A/N: Thank to my readers and reviewers!
Aina Loneheart: It's nice hearing from you again! Thank you very much for your review Aina. I know that Light and Dark are a bit shallow, but things clear up in this chapter, as for the other members, if you want me to I will send you their profile, just PM me when you have a question about the member, or the story in general.
Rozen-senpai: How have you been friend? I'm still awaiting your PM on your version of the 'Compass of Chaos and Order' to get everything started.
Xejicka: Hey buddy, what's up? Hopefully you have fun at school, I'm going to be here bored out of my mind… Anyway thanks for the inspiration over the past couple of days, you're a pal! Hey quick question, where'd you find the age at where the Keyblade wielders are at their ripest?
And with that, on with the story!
Chapter 11: Memórias em pedaços(Memories in pieces)
"What-What did," Dark paused noticing the replica had stopped moving, "what did you do, Ames?" she asked trying hard not to feel sick. 'Is he really dead?' she asked herself and looked slightly at Light. The young boy shook his head, 'there's nothing we can do…' he told her. Nusvext looked at the replica and noted the lifeless look that was etched on the fallen figure's face.
Nusvext, the Savage Fighter, or the 'fruity kid' by Xejicka's standards, couldn't help but laugh. The blonde teen with blue eyes crouched down holding his stomach and laughed till he couldn't breathe anymore, and he felt tears forming. "I guess…" he coughed trying to control his voice, "…you didn't tell them everything, did you?" he asked slowly rising up, "not even half of it…"
Light placed both of his hands on Dark's shoulders, and the girl, as well as the boy, was confused. "I see," Nusvext continued, "you don't want them to hate you, but…" he leaned forward whispering gently into Ames' ear, "I'll be glad to tell them for you, so thanks." His blue eyes looked back at Light and then to Dark, "If we were to tell you everything our plans would still be in one piece…" he moved back and patted the little witch on the head, "oh, come on, don't stand there looking so innocent, little witch."
Dark watched the girl with silver hair, and noticed that Ames looked away from their gaze and down at the white ground. Nusvext sighed and looked at Dark once in a while as he continued to speak:
"The reason you've been forgetting since you set foot in Amber Pacific, and in Castle Oblivion, is all due to good ol' Ames," the girl in the plain black dress felt a hand on her shoulder, "she can manipulate your memories through the bond the two of you share… She's a part of you Dark, she's your shadow, so thank her. But anway she can draw new memories…"
Dark tried to run forward, but she felt a pair of hands grab her arms, Light was holding back his companion as she tried desperately to get to Ames. The Savage Fighter found that comical and laughed once more:
"That replica, he was created by Shimasax," he pointed to the lifeless body, "and Xauqa was going to rat him out the old geezer since the replica failed its mission." He went on to say that everything they came to find was a complete waste of time, because everything they thought they knew was just on big fat lie.
"A… lie?" the other two asked, they couldn't believe it. Nusvext chuckled, it was apparent that he was enjoying it to the fullest. The looks on their faces made him grin slightly. For a moment he noticed Light's blue eyes and brown hair, and felt chills run down his spine. 'You could pass off to be his little brother,' he thought as his multiple kunai appeared in the grasp of his knuckles
"Oh come on you two, don't look at me like that," he said, shaking his head for a moment. "Just give it some time you guys, and you'll forget about this soon enough." With that the Light and Dark noticed a flash of metallic reflecting off of a new type of lamination, it was electricity circling around the kunai. Ames flinched slightly feeling some of the effect of standing too close to Nusvext, and he frowned for a moment eyeing Ames slightly.
'At least… the real you is with her…' the little witch thought sadly. This was Nusvext's plan all along, he just wanted to leave. 'I guess part of you wasn't corrupted after all, but is death really the answer?' she asked herself, fidgeting around with the logic of it all. Nusvext ran forward, and watched as two Keyblades met up with him. Ames decided that, that was her cue to move the replica and herself away from the battle. 'I don't want to get electrocuted!' she thought frantically before moving the replica. The three fighters stopped quickly, and watched Ames for a moment moving the replica's body from harms way.
Donald and Goofy
"Thundaga!" the mage quaked, and the element brought several Shadow type of Heartless down to the faint traces of black mist. A shield cut through the air and knocked back several flying Heartless. Goofy took re-possession of his shield and looked back at the mage giving the blue clothed duck a thumbs-up. "Firaga!" the mage said loudly, sending several Heartless down with the massive fireball conjured from the tip of his staff. That was the last of them in the area. Goofy relaxed for a moment and looked in back of him, no Heartless in sight for now.
The two of them opened the door and it led to another white hallway. 'Again?' Donald thought and sighed, he was getting tired. Goofy was as well, but he didn't want to complain so much, he just wanted to help his other friends. To the Donald and Goofy this place seemed more than familiar, but they couldn't remember why exactly.
Donald tapped his Mage Staff and looked around trying to clear his thoughts for a moment. He huffed and puffed to keep his breathing under control from the previous fight, and sighed looking back at Goofy. The tall shield bearing soldier poked around another doorway and frowned for a moment:
"It's another white room," he said looking back at his short companion. "Hey Donald, you think King Mickey's going to be all right by himself?"
"Yeah…" the mage known as Donald replied, nodding. "What I still don't get is why she didn't contact us sooner?" he was thing back to the letter addressed to the royal mouse.
"Huh?" Goofy's shoe crossed the threshold of the open doorway and he poked his nose into the open area, scoping the area. "It's just another plain old white room, just like last time…" Goofy noticed that Donald was talking to himself. "Hey Donald… Don't cha think we should run after them now, we've rested long enough."
"I know… I'm just remembering the promise we made a while back," the stubborn mage said. "To stick with the Keyblade wielder." He looked back up at Goofy. "We never should've let them go alone…"
"But Donald…" Goofy paused. "They…"
"Still, I can't help but think what if they've already forgotten about us? What if they've already lost their way?"
Goofy put on a cheerful face and tried to get Donald out of his little dilemma. "Then as friends, we're going to help them. I know you care about them a lot Donald." Goofy and Donald walked forward and found the doorway they were looking for. Just straight ahead of them their two long lost friends would be waiting for them.
With Rax
A tomahawk went airborne and Rax moved as fast as he could, trying hard to use the broken earth to his advantage. He ducked behind a broken pillar and panted for a moment feeling another tremor underneath him; Ruxsud was determined to bring him back at any cost, even if it meant destroying their home. Rax moved forward once more, using a free hand to jump over the broken pillar, and run straight forward towards te slightly taller figure. Rax's eyes widened as he felt something connect with his stomach, 'damn…' he thought watching his own body get thrown back. 'I'm not going to lose!' he thought blocking the force of the tomahawk this time, bring his fake Keyblade into play this time.
He found his hidden strength and pushed back the tomahawk, and managed to bring Ruxsud down to his knees for a slight second. The Silent Hero picked himself up and jumped into the air, Rax threw his fake Keyblade into the air, in number 5's direction, and he blocked it, just as Rax had anticipated. From a distance King Mickey watched the familiar figure fight to the fullest, and it made him smile slightly. Rax learned in that instance to block the force of the tomahawk by mimicking a similar reaction command when he fought Dusk Nobodies. 'Ruxsud's extra training paid off…' the younger member thought grinning.
'I'm going to fight for as long as I can, to protect my friends…' Rax thought as he blocked one of Ruxsud's punches with his preferred Keyblade. Ruxsud jumped back and grinned. "You've decided to get serious now…" the Silent Hero said and ran forward, and Rax took the advance as well, and with a surge of power, the two opposing blows from the opposing attacks collided head on, and the one lone audience member gripped on tightly trying hard not to lose his footing from far away. The tomahawk and both weapons from Rax's side flew out of their masters' hands, and the two of them were left panting. He saw that Ruxsud moved forward with incredible speed and a fist came straight his way. Rax moved to the side, and narrowly avoided the attack, and with that the young member grabbed his arm, and tried to flip him over, he failed to notice the other punch, and he soon felt something smash into the side of his skull.
Rax feel forward, and noticed that his coat was torn slightly, and he scowled at the sight for a moment. His blue eyes moved towards the discarded tomahawk, he asked himself whether he could carry it, but it was a risk he was willing to take. Rax ran forward, jumping over the Silent Hero and made it just in time to grasp the handle of the tomahawk. The weight was tremendous, and the younger member wondered how Ruxsud could carry it with one hand. He pushed off the weapon slightly with quick force, and grasped the handle tightly. 'Please let this work…' he prayed silently, and put his whole weight into it.
Ruxsud watched with interest, and grinned. 'He's grown up so much… we should've really thanked her…' he thought and ran forward; ready to take back his weapon. Rax struggled and felt his whole body under a surge of tremendous weight. 'Don't give up…' Rax told himself and felt the weapon finally rise into the air. 'Just one hit,' Rax thought moving his whole body in the opposite direction. Ruxsud watched as Rax finally had the weapon in the air. Rax's blue eyes locked with his opponents green eyes. 'One hit,' the teen thought, and felt a sudden pressure of gravity on his arms.
"THIS IS IT!" the younger one yelled out loudly.
Ruxsud dove forward, and as the tomahawk was about connect with his shoulder, he moved in the knick of time. Rax's blue eyes widened at the sudden movement, and felt another blow on his ribs. His hands still tried desperately to move the tomahawk blade forward. 'Not like this!' Rax thought and felt his hands slowly lose grip on the weapon. 'NO!' and soon he found himself falling backward, and the red and black coated weapon was raised above his head. 'REFLECTAGA!' The teen thought urgently and soon a thin seemingly transparent barrier covered Rax, and the tomahawk ricocheted back, sending Ruxsud in reverse.
King Mickey watched from a safe distance, and felt his heart beat relax for a moment. 'But he's got to fight him on his own…' the King thought. 'If she's truly helping in the repetition of the past I shouldn't intervene just yet… I do hope that Sora and Amaterasu are all right.'
The barrier around the Key of Destiny fell apart, and an explosion occurred from the broken defensive spell. He took the opportunity and summoned back his Keyblade and decided to jab the weapon forward. The tomahawk wielder stood up and felt something sting the side of his leg. 'From the blast…' the Silent Hero deduced, but that wasn't going to slow him down. From the dust that picked up Ruxsud saw Raxter move forward in a sluggish manner, 'little guy's getting tired…' he thought, and sighed as he blocked the attack of the Keyblade. 'But so am I…' The two were bleeding and their breathing was slightly ragged, but minor scarps and bruises weren't going to stop these two, not by a long shot.
Nusvext and the others
"Light, Dark!" Ames cried out from the sidelines. Dark was thrown back ruthlessly as several kunai pinned her against a wall. Light had jumped into the air to try and steer clear of the metallic weapons, but Nusvext could control them with ease, their trajectory was more than perfect. Electricity was brimming within the weapons, as that was Nusvext preferred style of element, and with hasty speed he threw another pair of the shocking kunai towards Light, trying to get him to fall. Dark struggled to break free, and did so successfully but at the cost of cuts on her arms and legs; she felt something and flinched back against the wall as her feet touched the ground. 'Static?' she asked herself.
Dark lifted up her Keyblade once more and ran forward. Light was thrown down to the ground, and he suffered a wound from one of the kunai, as his shoulder and right arm were bleeding. Nusvext turned around quickly and watched as Dark ran forward, with her Keyblade starting to glow slightly. 'Fire…' the blonde thought and smirked. 'Should be fun…' Nusvext threw a kunai in her path, and she dodged it moving to the side gracefully. The Savage Fighter ran forward and brought his fist up in a slashing motion, and an indescribable pain voyaged from her sides, and upper left arm. Light picked himself up quickly when he noticed that Dark had fallen down, and Nusvext felt something hit him across the back.
Nusvext flipped over, and looked up noticing that Light had the key shaped weapon hovering over his head. 'He can't kill me with that approach…' Nusvext thought and gripped the Keyblade tightly, sending a thunder spell through the metal, and Light flinched back. With that the Savage Fighter took no time and delivered a good blow to Light, and knocked the boy backwards, with more cuts on his arm. Dark clutched her side, and stood up weakly feeling her hunger kick in. 'Damn, this isn't good…' she thought and noticed that Ames was starting to move.
'What is she…?!' Dark felt a bead of sweat fall down the side of her face, the kunai were dangerously close to her face. A quick to the stomach and she was down once more, and Light tried to stand up once more, but Nusvext had his hand pinned, he was stepping on it with some force, keeping his hand and Keyblade pinned to the ground. Light couldn't get his hand free, and the pain was too much for him. 'He's too strong…' Light thought hearing something click within his heart.
"Are you two even trying?" Nusvext asked, burying his boot further into Light's hand. He heard the teen cry out in pain.
"Stop it!" the other two females cried out, they couldn't stand it at all.
"Well… I can understand your lack of motivation…" he looked back at Ames. "I mean finding out your name and memories were taken away by a girl you thought you were suppose to protect can do that to a guy…" Nusvext chuckled. "But she was deceiving you all along, you were her little puppets all along, and now the two of you are all alone."
'Even if this is supposed to happen… Even if it already did happen under different circumstances, it's too much…' the witch thought feeling some tears run the side of her face. "Stop it Nusvext, stop!" she cried out and ran forward. "Stop!" the little witch in the plain black dress said. "STOP IT!" Ames said getting in between Light and three kunai.
Nusvext stopped the assault quickly, letting the kunai distance themselves from the girl's face by two millimeters. "Stop…" she gulped, "please, Nusvext stop…"
"…" Nusvext noticed the tears falling down on her face. 'If Rax saw this he would kick my ass…' the 'Savage Fighter' thought. "Pardon me? But I think it's a bit too late to go back on your word…" Nusvext leaned forward and whispered, "Just let me finish this…"
'Why? Why do you want to die that badly?' she asked herself, looking in the blue seemingly lifeless eyes of Nusvext the Savage Fighter. "Now…" Nusvext raised his kunai, "get out of my way!" he said, and Ames felt something break the skin of her arm, and she was thrown back.
" AMES!" Light and Dark called out. Dark stood up weakly, and noticed that Nusvext was moving the weight on his body, he was going to move once more. 'He's going to step back soon…' the teen thought.
"Why should you worry about her, Light?" Nusvext asked watching Ames pick herself up slightly. 'Sorry about that…' he thought, and looked down at Light and smirked. "You were never her friend, you can't really say she had any…" it was a lie to Nusvext and several other members, but those two Keyblade wielding teens didn't need to know the real truth, not at this moment anyway. Light sighed for a moment stilling trying to move but Nusvext had him pinned. He searched the inside of his heart and thought about the memory, it was starting to get distorted. 'But I promised…' he thought, and finally Nusvext stepped back giving Light just enough time to stand up.
"Those memories may be fake…" Dark said weakly, remembering how she promised to take care of Ames. At that moment Nusvext finally stepped back.
"But they are still ours…" Light said slowly picking himself up.
"Huh?!" Nusvext scratched his neck with the tip of one of the kunai and tilted his head slightly. "You guys are both broken records…" he said softly and sighed. "Weren't you listening?"
Ames watched the event unfold before her very eyes. 'Just as the artifact predicted…' she thought sadly now knowing that events to come would unfold in one way or another. The little witch in the black dress sighed. Ames knew perfectly well that the two teens would stay true to those memories, even if they were fake. Dark was a bit more questioning towards the planted memories, she knew her well enough, still it surprised Ames that Dark would defend the memory at this point. 'I always thought you'd abandon me…'
Nusvext stepped forwards now, going towards Ames, when he jumped back slightly noticing the two teens standing before him. He chuckled and looked in back of them, towards Ames, she looked down at the ground. The young witch had another memory come back to her:
"Here…" Sora said pulling out a keychain with a black crown. "I want you to have this," he said giving Amaterasu a noogie on the head.
"Oblivion…?" she asked softly noticing the distinct shape of the crown. This Keyblade, if her memory served her right, was one that Riku once used for a brief period of time. The motif, the little symbol was from the pendant that Sora had on his necklace, but it was of a deep rich black color. This meant to her and to the young teen, that it symbolized the corruption of a royal figure. "This… was Riku's…"
"Come on, Ammi," Sora said forcing the keychain into her hand. "Cheer up, alright? It's a friendship gift, and if you're going to mope about it…"
Amaterasu pulled her hand away before Sora could take back the keychain. "But, why Sora?" she asked letting the keychain rest on her palm. So many secrets were probably hidden within the keychain, it had probably seen its fair share of battles like the other Keyblades of the universe.
"Just take it!" he yawned rather loudly. "I get a feeling that you'll need it more than I do. Besides straying in the night must get rather lonely, you need some oblivion to keep you aware at all times…" Sora gave his trademark grin, but he was thinking of something else, she knew that.
"You think I can't handle myself in battle?" the dark skinned girl asked, growling for a moment.
"No… I never said that." Sora said quickly.
"Good…" she said tucking the keychain back into the rear pocket of her jeans.
The memory faded when she brought herself back into reality. There before Ames, she noticed the devastating Keyblade whose name was synonymous with the words, void, forgetfulness, and nothingness, the title of the weapon was none other than Oblivion. 'It's fitting…' Ames thought, 'for someone who has forgotten…' but she knew that was her doing to make them forget.
Nusvext growled and discarded the kunai. He grabbed the two teens by the throat, and grinned. "You guys are getting pretty annoying, I hope you know that." The grip on their necks was getting tighter with each passing word that fell from Nusvext, the Savage Fighter's lips. "Now just give me a couple of seconds, and I'll make you guys disappear, but before I do, just answer me this, why are you going through the trouble?"
"It… may not be apparent…" Dark said letting her hands grip the strong arm of Nusvext, "but whether it be a… fake…" she couldn't continue losing air like this.
"We won't go back on what we've said…" Light said softly, it was almost a weak whisper.
"You guys are so pathetic!" Nusvext said laughing, watching their pained faces. "It's kind of sad making you two disappear, it's been fun, but now…" an object cut through the air at neck breaking speed, and it his its desired object, sending Nusvext backwards, clutching the side of his head in pain.
"He got you two pretty bad, huh?" a rather goofy sounding voice said.
"Curaga!" a voice quaked out loudly, and in an instant a green warming light enveloped both Light and Dark in an instant. Dark and Light gasped for air suddenly, and looked at the two new coming figures. Ames watched for a moment, feeling happier than before. 'Hey got my letter,' she thought, and her mind was at ease for now.
A small mage dressed in blue walked forward with his staff at hand, and a taller looking knight appeared in suite right behind his vertically challenged companion. Dark grabbed the discarded shield, and felt happy for some reason, and Light laughed looking at the two newcomers.
"Looks like you guys could use some help." The mage said walking forward.
"Isn't that right…" the taller knight noticed that Ames shook her head, "…Light and Dark?" the knight said quickly picking up his mid-sentence.
"Donald, Goofy…" Light and Dark said in unison, smiling happily. The taller knight and the small mage ran forward, and Dark handed the shield back to the knight. Light caught a glimpse of the design and noticed that the mouse like image seemed all too familiar.
"Grr…" Nusvext felt a bump on the side of his head, and it got him a bit ticked off. 'The King's lackeys…' he thought. "I hate to break up the sentimental reunion…" he pulled out his kunai once more, "but we've a battle to continue!"
"Take this!" the one by the name of Donald yelled. "Blizzaga!" and from the tip of his Mage's Staff a powerful ice attack zipped through the air. Nusvext spun around slightly to the side, but the ice based attack managed to grab the sleeve of his right arm. The blonde hared fighter sighed and placed a small Thunder spell on the sleeve of his Organization XIII coat, breaking apart the frozen piece of ice.
"You'll have to do better than that…" Nusvext said.
"Then… take this!" Light said running forward. "Thunder Raid!" he yelled, summoning a huge amount of thunder to go through the tip of Kingdom Key. Light threw the Keyblade forward with enough force, and grinned watching it come into contact with Nusvext.
'You'd think he'd learn by now…' Nusvext thought, pretending to yell out in pain. Dark rushed forward with her two Keyblade at hand now, and brought Nusvext down to the ground, the Savage Fighter grabbed her Keyblade before it collided with him, and she called out Thunder just as he had hoped she would.
"Thunder doesn't work on me!" Nusvext said suddenly disappearing from Dark's view. She turned around as fast as she could, but she couldn't react fast enough now. Someone called out 'Reflectaga' a powerful defensive spell, and she was watched as a thin barrier of light formed around her.
Dark moved back, and caught up to Light and the others. Nusvext grinned and threw the kunai, and was pleased to see the figures dodged them. The blue and yellow colored kunai stuck out like a sore thumb in the white area, and it was perfect for the Savage Fighter. Donald Duck, the mage dressed in blue pointed out to Nusvext that he missed by a mile, and Nusvext the blonde hared fighter with blue eyes grinned. He had other kunai safely hidden behind him with his other hand, and at once discharged some of the electricity he had stored within his body.
"Move away!" Ames cried out, knowing the attack all to well. "Get away!" she cried out loudly. It was too late though, as the four figures felt electricity enter their bodies from the other neighboring kunai around the white walls. Dark was the first to fall, and her Keyblades disappeared back into the sanctuary of her pockets. 'I'm getting tired…' she thought, struggling to push herself forward once more. Something in the back of her head told her not to tire herself out.
Light felt his knee connect with the white tiled floor, and he bent forward slightly, using his Keyblade to pick himself up. The other two, Donald and Goofy were already up, and helping Dark to her feet. This battle was going to be difficult that was no joke. Nusvext was enjoying this very much, as was his corrupted nature. He watched for a moment as electricity was dancing about him, and he used his fingertips to move the current of electrical energy into a ball.
He spoke:
"That was a bit too much of a charge," Nusvext informed the warriors, "you guys could just about power up a washing machine, or a hair dyer and a microwave at the same time!" he said making a cruel joke.
"You jerk!" Light yelled out furiously, and ran forward.
"Sora!" Donald and Goofy called out. Something in Light's heart clicked, and Ames felt her eyes grow wide. 'If he figures it out right now…' Ames was afraid of the outcome. Light looked back at Donald and Goofy, and felt something, but he couldn't understand what it was.
"Light, look out!" Dark yelled, as Nusvext was moving forward. She ran forward recovering from the shock. 'He's going to…' she pushed her legs forward, and everything seemed to move slowly in her mind. Dark pushed the blue eyed teen from the path of the kunai attack, but she suffered the attack. Light skidded against the white tile, and watched blood stain the pure white tiles. "You idiot…" Dark muttered, wincing in pain, the kunai had left a deep wound in her left arm, and on her back.
"Firaga!" Light summoned the fire ball from the tip of his Keyblade, and Donald the mage followed with a Blizzaga spell to collide with the fire ball just before it impacted with Nusvext. In an instance with the combination of ice and fire created a slightly moisture in the air, damp, as if it were raining. Dark grinned closing her eyes, this was her turn to wait the battle out. 'Knock him dead, Sora…' her words echoed into his head.
"Now!" Ames ordered noticing that Nusvext had been taken a back. Light ran forward with his Keyblade at hand, and tightened his grip feeling the weapon connect. Nusvext felt his body twitch with the moisture in the air, and the Keyblade had pierce through his flesh. 'Good job, kid…' Nusvext thought falling backward, and Light recoiled his hand feeling electrical energy surge through the handle of his weapon.
The Keyblade lodged into Nusvext's stomach, unknown to the wielder, and the Savage Fighter closed his eyes welcoming death finally. 'Thanks, Sora…' he thought letting a faint smile etch onto his face.
"Sora…" Nusvext said, straining to speak. "Thanks… Just tell…" he groaned feeling blood fall from the corner of his mouth, "tell Xauqa… That I went back…" Ames watched from behind the scene, noticing that Nusvext's frame was starting to break down, and all that became of him were the several sparks he left behind, he had disappeared in the form of electricity.
"So…ra…" the name sounded very foreign to Light, but something in his heart told him something else. "Dark!" Light ran forward, and slid his knees onto the floor, hovering over her. "Dark!" he called out to her, she wasn't waking up.
Ames placed a gently hand on the replica's face, and sighed. "I caused you some pain as well, and I'm sorry…" she said and gave a small silent prayer. "You won't be needing this though, Abedo, but I'm grateful that you kept it safe." She pulled the pendant away from the chain on the belt, and watched the fabricated piece disappear. Ames walked over towards, Donald and Goofy, and expressed words of thanks to the two knights.
The girl strode over towards Light and Dark, and placed a gentle hand on Light's shoulder:
"She's just tired…" the girl spoke softly, "Sora…"
"That's my true, name isn't it?" he asked looking up at the blue eyed girl before him. She nodded, and looked guilty of a crime of some sort, but that would have explained at a later time. She heard something like a beast growl, and looked around. "That's my stomach." the boy known as Sora now, said softly, he was a bit embarrassed that his stomach growled loudly.
"Ammi's coming around!" Ames heard Goofy exclaim and she didn't think twice about coming to her aid. Goofy moved towards the side and let Ames do her 'thing', by placing her hands on the cuts, letting a Curaga spell lessen the extent of the wounds.
"A… Ames…" the girl said softly, breathing through the pain of the slightly closed wounds. "You're safe…" she said softly smiling through the pain.
"Thanks, Amaterasu." Ames said smiling, feeling her eyes water up for some reason. Amaterasu, as she was now called, sat up, holding her injured arm. "You guys are probably hungry, right?" she asked. "I can take up to a room that's not too far from here, there's some food there…"
Goofy helped Amaterasu up, and Donald and Sora walked behind Ames as she placed her hand on one of the white walls of the area. It disappeared in the presence of a dark aura, and it led to somewhere else. Ames told them that she was going to say behind to take care of the replica, and informed them that the pathway was going to be open until they stepped back into this area once more.
"Once you guys are done eating, go directly to the next floor, where the castle's administrator is waiting for you all. If you should defeat that person, Xauqa, you should be able to get the answers you've been looking for… Sora, and you too, Amaterasu." Ames said bowing slightly, feeling the tears fall down silently.
"Cheer up, Ames!" Sora said forcing her to smile, pinching the sides of her cheeks. It was still strange to him, to her his real name echo through his mind, but he made the effort of embracing it. "Come, on smile!"
"You'll see," Amaterasu began, grinning. "It'll be a-okay!" she tried to be strong for herself. "Hey, are you sure you're not hungry?" she asked.
Ames shook her head. "It's okay Ammi, you need food more than I do, so hurry up!" she said pushing them through the portal, and that was that for now.
The girl in the plain black dress walked down the hallway thinking back to the event the had just unfolded, she felt no remorse for the fallen Nusvext, instead she felt more than overjoyed that he was finally gone, to a place where she knew they would one day meet. 'Terra, he's gone back…' she tried to let her voice echo through that person's mind, whether or not it was heard, she would find out once the journey would cease to exist, and soon another one would come along. 'These two have had it rather rough, but the price for beauty pays dearly…' she thought smirking. 'Beauty' was, in this moment and time, was the element known as 'light' that the people of universe so desperately sought out.
"There you are…" a female voice exclaimed, and the fait scent of wildflowers filled Ames' nose. The silver hared teen turned around slightly, noticing the faint strands of blue hair creep from the corner of her eyes. "How have you been, Ames?"
"Xauqa…" Ames, the silver hared teen in the black plain dress, addressed the administrator in a very calm voice. "What are you doing here?" she asked.
"I became ever so bored of waiting…" Xauqa said rolling her eyes in that oh so manner of hers. "Where's Nusvext?" she asked softly noticing that the room was empty.
"You should know better than anyone else…" Ames said softly noticing the shocked eyes of the blue eyed member, Xauqa. "He's dead, just like I predicted, and soon you shall too…"
"Dead…?" the eleventh member of the organization couldn't help but reiterate the status of the former member. "They… killed him?!" she screamed. "You didn't do anything!" she yelled furiously at the witch, roughly holding her by the throat. "You stupid little girl!"
"Enough!" Ames yelled, pushing Xauqa's grip away from her throat. The silver hared youth coughed, breathing heavily. "Just stop… He knew… He knew it would happen eventually, face it, Graceful Assassin." Her speech was enough to kill her on the spot, but Xauqa knew better than to let personal feelings get the better of her. "But… I know he didn't want to go… you could tell in his eyes."
The female before her scoffed and looked away, towards the blood stains that still lingered behind from the battle that had ended moments ago. To the Graceful Assassin it was better that she arrived later than earlier at this point. Nusvext was gone, and she had to accept that fact whether she wanted to or not, the young witch before her made it very clear.
"I don't want to fade just yet…" the female member made it very clear to the silver hared youth that was the female teen before her vision. "There were a lot of things I wanted to do…"
"So did he, but he was glad… He may have been corrupted soon after he joined alongside you and Rax, but…" the teen paused for a moment. "You and him… did you really-?"
"Come on…" Xauqa said softly, cutting the witch in mid-sentence. "It's better you didn't know, let's go put on your play." With that Ames felt a gloved hand over her mouth, and her body started to grow heavy. "I guess you're right, and I should welcome death like he did…" the Graceful Assassin sighed, coming to the bright side of it all. " At least we'll see each other on the other side, Ames."
With Rax
The weapon with no keychain was embedded into the flesh of the one who moved the earth. Ruxsud was finally defeated so to speak, which was good for the former member known as number 13. Rax panted taking off his trademark black coat, and resting it against a broken slab of earth.
Ruxsud was grinning slightly as his final seconds on earth were coming to an end:
"You should've come back to us…" the silver hared individual said, his green eyes looking at the one who carried eyes as blue as the sky. "You have…" the Silent Hero strained as her picked himself up, with his trademark weapon, "you have so much potential to wield the darkness… Terra…"
"It's not my position to fill…" he responded softly, walking forward, pulling the weapon out of Ruxsud's chest. These 'soulless' as he had come to know, passed on like regular humans, as in they ate, they bled, they died.
"If you see, Xiaga, ask him if he can forgive me, for failing…" those were the last words of number 5. With that, the brown hared youth noticed that once the figure passed away, pieces of earth gathered to signal the 'grave' of the fallen person who controlled that specific element. The tomahawk broke down into little crystals, and they scattered and exploded about the area in a display that Rax could only describe as 'astonishing'.
From a safe distance the royal mouse was able to breathe in calmly, noticing that the fight was finally over for now. If he knew the turn of events, Terra needed to go through two more people and his own personal demons before he could finally rest. 'Something tells me that those two are fine…' King Mickey thought referring to the two people that Donald and Goofy met up with.
In Destiny Islands
A strange looking blonde hared teen, washed up on the shore of a place he was unaware of. It struck him as strange to have his hands grasp on to something so loose, like the grains of sand that welcomed his sense of touch. 'This isn't Sunset Horizons…' the blonde hared teen thought picking himself up, he felt a pain hit his stomach, and it was enough to bring him down to his knees for a brief period of time. His blue eyes looked up at the clear sky above his head, and he groaned shaking his head in disappointment. 'I was supposed to go home…'
The youth's name, if he could even recall it, had one syllable that seemed comforting to his mind, which could put him at ease. He heard the wave break apart in back of him, and for a moment he heard a gentle voice call out his name. 'Ven…' he grinned. 'Well, if you're going to appear here then, I might as well wait for you.'
In the distance a young female teen with red wine colored hair and a young teen with silver hair were watching the shore for a familiar figure, but what they saw wasn't what they were expecting. There was a young boy who looked oddly familiar, and he wore black pants and a faded amber and black shirt. Discarded towards his side was a black coat that appeared fairly new. 'Roxas?' the two teens in the distance thought, but it didn't really seem like him at all.
The figure who sat in the sand, went by the name of Ven for now. He sat there hearing the sounds of the ocean before him, and taking in the new scent of the ocean breeze. This wasn't his original home, but he would treat it as such for when his friend arrived. 'Just like I promised,' he thought turning his head slightly. He could feel the presence of others in the distance, and he noticed that the two individuals walked away, trying to get back to their daily routine.
"Well Ventus…" he began to speak to himself. "Better get use to this place…" he picked up his black coat, and stood up, hearing his boots make a distinct clink sound from the metal buckles. "I know she'll love it though…" Ventus' blue eyes looked towards the side, and a dog with different fur color, unlike any he had seen, was wandering the shoreline, and quickly ran back to the teen with silver hair.
"Wait what do you mean, we're incomplete?" he asked one of the hooded members. He seemed oddly familiar.
"Your bodies are in another dimension… as for your heart…" the figure began to speak.
The memory was too distorted to piece together. To him it felt like he had taken a long nap somewhere. He knew for right now that his memories were still trying to chain themselves within his heart, but it would be a slow process.
"Hey Ventus… don't ever change, okay?" a young girl smiled after she finished her sentence. She had a kind smile, and a soothing voice.
"Why would I change?" he asked her, to which she replied with a frown.
Ventus shook his head, and walked further and further away from the beach, finally coming to a sidewalk. "But I wonder where you'll land…" he asked himself, looking up at the clear blue sky, white clouds moved wherever the wind blew.
With Donald and Goofy
"How did you two get here anway?" Amaterasu asked, sitting on one of the white chairs near a uniformed colored table. Goofy was biting into an apple, and Donald was eating some cake he found in a refrigerator. The two of them explained that they followed a letter that someone had sent, and that King Mickey was somewhere downstairs with another friend.
"Do you guys know Ames?" Sora asked biting into a small pastry. Amaterasu raised her eyebrow slightly, 'he's eating more sweets?!' she sighed and chewed on turkey sandwich she had made.
"We don't personally know her…" Donald said scratching his head, he looked back at Goofy, and the taller knight placed his apple down. "A-hyuck. Yeah, the King knows her from his travels."
"Oh…" the two companions said thinking about it for a moment. 'Hey, Dark…' Sora began to communicate through the mental link, he was still use to that name.
'I know, L-…I mean, Sora. Old man Brooks was right, I'd never think that it was true but, I guess I was wrong.' Amaterasu sighed looking down at the half eaten sandwich. 'I can't help, but think that this has happened once before…'
Sora nodded and went back to his sweet bread, biting into it. 'Let's just focus at the important thing, when we get rid of the castle administrator we'll get our answers.'
"Well, you guys… we should get going now." Amaterasu said softly, and stood up once there was nothing on her plate. "We've got some answers to find."
"You know… I'm a bit mad at her…" Sora said putting his hands behind his head. He started to walk forward. "I mean, she had no right to toy with our memories, but… I guess I can understand why she did it…"
"Light…" Amaterasu sighed; the dark skinned girl rolled her eyes, and stepped through the dark portal. "Now hurry up you guys, and Goofy…" she paused, "I don't want you getting lost again."
Goofy and Donald smiled and followed right behind Sora as he disappeared into the darkness of the portal. Amaterasu and Sora walked side by side, thinking of what their strategy would be, once they arrived at their destination. "I really wish, I could remember…" Sora said softly.
"Don't worry…" Amaterasu said patting him on the back. "Once this is over we'll remember everything."
"Still, it's pretty weird hearing our names again, especially yours." He grinned, avoiding a punch from his companion.
"Yeah well, Sora sounds like a girl's name, and so does Terra." She said laughing. 'How is he doing anyway?' she asked herself, something told her that he was all right, but she couldn't help but worry a bit.
"Hey, Ames we're…back…" Sora stuck his head out of the portal and noticed that no one was in the hallway now. Amaterasu and the other jumped out of the dark portal, and looked around. "She's gone… and so is that other guy…" the brown hared teen said stepping out of the portal.
"I wonder where she went…" Goofy asked himself, and looked around some of the white pillars.
"What if something happened to her?" Amaterasu asked softly, and Sora turned around to look at his dark eyed companion.
"But where do we start looking?" he asked.
"Maybe she's already on the top floor with the administrator…" Donald said, out loud, and he quickly covered his mouth.
"What?!" Sora and Amaterasu felt their mouths open slightly, their eyes on Donald.
"What Donald means, is that, maybe they captured her." Goofy said trying to explain the situation a tad bit differently than his feathered friend.
"So they're human… but at the same time they're not?" the male couldn't help but ask.
"That is correct." A voice from the back of his head answered. "They eat, breathe, and have a heart, but no soul."
"But…" his companion sighed hearing that. "That means we're going to be killing people, as in they bleed when they get hit…" the girl said softly.
"If the two of you keep thinking like that, you'll be the ones bleeding to death." The voice echoed through the corridors of both of their minds. "But that aside for now, and think of them as Nobodies."
"But they have hearts… Which is the thing that Nobodies don't have." The two of them said.
"Which is why they are more dangerous…"
Sora shook his head, and looked back at the others. "Let's get going."
With Rax
He leaned against one of the only intact pillars in the area, and something finally reached his heart. "He's gone back…" he smiled and took off his coat for a moment. He was wearing a white shirt, with one lone black stripe running across, and another band of black running down the right side of his shirt. The pants he wore were made out of black material, and white fabric seemed to mimic the style on his shirt. Rax, or Terra, as Ames would call him from time to time, yawned rather loudly, and he looked around feeling a familiar presence in the room.
"You're… on a journey?" he asked looking at the small mouse.
"That's right," the figure said, showing him the Keyblade known as 'Star Seeker'. "As an apprentice of Master Yen Sid." The round eared mouse said proudly.
"No kidding…" he said placing his hand on his chin, and thinking. "Master Yen Sid… I think I've heard that name somewhere before…"
Something caught his attention, and he sighed. "I guess it'll have to wait." Mickey nodded in agreement to what the young adolescent said, he looked roughly around the age of 18, but no older than 20.
"First, we've got to get rid of these Heartless." Mickey said looking at the person before him. "You ready, Terra?"
"As ready as I'll ever be!"
Terra placed a Cure spell on himself and sighed having previous memories of the 'old days' flooding the gates of his mind. This was unexpected of him, but he felt that such memories were needed to pick himself up time like such as these. 'On to the next level…' he thought looking back at the debris from the pervious fight. "Thanks, Ruxsud…" with that Terra, the former member of Organization 13 called Key of Destiny, walked down the broken path of the hallway to another fight. He pushed open the door, and smiled.
"Sunset Horizons…" he whispered to himself.
A/N:You know what to do, one review please!
I've decided to divide the sequel into two parts, this is part one, and part two will be featured in this same story. For those who are familiar with Chain of Memories, you can only imagine that the end is near for part one…
Little side note: the title 'Memories in pieces' is a melody featured in KH:CoM, which was the inspiration for this chapter.
And once again, sorry for the typos, I'm not perfect after all, I'm only human.