Everything felt cold, as Xion felt her fingers tighten! She wasn't sure if it was due to the cold, or the feeling of fear running down her spine as she stared into the unknown. One moment she was sleeping in her bed, ready for another day with her family; the next she was standing on top of a cliff surrounded by a pitch black sky. The only things she could see were the outline of a giant castle and what almost looked like a windmill; everything else was so covered in a thick blanket of darkness. Xion didn't want to go down to the village but knew that she could risk going into the dark forest behind her.
"So the Village of Shadows it is! Looks like another night of pain and misery for me; please just tell me that I'm not going back to the castle." Xion whispered, as the black-haired girl, stepped down the cliff until she could feel the cold, hard snow assaulting her on the way down, as if the weather was aware of her being in the village. Quickly Xion pulled up her hood and began her path through the dark streets of the village, the snow crunched beneath her boots, and the feeling of fear in her spine continued to rise as the faint outline of boots simpler to her guided her through deeper into the darkness.
"Wait a second, those are the organization boots. Are they knew? Did Roxas or someone else end up here as well? Maybe I'll find answers in that castle, or I'll just have to do as Deymx says and wing it!" Xion whispered, as the sounds of the snowy wind and rustling building made her feel uncomfortable. Everything around her was empty, rundown and lifeless, almost as if she had entered a ghost town that had once seen life but quickly faded, giving the blood that caked the streets. Xion could feel that she was terrified and wanted this nightmare to be over, safe in the comfort of her bed, safe in the castle, away from the shadows that had engulfed the village.
"Why are you scared? Don't tell me you feel a tingle of fear running down your spine already. We haven't played a game yet, and I don't think the monsters will like you wandering into their territory!" A voice called out into the distance as Xion looked around, wondering where the mysterious figure was hidden, only to find nothing but shadows and an old tractor with something nailed to its flat tire. Quickly, Xion ran for the tractor as the sounds of footsteps got closer. As she grabbed the knife and paper, running for an abandoned house a block away from the tractor, a sinister howling sound boomed throughout the village. Xion slammed the door closed and rushed for a storage closet, hoping to hide from the noises. She needed to think of anything that could help her get home.
—--
Xion had been silent for an hour, holding the knife in her hand tightly, wishing that she had awakened her key blade sooner. Roxas had his weapon on the first day of being part of the organization, while here she was one week into her life and dreaming of being in a murder village, nearly defenseless against the unknown. Suddenly the clicking noise of an old radio grew, as if someone was on the other line desperately needing help. Xion looked around the dark kitchen, eying anything dangerous, only for nothing to catch her eye except a broken roof. She hoped whoever was on the other line was worth it, stepping out of the safety of the darkness into the kitchen as the radio grew loud enough to be heard.
"If anyone can hear this, the Lycan's have overtaken the remains of Luzia's house! Please come to our manor! Please come to House Beneviento; it's beyond the Duke's shop, past the village square, and you'll be safe. I promise Mother Miranda will not find you inside my home!" The voice declared, as the radio immediately died down, leaving Xion to the cold silence of safety.
"Ok, so the manor it is then, hopefully the owner's will have answers to this nightmare?" Xion whispered, heading for the front door, wondering if Roxas had made his way to the Beneviento place or if he was even in the same dream as him. They had both been feeling the effects of this land ever since the beginning; it was almost as if the very spirit and dead of this land didn't like them, and the feeling was becoming neutral. Xion sighed as she pulled up her hood, venturing back into the snowy village, ready to find the path to House Beneviento and the safety it hopefully offered. However, she was unaware of the mysterious figure that loomed over her, standing motionlessly on top of the damaged roof, face hidden by a mourning veil, and a doll wearing a white wedding dress held deeply in his arm.
"Soon they'll be together again; soon Mother and Momma will be in our arms again! These nobodies must be dealt with soon; I can't keep going on any longer; it's either me or them; I won't allow them to take the happiness that was stolen from us! Soon the dream will end once the girl makes it to the Duke's ground, and then we wait for the right moment to claim them both; after all, I can feel another, a third, has glimpsed into the darkness of this village, and is the key to awaken us from slumber." Sora whispered, disappearing into the village, heading towards the abandoned ruins of the factory. The third member of the trio who hurt him dearly had finally arrived in the Village of Shadows.
—--
Xion was exhausted as she snuck through allies and rooftops. It had been nearly an hour since she had left the dark comfort of the abandoned house that she had called sanctuary, the snow was rising and making it harder to move to the Duke's ground, the hard part being she didn't know where the Duke was! The first few days of her nightmare had been in the castle, being chased by this nine foot tall woman with three psychopath daughters trying to get her blood for some reason. So everything beyond the castle grounds was a complete mystery to the black haired teen, and the only safe room in the castle had been empty, nothing but a few handgun bullets and a note saying left to the factory. So if the Duke even visited the castle he wasn't there now or the village if at all possible, not a soul roamed the land, and the place didn't seem like it was going to have business for a long time.
Those witches in the castle have enough blood and dead meat to last a lifetime, so I don't think they'll come down and chase me. That factory seems like it could have someone that might have answers, but the radio did mention this House Beneviento; that'll have to be first; I can't risk heading to the unknown in this weather." Xion said, running inside another abandoned house to get out of the never-ending winter for a few minutes, as something on the table caught her eye. It was a pump-action shotgun and a box of shells; quickly the young girl took the weapon and shells. She needed something to protect herself, and a small pocket knife wasn't going to cut it outside of firewood and opening cans.
"At least with this, I can fight back against anything that lurks in the shadows; now let's see if I'm doing this correctly." Xion declared, grabbing one of the shells, putting it in the chamber, and pumping the pump action part of the gun, heading a clicking sound, smiling for a moment that she didn't mess up. Thankfully, the memories of using the weapon in the castle and the very vague idea of guns that Xigbar gave her seem to be working, as Xion held the gun tightly, ready to venture out to where the massive red metal gate has once been connected to part of the few paths throughout the village. The only thing to do was pick a path; the left seemed to lead to the more unknown part of the village, while the right path was heading into the village, which meant the possibility of returning to the castle.
"Left it is, I'm not going back to those freaks tonight; maybe this path will lead to House Beneviento or that factory down below?" Xion whispered to herself, walking up the snowy hill up to an area that looked like it was used for an altar of some kind. A giant hole in the middle was left of what this village must have been worshiping; beyond that the square was empty and rundown, one gate lead back to village, one was blocked by a fallen tree, meaning the middle path into the dark and mysterious forest wax the only option left beyond going back and hiding in the village.
"Hard choices, I see! Oh! Great Lords of darkness, please guide this girl to the house she desires." A voice called out, making Xion jump, nearly pulling the trigger on her shotgun, quickly lowering the weapon at the sight of an old woman holding a cane for dear life.
"Where did you come from, ma'am? Wait, lords, do you mean like that giant woman? Is she a Lord as well? Do you know what's going on here?" Xion declared, looking down at the woman, her face hidden by a massive robe, but she could almost feel a sinister grin coming from the old woman, sending another shiver of fear down her spine.
"Oh, you poor thing, you don't know of this village, do you? Other worldly people are different from most I see. Alcina is a Lord yes, thought to be slain by the monster known as Ethan Winters; her body remains out of anger and stubbornness to die fully. None of them know when to die around here; even after the world of the living was done with them, the memories still linger waiting for another to come to welcome them back to death! You must sleep again, young one; return to the land of the living; find the others connected to this land and vanquish the lords again; once done, you will be free; all four of you shall be given rest and the burden of shadows. Remember the ones born from the same heart as yours, and the daughter of Winters, all must be present to save yourselves and free this land from its undead slumber." The old woman yelled, grabbing a mysterious powder from her person and blowing it into Xion's face, causing the girl to stumble forwards for a moment as her body quickly began to shut down, forcing itself into a deep slumber once more.
"Don't worry, kid, I'll make sure they won't hurt you again!" A voice whispered in the distance as Xion closed her eyes, as the only thing left on her mind was what would Xenmas think about all of this, and how were they going to solve this Village of Shadows?