Blackness swirled around Xion's head, tendrils of darkness clinging to her skin with a clammy, cold touch. It didn't feel like she was being transported through time and space. It felt like she was merely in a deep, dreamless sleep. Maybe I am asleep, she thought with a jolt. Maybe I only dreamed that a girl came from the future to tell me how to save Roxas. Maybe when I open my eyes, I'll be the same old Xion who has to go die.
And then the air ripped open in front of her and she stepped out of the darkness onto damp grass. Behind her she heard the other girl - Xandra - exit the dark corridor as well, pausing to survey the blank, rolling landscape.
"Where are we?" Xion asked, her voice automatically hushed.
"We are about five minutes away from meeting Sora," Xandra answered, moving up to stand beside Xion. "He is only a day into his journey away from the Door to Darkness. In three days he will reach Castle Oblivion."
Xion shivered uncontrollably. Sora. She was going to finally meet the boy she saw in her memories, the boy who owned those memories. It didn't seem possible.
"I thought we were going to assassinate a girl," Xion said in confusion.
"That's what has to be done to stop his memories from being taken, yes," Xandra conceded. "But if we could simply stop him from entering Castle Oblivion at all, then maybe we could spare the girl." She pointed suddenly at a hill on the edge of the horizon. "There he is now."
Xion squinted, and she could just barely make out three black smudges on top of the hill, moving sluggishly towards them. Panic gripped her. Too soon! She wasn't ready yet!
But Xandra didn't seem to notice Xion's sudden tension. She unzipped her cloak, shucking it off her shoulders to reveal a black strapless top and black pants, almost the same things that Xion wore under her cloak.
"What are you doing?" Xion asked.
"Turn your cloak inside out," Xandra instructed, pulling at the sleeves of her cloak so that the inside was facing outwards. The inside, although still black, was softer looking than the outside, and you could see red stitching at the seams. "And wear it unzipped. We don't want to look like members of the Organization. He hasn't met them yet, but still, it's best not to muddle the future with the past too much, not when you're trying to change something as big as this."
Xion hesitated, glancing at where the three figures were in the distance, slowly growing larger. then she yanked her cloak over the top of her head, pausing to pull up the straps of her black spaghetti strap shirt as they flopped off her shoulders. Then she stuffed the cloak inside out and unzipped it, pulling it back on. The outside material felt strange against her skin, but she knew that she looked very different now.
She looked back up and froze when she saw that the trio of figures were even closer now. She could faintly make out their forms. There was a duck, a weird dog thing, and a boy - Sora! - with brown hair. She couldn't see their faces yet, but she knew it would only be a few more minutes.
"You done?" Xandra asked.
"Yeah," Xion answered, shaking her limbs out as though to dispel her nervousness. "What do we do-"
There was a sudden ripping sound, and Xion looked over to see Xandra pull a short sword out of her side.
"What the-" Xion cried in shock.
Xandra stumbled and hunched over, clutching her ribs, but she didn't fall, her knuckles white on the handle of the sword. She squeezed her eyes shut and hissed out a breath between her teeth, the sword dissolving into blue light.
"Why would you do that?" Xion exclaimed, trying to support Xandra.
Xandra shot a glance up at Xion, smiling slightly, and Xion felt a strange sense of deja vu.
"I always was impulsive," Xandra murmurred. "Even when I was a Somebody."
She yanked free of Xion and started half running, half-falling down the hill towards the approaching three figures.
"Hey!" she yelled, waving a hand in the air. "Over here! We need some help!"
So that was her plan, Xion thought grimly, dashing after the other girl. Still, to stab herself? No wonder this was the type of girl that Axel had fallen in love with.
"Someone's hurt!" Xion shouted, adding her voice to Xandra's. "Help us!" Lying did not come very easy to her, but this time it wasn't a complete lie. They may have been luring Sora and the others there on false pretenses, but there really was someone hurt.
The three figures heard the voices and turned their heads, spotting the cloaked figures stumbling towards them. The boy's head turned last, and Xion was close enough now to finally see his face in real life.
Sora was exactly as he was in her memories. His hair stuck out like a spiky dark brown crown in thick chunks that seemed to go in random directions. His face was achingly like Roxas's, but his eyes seemed more open, clearer than her friend. He was skinny, but she could feel the light, the light of the Keyblade wielder, pouring off of him.
"Gawrsh!" hyucked the strange dog thing. "We gotta help them!"
"What's wrong?" Sora asked, running towards the two girls.
Xandra slumped to the ground, Xion crouching beside her, as the trio skidded to a stop in front of them.
"Donald!" Sora said, turning towards the duck.
"I'm on it, I'm on it!" the duck squawked, raising high his magical staff thing. "Curaga!"
A glowing green ring appeared around Xandra and Xion.
"Thank you," Xandra said weakly. "We've been travelling for a while, and I wasn't certain I could make it much longer with that wound."
Liar, Xion thought, feeling impressed and appalled at the same time.
Sora crouched down beside them, resting his elbows on his knees.
"What happened to you guys?" he asked, tilting his head to the side. "Who are you?"
Xion's brain went blank, but luckily, Xandra seemed to have no such problems.
"I'm Xandra, and this is Xion," she said. "We were attacked by some guys in black cloaks...and..."
Abruptly, her head rolled back against Xion's shoulder, her hands flopping against the ground.
""Oh my gosh, she passed out!" Sora exclaimed, crossing into the green ring of curaga to lean over Xandra.
"Just leave her there," Donald said in his obnoxious voice, folding his arms (wings? Xion couldn't be sure which one it was) and plopping himself on the ground. "Curaga will keep healing her until she's all better."
"I sure hope so," the dog chimed in. "Until then, we'd better stay here with them."
"I'll go see if I can find firewood! Goofy, you come with me!" Sora sprang to his feet suddenly and dashed off into the night, dragging his dog friend with him. The duck huffed.
"Silly kid. I'm going to go to sleep." He glanced over his shoulder at Xion, who was still supporting the seemingly unconscious Xandra, and then lay down on the grass. "Just leave her there. She'll be fine by morning."
And then he closed his eyes and started snoring.
Xion nodded wordlessly, though he couldn't see her now, and lowered Xandra to the ground. She was about to move away when there was a tug on her sleeve.
"Hey," Xandra whispered, opening her eyes a slit. "You didn't really think I had passed out, did you? Honestly."
"Well, I can't understand why you would want to fake pass out!" Xion hissed.
"We have to get them to trust us!" Xandra replied. "You spend tonight chatting with them and getting them to relax - shouldn't be hard for you, you have the kind of face that invites pity - while I'm "healing", and then tomorrow I'll tell them that they can't go into the castle that they're going to come across in three days!"
"Are we going to tell them why?"
"Don't worry about it. I'll think of something!" Xandra reassured her. "Sora's coming back. Remember, get him to like us, but don't give away too much!"
"How am I supposed to-"
"Kairi?"
Xion turned around to see Sora paused a few feet away, his arms full of sticks, his eyes open wide with shock, staring at her. There was a moment of silence, but then he shook his head and gave a short laugh.
"Sorry," he said uncertainly. "It's just that I didn't get a good look at your face before...and you look a lot like a...friend of mine."
He set the sticks down on the ground and stuck his hand out to the side. With a flash of white light, his keyblade appeared in his palm, glinting dully in the dim light. It was getting darker fast, but with a burst of fire magic, soon a small fire was burning in the centre of the circle of people. Sora sat down, banishing the keyblade and staring into the flames. He looked strangely solemn, which was a very odd look for him.
Finally, he looked up and smiled at Xion.
"So, who are you?"