Inverted Sky: KH 358/2 Days
Chapter 12: Destiny Islands
Xion's Log: Day 150
While gazing around the beach of the small island, Xion's eyes just seemed to be taking everything in. The docks, the small shack, the bridge connecting the raised sand dune. It all felt so familiar, despite seeing it for the first time. 'Riku mentioned that this is the world he and Sora are from, so I guess it makes sense I would feel attached to it in some way. But...I didn't expect it to be so strong, nor such an immediate feeling.' the teen thought to herself with a silent breath.
After a moment though, the raven-haired girl shook her head in order to try and refocus her thoughts. 'I can't get careless, King Mickey asked me to keep a watchful eye as they went on ahead.' she claimed inwardly in a firm manner.
'Though...' Xion continued as her gaze slowly drifted over to the large island that Riku and Mickey went to.
This land mass had a clear township along the coast, which also seemed very familiar to the teen. 'Looking at everything here...it's like staring into a past I never had, yet it's still somehow imprinted on my heart.' she added with a thoughtful glance around the area.
"It's so strange." she uttered aloud, tapping her chin a few times with a gloved finger.
However, she suddenly paused while placing a hand over where her heart would be. 'Wait...'imprinted on my heart'? How do I even know what having one feels like?' the teen questioned herself, suddenly feeling as though she somehow caught herself in a lie.
'I didn't gain any memories from Sora, and I don't recall waking up with any specific emotions.' Xion expounded, her eyes drifting down toward the sand beneath her feet.
'So then...at what point did I start understanding what it's like to have a heart?' she mused in a very contemplative way.
As all manner of thoughts raced through the girl's mind, she didn't notice a hand slowly reach out toward her from behind. It being from the same individual whom attempted to grasp her throat, back at the Coliseum. But Xion appeared too deep in her mind to sense anything, as she had both arms crossed and her head tilted down. 'Yeah...I think it was around the same time as when I met Rox-' she began inwardly, but was instantly cut off as an explosion of magic burst up from the ground behind her.
At the same time, a shield spell shimmered to surround the blast, containing it within. In a split second, a large cloud of smoke developed inside this barrier. Yet it had swiftly dispersed along with the shield, when Xion turned around to dispelled it. This revealed a hooded figure, with only minor burns to the dull brown cloak they wore. Their long red coat, as well as their black pants, boots and shirt, were all untouched. And while this person's face was obscured, they had a clearly more masculine figure.
With heavily narrowed eyes, Xion gazed at this person in a carefully examining gaze. Said individual merely brushed off a bit of sand that kicked up from the explosion; "Now now...don't be so hasty." they said in a soft chuckle, their voice confirming that they were indeed a male.
"Huh...so you're the one I felt sneaking up that time." the girl muttered while quirking a brow slightly.
The man simply chuckled once more to this, nodding his head in the process. "Indeed, I've been quite eager to speak with you." he commented, taking a step to the side and gazed at where he knew Xion's eyes were.
"But you've always made it so difficult to catch you alone." he added while tilting his head ever so slightly, as if trying to see past the shadow under the girl's hood.
"Right..." the raven-haired teen muttered silently, seeming to be nothing but suspicious of this person.
"...and why exactly are you so determined to talk to me?" she continued in a more firm tone, the gold in her right eye flashing briefly.
"The same reason why you've been traveling with those new friends of yours...to help Sora." the man claimed, his voice sounding almost condescending as he spoke.
These words made Xion's eyes narrow a bit heavier, to which she opened a hand and readied to summon her weapon. "Somehow I doubt that." she stated back in a huff.
The cloaked individual let out an unimpressed chuckle, before he then shrugged both shoulders. "Well, our definitions of what will 'help' her, are likely very different. But right now, I am quite concerned for what is happening to her. She is very important." he explained, resting one hand upon his hip as he was obviously choosing his words carefully.
"And since I've only managed to gain small pieces of information until now, I've decided to simply drop the formalities and ask directly. What is wrong with her?" the man continued as his voice became less cordial, and more forceful.
"Well I'm sorry to inform you, but I'm afraid that even I don't know what's going on with her." Xion exclaimed while finally bringing out her Keyblade, knowing that a fight was likely imminent.
With a quick glance toward this weapon, the man just seemed to stare at the teen for a few seconds. "Come now...for someone who put enough thought into faking their own demise, there is no way you wouldn't have pieced something together by now." he said in a knowing manner, which made the girl just glare briefly at him.
"Sorry again, for betraying your expectations. But I honestly don't know." Xion retorted, sounding very honest in these words, but it didn't seem to convince the man.
Whom let out a silent sigh and cracked his neck on both sides, before looking at the girl once more. "Is that so? How unfortunate." he said in a clearly annoyed tone.
"In that case, perhaps I'll need to jog your memory until you figure something out on the spot." the cloaked man stated, placing his left hand over the right.
Following this, he swiftly pulled his right limb to the side, causing crimson flames to blaze between both hands. The fire itself then seemed to solidify, forming a red longsword in his right hand. All along this blade, were strange runic symbols that Xion couldn't identify, yet they were all glowing with a fiery aura. With a quick flourish of the weapon, the man pointed it toward the teen and spoke in a far more sinister tone. "I've seen you fight before..."
"...you observe as much as possible to try and trap your opponents with all sorts of clever tricks." he continued, almost sounding as though he was amused by this.
"But lets see how well you do against someone in a completely different league from you." the man finished before immediately rushing forward at blinding speed.
Xion's eyes widened from this, as his swiftness was indeed already far beyond anyone or anything else she had fought before. Yet she managed to dodge his thrusting blade, thanks to always having a preemptive shield spell active around her. Though the spell shattered in an instant, the angle it had been cast at, forced the tip of the sword to slid off to the side. Which provided enough of a buffer for the girl to leap away and lift a hand out toward her opponent.
With an entirely focused gaze on the man, Xion pressed all four fingers against her thumb before flicking them outward. In an instant, four beams of white-hot fire shot forward. Each of them spreading out as they moved, yet immediately converged on the cloaked individual. Said man easily moved out of the way from two of these, before slashing the other two with his weapon. The destroyed spells simply sizzled into hot air, but the ones that continued one, swiftly exploded in the water beyond.
While not overly large blasts, they would likely deal some damage if they hit directly. But the man appeared uninterested as his eyes were entirely centered on Xion, to which he then chased after her in a zig-zag movement. This being an attempt to confuse his foe as to which direction he would attack from. The moment he came in for the strike on her left side however, he found his blade being parried. Xion, having brought her weapon to this side, used her forearm as extra leverage to push the man's attack away.
During her movement though, the teen also clenched her free hand into a fist, with the palm facing her opponent. As he continued forward with his momentum, Xion then opened her hand and sent a large bolt of lightning at him. Which appeared to strike him at first, but it was only the cloak that was hit. The piece of cloth itself falling away and revealing the man already a few meters out of the way. His very handsome features were focused on his foe, all as his short red hair fluttered in the wind caused by Xion's attack.
"Impressive." he whispered silently, a small smirk curling his lips.
The red-haired man instantly appeared in front of Xion, making the teen's gasp in surprise stop short as he delivering a palm to her stomach. Not only did this blow knocked the air from her lungs, but also sent her flying many meters backward. Her nearly slamming into the mountain that made up most of the island. Thankfully though, the girl stabbed her Keyblade into the sand to slow herself and eventually came to a stop. Despite the impact, and being wracked with pain, Xion's eyes remained focused on her foe, not wanting to be taken by surprise again.
This individual however, merely remained standing where he had been. It being clear that he wasn't taking the fight all that seriously, and was underestimating the teen. 'I guess he has every right to.' she thought briefly to herself, to which she then rushed forward, deciding to go on the offensive.
As she ran, the raven-haired girl dragged her Keyblade through the sand. Xion switching her grip on the weapon to a reverse hold, which she maintained as she leapt forward and made a powerful swing at her opponent. Upon blocking the blow with ease, the man almost appeared to be disappointed at the lack of strength. But in a series of rapid motions, a whip-like formation of ice lashed out and around his body. This ice coming from the trail the teen left in the sand, as it remained connected to the Keyblade's tip. Allowing so that when she made her attack, it would cause the ice to wrap around him.
Each section that struck the man, also had noticeable spikes that lined the whip-like ice. These protrusions quickly broke on impact, as none of them seemed to be able even pierce the red-haired man's clothing. But once the end of the whip swung forward, it was much larger than the rest of it. This part having come from the area Xion initially pushed her weapon into the group to stop herself. As he watched this coming toward him, the man couldn't help but smirk lightly as he didn't bother trying to move at all.
"Interesting, so you turn every hit into an opportunity. I might have to adopt that way of thinking." he hummed out calmly in a soft chuckle, the ice slamming down atop of his head.
"By all means..." Xion uttered, flipping her Keyblade around with both hands; "...take it." she finished before thrusting her weapon forward and against her foe's chest.
Upon impact, a massive torrent of ice magic blast forth and over the man. Whom still didn't seem to bother getting out of the way, as he became entirely encased in ice. The spell also freezing over everything behind the man, for several dozen meters. But as Xion pulled her weapon away, she swiftly lept backward. All the while, moving her free hand through the air in some sort of somatic component of her next spell. Which she instantly cast as she landed on the ground, thrusting her hand forward as she did. "Magic Blitz."
After whispering this, a series of differently colored orbs shot forward. But rather than continuing to remain separate, they quickly fused into one beam-like attack that was aimed directly for the man's chest. Though he was still unmoving in the ice, his eyes seemed to remain on the girl the whole time. But at the very last second, the ice shattered and the man slashed through the beam coming toward him. A split second later, he was in front of Xion as her eyes widened.
His swinging blade coming right toward her neck, yet it was at a different angle than a normal attack would be. Him breaking past the barrier she had set up and slicing down through her entire body. Seeing this however, the man's eyes narrowed briefly before a soft chuckle escaped his lips. "Illusion magic...I suppose it makes sense you would know something like this." he muttered silently while looking further ahead as Xion herself was only a few meters away.
Said teen letting out a breath as the illusion of herself faded, to which she took in and let out a breath. 'I really have no way of taking this guy down. He just cut through one of the strongest spells I have with no effort at all.' she thought to herself, yet quickly readied for whatever her opponent might do next.
Though, she was almost instantly left stunned as he merely lifted his free hand slightly. "On second thought...I think I've had my fun. I think I'll return for now." he started with a small smile.
With an intense stare at the man, Xion could tell there was a specific reason for why the man didn't wish to continue fighting. While she considering it might be due to Riku and Mickey coming closer, it was clearly not the cause. The sheer power he displayed in his effortless movements, and the fact that there wasn't even a scratch on him, he was clearly strong enough to take on all three of them it he wished. "An odd moment to end proceedings." she commented in a manner that showed she wasn't going to push her luck.
"But very well." Xion continued with a nod, yet kept her guard up.
Noticing this, the man chuckled with a shrug before leisurely walking to the side. "Lets hope that the next time we meet...you'll give me a better fight." he stated, but while his tone portrayed boredom, the look in his eyes showed that he learned a great deal from their encounter.
"I guess we'll find out..." the girl started, yet let her words hang in a way that asked for the man to tell his name.
Despite still walking away, the red-haired man paused and looked to Xion with a smile. "Genesis...Genesis Rhapsodos." he introduced, just as a massive magic circle appeared beneath his feet.
After a brief flash of light, the man was gone, leaving the girl alone on the island once more. Glancing around quickly, as to make sure he had indeed left, Xion eventually let out a sigh in relief. 'I really hope I don't run into him again. He really was in a league way beyond anything I've ever dealt with, and I doubt he showed even a small portion of what he's really capable of.' she started, slowly going around the area to undo all the damage she did with her magic.
'Though...I wonder just what could have made him leave when he obviously had the upper hand?' Xion continued curiously, tilting her head down in thought.
During this, both Riku and Mickey were rushing back toward the island, having felt the battle begin and end. Yet as they flew across the water in order to try and reach the girl, they never noticed the ominous figure hovering in the sky. The shadow of one-winged humanoid seemed float over them, before disappearing with a passing cloud.
The plot thickens further. Yes, Genesis was supposed to appear a lot sooner as a tease for things to come. ;) Anyway, I hope all of you enjoyed this chapter and will let me know what you thought of it. Until next time.