A/N: Well here's the end of part one you guys!
Xejicka: Thanks again buddy for your help and stuff, couldn't have done it without you. Hopefully this pulls you out of your nasy writer's block!
Rozen-senpai: I'll put the Compass to good use within part two of this, which will be a good thing since it'll help tie some loose ends. Until then enjoy, and thank you!
Sonic13: Hey buddy what's up?! It's the finale, but don't worry the sequel will be up soon, I hope… I'm glad you like Ammi and Xejicka, WOOT! Anyway have fun reading.
Now without further interruptions, on with the last chapter!
Chapter 13: Break of dawn
'I can't breathe!' Ames thought trying to remove Xauqa's hand from her mouth. It was covering the airway to her nostrils. Xejicka noticed that through the struggle Ames managed to wink back at her. The scythe's blade was dangerously close to the Memory Witch's body. 'I'm not going to let you down…' the Flurry of the Dancing Flames thought. "Now listen you two, if you want to protect Ames," Xauqa began to fade away, "you should deal with Xejicka first…"
"Not so fast, Xauqa!" someone ran through the hallway, raising their weapon high into the air. Xauqa pushed her scythe forward, and the blade connected with the opposing weapon. Sora and Amaterasu watched the figure try to get Xauqa to lose her grip on the girl, but the Graceful Assassin wasn't going to let her plan crumble anytime soon.
"Abedo…" the voice held mixed reactions for Xejicka, Amaterasu, and Sora. The replica growled and held off the deadly Graceful Assassin for a while. Xauqa turned around quickly and pushed Ames into the direct path of the attack. The Memory Witch flinched, moving back, and shouted something with haste. A barrier rapidly formed around its master, and the sound ping echoed throughout the room as Abedo's weapon collided with it. 'Quick thinking, Ames…' he thought watching Ames for a moment, and then looked back at Xauqa who was several feet away.
Xejicka ran forward, bringing her chakram to her side. 'This was unexpected…' she thought running as fast as her feet could carry her. Xauqa barely had enough time to block the attack, and as she spun to the side she suffered a gash on her right arm from the sharp circular weapon. The Graceful Assassin teleported behind Ames and took her back in her grasp.
"Deal with these two first…" she said coldly watching Amaterasu and Sora for a moment. With that flower petals began to fall from the sky, she was getting ready to leave. "Find Terra!" Ames yelled out trying to break free. The replica growled for a moment as Ames and Xauqa, the blue hared person, disappeared.
The replica gripped the handle of his weapon. 'Even after all that…' he thought sourly. 'I couldn't save her… What good am I?' he reflected for a moment. Abedo shook his head and ran back in the opposite direction. 'What kind of friend am I? I wanted to save her…' he thought thinking back to those last two words she had told him. 'I have to find you now. At least I can do that,' with that Abedo ran. The others called out to him, but he didn't stop running. "Don't lose!" the replica said, his voice echoing loudly through the white hallway.
"Abedo…" Sora and Amaterasu said softly. For some reason they seemed upset as the replica left them.
"Damn it!" Sora and his companion look ahead in the direction of the voice, noticing that Xejicka was setting several plants in the area ablaze. 'She's upset…' Amaterasu thought, and Sora nodded. Around the chakram wielder there were ashes all over the place, and around several white pillars, she had burnt all the plants around the area in rage. The others within the area watched as her circular weapons were engulfed in flames. She was trying hard to control her anger, but it was beginning to take a hold of her. "Would you look at that…" Xejicka looked back at all four of the figures behind her. Her hazel eyes wandered around the four individuals. "Because of you guys she got away…" she responded, feeling dejected. The chakram wielder placed one of her deadly, circular weapons over her shoulder and sighed heavily glancing down at her feet and then back to the others.
"Xejicka…" Amaterasu bit her lip and grimaced at the thought that they had caused it. "I…" the tone in her voice caught the attention of the fire wielder. In Xejicka's mind she acted so much like Ames, or rather it was better said that Ames acted like her. 'Does she feel sorry? But why? Is it because they've grown to care for her? And if so, they know that they have fake memories, wouldn't that fact alone be enough for them to just abandon her?' a lot of ideas were running through the fire wielders head. Amaterasu continued with what she began to say, "We're so-"
"Listen, Light and Dark, or Sora and Ammi, whatever you guys want to be called," the Soulless said before the girl was able to make her apology. Amaterasu watched the chakram glisten slightly as the master of the pair of weapons twirled with ease at the skillful mastery. Sora looked at the marking on her upper right cheek, and then made eye contact with her. "You're not going to fall into Ms. Flower Petal's strategy, are you?"
Sora gripped his weapon tightly as did the dark skinned girl, gripping her weapons Way to Night and Oblivion. "Don't you want to save her?" the blue eyed teen asked gripping the handle of Kingdom Key. "Why else did you fight against that person?"
"…" Xejicka grinned thinking of a perfect excuse. "She's a traitor, is that a good enough reason, or need I say more?"
"You soulless…!" Sora growled out the last word in his mind, and yelled in anger. Amaterasu dashed forward with hopes to try and calm Sora down through the link in their minds, but somehow Sora's rage decided to worm its way in her heart. If these two were going to help Ames it seemed that they had to get Xejicka to step back. Donald and Goofy ran after them, but the chakram wielder said otherwise.
"I'll buy you some time, Ames." Xejicka whispered to herself, watching Sora deflect the circular weapon with ease. 'But I'm not dying right now, I'll just play dead… You owe me big time Ames…'
'I suggest you try and relax…' a familiar voice echoed in Sora's mind. 'She's Ames' friend…' to which the brown hared teen responded with a how-do-you-know. 'I don't know… Light… I mean Sora! I don't know but something in my heart tells me.' Another chakram was coming towards him, but Oblivion hit it like a baseball, and Way to Night twirled in the air, beginning to glow, a small orb spun around the Keyblade and suddenly it touched the tip of the Keyblade and something started to form in front of them. 'Dark what are you trying to do?' Sora's mind echoed through her conscious, all he saw was a faint smile placed on Amaterasu's facial feature.
"I hope you understand that she wants us to go at it, just buy herself sometime…" Xejicka said watching a dark aura form a four legged beast.
'Ah, before I forget Dark…' Sora began. 'I always thought that the eleventh member of the castle would be some guy with girly features…'
Last Stage
Ames watched pink hued flower petals fall graciously to the ground, and felt Xauqa release the grip on her. Ames ran forward and coughed loudly, trying to refill her lungs with good air. She leaned forward and panted, placing her hands on her knees, and looked down at the ground, flower petals were everywhere now. Ames growled and looked back Xauqa with rather hateful eyes. 'You idiot, I warned you… He even tried to, I know he did. Maybe I should've let Terra go with you guys… but he had the guts not to let this place corrupt him. Nusvext tried to tell you at the last minute…I heard those three little words, and yet…' Xauqa watched Ames for a moment and shook her head knowing that the Memory Witch was thinking.
"No one's going to bother us for a while…" Xauqa said sounding confident in her plan. "Now," she pointed at Ames. "For their memories…"
"I told you!" the witch screamed in frustration. "I can't erase their memories completely, that chain in their heart is too strong for me! For anyone to break. Not even they can break it I bet…"
"Our plan was to divide them…"
The Memory witch pushed back some strands of silver hair, and shook her head. "You saw how that worked I'm aware that you did. Splitting them apart did nothing, if anything that made their bond stronger…" Ames said looking down at her hands, they were shaking for some reason.
"Then Terra… he's a threat, I know he's here, I've felt his presence all along…" the silver hared female's eyes widened. "Erase his memories completely." Ames moved back slightly, the aroma of flowers entering her nose. 'Everything?' she asked herself, and felt something in her heart break off. 'I can't…' she thought shaking her head. 'He's a good friend, a very special friend. It'd be like losing Xejicka…' again she shook her head.
"No! What makes you think I'm going to listen to you?" the smaller teen spoke, feeling her whole body tremble. The thought of losing her best friend scared her that badly. "I… I made you all what you are today…" Ames said softly, almost in a whisper. "I found the three of you on the doorsteps of the Castle that Never Was, remember?"
Xauqa sighed irritably at that fact. 'Just because she gave us our names and numbers doesn't make her like the Superior… She's dead wrong if I'm going to listen to her,' the Graceful Assassin thought. "It's an order Ames, erase his memories completely." Again she protest, this child was being stubborn. "Huh, don't tell me you've got feelings for him or something." She chuckled. "You and Xejicka act the same whenever I mentioned his name… Feelings for him…" she laughed. "That's a great joke!"
Ames growled digging her nail into the petal of a flower. Something was etched into it, and Ames clasped her hands together over the petal. Within seconds something came up from the ground, jaws were snapping violently at the castle administrator, but with ease the entity was overcome with a scythe to the neck. Ames scribbled something one another flower petal, and clapped her hands together tightly. A fabricated image of a familiar figure appeared in view as an apparition. "Nusvext…" the castle administrator managed to blurt out. "Don't toy with me!" she yelled rushing forward, and Ames felt something grasp her throat, but the soon to be full fleshed apparition shoved the Graceful Assassin away bring up several kunai towards the castle administrator's face.
"…These phony images can't save you now…" she said softly bringing her scythe up, ready to strike down the fabricated image.
"Open your eyes!" the fabricated image and Ames said in unison. Something triggered Xauqa's mind, but whatever piece of humanity she had just leaped out the window in rage.
Xejicka and the others
The fabricated animal ran forward on all fours with a speed that could be considered not of this world. It let out an unearthly bark at its opponent, and Xejicka watched it with a curious eye. The dark furred hound growled, its fur standing up ready to strike. This hound was known as a Shadow Hound whose home was in the End of the World. 'Let's see if it's up for a game of catch…' Xejicka smirked throwing her chakram straight at the unearthly looking beast. The animal howled setting up a dark barrier around its body, deflecting the weapon. Within seconds the Shadow Hound jumped into the air letting out its own version of Dark Aura, sending energy balls of hued in black and purple. 'This won't due Dark, we've got to attack her head on…' Sora's mind echoed in corridors of his companion's mind. 'Withdraw…' Amaterasu commanded the Shadow Hound watching it disappear into the dark depths of its amulet.
Pillars of flames collided with the Dark Aura attack and aided their master in the nick of time. Xejicka did a back flip in the nick of time to catch her oncoming chakram. Donald and Amaterasu placed a Blizzaga spell in their opponent's direction, but Xejicka deflected it with ease summoning a wall of fire to counter the elemental spell. Sora ran forward with his Keyblade at hand and jumped into the air ready to knock her back down, but Xejicka as too quick for that. Within seconds Sora found his Keyblade locked within the frame of the chakram in midair. "Let go!" the teen growled angrily.
"You let go!" Xejicka said pushing him down with strength, and Sora fell back to the ground. Amaterasu growled at the hasty action of her partner. 'Aero!' she used one Keyblade to conjure up the ball of wind, watching Sora hover over the ground for a moment before landing safely on the white tiled floor. Amaterasu ran forward, and slashed in a frenzy at the chakram wielder before her. Xejicka brought both of her chakrams in front of her to deflect the two weapons in her opponent's hands. Amaterasu let Way to Night get lodged into the small opening near the handle of the chakram, and with a simple flick of the wrist Xejicka had one hand unarmed. Sora watched Way to Night fall backwards with the chakram pinned underneath it.
"How did you…?" Xejicka jumped back avoiding a blow to the head, and Oblivion moved out in rapid speed, Xejicka moving to the side, dodging the blade from time to time.
"My brother, he had a pair…" Amaterasu said pulling back. As long as her Keyblade was pinning down the other chakram Xejicka wasn't that much of a threat. Sora ran forward and jumped through the air slamming his Keyblade down on the ground shattering piece of earth. Piece of earth rose and Amaterasu, along with Sora disappeared from view. The fire wielder pushed back a flying shield, and dodged a blizzard spell. 'Damn those two!'
Amaterasu and Sora hid behind the sanctuary of a pillar of earth trying to think of something. "The Keyblade!" the two of them whispered looking around them for Way to Night.
Sora caught sight of the Keychain that was attached to the blade and ran forward, but Xejicka caught him running and beat him to the item. Sora threw his Keyblade in her path but Xejicka dodged it instead of reflecting it. He jumped back avoiding the spinning motion of one chakram and noticed that the other one was going towards Amaterasu. 'Ammi!' she looked up and noticed that moving weapon. 'Gravity!' a ball of dark matter connected with the chakram forcing it down to the ground. 'Thanks Sora…' with that Amaterasu climbed up one of the pillars of earth and summoned back her Keyblade. Xejicka grabbed her chakram and jumped onto an opposite pillar of earth overlooking the scene below her. Amaterasu noticed that Sora was running up the uneven pillar on which Xejicka stood and smiled.
'Come on Keyblade Master, let's see what you got!' her mind cheered on his companion. Sora took his last step before mustering enough speed to launch him through the air at neck breaking heights. Xejicka followed in suite and the two of them were locked into midair combat. A fury of metallic clashes and flames erupted from the weapons, neither one of them was going to give up. They were losing altitude rapidly and Donald placed an Aeroga spell to send Sora higher into the air. Xejicka on the other hand summoned a pillar of fire, spinning one chakram down in the direction of the pillar, as the heat and gust of the animated pillar of fire suspended her into the air. Xejicka swung her chakram forward, and Sora mimicked the same movement with his Keyblade, and a loud metallic clang echoed through the halls.
Amaterasu withdrew Way to Night and let Oblivion rest on her shoulder watching Sora knock a chakram from their opponent's hand, barely missing Amaterasu by an inch. 'She's enjoying this…' Amaterasu thought as Sora blocked a fireball that shot out from Xejicka's hand. Sora twisted his body in midair as he was losing altitude his Keyblade had struck something, and something collided with the ground. Xejicka panted catching her breath, one chakram stabbed the earth. 'I can't keep this up…' the chakram wielder thought shaking her head. She flinched as her hand came into contact with something that wasn't her weapon. She looked up noticing the dark coated Keyblade, Amaterasu knelt forward slightly.
"Your time is up…" Amaterasu said in a soft voice. For a spilt second her voice transposed with Ames'.
"Heh…" Xejicka stood up and dusted herself off. "As if you knew… But not yet." She took her chakram back and watched as Sora landed on the ground right next to her. "I just wanted to kill Xauqa, but I guess the two of you can do better. Besides I lack one item to get rid of her, and that's a Keyblade."
"Why not just help us?" Amaterasu asked. 'Are you actually begging?' that was the only thinking registering in Xejicka's mind. 'Why? That's what I want to know… Or has Sora's light heartened-ness rubbed off on you?' Xejicka chuckled at the thought.
"I think I'll pass on that… Just make sure the two of you come out on top, all right?" with that she left, leaving only a trail of fire in her presence.
"She's a tough fighter…" Sora said softly rubbing his nose. "She's tougher than your brother."
"Of course she is…" Amaterasu said feeling a green light wash over them. Donald and Goofy were in their view; they had gotten the last door open. Sora grinned and looked back at her:
"You ready?"
"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a bit nervous…" she said softly, placing a hand over her heart. "I'm almost able to put a name on their faces…"
"Yeah, we're really close!" Sora said pulling Amaterasu in stride with him. "That's why we can't back down now, for the sake of memories, and to rescue Ames!"
"Come on you two, let's go!" Goofy and Donald called out after them.
Xauqa and Ames
Xauqa sighed watching Ames struggle for a moment under the force of vines. She kept saying over and over again to let her go, but that protest for freedom fell on deaf ears. Xauqa was trying to relax her mind. 'This is it…' she thought pushing back some strands of blue hair and shook her head of all the doubt that was starting to flood into her mind. 'Open your mind… You tried to warn me too Nusvext, but I guess it's too late for redemption, at least I'll get to see you in the life, right?' she yawned and looked back at Ames.
"I guess you got what you wanted…" Xauqa said frowning. "You got to repeat history just like you wanted to, whether you tried to or not." Ames growled trying to break free from the vines, but winced noticing that thorns were digging into the skin as she tried to get out. "Struggle as much as you want, but the only thing you'll get are scars if you survive."
"Aren't you afraid?" she asked.
"Of course I am!" Xauqa said glaring up at Ames. "I've been scared since the first day I came here. You…" she pointed at the girl in the plain black dress. "It's your fault!" she screamed.
"…" Ames heard her cry for the first time. 'She didn't cry when Terra left… She didn't when she found out about Nusvext. Now moments before a battle Xauqa decides to shed tears. I'll take responsibility for this once everything is done, but what can one person do? I guess that's how you feel too, right?' she looked down at Xauqa as the castle Administrator dried her tears. "I suppose it is my fault, but just as much as it is your own, and you know it."
"It's too late for a lecture…"
"Just some advice for your new life."
"That's right, you…" Xauqa laughed uncontrollably shaking her head. "You don't want to go back with your original, do you?"
"And give up all of this?" Ames looked around the area. 'Okay, so I mean not this THIS, but all the good memories…' at least she was able to make number eleven smile for a moment. 'See there' still some good in you!'
Xejicka
The member stumbled around the lower basements trying to see if she could find some survivors, but it didn't seem like she would find anyone at this point. '25 floors in this whole castle and I can't find any of the underground members… don't tell… Wait so then that means…' Xejicka shook her head, and heard something in back of her. Xejicka turned around with a chakram in her head, and sighed in relief watching the display of water for a moment. 'Stupid Xehart…' she chuckled.
"They're asking for you…" the male said softly looking around. The place was starting to look like a war devastated area. "No doubt it's to try and get Terra back."
"… I don't know where he is." Xejicka said softly looking around. There weren't any cameras left on the building. "Knowing him he's gotten rid of all the cameras here."
"That's like him all right…" Xehart said pulling his hood down. "So what's the plan?"
"We can't do anything until they're done upstairs." She said rubbing the back of her head.
"You look… exhausted…" Xehart said grinning. "I take it they're strong then."
"The girl… she's stronger than she looks. I couldn't fight her head on like I wanted too though, but Sora's just as strong." Xejicka said breathing in slowly, her head was killing her. 'I'm tired that's what it is…' she thought shaking her head.
"Huh…" Xehart took in the information with an attentive look and shook his head. "What's he like?"
"Sora…?" she asked, as Xehart nodded in response. "I could say that he's a dud, but… I don't know… the future could prove me wrong."
"They're all so young…" Xehart said walking down the hallway. "Also I came to tell you that the Superior recruited some new wielders thanks to Ruxsud and Rax… Though I don't think Rax knows how much he helped with that stunt of his."
"What are you talking about?" Xejicka asked following after the Melodious Nocturne down the hallway. He was humming something that seemed oddly familiar to Xejicka's ears but she couldn't pin a name on the melody. "Xehart come on, what are you talking about?" the green eyed member finally turned around and thought about whether or not he should reveal some information.
"I don't know if I should tell you, but in any case seeing as how we're friends and all. Ruxsud transported some key chains back to HQ, courtesy of Terra and his meddling with Sora's memories."
"Are you sure?" she asked scratching the side of her head. For some reason she found it hard to believe, but Xehart wasn't known to lie. "How did he meddle with them?"
"Just after Nusvext gave them that card. I was tipped off by one of the underground members not that long before things got out of hand over here."
"That would explain why he got so touchy when it came to Ames…" she smirked. "In any case it won't do anything, once their memories get erased."
"True… I suppose once this is done you're going to help Terra and Ames escape, am I right?"
Xejicka look up at the white ceiling trying to think of a good answer. "If I do… You want to come with us?"
"I'd need a doppelganger to take my place though…"
"I don't have one either, but that doesn't stop me from being a…" she shook her head. Within this place even the walls had ears.
"I get-cha… Where's Xiaga anyway…?"
Xejicka shrugged. "He's probably trying to get Terra to come back."
"This whole organization is screwed…"
"Tell me about it…" she said as the two of them walked down the crumbling white hallway.
Winding Staircase
"How many more?!" Amaterasu yelled taking her anger out on the Heartless that started to appear on the long winding staircase. With each step that they took more Heartless appeared in their wake. Goofy threw his shield at the oncoming Heartless in the area. Sora ran up the stairs, slashing every Heartless in the area that his eyes could capture. The blue eyed teen watched as Oblivion rammed into a nearby Heartless and watched the creature fly back. Sora pushed back several Shadow Heartless and watched as a Firaga spell of red and orange engulfed several Heartless in the distance.
"You two run, we'll hold them off!" Goofy yelled as more Heartless were starting to run up the stairs clumsily. Amaterasu shook her head, and Sora jumped, flipping into the air, sending his Keyblade down on an unsuspecting Heartless. Amaterasu moved to the left, and slashed at the Heartless that was down one a stair. Donald was a bit frustrated, but they needed the help whether they had left or not. Something flew by them near the staircase, and the Heartless ceased their movements, looking up at the sky. Everything was coated in darkness except for the white staircase.
"Run!" Donald quacked running up the stairs in a waddling motion. Goofy followed behind and Sora and Amaterasu stared up at the darkness trying to capture a glimpse of whatever it was. 'It's got tremendous power…' Sora thought, and saw that his companion nodded. 'You think we can handle it?' she asked, to which Sora responded with a war like yell slashing at the nearby Heartless. Again the sound of massive wings cutting into the air filled their ears, and they looked to the side. Something was approaching the air at Heartless like speed. 'A dragon?' Amaterasu asked. 'No… It's a Heartless dragon.' Sora said blocking an attack from above, a Neo Shadow had wandered into the group. 'What's the difference?!' she answered back, throwing a Shadow Heartless down the stairs.
"We're not going to be able to right in this cramped space…" Sora said moving back slowly. Amaterasu was right next to him, holding Oblivion tightly in her grasp. Kingdom Key was held to the side getting ready to retreat. Amaterasu growled at the thought, she knew he was right, but she didn't just want to the leave the huge beast intact. 'Fine…' she growled and ran back up the stairs with Sora right behind her. "Plus it'd make no sense to go and rescue her if we're all beat up!"
"That's true!" Amaterasu said slashing at the nearby Heartless up the stairs. "Thundaga!" she yelled watching bolts of lightning come down on the heads of several creatures fabricated by darkness. Donald and Goofy were several feet up and they were fighting for a way to clear a path for the two of them. Sora moved his right shoulder back dodging a claw from one of the Neo Shadows. He smirked and jabbed Kingdom Key into the chest of his opponent. Amaterasu dodged multiple claws that were aiming for her heart, and when they were caught off guard she sent her Keyblade to the side, knocking them off the staircase. "We're almost there!"
The blue eyed teen looked back down the stairs and noticed more were starting to climb up the white steps. 'Darn…' he looked back at Amaterasu and she nodded slightly. Within minutes Kingdom Key and Oblivion were lodged into on plain white step. Their masters grabbed the handle and twisted it like a key. Something erupted from the two Keyblade, Dark and light energy orbs began to eat away at the staircase below their feet. 'Stupid idea!' Amaterasu thought running up the stairs in a frenzy. Sora summoned back Kingdom Key and had Oblivion in his grasp. "Ammi!" his eyes went wide with shock as he lost his balance. He held out his hand quickly, and luckily Amaterasu wasn't that far ahead of him. She grabbed on tightly to his hand and pulled him up hastily.
Donald and Goofy were already at the foot of the door, and watched as Amaterasu and Sora threw themselves down at their feet, clinging on tightly. "What are you two doing?" the mage asked squinting in confusion.
"The floor…" Sora panted heavily. "We broke off the staircase…" Donald and Goofy looked down slightly and noticed that half of the staircase was engulfed by nothingness, the sight alone was enough to make them jump at the idea of falling. 'They've each gotten stronger…' Donald thought.
"You two look worn out…" Goofy said pulling out something from the pouch on his side. "Here why not share an Elixir?"
"Waterfall…" Amaterasu said scolding Sora for something that happened in the past. Sora laughed sheepishly, and tilted the drink, just so that it could hover over his lips. The green content fell into his mouth, and at an instance it felt like his strength had returned. Amaterasu took the rink away from Sora's grasp telling him that he couldn't hog it all. "That feels much better…" the dark skinned girl said softly sighing in contempt.
"Here…" Sora said pulling out a keychain with a black crown on it. "You ran up the stairs too quickly to summon it back." She expressed gratitude and looked at the white massive doors that signaled their final stage. "We're going to need a good head on our shoulder, and a strong heart." The brown spiky hared teen said standing up.
"Donald, Goofy…" Amaterasu picked herself up and took some of the dust off on her shoulder. "While we're fighting that Xauqa lady, take that opportunity to get Ames out of there, okay?" the two knights nodded in agreement. With that Sora and Amaterasu pushed open the door to the last stage. 'This final battle…' the two of them thought.
Xauqa looked up from the light that seemed to pierce through the dark room. "That was quick…" she said softly to herself, her blue eyes fixing on the image of the two Keyblade wielders in her view. Xauqa snapped her fingers and in an instant green vines moved away from the floor and ceiling, letting the light in. Dark brown eyes and blue eyes looked into the distance to see a thrown created entirely out of flower petals. "What in the world?" the two teens muttered to themselves.
"Welcome, to my flower garden." She said smiling. A noticeable blue rose was in her gloved hand. Amaterasu stared at the blue petal that fell. 'You gave me a blue rose…' she thought trying to remember his name. In that instant Sora and Amaterasu felt cool air rush past their ears. "I'll make sure you leave your bodies here…" she whispered right in between them, "I promise I'll try to make it not so painful…" Sora growled, and jumped back summoning Kingdom Key to his hand. Amaterasu watched as Xauqa retreated back to her throne for a moment. The dark skinned girl brought out Oblivion, and raised it over her shoulder mimicking a style she had seen replayed over in her mind.
Xauqa outstretched her head and created several duplicates of her own image. These clones were created from flower petals of all different colors. The clones advanced forward with fabricated scythes in their position and circled the two teens. Donald and Goofy moved carefully through the area to where Ames was. In the distance behind the throne a young silver hared teen with dark skin sat in a cage fabricated from green thick vines. Her hands where cuffed with more vines, with several thorns around the restraining device.
Sora and Amaterasu stood back to back watching the clones move around in a counter clock wise motion. 'You ready?' she asked Sora. 'Ready as I'll ever be, Dark… I mean Amaterasu… sorry it's hard getting use to the name.' Sora replied and lunged forward with his Keyblade at hand. Amaterasu stood still watching as one of the clones moved their right foot forward, it was then she ran forward with her Keyblade at hand, ready to strike down the clone. The scythes moved in a flurry of flower petals and Sora and Amaterasu had a hard time blocking the attacks from several clones. Sora moved back, and noticed that one clone was going to attack his companion from behind. "Firaga!" he yelled watching as a fire ball collided with the clone. It was condensed to ashes upon impact.
"Firaga!" Amaterasu yelled watching a fireball go straight into the belly of another clone. Pretty soon it was down to two clones. Amaterasu brought her weapon forward, blocking the scythe. Sora was launched into the air, and managed to catch the weapon of the clone's choice, sending it back down to the ground. The dark skinned girl moved to the side and slashed upwards vertically, cutting the clone. Sora still had the fabricated scythe in his possession, and slashed down diagonally as the clone died at the hands of its own weapon.
Xauqa got up from her throne and applauded. "Congratulations Keyblade bearers on making it this far…" within that moment something knocked back Donald and goofy from aiding the Memory Witch. "You'll have to fight me two on one I'm afraid…" with that she summoned in scythe, as it was summoned pink and blue flower petals started to fall down to the ground and within moments a white light enveloped the weapon as it made its way to its master's hand. She moved with such speed that it seemed like she was levitating off of the ground. Sora jumped back avoiding a direct hit from the scythe, and Amaterasu moved forward locking her weapon with the scythe. Sora maneuvered himself carefully and pushed the scythe back giving Amaterasu some time to recover.
The scythe collided with the two Keyblades, and pushed the two wielders back with the force of a wave. As the two teens stumbled Xauqa took the opportunity to send the two flying into the air, knocking them off of their feet. Sora turned to the right avoiding a direct hit in midair, Amaterasu on the other hand wasn't so lucky. Within moments she withdrew into a deadly state, her eye teeming with the power of darkness. 'She's mad now…' Sora thought watching the humanoid Heartless push back the Graceful Assassin. The female humanoid Heartless zipped past the Graceful Assassin and used a powerful Dark Aura attack. Sora ran forward knowing his cue, and jumped into the air moving his Keyblade over his head. In a flash the assassin disappeared, and Sora's weapon collided with the Dark Aura attack. Amaterasu looked back, her yellow eyes staring at the blue hared female before them. She ran forward on all fours with brute speed causing cracks on the ground. Sora followed with his preferred weapon at hand, and both launched their attacks on the girl before them. Xauqa flinched slightly creating a barrier on the oncoming attack.
The gash on her right arm hadn't healed all that well. 'Damn…' she thought jumping back slightly. Sora moved to the side with a sudden burst of speed and soon the Graceful Assassin felt something hit her shoulder. Amaterasu looked around feeling something in the air. 'Sora… something's coming!' there was a sudden roar, and Xauqa disappeared in a flash of light. The two teens covered their eyes, and looked around the area once the bright illumination faded away. The dark skinned girl was surprised to see herself back in her human form. The blue eyed male teen looked around noticing a faint red platform under their feet, he looked around noticing all the stars that were shining. At the far end was a silver hued dragon with the familiar crest of a Nobody on its forehead.
Xauqa was tucked safely inside, controlling the dragon-like creature with ease. Around the sides of it were flower buds. Xauqa said a simple incantation and the flower buds opened, revealing their real use, these were laser like weapons. The flower buds danced around Amaterasu and Sora, sending laser like bullets all around them. Sora twirled his Keyblade about sending the lasers backwards. Amaterasu pulled out Way to Night, and blocked the lasers with some ease. 'Its harder than it looks…' she thought moving to the side once in a while. Sora would move backwards while she moved forward protecting herself and him. Sora moved back protecting Amaterasu's blind spot, and blocked oncoming bullets.
The two of them protected one another until the barrage of lasers finally died down. Sora grabbed Oblivion from Amaterasu and jumped into the air, spinning around like a top creating a whirlwind of some sort, destroying the arsenal with ease now. The dragon like creature moved forward at this point and launched Sora high into the air. 'No!' his companion watched for a spilt second and parried against the dragon like creature. The creature moved its claw back ready to strike, but Sora caught himself and launched his Keyblade down, striking the head of the creature. It stumbled backwards, and the keeper of Way to Night moved in on her prey, slashing at the creature as it let out a roar of pain.
The dragon like creature was trashing about in pain breaking the platform that held it up in the sky. Xauqa broke her form, and reappeared on top of the creature. She ran forward taking hold of her scythe once more, and jabbed the dull part of her weapon into the stomach of Amaterasu, sending the teen to stumble backwards. Amaterasu caught herself as the platform began to tilt backwards, stabbing her Keyblade into the structure. Sora slide down the platform, and was caught by Amaterasu. He in turn stabbed his Keyblade into the ground of the platform, both holding on for dear life.
"For some reason last time seemed easier…" Sora said wincing slightly. Amaterasu looked at him slightly, and shook her head. "Don't expect things to be easy the second time around…" she said noticing something from the corner of her eye. "You've got to be kidding me…" the two of them said noticing the massive wings of the Nobody, it flew straight at the platform, trying to knock them off balance. "Darn…" Sora growled, trying to think of something. "Ammi, when I say 'now' grab my Keyblade, okay?" she nodded. The dragon started to circle around once more getting ready to ram its head into the platform. "NOW!" he yelled falling down, and Amaterasu watched as he landed on the head of the beast.
"SORA?! What are you doing?" Amaterasu called back holding on tightly to Way of Night and Kingdom Key. Sora had Oblivion in his hand, and within moments the Keyblade was lodged into the forehead of the Nobody. 'You idiot…' she thought pushing herself off of the titled platform. The dragon was right beneath her, and the gust of wind was enough to almost push her back. Sora held on tightly to the lodged Keyblade, and watched as Amaterasu caught herself, stabbing the two weapons into the back of the dragon. The beat let out a mighty roar, and started to descend back to the infinite void of darkness from below the platform. Up above them chunks of the platform were crashing down.
"The gap's too big, we won't make it!" Sora yelled over the roaring wind, Amaterasu was formulating a plan in her head. She made it up to the head, using the two Keyblades like ice picks.
"I wasn't thinking about me!" she said quickly, throwing Sora into the air with the strength she had left. She noticed that Kingdom Key had disappeared, withdrawing back to its master. Sora reached a crumbling part of the platform, and jumped quickly over to the next piece of falling debris until h could use his Keyblade to grab on once more. Amaterasu smiled sadly and notice that the drop had no end in sight. 'I'm not going to die, not yet… But how can I get back up?' time was running out for all of them, and Xauqa was nowhere in sight. The dragon was still trashing about, knocking its massive wings into the platform. 'That's it!' she stabbed Way to Night into the platform, and pulled Oblivion from the forehead of the beast.
In seconds of the event darkness began to slow the platform, and Sora found himself falling backwards. Amaterasu lost the grip on her Keyblade and found herself doing the same. Xauqa rematerialized back to the top of the Nobody like dragon and sent a bolt of energy towards to the two of them. 'It's an illusion!' something yelled in their minds. Amaterasu thought her mind was playing tricks on her, but Sora shook his head hearing the same voice. Xauqa growled watching the energy bolt disappear moments before impact. 'Damn…' she cursed at herself, feeling her boots touch the surface of a white room.
The room wasn't swallowed up by the darkness, and no stars decorated the void around them. They were back in the room surrounded by plants, everything was just the way it was, but Sora and Amaterasu felt exhausted. 'The fight was real, but not the room…' the two of them thought shaking their heads. Xauqa stepped back with her scythe behind her, watching Donald and Goofy fight off several man eating plants. For right now the Graceful Assassin succeeded in wearing the two Keyblade wielders out.
"I don't want to fight you guys…" the blue hared organization member said softly. "Now…" she drew her weapon forward. "Al you have to do is just tell me the right answer, and I'll stop…"
The two teens looked down for a moment, the offer seemed to good to be true, but…
"Don't listen to her!" Donald and Goofy said getting caught off guard. "Just get rid of her already!"
Ames watched as Xauqa ran forward, knocking both of the teens to the ground. 'Come on you guys, get up!' she thought trying to get out from her cage. Sora picked himself up running forward with his Keyblade in his hand. He knocked the scythe to the side, but once that happen the scythe went back, striking him down to the ground. '…Get up Ammi, get up! He needs help!' she thought watching the fight. "Get up!" she screamed. Ames froze in place watching Amaterasu knock Xauqa back, the Graceful Assassin was ready to annihilate a defenseless Keyblade wielder.
"That's cowardly!" the female Keyblade wielder said, defending Sora at all costs. The scythe moved upward vertically, but she jumped back, throwing Oblivion against the weapon. Sora picked himself up and with help from Amaterasu gathered enough speed to run forward. The opponent disappeared in a flash of flower petals, and something caught their attention. Donald yelled out in surprise, and the two teen looks back, Ames was being held in a head lock, with no means of escape, but at least she was out of the cage.
"You're letting your other two friends down then…?" she asked.
"You're really starting to get on my nerves…" Sora yelled out clutching the handle of his Keyblade. 'Ammi, go from the back, and I'll take the front…' Amaterasu summoned Oblivion back, and dual wielded for the final strike. 'What if I hit her?' she asked, disappearing from sight in a dark aura. 'I'll make sure you won't…' Sora answered her quickly, as he ran forward.
Xauqa felt something in back of her and moved to the side quickly, avoiding a blow to the head. Ames flinched feeling the gust of air pass by. Amaterasu growled moving back for a moment. Sora jumped into the air flipping forward with enough force to strike. As Xauqa blocked Amaterasu took her cue to gather strength, but petals flew past her. The female wielder winced, feeling cuts form around her arms. 'Damn it!' she thought pulling back. Sora landed on the ground and Ames struggled to move away. 'This isn't good… Not good at all…' the memory witch thought trying to think of something. 'I can't set fire to the vines, I'll burn myself…' she thought.
Oblivion flew like a javelin soaring through the air, and upon impact drew blood from the left shoulder of the Graceful Assassin. It was enough to get Ames to run to safety, and Sora caught her quickly. Petals began to dance around the Graceful Assassin and move with fury around Amaterasu and Sora. 'Now's your chance Sora!' Amaterasu thought not moving. The scythe moved like a throwing disc aiming itself straight for Sora. He blocked it with ease, and caught the handle, breaking the pattern of the dancing petals, and found himself running forward with the familiar weapon drawn into the air. A gust of wind erupted from the slash and sent another trail of blood down the right shoulder. With that Sora discarded the scythe and used his Keyblade to end it all. Kingdom Key was lodged into the stomach of the opponent, and Xauqa coughed, she had been careless for the last few seconds.
Amaterasu fell to her knees, panting heavily, and noticed that Donald had set flame to the surrounding plants near by. The Memory Witch looked back and noticed the trail of crimson that ran down the white tiles, Xauqa had a satisfied look on her face before letting her physical go. Sora watched as blue flower petals took the shape of her body, and without anytime spared broke down. This was finally the end of their struggle as the last petal disappeared.
Sora sighed in relief, and rubbed his eyes, feeling something moist start to fall from the event. He helped take off the thorny vines from Ames' wrist, and smiled. "Sorry we couldn't get here earlier…" he said. Ames noticed that the smile on his face was sincere, and in an instant she hugged him tightly.
"Didn't matter if you got here early or late… you did it!" she whispered letting him go. Amaterasu picked herself up and smiled weakly, waving slightly to Ames. Without a second thought the silver hared teen ran down the room hugging her familiar as tight as she could.
"Don't ever go messing with things like that again…" Amaterasu said feeling tears fall down for some reason. "You're stupid, you know that?" she regained control of her voice and let go of Ames, drying her tears. "It's going to kill you if you're not careful."
"I know…" Ames said drying her tears and looked back at Donald and Goofy. "Tell King Mickey I said thank you as well, all right?" the two knights nodded and Donald then placed a Curaga spell on all of them. "Now, we should hurry up…" Ames said taking both teen by the hand, and opening another white door in the room. "You'll get your answers soon…"
Sora noticed several tall flower bud pods and ran towards one of them. He watched the reflection in one, and noticed someone with blonde hair and blue eyes smile at him. 'You're Roxas, right?' he asked himself, and strangely enough another voice replied saying 'yes'. Sora sighed scratching his head, and grinned:
"I remember now… It's been my second time here." The spiky brown hared teen said looking back at the others.
"It's my first time here Sora, don't rub it in!" Amaterasu said flopping on the floor. "I just want to rest…"
"You can't regain your memories out here though." Ames said softly, as she placed her hands together. "You've got to sleep in these pods." She said pointing to the white structures.
"We've got to sleep…" Amaterasu said sighing.
"It'll take some time." Ames said reassuring the two Keyblade wielders that everything was going to be fine. "But it's for your own good, so you can regain your memories just like they were before."
"We'll see you later then…" Donald and Goofy waved. "Have a nice nap."
Amaterasu touched one of the flower like pods and hopped into it trying to figure if she was suppose to sit down or just stand up. Ames smiled slightly and watched as Sora stepped in waving slightly. She expressed words of thanks to both Sora and Amaterasu once more, and apologized. "Ammi… Sora…" she paused trying to smile. "I'm really glad I met the two of you face to face."
"You make it seem like you're saying goodbye forever…" the other two said in unison. "We'll see you again soon though, right after we wake up!" Amaterasu said cheerfully.
Ames looked down trying not to say anything. Sora stretched out his hand from the pod, and Amaterasu did the same. "We'll see each other again…" the two said doing a pinky promise. "We promise." They said in a cheerful tone. Ames drew back her hands and watched as the pods began to close, Amaterasu sitting down and Sora stood up, both of them were waving goodbye as the flower like pod closed its petals.
"Are you going to come with us, Ames?" Goofy asked watching the silver hared girl look back at the pods. She nodded.
"But there are some things I want to get first, if you don't mind. They could prove to help us out." Donald and Goofy nodded and followed Ames outside the room catching one last glimpse of the two Keyblade wielders, they were already fast asleep.
With Xiaga
Xiaga sighed for a moment following the scent of their former thirteen member. 'Where is he going?' Xiaga asked himself following behind; he noticed that there was another scent in the air, one with the presence of light around their being. 'It stinks…' the Cloaked Schemer thought trying hard not to cough from the distasteful aroma that mingled with the darkness. Xiaga kept his lexicon close to his side, knowing that he was going to have to 'fight' the former Key of Destiny sooner if not later.
Rax, or Terra as he goes by now stopped looking around the hallways for a moment. He watched a memory replay in his mind. Two individuals were smiling and calling out his name, waving sea salt ice-cream in their hands. Two other people stood side by side waving slightly with an amused look on their faces. 'I wonder if I'll get to see Ven, Aqua, Xejicka, and Ames again. It gets a bit lonely without someone around here.'
"I miss them a lot…" he said softly placing Two Across over his shoulder and continued walking forward. Something didn't seem right in his heart, but he ignored it and pressed on. "I wonder if I'll get to see them again…" he asked himself.
"I don't really think they'd want to see you anyway…" someone said in front of him. A slightly older member, roughly around the age of being in his late twenties confronted him. The Key of Destiny brought Two Across in front of him, bring it over his shoulder ready to strike. "You're pretty much not qualified to see them, is more like it." Xiaga said brushing his dark blue bangs to the side, watching the former member's movements.
Terra growled, trying not to advance forward. 'I haven't seen him fight not even once…' he thought trying to predict his move, but Xiaga seemed unpredictable at this early stage. 'But I can't make eye…' at that moment Xiaga's dark blue eyes locked onto Terra, and this thought was interrupted as something reappeared from the shadows.
"Now, Terra, take a look at your true self." The voice said as something began to raise from the dark aura surrounding Xiaga. Terra watched image race through his mind. In one image he was there grinning in malice as a fallen Keyblade wielder laid on the ground begging for mercy. 'The light was a cruel thing…' Xiaga's voice echoed through his head. Another image ran through his head, how he had closed the door to light, shutting it off from future generations.
"You didn't deserve to wield the Keyblade from the realm of light." A figure with blonde hair and blue eyes appeared, wearing familiar armor from long ago. He held Way to Dawn in his left hand, the expression of anger was there.
"Ventus… Wait, I--" Terra dodged an attack from the Keyblade, and blocked it, pushing the image back. 'This is too real to be a trick of the mind!' Terra thought, blocking another devastating blow.
"Why… Why'd it pick you, you traitor!?" Ventus yelled in rage making a direct hit to Terra's shoulder.
"I never wanted it!" Terra yelled ramming his Keyblade forward; knocking Ventus back a couple of inches. Even if it was an illusion it was starting to irritate him. 'I don't need to be reminded, I know it already!' his mind yelled. Ventus aimed his Keyblade straight at Terra and a dark aura started to form around him.
"You deserve to fade into darkness!" an aura shot out from the tip of the Keyblade and hit Terra in the chest. Ventus' image began to fade from sight, and Xiaga was there for a spilt second. Terra opened his eyes and noticed that everything was dark.
"Consumed by the darkness? Maybe that's not so bad…" he said to himself feeling something solid underneath his feet.
Abedo ran forward, knocking Xiaga down to the ground. "Like hell you will!" the replica growled picking up the Cloaked Schemer, and pinning him against the wall.
"Maybe it's not so bad…" He said to himself staring up at the infinite void in the area. Darkness was swirling about, just moving around with time.
You can't be consumed…
"Who's that? It's not Mickey…"
You can't be defeated so easily, am I right? Not the light and not the dark. Don't run from the darkness as if it was evil, and don't fear something you don't understand yet. The light in your heart is infinite, but if you look deep enough you'll find that darkness that resides in your heart. If you can look at it without fear, then you'll be strong…
Terra winced slightly, watching a shining light pierce through the darkness.
Abedo brought Soul Eater down as he continued his mental connection, Xiaga would pose no threat, seeing as how he was already losing connection with Terra. "Darkness can help you see through the brightest light, and light will help you escape the deepest darkness… That's why…"
The connection was lost as a lexicon came, hurdling forward, knocking Abedo to the side. He growled and ran forward ready to strike the schemer down for the count. King Mickey watched from behind one of the white pillars, never expecting something like this to happen. 'Do you want him to see on his own?' he asked looking up at the ceiling trying to imagine someone he knew was responsible for this.
Terra reappeared from the void, wearing an identical suit, similar to Abedo's but no fabric clung to his belt, instead a coat created purely out of dark energy was over him, with a thing white chain around his neck.
"Come… back to us… Terra…" Xiaga said straining to speak. Terra noticed that the replica had come, aiding him in the process. Terra shook his head, and in a flash his Keyblade pierced right through his heart. Abedo moved back slightly, watching as piece from Xiaga's lexicon started to fall apart, and soon fade away.
"How did you…?" Terra panted slightly trying to ask Abedo a simple question but something echoed through the corridor. 'What's your decision?' the voice asked. 'Or rather what's your conclusion?' Terra shook his head. "My heart had weakened… from both the light and the darkness… I'm ready to face you now, Xehanort…"
The figure let out a laugh. "I've been waiting to hear that… It's about time, Terra…" the figure from his heart noticed the replica. "I see you've made a friend… You're going to bring him down too?"
"Let's just finish this… I wasn't able to kill you then, but I can now!" his heart raced forward battling with the darkness that had invaded itself, and found a host. The apparition of Xehanort consisted of a taller male wearing a dark battle suit with a black helmet. The apparition dodged an attack from the Keyblade. "Darkness consumed you, but not me." He said calmly.
An aura was hurtled forward, and Terra's own heart managed to stay strong. "I've been able to stay alive because of you, because you let the darkness in!" something grabbed Terra by the throat. 'No!' Abedo thought rushing forward and slicing the hand from the massive dark coated arm. "You can have your every desire, let me help you Terra."
"I've got promises to keep…" Terra said coughing slightly. "And you're not going to stop me…" Soul Eater had pierced through the heart of the apparition, and Two Across was lodged into the chest. "You're finished." Terra and the replica said in unison.
"Why did you help me?" Terra asked looking back at the replica. "You didn't have to."
"It was…" Abedo noticed that darkness had settled in on the two of them, and something didn't seem right. "Shit…"
Light broke through the darkness, and a figure wearing black clothing appeared, with a Keyblade of inversed colors over his shoulder. "Terra… and you. Sorry I couldn't come a bit earlier…" he was lying of course, and the replica smirked, moving back slightly. King Mickey looked up at Terra and smiled. "I finally caught up with you."
"Mickey…?" Terra advanced slightly, and placed his hands on the ears of the royal mouse. "No way, I'm dreaming…"
Abedo smacked the original wielder of Kingdom Key and shook his head. Terra crouched down feeling the pain. King Mickey looked back at the replica:
"And you are?"
"My name is Abedo…" the replica said softly bowing. "To answer your question, Terra. Ames asked me to find you, I guess she was worried about you."
"Rax!" someone yelled across the hallway. Terra felt a pair of arms wrap around him in a tight hug. "You came back!"
"Hey Xejicka…" Terra said hugging her.
"The Key of Destiny himself…" someone said from behind her. Terra grinned watching the Melodious Nocturne wave. "It's about time we found you!"
"I'm going to tell Ames now…" the chakram wielder said happily.
"Wait…!"
Just before Xejicka was going to disappear, Terra shook his head and protested. Abedo sighed and dragged him away to another corner of the hallway. From what Xehart and Xejicka saw the two were arguing about something. King Mickey laughed nervously, and introduced himself to the two Soulless. 'They're not like the others…' the King thought remembering how one with no soul has no individuality.
In Destiny Islands
Riku finally woke up, his head and his ribs were aching. The scene before him was blurry, but all he could see were another pair of blue eyes staring down at him. 'Kairi?' he thought looking at the female before her, but she had blue hair, not red hair.
"Ventus, you're still zealous as always…" the female said smacking her companion over the head. "You could've killed him!"
"But I didn't!" the blonde hared teen said looking sourly at the girl. She wore a simple pair of blue jeans and a black shirt with a rose made out of a red blood splattered silhouette, and a pair of earrings. "Jeez Aqua, relax…"
"Can you stand, Riku?" the female asked him. She stretched out her hand, and he took it, trying to think of something. "I apologize for my friend's behavior, he gets to eager sometimes…"
Riku shook his head and walked around, they were still at the beach, and the daylight was starting to fade. He looked back at the two of them and sighed, none of this was making sense to him at all. "Oh… Amaterasu, that girl…" Aqua began. "She's doing fine. You don't remember her, do you?" Riku shook his head.
"You will, in time, but we can't stick around here too long…"
Riku smirked hearing Ventus' comment. "You've got no place to stay, where the heck are you going to go?"
The blonde hared teen growled for a moment and looked away. Aqua shook her head and sighed in relief. "The good thing is that you're all right, but…"
"I can ask Kairi if she can arrange something… her father's the mayor." For some reason Riku say the two as posing no real threat.
"We'll train you in return." Aqua said bowing graciously. Ventus on the other hand scowled.
In the White room
Ames shoved all the journals from her bookshelf into a tan colored bag, and sighed, hearing a knock from the outside. She hurried up and opened the door slowly with the bag at her side, nodding her head as she looked back at the two knights before her. Donald and Goofy walked with her down the hallway and heard door ahead of them open.
" Ames…! Ames!" Xejicka yelled cupping her hands over her mouth. "He's back! He's back!" she yelled running down the hallway. The chakram wielder couldn't sop laughing. "Terra's here… with a mouse… and the replica too. You were right Ames, he did come back." the Memory Witch smiled and nodded to the two knights.
The scene shifted and Terra came face to face with Xejicka and Ames. He smiled and hugged both of them simultaneously. His age had changed slightly, he looked around the age of twenty. Soulless can change their whole being if they so wished. Xehart and Abedo watched as Xejicka, Terra, and Ames expressed words that only a strong friendship could produce. The two males shook their heads and sighed in relief.
"I can't leave yet…" Ames said softly, handing the bag to the royal Mouse. "I want to thank you so much, King Mickey, for everything. Here are the journals from the past members, but not the one from the Superior himself. I'm going to stay behind and look after Sora and Amaterasu, which reminds me… I need to send a letter to Mr. Brooks." She pushed back some strands of silver hair.
"Hey, Ames… That black dog thing…" Xejicka began scratching the back of her head. "What was that anyway?" she asked describing the battle with the four legged beast.
"That… It's her dog, Chico, but its name is Umbra now. She's the one who gave him the amulet on his necklace, a Shadow Hound summoning, they're intelligent creatures…" the Memory Witch said softly, rubbing the side of her head, she seemed to be a bit tired.
Ames, the Memory Witch, was no longer held down by the Organization, and had changed her outfit as a result. She wore Capri like shorts of a dark hue, and a light colored shirt with a red stitched crown in the front and a Heartless symbol in the back with red and white checkered shoes. "I have to stay and make sure they get their memories back, and besides, someone's going to have to burn this place to the ground, I don't want things to repeat again." She said softly to everyone.
"I guess we could postpone our leave…" Xehart said placing his hands on his head in a laid-back manner. Terra was fumbling around with something around his neck, until Abedo had to help him out. Abedo handed the necklace back to Ames, and tried to withdraw from the scene.
"Thank you very much Abedo, for helping him." She said softly kissing the replica on the cheek. "It means a lot to all of us." all eyes where on her as she walked away from the group, going up the white steps one last time. Traveling through the hallways recollecting the memories she had broken. Her mind was at peace now. 'I wonder if Naminé felt this way…?' she asked herself before her hand finally rested against the final door. This would be its second time that something of this nature would happen, and the Memory Witch wanted to make sure that it was the last time. The door closed softly, and she stared at the two pods containing the keepers of light and darkness.
The world is made up of light and darkness, it's a tale almost as old as time itself. 'Rest up you two, a new day's going to be dawning on all of us…' she thought letting her fingertips touch the two pods softly. 'We need you two more than ever…'
A/N: (edited) Part Two will be its own story, sorry you guys for making you wait!