Chapter Thirty Two: Drifting Souls
I tried both Xigbar and Vexen's portals; however, on the other side was naught but an empty room. I sighed after returning to the Proof of Existence.
"Stupid Xaldin..." I muttered, stepping through the portal. The other side was to be expected: a long white bridge connecting two of the towers on the Castle. On the other side was an unhooded Organization member with dreadlocks and muttonchops.
Xaldin.
I stepped forward, ready for an even more intense fight than that battle with Lexaeus.
I'd even drunk an Elixir.
Xaldin turned around after I'd reached speaking distance. He held his hands behind his back.
"Riku," he muttered. "I should have expected as much."
"Tell me... who slew Xigbar and Vexen?" I asked.
"That foolish boy who's passed out in our Hall of Empty Melodies right now," Xaldin answered. "He tracked them down before the great Cataclysm... after all, even we existed before his soul was stained."
A gale-force wind blew past me, and Xaldin's six spears had been summoned. He held them; two in one hand, one in the other, and the other three levitated.
"You know, even if you defeat me, Xehanort's waiting," Xaldin said. "He'll take everything dear to you."
I summoned Way to the Dawn, trying my best to ignore the winds. They were just too much...
"I'll protect everything dear to me!" I shouted as the winds increased in intensity, nearly deafening my shout.
"Then... let's see your devotion," Xaldin said coldly. "Winds, guard me!"
The gale-force winds died down, but Xaldin was now protected within a sphere of razor winds. I moved in to strike him, but was forced back by the wind. I narrowly dodged six incoming spears, parrying two of them, then jumped back. I blazed at him this time, perfoming a Dark Break, then attacked him; this kind of attack, an aerial dive, broke through his blustery defensive sphere.
He summoned another wind sphere, then fanned out his six spears. They moved around the sphere, then fanned out to strike me. I darted to the side to avoid it, then hurled my Keyblade at him. It smacked Xaldin in the face, then returned to me.
He knows I can't overdo it with the darkness... I'll have to battle wisely.
I dodged four falling spears, then dashed at Xaldin, sidestepping at the last moment. I kept running, with Xaldin chasing me, then ran up the side of the tower, dived down on him, and struck him a few times before being forced back with a gale.
"Your resolve is strong," Xaldin said. He moved forward, slowly walking on air, before I had to backstep to avoid being torn to shreds by the razor winds. I blasted the ground with a Dark Firaga, launching me into the air, then dove down on Xaldin, who was again hit. I did another short combo before being forced back, then began jumping to avoid the falling spears, which sent up blasts of wind energy each time. The spears then circled around me, so I dashed after they'd disappeared in a flash to avoid being blasted.
"I won't give up!" I shouted over the winds. He then smiled.
"Very well, then... face the winds of despair!" Xaldin shouted, then began to glow a teal color. His spears transformed... they were different, spikier. He rode them around and under the bridge until a 'spear dragon' was just in front of me... and then it began spewing gale-force winds, which I could barely stand up to...
I was nearly thrown off of the bridge and fell to the dark depths below, but hung on with one hand, then managed to pull myself up. I summoned Way to the Dawn, which had fallen from my hands in that blast.
"You're good enough to face him... if you can overcome me," Xaldin taunted. "You do realize you won't live that long, though."
The spear dragon gathered another blast of wind...
I heard a loud clanking as Xaldin and I turned our heads to see the Black Knight slowly moving forward. He stopped in front of me, his cape fluttering wildly in the sharp winds.
"Stand aside, XIV," Xaldin said coldly.
The Black Knight shook his head.
"Then your arrogance and stubborness will be your undoing!" Xaldin shouted at the Black Knight. The spear dragon blasted him with wind...
The Black Knight didn't budge, even as gale-force winds blasted him. Xaldin then shot at him with five of the spears while standing still on the last one.
The Black Knight didn't even flinch. His armor was unscathed... and Xaldin's spears were ruined.
The Black Knight raised his sword.
"Black Knight... stand down," Xaldin commanded. "Even if you did kill me, their lives are still forefit. To challenge Xehanort..."
Xaldin rode down to the bridge.
"Even you would be a fool," Xaldin said. I got back on my feet, then came out from behind the Black Knight.
The Black Knight lowered his sword, looked at me for a moment, then walked away.
That knight... every time he shows up, I just have more questions. Is he with me or against me?
"Why did Xehanort even let the Black Knight into the Organization?" I asked Xaldin, who realized that without his six weapons he was doomed.
"Even I wasn't told why," Xaldin said. "Perhaps Xehanort intened to use him as a shield to stop your advance... but he doesn't seem interested in doing anything besides fulfilling his own agenda."
But what IS his agenda?
"Do you wish to kill me?" Xaldin asked.
I turned my back to him.
"No. I bear no hatred for you," I said. "Only the one you call your liege... Xehanort."
"Xehanort will not fall," Xaldin said. "He's stronger than you remember... and far stronger than Xemnas or his Heartless ever were."
"I don't care," I said to him. "Flee if you will. But know this: if you ever threaten another life ever again, I swear I'll kill you."
"Fair enough," Xaldin said, then disappeared into a dark corridor.
"All that remains... is Xehanort," I said to myself, stepping through a shining portal and back to the Proof of Existence, then tearing my way though Heartless and Nobodies on my way to the Altar of Naught.
I finally made it, and just as I was making my way up to the top of the altar, it began to rain.