The Thirteenth Order
Chapter I: How It All Started…
Destiny Islands…
(BGM: Chrono Cross – Time's Grasslands, Home World)
"C'mon Kairi! You can do better than that!"
"I'm trying Riku! I don't know how you guys do it so easily…"
"Well, we always did fight with those wooden swords."
"Yeah, and I was always watching. Just face it; I'm not as strong as you guys."
"Oh come on! You did great back in the Castle. You can do it again."
"It was the adrenaline. That's all."
"That's not true. You've got talent. It's just untapped. Come on, let's take a rest. Give your muscles time to recover and we'll try again."
"Fine, fine…"
"Oh don't be like that Kairi, you've got a keyblade now, you're one of us! Even if nothing happens for the rest of our lives, it's a good workout, and I know you women like to stay in shape."
THWACK!
"Ow! What was that for?"
"You should know Sora."
She's got you there bro. Not a good choice of words…Oh be quiet Roxas.
It was strange. For some reason, not long after the group returned to the islands, Roxas started talking to him in Sora's mind. It shouldn't have been possible, seeing as the two halves had joined as one, but it was happening. He kept it to just the three of them, Kairi and Riku. Kairi hadn't had any contact with Naminé though.
Life returned to normal for the three heroes. Kairi soon learned she could summon her own keyblade, the one that Riku handed to her in The Castle That Never Was, and was soon coerced into practicing with it alongside Riku and Sora. It wasn't that she didn't want to; it was simply that she didn't believe she was strong enough. The way Sora and Riku reasoned, was that if her heart was strong enough to summon that blade back in the first place, she was worthy of wielding it. And they would know too. They themselves have experienced how temperamental the magical weapon could be.
It had only been a few months after their last adventure, but already the group had once again settled into their old routine. They'd have thought it a dream, if not for the Keyblades themselves. At first however, Kairi wondered why she could summon the Keyblade herself. Sora had a rather simple theory.
"Chalk it up to you being the Seventh Princess of Heart."
The other two had forgotten about that little tidbit. Kairi chronically forgot she didn't originate from Destiny Islands the way Riku and Sora did. Living in a place for nearly your entire life will do that. They had few troubles on the islands now…and they were finally at peace.
Unfortunately, peace tends to have that little trait of shattering when it's just being gotten used to…
Their Keyblades suddenly flashed into their hands.
"What the…"
"Guys? What's going on? Why'd they just appear like that?"
"So…it would seem that the Keyblade can sense when an opponent is near…"
Sora and Riku suddenly Stiffened. They whirled around to see a swirling black dome appear on the wooden bridge.
(BGM: Final Fantasy X – Hurry!)
"Xemnas!"
"But…we defeated you already!"
"Indeed, warriors of the Keyblade. You did best me in battle. But I am nothingness itself…I am eternal. You cannot defeat that which does not exist."
"Then if you don't exist, why are you here?"
"That…is something that as much as I would like, I have no answer for. I know not how I survived…only that your final attack was intended to destroy a heart I do not have…therefore, though it may have destroyed my form, it did not destroy my spirit."
"Then how did you come back?!"
"A combination of things. My own will, combined with the remaining powers of Eleven of the Thirteen Nobodies you combated and defeated…along with…a body, supplied by a young man floating in a Dark Corridor. I ejected his spirit and used my gathered powers to change his form into a more…suitable appearance."
"Wait…you stole a body?!"
"Ahh…you must be the girl…Naminé's host…Kairi was it? Yes, I ejected the boy's soul out of his body and took it for my own. I do plan on returning and finding a suitable home for his soul at a later time however, the Realm of the Between isn't a very good place for an unanchored soul to reside after all…and he did unwillingly do me a favor."
Sora and Riku got into a battle pose. "Xemnas…you've gone too far this time!"
"He's right, this time we'll put you down for good!"
"Indeed? Well, I do like a challenge…however…"
With a flick of the man's wrist, Kairi and Riku were flung to the side, away from Sora. The original Keyblade wielder was bound by swirling waves of energy.
"What…what are you-
Xemnas raised his arm and fired a series of energy bolts into Sora's chest. Sora felt the energy pass through his body and inside him, grasping on to something.
Gahh! R-Roxas!
Indeed, Roxas' form began overlapping Sora's. The young Nobody's transparent 'soul' began slowly floating away from Sora's body. Suddenly the soul was turned into a glowing black sphere that held the image of two Keyblades crossed in an X shape on it. The sphere flew into Xemnas' hand and the man glowed with energy.
"Yes! At last, all thirteen powers have returned."
Sora dropped to the ground where Riku and Kairi ran to his aid. Using his dark grey Keyblade, for he had chosen the Fenrir Keychain, as a support, he shakily rose to his feet. He felt the empty space in his heart where Roxas once was.
"Xemnas! What did you do to him!"
"Ahh, Riku, I simply returned his Nobody's power to its rightful place. It is a pity that I cannot utilize their powers myself, for my persona is far too strong…but the fact that they are there, along with mine, is enough to enhance my powers exponentially. Now, if you will excuse me…I have another matter to attend to…"
A swirling dome of dark energy encompassed him and pulled him away. However, due to his usage and experience with the Darkness, Riku had retained the ability to track larger amounts of dark energy. His eyes widened in fear as he realized what Xemnas was going to do.
"He's going for the door!"
"Door?"
"The one in the cave! The door to the Heart of this world!"
Sora shook off the dizziness. "We have to stop him then!"
The three of them nodded and ran to the cove in which lay the door to the heart of their world, Destiny Islands.
However…in their haste…they failed to notice a small spark of glittering silver light appear from behind a tree.
So…his name…is Xemnas…
The image of a black haired dark skinned boy appeared behind the spark.
Damn…I'm fading fast…I've got to get my body back…
The image faded and the glowing light slowly followed after the group.
The group caught up to Xemnas, only to watch as his form faded in a wave of light within the now open door.
"Crap, he already got in. We have to hurry!"
"Guys, is this really such a good idea? Have you ever…been inside the Heart of a world?"
"No...but…"
"Well…what if we…die? I mean, we're only human, there might be…I don't know…something in there that would…maybe destroy our bodies…"
Sora looked on, a determined frown on his face.
"Believe in the Keyblade. It will protect us."
He looked back at Kairi and Riku.
"Come on. We don't have time."
Before they could stop him, he jumped through.
"Gah! Why is he always so stubborn?!"
"He has a point though…we shouldn't worry. I don't know how useful I'll be…but…Sora's counting on us! He can't do this alone! And we're the only ones who can help him! Come on Riku! You know he's helpless without us."
"Just like old times, huh Kairi?"
"Yeah. I still owe you a slap for being stupid though. Honestly, thinking Sora abandoned you and me for those two…"
"Hey now…I was just a kid…"
"You were older than both of us, and friends with us our entire lives. You really should have known. But…now's not the time for that. After this, I'm gonna kick your butt!"
"Bring it on little girl."
"Who are you calling little?!"
Giving her a mock leer, he nodded.
"You're right…you're not little anymore now are you?"
"Riku! You're such a pervert!"
"Bet you wouldn't mind if it was Sora saying that now would you?"
She just blushed and glared. "Hmph…this is taking too long, I'm going in!"
"Aah! Kairi wait!"
She jumped in. Riku smacked his forehead with his free palm. "Geez…they're perfect for each other…"
He too jumped in.
The glowing spark appeared just as Riku vanished.
So those are…Keyblades…looks like my thoughts of people waving around oversized keys wasn't too far off…
The glowing spark flew through the doorway.
Heart of the World: Destiny Islands
"Welcome…warriors of the Keyblade."
Blackness. Blackness surrounded them. The only light came from a brilliant sphere glowing a pale red. White wisps of energy swirled around it like a vortex as the sphere pulsed slowly, like a beating heart.
"This is…the heart of a world?"
"Beautiful isn't it? The heart of a world is a glorious thing that few ever see. You should be honored to fall here."
"Fall? You're the one who's gonna fall Xemnas!"
"Pitiful fools…I shall take the heart of this world and use its vast power to restore my Kingdom Hearts! Come warriors of the Keyblade! Fight the final battle of your existences!"
(BGM: Valkyrie Profile 2 Silmeria – In Order to Acquire the Light in That Hand)
Before they could react, Xemnas had fired tendrils of spiraling energy at them. They all jumped out of the way, narrowly evading the attack. Sora and Riku rode the currents of energy and phased their way to Xemnas, who disappeared in a flicker of movement before they could attack. The tan skinned man appeared in front of Kairi and engaged his red energy beam and swung it at her. She barely ducked out of the way and tried to make a clumsy counterattack, but was easily deflected by the much more experienced fighter's weapon. He spun with the deflection and kicked her in the back of the head, knocking her away.
Sora brought Fenrir down upon Xemnas' head, delivering a solid blow. He followed up with a series of horizontal swings, twirling his blade around his hand while repeatedly twisting his body on each swing. Finally he jumped back and thrust forward with a finishing strike of the combo that sent Xemnas flying back. Riku took to the air and unleashed a flurry of slashes upon Xemnas, before ending with a forward flip with his blade extended. After, Xemnas quickly recovered and flickered away again, this time sending out a clone to attack Riku with a series of flipping movements with both blades extended.
Riku weathered the attack, which gave Kairi an opening to perform a club swing with her own Keyblade into Xemnas' face, and follow up with a pivot on her foot and slamming it into his chest. The elder warrior responded by firing a wave of spiraling jagged energy from his hands. Riku flickered in front of Kairi and threw his hands forward, summoning a small but effective curved wall of energy that forced the attack to splinter out along the sides of the barrier.
Xemnas flickered away again, only to reappear near Sora, throwing a handful of small red orbs in a circle around the boy. Sora twirled his blade around in his hand and called up a transparent glowing orb of light just as the orbs turned into bolts and all attempted to crash into him. The protective field then splintered and then shattered creating a number of small explosions around the Keyblade Master and stunning the approaching Xemnas.
Riku took that chance to once again hack away at the grey haired man. Kairi too slammed her own weapon repeatedly into the elder warrior. However with a shout of annoyance and an accompanying wave of force, all three teens were knocked away.
Kairi was the first to her feet. She ran at Xemnas, holding her Keyblade to the side, mimicking Sora's stance. Xemnas threw his hand in front of him and a wall of light composed of transparent white rectangular boxes slammed into place. Her swing was deflected, and Xemnas took that opening to slam the red beams being emanated from his palms into her side, knocking her away rather painfully. Sora and Riku approached from both sides, trying to flank him and draw his attention away from Kairi, but the Nobody anticipated that maneuver and thrust his palms out sending tendrils of neutrality at them, repelling them.
"It would seem that you are the weakest link of your little chain. What say I…break that link?"
He flickered in front of her, and before she could react, a foot slammed into her face, kicking her away and giving her a massive headache.
"Kairi!"
"Leave her alone!"
"Silence."
Another set of tendrils slammed into the young men, further pinning them to the 'ground'.
Xemnas raised his right hand. Within it, one of his spheres of crackling energy appeared.
"I wouldn't be able to do this if not for the power of my own allies backing me. As of now, the Keyblade will have one less wielder. Good-bye, little girl."
He pointed at Kairi, and the sphere, now nearly as big as the core of their world, rocketed towards the red-haired girl. Frozen in fear, time seemed to slow as Sora and Riku called for her to move. Her mind locked up, her muscles would not respond.
And that…was what allowed for the next event…to occur…
(Stop music)
BOOOM!
A grand explosion erupted from where Kairi lay.
"KAIRI!"
The light faded…"NO! Impossible!"
Standing there…completely unharmed…Keyblade held firmly in hand and outstretched, pointing right at Xemnas…
Kairi stood. Her bowed head raised…and the three of them saw…
Glowing Silver Eyes stared at Xemnas.
(BMG: Valkyrie Profile 2 – Unrestrained Struggle)
What…happened? Not bad…I didn't think it would work for a moment there…What? Who are you?! Consider me an ally. I did, after all, save your life. But…my body…At the moment it's MY body. But don't worry, I don't plan on keeping it. It's…interesting being in a girl's body, but I'd rather not stay.
You're…controlling my body? I've got a lot more combat experience, and power than you do Kairi. You just sit back and relax.
"How? How can this be?"
"For a second…I didn't think that would work. Seems this thing's got more to it than just being goofy looking."
"Kairi?"
"Sorry. She's resting right now."
"Naminé?"
"Who?"
"Wait…who are you?! Where's Kairi!"
They were puzzled…for the being spoke with her voice…but didn't speak as she did. The way her body was held…it was with confidence…with power…
"I'm here…to get my body back."
"You? How did you-
"Xemnas, was it? I told you you'd pay. You sure picked the wrong guy to piss off."
Before the tan skinned man could react, "Kairi" was in his face, right arm pulled across her chest, and prepared to swing. Xemnas barely evaded a very skillful swipe to his chest, but wasn't prepared for the crescent shaped wave of energy that slammed into him after the swing.
How did you do that?! What was that black line? It's one of my gifts…and one of my curses. I see the 'death' of all things. Those lines are the rifts in between life and death, the borders that bind the world together. I can see these "points" these "borders" and interact with them.
Xemnas recovered and launched a Nothingness Sphere at Kairi. It expanded along the way intending to engulf the girl. The silver eyes flared for a split second, and her body pulled her right arm back and thrust towards just above the center of the sphere. At the point of impact, Kairi saw a black dot with crooked, jagged lines extending from it. Within moments the sphere collapsed on itself, the energy flying everywhere but towards Kairi.
See? I can "kill" anything I choose, even creations made of pure energy. If it exists, it can be destroyed. But normally I have to use something sharp to do it. Even something as weak as a fingernail can work…but I guess this…Keyblade must have some sort of magic that allows it to function like a sword, though it's a blunt object.
That's…horrible…Isn't it? But it can do good things too. I once encountered someone who was struck with a poisoned dart. Hit right at his heart too. He was a good friend of mine, and I was really afraid he would die…when I saw something. The poison, because it was reproducing itself through his heart, had a 'point.' I grabbed the nearest twig and slammed it into that point. However this power works, cause even I'm not sure, it erased the poison, and he was unharmed…somehow. He said it felt like the twig was passing through him, but didn't hurt.
After that little note, Kairi's body swung her keyblade two more times, launching crescent waves of energy at Xemnas. He flickered out of the way and attempted the flipping motion again, only to get knocked back when Kairi swung in a perfect vertical line down and smacked him away with another wave.
Damn…where the hell is it?! What are you looking for? His 'point'. I can end this and get my body back if I could just find the damn thing. Normally people would have multiple points, not many just three or four, scattered around the body. And it's not always in vital areas either. But he's pretty powerful, so his existence is strong, making it difficult for him to be completely destroyed.
Sora and Riku could do nothing more but watch in awe as Kairi seemed to land on one foot and then flicker from view, only to appear in front of Xemnas for an attack. Most of the time it was blocked or evaded, but always just narrowly. Finally, Xemnas got a thrusting kick in on Kairi's chest.
Thank god you've got a decent pair of boobs girl, or that would have hurt a lot more. I-you-what?!
Rubbing her chest, Kairi's body chuckled as her eyes narrowed.
Hey! Hands off! The voice simply laughed. Always did wonder what it'd be like to do that as a girl… Kairi saw the thought that he was refrencing to and blushed knowing that she herself had done that very thing…Aha…do I detect some sexual tension between you and the brunette? Stop being a pervert and fight! Rawr, the little lion has claws huh? Well then, after this is over I expect you to train kiddo. After all, you cant let the kid be the dominant one now can you?
Her inner mind simply blushed and muttered about perverts surrounding her.
As she did that her body touched down again and flickered from view. Another swing at Xemnas, this time a back hand from the left, followed by a fan kick to his face ending with a pivoting back left leg kick, the voice saw what he was looking for.
Gotcha…time to end this little game. Kid, sorry, but you're about to be more sore than your crotch on your period. EXCUSE ME?!
Twirling the blade in her hand, Kairi's body glowed a faint silver as a very dark smirk appeared on her face.
"Asobi wa…"
The girl rocketed forward in a wave of silver energy and slammed the Keyblade into Xemnas' chest. She bounced back slightly after the impact and then jumped and slammed her left heel into his face. Moving with the kick, Kairi then spun again, slamming the Keyblade down into his right shoulder. Pivoting again, the girl swept her left leg along the ground knocking Xemnas off his feet before grabbing his right leg and spin tossing him away. The man flipped in the air and was suddenly assaulted by a crescent wave of energy.
Kairi kept swinging the Keyblade, launching wave after wave at the man, each one dealing a serious amount of pain. Finally she launched the Keyblade with a snap of her wrist and it spun on a trajectory towards Xemnas' torso. It smashed into his chest and bounced up. Suddenly, Kairi flickered in front of him and slammed a glowing silver fist into Xemnas' face.
The force of the blow made Xemnas' body arc backward. Kairi raised her right hand and grabbed the Keyblade from the air.
"OWARI DA!"
The silver eyes flared again and suddenly a black dot appeared right in the direct center of Xemnas' body. Kairi slammed the Keyblade into the point.
HAH! Later kiddo. Remember, go on the pill and always wear a condom! What?! HEY!
A blinding silver light erupted from the point of impact.
"What…is…nnnooooOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!"
A massive explosion of silver light rocketed through the area. Energy swirled into the center point that the Keyblade struck…and then erupted in a wave of silver. All three Keyblade wielders were blinded by the light, and deafened by the explosion…and soon…all they saw was black as their bodies passed out from the sheer force of the blast.
Beams of light erupted from the ground. The ocean waves warped and twisted, the ground cracked as huge fissures appeared with glowing silver energy erupting from them. Pillars of white and red reached for the heavens. People screamed, buildings collapsed as huge chunks of rock launched into the sky, and then fell from the air.
From space, all you saw was beams of light suddenly appearing on the planet's surface…and suddenly, the planet became one big sphere of white…
Rings of energy emanated from the sphere, shockwaves of power that not even the vacuum of space could silence. Energy lanced around the sphere as it burned itself to extinction. The links of both light and shadow that tied that world to the collective were overloaded, and the shockwaves traveled through them, echoed on every world that was connected to that one. Sudden gusts of wind would appear, a strange unsettling feeling that something terrible just happened washed over their inhabitants as the final cries of the dying planet reached the cores of those it was bound to. The boundaries between light and dark weakened and cracked…
Destiny Islands…
The world that housed the Keyblade Bearers…
The world where it all began…
Was completely…
Utterly…
Entirely…
Destroyed…
Now how is THAT for a first chapter? Epic enough for you? Yes, I destroyed the Islands. Honestly, other than a place to start, they really served little purpose in the continuity so far. And yes, Xemnas, AKA Mansex, has been destroyed completely as well. Anyone who knows where I got the idea for the Eyes should know how they work. If you have questions, PM me, or E-Mail me. I'd be happy to answer them.
D&S Master: Yo. Been a while huh? Yeah, I figured Heartless are the first, Nobodies are the Third. But they never specified who the SECOND was. And I figured, why not drones? They have no real purpose but to just kill stuff. So, the Mindless. Plus, I noticed in the KHII guidebook, when they showed an image of one of the Organization members, there was a crest with the Heartless Symbol on the right, the Nobody symbol on the left, and a third symbol, a circle with an X in the center, with kinda spike things coming out of it. So I thought of the Mindless. Hope this chapter impressed you.
Static Reflection: Well I'm glad you enjoyed it. As I said, I have a good bit of plot for this written out, but after a certain point, it kinda…fades. I'll probably keep this story short, I have way too many going on right now, but it'll be interesting. Hope you enjoy this chapter.
Well, here it is. The ground base for everything. Whenever I make the next chapter, Spira appears! Have fun!
Oh and by the way, I REALLY suggest you at least get that last song. It makes the end of this chapter feel REALLY epic.