Chapter IV - Awakening Darkness

Play: Lazy Afternoons - Kingdom Hearts Re: Chain of Memories

"What is our objective here again?" Kirux asked Axel as they were walking through the underground tunnels in Twilight Town.

Axel started stretching his arms out as he walked.

"Our objective is to find a certain Heartless, mark it, and then someday down the line, Roxas or Xion will come to town and take it out."

Axel then looked down at Kirux, "Simple enough, right?"

"I guess. I haven't done enough missions to know that yet."

"Well, you've been with us for how long? Hasn't it been a week now?"

Kirux thought for a second, "Yeah, just about."

"You've done a lot more in this last week than a lot of us did our first times. Roxas and Xion didn't go out in the field until around this time when they first joined."

…

"Speaking of," Kirux said, as they exited the tunnels and entered Station Heights, just underneath the clock tower, "Can I...ask you something...about Xion?"

Axel smiled, "What about her, pal?"

"I know you guys have explained everything to me about her, and what happened that day you guys went to go find her."

"Right. She lost her Keyblade, and hopefully, her going on some missions with Roxas will help her get it back."

"Yeah, all of that. But when I first met her, and...I uh..."

Axel was grinning, "I think I know what's going on with you."

"Huh?"

"Come on, Ki. It was obvious. I could tell you were nervous from the beginning."

"Yeah, I was. But...I don't know why. When I met you and Roxas, I was fine. But then when I met Xion, I was..."

Axel interrupted him, rubbing Kirux's head like he was a puppy, "It just comes with meeting new people, Ki. Especially girls."

"Stop calling me that."

Axel just laughed at him, "Like I said, sometimes it's like that when meeting new people. But you and Xion get along well, do you?"

"I mean...yeah, I guess. About as well as I get along with you two."

"Good. You know, you've made a lot of progress since you joined, with socializing and all of that."

Kirux looked up at him, "What do you mean?"

"Roxas would barely talk to anybody the first week he was a part of the Organization, same for Xion. Heck, the first time she ever talked was when she went on a mission with Roxas."

"Huh. I wonder why..."

"Beats me."

…

…

…

"Man, where is this thing?" Kirux said. They were in the Tram Common, just around the corner from where Kirux had been "born".

"I'm not sure, man. This is the hard thing about Heartless searching. I'm honestly happy that Roxas and Xion are Keyblade wielders."

"Why's that?"

"It means that now, guys like you and me don't have to go on missions like these as often anymore."

Axel continued as they walked towards the Sandlot, "Because they have Keyblades, they can simply track down a Heartless and take it down, all in one mission. But, with Xion not having her Keyblade, we've gotta do this."

Kirux just nodded, "Okay."

"You're not annoyed?"

"No. Why would I be?"

"Because these missions SUCK."

Kirux just shrugged, "But they're important, right? So, stop complaining, and let's get it done."

"Man, you sound like Roxas."

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"

Axel grinned, "Don't worry about it."

Stop: Lazy Afternoons - Kingdom Hearts Re: Chain of Memories

Kirux and Axel entered the Sandlot. It was empty, much like the other areas.

"Not here either?" Axel said.

"Are you sure Saïx said to come to Twilight Town?"

"Yes, I'm sure!"

"Positive?"

"Kirux, I know where Saïx said to go. He said it was here."

Kirux turned around as Axel continued, "Now, if only we could find the damn thing-,"

"Found it."

"What?"

Play: Sinister Sundown - Kingdom Hearts II

Kirux was pointing up at the Heartless, as it flew above them in a circle.

It then flew down towards them, Axel and Kirux both jumping to avoid getting flattened by it.

It roared at them, as they both stood up straight.

"Yep. That's it. I told you it was here."

"Can we just get this over with?"

"Gladly." Axel pulled his chakrams out, while Kirux brought out his sword.

Axel looked over at Kirux, "You got the thing to mark it?"

Kirux pulled an object out of his pocket, a marker in the shape of the Organization's logo, "Yeah."

Axel nodded, then ran forward at the Heartless.

Kirux ran at it too.

…

Immediately, the Heartless fired some fireballs from its mouth at Kirux and Axel. Axel was able to just dodge, but Kirux had to stop to deflect it before continuing to advance.

Axel slashed at the Heartless's face, getting it once close to the eye. This made the Heartless angry, and it jumped up and flipped to swat Axel away.

Kirux ran up, jumping on the Heartless and climbing onto its back.

He tried to slam the marker into the Heartless's neck, but the Heartless shook itself and he nearly lost his grip.

The Heartless then lifted itself off the ground and flew straight upwards. Kirux was left dangling from the Heartless's neck.

"Kirux, be careful!" Axel yelled at him, as Kirux tried to regain his grip on the Heartless's neck.

He couldn't and had to let his sword fade out of his hand to grab the tail.

The Heartless saw this and immediately did a flip in the air. Kirux lost his grip and went falling to the ground.

Axel used his chakrams, throwing them toward where Kirux was about to land. He used them to summon a pad that was safe for Kirux to land on, and he bounced off of it and landed on the ground.

Before Kirux could do anything, the Heartless had pounced on him. It pinned him down by the shoulders and roared right into his face.

…

Axel got the Heartless off of Kirux by throwing his chakrams into its face, just narrowly missing Kirux.

Axel pulled Kirux up, "Come on! Keep your head in the game!"

Kirux just shook his head, regaining his focus, "Sorry..."

He pulled his sword back out and tried to advance again at the Heartless.

Unfortunately, the Heartless was prepared. It fired a massive fireball at Kirux, and he couldn't get his sword up in time.

The blast knocked Kirux into a nearby wall, and this time, he was knocked out cold.

"Kirux!" Axel yelled but had to defend himself from another Heartless attack before he could go over to help him.

…

…

…

Kirux was just laying there. His sword had faded away, and the marker had been lost long before then.

Suddenly, he felt something...something rising in his chest.

Then, a voice.

"I have been waiting for you..."

Kirux's eyes shot open, and then the pain started.

His head hurt as if he had just taken a bullet through the skull. He clutched his head, grimacing from the pain.

"What is...going on...?" He thought to himself, still in a ton of pain.

Suddenly, a dark aura started to form around his body. It started down at his feet but slowly grew throughout the rest of his body.

Axel noticed this and was stunned. He did nothing, because, well...he didn't know what to do.

Kirux then let go of his head, seemingly not in control of his own body anymore.

He looked up at the Heartless, the anger in his eyes clear.

His sword appeared in his hand, and he raised it above his head.

Axel noticed dark energy forming at the end of his blade, and yelled out, "Kirux, no!"

He didn't listen.

Kirux yelled loudly and brought his sword down. The dark energy fired towards the Heartless, Axel noticing it disintegrate in the blast.

He didn't say anything. He looked over at Kirux, and you could see it. In his eyes...

That wasn't Kirux. At least, not the Kirux he had known...for a week.

Stop: Sinister Sundown - Kingdom Hearts II

The energy blast stopped, not a single trace of the Heartless remaining.

Kirux was breathing heavily, as the dark aura faded. He dropped his sword, it fading away at his feet.

Axel dismissed his chakrams, then sighed, "Nice going. Now Saïx is gonna be on me for taking out that Heartless-,"

He didn't finish his sentence before Kirux collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

Axel immediately ran over, shaking Kirux, "Hey, Kirux. Kirux, wake up!"

He smacked him across the face lightly, but it didn't work. Kirux was out cold.

Axel sighed, "This is just what I needed..."

He picked Kirux up, opened a corridor, and left Twilight Town.

Kirux was having a weird dream.

He was wandering through a dark void. He couldn't tell what he was walking on, as it matched everything around him.

But no matter what he did, he couldn't stop walking. It's as if his body aside from his head was on autopilot.

Eventually, Kirux heard a voice call out to him.

…

"Hello, Kirux..."

Kirux called out, "Hello? Who are you, and what is this place?"

"You don't need to know who I am, and this place...why, this is you..."

"What does that mean?"

"This is what you look like, on the inside...nothing but an empty darkness..."

"Is...that true?"

"Yes...I know what you are, what your fate is, and why you were born..."

"Wait, what my fate is? What does that mean?"

"Would you like that I show you?"

Kirux shrugged, "I guess..."

…

He finally stopped walking, and suddenly, his head started hurting excruciatingly. He collapsed to the ground.

Then, images started to flow into his head.

And what he saw...it wasn't pretty.

…

He could see himself destroying that Heartless, which he had done just that day. He also saw other things...

One such image he saw was himself fighting with Xion at the castle, her Keyblade in her hands.

"Oh, so she got it back. That's a good thing, right?"

Wrong.

The next few seconds went by, and Kirux could notice something...different about himself in that image.

He looked...angry. Like he wanted to hurt Xion.

And then, it happened...

Kirux flinched physically when it happened, but when he looked at it again, he...

…

…

…

Then, he was shooting upwards in his bed in the castle. He looked around, and sure enough...

Yes, he was back in the castle. How did he get here? He didn't know.

Kirux just put a hand to his head, "It was just a dream..."

He got up, sitting on the edge of his bed. He had so many questions.

"What was that dream? What were those images? And who was that voice? And...do I really do that to Xion?"

…

His thoughts were interrupted by a knock on his door. He gave a "come in" before the door opened.

Xion poked her head into the doorway, "Hey, is...everything okay?"

Kirux was surprised it was her, and his mind went back to those images, "Uhh-oh, yeah. I'm fine. Just had a bad dream."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure. I'm fine Xion. Really."

Xion was skeptical, but nodded, "Okay. Axel told Roxas and me about what happened, and well...when we heard you yelling, he wanted me to come to check on you."

She yawned, "I'm pretty sure you woke up the entire castle with that scream..."

"Oh..." he said, "What time is it?"

"Somewhere near two in the morning, I think..."

"Ah, crap...sorry."

"It's okay, but...are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks for checking on me, Xion."

"Of course. Good night, Kirux."

"Good night."

They smiled at each other before Xion shut Kirux's door, him hearing her footsteps as she went back to her room.

Kirux decided to get more sleep, so he laid back down in bed and went back to sleep.

He would talk about everything that happened with Axel tomorrow after work.

Riku was pacing back and forth now, after what he had seen what his clone had just done to that Heartless.

DiZ said nothing, just sitting in his computer chair.

"This is bad," Riku said, "This is really bad."

"Yes," DiZ responded, "Yes it is."

Riku turned to him, "What are we gonna do?"

DiZ looked down at the floor, then back up at Riku, "It's almost time. Watch him some more for now, but when the time comes-"

"-bring him to me."