AN: Thought I'd throw this up same day as the last chapter since it's a recap, and also a bit on the shorter side.
Sooo yeah: Time for Castle Oblivion recap lol. I skip most of it. xD Just wanted to really get into Xikira's head for some of this stuff, not bore you all with retreading the same story in full capacity. :D But there's also a little more Luxu at the end, teasing future developments that this is gonna result in... :D
Please don't fear that shit will be boring now everyone's gone lol. xD I got ways to keep this next part of the story interesting as fuck! :D At least from character standpoints... xD It's going to play into certain character arcs for the future, and also affect Warrior Princess 3 in major ways! Just not immediately.
"Xikira, you are to be transferred to our new facility, Castle Oblivion, immediately. You will work under the direction of Marluxia, there."
Okay. Time to make even Luxord proud. But especially Xigbar!
Xikira let her jaw drop. Then she glared her best. "Why? Don't you need me to keep collecting Hearts?"
"Do not concern yourself with that. Only with following your orders." Saix paused. "Roxas will continue to collect Hearts in your absence."
"Screw orders." Xikira hissed, whirling away and racing for the sofa.
"I would think very carefully about insubordination, Xikira," Saix said harshly. "I'll not entertain your childishness much longer. I assure you that it has never been amusing."
Xikira almost broke - almost grinned at his words. Oh trust me, I've already been thinking really carefully about insubordination...
"I'm not going!" Xikira said firmly, sitting down and crossing her arms. "If you've got a problem with that, take it up with my keyblade!"
"Even more foolish to think to challenge me," Saix glowered at her. "Do you think you would last a second against me, girl?"
"Yes, I would. Because Xemnas would be mad if you killed me, wouldn't he?"
"Entitled brat. You will not be able to hide behind your keyblade status forever. And when that day comes, I will-"
"You'll what, huh, Saix? What were you saying? Go on..."
"Xigbar!" Xikira jumped up and ran for him. "Saix is trying to send me away - he said I have to go Castle Oblivion, with Marluxia and-" she tried to sound her most earnest and fearful.
Xigbar held out a hand, stopping her as she reached him; she bounced back hard with a gasp. "What's going on here, now?" he said slowly.
"I have to go to Castle Oblivion. Today. You'll come with me, won't you?"
Xigbar stared over her head. At Saix. His face was blank, and his single golden eye was narrowed. He stepped around her, putting a hand on her shoulder. He squeezed. "Orders are orders, kiddo. I don't think you can talk Xemnas out of this one. Not this time. So just go along with it, have fun over there, and come back when the mission's all said and done. Plain and simple."
"She is not being sent to have fun," Saix said scornfully. "She is being sent because Xemnas wishes her to work in tandem with Vexen on certain...projects of import, as well as to begin furthering the boundaries of her unique powers."
"Is that so? Hefty stuff."
"Nothing such a special Nobody as her cannot handle, is it?"
"Totally. She hasn't disappointed us so far, has she?"
"I think our criteria for that are very different, Xigbar."
"Of course it is. Mr. Doom and Gloom. Everything's a damn disappointment to you in life, isn't it?"
"Hmph."
Xigbar's hand left her shoulder, sliding down to her wrist. He strode forward, pulling her toward a swirling portal he'd made. A portal between them and Saix. Xigbar's hand went lower still, into her hand. He grasped it and pulled her forward, right on the edge of the portal. He gazed down at her. "Off you go, princess. Don't want to keep your new boss waiting! Follow your orders, do whatever Marluxia tells you, and try not to go kicking up a stink over there like you do here."
"I don't kick up stinks-"
"Ah, ah - no lying!" Xigbar's palm flashed out, shoving her in the chest, sending her falling back through the portal.
"Asshole!" she exclaimed as the darkness closed around her, causing him to disappear from her sight.
When she fell out the other side, it was out onto a winding, broken white path surrounded by darkness.
Before her stood a giant, strange castle with huge front doors.
And before those doors, stood two familiar faces: Lauriam and Elrena!
They led her inside, through those big doors.
Xikira blinked as she stepped through...and she froze in the large, white entrance hall.
"I know this place!" she gasped.
"You do?" Lauriam said quietly, turning to her with surprise.
"Yes! This is...where I was born," Xikira whispered.
"Huh? Are you serious?" Elrena said, shocked.
Xikira nodded. "This is where I was...when Xemnas first found me. I was just- here- and I was walking around these...hallways, just like this. In a...little white dress. My first dress. I still have it - it's under my desk with the rest of my outfits..."
"Fascinating," Lauriam said. "Does this feel like returning home, then?"
"No. I don't...have a home, do I?"
"What about those islands of Kairi's?" Elrena said.
"Maybe I'd feel something there...but those would be her feelings, not mine."
Lauriam regarded her a long moment. Then he nodded. "Come along."
It was after eight hours toiling away in this place, when Lauriam suddenly returned to the empty room where Xikira sat with Elrena.
"I have news you might find interesting," Lauriam spoke, giving Xikira a smile. "It would seem that your Somebody has arrived at the castle's front doors - along with her friend, Sora, and her sister as well."
"My mom and dad?" Xikira gasped. "They're really here? They're-"
"You really are a child, aren't you?" Elrena snorted.
Xikira ignored her. "You're not joking?" She held Lauriam's gaze.
Lauriam shook his head. "No. But-"
"If she's here - if they're both here - then I'm going to meet them!" Xikira declared. Then, an idea struck her. "We can ask them for help! With the plan, with - this is perfect! We're away from the main castle, we have other members isolated here so we can kill them off without alerting Xemnas, and we can have my mom's help with it all!"
"No," Lauriam said quickly. "That would be ill-advised. We cannot risk forging an open alliance with them. It would spell disaster for all of us. While I agree that we're in perhaps the most perfect place now to actually execute our plans, we can't be hasty and jump at the first chance we come across!"
"They beat Ansem, they've been all over the worlds, they can-"
"Okay, Xiki, I know you want to validate this little happy delusion of yours, but forget it!" Elrena said loudly. "Teaming up with your pretty princess mommy out there would just be stupid."
"You're stupid!" Xikira snapped.
Elrena's face flickered with hurt.
Xikira felt a bit of remorse. But she shook her head, brushed her hair back, and met Lauriam's gaze. Firm and confident. "Okay, well then if you two don't want to risk anything - fine. I'll do it myself! And the only person I'll be risking is myself. You two can keep pretending like you're not planning to desert or anything here! You can test her, fight her, do whatever you have to - but I'm going out there! And you're not stopping me. I can't pass this chance up, not when she's right there."
Lauriam gazed at her for a long time. Xikira recognized so many emotions on his face then: worry, fear, uncertainty...a storm of troublesome feelings. And that look in his eyes as he looked at her. He looked torn. But... "Very well. Go! But be sure not to get too close to her; we don't want you disappearing."
"Right - if you go poof on us, I'll be even more pissed at you than I am right now!" Elrena added fiercely.
"I'll be fine!" Xikira dismissed, not hesitating to conjure a portal down to the base floor, reappearing in the entrance hall. She stood before those massive front doors, when suddenly a bout of nervousness struck her. She was really about to meet her! To meet both of them!
Oh my god, I'm really about to meet them...
It was time to make a good first impression! The best first impression she could ever hope to make in her entire life so far.
Be confident, be cool - be like Xigbar. No, be like Kairi herself!
Show her you're like her, and she'll have to like you, right?
Sora too! He adored anything Kairi!
Okay...
Xikira drew a breath, strode forward, and shoved open those doors, letting light spill out onto the winding, broken white path into endless void.
Xikira did her best to just stay quiet and observe things around her.
To let things play out in this castle. This place that was her birthplace.
She obeyed Lauriam when he subtly egged her on to go with Vexen and help him with making his new Replica.
Not that she did much besides observing.
From there, she tried to keep up with the happenings in the castle again. Take it all in. Take stock of it.
And then...she watched everyone leave for various parts of the castle, taking stock of the whole situation as it was - and then she took her chance and made her choice when everyone was away from her. When there weren't any eyes on her.
She stood alone, creating a dark portal, and she stepped through it quickly.
She emerged into the darkness of the basement floors.
The dark room.
With only one other person standing inside it.
Alone.
Alone with her now.
Her perfect moment. Her perfect opportunity.
Zexion turned to her, messy long hair swinging. There was an instant of...was that relief, or affection, maybe? But then it was gone, and he was just frowning at her. "Xikira?"
Poker face.
Xikira kept her face entirely neutral, willing herself to feel nothing (even as she felt things inside), and strode straight up to him.
Every step echoing, the pounding in her chest-
"What might you be doing here? Has Vexen's testing concluded, or is there news from-"
Xikira unclenched a trembling fist that no one would have ever noticed in the darkness, conjuring her weapon to hand in a flash of light, and she swung it up as hard and fast as she could - ramming it through the man's stomach.
"Wh-what- are you- d-doing?!" Zexion gasped, staring down at her weapon. Shock. Pure shock. And pain. And...
But it was the only way! And if the situation were reversed, Zexion would have hunted her down and destroyed her without a second thought - wouldn't he? Any of them would have...from Zexion to Axel. Even Roxas, she thought. After all, family was just a connection...one to accept or reject. One that could mean everything, like to Lauriam...or one that could mean nothing. And she thought that if even Roxas were to stand in her way, stand with Xemnas, she would kill him too...
Xikira grasped these thoughts, this fact, this knowledge - and let herself relax. She gave a small smile, reaching her free hand up to brush long blonde locks out of her eyes. "I'm just making sure there's one less person to stop me from getting the normal life I want. It's not really personal - you're just way too loyal to the Organization. Really, I didn't hate you or anything; I actually think you were one of the better people to draw portraits of. I'm going to miss your hair and eyes. You always looked so...well, I don't know how to describe it." She shrugged, and then she tore her weapon free and stepped away from him.
Zexion collapsed at her feet, gasping as his body convulsed, and began to...fade...away...
"Y-you- you- traitor-" he gasped out.
Xikira frowned at him. The anger was back now. And then everything came spilling out of her. All the anger, all the bitter feelings, all the frustration and constraints of this life she couldn't ever call a life. "See? That's what I mean! Our boss would kill us for trying to live normal lives, for leaving, and all you can think about is that I'm betraying him? It's a flipping death cult, come on! Why should anyone have any loyalty to a group that won't let you leave it? It's just forced service...and it's dumb and not right. All I want is to be able to do what Kairi's done in her life: to go to school, or to the mall, or to have real friends to hang out on a beach with. I want ice cream and bikinis and first kisses and I want a house with a family. Why don't you people want me to have that?"
Zexion raised a shaking hand to her...and then it fell, and his body evaporated into nothing.
Xikira gazed at the spot where he once lay, then she sighed, letting her feelings go again - and allowing those other feelings to come back to her now. "At least I'll still have all my old sketches of you to go off of. Thanks for letting me draw you so many times before..." she spoke to the dark, empty room.
Then she turned away and strode back into her portal, leaving it behind - as quickly as she could.
But though she left that room, the feelings didn't leave her.
In fact, the feelings only got worse and worse.
She left the castle entirely, stepping out of her portal onto the white path into the darkness.
She sat down with her back to the thick, fancy doorframe, pulling up her legs and hugging her knees.
And she let everything she felt flood through her body.
Eventually she got control over herself, wiping at her eyes and nose.
She reached for her connections, reaching into Kairi's most recent memories. And she was shocked at what she found there.
They were confronting Xemnas...? They were-
Fighting him?
All of them, together?
Kairi, Sora, Xion, and even Lauriam and Elrena!
But...
She saw Xemnas had unleashed a storm of red energy bolts onto them all, rendering them all unable to even stand again.
Except Sora had.
And then-
Xikira had the sudden, mental image of the golden thread connecting him and Kairi...turning a bubbling purple. The light wasn't light...it was darkness. Smothered, dampened. Corroded, almost...
But Xemnas beat him too, even like that, and then Sora reverted to his normal self. The connection was restored, and Xikira breathed as much relief as Kairi in that moment.
But even still...
Xikira broke off from Kairi's Heart and memories, curling a shaking fist at her side.
She didn't even know what she could do to help - would a single Keyblade wielder even be able to make a difference? But she wanted to. But...Zexion, these feelings inside her. This true...emptiness... But they were all up there, all trying! Even to their last breaths...
Lauriam and Elrena too!
Suddenly, blue light swirled and burst in front of her, and a familiar, tall figure came striding out of the...light portal?
A woman of eighteen, with blue hair.
She was wearing dark blue armor with a long cape, and had a Keyblade in her hand.
A person Xikira recognized from memories.
She stopped on sight of Xikira, gazing at her, perplexed. Thrown off for a moment. Recognizing her in turn - or, recognizing the Kairi-ness of her appearance.
"Who-" the woman began.
Xikira shook her head. "Please - Kairi needs your help! The thirteenth floor! It's Xemnas - Ansem - um, Xehanort!" she tried to convey, choked.
The woman's eyes widened. Then, they narrowed. She strode forward and aimed her Keyblade at the front doors; they lit up gold, spilling open for her and blinding Xikira. The woman stalked through them and disappeared into that light.
Xikira remained exactly where she was, shoving her face into her knees again.
She just kept seeing Zexion's face - that expression of his - and hearing those gasping breaths of his as he...
After she had...
But she regained herself once more, and she stood, and she created a dark corridor to go and join her friends - and family - at last.
Because at least...it could all be over now. Right?
Luxu stood in his dark corridor, watching them all together on the thirteenth floor - listening to them all.
Kairi, Sora, Xion - Master Aqua - Xikira...Lauriam and Elrena.
And the things he heard out of them...it was impossible.
Xikira...was impossible.
Lauriam, Elrena, they...Xikira had actually restored their memories to some meaningful degree? Their own awareness of self, identity, and history?
How? HOW?
And how hadn't he realized it, after noticing the time she'd been spending with one or the other lately - no, with both, as this familiarity indicated? How had he missed it?!
Gah, that didn't even matter!
For fuck's sake, what mattered was that she-
Was that that...pretty...miraculous...impossible girl by nature and existence itself...had done the impossible.
And if she could do it for them...
Then there was another Union Leader she could do it for, too.
She...could actually...fulfill the promise that he hadn't been able to, for all these years now...try as he might...
Luxu watched Xikira leave through a portal of her own, and he moved through space itself to stay with her - to track her.
He watched her emerge again into a grassy crossroad, a path in the middle of those endless fields and hills, under starry night sky.
And he made a choice, for the first time in a long time.
A bold, dangerous choice.
The last such choice had been the one to rescue Skuld right out from under Ansem The Wise, Xehanort, and all the other apprentices' noses.
Today, the choice was to help her...in a different way.
An impossible way that was now perfectly possible.
Because of one impossible girl.
