A/N: I want to apologize first of all for making all my readers and reviewers, along with fellow writers alike, wait so long. Terribly sorry.
Also Chapter 13 will be the end to the first part, so expect the second part to come soon.
Sonic13: Thank you so much for the review, but I don't think SE would make a spinoff or anything of the sort with this story, but I'm flattered. Keep on writing, I want to read more from you, and I'll keep on writing.
Xejicka: Thanks for you PM, I'll keep it close to my heart. Plus talking with you has given me some awesome ideas for part two, and chapter 13. Hopefully you can update soon, I'm itching to read your new chapter!
Now on with the story!
Chapter 12: Coração mostra uma rota (heart shows a path)
"Light!" the girl tried calling out to him again, but he wasn't paying attention. 'Like always…' she thought and shook her head. She cupped her hand over her mouth and took in a deep breath. "Sora!"
The individual was looking down at the two pendants that clinked together, still trying to piece together names to go with them, but nothing so far. He looked up slightly and turned his head back, there was his good friend, Dark, or as she now went by, Amaterasu. She called out to him, and he sighed, 'guess it'll have to wait then…' he thought and walked towards her and the others.
"Hey Sora…" Donald began as all four of them were walking down the hallway.
"What is it, Donald?" he asked breaking away from his previous thought once more.
"Listen up!" the girl right next to him said. Amaterasu sighed, and allowed the blue dressed mage to continue.
"Right…" Donald lost his train of thought, and all eyes were on him. He looked around, and finally it came to him. "We've got to devise a strategy. First of all, we don't even know the administrator's name… and second of all we have no idea what this person is like on the battlefield." Sora looked down at his dusty shoes and sighed, the duck had a point.
"Well…" he paused, looking back at Amaterasu for a moment. "It's not like we can ask now, can we? The only person who knew anything is gone, probably captured by the administrator, and that replica is nowhere to be found. As for a strategy…" Sora continued. "Let's just try and not waste any items…"
"We HAVE no items…" the dark skinned girl said. Sora winced feeling something hit the back of his head. "You wasted them all."
"I still have these!" he rebutted pulling out something from his pocket. The others gathered around and looked at the only two items in his hand, it was reassuring at all.
"An ether… and a hi-potion…" Amaterasu said wrinkling up her nose. "We've got enough munny to buy some more items, but there's no-"
As if right on cue something caught the attention of all four fighters, and they looked off into the distance, a little machine was whirring it's time away. Donald and Goofy had a feeling that this wasn't the first time it had happened, but they couldn't go and spill their guts to the two teens, it was strictly under the King's orders. Sora titled his head, and Amaterasu scratched the back of her head in wonder, and confusion. 'If it's a sign, we'll take it!' the two of them thought grinning finally.
"This is one REALLY long hallway…" Amaterasu said looking back at the others.
"It's the prelude to the final boss…" the spiky hared teen said, putting his hands in back of his head, and walked forward grinning. "Beating the castle's administrator won't be a walk in the park…"
Amaterasu noticed that Donald and Goofy were already at the little vending machine, pushing buttons like crazy, and putting currency into the machine. "Ammi, you could use a hot drink…" Goofy said. 'You're thirsty, Goofy?' she chuckled, and told Goofy to pass the drink then.
"After we defeat that person…" Sora said softly, watching Amaterasu and Goofy get some more items, "we'll get our memories back, won't we?"
Donald was watching Amaterasu smile, and something the King said made him wonder. 'The King told us she was a happy girl at one point. I've met her, but not like this, rather as just someone who… doesn't matter now, the King was right, she's a good person.' Donald looked up at Sora, catching the last words that came out of his mouth, with a rather confused look.
"Oh!" Sora caught himself and shook his head. "I'm not doubting Ames at all, but it's just… that if we don't get it back," he looked down scratching the side of his cheek, "I don't know what I'd do."
"It's okay, Sora." Donald said trying to cheer him up a bit. "I felt like that too. When you think about that person, I know it warms your heart, but it's sad, not remembering what kind of person they were. It's really tough, when you lose something precious, and…" the feathered mage tried hard not to explain the events of their prior visit, "…and there's a big hole in our heart."
Amaterasu looked back at Goofy, and he nodded. The two of them were talking about something. "So you guys lost your memories too?" she asked. Goofy nodded, saying that it was when they were looking for King Mickey. To Sora and Amaterasu the name sounded oddly familiar. The spiky hared teen couldn't picture an image to go with the name, but he knew that the King had helped him out. The dark skinned girl on the other hand, felt some sadness when his name was mentioned, as if she had let him down before.
"A-hyuck! Look, look! I won us two free drinks!"
The other three looked up and noticed that Goofy was pulling out something from the white colored vending machine. Amaterasu smiled and patted the taller knight on the back. She congratulated him and looked back at Donald and Sora, giving them a thumbs-up. Donald and Sora sighed in relief and the two of them bought their supplies from the vending machine. The white colored vending machine had the words 'Warm, Potion, Elixirs' on the front of it, with the colors blue, white and red.
"This place is Castle Oblivion where to find is to lose, and to lose is to find. But don't fret; you won't lose anything just because you won a couple of free drinks. Have a good day!" that was what the vending machine said in a loud, female, up beat voice.
"Uh… Okay?" Sora shook his head. 'Hey Dark, is it me, or did that voice sound really familiar?'
'You noticed it too?! I thought I was going insane, but yeah. You think it's from the same voice who told us that thing… "to find is to lose, and to lose is to find"… you remember that?' she asked him within their own personal link. Sora nodded, putting Amaterasu's mind to rest for now.
Sora looked at his tattered fighting gloves, and side, he really was wearing himself out. Anyway he stuck his hand into the little slot and pulled out the free drinks that he had won, and smiled. "We're not going to lose anything. Before we leave this place for good, we're going to find out the answers to our questions." He noticed that the others were right behind him.
"But first…" the dark skinned girl pulled the tab back on her Elixir, "A warm elixir!" Sora and she said in unison chugging the sweet warm drink down.
Goofy sighed, 'they may have lost their memories, but not the special bond between them. That's what I call an unbreakable friendship.'
With Rax
He yawned loudly walking through the desert area of a place called Sunset Horizons. This wasn't the real Sunset Horizon, but one created from his memories, and it was almost as good as the real thing. The thing that caught Terra's eyes was the clock tower that signaled the area of the capital Elusion-Ilusion. 'Things really haven't changed from my mind…' he thought finally making it into the capital. There were sweet smells in the air, and the noise from the city made him feel at home now. He wandered around thinking back to how many times the three of them use to run up and down these sidewalks back then.
He stopped in front of a bookstore trying hard to remember what the Moogle text said underneath one of the advertisement signs. 'Man my memory is all fuzzy now…' he thought and sighed tapping his hand on the glass wall. "You know, the Moogles are going to get mad at you again…"
He turned around, and noticed someone with their hands on their hips. "Honestly Terra, come on the Moogles don't want to deal with anymore annoyances…" the girl with blue hair said.
"I'm not annoying them…" he said pulling his hand away from the glass wall. "Anyway, shouldn't you be off with Ventus?" he asked. 'Just like old times…' he thought noticing the faint blush on her cheek.
"Hey Terra!" another voice said, and the young adolescent felt something on his back. "What are you doing out here all by yourself. I thought you would've been with Ignis by now…"
"Ventus, get off, you're heavy!" he said trying to shake the teen off. "Act your age!"
The blonde hared youth got off of the taller one and grinned. He loved annoying Terra when he had the chance just because it was fun for him. The three of them walked down the sidewalk, and Terra reflected back on some of the memories that he had shared with them, or rather his original self had shared with them.
"so then, tomorrow's the big day…" Ven said looking up at the clouded sky. "I wouldn't be surprised if it rained tomorrow…"
'I remember, it rained when we left Sunset Horizon…' he thought looking up at the sky, they weren't clear like other days, but just clouded. 'I never noticed it before, but the sky can read emotions, I suppose…'
"Hey Terra… Yoo-hoo, anybody home?" both of his friends called out, waving their hands in front of his face. The youth blinked, and laughed sheepishly. "Hey what's going on with you, you're more quiet than usual…" it was Ven who pointed it out.
"I'm… just thinking." Terra said being as honest as he could be. "Can't a guy think?"
"Yeah… but I mean, it isn't really like you to…" Ven rubbed the back of his head, he didn't really have any reason to say that at all.
"We're just worried about you, that's all." Aqua said smiling slightly. "Hey… your cut healed up!" Terra felt something tugging on his wrist. "Wow, you did a Curaga spell all by yourself, that's great!"
"About that…" something began to shake under the ground, and Terra cursed mentally at the thought of what it was. Ven and Aqua stood their ground and looked around. "Go and tell Master Xehanort, hurry!"
"Yeah…" the two of them ran off, but something stopped Ventus for excelling further. He looked back and shook his head.
"What are you doing?!" Terra yelled. "Aqua…!"
"She's a capable fighter, I'm not leaving you behind!" Ventus said pulling out his Keyblade, 'Way to Dawn'. 'That's right, this is all from my memory…' Terra thought pulling out his Keyblade, 'Kingdom Key'.
"Behind you!" Ven shouted, and Terra spun around with quick speed, decapitating that approaching Heartless. Ven ran forward and blocked an approaching attack from one of the Neo Shadows that ran forward. Somewhere in the distance, Aqua pulled out her Keyblade and growled, this wasn't a good sign at all. She blocked an on coming aerial attack from one of the Requiem types that dealt with magical attacks. 'Damn it!' she thought jumping into the air, and parrying with an Air Soldier. Another one came up from behind, and tried to knock her higher into the air. 'Oh no you don't!' she thought letting go of her Keyblade for a second and sending a 'Thundaga' spell towards the second Heartless, and the ones surrounding it.
Ventus fired a 'Firaga' spell knocking back some of the Heartless around him. One Heartless avoided the magical attack and ran forward towards an unsuspecting Ven, and he didn't have enough time to dodge the attack at all. He fell forward and landed on his side, the claw of the Heartless piercing his shoulder. He yelled out in pain, catching the attention of Terra and Aqua near by. The girl ran back, slashing wildly at the Heartless that leapt up from the ground, and sending some of her spells crashing head on towards several Heartless. She pushed her Keyblade forward, sending a shockwave straight at the surrounding Heartless, mixing her speed with her attacks. 'Hang on Ven…' she thought as she tried to reach him, but the Heartless were starting to come back.
Terra swung his Keyblade to the side knocking back several Heartless with ease, but his mind was growing restless hearing his friend yell out in pain. He tried to run forward, but the Heartless were blocking his every path. 'I don't have time for you!' he yelled bring his Keyblade forward only to have one shield knock him back. The soldier let his shield snap its jaws menacingly, and the shields eyes blazed red. 'A Fire spell…' he thought quickly spinning to the side, narrowly missing the fireball. He stood his ground, bringing his Keyblade in front of him, and looked around, his blue eyes watching the movements of the Heartless, he had fought countless of them before, their movements were something he almost recognized. A Neo Shadow moved to the right, and it collided with the air borne Keyblade that Terra had thrown.
Aqua on the other hand was mere inches away from Terra, when something crashed onto the ground making her jump back, away from the creature. It was something by the name of a Wyvern, and it brought its talons back, ready to strike her down for good. The Wyvern moved with a sudden burst of speed, aiming its head straight towards the blue hared girl, and it bounced off a thin light created barrier. Aqua grinned, and broke the barrier around her and jumped into the air, letting hey Keyblade catch the mid air Heartless, and striking it hard on the ground with enough force to let it knock out. Ventus was safe, since he fought back, but the wound on his shoulder was putting a strain him. She could see in the distance that Terra was surrounded, but he was fighting back better than she expected.
Ventus pushed two Heartless away from his body and brought his Keyblade back to his side. The humidity from the air was starting to get to him, that's why he didn't like cloudy days at all. Two stray wolf like Heartless ran forward and leapt into the air, and Ven braced himself, but something pushed them back. A Firaga and a Thundaga spell from opposite directions hit the airborne enemies. That was a sign for him, and he ran forward leaping into the massive crowd before him, tearing away at the flesh of the enemies composed of darkness. The citizens of the fabricated world were no where to be seen. 'Maybe these people were these creatures in disguise…' Ventus thought as his Keyblade connected with the stomach of one Neo Shadow. As he pulled it out the blonde hared youth heard the Heartless emit a faint howl in pain, and it disappeared from sight, watching a lone heart disappear into the void.
The numbers were falling slowly, but steady. The three of them knew that one old tale about the tortoise and hare, how being slow and steady won the race, but still with their strength running out they needed to end it quickly.
"Trinity!" Aqua yelled out, hoping to get the others to start thinking of plans. Terra looked back at Ventus as he twirled the Keyblade rapid, sending several of the Heartless to the ground.
"Worth a shot!" Terra yelled back, straining under the massive snapping jaws of a shield; he was caught off guard for a small moment. A Keyblade, which looked like a wing of some sort, smacked the shield wielding Heartless, and Ventus appeared onto of the fallen Heartless slicing off its head. 'He's getting a jest of it now, where the heck was he twenty years ago?!' his mind was yelling at the thought. Someone appeared right behind the blonde hared individual, and she smiled slightly.
"Ready to give it a shot?" Aqua asked Terra, as she helped him up. He nodded, and all three of them gathered together, raising their weapons high into the air. "One…"
"Two…" Ventus grinned as he sent out tapped energy into the Keyblade. Aqua was using her own skills to draw energy into her Keyblade, it was easy for her since she came from a family of mages. Terra closed his eyes, gripping his Keyblade tightly and muttering something, like a prayer.
"Three!" all of the individuals yelled out simultaneously, and something like beams of light shot down from the heavens above, engraving a symbol on the earth, etched out in a golden light of some sort. From the air it looked like a heart, and soon the energy formed another symbol of some sort, and a light enveloped all of the beings on the battleground.
All three of the young warriors leaned forward breathing in heavily, trying to catch their breath. Terra opened his eyes, and noticed that every Heartless that plagued the area around them were gone. He felt a smile creep up on him, and he looked back at the others, but something was wrong. Their images were slowly fading away, like the wind moving grains of sand. Aqua was the first one to start fading away, giving a pained smile to him and to Ventus, waving slightly.
"We'll see you soon…" she said as her image finally disappeared, and her voice, like her illustration, faded into the wind.
"Don't worry, I'll take good care of her, you just take care of yours." Ventus said giving his taller and older companion a thumbs-up, and he grinned. "She's waiting…" his image faded into the wind, and Terra was left alone in a world fabricated by his memories. 'That's right… they are the other side of my heart…' he thought feeling a smile creep up on him, and with that he walked forward, leaving his fabricated home farther and farther behind. Terra looked up at the sky and noticed that something was falling down from it. 'Rain…' he thought putting his hood letting the fragments of heavens tears fall on the ground.
"How old were you originally, when you fought?" a girl asked him softly. He looked up feeling like he was in a daze of some sort. He didn't even know the girl that was hovering over him. 'She's got silver hair…' he thought and stared her straight in the eyes; they were blue just like his. "So, how old were you when you fought?" she asked again.
"Stop pestering him!" another voice said, sounding rather harsh.
"Oh shut up, Shimasax!" the girl rebutted, pulling her frame away from the fallen figure. "It's not everyday we see this…" she wrinkled her nose in annoyance, and pulled up the fallen figure.
"This is number thirteen then," a female said, she had a strange gun resting against her shoulder. "Jeez little witch, this dude looks like that dud."
"He was not a dud!" she snapped, it was obvious that she was mad.
"Little witch, always speaking out of turn…" the figure by the name of Shimasax said laughing. "If it weren't for the fact you're the Superior's favorite…"
"Yeah well, it was Xum's job to find new recruits… Also check up on the other two that came with him, we could use those as 11 and 12." the witch said disappearing into a dark portal. "Just leave this one as 13…"
"Alright, alright, missy Memory Witch. Now as for you 13… Let's see how you dance, yeah?" the female sounding person pushing him along.
"I was almost twenty…" Terra finally was able to answer the question, but it was no use. 'I'll tell her when I get upstairs…' he thought and walked forward hearing the rain beat against his hood. There were no obstacles stopping him from reaching the end of the room, and with that he opened the doors, letting the white colored entrances bang loudly against the walls. "Yeah I remember now… It was my nineteenth year," he said softly to himself looking at the white hallway before him. "Still six years away from reaching my prime…"
"Talking to yourself I see…" a familiar voice said, and Terra looked to his side, watching the familiar black battle suit, and the black mask.
"Xehanort…" Terra growled, pulling out a Keyblade by the name of 'Two Across'. This was the Keyblade he now used in battle, since his original Keyblade was in the hands of another. 'Two Across' had the colors of silver and black integrated into it. It was modeled after the one who was the former thirteenth member, by the name of Roxas. The tip of the Keyblade four kunai shaped edges on one side, in the pattern of silver and black, and at the hilt of it two sharp edges were on it, and three on another side. A similar motif was on the keychain. 'Sora would know this Keyblade…' Terra thought.
"You know…" the figure began to move forward. Terra, in reaction backed away slowly, bringing his Keyblade in front of him. "You're not using the gift I gave you; you're being so stubborn…"
"Get away from here!" Terra growled, gripping the handle of his weapon tightly.
"It'd be easier if you opened your heart to darkness…" the figure in the black battle suit said, stopping in front of Terra. He caught his reflection in the black visor of the head armor.
Terra snarled, and jumped back. "I'm not letting you control me…" he said, running forward and slashing at the projection of the dark Heartless like knight. "So stay away."
"Fine…" the projection said fading away slowly in a black mist. "I'll be praying for you then, I suppose, so that you find the right path to tread on, Terra…" the figure began to disappear slowly, and the last thing he saw was the black tinted visor, and for a moment he swore that he saw the figure smiling.
Terra breathed in, clutching his chest for awhile, trying to let his heartbeat relax, it did frighten him, when he saw that familiar figure. 'A constant reminder…' he thought shaking his head. 'I'll get rid of you, trust me…' that was something that kept him going. "I'm almost there… I know it…" he panted, "right, you guys?"
The three names that floated in his mind were the only things that kept him going. The only friends he had now, it wasn't Nusvext or Xauqa believe it or not, it hadn't been for a long time, not since those dreams plagued, he figured it was better to separate himself from them. It was Ames, Xejicka, and Mickey the royal mouse, those three he felt he owed so much to them. 'I'm doing it for you guys…' he thought walking forward, pulling his hood down in exhaustion, he was almost there, he could sense it. 'Just wait for me…'
In the distance an exhausted royal king moved silently behind Terra, watching his good friend struggle valiantly, in a sense, to try and take down his personal demons. 'Aqua and Ven would be proud of you Terra.' Mickey thought moving slowly, so that the teen didn't detect his presence. 'Ames was right about you, you're different from the others…'
With Xiaga
The Cloaked Schemer appeared in a flutter of tattered and aged textbook pages, and all he emitted from the silence was a heavy sigh in frustration, with a hint of sadness if one could even say that he was upset. Xiaga looked around; pushing back some of the hair that covered his view, his dark blue eyes staring at the vast area of debris that once were pillars and parts of a hallway. He walked forward, his boots scarping against the gravel of the broken pieces of the floor and pillars. 'This isn't my day…' Xiaga thought looking around once more. A piece of his heart was hoping to catch a glimpse of the green eyed Silent Hero, but that was like asking the great one himself to appear.
Xiaga looked down at the ground around him, and pulled out a small metal shaped puzzle, the kind you try to take off, and held it gingerly in his hand. 'Sorry for breaking your favorite cup,' number 6 thought, placing the metal puzzle on the ground.
"Ruxsud…" he said softly, "I can't believe I lost you too…" Xiaga frowned for a moment. "…You useless idiot…" it wasn't certain if he said it to himself, or to the deceased member. Xiaga walked forward amongst the rubble of the fight. "I have to hurry then, if Xauqa and the little witch are able to get those two, then I've got to bring Raxter back at all cost, or else I'm done for… What the heck is this organization coming to?" he asked himself as he moved forward.
"Terra…?" he watched the young witch move around the bottom hallway of the castle, and bumped into him. "Oh, Xiaga!" she said happily, excusing herself from the contact, and bowed slightly. "Terra said he was here, have you seen him, Gaia?" she asked, her voice was as soft and timid as it was ever going to be.
"How can I put this in terms you'll understand…?" he smirked. "No." it was cold enough to freeze her in her tracks.
Someone laughed, and Ames turned around looking up at the towering figure. It was Ruxsud, patting the witch softly on the head. "Come on Xiaga, she means no harm… Besides I know you're sore because she hasn't been visiting us so often."
"Is that why?" she looked back at Xiaga's deep blue colored eyes. "If that is why then, I'll just have to drop by everyday then."
"What joy…" Xiaga winced feeling a punch on his shoulder.
"The man of the hour." Ruxsud said looking at the brown hared youth. "Well Ames, he found you."
"If I remember correctly," Raxter began to speak, looking at Xiaga, "you promised us a free lunch, remember?"
"Is that why you came down here?" Ames asked.
"I had to make you hungry somehow." Xiaga said walking back towards the entrance of their headquarters. "I asked Terra to come down here."
"See, I knew you weren't a bad guy Xiaga. You're much nicer than Ienzo." Ames said following the Cloaked Schemer like a duckling that follows its mother.
"You looked a bit upset without Terra, so I figured that bringing him down here would work up your appetite."
"Hey don't forget me!" a familiar female voice called out from deeper inside headquarters.
"Xejicka?! Did… no…" Xiaga sighed resting his head on his hand. "It took me an hour to get everything ready."
"And it shows…" Xejicka said serving herself another place of delicious food. "You and Durus out did yourselves this time, my compliments to the cooks!" she said smiling.
"Relax Xiaga, what's important is that we're eating with friends." Number 5 said patting the smaller member on the back. "Xejicka how's the salad?"
"Haven't touched it yet…" she said being completely honest. "Hey Rax, hey Ames." She waved with a fork in her hand. "I had a feeling you two would come with each other."
"Just don't get use to the hospitality of it all." Xiaga said looking at Ames
"Admit it, you missed us!" Ames said jumping on his back. "Come on, little Xiaga missed us, how sweet!"
He smiled slightly thinking back to that day. 'Things were so simple back then…' he thought shaking his head.
With Ames and Xauqa
The young teen opened her eyes slowly, letting her vision adjust itself to the color green. 'Plants…' she thought blinking once more and finally catching a glimpse of a familiar face. Ames sighed heavily, letting her voice echo through the white and green room. Xauqa was walking around the area talking to the plants before her, and Ames looked away. 'He had a good reason to leave them, but he could've stayed and helped me with them…' she thought sadly, and shook her head.
"All of us were pretty close to freedom…" the Graceful Assassin was talking to herself. "But you ended up closing the exit…" she said turning to face the girl in the plain black dress. "You foiled the Superior's plan… You've really got no choice now but to bring them to our side by force."
Ames eyed the blue flower that appeared in Xauqa's hand. '… From the capital…' something in her heart told her. 'He gave her a blue rose…' she smiled. Still, bringing her mind back to the present, she was slightly afraid, for she had seen into the distant future, but not to this point. 'I saw too far into it…' she thought shaking her head. "I won't do it!" Ames said backing up into a wall.
"It's not a request, it's an order. Erase their memories completely!" she said.
"This isn't what he would've wanted!" Ames yelled at her bravely, placing her hands over her chest. "You know it, and Nusvext knew it as well. Why do you think he…?" she shook her head.
"Don't bring him into the conversation. He's long gone, child." Xauqa said smiling. "Listen I just wanted the Keyblade wielders here, unharmed." She began to speak once more, trying to adjust her tone softly. "You know what I mean, right?" Ames growled in protest.
"Even if I did agree to do it, I can't erase it completely, something in their hearts won't let me… and anyway, I'll fight you back." She said. It was something that made Xauqa laugh.
"You expect to fight me?" the Graceful Assassin even more. "That's priceless right there, you can't fight! But I award you points for originality. That's something not even the former Memory Witch would've done so early in this stage. Bravo."
Xauqa walked forward once more, but Ames had nowhere else to turn to now. 'Memories can't help me now…' she thought moving to the side now. 'But it's not hopeless…' that was something she knew by heart, or at least that's what she had told Terra some time ago.
"They're corrupted…" Xejicka said leaning against the wall of her room. She looked back at Rax and Ames with her hazel eyes, she seemed to notice the pained look in Rax's eyes. "Hey come on, cheer up." She tried to get him to smile.
"What's the point?" Rax asked looking down at his feet. "They were all I had."
"But you've got us." Ames said trying to smile.
"Not to sound mean, but I mean they were my best friends." Rax said looking back at Xejicka and Ames. These two were good friends, but it wasn't enough to say that they were his 'best' friends. "I should probably go now…" he said starting to walk through the doorway, away from number 8 and the Memory Witch.
"It's not hopeless! You'll always have a home here! Not to mention the good memories." Ames said trying to reach out to him.
"Don't be a stranger! Just don't forget us, okay?" Xejicka smiled.
"If I forgot you guys, I'd lose everything…" he said closing the door to Xejicka's room.
"Better late than never…" the Flurry of the Dancing Flames responded noticing that sad look on Ames' facial feature. "Cheer up, he'll be back…"
Ames moved back, avoiding a vine from grabbing her arm, and Xauqa was enjoying the little display of speed. "You move pretty fast for a kid…" she said sending another vine straight towards her. Ames spun around, but the vine managed to strike her arm. "But we've got work to do." Xauqa said snapping her fingers, and more vines went straight towards the Memory Witch. In a sudden display of flames, the vines withered away, and Xauqa growled noticing the burst of flames in front of Ames. 'Darn it…' she thought watching a familiar mark on that person's cheek.
"Hope I'm not interrupting anything…" the figure said grinning. Ames smiled happily, but Xejicka didn't notice it at all. "I was just wondering… you know, about what you were doing, considering the fact that Nusvext is gone and whatnot."
Xauqa growled for a moment, hearing his name from Xejicka's mouth. 'How dare she…' she thought staring at number 8 with an intent to kill. 'Right from the beginning I knew something was up with you…' the Castle Administrator thought, thinking back to those first moments when Xejicka had so willingly followed her instructions.
"You and your cursed meddling…" Xauqa began to speak.
Xejicka laughed and shook her head. "Yeah, about your plan to use Ames, Nusvext, and those two to take over the Organization. Real smooth, administrator." She said looking back at Ames for a moment. Soon Xejicka outstretched her arms, and in a blaze of flames her chakram appeared in each hand, with brilliant flames dancing around her. "You know, if I remember correctly that would label you as a traitor…" she began. "And you said to get rid of traitors, remember?"
The Graceful Assassin snarled and watched Xejicka not once moving her blue eyes away from the chakram wielding member. Fire was unpredictable, and could easily spread with the resources at hand. The chakram wielder ran forward, and the blue hared female jumped back, manipulating the blue flower in her hand, and soon a scythe was forming from the object she controlled. This was the former weapon of the original Castle Administrator by the name of Marluxia. "You agreed to our plans!" she answered back as the scythe was now in frame.
"I never said I'd join!" the dark hared member said spinning her chakram for a moment, and proceeded to strike the one in charge. Xauqa moved back, and brought the blade of her scythe forward, just in time to block the chakram in her path, with a simple flick of the wrist, the chakram was sent flying back to its master. Xejicka caught it gracefully and smiled pleasantly, she was just getting started, and she knew that the blue hared member was too. 'Got make this quick, hopefully the others catch up soon…' she thought watching the scythe go airborne, straight at her. She threw her chakram in the path of the weapon, and disappeared from sight as quickly as she could, her chakram couldn't deflect the two smaller weapons.
"You double agent, I'll just have to kill you!" Xauqa yelled summoning the scythe back to her hand, and she noticed that the chakram had disappeared as well. She turned around quickly and blocked the fireball with a rapid spin of the appointed weapon in the Graceful Assassin's hand. Xejicka jumped into the air, and Xauqa moved back noticing a chakram flying towards her neck. These two were somewhat matched in speed, but fire moved faster, and plants were fuel to feed this particular fire wielder, this battle would end quickly.
Xauqa stretched out her palm and petals began to dance around her, getting ready to attack the pyro-chakram-wielding member. Xejicka snapped her fingers, and flames began to twirl around the edges of the pointy chakrams. Ames watched as the two of them moved around in a flash of petals and flames, metal hitting metal, and the sound of something getting stuck into a wall. Xejicka was taunting the Graceful Assassin and she was falling perfectly into the trap. "You dim bulb!" that was Xauqa's voice as the scythe has its blade coming upwards ready to cut the Flurry of the Dancing Flames into two. Xejicka spun to the side, and threw her weapon right towards the blue hared fighter.
Xauqa dodged the attack and the chakram went towards the straight path its master had set it out for. Ames gasped, feeling the heat of the metallic weapon mere millimeters away from her face. She gulped, and felt her heart almost explode in terror. Xejicka ran back, and pulled the wayward chakram away from the wall. "You almost his Ames!" the blue hared female yelled out.
"Well she's standing right where we're fighting!" Xejicka yelled back throwing her chakram and controlling it with the element of her mind. As long as it was engulfed in flames she could maintain a good grip on its path. 'If… if I stay here, I could… I'll die!' the Memory Witch thought watching the smoke come out from where the chakram struck. Something opened the doorway, and Ames felt her face light up. Sora and Amaterasu ran at their maximum and the dark skinned girl threw her companion into the air, and with his Keyblade he blocked the oncoming path of the chakram and scythe.
Amaterasu slide underneath the two weapons, using a Blizzaga to help her access the sliding motion. " Ames!" the two of them yelled out in concern. Xejicka looked at the figure that slide across the floor, and Xauqa looked at the one that was airborne. Sora arrived first, and sighed in relief as Ames didn't seem to look hurt. "I thought you were going to wait for us…" Amaterasu said.
Sora patted Ames on the back, "what happened?" he asked.
"She took me away from there," Ames nudged towards the scythe wielding assassin, Xauqa. Donald and Goofy arrived on the scene, and Sora told them to take care of Ames.
"Why don't you just leave her alone!?" Amaterasu yelled angrily, pulling out her second Keyblade.
"Ah, it's the Hero and the Messenger…" she noticed the look in their eyes. They seemed angry at her, and she chuckled. "Welcome to Castle Oblivion, where to find is to lose, and to lose is to find."
"You!" Amaterasu yelled out angrily. Sora held her back from doing something she'd regret later. "Dark, relax…" Sora said trying to soothe his friend for a while. Xejicka took the moment to jump forward, back into action, and her chakram was pushed forward.
"We're not done yet!" she said, noticing that Xauqa blocked her attack with ease. The Graceful Assassin grinned and disappeared in an array of flower petals and reappeared behind Ames, and chuckled. Ames tried to move away, but felt a strong grip on her shoulder. Xejicka's hazel eyes darted to the left, and noticed that Xauqa had someone in her grasp.
" Ames!" Amaterasu yelled, running forward, Sora called out to her, but she didn't stop running.
"Don't move!" Xauqa said pointing her scythe to Amaterasu, making the dark skinned girl freeze in her path. Ames growled for a moment, her blue eyes looking up angrily at the blue hared and blue eyed organization member. Xejicka looked back, feeling a bit helpless watching her friend in the clutches of a corrupted figure. Ames looked back at Xejicka, and she noticed that the girl with silver hair, and blue eyes nodded slightly. 'All right Ames, I'll try hard not to hurt you though,' Xejicka thought.
Xejicka laughed:
"I didn't think you'd be playing this game…" she said pulling the act with ease. "This is an all time low for you Xauqa, you coward. You really think that hiding behind Ames is going to stop me? Thinks again!" she disappeared in a show of fire, and reappeared in back of Xauqa, thrusting her chakram forward. "You can stay with your little friend to keep you company in the void!" Ames gasped, feeling her eyes widen. The chakram was inches away from her heart. 'But I trust you…' the witch thought trying hard not to let fear take over her.
Xauqa had gotten lucky, since she teleported in a flash, avoiding the chakram attack by the fraction of a second. She shook her head, and didn't plan on letting go of Ames anytime soon. "I don't think so…" she said simply. "Hey you two are you listening?" Xauqa tried to drown out Ames' muffled protests. "Xejicka here says that she'll do anything to get rid of me, even if it means taking out Ames here."
Amaterasu growled and ran towards Xauqa with her Keyblades ready to strike. The organization member didn't waste any time pacing a simple Stop spell, to make the teen abruptly stop in her tracks. Ames watched as Amaterasu tried to break the bond placed on her body, but it was no use, Xauqa was skilled with magic, almost on par with the superior himself.
"Now listen here you two, you're going to protect Ames, am I right?" Xauqa asked looking at Sora then to Amaterasu. Both of the individuals looked at Ames, who was trying to shake her head, but the capture had her held tightly. "Which one of us is more dangerous?" she asked, nudging in the direction of the chakram wielder. Xejicka growled, trying her best to control her temper. The scythe was dangerously close to Ames' body.
Both Amaterasu and Sora held their weapons tightly, staring at Xauqa with anger in their eyes. 'This is just like that last time…' both Donald and Goofy thought, reminiscing to when Sora and they went through the doorway of Castle Oblivion. 'She really did repeat history…' Donald thought looking back at Ames, then to Amaterasu.
Destiny Island
The youth with the faded amber and black shirt sighed roaming around the shoreline of this new area. The smells were different, it was hot, and that meant no snow around the cold months. 'Rain…' he thought grimly thinking back to the last time he was caught in the rain. This was the second day of his arrival here on the islands, and he had been sleeping in a cave somewhere off in the distance. 'I don't have enough money for a hotel, and I can't exactly just ask, it's weird…' he thought frowning for a moment. 'Why?' he asked himself looking up at the sky. He sensed someone in the area and looked around, he caught sight of someone with silver hair. 'It's that guy from yesterday,' Ven thought.
Riku was waiting again, just like he always did, but this time he wasn't alone. He turned his head to the side and noticed that someone else was on the shore. 'It's that kid,' Riku thought thinking back to the Roxas look-alike from yesterday. Ventus watched the teen with turquoise eyes for a moment and sensed something familiar about it. 'He's got that Keyblade…' Ventus thought advancing forward, 'I guess striking up conversation wouldn't hurt.'
"Um…" Ventus rubbed the back of his head, and laughed nervously. "Hi…" he managed to wave weakly. 'Smooth, real smooth…' he thought sarcastically to himself.
"…" Riku didn't know what to say, the only thing registering in his mind was Roxas. 'But he's not…' he thought trying to respond back to the greeting. All he ended up doing was nodding in acknowledgement.
"You're waiting for someone too?" Ventus asked the guy with silver hair. The teenager was taken aback by the sudden question, and Ventus tried to apologize. "Sorry, I mean I just assumed you were, why else would you come here in the afternoon sun, right?"
"To think…" Riku responded, but it was true he was here to wait for someone, but you didn't tell that to someone you just met, let alone if you don't even know their name.
Ventus scratched the side of his cheek feeling embarrassed for some reason, talking with new people wasn't exactly his strong point. 'At times like this I wish Terra was here…' he thought.
He took in a deep breath:
"What's your name?"
"Riku," the teen said looking back at the newcomer. "Yours?" he asked.
"Ventus, but my friends call me Ven." He said placing his hands on the back of his head. "I'm waiting here for someone…"
"You don't say…?" responded the silver hared teen.
The blonde hared teen sighed; Ventus knew why the presence seemed so familiar. 'He's got my Keyblade…' he thought frowning. Out of all the people in the world fate set him up with the one person who was now the new master of his Keyblade. 'I wonder if he has the heart to fully wield it…' Ventus wasn't too keen on finding out the successor to the 'Way to Dawn' Keyblade. "Hey, Riku…"
Riku looked at the newcomer by the name of Ventus, and paid attention to him. "While we wait, you mind sparring with me?" Riku didn't really know how to respond. "Weird question, yes I know, but come on, please?" talk about weird. 'Either he thinks I'm a fruit or a weird guy, whichever one he takes it doesn't make me look good.' Ventus thought shaking his head.
"We don't exactly have wooden swords now do we?" Riku stated the obvious. 'I'm not going to pass up a challenge… but man he looks so much like Sora's Nobody it's hard to ask him.'
Ventus laughed:
"Not with wooden swords… I meant with Keyblades." Ventus said outstretching his hand forward, in a flash of light something started to hover over the blonde teen's hand, and he grinned. "It's a small world, isn't it?" the Keyblade n Ventus' hand looked like it was craved out of ice, and it was jagged, the teen with the turquoise eyes noticed that there was a snowflake that made up its keychain. This particular weapon went by the name of 'Diamond Dust'.
Riku growled, and drew his hand back, summoning his Keyblade. 'How does this kid know about the Keyblade…?' he asked himself. 'Wait…' something finally clicked into his head. 'It can't be him? No, that happened more than twenty years ago…'
"We can ask each other questions later…" Ventus said putting his Keyblade over his shoulder. "Now, show me why you're fit to take the path of dawn…"
Riku scouted around trying to sense Ven's presence, but the boy moved to fast for him. 'Too slow!" Ventus yelled out, and Riku two stepped back, leaning backwards; the Keyblade barely missed his nose. The silver hared teen growled, and pushed the Keyblade back with one of his own, a strange looking blade with what appeared to be a stretched out demons wing, with an angel wing at the tip of the blade. Where the handle rested a demon wing and an angel wing formed a circle to form the guard, this was 'Way to Dawn'.
Riku ran forward and jumped into the air, bring his Keyblade back. Ventus prepared himself for the air to ground attack and with one hand blocked the force. Riku drove his Keyblade further, pushing his strength to the limit, using both of his hands to move. Ventus wouldn't budge, and easily sent Riku backwards moving his left arm forward. Ventus ran forward and threw his Keyblade forward, the ice textured Keyblade slicing through the air with rapid speed. Riku twisted through the air but it wasn't enough the gust nicked his back, and the teen winded slightly in pain.
The silver hared teen landed back on the sand, and ran forward with his Keyblade at his side. Ventus summoned his weapon back and in a bizarre display, blocked Riku's attack with ease, Ven's back was turned on his opponent. Riku jumped back at growled, this Ventus fellow was doing a good job, and there wasn't a scratch on him. 'But not for long…' Riku thought tossing his Keyblade like a boomerang. Ventus turned around quickly and placed a Reflectaga spell, and once the Keyblade was deflected he charged straight ahead, letting his Keyblade collide with Riku's weapon. Riku strained to push him back, his feet digging deeper and deeper into the sand. 'Why? Why?!' Riku asked himself, feeling his feet move back.
'I'll give him points for being stubborn, he's out matched in strength, he still has a while before he's on par with Terra…' Ventus thought sending Riku backwards. The silver hared teen landed on the sand, with a Keyblade on his neck. Ventus panted slightly letting the tip of his weapon touch Riku's neck. "I could kill you if I wanted to," that was something that would echo into Riku's mind. The silver hared teen managed to push the menacing Keyblade away, and he finally stood up panting.
"We're getting nowhere with this…" Ventus said withdrawing his Keyblade. "It's obvious that you're still too young to even wield that… I know I was too." The blonde hared youth said rubbing the back of his head. "You know… I always wondered if you would've been the next Terra, but I guess that's left up to Sora now."
"Sora… Sora?!" it registered into Riku's mind. "You… you met Sora?"
Ventus laughed at the bewildered look etched on Riku's face. Turquoise eyes wide with shock, and mouth slightly gaped open. "I met and fought him, but I lost. Wasn't fair though, he had help of course. I'll tell you that another day though…" Riku watched as snow like residue floated in the air, and something jagged connected with his ribs, everything began to grow hot as his body landed on the light colored sand. Within seconds Ventus watched as the turquoise eyes disappeared, covered bye his eyelids, he had been knocked out, plain and simple.
"It'll take a while before Amaterasu and Sora come back anyway… You should know that by now Riku." Ventus said dusting himself off.
A/N: You know what to do one review please!
Ventus seemed evil for some reason, what the heck happened to the small little Chaser we knew and use to make fun of for his height…? Can Terra fight off his own personal demons before the darkness swallows him? What about Sora and the others can they stand on their own against the 'Graceful Assassin? All that and more will be answered on the next and final chapter of part one!