Proofs of Existence Pt III
Keitaro, or rather Taroxiek, put his unveiled weapon away and looked at the keyblade wielders and his former residents with a cold glare. At this revelation Shinobu's frail psyche couldn't handle the information, so she fainted into Kanako's arms. Naru was just completely lost and staring with an empty look on her face while her psyche was standing up to it all.
Sora, Riku, and Kairi stood there with their keyblades armed and ready and staring down Taroxiek. Sora finally broke the silence with "What the hell is going on?! Why do you have that weapon and who are you working for?!"
To this, Taroxiek replied "I already told you, I am the new Lunar Diviner, Taroxiek. I am one of the Proofs of Existence of the Nobodies and, therefore, one of the eleven most powerful Nobodies."
"Proofs of Existence!? What about Organization XIII?!" Riku asked.
"That was merely a fleeting gathering of the Proofs and the one called Xemnas. He just gathered all the strongest Nobodies he could find and put a title on his cute little team," chuckled Taroxiek.
"Even so, we killed the Lunar Diviner," Riku said. "The power of the Lunar Diviner should have been lost along with Saix."
"It's merely a title, the eleven Proofs of Existence are the embodiment of the elements," Taroxiek said. "The power that is created in the void and represents the power of the moon chose me."
Sora thought for a little bit and then spoke, "That means that all the other member of Organization XIII have been reincarnated in other being haven't they?"
"Exactly… except for Roxas and Xemnas. Those two weren't Proofs, but Nobodies of such great power that they retained their intelligence."
Taroxiek smiled at the hopeless look on the Keyblade wielders' faces. The Graceful Assassin, Gambler of Fate, all of them would be back and they would have to fight them again. "Don't worry," Riku told Sora and Kairi, "We defeated them before and we'll do it again."
"That's some conceited thinking," Taroxiek said. "Just so you know, we're all much stronger than our predecessors. Don't even think of comparing me to that fool Saix."
The Hinata House residents listened to the explanation in confusion. Riku tried to put the pieces together, if the Proofs had predated Organization XIII, then why did they follow Xemnas, and what was Roxas' connection to all this. Riku couldn't get any of it.
Riku finally got an idea in his head and asked "You're working for someone, someone even higher than Xemnas. Who?!"
Taroxiek looked at him as if Riku should have known the answer. "All of you should know by now. You keyblade wielders have only ever fought against him."
Kairi yelled, "Who's him!"
"Lord Xehanort," Taroxiek said. "He is the only man ever to journey into Kingdom Hearts and claim its power for his own. Lord Xehanort is the only being able to control the vast power of the three realms."
"What the hell are you talking about?!" Sora screamed. "Xehanort was the apprentice of Ansem the Wise who became corrupted in his research of the Heartless and Kingdom Hearts. It eventually led him to split himself into a Heartless and a Nobody."
"You're actually part right, in a way that was Xehanort. But the one you knew was just a reincarnated form. Long ago, before the Keyblades were even made, Lord Xehanort traveled into Kingdom Hearts and conquered it. In doing so he gained an unfathomable power which he used to create a new world by destroying all others. That's when you're ancestors challenged him with the Keyblades. The battle cost them their lives but they were able to seal Lord Xehanort in the deepest parts of Kingdom Hearts. In a last ditch effort to escape, Lord Xehanort figure out how to disassemble his own body, destroying himself, and reincarnating himself in a new form. The new Xehanort didn't corrupt himself in his research; he researched Kingdom Hearts because it was familiar to him."
"It doesn't change the fact that Xehanort is dead," Sora said. "I made sure of that."
"Yes you did," Taroxiek said with a smile, "That was what Lord Xehanort was hoping for. With the destruction of both his Nobody and Heartless at the hands of the Keyblades, he can be reborn again."
"What do you mean!?" Riku said.
"Energy is always constant, it can't be destroyed or created. The same can be said about the hearts that make up the Heartless and Nobodies. Even if they are killed, the elements that make them up will always exist in a never-ending cycle. Kind of like death and rebirth, reincarnation," Taroxiek explained.
Eventually all the gears in Sora and his friends' minds started to turn as they figured out what Taroxiek would say next. And all their faces began to turn white.
"I can see you're starting to figure it out," Taroxiek scoffed with a smirk. "With the 'destruction' of his Heartless and Nobody, Lord Xehanort's true essence is now freed from a concrete form and as energy. Lord Xehanort can be revived by gathering his essence, a rebirthing ritual that will give him his form, memories, and full power back tenfold. He will be a God!"
Sora was letting all this new information seep in to his psyche. If this was all true, than that means that it's his entire fault, Sora just did what Xehanort wanted. He didn't change a single goddamn thing and made things worse. Sora just relaxed his guard and lowered his keyblade to lament what he had done. Taroxiek saw the chance to strike and dashed toward Sora who put up his guard at the last second and was pushed back so easily and by an unarmed opponent no less. Sora's wandering thoughts made him make an amateur mistake and left himself wide open for an attack. Motoko and Su, being the only Hinata House residents that could still fight, came up behind Taroxiek for a sneak attack with tears in their eyes. The former Keitaro didn't even need to turn his head as he flipped out of the way of both their attacks and did a sweeping kick from below. Motoko and Su were knocked unconscious.
"You can't be serious," Taroxiek stated. "This is all the great wielders of the Keyblades have to offer in a fight," after he said that, Riku and Kairi unleashed an onslaught of attacks. They were exhausted from the multiple Heartless and were drained of magic, which made it easy for Taroxiek to cast them aside with a simple punch to each of them. "And you two," now addressing Motoko and Su, "I'm a being of power that's beyond your comprehension and you have the gall to attack me with your little toys. Pathetic."
Riku was now on the ground right next to Kairi while Sora was just trying to get up a few feet away. "Just answer something for me," Sora began to say, "You could have left this place anytime you wanted. There's nothing worth keeping you here. What possible reason do you have for this world?"
Taroxiek stared coldly at Sora and answered, "I was actually in the process of leaving this world and the life I gave up. But you showed up by pure coincidence and I just wanted to meet you."
"What do you mean?!" Naru screamed.
"I'm done with this world, I have no other reason to stay here than to kill these twerps, and this world has nothing of value and is, therefore, expendable. As for Sora, Riku, and Kairi, I was told not to kill you; but really your nothing but pests, and who really likes pests? You're no threat and everything is inevitable so I might as well put you out of your misery."
Taroxiek took out his giant, awkwardly shaped claymore and raised it over his head ready to strike and kill Sora. "Goodbye," left Taroxiek's lips as be readied his swing until…
"ENOUGH" a mysterious voice yelled.
Taroxiek stopped and backed away from a clumsy swing of Sora's Keyblade who tried to take the momentary opportunity. A dark portal opened and a man with a similar cloak as Taroxiek walked out. Roughly the same size, this new person's feature couldn't be identified as his hood concealed his face.
"Aw great," Taroxiek lamented by hitting his forehead with his palm, "What do you want Oxtari?"
"Your orders are to return immediately," Oxtari said. "Cease what you're doing this instant."
"But I was just about to—"
"You were instructed not to engage with the Keyblade wielders. Lord Xehanort explicitly said to leave them be for now. Do not question his orders you idiot."
Sora, Riku, and Kairi, as well as the residents just looked on at this conversation. "Fine, but I don't see what the big deal is. What could they possibly do to threaten us?"
Oxtari spoke as Taroxiek moved towards the portal, "Will you listen for a few seconds, it was never about what threat they could pose. Lord Xehanort still has a use for those three."
The two Proofs were about to leave through the dark portal when suddenly Sora started to speak. "Wait!" to this the two cloaked men turned, "Where are you going? Why don't you finish me off now?!"
"All in due time," Oxtari spoke, "You will be eliminated when you've served your purpose, but for now, enjoy the delay of your death. Just go about your normal tasks."
With that melancholy omen, both Taroxiek and Oxtari left for their unknown hideout, leaving a large group to grieve at their misfortunes.
Author:
To anyone who can guess the identity of Oxtari, send a review letter with the full name of the character (if he has an American-ized name maybe include both the Japanese version and English) and the anime he's from and I'll send the first person who answers it correctly an exclusive list of the Proofs of Existence that I have so far.
{contest begins 1/19/2010, list maybe subject to change by the time they come into the story, no parental supervision required, boyhood prohibited(whatever the fuck that means I just hear it in disclaimers)} *boyhood not actually prohibited
To all runner-ups you get a middle finger and a "Fuck off, you lost."