Chapter 76
Death's Gaze
Silhouettes became distinguished figures as the Black Pearl stopped dead some ways off from the ship wreckage. When Luna asked why they had stopped so far away, Jack handed her a telescope to get a closer a look at the ship.
"That would be the Flying Dutchman," Jack answered. "Not exactly something I want to get in contact with."
"You're kidding, right? I expected… worse," Luna said, before handing the scope to Astra. Peering into the small hole, Astra could only see a scuttled ship, with its hull mostly flooded with water. This had the effect of splintering and sinking half the ship in water.
"Appearances can be deceiving," Jack replied.
Yeah… no, that's a complete lie, Astra thought. It didn't take a genius to realize a ship like that couldn't possibly be the Flying Dutchman.
"So what's the plan, William?" Jack asked, turning to Will who was situated in between Donald and Goofy.
"Honestly? Go in, cut down anyone in my path, find your bloody key and get out," Will said, resting his hand on the hilt of his sword.
"I like it already," Jack said.
"I'll be going with him," Astra announced, stunning everyone with her voluntary contribution. "If there are Heartless on that ship, then having someone who's fought them before means an increased chance of survival."
"Even better!" Jack approved, not that she would have changed her mind based on his approval or not. She wanted to meet Davy Jones face to face and this was the best chance to do it.
"Then I'll come too." Luna stepped forward but Astra held her off with a hand.
"Not this time, Sea Salt. We don't know what we're up against here. If we want to beat someone like this we can't put all our eggs in one basket," Astra reasoned.
"But I- it's only been one day. What if something happens to you? I don't want to lose you again," Luna said, her eyes flickering downwards.
"Luna, I don't think there's any way I can't make you worry, but I guess that just means I'm doing something right. You're the first true friend I've ever really had. That's something worth staying alive for," Astra said. She raised her hand and crunched her hand into a fist. Luna looked up at it and smiled before returning her fist bump, but Astra took quick advantage and pulled her into a hug. She didn't intend for it to feel like a farewell hug but at the same time, she wasn't nearly as confident as she painted herself to be. Astra looked up at Donald and Goofy. "I'm trusting you two to look after her."
"Yes, ma'am!" Donald and Goofy answered in unison. Astra stopped herself from rolling her eyes and let go off Luna. As she was about to turn and head off towards the longboat with Will, Luna grasped her arm.
"I need to tell you something about the Keyblade. I'll use that as incentive to make sure you come back," Luna said, letting go of her arm shortly after.
"Oh? Well now how can I possibly desert you after you tell me something like that? I'm looking forward to it," Astra replied with a wink. She climbed into the boat and had her eyes on Luna even as she and Will were being lowered down into the water.
"How long have you known them?" Will asked while propelling the boat forward with the oars.
"Luna? It's been four years now. Those other two? Much less. I hardly know them actually," Astra answered. She looked past him to see the lights of the Black Pearl going out one by the one, making it look invisible in the night.
"I noticed that a boy who was with them the first time we met isn't with them now. His name is Sora. What happened to him?"
"No idea," Astra replied disinterestedly. She didn't know why but she felt kind of disappointed and angry at the same time. Sora had abandoned her friend and that should have been a good thing for Astra, but she had also entrusted Sora to protect her before leaving Radiant Garden as well. If this was his way of showing it, it had been pretty foolish for Astra to rely on him. She gritted her teeth and shook what seemed to her like nonsensical thoughts out of her hand, choosing to concentrate instead on the task at hand.
"Well, I just hope he's alright," Will said. "You still need Jack's compass?"
"That Beckett guy won't have any use for it once he has the chest. If it really works then I'll use it to find what I'm looking for," Astra replied. "Anyway, I've been thinking about what Tia Dalma said. That we need a key but do we need that key? I don't think we do. Behold the answer to your prayers."
Astra held up her hand and produced her Keyblade to show off to Will. His hands reached out to touch the Keyblade but it disappeared from her hands before he could.
"That weapon… Sora had one just like it!" Will stated.
"What did he do when he was here?" Astra asked. She figured she might as well dispel any awkwardness on their way to the ship, even if she could care less about what Sora did.
"He, Donald and Goofy were looking into the whereabouts of a group called Organization XIII. Even though they didn't have to, they helped me and Jack save Elizabeth from pirates led by one named Barbossa. He had the Black Pearl until Sora and Jack defeated him and took it back. I can't thank him enough, which is why I was a bit disappointed when I didn't see him with you."
"I don't know much about the guy really. He's helped Luna out though so I guess he's okay," Astra said. She wouldn't reveal to him that the group she was with had basically placed a bounty on Sora's head. Saying something like that was certainly a way to lose trust quickly.
The boat finally reached the wrecked ship. Astra and Will climbed out and brought out their weapons just in case.
"So you're sure that we can use that key to open the chest?" Will asked as they walked slowly through the suspiciously quiet ship.
"No, which is why we need Davy Jones' key anyway. I can't be sure that the Keyblade opens up every little thing, though it should, but I also don't want us to find the chest only to find out that we can't open it either," Astra said.
"Hmm, still seems like so much trouble to go through just for one key. Of course, Jack is probably cosying up with a bottle of rum right now while we're doing his dirty work," Will replied.
"Hey, as long as we get the locket and chest by the end of this, he can drink himself all the way to Davy Jones' locker for all I care," Astra replied, with a following chuckle from Will. They soon came across some form of life, or not. Astra knelt down as pressed a thumb against one of the five shivering men's forehead, withdrawing it instantly. She did the same with the others before frowning. "What the hell? They're like ice."
"Astra?" Will called for her. Astra followed his voice and found him watching a man who was desperately pulling a rope attached to a pulley system in hopes of raising a sail. For each time the sail was raised a few inches above ground, it sank back to the ground. Nevertheless, the man persisted in his futile attempts.
"Sailor. Sailor! Give it up, you've run aground!" Will reasoned, but the man continued to pull as if he hadn't heard him.
"Hey, buddy, the ship's sunk. It's no u-AAAAAHHHH!" Astra screamed as she grabbed ahold of his shoulder and spun him around. The man was faceless— his eyes, nose and mouth were gone like they were sucked off his face leaving only twisted human clay in its place. It was like the faceless man had suddenly given up on life due to his purpose being taken from it because the body crumpled to the floor soon after that.
Astra and Will exchanged worried looks but before they could present their thoughts in voice, a sudden chill distracted them. At the sound of gurgling, the looked towards the sea to see it churning. What happened next, Astra could not possibly have come to terms with so easily.
A giant ship rose out from the water, blotting out any view of the night sky. The ship was deathly pale, bringing with it an assortment of seaweed, shells and coral. Its movement was like that of a giant whale as it rose up from the water only to slam down on the surface with a mighty splash moments later with a great creak.
"Yeah, I figured this wasn't the Dutchman," Astra said looking at the rotted wood of the ship she and Will were on. Her eyes widened in horror as a group of strange looking monsters jumped straight off the Dutchman's bow and landed on the wrecked ship. Astra leapt forward and deflected a blow from the axe of one of the crew. Looking up, she saw a creature that seemed to be made of bits and pieces from the sea, just like the adornments on the ship. It wasn't just him though, but the other crewmembers that were jumping off as well. Jack and Gibbs had told them about the crewmembers once being sailors who tinkered on the edge between life and death. It was Davy Jones who collected their souls in exchange for a complete life of servitude on his ship.
Astra backed off before unleashing a flurry of Ice waves with her Keyblade. The waves cut through two of them, but they weren't truly taken care off. Astra was surprised when she felt something grab onto her ankle. Looking down she saw the upper body of one of the crewmen she had cut in half still moving. She looked at the other one she had cut down to see that it was the same of him.
"Stay back! I'm warning you!" She could hear Will to the left of her, accompanied by the swooshing of blade through air. She didn't need to look his way to tell his efforts were going to waste much like her own. She ran over to the nearest piece of wood she could find and kicked over and over until the moving upper body came off before returning to Will's side.
"We're outnumbered. Not good," Astra said to him as they kept their eyes and weapons trained on the creatures. This wouldn't be her end. She had made a promise to Luna and she was going to keep it.
Suddenly they stopped approaching her and Will. Astra glanced at each of them in confusion before looking up. The only creature looking was the one who had just appeared and was also the most unusual of them all. Astra found herself unable to stop looking at the strange moving tentacles that were his beard.
It took him a while to get down and onto the ship, but when he did he appeared even more menacing. Astra stomached up enough courage to push the want to avert her eyes and instead stared at him as he walked back and forth. He lifted a smoking pipe and inhaled for a second before letting it out in their faces. Astra coughed and looked away. When you were staring into the face of death, courage really didn't mean much in such a situation anyway.
"Look what we have here. A bunch of brave sailors who fought with all their might. Bravery in the face of death… a foolish thing to do," Davy Jones said, as if reading Astra's mind. "But then again, you two are neither dead nor dying, are you? You're not from here. State your purpose."
"Jack Sparrow… sent us to settle his debt," Will said almost immediately. This sparked a look of interest from tentacle's face.
"What now? Repeat what you just said."
"Jack Sparrow has a debt with you, yes? He sent us to settle his debt," Will repeated more insistently.
"Did he now? A young man I can understand but a girl? Now that's just-" Davy Jones' eyes fell downward, staring at Astra's Keyblade. Oh, right, she probably should have gotten rid of that. Jones finished his sentence with a smile. "So like him."
Luna and other jumped back in surprise as Davy Jones appeared in front of them out of nowhere in what was a completely disconcerting manner. Jack flashed a smile at him but when Jones failed to react, the smile faded as quickly as it came.
"You have a debt to pay. You've been captain of the Black Pearl for thirteen years ever since I rose it up from the ocean depths. Those thirteen years I gave you are now up," Jones said.
"Well, technically I've only been captain for two years. I had it stolen from me by good ole' Hector and was left on an island," Jack said.
"Then you are a poor captain, but a captain nonetheless. It doesn't help you're case that you go around telling everyone that you're Captain Jack Sparrow," Jones pointed out.
Jack held up his hands defensively. "No I don't."
"You do," Donald intervened.
"Yup, definitely!" Goofy added in.
"You did say it was important," a wincing Luna agreed.
"Well aren't you the faithful crewmates," Jack sarcastically responded to them before looking back at Jones. "Okay then, you already have my payment. The young chap who I sent to you. One soul, ready and waiting to serve on your ship."
Luna stared at Jack incredulously but Jones spoke before she could. "Are you making a fool of me, Jack Sparrow? One soul is not worth your deal!"
"Alright then, take the other one. Two souls," Jack said.
"Jack, just don't," Luna warned with a dangerous glare. She immediately regretted saying anything. Davy Jones looked her way, astounded at first. He soon laughed and walked up to her. She shivered intensely, feeling his breath descend upon her small frame.
"And you would be Abraxas' pet project—Luna. Tell me, do you fear death? Do you fear that dark abyss?" Jones asked, looking directly into her eyes. In those cold yet entirely blue human eyes, she saw something that made her unable to respond. She found herself paralyzed in fear, her mind unable to form a coherent thought. She saw her parents lying on the floor and her standing above them, a knife in her hand and her face spattered with flecks of blood. The worst thing about it was that she had been smiling before she had realized what she had done. That smile, she had tried to forget and she been successful in doing so until this very moment. All that ran through her head was why. Why now? Why here of all places did she have to remember?
"Don't even think about going near her!" Donald said, promptly summoning his staff and casting thunder. Jones raised one of his tentacles and flicked at the spell, bouncing it right back to Donald. Goofy jumped in the way and raised his staff, the thunder spell hitting the shield at an angle and deflecting into the sky with a slight push of effort.
"You fight me and see how long you both live. Besides, I'm not interested in harming your friend. To be honest, I'm not sure she was perfectly all there to begin with," Jones said with a laugh. He turned to look at Jack again. "I've had a change of heart. I'll accept the two souls. One of them even has something interesting on them that I want, but that doesn't clear you off your debt either. Let's see… a Keyblade is worth quite a few souls in itself, plus the two you've so graciously given me so… seventy five. Seventy five souls in three days. You think you can do that?"
Jack seemed to consider this, but only very briefly. "Yep."
"Really? You'd condemn two innocent people to what is basically hell on the high seas, all in the name of freedom?" Jones asked.
"Consider it writ in blood, er, ink," Jack corrected.
"You're a cruel man, Jack Sparrow," Jones said, extending his hand. Jack shook it, seemingly unfazed by this apt description.
"Uh huh, that's me. I'd embrace you, mate, but I fear it might stick," he said. He looked to his hand after letting go to see that the mark had disappeared. When he looked up, Davy Jones had disappeared along with it.
"You're not actually going to search for these souls, are you, Jack?" Goofy asked.
"Well, if William and Astra find the key and escape before the three days are up, then that won't have to happen," Jack said.
"But you're going to break your promise. Again," Donald pointed out annoyed. "Do promises mean nothing to you? What happens if Will and Astra can't get off the ship?"
"You just need to think with a half full bottle of rum instead of a half empty one, eh, savvy?" Jack answered. "Mr. Gibbs, what would be the best place to find seventy five souls in three days?"
Gibbs raised his hand to his chin thoughtfully for a moment. "If I had to say, Tortuga would be the best place."
"Ah, of course, we set sail for Tortuga then," Jack said. He was about to leave when something caught his eye. It was not only him but Donald and Goofy's too. Luna had been unusually unresponsive since Davy Jones had talked to her, and looking at her closer revealed why. She had a blank expression on a face that was completely drained of life.
"Luna! Luna!" Donald pleaded, but Luna continued to stare blankly with something akin to a dreamy smile on her face.
The first thing Luna saw when she woke up was Goofy's nose hovering over her. It wasn't the first thing she had been expecting to wake up to but it was far better than what she had expected. In her mind, she feared waking up to realize that everything so far had been a dream—that she was back in her bed in Alexander. The gentle rocking of the ship she was on however told her that this was far from the truth.
"What happened?" She asked. She sat up on the hammock she was on and looked around. Other than her, Goofy and Jiminy, who was standing on Goofy's open palm, no one else could be seen or heard.
"You looked like you were all spacey since we saw Davy Jones. Then you collapsed soon after that and we took you down to the lower deck to rest," Goofy explained.
"Oh," Luna uttered in a low voice. Now she remembered. She had seen death in those cold, cruel eyes. She had seen her own guilt, her sin, and it had overwhelmed her immensely. She raised a hand and placed it on her face. She had been crying while she was asleep. "Where's Donald?"
"He's up on the deck waitin' for us. We're at Tortuga now! Jack and his crew went on ahead but he told Donald where they were going," Goofy replied.
"Alright… what's a Tortuga? A restaurant?" Luna asked.
"Huh?"
"Actually, don't answer. That was a stupid question. Astra brought it up now that I think about it… Astra… oh no…" Luna's words faded as she remembered what Jack had said to Jones. Surely Jack wasn't as selfish as he had led Luna to believe in that moment. Maybe he was concocting some plan that would blow Luna's mind or perhaps he was buying time to figure something out. Maybe she just wanted to believe that every person she travelled with happened to be an example to look up to, to learn from. Had she finally hit a dead end then? No, the answer seemed much obvious when she stopped trying to pretend she didn't know. "We need to find Jack. I'm not sitting around when Astra and Will could be in danger. We're getting them off that ship."
Jiminy jumped off of Goofy's hand and with his umbrella open, glided onto Luna's hammock. "We're going to go after the Flying Dutchman? Luna, I'm seeing two major problems with this here. The first is the Dutchman is probably swarming with monsters just like Davy Jones. We'd be deep in enemy territory. The second is that we have no idea where the Dutchman even is!"
"And Jack's alternative is better?" Luna asked. "The way I see it, we have two options. We go after the chest and make Davy Jones come to us or we find the Dutchman, sneak on board and rescue Astra and Will."
"But how would we go about doing the second one? It's like Jiminy said, we don't know how to find it," Goofy said.
"I… I'll think of something. Anything. I just need time to think. But I'm definitely not going to let Jack have his way," Luna said.
"That's the spirit! Let's put those brains of ours to some thinkin'," Goofy hollered. Luna's feet found wood as she jumped off the hammock and picked Jiminy up. She guided him onto her shoulder before following Goofy to the top deck where Donald was waiting for them.
"You okay, Luna?" Donald asked as soon as she emerged. Luna smiled at him and nodded before looking at the town the Black Pearl had docked out. Street lamps, flaming torches and the lights inside buildings encompassed what seemed to be a pretty small town in the dark. The trio disembarked and made their way down the streets, quite uneasily at that. The streets were dank and dirty, littered with drunkards and suspicious looking individuals everywhere they looked.
"Jack said that this was a 'pirate haven'," Donald told them as they made their way to the Faithful Bride, the tavern Jack had told him they would be headed.
"Well it certainly looks like it, I guess. Urgh, all this smoke is giving me a headache," Luna complained, waving her hands about in an attempt to redirect the smell of smoke and tobacco that was hitting her nostrils.
"This doesn't exactly look like a place we'd be welcome in either. Maybe we should head back to the Pearl and wait for Jack," Jiminy suggested.
"Oh don't be silly, Jiminy. I'm sure we have nothing to worry abou-" Luna was cut off as a man was kicked out of a building by someone else. The man, who was staggering about and clearly not in the most stable of conditions, ran straight back at the door. His opponent grabbed a wine bottle and brought it down on the drunkard's head with such force that it smashed the bottle's body into tiny pieces that landed alongside the unconscious man. Luna blinked and exchanged looks with Donald and Goofy on either side. "Yeah, maybe we should get back to the Pearl. I'm sure Jack's fine with whatever it is he's doing."
Luna backed away and turned only to bump into something, sending her to the floor. She rubbed the back of her head and looked up to see two figures glowing underneath the orange flames.
"And you call yourself a gentleman," the woman said, rolling her eyes. She had possibly the oddest feature Luna had ever seen, something that would make Luna question whether she was entirely human. She was also quite tall for the average woman, seeming to tower above Luna and was also slightly taller than her male companion.
"Fran, please. Even a gentleman can make mistakes from time to time. I apologize, my dear," the man addressed Luna with a lending hand. She accepted it and he lifted her up from the ground.
"No, it was my fault, really. I wasn't looking where I was going," Luna apologized, though her eyes were more drawn to the woman's strange looking rabbit ears than the person she had bumped into.
"Yes, they are indeed real," the woman answered with an annoyed look suggesting that she had been asked the question many times before.
"As real as the clothes on your back, and what strange clothes at that. Tell me, you're not from this world, are you?" asked the man.
Luna, Donald and Goofy looked at one another in awe before their mouths dropped. "HUH?"
The lights in the Laugh Floor went out at its usual time for the night. After yet another busy day and a drastic improvement in profits to what the company had seen under Waternoose, James P. Sullivan had managed to overwhelm the expectations of all of the factory's investors. Though he was now CEO however, that didn't exactly mean he was complete privy to everything that was going on at any time. It was this that KRONOS had managed to take advantage of.
They may have lost their advantage in Waternoose as the key to accessing the doors, but they didn't exactly need him either. A certain Master Key that Waternoose had crafted for their use allowed them to access whatever door they needed at each station. After that it was only a matter of flooding the Heartless into each world through the doors. The Keyblade wielders had taken down their benefactor but were unable to keep an eye on the factory at all times, especially when KRONOS had found a way around them by making irregular trips to mitigate their chances of being found out.
"Hook's gone," Gantu said to Elsa as she slid the Master Key Card down their first card reader slot.
"What do you mean 'gone'?" Elsa asked with a frown.
"Captured, I suspect. We haven't received contact from him in a while. I think it's safe to say he's out of the picture now," Gantu replied.
So that was another one down then, along with Maleficent, Syndrome, Rattigan and Freya. Elsa looked downwards. She suddenly began to feel very vulnerable. She hadn't joined KRONOS because she believed in what they stood for specifically. She had joined up with Maleficent originally because she felt like she had no purpose, that she needed someone to guide her after what had happened to her sister.
It had started off like everything in her life of course—as an accident. She had closed herself off from her sister for fear of hurting her with her powers and tended to her regal duties as the soon to be Queen. No matter how much she begged, Elsa would never give Ana the time of day. It was on her twenty first birthday, also to be the day of her coronation, that her sister had finally been able to confront her in the courtyard. Ana fired question after question at her, with Elsa unable to answer because she knew the consequences if she were to do so. That obviously didn't satisfy Ana, and in the end when Ana grabbed onto Elsa's hand, it brought back memories of when she had been merely eight years old. What happened then had now happened again.
Elsa was knocked out of her thoughts by a foreign voice. She turned to see three people walking towards them. She squeezed her eyes shut. Right now she would have preferred to be anywhere but here. She knew she was undeserving of this silent request with all that she had done, but she would give anything to see Ana at least one more time. Once would be enough for the wicked Snow Queen that had frozen her sister's heart.
"I figured you guys would come back here, in the dead of night no less," Riku said with a small smirk on his face. "A world that links to other worlds. Not even KRONOS can resist that temptation for long."
"Nice one, Riku. Guess you were right to suggest coming here after all," Kairi said.
"Ah, well glad I can at least be right on one occasion in Kairi's playbook, I suppose," Riku replied.
"Aw, you're cute when you complain about me complaining. Why don't you complain some more," Kairi shot back. She hadn't hesitated in chiding him over the way he and Sora had been treating each other ever since they had left Radiant Garden. Riku had labelled Kairi's complaints as constant nagging and one thing led to another, making the ride incredibly exhausting and terrifying for the third occupant.
"Guys, um, hate to burst your bubble but we kind of have a job to do," Max reminded them.
"You're right," Riku said, summoning his Way to the Dawn Keyblade. "I'll only give you one chance to answer our questions. Where is Alice?"
Gantu growled and pulled out his blaster. "I'll admit that you Keyblade wielders can be quite the formidable opponents, certainly none the likes of which I have ever seen in all my time at the Galactic Federation, however, that does not mean I will bow to the likes of you. You should know that my loyalty is unquestioning and never wavers. Arrogance can only get you so far and don't expect me to show mercy once I'm through with-"
Gantu was cut off mid-sentence as he was struck in the head by a flying Chakram and was lifted off his feet, staying suspended in the air for a good second before landing back on the floor in an unconscious state.
"Yap, yap, yap, he just keeps going, doesn't he?" The red headed flurry of flames said, winking at Elsa as he walked past her. Elsa quickly raised her hand and shot a blast of Ice out of her palm but Lea arched backwards, the shard soaring over his body. From that position, he grinned at her and thrust his arms out, two balls of fire shooting out. Elsa managed to block the first by using a forming a separate Ice crystal to take the hit but she was unable to erect a second crystal in time and was hit square in the chest. Lea regained his normal posture and sighed. "And here I thought we were starting to connect. Fire and Ice… opposites attract, or so goes the song. Do you think we have something here, Kairi?"
"Lea? What are you doing here?" Kairi asked, choosing to ignore his question. Lea chucked something their way and Riku caught it. Kairi and Max leaned in to see that Lea had given Riku a black and white checkerboard patterned wristband. They couldn't shake the feeling that it looked incredibly familiar.
"I need your help," Lea said.
Blurry shapes and patterns came into clearer view as Roxas opened his eyes. He shook off his fatigue and looked around. He was in a large room he had never been to and yet for some reason, it still felt awfully familiar to him. It was the theme of the place, Roxas decided. The walls were warm in color like the sunset. Looking down Roxas, could see a familiar grid like pattern of squares underneath a stained and likely old red carpet. He looked behind him on either side to see two matching statues of an animal—an Alicorn, if he had to use the designated portmanteau. He knew exactly where he was.
This is… the Old Mansion in Twilight Town? But how did I get here? And where's Xion?
Roxas tried to get up from the chair he was in but found he couldn't. He looked down to see that his wrists and ankles were cuffed to the rests and legs of the chair with iron restraints. He tried shaking them off, his attempts becoming increasingly desperate until he was left with no choice but to give up.
"Xion! Xion, where are you?" Roxas yelled out. His voice carried across the mostly empty room but Xion's voice failed to respond. Instead, it was someone else. The sound of slow laughter and claps came closer and closer until the door in front of him opened and a person he hadn't been expecting came into the room.
"Kefka? What's going on?" Roxas yelled.
"I wonder that myself sometimes. Now just look at what you and your friends have had me do. You keep interfering and now we have to teach them a lesson." Kefka made his way across the room and ruffled Roxas' hair violently. "Now I would have chosen something more to your disliking like your old home but unfortunately it's been destroyed. This'll have to do. Twilight Town, the place of your birth and her 'death'. Oh come on, don't be all sulky on me. What better place than this for a grand finale? I even went to the trouble of digging a grave. Aren't I just the nicest guy?"
"Why would you dig your own grave?" Roxas muttered.
"Oh, that is just… that warms the frostiest part of my heart. The quips! Now I know why you're Sora's Nobody," Kefka squirmed in delight.
"Was Sora's Nobody. What have you done to Xion?" Roxas asked.
"Was is, same thing. Just because you have a body of your own now doesn't mean you're any more your own person. All it means to me for example is that you're a part of him that I can now physically and emotionally torture," Kefka said, moving his hand down to smack Roxas' cheek with the back of his hand. "What of you can you say is truly yours and what is borrowed from someone else? Was it not others who allowed you to be who you are sitting in front of me right now? Let's face it, Roxas. Even when you were free you were still controlled by the will of others. You exist today because of them, not your own will. In other words, you and her exist as walking breathing plot devices which serve only to make the main characters even greater. In that way, I'm the same as you. But unlike you, I'm not satisfied that they've given me free reign over my leash. After all, the leash is still there."
"What is this? Do you want me to agree with you or something? I'm not interested in what you have to say, got it memorized?"
"Good, this would be incredibly boring if you did. As for your friend, she is here… somewhere in this mansion. I've taken it upon myself to redecorate. I was going to replace all the busts here with ones of my beautiful self but then I realized that it represents the motif of the little game we're going to play," Kefka said. "You could say that it is a game of miracles and inspiration-"
"Forget it, I'm not playing your game," Roxas said, closing his eyes.
Kefka blinked. "What? No, no, no, no, NO! You have to play the game. Look how long it took for me to set up and everything? You think you can walk away without playing the game? It just won't work that way!"
"You can find someone else then, and get these things off me while you're at it so I can give you a taste of your own medicine," Roxas said.
"Oh, but you will be a part of the game, even if you don't want to, or would you rather leave here with the death of a friend on your conscience?" Kefka asked, pointing up at the corner of the room. Roxas followed his arm to find a speaker attached that he hadn't noticed before. Suddenly it came to life with the sound of sharp breaths.
"Xion? Xion, is that you?" Roxas called out.
"Roxas? Where are you?" Xion asked.
"Somewhere in the Old Mansion. How about you?"
"Yeah… yeah, it looks like it. I don't know what's happening, why are we even here?" Xion fired at him quickly.
"I don't know," Roxas replied. He tried to remember back to what had happened. They had found two of Moira's Crescent's members while they had been on Captain Hook's ship with the intention of bringing him in. One of them in particular, Roxas remembered Sora having spoken of as the girl who had tried to kill him on three occasions. Roxas and Xion fought their hardest against them but were ultimately no match for the two women. Roxas could probably piece together that they had both been knocked out cold at some point but whatever had happened after was a mystery. "Listen Xion, I'm gonna figure out a way to get you out of here, okay? Wherever you are, I'll find you!"
"Not if I find you first," Xion said with a chuckle. It was amazing how she could find a way to crack a joke in such a tense situation.
"Oh, that's enough out of you two." Kefka rolled his eyes, looking incredibly bored. He extended his arm out and a burst of fire shot out, blowing the speaker up.
"Who the hell do you think you are? Let Xion go! Let her go right now!" Roxas tried once again to get out of the chair but his arms and legs only dug painfully into their restraints.
"Oh, this angst is ambrosia to me right now. That's very good… you keep at it, Roxas. Throw away everything they've ever given you. Hate me. By the end of this the only thing you'll be able to see is you. I can give you purpose," Kefka said. Roxas' eyes widened, the image of his former Superior appearing in his mind for a second. Kefka turned and slowly headed toward the door. "O' Twilight Town, how long you've waited for night to come. Let me be the overture that will lead you into sweet slumber."
