A/N: Uh…..
Next to Nothing:
Chapter Eight:
"Realization"
And we stepped out of the airship, following Aerith.
I tried to catch Axel's eye, but he was staring off into the distance as The World That Never Was came into view, so I turned and looked myself.
As soon as I looked, I shut my eyes. Why did it hurt so much to lay eyes on this place? Did I have too many memories associated with that horrible castle off in the distance? Had I spent too much time wandering this streets feeling empty and lost? Would I feel everything all over again? Was I still bound by my promise to never return? A few tears leaked between my eyelids. And would I be forced to remember every moment of pain and loss that I felt on these shadowed streets?
I opened my eyes again.
The streets looked exactly as I remembered them. Feelings began rushing to the back of my mind, but I forced them back out again. Now was not the time.
"Oh, wow…" I heard Yuffie in front of me, and the others as well seemed surprised at this world. Never before had they seen a world so dark and desolate, so full, yet an endless void.
Suddenly, my mind began working. Thoughts were racing through my mind at a million miles an hour. "Oh, no…" I whispered. "Oh no… How could I have let this happen?" I wondered why I hadn't realized this before. "It's a trap."
The next few events happened in quick succession, almost impossible to figure out, but I still remember my brain working out why it was a trap.
Only Nobodies live in the World That Never Was.
Only a Nobody could have tipped off the Garden Times about a sighting of Sora.
Very few Nobodies could speak.
In fact, only thirteen.
The Organization used Sora, or Roxas, really, to bring Axel out of hiding, knowing that I, too, would follow.
Dammit.
And following that thought, a knife flying through the air whizzed past my head to get stuck in the wall behind me, also narrowly missing the gummy ship. Axel dodged an ice-based spell coming from somewhere above us, and I shouted,
"Aerith! Leon! Yuffie! Get back in the gummy ship and leave!"
More knives and spells followed from above, but still, Yuffie shouted back at us, "You think we're idiots? We would never leave you!"
And for a moment, I was annoyed. I had almost forgotten how loyal friends could be. I could have sworn Larxene took my place for a moment. "No, not this time. You have to leave us. This is our battle."
"But Rissa…" But Yuffie caught a look from Leon.
"She's right."
"I can't believe you!"
"C'mon, Yuffie." And with one hand, he shoved her in the gummy ship in front of him, and it took off moments later.
Axel, taking out his chakrams and swinging them threateningly, shouted at the rooftops, "Show yourselves, cowards!"
"With pleasure." Said a familiar voice.
"Oh my god…" I realized who it was. It was Catássa.
She materialized about twenty yards away from us, something like a smirk on her face, her eyes narrowed in a sadistic pleasure that I had never seen on her face. I clung to Axel's arm, and asked him,
"What's wrong with her?"
For there was definitely something wrong with her. Her hair was far too long, her face was far too pale, and her eyes, her eyes…they were no longer green. They were black. And as we watched, markings appeared on her face, her arms, her legs. Black swirls, intricate patters, almost like ink, yet so real…
"Only one thing can do that to a person…" Axel said, and immediately, I knew.
"Witchcraft."
And all at once, I was terribly, terribly afraid.
"Of course, Xemnas was very surprised when he found out you were the first to return, Rissa." Catássa began speaking. And her voice, something was different about it. Sure it sounded older, changed with the passing of three-something years, but there was something else. It sounded, oiled, like—like—I struggled to remember. Like the Gatekeeper's. Then, I realized what she had said.
"Xem--Xemnas?" I honestly tried not to stutter, but the fear associated with that name still remained, even now.
"Tassa?" Axel said, half out of fear, half out of surprise. "Don't tell me you're Xemnas' new lapdog… Honestly, I'm ashamed."
Catássa completely ignored my stuttering and Axel's input, and continued speaking, almost as if we weren't there. "He told me it was because you were considered the weakest, after all. Roxas was younger and newer, but he had the power of the Keyblade on his side and no feelings or residual memories to weigh him down. But you didn't even have that. So it must have been some other kind of strength that brought you back." She waved her hand, as if the matter were meaningless. "Xemnas didn't very much care how or why you came back, but he would like to speak with you."
"He would like to speak to me?" At least I didn't stutter this time.
"He has a—proposition for you." Catássa said, grinning slightly. "An offer to make." She restated, in case the word proposition was beyond me. I narrowed my eyes. This new Catássa was starting to get on my nerves.
"Tassa? What's wrong with you? What's all this about Xemnas?" Axel asked, slightly desperately. I understood exactly what he was feeling. I knew that it was killing me too, to see my best friend act like this.
She spun to him, her black eyes blazing. Such a quick change in temper, I observed. This was a lot more than puberty.
"It's not Tassa anymore." She stated slowly, determined, in a voice filled with fire. "It's Riax. Ari."
"My god…" Axel said. Obviously, this name meant a lot more to him than it did to me. But in the past few hours, I had discovered that Avery and Catássa's past was a lot more tangled and complicated than I could have ever imagined.
"That's right, Avery. I know about that now. Honestly, I would have preferred to have been named Ari than Catássa, as if you were trying to replace our mother. And because you didn't carry out her dying wish, to name me Ari, I'm here to give you, and you only, the chance to speak to her. Yes, Axel, I'm going to kill you. And our resident Keyblade wielder is going to help me."
A/N: Er, penname has been changed. I'm Shattered Skyes now, but you can still just call me Skye. That works too. Anyway, review replies.
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