Chapter 26 – Plan
Naminé didn't know what to do.
They'd been back at Twilight Town for a while now, resting and recuperating for the final battle. A few Organization members had dropped by a few days ago, but Mickey, Xion, and Roxas had fought them off as she'd changed their memories. The problem had been taken care of and their enemies sent on their way to report to Xehanort that Naminé wasn't here.
But they hadn't heard any word from Aqua's group, and she was beginning to worry. Xion had thrown herself into her training to get her mind off of everything, but Naminé wasn't so lucky. Riku wasn't here, and that left her a lot of time to think and worry.
The little firebird chick was her sole distraction from it all. She'd smuggled it inside her room and had made a little nest out of blankets for it in the corner. Blankets which now had a few, um, holes in them, courtesy of the little bird's habit of spitting sparks from its beak and tail.
She went to it now, bringing it a cup of water she'd refilled from the bathroom sink.
"There you go." She patted its tiny fuzzy head as it guzzled the refreshing liquid. It had already grown since she'd first adopted it. She wondered how long it would take to reach its full size. What would she even do with it at that point? Find some uninhabited world to unleash it on?
There was a soft knock at her door.
"Who is it?" she called, untangling her legs and going to the door.
"Just me." Sure enough, Roxas's forlorn face was there to greet her when she opened the door. But at least he had a plastic container filled with various insects he'd caught for the firebird. They'd done a lot of experimenting lately, trying to find something it would eat.
"Come in." He followed her back into the room and settled in next to the firebird.
"We really should think of a name for it," he said, plucking a bug out of the container and dangling it above the firebird's beak. It snapped it out of his fingers and swallowed, then looked at him expectantly. He gave it another one, and then another one.
"How about Ignis?" Naminé suggested.
"Hmmm, Ignis." Roxas attempted a smile. "It fits. We can call him Iggy for short." He turned back to the little bird. "Hear that, Iggy? How's that for your name?"
The firebird squawked and bobbed its tiny head.
"I think he likes it," Roxas said, ruffling his fuzzy feathers.
"Roxas, how are you feeling today?" Naminé asked. She'd asked him every day since they'd gotten back. The first day he'd been downright volatile, but little by little his condition had improved.
He sat back on his feet and sighed. Iggy hopped up into his lap, and he absentmindedly stroked his head. "A little better. But I hate this. I hate standing around here waiting. Sora's hurting and Axel's been taken captive, and there's nothing I can do to fix it. Not unless I—
Naminé gave him a warning look, and his shoulders slumped.
"I know, I know. I promised you and Xion I wouldn't."
They all knew that challenging Xehanort now would mean their capture, but it didn't make Lea's loss hurt any less. And if it weren't for Naminé and Xion both begging him to stay, Roxas would have gone off and tried to rescue him, regardless of the odds.
"I just hate feeling so useless," he said. "Isn't there anything we can do? Axel never gave up on me. He always came back for me, but I've just abandoned him."
Naminé shook her head. "You haven't abandoned him. You're just waiting for the right time to rescue him. You know he wouldn't want you to get captured for his sake."
"And that's the problem. My friends have sacrificed enough for me as it is," Roxas said, a deep heaviness in his eyes and his voice. "Xion, Sora, and now Axel. Isn't it time I helped them for once?"
"You will," Naminé said, wondering just who she was trying to convince. "You just have to wait until the time is right."
"Yeah, well, waiting really sucks."
That Naminé could agree with. "I know what you mean," she said softly. She'd talked to Kairi a little, in her dreams, but that was about the extent of what she could do right now.
He sighed again and shook his head. "At least you can do something with your memory powers."
She pressed her fingers together. "You're right. I could make Sora forget. But I don't think he'd want me to."
She knew better than to offer. This was something he had to face head on. And she knew he could, it was just going to take time.
Besides, ever since the big fight and her loss of control… well, using her powers… she'd only done it when it was necessary, to keep them safe and hidden.
Roxas understood. Ever since their return here, they'd spent a lot of silent moments just holding and comforting each other. No words, no talking, just resting in each other's arms. He set Iggy aside now and that was Naminé's cue. When he held his arms out to her, she snuggled into his embrace and sighed.
These moments together were meant for comfort, but Naminé found herself yearning for more with each passing day. Being this close to him, smelling his scent and feeling his arms around her, stirred something deep within her. She wanted more of him, more of whatever these feelings were.
His voice was like music to her ears. "Naminé, how's Sora doing?"
Naminé chewed on her lip. She couldn't help but see Sora's heart and all the ones connected to it, but it still felt a lot like prying to share that information with other people.
"He's… better." His connection to Riku was largely the same as it had been before, if not stronger. Which meant they must have talked things through.
And Kairi… the links to her went so deep inside his heart that when they'd been torn, so had it. But the damage was already being repaired, the soft light from her heart reaching his. Naminé had first noticed it a few days ago, and with each passing day he was doing better.
"It's not like anything you can do," Roxas said, adjusting his position so he could look her in the eye, "but… I can kinda feel when something's wrong with him, and he can feel when something's wrong with me. It happened when he met Hayner, Pence, and Olette for the first time, then again when I met him in his dream. I thought that when we became separate people, that would be the end of it. But it happened when Xehanort was possessing him, too. Now I don't know what to think."
"Maybe your hearts have some kind of special connection."
Roxas considered this. "Maybe." He closed his eyes and concentrated. "See, right now I can tell that he's hurting, but it's more like a dull ache, and not the overwhelming pain from before."
Naminé nodded. "That's a good start." Roxas couldn't see as clearly, but he still had a fuzzy inkling of the world that made up her reality. Perhaps she could help him hone his ability.
"How about you?" he asked, opening his eyes. "Do you feel any sort of special connection to Kairi?"
"Yes. I'm her shadow, remember?"
Kairi's heart had nothing but light in it, but Naminé's wasn't like that. She was the shadow to Kairi's light.
He caught a strand of her hair and twirled his finger around it. "I don't know, you feel pretty real to me."
The look in his eyes was making her heart pound. She twined their fingers together and scooted closer. "How about now?"
His breathing got heavier, and he let go of her hand so he could caress her face. He opened his mouth to say something when there was a knock on the door.
"Roxas? Naminé? Are you in there?"
"Xion?" Roxas untangled himself from Naminé's embrace and went to the door. Naminé hastily stood and sat on the couch, trying to make herself look presentable. She and Roxas were still trying to be careful about Xion's feelings.
"What's up?" Roxas asked.
Xion was looking considerably more cheerful than she had been an hour ago at breakfast. She didn't even seem all that bothered by the fact that she'd stumbled in on them alone together.
"Come quick! Terra's here!"
Xion led Roxas and Naminé down into the basement of the Old Mansion where Terra was waiting for them. Roxas couldn't help but tense up at the sight of the eerie light from the flickering screens, but then Naminé found his hand and gave it a squeeze and that made it easier to deal with coming back down here.
The ceiling was almost too low for Terra, and Mickey did the smart thing and brought a chair over for him. When he sat down, it creaked and groaned but held steady.
"Terra, how is he? How's Sora?" Xion asked, settling into a wheelie computer chair of her own. Roxas also found a chair for Naminé before sitting on a dusty old stool.
"He's doing better," Terra said, attempting a smile. "He's not fully back to himself yet, but give him time."
That was good to hear. It took a while for Terra to explain everything after that about Eraqus, especially the whole time travel ordeal. When Roxas stole a glance at Naminé and Xion, they both looked as confused as he felt. And then the mention of a prophecy had everyone speculating.
"Sounds like we're gonna lose," Roxas said. "That's what light expiring sounds like to me anyway. Sheesh, should we even bother putting up a fight?"
"Yes," Terra said, but it wasn't really Terra. It was someone else's voice speaking through him, and someone else's heart creating the words. They all started and gave each other uneasy looks before realizing who was speaking.
"Not even I know the full prophecy yet. I won't until I first go back in time to hide it, and then return to the present to find it," Terra-but-not-Terra continued. "All I know is that there is more to it than what Xehanort knows, and in that we must put our faith for now."
Ansem the Wise turned around in his chair and stroked his beard. "So you really are still here with us after all this time, Master Eraqus."
"Yes," Master Eraqus replied through Terra.
Ansem the Wise turned his attention back to the blue computer screens. "And I suppose our job here is to prepare a body for you."
"If it's not too much trouble." Terra glanced at Roxas, and his voice went back to being his own. "Riku said you made bodies for Roxas, Naminé, and Xion this way."
"That is correct. But no one here has the power to dive into the heart. We need either Riku or Sora for that. Ideally Riku, as we must not risk Xehanort using Sora to discover our plans."
"Riku's teaching Sora how to control his darkness right now. I came here today so you could get the information you need to create the data for Eraqus's body. The actual heart dive will have to happen later."
"Understood." Ansem was about to address the rest of them when Roxas brought up something that no one had pointed out yet.
"Where's the Key to Return Hearts? You know, the thing Sora stabbed himself with three times to save us all? Don't we need that too?"
Roxas hadn't forgotten what Sora's bravery had cost him, and Terra had a pained expression on his face at the mention of what had happened. Either because he had heard about Ven's rescue, or he was not looking forward to stabbing himself to save Eraqus. Maybe both.
"I have it," Mickey said. "After Xion's rescue, Sora gave it to me."
Well, that was a relief. They were supposed to keep the prophecy and the true plan about Eraqus a secret from Sora, and that would be really hard to do if they had to somehow sneak the Key away from him.
"Terra, there is one more thing," Naminé said, pressing her fingers together. "Um, when Sora rescued Roxas and Xion, he had help. Kairi healed his heart as it was happening so it didn't hurt so much, but…"
"I'm not going to be so lucky, I know," Terra said grimly. "I'm prepared to do whatever it takes. We need Master Eraqus. He has to go back in time and steal the second part of the prophecy before Xehanort can see it."
Things fell into place more or less after that. Terra stayed long enough to do the necessary scans and tests, then it was time for him to meet up with Sora and Riku on Radiant Garden. But before he could leave, Roxas pulled him aside.
"Terra, when Xehanort had you… did you know what was going on?"
Terra was silent for a moment. "Yes," he finally said, his jaw clenching. "I remember everything."
Oh. Roxas didn't know what to say to that, because there wasn't anything to say, really. Remembering wasn't always a good thing.
"Roxas, if he's anything like me, Lea's doing everything he can to hold onto himself," Terra said, cutting right to the heart of what Roxas was really asking. "Don't give up hope. We can free him from Xehanort, and we will."
"Yeah. I just… I hate sitting here doing nothing. We didn't hesitate to rescue Sora, but it feels like we've just abandoned Axel."
Roxas knew what rescuing Axel would cost. He knew that they had to wait to try to save him till the final battle. But how much of Axel would still be left by the time they saw him again?
Terra's face grew very serious. "We haven't abandoned him, Roxas. He knows that. When he sees you and his other friends again, he'll fight for control with everything he has."
Roxas could only hope Terra was right.
"Hey, looks like my old seat's still here. Thanks for saving it for me." Xehanort, no, Lea teleported onto it – was it always going to feel strange, having two hearts crammed inside of him – and took a seat.
Vexen regarded him coldly. "We did nothing of the sort. It is by chance that it is empty."
"Chance, you say?" Luxord asked, tossing his dice in his hand. "My bets were always on Axel rejoining us. So much for your failed attempt at redemption. Once an assassin, always an assassin."
Lea's eyes narrowed. "For the last time, the name's Lea—"
"Yeah, yeah, we've got it memorized," Vanitas muttered, rolling his eyes.
Lea resisted the urge to send his Keyblade flying at them both. He understood now why Isa's personality had changed so much. In his own heart all of his darker impulses had been amplified. It was cold and he was snappy and angry and spouting scathing comments left and right at the people around him.
He was becoming the worst possible version of himself. That or morphing into someone else entirely. He didn't know how much longer he could hold out against Xehanort's slow but inevitable takeover.
At least he was holding out better than Sora had. To be fair, Lea had a lot more experience fighting through the darkness to cling to whatever he had left of himself. Years and years of it.
And for whatever reason, Xehanort's going easy on me. At least compared to Sora.
That was one of the unexpected side effects of possession. He had access to some of Xehanort's memories now. To the things Xehanort wanted him to see.
Like Sora's torture.
It was strange. For Xehanort, suffering always served a means to an end. He didn't hurt people for the fun of it or for the sake of hurting them. And he preferred the slow descent into darkness, the gradual loss of control to the abrupt breaking of his victim's heart.
But with Sora, he'd had limited time to get him to succumb. And he'd enjoyed testing a new way to get someone's heart to fall to the darkness. Sora had just been another experiment to him.
Ugh, it made Lea sick just thinking about it. But at least the sickness helped him focus. Focus on what he needed to do. Which was good, because he was running out of time. Running out of time to hold onto himself. Running out of time to help Isa.
Oh, speak of the devil. His former friend had just appeared in the solid white room in a swirl of black smoke.
"Where are they?" he demanded. He grabbed Lea's arm and yanked him off his chair, teleporting him to another part of the castle.
"Where are who?"
Isa's eyes flashed. "Don't play games with me. Where are the Princesses of Heart?"
Lea shrugged. "I dunno. Sounds like the old wizards thought it would be a good idea to move them, now that yours truly is on your side. Good thing I don't know about their backup plan."
He really didn't have any idea where the princesses were now. Xehanort had forcibly accessed his memories earlier to find out where they'd been before, but if he had to guess, Merlin and Yen Sid had probably had the good sense to move them.
"You had better be telling the truth, Lea."
Lea allowed himself a small smile at the use of his real name. "I am, but Xehanort will find out either way. How about Mickey's group? Have any luck finding them yet?"
Several of the Seekers had come back a few days ago from a search mission, looking banged up but with nothing to report. No Xion, no Roxas, no Mickey, and most telling of all, no Naminé.
Lea had a sneaking suspicion why that was.
Good old Naminé. If she plays her cards right, Xehanort will never find them.
Isa's eyes narrowed. "You're worried about them, aren't you? You're worried about your friends."
"Yeah, of course. I'm guessing by your reaction that they're still safe. Thanks for the good news, it's the best I've heard all week."
Lea flashed him a grin, but Isa just glowered at him.
"Hey now, is that any way to look at a friend?" Lea said. "I stayed behind to bail you out of this mess, you know."
Isa quickly masked the surprise in his eyes, but not before Lea saw it. He put his hand on Isa's shoulder, and for once Isa didn't push him away.
"I mean, it's my fault we got into it in the first place," Lea said softly. "It's up to me to make it right."
For a moment, Isa's eyes flickered green again. Lea imagined his had, too. But then Isa's were back to yellow and Lea wondered what it would take to get his friend back for good, to get himself back before Xehanort took him over completely.
Roxas, or Sora, or Kairi or Xion or whoever, I'm counting on you.
Me and Isa… we're running out of time.