Castle Oblivion Side
First Act: With Company Comes Misery
*NOTE: Things are moving along nicely. Today's episode introduces Yoru, a character created by MusicFanGirl, the very first addition to our forum! Thanks and enjoy!
Axion's Journal; Entry #6:
Eleven years. Eleven years since sleep began and dreams ended. Dead? Impossible. My bones ache too much for me to be dead. In these eleven years of existence within the walls of Castle Oblivion, I was told that the Nobodies were the only survivors of the world's destruction…
…Why then, do we have a visitor…?
"Are you still writing in that useless book?" Axel's question calls Axion's attention from the book to the doorway. "It's not useless.", he replies. "I told you, since I can't remember my life before this place, I'll have to preserve my memories of life inside this place." Axel rolls his eyes impatiently and shrugs. "Whatever you say.", he says, then adds: "Hey, did you notice the-"…
"The girl wandering around out in the snow?", asks Axion, closing the journal and storing it on it's own shelf. "She's been out there for quite some time…". They approach the room's nearest window and peer outside. The girl Axion had mentioned had left the imprint she had made lying in the snow, and was now well on her way to the front gate, moving as if the snow posed no challenge at all. Axel starts for the door, then turns slightly to ask: "Do you think we should let her in?". Axion leaves the window and reaches the door before him. "I'll handle it.", he says in reply, and makes his way to the front door.
It had been exactly eleven years since Roxas had found him lying unconscious in the hallway, his keyblade lying faithfully beside him. In that time, he'd discovered his heart, like the other Nobodies, was no more; He became one of them, and they became the family he forgot about when the world ended. With no disturbances from the heartless, Castle Oblivion had fallen comfortably silent…until this morning.
No sooner than Axion places a hand on the door, it flies off the hinges, stunning him. The wanderer from outside rushes in behind it, forces Axion against the nearest wall and presses the pommel of a keyblade against his spine. Unable to make a move without injuring himself, Axion helplessly asks, "Who do you think you are…?" She withdraws suddenly and allows him to turn, only to point the keyblade at him again as he faces front. Axion can now see the keyblade clearly; The handle and guard are black and gunmetal grey. The teeth of the keyblade resemble a broken gear, and the keychain is a full gear, black on the outside, red on the inside.
"I don't think that's any of your business…", was her response. She then went on to ask: "What have you done with Vanitas?". Axion is now fully at attention. "Vanitas?", he asks. "The same Vanitas that used to follow Xehanort?" The girl lowers her weapon slightly. "The very same…", she replies.
Xehanort, in one of his many visits to Castle Oblivion, reminded Axion of his ties to the world outside Castle Oblivion, and the name 'Vanitas had come up several times. From what he'd heard, Vanitas was something of an apprentice to Xehanort, and was also searching for Castle Oblivion.
The girl lowers her weapon completely and folds her arms. "What do you know about Xehanort?", she asks with the glare of a lion that could strike at any moment. Axion had a feeling that the lion would be striking to kill if it didn't hear what it wanted to hear. "All I know about Xehanort", he began. "Is that I hate him…" That was conveniently true. Ever since Xehanort had appeared on the day he arrived in Castle Oblivion, he'd done nothing but cause more confusion and strife than Axion cared to deal with. It felt good to openly admit to hating him. "Then I guess that makes this place allied territory.", replied the girl. Evidently, any enemy of Xehanort was a friend to her. Axion gives a formal nod. "I'm Axion-", he says. "Keyblade wielder, and newest number in the Organization." The girl nods a silent response to his introduction as Roxas enters the main hall. "Is this the girl who was out in the snow?", he asks. Axion nods. "This is…um…-" She had never returned his introduction. "Yoru.", the girl suddenly interjects. "My name is Yoru".
Axion nods again and looks back to Roxas. "She's looking for Xehanort, like us.", he adds. Roxas scratches his head and then turns to Yoru. "Well-", he says. "If you're looking for Xehanort, we could introduce you to the rest of the Nobodies. In a place like this, it's probably best for you to surround yourself with allies." Yoru nods reluctantly. "Fine", she says with a heavy sigh. "If it helps me find Vanitas any faster, I'll join up with the Organization."
As Roxas prepares to speak again, a window high up on the front wall shatters inward, and a black blur comes through and lands in front of them. It's a small black creature with beady yellow eyes and wavy antennae. It makes short, lanky movements toward them, and leaps at them. Yoru takes the initiative and swats the creature into the ground with her keyblade.
Roxas stares at the creature with wide eyes. "It's a shadow.", he says. "One of the heartless we fought before the world was destroyed." Axion makes a great leap to the shattered window and peers through it. "There are hundreds of them outside!", he exclaims, jumping down to rejoin the group and draw his own keyblade. "How did they survive the world's destruction?" Roxas summons his keyblade as well. "Someone must be spawning more of them…", he says as the three of them form a triangle and watch their areas carefully.
Countless shadows climb in through the shattered window and leap at their formation. The three of them fend the shadows off, blocking, swinging and lunging like clockwork. Soon, however, there are far too many shadows in the room to hold off at once, and the trio finds their backs against the door leading to the staircase. "We have to fall back into the castle…", Roxas says calmly as he thrusts his foot into the door to open it. "They're pretty weak, so once we have room to move, we can take them all down no problem. Not to mention all the other Nobodies are inside…" They file into the stairwell and make a mad dash for the second floor hallway. The shadows follow. In the wide hallway, the trio has plenty of room to fight them off. Axion backs away toward at the end of the hall. "Roxas, come on!", he shouts over the sounds of battle. "We have to rally the rest of the organization!" Roxas nods and follows him, looking back at their new ally. Yoru gives them a quick nod, signifying she would be alright by herself, then returns to the battle. A light envelops her weapon and it forms into a scythe the same colors as its keyblade form. As the remaining heartless approach, she divides their numbers, swatting a shadow to the ground, then swinging the tail of the staff into it, sending it reeling into a group of them. She then leaps into the center of them and gives the scythe a deft series of spins, creating a deadly whirlwind of steel that rips through heartless in large numbers and sends them flying apart down both sides of the hallway.
Seeing no more enemies in the hall, Yoru grins with satisfaction and goes after Roxas and Axion. As she leaves the hall and begins to ascend to the third floor, a figure, blackened by the darkness of a cloak appears in the center of the hallway and looks around at the countless bodies of Heartless, but remains silent. The figure then puts a hand to the floor an a glowing insignia begins to take shape. After that, the figure vanishes in a black smoke, just as a massive horn begins to protrude from the ground, just as the insignia is complete…
- To be continued...