Afterdeath
Author's note: I'm so sorry it took me longer to get this posted! I got sick again, and I had family visiting this week, which used up most of my free time. I hope being sick won't delay chapter 10, but I can't guarantee anything. I'll just do my best!
We're gearing up for the end now! Just two more chapters to go.
I hope you enjoy!
Chapter 9
Riku sensed, rather than saw, the flicker of darkness that indicated his host going through a dark corridor. He quickly roused himself from his sleep-state and verified that no one was showing any interest in him.
He was still in Marluxia's heart. He was not certain how long it had been. He had expected to wait for a while, anyway, and so had scoped out a safe-ish place to hide and rest.
The uppermost layer of the heart was a pleasant, simple town inhabited by pleasant, simple people. Riku guessed it was made from a happier memory of the same town that he'd seen destroyed in the lower level of this heart. The buildings and styles seemed much like Radiant Garden, although the layout was different. And there were many more trees. So far, Riku hadn't seen the avatar of Marluxia again, but he didn't want to take any chances. He'd actually stooped to raiding someone's clothes line to get a coat and hood to cover up his distinctive armor and mask. Luckily for him, hoods were common enough that no one thought to question his appearance. And once safely disguised, Riku had slept, waiting for Vanitas to retrieve him.
But now, the real-life Marluxia was on the move. Probably on a mission. Which meant Riku would be stuck here for the duration. The prospect irked Riku. While he didn't want to risk getting ambushed by the avatar of Marluxia, the thought of waiting here in ignorance overrode his concerns. Riku settled back into his safe spot and made the conscious effort to shift his awareness to be able to see through Marluxia's eyes.
It took a bit more effort than with Vanitas, but Riku was able to make it work. Now before him, he saw a different world with even more trees than the world of Marluxia's past. Marluxia was approaching a massively tall, spindly tower that was concealed in a forest glen. A thick vine grew at the man's command to give him a lift up to a window at the top of the tower. Marluxia leapt inside and quickly moved from room to room, clearly searching for something. Some muttered curses implied that whatever Marluxia wanted wasn't here. He quickly exited the tower and traveled back through the forest.
After a lot of walking, which Riku found rather boring, Marluxia reached a village. He portalled up to the rooftops to more easily spy on the people below without being seen. The people looked unremarkable to Riku, and they weren't what Marluxia was after, either. Riku was beginning to reconsider whether spying on Marluxia would be more worth his time than sleeping.
Marluxia was plainly getting bored, too. He summoned a slew of flower-shaped heartless into the village, then stood still and watched the ensuing chaos. The flower-heartless couldn't move much, so people could easily escape them. However, they cast fireballs, which were very quickly endangering the buildings.
To Riku's relief, local forces came to the rescue fairly quickly. Magic didn't seem to be a thing here, as the locals fought the heartless with swords and arrows, and fought the spreading fires with buckets of dirt and water. Riku was disturbed to see such a sight and be helpless to do anything about it. But he continued watching, just on the slim chance he would see something important.
He got his wish. The distinctive spray of a blizzaga blasted out the largest fire. Then the heartless started disappearing in a flurry of slashes.
Riku recognized the fighting by the style even before Marluxia got a good glimpse of the blond youth in a black coat. "Roxas!" Marluxia hissed with great animosity.
Riku had to remind himself not to speak, lest he give himself away to Marluxia. But his instinct was to try to call a warning to Roxas, that Marluxia was approaching to attack him from above.
Marluxia suddenly went tumbling across the rooftops. He scrambled back to his feet, then looked around to see the cause. A familiar red-head, also in a black coat, waved a keyblade cheekily at Marluxia. Marluxia hissed curses about Axel and charged forward to attack him with his scythe.
The ensuring battle was rather confusing for Riku to watch, as he couldn't control the frame of vision. Lea and Marluxia exchanged blows for a while. At some point, Roxas hopped up to join them, having likely disposed of all the heartless in the town. Marluxia still seemed to be holding his own until he was sent stumbling again, struck from behind.
It took a few moments of Marluxia scrambling and deflecting blows before Riku could get a view of the third attacker. He was very pleased when he got a glimpse of a girl with short black hair, also wearing a black coat. Xion was back too, and clearly doing well. She seemed to be enjoying herself, being out and about with her friends, beating up on the Organization.
If Roxas and Xion were here, then that most likely meant Naminé had been revived as well. Riku felt his heart lighten. Naminé had unique powers that she had barely begun to master. The Organization had focused on her power over Sora's memories, and discouraged her from trying anything else. But Riku suspected that she could do a lot more – especially with the help of a sympathetic teacher like Merlin or Yen Sid. If she could work with them, and Sora and the others, then they could hopefully come up with a new plan to defeat Xehanort without Riku's help. There was still Vanitas's plan, of course, but that was still a long shot at best. Riku didn't want the fate of the worlds to rest on such a slim chance.
The view of the rooftops disappeared into the swirling shadows of a dark corridor. Marluxia had evidently had enough of a beating. He emerged into a part of the Castle in the World that Never Was and stalked into a small room with a disguised door. The place had a couple of beds, and shelves full of potions. Apparently the nobodies had an infirmary – who would have guessed? Marluxia grabbed several bottles. He drank two on the spot, then carried the rest with him as he opened another portal and traveled back to his greenhouse. Among the flowers was an enormous, fluffy-looking bed. Marluxia flopped onto his bed, drank the remaining potions, and then settled down to sleep. Riku's vision went black.
With a sigh, Riku shifted his focus back to the internal space in Marluxia's heart. He was back to waiting again. He really hoped Vanitas would come back for him soon.
X-X-X-X-X-X
"You were right on the mark again, Master Yen Sid. We found Marluxia snooping around, tearing up the village," Lea reported. Since abandoning his tower, Yen Sid had set himself up in an office in Mickey's castle. The room looked remarkably similar to his tower. In fact, the more Lea looked at it… the furnishings looked identical to those from his tower. Maybe Merlin wasn't the only one who carried his home around with him?
"And after we ran him off, we saw this girl," Roxas added. "She was… almost glowing!"
"Another Princess of Heart, we figure," Lea added.
"You are likely correct," Yen Sid agreed. "I suspected as much when I was able to foresee the Organization interfering in that world. The matter I am still unclear about is whether Xehanort knows there is a princess in that world, or if he was merely guessing."
"Is it safe for us to leave her there?" Xion questioned. "What if the Organization goes back?"
"Nothing is safe," Yen Sid murmured to himself. Then he sighed. "We have too many worlds to protect, and too few keybearers. Even with your welcome addition to our ranks."
"Can't we ask more people?" Xion questioned, fidgeting. "Are keybearers the only ones who can fight? I mean… the Organization fights with different weapons. Except for Roxas and me…"
Lea uncomfortably shifted his shoulders. "We've already sort of dragged the rest of the ex-Organization guys into this. But… I don't feel right making them fight, since they didn't have a choice to get involved in the first place."
"Who?!" both Roxas and Xion wanted to know.
Lea took a moment to update them on Xaldin, Lexaeus, and Zexion's current status.
Roxas made a face. "Lexaeus pummeled me to teach me how to use limit breaks."
Lea cracked a smile at that in spite of himself. "Well, how else would you learn it?" At Roxas's glare, he looked aside and faked coughing, while still grinning.
Yen Sid tapped his fingertips together. "Lea, I too share your reluctance in recruiting… outsiders to our cause. But Xion, you make a good point. I have long honored the charge of trying to minimize interactions between worlds. Traditionally, only the keybearers were the ones who traveled between worlds to combat the threat of darkness. However… in a time where all worlds are threatened…" He drummed his fingers together. "The consequences of breaking this restriction would be significant. I cannot consider it lightly. However… I think now I must consider it." He turned his attention back to the three keybearers. "For now, you three will travel to your next world. Inform me immediately if you discover another Princess of Heart, or anything else that seems significant."
X-X-X-X-X-X
Riku jolted awake as he tumbled and rolled to a stop in Vanitas's mental town.
"Not a word out of you about how long you had to wait!" Vanitas threatened.
Riku had no idea what Vanitas was talking about. But Riku was starting to realize Vanitas was unable to properly emote, and so he guessed that Vanitas was embarrassed about the delay. "Don't worry about it. I know Marluxia was out on a mission, so you had to wait until he got back."
"He… went out?"
Riku studied Vanitas intently – as much as he could, anyway. Vanitas had the helmet on again. But he seemed to be leaning on the wall more than just casually. "Are you injured?"
"No! No. I'm fine!" Vanitas crossed his arms. "I checked the dungeons. While you were snoozing. Five princesses. No time for chit chat. So… which vessel is next?"
Riku rolled his eyes. He cast curaga on Vanitas, ignoring the sputtered insults about his intelligence. "Better?"
"No, you imbecile! I told you I didn't need that!"
Riku frowned. "Are you…? You're still fading, aren't you?"
Vanitas hissed in exasperation, looking away. He otherwise ignored Riku's question.
"I guess I'm not strong enough to sustain you," Riku murmured. "So your only chance really is… is rejoining with Ventus."
"Don't get sappy about it! I already told you this, remember?!"
Riku considered all the comforting things he could try saying. Vanitas wouldn't want to hear any of them. There was really only one thing Riku could do at this point. "…Let's get going. Xigbar next."
"Finally! You talk too much!" Vanitas complained.
x-x-x
Riku took everything he had learned in Marluxia's heart and applied it to Xigbar's. While still in the initial dive, Riku found a connection to the deeper heart layer, and switched immediately into the deeper dive. The landscape he arrived in looked much like the keyblade graveyard. And Xigbar wasn't anywhere visible. That was fine with Riku. He quickly sought and found the path to Xehanort's heart.
The old man went down so quickly that Riku was certain it had to be a trap. He waited several minutes, keyblade still at the ready.
Finally, Xehanort stirred again. Riku quickly whapped him with the keyblade. Xehanort slumped down, unconscious again.
At last, Riku had to admit that it wasn't a trick. He summoned the keyhole and sealed Xehanort's heart to sleep. Job complete.
That Xehanort had been absurdly weak. Going by his previous theory… meant Xigbar offered Xehanort no resistance at all to the possession? Riku recalled hearing some speculation that Braig had been working with Xehanort, knowingly, from the beginning. This would seem to confirm that.
So, that only left Saïx. Riku was more than a little apprehensive about facing him. Lea had apparently known his somebody, but wouldn't elaborate on their history. Saïx had been Xemnas's number two in the first Organization Thirteen. And he possessed the power to berserk and greatly increase in strength – Riku was really worried what that ability would translate into inside Saïx's heart.
Well, worrying about it would change nothing. First, Riku needed to get back to Vanitas. Riku raised his keyblade and summoned the upward portal.
X-X-X-X-X-X
"I appreciate you all returning here so quickly," Yen Sid said solemnly. In light of the massive group of people present – which was all the keybearers, the former Organization members, and King Mickey plus most of his staff – this meeting had convened in the throne room of Disney Castle. "Sora has discovered some information which I believe is critical." Yen Sid nodded to the young keybearer to speak.
"Oh. So, um… I was just at the Olympus Coliseum, checking in on things with Hercules." Sora looked a little unused to trying to speak to so many people at once. He licked his lips nervously. "Anyway, Hercules told me that Hades has been gearing up to cause some trouble. Hercules thinks he has it under control for now, but um… so I guess there's going to be a planet-ary line-ment? And that's something that only happens once in a lot of years. But it can really boost the power of darkness. And this line-ment thing is going to happen tomorrow?" Sora finished uncertainly.
"Thank you, Sora." Yen Sid took back over the discussion. "Sora has discovered that a significant planetary alignment is about to occur. What this means is that the paths of many of the worlds will be aligned for the first time in hundreds of years. This situation can facilitate the transference of massive amounts of energy – both light and dark." Yen Sid began pacing. "As best as I can determine, the last alignment this major may have coincided with the last keyblade war."
"So Xehanort will be making his move tomorrow!" Mickey exclaimed.
"It seems most likely," Yen Sid agreed.
The group erupted into noisy conversation. However, almost half the group got off track by asking again what a "planetary alignment" was, thus necessitating the other half to attempt to explain it to them.
Yen Sid waved a hand and cleared his throat, pulling the crowd's attention back to himself. "There is one more thing. I have considered the situation we face… and I have determined that we need to not balk from seeking additional help. In the past, it has been forbidden to recruit persons who are not keyblade bearers to fight between worlds. The reason being is because of the danger that could result from too many persons learning about the existence of other worlds. Take Maleficent, for example. Since learning of other worlds, she has not ceased in her efforts to conquer them.
"However, we are facing the very real doom of all worlds if we do not succeed. In light of that… please return to the worlds you have visited before. Recruit any persons you think would be useful in a fight. Xehanort will surely not limit his forces to his dark vessels alone, and so we must be prepared to fight an army."
This pronouncement shocked Aqua and Ventus the most, for they had been taught the traditions of the keybearers. But Sora was already naming off people aloud that he could recruit. "—And Leon, and Cloud, and Beast – oh wait, he's human now— and Auron, and—"
"We will be joining you as well," Ienzo declared loudly, causing a temporary silence. "Just in case it was not already obvious."
"We appreciate the assurances you have given us that we do not need to fight," Aeleus continued. "However, we are determined in this."
"If we're going down, we're all going down together," Dilan concluded with a wry grin, drawing all eyes to him. He frowned at them. "Now quit gawking at me! The man said go – let's go!"
X-X-X-X-X-X
Vanitas didn't keep Riku waiting long this time. As soon as he retrieved him, Vanitas went walking and refused explanation. Riku wondered at Vanitas's refusal to use a dark corridor. It worried him that Vanitas might feel too weak to do so. Or perhaps Vanitas suspected the dark corridor travel might be weakening him, in spite of his supposed immunity.
They descended several staircases then took a hidden door. The room within had doorways that were all blocked by bars.
(The princesses!) Riku gasped, suddenly understanding what Vanitas was showing him. He studied the girls inside each cell as Vanitas walked by. A few faces he knew from pictures, but the rest were unfamiliar. They all looked on Vanitas with terror.
One, two, three… four, five… six… seven. Xehanort had his seven lights. Which meant he could proceed with creating the X-Blade at any time.
(He'll be summoning the X-Blade at the Graveyard.) Vanitas finally spoke. (He wants this to be a recreation of the last Keyblade War. So he'll be trying to match all the details he can.)
(How soon?) Riku asked breathlessly.
"Please, let us out of here!" one of the princesses begged. She had wild dark hair, bronze skin, and a black eye. Clearly she'd put up a fight. "You don't really want to destroy the world, do you?!"
"I can't." Vanitas's voice was flat. With that, he turned and quickly left the dungeon. To Riku, he said, (Last chance – are you going to tackle the blue-haired guy or not?)
The moment of the Keyblade War was almost upon them. So far, his and Vanitas's plan had been a success. None of the vessels had betrayed them. Xigbar might have, had he noticed Riku in his heart, but Riku had gotten lucky. Now there was just one left. Did Riku risk exposure to try once more? Every additional seeker had been a gamble. Now that they were this close, and so much lay in the balance, should Riku really take another risk?
But Riku's heart told him otherwise. He didn't really know anything about the person Saïx had been, aside from the fact that he had been someone Lea had known. What if he weren't a willing participant like Braig? What if Saïx was another person who had been dragged into this conflict against his will? Riku could not ever, in good conscience, leave an innocent person to suffer. It went contrary to the nature of light, and the path of Riku's heart. Someone who walked a path between the darkness and light might be able to choose to sacrifice one person to strengthen the light… but Riku had left that path behind. He had walked the Way to Dawn to the end. Dawn had come. And now, in the full light of day, Riku knew what he must do.
(I need to try to free Saïx as well,) he confirmed to Vanitas. He considered sharing some of his internal debate with Vanitas, but held back. There was no reason to transfer over any of his doubts.
Vanitas asked no further questions. He was already through the door and heading back up the stairs.
Riku didn't dare comment on the fact that Vanitas was moving slower and using the railing for support…
x-x-x
Saïx, by a stroke of luck, was sleeping off his last battle. Vanitas transferred Riku over quickly and without comment.
The initial dive had the occasional drifting heartless. And unusually, instead of occasional images of the heart's owner, Riku saw ghostly figures in black coats and hoods popping up here and there. Riku didn't waste any more time with the heartless than he had to. Like he had in the last two hearts, he sought for a connection to the deeper heart and dove again, bypassing the upper level completely.
The lower dive was pitch black. The only illumination was double pinpricks of yellow light – heartless eyes. They came in waves, forcing Riku to cast thunder or fire spells to clear them out of his way quickly before he got surrounded. The dive seemed to last a long time as well – or maybe it was simply the constant fighting that made it seem to drag on. Riku was looking forward to a break from fighting the heartless when the exit portal finally appeared below him.
No such luck. The world of Saïx's lower heart was just as infested by heartless. At least now there was enough light to see a little more of his surroundings. The building shapes seemed to resemble Radiant Garden – Kairi and Lea's original home. And Saïx's as well. Amid the rampaging heartless, there were normal people walking around, seemingly oblivious to their danger. But as Riku approached a woman in a long dress, she turned to face Riku, suddenly morphing to have a shadowed face and yellow eyes. She was another heartless. Riku recoiled with a gasp.
All the other people were the same. From a distance they looked human, but up close, they revealed that they were only more heartless. And like the ordinary-looking heartless, the shadowed people would attack Riku, too, if he came close enough.
He couldn't fight them all. It would take too much time and too much strength. Riku scrambled up to the rooftops, trying to get a moment's respite. Flying heartless began diving at him from above. He cast a cure spell while he ran, trying to get to a place of cover.
There was no safe place. Riku finally had to hold still and just ignore the blows long enough to find the direction to Xehanort's heart. It took longer than normal because of the many distractions, but he finally got it.
The castle basement. In retrospect, maybe he should have been able to guess.
Riku swung his keyblade at the nearby heartless to drive them away, then started running again. Once he was mostly clear again, he cast another healing spell on himself. As much as possible, he simply avoided the heartless. His focus was speed – speed to his destination. Once Xehanort's heart was sealed, the heartless should vanish – or at least be significantly diminished. Riku would deal with them then.
Even without the growing stench of darkness to guide him, Riku knew the path to the castle by heart. The roads were slightly different in Saïx's memories – since they predated Radiant Garden's catastrophic destruction – but Riku could just hop over walls whenever he encountered an obstacle.
A massive heartless was blocking the way into the castle, a dragon-like beast with eight limbs like a spider. Riku grit his teeth, reluctant to leave the path but unwilling to spend the time to fight his way through that monster. At last, he decided to risk finding another way into the castle. Hopefully finding the invisible path again would not take long. Riku bounded up the outside walls until he reached a balcony and then ducked inside.
The interior of the castle defied reality. Gravity didn't seem to work properly. Some rooms were sideways or even upside down. Heartless appeared and disappeared through walls as though they were insubstantial. They could still injure Riku, however.
Xehanort's heart was close. Riku dove into an ominous black pit in the center of a workroom and prepared himself for a fight.
Xehanort's avatar was ready and waiting, and easily deflected Riku's first blow. Riku shadow-slipped behind him and struck as hard and as fast as he could. The first few blows landed, but then Xehanort dodged out of the way and froze Riku in place with a Stop spell.
Riku mentally cursed and tried to flail and free himself. Xehanort landed a number of blows on him, taking full advantage of his helplessness. At last, the spell expired, and Riku was able to dash out of range and cure himself. He deflected Xehanort's next assault, and was able to follow up with a close-range dark firaga.
The battle became a long grind of alternately striking, then retreating to heal. Xehanort summoned two illusionary duplicates of himself who could still injure Riku but were impervious to harm. Only once Riku managed to land enough blows on the true Xehanort did the doppelgangers finally disappear.
Xehanort suddenly seemed to radiant a gigantic aura of darkness. Riku, guided by his battle sense, ran as far back as he could get to try to avoid the ensuing explosion of darkness. He was only partially unscathed. The right side of his body went numb, but he could still move. Xehanort immediately started gathering dark power around himself to cast the spell again.
Riku charged at Xehanort and attacked as hard and fast as he could to try to disrupt the spellcasting. It almost wasn't enough. Riku abandoned classic form and punched Xehanort in the face with his left hand. That was enough to disrupt his spell.
Riku decided to take a risk and throw all his current magical strength into spell after spell, pounding against Xehanort. Once his magic reserves were temporarily exhausted, Riku switched to keyblade combos. Feeling was returning to his right hand, helping him to drive his strikes with more accuracy.
Xehanort tried once again to summon the dark energy for his massive spell. Riku used a magically enhanced strike to knock Xehanort off his feet, and he hit the old man with repeated rapid blows until he sent Xehanort flying with a final, powerful strike.
The old man didn't get up immediately, but was still conscious. Again, Riku opted to skip healing himself, and used what magic strength he had recovered to cast the strongest spells he could. Xehanort switched to casting several simple fireballs instead. Riku deflected each of them back at the caster. At last, Xehanort slowly eased to the ground. Riku dashed forward and whacked him several more times for good measure.
Riku was short of breath and trembling slightly. Xehanort didn't move immediately. Good enough. Riku aimed his keyblade, summoned the keyhole, and quickly sealed Xehanort's heart into sleep. It seemed to work, but Riku spent several anxious moments watching, just waiting to ensure Xehanort wasn't able to break free of it. By the time Riku's breathing had finally slowed back to normal, he concluded he was probably safe. That had been a hard fight. Riku finally healed himself then sat on the ground to rest for a few minutes more.
Clearly that copy of Xehanort's heart had been stronger than the others. If the differences of strength were proportional to the expected resistance, then that meant… Riku needed to make the effort to speak to Saïx's avatar. In spite of his initial fears, it now seemed much less likely that Saïx was actually loyal to Xehanort. In which case, his cooperation could prove very helpful. Riku pushed himself back up to standing and made his way back to the town outside the castle.
The world outside was now free of the swarming heartless, but the shadowed people remained, unchanged. This… did not bode well for Saïx's state of mind. And speaking of, the blue-haired man was nowhere visible. Riku would have to go hunting.
What had Lea said his real name was? There were only three letters to rearrange. Sai. Sia. Isa. That was it.
"Isa!" Riku yelled as loudly as he could. "Isa! I've come to help you escape!"
No response. But then… the space in front of Riku suddenly darkened, like fog had abruptly descended. Cautiously, Riku entered the fog, unsure of what he would find.
While the edges of the space remained black fog, parts near the center of the cloud took the form of walls, a doorway. A very young-looking Lea popped out of the doorway. "Isa! There's dead people in here!"
"What?! There can't be!" an equally young-looking Isa declared as he bounded over to look. He recoiled immediately from what he saw. "What happened here…?"
"Oh, new recruits?" a familiar voice said. Xemnas – no… his somebody, Xehanort – entered the scene from the fog. He raised a keyblade. "I'm sure I could make use of you as well."
"Lea! Go get help!" Isa yelled. He placed himself between Lea and Xehanort. Then he rushed Xehanort and tried to knock the key from his hand.
Xehanort easily knocked Isa down, and then jabbed his keyblade into his chest. Isa screamed.
Then the whole scene melted away into darkness. Riku could faintly see a path beneath his feet now, sloping downward into further darkness. He walked along it, cautiously watching for danger, but all he found was another foggy patch up ahead. Riku entered it and found another memory playing out around him.
Isa – no, it was Saïx now – lay on the ground, his face slashed open and bleeding. But instead of red blood, rivers of darkness poured from the wounds. Riku would never have guessed this is how Saïx came by that x-shaped scar. And there had clearly been a battle – the ghostly room had large gouges in the floor and walls. Saïx's massive claymore lay across the room, out of reach. And one of Xemnas's ethereal blades pinned Saïx to the floor by his black coat.
Xehanort – the old, bald version – though for a second, he seemed to have Xemnas's face instead – stood over Saïx triumphantly, keyblade in hand. "With the mark of the recusant, I mark you! There is nowhere you can run that I will not find you! You are mine."
"I won't help you!" Saïx hissed, clutching at his wounded face and trying to pull himself free. "You and your cause are evil!"
"Good? Evil? Bah! You are a nobody. You cannot feel such things. Don't pretend to be more than you are."
"I still remember right from wrong, old man!" Saïx snapped. "And stealing hearts from innocent people is wrong. Especially since you expect me to do it for the sake of the man who took my heart in the first place!"
Xehanort frowned. "Oh, you remember that? Such a pity. None of the others do. Your friend Axel certainly doesn't. He's taken to heartlessness like a fish to water." Xehanort chuckled to himself.
"My friend is dead," Saïx spat. "Axel – that monster you've made – isn't who he used to be. If Axel remembered who he was, he'd oppose you, too!"
Xehanort sighed, annoyed. "I'd really hate to have to destroy you. Your power could be very useful to me." He paused to strike Saïx with a paralyzing spell to keep him in place. "It seems I will need more extreme measures to keep you in line. I hadn't planned on doing this so soon, but… needs must." Xehanort held his keyblade aloft and created a dark orange sphere at the point of it. Then he jammed the sphere into Saïx's chest.
The scene abruptly vanished, leaving nothing but darkness and the faint path, once again.
"Isa?" Riku called out, hesitantly. Still no response. Riku continued downhill, recognizing as he went that he was descending into an even deeper area of the heart. He had never been so far into the depths of a heart… except for when he had gone to help Sora wake up from whatever Xehanort had done to him.
At last, another fog bank appeared ahead. Riku walked into it and let the memory take shape.
This memory was disjointed – or rather, it was several related snippets of things.
Saïx told Axel, "I'm not sure what Xemnas is planning, but I know he's been lying to us. We'll play along for now, and when the time is right, we'll overthrow him and get new hearts for ourselves."
The images suddenly dissolved, then reformed into a new scene. This time, Axel was talking to Saïx. "Do you ever think about how we haven't really lost much? I mean, we were just fooling around and getting into trouble before. We actually have a purpose now."
"But no hearts," Saïx said coldly. "Because of our condition, we are literally incapable of fully comprehending what we've lost!"
"Eh, whatever," Axel replied, turning to leave. "I'm going to go find something to set on fire."
The images vanished abruptly again. Riku continued walking.
Another scene formed. This one included Roxas. He was in the background; the focus was on Axel and Saïx.
"Babysitting again?! Really?" Axel whined.
"As the keybearer, he is essential to collecting the hearts for us."
"Ugh. Again with the hearts! That's all you ever talk about anymore!"
Saïx scowled at Axel. "It is the most important thing. Don't you want to get a heart again? To be able to feel?"
Axel rubbed the back of his neck. "Look, I really don't get what's going on. None of what Xemnas says ever makes any sense. I just figure… this is us now. Why worry so much about the future? We should just enjoy what we've got in the moment."
Saïx looked like he wanted to strangle Axel. "But how can we enjoy anything if we are incapable of emotions?"
Axel sighed loudly. "Okay, Saïx. I'll babysit your keybearer again. But then you owe me something fun."
"Your idea of fun centers around lighting things on fire."
"Exactly." Axel grinned. "And you like bashing things with your jumbo sword. So let's go somewhere where we can do a little of both! Like old times!"
Saïx snorted, but Riku didn't get to find out what happened next because the scene abruptly vanished again.
Riku paused in his descent for a moment. The way Axel and Saïx interacted… reminded him of himself and Sora. Riku was starting to understand why Lea didn't want to talk about his history with Isa – it was just too painful for him to think about. Riku couldn't imagine the strain that being turned into nobodies had placed on their friendship. What if Sora and Riku had become nobodies together? Could they have stayed friends? Or would they have turned on each other in the end? Riku recalled that Saïx had been the one who had leapt to attack Lea, after Lea had prevented Sora from becoming Xehanort's newest vessel. How hard it must have been for Lea, to see his friend like that.
The road continued on. And so did the snippets of memories.
Axel said snidely to Saïx, "Nice to know where I stand!"
Saïx looked irritated. "You made it back in one piece, didn't you?"
Another snippet arose: Axel on his bed, yelling at Saïx, "So now you expect me to rat out my friends to you? Get out of my room!"
And another: Saïx demanding of Axel, "Which would you rather lose: a make-believe friendship or a real one?"
And then Saïx, sitting on his throne. The rest of the room was unformed. Saïx stared down at the floor, his hands clenched into fists. "He couldn't stand the emptiness of being without a heart. And that led to his demise. He was foolish and weak."
Nobodies had hearts, Riku reminded himself as that last Saïx vanished into smoke. Xemnas had lied to them when he told them they didn't. How had Saïx not recognized he was capable of feeling grief?
Riku could feel a weight pressing down on him now. He was very, very deep inside Isa's heart and memories. The air seemed thicker and harder to move through. Riku continued on and plowed ahead into the next fog bank.
This memory was brighter, and more distinct. More recent. It was one of the rooms in the basement of the castle in Radiant Garden. Riku had been inside that room himself. And it looked just as he remembered, with the exception of the bodies presently strewn across the floor.
"Get up." Xigbar yanked Saïx to his feet. "It's time to be going."
"I'm… human again." Saïx placed a hand to his chest in wonder. "I didn't just disappear…" His eyes widened. He turned around until he found a specific body. "Lea!"
Xigbar placed a hand to stop him. "No time for sentimentality. Our mission isn't over yet."
"No!" Saïx knocked Xigbar's hand aside. "I've died for the master once. I will not serve him anymore!"
"You're forgetting that his heart already resides in you." The youngest version of Xehanort appeared into the memory. He raised a fist and summoned the power of darkness.
Saïx's chest shimmered in response. He gasped and fell to his knees.
"You are mine, Saïx. Now and forever." Teenager Xehanort pushed Saïx's head back to force him to look up at him. "You are drenched in darkness, and it will only continue to grow from here on out. Now, this will only be as difficult as you choose to make it. Cooperate, and everything will go well for you. Fight against me again, and… well…" Xehanort summoned his keyblade and pointed it at Saïx. Xehanort's eyes flared yellow, and then Saïx's did as well. Saïx smoothly stood, summoned his massive claymore, and placed it against the unconscious Lea's throat. Xehanort chuckled. "Do you see? You are me. As such, I can take full control at any time. If you cause me any further trouble, he will die by your own hands. Do we have an understanding?"
Saïx just whimpered. His hands released the claymore, and it dissolved into nothing.
"Good." Teenager Xehanort smirked triumphantly. "Xigbar, Saïx: come with me. We have much to do. The rest of these are worthless." He gestured to the remaining bodies. "We must gather the rest of the true Organization Thirteen."
The memory scene dissolved into nothingness, but the fog remained. Riku looked around cautiously. "Isa? Isa, are you here?"
"Who…? How did you reach this place?" came a whisper out of the darkness.
Riku followed the voice. As he got close enough, he could see the avatar of Saïx-Isa huddled close to the ground. He looked up and flinched when he saw Riku. "Why are you here?" His face was still marred by the x scar, but his eyes were green.
"I've come to free you from Xehanort," Riku said, extending a hand to Isa.
Isa just stared at the offered hand, then at the helmet obscuring Riku's face. "Why?"
"Because…" The spell still constrained Riku from speaking as anyone but Vanitas. He decided to just go with it. "Maybe you don't know much about me. But Xehanort created me by tearing my heart in two. My existence has been nothing but misery. All I want is to be whole again, but Xehanort keeps preventing me. Defeating Xehanort is my last chance – because, suffice it to say, if he succeeds to destroying all the worlds with the X-Blade, then I'll never get to properly exist!"
"Destroying… all the worlds?" Isa cautiously took Riku's hand and let the other pull him up to standing. "I thought… he just wanted to summon Kingdom Hearts…"
"That's part of it," Riku agreed. "But what he's really trying to do is recreate the universal destruction that occurred when people were originally fighting over Kingdom Hearts. Everything was destroyed, but new worlds were able to form from the fragments of light left in people's hearts. That is his ultimate goal. Xehanort wants to destroy everything, and remake it all according to his own desires. At least, that's what he thinks he's going to do. I personally think he lost his mind long ago, and he's just going to bring about universal ruin."
Isa gaped at Riku. "But then… what could we possibly do? He's got everything planned out. The princesses, the seekers of darkness… he's thought of everything."
"Not everything!" Riku waved his index finger dramatically. "You know he has been looking into the future to foresee what will happen? Well, he has blindspots. Do you remember when Xehanort was going to turn Sora into his vessel?"
"Yes…" Isa considered this. "He was so certain of his success. But then Lea appeared…"
"Right! Xehanort foresaw everything, up until the moment just before Lea dropped in. He saw the moment right before he achieved his goal. But there was still a split-second left where something could go wrong, and it did!"
Isa furrowed his brow. "So, Xehanort can still be outsmarted. But… what could I possibly do?" he appealed to Riku. "Xehanort can take direct control of my body at any time. I can't fight him…"
Riku gave Isa the rest of the detailed explanation of him sealing Xehanort's hearts, and the plan to pretend compliance until the moment the X-Blade appeared.
"—However, for you to take back full control…" Riku looked around at the black valley they stood in. "I think we need to get you back to the upper level of your heart." He extended a hand to Isa again. "Hold on. I'll try to bring you back up with me."
Isa grabbed hold of the proffered arm with both hands and watched intently as Riku summoned his keyblade, summoned the relevant keyhole, and then pulled them both into the upward corridor.
The upper level of Isa's heart took the form of Radiant Garden. It was not looking its best: many of the structures were damaged or crumbling, and there were no people visible. At least there were no more heartless, either.
"I'll need to wait here until… my real body can pull me back." Riku couldn't explain better than that. But he felt it important to give some explanation prior to him just disappearing. "From what I understood from the other vessels, you should be able to take back control from Saïx from here."
Isa nodded. Then he looked off to the side, nervously. "Vanitas you… you will be fighting in the upcoming battle, too, won't you?"
"Yes. I have to."
"Could you…?" Isa paused and sighed. "I understand we need to make it look realistic. But could you please try to not hurt Lea?"
"I…" I can't promise anything. It's all up to Vanitas, Riku thought grimly. "I'll do my best," he promised. He would try to get Vanitas to agree. "And you just try your best, too. We can't refuse to fight. But maybe we can… swing hard and miss a lot. Sloppy, aggressive-looking fighting."
Isa nodded slowly. He still wouldn't meet Riku's eyes. "And one more thing… if I can't break Xehanort's control… if you have to kill me to stop him… will you please tell Lea that I'm sorry?"
That request caught Riku off-guard. "You won't have to die," Riku tried to reassure him. "We only have to destroy Xehanort, not his vessels. You should really be the one to tell Lea yourself!" Riku noted that Isa looked like he was trying not to cry. He quickly added, "But if something does happen to you, I'll tell Lea for you."
"Thank you." Isa took a deep breath. He slowly turned and surveyed his dilapidated mental world. "I've got a lot of work cut out for me," he observed.
Riku felt Vanitas reconnect with him. "Time for me to go. Good luck, Isa!" he managed to call out before he was yanked backward across the chains, back to his prison which was starting to feel oddly like home.
X-X-X-X-X-X
Bonus Scene!
"I understand," Cloud said solemnly, his spiky hair nodding in agreement. "I will help you fight for the fate of the worlds."
"Great!" Sora said. "And would you ask your friend, too?"
"My… friend?"
"Yeah, you know! The one with the long silver hair that you keep looking for. You should ask him, too!"
"That's… Sephiroth. He is a being of darkness."
"Well, yeah, but the fate of the worlds concerns him, too!" Sora insisted.
Cloud stared at Sora blankly. "Sora, you don't get it. Sephiroth literally tried to destroy the world."
Sora considered that. But only briefly. "Well then, tell him he needs to stop Xehanort from destroying the world so that he can do it himself!"
"Sora, you don't…" Cloud sighed loudly. "All right. If I see him, I'll ask him."
"Thanks, Cloud!" Sora ran off.
Spoilers: Sephiroth just laughed at Cloud and wouldn't help. The end.
X-X-X-X-X-X
Endnote: When I was writing, I was picturing Tiana as the princess with the black eye. She seemed like the type to put up a fight. But my sisters pointed out that Moana would also match that description. Moana would also definitely fight back. But I think she would probably win – that is, successfully avoid getting kidnapped. Moana is quick and resourceful – and plus, my sisters think the ocean would have also helped by throwing a boat at the seeker of darkness. My sisters decided that this scenario with Moana is canon, so there you go. :)
Also, Isa is my poor sad baby and needs a hug!
So, I have no idea how or when Saïx got Xehanort's heart implanted into him. I had to figure out something for this story, so I went with the idea that Saïx got 'norted pretty early on in his nobody experience. But then, this creates a problem because didn't Old Xehanort sort of fuse with Terra, and then they split into Ansem SoD and Xemnas? So Old Xehanort wasn't around at this time, but I figured he's the only one who can 'nort people. So I decided it would make sense to have him sort of actively-possess Xemnas's body to do his evil work. I hope that all makes sufficient sense. I really love these games, but the lore is so confusing…