Castle Oblivion Fourth Act: A Project and a Prisoner
*As more of the worlds succumb to the pull of the Void, the story shifts over to Castle Oblivion once again!
Today's episode introduces:
*Missy Ishoka - A character created by Antagonist Obsessed, of our forum, and DeviantART.
*Seth - Another character created by our forum's Katana001
Enjoy!
"He's gone again..."
"Who's gone?"
"That weird one... Axel calls him Stranger, since he keeps leavin' by himself."
"Oh, you mean Axion? I guess that's to be expected of him by now..."
"Sure, sure... Where d'ya think he's always runnin' off to? Can't think of a single place around here that's not buried in snow by now..."
Xigbar and Luxord break up their conversation as the main hall door creaks open, introducing an unpleasant cold wind to the comfortably warm air of the indoors. Axion enters Castle Oblivion and cuts a focused glare at both Xigbar and Luxord before storming off down the hall, letting himself into the next corridor and slamming the door behind him. "Was it just me, or did he seem riled about something...?", Luxord asks, folding his arms and staring at the door blankly. "Not my job to find out...", Xigbar replied uninterestedly. "I don't keep tabs on the guy, and as long as he's pointin' that Keyblade of his at Kingdom Hearts and not us, I don't intend to start keepin' tabs on him..."
In the next corridor, Axion exhales sharply as he makes his way to his destination. He approaches a figure who leans idly against a wall, fingers tapping the mortar in impatience. The instant Axion comes into earshot, the figure snaps to attention, whipping his head in Axion's direction, and quickly searching his hands for a weapon, his eyes moving with mechanical precision. "That's hardly necessary, Seth...", Axion mutters, slowing his pace as the figure falls into step beside him. "As collected as you were when you arrived, I'd imagine you'd think so too..." Seth simply clenches a fist. "It would seem my...colleagues...have finally awakened...", he says, his voice suggesting a state of total calm. "That must mean Kingdom Hearts is making its move..."
He matches his pace with Axions and the two reach a door at the end of the hall, passing through it to reach the library.
A blur of claws and maniacal laughter almost knocks Axion over in an attempt to leave the room. Irocu stops suddenly, throwing an arm around Axion and flashing a devious grin. "Axion, buddy!", he exclaims directly into his companion's ear. "I hear tell we've got intruders around... What do ya say we hunt down and butcher the other two...?" Axion raises an eyebrow, Irocu's words sinking in at last. "Other two...?", he asks. "What do you mean by that?"
"Didn't you hear?", Irocu said, leading Axion through the door and away from Seth. "Shadow said three weird people just popped out of the sky outside Castle Oblivion. Salem caught one of 'em about an hour ago, right after you left. Wanna come along with me to hunt down the other two? Only fair they should die as a group, right?" Irocu chuckles to himself, anticipating the coming battle. "Actually, I think I'll try and get a bit of information out of the one we've already caught.", Axion replies calmly. "This prisoner might know a thing or two about the Keyblade of Darkness." Irocu shrugs and heads toward the main hall himself. "Suit yourself, pal.", he said with excitement. "Guess that means more for me!" With that, Irocu vanishes into the snow, and Axion turns and heads deeper into Castle Oblivion, eventually arriving in the cellar, where a woman with waist-length blonde hair (in ringlets) was tied to a chair. Salem was positioned nearby, leaning against a wall and intricately shuffling a deck of playing cards.
"Salem...", Axion called upon entering the room. "I understand we have a...guest...?" Salem grunts in amusement and opens his hand, allowing his cards to fly all over the room and litter the floor. "Guests? That's what we're callin' these guys?", he asks grinning smugly and turning to the door. "If you're here to get any info out of her, you're wastin' your time... Insulted me in French, and hasn't said a word since then..." Axion folds his arms and scoffs. "Never know unless I try...", he mutters, taking a step closer to the woman. "Fine by me...", Salem said, opening his hand and narrowing his eyes as the playing cards all over the floor return to his hand. "Just don't untie her... She may look cute and harmless, but she's got one hell of a left-hook..." Axion nods carelessly and watches Salem leave the room before once again approaching the woman.
"Where do you come from...?", Axion asked, a tone of curiosity clear in his voice. The woman refuses to answer, or even raise her head to look at him. Flustered, Axion folds his arms and closes his eyes. "How long are you going to keep up that helpless prisoner act...?", he asks coldly. "An average playing card deck has 52 cards total... When Salem called his cards back, he only left the room with 51... Or did you think I wouldn't notice...?" The woman looks up, her eyes wide with shock one instant, then alight with fascination the next. "Ohh, and here I thought I was being clever...", she said finally, shrugging off the ropes that bound her to the chair and revealing the blade-edged playing card she'd used to cut them. "C'est la vie..." She stands and gives the playing card to Axion with a grin. "Your friend will want this back, non?", she asks. "But how did you know I took one of them? I was careful to catch it before it hit the ground. Not a sound to be heard. Très intelligent."
Axion rolls his eyes and sighs. "It wasn't hard to figure out...", he said. "Now back to my previous question; Where did you come from?" The woman sighs deeply and turns to face the door. "Hollow Bastion...", she replied quietly. "Xittan warned me that those monsters were following me, but I never expected them to be able to find me on a different world!" Axion instinctively raised an eyebrow to her words. Everyone seemed to be seeing monsters lately, him especially. "What monsters?", he asked urgently. "What did they look like?" The woman shifts her gaze to the ceiling, as if trying hard to remember. "I remember them now, oui.", she says with a nod. "Hoods and long robes. No faces, but blood red eyes, and nothing but dark space all over their bodies!" Axion recalls encountering similar druid-like creatures upon his arrival at Castle Oblivion, but says nothing about it. "You aren't like that other person at all...", the Woman says, causing Axion to lose his train of thought. "He was so rude! Always giving orders, even though it's parfaitement clair he has no authority."
"What were you doing in Hollow Bastion...?", Axion asks, hoping to piece together an answer to an ulterior question. The woman shakes her head in defiance and frowns. "That, I cannot tell you.", she replies. Axion grunts in frustration. "Looks like this might take a while...", he says under his breath.
Meanwhile, Seth continues his trek through the library, when he encounters Axel, who is walking beside an unfamiliar figure. "I'm beginning to lose track of all these new arrivals...", he says, placing a hand to his forehead and staring at the ceiling. "Now who is this?" Axel simply scoffs and shakes his head. "This is Missy.", he replies at last, gesturing to his companion. "She hasn't been here very long, but Larxene doesn't seem to mind the company... And personally, I think the girl's got excellent taste in weapons!" He offers a slight nod toward Missy, who reveals a large chakram tethered to her back, composed of two colored sides. "There's talk going around that we've found a few strays outside...", Missy says, sounding as though she'd been a part of the team for years. "I want to go have a look. I'll bet at least one person's already looking into it, but I want to see this for myself..." Seth folds his arms casually and grunts. "Well, I don't think Irocu would mind very much...", he says. "But I'm sure you'll reconsider after being around him for about five minutes. He just left through the front gate not long ago... You should be able to catch him if you hurry... " Missy nods quickly and starts off in the direction of the main hall. Seth then returns his attention to Axel. "What the hell is Xehanort planning here...?", he asks bitterly. "It's battle after battle, day in and day out, but what for? I haven't heard any more about this 'Dark Keyblade' than the day I showed up here. If he's actually off his arse and doing something, It's a total mystery to the rest of us!"
"To tell the truth, I'm doubting Xehanort is even himself...", Axel replies with a vague roll of the wrist. "I mean, he's always going on about darkness being the way to Utopia and whatnot... But ever since the PULSE passed through the Lanes Between, he's been different. the darkness in peoples' hearts doesn't seem to interest him anymore... What I really wanna know is, what's he plan on doing when we find this Keyblade he's so obsessed with...?" Seth chuckles, then breaks into a full laugh as he turns his back on Axel. "That much has been obvious to me from the beginning...", he says, clasping his hands together behind his back. "Think about it... What would someone like him wish for if he'd found a Keyblade that could give him whatever he wanted...? Naturally, he'd demand what most of us want: Supremacy. Don't you see? To win this war, Manus Deius must be destroyed, and as you know, Kingdom Hearts isn't prepared to let that happen. The result, armageddon. In the confusion, Xehanort scores the final win for Castle Oblivion: claiming the Mano del Diablo and shattering the Light Keyblade. And, of course, no one will be able to oppose him and live once he's got that unholy weapon... And they'll be even less likely to try when he amplifies his own power to astronomical proportions... It's quite simple really... He wants to be God..."
Meanwhile, Missy catches up to Irocu in the barren freeze beyond the castle gate. "You must be Irocu...", she says, falling into step beside him. Irocu turns his head and looks back briefly before continuing on through the snow. "I swear this place is getting more crowded by the day...", he growls, his piercing eyes darting about the snow in search of movement. "Look, I'm busy... Some hero's sneaking around here, and I'm trying to sniff him out before he can cause trouble." Missy's expression becomes one of utter confusion. "A hero causing trouble here?", she asks. "Why would we be causing trouble for our own...?" Irocu nearly chokes on the chilled air as he hears Missy's words. "Our own?", he barks, his full menacing stare now directed at her. "You don't honestly believe WE'RE the good-guys in this little game, do you?" Missy folds her arms confidently and meets his glare with one of her own. "And why is that so surprising?", she asks crossly. "Our causes are right to us, and Kingdom Hearts' causes are right to them. What is there that says THEY aren't the evil ones?" Irocu prepares to once again raise his voice, but he is prematurely halted by the sound of footsteps crunching through the nearby snow. "Alex?", calls a disgruntled voice from not too far away. "Damn it, this is bad. For all I know, we didn't even get sent to the same place... Aerith's gonna kill me..."
Irocu growls sternly at Missy, as if to say 'I'll deal with you later', and quickly turns on his heels to face the source of the voice. Over a hill and into plain sight comes Raven, now unmasked and covering his left eye with his right hand. His right eye scans the snow and stops immediately on Irocu and Missy. The eye narrows, and he stops walking, but says nothing. "You must be one of the strays I've heard about..." Irocu says, his voice coming alive with amusement. "Looks like we're one stray short, but unfortunately for you, I don't have the patience to spare you while we search for your friend... So, can you fight?" A sly grin begins to take shape on Raven's face. "Well, why not try me?", he asks, baring his abnormally sharp canine teeth. Missy turns at the waist and brandishes her weapon with incredible speed. "I'm going to fight as well...", she says adamantly. "Fine...", Irocu grunts. "But get in my way, and I have no problem turning this into a free-for-all..."
Irocu takes point and charges at Raven, who kicks upward with one foot, narrowing his eye as a glint of silver flies into the air with the snow. Just as Irocu reaches him, he catches his scythe from midair and parries away a close swipe from Irocu's claws. He then brings his weapon around to the side for a horizontal swipe, which Irocu ducks beneath and returns with a knee to the back, sending Raven stumbling toward Missy, who spins and flings her chakram at the ground, watching as it rolls along, slicing through the snow before hitting Raven and bouncing into the air with him still clinging to the blade. Missy then leaps after her weapon and kicks him away from it before splitting it apart into two blades and landing in a kneel in the snow. Raven regains his balance in midair and skids backward on his feet as he lands. "Alright, so I'm not fighting amateurs...", he chokes out before wiping a bit of blood from his lip. "Great... I guess that means I have to take this seriously..." Irocu scoffs and pursues him, feet barely touching the snow. "I'd be insulted if you didn't!", he calls, preparing for another bout. Raven ducks beneath a horizontal swipe of his attacker's claws and shoves him away using the body of his scythe. A figure falls toward him from overhead, but he jumps backward as Missy lands, splitting her chakram into two curved blades and impaling the ground where Raven had once been standing. She quickly frees her weapons from the snow and lunges toward him again, only to be blocked. Irocu bounds into the skirmish from the background and forces Raven back on his feet with a momentum-powered kick. Raven, keeping his left eye closed, allows himself a small grin as he kicks up a thick burst of snow from the ground, temporarily blinding his opponents.
"Hiding won't save you if we've got the home field advantage!", Irocu threatens, swiping at the falling snow to clear the area around them. Not a trace of Raven can be found anywhere. No footprints, no signs of movement, nothing at all. Missy turns to her side instinctively and enters a battle stance. "He hasn't left...", she warns, staring at the ground. "He's definitely beneath us, but he's not underground..." Irocu gives her a lost stare and slackens his shoulders. "What the hell does that even mean?", he asks confusedly. "It means he's moving on a separate dimensional plane somehow...", she answers, quickly turning as the snow to the west begins to stir. A flock of black birds with no features or faces erupts from a shadow on the ground. They circle overhead twice and immediately dive toward Irocu, swarming him and then passing right through him as he falls to the ground. The birds then begin to merge together and take the form of Raven once again, weapon drawn. "Perceptive...", Raven admits to Missy, training his scythe on her. "I'll have to deal with you quickly, then..." To this, Missy simply replies with a sigh and a fighting stance. Raven attempts a circular slash at face-level with his scythe, which Missy stops with one blade while countering with the other. Raven barely manages to angle his weapon so that the body blocks the counterattack, then breaks away to go for a heavy upward slash, making use of his weapon's long reach. Missy blocks the attack, but the force sends her stumbling backward, giving Raven enough time to dip the blade of his scythe into his shadow and pull it back up, now glowing an eerie black with energy. He unloads a crescent slash that sends that energy off the blade and toward Missy, who quickly forms a chakram with her blades again and spins it in front of her in place of a shield. The energy wave disperses upon contact, and Missy keeps the momentum of the spin going as she hurls the chakram at her adversary, who leans backward to avoid it as it sails over him. As Raven unwinds from his dodge, he anticipates the chakram's return. When nothing happens, however, he turns away to see Irocu holding onto the thrown weapon and charging toward him, already too close to stop. Irocu deals a massive blow to Raven's side with the chakram before tossing it back to Missy, who twirls it overhead, slashing him across the back and sending him tumbling into the snow. Irocu kicks Raven over onto his back and places a foot on his chest. "You'd probably put up a more respectable fight if you'd open that eye of yours...", he criticizes, reaching for Raven's still-shut left eye.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you...", Raven warns, not really making an attempt to stop him. "Nothing good ever comes of it..." Irocu laughs dismissively, placing one finger above Raven's left eye, and his thumb below it. "Nothing good ever comes of getting on my bad side, either...", he threatens, forcing Raven's eyelids apart. No sooner than Raven's eye opens wide does a massive beam of pure black energy fire from it, sending Irocu straight upward into the air, then back into the snow. Raven stands and sighs, not bothering to close his eye again. The eye itself is jet black, and the pupil bears a familiar red and black insignia...
"You're a Heartless...?", Missy asks, her expression turning in surprise. "How is it that you have a human form, or speak, for that matter?" Raven scoffs and opens his left eye wide. "That's not any of your concern...", he snaps, preparing to fire another beam. "And you've seen too much already, so this is the end of the line for you..." Another buildup of black energy stems from his eye as he prepares another devastating beam. Missy stands her ground and holds her weapon tightly. Raven groans- as if in pain- as another dark beam blasts forward from his eye. Missy waits for the beam to draw nearer, then dodges to the side of it before charging at the Heartless again. Raven strains himself to keep the beam going, turning his head to follow Missy as she avoids it, mowing down several trees in the process. After several minutes and fallen trees, the beam dies, and Raven staggers backward, leaning against a severed tree stump for support. "Damn...", he whispers to himself. "I overdid it... I shouldn't try that while the sun is up..." A frenzied laugh stops Raven from mentally scolding himself. He quickly looks up to see Irocu, sliding on his feet down a tree in the process of falling over. "Now, I'm interested!", he shouts, leaping from the tree as it hits the ground and landing directly in front of Raven. He unleashes a flurry of lightning-fast swipes with his claws, which Raven struggles to dodge. Irocu finally catches him with a devastating knee to the ribs, sending the Heartless to one knee. He prepares to strike again, but Raven grabs his wrist and stands quickly, turning Irocu around and delivering a straight kick to his side. Missy's chakram comes flying toward them from seemingly nowhere, and Raven immediately releases Irocu to run from it. He weaves in and out between trees as the chakram hot on his tail simply slices through them all. Behind him, he hears the sound of Irocu's claws scraping against the fallen trees. He skids forward for several seconds before making a sharp turn and charging Irocu, the chakram whizzing by overhead and right into the hand of its wielder, who had ran ahead of it. Surrounded, the Heartless leaps backward and fires one more dark beam from his eye, this one aimed at the ground between Missy and Irocu, separating them tumbling to opposite sides of the blast. "Third time's the charm, I guess...", Raven jeers to himself before falling backward against a tree and sitting in the snow, breathing heavily. "It would be a long time before he recovered from using his eye so carelessly...
Inside the castle, Seth makes his way into the main hall, his eyes shifting from area to area. They stop upon the familiar form of Artemecia, who is now absently watching her pet crow turn its head about from atop a bookshelf. "Have you heard about Xehanort's motives yet...?", Seth asks her in an apathetic tone. "The others are beginning to question him already... They wonder if assembling an army is really just his way of masking a much smaller scale but larger priority operation." Artemecia scoffs and turns to face Seth with a pensive expression. "I'm sure it wasn't too difficult to pick up on...", she reasons. "And if his last plan is any indication, we can expect him to already be getting into peoples' heads. The only thing about him that I trust is the fact that you can't trust him." Seth nods, suddenly detecting a sense of deep thought in Artemecia's expression. Artemecia was the kind who would shoot an ally down and walk away without a batting an eye. Deep thought was something she just didn't do. "I don't think I've ever seen that look before.", he observes, leaning against a wall and squinting. "You know something, don't you...?" Artemecia immediately stands and makes her way out of the room, her faithful bird leaving the bookshelf to follow her in the air. "Virgil has some explaining to do...", she says bluntly before vanishing through the door. "That's all I'll say for now..."
Outside, Raven continues to catch his breath with his back against the tree. With his eye burning so intensely, he barely notices the cold at all. "I can't stop long in the middle of enemy territory...", he says softly to himself. "Time to find a way back... But where will I even start...?"
He stands slowly, his vision blurred, and his head throbbing. He only manages a few steps before falling to one knee and taking several minutes to stand upright again. "Damn, at this rate, I'll die out here...", he growls hopelessly. He suddenly feels a rush of heat behind him as if someone was standing just inches away. "You won't die out here...", came Irocu's voice, colder than the air around them. "I wouldn't want to kill you without making a display of you to everyone..." Raven suddenly feels a sharp pain in the side of his head before dropping to the ground unconscious. Missy stares down at him, lowering her weapon and putting it away. "A human Heartless...", she muses. "There's not a doubt in my mind that Xehanort will want to see this..."
"Oh, just what I was thinking...", Irocu says, grabbing the unconscious Heartless by the ankle and dragging him back toward the Castle with Missy walking behind them. "I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Xehanort will put me in charge of dissecting him..."
-To Be Continued