xion nods. "Did he say anything strange like Ansem did?"
"Um. . ." Xion thinks for a moment but realizes that keeping a secret like this would leave everyone worse off. ". . . he suggested that he may have a heart."
"What!?" Roxas practically jumps out of sheer surprise. "How is that possible?" he asks
"I don't know. . ." says Xion, finding it hard to wrap her head around the possibility. Suddenly, Roxas stops.
"Does this mean Demyx wasn't joking when he said that we do have hearts?" asks Roxas. Xion stops too at this idea.
"Roxas, don't tell me you're actually taking something Demyx of all people said seriously," says Xion
"But think about it. There's no reason why any of us should be able to feel. Even if you leave out you, myself, and Namine, who aren't regular nobodies, that'd still at least leave Saix and Axel, who seemed to show and feel genuine emotion for at least some period of time." says Roxas.
"Well. . . then how did we get our hearts?" asks Xion.
Roxas thinks for a moment before admitting "I. . . I don't know." says Roxas as he begins to continue down the cliffside, with Xion following closely behind. "All I'm saying is, it's not out of the question whether or not Xemnas is lying."
"I can't exactly prove you wrong, I'll give you that," says Xion as they continue to run down the slopes. They shortly find themselves in a small cave system that leads to below the ocean. Xion uses wind magic to create an air barrier around herself and Roxas, allowing them to traverse the ocean floor for a longer period of time than they could normally. They dive into the depths of the ocean and traverse the ocean floor and ocean caves as they search for Monstro. It takes some time but after finding an exit out of the ocean caves they find themselves on the seafloor of the open ocean. The two squint as they see two small objects coming closer in the distance.
As the objects get closer, Xion manages to recognize them as Pinocchio and Jiminy. She looks towards Roxas as he pats her shoulder rapidly. He quickly points at a dark object in the distance that grows closer. Xion's eyes widen as an absolutely massive sperm whale comes charging in their direction. They're thrown high into the ocean as Monstro's large body and high speed forces them upwards. As Monstro swims away they're pulled further and further away from the rockface and caves. Roxas and Xion hold onto each other tightly as they're thrown through the water until they eventually manage to regain control of themselves. They look around before seeing Pinocchio and Jiminy swimming away from Monstro. They try their best to swim over to them and help but they're unable to make it in time as Monstrol opens its gaping jaws wide and slams them shut as Pinocchio and Jiminy enter the belly of the whale. The two swim as fast as possible as they try to approach the whale of a whale. As they swim they hear the strange sound of propellers behind them. Before they can turn around a large lobster-like nightmare pushes them aside and chases after Monstro.
The lobster nightmare shoots an ice beam at Monstro and forces it to surface. Roxas as Xion quickly follows suit, going to the surface, not only to breathe but to save their friends. By the time they surface and reach Monstro, the whale is completely frozen solid, with a large glacier-like platform of ice completely surrounding the whale. The two start casting fire spells as they try fruitlessly to thaw out the whale before they turn around as the sound of propellers cones closer, the lobster-like nightmare coming back to finish the job.
"We can save them later. We have to deal with the nightmare first!" says Xion, as a ball of light comes out from her chest and floats to the ground, before revealing the fat cat Strela once more.
"Great. . . what a pain," says Roxas as they prepare to face off with the nightmare, known as the Chill Clawbster. The Clawbster flies around as it uses its claws to cast blizzard and water spells. The three try as best as they can to dodge the attacks while not slipping on the ice, before returning the attacks with spells of their own. The creature slams onto the ground before charging at the three. Roxas responds by jumping into the air and onto Xion's keyblade. Xion pushes Roxas high into the air before running away from the Chill Clawbster, picking up Strela as she does so. Roxas dives down and stabs the Clawbster right in the forehead.
The creature screeches, both literally and to a halt as the keyblade pierces its crustacean armor. He slashes and stabs at the crustacean as it spins and flies around in an attempt to throw Roxas off. While Roxas slashes and strikes the Chill Clawbster Xion and Strela try their best to help, casting balloon and thunder spells from the ground. Chill Clawbster roars before finally throwing Roxas off of itself. Xion dives and catches her boyfriend as he falls towards the ground. As Xion quickly puts Roxas down, the Chill Clawbster lets out an incredible roar. Parts of its shell armor begin to glow green as small green orbs appear in the center of its mouth-like claws. The two keyblade wielders and the dream eater are forced to run as the large nightmare shoots large green laser beams from its claws.
Xion tries her best to run from and dodge the lasers, but her boot catches a crack in the ice, causing her to fall, and causing Strela to bounce and slide away thanks to the ice. Xion turns around and braces herself for the oncoming laser beam.
"Xion!" shouts Roxas. Disregarding his own safety, Roxas leaps in front of her. Instead of being blasted away, however, Xion and Roxas find the beams splitting into multiple smaller beams as they make contact with two keyblades. Roxas smirks as he finds himself once again wielding Oathkeeper and Oblivion. Roxas moves his keyblades as he tries to bend the lasers to return back at the nightmare. As the lasers run along the ground they crack the ice, creating a weak spot in the ice encasing the frozen Monstro.
Roxas turns to face his girlfriend "Go! You save Monstro, I'll distract the Nightmare." Xion smirks and nods, leaping onto her feet and materializing her keyblade, Rejection of Fate, before charging at the fractured chunk of ice alongside Strela, who managed to make her way back to Roxas and Xion. Chill Clawbster tries to stop them but Roxas manages to keep their attention focused on him by throwing his keyblades at the nightmare. As Xion and strikes the ice with her keyblade, the crack grows larger and larger, until it shatters. Monstro quickly dives down into the water before breaching and swallowing the nightmare whole, before falling and crashing into the glacier, shattering the ice and causing Roxas and Xion to fall into the freezing water, while Strela quickly turns into a ball of light and takes refuge in Xion's body. The two keyblade bearers try their best to stay afloat and conscious, but the sheer power of the freezing water overtakes them, and they pass out.
Sometime later, Roxas and Xion awaken on a cold sandy beach. They look around and find that it's still night. Xion, remembering why they were after Monstro turns and around and faces the ocean, running to the water's edge, but not seeing the whale anywhere.
"They're gone. . ." says Xion, slightly defeated.
"I guess it's up Riku now huh? Oh, and probably Kairi too," says Roxas. Xion looks over curiously. "While you and Kairi were over here on land, me and Riku were in the other version of this world, inside Monstro."
"Huh, well I'm glad that they'll at least be safe in one version of this world, even if it's just they're just part of the sleeping world's dreams," says Xion. the two look over the horizon as they stand beside each other, grasping each other's hands for what feels like the first time in a while. After a moment or so they look to the stars as a keyhole-shaped light appears in the night sky. Roxas and Xion materialize their keyblades in their free hands, raising them to the sky, and aiming at the keyhole. Beams of light shoot from the ends of the blades. The beams unite together to form one beam, before piercing the keyhole, causing vast light to pour out from it. As the two bask in the light, they're no longer able to keep themselves from falling asleep, so they collapse and slumber with one another.