A/N: 6.20.09: I sort of had plans to edit these all in order, but I needed to look this over for something, and the errors were... atrocious, at best. xD So I fixed a lot of stuff. :3
Old note: Alright, this chapter is edited of all mistakes I could find plot-wise; please tell me if you see something that really annoys you so that I can fix it. This chapter was great to write. :D Anyway, I know that I promised this story would become cruel, but you won't see why just yet. Just... keep an eye out, ne? ;D
Keira had been slowly but surely following Riku (as Olette, Hayner and Pence had taken off way ahead of them) down the Clock Tower when she heard a bloodcurdling scream. And then another. More and more screams filled the air, so she turned and peered over the edge. A wave of people was rushing out of the train station as someone with, as far as Keira could tell from so high up, blood trailing behind him/her limped out. Her eyes wavered and she felt her body tense up. "R-Riku!"
At the sound of her fearful voice, he immediately turned on his heel and stopped beside her. His eyes followed the spot she was pointing at, and he saw a person with a pool of blood surrounding him/her while another trailed blood. "Holy shit," he whispered before quickly standing. "We've got to stop Hayner, Pence, and Olette." Keira whimpered at the thought of having to go any closer to the ground, but she soundlessly followed him nonetheless.
A huge tremor from somewhere below shook the tower, and she temporarily lost her balance. Riku, however, quickly grabbed onto part of the tower so that he did not stumble. She had been walking too close to the edge, and she felt her feet leave solid ground but found herself unable to react. 'How do I always get myself into these situations?' Before her throat could close around a scream, a hand roughly, yet gently, seized both of her wrists and pulled her up with ease.
Riku shook his head at her, blowing his silvery bangs out of his eyes. "You're always going to need someone to watch you, huh?" All of the blood in Keira, that she had thought frozen from the events below, rushed to her face instantly, especially when Riku did not release her. In fact, Riku held her wrist even when they had found Hayner, Pence, and Olette. The three of them had frozen in their tracks when the screams began.
"You saw it, huh?" asked Keira quietly, Olette nodded somberly.
Riku's grip on her wrists became tighter as he said, "We're gonna check it out, but you three go back to the top of the tower."
"We are?" she squeaked.
Riku nodded. "And, we're going to jump, so I suggest you hold on tight."
"What?" She asked too late as Riku kicked off of the tower and headed straight for the roof of the train station. He landed agilely on his feet as did Keira, surprisingly enough.
"See?" He looked over at Keira with a playful smirk. "It wasn't that bad.
XxxxxX
Roxas stared at the struggle bat with unconcealed distaste. 'I think I prefer the Keyblade over this,' He glanced up at Seifer and internally rolled his eyes at his rival's smugness, 'Especially since it would be easier to kill him with it.' Seifer stared at Roxas with disgust, seeming to pick up on the fact that Roxas was speaking to himself. Roxas quickly made up for this fact by crouching into a battle stance as he gripped the bat tightly.
Seifer laughed, as did Rai although he had no idea what he was laughing at. "You'll never beat Seifer, y'know?"
Fuu retained her stoic expression although she did say one thing, "Never."
Seifer lazily strolled over to the chalkboard and grabbed another struggle bat before he returned to his side of the 'arena'. "I don't see why you're bothering; I could beat you blindfolded."
Roxas glared daggers at the insolent boy. "Then, why don't you?" He muttered sarcastically.
Fuu moved to the center of the lot, arm held up like a flag. "Go." She said in her usual indifferent tone, bringing her arm down and stepping out of the arena quickly but not hastily. The boys rushed forward and met in the center. Even a random passerby would be able to tell that the two would like nothing better than to kill the other.
"Go Roxas!" shouted Hayner, Sora, and Axel.
Kairi and Naminé cried, "C'mon, Roxas, kick his butt!" Roxas grinned, the support of his friends boosting his confidence tenfold. Without too much of a struggle, Roxas pushed Seifer off of his bat. Seifer fell away from him and slid against the cement to prevent himself from falling.
"Hn." Seifer spun in a circle and struck at Roxas with a numerous combination of swipes. Roxas tried to hold his own against the combo, but only succeeded with the first few blows and soon found himself flying away from Seifer and hitting the pavement.
"Ouch." Roxas rubbed the back of his head before quickly jumping up and away from Seifer as the latter's bad slammed into the spot Roxas' head had been. He jumped once more so that he was behind the other boy and struck at his back.
XxxxxX
Riku slid off of the roof first and nimbly landed on the ground, immediately heading for the man lying in a pool of his own blood. He looked up at Riku with a sad expression. "Son, I'm going to die." He spoke softly, weakly. Although Riku's eyes did not give away his emotion, he felt himself waver at the sight of an innocent man dying.
"Who did this to you?"
"A man... he had... cherry-colored hair. H-he had a scythe..." The man muttered, gazing at the sun in the distance. Keira slowly, and uncertainly, wandered over to the two. She bit down her lip so that she did not get upset or disgusted.
The description clicked in her mind. "Cherry colored hair and a scythe, huh?" She whispered under her breath but apparently Riku had heard her. He turned his head backward ever so slightly and gazed at her.
"Do you know who he is?"
Keira nodded lightly. "Riku, he's an Organization member." The girl sadly stared at the dying man. (A/n: Riku never actually meets Marluxia, so he wouldn't technically know what he looks like.)"We'll make him pay, I promise."
"No we won't," Riku corrected her quietly, "I will."
"Shut up, Riku. You will not," argued Keira. "Haven't you heard the way Axel, Roxas and even poor Naminé talk about him? You can't take him on by yourself."
The man chuckled at their, his eyes twinkling. "Ah, young love... We need more of that, in this world. Be careful, the pair of you." He mustered a weak smile before he turned his gaze back to the sun and the twinkling in his eyes slowly disappeared. Riku released the man's shoulders and closed his eyes for a minute before he drew up to his full height. Both he and Keira had light blushes on their cheeks, despite the seriousness of the situation.
Riku cleared his throat to hide his embarrassment, "Which member?" His his mind was still unable to click at the description.
"Uh..." Keira thought back to what Axel had said when he named all thirteen of the members. "Number eleven, Marluxia, the Graceful Assassin." She recited perfectly.
Riku chuckled. "Memorized it, huh? We better watch ourselves; he was the lord of Castle Oblivion. Let's go." Keira nodded confidently, feeling stronger from her vow to the man. They ran towards the sliding glass doors and were greeted by the irony smell of blood.
Despite herself, she gagged at the smell. "Geez, it's like he went on a killing rampage." Riku nodded in agreement as they ascended the steps.
They were greeted by a man in a black cloak, but he was facing in the opposite direction of them, eyes set on the trains. "As a matter of fact, you're right, Princess," agreed the man with amusement clear in his voice. He slowly turned around to reveal his face, smirking at the expressions on the their faces when they stared at his blood stained scythe. "What better way to lure the two of you here?"
Riku and Keira immediately summoned Way to Dawn and Shadow Heart. Marluxia grinned sadistically. "You've been acting like the damsel in distress so much as of late," he continued, "that I was afraid you couldn't fight."
XxxxxX
Roxas and Seifer had to have been fighting for at least fifteen minutes now and neither of them would give in despite the damage they had received. "How do you think the others are doing?" Kairi whispered to no one in particular.
Sora quirked an eyebrow and stared at his girlfriend quizzically. "I'm sure they're fine. Why?"
Kairi shook her head so that her hair flew around a little bit. "No reason," she said softly. "I've just... got a bad feeling. That's all."
"Mm, me too," agreed Naminé, placing a hand to her heart. Sora glanced at Axel and the other three, but they were too absorbed in the fight.
With a glance back at the girls he replied, "If there is, Riku and Keira can hold it off until we get back." Although neither girl looked reassured, they nodded grimly and drew their attention back to the fight just as Roxas was thrown backward from another one of Seifer's attacks.
"Roxas!" Naminé made to step forward, but she was stopped by Axel grabbing her shoulder.
"Calm down, I've seen that kid suffer worse blows than that." She felt blood rush to her face, and Axel chuckled. "You two really are crazy about each other."
Roxas decided to try a new method, swiping Seifer's feet from beneath him and forcing him to hit the ground face first. Grinning with triumph, Roxas shouldered the bat, and Seifer heaved himself to his feet though he dropped his weapon. Nearly a half an hour after the fight began, he was finally accepting defeat. "Alright, you win. You can come and go to the town anytime you please," he mumbled with his eyes close, as if saying the words and having to associate them with Roxas' face would be too painful.
Grinning, Roxas carelessly hurled his bat behind him to join the pile of other weapons. He turned back to the others and was instantly greeted by Naminé hugging him around the neck as they shared a delicate kiss. "Don't get so cocky, idiot." Seifer told Roxas, "I was going easy on you." With that, he turned around and joined Rai and Fuu as Rai came up with various insults for Roxas.
"Don't be such a sore loser, Seifer!" Hayner shouted, grinning like an idiot. He turned to face Roxas as Naminé disentangled herself from him, and they pounded fists.
XxxxxX
Marluxia's scythe was so dazzling and toy-like that it made Keira wonder how he had brutally murdered several people. Then again, she had been raised to always expect the unexpected. "Do you hate me for what I've done? Would you enjoy spilling my blood and killing me?" He asked, amused as her expression turned nasty.
"Of course," snarled Keira, the complete opposite of the whimpering girl she had been just atop the tower as her knuckles turned white from her grip on Shadow Heart.
The Nobody nodded. "Good," he laughed. "You know that you are free to hate anyone you choose; you are free to kill anyone you wish." Keira could make no sense whatsoever out of what he was saying, but it was making her heart ache for some odd reason. She winced and unconsciously put her left palm to her chest, as if to make the pain ease. At her actions, Marluxia's laughter doubled.
Riku threw her a concerned look. "Enough talk. What do you want us for?"
Marluxia grinned. "No reason. I just wanted to show you that I'm less cruel than the other members of the Organization," he stated. "Hm, besides Axel and Roxas, I suppose." This did nothing to set Riku at ease. In fact, it caused him to make the first move in their fight.
Riku ran forward with Way to Dawn at his side as he held it in a stabbing position. It was so quiet in the station that his footsteps seemed abnormally noisy. Marluxia shook his head, "Ignorant fool." He disappeared in thin air, confusing Keira, who took a few steps forward.
"Stop!" Riku spoke in such a commanding tone that she froze in mid-step. "He's still here." The smell of roses filled the station and, as rose petals fell behind Riku, Marluxia appeared and slashed at him with Graceful Dahlia. He grunted, lurching forward a few steps from the steps. By the time he turned around, Marluxia was gone again. Keira's eyebrows furrowed together as she tried to figure out the Graceful Assassin's strategy. Suddenly, an idea hit her, and she rushed forward so that she was standing back to back with Riku. She held up Shadow Heart in a defensive position just as Marluxia appeared in a shower of petals and slashed downward.
He promptly jumped back and half-grinned. "Figured it out already, hm? Well, I guess a bystander would." He shrugged meekly, an evil glint resided in his eye. Something about his words really pissed her off. In fact, she felt abnormally angry. He raised his scythe and vines began to grow out of the cement.
Keira's breath caught in her throat, and she heard Riku's do the same. Both shared one thought: 'W-what?'
XxxxxX
"I'm sorry that we have to leave so soon," mumbled Roxas, shuffling his feet. He and the others had returned to the mansion, standing before the transporter, with Hayner, Pence and Olette across from them.
Pence managed a weak smile. "We understand, don't worry." He glanced around the lab. "Wow, we should've checked here for you."
Hayner threw a friendly punch at Roxas' arm. "Take care of yourself."
"Don't forget about us, okay?" said Olette, smiling although her eyes were filling with tears. She lunged forward and drew Roxas into a quick hug.
Roxas grinned and raised his right fist. "We'll come back. And after all of this is over, maybe we'll come live here." 'We' referring to himself, Naminé, and Axel; his 'family'.
"It was nice meeting you guys for real this time," said Naminé, her lips adorned with a small smile; Olette also embraced her.
Sora smiled. "We'll come visit," he assured them as they began to squeeze into the transporter.
"'Bye," whispered Roxas as Sora touched the beam and they disappeared.
XxX
"They better be here." Hayner growled as he, Pence, and Olette ran down the stairs and into the lab. All three of them were panting, having just run all the way to the mansion from the station. Pence collapsed into the seat before the computer while Hayner held onto the wall and Olette bent over so that the only support she had were her hands clutching her knees. By a great stroke of luck, Axel, Roxas, Sora, Kairi, and Naminé appeared inside of the transporter once again.
Roxas fell flat on his face again. "I hate gravity." Kairi and Naminé giggled as they stepped out of the small space with poise. Upon catching the condition that her three friends were in, Kairi's face became distorted with concern.
"Guys, what's wrong?" She asked urgently.
Olette took a few gulps of air. "Riku and Keira..." She panted. This instantly caught the attention of the group.
"What? What about them?" Sora demanded, but Olette solely shook her head as she tried to allow her breath to catch up.
"A pink haired dude was killing people at Station Heights," informed Pence.
The group exchanged looks, Kairi feeling a little smug as she remembered her feelings back in the Sandlot. "Please don't say...-"
"Was he wearing...?"
"A black cloak?" finished Axel, dreading the answer; the trio nodded.
Roxas' hands balled into fists. "Damn it." The screen in the room flicked and the Radiant Garden residents, standing in Ansem's lab, became visible.
Yuffie looked somewhat relieved. "Finally, we reached you," she murmured in an agitated voice, revealing that they must have been trying for a while.
"By the looks on your faces, I'd say that you all already know about the Organization member, huh?" Tifa asked, biting her lip. All in the room nodded gravely.
Leon asked, "Who is it?"
"Number eleven, Marluxia." Axel answered bitterly. "His code name was 'The Graceful Assassin' for a reason. I don't doubt that Larxene is too far behind, either."
"You make it sound like he's distracted." Cloud stated, speaking to the group for the first time in a while.
Sora nodded. "Yeah, Keira and Riku are holding him off."
"And, no offense to your friends or anything," Pence said, casting a look at Sora, "but they were definitely losing."
Olette chewed on her lip. "And the walk's way too far." However, Axel already had a plan. He held out his hand and a purple black portal appeared.
"You three stay here." Roxas told Hayner, Pence, and Olette. It was the only way to ensure their safety-for the time being. Hayner looked as though he wished to protest, but he reluctantly nodded with the rest.
"We'll contact you guys when we defeat him," said Kairi, her head turned toward the screen.
King Mickey nodded. "Be very careful, fellas."
Axel took one last look at the screen and grinned. "Don't worry about us." He told them before stepping into the portal.
XxX
"So you can summon plants, big deal." Riku chopped at the vines with ease as they climbed up his legs.
Marluxia shook his head. "My element is nature," he corrected, "But aren't you the one to talk?"
"Fira." Keira murmured, pointing the tip of Shadow Heart at the vegetation. She had taken so long to release herself that the vines were already wrapping around her thighs, but the fire freed her with ease. "Now then," she pointed her keyblade at Marluxia for emphasis. "It's two against one. What're you going to do?"
Marluxia burst into crazy, sadistic laughter. He wiped tears of mirth from his eyes. "Even if it was just me versus the two of you, I would win." he stated, tossing back his mane of pink hair. His words hooked Riku like a fish.
"What do you mean 'just me'? No one else is here." Nonetheless, Riku looked around to double-check. Marluxia chuckled and soon a woman's laugh joined his, but there was no body for her voice.
"What kind of trick are you playing?" Keira demanded, bending over as she ran at Marluxia, a big mistake. A blonde woman walked out of a purple-black portal in that same moment, and Keira ran right into her.
"No trick. Who do you think we are, Luxord?" The blonde asked sarcastically as she pushed Keira off of her. She turned her head towards Marluxia. "I still think it's funny that they revived us even though we were conspiring against the Organization," she giggled in an almost childlike fashion.
Marluxia shrugged, but he grinned nonetheless. "What does Maleficent care, anyway? She just wants us to work as her lackeys."
"Stupid her," A sadistic gleam filled her antifreeze-colored eyes. "So, Marluxia, which one do I get to play with?"
Marluxia gestured to Keira, "The princess." The other Nobody drew out her bottom lip and pulled off a very successful pout.
"But, I want him." She whined as she pointed at Riku. "I didn't get to play with him in Castle Oblivion."
"Now, Larxene..." Marluxia muttered, looking away from her. Her pout was irresistible despite the fact that neither of them had real feelings.
Larxene sighed in defeat. "Well, I guess it's an eye for an eye; princess for princess, at least." She shrugged her shoulders. "However you'd like to put it." Keira stared perplexedly at Larxene. "Oh, you stupid girl, I'm not really a princess, but I am the only female in Organization XIII. Therefore, I would be the princess of the World That Never Was."
"Only. You forget, Larx, about... Doesn't matter. He'll be easier for me to handle, anyway," Marluxia spoke as though he was still answering Larxene's complaint. "He can't use fire to burn my poor vines."
Larxene grinned playfully and rolled her eyes. "Ah. So she has learned magic, too. Hm. That could prove problematic, but," her eyes twinkled sadistically, "There isn't a polar opposite to electricity." She said, holding out her hands (which Keira now noticed held several knives between black gloved fingers) and sent a wave of thunder at the unsuspecting girl. The electricity pulsed through Keira's body, giving her a very thorough shocking. She flew a few feet away and hit the rear of the purple train.
"Keira!" Riku shouted, but he did not dare turn around with two of the stronger Organization members facing him.
"What a shame," Larxene yawned as she walked to Keira's side, "She's not such a good toy after all. Just as expected coming from a princess," Keira winced as Larxene grabbed her by the throat, digging several of the knives into her flesh and drawing blood. Her left hand instinctively flew to Larxene's hands on her throat while she pushed the tip of Shadow Heart into Larxene's stomach.
"Watera," she muttered, sending a stream of high pressured water shooting out of the tip and causing Larxene twice as much as pain as she flew across the platform. "I'm not a toy." Keira slowly stood, blood flowing from her neck, and thanked whatever divine power that her throat hadn't made contact with the knives. Marluxia struck Riku with his scythe, but the latter was prepared and quickly parried with Way to Dawn.
Riku was completely confused when Marluxia grinned, unable to understand what was going on until it was too late. Larxene put a hand to the back of his neck, causing Riku to cringe a little at the touch. She giggled and sent a jolt of electricity into the back of his neck. (A/N: Whether this would kill him or not in real life is neither my concern nor what happens. :D) Riku's eyes slowly shut as he slumped sideways, his final thought being, 'They're trying to isolate Keira.'
"Larxene," Marluxia said warningly, "You didn't kill him, right?" Larxene put on her best innocent smile as she cupped the other Nobody's face. She giggled as his face turned the same color as his hair before facing the other nuisance.
With a bored shrug, she answered cryptically, "It wasn't enough to kill him." Marluxia wondered if Riku was floating somewhere between life and death, "Now, just one more to deal with."
Marluxia placed a gloved hand on her shoulder. "We can't kill her," he reminded her.
Another shrug, "But we can come damn close. Then again, if she's the one who's going to give me a heart, I guess I should be a little grateful towards her. Hm." Larxene shrugged her shoulders again and approached Keira.
"That translates to you won't stop her from breathing. Just leave her to the brink of death." Marluxia stated, satisfied at his own intelligence when Larxene giggled again, meaning he was correct.
"We barely got to play before, so let the real game starts... now." Larxene dashed towards Keira at a speed that the latter did not even know existed. In an instant, she had stabbed two knives into the top of Keira's shirt so that she was pinned to the wall. Keira quickly struck, or more like flailed, with Shadow Heart in order to make the Nobody back down for a moment. Larxene jumped backwards but not far enough away for Keira to come up with a plan. This time around, Larxene wasted no time and quickly slashed at the princess diagonally with a knife. Then she released the other knife that pinned the girl to the wall.
Keira fell on to the pavement, feeling the pain, and familiar searing of blood as it trickled from the cut on her cheek. Before she could scramble to her feet and make an attempt to get her bearings for the second time, a gloved hand lifted her up by the throat. 'How can this fragile-looking girl pick me up with one hand like it's no problem?' She wondered, gasping for air. She could feel the cuts on her neck ooze with blood once more at the slight touch.
"It would kill you if I used electricity on you now and that's no fun." Larxene frowned, hurling Keira away from her and off of the platform as if she was a particularly boring doll. This time, Keira had half-expected Larxene to do this, so she was ready to do a back handspring with her left hand. Every movement seemed to cause something on Keira, and she could feel an unbelievable amount of pain pulsing from her weak wrist in waves.
"Cure," She whispered weakly, holding up Shadow Heart. Green tendrils wrapped themselves around her wounds, but couldn't heal them completely, only stop the blood from flowing any longer. She bit her lip and jumped back onto the platform, wishing that she had more magic. She crouched down beside Riku and held him up by the shoulders after resting Shadow Heart on the ground. Delicately, she placed her index and middle fingers on his neck and felt for a pulse; it came nice and steady. Sighing with relief, she set him down in order to face off against the enemy.
Marluxia appeared particularly amused by Keira's predicament. "I'll make you a deal. If you just give yourself up to us, then we won't lay another finger on the boy."
Keira became thoughtful, but only for a second, "Like I trust you," she growled, holding Shadow Heart before her.
He chuckled and snapped. "Have it your way, Princess." Several vines shot up from behind her and seized her all the way around the throat.
"No fair," she squeaked, her hand once again flying to the vines instinctively. All this got her was a nice and deep cut. She tried to swipe at the vine with her keyblade, but, since it was behind her, it was not an easy target to hit.
"Larxene, take care of him; she should fall unconscious in no time," ordered Marluxia, nodding his head at the two teenagers.
Larxene blinked. "Maleficent doesn't need him?"
"No. He helps them seal up the keyholes to each world and is nothing but a nuisance."
At Marluxia's words, Larxene grinned, "With pleasure." She cracked her knuckles, slowly drawing nearer to Riku.
Keira's eyes were starting to close and her brain felt fuzzy. 'I can't let her... Riku! I have to free myself; it's the only way.' She closed her eyes tightly as she focused all of her magic power on a spell. 'Regular spell is the regular name, the next highest spell has to end with an 'a', and the strongest ends with 'aga'.' She had to remind herself several times as it was becoming increasingly difficult to focus. Shadow Heart was raised over her head, its tip pointed at the mass of vegetation holding her captive. "Firaga," her words were barely above a whisper, but the spell still worked.
A large shot of fire emitted from the tip and burned the vines to naught but ash. She did not waste time by taking a second to regain her precious air supply; instead she rushed at an unaware Larxene and knocked her to the ground. Keira was physically and mentally drained, the last bit of magic she used had taken away the last of her physical will. She had to thank goodness for will.
"Aw, you love him." Larxene cooed mockingly, "I wish I remembered how that felt." She flipped over so that she was the one on top. "You've gotten to my last nerve. Hearts or no hearts, it makes no difference to me. A heart only weakens you. You could've walked out of here without a scratch had you not fussed because your heart told you what the 'right' thing is to do." Her hand seized Keira's throat in a vice grip. "A nice jolt should do it. Well, it was nice knowing you, Princess."
One blast of fire easily knocked Larxene off of Keira and the platform.
"Whoa, get off of the minor, Larxene."
A/N: Two chapters in one day? Whoa, not too shabby. Anyway, I had a lot a lot a lot of fun writing this chapter, and I think it shows. Haha. Some implied LarXia if you couldn't tell. I love that pairing, and I also love Larxene's character, very fun to write. Hmm. Anything else I should say about this? Ah, yes. Don't get all grossed out by the fact that Keira would be knocked down and then rise back up; a person's heart is weird like that, I would know. Also, I kind of blanked out on Larxene&Marluxia's attacks (as if that wasn't obvious xD) but I did manage to remember which element they both had. Geez, I should look up some Final Mix 2+ stuff. See y'all next chapter!