Realm Hearts
chpt.9: More Somebody than Nobody
The ground shook violently as the girl ran desperately for her life. Behind her, a wave of Heartless both big and small gave chases while to each of her sides, everything was being wiped away by the darkness that was consuming her world.
After passing through some dense foliage, the girl was forced to come to a sudden stop as she had reached a cliff edge that fell into an abyss of darkness. She backs away from the edge, then feels the threat from behind her. She looks back and seeing the Heartless were nearly upon her.
What was she going to do? Even the best of her clan couldn't outfight these things, what chance did she have? And even if she could fight them, it would all be pointless anyways as her world, her very life, was ending right before her eyes. She she makes the only choice left to her.
She back up to the edge and falls...
Larxene's open wide as she awakens from the dream. She sits up, panting heavily as her eyes dart quickly, trying to recall where it was she was now. After several seconds, it comes back to her. She was in her room, within her own personal tower, within the twilight realm city of Never Was. She gets up from her bed and walks over to a mirror and looks at herself.
"I hate it when I remember those days..." she says before going to bathe in preparation for today.
(an hour later)
"Come on, lazy" says Xaldin, giving Demyx a hard push towards the portal. "We all have work to do. Even YOU.
"But I'm not feeling so well" complained Demyx, trying to act weak and sickly.
"We don't feel anything...like that you idiot. Now..." retorts Xaldin before planting his foot into Demyx backside, sending him flying through the portal. "...GET GOING."
"Same old, same old" notes Larxene as she walks into the room and is immediately thrown into a head lock by Xigbar.
"Running late today, princess? What, do you have a split end or something with your hair..." joked Xigbar before a back handed fist from Larxene lands right against his nose, making him release her and stumble back with curses escaping his lips.
"Like I'm the only one who has that problem every now and then" she yells at him, referring to the fact many members of the Organization had rather long and/or outlandish hairstyles. She then approach's Saix and ask "Give me my assignment already..."
"Here..." says Saix in a deadpan tone and wondering if it was possible for female nobodies to suffer from period induced mood swings as she was crabbier than normal today.
Larxene takes the paper and reads it over, then says "Wait, I have to play babysitter with the brat today?"
Saix motions to Roxas to come join them, then looks at Larxene and ask "Will that be a problem?"
"Oh gee, let me think...of course its gonna be a problem. You know I don't like working with others. Never have, never will" she says while crossing her hands over her chest and puffing out her cheeks in a stubborn fashion.
"Well, sorry to hear that and sorry to say I don't really care either. You will be working with Roxas today then you can be happy in knowing you won't have to do it again...at least for a while" says Saix.
Larxene glares at him, wanting to argue her point. But seeing the look he was giving her makes her sigh, knowing there was nothing she could say that would change his mind. "Fine, if I have to..." She then turns to look at Roxas and says "Try not to cause me any trouble...", then brings her weapons out and aims one at Roxas. "...or me and you are gonna have some problems. Got it?"
Roxas gulps and says "Understood, ma'am."
She gives him a nod before entering the portal. "Is she always like that?" asked Roxas.
"You'll get use to it...hopefully" says Saix, though his tone was very confident sounding.
"Here's hoping you're right" says Roxas before stepping towards the portal; stopping only long enough to sneak a peek at Xion, then entering the portal, following after Larxene.
Off in the corner, Xion had watch the scene that had played out, silently agreeing with Roxas on Larxene being scary and she was glad she wasn't stuck with that girl. Though she was feeling a little blue as she was hoping she and Roxas could have worked together again today so she could drop the whole mute, lifeless persona she was keeping up around the others.
"Xion...?" comes Saix, bringing her from her thoughts. She almost replies verbally, but catches herself in time and maintains her silence; instead simply walking forward to stand before him. "You will be working with Lexaeus today. Understood?"
Xion turns to look at the silent giant of a man who had approached her and was now look down at her. He was really intimidating, she thought. But since he was as shy about verbal communication as she was, she had a feeling things would be OK for for the time being.
"Let's go" says Lexaeus as he walks into the portal with Xion following after a few moments later.
(with Roxas and Larxene)
After exiting the portal, Roxas quickly takes note of their locations unique features. He could see much plant life around them as well as bamboo, something he had only seen in pictures before in school back in Twilight Town. "Well, this place looks pretty peaceful, huh?" he asked Larxene.
Larxene scoffs at his question as she steps forward and traces a line down one of the bamboo poles with her fingers. "Looks can be deceiving, brat. Let's just hunt down those Heartless and get the heart collection quota finished up for today." She then walks down the only path open to them.
"Sure...OK" says Roxas, following after her.
As Larxene leads the way, her eyes dart from one sight to another, becoming more annoyed with everything she was seeing. "This place..." she mumbles quietly to herself. She hated it.
It reminded her to much of her own world...
(elsewhere)
The Mongol warrior made his way silently back towards the encampment he and his men were using for there mission. On the orders of their leader, Shan Yu, they had been sent as an advanced party to determine the potential hazards they would face when the invasion began.
Though it would be difficult, he believed he had found something that could be useful in their attack upon the imperial city. He smiles just a little, knowing his find would likely get rewarded well by their leader and his rewards were known to be quite generous. Well, generous by Mongol standards.
He's dragged from his thoughts by the sudden rustling amongst the foliage, bringing him into being alert as he draws his sword. Had he been seen? Had he been followed? Well, whatever it was, it would regret challenging a Mongol warrior.
(with Roxas and Larxene)
"Stop" says Larxene suddenly, coming to a stand still while holding her hand out to make sure Roxas would stop as well. Her eyes quickly begin to scan the area carefully.
"What's wrong?" asked Roxas, stopping while making ready to summon his Keyblade forth if needed.
"Shh" she hush's him before carefully stepping forward. Her battle knives appear, held between her fingers, and sparks of electricity begin to arc around the weapons. "There" she yells suddenly, sending two knives flying into the bush's with several Shadow's leaping out at them in response.
"Get to work, brat" she yells as she jumps back to give Roxas room.
"Right" says Roxas, the Kingdom Key appearing in his hand as he begins slicing through the Shadow's, releasing hearts with each strike.
The fight against the Shadow's was becoming easier, he thought, as they didn't have much in the way of techniques to them. Just swiping with their small hands, jumping at an opponent, or sinking into the ground and moving around as a...well, as a shadow. Simple.
But just when he thought he had slain the last of the Shadow's, anew enemy type he had not seen before appeared. These new Heartless, screeching madly as they move, resembled monkey's with menacing red claws not unlike those other weird looking Heartless he and Xion had encountered back in the Underworld.
"Hey kid, watch out for these ones" warns Larxene as she jumps up and over one that was targeting her. "They're tricky in their attack patterns."
"Right" yells Roxas, charging at one who suddenly goes into a slide that knocks him off his feet momentarily, though he quickly recovers and gets back into the fight.
The Proud Wild that had knocked him to the ground then leaps into the air before going into a spin while coming down at him. Roxas ducks under the attack, then spins around himself and takes the Heartless out with a blow to the back of its head.
Now having an idea on how these Heartless fight, Roxas is able to take out the remaining ones with only a little bit of trouble, an one moment of Larxene having to give him some assistance. "Is it over?" he asked as the last Proud Wild turns into a heart.
"Maybe" says Larxene, looking around and not feeling anything else close by. "Stay alert though. There could be more showing up at any time."
"What were those things, anyways? They don't look like any Heartless I've ever seen before. Just like those weird knight helmeted ones me and Xion encountered the other day too" says Roxas.
"Those were Proud Wilds and the other ones you say you saw sound like Soldier's based on your description" says Larxene. "What, you don't know about the Emblem's?"
Roxas shakes his head, then says "First I've ever heard of them."
Larxene sighs, then grumbles out "Of course I would have to explain it to you seeing as Axel and Xigbar are TO GOOD for that bit. Fine, I'll clue you in then."
After a pause, Larxene says "You already know the basic's about the Heartless. But what you don't seem to know is that they exist in two types; the Pure Bloods and the Emblems. Now, the Pure Bloods are all true Heartless born directly in the Realm of Darkness, like Shadow's and Darkside. Understand so far?"
Roxas nods and Larxene continues her explanation. "Now Emblem's, on the other hand, is what happens when a Pure Blood undergoes some sort of forced transformation by an external force, reshaping them into various forms. You can tell if a Heartless has been transformed if it has the crest planted on their bodies like the Proud Wilds had. Destroy the crest and they'll revert to normal or so they say."
"What kind of external forces? And how can it cause such a change?" asked Roxas.
"You got me" says Larxene. "If you really want to know, ask one of those science loving geeks like Vexen or Zexion back at the castle. All I know is that it happens and that's enough for me. Anyways, lets see if there's any more of those things around here before heading back."
Roxas nods as they begin the search again. As they walk, something from earlier brings up a question within Roxas. "Say, how did you know they were there to begin with?"
"Mind your own business" snaps Larxene before sighing and adding "It's...personal..."
Before she could elaborate, a scream is heard off in the distance. "Come on, brat. Let's go" she says before breaking into a run, heading towards the scream with Roxas in pursuit.
They raced through the foliage, the sounds of the screams becoming louder and louder then suddenly going silent as they moved around one large wall of rock and came to a stop. Standing still, surrounded by bamboo was the Hun warrior, drooped forward slightly and looking at the ground.
"Hey, are you OK?" asked Roxas as he moves in to check on the man.
"Wait, don't get near him" yells Larxene, feeling a foul wind in the air, coming from the motionless man.
Roxas stops within arms length on the man, looks back, and ask "Why?"
A flash lights up the man's eyes before he lash's out suddenly, grabbing Roxas by his neck and squeezing hard while lifting him up in the air. Roxas kicks and struggles to free himself, the act being futile as nothing he does has any effect on the Hun warrior.
Larxene curses beneath her breath as she rush's in to save him but the Hun sees her coming and throws Roxas back hard into her, sending them both flying back and hitting the ground hard. They both recover and look at the Hun who's body had began to release a dark, fiery mist from all around.
The Hun growls as his body shakes; his hands going to his head and grabbing it in a tight hold. He stumbles back as the mist intensifies and then the man looks high into the sky and lets out a final monstrous scream as his body is consumed by the mist.
For a second, all they could see was the mist enveloping the Hun which then blast outwards, revealing the Hun was now gone and had been replaced by something new. A creature with a large, horse like body with a human half at the torso; a centaur like creature who was wielding a lance like weapon.
Roxas sees the emblem symbol upon the creatures chest as he gets up, asking "Is that...a Heartless?"
Larxene gets up as well, saying "Yeah, and Emblem class. It's called Assault Rider." Air blast from the Heartless nose as one of its hooves digs into the ground, preparing it for movement. "But what's going on here? I've never heard of a person becoming an Emblem class directly before?"
The Assault Rider roars like a beast before charging forward, angling the lance before it as if it was in a jousting competition. "Move" yells Larxene before jumping to one side while Roxas, heading her words, jumps in the opposite direction.
The Assault Rider's charge ends up slamming into a tree; the power from the hit causing the tree to split in half due to the impact. "Oh man, that one's a lot stronger than any other Heartless I've faced" says Roxas, though he felt the Darkside was still the more dangerous.
"Just don't let your guard down with this one" warns Larxene before leaping up and throwing some of her electrically charges knives at it. "It will kill you if you don't take the threat seriously."
The Assault Rider sees the attack coming from the corner of its right eye and turns while spinning the lance to make a shield to blocks Larxene's attack. It then rears back and chucks its lance at Larxene who barely dodges it by a hairs length.
"It's vulnerable now" shouts Roxas as he charges in with Keyblade in hand, seeing that without its weapon, he had a good chance to take it out.
Instead, the Assault Rider turns its back to Roxas, which was surprising till Roxas realized to late why. Being part horse, it would act like any horse being attacked from behind and rears both its back feet up, nailing Roxas in the gut which sends him flying back and hitting a tree. The force exerted on his body from both blows makes him cough up blood before collapsing onto the ground in intense pain.
'Gah, I think that Heartless broke a couple of ribs' his mind screams as he tries to recover from the attack.
The Assault Rider raises a hand up which causes the lance to come flying back to it. It then turns its attention at Roxas before charging at the downed Keybearer. In his current state, he was vulnerable; an easy prey. Roxas looks up and sees the lance weapon bearing down at him and he knew it was over.
"No" yells Larxene as she lands on the Heartless's back, grabbing its head and jerking it to the right which causes the whole Heartless to turn off its attack path, saving Roxas from being skewered. She then jumps off just before the Assault Rider collides with another group of trees which come collapsing down onto it.
"That should keep it busy for a moment" she says before turning back and rushing over to Roxas. "Hey, you still with me, brat?"
Roxas coughs as he looks up at her and gives her as best a smile as he can. "Sure, no problem..." he manages to get out despite the pain.
"Trying to act tough isn't a sign of being cool, brat. It's just boy's ego which is something you don't need now" she says before reaching into her coat. "Give me a second. I'm sure I got something in here that can help. Now let me see..."
Roxas was grateful for the help, though he did worry about what her idea of first aid would be. A glint of metal from the trees then catch's his eyes and he sees the lance of the Assault Rider being aimed and thrown right at Larxene, who was to busy searching her coat to even notice.
"Watch out" he yells as he finds the strength inside himself to break past the pain and get to his feet, pushing her clear only to be hit himself in the stomach which sends him flying back and being pinned into a tree.
For a moment that felt like an eternity, Larxene just stood there looking at Roxas pinned helplessly to the tree, unmoving. The deep and slow sounding steps of the Heartless ringing out as it moved forward. Then the lance pulling itself free of Roxas and the tree to return to its master's hand which causes Roxas body to fall upon the ground, showing no sign of life.
Larxene looks back at it as her eyes fill with rage and sparks of lightning erupt from her body as she gives off a battle cry. She charges the Assault Rider, using all her skills learned from her old life to attack it with lighting like furosity.
But the Assault Rider was just as fast, counter her easily due to her less than adequate weapon which weren't suited for fighting an enemy like this. She tries casting several Thunder spells against the Heartless, but the creature easily dodges the strikes or uses its lance to deflect them away.
And then, with a swing of the lance, its sends Larxene flying off to the side and knocking her knives from her hand. She hits a tree and slumps down, her vision blurring as the Assault Rider charges at her for a final attack.
And then her eyes spot Roxas Keyblade laying a few feet away from her. She knew that if she touched it, it would disappear. But maybe it would remain long enough...She dives at the Keyblade, her hand hovering over it as the Heartless approached her. She would need to time this perfectly and hope it worked. The lance thrust forward and she dodges the thrust at the last second while grabbing the Keyblade and, in one swift motion, stabbing it into the Heartless's body.
The Assault Rider rears back in pain; its body breaking apart from the point of contact with the Keyblade which Larxene lets go and watch's as the Assault Rider is defeated, reverting into a grouping of hearts that float off into the sky.
She breaths a sigh of relief, saying "It's over now...wait, Roxas."
The first thing he knows as he comes back to consciousness was the pain he was feeling from his waist. Groaning, he opens his eyes and finds Larxene looking down at him with a relieved look on her face.
"So, finally decided to wake up, huh?" she asked.
"Wha...what happened?" he asked, then recalling the Heartless they had been fighting and tries to sit up quickly, groaning even more now from the increase in the pain he was feeling.
"Easy there, brat" she says, placing a hand on his back to help him sit up. "That elixir I gave you healed you injuries but you'll still need a few days to fully recover properly."
"Thanks" he says before realizing he had been resting on her lap. "Um...sorry for back there."
She shakes her head, saying "I should be thanking you, actually. If you hadn't pushed me out of the way earlier and taken that hit instead, I wouldn't be here now."
"Well, we're on the same team after all so it's only natural we watch each others backs, isn't it?" he asked and gets a nod in response. He then takes a look around and realizes he had been out of it for a good while as the sun had started to set.
"Before, you asked me how I could sense things the way I do" says Larxene suddenly, getting Roxas attention.
"Back then, before I became a Nobody, I was a girl who lived in a village of shadow warriors; ninja's. My clan was known for being very traditional and it was important for tradition to be followed no matter what. And both men and women had their specific roles to play in that tradition."
"The person I was before was nothing like the person I am now. In those days, I was shy and quiet, I usually spoke only when spoken to. And I hated the person I was. I hated the fact I wasn't confident and unable to speak my mind. And then, the day came when my world fell into darkness."
"Imagine my surprise when I found myself in Never Was as a Nobody. And can you imagine that along with that, I found my old issues and insecurities had left me in this state. I was now confident, assertive, and...I was happy. I even chopped off my long hair as a sign of the change I had undergone."
"Wow, it's hard to see you as being a shy little wall flower" admits Roxas.
"I know, right" agreed Larxene. "I'll tell you something else, Roxas. I may be a Nobody now but I have never in my life felt more like a somebody than I did when I became a Nobody. I don't care if I regain my heart or not as I, right now, finally truly feel like a somebody now."
Roxas smiles at her, then he ask "Why did you tell me all this, anyways? I heard you weren't the talkative type where your past is concerned."
"Mm, I wonder" she says. "Maybe I just wanted to finally get my secrets off my chest and you were the first one to come along and prove worthy of hearing them." She then looks at him with a crazy look in her eyes and adds "And if you tell anyone, I'll do horrible things to you...GOT IT?"
Roxas gulps and nods quickly, saying "Got it."
"Glad to hear it" she says before getting it. "Now, in return for your silence, I'll teach you a few things I learned while growing up in a ninja village. I'll teach you how to sense things around you..."
(that night, back in Never Was)
Roxas was looking out over the fake Twilight Town that existed within the thirteenth floor of Memory Skyscraper, enjoying the feel of the setting sun upon him even if it to was fake. The pain he had been experiencing earlier had faded and now all that was left was just some minor stiffness that Larxene had assured him would be gone by morning.
"Hey Roxas" comes Xion as she comes walking out from the bell tower and stopping from the awe of the sight she was seeing. "Wow, what an amazing view. Is this really where you lived before?"
"Yeah, pretty nice, huh?" he says, looking back at her as she steps forward and sit down beside him, pulling her hood off. "So, how did your mission with Lexaeus go?"
"It was pretty boring an uneventful. Not much talking from either of us. And the Heartless were all easy too" she says. She then takes on a worried look, saying "But what about you though? I heard you got banged up pretty good during your mission today though."
"I guess you could say that, but as you can see, I'm fine" he says, spreading his arms so she could get a better look at him. "Nothing I couldn't handle."
"I'm glad..." she says, though she didn't fail to notice the panged look on his face from doing sudden movements. She was worried about him but she could also tell that he wasn't lying about being OK, so it was fine with her for now.
"Oh yeah..." says Roxas as he reach's into his pocket and pulls out two wrapped ice cream bars and hands one to Xion. "Here, try it. I think you'll like it."
Xion takes the bar from Roxas and pulls the wrapper off, revealing the light blue colored treat beneath. "What is it?" she asked.
"Sea Salt Ice Cream" he says before taking a bite. "It's the most popular snack back in Twilight Town."
"Oh..." she says as she studies it a bit more, then takes a bite herself. "Mm, its salty...but also sweet too." She takes another bite and adds "This really is good."
"Told ya" he says as the two of them continue enjoying the snack.
"Say, Roxas" comes Xion as she finish's off her bar. "Don't you usually come here after missions to hang out with Axel?"
"Yeah...well, sort of as we've only really done it twice so far. If you want to, you can come hang out here as well" he says.
"You mean it?" she asked.
Xion smiles, saying "Thank you. That makes me glad to you're OK with it. I just hope Axel will be fine with it though."
"I wouldn't worry about that" says Roxas encouragingly. "I'm sure he'll be cool with it and besides which...this is MY level in the tower after all so I can invite anyone I want."
"Yeah" says Xion, then both of them laugh a little. Little did they know that they weren't alone as Axel was indeed there, just off along the side, just out of sight, listening to the two of them talk.
'Well what do you know. Roxas actually did get Xion to open up...' thinks Axel, smiling a little. He could step out and join in the fun. Maybe even get a laugh at seeing Xion get all shy and try to act all detached again. But why spoil their fun today?
Maybe what Roxas needed, to help him get over what had happened back in Twilight Town that led to his leaving, was Xion and a friendship between the two of them. He walks off and exits the floor, returning back to the castle to get some rest for the day.
To be continued...