The Resolve of All
Chapter 6: Damsels in Distress
Roxas had made it to Castle Dominion, specifically Aurora's bedchambers only to find out that she was not there...
"Maybe she's somewhere else in the Castle..." Roxas wondered.
The spiky blond opened the door which allowed him to enter the hallway. He followed the corridors with no resistance until he made it to the Audience Chamber where the King and Queen's Thrones lay and also where they had cordial events.
"Why is it so quiet in here...?" He examined the empty Castle. "Hello?!"
"...Help me..."
"Who said that?" Roxas looked around.
"It is I, Phillip." He was hidden by a pillar and he looked injured.
Roxas ran to him and used some cure magic to heal his wounds, but the noble-dressing young man still looked like he was about to pass out from exhaustion.
"Sir, what happened?" Roxas questioned.
"Strange creatures came and..." He whispered. "They took Princess Aurora... I couldn't stop them..."
"The Princesses..." Roxas comforted. "Don't worry Phillip, I'll find her."
"Thank you." He weakly stated. "They were heading towards the Forbidden Mountain... if you leave now... you can still catch them..."
Phillip than passed out on the floor. Roxas took pity on the man and propped him back up on the pillar. The blond summoned his Keyblades and left the castle as he headed towards the Forbidden Mountain.
Xion had arrived in the Agrabah palace in search of Princess Jasmine but what she found instead was a note stabbed to the door with a curved dagger. Xion approached it and ripped the note off to examine the letter...
"We have Princess Jasmine... come to The Cave of Wonders with the randsom if you want her back alive... come alone dear Sultan..." She read.
Then suddenly a batch of Heartless surrounded her and lunged at the raven-haired girl. Xion summoned her Keyblade and sliced through the first one with a single blow. She then performed a powerful thundaga spell to stun the rest of them. While they were temporarily paralyzed, Xion dashed and effectively ended the Heartless with Twilight's Amity on one side while she impressively and simultaneously shot fireballs and destroyed the rest of the Heartless on the other side. They were all defeated and Xion was alone in the palace courtyard once again...
Xion looked back towards town and noticed there was not a sound to be heard, except the usual whistling of the wind and the wisps of sand that scurried across the ground...
"Why does this place look like a ghost town...?" She wondered. "I better get to the Cave of Wonders and save Jasmine then."
She summoned a dark corridor to take her to the desert. She guessed that the normal marauders would be a piece of cake for her... but if only she knew what was going to happen next on the other side...
Drex had arrived on the great bridge which led to the tall dark castle, and it belonged to the Master who was infamously the Beast...
"I'm sure he's going to be happy when I have to leave with Belle..." Drexbann stated as he shook his head that thought. "Maybe if I explain..."
Drex continued to formulate a plan as he crossed the bridge and entered the front courtyard. Why not take the direct polite approach? The brunette walked up to the giant front door and knocked three times and waited for an answer.
"Oui? Bonjour! Can I help you?"
It was not someone Drex was expecting. According to Xion and Roxas, the people in this castle were not human at all; they were just things like candelabras or clocks, or etc. It was as if they were all under some sort of weird spell. But this apparently was a normal French man answering the door...
"Uh... yes." Drex addressed. "I have a message for the Master of this castle. It's top priority."
"Of course, of course! Oui! Come on in." Lumiere said as he let Drex in and closed the door behind him. "I'll retrieve my Master... Please wait in the Parlor Room over there if you s'il vous plait?"
"Très bien, merci." Drex said impressing Lumiere with his response.
"Oh?" Lumiere smiled. "Il n'y a pas de quoi."
Lumiere continued his way towards the West Wing as Drex let himself into the Parlor Room to wait for the Master. He sat in a nearby chair and patiently waited for what he assumed would be a human master instead of the Beast. Maybe this was going to be a walk in the park after all?
...Until he heard a woman's scream and that thought was thrown out the window...
Roxas had made his way past the forest and to the eerily atmosphere which surrounded the Forbidden Mountain...
The blond came to a deathly looking land bridge which led to a dark castle in the distance. The ominous structure sent shivers down his spine, but he realized that he had to push forward to save Princess Aurora.
But before Roxas could even step forth on the bridge, a barrier formed in front of him preventing the spiky blond access to the castle!
"What...? What's going on?" Roxas looked around for the culprit.
Then out of nowhere, a dark corridor appeared behind Roxas and out came a young girl with pink hair...
"Hi Roxas." Fate greeted. "My name is Fate."
Roxas immediately recognized her as a threat and summoned his two Keyblades in each of his hands.
"So you're another one of Drex's friends, right?" He questioned.
"Yup. And you're the one who fought Mark." Fate replied. "He said you were pretty strong."
"Never mind that! Where is Princess Aurora?!" He questioned.
"Oh, her? She's long gone." She smirked. "Guess you were too slow..."
"No... But why are you collecting the princesses in the first place?!" Roxas inquired.
"You don't know? We need the seven pure hearts of light to open the Door to Darkness." Fate answered. "And to create the X-blade..."
"X-blade...? What are you talking about?!" Roxas said in frustration.
"Sorry blondie. That's all I was supposed to tell you." Fate responded. "And I was ordered not to fight you either..." She then raised her hand and the ground around them began to shake as if an earthquake was occurring. "But that doesn't mean you aren't going to have any fun..."
She giggled as teleported away into darkness leaving Roxas to contend with two opponents that were summoned on either side of him... Twilight Thorn and a Darkside...
"Oh great..." He groaned as he leaped at his giant opponents.
The scream had to be from Belle. Drex stormed out of the Parlor Room as he summoned Sleeping Lion into his hand. Hopefully, his training with the Keyblade will be enough to sustain him against any threat that he is about to meet.
"The scream came from the Ballroom..." He noticed.
Drex ran to the large doors and barged into the large chamber. The magnificent and beautiful Ballroom was golden-lined and looked like a diamond in the rough compared to the rest of the castle. The artwork on the ceiling was marvelous but now was not the time to admire its beauty because Belle was lying on the middle of the floor, unconscious...
Suddenly, barriers appeared on all of the walls and exits in the chamber. Belle and Drex were trapped...
Drexbann ran to Belle to see if she was alright. She was unresponsive but she looked unharmed at the moment...
Then... the echo of footsteps could be heard behind the brunette signaling that they were not alone... Drex turned around to meet his old friend...
Play the Graceful Assassin Battle Theme on a second tab.
"Long time, no see... Brendan." Xylersk stood there with a satisfying grin on his face which quickly turned into a grimace. "I see you have a Keyblade now..."
"You mean since you last saw me and attacked my friend and me?" Drex replied. "Yeah. Some things have changed."
Then a dark corridor appeared and Skyler was then joined by a girl with light ash blond hair and matching amber eyes. She stood by his side, but she looked almost relived to see Drex.
"Brendan... you're alive." Mona beamed.
"You didn't believe me?" Xylersk raised an eyebrow.
"No it's just... seeing him in person. It's been a while." She stated.
"Just so you guys know its Drexbann now, Drex for short." He reminded them.
"You're a Nobody?" Mona questioned.
"No... That's not it. I can sense that he has been recompleted." Xylersk noticed.
"Huh? Then why did you change your name?" Mona inquired.
"Tch... I see now..." Xylersk realized. "It must be because you are utterly ashamed for what you have done to us and our world as Brendan, so you cast that name aside to make you forget... But believe me, we are living proof that you cannot escape your past..."
"Shut up!" Drex shook his head as he remembered that horrible day. "It was an accident! I'm sorry for what I did back then!"
"Are you? An accident implies that there is no one to blame. Will your apology bring back our world? Our families? My heart?" Skyler was starting to boil over.
"...Skyler... Drex didn't mean to-!"
"Save it!" He silenced her words. "Now Mona, you're going to leave Drex to me. Move the princess off to the side and enjoy the show... This shouldn't take long."
Mona reluctantly complied as she snapped her fingers to use some magic to levitate Belle's body and herself on the upper level above.
"You're so sure you're going to win..." Drex pointed his Keyblade at his opponent. "Well I've got news for you... I won't go down so easily this time..."
"...Prove me wrong then." Xylersk growled as he summoned two dual energy falcata swords.
The two former friends lunged at each other, both of them intent on ending the other...
They collided and a powerful shockwave ensued shaking the whole castle! Then the two leaped back only to slam into each other with brute force and amazing speed again and again. Skyler slashed downward only to be blocked by the silver Keyblade. Then Drex countered by impaling Sleeping Lion into the ground and this created a seismic wave which sent Xylersk flying across the Ballroom. The purple-haired man stood back up with a smirk.
"Not bad..." He dismissed only one of his swords. "But let's make it more interesting!"
Suddenly, Xylersk threw his other sword in a strike raid motion, not at Drex... but the giant chandelier above him!
The chain holding it aloft was severed by the sword and the chandelier threatened to crush Drex, but at the last second, the brunette dodged out of the way and the structure smashed into the floor.
"Close call." Drex remarked.
"Not close enough." Xylersk retorted as he raised his hand.
Xylersk then called upon his telekinesis powers and pushed the chandelier towards Drex!
He responded by cutting through the structure as he passed through it, intent on attacking Skyler who had no weapons in his hands. But Skyler made a motion with both his hands and controlled the chandelier pieces again and sent them at Drex. The brunette had to keep slicing and running just so he wouldn't get impaled. There were about fifty chandelier pieces chasing him all around the Ballroom now. Xylersk continued controlling and moving the projectiles and ordered them to do Drex harm as he and Mona watched on.
Then Drex had an idea. The brunette then came to a pillar and swung himself around it using centrifugal force to gain momentum, and then he let go.
Drex coaxed himself in aero magic and used his Keyblade to protect himself as he smashed head-on into the stream of projectiles. Drex went right through it all and found himself still going and right at Xylersk.
The purple-haired man had barely any time to react but he quickly re-summoned his weapons and performed a spin into an uppercut to meet Drexbann's assault. The power was so intense that a crater formed beneath them on impact. As they held each other there, gritting their teeth, they looked into each other's eyes, both of them determined to fulfill their resolve.
"It's no use..." Xylersk gritted. "You and your new friends will fall into oblivion..."
"What happened to you Skyler...?" Drex growled. "Why are you serving darkness?"
"Because of you... you took everything from me... but now you'll pay..." He responded.
"I don't believe you... That's Xehanort talking, isn't it?" Drex reasoned. "I know you Skyler... you have a good heart."
"I am a Nobody! I have no heart!" He bellowed as he pushed forward forcing Drex on one knee.
"Nobodies... can... have... hearts..." Drex struggled to hold on. "You don't have to do this!"
"Shut up!" Xylersk stated as he pushed through Drex defense and knocked his Keyblade out of his hand and delivered a roundhouse kick to his head, sending him sliding back to the middle of the Ballroom floor.
Drex panted. "Skyler... it doesn't have to be this way! Remember the good times back at home! You're better than this!"
Xylersk was about to give the finishing blow when he halted his attack...
There was hesitation in his eyes...
His deathly intent faltered and he began to shake his head and clutch it in agony...
"No... Just... shut up!" He struggled.
Even if they didn't know it, Skyler was trying to resist the darkness and the fragment of Xehanort's heart within him...
He warned Drex. "Get out... get out of here before I..."
Then suddenly the darkness reaffirmed control and his golden eye glowed with anger...
Drex was too weak to resist as Xylersk grabbed Drex's throat and he lifted him off the ground...
"Skyler... fight it. You have to..." Drex was having the life choked out of him.
Darkness steamed off Xylersk as he began to absorb Drexbann's power...
Then to his surprise, a Keyblade struck the arm holding Drex up and he fell to the ground in an unconscious state as Xylersk leaped back in awe and surprise, coddling his injured arm.
Mona was wielding the Keyblade that attacked him; it had the appearance of a pin tumbler lock key, with bandages adorning the base of the blade, Fenrir.
"Stop it!" Mona screamed. "I won't let you kill him!"
"Imbecile! Do you realize the consequences for this betrayal?!" He growled.
"Yes I do." She boldly stated as she quickly went to Drex's side and she teleported both of them out of this world to safety...
A/N- Skyler is still in there somewhere... Mona saves Drex's life putting her own at risk, but where will they go now? What about Xion? Was she as unsuccessful as Roxas and Drex? State your thoughts and opinions. Find out what happens next and await the next chapter... Reviews=Updates :)
Impressed with my French ladies? I didn't even use google to translate it. ;)