"So... when do you think she comes back?"
Xadchiko looked over to the glass tank where her dark double was crouching. The Fallen Rose was pacing through its prison like a captured animal, and like an animal did she look up when the Nobody addressed her, curious, but also nervous, like a wolf that was facing its Alpha male.
"I know you can't talk," Xadchiko sighed. "And I don't expect any response. Still, at least I'm not alone in here... I know that there's someone else I can share my pain with... someone like me... Not those things that are nothing but soul shards." She glared at the tanks that contained the Soulmates, once again covered with thick blankets.
"But maybe I am just unfair... maybe they are all victims, just like us..." She shook her head. "What am I talking about? I am the Black Rose of St. Hebereke, I never am concerned about others but me and the family Kuno..."
She pulled her legs close to her body. "Maybe that woman is right... maybe I am not Kodachi anymore. And maybe those aren't really my emotions. I am just a shadow of what she was... I am just... a Nobody..."
The Heartless growled, and then it did something that surprised Xadchiko: It shook its head. Or did she just imagine it, did she become insane after being locked away in this dark cellar for days without food or sleep?
"You... you don't agree?" she whispered.
It was unmistakable: This time, the Fallen Rose nodded. It then gestured at Xadchiko with its vine-like arms, then at itself. And then, the black creature opened its mouth: "Ko... ko... daaaaaaaaaasssssssiiiiii..."
"Ko... Kodachi?" the Nobody murmured. "You are saying... we are Kodachi... both of us, together?" She then gasped. "But she said that Heartless only act instinctively. And it's easy enough to believe, looking at you... but still... you spoke? And you know what I'm talking about?"
The Fallen Rose tilted its head left, then right, and in the end, nodded.
"Well then, if we truly are both sides of the Black Rose... maybe Kodachi Kuno still can teach that insane person that a noble woman of the Kuno Clan isn't easily intimidated, huh?" She sighed again. "Oh well, big words, I guess, but we are still stuck in here... both of us."
The Fallen Rose approached the glass wall of its prison and looked at Xadchiko with its round, gleaming eyes. "Eeeessssssscaaaaaape..."
"Escape?" Xadchiko wondered. "But how? Do you see any locks or hatches on these glass tanks?"
The Fallen Rose did not say anything, but instead gestured over to the wall, where Xadchiko could see a small panel with several buttons. Now that she thought about it, Arlene had been standing pretty close to that panel when she had released the Soulmates...
"OK, I get it, to open our tanks, we have to press some of these buttons... but it's no use, we are trapped in here."
"Ssssssss..." the Fallen Rose hissed. At first, Xadchiko believed her Heartless was just scared or upset... but then, she realized that it was trying to say another word.
"Sssssss... ssssummmooonnnnnn..."
"Summon?" The Nobody blinked. She could not understand what her dark counterpart meant. "Summon what? Summon who? What are you talking about?"
"Ssssummooonnn... sssummon Nooooooobodiiiieeeeesssss..."
Xadchiko was baffled. She was a Nobody, she knew that now, but... what did the Fallen Rose mean with 'summon Nobodies'. Did it think that there were other Nobodies that could help them? Then again, did it think at all? It could speak, true, but it still acted like a trapped animal...
Then it hit her. Of course she could summon other Nobodies! She didn't know how, or why she hadn't realized it before, but... those powers slept deep within her. Every Nobody that was able to keep its human form and capability of speech was able to control an amount of Lesser Nobodies... and she could call upon their service whenever she wanted.
It was part of what she was now, so why did she not make use of it?
Xadchiko closed her eyes and concentrated. Yes, she could feel them. Nobodies, similar to her, but not with a strong enough will to keep their human appearance. They were still like her, rebellious, proud and cunning... and since they were Lesser Nobodies, they were seeking a leader... someone who was able to guide them, to give their pitiful existence a meaning.
Xadchiko could feel how they surrounded her, white, faceless and emotionless, but every single one a cunning, formidable and noble soldier as she was.
"I call upon your help, my loyal followers," Xadchiko murmured. "From this day on, you will serve me. Our enemies shall fear us... the noble warriors we are, we will fight for the right thing. And you will serve... as my loyal knights!"
She opened her eyes, and there they were. Their faces covered with white masks and their heads covered with curious-looking helmets that were tipped with long, white tendrils. They didn't carry any weapon, but Kodachi knew they were able to create any weapon they desired. They were all waiting outside of her tank, awaiting their orders.
"What to call you, my loyal knights?" she wondered. "I need a special name, a name that people will keep in mind..."
"Ooooooohhh..." the Fallen Rose groaned. "Ooooohhhhniooooonnnnn... Ooonnioonnnn Kniiiightsssss..."
Xadchiko blinked. "What are you saying? Huh? I guess their helmets are shaped somewhat like an onion, but... I don't know... That really is no name to strike fear into the hearts of our enemies."
But before she could come up with a name of her own, the knight standing in front of her tank knelt down, and she could hear words in her head...
'My Lady... give us your command! The Onion Knights are awaiting your orders...'
Xadchiko's eyebrow twitched. "They really have accepted that silly name... oh well, it's not too bad, I guess... Well then, as my first order, I command you to go over to that panel and... press one of the buttons."
The Onion Knight leader turned around and shuffled over to the control panel. He pointed at the buttons and looked back at his mistress.
"I don't know which one," Xadchiko grimaced. "Just try one of them!"
The Onion Knight nodded and looked at the panel. He raised his right arm (which really was one elongated tendril attached to his body) and pressed one of the buttons.
Almost immediately, the glass tank containing the Soulmates opened... and the female spirits came floating out, attacking the Nobodies with their sharp claws.
"It just had to be that one..." Xadchiko groaned. "Defend yourselves! Show them that a true knight won't back down. If they desire a fight and don't know anything about the meaning of gratitude, don't show them any mercy!"
The Nobodies leapt into battle, their arms twisting and morphing into a wide arsenal of weapons. Xadchiko could see swords, big axes, thin rapiers, long lances, bows and arrows, kunai that were thrown with deadly accuracy and enormous clubs that were swung around like baseball bats.
The Soulmates didn't stand a chance against Xadchiko's order of Onion Knights.
"Well done, my loyal vassals," Xadchiko smiled when the last Soulmate dissolved into mist. "Now go back to the panel and get us out of here."
The commander did as he was told, and soon enough, both tanks containing Xadchiko and the Fallen Rose opened.
Xadchiko came walking out of her tank. "Good job! That is all, for now!"
The Onion Knight leader lowered his head. 'Call us whenever you need help, and we will come to your aid, my Lady!'
And then, they disappeared.
Xadchiko looked at her Heartless counterpart. "Well, you are not as scary as I thought, and quite tame... but that is because we are two sides of the same coin, isn't that right?"
The Fallen Rose nodded and rubbed its head against the Nobody's legs. It then stared over to the stairway. "Freeeeee..."
"Yes, my dear, we are free... but we should not become careless. Even if that wench Arlene is not at home, she most definitely has put up some guards, possibly the same general woman that brought us here... Now, come along, and keep your eyes open!"
The Fallen Rose grumbled, then it followed Xadchiko on all fours.