Hey guys! As I was writing this chapter, I had realized that was using the wrong term for the Shandians and called them 'Shandorians'. I was surprised no one pointed that out, but then again, it sounded the same-ish and it was a small matter, compared to the story as a whole. Also, I realized that I didn't really say much about the Keyblade Xion was using, such as the name. So with the nickname of 'Starlight Blade', you guys may be thinking that she was back with the Starlight Keyblade, just as I had been doing. So from now on, I will try to keep on putting in the name of the Keyblade Xion uses or put in the description, to avoid confusion. Now, with that out of the way, I hope everyone had a happy holiday and enjoy this chapter.
Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece or Kingdom Hearts. I do not own Guthrie and Allen. Well, actually I kind of do own him.
*OPENING*
Let's fly to the sky
(The sun rises as Merry sails across the ocean)
There's not a single cloud in the sky
(All the current Straw Hats watched the sun rises, Luffy on the figurehead)
Let's fly to the sky. (It's time to fly around) Catch the perfect breeze for you
(The camera faces the sky as the title appears on the screen)
Paint the sky with (Let's go to the wonder world) imagination that no one's ever seen
(Camera faces back to the Going Merry as everyone went on with their peaceful business)
OH! OH! Even if it's too dazzling (Come on)
(Xion looked up and saw Marines ahead of them and warned everyone)
OH! OH! under the sun
(They all prepared themselves for battle. Marines fired cannon balls at them)
OH! OH! If it's you, you can make it! Throw away your pride and FLY!
(Luffy, Zoro and Sanji sent the cannons back at them. Usopp fired a cannon of their own with Xion, in her Wisdom Form, unleashed Triple Firaga at them, followed by a Thundaga, clearing their path)
Everyday is plain!
Real talent makes the world go round
(Going Merry sailed through the smoke. Everyone looked content as they enjoyed the sea breeze)
Deceit won't work anymore.
(Scene changed to Jaya in Mock Town, as camera faced each of the Blackbeard Pirates.)
Mayday, the red light is stopping you too
(Scene changed to Cricket's home, showing Cricket with Masira and Shojo side by side.)
Lend me an ear! And I'm gonna stick on my RAP! Wussup!
(Guthrie fights against some pirates and Heartless. One tried to sneak up on him and Chirithy knocked it away.)
"From tomorrow on I'll get serious!"- seriously cut it out with excuses like that
(Allen danced as he dodged the attacks of the pirates and attacked them at the same time)
Increase your money with your dream! Time is money like NASDAQ!
(The Straw Hats looked at Cricket's gold and searched for the South Bird)
When will you do it boy? It's now or never man! This is the moment, right?
(The crew then arrived at the Knock Up Stream and went to the skies.)
Everybody put ya hands in the air and clap ya hands like this like that
Clap ya hands everybody! Everybody just clap ya hands!
(Scenes quickly changed to different scenes. Xion and Guthrie crossed blades, Luffy's one-hit KO on Bellamy, the group trying to catch the South Bird, then finally their first encounter with the Shandia Warriors)
Let's fly to the sky (It's time to fly around) Catch the perfect breeze for you
(The Straw Hat Pirates arrived on Skypiea and were approached by the White Berets and fought them)
Paint the sky with (Let's go to the wonder world) imagination that no one's ever seen
(Scene changed to the group in the Upper Yard fighting against Heartless, Shandians and Priests)
OH! OH! Even if it's too dazzling (Come on)
(Scene changed to Xion fighting against a blonde Organization XIII member with knives and lightning magic)
OH! OH! under the sun
(Changed to Guthrie and Allen teaming up against the Nobodies)
OH! OH! If it's you, you can make it! Throw away your pride and FLY!
(Changed to Luffy battling Eneru. In a flash of light, opening ends with all of Straw Hats on Merry, facing the camera)
Last time:
"Despite what they've done, they're still my family. It'll leave a bad taste in my mouth if I leave while they are out there suffering."
"Oh no. That's not part of the plan at all!" the navigator said.
"Yeah! It was scary enough to deal with a priest! You're telling us to kill a god here!" Usopp agreed.
"Yeah!" Chopper also agreed.
"Sure thing." Despite their reasons, Luffy agreed to Allen's conditions, much to their shock. "He's helping us out get to the gold. We should help him out with the god. Besides, I want to kick his ass anyway!"
"I wouldn't mind seeing whoever this god is myself," Zoro concurred.
"Well, that guy did make Conis-chan cry," Sanji added, smoking a cigarette.
"You can't be serious!" Chirithy said in disbelief.
"Even if they aren't, something tells me we're going to meet up with trouble anyway," Guthrie pointed out.
"This crew is known for getting into mishaps and troubles," Xion pointed out. Robin simply giggled at the fact.
"Okay! Now that that's said, let's go!" Luffy shouted.
Elsewhere in Upper Yard, a woman stood. She wore a familiar black coat and had short blonde hair with two strands sicking out like antennas. Standing before her were some alligators. Or at least, what seemed like alligators.
"That wasn't even a warm-up. I'm extremely disappointed," she said. Just then, one of the creatures Allen, Xion and Guthrie faced the night before appeared. "Oh. A Dusk. What is it this time? Something to report, I hope." The creature nodded and took out what seemed like a sketchbook and a pen. It scribbled something on a blank page and showed it to her. One look, and the woman mercilessly destroyed it.
"So... she's here after all. And with some of those somebodies at that. Well now, it's soon time to bring you home. After I kill off these people who brainwashed you... Xion."
"Hey! Where are you going, Zoro?!" Luffy shouted. "You're going the wrong way! West is this way!" He pointed at a direction opposite of where the swordsman was going. "Geez! Your horrible sense of direction is such a pain!"
"West? That's east!" Chopper corrected. Sadly, neither heard him.
"Come on, Luffy. Why don't you ever listen to anyone?" Zoro questioned in an annoyed tone. "It's the skull's 'right eye', so we have to go right! Are you stupid?!"
"He's right... in a way," Allen said. "But that's still not the right way." Again, neither boys heard him.
"They both have horrible sense of direction," Guthrie said.
"And horrible memory," Chirithy added.
Xion sighed at the captain and first mate's stupidity. "Why didn't we choose to leave them in the escape team again?" she rhetorically asked. In place of her black vest, she had on a black zipped-up hoodie and swapped her beige shorts for green cargo pants. She also had a bag on her back, filled with Dream Eater materials in case if they find any recipes for them, as well as the Dials she found back in Blue Sea. While they walk to their destination, she was hoping Allen could tell them about what each of them can do.
"We're heading south. Could you tell them the right way?" Robin asked the man-reindeer.
"You got it!" He went over to correct them.
As soon as he gave them the correct direction, the three returned to their side. "It was South? Why didn't you say so earlier?" Luffy asked.
With a stupid question came a hard whack to the head. "We said this MUCH earlier!" Xion told the downed captain, who had a huge bump form on his head.
"Sorry..." he managed to say.
Everyone else sweat dropped at the scene before advancing on to their destination.
As they walked, Chopper was in awe of the stick Luffy had and quickly searched for one of his own.
"I thought this forest would be a scarier place, but it's not so bad," the talking reindeer said.
"Well someone's looking confident," Chirithy said.
"Of course!"
'With these six, I feel so reassured,' he thought.
"But to be honest, it's such a let down," Zoro said. "There was nothing in the forest yesterday, either. We didn't run into a single priest. I think I know how you feel, Chopper."
"Right?" the doctor laughed.
"What odd people. Do you want an accident to happen that badly?" Robin asked.
"Well, if you're lucky, or unlucky, whichever it is with you people, we may come across one in this area," Allen said.
Almost immediately, all that positive feeling Chopper had slowly faded away. "What?" he asked.
"Yeah. You all know about how there are animals in Upper Yard. Well there's one in particular who is quite territorial. But he's also a nice guy when you get to know him. Kind of."
"That 'kind of' doesn't sound reassuring!" Chirithy said.
"Like I said, depending on your luck, we may run into him. Word of advice, unless if you're immune to poison, do not go near its mouth unless if you want to die immediately."
As he said that, Chopper thought he heard something and looked behind him.
'Wait... That root has a strange pattern,' he thought. As soon as he thought that, the 'root' moved.
"It moved!" he unintentionally shouted.
"What moved?" Xion asked.
"Huh? Oh, nothing! Nothing at all!" Chopper quickly lied, catching up to the group.
As they walked, Robin and the Keyblade wielders couldn't help but sense something near them.
"Is it just me, or are we not alone right now?" Guthrie asked.
"You're not the only one," Robin confirmed.
Zoro noticed one of the smallest members in their group acting a little odd. "Hey, Chopper. Why do you keep looking behind you?"
"Huh? Oh, no reason!" he answered.
"Why do those roots have such strange pattern?" Luffy asked, looking behind them as well.
When he asked that, Allen stopped in his tracks. "Strange patterns?" he repeated, looking behind them. His eyes widened at the sight of the roots mentioned.
"Right?! That's what I thought!" Chopper said.
"Are those roots moving?!" Chirithy asked, eyes bulging out at the sight of the strange roots actually moving.
"Right?! I thought I saw that happening but-!" Chopper stopped himself when he saw more roots of the same pattern moving.
"Oh no..." Allen breathed out.
Xion, who was closest to him, heard those two words. "What do you mean 'oh no'?"
Almost as if to answer her question, they felt the ground shaking as one of the 'roots' raised itself, revealing the roots to actually be an extremely huge snake. One look at the reptile and Chopper was immediately frightened to no end. The snake let out what sounded like a roar.
"Run! It's a giant snake!" Luffy happily cried out. Despite the tone, everyone did as he said and ran from their giant pursuer.
"Allen! That 'friend' you spoke of, don't tell me it's...!" Guthrie spoke.
"Yeah! That's Sky! Not fond of new people!" the Shandian answered.
"I thought you said he was friendly!" Chirithy shouted.
"I said that he's kind of a nice guy!"
"Is this really the time to talk about it?!" Xion questioned.
"What size. Is it because of Sky Island's environment?" Robin calmly asked.
Zoro then faced the reptile in an attempt to fight it. Before he could pull out even one sword, the unexpectedly fast, huge snake dove in, causing the swordsman to jump to avoid getting eaten. In doing so, Luffy and Chopper became its targets instead, both who manage to avoid it in time as well.
"How the hell can something so big move so fast?!" the first mate questioned.
Robin used her devil fruit powers to jump to higher ground, avoiding the snake as well. The latter moved so fast that it clamped its mouth in a huge tree. As it did, purple gas came out of its mouth, in which the group noticed in fear. Once it removed its mouth, proving Allen's earlier advice, the trunk that was in its mouth melted off, leaving parts of the inside and some more poison on it.
"Aaaahhhhhh! Poison!" Chopper cried out in fear.
"Allen... What exactly do we do against that snake?" Xion asked.
"Oh yeah, you had experience with him. What do we do?" Guthrie followed.
"Here's what we do..." the dancing Shandian spoke in a serious tone. Everyone all looked at him in preparation for whatever advice he had. "... WE RUN FOR IT!" The guy then used his skates and flew off.
"I'm all for that!" almost everyone shouted in agreement. Note: almost.
"Hey! Poisonous snake! Over here! Follow me! Your food's running away!" Luffy shouted.
"Are you trying to die?!" Xion demanded.
It mattered not what Luffy had planned, for the next several minutes was spent on them running from the snake or distracting it for everyone else to escape.
After the ordeal was over, Robin was the only one who was back at their course. "This isn't good... I returned to our course, but no one else is here. Did I get separated? Should I go ahead and wait for them at the ruins?"
"Better than standing here and doing nothing," came a familiar voice. She looked up and saw Guthrie on a tree branch with Chirithy clinging on his shoulders, pale. "Looks like we lost that snake."
"Yes. So it seems," she agreed. "You wouldn't happen to see everyone else, would you?"
"Sadly, no. But something tells me we'll meet up at the ruins."
Elsewhere, Xion was catching her breath from the escape of the poisonous snake. "Great... I'm lost..." she muttered. "I don't have the map, so walking around is basically asking for death itself."
"Not true," came Allen's voice. The female Keyblade wielder looked up and saw the outsider Shandian jumping down to her side. "You still have me at least. And like I said, I know this place like the back of my hand."
"Allen! Then I must be very lucky to end up with you."
"Me? What about everyone else?" Allen asked, as he started to walk in one direction, with Xion following.
"You know about Luffy and Zoro's horrible sense of direction. I love Chopper-kun. He's a great doctor. I'd do anything for him. I'd lose a limb for him. Heck, I'll even lose my right as a Keyblade wielder for him. But he's not much of a fighter, and I worry about him in terms of that. If we were to go up against a pair of priests, I'd rather he be safe away from them both than having to deal with one priest while the other attack him while I'm distracted."
"Do you'd rather your little-brother figure not be with you because you're afraid of the possibility that he'd get hurt?" Allen asked.
"Of the possibility that he dies on my watch," she corrected. "Away from me, at least he won't have to worry about leaving me behind as he runs away. Plus... I have some very dangerous people coming after me. If he's with me while they're there... I don't want to think about the outcome of that ever happening."
Allen could see how much Xion cared for Chopper. The way she cared for the devil fruit user was similar to how his mother did to him, how she always wanted him to be away from conflict, and in return became depressed herself. He didn't want that to happen to Xion.
'I already lost one person who mattered most to me because of their own depression. I'm not going to lose another one,' he thought.
"As for Robin... I feel like she's still hiding something, so it's hard to say about trusting her. And she's one of the most recent members of the crew, before we arrived on Skypeia that is," Xion continued.
"And let me guess, things are a little too weird between you and Guthrie to team up together," Allen said.
The female of the two was shocked and a little surprised at the accusation. "What? No. What made you say that?"
"He gave me this to give to you. Said it was important." Allen took out a familiar piece of paper from the pouch Nami gave him before they left for the ruins and handed it to Xion.
The girl took it in her hands and was surprised at what Guthrie had. "A Dream Eater recipe?"
"Judging by your expression, I take it that it is important and I was right about how things are weird between you two."
The girl just sighed, knowing that it was true. Ever since their little talk the other night about her training, things got weird between the two Keyblade wielders, especially for Xion. She was conflicted on whether or not she should take Guthrie's advice about training outside of her heart. But then again, she had been training under Voice for a while and she knew that her master cares about her as much as everyone else. Sure his trainings are all life-and-death, but progress was being made and she was still alive.
"I don't know what happened between you two, but I do know this," Allen continued. "You're making the right decision." Xion looked up at him in confusion as he said that. "It's not smart, but it's still the right decision. I remember back when we do your missions together. Some of your ideas were reckless, some were kind of stupid, but they got the job done." Hearing that about her made Xion more curious about herself and how much he knew about her.
"What was I like?" she asked. "All the times I last visited you, what was I like?"
Allen let a small smile form on his face. "Well for one thing, you didn't have a hilt-only that summons out a cloud and a vortex as a weapon."
Meanwhile, at Eneru's shrine...
"Have they reached the bottom yet?" the current god asked.
"Yes. They are already eagerly waiting," one of his advisers answered. "There are the three Priests' ordeals, on top of Commander Yama's fifty Divine Soldiers... God, you're waging an all-out war. Is this severity really necessary? We're only dealing with a few Shandians and the Blue Sea People."
"Festivals are more fun the livelier they are," Eneru said with a laugh. "Plus, you're making light of the underlying people of sky combat."
"Underlying power?"
"Yes, that's right. They'll show you soon enough." Eneru let out another laugh. "Now then, we have fifty Divine Soldiers and three priests. Including me that makes fifty-four. Currently there are twenty Shandians getting ready, seven Blue Sea people in the forest with another Shandian with them, and four other attempting to escape. Wait, make that three. I doubt that old man can fight now. A total of eighty-five people! This will be a battle of survival! Shall I guess how many will be left after three hours from now?"
"Honestly, you're so hasty to make things into games," another one of Eneru's advisers stated.
"Oh come now. Hey. You guess," Eneru said to one of his servants.
"Huh? M-Me?" she asked. "Well, I actually don't have much understanding of such things, so..."
"Huh? What's with you? Don't be a party-pooper. Just take a guess. Oh well, you guess." He changed over to one of his advisers.
"Y-Yes," he spoke. "Let's see... three priests are strong enough. But so are the fifty soldiers. I doubt many of them will be defeated. But the enemy is also strong enough to compete with the priests. Given three hours, I suspect thirty people will fall. Therefore, fifty-five of them will survive."
Eneru was amused by the assumption. "I see. So fifty-five. But don't you think that's a little too optimistic?"
"He's right about that," came a female voice. Everyone looked and saw the blonde Organization member walking in. "For one thing, you forgot me."
"Who are you?!" the advisers demanded in unison.
"Oh! So you're finally here, Larxene. I thought you didn't want to participate in this game," Eneru casually greeted, to everyone's surprise.
"Of course not. But since it's already started and my target's already in it, you could say I have no choice but to play along," she said. "And also, to the old man who thinks so little about this game, you're underestimating the enemy quite greatly. After all, of what I heard, a few of them took out one of the priest, and one of those Shadian guys landed a good hit on another one of the priests' pet. And since I'm joining in, and have no interest nor care in my allies, I'll have to say, if they all play smart around me... ten people will be left in the three hours."
Hearing that such little people will survive after three hours shocked everyone, though they suppressed the shock. "Don't be ridiculous. With the strength of the priests, there's no-"
"Sounds about right," Eneru interrupted one of his advisers. They all turned to him in confusion. "After three hours, of the eighty-five people- no, eighty-six people, the number remaining will be ten."
Back to Xion and Allen, the latter was telling the former of their adventures together before Xion disappeared on him. The girl couldn't help but feel like she was getting a closer bond to him with each story he told her. All of a sudden, a body fell from above, surprising the two. The body was one of a Shandian.
Allen went wide-eyed at the sight and ran to his side. "Hey! What happened to you?!" he asked. No response was given, as the outsider inspected the down soldier's body and saw that it was cut somehow.
"Those don't look like Zoro's doing," Xion said, noticing the cuts as well.
"No. But I know what did this." Allen looked up where his fellow Shandian came from and saw a cloud river above them. He shot upwards, much to Xion's confusion and surprise.
On the other side of the river, he saw another Shandian facing off against someone, someone who seemed to be on Eneru's side. The former had his shield up to block against whatever the latter had, but it wasn't enough as both he and the shield were cut by whatever force Eneru's soldier used.
Seeing this angered Allen. An outsider he may be, and he may have chosen to be on Xion's side, but he still cares for his group, no matter how cruel they were to him. "Hey!" he called to the Divine Soldier. "How dare you do that to my comrade?!" He charged in at the guy, who smirked and held out a palm to him. Allen knew what was in the glove and was about to slide under its range, when Xion suddenly came in between them with her Keyblade up.
"Xion, no!" he cried out.
"Fool! Nothing can block an Axe Dial!" the Divine Soldier claimed.
A shot was heard. Xion felt a force similar to a sword slam into her weapon. Amazed as she was that the vortex was blocking the attack, as she always was since obtaining this new Keyblade, it didn't help that she was still forced back and into Allen, knocking them both back to the ground.
Allen quickly got back up. "Xion! Are you okay?" he asked.
"Somewhat," she answered, getting back up.
The Divine Soldier from earlier landed right in front of them. "I am one of God Eneru's fifty Divine Soldiers! Weaklings like the two of you won't defeat me!" he claimed.
"That's what you think," Allen said, going over to a boulder behind them and feeling it for something. He suddenly stopped. "Yeah, uh... Xion. You may have noticed that most places in Upper Yard seems so much alike and-"
"You don't remember all the places you hide your weapons EXACTLY, do you?" the female Keyblade wielder guessed.
"That's... quite the assumption but yes."
"I'll give you time." With that, Xion charged at the Divine Soldier, who shot out another blast of his Axe Dial. Xion managed to block it again, to his shock, while Allen was checking around the area for his hidden weapons.
"How are you doing that?" the soldier asked. "Nothing should be able to block the Axe Dial!"
"Well then... Your people obviously don't know a thing about Keyblades," Xion said.
Allen was checking a thick tree and knocked on the trunk a few times. After hearing how hollow it was, he managed to get it open and saw a sword in it, as well as a dial and two pieces of paper.
"Oh. I forgot I have some too," he muttered, taking the papers. He then equipped the open end of the dial to the guard pointing down and pressed the apex. The moment he did, the blade was covered in electricity and he rushed over to help Xion.
With the said girl, though the Divine Soldier was not as powerful as Satori, she did find him to be a bit difficult, especially when she had to avoid the deadly force of the Axe Dial. Not only that, but she still managed to get some cuts from the shell, despite managing to block it. As if it wasn't bad enough, with each block, Desert Nakama's vortex always faded away. Thankfully the guard could always create a new one.
'If it were any other Keyblades, they would definitely break,' she thought.
"You are unable to beat me if you keep blocking the way you did," the Divine Soldier said.
"I don't have to be the one to beat you," Xion told him.
As if on cue, Allen hit him with the back of his sword, electrifying him into unconscious. "He's not going to get up any time soon," the Shandian said.
"Some timing you got there." Xion instantly relaxed and called back her Keyblade. "Man those Axe Dials packed quite the force. And what did you do to that sword?"
Releasing the apex and undoing the dial, Allen answered, "Lightning Dial to the guard. Managed to cover the hilt in the rubber you gave me during one of your visits. Not that durable, though, so I can't use it for too long."
Xion looked at the dian in his hand and couldn't help but notice something familiar about it. "Hey that looks like..." She put down her bad and took out the shell Torpedo found earlier back down below.
"You've a Lightning Dial too? Or did you find it back in the Blue Sea? Lots of ships from up here fall back down there after all," Allen asked.
"So I heard. And yes, it was in a ship." Xion put the dial back and noticed the papers in Allen's other hand. "What are those?"
Allen looked back at the pair of objects. "Oh. These were with the sword and Lightning Dial. Kind of forgot that I had these. I didn't think they were important, yet still kept them in the hiding place. But I remembered about the Dream Eater recipe I delivered and now I can't help but wonder... if these are the same." He handed them to Xion, who took a look at the two pieces of paper. Her eyes widened as she saw what they were.
"These are Dream Eater recipes! How did you...?"
"I was wandering on my own here one afternoon, started dancing, tried a new aerial dancing and next I knew, I saw something glowing and it led me to these two. Didn't know what they were, other than pieces of paper. But they seemed important. Just didn't think they were important enough to keep with me."
"Well... then it's a huge coincidence and a huge blessing that we came upon this route."
"Yeah." The two let out small laughs at the fact. "So... how does it work?" Xion was confused at the question. "The Dream Eater thing. How does it work? You say it's a recipe. Do you... cook up ingredients like a cook would do or is it something else entirely?"
As happy as she was that Allen would want to know, they were still on a mission. "Um... We still have to get to the temple."
"I know. But we still have plenty of time. And from what happened earlier, if everyone else is completely separated, I'd say we have more than enough time. Not only that, but there's also the situation with the war. From the looks of it, we're right in the middle of it. And with it..."
"Lots of your Shandians getting really hurt. Or worse," Xion added, looking over to the two Shandians on the ground.
Allen looked back at them, the calm look on his place replaced with a sad one. He walked over to them and took a look at their wounds. He let out a relieved sigh. "They're alive, but barely."
Xion called back Desert Nakama. "I'll help heal them up. I'm not Chopper-kun, but I do have healing magic."
Hearing that brought back the smile. "Please!"