My arms are killing me. Xemnas tied my wrists together and has me hanging from the ceiling of a very large room, larger than any room I've ever seen before. I have no idea what he hopes to accomplish with this. Maybe it is just to cause me pain. If that's the reason, it's certainly working. It feels like my arms are going to pull away from my body.
Every time I make the smallest movement, I swing. I hoped that maybe if I swung hard enough, the vines would break, but it's no use. I need me Keyblade to cut through them, but I can't get my hand free enough to call for it.
As much pain as I'm in, I'm hoping the others don't come in here to rescue me. Xemnas is hiding somewhere, waiting to ambush them the second they walk in. I don't know if they are going to be able to beat him with as much power as he has now. What if they walk right into their own deaths? And all I can do is hang here and watch?
I can hear quick footsteps echoing against the metal walls. They're coming and fast. Looking down I see them run into the room. They look around, but none of them see me up here. I want to yell to them but I'm afraid Xemnas will attack them.
I see him stepping out a shadow in the corner of the room. Even though they all look so small from up here, I can tell Xemnas is raising his hand towards Roxas.
"Roxas! Behind you!"
With only a second to react, Roxas spins around and uses his Keyblade to deflect the vines Xemnas is shooting at him. The vines wrap themselves around his blade, but Roxas overpowers him. He uses the vines to pull Xemnas off his feet and throw him across the room.
Roxas looks up at the ceiling to where I'm hanging. His eyes look so angry. I've never seen him look like that. He throws his Keyblade in the air and it flies toward me. It slices right through the vines holding me to the ceiling.
As I'm falling, I shake the remaining vines from my wrists, glad to be free. But now we have to worry about Xemnas.
The others are watching my quick descent to the ground, waiting for me to land. But I have another idea. It might be little stupid, but I'm going to do it anyway.
"Send me over there!"
As if automatically knowing what I want to do, Sora and Riku hold out their Keyblades towards each other to where the tips are almost touching. They brace themselves for my landing. Everything's ready.
My eyes meet Roxas's for a second before my feet touch down. The angry look melts off his face. He looks relieved. I may not be safe yet, but at least I'm not alone.
I land a little harder than I expected to, but Riku and Sora hold steady. They catch me, stopping me from crashing into the ground. Then they put all of their strength into throwing me back into the air, this time sending me straight to Xemnas.
He is still shaking off being thrown across the room by Roxas when he sees me flying towards him. For just a split second I can see a look of surprise on his face, but he quickly buries it. Two glowing swords appear in both of his hands. I call for my Keyblade and grip it as tightly as possible.
Xemnas tries to block me with his swords, but the force that I hit him with knocks him back. I use this to my advantage and pin him against the wall.
"Why won't you just leave us alone? All I wanted was a normal life with Roxas. Why are you so determined to destroy that?"
"Because you will never have a normal life. It is not your destiny. You meeting Roxas was just to lead you to me. Join me, Dexlin. We can rule all the worlds."
"I will never join you."
"Then so be it."
He pushes me back, causing me to fall to the ground. Slowly he floats into the air and raises his hands. The glowing swords disappear as a dark portal grows above him. Suddenly something shoots out of the portal. I have to roll quickly so it doesn't fall on me. Looking over I see a very large, very thick book on the ground.
"A book?" A BOOK! "You tried to attack me with a book?" I'm a little insulted that he would think I'd be so weak that he could take me out by squashing me with a book. I may be a little new to this, but give me some credit.
Using my Keyblade, I scoop the book up and launch it in the air. It hits Xemnas right in the stomach. Taking this as a cue, Roxas and Sora jump up and start attacking Xemnas as fast as they can. They are swinging so fast that it's hard to tell whose Keyblade is whose. Xemnas is doing his best to block with the two glowing swords that reappeared in his hands, but they still manage to land quite a few hits. Xemnas is also getting a few hits, but they aren't doing much damage.
"Dexlin!" Riku is running towards me. "Help me out! Just like you did to Roxas on the island!" He holds out his Keyblade and I know exactly what he wants me to do.
I reach out and lock the tips of out blades together. Using both hands to grip the handle, I swing around, picking Riku off the ground. I watch as he reaches his target. Instead of attacking Xemnas with his Keyblade, he sweeps right between Sora and Roxas and brings both his feet in to Xemnas's chest. I don't know if that was his intention or I just threw him too hard, but it had the desired effect. Xemnas comes crashing to the ground followed by the other three, who have softer landings.
Sora, Riku, Roxas, and I stand with out blades raised as Xemnas picks himself up.
"Give it up, Xemnas. You are never going to win." I have to wonder if Sora has always been like this or if it's just because of the Keyblade that he's so brave.
"Foolish children, do you believe I've been using all of my power? I'm saving it for the real battle. Then we…" Xemnas doesn't get to finish his sentence. He's knocked forward and lands on his face. Kairi and Namine are standing behind him.
"You talk too much, Xemnas. Maybe that's why you always lose." Kairi pushes a stand of hair out of her face.
Because Kairi and Namine hardly practice with us, I sometimes forget that they are good with their Keyblades too. I'll have to start remembering that.
Xemnas picks himself up again. "Fine. No more talking." He floats off the ground and another dark portal opens. He better not throw another book at me. "The true fight begins. I trust you know where to find me." He flies into the portal.
"Where is he going?" Why would he assume that I would know?
"To the top of the castle. That's where the remains of the Kingdom Hearts that he tried to form are. His powers will be stronger there." Riku's looking up as if he can somehow magically see through the ceiling.
"His powers, they're stronger now. He told me. When I didn't come back with Roxas, he absorbed the powers of the Organization members. That's how he could control fire back in Twilight Town. He killed the other members so he could use their powers to escape."
Roxas looks down at the floor and I know he's thinking about Axel. His dream was real all along and I told him it was nothing. I feel terrible about that.
"With that much power, Xemnas is going to be almost impossible to defeat. We have to find a way to get ourselves more power." Sora looks at each of us for ideas, but none of us have any. That is until Namine speaks up.
"We could try rejoining. Four of us might be enough if two are stronger."
"It's worth a shot. Maybe it will be enough power to take him on." Roxas nods his head as he talks.
I don't like this idea. I don't like it for one second. It might just be selfish of me, but I don't want Roxas rejoining with Sora. What if something happens and they can't separate again? I don't want to take that chance.
"Don't worry, Dexlin." Roxas sees the worried look on my face. "It won't be permanent. We'll just do it long enough to beat Xemnas." He walks over to me and puts his hand on my cheek. "I'll come back to you. I promise." Our eyes meet and I smile at him. "I love you, Dexlin."
"I love you too, Roxas."
Out of the corner of my eye, I see a bright light surround Namine. A couple seconds later the same thing happens to Roxas. Right before my eyes, he turns transparent, just like that time he appeared on the beach. Then I get this really warm feeling inside of me.
Roxas's eyes widen in shock before he is slowly pulled into Sora, whose eyes have the same exact look. Kairi and Namine are looking at me the same way. What's going on?
Suddenly I feel this sharp pull in the pit of my stomach. I look down and see that my hands are transparent, just like Roxas. I'm moving, but not of my own will. Looking back up I see that I'm moving towards Riku, who is just as shocked as the rest of them.
I'm a Nobody? I'm Riku's Nobody?
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Author's Note: So was this a surprise? Or did you totally see it coming? Just wondering. Not getting a lot of feedback.