Inverted Sky: KH 358/2 Days
Chapter 22: The World That Never Was part XI
"Roxas!" both Kairi and Namine called out as the boy was sent flying out of the hall, to which Xion went rushing after.
While they moved to give chase, Luxord stepped in front of them with a swift movement. Him giving the two a small smirk, as he spun one of his smaller cards between each finger. "Sorry...but those two have some things to work out, so I'll have to entertain you both in the meantime." he claimed firmly, to which the teens looked to one another before around the area.
Everyone appearing to have squared off with their foes in some fashion or another. Leon and Yuffie immediately moved up to Xigbar, making sure the man wouldn't be able to snipe the others from afar. Riku confronted Saix, whose eyes were beginning to glow yellow, which Roxas mentioned to be a sign of his berserk mode. Zexion seemed to almost reluctantly approach Demyx, all as said man was still clutching his ribs in pain. Lexaeus stood firmly in opposition to Xaldin, showing a glimpse of their rivalry. All the while, Mickey moved toward the exit of the castle, as hundreds of Heartless and Nobodies began swarming toward them.
"I'll keep them occupied! Fight safely and escape once you can!It'll take a few seconds for the orbs to activate!" the mouse king called out while rushing off to fight against the oncoming force.
With everyone ready to begin their respective battles, there was only a split second pause before they began their clash.
Kairi and Namine stared at Luxord with narrowed eyes and cautious expressions. Upon seeing this, the man himself chuckled and halted his twirling of the card. "Such a hostile stare." he hummed out with a snap of his wrist, causing the single card to multiply into thirteen.
"Well, I suppose it's not unwarranted." Luxord added, nodding slowly and beginning to shuffle the cards with both hands.
"But I hope that I may curb your animosity into intrigue...with a few games." he continued while glancing between the two.
"Roxas mentioned that you like to play games." Kairi said silently, yet her tone was still untrusting of him.
"Did he now? Well...he was someone who actually appreciated my games..." Luxord began in an almost nostalgic tone, suddenly tossing the cards into the air.
These swiftly forming a circle in the air and began spinning as they lowered toward the floor. However, the cards themselves seemed to grow in size while they dropped, becoming slightly taller than Luxord himself as they rotated around him. As each one pass by, they briefly obscured view of the teens' opponent. Said man simply gazing at the pair with an almost hopeful smile; "...I wonder if you two will be the same." he finished, just as he seemed to disappear after one of the cards passed over him.
The moment he was gone, the cards swiftly altered their direction and immediately surrounded the two in a large circle. Both Kairi and Namine moved back-to-back, holding their staffs up and ready to cast a spell. Them watching carefully as the cards them began to rotate in this circle, gaining progressive speed with each rotation. But as they glanced to one another in question as to what this game might be, they started hearing a low hum starting to emanate from the cards. Their kinetic energy starting to build, and leading the teens to assume that if they took too long to figure this out, they would be hit with some sort of attack.
Knowing this, Kairi narrowed her eyes slightly before lifting her staff into the air. Upon doing so, several bolts of lightning shot down from above and struck the cards circling them all at once. The electricity caused the cards to falter and stop their rotation, to which Luxord stepped out from behind the one on their right. As he did however, there was a noticeable disappointment in his expression while he shook his head.
"A quick solution to the game, yes...but also the worst option as well." he claimed with a snap of his fingers.
With the sound echoing throughout the hall, the girls looked around in question for what would happen next. Them seeing how all the cards, save for the one Luxord had been inside of, turned swiftly toward Kairi. The lightning that struck them appearing on the face of each card before they all sparked forward and at the original caster. Kairi herself brought up a shield spell to block this, but the lightning actually seemed to pass right through it to hit her. This made the teen let out a yell of pain, as she staggered slightly.
"Kairi!" Namine called out in a panic as she steadied the other girl on her feet.
"It seems you didn't have much luck this time around." Luxord commented, him beginning to float into the air atop on of his cards.
"Lets see about the next game." he continued while holding a hand out and flexing his fingers slightly.
As he did so, the other cards swiftly lifted into the air and started to connect and stack onto one another until they formed a cube. "Perhaps you'll have better luck with a dice game." he hummed out, a smile returning to his features.
After saying this, the die dropped down toward the pair. Both of whom leaped in opposite direction, as the cube was quite large, being twice their height combined. The moment it landed though, a shockwave of magic echoed outward and knocked them to the floor. Upon which, they saw more cards circle around them, blocking off their escape. But as they looked from the die, to Luxord, the man was simply gazing down at them with an expecting stare.
Slowly turning her gaze toward the cube, Namine took notice of the numbers on each side. "Six sides...one..three..six..and four visible." the blond whispered aloud while quickly moving around the die, narrowing her eyes as she did.
"Which means it either landed on two or five." Kairi spoke up while keeping her gaze on Luxord.
"But then...what's the game here? Are we simply supposed to get a higher number? Or are we meant to add up to something?" Namine asked with a shake of her head, not used to playing such games.
"Probably the latter." Kairi claimed as she turned toward the die on the floor, which was starting to hum in a similar manner as the cards had previously.
"The most common number to reach for a gamble is seven. Which means we need to get a five." she continued, readying her staff for a spell.
"But what if it's already on five, and we need to roll two?" Namine questioned quickly, looking up toward Luxord briefly as the humming began to grow louder.
"It's part of the gamble." Kairi stated before shooting a burst of fire at the bottom of the die.
This sending it flying through the air, but due to the speed in which it left the ground and its swift rotation, they never saw what number it initially landed on. As Luxord watched this, he simply gained a pleased smile and nodded his head slowly. "Excellent" he uttered out while watching the die land on five.
Once it did, a surge of energy shot from the cube and into Luxord. Whom, despite having a clear option to dodge, instead took the attack head on with a smile on his face. "Now we're playing a game." he whispered silently while being knocked off the card he hand been standing on.
At the same time, Riku narrowed his eyes heavily on Saix. Both of them moving slowly to the side, making a circle around one another. The two appearing to be waiting for the other to make the first move, yet neither one seemed ready to do so. Instantly after hearing the impact of of battle between Lexaeus and Xaldin however, they swiftly rushed forward in unison. In the blink of an eye, they collided their weapons against one another as sparks flashed around them. While the silver-haired boy held firm, he could feel the man's strength was far greater than his own now that he was in his berserk mode.
Of which granted Saix a massive boost in power, and allowed him to push the teen back with a simple shove. Riku slid to an immediate stop though, to which he rushed forward once more. His eyes focused on his opponent, seeming to be waiting for something as he lifted his blade to strike. This 'something' came in the form of Saix making a wide sweeping swing with his claymore. The blue-haired Nobody seeing the boy's swift retaliation, and attempted to hit him the moment he entered his range.
However, Riku just smirked knowingly as he flipped up and over the attack. Saix's own eyes narrowed as he continued his momentum, transitioning the swing to hit where he knew Riku would land. As he turned fully around though, said boy was not there. Which led for him to swiftly look up, a flare of anger visible in his eyes. Once he gazed above his head, the Nobody saw Riku precariously hovering in the air with aero magic, just a few meters off the ground. The teen used this positioning to hold out in Keyblade and blast a cone of darkness at Saix, whom was instantly consumed by the black energy.
The attack curled across much of the hall, pealing away portions of the metal floor. It being clear that this was a very intense force, meant to take Saix out as quickly as possible. But the moment the boy unleashed this darkness, he swiftly used the wind magic to push himself away. His eyes never leaving where his opponent had been, as if knowing the man wasn't defeated yet. "That had to have done some damage." he whispered silently with a careful and examining gaze at the slowly dissipating darkness.
In the blink of an eye, and even before Riku could react, Saix had appeared in front of him. A powerful swing coming straight toward the teen as his eyes only just started to widen in his registered shock. The boy barely even taking in a sharp breath, before he was impacted by the claymore. While he had his Keyblade up in a defensive manner, it did little to impede the strength of the attack. Of which sent him flying toward one of the far walls. As he tumbled through the air, Riku still managed to catch sight of the man rushing after him with great speed.
With a groan of pain and frustration, the teen released multiple shards of ice in the Nobody's direction, hoping to slow him down. But Saix either avoided these thanks to his sheer speed, or blocked the magic with his weapon. Something that he readied for another swing as he approached. 'He's just as relentless as I heard.' Riku mused to himself quickly, finally managing to right himself in the air while beginning his descent.
The moment he had though, Saix leapt up and appeared in front of him in a flash. The blue-haired man not saying a word, yet his expression was one of rage and wild fury. Riku could only watch with wide eyes and mouth agape, at the shear ferocity of his foe as he brought his claymore down at him. But as the weapon collided with the boy, it went straight through him. This made Saix's own glowing eyes widen as Riku's form disappeared, to which he swiftly looked around.
However, he never noticed his silver-haired opponent, until said boy landed a strong kick into his back. Growling slightly from the pain, the man twisted in the air and swung at the teen. Whom attempted to push off the Nobody and escape, but was still caught by the edge of the man's weapon. Despite being a graze, it was still enough to knock Riku away. The two then landing and tumbling onto the floor of the hall, landing only several meters apart. As they slowly stood to their feet, their eyes immediately met with a narrowed caution.
"Impressive." Saix spoke in a low and nearly animalistic voice.
"And here I heard you were a stoic person." Riku commented with a small smirk, feeling the bruising and soreness of the first hit he took.
'This guy is crazy strong...I don't know how many direct attacks I can take before he'll just break me in half.' the boy continued in his mind, wincing a bit as he forced himself to straighten his posture.
'Looks like Zexion was right...not all the Organization members are equal in power, some are way stronger than others.' he added whilst tightening his grip on the Keyblade.
"Only when I'm not deriving my power from the moon." Saix retorted, still sounding as though he was growling with each word.
Riku simply huffed lightly to this, but a realization slowly formed on his features. His eyes briefly lifting up toward the heart-shaped moon in the sky above, which was visible thanks to the glass ceiling in the hall. Despite realizing the help he just received however, his opponent took advantage of the moment he took his eyes off him. The Nobody charged forward, and closed the distance between them in less than a second. The silver-haired teen gasping slightly, all while mentally cursing himself for being distracted. But he still held up his Keyblade and braced for impact, not backing down from the incoming attack.
The moment he felt Saix's claymore hit his weapon, he flinched ever so slightly out of reflex. Yet the impact wasn't nearly as strong as before, leading for Riku to blink slightly as he noticed a figure standing next to him. "Need some help?" Zack Fair questioned with a small grin on his features.
Meanwhile, Zexion held out a hand as a tall, swirling column of magic surrounded Demyx. The man being unable to break free, even as he shot large amounts of water upon its surface. "Aw come on! This is just not fair!" the blond called out in a huff, still clutching his ribs.
"Sorry, but I've studied everyone in the Organization for too long. I know countermeasures for nearly all of you." Zexion claimed in a confident manner, smirking lightly as he closed the tome in his hand.
The resulting thud was mixed with something else however, the man blinking a few times as he looked down to see a red beam pierced through his chest. His eyes swiftly widened as the rest of his body went limp, dropping the heavy book onto the ground where it turned to smoke. "Perhaps." Xemnas started from behind Zexion, making much of the room go silent.
"Unfortunately however...you never were his best student." he continued, his tone being one of false regret while watching the other Nobody beginning to fade rapidly.
"C-Curse you...Xemnas..." the steel-blue-haired man uttered out, him trying and failing to cast one last spell before he simply disappeared.
Things are coming to a head for our heroes, so stay tuned for the next chapter as the fight continues. Let me know what you thought of this chapter, and until next time.