Chapter 5: Frustration and Ice Cream

The next day found Xion walking into a near empty Gray Area, unlike the day before. The only two people there were Saix and Marluxia, who were talking quietly to themselves. They stopped when she came into view, and both of them walked over to her.

"Number Thirteen, your mission today will be alongside Marluxia. While he will be your partner if anything goes wrong, this is primarily your duty, not his," said Saix.

Xion nodded. "Okay, so what's the mission?"

"The destruction of a number of Heartless," said Saix, "The Keybearers have been useful the task of empowering Kingdom Hearts through their combat with the Heartless, however, speeding up the process, even by a small amount, is nothing to be overlooked. This, as the Organization's sole Keybearer, is a duty that falls on you alone."

She... had to go destroy Heartless? "Umm... okay."

"Away with you then," said Saix with a wave of his hand.

"Come Xion," said Marluxia, crafting a Dark Corridor and walking through.

She went through the corridor, and came out to find an odd sight. She was standing on the huge corpse of what looked like a tree. There were roots everywhere. She shivered and slowly reached a hand up to her chest, unease spreading across her face. Something about this place was familiar to her, and not in a good way...

"Are you coming or not?" chided Marluxia from up ahead.

Xion took a step forward, but froze as the scene around her warped. The sky turned dark, and Marluxia's form changed to look somewhat like Aqua's, but... it was different, especially that creepy blue and black heart symbol on her chest...

Slowly, Aqua stalked forward, eyeing Xion's chest hungrily.

Xion found herself rising to her feet, and summoning her Keyblade, speaking in a voice that didn't quite sound like her own. "Y-you stay the hell away from me!"

"What makes you think you have a choice in the matter?" mocked the woman, "I saved your life, I think I'm owed some compensation for my efforts, not that I need a reason to begin with."

Xion found herself swinging Oathkeeper at the woman, only for her to raise a palm and catch it in her bare hand.

HISS

The woman's hand smoked, holding contact with the Keyblade, but didn't seem disgruntled. She pulled her forward and then thrust her other hand into Xion's chest, electing a horrific scream from the girl. Aqua threw the Keyblade away, and wrapped her other arm around the girl, pulling her in close, almost like a hug, a terrifying, painful, torturous hug...

She purred into Xion's ear. "I'm so close Kairi, I know it, I feel it. There are so few gaps left in Aqua's memories. If this doesn't awaken what's left, then, we'll only need do this one more time. So scream for me child..."

Xion staggered a bit and fell to the ground, one hand clutching her chest, one hand on the ground for support, and gave a small scream of surprise and phantom pain. What... what the heck was that?!

You can take that one... I sure as heck don't want it...

"Xion," came Marluxia's calm voice.

She glanced up at him.

"Is something the matter?" he inquired, yet making no move to offer her aid.

"I... I don't know," whispered Xion fearfully.

She didn't understand... what was going on?

Marluxia studied her for a moment before reaching down and roughly hauling her up. "We have a mission to do, I have no time for your internal struggles."

Internal stru... that bastard... he knows...

"Knows what?" asked Xion.

The Voice didn't respond aloud, merely grumbling something crude that Xion couldn't quite catch.

Marluxia let go of her and started walking. "Let's go."

Xion took a shaky breath, shook her head, and started after him. She was really starting to get frustrated with, and scared of, this weirdness happening to her. She just wanted it to stop...

She followed him along the maze of roots, eventually exiting into a canyon like area...

She gave a startled gasp when tiny little black creatures with yellow eyes oozed out of the ground. "W-what are those?!"

Marluxia glanced back at her. "Shadows, lesser heartless that are not worth our time, destroy them and let us be on our way."

"B-by myself?" she squeaked out.

Marluxia scoffed. "Of course, you act like it will be difficult, now destroy them."

"B-but how?" she asked.

He frowned at her. "With the Keyblade of course."

She summoned Oathkeeper and glanced back and forth between it and the slowly oncoming Heartless. "How?"

Marluxia gaped at her. "You're not serious, are you?"

Xion stared at him blankly.

Marluxia rubbed his forehead. "You can't draw any knowledge or strength from her, can you?"

"Huh?" said Xion, confused.

Marluxia pointed at the Heartless. "Attack them with your Keyblade, swing it at them."

Xion felt nervous, but slowly started inching forward. "O-okay..."

"H-hiya!" she squeaked out, smacking the nearest little Heartless with the flat of her Keyblade, sending it sprawling away.

"I-I did it!" she exclaimed.

Are you serious...

Xion gave a yelp of pain and surprise when one of the Heartless she wasn't paying attention leaped at her and scratched her arm. "Owww!"

She scrambled away and swung her Keyblade, batting it away. "That hurt..."

By the light... this is pathetic... they're just shadows...

"What IS this mockery?" shouted Marluxia.

Faster than Xion could follow, Marluxia had a scythe out and slew the shadows. He stormed to her, empty wrath on his face. Xion gave a yelp as he lifted her up, carried her back, and slammed her, hard, against a nearby rock.

"If you cannot even fight, than you are useless to my goals and not worth the effort. You will become 'unnecessary' to keep around. That goes for both of you," warned Marluxia.

"B-both?" said Xion with confusion.

Grrr...

"If you cannot perform, then you will be destroyed," he snarled at her, "And I will do it myself."

Xion's eyes widened with terror. "W-what?!"

Marluxia turned and threw her forward. Xion landed with a thud and winced. She rolled onto her back and glanced up, giving a startled cry to see her supposed comrade leaping through the air, scythe raised to kill her and...

NO!

Xion gave a pained cry as memories, so many of them, suddenly blew through her mind at a pace that she could barely register them in detail...

Of Nexol teaching her how to handle a sword...

Of Xuffiey showing her how to use daggers, shurikens, fight dirty, and how to quickly position herself on a battlefield...

Of Xitheria trying to help her start learning how to use her light...

Of a white-robed man with a Keyblade instructing her on how to channel her light, and further lessons to improve her form with a Keyblade...

Of a woman with with an eye-patch showing her some advanced sword and light skills...

Yet... each and every memory...

They always called her Kairi...

MOVE!

Xion came out of her daze in time to see Marluxia's scythe descending for her. She rolled and pushed off the ground in time to dodge it as he embedded it into the ground. She used the time it took him to remove it from the ground to charge him, bathing her Keyblade in light and slicing it into his shoulder.

Marluxia hissed in pain, but didn't seem upset, in fact, he grinned. "There's no motivator quite like the threat of one's own demise, is there Kairi?"

Bastard...

Xion glared at him. "Why does everyone keep calling me that?!"

Marluxia's response was to charge at her and swing. Xion fell to a knee and swung up, parrying his scythe into the air before aiming a hand at his chest.

"Shock!" she roared.

Light exploaded out of her hand and slammed into him, sending him flying through the air and onto his back.

Xion stared at him, and then at her hand. "What... is this?"

"Hmph, I see you still use other's moves rather than inventing your own," mocked Marluxia.

Xion's eyes flickered back and forth between him and the Keyblade before she gave a cry of frustration and threw the Keyblade to the ground. "What is going on?!"

Suddenly, a sensation of longing filled her fingertips, and she drew her hand back. Oathkeeper disappeared in a flash of light and returned to her hand. She stared at it silently, growing more and more frustrated.

Marluxia chuckled darkly and banished his scythe. "I suppose that'll do, the Superior would be displeased if I accidentally hurt you."

Xion looked at him in shock. "You... I... what? You said you were..."

"Going to kill you?" said Marluxia before chuckling, "I'd be turned into a dusk at minimum if I did that. I merely gave you and your other half some motivation. Now, let us resume, you have a mission to complete."

That... that scheming bastard... I swear I'm going to kill him one day...

When he started to walk passed her, Xion moved to cut him off, her eyes narrowing. "Tell me what's going on. How did that happen? What were those memories?! What did you mean by 'other half'?"

Marluxia gave her a cruel smile. "You've awakened some of your power, Xion, but not nearly enough to force an answer out of me."

He moved to push her aside, but she latched onto his arm with a tight fist that glowed fiercely with light. "I want answers!"

"I don't think the Superior would be pleased if I went tattling his secrets," said Marluxia mockingly.

"I don't care!" retorted Xion.

They stood at a standoff, both of them locking eyes with one another.

Slowly, a wicked smile played across his face. "Your not the obedient little puppet I think the Superior believes you to be, are you Xion?"

She merely glared at him.

"Prove your worth to me Xion, show me the rage of the Keyblade, and perhaps, if you show me loyalty, when I'm ready to make my move, I'll offer you your truth," baited Marluxia.

Xion's eyebrows furrowed. "Your... move?"

Marluxia broke her grip and pushed her aside. "You will see, in time. Come, there are Heartless for the Keyblade to reap."

Xion seethed but followed behind him, her anger boiling. She found that the Heartless were a welcomed vent for her frustration. She had, at first, just been baffled and a little scared of the creatures. After that... memory rush... she felt a repulsion for them that hadn't been there before. These things drew out a deep seated hate from her that she did not understand...

Ah who was she kidding?

At this point, what DID she understand? Nothing made sense to her...

She followed and did as Marluxia directed, slaughtering the Pureblood Heartless and few Emblem Heartless as she came across them. Which, in itself was another confusing thing to her. How did she suddenly know that they were purebloods, and that 'Emblem' versions were a different breed? She forced herself to bottle up her anger and confusion, silently carving through any Heartless they came across for the next several hours.

By the time Marluxia finally called it and took them back to the Castle That Never Was, she was about ready to blow.

"Until next time Xion," said Marluxia, leaving the Gray Area alongside Saix.

"Yo, Xion," came Axel's voice.

She turned and barked out, "What do you want?!"

Axel was momentarily taken aback. "Uh... I take it your mission didn't go well?"

She found herself echoing the Voice's earlier words. "I swear I'm going to kill that man one day."

Axel cracked a grin. "Ah, mission partners sure are the greatest, aren't they?"

Xion glared at him.

Axel moved to stand next to her and aimed a hand forward. "C'mon Xion, what you need is the 'icing on the cake' to help you relax."

"The... what?" she asked, baffled.

He put an arm around her shoulder and practically dragged her through. "You'll see."

"H-hey!" she exclaimed.

It was too late though, he dragged her through, and out into Twilight Town near a shop. Axel let go of her and walked into the shop. She stood there a scowl plastered across her face, until he walked out with two wrapped 'things'.

She glanced down at the small bar like shapes. "What are those?"

"Wait and see, gotta go to the tower first, it's the best view," he said.

She sighed and followed behind him. "Sure, whatever..."

"Someones down in the dumps," said Axel.

She didn't reply.

"C'mon, where's that innocent naive goofball?" teased Axel, "Angry PMS doesn't suit you, that's Larxene's thing."

"H-hey!" she said, glaring at him.

He just laughed and kept on walking. Xion followed him through the town, into a train station, and to her unease, ontop of a clock tower. She warily followed him to sit down on the front part of it.

"Uh... is this safe?" she said warily.

"Sure, just make a Dark Corridor if you fall," said Axel.

"That's... not really reassuring," she muttered.

There was a small ripping sound, and Xion turned her head to see Axel opening the two wrapped 'things'. They were small little blue rectangles on a stick.

He offered her one. "Here, the 'icing on the cake'."

She took it and stared at it, baffled. "What... is it?"

Axel had his half-way to his mouth before he paused. "Really? You don't know what ice cream is?"

I almost feel sorry for you, almost.

Xion grumbled a little to herself at Axel's disbelief and the Voice's mocking. "No."

"It's a dessert, this particular kind is called Sea Salt Ice cream," he said before taking a bite of his.

Xion stared at the ice cream in her hand before hesitatingly taking a bite, her eyes going wide after. "Oh! It's salty, but sweet."

"Thus the name, got it memorized?" asked Axel a bit teasingly.

Xion ignored the teasing, eyeing the ice cream in her hand with childlike glee. It was devoured within the next ten seconds and...

"O-oh...," she said, shivering a bit and raising a hand to the side of her head.

"Ha, ice cream headache, you can't eat something that cold that fast," said Axel.

"You could have warned me!" said Xion.

Axel merely chuckled in response before taking another bite of his icecream.

Xion stared down at her now ice cream free stick, pouting a bit. She should have taken that a bit slower and... wait a sec...

"Hey Axel, what's with the 'winner' on the stick?" she asked, showing it to him.

Axel raised an eyebrow before scowling. "Really? On your first ice cream?"

She hesitated. "Is... it a bad thing?"

Axel shook his head and laughed. "Nah, it means you won a free ice cream."

Her eyes went wide. "I did?!"

"Mhm, every so often, you'll find an icecream with that on it, you can turn it in for a free ice cream," he explained.

Xion was about to leap up and go run for another before she paused. "Hmm."

She glanced down at the stick again. "I think... I'll save it for later then."

Axel poked the side of her head. "Now that's thinking, can't splurge all at once after all."

Xion batted his hand away and pocketed the stick, a smile on her face, before she raised her head and glanced out over the town. A... strange warm feeling filled her stomach, staring out at the sunset...

It's a beautiful sight...

Xion agreed with the Voice on that.

"Say Xion..., bet you don't know why the sun set's red," said Axel.

"Umm, nope," she answered.

"You see, light is made up of lots of colors, and out of all those colors, red is the one that travels the farthest," he explained.

Xion pondered the answer for a moment. "What about all the other colors?"

Axel shrugged. "Beats me, what do I look like, a know-it-all?"

Xion stuck her tongue out at him, her grinned in response.

She leaned back against the tower, a soft smile on her lips, her shoulders and body relaxing, not a hint of her previous frustration present. "Hey Axel..."

"Yeah?" he replied.

"Thanks," she said quietly, "For getting me ice cream and bringing me up here."

He half smiled. "Hey, what are friends for?"

She turned her head towards him. "Friends?"

"Yeah, it's what friends do," he said, leaning back as well, he glanced over at her, "We're friends right?

Xion gave him a big smile. "Yeah, friends..."

They sat there, staring out onto the sunset as the rest of the day passed them by...

Author's Notes:

Because it just wouldn't be right without ice cream.

Small little chapter, but, things are starting to get out of hand for Xion as Kairi panics and gives her a portion of her power, and even a bit of her anger bleeding through. What repercussions this has, well, let's see what happens next chapter...