Chapter 19 Number XIII
The first time the blond boy opens his eyes there are storm clouds rumbling in the sky. Bright blue orbs watch the clouds crawl across the black sky and blink when the first raindrop lands on his cheek.
Sitting up, he looks at the silent buildings around him and searches his memory for any clue as to where he is, but everything before waking up on the pavement is just black.
The rain is falling harder and the blond boy cranes his neck to peer up at the skyscraper dominating the city street he is standing on, wondering if he can take shelter there. He senses more than hears something behind him and turns to find himself facing a small pitch black creature. It's eyeing him in a way that makes him sure it isn't friendly. He tries to edge away from it, but its large yellow eyes are locked on him and it creeps forward..
He is about to make a run for the building, hoping he can move faster than the creature, but his attention is caught by a swirling black portal that opens to his right. The creature takes advantage of his distraction and lunges.
The blond boy lets out a small cry, raising his arms to protect his face as the creature jumps at him with it's claws out stretched. He squeezes his eyes tight and waits for it to scratch him, but the pain never comes.
Cracking one eye open, he sees a tall man standing where the creature had been and a small pink heart is rising into the stormy sky. In the man's hand is a huge double edged black sword with a deep purple stripe down the middle. The hand clenched around the hilt is adorned with several rings. Raising his eyes upward, the boy takes in the long black coat the stranger is wearing and the shoulder length dirty blond hair that half obscures his yellow eyes.
The boy takes an involuntary step back at the ugly light in the stranger's eyes, but the man matches his step, moving in close enough that the boy has to tilt his head back to look up at him.
"You are not what I was expecting at all," the man says in low voice. A grin curls across his face and a hand shoots out to grasp the boy under the chin, pulling him closer. Those ugly yellow eyes examine the boy's face greedily. "But I can't say I'm disappointed."
The man is too close and he isn't making any sense. The boy tries to pull away, but the grip on his chin tightens.
"Didn't Xemnas tell you to keep your hands off the merchandise?"
At the voice behind him, the man turns muttering in an annoyed voice, "Xigbar."
The boy stumbles when the man holding his chin lets go. He raises his eyes to the newcomer, Xigbar, who is wearing the same long black coat, but he's older with gray streaked black hair held back in a ponytail. The one yellow eye not covered by an eyepatch widens as it falls on the boy and a grin stretches the old scar on his cheek.
"Well isn't that something," Xigbar says, throwing his head back and letting out a hearty laugh. "Bet it's a real punch in the gut for you, Rexick."
The boy turns to Rexick, the blond man whose eyes are still locked on him with the same hungry look. "I don't know," Rexick says. "Maybe the copy is just as good as the original."
"You think Xemnas is going to let you lay a hand on him? As if," Xigbar says shaking his head and moving in between Rexick and the boy. "Our orders are to take him to the Superior right away and I'm not telling him we're late because you're having some wet day dream." Xigbar turns to the boy who is watching them both with total confusion and grins at him. "What's your name kiddo?"
"I...don't know," the boy says, wondering if he should be running. "I don't remember." These two men in black coats aren't acting all that friendly even if the first one saved him from the creature. He glances to the side and sees a side street leading off into the rest of the city.
"Don't even think about it," Xigbar says and the boy's eyes snap back to him. "Or go for it if you want. I'll just send Rexick here to track you down in some dark alley." Xigbar pauses, flourishing a hand in the direction of the side street. The boy considers it a moment, but Xigbar doesn't seem like one to make an empty threat and while the boy might not know much about what's going on, he is sure being alone with Rexick anywhere is something he doesn't want.
"Good," Xigbar says. "You don't remember your name, but most Nobodies don't at first. For now we'll call you Number XIII until Xemnas gives you a proper name. Now lets continue with this welcoming committee crap." He clears his throat several times before spreading his arms wide and speaking with fake enthusiasm. "Welcome Number XIII to The World That Never Was population thirteen as of today. Our history here is a long and torrid one dating back ten years to when the noble Organization we are all giddy to be part of was -"
"Will you shut up," Rexick snaps, glaring at Xigbar who shrugs.
"Just trying to add a bit of flair. It's not everyday we get a new member. Can't have the new kid thinking we all got sticks up our asses."
Rexick stares at him for a moment longer before turning to Number XIII. "You're a Nobody. This is the Nobody world. You're coming with us to join the Organization." Rexick holds out a hand another dark portal appears beside them. "Let's head back."
"You know what your problem is Rexick?" Xigbar says. Number XIII starts at Xigbar's gloved hand grabbing his shoulder. He tries to pull away from Xigbar, but the man's fingers only dig in deeper and drag him towards the portal. "You've got no sense of poetry."
Number XIII has one last glimpse of Rexick's annoyed expression and the stormy sky before everything vanishes in a cold, endless darkness. It's all around him, crushing him with it's weight, and if it hadn't been for the hand still clamped firmly on his arm dragging him in one direction, he would have stood there lost forever.
And then it is gone and he is blinking in the bright light of a huge white room. Xigbar releases his arm and Number XIII takes a step away, eyeing him warily. Rexick steps out of the portal they'd come through and it vanishes behind him.
"Where are we?" Number XIII asks, trying to make it sound like a demand, but sure it doesn't come off that way. He cranes his neck to look at tall chairs - more like thrones - that circle the platform he and the other two are standing on. He counts thirteen in all.
"The Round Room," Xigbar says. "Meetings and other boring bureaucratic stuff happens in here." He reaches out and summons another of those portals. "Now be a good boy and wait right here for Xemnas."
Xigbar grins and gives a short wave of farewell. He steps into the portal and disappears. The portal remains, waiting for Rexick to leave as well, but he doesn't make a move to follow Xigbar. Instead Number XIII finds the blond man standing too close again and the hungry glint back in his eyes.
"I'm sure we'll be working together soon," Rexick says, barely speaking above a whisper. Number XIII's only response is to gulp and the hair stands up on the back of his neck at the leer Rexick gives him. He stiffens as Rexick leans down and the man's lips briefly brush against his ear. "Oh we're going to have such fun, Number XIII."
There is a small sound from somewhere above and a deep voice says, "Leave us, Rexick."
Rexick straightens up and looks to one of the thrones towering over them. Number XIII follows his gaze and sees another man in a black coat has appeared in the tallest seat.
"As you wish, Superior," Rexick says and Number XIII holds in a sigh of relief when Rexick moves away from him. He watches the blond man throw one last look over his shoulder before stepping through the portal. It vanishes a moment later and Number XIII turns back to the man he assumes must be Xemnas.
He jumps to find him standing right in front of him leaving Number XIII to wonder at how he moved from the throne so fast. Xemnas doesn't say a word, examining him. Number XIII stares back at him taking in the long silver-gray hair and yellow eyes that remind him of Rexick's and Xigbar's.
After a long moment of studying him, Xemnas sneers at him. Number XIII sees a glint in his eyes like the sight of him is some inside joke for the man except Xemnas doesn't seem the type to laugh.
"Number XIII," Xemans says, the sneer never leaving his lips. "The final member to complete our ranks." He pauses, looking Number XIII over again. "Do you know why you are here?"
Number XIII shakes his head. "No. I don't remember anything."
"As it should be," Xemnas says. "You are beginning a new purpose here. Your old existence is unimportant."
Number XIII is nervous to speak out of turn, but he needs answers. "Xigbar and Rexick called me a Nobody. What is that?"
Xemnas doesn't respond right away and Number XIII wonders if he angered him, but when Xemnas does reply his voice is as devoid of emotion as before. "Nobodies don't truly exist. We are beings without hearts, without feeling. We teeter on the edge of light and dark on the plain of nothingness. A group of us have banded together with the purpose of reclaiming our hearts and becoming whole again."
"How?" Number XIII asks before he can stop himself.
"With the great power from the realm of Kingdom Hearts," Xemnas replies and Number XIII can see the anticipation in his eyes at the thought. "There are several ways to access it and it seems you will be key in doing so."
"I - I will?"
"Yes. There are creatures called Heartless, which I believe you have encountered." Xemnas looks to Number XIII who nods slowly, remembering the thing that had tried to attack him, before continuing. "You have the power to gather the hearts they carry and with enough, a Kingdom Hearts of our own creation will be formed and its powers will complete us."
Number XIII is still confused, but before he can ask any more questions Xemnas raises a hand glowing with magic. "First, however, as a new Nobody you need a new name."
The magic in his hand flows into the air and curls into shapes that slowly turn into letters. For a brief moment they spell out Sora and Number XIII wonders who that is. The letters distract him though as they begin to spin. They get faster and faster until they become a blur. Then, his eyes alight with something sinister, Xemnas' hand stretches out and a fifth letter is created that halts the others. It's a stylized X and with it a new name is formed.
"Number XIII," Xemnas says, a sneer forming on his lips. "Roxas."
Raising his head to stare at the floating letters of his new name, the blond boy repeats in a whisper, "Roxas."
Xemnas' sneer grows larger and with a, "Hmph," that is as close to a laugh as he can get, he waves a hand to dissipate the letters. "Welcome to Organization XIII, Roxas."
…
Riku grunts as the Defender heartless he is fighting ducks behind its shield just in time to deflect Riku's attack. The eyes of the demon face on the shield begin to glow as the heartless prepares for a magic attack, but Riku is too quick and stabs its unprotected side, killing it instantly.
He turns to block a spell aimed at his head by a Wizard across the room and knocks the ice shard that had been shoot at him at the back of a Large Body Goofy is fighting. It stumbles and gives Goofy the chance to land a final blow.
Riku starts to run for the Wizard heartless as it prepares for another attack, but Zack beats him there, ending the heartless with one powerful sweep of his sword. A Shadow heartless pops up under Riku's feet, almost making him trip over it, but he catches himself in time to dodge to the side and avoid its claws. Riku counter attacks with a swing that lands a glancing blow on the heartless' arm. The weak heartless tries to defend itself, but Riku's next attack strikes its head. It fades and Riku looks over his shoulder to where Kairi and Donald are finishing off the last couple of Shadows.
"The castle is being overrun with heartless," Zack says, coming up beside Riku with his sword resting on his shoulder. "The longer we stay here, the harder fight it will be to get back out." Despite the dire situation, Zack's voice is emotionless and his eyes have no life. Riku knows it's not the heartless problem that has drained Zack. He wishes he could tell Zack that it would be okay, but at the moment everything is far from ever being okay again.
The last heartless gone, Kairi, Donald, and Goofy hurry over to Riku and Zack. Riku can see the same hopelessness in their expressions as Zack's and wonders if he looks the same. He tries to put on a brave face because at the moment he has to be strong for the others. It's what Sora would do.
"How close are we Kairi?" Riku asks. His eyes flicker around to make sure no new heartless are sneaking up on them.
Kairi points down a hallway leading off the corridor they are on. "Not far," she says. Unlike Zack, her voice is filled with anger and her extended hand shakes just a bit. "The cell is in a room at the end of that hallway."
There is a clanking of armor and a group of Soldier heartless come running towards them. Riku readies his keyblade and beside him Zack hefts his sword off his shoulder to fall into a battle stance, but before either of them can charge, Donald raises his staff into the air. "Thundaga!" He shouts and when the bolts of lightning strike the heartless, stopping them in their tracks and causing them to writhe in pain, he shouts again, " Thundaga!"
The combined power of the two spells kills all of the heartless. The spells end and Donald's shoulders sag. "That's all the magic I've got," he says in a weary voice.
Kairi starts searching her pockets. "I have a ether here somewhere." She locates the small blue bottle and hands it to Donald who murmurs his thanks before downing the potion. As she takes back the now empty bottle and returns it to her pocket, Riku takes the lead in heading for the hallway Kairi had indicated.
Expecting to find more heartless, Riku isn't ready when he rounds the corner to find a fist swinging for his nose. "Woah!" He twists to the side just in time to avoid getting his nose broken and his keyblade is instantly up to attack, but he pauses blinking at his attacker. She stares right back at him, just as surprised.
"Belle!" Kairi says and steps around Riku to embrace the girl who had thrown the punch.
"Kairi?" Belle returns the hug for a moment before pulling back to look Kairi over. "You're okay. When we all woke up in the cell and you weren't there, we assumed the worst."
At her words, Riku looks beyond Belle to see five other girls looking to be close to Kairi's age except one who looks a few years younger.
"Are these the princesses?" Zack asks. It has to be them, but besides being beautiful, they aren't at all what Riku expected.
What might have once been elegant dresses are cut choppy at knee length on all of them and the one he recognizes as Cinderella is missing her shoes. Their hair is tangled and put up in hasty ponytails and buns to keep it off their faces. A few of them are sporting minor cuts and bruises, but if it bothers them, they don't show it as they all crowd around Kairi talking over each other in their excitement.
"Who are they?" One of the girls asks, glancing at the boys watching them. She has the darker skin and exotic eyes of those native to Agrabah making Riku decide she must be Jasmine.
"My friends," Kairi says. "They came to get us out of here." She tries to smile, but it's small. "We're going to escape this time."
"If any of us are getting out of here we have to move," Zack says. "Now."
Belle looks around at the other princesses and then back to Kairi. "We don't have any weapons. Ansem must have taken the glass knives when he threw us back in the cell. We're just lucky he didn't know about Aurora's spinning needle or we'd still stuck in that cage."
"We'll protect you," Riku says, and six pairs of hopeful eyes latch onto his. He swallows hard. "Just...uh...just stay close."
They turn to head back the way they'd come and Riku nearly jumps as the girls come up beside him, a little bit too close. Feeling blush creep into his cheeks at the admiring smile the girl with jet black hair and ruby red lips is giving him, he is grateful for once when a group of heartless pops up and he charges forward to fight.
…
"There's the exit," Goofy says, slamming his shield into a Soldier heartless and knocking it down the steps that lead to the front door of the castle.
Riku knocks back a Darkball and shouts over his shoulder at the princesses huddled against the wall, "Head for the door!"
Kairi leads the way down the steps, stabbing the Soldier at the bottom trying to get up. The others follow behind the princesses, battling the heartless that are trying to stop them from getting away.
"Fira!" Donald shouts and the Darkball Riku had been fending off disappears in the fireball. Riku hops down the last couple of steps as a hoard of Shadow heartless pop up and rush after the princesses who are working to open the heavy front doors.
"Thunder!" Riku calls and the lightning is enough to turn the heartless' attention off the princesses and onto him. In moments he is surrounded and he grits his teeth as he lashes out at the closest one. The weak heartless stand no chance against his keyblade, but there are so many of them and he's already tired from fighting every step of the way as they made their way down through the castle. Two jump at him at once and he only has time to knock one of them away, but before the second one can sink its claws into his side, Kairi is there to knock it away.
"Kairi," Riku says, stabbing a Shadow. "What are you doing? Stick with the princesses."
Kairi swipes at a heartless scratching at her ankles. "Zack. Donald, and Goofy are with them," she says. "They're safe."
"Good," Riku grunts. Another heartless down, one to go. "I've got this. Get outside."
"No," Kairi says, killing the last Shadow. "I'm going back for Sora." She turns her back on the way out and takes a step towards the stairs they had just fought their way down.
"No, Kairi!" Riku says, his voice full of panic. He reaches out and grabs her arm to keep her from running off.
"Let go of me Riku."
"I can't let you go back," he says. Her eyes cloud with anger and she tries to wrench her arm from his grip. He tightens his hold, feeling guilty when she winces, but he does not let up. He already lost one friend today and he isn't about to lose another.
"How can you just leave?" She demands. "Sora needs us now. He needs us to save him."
"Sora's gone!" Riku shouts and all the grief he'd been holding back crashes over him. "He's gone and he isn't coming back! There's nothing to save! We couldn't - I couldn't…" His grip on Kairi's arm must be leaving a bruise, but she isn't complaining. He let's her go quickly, but she doesn't make a move to run off.
He can't face the hurt in her eyes and looks at the ground between her feet. "He's not gone," she whispers and Riku sees a tear hit the ground. "He can't be."
A large hand claps down on Riku's shoulder and he looks up to see Zack with a hand also on Kairi's shoulder. Glancing between the two of them, Zack says, "We have to get out of here."
Riku looks to Kairi who casts one last look over her shoulder at the stairs. Slowly she turns back with red eyes and gives a small nod. She lets Zack's hand propel her to the door and Riku does the same feeling dead inside.
Sora's gone and he isn't coming back.
Outside, Zack releases them and turns back to the door. He grabs the handle and starts to close it, but pauses, staring back into the castle.
"Zack?" Riku asks, wondering what Zack is thinking.
Zack doesn't give any indication he heard him. The knuckles on the hand gripping the doorknob are white. Riku takes a step forward, opening his mouth, but what ever he is going to say is drowned out by a thundering roar from deep in the castle.
Riku feels his blood run cold. The heartless must be huge to make a roar like that. He looks to Zack again, now more than ever knowing they need to get to the safe house as fast as they can.
With a jerk, Zack slams the front door of the castle shut. He spins on his heels. There are tear tracks on his face and what Riku can only describe as a murderous look in his eye as he storms past them all, heading into the city streets with his sword out and ready for any heartless that dare attack.
The rest of them follow, each glancing back at the castle one last time. Riku is the last to leave, staring up at the crumbling stone. "I'm sorry, Sora," he says knowing there is no one to hear him. He ducks his head and squeezes his eyes shut, feeling one tear slip out and trace a path down to his chin.
Taking a shuddering breath, he wipes his cheek with the back of his hand and squares his shoulders as best he can. He will be strong for the others. Mostly for Kairi. Forcing himself not to look back, he hurries away from the castle feeling like he left a piece of himself there that he will never get back.
If you haven't figured out who Rexick is the nobody of take out the x, rearrange the letters, and you'll get Keric. Yep that bastard is back and still creepy af.
CatLoverx33: Oh yeah, Roxas is in the house!
kage kitsune no yami: My updates have been much too slow, but now that I'm a sophisticated high school graduate I no longer have unimportant things like homework to eat up my writing time and I'll update faster.
TopazDragon98: Sorry it hurt to read. When I was reading over last chapter I was like "Why am I doing this to my baby Sora?" but then I remembered that I'm an evil authoress who loves torturing characters and was like "Oh yeah, that's why."
LightzMusic22: That's a great question. Where did Ven's heart go? Such a great question… :P
So that was pretty depressing :( But now Roxas has been created. We'll call that the silver lining.
Next chapter we'll meet some more characters you all know and love and dig deeper into the inner workings of Organization XIII.