Chapter 38—The Patron Saint of Gambling
Luxord was idling by the doors to the Alter of Naught when he heard Saïx approach. That was odd in and of itself considering that nobodies had the habit of being silent. He turned to look at the other and noticed that Saïx for someone with no facial expressions was looking incredibly pleased.
"To what do I owe this?" Saïx shrugged at his words and then pointed to the bright heart shaped moon in the sky.
"Even without Sora's heart, all is in place. We just have to keep them from Kingdom Hearts just long enough and we'll have hearts. We'll be real people."
"Yeah." Luxord murmured quietly, he just hoped the portal had done its job and killed the Key to Darkness.
The world in which they emerge upon from the limbo that they had been incased in resembled places that they'd been before and yet was nothing like it. The sky was dark and cloud covered and the air was thick with trepidation. There were thousands of buildings and skyscrapers around them. They stood impressively, dark and hulking like an endless maze. Out of them all, only one was lit, reading the Skyscraper of Memory. Beyond that was a tall white palace that seemed more like it was empty of color then resplendent in the dark, dark city.
"That's where we're headed." Demyx murmured softly and Sora nodded faintly.
Sora decidedly didn't like the quiet in this place, the way eternity seemed to drag on endlessly. He wanted to leave. For seemingly the first time, he began to understand who he was and what he was doing as he stared up at Kingdom Hearts. He was the Key to Light, the Keyblade Master.
"Then that's where we'll go." He stated calmly and took the lead.
Sora led them through the abandon streets until they reached a glowing blue pathway. He knelt on the ground and tested it with a hand. The quiet determination that had always been behind his careless smiles and almost simple mindedness, seemed to have finally wormed itself out. Riku and Leon both hated to think that it might have been due to being sucked inside a dying dragon.
The place was technologically advanced it seemed. But nothing that was overtly impressive besides its sheer emptiness. Sora continued to act every inch of a leader, almost as if it had been an overnight transformation but as Roxas gave subtle direction and Axel took up the rear. They knew it was a transformation that had finally come to its climax through Sora's anger.
"My, my… Apparently you really didn't need anymore direction then my first hint?" A sly voice called from a hallway.
They had entered the Alter of Naught and on the other side of the room stood a blond nobody. His hair was short and his blue eyes gleamed like ice. He walked forward with seemingly innocent intentions but by the way Roxas and Demyx tensed, Sora figured it was time to summon his blade.
"So hasty." The nobody shook his head. "Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Luxord and well… I invited you here."
"You're the one who killed the dragon." Sora hissed.
"Well, I couldn't let it kill you and devour your heart when it would be so much more useful as a part of Kingdom Hearts." Luxord pointed out with mock enthusiasm.
"None of us are going to be apart of that… thing." Sora growled as he stepped forward menacingly.
"I propose a bet." Luxord smiled and snapped the fingers of his left hand almost in slow motion. Cards, large and graceful looking curled around them before Luxord spoke again. "Choose two people to fight me. If they win, you all go free. I'll fight you two and two at a time until you win or you're all apart of Kingdom Hearts."
"I don't like this." Leon muttered as he approached the cards and smacked a hand flat against the cards that seemed more like stone then the plastic like paper that cards were usually made up of.
"We don't have a choice." Axel admitted tensely. "This is how Luxord plays." He gave them all a pointed look. "Our best bet is to send out someone and Kairi. With her being the Key to Darkness, she'll be the strongest among us."
"And who else?" Tifa asked as she flexed her fists.
"Not Sora." Roxas stated quietly. "We need him to seal Xemnas."
"Then who?" Cloud asked.
"I'll go." Yuffie stated firmly. "No sense in playin' rock/paper/scissors or something like that."
"Fine." Riku spoke and turned away from everyone. "We've got two contestants."
"Then let's have a battle." Luxord murmured and the door opened to admit the two female warriors.
Yuffie flexed her fists and reached her hand behind her to hold her shrunken. She nodded to Kairi and threw it hard at the Gambler of Fate. Luxord dodged it easily and then dodge Kairi's blade. The nobody used his cards as one would use throwing knives. By the end of five minutes that felt like they went on forever Kairi and Yuffie both sported thin cuts that looked more like paper cuts then anything else.
"This is boring." Luxord murmured. "What can I do to make this interesting?"
"How 'bout opening a portal back to our world in your chest?" Kairi asked before she threw her blade at him.
The move was reckless Luxord thought as he dodged it and prepared to throw his cards. He caught Yuffie before she could launch a follow up attack and was about to send another round of cards at Kairi herself when a sharp pain pierced his back. He realized ironically as he stared at the young woman before him. Keyblades are like boomerangs. They always come back. And he had put himself in the worst place possible. Between blade and master. The blade gained another burst of power pushing forward as Kairi lifted her hand to receive it. The added power behind it sent the blade right through Luxord.
The blond nobody had no last words, or even thoughts really. He just fell into two pieces on the ground and slowly disintegrated into black ash that an invisible wind blew away. Kairi caught the blade and stared at the pack of cards that was all that was left of the nobody as the cards around the rest of the group faded away.
"We got him." She stated somberly. "What does that leave us with?"
"Who do you think will come after us next?" Sora murmured as they slowly headed deeper into colorless palace.
"All that's left is Saïx and Xemnas. I have a feeling it'll be the Lunar Divider first." Axel stated as the headed through to the next room.
This new room that they had reached felt eerie. There were twelve tomb like structures. Most of them were red but a few were blue. Sora approached one and realized that on it was written 'the Key to Destiny.' He jumped back and turned to look at the three former nobodies. Before he could voice his question though, Demyx spoke up.
"This… is the proof of existence. The ones in red are the ones who are dead. The ones in blue are the ones who are still alive."
"And what is that up ahead?" Sora asked pointed to the blocked doorway.
"Because someone still resides in a room, the door to the Superior… to Xemnas is sealed. We can't go any farther without facing the Lunar Divider." Axel spoke as he looked at the glowing emblem.
"And how will we do this? A battle of all of us against him would be too much. We'd end up hurting each other." Leon pointed out.
"Then we split into groups." Riku shrugged and looked towards the seal. "A group to go for the Lunar Divider, a group to find a way out and a group to go after Xemnas."
"That seems too simple." Cloud murmured.
"Well, if we put everyone's skills into account, it's the perfect plan. Unfortunately there will be some down time for the team that goes after Saïx and the team that goes for Xemnas but—"
"But that ensures that we have healthy fighters and an escape route." Leon stated after he interrupted Riku.
"All right then." Sora turned and looked at him from where he was studying the seal. "Axel, Roxas, Kairi and Yuffie, you will find us a way out of here. Demyx you'll take Cloud and Tifa and go after Saïx. Leon, Riku and I will go after Xemnas."
"Are you sure about this?" Yuffie asked quietly.
"Deadly. I know that it seems weird but I think I have everybody going to a place that would use their strengths." Leon nodded appraisingly at Sora's words. "Trust me."
"All right then." Demyx took the lead and headed for the platform. "If you'll follow me, this is a round trip ticket. Please no kids or small animals, they might not like the violence."
Tifa rolled her eyes but followed him just the same. Cloud sighed and before he followed as well before Axel took his group and ran back to the castle's exit. Axel could only think of one place that would allow them to do it. The Skyscraper of Memory.
Everyone else was left to wait.