Nobodies
Versus Starkiller

Roxas sighed as he looked up at the sky. The dark clouds were moving away slowly; the rain somehow managed to stop after its fierce coming the past few weeks. The Nobody let his hood slid down to the back of his neck; showing his bright blonde hair that sprung to its notable spikes.

A soft sound of crackling was heard behind him and he tensed his body, completely still, as the guards walked past him.

They were black hooded man, armed with weapons Roxas had seen only in some Worlds. He watched them as they walked by, waiting till they vanished behind the trees. It seemed like the tournament got rougher since if it was true that these people were guards, it was a sign that something wrong might had been happening.

Roxas used his hood again then stepped away from his hiding. His blue eyes watched the tip of the volcano—he couldn't count anymore how many times he had been doing this since his arriving. He could now see very clearly the toxic smoke that rose from the caldera. If the base was there, there must be an opening through the toxic smoke.

Walking with heavy steps, Roxas continued his journey. It would be a matter of time until he met his friend again. This tournament had gone too long already and he was tired. His wounds were healing but his exhaustion and depression were growing. He wanted to go back, and the thoughts strengthened his steps as he walked to the volcano.

A strong wind blew past him, like ripples in the air. Roxas's eyes darted to the source of the wind, completely aware that someone else was near and that he or she was not an ordinary person. Grunts and groans were heard along with the cracking of trees and before Roxas could fully comprehend of what was happening, the foliages around him cracked and blown away—he could barely stand up under the force of a powerful blow that exploded behind him. The Nobody quickly turned back, the Oathkeeper burst into his grip.

A wise decision.

More to reflex than thinking, his Oathkeeper flashed and parried a long shimmering red saber of light that was about to cut his head off. An unfamiliar sound was heard as the saber pushed harder and under the pressure, Roxas grunted then let the Oblivion burst into his left hand. With a restrained groan, he slashed.

His attacker jumped back with a quick move, stopping a few meters away from him. His saber made the same strange sound as it moved slowly to his attacker's side—who turned out to be a man with unusual clothing that looked more like ragged cloth tied to his limbs. His hair was shaved—something that quickly reminded Roxas to his previous opponent. But this one was not only younger, it seemed like he wasn't as composed as his previous one. If the last one was like a deep sea that was hiding a fierce current in its depth, this one was like a strong crashing wave.

"I thought that you were one of them," said the dark haired man, flipping the saber in his right hand. Around the both of them were fallen trees, and amongst the branches and leaves were corpses of the black hooded guards, could be those that walked past him. Roxas could feel how he clenched his Keyblades tighter. He could imagine the blast that caused the trees to collapse and how it successfully killed those guards. The dark haired man eyed Roxas then said, "I guess you are one of the contestants."

"If I am, then what?"

Roxas didn't feel like being friendly to this one guy. Somehow, he didn't like the aura this one guy had. It felt… sinister. It was better to be cautious.

The dark haired man's eyes turned darker. He lowered his stance, gripping his saber behind in a reversed grip.

"Then you're an enemy."

He moved, fast, to Roxas's place. The air seemed like it created ripples with every move the man made, like something was helping. His saber slashed the air but Roxas parried it with his Oathkeeper while slashing his Oblivion at the same time. The man moved his free hand facing Oblivion and suddenly an invisible force pushed the Keyblade away from his body—surprising Roxas and destroying the Nobody's balance. When he was still surprised by the unexpected event, a kick landed on his face and sent him crashing to a tree trunk.

Without giving him time to even pull himself up, the saber had slashed again. Both the Oblivion and the Oathkeeper stopped the shimmering 'blade'. Roxas gritted his teeth when his opponent pushed harder, and his blue eyes saw the dark eyes of his opponent showed this certain… amusement.

Then a blue lightning appeared.

"ARGH!!!"

In pain, Roxas kicked the man and rolled away, gritting his teeth to contain his agony. The man moved closer in the same second but the Oathkeeper was thrown—slashing his way to the man's face. Though his opponent managed to duck, it was enough to stop his movement… and enough for Roxas to kick the ground and hurl forward. The Oblivion swished just a few inches from the man's torso and the Oathkeeper burst into Roxas's other hand, slashing in a whirlwind move that managed to graze the man's face.

His opponent cringed, but extended his free hand.

A powerful blow hit Roxas right from the front—huffing all air in his lungs and smashing him to the ground. The Nobody quickly pulled himself up, ignoring the screaming pain by his chest and facing his opponent, who stood a few meters away from him as he brushed the blood off the wound on his face.

His opponent's eyes darkened with something. After a while he raised his saber and pointed at the Keyblades.

"The Light Force… Are you a Jedi?"

"Jedi?" Roxas cringed. That was the first time he had ever heard the word. "What do you mean?"

"It is impossible… for something so empty to have the Light Force with him," said the man with a restrained voice. It seemed like the word 'light' had something to his disliking. "What are you, boy?"

What am I? It was a question that Roxas had never wanted to answer—not like he knew exactly what the answer himself.

"A Nobody."

Something flickered in the eyes of his opponent. He suddenly gave a cynical smile then said, "Then we are both… a 'nobody'."

Blue lightning stormed from the man's left hand but Roxas had jumped away and thrown the Oblivion. The man ducked and swished his lightsaber that quickly being parried by the Oathkeeper, keeping Roxas in the air. His opponent slashed… and again, and again and again in a series of connecting moves that forced Roxas to summon his Oblivion to be able to hold off the barrage of attacks. His slashes were fast, precise, and strong and Roxas could feel how each blow made his fingers went numb, how he soon couldn't feel his Keyblades in his hands anymore. And suddenly bluish light covered the lightsaber, crackling with power.

It was a flash of a second that Roxas saw a strange grin on his opponent's face.

"Let's see which of us is the Nobody!"

With a loud roar, the dark haired man swished his lightsaber—the force of their weapons' clash felt like a heavy boulder pushing Roxas away and the Nobody smashed to the ground hard. He coughed, but the lightsaber had slashed again and his blue eyes widened as it drew closer, faster than he thought.

The Oathkeeper and Oblivion parried the lightsaber. Roxas gritted his teeth in pain when his hands shook as it held off the man's powerful push and his blue eyes clashed with his opponent's dark eyes—that shimmered with an excitement he couldn't put a name on… but somehow understood.

Which of them… was someone.

"With you, I feel like I have a Heart."

"AAAAAAARRRGGGHHHH!!!"

A condensed ball of light exploded right by the opponent's chest, pushing him away from Roxas's body. Before his enemy could recover, thirteen pillars of lights encircled the man and slashed him from the sides. The man groaned in pain, trying to parry the lights in vain and tried to dodge each of the pillars to no avail. He grunted, half roaring with anger, as the lights wounded him little by little until he finally let out a roar of anger and jumped to the air.

It felt like an eternity when the power encircled him… then the blast that happened next was something that happened for a split second.

The lights, the pillars of lights, all blown by the blast—along with the remaining of trees. It was a few moment of winning… until the dark haired man realized that Roxas was right below him with his stance, unaffected by what he had did.

Roxas threw the Oblivion, something that his opponent dodged easily, then lunged at him while he was still in the air—both hands strengthening his Oathkeeper. The lightsaber parried the Oathkeeper in the last second… and blue lightning had crackled by the saber's tips once again—much more powerful… and Roxas had no chance of dodging the attack.

And suddenly the Oblivion came from behind the opponent—swirling towards his neck.

In reflex he looked back—brown eyes looking at the Keyblades—but it was too late to even repel the weapon.

What happened next was something that Roxas somehow knew would happen.

Blood splashed on the Nobody's black shirt and face. It felt like an eternity to watch the head of his opponent fell from his body, to watch the lightsaber losing its light, and finally to watch the body fell to the ground. The Oblivion embedded itself in a tree trunk, only grazing some spike of Roxas's hair on its way—different with the fate of the shaved man's neck.

Roxas slowly let his Oathkeeper down, his blue eyes once again watched the body of someone in front of him. This time though… it wasn't emptiness that he felt.

"Which of us is the nobody!"

What was the answer to the question… what was the answer to the puzzle Axel had always given to him?

What was the meaning of the proof of existence gained from erasing the existence of someone else? What… does it mean to be someone?

The Oathkeeper touched the ground before it evaporated into shimmers of light. Right after, Roxas turned back and walked away—putting on his hood when he realized that once again the rain had began to fall.

It disgusted him to see the corpse.

It disgusted him of himself.

"You know, Roxas? Maybe you do have Hearts."

The End

Author's Note: Sorry for the lateness. And as you can see… the sole reason of posting this… is to dedicate this to Reaper's Shadow. Thank you, RS. Thank you very much.