Ch. 4 Organization X
{Nix's point of view}
Rexdek pushed me out of the way as we dodged Vixsila's Zweihander. It stabbed the door behind us and created a Black X that sealed it. Vixsila grinned as she snapped her fingers to make the portal behind her close.
"Rexdek, do you really stand with him? I never thought you would turn traitor." Vixsila sighed.
Rexdek stood up, "Traitor? Maybe so but I chose to stand with the owner of this bracelet." Rexdek shrugged.
"You know he won't be please with this information." Vixsila frowned.
"We're Nobodies. When are we ever pleased about anything?" Rexdek asked.
Vixsila chuckled, "I guess your right." Vixsila agreed.
"You know this woman Rexdek?" I asked.
"Yes. She's a part of Organization X. A group I used to be a part of." Rexdek whispered.
"Spilling secrets Rexdek? You know I can cut that tongue off." Vixsila threatened.
I noticed her demeanor change as her face turned into an empty blank expression. She held out both of her hands and focused. Her Zweihander returned to her as she started spreading her hands. The weapon seemed to be enchanted as a blue glow surrounded it. She gripped the handle with both hands before pulling back. She swiped it across in a horizontal motion.
"Get down!" Rexdek ordered as he forced us to lay down.
An invisible blade of energy cut across the room hitting almost all of the walls in a straight line. Vixsila looked at us before slowly waving her Zweihander in a half circle causing five green balls of light to form. With a head nudge, the five green balls flew at us. We quickly got up and separated to allow the balls of light to hit the ground. Each one made a small sphere of energy with no sound explosion. I looked at Vixsila to see she was walking towards Rexdek.
"Traitors need to be dealt with first. After all, we wouldn't want that tongue to spill everything." Vixsila whispered to Rexdek.
Rexdek shot an arrow at her that she easily deflected with her Zweihander. I ran at her with my sword ready but she swiped the Zweihander at me. I jumped over her invisible attack and tried to slam my sword on her head. She picked up her Zweihander with one hand to block my attack and push me back. She slashed vertically this time so I side stepped it and ran at her. She suddenly teleported to be behind me with her Zweihander raised. I looked back at her and watched as she brought the Zweihander down. Rexdek shot a focused arrow into the side of her Zweihander. This new shift in momentum caused the blade to hit nothing but the floor. She looked at Rexdek as he shot an arrow and snapped both his fingers. This caused the arrow to split into four and hit Vixsila. She fell back a bit before jumping with a backflip and skid to a halt.
She twirled her Zweihander above her head before yelling, "Dark Blade Dance!"
She slammed the tip of her Zweihander into the floor causing a red transparent blade to come out of the ground. One came out under Rexdek as well as we were thrusted into the air. I landed on my back painfully as I held my hurt stomach. Rexdek got to his feet first as he pulled back his bow. The blue glow around Vixsila's Zweihander went away as she stared us down. I got to my knees, panting hard, as I looked at her. She sighed as she swiped her blade aside and cracked her neck.
"I can see why my father enjoyed that move so much. It really is entertaining to see a non lethal attack damage a foe so greatly. Tell me, how did it feel?" Vixsila asked.
"It hurt. A lot." I answered.
Vixsila smirked as she placed one hand on her hip, "I meant that as a joke but you must be quite new if you still remember how to feel. How long have you been a Nobody?" Vixsila asked.
"Probably a few hours." I answered.
She tilted her head as she laid the back of her Zweihander on her shoulder, "Interesting. Well, it seems my time here is done. See you next time kid." She shrugged as she snapped her free hand's fingers.
The portal reopened as she walked towards it. Rexdek shot an arrow at her that she deflected. She turned to him with a grin. She threw her Zweihander at Rexdek but he dodged at shot arrows at her. Recalling her Zweihander through a black mist, she blocked his attacks. She ran at him with her Zweihander ready to smash through his body but I got in front of him. I held up my sword and used one hand on the handle as the other was on the back of the blade. Rexdek jumped back as Vixsila slammed her Zweihander on my sword. It didn't break as she added pressure to her sword. I felt my feet start dragging back as she added force. Rexdek ran towards us and jumped overhead to shoot Vixsila. Vixsila instead, backed off and held up her Zweihander to block his arrow. Taking the chance, I tried to stab Vixsila in the chest. With expert timing, she left go of her handle with her right hand and pushed aside my blade to my left. Her hand graced along my blade until it grasped my neck and picked me up.
"Let him go!" Rexdek yelled as he tried to shot her in the back with an arrow.
She simply turned around and used me as a human shield to block his arrow. I felt the arrow hit me in my right shoulder. I grunted in pain as the arrow disappeared. I looked at Rexdek to see him preparing another arrow. He stood in front of the portal as the arrow changed from red to blue.
I heard Vixsila growl in frustration, "I really don't have time for this. I have places to be Rexdek." Vixsila told him.
"Yeah? Well killing you will definitely push back the Organization's plans." Rexdek reasoned.
"Well, killing this nobody will push back your plans." Vixsila countered.
I flipped my sword and thrusted it back towards Vixsila. I felt myself fall as she disappeared in a black mist and reappeared a few feet away from me. She started twirling her Zweihander overhead but Rexdek shot at her. This broke up her attack since she used her Zweihander to block his arrow. Angry, Vixsila sprinted towards Rexdek. Rexdek shot a couple arrows at her but she blocked them and ran straight for Rexdek. Rexdek was ready to dodge an attack but instead she jumps over him.
She landed on her feet and slid towards the portal, "Fuck you Rexdek!" Vixsila yelled as she flipped him off and went into the portal.
"I've got a feeling she gets that from her father as well..." Rexdek muttered.
I felt my pain go away as I regained the ability to stand up, "Jesus, are all of the Organization members as tough as her?" I asked.
"Some are stronger, others weaker. She likes using 6 as her number." Rexdek sighed.
"6? What do you mean by that?" I asked.
"She considers herself the 6th strongest." Rexdek answered.
"What about you?" I asked.
"Huh?" Rexdek replied.
"What were you ranked in their organization?" I asked.
"...10..." He muttered.
"...Ah, so your a skrub." I replied.
"Shut up!" Rexdek yelled.
"Hey, it's alright. I'm sure you were a glorified shoe polisher." I joked.
"I'm about two seconds from pumping you full of arrows." Rexdek threatened.
I got up and changed the subject, "So this portal leads where?" I asked.
"To the living world. Where specifically? No clue. Only Vixsila has control over that." Rexdek told me.
"So she can split us apart?" I asked.
"No. I'm tied to the bracelet. As long as you have that bracelet, I'll never be separated from you." Rexdek explained.
"Tell me... why did you leave the organization?" I asked curiously.
Rexdek folded him arms, "I sense a bit of distrust but I'll answer you anyways. I didn't like the people or the motives. They want to end everything. Make nothing exist. That was everyone is a Nobody and make it seem like we're somebody. Well... that's what they say but I've seen our leader and he... has to have other motives. I know it." Rexdek mumbled.
"What's the leader's name?" I asked.
"He wouldn't say. In fact, I only know 6-9's names. 1-5 are... unknown to me." Rexdek answered.
"In order, who's 6-9. I'm obviously going to fight them so I'll need all the Intel I can get." I replied.
"6 is Vixsila, 7 is Jyxa, 8 is Thanxony, and 9 is Chroxno. I was number 10 as you now know." Rexdek replied.
"What kind of attacks do they have?" I asked.
Rexdek shrugged, "Don't know. We were usually sent out on solo missions so I never got to see any of them in action. Except for Vixsila when they were assessing my skills which didn't impress them." Rexdek admitted.
"Maybe you just need a new arrow or attack that'll make you stronger. Who knows, maybe you'll gave a new form and become a professional assassin." I joked.
"I already am a Professional assassin. I can snipe a target from 300 meters away with this bow. The only problem is if they're able to block or dodge it. The arrow's speed cannot increase or decrease. It's always the same." Rexdek explained.
"So that means if an opponent can move faster than your arrow, then you have no chance of winning." I simplified.
"No, I can win but it'll be very difficult." Rexdek replied.
"Huh... Well, no use standing around her. Let's go through the portal." I told him as we started walking towards it.
With a nervous sigh, we stepped through the portal and teleported out of the reverse world to the real one. When we appeared in the living world, we ended up in a white decaying forest. As we looked around, I found myself... familiar with it. I decided to start looking around until I found a bunch of burnt grass with a shadow of a person in it. In the shadow was a pile of ashes instead of a body.
"A Marauder was here. Wonder who he killed." Rexdek mumbled.
I stared at the ashes as I tried to remember something but... my memories were foggy already. I can't remember how my original life died. I remember a person... some dialogue... but after that nothing. Is this how fast a Nobody's memory fades? That's... not fair. A hiss got me out of my thoughts as I turned to see a Dark Spawn Pawn watching us.
The Pawn ran off leaving us alone, "Strange. That Dark Spawn didn't attack us." I whispered to Rexdek.
"He's probably going to get reinforcements. We should probably get moving." Rexdek suggested.
"Alright. Let's... huh?" I looked at the ground to see a puddle.
"What's wrong?" Rexdek asked.
"I look... different..." I whispered.
I stood at 5 foot 8 now with longer spiky black hair. Three straight cut bangs went across my forehead as the spikes pricked up in various places on the back of my head. My eyes were a light blue now instead of green hazel. I wore an open white jacket with a zipped up black jacket underneath it. On my legs were white trousers with cuts on the sides revealing black shorts underneath. Chains were wrapped around my shorts and jackets but I couldn't feel them. A silver necklace hung from my neck with a silver X attached to it. I held the necklace in my hand as I realized that I'm 16 years old now. Wait... did it take three years for me to be reborn? How can that be when it felt like an instant?
"...Rexdek... when a person becomes a nobody... is their appearance supposed to change?" I asked.
"Yes. The Nobody embodies the age and appearance of who they were or will become." Rexdek answered.
"Alright. Um... which way is south?" I asked.
Rexdek looked around, "The sun rises from the east and sets in the west. If we can stop the sunset, we'll know for sure." Rexdek suggested.
Rexdek jumped into the trees and climbed to the top. I looked up and waited for him to say something. He pointed in a general direction and nodded towards me. I started walking in that direction as he followed after jumping down. I couldn't remember why I needed to go towards the south but I knew it'd be safe. As we walked, I started talking to Rexdek more about his powers. He told me about his two arrows and I suggested new ones. He was skeptical at first but after explaining my ideas, he agreed. Whenever we needed to stop for the day, we were going to try and help him develop new abilities. In turn, he was going to help me learn to use my sword. There's a lot I don't know about it and training myself in its uses will greatly benefit me. After seven hours of walking, I noticed how fatigue hasn't caught up with me.
"Hm..." I hummed.
"What's wrong?" Rexdek asked.
"It's strange. We've been walking for seven hours in the dead of night and... I'm not tired." I admitted.
Rexdek looked up at the night sky, "Yes. As Nobodies, we can't really feel anything. Fatigue, temperature... it's all a figment of our slowly dying memory. Even now... I'm starting to forget the people my original self cared about. I fought the process for over a hundred years... Now... I forgot them... I... I don't want to forget. I want to feel. I want to be happy. I want to be... somebody..." Rexdek admitted.
"We will be. We just need the other four bracelets. After that, we'll use them to become somebody. We'll never fade into nothing. No matter what, I'll keep you around as long as you do the same for me. Deal?" I asked.
"Deal." Rexdek smiled as we started walking with newly found optimism we couldn't really feel.
Far off in the distance was a black cloaked man with red bracelet in his right hand, "Fools. Little do they know there's SIX bracelets. The guardian did well. Now, my Dark Spawn need a little more of a... push." he giggled darkly.
-2 days later-
Two days have passed since me and Rexdek started walking. Rexdek learned a new technique with his bow and I've learned a bit more about my blade. It seems to be linked with combat flow. Counters, attacks, and dodges seem to influence its powers. When the word FLOW is spelled on my sword, it allows me to use a special attack. Problem is, if the flow is stopped, the letters disappear all at once. That means I'm an all or nothing attacker. If I pause in attacks as well, the letters will still go away. One thing I'd like to know is what the fuck this sword is. I should have asked that guardian guy about it. He knew about the shit going down and I want to know more about it. While thinking about this, we were attacked by a swarm of Dark Spawn Pawn. I stepped back and allowed Rexdek to handle them. His Bow flashed as a clear light blue lens appeared over his right eye. The lens increased his accuracy by 50% as well as allowed him to use two new arrows. Explosive green arrows and lightning fast yellow arrows. Blue charged arrows were piercing arrows as the red arrows were standard multiplier arrows. He shot one red arrow and snapped his fingers five times to hit 32 Dark Spawns and turned them into black dust. One jumped out behind me but, without looking, Rexdek shot a yellow arrow right through its head. I clapped as he strapped his Bow across his back.
"Not bad." I commented.
The lens disappeared, "Thanks. Come on, we're almost to..." He stopped suddenly.
"What?" I asked.
Rexdek was looking behind me so I looked as well. Behind me, hiding among the trees, were a few humans and pokemon. All of them were really young and looked at us in wonder. They looked at Rexdek in particular as they came out of hiding.
"That... was awesome!" One boy yelled as they started swarming around Rexdek.
"Where'd you get that bow!"
"Can I use it!?"
"Nice haircut!"
"Forget about his hair! Where'd you get the bow!"
"Can you kill more of those things!?"
"Can I have one!?"
"Your awesome!"
The kids bombarded him with questions and compliments. The pokemon children mostly huddled around me. There were a few Ralts, Pawniards, Chimchar, Snivy, and a Riolu. As the human kids swarmed Rexdek, he struggled to fight them off without hurting them.
I knelt down to the Riolu and decided to ask him, "What happened to you guys?"
He frowned, "We were being brought to the stronghold to be kept safe when those things attacked our parents. We were able to hide but... our parents weren't very lucky sir." He answered.
I pat his head, "We can't bring back your parents but we'll bring you to the stronghold. Do you know where it is?" I asked.
"Um... I think I do mister." A Ralts blushed as he got my attention.
I started to pet his head with a sincere smile, "Where is it?" I asked.
"It's near the... um... ocean! I remember going to the ocean once and the water was salty." He told me.
I chuckled, "That's because the ocean is made up of saltwater. You okay Rexdek?" I asked.
He was under a pile of children with one hand out, "Help me..." he replied feebly.
"Eh, you'll be fine. You guys ready to go?" I asked.
Most of the baby pokemon started sniffling as the baby ralts said, "Um... mister... most of us are really hungy." He told me cutely.
'...Oh crap, if I had feelings that'd be fucking adorable.' I thought quickly before picking him up, "Don't worry about it. I'll go look for some food. You guys... help Rexdek. He might suffocate under all those bodies hahahaha." I laughed.
I put the baby Ralts down and started looking around the forest for things to eat. I found a lot of Apples and other things. I took off my outer jacket to use as a kind of basket. I filled it with a bunch of apples and berries I found. When I came back, the pokemon seemed to have calmed the human kids down. When they saw I had food, they huddled around me as I knelt down. There were about 30 of them in total with 16 being human and 14 being pokemon. I only brought back 27 apples, 16 oran, 13 pecha, and 17 cheri berries. Most of them ended up sharing with other of their kind. One interesting thing was when a female Ralts approached a brown haired boy.
"Um... can I eat with you?" She asked.
The boy nodded, "Sure. I kind of already bit the apple though..." he replied shyly.
The female Ralts smiled with a blush and bit the apple anyways, "That's okay. Its still good." she giggled.
A few other pokemon decided to tease her, "Oooooooh. She's got a boyfriend!"
It was worse when the human joined in, "Haha! Johnny got a girlfriend!"
The two in question blushed from the teasing but ignored it to keep eating together. Honestly, I thought it was a sweet sight. Maybe humans and pokemon still do have a chance to be together but... sigh... there's too few of us left. We can't afford inter species relationships. We need to increase our own numbers first... right? Wait... I'm not human anymore... I'm a nobody... but... these kids... make me feel. They make me feel like I am alive. I... I hope I never forget this feeling... When they all finished, I noticed something that would seal the deal for those two. They started talking and openly held hands with something in their eyes. I sighed happily as I realized they were developing feelings for each other naturally. I... I'm going to protect these kids and bring them home.
"Nix, I can tell what you want to do. Do you really think it's a good idea?" Rexdek asked.
"Yes. Look at them Rexdek. We can't just let them die. They have a future and I want to... protect that future. I know we have to get the bracelets but we need to do one thing at a time. So, first things first. We bring these kids to the stronghold and maybe we'll be able to live there as well." I told him.
Rexdek shrugged, "Whatever you say man. I'm not questioning your decision. I just hope we find this place soon." Rexdek replied.