Day 73
Xurik frowned, peering around the Grey Area. Where was she? It had been at least a few days since he'd seen Xion... whether on the clock tower or within the Castle. At first he had assumed she was just busy with missions -- they all were, with half of their ranks obliterated -- but this was getting out of hand.
"Hey, Xurik," Axel called, approaching.
"Morning," Xurik mumbled. "Hey, Axel, have you seen Number XV?"
"Xion?" He scratched his head. "Hmm... now that you mention it, no."
"Are you talking about Xion?" Roxas asked, stepping forward.
"Yeah. It's been days since I've seen her."
Roxas nodded. "Yeah, you're right. It's been... let's see... around ten days or so."
"That's specific," Axel said with a smirk, and Roxas shrugged. "Well, I wish I could help, but I took off for Castle Oblivion almost as soon as Xion joined up. There's a lot I missed."
"I promised she could have ice cream with us once you got back," Xurik said earnestly. "And besides, I'm worried about her. Why would she be gone this long?"
Axel gave a small smile. "You three are friends, right? Tell ya what. I'll pick Saix's brain, see what I can find out."
Roxas grinned. "Thanks, Axel." Xurik smiled too; Axel was always such a good friend to them, at least when he wasn't hiding things. The dynamic of their group was fairly unique... Roxas and Axel were fairly close, as were Xurik and Roxas, whereas Xurik was closer to Xion than Roxas was... and Xion and Axel barely knew each other.
Xurik's smile widened slightly. He could fix that, though. As soon as they figured out where Xion was, the four of them would all be closer friends. He just knew it.
"This is the castle..." Roxas said, looking up at the gates. Xurik nodded vaguely. He was having another strange flashback -- in the back of his mind, the image of a silver-haired boy standing within the castle arose. A sudden fierce roar from deep within the castle shook him out of his thoughts.
"What was that?" Xurik said with a frown. "The Heartless we're looking for, maybe?"
"Could be," Roxas mumbled. He readied his silver sword. "Let's go."
The boys cautiously made their way across the castle courtyard; the towers of the building rose high above them. There had been an awful lot of castles in all of the worlds Xurik had been to so far... the Castle That Never Was, the palace in Agrabah, the castle here. Was that normal for most worlds? He supposed every world needed a ruler of some sort... the Organization had Xemnas, for example. Were most rulers like him?
"The door won't budge," Roxas said, pushing against the heavy wooden door after they reached it. "Must be locked from the inside."
"How are we supposed to get in then?" Xurik said with a sigh. Surely there was more than one entrance to the castle. He thought for a moment; did it matter? He lifted his hand, creating a portal to the Corridors of Darkness.
"What? We're leaving already?" Roxas said, surprised. "But we haven't destroyed the Heartless yet!"
Xurik smirked. "No, moron. It goes to the other side. Try and keep up."
Roxas opened his mouth to say something in response, then thought better of it and followed through. They emerged in a long, dark entrance hall.
"It's really quiet in here," Xurik mumbled. "Does anyone even live in this place?"
Roxas shrugged. He glanced behind them; a wooden beam was placed across the entrance, explaining why the front doors wouldn't open. He carefully unbarred the door, allowing it to be opened in the future.
Xurik glanced at the blond boy. "Good thinking. Now, let's start looking for that Heartless."
Roxas's sword appeared in a flash of silver light. "I think it may have already found us!"
Xurik whirled around just in time to see a particularly powerful Soldier Heartless diving at him; he summoned the Keyblade and blocked the armored beast with the loud clang of metal against metal. He forced the creature off, taking a few steps back.
"This thing's not just a Shadow, don't take it lightly."
Roxas nodded. He reared back, then shot an orb of light at it; it hit the Heartless square in the chest, sending it stumbling backwards. Xurik quickly followed up with a slash from the Keyblade. The creature vanished in a puff of smoke, its heart drifting off into the shadows of the ceiling. Momentarily, more Heartless began appearing. Xurik and Roxas wasted no time, destroying each one as quickly as possible until there were none left.
"Not too bad," Roxas said with a small smile. Xurik nodded, but the two boys froze as they heard a deep, gutteral roar echo through the castle.
"What was that?" Xurik hissed. "We already got rid of the Heartless..."
"Maybe that wasn't a Heartless," Roxas said quietly.
Xurik thought about this for a moment, then shrugged. He summoned a dark portal.
"Whatever. We can find out about that later, I'm sure we'll be back soon enough."
"But don't you think we should at least--"
Xurik shook his head. "I... want to find out if Axel's found out anything about Xion."
Roxas hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "Alright. I do too." The two boys vanished through the portal.
"Where is he?" Roxas said finally, frowning at the entrance to the clock tower ledge. The two boys had been wating for quite some time -- it was already getting late.
Xurik shrugged listlessly. Who ever knew with Axel? This just added one more day that Xion had remained missing. That wasn't like her.
"I hope... Xion is alright."
The air flickered slightly. A vague wisp of dark smoke materialized in mid-air, then vanished instantly.
"I can't do it," Sora moaned. The King chuckled.
"Aww, shucks. Sure you can! You just gotta believe in yourself."
"But I'm not a dark person," Sora complained. He lifted his gloved hand; a brilliant orb of light appeared, illuminating the dark forest of Twilight Town. He had been practicing his powers quite a bit since leaving Castle Oblivion. "I can use light just fine, but... won't using darkness weaken my heart?"
"If you rely too much on it, it will," King Mickey said thoughtfully. "But you're not using it to fight. You're the one who said you wanted to learn how to use the Corridors of Darkness! Besides, these cloaks will protect ya, DiZ said so."
Sora nodded reluctantly. He had asked the King to teach him how to summon dark portals -- he couldn't rely on King Mickey and DiZ to ferry him around all the time, and gummi ships weren't stealthy enough for what he needed to do.
"I know. I just... worry. You know. About... winding up like Riku."
The mouse grinned. "Nahh. Riku's a different person than you are... and he's better now, you said so yourself. And anyway, your heart is really strong! I just know you can withstand it -- your light shines too brightly for darkness to cover."
Sora's face turned slightly red at this compliment. "Th...thank you, your Majesty. I mean... Mickey."
He sighed, then took a deep breath. If the black cloak was already protecting him, and his light was protecting him, then he had nothing to fear, right? And even if his heart was mostly light, he still had some darkness somewhere inside of him... he just needed to tap into it enough for this one purpose.
He held up his hand. The shadows sluggishly slid across the ground -- but within moments a flickering dark portal had appeared in midair. It looked liable to collapse any moment, but it was still far more than he had been able to do before.
"Now ya got it!" the King said with a goofy grin. "I'd practice a bit more before you use an unstable one like that, but soon you can go wherever ya want!"
"Thanks," Sora said with a grin, feeling genuinely excited. He held out his hand; it began to shine brightly. His light powers didn't seem any weaker. Maybe it really didn't make much of a difference.
Now he could go wherever he wanted at will -- meaning he could do his part in watching over Riku's sleep. DiZ and Namine were still looking for a place to move him. How much longer until he woke? How long did it take to fix someone's memory, anyway?
Unknown to them, a lone hooded figure lurked at the outskirts of the trees, watching curiously.
Day 74
Roxas and Axel stood by the window talking. When they saw Xurik approaching, Axel smirked. "Rise and shine, sleepyhead."
Xurik yawned. What time was it? Everyone seemed fairly awake and active... he must have overslept. "Ah. Sorry. I couldn't sleep..."
Axel ignored this and continued. "I asked Saix about Xion."
At this, Xurik's eyes lit up, although his expression was hesitant. What if something bad had happened? "And? What did he say?"
Roxas shook his head, looking worried. "Xion never RTC'd after her last mission. That was days ago."
Xurik's eyes narrowed. "She should be done way before now. What happened? Is she okay?"
"I dunno," Axel said darkly. "But we'll find out what happened soon enough. You and Roxas get to go track Xion down. That's your mission today."
"Her last mission was in Twilight Town," Roxas explained. "We've gotta find out what happened to her."
Xurik nodded, feeling refreshed. Finally, some action. He hated sitting around, waiting to find out things from other people. Finding Xion mattered far more to him right now than completing Kingdom Hearts or anything stupid like that.
Roxas blinked in the afternoon sunlight, then peered around the street. "Where do you suppose Xion is?"
"Well," Xurik said, thinking. "Her last mission was to take out a giant Heartless here. Maybe she couldn't do it. Either way... if we find the Heartless, we'll probably find Xion."
Roxas nodded. "I hope she's okay. I spent a lot of time with her after you collapsed, but she still hasn't gotten to really get to know Axel yet."
"Yeah."
The two boys made their way through the now-familiar streets -- how many missions had they had in this town, anyway? -- until they came to the sandlot. Xurik quickly pulled Roxas aside when he realized there were a couple of people standing around.
"Oh, I recognize them," Roxas said quietly. "They were here the first day Axel took me to the clock tower to get ice cream. Well, other than the very first day, when we were born."
"Quiet," Xurik whispered.
"You're sure you heard that right?" a blond boy in camo pants was saying skeptically.
"Yes, I'm sure," the brunette girl said with exasperation. "I told you!"
"And you heard it where again?"
"The tunnel! I was just there, and I heard a weird, low moan."
The boy frowned. "Did ya see what was making it?"
The girl gave him an annoyed stare. "Are you kidding? I was scared! I got out of there as fast as I could."
Roxas and Xurik exchanged glances.
"A low moan?"
"That might be the Heartless," Xurik mumbled.
Roxas looked worried. "Or it could be Xion -- injured, unable to make it back to the castle..."
Xurik turned pale. "Just... don't think about that. I'm sure she's... she's fine."
"You don't sound very sure."
"Shut up. Let's just go check it out, okay?"
Roxas gave a small smile at Xurik's worry, but nodded and followed him.
The tunnel was fairly echoey -- Xurik recognized it as the location of his first mission. However, there was no sign of either the Heartless or Number XV. Xurik sighed.
"I guess we should look somewhere else."
A tubby boy suddenly rounded the corner, stopping in surprise as he spotted them. "Huh? What are you guys doing down here? You lose something?"
"Shit!" Xurik hissed, taken by surprise at the sudden intruder. What did they do? He had never run into a resident of another world before, he had no idea what the proper procedure was for--
"Well, we heard some rumors about a moaning sound or something," Roxas said, glancing at Xurik nervously. "And... we're looking for someone. A friend of ours."
"Oh. Well, the moaning sound is probably that vent up there." The boy pointed -- there was indeed a low droaning sound coming from the air vent. "The wind coming through it creates a lot of echoes. It sounds kind of like a moan."
Xurik glared at Roxas -- why was he striking up conversations with people when they were supposed to be sneaky and stealthy?
"But, uh... I'm sorry about your friend. Hope you find them soon," the boy said after a moment, when no one else said anything.
Xurik hesitated, then nodded. "Thanks."
"I don't think we've been introduced," he added, smiling brightly. "I'm Pence. If you ever need anything, I'm always happy to help."
"Um, thanks," Roxas said, glancing at Xurik uncertainly. Xurik stared back at his friend, annoyed -- Roxas wasn't getting any help, he was on his own with this guy. That's what he got for striking up conversations with random Somebodies.
"Sure," Pence said brightly. He gave a small wave, then turned to go. "I'll catch you later. Hope you find your friend."
Xurik nodded. As Pence disappeared around the corner, he sighed.
"Well that was close. Good thing he didn't start asking too many questions, like why there are two cloaked guys running around the underground tunnel system."
"Sorry," Roxas muttered. "I just thought maybe he could help us find Xion. I'm worried about her."
Xurik's expression softened. "Well... me too. Come on. I'm sure we can find her if we look hard enough."
"This is taking forever," Roxas mumbled. "I feel so sore."
"We've got to find her," Xurik said through gritted teeth as they trudged through the city. He wracked his brain, trying to think of all the places they had looked. They'd looked around the train station, the downtown area, market street, all of the side streets, and now the sandlot. They had even checked the clock tower, not that it was likely that she would be hiding there. That was pretty much everywhere, wasn't it?
"Hey!"
Xurik cursed again. He attempted to pull Roxas into the shadows, but was too late. A blonde boy wearing a black ski cap came up to them; he had a scar across his face and was wearing a sleeveless trench coat. To his side were a girl with blue-hair and a serious expression, and a muscular, dark-skinned boy.
"Where'd you come from?" the blond boy asked suspiciously, obviously the leader. Roxas and Xurik exchanged glances.
"Uh, we're --"
"You here to pick a fight with us or something?"
"No," Xurik said, frowning. What was this guy's deal? "We're looking for someone."
The boy's eyes narrowed. "You don't look like you're from around here."
The muscular boy folded his arms with a smirk. "No one sets foot in Seifer's town unless he says so, y'know?"
The girl nodded. "Outsiders."
"We were just going," Roxas said uneasily, tugging on Xurik's sleeve. Xurik and Seifer shared one last glare, then the steel-haired boy followed Roxas reluctantly.
"Can you believe that jerk?" Xurik muttered once they were out of earshot. Roxas grinned.
"What happened to keeping a low profile?"
"Well, he's acting like he owns the place, but he's obviously just some kid. He can't be much older than us." Xurik sighed. "Sorry. I guess I'm just... frustrated. I'm really worried about Xion... we've been looking all day and we still haven't found her."
"Yeah," Roxas said quietly. "Maybe... we should go find Pence and his friends. They seemed nice. Maybe they could help. Or maybe there are more mysterious things around town that could help us find the Heartless, or Xion."
Xurik shook his head. "We've already alerted half the town to our presence. We need to be as careful as possible from now on. If any of the senior members were here, we'd never hear the end of it."
"Yeah, but--" Roxas paused, glancing to their side. "Hey, Xurik... where does that hole lead?"
Xurik followed his gaze and saw a sizeable hole in the city wall. Through it was what looked like a dark forest.
"I dunno. Looks like some woods or something." He grinned. "Nice eye. Maybe she's through there!"
The crack in the wall was more than large enough for them to walk through. They found themselves in the middle of a dense patch of forest.
"Well, we've got some trees," Xurik said blandly. "That's nice, but no sign of--"
Roxas suddenly pointed up at the canopy. "Is... is something there?"
One of the trees seemed to be shaking slightly; leaves were shedding everywhere. Xurik's eyes widened. Suddenly, the shaking stopped -- and another tree began. Then another and another, one at a time.
"There's something jumping through the trees!" Xurik said, the Keyblade appearing in a flash of light. "That's gotta be our Heartless -- come on, it's headed that way!"
The two boys charged through the forest until they found themselves at the gates of an old mansion. There was no Heartless though. They had followed the shaking trees, but --
"Watch out!"
Xurik dove out of the way just in time; footprints had appeared behind him, until the ground exploded where he had once been standing. The footsteps changed direction, appearing in the grass as if by magic.
"What is it?" Roxas said, eyes narrow.
Xurik kept a careful distance from the footprints; then, taking careful aim, he threw the Keyblade as hard as he could.
Instead of flying effortlessly through the air, it collided with something that made an awful shrieking noise. The air suddenly wavered -- and an enormous chameleon-shaped Heartless appeared out of nowhere. The Keyblade reappeared with a flash in Xurik's hand.
"You think that's the one?" Roxas asked, nodding at the Veil Lizard.
Xurik nodded. "It must have been camouflaged. Maybe that's why Xion couldn't finish her mission -- she couldn't find the Heartless."
"So, where's Xion?"
Xurik shrugged. "Maybe still looking for it. Let's take care of it first... then we can look for her."
The two boys worked at fighting the Heartless as it struck out at them with eye beams and fierce claws. Soon they began to gain the upper hand. Xurik began to ready his darkness, preparing a powerful attack.
A black-cloaked figure suddenly darted across the clearing, running at the lizard. Xurik dropped his hands, all thoughts of the attack suddenly gone.
"Xion!"
"X...Xurik?" Xion said, shocked. In her brief moment of distraction, the Heartless suddenly seized the opportunity. Its long tongue lashed out, striking Xion in the chest; she cried out, then fell to the ground, motionless.
"Xion!" Xurik repeated, this time with alarm. Roxas shook his head.
"Come on! We've almost beat it -- then we can see to Xion."
Xurik nodded. Seeing Xion knocked to the ground filled his chest with a strange heat; he wanted nothing more than to destroy the creature standing before them. He used the heat to fuel his powers. With a mighty shout, darkness exploded out of him. The Heartless cried out with surprise and pain, then vanished into nothingness.
"Xion! Are you okay?" Xurik called out, running to her side. He held her head carefully.
Xion winced, her eyes slowly fluttering open. "Nngh... X... Xurik?"
Xurik smiled, then helped her to her feet. Roxas patted her gently on the back.
"That looked like it hurt."
Xion shook her head. She looked upset somehow. "I'm fine... thanks. It's just..."
Xurik shook his head. They had found their friend; this was a cause for celebration.
"Come on -- let's go get some ice cream first, that'll make you feel better. Then you can tell us what happened."
Xion hesitated, then nodded. She gave a small smile.
"Thank you, Xurik."
"Axel! We found Xion!" Roxas called out in excitement when the red-head rounded the corner. Axel looked down in surprise.
"Well whaddaya know. Glad to see you're doing okay, Xion."
Xion nodded reluctantly. Axel sat down next to Roxas, taking an ice cream from Xurik when he offered it.
Xurik peered at Xion for a moment, then gestured at her ice cream bar. She had barely had any.
"Your ice cream's gonna melt if you don't eat it."
"I know."
Roxas frowned. "Aren't you hungry? You've been stuck in Twilight Town for days."
Xion said nothing. Xurik and Roxas exchanged worried glances.
"You wanna talk about what happened?" Roxas said gently.
When there was still no reply from Xion, Axel looked down at her kindly.
"We're here for you if you want to get it off your chest. Right, Xurik?"
Xurik nodded. "Yeah. We're your friends."
Xion looked up at the three boys, then sighed.
"I can't... I can't use the Keyblade anymore. And without it... I can't do my job."
The three exchanged glances. Xurik frowned.
"Xion, what happened?"
"I don't know," Xion said desperately. "But if I don't defeat Heartless with the Keyblade... the hearts they release just find their way into other Heartless instead. I swat them in one place and they just pop up in another. I'm supposed to be collecting hearts. Those are my orders. Without the Keyblade... I'm useless."
"Axel, can't you do something?" Xurik said desperately. "You're Number VIII!"
Axel slowly shook his head. "Wish there was. But... it's just like Xion said. No Keyblade, no can do."
"They're gonna turn me into a Dusk once they find out they don't need me," Xion said, her voice barely a whisper.
Roxas slowly shook his head. "No... it's not just the Keyblade that makes you useful, right? I mean, only Xurik and you have the Keyblade. The rest of us don't."
"But the rest of us have our own weapons, and those give us strength," Axel pointed out. "Xion's strength lies in her ability to use the Keyblade. No offense to you, Xion, but without it you're not going to be able to do much."
"There has to be something we can do," Xuirk mumbled.
"Hey, I'm racking my brain here, and there's just no way to-- wait."
Axel suddenly stopped midsentence. Roxas stared at him, his face brightening slightly with hope.
"What? Tell us."
Axel turned to the steel-haired boy, his eyes wide with enthusiasm. "What if you worked double duty, Xurik?"
Xion frowned. "What do you mean, Axel?"
"Xion, stick with Xuirk until you can control the Keyblade again. Make sure your missions are with him. Then, he can collect the hearts and nobody will ever have to know you're not doing the same."
Xurik beamed at him. "Yes... you're right! Axel, that's perfect!"
Axel wagged a finger in his face. "Ah-ah-ah... but, Xurik, that also means you have to collect twice as many hearts."
Xurik waved his hand dismissively. "No problem."
Xion frowned. "You don't mind?"
"Of course not!" Xurik said forcefully. No amount of work was too large a price to pay for keeping Xion within the Organization.
"But Xurik--"
Axel shrugged. "Hey, friends have gotta be able to lean on each other now and then. Ain't that right, Roxas?" The blond boy nodded with a grin.
"Thanks," Xion said sincerely, sounding incredibly relieved. "So... Axel, does that mean you and I can be friends?"
Axel smirked. "Well, yeah. Was there ever any doubt? Any friend of Roxas's and Xurik's is a friend of mine."
Xion turned red, overwhelmed. "Thank you... Xurik, Roxas, Axel, thank you!"
Axel shrugged, then gestured at the mostly-melted sea-salt ice cream bar.
"Eat your ice cream."