Chapter Nine: Day 310: The Best There Is.
It was night.
The air in and outside the old decrepit mansion was clean and still.
Inside the mansion, the researcher in red was asleep in an old armchair inside the study with the broken table. The man had not even removed his bandages, his single eye closed, gloved hands gripping the arms of the chair tightly, fingers twitching every now and then, but other then that, the researcher lay in a peaceful slumber.
While above…
Inside her room, the girl in the white dress still sat still awake at her table, sketchpad held in her left hand while her right held a blue crayon. The single large window in her room was open, the cool night air flowing in, gently blowing the curtains slightly. The young girl gave a few more careful strokes of her crayon and then drew back slightly, smiling as she admired her finished drawing.
She placed the sketchpad and crayon down on the table. She then pushed herself and her chair back, standing up, her barefooted feet touching the solid white floor as she walked over to her open window. The snow pale girl gazed up at the night sky, her hand clutching at the curtains as her light blue eyes stared at the stars, wondering, hoping, she was looking at the star of the world he was on.
"Do you feel them?" She asked to the stars. "Do you hear them? Their cries, their sadness, their despair?"
She held her hand out into the cool air, feeling a gentle breeze caress her skin.
"The winds memories? Have they reached you, Roxas?"
On her table behind the girl, the sketchpad shifted slightly as the wind flowed into the room, rifling the drawing.
It was a simple drawing, nothing more then three young boys standing together.
One had fiery red hair, the next icy blue. And the last blonde.
Her terrible green eyes met his burning blue ones, her lips set in a terrible smile while his were drawn back in an angry snarl.
Ven glared at the witch in black clutching a long scepter with a green orb at its end. The witch had her back partially turned to Ven as they stood in a field of large black thorns that twitched every now and then, seeming to grow before their very eyes. But neither Ven nor the witch spared the thorns a glance, keeping their gazes firmly set on each other.
The witch chuckled lowly; completely turning her back to Ven and spoke with a smooth, cool as ice voice. "You're friend is certainly steeped in darkness." Ven gasped through gritted teeth, stepping closer towards the witch, who still didn't move.
But then, her free hand rose up slowly, palm lying flat, fingers curled slightly.
Ven's brow furrowed in confusion and then there was flash of light. The young teen's eyes widened when he saw an orb of light sparkling in the witch's hand, rhythmically contracting and expanding.
Like a heart.
Ven shook his head, eyes wide in horror and he stepped back, unwillingly to believe what he was seeing.
The witch's grin morphed into a sneer as she watched the blonde step back.
"Yes," she whispered, green eyes moving to gaze into the small sphere of light, admiring it. She turned her gaze back to Ven and smirked. What she said next made Ven freeze.
"Your friend was most invaluable for helping me get this heart from the princess."
Ven's hands shook at his sides, his head bowing, jaw set as his whole body began to quiver in anger, confusion, fear and finally, denial.
There was no way…
"No way Terra would ever help you do that!" Ven screamed, arm thrusting out, light flashing as his keyblade appeared, reversed in his grip. The witch broke out laughing and faced Ven, scepter raised, dark green flames billowing around it-
The image faded in a burst of static, briefly turning green like the fires. There were random flashes of more images, but mosaic blocked them out, until finally settling on-
"Hey!"
Ven blinked and turned at the sound of the voice. He saw it was younger teen, maybe around Ven's age but maybe younger too. The red head tossed a wooden object at Ven. Ven looked down as it slid and spun over; stopping at his feet and saw it was his practice keyblade. The young teen bent over and picked it up, nodding. Ven, "Yeah it's mine. Why?"
The red head smirked and laughed. "That's such a babies toy! Only losers play with that!"
Ven's eyes widened in shock while the red head reached into his baggy pants and pulled out two Frisbees, the symbol of fire engraved on them. Ven scoffed and balanced his wooden blade across his shoulder. Ven, "Those aren't any better. My sword's way cooler then those."
The red head winced, eye twitching and face scowling.
The red head twirled his fingers on the tips of his index fingers, his smirk returning. "Hey, let's spar and see whose is better. What do you say?"
Ven returned his smirk and pointed his practice blade at the red head. Ven, "Why not? I'll show you what this 'toy' can do!" With that, the two held their 'weapons' out, crouching slightly. But before either of the two made a move, the red head suddenly asked, "Hey, what's your name?"
Ven blinked in surprise and saw the red head had a genuine smile on his face, not that cocky smirk from earlier. Ven returned his smile and replied, "Ven."
The red head twirled his Frisbees and said, "L.E.A. Lea."
His smirk returned and he asked, "Got it memorized?"
Ven found himself smirking again right before they charged at each other, ready to-
The image crackled and faded out as before, the images of the mock battle fading away-
The red head looked at his quiet companion, another boy around his and Ven's age. Lea flashed a playful hurt expression before saying, "You're not even going to defend me after I lost, Isa? Some friend you are!"
Isa merely returned the smirk; eyes closed as he crossed his arms and said, "Even I know when you're outmatched Lea. There's no use in lying for you when it was obvious you were going to lose."
Lea sighed, rolling his eyes. He looked at Ven, smiling in a friendly joking manner. Lea, "Honestly, you and me should've been best friends if he's going to act like this-"
The image faded away, the peaceful scenes being replaced by faster ones, images of claws swiping and blades swinging-
It had been a bittersweet reunion.
They had had all wandered into a large area around the castle, not too far from that large garden and fountain, the scent of flowers drifting in the air.
Upon spotting his two friends, Ven had cried their names.
"Terra! Aqua!"
The elder male had looked at Ven in surprise, the younger female following his gaze, their blue eyes widening in shock.
"Ven!" They both cried, all three running towards each other-
Something huge and made of dark metal fell from the sky above, landing in the middle of the three friends, blocking them all off from each other. There was a rush of air and dark power, pushing all three back. Ven was knocked flat on his back while Aqua was brought to her knees, her arms shielding her face. Only Terra stood, facing the rushing darkness head on as he glared at the enemy.
The armored creature slowly turned its helm, red eyes glaring down at all three teens.
Aqua and Ven rose back up, bodies tense as they stared at the armored monster. The three teens formed a perfect triangle around the armor.
Terra made the first move, arm moving and cubes swirling around his hand, forming into a long and ancient looking keyblade, the blade a golden brown while the hilt was a faded blue, the keychain a boulder.
Aqua calmly extended her hand out, ethereal pink flowers flowing around her hand and slowly forming into a long blue blade with a silver hilt, the teeth of the blade missing its back half and vaguely resembling a snowflake while the keychain was a rain drop.
Ven angrily thrust his arm out, his reversed black blade with a white half handle appearing, its keychain a swirl of green wind.
The three keyblade wielders glared at their adversary as it raised its arms slowly, preparing too-
Images of the battle could be seen, the three apprentices facing apiece of the armored monster, until finally-
The battle had taken an unexpected turn when the armored creature split into three pieces, forcing each apprentice in a one on one battle, until finally all three stood back to back.
The three pieces of the armor, the arms, the legs and torso and head charged from all sides, hoping to crush the apprentices on impact.
The three friends all looked at each other out of the corners of their eyes, nodding silently as they understood what to do.
The armors body part were only a few feet from the three, rearing back to shoot down and crush them-
The three thrust their keyblades into the air, blades intersecting and where they touched, an orb of light grew, a pentagram surrounding their bodies, light erupting from the circle and orb.
The light grew brighter and brighter, freezing the armor where it floated until-
"TRINITY!"
The three cried as one and the light burst, erupting into such a brilliant flash of gold it was almost like watching a second sun being born.
The armor's form began to melt away into black mist as the light grew brighter and brighter. Within moments, it was gone, only a wisp of darkness left to prove it ever existed. And within seconds, that was gone as well.
The three lowered their keyblades, the battle over-
The image flickered out rapidly, quickly fast-forwarding to the next-
Terra glared at Aqua, his blue eyes showing anger and betrayal.
Terra, "And he sent you to spy on me? So I fail one test and suddenly I can't be entrusted to do anything at all? Is that it!"
Ven watched nervously while Aqua calmly met Terra's rage with a cool, level gaze. Aqua, "Terra, that's not why Master-"
"He's not your master anymore Aqua! Remember?" Terra sneered cruelly in her face. Then, as quickly as his rage erupted it simmered back down, Terra's eyes lowering down, face turning away in shame. Terra, "And at the rate I'm going I'll always be a meager apprentice…"
Ven gasped and Aqua's eyes shimmered. Terra's shoulders slumped and he turned away from his friends, walking away into a dark alley, his disappearing form engulfed in shadows-
The images faded out, static flashing several times before the scenes fizzled out entirely.
Awareness was slower to arrive this time, peaceful, blissful darkness occupying the space where the dreams had been. But eventually, Roxas's blue eyes blinked open, sheets falling away as he sat up. Roxas simply sat there for a moment, staring at the crumpled sheets, no doubt from any tossing and turning he did the night before.
The young Nobody kicked the wrinkled sheets aside and stood, not bothering to stretch as he walked over to his dresser. Roxas pulled the top drawer open, staring down into it. It was still there, the two broken pieces of the toy wooden keyblade from his dreams. The teen let out a breath of relief. He hadn't been able to relax since finding it, fearing that it would vanish and he would lose the only proof that these dreams weren't dreams. Still staring at it, Roxas picked up the broken hilt half and looked over it until he saw that name again: Terra.
Something about that guy…Roxas couldn't place his finger on it no mater how hard he thought but he just couldn't shake the feeling he had seen Terra before the dreams had started. With a sigh, he dropped the hilt back in the drawer.
Roxas closed her drawer and gazed out of his room's window for a moment. Kingdom Hearts shined down as usual, and Roxas could make out a few faint streams of pink hearts flowing into the larger heart. The streams weren't as noticeable as they used to be, no doubt from the lack of heart hunting on Roxas's part.
Roxas continued to gaze up at it and the same thought went through his mind every time he did, even before Aqua had appeared and sent the Organization's missions into chaotic scrambling.
How much bigger must it get? How many more hearts before it's complete?
The yellow moon only pulsed brighter for a moment, offering no other response.
With that, Roxas turned and started to get ready for another day of missions.
It was only a few minutes later as Roxas walked down the hall dressed in his black cloak. Roxas had discovered it was early morning and there were hardly any others around, save for the occasional Dusk or Samurai scouring the hall for any intruders or Heartless that tried to sneak inside and make a grab for Kingdom Hearts. Roxas ignored them and made his way to the Grey Area.
As he continued down the long empty steel halls, he heard fellow footsteps ahead and saw a head of red hair break through the dark shadows and white steel. Axel spotted Roxas and smiled, giving a short wave. Axel, "Yo, Roxas!"
Despite himself, Roxas returned the smile and raised his arm to wave back. And froze. Axel's form shifted, mosaic surrounding him. For the briefest of moments, Axel's form shrank down to Roxas's height, the black cloak becoming the brighter colors of that shirt and baggy pants. For a split-second, Axel looked exactly like that red head from his dream the previous night.
Lea.
Roxas stood there, jaw wide open, hand half raised and his eyes wide in shock and confusion.
Axel blinked when he saw Roxas freeze up, his eyes widening like he just saw a ghost or something. Frowning, the Flurry of Flames walked over, his hand pushing Roxas's jaw back up with a 'snap' and causing the teen to gasp, snapping out his daze and quickly stepping back. Axel's frown deepened, brow furrowing. He took a step towards the younger Nobody while asking, "Hey Roxas, you alright? You look like you saw Xaldin smile or something."
The joke failed to wipe the shocked gaze from Roxas's face but he didn't step back. He looked away from Axel and replied quickly, "I-it's nothing." He quickly moved pass Axel, heading further down the hall. Axel didn't follow but watched his young friend quickly walk away. Then he called, "Hey Roxas!"
The blonde stopped jerkily and looked back over at Axel, looking confused and like he really didn't want to stick around. Axel nervously rubbed the back of his head. Axel, "Uh, listen, about the other day…I'm, uh, sorry about brushing you off." He smiled and said, "How 'bout I make it up to you? Let's meet at the usual spot after our missions and I'll even pay for the ice cream. Bring Xion too."
Roxas found his earlier discomfort fading and he smiled slightly. He nodded and replied, "Sounds great, I'll be sure to tell her." Axel grinned again before turning and continuing for his destination. Roxas watched him leave, still smiling.
That smile faltered as Axel's form briefly flickered, Lea reappearing and walking where Axel walked. The image flickered again and Lea was Axel again.
Roxas stared for a moment, his eyes downcast.
Great, he thought.
Now my dreams are plaguing me while I'm awake.
With a shake of his head, Roxas headed for the Grey Area.
In the Grey Area, only Saix was present, his ever blank and emotionless gaze still set right on Kingdom Hearts.
He didn't bother to look at Roxas when the younger Nobody reached him, and the scarred second-in-command spoke with his back to Roxas. Saix, "Finally on time are we?"
Roxas rolled his eyes and was about to retort-
His blue eyes landed on the window Saix stood in front of, and Roxas could just make out a faint reflection of the elder Nobody. But the image on the glass flickered, shrinking to Roxas's height, the black cloak replaced by blue shirt and lighter pants. Saix's hair shrank and his scar disappeared. The changed reflection looked at Roxas and the blonde teen saw that the eyes were a regular green instead of that haunting lunar yellow.
Roxas gasped, eyes widening. Frowning, Saix tuned to look down on the teen. As he did, the image of Isa in the mirror faded. Saix, "Is something the matter?"
Roxas quickly shook his head, both clearing his eyes of the image while saying, "No, nothings wrong. What's my mission today?"
Saix crossed his arms and replied in a bored tone, "Same as ordered: You are to go to Olympus Coliseum and ascertain as to if Aqua is on that world. If not, a tournament is being held and Heartless have no doubt gathered there. Your backup mission is regular duty: To slay them and collect the hearts."
That made Roxas sigh in relief. Roxas, "That's all?"
Saix looked at him, brow furrowing in annoyance. Saix, "Would you like more to do? I'm sure I can arrange something."
Roxas quickly held out his hands defensively, smiling and chuckling nervously. Roxas, "No, no, that's fine."
Saix growled lowly and extended his arm out, wrist flicking.
A Corridor of Darkness rose up between the two. Saix resumed gazing up at Kingdom Hearts as Roxas stepped through the Corridor, the miasma melting into the floor as a puddle of darkness.
A second Corridor appeared in front of a large gate and scoreboards, Roxas stepping out a second later and the Corridor melted into the shadows, its puddle form blending easily. Roxas stepped out from under the scoreboards shadow, smiling up at the sight of the coliseum entrance guarded by the two statutes of fighting warriors and supported by multiple pillars. Various lightning insignia were engraved in certain areas along with more murals.
Roxas stepped up to the large double doors and pushed the open, stepping into the coliseum lobby. Inside the small room adorned with plaques and trophies of winners of past tournaments, Roxas saw the short, stubby bearded satyr named Phil standing by the door to the true coliseum, his back to Roxas an his gaze towards the coliseum. As Roxas approached Phil heard his footsteps and turned around. His face lit up upon seeing Roxas and he extended his arms out while exclaiming, "Champ! Perfect timing as always!"
Roxas grinned and walked over until he stood in front of the satyr who went on asking, "You here for the tournament?"
Roxas nodded and started to say, "I wanted to ask you if-"
Phil interrupted however and said quickly, "If you could join this tourney? Of course! Any thing for my best recruit!"
Roxas blinked and started to say, "Wait I need too-"
But Phil was already behind him, shoving Roxas into the coliseum all the while saying, "Warm up? Nah, you're ready champ! All my recruits are ready on the big day for any tournament!"
Roxas was pushed onto the arena all the while sputtering, "Wait, wait I need to ask you-"
But Phil was already running away as the barrier formed around the arena, trapping Roxas inside.
Roxas sighed and muttered, "Oh boy." With a casual swing, his keyblade appeared in a flash of light.
As if taking this a sign, the shadows around the arena quivered and rose up, forming the insect like shadow Heartless and the simpler Possessor Heartless. Roxas stared at them swinging his blade once before lowering it too his side. He knew how these tournaments of Phil's worked. Start with a bunch of weaklings and steadily make your way to the stronger enemies until you face one last powerful foe in the final match. Roxas raised his keyblade as the Shadows began to approach while the Possessors circled around him.
Roxas didn't even flinch as the Shadows and Possessors charged him. Roxas crouched and spun, his keyblade bashing them away from himself and stunning the Heartless. Taking his best chance Roxas charged, keyblade drawn back and swung once, cutting two Shadows down while a Possessor made a beeline towards him. Roxas twirled his keyblade so it was reversed and thrust it back, piercing through the Possessor and causing it to explode into black mist.
Roxas twirled his blade so it was held properly once again and swung again as a Shadow leapt through the Possessor's fading mist. Roxas faced three Possessors that floated not too far away and thrust his keyblade at them. A small orb of blue magic flew over towards them, stopping between all three of the floating shadow balls. Then the orb exploded, freezing the Possessor's over instantly. They fell to the ground and cracked, shattering into dozens of pieces. Roxas lowered his blade and looked around, noting there were only two Shadows and one Possessor left.
The Shadows had sunken into the ground and were slinking towards him while the Possessor had backed away. As soon as the Shadows rose up, they leapt, claws raised. Roxas merely jumped over them and allowed gravity to bring him back down, keyblade raised over his head, hands on the hilt in a mighty swing, slashing clean through the Shadows and causing them to explode in a shower of black mist. Roxas stood up, a bored expression on his face as the last Possessor charged at him. Roxas calmly ducked under the charge and jumped back up, swinging and cutting the last Heartless down.
Roxas looked around and saw no Heartless left. The barrier around the arena came down and Roxas swung his keyblade twice before spinning it and balancing it on his shoulder. Roxas allowed himself a small smile. Roxas, "Nothing to it."
Roxas walked over to the door back into the Coliseum lobby, Phil standing by the door before he spotted Roxas and quickly scrambled over. Phil, "That was great Roxas! Those Heartless didn't land a hit on you! I knew my training would pay off."
Roxas forced a smile and nodded in agreement. In truth Phil's training had involved smashing boxes and barrels, not actual combat practice. But Roxas didn't have the heart (Literally) to upset Phil so he went along with what he said. Roxas approached and Phil and started to ask, "Hey Phil, have you-"
"Got your next match set up? You bet champ!" The satyr interrupted Roxas before running behind him and practically shoved Roxas into another area of the coliseum were a second arena was set up. Roxas struggled against Phil's insistent pushing, sputtering, "Wait I really need to ask you some-"
But once again Phil interrupted Roxas by saying, "Don't worry champ I have the utmost confidence in you!" With that Roxas was shoved into the new arena, a barrier appearing to trap him inside. Roxas quickly snapped his head over his shoulder to look at Phil, who only gave Roxas two thumbs up before turning and running back into the other arena. Roxas growled in annoyance, smashing his fist against the barrier. He pulled his hand back, groaning in pain. Note to self: Do NOT hit magic barriers again, he thought, waving his hand to brush off the pain.
When it had subsided to a dull throb he turned around to get a look at the new arena. And promptly dodged twin blasts of fire and ice. Roxas curled into a ball and dodged under meteor shower of fireballs and ice chunks. When the barrage ended he stood up, blue eyes narrowed into slits as he saw his opponents. Atop a large ledge jutting out of the center of the arena were multiple cannons with Heartless emblems and yellow eyes. Some of the cannons were an icy blue while the rest were darker gray. Roxas growled and finally remembered that he hated Cannon Heartless a heck of a lot more then he hated Leechgraves.
Sure Leechgraves were nigh unstoppable but Cannons were just annoying.
To prove his point, one of the darker ones whole body swelled up to nearly three times it size before the hole at the tip of its body exploded, shooting more fireballs into the air. Roxas quickly ran from under their lien of fire and tried to jump up to the ledge. He managed to grab hold of it and was about to hoist himself up when one of the fireballs slammed into him, exploding on contact. Roxas's grip came lose and he fell back down to the arena covered in smoke. Roxas coughed and sputtered, ash and smoke hindering his vision. He stumbled around for a moment, rubbing at his eyes when he felt a cool chill above him. Roxas jumped and tried to roll out from under the ice chunk and succeeded. Or so he thought as it struck his arm holding his keyblade, freezing it over completely.
Roxas exclaimed in shock, his arm heavy and freezing, hanging uselessly at his side, keyblade frozen with it. Roxas dumbly stared at his frozen limb, trying to wriggle his fingers but failing. He was distracted by his frozen limb and failed to hear the familiar boom of a cannon firing until the last second and dodge rolled out of the way at the last second, the ground where the Nobody had stood on becoming engulfed in flames. Roxas looked back up at the Cannons, eyes glaring at the Heartless as their bodies began to swell again. For a brief moment Roxas toyed with the idea of using a fire spell to free his arm and keyblade. But then he saw it was the darker fire Cannon's that were swelling. And Roxas had an idea. He grinned, though it was more like a smirk and the young teen tensed, crouching slightly just as the Fire Cannons shot more fireballs into the air. The spheres of flame descended on Roxas rapidly but the young Nobody didn't move, keeping his blue eyes on fast approaching flames. Just as they were about to hit, Roxas jumped, thrusting his frozen arm and keyblade out, the frozen tip of the blade connecting with the fireball and exploding in a shower of mist and smoke. The explosion caused the other fireballs to go off as well, filling the arena with smoke and obscuring Roxas from the Heartless Cannons view.
There was a rapid shifting inside the black smoke before it was suddenly blown away by a large gust of green wind. The gust shot towards the Cannons, knocking them off the ledge and flat on their sides, their forms rolling helplessly. Roxas calmly walked over to the helpless Heartless, keyblade balanced on his shoulder. He looked down on their rolling forms before raising his blade, pulling it back and pausing to gather strength, charged through them all. The only thing left of the Heartless was mist and hearts that floated into the sky. The barrier lowered as Roxas relaxed, dismissing his keyblade. Roxas, "Ok, now let's talk to Phil."
Roxas headed back into the other arena and saw Phil watching one of the other combatants intently. Roxas walked over and said, "Look I really need to ask you-"
But the satyr held his hand up, silencing Roxas. Phil, "Can't talk now kid, I'm watching a fight." Roxas let a small groan and was about to press on when the fighter in the arena caught his attention.
To Roxas it looked the guy couldn't have been in more trouble. He was trapped in that small arena with not one, but three large sphere shaped Heartless with small limbs and spikes adorning their bodies. Roxas knew these Heartless were called Morning Stars and they had a bad habit of spinning around and around, slamming into their prey over and over, gradually shredding it to pieces. After a few fights with these Heartless Roxas had quickly learned that Aero magic could stop their spinning and leave the Heartless vulnerable to his keyblade. But this guy just stood in the center of the arena, watching all the Morning Stars spin around him with a look Roxas swore was a combination of boredom and disinterest. The man leaned on his large black blade, idly checking the claws at the end of his metal gauntlet, which Roxas noticed covered his entire left arm and that there were strange bony spikes running down his shoulder. Roxas noticed more of those weird spikes around the man's left leg, right under his red sash. Roxas found himself like Phil, intently watching to see what this man did next. The answer came as one of the Morning Stars shot over towards the man, who didn't seem to notice and continued to inspect his claws. Roxas gasped and flinched as the Heartless sphere of spikes continued to spin over towards the man and was about to shout a warning-
The man struck first though, ripping his black blade up and slamming the flat side of his blade against the Morning Star, stopping its spinning but not ending there as the man continued to apply force that sent the Star shooting into the air of the arena above. Roxas's jaw dropped but the fun didn't stop there. The man crouched and jumped, shooting over the Star as it continued to fly in the air. The man spun in midair, floating upside down and pulling his foot back. With a mighty kick, the man sent the Morning Star hooting back down, spinning even faster then earlier as it ricocheted off the magic barrier several times, bouncing around the arena several times before slamming into the other two Morning Stars, instantly destroying them and leaving the single Morning Star spinning in the center of the arena until it finally came to a stop, falling over on its backside, yellow eyes looking dizzy for once. Roxas had completely forgotten about the man at this point and his eyes bugged out when he saw him shoot back down and impale the Heartless with his huge black sword. The Heartless exploded in a shower of black mist and a single yellow heart flew away.
The man yawned, his foot on his blade as it remained impaled in the ground and looked over at Phil and Roxas as the barrier around the arena fell away. "Hey," called the man. "You got any real fights in this dump? You know, one's that actually make you break a sweat? Or, I dunno, try?"
Roxas looked down at Phil who stomped his little hoof and shouted back, "You watch yourself big man! You think those were the best the Coliseum had to offer? Think again! You haven't made it to the final round yet!"
The man rolled his eyes, stepping back from his sword before ripping it free and casually hefting it as he walked past Roxas and Phil into the next arena. As he walked past Roxas, the young Nobody was able to get a better look at him. The man was somewhere in his late thirties, deeply tanned with multiple scars on his entire body, face, chest arms and legs along with a strange intricate tattoo on his chest that reminded Roxas of a 'J'. The man's long black hair was slightly pulled out of his face by his red bandana wrapped around his forehead but it didn't really do anything, long strands still falling over his face, which was slightly bearded. The man looked down at Roxas and shook his head, scoffing; the armor on his arm clanking as he walked passed him. Roxas watched him go before looking down at Phil and asking, "Who is that?"
Phil sighed and plopped down on the stands, rubbing his temples. Phil, "A newcomer. His name's Jecht and he came here a few days ago to sign up; saying that he heard the coliseum's tournaments had some of the toughest fighters around. I told him 'Of course it does! The real heroes fight here!' But he didn't seem impressed. I just thought he was all hot air but he's already breezed through the prelims! Ah man, I wish Herc was here to shut him up! If he wins he's going to think all my tournaments are like this!"
Roxas looked back and saw the man, Jecht, sitting on the stands, looking bored, sword impaled in the ground next to him. Roxas looked down at Phil and said, "I think I can take him." Phil looked up Roxas and shook his head. Phil, "I'm sorry Roxas, you're good but that guy's in a league of his own. You saw what he did with those Heartless and you should've been there to see what he did earlier with some Large Bodies. I don't think I'll be able to clean that stain off the wall for months!"
Roxas found himself shuddering at the thought but quickly brushed it off. Roxas, "Look, Phil, I really need to talk to you but it's obvious that Jecht guy is bothering you so much you can't stay focused. So, if I can beat him, you'll calm down and then I can ask you my questions."
Phil still looked unconvinced.
Roxas flashed hi ma cocky grin. Roxas, "What are you worried about? You trained me didn't you?" That made Phil smile and shake his head. Phil, "You got guts Roxas, I give you that. But brains? That you're lacking." He stood up and gave Roxas a friendly punch in the shin. Phil, "Go get 'em kid. Oh, two words of advice: Watch out for his punches."
Roxas blinked as Phil walked away. He has counting issues, the Nobody concluded before heading off to finish his last two matches.
Turns out Roxas hadn't been able to complete his final two matches with the same ease and over display of skill as Jecht had but Roxas still got through them easily enough.
And now he stood in the last arena, one much larger then the last ones, Jecht standing across from the young Nobody, sword impaled next to him as the older warrior rolled his armored arm, loosening joints and muscles while Roxas had already assumed a fighter's stance despite the match not starting yet, keyblade at the ready. The shirtless fighter looked at Roxas in dull amusement and said gruffly, "This is what the worlds famous Olympus Coliseum has to offer? A snot-nosed brat? I gotta say, I was expecting, I dunno, a battle hardened fallen hero or something, not a walking advertisement for teenage angst." Roxas flinched at the last part and his grip on his keyblade tightened.
Jecht saw this and smirked in amusement. He looked at Roxas's keyblade and then ripped his own sword out of the ground, balancing it across his shoulders like it weighed nothing. Jecht, "And then there's your weapon. I've seen some stupid looking toys in my day but that one takes the cake. I mean, if you're gonna play pretend at least use something that looks more like a sword and not an overgrown novelty key."
Roxas flinched again, growling and scowling up at the warrior.
Man, thought Roxas, This guy loves the sound of his own voice even more then Xigbar and Luxord do! He just won't shut up!
Jecht looked over at Phil and then back at Roxas. Jecht, "Heard goat boy over there trained real heroes. But I gotta tell you kid, you don't quite meet the hero criteria."
Roxas had finally had enough of this guy's voice and decided to shut him up and said, "You gonna keep talking and hope I give up just to get away from your voice right? I mean that's the only way you could've made it this far. Because really, you trying way to hard to look tough. The shirtless thing might've looked better if you hadn't over done it with the armor and sword, plus all those random scars. Something tells me you're overcompensating just a little bit."
Jecht's expression had frozen in a blank stare while Phil's eyes widened in shock.
Oh I'm gonna miss you Roxas, thought Phil.
What Jecht did next, got both Roxas and Phil off guard.
He burst out laughing.
The elder warrior slapped his knees as he hunched over, laughing so hard Roxas thought he saw tears. Jecht laughed a good minute before it died down to chuckling, wiping a lone tear from the corner of his eye away with his armored hand. Jecht, "Ah man, I haven't heard anyone in a long time with the guts to say that to my face." He smiled down at Roxas, still balancing his sword across his shoulders. Jecht, "Gotta say kid, I like your spirit. Tell you what: I'll give you one free hit when this battle starts. But you better make it count."
Roxas rolled his eyes as the barrier rose around the arena once more. "Whatever." Before Jecht could retort, Roxas charged over and jumped, bringing his keyblade down in a mighty slash across the warrior's tattooed chest. Roxas jumped back, expecting a geyser of blood to erupt any second. But the young teen found his eyes widening in shock as Jecht casually rolled his shoulders, groaning as several joints popped.
Jecht, "Ah, thanks kid. I've been trying to get that kink out of my neck all day."
Then, Jecht swept his arm out in a casual backhand. Roxas easily dodged that. It was the sudden gust of wind and purple energy that was a little harder to dodge. The young keyblade wielder managed to jump over it, sliding back a few feet away from the older warrior. Jecht raised a brow slightly, his dark brown eyes impressed. Jecht, "Whoo, not bad kid."
Roxas smirked and held his keyblade ready. Jecht kept his own sword down and asked, "But how about this?"
Roxas never had a chance to blink and didn't hear Phil's warning as Jecht vanished in a blinding burst of speed only to reappear in front of Roxas, regular fist smashing into his stomach with enough force to shatter bones. Roxas's mouth opened in a silenced cry of pain and surprise as he was sent flying back, slamming into the barrier so hard his spine should have snapped but Roxas hardly noticed that pain, still focused on the agony of no doubt broken ribs grinding in his chest as he slid down, inch by painful inch into a huddled lump on the arena floor. Jecht calmly walked over and asked, "Had enough?"
He stared down at Roxas, who was clutching his chest as if to try and keep it from collapsing, blood dribbling down his mouth. Jecht smirked and chuckled. "Heh. I'll take that as a forfeit-"
Roxas lunged up, keyblade slamming into the side of Jecht's head. The warrior's head snapped to the side as Roxas jumped away, keyblade glowing green and then the glow spread to his chest, ribs knitting back together in seconds. Roxas, "You still talk too much. This is a fight and that leaves you open. Someone of your age group should have learned that by now."
Phil cheered from the sidelines while Jecht calmly moved his head and body to face Roxas. He rubbed the side of his mouth with his armored hand and smirked upon seeing blood. Jecht, "Not bad kid. And you're right, I do talk to much." He finally raised his blade, pulling it back and assuming a crouched fighter's stance. Jecht, "So let's do this then?"
Roxas smirked and charged, swinging his keyblade in his standard three hit combo, landing every hit. Unfortunately, Jecht didn't even flinch once and swung his huge black blade out once. Roxas managed to raise his keyblade to deflect the strike and then found himself flying across the arena, sliding to a halt against the barrier. Roxas gaped in awe at Jecht's raw power. How could anybody be this strong and still be human? Roxas saw Jecht pull his blade back, hand running over it and where his hand touched, orange flames burst around the blade. Jecht tightened his grip on his huge sword and charged over swinging, roaring, "Come on come one come on COME ON!" Roxas gasped and quickly dodged to the side, Jecht's swinging blade smashing into the barrier before the fighter turned mid swing, trying to land a hit on Roxas but the younger fighter was able to duck and weave, barely dodging but still managing to. Save for the last hit, which just grazed Roxas's shoulder but still knocked him a few feet back, his whole arm feeling like it was about to fall off and there was smoke rising from where the flames had touched as well.
Jecht smirked, balancing his sword across his shoulders once more before slowly advancing on Roxas. Roxas stepped back, holding his keyblade out in defense. Jecht, "What's the matter kid? You're already sweating and I've barely touched ya." Roxas grit his teeth, glaring at this cocky jerk but held back. Up close and personal with this guy was suicide; that was pretty obvious now.
So the young Nobody figured magic and distance was his best bet to take Jecht down.
Jecht smirked at Roxas's retreating, the two slowly circling each other. Jecht's smirk began to fade as he saw a powerful determination in Roxas's eyes, an unwavering fire. Jecht stopped moving, standing directly across Roxas. This caused the teen to blink in surprise but not relax his guard. Jecht jammed his blade into the ground in front of him and leaned on it, smiling at Roxas. Jecht, "You remind of another little kid…He had that same fire in his eyes…But you're just a little smarter then him." He held his armored hand, finger and thumb held close to show how little Roxas was smarter then this other kid. Jecht, "But not by much." Roxas half frowned, half smiled. He didn't now whether he was being insulted or complimented. Roxas, "Um, thanks?" Jecht shrugged and leaned back, ripping his blade free. Jecht, "Don't mention it, since I kinda feel bad for this."
The fighter leapt into the air, transferring his sword to his unarmored hand and pulling his armored one back. The clawed gauntlet flexed, orange flames sparking between fingers before the whole arm was engulfed in flames. Roxas's eyes widened as Jecht charged him down, arm pulled back. Roxas stood his ground for a moment and then jumped to the side at the last possible second, causing Jecht's clawed hand to slam into the barrier around the arena…and pierce it. Jecht stared in bemused wonder as his armored fingers stuck out of the barrier, his palm lying flat against the invisible magic. Roxas quickly got back up and thrust his keyblade at Jecht, a large fireball shooting out and exploding on contact with Jecht's back. Smoke engulfed his form and Roxas watched nervously, keeping his keyblade raised. The smoke faded away, revealing a small burn on Jecht's back and little else. Jecht turned and faced Roxas, his eyes narrowed in annoyance, like a really bothersome bee had just stung him. Jecht glanced at his clawed hand and ripped his fingers free, leaving a clear hole in the barrier, which now glowed a faint pinkish red. Jecht's smile had vanished and he slowly approached Roxas, jamming his sword back in the ground as he rubbed his clawed hand. Roxas saw faint sparks of red magic dancing on Jecht's hand and the fingers were twitching numbly. Jecht's approach stopped and he shook his head disapprovingly at Roxas, making several 'tsk tsk' sounds before saying lowly, "I really wished you hadn't done that kid."
Roxas shuddered and quickly thrust his arm out, keyblade stabbing out to launch an orb of ice. Jecht swept his arm out and a barrier of orange fire blocked the spell, canceling it out. Jecht, "I'll give you one last chance to give up. I really don't want to hurt you." Roxas grit his teeth, feeling sweat run down his brow before he shot back, "I'm not about to give up now!" He thrust his keyblade back out and multiple arcs of lightning shot out towards Jecht. The warrior merely growled and swept his arm out again, his barrier reappearing to block the lightning. But not dispel it. The yellow arcs reversed and shot back over at Roxas. The Nobody only had a split second to blink and start to cry out before his own Thundaga spell hit him full force. Phil screamed, "Roxas!" Roxas could only scream in pain for a response, electricity coursing through his whole body, lighting each nerve afire in pain and causing his already spiky locks to stand up even more. When the lightning traveled through his entire body and then ran through his keyblade, grounding out as it struck the stone floor of the arena. Roxas stumbled, keyblade slipping out of his hand before falling to his knees and the flat on his face, body sprawled out. Jecht sighed as he stared down on the fallen teen. Jecht, "I told you to call it quits kid." He sighed, shouldering his blade once again. He looked over at Phil, whose whole body was slumped in shock. Jecht, "Will you call it already? This kid needs a-"
'Shink Crackle!'
Something hot and sharp edged shot passed Jecht's cheek, cutting it.
The warrior blinked and quickly touched his own cheek, eyes widening at the sight of his blood. He looked around for the object that cut his cheek before whirling around to face Roxas. Jecht's brown eyes widened at the sight of the teen staggering up, his right hand gripping his keyblade but holding it reversed while his empty hand was held out, sparks of magic still dancing between his fingers. It was then Jecht noticed that Roxas's whole body was covered in an aura of light. Roxas's head rose, blue eyes glaring at Jecht and the light in them was unlike anything the fighter had ever seen before. Roxas assumed a completely different fighting stance, still crouched but now holding his blade reversed. Jecht held his blade out and growled. This kid wouldn't go down easy or willing.
Despite himself, Jecht found himself respecting that.
Suddenly, the aura around Roxas flared up and the teen charged, swinging his keyblade. Jecht easily blocked the swing and was about to try and punch Roxas back when there was another sound like a blade unsheathing while crackling with electricity and a sword of golden light appeared above Roxas's head. Jecht's eyes widened and he didn't even try to defend himself as this one shot down and buried itself right in the center of his tattoo. Jecht stumbled back, the sword fading away but Roxas swept his hand out and more appeared above him. Jecht was completely unprepared for the sudden barrage of keyblade swings bashing his chest, sides and then upper cutting him across the jaw, all the while the light swords zipped and zapped around, slicing all over his body and sending blood splattering on the arena floor. Phil watched the battle from the sidelines, jaw dropping and eyes bugging out as Roxas refused to let up, slashing away at Jecht as if trying to whittle him down a size. Roxas let out a mighty bellow, spinning and slashing Jecht one last time as all of his light swords circled around Jecht and shot through him in a perfect circle. The force of the combined barrage of sword blows and magic projectiles sent Jecht flying back, smashing through the arena barrier. Shards of magic flew everywhere as Jecht slammed into the hard ground, sliding across the dirt and kicking up dust. The fighter lay there, bloody and bruised.
And beaten.
Roxas watched him, panting, the aura around him flickering and then fading in short order. When it did, the Nobody fell to his knees, gasping and sweating profusely.
It had happened again, he thought. Just like with the Leechgrave, Roxas had been on the brink of defeat and a strange power unlike anything he had felt had filled him, giving him all the strength and more, to defeat his enemy. Roxas sat there, gasping and panting, the sudden rush and crash fading slowly. And then he heard a groan, and saw Jecht's body shifting until the fighter was sitting up, rubbing his head with his armored hand. Jecht, "Boy that stung." He looked at Roxas and the look on the teens face said, 'Oh come on, what does it take to knock you down and to keep you down?'
That made Jecht smile as he stood up, walking over to his sword. Roxas watched as the older warrior picked up his weapon and balanced the blade across his shoulders and grinned down at Roxas. Jecht, "Not bad kid. Gave me a pretty good work out. And plenty of new scars." Roxas looked down at Jecht's cut up chest. His eyes widened when he saw some of the cuts were already healing. He looked back at the grinning face of the warrior and thought, What are you?
Jecht looked at Phil who had a cocky smile. Jecht, "Yeah, yeah. I lost." Roxas blinked. "What?" He asked lamely.
Phil looked at Roxas and said, "During any match if one of the fighters steps out of the ring, they are automatically disqualified. You rung him out champ!" Phil broke out into happy whoops while Jecht rolled his eyes and scratched the back of his neck. Jecht, "Well, it's been fun."
With that, he headed for the lobby door but stopped and looked back at Roxas. Jecht, "Hey kid. I never got your name." Roxas smiled and replied, "Roxas."
Jecht chuckled lowly and closed his eyes, shaking his head. Jecht, "Weird name for a weird kid. But it ain't a bad one." With that, he turned his back to Roxas, but raised his armored hand, giving a wave before walking out and disappearing.
Roxas let out the breath he had been holding in a big sigh and fell back, landing on his back with his arms and legs stretched out, a dazed but happy look on his face. Phil ran over and grabbed Roxas's limp arm, holding up to the empty bleachers. Phil, "I present the new champion!" Roxas laughed a little before groaning in pain. Phil helped him up while asking, "Now, what is it that was so important earlier?"
It was a few minutes later and Roxas and Phil were back in the lobby, Roxas holding a small chunk of ice from a Blizzard spell to his bruised chest. He had used Cure but found he was low on magic to use it again and settled for a makeshift ice pack while Phil went to get an elixir. While he did that, Roxas looked around the lobby, noting a few trophies were on display. Roxas stood up, wincing a little and looked at a large golden one, engraved with the image of a triumphant fighter, sword held high. Roxas smiled and caught his reflection in the gold. Just then, the lobby doors opened and Phil walked in holding a yellow glass bottle and saying, "Gotta say champ, I've trained some pretty tough heroes in my day but even I doubt Herc himself could have rung that Jecht guy out like you did."
He held the bottle to Roxas and the Nobody gratefully accepted it. He popped off the top and chugged the contents down, sighing as it worked its stuff. Roxas's wounds healed themselves in short order and his magic reserves refilled. Phil sat on the podium as Roxas stood up stretching and the satyr asked, "So what did you want to ask me about?" Roxas looked at the goat man and got serious, remembering his real mission. Roxas, "I need to know if you've seen a woman with blue hair in the last few days."
At the mention of blue hair Phil's brow twitched a little, a look of interest on his face. He didn't respond for a moment before he asked back, "Her name wouldn't happen to be Aqua would it?"
Roxas's eyes widened. "You have seen her? When was she here?" Phil just smiled slightly and shook his head. Phil, "Sorry champ, you're ten years too late." Roxas blinked and asked, "What do you mean?"
Phil jumped off the podium and went on. "I hosted a couple tourneys ten years back, when Herc was still a trainee. I remember this pretty well because there was this other kid around your age hanging around here too. His name was Zack." Roxas flinched but managed to keep cool, not wanting to freak out in front of Phil and just nodded, urging him on.
Phil stroked his beard and continued. "This girl, Aqua, she showed up a little while later, asking around for some other boy…What was his name…"
Roxas had a sinking feeling he already knew. Phil snapped his fingers and said, "Ah, that's right. Terra was his name. Man, that kid was strong. He beat Zacky in a title bout for my first tourney of that year. Kid worked his butt off after that just to have a rematch with him. Nothing like losing to spur someone on to get stronger."
Roxas had gone quiet but listened intently. Phil, "This Aqua shows up a little while later and helped me and Herc out with ol' flame head Hades and his Ice Titan pet. That girl had some serious skills. Last time I saw her, Zacky was asking her on a date. Poor girl got all flustered and tried to let him down easy but Zack was a persistent kid. But I knew," Phil stroked his beard, looking at the trophies. Phil, "That girl held her heart for that Terra kid." Phil sighed and shook his head. Phil, "Lotta anger in that Terra. All that strength he had, it had to come from something. I hope he and her are happy wherever they are."
Phil gazed up at the trophies for a little longer before asking in a much chipper tone, "So why'd you wanna know anyway champ?" He turned around…And saw Roxas was gone.
Roxas stood out of the coliseum, the Corridor o Darkness flickering by him, tendrils of darkness reaching for him but Roxas stayed at an arms length and they jut barely touched him. He stood there for several moments, thinking over Phil's words.
He had noted the satyr had seemed sad about Zack for some reason. But he brushed that off. He had learned what he needed. Aqua hadn't been here in years and it didn't look like she was coming back anytime soon.
With a sigh, Roxas stepped into the Corridor, letting darkness embrace him and take him back to the Castle. His form was engulfed in short order and the Corridor vanished back into the shadows, like it had never been there.
Lunar yellow eyes glared down at the calm card player shuffling his deck from across the chamber of Where Nothing Gathers.
Saix and Xigbar were present on their thrones along with Luxord but the Superior was oddly absent. This threw Saix and Xigbar off a little but they kept their looks even. Their poker faces weren't as good as Luxord who calmly slid his cards up his sleeves and looked up at the two higher ranked Nobodies with calm eyes.
Saix, "For once I am shocked. You failed a mission for the first time since you joined us."
Luxord calmly reclined on his throne. Luxord, "I gambled and lost. Such is the nature of the game."
Xigbar groaned, his one eye widening in annoyance. Xigbar, "Would you cut the cryptic talk, it weirds me out. And you lost a game? Since when? Every card night I leave with nothing, not even a single munny. So how does our unique color haired maiden beat the almighty lord of the cards?"
Luxord shrugged. "We played. I explained the rules and used every trick I knew. But I overplayed my hand and got cocky. She beat me fair and square. I won't even think of challenging her again one on one."
Xigbar growled, hand slapping his face in disgust. Xigbar, "This is getting ridiculous, even for me. We need to get this girl and we need to get her NOW."
Before Saix could respond, shadows burst around Xaldin's throne and the Whirlwind Lancer appeared, grinning his terrible smile. Xigbar looked at him and said, "Oh hey windbreaker. Can you come back later, the grown ups are talking now."
Xaldin ignored Xigbar's remark and looked at Saix, asking, "Where's the Superior?"
Saix responded evenly, "His study."
Xigbar did a mock double take. Xigbar, "Not his perch? Really? I swear, he moon gazes more then you do puppy." Saix suppressed a growl and looked back at Xaldin, asking, "What is so important you need to see the Superior?" Xaldin's grin grew into a smirk.
Xaldin, "I know where the water girl is."
Everything in Where Nothing Gathers grew even quieter. Xigbar broke the silence. "Really? No offense windbreaker but you're not exactly our best tracker. That was Vexen. He's dead now."
Xaldin rolled his eyes. Xaldin, "I didn't track her down, I saw her appear in the same flash of light Demyx described. She's at Beast's Castle."
Xigbar was about to send a retort but Saix held up his hand, silencing him. Saix, "You claim she's there, but here you are. Why?"
Xaldin smirked again, arms crossing over his chest. Xaldin, "To tell you I'm going after her alone and when I bring her back, I'll be taking your chair and your place as Second-in-Command as my reward for catching her."
Xigbar let out a whistle; laughing mockingly as he looked between Saix and Xaldin as the two traded death glares. Xigbar, "Dem's fighting words! I knew there was a reason I liked you windbreaker."
'Ching!'
Xigbar narrowly ducked as one of Xaldin's lances impaled his throne in the same spot his head had been. Xigbar looked at the lance and then back at Xaldin, a false shocked expression on his face. Xigbar, "You could've taken my eye out!"
Xaldin sat still as his lance returned to him while calmly retorting, "I was aiming for your mouth. Maybe I should ask the Superior to sew your mouth shut for my reward. I'm sure Saix would appreciate that most of all."
Xigbar scowled while Luxord chuckled lowly. Xigbar glared down at him and snapped, "Don't think we forgot about you! Double mission and clean up duty for a month for this failure!" Luxord scowled but didn't say anything, vanishing in a burst of shadows.
Saix gave Xaldin one last glare before saying, "I shall inform the Superior. Be ready in the Grey Area but do not leave until I get the ok from him." Xaldin nodded begrudgingly and vanished as well, Saix following shortly after.
Xigbar sat alone, grumbling curses before vanishing as well.
As Roxas stepped back into the Grey Area, he saw Xaldin standing not to far away. And he was smiling. Roxas remembered a warning Axel had given him right before his first mission with Xaldin:
'Whenever Xaldin smiles, somebody's about to find themselves on the wrong end of a lance.'
So Roxas learned very quickly a smiling Xaldin meant very bad news for some poor soul.
Roxas quickly left before Xaldin decided to snap at him. The blonde stumbled into the steel halls and right into Xion. Roxas, "Ah, sorry Xion." The female Nobody merely smiled, brushing it off. Xion, "It's ok Roxas. If I was just arriving to the sight of a grinning Xaldin, I'd run for my life too."
The two laughed and Roxas remembered he and Axel were going to meet. Roxas, "Hey Xion, wanna get some ice cream at the usual spot? Axel's treat." Xion's face lit up in an excited smile and she nodded eagerly. Xion, "Of course! Wanna go now?"
Roxas was about to nod when there was a sudden chill running up his spine. He frowned, looking pass Xion and down the hall. Xion saw Roxas's suddenly anxious expression and asked, "Roxas? What's wrong?"
Roxas quickly looked at Xion and responded quickly, "Nothing. Wait here."
Before Xion could ask why, Roxas was already running down the hall, towards his room. The dark haired female watched her friend vanish, her hands clutching together nervously, a small seashell slipping between her fingers.
Roxas sprinted down the halls as fast as he could, dodging passed Dusks and Samurais until he finally reached his room, he quickly stepped inside, slamming the door closed behind him. He looked around, seeing nothing out of place and the room looked exactly like he had left it in the morning. But something in Roxas screamed at him that something was very wrong. And then Roxas's blue eyes settled on his dresser.
He shot over, pulling the top drawer open so fast it fell on the floor, socks and underwear flying out and on the floor. Roxas fell to his knees looking inside the drawer, head shaking from side to side.
It was gone. Both parts.
The wooden keyblade had vanished.
Roxas sat there on his knees, staring at the empty drawer. All he could think was one question, over and over:
Who knew it was here?
Saix slowly walked down a long hallway, his goal the single door at the end of the halls passage. In moments he stood before it and raised his arm, gloved hand rapping hard and loudly against the steel of the door.
There was no response for a single second and then a flat monotone voice responded, "Enter."
The door slid open and Saix stepped inside, the door slipping closed behind him. As soon as he took a breath and exhaled, a thin wisp of white vapor, Saix suppressed a shudder. He still didn't understand why the Superior kept everything so cold…
The Superior's study was a large evenly cube shaped room filled with desks covered with neat stacks of various files and reports, some of them Superior penned in by his own hand, others reports he had salvaged from their home world, these recovered reports incomplete and scattered. On the other side of the room were multiple dry eraser boards with various equations written all over its surface. Saix faintly caught sight of a few of these equations.
One was a circle of lines connected to three words: HEART, BODY & SOUL, then HEART-BODY & SOUL= NOBODY, then HEART CONSUMED BY DARKNESS= HEARTLESS and lastly, SOUL-HEART & BODY=DEATH. There was a question in the center of the circle, underlined and reading: WHAT HAPPENS WHEN HEART, BODY & SOUL RECONNECT AFTER PERIOD OF SEPERATION?
The second one Saix noticed was a drawing of an armored figure in a cape, holding what appeared to be a large keyblade of unique design. Written under it was: MEMORIES AND SOUL LINGER IN ARMOR… CAN THIS BE RECREATED UNDER CONTROLED EVENTS?
The last one that caught Saix's eyes read simply: GRIEF & DESPAIR=ANGER. SORROW+PRIDE=HATE. ANGER & HATE=HEART. HEART=POWER. xHEARTS=KINGDOM HEARTS.
Saix tore his eyes from the boards and looked over towards the Superior.
The Organization leader was sitting at a large desk, back to Saix and his arms and face obscured as the Superior looked over something. The Superior broke the silence of his study and asked, "What is it?"
Saix replied evenly, "Xaldin has located Aqua at Beast's Castle."
The Superior stopped looking over the object on his desk and turned to look at Saix, brow cocked. Superior, "Did he now?"
Saix nodded. Saix, "This confirms your theory. She was being drawn to those world inhabited by those ones with no darkness in their hearts."
The Superior nodded, smiling slightly.
Saix then said, "So with that being the case, Xaldin absolutely cannot fail. This is the last of those worlds under our watch that contains such a pure heart."
The Superior nodded, mostly to himself. "So it would appear…"
Saix barely heard his words and asked, "My lord?"
The Superior waved him off. Superior, "Tell Xaldin he has my permission to capture her, but stress to him that I want her intact. Not a single hair out of place or mark on her skin." The Superior's amber eyes narrowed into slits, briefly resembling flares of the hottest fires. "Do I make myself clear?"
Saix nodded.
The Superior turned back to his desk and resumed looking at whatever he had found. "Then be gone."
Saix bowed and turned, leaving his lords study and sudden surge of icy cold air inside it.
The Superior sat hunched over his desk, carefully looking over the wooden toy before him. He held up the smaller broken half, carved to resemble a hilt of a blade. He placed it back down carefully before picking up the longer other half, this one carved like a blade but with a key's teeth. The Superior picked up the hilt half and carefully lined up the pieces where they had broken. Black and red sparks discharged from his hands, traveling up and down the broken halves of the wooden toy. The sparks met where the wood had shattered and then, the halves rippled, melding back together.
The Superior held the restored wooden keyblade by its hilt, leaning back in his chair, amber eyes studying the toy carefully, traveling down the blade to the hilt. His eyes studied the single word engraved there.
"Terra…" He whispered.
Then, more sparks discharged from his hand that gripped the hilt and the wooden toy was engulfed in blue fire. The Superior opened his hand as the blue fire faded away, leaving no splinter or speck of ash behind.
The Superior sat there at his desk for a long time, before standing up and walking pass the desk, towards the far wall of his study. The Superior stood in front of the wall for a moment before raising his gloved hand, a red aura around it. When he lowered his hand, a small section of the wall flashed and faded away revealing am object that resembled a safe but instead of a handle and lock, the Roman Numerals I through XIV were engraved on its surface, mimicking the order of the thrones arrangment in Where Nothing Gathers, odd numbers on the right side, evens on the left, with I and XIII meeting at the top and bottom directly across from each other and the last number XIV directly in the center.
The Superior stared at the object for a moment before raising his hand once again. The numbers all lit up at once before the light in all of them faded except in I and began to travel in a circle, moving from I to II then IV and so on.
The Superior waited until it reached I again when his hand touched the number, causing it to glow. He then touched II when the light reached it, then III, IV, V and finally VI.
All six numbers flashed and the safe swung open, revealing what lay inside.
A cylinder of blue magic was directly in the center of the small safe. And floating inside was a gray disk, spinning slowly and silently.
The Superior reached into the safe, gloved hand entering the cylinder of magic and grabbing the disk very gently, slowly removing it. Once the Superior held the disk out of the safe, its door swung close and the wall flashed, hiding the safe once more.
The Superior's amber eyes stared down on the disk, studying the words engraved on it:
Chamber of Repose.