Ankh 51: Now, so you know what you can expect, here's a two word preview: Yen Sid. Now you know everything about this chapter! To get it out of the way, don't own Kingdom Hearts 2 (Shakes fists up at sky in defeat) or Yen Sid, (Sighs in relief) but I do own a computer and access to a typing program…HAH! You didn't know that, did you?
(FB Flashback) (I don't own Case Closed, YuYu Hakusho, Tsubasa or XXXholic)
I was now standing in front of the person who was thought to be the greatest magician in the world, Yen Sid. Sure, I had to toss aside some heartless to get up to the top of the tower, but it was easy. After briefly addressing Donald, Goofy and Sora individually, he turned to me and asked, "What is your name?" Matching his glare, I said, "Corazon. Andrew Corazon." (Just so you know, it is hard to stare into Yen Sid's eyes, they are a little creepy) Smiling, he said, "I'll settle for Andrew. Now, before we get into technical detail, I'm going to inform you about nobodies and heartless…" "I know about them already." I quickly said, cutting him off. Keeping the glare, he said, "I know you've had a few brief encounters…" "No, I know a lot. The heartless come in different shapes and forms, the most common a shadow form. They are attracted to the keyblade and seek to collect hearts, and are controlled by Maleficent. Then there are nobodies, the most common form Dusk, who are the empty shells of the victims of the heartless. Nobodies do not have hearts, but they seek them. Organization XIII controls them, although being nobodies themselves, and also seek hearts so they may be whole." I said, taking a breath.
Taken aback, Yen Sid replied, "Well! It seems that you are well-informed! Now, let's get down to business. I believe I know why your ankh seems to be protecting you. It appears that somebody…" "…altered the original events of natural occurrences and now we have an alternate reality in which I am included in. I deduced that from information that we received." I said, serious face on. "I…didn't understand what you just said!" Yen Sid exclaimed. "Uhhhhhh…somebody messed things up so I could be a hero." I said, unsure. "Aaaaaahhhhh, now I understand." Yen Sid said, stroking his beard. I thought he was smart… Curiosity returning, I said, "Mr. Yen Sid, I have a question. Do you know anything about that guy that showed up outside of the tower?" Shaking his head, he said, "Very little. All I know is that he was powerful enough to keep me restrained within the tower, he is either a heartless or a nobody, and he answers to a mysterious master, who is neither Maleficent nor the leader of Organization XIII."
Sarcastic, I said, "But besides that, you know very little." "Pretty much." He replied. "So what do we have to do?" Sora said, making us both jump. Yen Sid clutched his heart, saying, "O, I forgot you were there! I sometimes go on too long…anyway, Sora, you just continue to make new paths between the worlds, and stop evil schemes. As for you Andrew, some worlds have suffered or may suffer massive damage. If that happens, your ankh will be the perfect source for a swift recovery." We all nodded, and Yen Sid briskly said, "You may go." As Sora, Donald and Goofy left the room, and I prepared to, Yen Sid said, "Don't look for that girl on your travels; it will only consume your time." Looking at him with a look of discontent, I reached into my pocket, pulled out the pendant and outstretched my arm saying, "Then you find her."
Yen Sid took it out of my hand and simply nodded…not making a promise to do anything. I will have to find her… TIME SKIP "Wow…this is a fancy mansion!" I exclaimed. The mansion, though dark and gloomy was big and expansive, and had long elegant stairways and many doors. "I guess this is Beast's castle." Sora said, looking around. "No." I said, pretending to be astonished. "Actually, it is his castle." Sora said, while I slapped my hand against my forehead. "LOOK!" Donald screamed, pointing towards the heartless walking into a room. We quickly followed, only to find the room full of them. "Let's go to work!" Sora said, whipping out the keyblade. We all followed suit, quickly revealing the keyblade and the ankh halves. As I ran in, I could see a rose out of the corner of my eye…
TIME SKIP "There's too many heartless!" Donald said. "Yep, that's true!" Goofy agreed. "But we just gotta keep fighting!" Sora said, panting. "Sorry, but I was pretty much done after the 14 hundredth heartless." I said, also panting. All of a sudden, the door burst open, revealing the most ugly/scary thing I had ever seen (despite knowing it was the basically harmless beast). Now, remembering the scene from Kingdom Hearts when the beast gets PMS (but, probably cowering in fear from the beast) I flattened myself against the wall. Just as expected, the Beast destroys heartless, smacks Sora and company around, takes flower, and stalks off somewhere. Brushing himself off, Sora asked aloud, "What was that about?" Opening my mouth to comment, I thought, "Maybe it isn't the brightest idea to tell them they're video game characters." So, I went with the dumb answer, which was, "Uhhhhh…maybe we should look for Belle." Everyone nodded quickly, agreeing. After we left the room and started up the stairs, Donald asked, "Right or left?" "EastWing." I coughed, hoping someone would pick up on the message. Goofy, "Maybe we should split up!" Slapping my hand to my forehead, Sora said, "Good idea! Goofy and Donald, you go to the left. We'll go to the right!"
Putting their hands together, they said, "All for one!" Turning to me, Sora said, "You'll get it." "Can't wait!" I said, feigning a smile. TIME SKIP "So, what did he do with the servants?" I asked, sitting on Belle's bed. Looking at the floor, she said in a soft voice, "Well, he-"All of a sudden, Donald and Goofy came in, Donald with a giant lump on his head. "What happened?" Sora asked. "A crazy wardrobe attacked us after we tried to get through a door." Goofy said plainly. "Wait! That was probably the door to the dungeon room! That's where the servants are being held!" Belle exclaimed. "Let's go then." I said, making my ankh halves appear in my hands (like Sora does for the Keyblade). Making her mouth into an "O" shape, "You hold those without gloves? Let me make you some!" Taken aback, I said, "Um…uhhhh…thanks for your thoughtfulness. I think I'll take those gloves." TIME SKIP Kicking open the door to the West Wing from the dungeons, I said, "Well, that was a waste of time." "I actually agree with you." Donald said, with much difficulty.
We had just woken up a crabby wardrobe, fought a double heartless in a door, sprung the servants, traveled through dungeons, purified fire and came out into the West Wing again…in 5 minutes. Waste of time. "So, do you think the Beast will cooperate with us when it comes to talking with us?" Goofy said while we were walking towards Beast's room. "Sure!" I said, faking optimism. "Well, time to go in! Coming, Andrew?" Sora asked, expectantly. "Uhhhhh…Beast is your old friend. You go ahead and handle that yourselves. I'll stay outside." I said, leaning against the wall. They all just shrugged, looked at each other and went on their way, ignoring me. As I started to hear banging coming from inside the room, I closed my eyes, recollecting the little yet precious time I spent with Kiki… "You look lonely. Perhaps I should join you out here." I opened my eyes and suddenly turned…Xaldin.
Yes, it was Xaldin, with his long hair, and the freaky fact that his hair covers the side of this face, the bushy black eyebrows and the black robe-but a good fighter nonetheless. It took me at least 5 tries to kill him in the game… "I think that Sora and the others will be busy for quite a while. How about we play a little game?" Xaldin asked. "What game would that be?" I asked, playing dumb. "Life and death." Xaldin said, knocking me down the hallway with a blast of wind. As I tried to move, he pushed me back with another gust of wind and said, "Wait until I'm ready!" Two lances suddenly materialized in his hand, and then another two followed, finishing off with two rotating lances in the air. As I realized I was no longer pinned, I said, "I think you're ready." I rushed forward, throwing rah directly at him. He easily deflected it with a blast of wind, making it fall to the floor harmlessly. I rolled and grabbed rah, then swung kah quickly into Xaldin's side…and it was blocked by his lances. Moving his finger back and forth, he said, "Tsk, Tsk." And sent me flying into the wall with another gust of wind. Kneeling, I thought, "Okay, frontal attacks obviously don't work, so maybe I should go with an aerial attack…that was what the jump reaction command was for…
At least, that was the plan, until a lance came flying into my stomach, knocking the air (how ironic) right out of me. Looking up, (Having been knocked on my back) I could plainly see that there was no room to jump over Xaldin. How could he have known…? "Surrender?" Xaldin asked, seeing me clutch my stomach. "Try…making…me…" I said, gathering my breath. "Okay." He said, launching a lance from down the hallway at my face. At the exact moment that the lance was about to pass the doorway and hit my face, I heard, "LIGHT!" And the moment after, Sora slid into the hallway (On that sheet of invisible ice, that's what made it hot), the side of his keyblade knocking into the side of the lance and knocking it out of the way, saving me. As he tried to shoot Xaldin with those magic blast thingies, Xaldin rushed away out of the West Wing, leaving Sora holding up his keyblade. Impressive. Turning towards me, Sora separated from Donald and said, "You okay?" Clutching my stomach, I said, "A cura would help." Donald quickly cast cura, sniggering behind Sora's back. I didn't really care.
"Who was that?" Sora asked, helping me up. "Was it Xaldin?" The Beast said, bursting out of nowhere and scaring the hell out of me. "Uhhhhh…yeah, it was." I said nervously. "LET'S GET HIM!" the beast said, charging out of the West Wing. We all quickly ran after him, coming once again to the midsection of the stairs, in front of where the large dance hall is. As the Beast, Goofy and Sora entered, I turned around and saw… a small ball of light…near the front door to the mansion…clear and blue…strange…I needed to…to…to… "It's just a giant door! What more is there to see!" Donald exclaimed, motioning for me to come forward. Still staring at the little ball, I quickly figured out that I was the only one who could see it. Sticking his head out of the door, Sora said, "Andrew! Let's go!" Still staring, I said, "I'm…gonna stay out here…not prepared to fight… Besides! Belle is alone! I'll go check on her and my gloves!" "Good idea. Let's go, Donald!" Sora said hastily. Walking slowly down the stairs and towards the light, I was filled with apprehension and curiosity. What was it? What does it do? Where did it come from? So many questions. So little time. I was finally directly in front of it and then…I reached out and touched it…
FB "So, what manga are you into?" Kiki asked, smiling (We had just shared a joke). I chewed on a fry and said, "Ummmm… Case Closed, YuYu Hakusho, and I just started reading Tsubasa and XXXholic." She smiled and said, "Big adventure fan, I'm guessing." "Yeah." I said bashfully. "Adventures are cool, right? I mean, a long journey with no end in sight and just a single goal to focus on…it's just…amazing. And reading to the end to see the adventurer find his trophy…it's just…satisfying." Kiki said, staring at me, but still going far away in her mind. "Yeah…trophies…" I said, thinking about Sora, Donald and Goofy. "And speaking of trophies…" she said, as I snapped back into attention. Kiki giggled and said, "Pay attention! Now, the way I see it, guys think girlfriends are like trophies. Some like to show them off, some like to keep them private, some like to borrow them, and some just want them for a while and then they give it away. That's the vibe I got from your friend." Suddenly feeling ashamed, I said, "Yeah, about that…" "Don't worry! Forget it." She said, waving her hand away. "Okay." I said quickly, trying to recover. "Anyway, I didn't get that from you. You're not any of those guys. I feel like…you'll take a trophy, and treasure it…forever. At least…I th…s….y….
My eyes blinking, the Beast Mansion came into view again, showing that the flashback was obviously over. But how… "I hope you don't mind that I borrowed one of your memories. Your life is so interesting after all…" Xaldin said. Whipping around, I saw Xaldin at the top of the stairs, grinning wildly. Taking on a stern face, I said seriously, "One question. How did you do it?" Xaldin, smiling broadly again, said, "Well, everyone in the Organization can remove memories one way or another, but I do it with a little wind. I only was able to take one out though… But don't worry, I found it so emotional! Not too over the top either!" Summoning rah and kah again, I said, "One more question. How many seconds do you think it will take to take you down?" Releasing a wind strong enough to launch me out of the giant doors of the mansion, he said, "The number is way too high to count." Soon after he said that, Xaldin launched a lance at me, missing and landing in a statue in the courtyard southwest of me. He then threw another one, also missing and landing in a statue southeast of me. What is he planning?
Shaking it off, I rushed forward, gripping the halves as tightly as I could…but then I tripped. It was actually because of a sudden powerful gust of wind…but where's the source… Shaking it off again, I stood up quickly and charged again…then I tripped again. Frustrated, I looked behind me…and got hit with two powerful gusts of wind, launching me backward towards Xaldin. Why didn't I see that…ow. He launched 4 of his lances into my back with wind as powerful as a tornado, not only sending me flying, but flipping me around in the air several times. After what seemed like a week, I crashed into the hard stone ground, paralyzed with pain for a while. After a few tense moments, I was able to at least kneel on one knee, but I couldn't do much else. "Give up, Corazon?" Xaldin asked, bringing four of his lances back. Panting heavily, I thought about the situation. "What has he been doing that I can't get at him?" I thought for a few seconds… that's it! The wind, the positioning, the taunting…he's just been messing with my fighting stance and taking advantage of my little skill!
"Okay, now you know what he's been doing, and that an aerial attack will work. But how do I fix it and even the odds…" All of a sudden, the mansion doors burst open to reveal…Belle? "Andrew?" Belle asked, shocked. "Oh, look. The pretty little girl has come out to play!" Xaldin said, raising his lances. "Belle! Look out!" I screamed, running towards her. I managed to position myself right in front of Belle before… "Now what?" Xaldin said, throwing everything. "ANKH! DEFEND!" I screamed aloud, remembering the last time. An orange barrier appeared, covering Belle and I, and knocking the lances in every direction…even though he gained quick control of them… "Andrew, I'm sorry. I didn't know that there was a fight going on…" Belle apologized. "Don't worry. It's an honest mistake. Just go back into the mansion where it's…partly safer." I said, remembering the first boss fight. "Oo-okay. But if it helps, you can take the gloves I made…" Belle said, handing me the gloves. Looking at the gloves and grinning, I beamed and said, "Thanks, Belle! Now, get in the mansion!" She nodded quickly and ran in, while I got back into a fighting stance.
"Ooooo! Nice gift! Too bad you'll only have them for a little while!" Xaldin said, launching a lance at me. Throwing kah up in the air, I managed to grab the lance, just as it was about to pass by me. I charged at Xaldin again, but just before I got too close, I used the lance to pole vault over him and then land on the tip of my foot with rah in hand. As Xaldin quickly turned to face me, (I'm behind him now) I charged with rah and he quickly fortified himself for the attack. Good job, genius. "KAH! TO ME!" I screamed, while running. Kah, previously lying on the ground, started to move forward at a high speed…right at Xaldin. So, what's he gonna do now? Stop me, and get with the attack from the back? Or stop kah, and hope that I miss? And just as I swung at him with rah, he used a drastic wind shield to blow me away…just as I hoped. Riding the wind, I launched myself into the air, and grabbed kah as it landed in my hand. Now that I'm falling from the air and Xaldin doesn't know where I am, I need an idea for an aerial attack…got it. "Rah! Spin!" I whispered softly. And just as I was about to hit him from the air…he looked up! Perfect. I broke through the aero shield with rah, and then followed up with a blow to the head using kah. Landing on the ground perfectly, I swung the curved part of the blade into his stomach, launching him into a wall. Aerial combo, complete.
Standing up straight, I stared right into the wall where Xaldin had crashed and waited for the dust to clear…ow. Again. Two lances flew into my stomach, knocking me back a few feet. Stepping out of the dust, and with an angry look on his face, Xaldin said, "Nice combination attack. Let me show you one of mine." In the blink of an eye and a quick gust of wind, he was gone. What? I looked around… "AEROGA CANNON!" Xaldin said, catching my entire body in the vertex. He had made that wind cannon that was meant to sweep an entire bridge…not an entire body. I collapsed to my knees, then dropped rah and kah to support myself with my hands. Breathing heavily, I thought, "It wasn't enough? Another attack…yes…that's what I need." Standing shakily on my feet, I smiled a weak smile and ran towards the mansion wall, hoping to scale it and get airborne. "NOT AGAIN!" Xaldin said, with fury. A lance tripped me up, sending me crashing into the ground with my arms spread, and no way to move.
With a wicked smile, Xaldin said, "If you want to be airborne so much…I'll grant your wish!" I was suddenly launched into the air, and of course Xaldin followed…and stopped me in midair with a powerful lance thrust to the stomach. Not good. "See you on the ground." Xaldin said, transporting to the ground. Falling fast now, I thought, "Not good! The same attack won't work again! I need another attack, a smart one…a fast one…a more powerful one! And just as his face came into view, the ankh halves combined together (in the blade form by the way) forming a giant ankh...and started to glow! Everything stopped. I stopped in mid-air. Xaldin stopped moving. The ankh stopped falling as well. As the ankh grew brighter and brighter, I positioned my hands on top of each other and just above the ankh, not touching it. And as if I switched turned on, a powerful blast of power was released from the ankh, completely surprising me and Xaldin! That look of shock on his face…
TIME SKIP (A very short one) I was lying on the ground, weaker than ever. Xaldin was kneeling on the ground and breathing hard, obviously spent. "What…was…that?" Xaldin asked, getting weaker by the second. "I'll…tell…you…when…I think…of… a name." I said, grinning. A split second later, Sora burst through the door with red clothes and two keyblades and said, "Are you okay? We heard there was a fight from Belle! He was silent, however, when Xaldin started to fade away, being defeated and all. When Xaldin was completely gone, Donald came over and said, "So, you managed to get yourself beat up again, eh?" "Yeah." I said, as Donald cast cure. "I guess you got through it alright." Sora said, separating from Goofy (and sounding disappointed). "So, can we go now?" I asked, eager to leave. "What, are you scared of the Beast?" Donald asked, sniggering. "Of course not." I said, waving my hand. "HEY!" The Beast said from behind me. I think that .2 seconds is a new record for reaching a Gummi ship port.
It may only be the 5th chapter, but it's the best yet! And now, two new additions to the end of every chapter!
Next time on KH Silver: The West meets the East as they go back to ancient China and the Land of the Dragons! However, they'll have to worry about more than a crabby Asian general…
Just in case you didn't notice: Sora used Valor and Wisdom forms in this chapter! (Kinda obvious, but I'll make these harder to see!)