Say hello to a new chapter of SCP: Soaring to the Sky, folks! Sorry for the late update. Had to study a bit for some tests I took, and I got busy with work. The second half of this chapter may be a bit rushed, but, truth be told, it was the best I could come up with. Now then, enjoy the 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:
There was a moment's pause, then Guthrie looked down, slightly sad. "Sorry you had to see me enraged like that," he apologized.
"There's no need to apologize. I couldn't stand him, either," Robin replied. "Besides, your anger was just and he deserved to be defeated."
"Even so, I wish I hadn't gotten so enraged. I don't ever want to be consumed by it, nor the hatred and vengeance. Not like before."
Robin looked to him, surprised. "Before?"
Chirithy looked down, knowing what he was talking about. "... Once we find what you're looking for, I'll tell you everything about my past, okay?"
Robin nodded in understanding. Finding the center of Shandra was very important to her, considering it might be the key to unlocking the truth behind the Void Century. With the mission set, the trio walked back to the ruins again, hoping to find what Robin was looking for.
Guthrie and Chirithy walked behind Robin as she was looking at her journal, where she drew the map of Shandoria. They reached the entrance of a large temple and stopped.
"This should be the center of the city," Robin pointed out, looking about. "But it doesn't match up with the map on the monolith. Did the city break apart when it was thrust into the sky?"
Guthrie looked into the temple further in, seeing the light on the other side. "Maybe we should investigate a bit further in. It might lead us to some more clues," he told her. "Chirithy, let's go."
"Okay..." Chirithy sighed. He followed the two as they entered into the temple.
'Why was Guthrie so interested in Robin?' he wondered. 'True, she was probably the smarter one of these group of pirates, and Guthrie was no idiot compared to the others. And he did suppose the two were kinda loners in one way or another. But even so, that shouldn't distract him from his duties as a guardian for Xion.' But the Dream Eater contradicted himself when he was reminded that Guthrie's powers did further increase in the last fight thanks to the battle against Yama, and it was for Robin that he further improved himself. Chirithy had mixed feelings as to what to make of this.
The trio exited the temple to see a sea of clouds with ruined buildings and structures all around, the biggest of which being a sort of ancient Mayan-like temple. They divided up to investigate the place, from the ruined buildings to the slabs of ancient writing, and even to the large, spiraling beanstalk in the middle of the Upper Yard.
Finally, Chirithy spoke up to Guthrie. "Shouldn't we head back and find Xion? She could be in danger as we speak."
"Xion's fine. She can take care of herself," Guthrie answered. "Stop thinking she's an infant, because she ain't one. She made it this far, didn't she? And she took out a pair of the Organization members before all this. I read it in Nami's journal logs."
"Yeah, but even so..."
"I know I have a duty to protect her, but I can't let that fully consume my life here. You may be telling me how to use my Keyblade, but I have a heart, and a say in the matter. And I say I'll help out Robin in the present, and come to Xion's side when necessary. For now, stop telling me what to do, constantly."
Guthrie walked away, heading towards the temple, leaving Chirithy watching him leave. Deep down, he knew he was right. But even so, Chirithy thought his partner should at least try to make a further commitment to helping Xion. Especially after last night, when they saw the voice taking her over for a moment. The moment he felt the presence of that voice, he knew that something was not right about that.
Guthrie reunited with Robin, who sat at the steps of the temple that led to the upper entrance of the place, looking at her journal. "Found anything?" he asked.
'It's so strange...' she thought to herself, too distracted to notice Guthrie. 'Could this really be the city of Gold? The size and the topography are completely different...' She closed her book, stood up and looked to the top entrance of the ruins, while Guthrie was wondering if she even noticed him there.
"What's most unnatural of all... the only entrance is at the top," she finished, now speaking out loud.
She was just starting to head up when Guthrie made a noise that got her attention. "Mind if I make a suggestion?" he asked, as Chirithy joined up with them.
"Go right ahead," she allowed, wondering if he would say anything that would make sense.
"Well... when I looked about the area, I had a slight theory about this place," Guthrie started. "Looking about, I could tell a lot of the structures were halfway submerged or more so. There are even a couple of buildings that look like they should be the top parts of houses and such. And... well, we are on top of clouds. They aren't exactly as dense as dirt and soil, so maybe..."
Robin realized where he was getting at. "Of course! There must be another level beneath us!" She raced up the steps, with Guthrie and Chirithy chasing after her.
They entered inside the temple, going down several levels before reaching the floor that was parallel with the cloud bed outside. It, too, was made of the solid cloud, and Robin started to slice the cloud with a knife she carried, intending to dig deep down into the cloud. Guthrie replaced her shortly after, using his Keyblade to slice up the cloud faster and deeper than Robin, leaving her in charge of pulling out the pieces of cloud he dug up using her Devil Fruit powers.
After a short while, Guthrie felt the cloud beneath him starting to give way a bit, and he pulled apart of it to reveal more of the temple room far beneath him.
"Hey! I think I found the lower part of the room!" Guthrie called to Robin and Chirithy. "Come on down!"
He pulled apart the clouds large enough for him to leap down into, and dove underneath, landing on a patch of cloud down below. He looked up to see Robin leap down to him and caught her in a princess hold, quickly placing her on her feet again. Chirithy arrived last, landing on Guthrie's head, before landing on the ground.
"So much space..." Robin muttered, looking about the room they were in. "The ruins really do go much deeper. Looks like your theory was right, Guthrie."
"Yeah. I mean, this place was built in the Blue Sea, but now they reside in the island clouds," Guthrie explained. "Looking at that point of view, I thought it was kinda obvious."
"True. It only made sense that the ruins we saw before were merely the upper parts of the city, eaten by island clouds. There's still more below." She smiled as she looked to Guthrie as she added, "Very good deduction work, counselor. You might just have a bit of skill in archeology in you."
Guthrie rubbed the back of his head, smiling at the compliment. Being praised by Robin like this was quite nice.
They continued going further down, finding staircases that lead towards the true bottom floor of the ruins. The further down they went, the less clouds there seem to be covering the place, more showing the ruins themselves. A couple of times, they found their pathway blocked by vines, and even a lone group of Heartless at one area. However, Guthrie and Robin made quick work of both obstacles, and continued onward.
After a while, they reached another group of vines blocking their path, but what they saw ahead made their eyes wide. "Light!" Robin gasped, seeing shining light at the end of the hallway ahead of them.
Chirithy ducked underneath the vines and bounded ahead of them as Guthrie and Robin cut the vines and raced right after him. Chirithy stopped as he almost fell over the sheer drop beneath him. He caught himself, then looked up as Robin and Guthrie joined him. All three of them gasped at the sight before them.
They had found Shandora.
The ruins were definitely taken over by nature, the stones covered in moss and trees. Apart from that, the ruins themselves were beautifully preserved, undisturbed for a very long time.
"It's all so incredible!" Robin stated, taking a seat at the edge they stood at. "The ancient city collapsed eight hundred years ago. I can hardly believe it's been that long!"
"It's so unreal..." Guthrie stated, leaning his back on the wall closest to the edge, looking out at the view. "It's hard to believe something this awe-inspiring truly exists. And yet, we found it. The lost City of Gold, Shandora!"
"It is quite an amazing place," Chirithy agreed. "I never saw anything so majestic before."
Guthrie smugly looked at his partner. "And you wanted us to go back to find Xion. Wait till the others see this place. It's too amazing for words!"
Robin stood up, and using her Devil Fruit powers, she created steps with her hands produced from the walls that she used to descend to the floor that led to the outer stairs. "Follow me, Guthrie," she called up to him.
He nodded in understanding and descended down after her, using the hands she still had out. Once he reached her, they vanished in flower petals. Chirithy used his powers to teleport over to Guthrie's side in a puff of smoke.
They descended down the steps to the city itself, looking about the place in awe. There was so much to look at in this city, that they didn't know where to start. However, Robin noticed something from a distance and raced towards it. Guthrie and Chirithy wondered what caught her eye and followed her.
What she discovered left her further amazed and shocked. It was clearly made of a different kind of mineral, but it was a stone slab with writing she knew very well. It was covered in vines, but most of the inscription was visible.
"What is this?" Guthrie asked, looking at the stone slab.
"It's... written in the same symbols as the Poneglyph!" Robin stated, getting shocked looks from her companions.
"So this is a Poneglyph?!" Chirithy questioned as Robin walked to the stone slab, brushing her hand over the symbols.
"Not exactly. But it seems like the Shandorians were familiar with them. Only the ones who made the Poneglyph were able to read them."
"So, what does it say?" Guthrie asked, kinda anxiously.
She examined it carefully before reading, "'Keep thy motives in heart, with closed mouth. We are those who will weave history, with the ringing of the Grand Belfry.'"
"Grand Belfry?" Guthrie echoed, pondering a bit. "I remember that being in Noland's old journals, indicating a giant gold bell being in this city. But I didn't see one around here."
"All of the books in the city were burned," Robin pointed out, walking away from the ancient writing, with the others following behind her. "This city's history was eradicated."
"Where are you going with this?"
She looked to the Keyblade wielder while they walked. "A Poneglyph was carried into the city. I'm sure of it. The city faced great hostility. Shandora, the City of Gold, fought and fell to protect that Poneglyph. Then that means the Grand Belfry between the four alters might contain the text of the True History."
"You mean..." Guthrie realized.
"That the gold bell could really be...?" Chirithy followed.
"Yes. It could be the Rio Poneglyph!" Robin stated, smiling at the thought. Her dream was so close, and it was somewhere in this city.
*MEANWHILE*
On their way to the temple, Xion and Allen stopped in their place as they looked at the scene before them.
"What... is this...?" the dancer asked.
"How is this possible?" the Keyblade wielder asked.
Before them was a large number of Shandians and Divine Soldiers, all lying on the ground burnt, stabbed, and or cut.
The two of them rushed on the ground and separated to check and see if any of them were alive. Sadly, none of them had a single beat.
"How could this have happened?" Xion muttered to herself.
"You!" she heard. Turning around, she was suddenly met face-to-face with a gun.
Xion thought fast and managed to conjured up a Reflect spell to prevent the headshot-kill. Of course, considering the amount of time she had to take, the distance between them, and the force of the bullet, the magic didn't protect her from the impact, as she was forced back and away from her foe. After skidding back a few feet, Xion clutched her forehead in pain.
"I know you're not dead yet! You'll pay for what you did to Kamakiri and my people!" she heard again. Looking up, Xion saw a black-haired woman in a light purple, stomach-revealing tunic and light red pants, open inside the legs. Xion also noticed that she had on the same skates as Allen. "I won't forgive you. After I defeat you, I'll stop Wyper and help him defeat Eneru!"
"W-Wait a second... What are you talking about?" the female Keyblade wielder asked, removing the bullet and using her Cure magic to heal the small wound on her forehead.
"Shut up!" The woman pointed her rifle at her once more and fired.
Xion quickly used her Reflect spell and blocked the bullet. She then aimed a Fire Magic at the woman's feet, causing her to jump back and distract her long enough for her to quickly run for cover.
"You won't escape!" the woman shouted, chasing after her.
Thanks to the woman's skates, she was able to catch up with Xion and pinned her down, pointing her rifle at her.
"Wait a second! You have the wrong idea here!" the pinned girl reasoned.
"Don't try to lie to me! Kamakiri told me, before he passed out. 'Beware of the girl in black.' Those were his exact words!" the woman told her, starting to shed tears. "There's no other girl but you around here, Blue Sea Dweller! For killing my comrades... I didn't want to do this... but for killing off my friends... Di-!"
"Laki! Wait!" came Allen's voice.
The woman, Laki, looked up and saw the outsider approaching them. Her eyes widened in shock at his presence. "Allen? You're... okay?"
"Of course I am!" Allen answered. "Laki, let Xion go! She has nothing to do with what happened here! I swear! I was with her the whole time!"
Laki seemed even more shock as she looked down at the girl under her. "Xion?"
"Yes. That's me," the girl told her.
"S-... Sorry," Laki apologized, getting off of the Keyblade wielder and helping her up. "It's just... Kamakiri warned me to be aware of a girl in black and thought it was you."
Xion looked down at her hoodie when she said that, understanding the misunderstanding. "It's fine," she assured. "I probably would've done the same thing."
"What happened here?" Allen asked Laki.
"From what I got from Kamakiri before he passed out, Eneru. And an accomplice of his," the female Shandian answered.
"You said it was a girl in black?" Xion asked to make sure.
"That's what I heard him say. I can only guess she caused the bloodshed." Laki looked at the many bodies on the ground as she said that.
'Great, the next person the organization sent is a bloodthirsty assassin of sort,' the vice-captain of the Straw Hat thought, grimacing at the thought.
"But enough about that. We have to get to Wyper and stop him before he gets himself killed!" At the urgency in Laki's tone, Xion and Allen nodded in agreement, both wanting to help her.
Before they could take a take a step further, however, as luck would have it, Heartless appeared, consisting of Yellow Operas, Air Pirates, Wizards, and a couple of Angel Stars, as well as the odd, grey creatures from the night before.
"Not these guys again!" Allen exclaimed, clearly unhappy to see them.
"These guys are like cockroaches," Xion stated, summoning her Desert Nakama Keyblade and taking out a few cards.
"What are these things?" Laki asked, seeing them for the first time as Xion summoned out Steed, Blaze, and Gunma.
"Heartless," Allen answered. "Leave them to us, Laki. Get to Wyper now!" Laki looked at him in shock and confusion. Before she could make a retort of any sort, Allen added, "If any one should go, it must be you! Xion's a Blue Sea Dweller, and who knows what would happen if I meet up with any one else? I'm an outsider to most people, remember? Now go!"
The female Shandian looked from the dancer to the Keyblade wielder and saw that the Blue Sea Dweller was looking back at her with determined eyes. Realizing what Allen said was true, she took off to the temple ahead of the two.
Both humans looked back at their enemies.
"So Heartless... Let's dance," Allen said, as they engaged in combat.
Halfway in the fight, after defeating the Yellow Operas, some Air Pirates and a few Wizards, Xion felt an uneasy tug in her chest and instinctually looked at the direction of the temple. She knew what the tug meant and widened her eyes in fear.
"No..." she uttered out.
Allen, equipped with a spear with a Breath Dial attached to it, looked her way and asked, "What's wrong?! Xion?!" He noticed an Air Pirate coming his way and pointed his lance to it. He pressed the apex of the dial, unleashing a large amount of wind from the shell and blew the Heartless away.
"Chopper-kun... It's Chopper-kun. Something happened to him, I know it!" Xion, forgetting about the Heartless she was fighting, was about to rush to the temple, when she felt something hit her from behind. "ARGH!"
"Xion!" Allen rushed to her side, as did Steed and Blaze when they heard his cry. The creature that attacked her was a one of the grey creatures and it would've gone for the kill, had Allen not jabbed his spear in its head, killing it. "Xion! Are you okay?!"
"Chopper-kun... My brother. Something... must've happened to him," she said again, struggling to get back up.
Allen placed a hand on her shoulder. "You can get to him, but not now! Not like this!" He looked back up and saw there were more Heartless than before. "Where did some of these come from? I was sure we took out a good portion."
Xion looked at noticed the situation they were in. As Allen said, as much as she wanted to help Chopper, she couldn't if they already had problems to deal with themselves. If she wanted to get to her brother, she first had to deal with the Heartless and the live grey dummies. All these monsters... that were in her way to her precious brother. Simply thinking about it and with how worried she was about what had happened to Chopper... was making her mad.
"I've had enough..." she said, getting on her feet.
Allen turned to her in confusion. "Xion?"
"I don't know who you think you are, heck I don't know if you Heartless even have a brain, but my brother needs me... And you're in my way!" She grabbed onto Gunma and Blaze. "Dual Link: Dark Impulse!" Both Dream Eaters were transferred within her body. She gained a dark aura around her body, with wisps of the dark aura emanating from her and a black light engulfing her left arm.
Next thing Allen and Steed knew, the girl shot herself towards the group at a speed that rivals the speed of a Jet Dial, easily taking down Heartless one after another with either Desert Nakama in her right hand or her claw attacks from her left. To finish her combo attacks, she materialized a huge left clawed hand of dark energy and slammed it down at a small group of the Heartless. The combo went on for a a bit, until Xion sank into the ground and round up all the remaining Heartless and grey creatures in one area. She then jumped out of the ground with the hand again straight into the air, impaling some of the enemies with the claw and crushed the rest in a fist.
Frightening as it was, Allen was impressed with how fast Xion got rid of all the creatures in such a short time. It took them half an hour to take down half of what they started with, and she defeated twice the amount they started off in minutes.
"Whoa..." he breathed. "Xion, that was awesome! How'd you do that?" It was then... he realized something was wrong with the vice-captain. Not just from her, but also her remaining Dream Eater.
Steed was holding its head, as though having a headache. He then noticed black wisps coming out of his body. Looking back at Xion, the dancer also noticed her Keyblade also slowly engulfed in the dark aura, more than before. Xion told him about how the Dream Eaters and Keyblade were practically connected to her. No, not in a way where whatever injury was inflicted on one is inflicted on the other, for the former, but how they were all connected to her heart.
"Xion? What's wrong?" Allen dared ask the unmoving wielder.
Next thing he knew, Xion rushed at him with her Keyblade. The Shandian quickly brought his lance up to block her strike, but was pushed back a few feet. Upon seeing a claw strike coming next, Allen acted out of instinct and managed to avoid the attack, distancing himself from his friend.
"Xion! What are you doing?!" he shouted.
Rather than answering, Xion got up on her feet, eyes hidden by her bangs, and, almost lazily, looked over at the outsider Shandian. A wicked smirk formed on her face, one Allen had never see Xion use. Ever. Something was definitely wrong with her.
"Xion? Can you hear me?" he asked.
Following the question was Xion shooting herself towards the boy, raising her weapon to strike him. Allen managed to avoid it again, and raised his lance to block the claw attack and skid back some. As the girl continued to attack, Allen can hear her laughing quite wickedly, almost as though she was enjoying the fight. Another thing that Xion would never EVER do. At some point, Allen activated the Breath Dial to widen the distance between them. As he did so, the bangs covering Xion's eyes were blown away, revealing yellow eyes like the Heartless in place of Xion's blue ones.
"Yellow eyes?" he questioned. He then sensed something coming from his left side and leapt from his spot. Where he was, bubbles came as fast as bullets and struck, causing slight explosions and caused some dust to form. Landing on a tree branch, he looked at the direction the bubbles came from and saw, to his shock, Steed with darker colors and red eyes.
'What the heck is happening to Xion and her Dream Eater?' he wondered. He tried catching his breath, when Xion leapt up to his level and kicked him off the tree he was on.
When Allen landed on the ground, he looked up and saw another barrage of bubbles coming his way. He used the Breath Dial to blow them all away this time, making them all crash into Steed and knocking him unconscious.
'That was close. Now for Xion,' he thought. Looking around his surrounding, however, Allen couldn't find the Keyblade wielder. "What the-?! Where'd she-?" He cut himself off when he remembered one of Xion's attacks in her new form and looked down, noticing how strange his shadow was. The boy managed to use his dial skates to jump out of the way in time for Xion to emerge from the ground, with one of the claws just nicking the Shandian's leg.
Xion didn't stop there, though, as she kept coming after him and attempting to strike him down. Allen managed to keep blocking her attacks. Eventually, however, Xion broke his lance and used her free hand to grab him by the throat and pinned him down, as well as dragging him along the ground some. Allen tried to at least get some breathing room for his throat, clinging onto Xion's clawed hand as he looked and saw her raise her Keyblade. Just when he thought it was the end for him, something happened.
The smirk that was on Xion's face faded as quickly as it had appeared, as the girl's body shook suddenly. She dropped Desert Nakama, causing it to disappear and released her grip on Allen's throat, much to the guy's relief. As the Shandian was catching his breath, he saw Xion clutching her heart and hissing in pain. This turned into growls, cries, even roars of pain as she began to clutch her head. With one last scream, Xion's arms dropped, her link ended, her two Dream Eaters lying unconscious by her side, and she fell on her front, worrying Allen.
"Xion!" he cried out as much as he could, rushing to his friend's side as best as he could in his condition. Once he got to her, Allen flipped Xion on her back and placed his head to where her heart was. He was thankful to hear it beating. Slow, but beating.
"Good, she's okay," he said out loud. His face became serious as he thought back to what happened just minutes earlier. "What was that just now, though? It wasn't like Xion at all." Allen heard faint sound of 'meh's and decided it was too dangerous to be out in the open like so. Returning the Dream Eaters to their cards, thanks to Xion telling him how they work while they were walking peacefully, the dancer carried the girl on his back and rushed to a hiding place. Luckily for him, he knew one just nearby.
As he made his way to the hiding place, Allen decided to not say a word of what happened to anyone. If he did, how would the Straw Hats act around her? Would they treat her as an enemy because she acted so much like a Heartless with that link? He knew what the purpose of the Keyblade was, thanks to Xion's old visits. If Guthrie ever caught wind of this fight, he may try to destroy Xion himself for being part Heartless. Which brings the Shandian to the question of what, exactly, happened to the girl since the last time they met. Though he may not know the answer to that, Allen was sure about one thing: No one should ever know of the events that occurred. If Xion doesn't remember a thing of that fight when she wakes, he will make sure that she, too, will never know of this event. Ever.