Even: here we are with yet another chapter!
PrismRain13: I had to power through an intense amount of writer's block for this, hopefully I gave you guys what you've been waiting for!
Even: Prism still owns nothing, now why don't we continue on with this story.
Chapter 43: The Missing Pieces
All Sora could do was stare at Even after he told them about his potion. He really made something that could separate Roxas and Naminé? It sounded almost too good to be true. If they had their own bodies they could live their own lives. It was what he always wanted for them.
Riku took the potion bottle in his hand, examining the inside of the bottle. The silver liquid sloshed around, carrying the familiar scent of of nothingness and nobodies. It was unlike any potion he had ever encountered before.
"How do we know this isn't some trick?!" Demanded Hayner, his hands clenching into fists. "How do we know you're not working with this organization and trying to poison Sora and Kairi?!"
"I'm not the same heartless fool my nobody was." Replied Even, slightly offended. "Vexen had no heart and thus had no empathy. I do. This potion will do nothing more to Sora and Kairi other than extract their nobodies and solidify them."
"Okay, say we do drink this," said Kairi. "They'll only get bodies, right? What about hearts?"
Even sighed, "I don't know; I thought I could make artificial hearts for them using Ansem the Wise's notes, but all my attempts failed. Then I tried to add something that will allow them to grow their own hearts, but i have no idea if it'll work in that department."
"But why would you care?" Lea asked. "You've never shown that you cared before, so why now?"
"I suppose I just felt guilty." Even shrugged. "After I received my heart, I couldn't help but feel that there was something I could do."
Sora could only stare off in his own thoughts. Roxas and Naminé had said that they were happy, but Sora knew they really weren't. He knew that look they had in their eyes, he knew they wanted to be free from the shackles of his and Kairi's heart. And he could tell Lea missed his best friend, no matter what Sora wasn't a replacement for Roxas. He knew that. No one could replace them.
"I'll drink it." Sora said, taking the potion from Riku's hand.
"Wait, are you serious?" Dragon asked. "Are you sure that's even safe?"
"No. But I'm prepared to take that chance."
Immediately, Lea grabbed Sora's shoulders. "Are you nuts?!" The ex-nobody demanded. "You don't even know if this stuff works!"
"I'm doing what my heart thinks is right." Replied Sora. "I know you miss Roxas, I know you want your best friend back, so why would you want to stop me?" Slowly, Lea's grip on his shoulders loosened.
"Because you've become my friend too." Lea sighed. "And I don't want to risk losing you both."
Sora was genuinely surprised at what Lea had said. He never expected the Furry of Dancing Flames to ever be so open. Maybe, getting their hearts back had a bigger impact on them then he thought. Lea's sadness, Myde's fear and Even's guilt. Sora could only imagine what it felt like to have all those emotions back at once without having them for so long.
Lightly, Sora playfully punched Lea in the arm. "We'll be fine. It'll take a lot more than this to get rid of me and Roxas." Smiling his usual goofy grin, Lea seemed a little more reassured.
Kairi smiled at Sora before taking the second potion bottle from Myde. This was one of the many things she admired about Sora; he was always willing to put others before himself, even if he was risking himself.
"No one's going to be able to talk you out of this, right?" She asked. "Then I'll take a chance too."
"Wait, Kairi." Sora exclaimed. "You don't have to do this!"
"Yes I do!" The princess of heart argued, taking his hand in her own. "I want the same thing for Naminé! And I'm not letting you do this alone!"
Sora stood there, speechless. He never thought that Kairi would feel the same way about Naminé as he did for Roxas. Her blue eyes sparkled with determination, as Sora felt his cheeks turning a light safe of pink.
"Just so we're clear, I get his keyblade if he dies." Said Myde, which earned him a violent punch in the arm from Seifer and Myde released a whimper.
"Okay," Sora smiled. "On three, okay?"
Kairi nodded. "One, two... Three." Then, both Sora and Kairi gulped down the potion, the liquid sliding down their throats. It tasted bitter and slimy and had a bit of a gross aftertaste.
Nothing happened at first. But then, all of a sudden, Sora and Kairi collapsed to their knees, coughing and screaming violently. It felt as though a part of their hearts were being ripped away from them. Soon, the screaming and coughing intensified as though others were feeling the same pain as them. Quickly, their friends rushed to their sides, hoping with all their hearts that Sora and Kairi would be okay.
Then, in a split second the pain stopped. Sora was on his knees, panting and sweating intensely. He looked up and through his bangs, he gasped at the sight of Roxas and Naminé, sitting on the floor in front of him, looking just as exhausted as he was.
"Roxas?" Sora asked nervously, afraid that they were going to disappear at any moment. He reached out his hand to touch Roxas's shoulder, gasping when he felt that he was completely solid. He had none of the ghostly aura that he had before.
Roxas slowly lifted his head, groaning as he tenderly held his forehead. "Sora?" He asked with a small smile.
"Naminé?" Kairi asked while the blonde girl pushed herself up.
"Kairi?" Murmured Naminé, gazing down at her solid hands with such intensity, not quite believing that this was real.
Sora burst into a grin. He couldn't help it as he rushed over to Roxas and Naminé's side and pulled them both into a tight hug. Kairi followed after him, her smile even brighter.
"I can't believe it!" Sora exclaimed, full of happiness. "You guys are really here!"
"Roxas!" Lea shouted, nearly toppling the group over by joining in the hug. "Little buddy! You're back!"
"Lea," mumbled Naminé. "You guys are crushing us."
"Sorry." Kairi apologized as she, Sora and Lea separated from them. "This is just so amazing. I don't believe it! Even, thank you." Even only smiled genuinely, relieved that he had made a difference.
It was then that group realized that Roxas and Naminé weren't the only two new additions to the room. Laying beside DiZ's computer was a person dressed in an Organization coat. Slowly, as the person pushed up their body up, their hood fell to reveal a young girl with short black hair and bright blue eyes. Her face looked remarkably similar to Naminé and Kairi. She released a small groan and tenderly held her forehead in her gloved hand, closing her eyes.
Roxas, Lea, Naminé, Riku, Even and Myde all stared at her, as though they felt they knew her somehow, but couldn't place how. Standing up to his feet, Roxas slowly approached the girl, confusion written across his face.
"Hey, are you okay? Do I know you?" he asked. The girl looked up at him through dark bangs, eyes widening.
"R-Roxas?" the girl murmured in a voice that was familiar and foreign at the same time.
Roxas raised an eyebrow. "How do you know my name?" the nobody asked, reaching out his hand towards her. Tenderly, his fingertips touched her shoulder.
Then suddenly, a giant burst of energy surged through his new body. Roxas collapsed to his knees and held his head as strange, unfamiliar pictures swarmed his mind. The same thing happened to Lea, Naminé, Riku, Myde and Even. Throughout all their minds they saw the same black-haired girl that was in the lab before them during events that none of them had known ever happened.
Roxas could see himself in the Organization, the missing pieces of his memory. He was going on missions with her, letting her borrow his keyblade to collect hearts, sitting on the clock tower with Axel and sharing ice cream together.
"Xion." He realized with a small gasp. "It's really you?" She stumbled up to her feet, her hair falling into her eyes as she stared at Roxas. He smiled warmly, relieved that she was alright.
Roxas was about to reach out his other hand to touch her shoulder when she pushed him away, turned around and bolted up the stairs.
"Xion?! Xion wait!" Roxas exclaimed. He only took one step before he collapsed to his knees, screaming in pain and clutching his chest.
Without a second thought, Lea and Naminé rushed to his side.
"Roxas? Buddy, what's wrong?!" Lea gasped, shaking his friend's shoulders.
"Quickly, bring him up here!" Ordered Even, pointing to a small examination table in the corner of the room. Lea obeyed without question, grabbing the young nobody around the waist and housing him on to the table. Still squirming, small beads of sweat trickled down Roxas's face while pain still coursed through his new body. Without wasting any time, Even grabbed a scanner from DiZ's old computer. A blue light scanned Roxas as a large amount of data appeared on the screen.
"What's going on?!" Demanded Sora. "Is Roxas going to be okay? And who was that girl?"
Vexen waved his hand as he started examining the data on the screen, his fingertips dancing across the keyboard. "I'll be able to answer that in just a moment."
"Her name was Xion." Riku replied to Sora's question. "The Organization's number fourteen."
"But, I thought you said it was called Organization thirteen." said Hayner. "What were they doing with a fourteenth member?"
"She wasn't an official member." Replied Even, never looking away from the screen. "She made as a replica of Sora's memories during the year he was asleep. I should know, Xemnas had my nobody create her."
"They wanted to duplicate the power of the keyblade so they could complete Kingdom Hearts faster." Lea continued. "But, there were some complications. When Xion got stronger, Roxas got weaker. Like they were sharing strength. In the end, Xemnas tried to have Xion destroyed, but Roxas and Xion battled and Xion was defeated. Then, we just all forgot about her like she never existed."
Roxas released a small groan of pain from the examination table as Naminé gently stroked his hair. "But, I still don't understand why Xion suddenly appeared now or why Roxas is in so much pain." The blonde female nobody sighed.
Sora took a moment to digest what had been told to him. It all seemed so confusing, but it definitely sounded like something Xemnas would have done. It just made him so angry, to have Vexen create someone then make sure they were thrown away like they were nothing?!
"Oh dear." Even's worried voice said. "I think I discovered what ails Roxas."
"What? What's wrong?!" Demanded Dragon.
"Well, the potion did what it was supposed to for Kairi; extracting the spirit of her nobody from her heart and giving Naminé a physical being. But, if my hypothesis is correct; Xion did not die when Roxas defeated her in battle, rather, her spirit found her way to Sora's heart." Vexen explained. "And, because Sora had two nobodies inside him, the potion detected them both and tried to give them both bodies. But they both only got a half dose."
"So, what exactly does that mean?" Seifer asked. At that moment, Roxas released another scream as his body started to flicker and fade out. Everyone gasped in complete horror.
"Essentially, it means that." Even stated. "The same thing must be happening to Xion; We need to make another potion and give it to them quickly!"
"Okay, we need to get moving!" Stated Mickey. "We need to tell the others about this! Even, Riku, go talk to West and see if she managed to grab anything useful from the heartless and nobodies! Naminé, stay here and make sure Roxas doesn't get any weaker! The rest of us will search all of Twilight Town for Xion; we have no idea where she could be!"
"Actually, your majesty." Lea interrupted. "Searching all of Twilight Town won't be necessary. I have a pretty good idea where Xion went."
~*KHIII*~
Up on the Station's clock tower, Xion released heavy, labored breaths as she finally stopped running, her steps becoming stumbled and staggered. Finally, she collapsed to her knees just as her entire body started to fade and flicker. The female nobody looked out to the twilight sky.
"Roxas, Axel." She murmured to herself. "Seeing them again, I can't believe it. I just... Need some time to think, about what's going on."
"So sorry, Xion. But, I'm afraid that won't be possible." A familar, authoritative and dark voice echoed all around her. Xion gasped, turning around just to find a corridor of darkness appear. The person who stepped out was someone Xion never expected to see again.
"Xemnas." Xion whispered. "W-what are you doing here?"
The superior of the former Organization XIII glared down at her in as though he were looking at a cockroach.
"You don't have a right to know why I'm here, filthy puppet." He snarled just as his eternal blades appeared in his hands, slowly advancing towards the weak and helpless nobody.
Even: You see, I told you all I'm not evil anymore!
PrismRain13: Glad to hear it, Even. Catch you guys later! Let me know what you thought of the chapter! Let's hope our heroes get to Xion before Xemnas can hurt her! HURRY UP YOU GUYS!