AN: Look, a Xion Sora Ven chapter finally! Lol. xD Weird...Also some other unexpected faces appear! The long term story cooking is still COOKING, and it begins NOW! Muhahaha. :D Sorry it's kinda short as heck though...politic election stuffs going on...kinda put a damper on my writing the last two days or so. Especially today. But I will come back swinging, with the next few chapters being hopefully more on the longer side, to really dig into this XION FOCUSED STORY AND CHARACTER DEVELOPMENTS. :)
End of AN!
Xion skidded to a stop, wobbling. Then she ran and flipped up into the air, flying over the heads of the monsters - Nightmares.
She cast Blizzaga down at them, freezing them in blocks of ice. She landed and spun, slashing across the closest one with a light trail. The ice shattered and the monster vanished in a puff of smoke.
Sora flipped and slashed up in mid air, hitting a flying owl monster. He kicked off of it and flew at another one, slashing through it and rolling when he hit the ground. He came up and around, casting Gravity; the flying monsters dropped to the ground, beating their wings, unable to get up again.
Xion cast Fire multiple times, hitting them all.
Sora did the same, finishing them all off.
"I didn't expect these things to be so colorful and- squishy," Sora said, sighing and lowering his Keyblade. "I almost feel bad about having to fight them!"
"Yeah, they aren't exactly Heartless - or Unversed," Ven agreed, with a small laugh, as he did the same. "They're almost funny little things..."
Xion blinked at them. She didn't really get how they were "different" from any of the other monsters they had fought before. And they had to be destroyed - so she would. It was simple.
Her whole body suddenly shook.
"You okay there...?" Sora asked slowly.
Xion reached up and pressed her hands to her own arms, crossing them in front of her. Even just doing that made so many sensations go through her palms and over her arms themselves - and she didn't like any of it! "It's cold," she said out loud. It was true; that was why she had trembled in the first place. She knew Even would have told her something like her body was warning her, and she should listen to it...
"Oh - hey - want my jacket, then?" Sora spoke again, pulling at it away from himself.
"That's not going to help her arms too much," Ven remarked, with a quiet laugh.
"Oh, right...uhhh-"
"I'll be fine. Let's just go," Xion said flatly, walking forward and going past the two boys, dropping her arms to her sides again.
She tried to just look ahead, down the street of falling snow and ice. She didn't like the lights on the fronts of the metal buildings on either side of her, shining and pulsing and changing as she moved. She didn't like the distant sounds of clanging metal and vehicles moving on wheels. Crunching and roaring and echoing. She didn't like the cold air hurting her nose, or her lips, or her hands, or-
More Nightmares appeared in front of her from smoke.
She summoned her Keyblade again and ran forward with a cry, her chest tight and heaving-
There was a loud wooshing noise that hurt her ears, causing her to bring up her hands to cover her ears, and suddenly a bunch of green energy blasts came streaking down from above, destroying the Nightmares.
Xion turned in the direction of the blasts, lowering her hands and staring up into the sky.
A red blur came down from the dark skies to hover in front of Xion, with green jets of fire or energy coming from the bottoms of their feet. The shape came under the lights.
Xion breathed out in surprise, the air cold and misty and visible.
It was a female figure with crimson red skin, darker red hair hanging down her back, and glowing scarlet eyes to match the rest of her. A glowing, yellow crystal burned in the center of her forehead, beneath messy bangs of dark red hair.
"What's..." Sora came running over to Xion, with Ven behind him. He looked up at the figure. Then to Xion. He grinned widely and let his Keyblade vanish. "Hey, Xion, isn't that your friend - from Traverse Town?!" he said excitedly, pointing.
Xion nodded, smiling as she stepped forward, dismissing her weapon. She craned her neck to look at the girl. "Imra! What are you doing here? Is this your home world?"
Imra's head snapped down to look at Xion. She didn't smile back. She didn't blink at her. She didn't even look...happy, or like she even knew Xion?
"Comprehension error." The girl's voice was as empty as her eyes - flat, emotionless. Why...?
"Imra, are you okay? Why are you acting so-" Xion started again, frowning now. This wasn't like the girl from Traverse Town at all! The Imra Xion knew was always moving, talking, she was swaying and motion and confident and graceful and- expressive, the word came to her (probably from Even).
"Hold for identification." Imra's voice cut Xion off, like she hadn't heard her at all. The girl's eyes flickered, and a yellow beam of light burst out of them, sweeping over them all suddenly. Just as suddenly, it faded away again. "Zero matches found."
"Imra, we're friends, we met in Traverse Town, remember? You taught me how to spraypaint, and you told me about-"
"Comprehension error; data not found," Imra cut her off flatly. Again! Her arms suddenly came up, and her hands transformed into wide gun barrels, swirling with green energy. She aimed them right at Xion. "Unregistered individuals will be detained for processing and interrogation. Please do not resist, as I am authorized to use lethal force under Protocol Thirteen."
"Wait, WHAT?" Sora exclaimed, gaping up at her. "You're gonna 'detain' us...?"
"Correct," Imra stated. Short. Simple.
Sora looked over at Xion. "I thought you guys were friends!"
"We are! I don't know why she's acting like this," Xion said, desperate and confused. "She's different from Traverse Town! She's not...herself?"
"I am legally obligated to provide you with a single warning before utilizing lethal force: you have five seconds to drop your weapons and kneel down," Imra spoke again.
Xion was even more confused, until she saw Ven still had his Keyblade in his hand. "Imra, please-" she said, turning back to her friend.
"Five...Four...three..." the other girl started to count down, in that emotionless voice.
"Can't you see something's wrong with her? We have to help her!" Xion pleaded, rounding on Ven - and then Sora. "Please don't hurt her!"
"Two..." Imra's voice echoed out on the cold air.
Ven nodded to Xion, letting his weapon vanish. "Okay - no more weapons - you don't have to blast me or anything!" he called up to Imra, raising his hands to her as he lowered himself to the ground. "I'm doing what you asked me to!"
Imra lowered her arms, reverting them back into - well - arms again. She descended from the air, touching down on the ground with her feet. "Your cooperation is appreciated," she said, with no appreciation at all.
The girl walked up to stand in front of Ven, raising a hand to him. A green ring of light swirled around her wrist; it traveled down her hand and left her fingers, shooting out through the air at Ven. It struck his chest with a flash of light, and then a crackling ring of green energy was around his body - trapping his arms at his sides.
"Huh?! Oh c'mon, I'm already doin' what you said..." Ven complained, twisting and wincing as the electricity flickered against his body.
"Noted - your cooperation is appreciated," Imra repeated...in exactly the same way she had the first time.
Ven pouted and looked at Xion. "Why am I the only one she zapped?"
"Well, hehe, you were the only one with your Keyblade still-" Sora began. His words were cut short with a yelp, as a green energy ring flew out and bound him, too. "Awww..."
Ven perked up, laughing at Sora.
Xion frowned, turning back to Imra. "Imra, you-"
Imra raised her hand to Xion, and a green light flew out of it.
Xion gasped as the energy ring formed around her, burning and tight! "Imra please, tell me what's wrong!" she cried.
Imra stood like a statue, staring at her. "Comprehension error."
Xion let her head drop, her throat tightening.
Comprehension error, she thought, in horrible agreement!
"Please remain here, and make no attempt to run; reinforcements will be arriving shortly," Imra told them.
Xion closed her eyes tightly, taking in a cold breath of air.
She wished Kairi was here, for the hundredth time. Kairi would have known what was wrong with Imra - and she would have figured out how to fix her.
But Kairi was gone...
All Xion had was herself. And she had no idea what was even happening.
Darkness stood on the rooftops, after rematerializing herself and her new human body from a billowing cloud of intangible dark energy itself.
She looked down at the three figures - Sora, Ventus, and Xion. Captured by world's locals, it seemed.
A small, strange part of her found that to be...
Disappointing.
When the time came for confrontation, they were not going to offer her much of a fight, were they?
But the rest of her was pleased: she would have more time to explore this world - to find the clues to the past, and the history of the Keyblade known as the Ultima Weapon.
This might have been a world at war, but they kept very good records.
She had learned something that sounded promising, buried in all of those records and historical accounts.
She had not expected the boy from the Book, and the two modern wielders, to be here - but she wasn't concerned.
Darkness would have more than enough time to stay ahead of them, and follow this lead.