Chapter VII - The Ambush


The knocking on his door was what woke him up.

Kirux sat up, the soreness in his shoulder flaring up.

"Come in," he said, stretching his arms out before moving to stand.

His door opened and Xion peaked her head through, "Sorry. Did I wake you up?"

Kirux shook his head, "Nah, not really. Just gave me the signal that I needed to get up."

He went to stand but had to grab his shoulder as it flared in pain again. Xion noticed, and moved to help.

"Whoa, are you okay? What's the matter?"

"I'm fine. Just slept on my shoulder last night."

"You sure? You've been coming back from work banged up these last few days."

Kirux opened his door without looking back, "I'm good, Xion. Trust me. Once I get out there and I'm moving, I'll be back to normal."

He went down the hall, Xion standing in his doorway and watching him with a worried expression.

...

"What's up with you?" She heard Axel say from behind her, "And what are you doing at Kirux's door?"

Xion looked at him, the same expression still lingering, "Sorry Axel. I just came to get Kirux, but...I'm worried about him."

"Worried? About what?"

"You've seen how he's been coming back from his missions lately. Every day, it looks like he's getting more and more worn down. If he keeps pushing himself, then I'm afraid..."

She didn't finish initially, but Axel prompted her by tapping her shoulder, "Then you're afraid of what?"

"That he'll go out on a mission, and he won't come back..."


Riku stood at the ledge, his black coat fluttering in the wind.

"This is where they go. He and his..."friends"."

He looked out at Twilight Town's sunset.

It reminded him of his home.

The islands.

...

His mind flashed back to home. To his two best friends.

Life was much simpler back then. The three had ambitions of building a raft, then sailing the great ocean in the search of other worlds.

They wouldn't even need a raft before the worlds would welcome them.

Riku only wished that things hadn't gone the way that they had.

Now, here he stood.

One of his friends had returned home, awaiting their return.

The other lay asleep, with his memory in a jumbled mess, while a witch tried to repair what was left.

He exhaled lightly, not speaking or moving an inch.

What he wouldn't give to have things like they were before...

...

There was a buzz in his pocket.

Riku pulled out the device DiZ had given him, some sort of old cell phone.

There was a single message as he flipped it open and looked at the screen.

"He's in the town. Move-in."

Riku closed the phone and pocketed it as he stepped off the ledge. He raised his hood over his head.

Today, they took the next step.

One step closer to getting Sora back.


"Why is the wind starting to pick up? Is there a storm coming?"

Kirux passed through the entrance to the forest, seeing the fallen leaves scattering across the ground as the wind pulled them off.

He saw a Shadow Heartless scrambling behind a tree.

"There you are..." he said as he pulled his sword out.

Advancing slowly, the wind started blowing again. He saw the Heartless stumble as the wind almost picked it up.

...

Kirux stopped at the other side of the tree the Heartless hid behind, twisting his blade in his hand.

He stepped around, but...the Heartless was gone.

Confused, he looked up and saw what had happened.

The wind had blown the Heartless up into the tree. It was sitting on one of the branches, hugging the tree tightly.

Kirux frowned, and yelled up, "Hey, come down from there!"

The Heartless ignored him, just tightening its grip on the tree.

"Come on! I can't just let you go, y'know!"

Once again, the Heartless just stayed.

...

Eventually, Kirux just sighed and dismissed his sword.

"Fine," he yelled up, "But if someone else comes for you, don't be surprised about it."

He walked away, just as the wind blew and a bunch of leaves hit him in the face.

Kirux huffed and quietly said to himself, "Stupid wind."

...

...

...

Just as he was getting back to Tram Common, he heard a voice behind him.

"Don't you have questions?"

He stopped and turned back.

It was him. The guy that looked just like him.

Kirux immediately pulled his sword back out, "You again?! What are you following me around?"

"If you want to know the truth, then you'll put that weapon down and come with me."

"Why not just tell me now? You can start by telling me who you are."

"Isn't that obvious? I'm you. Or really, it's the other way around."

Kirux cocked his eyebrow, "What does that mean?"

"You don't know what you truly are, do you...Kirux?"

Kirux was a bit surprised he somehow knew his name, but he didn't let that phase him.

...

Kirux gritted his teeth and yelled, "I don't know what the hell you're talking about and I don't care! I'm Kirux, through and through! Now stop talking nonsense or I'll beat it out of you!"

The guy said nothing, and that only upset him more.

"Fine then. Have it your way!"

Kirux ran at him and prepared himself to swing.

The wind blew a bunch of leaves in between the two of them, and Kirux's swing ended up going through the leaves.

But the guy was gone.

Kirux looked around, yelling, "Where did you go?"

The wind picked up again, but it didn't stop this time. It kept blowing, and the leaves just kept fluttering around the area. Some were picked up and flew into the air, all while the wind seemed to blow in a circle around Kirux.

...

He held his blade up, looking around for the guy.

He then started speaking to Kirux, "It's like I said before-,"

Kirux turned to where he heard the voice but saw nothing.

"-a lot is going on that you don't know about."

"And if you want you and your friends to live-,"

Kirux just stood his ground and held his sword tightly as the wind continued to whirl around him.

The voice came back directly behind him, "-then you'd better come along and play nice."

...

Before Kirux could say anything, he was hit in the back of the head. He collapsed immediately, dropping his sword.

He was out before hitting the ground. The guy then walked up to him and threw him over his shoulder.

He sighed, and said lightly, "I hate doing DiZ's dirty work."

With Kirux's unconscious body, he walked towards the Twilight Town mansion.


Play: At Dusk, I Will Think of You... - Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days


"Hey you guys."

Xion slid onto the ledge next to Roxas as he and Axel paused their conversation.

"Hey Xion. How was your day?"

Xion shrugged, "Fine, I guess. Saïx had me go to Beasts' Castle and track down these Heartless."

"That all? Doesn't sound too difficult."

"And it wasn't. But," she said as she pulled out her ice cream bar, "They were these annoying things that would move really fast and almost impossible to take down. Took me forever, and I was exhausted when I finally got them all."

"Well, you got the mission done. Don't beat yourself up about it."

"Yeah...anyway, what did you guys do?"

Roxas started explaining their missions for the day, but while Xion acted engaged, she was more interested in what was next to her.

Or lack thereof.

As Roxas kept talking, Xion waited for Kirux to show up and interrupt him by making some jab at how his workload was harder just 'cause he had a Keyblade or something about how Axel ate too much ice cream.

But that never happened. Kirux didn't show.

And something about that didn't sit right with Xion.

...

After she started zoning out and Roxas's words went in one ear and out the other, Axel stopped him and spoke to her, "Something up, Xion? You've barely said a word since you got here."

"Huh? Oh, yeah. I'm fine, but...just curious."

"Curious about what?"

"If Kirux was coming today, then he would've been here by now. But he still hasn't shown up."

Axel shrugged, "So, he couldn't make it one day. Not a big deal. We all need a day off from friends, y'know?"

"Yeah I get that, but...I dunno, something just doesn't seem right about it."

"You think something happened to him on his mission?"

She turned to Roxas and nodded, "Maybe. This morning, he looked like his shoulder or something was bothering him. He's been coming home a lot more banged up recently. I can only hope that he didn't have to do anything too physically demanding."

"You know he would just fight through the pain though."

Roxas laughed lightly, "Yeah. That's just how Kirux is. He pushes himself hard when he's working. You know that."

"I do, but...I just hope him doing it doesn't cause him to permanently damage himself."

Axel took the last bite of his ice cream, and shrugged, "Relax. It's Kirux. He's smart enough not to push too hard."

"Yeah...I hope so."

...

Just after that, Axel pulled out another ice cream bar.

Xion looked over and giggled, "Geez Axel. How many have you had?"

"Y'know, just because Kirux isn't here doesn't mean that you now have to scold me about my eating habits!"

She and Roxas both laughed together.


Stop: At Dusk, I Will Think of You... - Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days

Play: Sacred Moon - Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days


Xion was walking through the halls of the castle when she overheard a conversation between Saïx and Xigbar.

"You think he would just up and run?"

"I cannot say for sure. But a member not returning from his or her mission one day is not uncommon."

"Then why even bother worrying about it? He'll come back in a day or two and it'll be like he was never gone."

Xion continued to eavesdrop as Saïx continued, "Of course. It's probably nothing. But if Kirux does not return soon, then I'll be putting it on you or Axel to bring him back. He's too valuable an asset to lose at this time."

The two of them walked further away, and slowly went out of Xion's earshot.

She looked down at the ground and whispered to herself, "I knew something would have happened to him."

...

Xion headed back to the Grey Area and found Axel laying on one of the couches.

"Axel, have you heard?"

"About Kirux? Yeah, I got the rundown from Saïx."

"What are you gonna do about it?"

He shrugged, "For now, nothing. I mean, for all we know his mission is just taking him longer than it normally should. It happens pretty often."

"But what about-,"

"Xion, listen to me," Axel said as he sat up, "I know you're worried about him, but honestly, you gotta just chill out. You're acting way too paranoid right now."

"I just-," she was going to say, but she didn't. She just looked down and said "Sorry" quietly.

"Hey, there's no need to be sorry. You're just worried about a friend, is all."

Axel rubbed her hair, which she quickly stopped by swatting his hand away.

"Don't worry about Kirux. If he's gone for too long, then we'll go out and find him. Saïx has already assigned Xigbar and me to do it if need be."

He then stood up and walked past her.

Xion just looked up and out the large windows.

"Kirux, I don't know where you are, just...stay safe."


Stop: Sacred Moon - Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days


There was a soft scratching sound in the room when he woke up.

When he opened his eyes, it was almost as dark as it was when he had his eyes closed. From what little he could see, he was sitting in the corner of some room. Apart from the chair on the other side and the door to his far left, it was empty. There was no light in the room, apart from the little bit coming from underneath the door.

The guy that looked like him was sitting in the chair across from Kirux. He could barely tell what he was doing, but it looked like he was sharpening some blade.

He looked away from his blade and up at Kirux, "Finally awake? Good."

Kirux raised his arm to do something, but he couldn't lift it all the way. He looked down and saw that he was handcuffed.

He let out a small laugh, "That scared of me, huh?"

"That would be an understatement."

"That's why you're sharpening my sword? You gonna use it against me or somethin'?"

"It's not yours. It's my own. Don't believe me then try summoning your own."

Kirux was confused, but he did it anyway. Sure enough, his sword, the same one sitting in the other guy's lap, appeared in his hand.

He sighed and just said lightly, "You've gotta be kidding me."

"Still don't think we're the same?" The guy said, going back to his blade.

...

"So, if you and I are so similar, then what's your name?"

The guy stopped sharpening his blade again.

"You really wanna know?"

"No, I asked because I was bored. Of course, I wanna know."

The guy sighed, placed his blade on the ground, and went to speak.

"My name...is Riku. You could say that I'm...the human version of you."