Kingdom Hearts : Worlds Apart

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The four returned to the crash site of Sora's vessle, the GummiShip. The Keyblade weilder sighed, looking at the dissarray of his ship. The front of it was the most damaged, having a large chunk missing from the nose. It was crushed in a bit on the top and one of the wings was snapped in half. He crossed his arms over his chest, looking at it hopelessly. "Looks like it'll be a while before we get off this world," he whispered. The Master Chief looked at him oddly, then at the ship. There was another object laying in the grass beside the multi-colored GummiShip. It was one solid gray color, a bit dull. The window was shattered and bodies remained lifeless inside. The Spartan approached it.

"This is the vessle I was in," he said, "when I crashed here. We could probably use parts of this evacuation ship for yours." He ripped a large plate from the nose of the vehicle. Goofy tilted his head, then walked over to the gray ship. He snatched up part of the snapped wing that lay wasting beside it.

"But we have no tools to rebuild it!" Sora cried. A chuckle escaped from under the helmet of the armored man.

"There's more to this suit of armor than just guns and grenades, Sora." And with that, he set to work. Goofy handed him the wing, while Donald helped remove the plate that was crushed in slightly.

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Maxiwill started pacing back and forth, his arms crossed behind his back. Elyxca sat on the curb, looking at him walk back and forth. It was deafeningly silent in that city. The occasional raindrop would disturb their silence with its soft dropping into a puddle. Then the boy stopped, looking up at the sky. A droplet of water fell onto his glasses. He winced at this. "Sit down," a voice said softly. Maxiwill looked to see Elyxca blinking at him. He pulled his half-moon spectacles from his face and sat down beside her. The two were silent as he cleaned the water from the lense with the sleeve of his cloak. As he slipped them back onto his nose, he looked at the girl.

"So," he started, "What can we do while she's away?" He stretched his legs out and tapped the front of his feet together, much like a small child. Elyxca shrugged.

"Lexstrik and I went to Twilight Town," she said, "but I don't think you'd want to go anywhere. Tired from that whooping that Sora gave you?" Maxiwill's mouth twitched a bit at this.

"No!" he said loudly, "I'd just...like to rest, is all." He bent his right leg so that he could rest his arm on his knee. Elyxca nodded.

"Yeah, sure," she laughed. The boy closed his eyes halfway and gave her an odd look. The two returned to silence. It was weird; they both seemed the type to want to engage in a conversation, yet they both sat quietly in the city. There was a clap of thunder that made Maxiwill jump slightly. A small whimper escaped him when it died away. "What's the matter?" Elyxca asked him.

"Thunder," he said, "Not exactly my favorite thing." He felt a chill run down his spine. His body shook for a moment before he leaned forward and hugged his legs to his chest. "When I was little, a thunder bolt shot across the sky and hit a tree. When I saw that tree catch fire, I've been afraid of it since." Maxiwill moved his glasses up when he felt them sliding down.

"You seem to know a lot about who you were before..." Elyxca whispered, "I can't seem to remember anything..."

"Can you guess why?" Maxiwill asked her. She shook her head. "Odd," he stated, "Lexstrik and I seem perfectly able to remember who we were. I wonder why you can't." Elyxca shrugged her shoulders. The boy could tell that she wanted to know why herself, but right now wasn't a time to ponder that question. There wasn't anyone around to answer such a question; Maxiwill didn't know and the man who took her heart, Saix from what Elyxca told them, wasn't around either. So, together they sat. Once more, their ears falling prey to the silence.

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Lexstrik appeared in front of a large castle. It had many towers, each topped with a cone that pierced the night sky. Its large marble staircase that led to the front door was magnificent. The girl took her first steps onto the staircase, running her hand along the orb that adorned a small pedastle before the steps. Once she reached the top, her eyes fell straight on the mahagony door. Clearly, it was locked. This castle didn't look very inviting. The quietness of it proved this. Lexstrik ran her hand along the gold handle and pulled. Sure enough, it didn't budge. She placed a hand on her chin. "Well, isn't this quiet the conundrum?" she whispered. An idea struck her. Slowly, she placed her hand on the door again and shut her eyes. A tingling sensation began to form in the palm of her hand. Tongues of black smoke licked the door handle many times before she heard a soft click and then the sound of cracking wood. She opened the door and looked down. The plank of wood that had locked the door lay splintered on the ground. "Oops," she said softly, climbing over the threshold into the massive foyer.

The cieling was very high above her, held up by six large pillars with intracate carvings on them. By each pillar stood a statue. These statues had the appearances of gargoyles, each with a spear clutched in their hand. She let out a soft whistle as she reached the middle of the room. A grand staircase led up to a door, and two more staircases led upward from both sides of the door. "This place is huge!" she exclaimed. She loved the soft lighting given off; everything had a soft blue hue to it. The woman took a few more steps to the landing in front of the door. Slowly, she pushed it open. Luckily, this one was unlocked. She peeked inside to a marvelous view. The room was lit by a large chandilier that was hanging from the ceiling. Crystals that dangled from the chandilier magnified the light and brightened the room even more. The floor reflected the ceiling in its clean surface. She entered the room and heard a loud roar. She froze, dead in her tracks. It hadn't come from behind her. It had come from a balconey above the floor. She looked up to see another man in a black cloak like hers. This man had his hood up, much like the one from Hollow Bastion. He was speaking to a large creature. It was hunched over and had fur all over its body. From this distance, she could only see a small amount of its pointy teeth. It was also wearing a purple cape. And then, something Lexstrik hadn't expected, it spoke!

"You will leave my rose where it is at!" He had a deep voice, much like that befitting of a monster. The man in the cloak merely shook his head.

"If you fail to comply with me, Beast," Lexstrik guessed that this was the creature's name, "then the rose shall be mine." Lexstrik closed the door, looking out into the foyer. A clear smirk was written across her face.

"This rose they were talking about," she whispered with a laugh. She began to walk up the steps of the left staricase, "must have a considerable amount of value if Organization XIII wants it." The woman rubbed her hands together, smirking.

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"Finally!" Goofy sighed, sitting down on the grass. The GummiShip was repaired, thanks to the genius of the Master Chief. The evacuation pod, however, lie in ruin. "Lucky for us," the shield carrier laughed, "that you had that nifty gadget tucked away in the glove of your armor."

"Yeah!" Donald nodded, "If it wasn't for you, we wouldn't have fixed it all!" Sora smiled, hitting his chest softly with his fist.

"Thanks, Chief!" he smiled. The Spartan nodded. Invisible to the other three was a soft smile he wore on his war-torn face. He had never been surrounded by the innocence of others before. For countless years, he's always been the Spartan Warrior the Marines needed him to be. Followed every specific order, down to a T. And yet, in the presence of these three, he felt that weight was lifted from him. A part of him didn't wish them to leave, and yet another part did.

"You three," the Master Chief began, "need to get out of here. What we faced today...that 'Heartless'. It's nothing compared to what the Covenant is willing to bring out." There was no reason for them to stay; Sora defeated the Heartless. Surely, others were roaming somewhere else on Halo, but surely the Master Chief could take them on his own. The sound of the waterfall christened their conversation. Sora felt downtrodden at what the Spartan had said.

"If you need us," he began, but the Chief held up a hand to stop him.

"I can take it from here, Sora." His other hand spun the pistol he had been clutching since they first met. It was quite a flashy trick. Donald looked at the Keybearer.

"Yeah, Sora. He's been fighting aliens probably since before you were born!" The boy looked up at the duck and laughed.

"What exactly is that supposed to mean?" he asked, putting his hands on his sides and leaning forward. Donald and Goofy merely laughed at this. The Spartan gave a quick chuckle. Then Sora felt something. A burning sensastion in his palm. Instantly, his Keyblade materialzed in a flash of light. "Huh?" he blinked, "My Keyblade! It must be locking the world!" Sure enough, the end of the Keyblade began to glow with a mysterious light. Sora gripped it with both hands as wind rushed around him. Everything of his surroundings faded and became a swirling gold cloud around him. The beacon that had defeated Maxiwill's creature shot up a final blue flame. This flame burst into small embers, which shot together quickly to form the shape of keyhole. As the wind continuing spiraling around him, he jumped back and swung the Keyblade. The light at the end of the blade fired a beam into the keyhole. There was a click and everything around him faded back into the reality of Halo. The Spartan paused and looked at him.

"What did 'locking the world' mean?" he asked.

"He's sealed the world from the Heartless," Goofy explained before Sora opened his mouth, "Not to say that a few more won't pop up here and there, but those are only the really strong Heartless!" The boy nodded.

"Nothing you can't take care of, eh Chief?" His mission done, Sora strode past the armored man, followed by Goofy and Donald, "We'll see you around sometime, right? Chief?" The man said nothing, but he gave an affirmative nod. He then saluted the three as they sat into their ship and began to leave. Sora, Goofy and Donald saluted as well, feeling very accomplished about themselves. When the GummiShip had disappeared from sight, the Spartan turned his back to where it had lifted off from.

"That kid really knows how to fight," he whispered, "He'd make an excellent Spartan." He started walking in the direction they had come from, toward the beacon. A distress signal had been sent from nearby.

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"Maxi?" Elyxca whispered, breaking their eternity of silence. Her sudden saying of his name made him snap back into reality. His focused his attention on her, raising an eyebrow. "Since you know who you were," she started, "do you think you could tell me what your life was like?" The boy looked quite taken aback by the question. He scratched the back of his head.

"Well, I guess. We've got nothing better to do," he told her, "It'll be a time killer." She nodded and listened intently to his every word. He started with where he was born. The way he described Olympus was given a sigh of approval from Elyxca. He made many hand movements, as if advancing the story with the wind as well as with his words. It was nice, telling his story to her. She was a very good listener. She smiled, laughed, and gasped at all the right places. "And when I was 16, I fought the deadly half-man, half-bull! The Minotaur!" he flexed his arms, showing off his virtually non-existant muscle mass. She shoved at him playfully.

"You did not!" The boy nodded and placed a hand over where his heart would be and held up his hand.

"Swear to Zeus!" he said, "Granted, I did take my fair share of bruises. It wasn't short after that when I die---" he paused, looking at her. Elyxca had gasped slightly, "---died. Hercules and I were fighting. Hercules is the son of Zeus and he has amazing strength. He could pick up a building and tie it in a knot if he felt like it."

"But...why were you fighting?" she asked.

"Well, we weren't fighting because we were mad at each other. We were fighting for fun. A sparring match," Maxiwill placed a hand on his chin and closed his eyes, nodding, "Yeah. A friendly battle. What with Herc being a god and all, you can't exactly kill him. People who fight him are really just testing how long they can last before they just pass out." He gulped and told her that he was the first one to actually die in the contest. Of course, it was his fault. He made a stupid move to attack his feet, leaving his shoulder wide open. He didn't remember much between getting stabbed and falling to the darkness to Hades.

"Who's Hades?" Elyxca asked.

"The God of the Underworld. He's a bit of a hot head...literally," he laughed. Maxiwill explained that he had blue flames atop his head that would become red if he was ever angry. When she asked how he became a Nobody, this is where he paused for a time. Was it something that he really needed to explain? He was silent for around three minutes before sighing.

"I struck a deal with Hades," he admitted, "As long as he let me live in any form he pleased, I would be his eternal slave. The form he chose, luckily, was a Heartless. Which, according to Xemnas, created me." Elyxca nodded and hugged her knees to her chest, much like how Maxiwill was sitting.

"You seemed to have led an interesting life," she whispered, "I wish I remembered what my life was like..." she sighed heavily and Maxiwill could have sworn a tear traced its way down her cheek.

"Maybe..." he said. However, he decided to stop. What he was about to say could have hurt her feelings.

"Maybe what?" she asked. The boy shook his head, whispering a 'never mind' to her. They were quiet again before Maxiwill clenched his fist and smiled.

"Well! Whatever it takes! I'll help you find your memories and a heart!" He nodded his head happily. Elyxca stared at him for a moment before laughing.

"All right, then, Maxi!" she took his hand and shook it tightly. The deal was done. And then they were back in silence.

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Lexstrik looked around her. She had entered a hallway, adorned with many windows that looked out into the courtyard. Opposite these windows were more of the same statues from the foyer. "A little bland?" she said, walking past them. It was eerily quiet. Nothing moved. The only sound that filled her ears were those of her footsteps on the floor, which were muffled by a maroon carpet. The hallway seemed to drag on forever. She prayed that there was something of value, such as the rose, waiting for her in a room near the end of the hall. The girl stopped for a moment and turned to look over her shoulder. There was a sound; she swore she heard it. It was about a minute before the woman shook her head and continued onward. Of course, she did start pausing every so often to look over her shoulder to see if anything was there. Lexstrik found it a bit strange. All this room in a massive castle for one person? Something just didn't seem to fit. A castle means royality. And if someone royal lives here, surely he or she would have guards? Or at the very least, a group of servants? Nothing made sense in this castle.

She stopped in front of a statue and paused. They were all the same; the boring expressionless face. The same spear held in the same hand. The same posture on the same pedestal. Their cold eyes seemed to watch her with every step she took. A suit of armor dotted the vacant space in between every other sculpture. With a few final steps, the girl approached a door. It was very large; not quite as large as the door she saw in the foyer, but at least half the size. She opened it to find a room with the same blue hue as the rest of the hallway and the foyer. Yet, something caught her eye. Behind a tapestry that hung in the room, she saw a faint pink light emitting from underneath the curtain. Why would a curtain be drawn in a room if it wasn't on the window? Swiftly, she entered and closed the door silently behind her.

Quietly, she approached the curtain and pulled it open. The rest of the room was drowned in a vibrant pink light that came from something inside of a glass container. Lexstrik's eyes lit up as she laughed triumphantly. "I found it!" she said in a sing-song tone. She could barely contain her excitement as she wrapped her fingers around the case and pulled the rose close to her. She found that the light was beautiful and the only thing that beat out its beauty were the small white sparkles that adorned the rose petals. It was truely a treasure worth taking. After all, she was a pirate, wasn't she? As she turned to leave the room, her eyes met with those of the hairy creature from the ballroom.

"Put.It.Back..." he growled dangerously. Lexstrik stuck her nose up in the air and jumped back onto the table that the rose had been sitting on. "Don't think for one second," the Beast roared, "that I won't hesitate to kill you!"

"Why do you want this rose so badly?" she groaned, "It's really not befitting of this boring old dump you seem to call a castle. It really belongs with someone who can care for it. Like me!" she laughed. The Beast roared once more, jumping at her. At once, she held up her hand in self defense. What good would her hand do against him, though? However, she opened her eyes to see a wall of black smoke holding him back.

"Give me back the rose!" he barked intensely. Lexstrik groaned again.

"Keep it down, you're going to give me a headache," she walked over to the window and pushed it open. Continuing out of this room was a balcony, which she stepped onto. The Beast tore through the dark wall and roared again. Lexstrik set the rose down on the ground and snapped her fingers. In an instant, five small black creatures appeared. All five with round heads and bright yellow eyes. They jittered about, the antennae on top of their head twitching. Immediately, they jumped on the Beast, clawing at him. In a fit of rage, the Beast swung his mighty arms around, slashing them back into the darkness whence they had come. Lexstrik merely stared at her hand, smiling. "Didn't know I could do that!" A few more times she snapped her fingers. With each snap came five of the same small creatures, each identical to the last. The Beast fell back, holding his arms in front of his hairy face, the Heartless jumping at him and scratching at the creature. He roared in anger and pain. Lexstrik heard a door open.

"Beast! We're here to---Hey! Get away from him!" cried out a voice. It was familiar to the girl. Sure enough, when she examined in closer, it was a boy with spikey brown hair. He was aided by his two companions from Hollow Bastion. The Keyblade shone brightly in his hand as he hacked and slashed at the Heartless, destroying them.

"Who was it that did this?" cried the duck. The Beast pointed out the window at Lexstrik, as he huffed and puffed in exhaustion. Sora took a step forward.

"You! From Hollow Bastion!"

"Aye, it is me!" she laughed, stepping back and scooping up the rose with her, "Such a lovely visit. Afraid I can't stay and chat," she climbed onto the railing of the balcony and looked down at the courtyard from over her shoulder. She was fairly high up.

"Get back here!" Sora growled, running at her with his Keyblade beside him. On pure instinct, Lexstrik fell back, sending herself to the courtyard below. Holding the rose to her chest with one hand, she extended the other. A black cloud appeared below her, and she vanished within it. Sora slammed his fist on the railing. "Darn it!" he barked out, looking over his shoulder at the Beast, who let out a cry of anguish and rage. With one final look over the edge, Sora returned to his friend.

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Maxiwill looked up at the sky, the flickers of lightning giving him a sinking feeling in his stomach. He looked at Elyxca who was staring at the sky as well. Her attention turned to him. "What is it?" she said. The boy shook his head and pushed his glasses back up the bridge of his nose. He moved his hand from the position it was in (on his knee) and placed it to his side. His fingers graced the top of the girl's. Quickly, much like before, Maxiwill jerked his hand back. "It's fine," she said with a smile.

"Look out below!" called out a voice. The two looked up to see Lexstrik falling from a black cloud that vanished with the last of her body had exited. A failed attempt was made to escape. She landed on top of the two. "Oh no!" she cried out, jumping to her feet. She examined the object in her hand and sighed happily, "Good! It's not broken!"

"What's not broken?" Maxiwill asked, standing up, "Because I'm pretty sure my back and ribs are..." he winced a bit as he brushed himself off. Elyxca had gotten off easy; Lexstrik merely landed on her hand. Really, it was more of Maxiwill's face that had made contact with Elyxca's hand.

"What is that?" the red haired girl asked, looking at the glowing object that Lexstrik clutched to her chest tightly.

"A rose!" she laughed. Maxiwill, however, frowned heavily.

"You're kidding, right?" he said. To show him, Lexstrik moved her hands a bit. Sure enough, within the glass case, was a glowing red rose, "Are you serious!" he roared, "You were supposed to find us hearts! Not a glowing rose!" he stomped his foot on the pavement.

"Listen! Maxi!" she tried to calm him down, "I heard the owner of the rose talking to someone from Organization XIII! They were arguing about this!" She pointed sharply at the rose, "Surely this has some value to it, right?" After pondering the question, the boy nodded in agreement.

"I'll be taking that back, thank you..." whispered a voice. All three spun around on their heels to see another cloaked being. Something was different about his, though. The sleeves were much bigger in radius, and longer too. Slowly, the man pulled back his hood to reveal flowing black dreadlocks and braides. "I don't find it kind that you stole what is right fully mine..."

"And who might you be?" Maxiwill said, holding out an arm and putting the two girls behind him to protect them.

"A member of Organization XIII," he stated softly, "The Whirlwind Lancer. My name is..." he smirked, "Xaldin."