Keys of Destiny

Chapter 6: His Nobody

After landing, Moogly checked for any poisonous substance in the planet's atmosphere. The air was indicated to be good enough to breathe in. One after the other, Sora and Roxas alighted. They both decided it was better for Moogly to stay behind. Partly because they knew nothing of the planet, partly because they didn't feel it was necessary for Moogly to take the risk. Magus Hat could turn invisible when stationary so their little friend would be safe.

Sora took a good look at the part of the Black Cosmos where they stood. They were at a small clearing that could have been a vacant lot or a park before the planet died. About five minutes walk away was a cluster of apartment-height buildings. At the back of those constructions was what appeared to be the central business district. This world was similar to the world where Sora grew up. Roxas, too, could draw resemblance between this place and The World That Never Was.

A huge blue moon hung over the night sky. Everything looked a little paler because of it. Though it did provide them sufficient light to see what was around. They began to head towards the direction of the apartment-height buildings they saw earlier. The town was very quiet. Their footsteps were seemed to be the only noise on the entire planet. As they got closer, they found themselves on a main road. Broken cars, fallen light poles and tipped over rubbish bins scattered as though the city had visits from several tornados. Many windows were broken and doors left ajar. Sora approached a building and gave a light push on the nearest door. It opened with a creak. Inside, there was an overturned table and a few broken chairs beside it.

Roxas suggested they should start looking for Omega. That was when they realised neither of them knew what it looked like. Having no choice, they used the communicative device to contact the King. King Mickey told them that Xemnas left many different designs of Omega in his file. However, Xemnas didn't specify which one was used or whether he used any of them at all. In another words, they were left with using their own imagination on the machine's appearance. Not entirely happy with the news, Sora and Roxas decided it would probably look exotic enough to be recognised upon first sight. They searched buildings after buildings but saw pretty much the same things everywhere. Sora found it odd they hadn't run into any dead bodies yet.

A couple of hours went by and they found nothing. They returned to the main road and began to follow it to the city centre. There was still a fair way to go before they were anywhere near it. Though the town was deserted, Sora kept on glancing at every dark corner they walked pass. There was an uncomfortable feeling in his heart that was bothering him. He almost jumped when Roxas suddenly called him.

"What?" Sora asked, putting a hand over where his heart was.

"You were scared?" Roxas smirked with an amused look on his face. Where he came from, The World That Never Was, was always nighttime and infiltrated by Heartless. He was forced to be alert around the clock. So it wasn't as tiring for him to stay on guard for so long as it was for Sora.

"No way," Sora replied. He didn't understand why he was so wary. He too had been fighting Heartless and Nobody for years. It wasn't something new to him. Perhaps it was because his usual sidekicks Donald and Goofy were there. Perhaps it was the new enemies. But something deep inside him said it was for another reason.

"Anyway, I just want to make sure of something," Roxas wiped off the smirk and looked at Sora seriously. "What are the names of the two friends you're looking for?"

Sora rolled his eyes. "Easy. It's Riku and…" He scratched his head and thought hard. Nothing came to his mind. No name. No face. He was beginning to doubt if he was really looking for anyone else other than Riku.

"It's Kairi. You can't forget about her," Roxas took out the photo he borrowed from the King and handed it to Sora. "See? The girl with red hair is Kairi. There's her name written on the back." He turned the photo around to let Sora read.

Sora was confused. He could almost swear he never saw the girl in the photo in his whole entire life. "Do I really know her? I can't remember a thing of this girl."

Things were going from bad to terrible. Sora had forgotten about Kairi and Roxas could be the one Sora forgets next. He didn't want to imagine what it'd be like if Sora thought he was just any Nobody and start to treat him as an enemy. Fighting against himself sounded ridiculous enough. Roxas realised they desperately needed to find Namine. Unfortunately the chances of finding her on this planet was slimmer than paper. "Sora, get a grip. Listen, she and Riku are the reason we've crossed half the universe to get here," Roxas tried to explain. He began to feel hopeless – how could he explain when he didn't even understand?

At that moment, Roxas heard footsteps coming from ahead. He knew it wasn't NeoNobody because they could appear close to them and attack without warning. The thing coming had a human form. As the figure drew closer, Roxas could make out who it was. His jaw almost dropped to the ground.

It was Kairi.

"Sora, Roxas!" Kairi called out to them. When she came close enough, she threw her arms around Sora, embracing him tightly. Though taken by surprise, Sora didn't want to offend her by pushing her away. He waited for her to let go of him. Kairi was wearing her pink dress, just like how she was when the NeoNobody had her on Destiny Islands. "I'm so glad you two came! I need your help. Riku is hurt," she told them.

Always in the perfect timing, a number of NeoNobody appeared around them, encircling them in the middle. Roxas grunted. His trusting dual keyblades materialised in his hold instantly.

The NeoNobody that surrounded them had round, spiky body with no arms and legs. When they need to move, they withdraw their long spikes to roll back and forth. Roxas didn't need it spelt out to tell they were bigger, stronger and faster than the ones they have encountered so far. "Sora, get out of here with Kairi! I'll handle this," Roxas yelled to Sora, who already summoned his keyblade.

Sora hesitated. Roxas turned around to give him a hurrying nod. Taking Kairi's hand, Sora ran towards the direction of the skyscrapers. "Don't lose, Roxas," he called back.

The NeoNobody came closer to Roxas, who slowly walked backwards to maintain distance. His eyes captured every movement of his enemies. Simultaneously from every direction, the ten NeoNobody bounced up and aimed to where Roxas was. Roxas jumped backwards, causing them to crash into each other. They didn't bounced off each other because they released their spikes thinking they had Roxas. Four of the quicker ones to recover rolled towards him. Having foreseen their actions, Roxas stepped aside the split second before they ran into him. He spun around to position himself behind them and gave them a finishing blow.

Taking advantage of the occupied Roxas, another two shot into the air and aimed for his wide-open back. Roxas sensed them coming so he was able to quickly dodged away. Before they could make their next move, Roxas close in to them and sliced through their round bodies. The remaining four was less cooperative but Roxas wasn't about to underestimate them. It took him a while clear every last one.

There were no more enemies in sight, but Roxas didn't dismiss his keyblades. Someone had been watching him battle from a distance. He scanned the area carefully without missing anything. A hooded figure stood tall and straight on the top of a ten-storey building. When the figure noticed he had been spotted, he jumped down as though the height meant nothing.

The black hood that the unknown figure had on was too familiar to Roxas. It was what the thirteen members of the organisation wore. Roxas used to wear one that was exactly the same. The figure walked towards him. Roxas felt a prickling sensation on his skin. His instincts told him it was a very powerful Nobody. Clenching onto his keyblades, Roxas posed himself to ready for another battle. He feared Omega had successfully made clones of the organisation members. Any one of his past comrades would guarantee to be tough to deal with. The figure was a little shorter than Larxene and a bit taller than Demyx. Roxas caught a glimpse of dark hair under the hood. He couldn't recall any of the twelve members who had dark hair and was of that body height. The figure was definitely a man, but Roxas still couldn't see his face properly with his hood and fringe in the way.

"Who are you?" Roxas asked, lifting up the black Oblivion in his right hand and pointed it at the stranger. The hooded figure stopped on his track. They were about a block apart.

"You are a Nobody, yet you wield the keyblade," the hooded figure said in an unfamiliar voice. It was a youthful voice, though not as young as Sora and Roxas but not as old as Xigbar and Xaldin. His mouth curled up to a smile. "That means you are Sora's Nobody."

It only made Roxas more alert. "Answer my question!" he demanded, glaring at the man. As far as he knew, only beings with strong hearts could retain human shape as Nobody. Xemnas should have recruited all the human-form Nobody to his organisation. That could only mean the one standing before him was a new Nobody.

"Can't you sense who I am?" The man reached for his hood and pulled it down to reveal his face.

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Sora and Kairi didn't come across any NeoNobody on the way. Kairi said they should go to where Riku was. She brought Sora to the tallest skyscraper in the dead city. It was the type of commercial building with mirror exterior. The main entrance slid open automatically as they approached. Sora was surprised there was still electricity. The lobby was unlit. Kairi pressed for the lift and chose a floor. Every time he had a chance, Sora would look at Kairi and try to remember anything he could about her. The girl had sea-blue eyes and red hair past her shoulders. When Sora asked how Riku was. Kairi replied that Riku was in such bad condition he couldn't move. Sora wondered why she didn't just leave Riku at the ground floor, if he was that hurt.

The lift gave a short, crisp ting and opened. Immediately, an immense feeling of the presence of NeoNobody hit Sora like a huge wave. It was pitch-dark beyond the door. Kairi stepped out straight away. "Sora?" she turned around, waiting for him to come out. Sora's instinct was warning him, screaming out danger in his head. He still couldn't remember anything about this girl called Kairi. But he believed what Roxas said was true, that he had only forgotten about her temporarily. Decided to trust Kairi, he stepped out of the lift.

"Where is Riku?" Sora looked around, waiting for his eyes to adjust to the darkness. He rubbed his arms for the goosebumps he was getting. He couldn't see anything let alone Riku.

"Just a bit further ahead," Kairi answered, following Sora closely.

Sora took a few more steps forward. Still he saw no Riku. When he was about to turn around to ask Kairi again, he found himself falling into nothingness.

There was no doubt about it. Kairi pushed him down, knowing what was waiting for Sora. As he fell, Sora turned to look upwards. The image of Kairi was gradually fading out. Sora thought he saw Kairi sank to her knees and buried her face into her hands.

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Under the hood was a face of a young man, about two or three years older than Roxas by appearance. His straight long hair was tied back loosely, as though he couldn't be bother spending another few seconds to make it look neat. Strands not long enough to be tied into his low ponytail hang loosely on the sides of his face. His eyes were blue-green. The realisation struck Roxas. There was only one other person in the world who he knew had such clear aqua coloured eyes.

"You're Riku's…" Roxas could hardly believe he was having such absurd thought. Yet it could only be him to derive a human-shaped Nobody. Why hadn't he thought of it before? It was possible. Anyone could become a Nobody. There was no one who could be completely immune. "Where is Riku?" Roxas demanded, eyeing Riku's Nobody distrustfully. Something was bugging him at the back of his mind but he couldn't grasp what it was.

Riku's Nobody smiled. "Riku? You mean his Heartless?"

"You…!" Roxas scowled. Riku was annoying and apparently his Nobody was no less.

"He was still alive the last time I saw him," Riku's Nobody shrugged. "I came here to ask if you would join force with me." Roxas looked at him skeptically but showed he was listening.

"What I want is a heart. We will become complete beings if we acquire a heart each by working together. We can form an alliance," Riku's Nobody said, walking closer to Roxas until they were a table's length apart.

Lowering his keyblade, Roxas tilted his head, eyes narrowed. "How do you think you'll do that? Someone already tried every single method but still he couldn't get a heart of his own." He was beginning to understand what Riku's Nobody was getting at.

"There is still a way that nobody has tried," Riku's Nobody smirked at the mentioning of 'nobody'. "Would you help me?"

Roxas didn't answer. Suddenly an ice-cold feeling washed over him, like someone just threw him in Artic water. Something has happened to Sora. He knew it.

"You can feel Sora?" Riku's Nobody asked, looking rather interested.

Turning around, Roxas headed for the path Sora and Kairi took, picking up speed as he ran. He couldn't afford to spend any more time talking to Riku's Nobody. Finding Sora was the priority. Everything and everyone would be in danger if anything happened to Sora.

"You can give me the answer the next time we meet, Sora's Nobody," Riku's Nobody called after him.

"The name is Roxas," Roxas yelled to make sure he was heard.

"Roxas?" Riku's Nobody repeated to himself. He laughed. "I see. That's where it came from. I don't have a name, but you can call me Kurix."

Author's rambling: Wonder if anyone saw that coming.

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