Day 358
Xurik's hood was drawn closely over his head; he peered grimly out of the alleyway. Their cloaks kept them hidden - and he didn't want the Organization tracking him down, not when he was so close to their home. Ironic that the cloak had been a gift to him from the Organization, and yet it would help him bring about their downfall.
The dark buildings towered overhead as rain pattered against the pavement. He had never really spent any time in the Dark City within the World That Never Was. Why would he? His home, for so long, had been in the Castle, while the city was dead and empty. But if he was to reach Kingdom Hearts... he couldn't just appear within the Castle walls. Xemnas was sure to be watching for him.
The gigantic heart-shaped moon loomed high in the gloomy sky, filling the city streets with an eerie silver light. Kingdom Hearts, the force that he and Roxas had worked so hard to build.
No... Xion had helped too. Xurik winced. Why did he keep forgetting to think about her? It was as if his memory of her was fading.
He had promised to destroy Kingdom Hearts, and he would eventually. But it was said to be a source of ultimate power. Couldn't something like that be enough to bring back Xion? If he could harness its power...
For a moment it looked like puddles of rain were forming around him, but he suddenly realized that the substance was darkness, not water. Neoshadows began rising from the ground, staring at him with piercing yellow eyes.
He summoned his Keyblade. Nothing was about to stand in his way - there was no time. It was bad enough to lose Xion, but if he lost the memory of her, too... how was he supposed to know to bring her back?
The Neoshadows pounced, and he slashed them out of existance effortlessly. Time was running out.
Roxas sat hunched against the prison wall. How had things come to this? Xurik and Xion were both gone, he was locked up... and Axel had apparently been keeping everything a secret for who knew how long. He wanted to help them... Xurik was in danger of being killed as long as the Organization was looking for him. But what could he do? Something about the power of the dungeon was repressing Roxas's ability to summon his Keyblade or a dark portal. His only link to the outside world was what he could see through the jail bars.
He absentmindedly scratched at the walls of the prison with a nail he had found on the floor - things like "ROXAS WAS HERE," "NUMBER XIII," and a crude picture of himself, Axel, Xurik, and Xion decorated the metal wall. How long would he be here? Was Xemnas going to try to destroy him, too?
Movement out of the corner of his eye caught his attention. Roxas turned his head and realized with surprise that a portal to the corridors of darkness had opened up in the rear wall of the prison. Where had that come from?
He glanced around; there was no one to be found. Well, he wasn't about to waste time sitting around. He hurried through the dark corridor, ready for wherever it might take him.
To his surprise, when he emerged he found himself standing on the clock tower in Twilight Town. There was no one around, but on the ledge was a folded piece of paper. Roxas took it curiously; the WINNER! ice-cream stick fell out.
I'm sorry, Roxas. For everything. I know it's not a lot, but here's your second chance. Xion is gone now... but please, do what you can to save Xurik. You're his best hope. Got it memorized?
Tears filled his eyes; Roxas blinked them back.
"Axel... thank you. I won't let you down."
Xurik stepped into the dark square silently; the rain was beginning to pick up. A skyscraper towered overhead, its facade covered in huge electric monitors. He had never been here before, but he had heard it talked about by the Organization - this had to be Memory's Skyscraper, looming over the rest of the city like a guardian. The buzzing of neon lights, as well as the steady beating of raindrops on his cloak and the streets, filled his ears.
More Neoshadows appeared around him; Xurik scowled. What did they want, his heart? Well, they were out of luck. They obviously didn't know what a Nobody was - he had no heart to offer.
Fury fueled his attacks as memories of Xion filled his mind; he slashed through the Heartless tirelessly, destroying monster after monster as their dark essence faded out of existance. It didn't seem to matter how fiercely he attacked; the Neoshadows just kept coming, no matter how many he destroyed. Realizing that blindly attacking wasn't doing any good, he leapt backwards, standing before the front doors of the skyscraper, trying to get out of the way of the monsters so that he could better assess the situation.
The hairs on the back of Xurik's neck suddenly stood on end; he had the distinct feeling that he was being watched. He looked around the square quickly, then glanced up. To his surprise, he spotted a cloaked figure standing far overhead, perched high above on top of the skyscraper, his spiky brown hair matted down with rain.
Xurik scowled. Sora. That smiling, lying bastard. Sending him to Naminé had all been a trap, a scheme to get him to destroy Xion and return her to Riku... whatever that meant. Sora had pretended to be trying to help him... and pretending to help Xion. But to him, they were just worthless Nobodies. Now he was just watching, waiting for the Heartless to take Xurik down. Well, he was out of luck.
The Neoshadows snatched at the hem of his robe, barely missing as Xurik leapt up onto the stone ledges of the building, propelling himself off of them into the air as he ran up the building's side, his boots barely managing to grip the dark concrete. Neoshadows jumped high above him in an attempt to take him down during his ascent, but he didn't let them stop him - he slashed at them without hesitation, their dark haze trailing behind him as he scaled the skyscraper. He barely paid them any attention; his furious gaze was focused on Sora. Taking careful aim despite the blinding green light of the monitor, he cried out and threw his Keyblade with all his might - it whirled through the air at the boy. Xurik was close enough now to see Sora's eyes widen with surprise; the boy quickly stepped back, and the Keyblade just barely managed to miss him. Xurik glared, catching the Keyblade as he reached the skyscraper's edge; he deftly flipped up onto the ledge, holding his Keyblade at the ready. Sora stared at him, regret in his eyes.
"Hey, Xurik."
"Don't you dare 'hey Xurik' me!" he said furiously. He clenched his fist, never relinquishing his hold on the Keyblade. "I trusted you, and you let me into a trap!"
Sora shook his head. "No! I didn't know DiZ was going to try to capture you, and neither did Naminé. I really was trying to help you."
"Help me do what? Destroy Xion?" The hood protected him from the cold rain pouring down on them, but it couldn't mask the tears running down his face. He didn't care; let Sora feel bad. Let him feel remorse for helping to destroy Xurik's life. Sora had a heart - so let it break.
"No," Sora said quietly, pain on his face. "I never wanted..."
"Yes you did," Xurik snapped. "You wanted Riku back, so you wanted Xion gone. Admit it! Admit that you-"
Pain seared through his skull; he clutched his head uneasily. Images of Xion flashed before his eyes, but slowly began to grow fuzzy. Across from him, he could see Sora was clutching his head as well.
"What are you... doing?"
"It's not me," Sora said, wincing. "You can feel it too, can't you? It's a struggle just to remember her. Soon we won't be able to at all."
"Bullshit! I'm never going to forget her!" Yet somewhere within him, he knew that wasn't true. He could already feel details of his memory of her beginning to grow faint. Fury seized him - he shouted and ran at the boy, slashing at him with the Keyblade; Sora just barely managed to sidestep out of the way. Xurik whipped around and charged again, but this time Sora blocked the attack with a glowing sword.
"Xurik, stop it!"
"No! This is all your fault!" Xurik knew in the back of his mind that this wasn't true at all, that it was Xemnas's fault, the man with the red bandages' fault... but for now he didn't care. He needed to find something, anything, to release the fiery feeling in his chest. He felt like he was about to drown.
With a surge of anger, he pushed Sora's weapon back, sending the boy off-balance. Sora began to stumble backwards off the edge of the skyscraper, but managed to grab Xurik's arm at the last second; they both plummeted to the ground. Xurik pushed off of him in midair, as windows flew past them; they both managed to flip over and land on their feet as they reached the ground. Xurik winced at the painful impact. He glanced at Sora, gripping his Keyblade tightly; then scowled, looking away.
"Get out of my way. I don't have time for this."
"Where are you going?" Sora said with surprise. He followed Xurik's gaze and his eyes widened. "You can't go back to the Organization, you know they'd destroy you!"
"I'm not!" Xurik snapped. He looked up at the enormous silvery moon, peeking through a hole in the rainclouds. "I'm going to use Kingdom Heart's power to bring Xi... Shi... her back. It's the only way."
"No! You can't do that - the last time someone tried to use Kingdom Hearts, Riku -"
"All you can talk about is Riku! I don't care about Riku!" Xurik shouted, his fury rising to the surface again. "Riku is gone, Sora! Come to terms with that! A Heartless got him, and he's never coming back! I'm all that's left, so you'd better get used to it!"
Sora hesitated, then looked away. "Riku's not gone," he said quietly.
"I... what?" Xurik said, narrowing his eyes. "Of course he is. I wouldn't exist if he wasn't. What are you talking about?"
Sora hesitated, then shook his head.
"Nevermind. I... I can't tell you any more. It would hurt too much if you knew the truth."
Xurik's chest was pounding. "Sora... tell me. Please. I've I already lost... her. I've felt plenty of pain already. I have to know the truth."
Sora sighed deeply, then nodded, sadness filling him. "Fine. You're right. About a year ago, Riku lost his heart, and you were born. But then Riku was saved from darkness... by Kairi. She brought him back to life."
"Kairi," Xurik said quietly. The red-haired girl who looked like the other girl... he had plenty of memories of Kairi, even if he was slowly forgetting his best friend. "So... Riku is... alive?" The words hurt to say; there was a stabbing pain his chest, and his mind was overcome by a feeling of foreboding, as if his very being feared it.
"Yeah. But he's been sleeping... and he'll never wake up until he gets his memories back. The... the girl already gave him most of them back... but you hold the remaining few."
Xurik's grip on the Keyblade tightened. It was starting to make sense. "So you want to capture me. So that Riku will wake up."
"No!" Sora said quickly. "I could never do that to you. If you come... it will have to be by choice. Xi... she... made that choice, and was going to go back on her own... before the Organization found her and finished turning her into their weapon."
The pain in his chest increased. "You mean... she... chose to go back?" Why would she choose not to stay with Xurik? And why couldn't he remember her name any more?
"The only way for you to be with her again is to return to Riku," Sora said quietly. "There, you would both be complete."
Xurik hesitated, then shook his head. "I understand. But I can't. There's still Axel, and Roxas... I can't abandon them, even to be with her. I know that you want Riku back, but..." He glanced up at Kingdom Hearts, and an idea sparked in his mind. He felt mystified by the possibility. "Maybe with that power, we could bring her and Riku back."
Sora looked up at the silvery moon, his eyes wide. "Xurik - no! I already told you you can't mess with -"
"Don't you see yet?" Xurik snapped. "All hearts are connected, tied to darkness! Darkness is power... so with all of that power, there has to be a way to control a heart, split one in two! Anything is possible! We can save both of them, we can-"
He gasped. Sora was pointing his glowing sword at him, a grimly determined look on his face.
"What are you-"
"You sound just like him. He controlled Riku, turning him darker and darker... until Riku lost himself to the darkness within his own heart." Sora slashed his sword through the air. "Sorry, but I can't let you go anywhere near Kingdom Hearts, Xurik. I can feel it - there's still darkness lurking within even you. I don't want to hurt you... but the worlds were almost destroyed once already."
"I don't know what you're talking about," Xurik said in a low voice, although anger was boiling up unbidden within him. Sora was defending Kingdom Hearts from him, like Xurik was some kind of villain hell-bent on corrupting it?
Darkness was nothing to fear, experience had shown him that much. If Sora was too stupid and weak to see that...
Xurik cried out, swinging his Keyblade at Sora, but the boy was prepared and blocked the attack with a clang of metal. He countered, but Xurik leapt backwards, then charged forward again. Sora dodged.
"Xurik, sto-"
Xurik ignored him, slashing fiercely at Sora's chest. He didn't have time for this bullshit. His memories of the black-haired girl were fading fast - he barely remembered why she was gone, but he knew that Kingdom Hearts held the answer to bringing her back. If he waited any longer... he might forget that there had every been anybody at all.
A brilliant orb of light flew at him; Xurik barely had a chance to react before it caught him square in the chest. He fell backwards, his rear hitting the wet pavement painfully. He began to stand, but he cried out as a radiant beam pummeled into him. He glared up at Sora, breathing heavily.
"I thought you were giving me a choice."
"If you're still trying to follow through with your plan, I have no choice," Sora said quietly. He raised his sword. "I'm sorry, Xurik, but you have to come with me."
"Xurik!"
An orb of silver light flew out of the shadows, catching Sora in the side; he cried out in pain, stumbling to his knees.
"R...Roxas?" Xurik said, his heart swelling. Sure enough, the blond boy was running towards them. His Keyblade was drawn and ready, and he was glaring at Sora.
"Are you okay?" he said, extending his hand to Xurik but not looking away from the strange boy.
"Yeah," Xurik said quietly as Roxas helped him to his feet.
"That's the Organization imposter, isn't it?"
For a moment Xurik was confused - then he remembered that Roxas had been unconcious or absent every time that they had been around Sora. As far as Roxas knew, the boy with the spiky brown hair was just some bad guy with a cloak stolen from Organization XIV.
"Um... sort of. He's-"
"Wait," Sora said, getting to his feet unsteadily. He frowned. "You're... Roxas?" This was the fourth friend he had yet to meet - the one that both Axel and Naminé had told him to stay away from. Why was that? And why did he seem so familiar?
"What's it to you?" Roxas snapped, slashing his Keyblade through the air.
Xurik scowled. He didn't have the time for this. It would take too long to explain everything to Roxas, and in the meantime he had to get to Kingdom Hearts. He didn't remember why, but... that singular thought was what was driving him. He pointed his Keyblade at Sora, who was standing between him and the Castle That Never Was.
"Get out of the way, Sora. You can't beat both of us."
"I won't let you reach Kingdom Hearts!" Sora said angrily.
Roxas glanced at Xurik, looking uncertain. "What? But... why do we need to get to Kingdom Hearts?"
"It's the only way to fix things, because... uh..." Why was that again? It was on the tip of his tongue. His eyes widened as he suddenly remembered. "Because... because we have to bring her back! See? We're already starting to forget about her now that she's gone. If we use that much power, we can stop it. We can go back to the way things were."
"Oh yeah," Roxas said, looking horrified that he had been starting to forget the girl. He readied his Keyblade, preparing to do what was necessary to help Xurik.
Sora, please! You have to stop him!
Sora clutched his head... Naminé was speaking to him, ushering him on. She was right though; if Xurik tried to open Kingdom Hearts, not only would its power destroy him, but his darkness would probably begin to corrupt all of the hearts within it. Xurik didn't understand what had happened a year before. Sora stiffened his resolve, clutching the King's glowing sword tightly.
"You can't go," Sora said fiercely. "Riku's Nobody or not, I won't let you!"
"Who the hell is Riku?" Roxas said irritably. "Who the hell are you? Just... get out of our way!"
He suddenly cried out, running at Sora, Keyblade raised. Sora blocked the attack, forcing Roxas back, then retaliating with a fierce slash from his sword. Roxas jumped out of the way. He began to prepare an attack, but Sora saw it coming; as Roxas shot a beam of light from the tip of his Keyblade, Sora shot one out of the end of his sword. The light collided in the middle, sending a shower of sparks over the dark square. He retaliated by jabbing his sword at Roxas, but the attack was instantly parried, and the blade flew out of Sora's hand, jamming into the concrete. Sora began to run to retrieve it, but Roxas was too quick; he reached the sword and held onto its hilt with one hand, pointing his Keyblade at Sora.
Sora clenched his fist in anger, then held out his hand to summon his weapon back. There was a flash of light - and instead of the sword, Roxas's Keyblade appeared in his hand. Roxas stared down at his hand in shock.
"Wh... what?"
Sora's eyes were wide as he stared at the weapon he was now holding. How did he have the Keyblade? The weapon that had chosen Riku so long ago... why was he able to take it from this boy? Just who was Roxas, anyway?
He was too caught up in thought to notice Roxas running at him, Sora's sword in hand. Sora cried out in pain as the Keyblade was knocked forcefully from his hand, but the sword slipped from Roxas as well. In the confusion, Roxas collided with Sora, sending the two sprawling to the ground.
Almost immediately, pain seared through Roxas's body; he gave an earsplitting scream as the air tore itself from his lungs. His breath slowly began to grow labored and ragged as he tried to push himself off of Sora, but failed - his arms were too weak. The Keyblade appeared in Sora's hand once more without Sora commanding it to; Sora slowly pushed himself off of the ground, filled with a renewed strength. What was going on?
Xurik narrowed his eyes, watching from afar. What was Sora doing to Roxas? Was this some kind of secret attack, or was Roxas really being hurt just from touching him? The two boys were so similar, almost eerily similar, and yet they-
Wait.
Roxas and... Sora? SORA... ROXAS... R-O-A-S...
"Get away from him!" Xurik shouted, horrified. Panicking, he shot a dark beam at the two of them; they flew backwards, skidding across the rough pavement, but were separated nonetheless. The Keyblade reappeared in Roxas's hand, but he wasn't moving.
"Don't touch him, Sora!" Xurik commanded, pointing his Keyblade at him. The boy looked confused, then his eyes widened.
"Oh," Sora muttered, then shook his head, staring at Roxas. "Oh my god."
Xurik glared at him darkly, kneeling down beside Roxas. "You never told me that you had a Nobody."
Sora shook his head. "But I... I don't! I can't! That's crazy, I never turned into a Heart-" He suddenly hesitated, and his gaze lowered. "Oh... right."
"Well, he's still alive," Xurik said finally, standing upright. He slashed his Keyblade through the air. "I don't care if he is your Nobody, you're not doing anything to Roxas!"
"I'm not gonna-" Sora began, but was cut off as Xurik dashed at him, swinging his Keyblade fiercely. Sora sidestepped the attack. "Xurik, stop-"
"Shut up!" Xurik shouted, smashing his Keyblade into Sora's side. The boy cried out, falling to his knees. "I'm sick of you interfering! Just because you have a heart doesn't give you the right to decide who exists and who doesn't!"
Anger pulsed through him. He didn't even know why... he felt like he had forgetten something important. But just looking at Sora standing near Roxas made him so angry...
And why did images of Kairi keep flashing before his eyes? What was it that he was forgetting?
Sorrow welled up from somewhere deep within him, although he couldn't understand why. A dark aura began to surround him as his emotions grew stronger - until suddenly his hooded cloak vanished in a whirl of inky smoke, the leather robe replaced by dark sinews covering his skin. Sora gasped, staring at the transformation in horror, the Nobody's dark aura blackening the silver light pouring from Kingdom Hearts.
"Xurik, you-"
"This is the power you refuse to accept." Xurik held out his hand, beginning to collect as much darkness as he could into a powerful attack. He would stop Sora from getting in his way once and for all. "You fear it, but it only makes me stronger. Kingdom Hearts will only add to that power! I can fix everything with it! Things will go back to the way they were, Roxas and Axel and I will be able to have ice cream forever, we can destroy Organization XIV, we can-"
Something snapped within him. The thick shadows that were building up around his hand suddenly swarmed up his arm, coating him. It became difficult to move; he struggled in vain to tear the thick black haze from his skin. He felt as if someone had a vice grip on his lungs, squeezing the life out of him.
"Wh... what? What's happening to me?" He collapsed to his knees, the dark energy clinging to him and keeping him from moving.
"You're becoming taken over by darkness," Sora said, getting to his feet uneasily. He looked down at Xurik sadly; the boy was writhing in a puddle of thick purple shadow. Neoshadows began to rise from the pavement, clinging to him with their sharp claws, claiming him as their own. "I told you - you can't handle that much darkness. You're not Riku. Darkness comes from the heart - and your heart is within Riku. You're connected to his heart, but it's a delicate thread... and letting yourself be consumed by darkness is severing that thread."
Xurik scrabbled to regain his footing, but he felt as heavy as lead. His chest was overcome by a searing hot pain.
"Then... if my connection to Riku is broken..."
"You're going to die," Sora said quietly.
Xurik struggled to fight against the claws of the Heartless, but he couldn't even see. He felt as if he was slowly sinking below the surface of an icy ocean.
Somewhere, distantly, he heard a girl's voice calling his name. Kairi? Naminé? No... but it sounded so familiar...
"Please, Sora..." Xurik whispered, tears pouring down his face. "Don't let me disappear."
Sora hesitated, but nodded. He stood back and began to radiate with light; the brilliance of Kingdom Hearts above him just added to the glow. "I'm going to save you in the only way I know how... the same way that Kairi saved Riku one year ago." He gave a sad smile. "You won't disappear - you'll be going home. I'm sorry Xurik. I wish things hadn't ended this way... but you really are just like Riku after all."
Xurik winced beneath the darkness. "I guess you're right. But I'm glad... I got to meet you, Sora. Riku has a good friend." He smiled faintly. "At least... now I'll be with her." But who was her? He was the one who said it... but he had no idea what it meant.
Sora smiled back. "I'm glad I got to meet you too, Xurik."
The beam of light finished charging; Sora spread his arms, and light exploded from his chest, coursing into Xurik. The Neoshadows were torn apart; the beam cut through the dark haze around Xurik, and the dark sinews of his skin vanished, replaced by his hooded cloak as the purifying light purged him of darkness.
The last thing Xurik remembered was a blinding light, warmth washing over him, and the sensation of sweet numbness. It felt almost like an embrace - like two warm, gentle arms wrapping around him.
Xurik, don't be sad. I came from you and Riku. I am you... the same way that I am Riku. You'll forget me, but the memories themselves will never go away. Memories of you and me will always be together... forever, inside him.
The man with the bandages stood over the two comatose cloaked boys. Sora stood beside him, looking down at them sadly.
"DiZ. He was... connected to Riku. He was filtering darkness from his heart... it was like last year all over again. But they were connected."
"History may repeat itself, I suppose," DiZ said quietly. "At least if we do not learn from our past mistakes. And if we lack the memories to learn from... how can we know what our mistakes were?"
"I just wish... he could have met Riku. Maybe then, things might have been different."
DiZ gave a shrewd smile. "Perhaps. Though your meeting with your other was less than pleasant, I noticed."
Sora looked down at Roxas. "I don't blame him for how he acted... he didn't know who I was. How could he? All he saw was someone trying to hurt his friend." He smiled slightly. "I guess he did exactly what I would have done in that situation. He stood by his friends, no matter what."
"Do you want to bring your Nobody with us? You would be complete, you know. You would grow more powerful."
Sora knelt down next to Roxas, though he didn't dare touch him.
"No. It's his choice, whether he wants to become a part of me again. But I won't decide it for him. I want him to have the choice to exist... even if Xurik didn't get one."
The steel-haired boy lay silent, eyes closed, finally looking at peace.