"Let's review, shall we? It's been over five hours now; I've beaten over half of the Organization; only gotten two hours of rest; I'm cold, tired, and cranky; I've been forced to experience a living nightmare; Naminé's connection's been jammed; and I'm now facing some shady drug addict who just called me fat." Kairi sighed. "Isn't life wonderful?"
"You know," Zexion was saying, "I'd rather not have to fight you."
"Yeah? Well, that makes two of us," Kairi replied as she stared down her opponent. "So why don't you go jump off a cliff or something?"
Zexion chuckled. "You misunderstand me. I said I didn't want to fight you. It's not my style." The book in his hand started to levitate mysteriously. "However, I never said that I wasn't going to hurt you!"
"A book, huh?" Kairi thought. "What's that thing supposed to do?"
With a wave of his hand, Zexion's lexicon hovered before him and began to flip its pages rapidly as if it were possessed by an evil spirit. Kairi braced herself.
"Fio libri vultus!" The Nobody's seal appeared in front of Zexion as the book's pages faced Kairi. It was as if a giant spotlight flashed itself in front of her eyes. Before she knew what was happening, an unyielding force yanked her from behind. Zexion and the battleground shrunk from view as if she were flying backward down a long tunnel.
When Kairi regained her bearings, she found that she was no longer on the island. A quick look around told her that she was probably stuck in one of Zexion's illusions again. Kairi could still hear the wind howling around her, but the entire battlefield was dark, gray and foggy. The area seemed to stretch on for miles, but she knew better. "What is this?!" Kairi shouted. "You can't fight me yourself?" As if in response, hundreds upon hundreds of books popped out of thin air and began to circle around her like vultures. She tightened her grip on the Keyblade. "This is going to leave some serious papercuts."
Books swirled around Kairi, barraging her from all sides. A couple of them rattled her ribcage, another smashed into the small of her back. She swung the Keyblade futilely as every inch of her body got pounded. It was like being smacked around with a meat tenderizer. And whatever part of her that didn't get bruised became sliced or cut from the pages' sharp edges. Over the din of flapping paper, she could hear Zexion's taunting laughter.
"It's deplorable! A Keyblade wielder who can't even defend herself!" Kairi caught a glimpse of a black-hooded figure beyond her range. "You're not even one of the Keyblade's chosen! If something like this stops you, then you really are hopeless!"
Kairi mentally slapped her cheeks, attempting to focus. "Come on, girl! Think!" She closed her eyes and concentrated as hard as she could. "What would Sora do in this situation?" The books circled around her rapidly like a makeshift hurricane, pinning her position to where she stood.
"Give it up!" Zexion mocked. "Accept your fate and sink into the darkness!" Kairi took a inhaled deeply and tried to remember what Sora and Riku had taught her.
The memory of her and Sora practicing on the beach forced itself to the front of her mind. "If you can't avoid the oncoming attack, it's best to charge straight through it..." Kairi's eyes snapped open. She tucked the Keyblade under her arm and Dodge Flipped straight into the tornado's wall. Her legs kicked out as hard as she could, destroying a couple of books and creating a gap in the process.
Finally free from her entrapment, Kairi quickly checked herself. She could see and feel numerous purple bruises and cuts along her bare skin. She instinctively raised her Keyblade to heal but stopped herself. There was no Naminé to rely on at the moment, so she had no idea when her magic would return if she used it all up. "Just grin and bear it," she muttered under her breath.
The books fanned out and dive-bombed at Kairi whose eyes narrowed at the incoming onslaught. She swiped the Keyblade with such intense focus, the first few books exploded into nothingness before they even came close. Slowly but surely, her attacks began to become more sharper. The Keyblade was hitting its targets with finer precision. Books swooped in from every direction, but Kairi was destroying them left and right. It was as if she could feel Sora's hands wrapped around hers, guiding each stroke to wherever it needed to be. Zexion watched all of this from a distance, shocked that an amateur warrior was fighting as if she had a lifetime of experience.
Suddenly all the books that were flocking around her vanished. Kairi still felt the adrenaline within coursing through her. "What's the matter, Zexy? Your library card expired?" Darkness swept the entire field. The only objects that were visible were three circles of light appearing in a triangle formation on the ground and Kairi herself. Two were red, one was blue. Hovering above the blue circle was Zexion's lexicon. However, the blue light was constantly switching its position with one of the other two.
"I guess depending on sheer quantity isn't the answer," Zexion called from the darkness. "So, I'll make it up with brute quality instead. Catch me if you can, princess..."
"So anyway, I was trying to talk to Vincent the other day..." Yuffie began.
"Let me guess," Aerith interrupted. "You were trying to ask him out again but he turned you down for the umpteenth time." She shook her head in disbelief. "Honestly, Yuffie. Can't you find somebody else your own age?"
"Uh huh. Last I heard, you were a year older than Cloud."
"Your point?"
"Well, its just that in today's society, everyone expects the guy to be older than the girl when it comes to relationships." Yuffie smirked. "Speaking of which, are you and Cloud still a couple?"
Aerith blushed. "What makes you say that?"
Yuffie shrugged. "Ever since that whole Sephiroth back-stabbing incident, I just figured..."
Aerith let out a heavy sigh. "For the last time, you're confusing me with my twin sister, Aeris Gainsborough. I'm Aerith."
The Materia Hunter giggled. "Whatever you say, Aerith."
"Are you two ladies done gossiping?" Cid huffed impatiently. "Cause if you're not busy, you might want to look up!" He pointed out to the purplish-hued sky where a single flaming object streaked across the backdrop.
Yuffie shielded her eyes and squinted. As the object got closer, Tron said, "Judging by the speed, velocity and trajectory of the object, it seems to be heading straight for the Great Maw."
"Then what are we waiting for?" Yuffie exclaimed. "Let's go see what it is!"
As the group headed for the Great Maw, the speeding object finally made a ground-shaking impact, sending huge shockwaves that could be felt from miles away.
Where once there was flat, barren wasteland, now stood a crater the size of 20 Xemnas' Dragon ships. And in the very center of the impact was the unmistakable, critically injured form of Cloud Strife.
Aerith was the first to reach Cloud's side. She immediately cast Curaga, healing most of his external injuries. Despite her best efforts, though, Cloud was still in extreme pain and was losing consciousness due to extreme shock. She placed a warm hand under his head, gently lifting it to clear the airway better. "Who did this to you?" Cloud's lips were moving, but his voice was barely audible. Aerith put her head closer.
"He's...coming..." Cloud groaned.
Aerith's eyes widened. "Who? Sephiroth?"
Cloud struggled to talk, to warn them. With the last of his will, he managed to say the words, "...Not...Sephiroth..." And with that, Cloud's neck went limp as he fell unconscious. Aerith turned to the others only to discover that they all had the same shocked, confused expressions on their faces.
"This is like that stupid game with Luxord," Kairi thought. She ran into the center of the triangle and focused on the seemingly random pattern of lights. Her eyes darted back and forth as it followed the book's trail. After a few seconds, the book finally stopped in its tracks.
Kairi instinctively dove for the highlighted circle before the perimeter sealed itself with an impenetrable wall of light. Kairi knew she made the right choice when she noticed an unyielding barrage of meteors raining outside her sanctuary. Then she realized that she wasn't alone. Looking up, she saw Zexion's lexicon hovering above.
Kairi Aerial Dodged at the remaining book and let fly a lightning-fast combo. Each hit produced a grunt of pain that felt extremely satisfying to her ears. With one final swing, she slammed the Keyblade into the lexicon's binding. As soon as it made contact, the illusion broke and Kairi found herself once more on the floating island. While Zexion was stumbling around like a broken teeter-totter, Kairi charged at him with unrestrained ferocity.
"IT'S OVER!" She raised the Keyblade over her head and brought it down with skull-crushing force.
CLANG! Kairi was stunned to find her attack being parried. "What in the..." Kairi leapt back to avoid being struck by Zexion's new weapon.
The Cloaked Schemer twirled an identical copy of Kairi's Keyblade in his hand. "Did you really think that I was going to be defeated that easily?" As soon as the last word left his lips, various copies of himself multiplied in front of Kairi's eyes.
"First Larxene, then Demyx, and now you?" Kairi complained, her hand on her hip. "What is with you people and clones?"
"I was able to defeat Riku with his own blade once!" The Zexions darted in and out of Kairi's range, daring her to attack. "And you're still not experienced enough to wield yours yet!"
Kairi laughed. "If you're so good, then why is Riku still alive?" She swiped her Keyblade menacingly. "As for me..." Kairi raised her weapon above her head. "THUNDER!" Lightning rained from the sky, instantly obliterating all of Zexion's duplicates. Zexion stood dumbfounded that his clones were obliterated so easily. Kairi looked into Zexion's scared face and smirked. "What now, wuss?!" She charged at him again, momentum and power on her side.
Zexion blocked Kairi's attack, causing the Keyblades to crackle as they both pushed against each other with all their might. Although Zexion was an adult, it was painfully obvious who had more brute force.
"What's the problem?" Kairi taunted as she forced Zexion onto his knees, "Don't work out much?" She neatly disarmed Zexion of his weapon and placed the Keyblade's tip at his throat. "Get up," she growled. The Cloaked Schemer hastily got to his feet and began to back away from his opponent.
Kairi tapped the Keyblade against her palm, slowly approaching Zexion. "It's not possible!" he shouted. "You can't be this skilled!" She only glared at him with unnerving tension. "No! You can't!" His eyes darted back and forth, looking for an escape. Kairi could feel a growl rumbling in her throat just waiting to get out. She puffed up her chest, stood straight and tall and...
"BOO!" Kairi barked, scaring Zexion witless. He turned to flee...
...and immediately ran smack-dab into a palm tree. Kairi didn't waste any time in taking advantage of the situation as Zexion staggered around trying to shake off his stunned state. She darted around behind him, crouched and swept her leg, knocking Zexion off balance. It took a few moments for him to realize that there was no ground left to catch him as he toppled off the edge of the earthen platform. Kairi stood up and brushed herself off. A satisfied grin appeared on her face as Zexion's screams faded into the darkness from whence he came.