Chapter One: Day 302: Mystery Woman.
It was dark. And cold. The air was stale and flat, scentless. The buildings were all identical, each the same level with the same amount of windows and colored black, like almost everything else. The perpetual night sky held no stars and the only light came through the windows inside the buildings. No, that wasn't true. There was one other source of light.
It hung in the black sky, glowing yellow like a moon but it was shaped like no moon before it. Instead of a round circle, this moon was shaped like a heart.
This moon of pure light hovered over a fortress of darkness. It was a massive castle of white steel, several towers rising from it with a rotating ring under it, levitating it in midair above a pit of darkness. It was just as cold and stale as the world it inhabited, perhaps more so. From looking at it, one would expect only the coldest, most evil beings to live here.
This was only half true.
While cold could apply to some of the beings that lived here, evil did not necessarily apply. For the nine beings that lived here lacked the emotions needed to be truly evil. They were beings who lacked hearts and teetered on the edge of non-existence. And thus, they called themselves, Nobodies. For only these nothings could live in such a world.
A world of steel and stale air.
A world of lies.
A world of nothing.
A World that Never Was.
Inside the castle, which was appropriately named the Castle that Never Was, a young teen stirred from his sleep. He rose slowly from his bed, which was nothing more than a mattress, pillow and blanket and yawned, arms stretching. He looked dispassionately around his simple room, which only contained a small desk, digital clock and washboard calendar.
Standing up, the teen stretched a little more and then headed over to his calendar. When he stood in front of it, he grabbed a black marker and pulled the cap off, then marked out another day. He replaced the cap and stared at his calendar, looking at all the 'x's.
'Another day, another heart…' thought Roxas, Number 13 of Organization XIII.
Organization XIII.
Good or bad, it was hard to tell.
They are a group of incomplete beings who wish to become complete. To complete themselves, they need back what was stolen from them when they were still complete: Their Hearts.
To get their hearts back, the Superior of Organization XIII told them they needed the power of Kingdom Hearts. But to summon Kingdom Hearts they had to release the Hearts stolen by the creatures of darkness known as the Heartless. And while the Organization could easily destroy these Heartless, they had no way of gathering the hearts they released.
Until Roxas came along that is.
Roxas wielded a unique sword and key hybrid known as the 'Keyblade'. With the keyblade on their side, the Organization could finally gather the hearts they freed from the Heatless. And Kingdom Hearts shined its light down on their castle, getting ever closer to completion.
And when it was finally complete, so would Organization XIII.
But, recent events began to tell the Superior of the Organization one thing:
His keyblade wielders were not entirely under his control.
Later, after showering and dressing, Roxas walked down the hall towards the Grey Area. He was dressed in standard Organization wear, which was a black coat, gloves and boots. Every member wore this attire with some minor modifications. As he headed towards the Grey Area to receive his mission for the day, he didn't notice a taller member leaning against the wall.
"Hey kiddo," the member called. "Where's Poppet and Pyro? Thought you guys we're inseparable." Roxas stopped to glare at the older member. He was tall and evenly built, with long gray and black hair tied into a ponytail. Uniquely for an Organization member, he had a scar under his left eye and an eye patch over his right.
This was Number 2 of the Organization, Xigbar.
Roxas didn't like him.
For one he always acted like everything was a big joke and treated nobody, save the Superior, with respect. Roxas resumed walking without responding, knowing full well Xigbar knew why Xion and Axel weren't with him. It had been less than a week earlier when Axel had attacked Xion. None of the three had spoken to each other much since then.
They had met up for ice cream at the usual spot, but nobody said anything. Roxas didn't know if everything was ok between all of them or not.
The Freeshooter just chuckled lowly and stopped leaning against the wall, heading in the opposite direction of Roxas.
A few moments later, Roxas arrived in what the members of the Organization referred to as the Grey Area. It was simple lounge with four gray couches and chairs for members to sit on and relax, converse, read books or even gamble in Luxord's case.
Roxas saw the blue haired Number 7, Saix , where he always was, standing directly below the moon of Kingdom Hearts. He seemed to be basking in it sometimes. Like Xigbar, Roxas didn't like Saix, but for a different reason. He was cold and calculating, looking down on other members of inferior rank, especially Xion, who he called a puppet.
Roxas looked around and saw the only other person in the room was Axel, who was leaning against the glass window with his arms crossed over his chest. Roxas looked away from him before Axel could look back and walked up to Saix.
The scarred second-in-command looked down on Roxas from his imposing height and glared disdainfully. Saix, "You're late. The others have already left." Roxas bristled at Saix's sharp, disproving tone and lowered his head. "Sorry…" He mumbled.
Saix crossed his arms and snapped, "Don't be sorry be prompt. You're to be partnered with Axel today and your mission is to investigate why the Heartless population in Twilight Town has risen. Finish your preparations and be on your way."
Roxas flinched, but not from Saix's tone. His eyes glanced at Axel, who hadn't moved from his spot and just stood there, arms crossed, eyes closed and head bowed. Roxas sighed and walked over to another corner of the room. Floating by the door was a strange creature that called itself a 'Moogle' and wore a tiny version of the Organization's cloak.
It's head rose up, little red ball antenna bobbing, indicating it sensed Roxas approach. "What do you need?" It asked flatly. Roxas thought about it a moment before replying, "A couple hi-potions and hi-ethers." The Moogle nodded and turned away for a moment. Then it faced Roxas again and handed him his purchase. Roxas handed the Moogle his munny and walked over to one of the couches. He placed the items inside his back-pack under his cloak and then nodded to himself.
He stood back up and walked over to Saix. Saix, "Are you ready?" Roxas nodded. As he did, Axel stood up, eyes opening as he walked over to Roxas and Saix. Saix held his arm out and flicked his wrist. A second later, a large oval shaped geyser of dark smoke rose from the floor. The Corridor of Darkness loomed over the two.
Without hesitation or a word to each other, they stepped through.
In another world, in front of a train station in the mountain village of Twilight Town, a second identical Corridor of Darkness appeared. Axel and Roxas stepped through it and the Corridor shrunk down to a puddle of shadow. Axel stepped a little ways ahead of Roxas and held his hands out by his sides. Flames spun around and Axel's chakrams appeared in his hands.
Roxas didn't summon his keyblade and just took in his surroundings. He had been to this town so many times he could walk through it blindfolded. Axel suddenly spoke up. "So, where do you think the big boss is?"
Roxas blinked and looked up at Axel, who was staring at him. "Huh?" Roxas asked. Axel went on. "The big Heartless controlling the others?" "Oh," Roxas mumbled. He lowered his head, thinking about it for a second. Most of the larger Heartless he had fought in the town had been in the tunnels. "Let's try the tunnels," He told Axel.
The red head looked towards one of the nearby entrances to the underground passages and shook his head. Axel, "No can do. They're locked up." Roxas looked where Axel was staring and saw he was right. The gate had been locked down on the tunnels.
Axel started walking towards the shopping district. Axel, "Let's do this the old fashioned way: Fight our way to the big guy."
The second he finished that sentence, half a dozen 'Shadow' Heartless appeared. They were small, insect like creatures with big yellow eyes and twitching antennas.
Unimpressed, Axel swung his chakrams out and they lit up, engulfed by fire. They sawed right through the Shadows easily. Roxas ran behind Axel, hand thrusting out to summon his keyblade. He leapt blade pulled back to cut right through another Shadow and then he swung his blade out to cut another one down. Within seconds, the Heartless were turned to black mist that vanished in seconds.
Axel twirled his chakrams, grinning. He looked at Roxas and smirked. Axel, "Hey Roxas. Betcha I can take down twice as many of these Heartless as you can."
Roxas didn't respond as he stood up and began walking down the hill of the shopping district.
Axel sighed lowly and followed after him.
The shopping district was overrun by dozens of Shadows, the floating balls of black mist 'Possessors' and the Shadow's bigger cousins, 'Mega Shadows'.
Roxas raised his keyblade while Axel whistled at the sight of all he Heartless. Axel spoke to Roxas, asking, "Saix was right. They're all over the place."
Roxas didn't respond and charged towards a group of Shadows and Possessors, hacking and slashing his way through them.
Axel sighed, casually swinging his chakrams to cut a large Possessor into a bunch of smaller ones. The two fought there way down the hill through dozens of Heartless, tearing the creatures into black mist within moments.
Roxas had finished with a bunch of possessors near the accessory and weapon shops and now had two Mega Shadows to deal with. The thing about Mega Shadows Roxas had come to learn was they were just that, bigger Shadows.
The bad thing about Mega Shadows was they didn't flinch when hit and they took a lot of hits to bring down.
Roxas hacked and slashed the two he was dealing with, switching between hitting one and dodging swipes from the other. Roxas jumped over a swipe from one and swung his blade at the head of the second but it ducked at the last second to claw Roxas on his chest. Grunting, Roxas flew back down and landed on the ground hard. The Mega Shadows slithered towards him, big eyes dumb and empty but still menacing. Roxas scrambled back and gasped as the Shadows leapt at him. He raised his keyblade to shield himself when-
'WHOOSH!'
Twin blasts of fire struck the shadows, destroying them and causing more black smoke to pick up. Roxas lowered his keyblade and saw Axel walking over, catching his chakrams as they rebounded. He smirked at Roxas as he said, "That makes a dozen for me and nine for you. Slacking off?"
Roxas shot him a glare. Then, he broke down and smiled back at him. Roxas stood up, brushing his cloak off. Roxas, "Thanks." Axel chuckled and said, "I should be thanking you. I'm in the lead now."
Roxas, "Hey, what happens to the loser?" Axel smirked. "Loser has to buy the winner's ice cream." Roxas smirked and raised his keyblade. Roxas, "That's good. That Moogle cleaned me out earlier, so I was wondering who'd pay for my ice cream."
The two laughed, the tension melting in seconds. Roxas grinned. It felt like old times again.
Axel looked towards the Tram Common. He looked back at Roxas and smirked, saying, "Big Boss decides the winner. Whoever takes him down gets a free ice cream." Roxas raised his keyblade and smirked. "You're on."
The two headed into the Tram Common and looked around the rows of buildings and shops. They followed the tracks to the back alleys where that hole in the wall was. As they did, they found the 'Boss'.
Axel peered up at its size. Axel, "Uh, Roxas? I think we'll have to split that ice cream." Roxas gaped numbly, nodding slowly.
The Heartless was huge and muscular, with dark purple skin and tentacles around its face, covering the lower part of its jaw but leaving its eyes visible. It had two wings on its back and a hole shaped like a heart in its stomach.
A Dark Follower.
Roxas gripped his keyblade while Axel summoned fire around his chakrams and sighed. Axel, "Man I hate these things."
As if understanding what Axel had said, the Dark Follower pulled its fist back and lunged forward. Roxas and Axel leapt on either side and the fist struck the ground where they once stood, cracking it open easily. Roxas moved first, swinging his keyblade at its exposed arm and fist, cutting small wounds into it and spilling out black mist. Annoyed, the Dark Follower pulled its arm back. Axel threw his chakrams out, striking it in the chest. The chakrmas spun, cutting and burning the Heartless at the same time. Seemingly unaffected, the Dark Follower crossed its arms over its chest, energy gathering in its stomach before swinging its arms out. Red blasts of dark energy shot out, zoning in on Roxas and Axel. The two Nobodies dodged the blasts and ran towards the Dark Follower, weapons swinging at its arms as they jumped higher towards its face, trying to attack its eyes. The Dark Follower's shoulders slumped, arms falling limp to its sides as it rose back up and pulled its fist back, energy gathering in its hand before it punched the ground and released a shockwave that caused Roxas and Axel to stumble around for a second. A pool of dark energy grew around the spot where the Dark Follower had punched and from that pool, multiple Shadows began to emerge, looking around and moving away from the Dark Follower. Axel swung his chakrams, cutting the Shadows down easily while Roxas hacked at the Dark Follower's arm over and over. The Heartless became aggravated and swung its arm out in a backhanding motion. Roxas tried to jump out of the way but the massive clawed hand slammed right into his midsection, knocking the wind out of him and sending flying back. Axel leapt to intercept Roxas but the blonde Nobody slammed into the red-head and the two flew back into a wall. Both cried out in pain before sliding down onto the ground in a heap.
The Dark Follower crossed its arms over itself again, gathering more power to finish these two nothings off for good-
The Dark Followed stopped suddenly. It's eyes moved to their corners. Something was-
A blue and gray blur lunged from the roof and slashed across its eyes, cutting off several of its facial tentacles. The Dark Follower's eyes narrowed in outrage. It looked around for the blue blur, wanting to crush it under its palm-
The blue blur was in front of it, brandishing a long gray sword of some sort. The Dark Follower's eyes widened suddenly. Not a sword, a key-
The blue blur lunged forward, blade swinging once.
The Dark Follower stood upright for another moment, body still and tense as the blue blur appeared behind it, lowering its blade.
As soon as the blade was completely lowered, the Dark Follower split in two, its torso and lower legs melting into puddles of shadow, before vanishing completely.
Roxas groaned, rising off of Axel and clutching his chest. He shook his head, trying to ignore the pounding in his temples and looked towards the Dark Follower, wondering why it hadn't attacked them-
His eyes widened when he saw the Heartless melting away. Roxas stood up, limping a little and wondering what in the world had happened-
Then, as the dark mist faded away, he saw a flash of…blue hair?
As the smoke faded away entirely, Roxas saw it was indeed a person with blue hair. A woman to be exact.
She was a little taller than Roxas but still shorter than Axel and she wore a black shirt and white skirt with black stockings along with strange metal shoes with pointed tips. She had white bell sleeves on both arms and pink straps across her chest, reminding Roxas of a vest and tan fingerless gloves on both hands. But then Roxas saw what she held in her right hand.
Axel groaned behind him, rising up and clutching his side. He looked at Roxas and was surprised to see the younger Nobody's jaw had dropped and his eyes were practically bugging out of his head. He followed his friends gaze and saw the blue haired woman. Then he saw what she was holding and his eyes widened as well.
It was a long weapon, the color a gray black. The handle had a chain attached to it with a strange golden symbol at the end. The blades tip had a set of teeth shaped like an 'E'. The whole blade held the design of a key.
A keyblade.
Roxas looked at Axel, failing to notice his tense expression. Roxas himself had an excited look on his face. Roxas, "Axel, do you see that? She has a keyblade like me!"
Axel didn't take his eyes off the woman. Axel, "Yeah. How bout that." He didn't sound all that excited. But Roxas hardly noticed. All he could think about was that there was another keyblade wielder! But hers was different and Roxas wondered why. Maybe she could show him how to change his keyblade.
With that thought in mind, he broke into a sprint towards her. Axel remained where he was.
The woman looked at the fading puddle of darkness in dismay. 'What's happened to the worlds?' She wondered as the darkness faded away completely. She heard footsteps approaching and looked up, hand tightening on her keyblade in case it was another enemy. To her relief, it was just a teen boy in a black cloak. The woman narrowed her eyes in confusion when she the blonde hair was spiked up slightly.
Her eyes widened when she saw the young and eager smiling face and deep blue eyes. It was impossible but he was somehow here. "Ven…" the Woman whispered.
Roxas had heard her whispered word and blinked in confusion. "Huh? Whose that?" He asked. The woman stared at him for a long time before frowning. 'He looks like him…But it's not him.'
The woman shook her head and dismissed her keyblade in a flash of light. Roxas smiled excitedly. Roxas, "You were amazing! I've never seen anyone take a Heartless down that fast!"
The woman stared at Roxas, unsure of what to make of him and disturbed by his near identical features to her friend. "Um, thank you?" She said, confused.
Roxas went on, oblivious to her uncomfortable expression. Roxas, "And your keyblade! I've never seen one like that! Me and Xion's both look like this!" Roxas swung his arm out and his keyblade appeared.
The woman's eyes widened in shock and surprise. She lunged out, grabbing Roxas by his shoulders. Roxas blinked and cried, "Hey-"
"Where did you get that? Tell me!" The woman shouted in his face, an angry yet desperate look in her eyes. Roxas blinked in confusion, wondering what to tell her-
'FWOOSH!'
The woman's eyes moved quickly towards the sound and she shoved away from Roxas, pushing him back as well. Roxas cried in surprise as two fireballs struck the wall behind him and where the woman had been standing. Roxas whirled and saw Axel calmly walking over, his chakrams suddenly looking a lot more menacing then he could remember.
"I'm going to have to ask that you come with me lady." Axel's voice had gone flat and emotionless. Roxas flinched, remembering that Axel had used that exact same tone when he captured Xion. The woman glared at Axel. "And if I refuse?" She asked, her tone just as cold.
Axel raised his chakrams, and they lit aflame. Axel, "Refusing isn't an option." With that said, Axel charged forward, moving straight for the woman.
Roxas gasped in surprise and was about to try and ask Axel what he was doing-
The woman's hand shot out and her keyblade appeared once again, swinging straight out and up before she balanced it under her other arm, like it was a rifle. Blue energy gathered at the tip of the blade, growing from a small speck to a shining orb. Then, the whole keyblade glowed and the spell fired.
Axel smirked, recognizing the color of the magic. A Blizzard spell. She saw fire and thought Blizzard would work on him? Please. Axel slowed to a stop and thrust his chakrams out, launching his own Fire spell to counter. The red and blue magics collided-
And the blue orb shot through the red, dispelling it. Axel's eyes widened in shock and he cried, "WHAT-?" Just as the spell struck him in the shoulder, completely freezing his right side in solid ice. The Flurry of Dancing Flames staggered, dropping to his knees, teeth chattering at the intense cold focused on his shoulder and midsection.
"AXEL!" Cried Roxas in distress. He shot over to his friend while the blue haired woman lowered her keyblade. She watched Roxas race over to Axel, crouching by his friend to touch the ice on his shoulder and then jerked back, hissing in surprise when he felt how cold it was even through his glove.
The woman watched them another second before sprinting off into the shopping district.
Roxas saw her run away and called, "Hey! Wait, come back!" But she was already gone from sight.
Axel grit his teeth and said, "Roxas, get back!"
Roxas stepped a good distance back as the ice suddenly began glowing a hot red. A split-second later, it exploded off of Axel's shoulder and side, melting in the air instantly.
Axel panted, wiping his brow. It had taken more effort then he thought it would. That Blizzard spell was something.
Axel looked in the direction of where the woman had run off and scowled. Axel, "She got away…"
Roxas spoke up suddenly, an angry expression on his face. Roxas, "Why did you attack her? She saved us from that Heartless!"
Axel ignored Roxas and turned on his heel, walking towards the hill for the Train Station. Roxas blinked in shock and ran after his friend. "Axel wait up!" The red-head was speed walking all the way back to the station, heading straight for the Corridor.
Roxas grabbed his friend by his cloak's sleeve. Roxas, "Axel!" The Flurry of Dancing Flames whirled around, glaring down at Roxas as he snapped, "What?"
Roxas flinched but stood his ground. Roxas, "Aren't we…going to head to the usual spot?"
Axel scoffed angrily. Axel, "In case you haven't noticed, I have something more important to do then eat ice cream." With that, Axel turned and headed through the Corridor without another word.
Roxas stood there alone.
His head slumped, hands going limp at his sides.
Today had felt like the old days.
And now it felt like every other day.
All because of that woman…
Who is she? And why doe she have a keyblade?
With a sigh, Roxas followed after Axel into the Corridor.
'Another day, another heart…'
Higher up in the Castle that Never Was, Saix stood in his large room, gazing up at Kingdom Hearts, arms crossed over his chest as his yellow eyes stared up at the shining moon. He didn't turn as he heard footsteps behind him and waited until they stopped before he spoke.
Saix, "What do you want?"
It was Axel's voice that spoke back. "I need to see the Superior."
Saix turned, his face scowling at Axel. Saix, "Why do you wish to disturb the Superior?"
Axel's reply was simple. "I think we have a problem. It involves the keyblade. A keyblade we don't have on our side."
Moments later, Saix and Axel walked up the steps to the Superior's perch atop the castle.
The Organization's leader had his hood raised over his face and his arms stretched out towards the shining moon of Kingdom Hearts. Axel gave Saix a fearful glance. Saix merely maintained his blank focused expression.
Saix, "Lord Superior. Axel brings news."
The Superior didn't respond and continued to gaze up at Kingdom Hearts.
Axel swallowed his fear and stepped forward, putting on a smile to mask his fear. Axel, "Boss man, hey. Listen, today during my mission with Roxas, we met somebody in Twilight Town…"
The Superior's head turned slightly, watching several pink and glowing hearts rise up to merge with Kingdom Hearts. Axel flinched at the movement and went on quickly. Axel, "It was a woman with blue hair-"
The Superior's outstretched hands clenched shut.
Axel gasped and Saix jerked in surprise, eyes widening. The Superior stood still for a moment, his head turning towards Axel. "Go on." He said flatly.
Axel swallowed again and just decided to throw it out there. "She had a keyblade."
Saix gaped at Axel before looking back to the Superior.
The Organization leader slowly lowered his arms to his sides, his head bowed a little. Very slowly, he raised his right arm to his hood and pulled it back, exposing his tanned skin and gray hair.
Both Saix and Axel shuddered a little, stepping back as they saw the look on their leader's face.
The Superior was…smiling.
The Organization leader chuckled lowly, facing his second-in-command and subordinate. "Gather the others. It is time for a meeting."
Saix blinked then nodded before he and Axel headed off, a little too quickly.
The Superior stood alone atop his perch, basking in Kingdom Hearts light.
He stared at the gliding hearts and extended his right arm towards them, as if to touch the glowing hearts.
"My friend…You have come back to me at last…"
And he smiled gain, but his smile carried no warmth.
Only the promise of domination and ruin.