Chapter 3: The Distance of Dreams
"You're a sadistic creep, you know that? Though I'm one to talk, I guess." Braig was leaning back in a chair with his legs crossed and his hands behind his head. The usual cocky grin was plastered on his face and directed at Vanitas as he walked into the room.
"I just wanted to get her heart racing," Vanitas replied. He walked over to the other end of the room, his footsteps leaving hollow echoes on the tile floor. "So, I noticed you got rid of the lab in the mansion."
"Oh, did it work?" Braig had no idea what he was doing, to be honest. His attempt to remove Naminé's drawings and keep Xion from remembering through those had ended up erasing the entire room. "Yeah, her little pal has found us, so I decided to take away as many exits as possible."
"Do you want me to deal with him?"
Braig waved his hand dismissively and swiveled his chair around to face the blue screens. "Nah. We got a security system that doesn't even know it's on our side." He uncrossed his legs and leaned in closer, watching the black and blue figure on the screen. "Dealing with intruders is his job, right? So we'll just leave cleanup duty to him."
x-x-x
I've been having these weird thoughts lately…
Like is any of this for real, or not?
Xion squinted, though it didn't really do much to help since dust and sand kept flying through the air. He was already hard enough to make out against the dirt and brown stone, and this sandstorm was only making things worse. But as she got closer his figure came more into view. His armor, gold and red, was rusted and ruined from all the battles of the last few weeks. The current weather certainly wasn't helping either, as dirt and wind were constantly staining and wearing away at it. But with cape flapping in the wind and massive brown sword over his shoulder, Xion wondered how she hadn't been able to find him right away.
He looked over his shoulder—not at Xion, but at the next one to approach. It was a woman a few years older than Xion, that much was evident by the way the armor was built. Like the man's own armor, it was rusted and cracked. But Xion knew it had once been a vibrant blue and silver. Xion also knew her own armor didn't fare much better.
The first turned to look at Xion next as she approached from the third path. It was a weird sensation, because while she wanted to reach them she did not know why. While she was walking toward them her legs were moving on her own at the same time. It was like she was an observer trapped in her own body.
The man stepped forward and the three of them met in the crossroads where three swords had been thrust into the ground. The man drew the silver blade with a golden hand guard, and next to him the woman drew the golden blade with a silver hand guard. Xion wrapped her fingers around a black and white checkered hilt, a black guard protecting it. The blade itself was white. As the three armored knights drew their weapons the storm suddenly ended. Though she didn't turn her head to look, Xion was keenly aware that they were surrounded by hundreds more of those strange swords and they even formed the four roads the trio had walked down.
As for the fourth road…
The wind picked up again, though the dust didn't travel with it this time. From the fourth and final road came a hunched figure, his long black coat blowing in the wind as their capes did. His body flickered and a smoky doppelganger appeared at his side, but the doppelganger quickly changed shape into a masked boy dressed in black and red. As they moved forward a voice echoed in the air around them.
"Behold… These lifeless keys to be full of power—united with the hearts of their masters." The voice sounded like it should be coming from the old man, but his lips weren't changing from the smirk on his face. "On this barren soil, Keyblades of light and darkness were locked in combat… as a great Keyblade War raged!"
The two stopped some yards away from the three of them and the voice continued.
"Countless Keyblade wielders gave up their lives, all in search of one, ultimate key. And it will soon belong to me…"
The old man extended his arm forward, pointing a white gloved finger directly at Xion.
x-x-x
Xion bolted awake with a gasp and sat up. Panting heavily, she brought a hand up and ran it through her wet hair. Wet? Xion pulled the hand away and looked at her palm; it was covered in sweat. As her breathing slowed down to a more normal pace, she took in her surroundings.
"I'm… back home?" Sure enough, she was. The blue sheets on her bed, the black nightstand, the picture of her and Roxas at the beach four months ago. Xion was in her room. So… had it only been a dream? It didn't feel like one, but if it was real then why was she back here?
Xion ran a hand over her face and then rubbed her temples. It was then she realized no light was coming from outside and she was in complete darkness. What time was it? She turned right to pick her phone up off the nightstand. The soft light from that little screen illuminated her room for a few seconds as Xion stared at the clock. 4:30 in the morning. With a sound halfway between a sigh and a grumble, Xion put the phone back, rested her head on the pillow, and curled up into a ball. Yesterday's attack played over and over again in her mind. What the hell was going on?
"Can you feel Ventus?"
That whisper echoed clearly in her mind. Who or what was Ventus? The person who had assaulted her yesterday – or in the dream, if it was a dream – looked just like the boy with the old man. Were they the same? But why would she dream about him in red? None of the rumors had said black and red armor.
And just who was he anyway? As far as Xion knew none of the rumors had ever said anything about the stranger in black getting close to the townsfolk—certainly she'd have heard if someone was nearly raped by him. But… Xion bit her lip. Had that been it? He seemed too focused on something else besides that. As she closed her eyes she envisioned the black lightning that had danced at his fingertips. It was too clear; it couldn't have been her fear playing tricks on her. Could it? And what he had said:
"You have something very special inside you, kid. Hand it over."
"Ugh…" Xion loved mysteries, her fascination with the mansion was proof enough of that, but not when they involved her. She just wanted to go to sleep, go to the mall tomorrow, and then spend the next week and a half of winter vacation with her friends. No masked creeps, no vanishing doors, and no blue-eyed boys outside the apartment building.
Xion's eyes snapped open at that last thought and she sat up again. In the back of her mind she knew she was being paranoid, but still she got up on her knees and stared out the window. The road below was completely empty this early in the morning and under the moonlight the ever-present orange appeared brown. Xion stared intently at the lamppost that the boy had been at two nights ago. No, he wasn't there. She let out a breath she hadn't even known she had been holding.
But before Xion could lie back down, something did catch her eye. At the other end of the street, from completely the other direction than where she had been looking, was a figure walking up the road. He didn't seem comfortable and was constantly looking over his shoulder, which just made Xion all the more suspicious. It was strange enough that he was out so early, but what was he looking for—or trying to avoid? He stopped in the middle of the road and looked up at Xion's apartment… at her. When his blue eyes met her own Xion grew dizzy and suddenly fell backwards. She tumbled off the bed and hit her head on the carpeted floor.
The dizziness passed a moment later and Xion opened her eyes, but something was off. The light of day was coming in through the window. "How long was I out…?" She climbed up to her feet and grabbed her phone once again, looking for the clock. 9:00. "I was sleeping on the floor for four and a half hours?" Xion rubbed her face. "Or maybe I never woke up at all?" This whole thing felt like some far-off memory, like a scattered dream. Xion nodded. It made the most sense. The masked attacker, waking up at four in the morning, seeing the blue-eyed boy… It all had to just be a dream. She had been hearing so much about the rumors lately her mind had wandered.
That had to be it.
Xion was about to put the phone back down when she noticed a little envelope icon in the corner. A message? It was from Olette:
"Don't forget we're going to the mall today! Meet up 10!"
Right, that was today. The mall was half an hour away on foot, so if Olette wanted them there in an hour then she would have to get going soon. She could skate, but honestly Xion still wasn't feel her best and didn't want to risk it. Climbing up to her feet and started getting dressed. She couldn't just leave without taking Dr. Sweet's medicine like yesterday, either. Xion figured that was probably what made her so dizzy at the mansion yesterday. "Dodger needs his food refilled and I need some breakfast, too," she said to herself as she pulled her shirt on.
Pocketing her phone and taking the thalassa necklace on the way out, Xion made her way over to the kitchen. Dodger's bowl was filled and she left a treat in it as well to keep him busy. Xion's own breakfast was just some toast, and while that was cooking she pulled out the bottle of white pills that Dr. Sweet had given her. Since no one knew what exactly was wrong with her they were just a temporary state. Honestly she sometimes wondered if it was just a placebo effect.
The toast popped up and Xion grabbed it on her way out, picking up her black coat and leaving the apartment. The mall could be reached from a side road near the top of Market Street, closer to the train station than the Tram Common, but Xion found that she didn't want to take the usual route through the alley to Market Street. She had convinced herself that it was all a bad dream, but still that shadowy place made her shiver. So instead she continued down the main road, which still led to Market Street but was a longer path. But she should still make it on time.
"Well, we meet again!" Xion stopped mid-step and looked to her right, where a man dressed in blue and white was smiling at her. A woman in green was next to him. "You are the girl from yesterday, aren't you?"
Xion blinked. Yesterday…? Oh! It was his shoulder-length white hair that jogged her memory. "Officer Harvey? I didn't recognize you without the police uniform."
He smiled. "Please, I told you to call me Cecil." Then Cecil turned to his friend and said "She's one of the kids I was telling you about, Rydia—the ones who were in the mansion. This is… Sorry, I don't think I ever got your name?"
"It's Xion." She turned to the woman in green. Her hair was green as well, though more of an aqua shade. "Are you the friend Cecil was talking about? The one into the occult?"
Rydia grinned widely. "That's me. I'm making Cecil show me all the places the boy no one can picture has appeared. See if I can find any clues!"
Cecil's exasperation was plain on his face despite attempts to hide it. "It was supposed to be my day off today, too."
Rydia laughed. "Say Xion, would you like to join us?"
The boy 'no one can picture'—the blue-eyed boy. Part of Xion wanted to figure things out, but another part remembered what she had decided back when she had woken up while it was still dark out. No mysteries, no strangers in black, just a day hanging out with her friends. So she shook her head and answered with "Sorry, but I'm going to Sunset Terrace with my friends. But it was nice meeting you."
"Sure was." Rydia said with a nod. Then she pulled on Cecil's arm to get him to continue down the street. "I hope we meet again, Xion!"
"Yeah, me too." She did. With Rydia and Cecil behind her, Xion continued down the road and did eventually come to Market Street. She turned uphill, passing by the road up to the train station, and continued on until the dense buildings started to clear out more. The area the mall was located used to be a larger Sandlot, but it had been taken over when they were all still kids and the mall was built over it. Xion checked her phone; she was right on time, and everyone but Hayner was there at the front entrance.
Olette waved Xion over to them. "Glad you made it! Roxas told us you weren't feeling well yesterday."
Xion glanced over at Roxas, who was giving her a concerned look. "Are you feeling better?"
"Yeah." It wasn't a lie. Xion was confused, but certainly not in a state like yesterday. "Where's Hayner?"
"Fashionably late as usual," Pence said. "Last we heard he thought we were supposed to meet at the Usual Spot. He hasn't called us since then though." Pence laughed. "He's probably stopping by the candy shop for an ice cream."
"Winter or not, that's just like Hayner."
"You're one to talk, Xion," Roxas said with a playful smirk.
"Guilty." She brushed a stray strand of hair out of her eyes before continuing. "So, are we waiting for him?"
Olette nodded. "I'll give him five minutes longer, but after that I'm going inside." She hugged herself and bounced on her heels. "Even without snow it's getting a little too cold for me."
Xion felt Roxas's gaze on her and turned to see him eyeing her up and down. "Xion looks the warmest out of all of us."
"I do?" Xion held up an arm to investigate the sleeves of her black coat. "I mean, I guess it is kind of nice, but…" Roxas reached behind her and pulled up to hood of the coat, tugging it over Xion's face. "Um?"
"Just helping you warm up." His voice had a warm chuckle behind it, like he was trying not to laugh. Xion didn't say anything back, looking at the black fabric of the hood now just inside her field of vision. She almost felt trapped wearing the hood up like this. Weird, she had never been claustrophobic.
"Hey Xion, you okay?" Olette's question made Xion realize she hadn't said anything. They probably all thought she was offended or something, not that there was much to get offended about. Xion smiled and pulled the hood down.
"Thanks Roxas, but I'm plenty warm already. Like you said, hottest out of all of us." The instant those words left her lips Xion realized the innocent mistake she had made. Olette and Pence were smiling at each other knowingly.
Roxas's face matched Xion's. "T-That's not the word I-"
"But you were probably thinking it!" Pence teased. Xion groaned. Any chance these guys had they'd take, huh? But the subject was dropped quickly enough, as it always was. Xion leaned against the wall with Pence while Roxas shifted uncomfortably and Olette continued to try and warm herself up.
"Is he here yet?" Xion mumbled. The cold was making her sleepy.
Olette shook her head and looked out into the lot. "Still no sign. I'm about ready to just leave him behind." She turned around and the automatic doors slid open, but before she could walk inside Hayner's voice finally called out from across the lot.
"Sorry! Sorry, I know I'm late!" He was running over to them with his skateboard tucked under his arm. "I ran into Seifer's gang on the way up here."
"Seifer?" Everyone was immediately concerned, since Seifer and Hayner pretty much despised one another. But Hayner didn't seem hurt; he had no bruises or anything.
"Yeah. He was asking if I had seen Vivi anywhere. Thought we kidnapped him or something, can you believe that?"
"Vivi's missing?" Olette asked with concern in her voice. Xion felt the same, and her first instinct was that the black and white creep had gotten a hold of the little boy. But she shook her head to get rid of those thoughts. That was a dream. It was a dream and he was not real.
"I doubt it." Hayner crossed his arms. "Vivi probably just doesn't want to hang out with them anymore. I really can't blame him." That was a good point… "Anyway, let's worry about it later. Today's supposed to be a fun day with the five of us. Come on, let's all head inside!"
Hayner shoved Pence and Olette into the doors, the latter of whom looked conflicted between her concern for Vivi and her desire to warm up. Roxas silently followed him but Xion grabbed his wrist. He looked over his shoulder at her as the doors closed. Hayner, Pence, and Olette didn't seem to notice that they hadn't joined them yet.
"What is it, Xion?"
Xion sighed. How to put this… "Roxas, are you okay?"
"Huh? I'm fine, Xion."
"You've been acting weird this morning, shifting around awkwardly while we've been here. And last night you looked like you were going to ask me something? What's up?"
"I'm fine," Roxas insisted. He chuckled softly. "This is getting weird. Since when do you ever worry about me?"
"What do you mean 'weird'?" Xion narrowed her eyes. What exactly was he saying about her? Was this some kind of stealth insult?
"Usually, I do all the worrying over you. I don't think it's ever been the other way around before. Just feels strange, that's all."
Xion's face softened. Oh, that's all he meant... Well, he certainly did worry about her a lot. But it was mutual, even if he didn't realize it. "Roxas, of course I worry about you. I'm worrying all the time. You're my best friend and I don't want you hurt."
"Did we switch positions all of a sudden?" Roxas took in a deep breath and rubbed his face. "Xion, everything's fine. Don't worry about it. Trust me, if something was wrong, you'd be the first person I told. Got it memorized?"
Xion froze up completely. What did he just- Why did that phrase disturb her so much? "What?" Her voice was extremely quiet and she knew it.
Roxas frowned. "Now you've got me worrying. I said if there's anything wrong-"
"No, no. I heard that part. It just… Never mind. Come on, I can see Olette motioning for us to hurry up." She walked past him and through the automatic doors, but Roxas lingered for a moment longer. She turned around to find him watching her again, and Xion felt a frown tug at her lips. Something was definitely bothering him, but she supposed she couldn't chastise him for keeping secrets when she wouldn't talk about her own concerns. "You coming?"
"Huh? Yeah."
Once the two of them joined up with the rest of their friends at a fountain nearby, Olette grabbed Xion and pulled her over to her. Oh great, she knew that spark in her eye—Olette had entered 'shopper mode.' Xion's wallet was doomed.
"You three go have fun at the game shop or whatever. Xion and I are going shopping at real stores."
Roxas held up a hand. "Wait. We spend all this time gathering together, even wait longer for Hayner, just so we can split up?"
Olette put her hands on her hips. "Well how are we all supposed to go Christmas shopping if you guys see what your presents are?"
"Wait, that's what this is about?" Xion tried to break out of Olette's vice-like grip. How was one girl so strong? "Olette, I don't think-"
"We have, what, five or six more days?" Olette pulled Xion further away. She looked back to the boys, but they both knew there was no stopping Olette. "So I hope you have munny, Xion. We're going." Goodbye, allowance. It was nice knowing you.
"We'll meet you back here in two hours, I guess." Hayner sighed and scratched his head. "Come on, you guys. I have absolutely no idea what Olette would even want. Pencils?" His voice faded as Xion and Olette continued to travel down the polished halls.
Twilight Town's mall was basically four long corridors arranged in a cross shape. The brown floors and walls were polished to the point that you could practically eat off of them, and Xion's reflection was crystal clear. Instead of watching Olette in front of her she was actually watching through the reflection in the walls.
They walked back a jewelry shop while Olette was talking about something or other, but Xion wasn't paying attention and stopped at the window. A pendant sitting on the display had caught her attention: it was silver, with a blue stone embedded in it and a ukulele painted on the stone.
She heard Olette walking up behind her. "Xion, are you coming? Hey, what are you looking at?"
"Huh? Oh, just this ukulele charm." Xion turned around, facing her friend. "Sorry, let's go."
Olette looked over her shoulder and raised an eyebrow. "What ukulele charm?"
"Huh? This one, right-" Xion turned back to the window, but Olette was right. There was nothing like what she had just seen there. The closest thing was a simple chain necklace in its place. "What?"
"You're stalling," Olette said with a giggle. "Come on, let's go." She took Xion's hand and led her to the intersection in the middle of the mall, but Xion was still focused on what she could have sworn was there.
What in the world is wrong with me lately?
"So, what do you think they'll like?"
"Huh?" Oh, right. Presents. "Uh, well Roxas said he was getting Hayner a Struggle bat."
Olette tilted her head. "He did? But when he got here this morning he was asking about y- Never mind. What are you thinking of?"
That was a good question. Xion felt bad that it wasn't something she had really been thinking about. "Well maybe Pence would like a new camera, though I don't think I could afford that. As for Hayner… I don't know, a coupon to the ice cream store?"
Olette laughed, even if Xion thought it was a pretty lame joke. "Uh huh. And Roxas?"
"U-Um… I'm not really sure…"
"Well that's why I'm here with you. Come on, let's do some brainstorming. A camera sounds great for Pence, but for Hayner and Roxas-"
"Xion!" Someone was calling her name. Was that Roxas? He sounded hopeful, and there was urgency in his voice. What was wrong?
"What is it, Ro-" Xion's breath caught in her throat. No, it wasn't Roxas calling for her. The boy running up to her was completely unfamiliar, dressed in black, yellow, and red with brown spiky hair. But she did know those eyes. They were the eyes outside of her apartment building.
"Xion, I finally found you!" The stranger grabbed her hands in his own. "We've been looking for you for months! Chip and Dale finally found a way in. I'm sorry I didn't talk to you the other night, but I had to be sure it was really you, and-"
Xion pulled her hand a way and held it up to silence him. Her other hand was clutching the side of her head. "Wait, please. Slow down." She took a careful step backwards. "Who are you?"
The boy's eyes widened and his hands fell to his side, where they hung lifelessly. "What? Come on, Xion. We're friends!"
"I-I'm sorry, I think you've got the wrong girl." It was the only thing that made sense, though at the same time it didn't. If he had the wrong person then he wouldn't know her name.
"What?" The boy's eyes began to water and he looked down at the floor. "I… Sorry. I'll leave you alone" He turned around and started walking away with his hands in his pockets. Part of Xion wanted to call after him, to ask him to come back, but another part just wanted to avoid him. "I could have sworn… I need to talk to the King about this…"
"What was that all about…?"
"Huh?" Oh, Olette was still here.
"What do you mean 'huh'? That guy who was just here. He knew my name!"
Olette stared at Xion. "Guy? There was no guy, Xion. We were just talking about what to buy Hayner and Roxas." She put her hands on her hips. "Are you trying to get out of shopping with me?"
"What?" Xion shook her head and looked in the direction the boy had gone, but he had been swallowed by the crowds. "No, Olette, there was someone! He had blue eyes, and his hair was- was…" She couldn't remember. Just like the night she had first seen him, everything was blurry again. Everything except for the eyes. Xion slumped against the window to the jewelry store and recalled Cecil's words from yesterday. A person from another world who does not belong, and so your mind refuses to acknowledge him.
But he knew her.
Who was he?
x-x-x
Sora sat on the Twilight Town clock tower. His exit would be here soon—a 'Backdoor', Chip and Dale had called it. He just had to wait for everything to link up. Then he could go back to Disney Castle and tell them what had happened in the last few days.
Xion… Xion didn't remember him. What were they going to do now?
Sora leaned back and stared at the orange sky. "At least the ice cream in this world tastes the same," he said as he finished off a stick of sea-salt. "Hopefully the King has some answers when I get back."
A glowing silver crack appeared in the wall, which if Sora remembered right was the first sign of the Backdoor. Now he just had to wait for it to open all the way. But he heard footsteps approaching and immediately jumped up to his feet. Was one of the people who lived here coming up to the clock tower? He wasn't sure what would happen if they saw the Backdoor. Instead of some random townsperson, however, the first thing Sora saw round the corner was a black mask.
"Vanitas?!" Sora called forth his Keyblade and crouched down. How had he been found so soon? This was bad… But then he noticed that aside from the mask this newcomer actually didn't have much in common with Vanitas at all. While he did wear black, it looked more like an armored jumpsuit than Vanitas's muscle-like outfit. Neon blue lights decorated the armor, including a symbol on the chest made out of four squares that resembled a 'T'.
"Who are you?" The stranger reached behind him and pulled a ring off of his back. He separated it into two rings, one in each hand, and crouched into a battle position as well. "You're not part of the code or on the list of accepted Users. You do not belong here. Please, tell me who you are. I don't want to have to hurt you."