Chapter 8- Day 255
To say that Yen Sid was worried for Sairu's prolonged absence was an overstatement. Although he was concerned, he was nonetheless confident in Sairu's innate abilities and that he would return. It had been many days, around three months, since he last saw him: ever since then, Sairu had been put through extensive hours of training, learning to break the limits of his powers, and discovered a new ability: that of illusions, which Sairu felt was somewhat ironic, given Ienzo's natural affinity with the power. Nonetheless, he committed himself wholeheartedly to the training that his reptilian master put him through, and never once did Sairu complain. He learned to fully master the power of gravity under Lunar Bahamut's training, increase the deadly accuracy of his current abilities, managed to create basic illusions of himself for diversionary tactics, and learned a mighty new technique as a last resort. Furthermore, his strength, durability and agility had significantly improved during these past months, even his own will was strengthening through this training.
Then, to Yen Sid's surprise and astonishment, a blinding light suddenly filled the study; as quickly as it came, it disappeared, revealing a figure dressed in a black cloak standing before him: Sairu had grown significantly taller in a matter of months, and his hair had grown just as much, with the majority falling past his shoulders on his back, and his bangs now draped over the left side of his face, obscuring his left eye, but it did not impair his sight regardless. In addition, he had grown a well-defined physique, his face looking narrower than before. And, in his left hand, he held his signature weapon, whose white blade shone like the moon would in total darkness, a wholesome, white glow. What was befuddling was the small creature that now rested on Sairu's right shoulder, was a smaller chick-like form of Lunar Bahamut.
"So, it appears your training has come to an end. I must say, I barely recognise you now, more so than the last time" Yen Sid said with a chuckle, at which Sairu returned with a grin. "I feel fantastic. It was tough these past few months, but I daresay I'm ready to take on this Organization now, especially since Sora's due to wake any day now" Sairu said, sounding impressed of himself. "Also, I can travel without the ship anymore, which I hope you're going to keep safe until you see him again" "Rest assured, it is in safe hands. Before you depart, I have something for you" Yen Sid said as a large, white rectangular box appeared on the table before him "Within this box lies your new attire for when you are ready to discard that cloak. Thanks to the three good fairies, it should be your size in time" "I see. Thank you, Yen Sid. And give my gratitude to the fairies as well, if you please" Sairu said, gratitude evident in his voice as he collected the box in his hands "I do have to ask, that is Lunar Bahamut upon your shoulder, is it not?" Yen Sid asked curiously, at which the small dragon spoke in response "Yes, it is I. This is my form when I am not necessary for combat or travel; even though I am a summon, I've never liked being taken to and from repeatedly. I felt this was more suitable and productive" the dragon said atop Sairu's shoulder. Yen Sid nodded at this, and then said to Sairu: "You have changed a great deal. It has been a long time now, since you last saw your friends, am I correct to assume? In which case, if you go to the world called Twilight Town, you will surely find them there" Yen Sid explained at which Sairu nodded, and opened a dark corridor behind him.
"I see. Then I'll go to them, and thank you for everything, Master Yen Sid" Sairu said honourably as he bowed, at which Yen Sid returned in kind. "Also, if you could, when Sora, Donald and Goofy come here when they wake, please do not tell them I was here. I've always been easy to track, and if they knew I was safe, they would lose sight of their objective" Sairu asked politely, and after some pondering, Yen Sid responded "Of course. I shall keep your presence here obscure, you have my word" Yen Sid said, at which Sairu nodded his gratitude and departed via the dark corridor.
The dark corridor manifested in Twilight Town's Sandlot, at which Sairu was confused of, owing to the fact he had never been to this world; then he felt a presence somewhere in the lower areas of town. As Sairu ran through, he noticed the town was practically deserted, but he got his answer when he saw Heartless all over the marketplace. Thankfully, due to his training, his power reduced them to nothing in practically an instant. He eventually discovered a hole in the wall that took him to the woods beyond, where he encountered many Heartless here as well, but they too disappeared in a heartbeat. Soon he came to an old and seemingly abandoned mansion in a clearing in the woods, but the feeling he had sensed was strongest here.
He had noticed that the gate to the mansion was locked, and without the key, let alone a Keyblade, he knew there was no way he was going to enter by normal means, that is, until, a dark corridor opened behind him, and out stepped a familiar face dressed in a black cloak just like his: Riku had also grown taller and his silver hair was longer as well, but he now wore a black blindfold obscuring his eyes. 'As if his bangs wouldn't already' Sairu thought jokingly to himself. "It's been a long time, Riku" Sairu said, which caused Riku to smile slightly. "Yeah. You sound the same, but somehow I can tell you have changed" Riku responded. "What's with the blindfold?" Sairu asked, at which Riku froze for a moment then responded "I'll fill you in once we're inside" Riku said as he and Sairu entered the dark corridor, and then, once he emerged, found himself in a completely white room, that reminded him of the rooms in Castle Oblivion; at the centre stood a long white table, where a blonde girl sat at the far end, dressed in a white dress. Sairu immediately knew who this was: "Naminé" he said in surprise, at which Naminé looked up and smiled at him, with a hint of pink in her cheeks.
"It's good to see you in the real world, Sairu" Naminé said softly, which earned her a soft half smile from Sairu, because of his hair. "Sorry, but this isn't really the time for a heartfelt reunion. I'm afraid we're in a tight situation at present restoring Sora's memories" Riku stated, which earned him a confused look from Sairu, as Riku motioned for him to sit in another chair to Naminé's left, to which he sat down, while his companion leapt off his shoulder to lie across the table in front. "What is that?" Naminé asked curiously, while Sairu responded politely "I'll explain after you do. Has something gone wrong?" Sairu asked, turning to both Riku and Naminé as the latter began to explain "Two individuals are interfering with my efforts to wake Sora up, to the extent that he will wake much later than we hoped. Both of these people are part of the remainder of the Organization, and one of them... is Sora's Nobody" At this, Sairu's visible eye widened in surprise at the mention of what he did not expect. After seeing his expression, Naminé continued.
"The other is a girl known as Xion. Her existence is difficult to determine, because she does not seem to be a Nobody, yet somehow... Sora's memories within his Nobody are slowly being absorbed by Xion, who used those memories to gain the form she has, that of Sora's strongest memories... the memories of Kairi" Sairu's shocked expression still remained as he heard about these people, which prompted him to ask: "If this Xion is not a Nobody, then what kind of person could she be? Is she whole, like Riku and me?" Naminé simply shook her head, while Riku answered. "We think it is likely that Xion is actually a Replica, like the replica of me we encountered in Castle Oblivion, yet, if that were true, then who would she be a Replica of?" Hearing this, Sairu's confusion was beginning to expand until an idea came to him: unimaginable as it was, it was likely all the same. "Could it be... that Xion is meant to be a Replica of Sora?" Sairu asked, sounding mortified at the possibility. Hearing this, Riku and Naminé together also froze at the possibility, at which Naminé replied in a shaky voice "Actually... I think that might be true. Because she has an identity of her own because of Sora's memories, then it means that... if we take those memories away and return them to Sora-" "-Then she will disappear with them" Riku finished for them, which brought an awkward silence.
"It seems that, while it's not been confirmed, it's the most likely scenario" Lunar Bahamut interjected once the pause had come to an end, which caused Riku to jump slightly, owing to the fact he could not see traditionally. "Who was that?" Riku asked, suddenly on guard from the unfamiliar voice he heard. "Don't worry, it was just my friend here. This is my partner and somewhat master, Lunar Bahamut" Sairu said, introducing the small dragon on the table before him, who greeted the two with a nod of his head. "What? Your master?" Riku asked in confusion. "Sort of. I've been training under his tutelage for the last three months or so, he was also acquainted with my father" Sairu responded.
Hearing this seemingly caught Riku's attention as he then responded "Did you find out about them?" Riku asked, at which Sairu confirmed. "I did. That scroll was actually the remains of my father's powers, the ability to travel through time. With that scroll, my mind was transferred from this version of me to myself when I was a baby. There, I saw it all, my loving mother dying on the night of my birth, my father overcome by his love for her, and a traitor in the midst, as my father was the ruler of our home, and his subordinate, desired to overthrow him, and then my world was consumed by the Heartless, where I somehow arrived in the world I grew up in, under the care of my family, Aerith, Yuffie, Cid and most of all Leon" Sairu finished explaining. Riku's expression had only changed slightly, but if he wasn't blinded, Sairu would have seen the true feelings of his eyes. "Also, why do you blindfold yourself now, Riku? Frankly, your hair would do as good a job as blinding you as that blindfold is" Sairu said with a chuckle, at which Riku reached up and removed his blindfold. The sight that Sairu saw before him was not one he had expected, and was shocked to see.
Elsewhere, atop the clock tower at Station Plaza, a boy with messy spiked blonde hair, dressed in a black cloak, was sitting on the ledge of the clock face, gazing at the sunset with a tranquil gaze until a voice speaks to him "You're early". The owner of the voice soon appeared, revealed to be Axel of the Organization. "No, you're just late" the boy replied teasingly as Axel came and sat on the boy's right, bars of sea salt ice cream in hands. "Today makes 255" the blonde boy said as he looked down at the view of the town, which earned him Axel's confusion, who asked "What's that about?" his ice cream finished, and the stick dangling from his mouth. The boy then explained "It's been that many days since I first joined the Organization. Man, time flies" At this, Axel removed the stick from his mouth and said, "So you've got the number memorized, do you?" "Yeah" the blond boy confirmed. "Have to hang on to something, right? It's not like I have memories from before the Organization. Don't you remember? I acted like a zombie"
Axel then placed a hand on his friend's shoulder and said "Right. That first week, you could barely form a sentence. But come on, you're still kind of a zombie" he said as he teasingly slapped his back. "Oh thanks!" the blonde boy jokingly said as they both laughed. When they stopped, Axel then asked "Hey Roxas. Bet you don't know why the sun sets red. You see, light is made up of lots of colours. And out of all those colours, red is the one that travels the farthest" "Like I asked. Know-it-all" Roxas jokingly retorted, which got the two friends laughing once again. As time passed, as Axel laid back looking at the sky, Roxas then turned to face behind to his left, wondering aloud "Seriously, where is she?" At Axel's face darkened, and then he rose into a seating position again.
"Roxas..." Axel said, earning Roxas's attention, as he continued "I'm not sure she's gonna show today" "Did she collapse again?" Roxas asked, alarmed. "She..." Axel trailed off until "... What, didn't you hear? She got sent on a really important mission. Pretty cool, huh?" he said in a passable surprised tone. "Oh... So when's she coming back?" Roxas asked in curiosity. "Well, I guess that depends on how well she does her job, right?" Axel replied, to which Roxas replied "Heh, fair enough" as he turned to look at the sunset, while Axel wore a saddened expression unbeknownst to his friend. Meanwhile, in an abandoned room of Castle Oblivion, a girl dressed in a black cloak with jet black hair was examining a crystal orb, until she saw something she did not expect to see. "No. Then... I'm not... The person I was before... wasn't me" Xion said in a crestfallen voice.