The Thirteenth Order
Chapter XI: Return
(BGM: Wild Arms Alter Code F – Holy Mother of Darkness)
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"So…there was a survivor…" A glowing screen hovered in a black void. The screen showed multiple things at once…but was currently focused on one particular warrior.
"To think…the power of Existence would be stronger than mine…hmph…that meddlesome Death…she aids him here as well?"
The sounds of chains rattling could be heard.
"I was only fulfilling my duty! That world was destroyed for its insolence! And even my own sisters betray me…claiming me a Moirae no longer. Death herself sealing me beyond the void, sleeping eternal…until that boy appeared again. Escaping not only my own, but the others' sight as well…those 'Dark Corridors'…shadowed pathways between worlds...used by both Light and Dark alike in their attempts to maneuver between realities outside their own. Those damn Chasers…locking me in here like some rabid animal! I cannot make a move with Death watching him so closely…But no…one cannot be a Weaver without subtlety…I have just the plan for this…"
A series of glowing grey orbs appeared before the speaker.
"Go now…my children. He weakened my seal already…and with a little…push…it will be destroyed by his hand. Go now, to the worlds of his creation…"
The orbs flew off into the distance. "And now…I wait. One cannot be a Weaver without patience…after all…"
Wonderland…
"I see what you mean Alice…these hideous creatures are unlike any we've ever encountered. Even the Heartless didn't attack in such numbers…"
"Weren't as bloody difficult to kill either."
"Alice!" "War time Fred, language should be the last thing on your mind." "That's beside the point!"
The Queen of Hearts, in all her royal fatass glory cut in. "Enough bickering! They come again!"
Soldiers of all forms, Men, Women, Cards, even Animals raised their arms in preparation. Alice held her hand out, a glowing light appearing within. The Lady Luck flashed into existence and the young teen Queen tied her hair back with a pink ribbon. Wearing a dress she had designed specifically for battles such as this, the young Queen was prepared.
"Alright, CHARGE!"
The army, led by Alice and her Keyblade, ran full tilt at the coming beasts. Lizardmen, armored Skeletons, strange insect like things with four legs and swords and armor…and giant hulking suits of metal and flesh. The Mindless charged as well, the two armies clashing in a storm of blood and sword. Alice fought wholeheartedly, using what little training she had to use her smaller form to be as nimble as possible, evading swings left and right, and driving in potshots of her own.
"Bloody HELL! Even this thing doesn't work on them!" "Our weapons aren't working! They just won't die!"
WHAM! A large boar-like beast slammed its club into Alice, sending her flying away.
"SHITE that hurt…"
"ALICE!"
"Not the time Fred!"
"No! Not that, LOOK OUT!"
The blonde Queen looked up, rubbing the blood from the side of her mouth away with her hand. She saw a giant black mass in the air, falling right towards her.
"Oh…bugger."
THOOM
"ALICE!"
Everything seemed to stop as the impact of the giant beast kicked up a massive cloud of dust. Alice's allies stood in horror; even the Queen of Hearts' mouth was agape.
Suddenly, there was a strange beam of light gently streaming from the cloud of dust. In moments the beam became a massive pillar that forced the dust cloud to spiral around it and wrench itself apart. When the light faded, in the center was Alice safe and sound…and in the arms of…
"Hey! It's that guy! Zero!"
The young queen stared in shock up at the traveling warrior's face. He smiled down at her.
"You ok Princess?"
"I…uhh…yeah…yeah I'm alright." Bloody HELL he's cute!
"Good." He gently placed her down. "Can you still fight?" She nodded. "Even better. Call off your allies. Enough of their blood has been shed today. This battle will be up to us."
She looked confused, but from what Sora's group told her, this guy knew what he was doing.
"Everyone! Fall back!"
"WHAT?!"
"JUST DO IT!"
Reluctantly, the army disengaged from the enemy.
"Think you can keep up?" His keyblade, Desolation appeared in his hands in a wave of dark energies. The only response he got was Alice summoning her own weapon and holding it like a dagger. Zero smiled.
"Good."
(BGM: Burn My Dread –Reincarnation Persona 3 – Unavoidable Battle)
"Try not to fall behind too much, and keep your wits about you. If you can't keep up just aim where I tell you." She can't see the points of death like I can…therefore she can't manipulate them as I can. However…those points represent fated Death, forcing the victim to rend itself asunder from it…at the very least, I can pinpoint areas where her weapon will do the most damage. I just hope she's accurate enough to do it.
He pulled back, and then charged forward, vanishing after the second step.
"Bloody SHITE he's fast!" Cute or not I can't just sit back and let him beat me!
She too ran forward. By the time she reached the actual battle, no less than five of the smaller creatures had been taken out, a flicker of grey all she saw as Zero's arms blurred. She pushed as much energy into her legs as she could and leapt to the air, crashing down on the head of a skeleton, caving its brain in, and turning it to bloody chunks that disintegrated after a moment or two.
Ducking under another's swing, she sliced through the face of another one, stunning it, then pivoting on her left heel and kicking it away. Her instincts flared danger and she used the one leg she was standing on to push off the ground into a loose spiral as one of the larger walking armors brought its gigantic blade down where she once stood. The vacuum created by the displacement of air from the swing sucked her in closer though. She gave a small start as the giant being brought its shield arm back to plow straight through her, when a flicker of black and grey entered her vision.
Within moments, and a series of flashes of grey, the beast's entire arm was severed in four places. Alice clambered to her feet and jumped at its head, right over Zero, who threw his arm out to let her land on it. Somehow, she did.
"Aim for the point between its eyes! It's the only part of his head you'll actually hit!"
With a mighty lunge he threw her into the air where she followed his instructions, jamming her blade into the creature's head, causing it to roar in agony and smack her away. She flew back a bit then flipped over, skidding on her feet. Damn good thing this outfit didn't include heels…they would've snapped right then.
It wasn't dead, but Zero soon remedied that. Kicking off the ground he shot into the air and vanished. A series of flickers appeared around the demon's chest before it suddenly burst into shreds. Zero landed, his keyblade in one hand, and Alice's in the other. He tossed it to Alice who nodded her thanks, whirling around and cutting through a Lizardman's neck.
"There! That's the leader! We kill that, everything else dies!"
It was a giant egg.
No.
It was a giant Humpty-Dumpty.
"Oh…shit…"
Those who were watching the battle immediately turned to Fred.
"Oh no…ohohohohoooo noooo…anything but that…"
"What? What is it?" The White Queen asked.
"This isn't good. This isn't good at all."
"Speak marshmallow or my cards will roast you!"
"Before Alice became Queen…Humpty-Dumpty made some…rather unpleasant comments towards her person."
Alice just froze in place. Zero stopped too, wondering why she just stopped moving like that…then he saw the look on her face. Blinking he looked over to what she was looking at.
Then he smiled.
It was the most frighteningly disturbing smile any of them had ever seen on a person.
He bowed to her and flickered over to where the bystanders were.
"Wha-What are you doing?!"
"Just biding my time. Alice will handle this."
Fred immediately whirled around to Zero.
"This is gonna be fuuuun."
A group of lesser Mindless tried to attack Alice…but a wave of invisible force just knocked them back. The ground beneath her feet crumbled inward as her clothes and hair fluttered in a soundless wind created by the waves of pure hate radiating from her body. The giant Humpty-Dumpty noticed Alice.
"Well, if it isn't the Surkey. I do believe you've gotten smaller. It must be due to your stupidity then."
Zero's smile widened. Alice twitched.
"Well I have more important things to do than converse with a stupid Surkey, thus I shall be-eh?"
The young Queen tensed…and vanished, a cloud of dust left in her wake. The giant egg blinked.
"By the way, does anyone want to know how I usually prefer my eggs?" Zero asked.
Alice reappeared in front of him, fist pulled back, a look of sheer loathing in her eyes along with the most demented smile on her face. The egg-man's face turned into pure terror, before the girl slammed her fist right between his eyes.
"SCRAMBLED, BITCH!"
CRACK-BOOM!
The force of the blow literally shattered the talking egg's face. Zero took that as his cue and pulled out his keyblade, firing a beam of silver light from it into the hole created when Alice's fist caved its face inward. The giant egg became engulfed in silver light…and then burst into particles.
(BGM: Chrono Cross – Predicament)
The young girl dropped from the air, falling through the glowing orbs, her anger fading. Zero appeared in her path, catching her and landing safely.
"Hey…you alright Princess?"
The girl nodded. He set her down as the others gathered around. She slowly stood, wobbling and shaking her head.
"My…I don't think I've ever been so angry in my life…"
"This world should be safe now. Heartless will probably pop up every now and then, but that's a good thing…keeps the people on their toes and from becoming stagnant. Those zombie demon things though, they shouldn't be back ever again."
Alice nodded. "You have my thanks."
"Also…I fixed that hole for you."
"Hole?" then it dawned on her. "Oh…the Hole."
"Yeah…I think you'll like it. Now, as much as I'd like to stay, my head is pounding something fierce, which means Kairi's in over her head. God this will be what, the fourth time I've saved a princess?"
Alice giggled. "Well, I'm out. Laterz."
A dome of black surrounded and engulfed him. When it faded, he was nowhere to be found.
Alice and the others decided to investigate the "Hole." When they did, they gasped in shock.
Where once there was a horrible crater…now was a beautiful crystal blue lake. Sakura blossoms decorated the lake's edge, stone piers for docking small boats were scattered around, beautiful flowers floated in groups along the lake's surface…and where the pillar was, was now an island of beautiful trees and flowers, its own three piers around its edge. Fish occasionally jumped out of the water…and if they looked far enough, there was a small river, feeding the lake, leading into the forest.
"It's…beautiful…"
Within the Dark Corridor, silver glow around him as he propelled through the darkness, Zero felt Alice's amazement and smiled. Hang in there Alicia…just one more thing to be done…and we can travel together again…
A chain shattered.
"Yes…my plan has worked…even Death did not notice…soon…soon I will be released…"
A maniacal laugh rang through the void…
Pretty intense chapter. Who the hell is talking? Damned if you know. Of course, if you're good at puzzles, you might have figured it out…
RCRS: Yes, some people have the skill of not getting it. I'm glad you were amused. Now, you get to see Alice not suck. And if you want to REALLY understand the "SCRAMBLED BITCH" part, you should read the LP. Link is on my profile.
D&S Master: Sorry about that, but I needed you all to know that the voice was female, this way it would be heard accurately in your minds as you read. The NEW voice however…that will be revealed later on. As for what Zero's been doing…you'll find out soon enough…