Chapter 34 The Locked Door (Part 2)
The tip of Sora's keyblade drops to the floor as the last of the Nobody army Vexen had set against him and his friends falls to his blade. He leans on his keyblade like a crutch, breathing hard and looking around the room for his friends. Riku, who had been knocked into a wall by one of the claymore wielding monster, is just starting to stir and Kairi is moving to his side slowly, holding tight to the deep cut she'd gotten on her arm. Donald and Goofy are both on the ground close by, sharing a hi-potion Goofy had dug out of one of his pockets.
Sure his friends will be alright, Sora stands up straighter with a grunt and turns to face Vexen who'd watched the fight from the corner with an amused expression. "You," Sora says pointing his keyblade at the older man. "You are going to tell us what you know about Ven."
Vexen's lip curled. "Think you've won, do you?" He said. "That was merely a warm up." In his hand appears a large blue shield that he hefts up with ease and slashes out at Sora, forcing him to jump back.
Sora fights back against his exhaustion and counterattacks, but Vexen is quick and his shield slams into Sora's keyblade. Undeterred, he throws his keyblade in a strike raid at nearly point blank range. Vexen manages to get part of his shield on it, stopping the blade from hitting him, but the impact still makes him stumble.
Vexen's smirk twists into a glare. "I shall freeze you," he says through gritted teeth. Ice crystallizes on the surface of his shield, forming deadly icicles. The sharp ice flies off the shield all at once and heads straight for Sora.
His fingers fumble on his blade, but he manages to block all of it. Vexen isn't done, however.
He keeps the ice barrage up and Sora starts missing blocks. First it's just one or two getting past his keyblade and scratching his arms, but then it's like every other one is hitting it's mark. Sweat drips in his eye and Sora's muscles are burning. He starts to panic. He needs his friends' help and he needs it now.
It isn't until his back brushes against a wall that he realizes what Vexen is doing. Just inches at a time, Vexen had forced him away from his friends and into a corner with no way out. This realization makes him flinch in fear and and icicle slams into his stomach.
He doubles over in pain, but that only lasts a second. Vexen rushes him, pinning him to the wall with his shield. "You will never save your friend now," Vexen says with breathless glee. "He is our experiment now."
"You-" Sora tries to get out an insult as he struggles, but Vexen presses hard, making him barely able to breath. An icicle starts to form on the shield, wickedly sharp and the point presses into Sora's throat.
Over Vexen's shoulder, Sora can see his friends trying to pull themselves together enough to go save him, but their injuries are making them too slow. Sore struggles harder, but to no avail.
"Now feel the piercing chill," Vexen whisper and Sora closes his eyes.
All at once the castle shakes in a loud rumble and Sora eyes flies open. Vexen looks up at the ceiling, a smile stretching across his face. The shaking stops and he says, "The chamber has been opened." He laughs, a deep and humorless laugh that turns into a choke.
His arms drop, bringing his shield away from Sora who falls in a heap on the ground. His face turns white and with a look of horror he tips over backward, just missing Kairi who stood there with her keyblade raised.
"Kairi?" Sora manages to say between gasping breaths and Kairi lets her keyblade disappear as she rushes to his side.
"It's okay," she says, reassuring herself as much as him and she pulls him back to his feet. "You're okay."
Donald is running over as well. "Curaga," he says quickly and Sora sighs as the green light falls on him.
Straightening up, Sora meets Riku eyes and nods, letting him know that he really is fine. Riku nods back slowly and crouches by Vexen with Goofy. Vexen is on his back with his arms out and his shield lying a few inches from his hand.
Moving to Vexen's side as well, Sora kicks the weapon away and Vexen turns his head toward him. Wisps of darkness are coming off of him like he is dissolving into thin air and he laughs. "You can't...save him," he manages to say. "You...don't have his heart."
"Who has it then?" Sora demands. "Hey!" He shouts as Vexen's eyes roll back. He shakes him. "Who has Ven's heart?"
Under Sora's hands, Vexen continues to disappear and all at once he is gone leaving Sora grasping at empty air and without answers.
They all stare at the spot Vexen had disappeared, not sure what to do now, but a voice behind them says, "Roxas has his heart."
All five up and turn with weapon back in ready positions to face the young girl in white who Vexen had sent away before. She has her hands clasped in front of her and her head tilted as she looks them all over. Inspecting them like animals in a zoo.
"What? Who's Roxas?" Sora asks, lowering his weapon a bit. She doesn't look like much of a threat.
"Your Nobody, Sora," she replies. "He's upstairs right now."
"My Nobody?" Sora stutters. "Wait, how do you know this? Who are you?"
"My name is Namine," the girl says. "I know everything that happens in these walls. I live here."
"In Vexen's castle?" Kairi asks and Namine's tone turns icy in an instant.
"This was never his castle and it is not yours now," she practically spits at Kairi. "This is my castle. A maze of my own creation."
"This is our home," Riku says, his expression dark.
"Not any more," she says, spreading her arms wide. "Look around. There is nothing left of what you once called home except the memories in the air. They are what built Castle Oblivion and I am the only one who can see that."
"Memories?" Sora repeats. He thinks back. That would explain the Coliseum and Agrabah. They were places in his memory. But that doesn't explain why Zack was younger or why the heartless in Agrabah was like nothing he'd ever faced. Unless…. "Whose memories are they?" He asks Namine slowly, but it is Riku who answers.
"They're Ven's," he says, and Namine nods.
"The Organization wants you eradicated, but there is no fun it that," she says shaking her head. "Instead I'll make you a deal. Your friend is here and getting his heart will wake him, but he will not make it out of this castle without your help."
Sora meets his friends eyes and then looks back at Namine. "So what's the deal?" He asks slowly.
She considers for a moment before answering. "It's more of a game really. You survive, you get out. Simple. There are thirteen floors in all. You're on the second and Ven is on the thirteenth. Reach him and I will let you leave. I can't say the same for the Organization members here, but as you saw with Vexen, they are hardly a real threat."
"Why would you want to help us?" Riku asks.
At that Namine laughs. "Help you? No. I want to get back at the Organization. Bunch of arrogant bastards. Ven is a plaything to them and I want you to take him away from them." She smiles a sweet and innocent smile that is misplaced on her. "Now get going," she says and without giving them a second to protest, she snaps her fingers and the white walls disappear.
Suddenly, Sora and the others are back in Agrabah in the half destroyed baazar. The gigantic heartless is once again looming over them, looking for a fight. And Namine is gone.
Sora's mouth twists in a hard frown. It looks like they will have no choice, but to play her game.
…
"It worked," Roxas says, part dumbfounded, part awed. He straightens up, pulling Axel up with him. "Axel, look," he says, a grin spreading across his face. "I did it." He points to the ajar door on the far side of the room. "I opened the door."
"Yeah." It's all Axel can get out. He is sure his jaw is hanging to floor, but he is too shocked to do anything about it. Roxas is ecstatic over his success, but to Axel the way the castle had shook when Roxas had unlocked the door is a bad omen.
Axel lets him hand slip out of Roxas'. The unlocking of the door seems to have lifted the spell on the thirteenth floor and the urge to flee is gone. In it's place is a terrible foreboding that ties Axel's stomach in knots.
A loud slow clap from behind them makes Axel and Roxas spin around to face Rexick who is coming up the final steps. "Good job, Roxas," Rexick says, continueing his mocking applause. "You're finally living up to all our hopes and dreams for you."
Axel steps forward instinctively, putting himself between Rexick and Roxas. "What are you doing here?" He demands, curling his fingers in preparation to summon his chakrams. If Rexick is here, their subterfuge in the Organization didn't go as unnoticed as he had thought.
Rexick's eyes drift to the ajar door and a grin spreads across his face. "I'm here to see Veni, of course," he says. "Xemnas wants me to personally welcome him back from his slumber."
"You know Ven?" Roxas asks, stepping up so he is beside Axel.
"We've got history," Rexick says, laughing a bit like it's some inside joke. Axel doubts that is a good thing. Any association with Rexick couldn't be a amicable one in his opinion. Rexick lightly traces the faint scar on his cheek. "And we have some catching up to do."
As Rexick drops his hand from his cheek, he summons his weapon and the wide, black and purple sword appears in his hand. "Now," he says, hefting the large sword onto his shoulder. "Roxy you're still the vessel for Ven's heart, but Axel on the other hand…" In the hand not holding his sword a ball of darkness starts to form. "I think the Organization has tolerated your traitorous ass long enough."
With a flick of his wrist, Rexick sends the darkness spinning for Axel's chest and with a muttered swear, Axel crosses his arms in front of him, summoning his chakrams just in time to deflect the ball of darkness off course. Roxas jumps back out the way as the deflected darkness flies past him and collides with the wall. It disperses but leaves a residue that stains the white wall gray.
Axel doesn't bother to watch the path of the ball of darkness. As soon as it bounces off his chakrams he retaliates right away with a fireball of his own, flung at Rexick's head. Rexick blocks the counter and the two enter into a barrage of fire and darkness that Roxas struggles to follow. He wants to step in and help Axel, but the deflected attacks are flying all over the room, darkening the walls with soot stains from the fire and darkness exploding on the surface. He summons his keyblades to protect himself, but feels helpless in joining the fight.
Both Axel and Rexick are evenly matched, mimicking each other movement for movement, but as the fight drags on, it is inevitable that one of them will slip up. To Roxas' dismay it is Axel who can't react fast enough and takes a blow to his left side. He drops a chakram, clutching at his side, and is forced to dive to the floor to avoid Rexick's next attack.
"Axel!"
Rexick turns his attention to Roxas with a smirk. "You going to come play, Roxy?"
"Stay back, Rox," Axel says, starting to push himself up with a grunt. The words are barely out of his mouth when Roxas runs past him the tips of his keyblades dragging on the ground behind him.
Roxas jumps, flipping once and coming down on Rexick with both keyblades crossed. Rexick jumps back, firing a ball of darkness that misses Roxas by a foot. Roxas lands in a battle stance. "Don't call me Roxy," he says through gritted teeth.
Rexick throws his head back with a laugh. "Oh, that's good, Roxy. Very scary" He holds his sword up in front of his face and the purple stripe down the middle pulses brighter. With a yank, Rexick separates the large sword in two, spinning the new single edged blades around as he steps back towards Roxas. "Surprise," he says with a twisted grin.
"Damn, I really hate this guy," Axel says, suddenly at Roxas' side.
Forgetting about Rexick for the moment, Roxas looks Axel up and down. "You okay?"
Axel shoots him a grin. "I don't go down that easy." He looks to Rexick. "And neither will he. Stay sharp Roxas." Roxas nods and Axel raises his chakrams. "Let's kick this fight up to the next level," he says and fire bursts to life on his weapons. In quick succession he throws one and then the other at Rexick who crosses his blades and blocks both of them.
Axel catches his weapons as they arc back towards him and Rexick charges. Darkness curls around his blades and he swings at Roxas.
Roxas' keyblade meets Rexick sword in a block. Rexick keeps pushing against Roxas blade and the darkness starts to snake it's way off the blade and toward Roxas' hand. With a gasp, Roxas turns to the side, making their blades separate. He doesn't see the second sword coming for him, but Axel does and gets there just in time to block it.
With a growl, Rexick jumps back from the two of them. Swinging his blade in an arc in front of himself, he sends out a wave of darkness that sends Roxas and Axel diving to the ground. Roxas doesn't make it quite in time and the wave catches him the shoulder, sending him tumbling back.
He lands on his stomach with a groan and hears Axel shout his name. Blinking back tears of pain, he pushes himself up and sees the other two are locked in a furious battle of fire and darkness again. Forcing himself back onto his feet, he stumbles forward.
In their fight, Rexick and Axel start to turn themselves and now Rexick's back is to Roxas. With a set frown Roxas charges forward again just as Axel shoots out another fireball. The fireball explodes in Rexick's face and sends him reeling back into Roxas who drives his keyblade forward in a final, fatal stab.
Surprise in his eyes, Rexick looks down at the point of the keyblade sticking out of his chest. Roxas pulls it back and almost in slow motion Rexick collapses to the white tile, rolling onto his back with a hand on the wound to his chest.
Roxas is frozen, staring in shock at the little wisps of darkness that start coming off of Rexick. "What's happening?" Roxas asks. Axel's hand comes down gently on his shoulder.
He's fading," he replies in a low voice. "Nobodies aren't really alive so we don't really die we just...fade away."
Rexick's breaths shudder as the darkness starts coming off of him with greater intensity. His head lolls to the side to face Roxas. "All I wanted...was to see him again," Rexick says, his eyes unfocused. Roxas can tell he is almost gone. "I wanted…"
And with that Rexick fades completely leaving Roxas to wonder if he will share the same fate. If his only purpose for existence is to give Ven back his heart, will there be anything of him left to remain after?
It didn't take a month this time! Yay! No editing though because I'm tired so I apologize for any awful grammar mistakes.
Apologies as well for any big Namine fans out there. She's not the sweet, damsel-in-distress she was in the games. I turned her to the dark side. Whoops!
micaelaann. cruz: Thanks for sticking with me despite the slowness. Hopefully you liked this chapter!
Unnamed Guest Person!: Aw thanks! And hell yeah Axel and Roxas meet Rexick! Fight! Fight! Fight!
Alright it's hard to believe, but this is the second to last chapter of this fic! Of course there are two more installments in this series planned, but this is the halfway point! Enjoy Rexick's demise and I'll see you soon in the next update!