Chapter 14 - Awakening

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Kingdom Hearts.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Wooo. One more chapter after this (and then an epilogue). I hope you guys like it. PLEASE REVIEW! REVIEWs MOTIVATE ME! lol

PART 14
Awakening

One year was all I had. I didn’t know it was going to take that long at the time, but it was about one year. Every day I would wake up and hope that was the day, yet I dreaded that day at the same time. I was working hard, trying to improve my techniques, and battle skill, but I feared, in the end, I wouldn’t be able to defeat him. There was this doubt in the back of my mind telling me I was never going to win. I hated it.

And throughout that entire year, all 365 days, I didn’t see Xigbar at all. Not once. Was he avoiding me? Was he really that petty? I didn’t even bother searching for him, though. If he didn’t want to see me, then I would just stay out of his way.

The message of the Castle Oblivion disaster reached Xemnas before I was finished reading. Axel had apparently reported to him after shoving the book in my face. But the strange thing was, he didn’t hold any sort of meeting, he didn’t announce the deaths. It seemed like he didn’t care. Which, I know he truly didn’t, but he used to feign his feelings. We all did. We’d laugh at things that were supposed to be funny, get mad at things that we thought would make us so. But I really think I was the only one to cry for the deaths of about half of our members. Five of us dead. Was Xemnas just going to let us die, too? If I was killed, would anyone morn my death?

And was he going to punish Axel? True, he’s the only one who survived, but he killed poor Vexen. Sure, he was ordered by Marluxia, but he didn’t have to think twice before slicing him to pieces with his chakrams.

The majority of the time, I was in my room, working hard, improving my water manipulation skills. I rarely left the wing, and I only really left my room to grab some food. I didn’t care what the others were up to. Nothing really mattered to me anymore. Looking back, I wish that I would have gotten some help, and maybe a partner to help me. It’s hard to do things like this alone.

One fateful night, I was training late, determined to make a clone of myself using water. There was a mighty thunder storm outside, enveloping the city. I saw large flashes of light, loud claps of thunder. I thought of Larxene and her untimely end. I missed even her, and I didn’t even know her that well.

I then heard the sound of clanging metal, sharp, swift hits that could only be from a sword. I dropped my sitar, and ran to my window. The rain was coming down hard, smacking the back of my head as I looked down. Two figures. They were fighting in the rain. And they both had Keyblades.

My eyes widened as I watched them battle. I had to get closer. I jumped from my window, using the water in the air to flow to the top of a building. The fighting had ceased. Only one remained. He was wearing a black hooded trench, and held two keyblades. He slowly walked toward the large central tower. He looked up, and shouted,

“Where’s Sora?” I knew that voice. It had to be Roxas! Hoards of Heartless began to form around him. As he fought them off, more and more appeared. He began to jump around, faster, stronger. And then the clouds parted, showing the bright moon. I looked up to see another figure in a black coat standing atop the large central tower. His hood was down, and his silver locks waved in the strong winds. He was blindfolded.

Who the hell was he? He wasn’t one of us, was he? The scene became intense as Roxas jumped to the tower, making his way up it. He was sprinting up the side of the tower! The silver-haired one smirked and jumped off the top. Were they both insane?

Roxas tossed upward his black keyblade and the other caught it, falling straight down. Roxas then jumped sideward, and down they landed on the pavement. Then, they began to fight once more. I wanted to stop them. I wanted to be the one to destroy Roxas. But I let them fight on. My attention strayed for one moment, my eye catching something red. I looked across the way, in a small alley. Axel. He was watching. Why didn’t he run to Roxas’ aid?

The fighting stopped again when Roxas knocked the other down. He snatched back his Keyblade, and pointed it right in his face.

“Why,” The blindfolded man cried. “Why do you have the keyblade?!”

“Shut up!” Roxas replied, cracking him across the face with his weapon. Roxas then stepped over him, leaning down, and grabbing him by his coat.

“Tell me, Where’s Sora?”

“Why should I tell you!”

“Because I’ll kill you if you don’t!”

“You can’t kill me. I have the power of the Darkness on my side!” The silver haired boy began glow and eerie shade of violet. Dark swirls and vines began to wrap around the boy, and he started to change. When the darkness cleared, he was someone completely different. And with one swift motion, Roxas was down, and out. The boy was now a taller man, tanned skin, an white hair. The blindfold was gone, and his eyes were amber.

“Sorry, but I need you alive.” He said, picking up Roxas’ unconscious body, and walking off into the nothingness. And surprisingly, Axel didn’t follow. I half-expected him to chase after and fight the man, but he just receded into the shadow of the alley way.

But I wasn’t going to just wait for something to happen. I quickly jumped down, and followed Axel into the alley. I knew he would hear me coming, and he stopped walking. I came up to him and looked him in his cold, emerald eyes.

“You saw that, didn’t you?” I said. He nodded, never looking away. “Aren’t you gonna follow them? Isn’t Roxas your beloved? The only thing on your mind?”

“I’ve seen that kid,” He finally said after a long few minutes. “He’s the one… Who killed your friend. I am no match for him. And he changed into an even stronger state. There’s no way I could take him on. Besides... Roxas is a traitor, remember? Xemnas would probably have him destroyed.”

“So that’s it? You’re just going to let him kidnap Roxas.” Why was I so mad? I hated Roxas for everything that happened. Why was I angry about this? Maybe it’s because Axel abandoned me, and I didn’t want him to do the same to Roxas. I’m not really sure.

“He’s going to bring him to that weird guy in red that was hiding in the depths of the castle. I know he is. They left together. I know they’re working together. I just wish I knew who that guy was…”

Months passed. Axel left the castle against Xemnas’ wishes, and traveled worlds, looking for Roxas. Everyone seemed so boring, so fixed on nothing. We were truly starting to act like who we were; Nobodies. And the fact that Xemnas was making armies of lesser Nobodies didn’t help. Those creatures were strange, white monsters. They moved like liquid, but killed like beasts. I didn’t like the way things were going. That is, until one day that Xemnas knocked on my door.

“Come in,” I called, not knowing who it was. He entered with a tall, pink and white Nobody. I stared for a while before asking what it was.

“I made it for you.” He smiled. “A dancer Nobody. You are to control these kind.”

“I get my own kind of Nobody to control?”

“Yes. I’m trying to make several different kinds for us all to control.” Then he abruptly changed the subject. “You want to fight Sora, don’t you?” Not knowing what to say, I simply nodded. “He’s a big threat to us now. He will grow strong when he awakens. Naminé, wherever the hell she is, needs Roxas to complete the process she started. After all, Roxas is part of Sora. I’ve sent some Nobodies to search the worlds for him. If he awakens, we’ll have no way to control him. We need to find Roxas and bring him back before Axel finds him, and before Sora awakens.”

“Before Axel finds him?”

“Axel is working on his own, now. He’s searching for Roxas for his own needs. We must be wary of him.”

“I see...” I started to worry a little. What if Xemnas had Axel killed? I guess I still loved the bastard enough to want to save him from whatever fate our superior had in mind. “Why is Sora going to be such a threat?”

“He’s refused to join us, and therefore, refused to help us. We need hearts. I have found the location of Kingdom Hearts, Demyx. We cannot allow anyone to stop us. We have come too far to give it up now.”

“But if we found Kingdom Hearts, then why do we need more hearts?”

“We’ve been shunned by all of mankind. One’s heart holds amazing power, my friend. Kingdom Hearts has appeared, but it is not complete.” Complete? “We must gain more, I must give it more. Kingdom Hearts will be completed, and then the power of all hearts will be upon us. We will know more strength and power than we could ever hope to have. And we will be whole again. And we will seek revenge!”

“Revenge for what?”

“Demyx, you are too simple minded to understand. I’m sorry, but I must go. Now that Vexen is gone, Saïx and I must make haste to finish what he started. Excuse me.” He sternly turned, and left. Too simple minded? Excuse me? I might play dumb, but I assure you, I’m not a moron. Xemnas has gone blind with power. He wants more than just his heart. And that’s not right. But I didn’t care. My only focus was Axel. You jerk. Sora. This is all your fault.

Days before Sora’s awakening, I had finally achieved my goal. I no longer had to focus hard, and strain my mind to make clones. It came naturally as I played my sitar. Water could form around me, and I was able to make about 15 clones of myself at once. And as long as I played, they were there. As soon as I stopped, they’d splash back to the floor and disappear. I was quite pleased with myself. It was an amazing accomplishment.

I wanted to take a walk. I had been closed up in my room for months, and it was time to get some fresh air. I closed my door and strode down the hall, and down the stairs. Everything just seemed so quiet. I wasn’t even sure I knew what everyone would be doing. It had been so long since I spoke to anyone, aside from the Superior. I walked to the infirmary. I still hadn’t seen past that point. And I was feeling adventurous. It was time to see the rest of the castle.

The door past the Infirmary brought me to a small room. No windows, no doors. It was lit by strings of lights lined up the sides. The walls were made of glass, and I saw through to the interior of the castle. Was this all that was here? Just one room? That couldn’t be it. I walked to the middle of the room. I stood there, disappointed, and turned to leave. Just then, the floor began to move. It was going upward at an alarming speed. I fell on my @$$, scared out of my mind. When it stopped, I was just glad I didn’t have a heart attack. Not like I could..

I quickly left the room, not wanting to go through that again. The door led me to somewhere new. A glass staircase. It twisted around to the left. Large pillars surrounded the area, and I knew that if I fell over the side, I’d fall for a long time, and probably splatter all over the ground. Wasn’t that a nice image? I walked up the stairs, slowly, marveling at the true beauty of the castle. I always thought it was just a magnificent place. At the top of the stairs was another door.

It led me to a great hall. Truly a difficult place to describe. The walls ran high, and were decorated with many silver ornaments, and designs. The ceilings were arched high, and made of glass. You could see the swirling nothingness above it. But as I looked through the glass, I noticed something I never had before. It looked like the moon, only it was shaped differently. I could only see part of it, though. Strange...

Moving on. There was a door embedded in the central wall. And it led outside. The sky sure did look darker than normal. The terrace led up along the side of the castle. It was then that I got a better look at the moon. Not much better, though. I also got a good look at the outside of the castle. Truly beautiful. Up, up, and up. I was starting to get tired, and thinking maybe I should head back. But I didn’t. I wanted to see the rest. Another door at the top.

This led me to a smaller room. More like a hallway. I was above the grand hall-type room. There was yet another door across the hall, and of course, I entered it. I had no idea that this amazing high of beauty would all come crashing down hard on me.

The next room had a long hallway leading to it. From what I could see, the next room was small, and it was pretty poorly lit. Reaching the end of the hall, I soon regretted ever taking that walk. Large thin metal frames held glowing blue glass that had our Nobody emblem etched into it. Below each, were flat, red and blue plates. At first, I had no idea. There was one for each of us. Some metal frames were glowing, some weren’t. The plates beneath each had a picture carved into it of our weapons. It’s hard to explain. I found mine, outline of my sitar, glowing blue. Axel’s next to mine, his chakram glowing blue, too. Luxord was in that row too. But so were Marluxia’s, Larxene’s and Roxas’. Marluxia’s and Larxene’s plates were glowing red. Roxas’ was blue, but the metal frame above was broken. I walked to the next row. Vexen, Lexaeus, Zexion and Saïx. Saïx’s was the only one glowing blue. So were Xaldin’s and Xigbar’s in the next row. Then it hit me. This wasn’t any kind of shrine, or whatever. This was a graveyard. A Nobody graveyard. This realization hit me harder than I expected. The one’s glowing red were red because they were dead. I had to leave. I ran to the end of the room, and left.

I didn’t really care to where I was going now. I was on another balcony type thing. And as soon as I got outside, I saw the moon in all it’s splendor. Only, it wasn’t round. The moon was heart-shaped. And this confused me. More doors, more hallways, I had finally made it to the top. I ascended my final case of stairs. The moon was large, and bright. There was no where to go, now.

“Why... Why is the moon heart shaped?” I softly asked myself. I heard footsteps behind me and out of nowhere appeared Saïx.

“Kingdom Hearts,” He said, his expressionless face barely moving. “That is what that is. It grows ever stronger.”

“That’s... Kingdom Hearts?”

“Sora is near awakening. We’ll need him still. Xemnas has an assignment for you.” I groaned. I didn’t feel like going out on an assignment. “You are to leave at once and find a man by the name of Auron in the Underworld. Understood? Find him, and gain his Nobody on our side. You have your orders.”

“Whoa, wait. You want me to get a new member all by myself?”

“It’s possibly his heart isn’t strong enough to maintain his human form. But his Nobody will be quite powerful. We have everyone out doing the same. Don’t come back until you’ve gotten it.” With that, he dispersed into the shadows. Great. A mission. And I had to do it by myself.

I guess it could be worse. Apparently the others had their new Nobodies to gain too. Xaldin was sent to a far away castle to search for a beast, Luxord was sent to a place named Port Royal, and Xigbar was assigned to a world named the Land of Dragons. They had left immediately, but I did not. Honestly, I didn’t care for Xemnas’ assignments anymore. I didn’t care if they got done or not. I just wanted my chance against Sora.

After thinking about it, I realized I didn’t even know what this kid looked like. All I knew was that he was Roxas in a sense.

The day had finally arrived. I was woken up by shouts from below, “Axel has failed! The Nobodies were vanquished! Sora has awakened!” I jumped from my bed, and hurried to the lower levels.

“What’s going on?” I shouted. Everyone was gathered around a small table with a thin screen. The screen showed Roxas, and a man wrapped in red clothes.

“We just found the location of Roxas, but it’s too late! That man in red is merging him into Sora to hasten his awakening!” Xaldin growled.

“That man! Who is he? It’s like he’s purposely working against us!” Luxord cursed, crossing his arms.

“I know who it is,” Xemnas said, glaring at the screen. We all looked to him. “Yes, why didn’t I see it before? ‘Tis our old master, Ansem the Wise.” Xigbar muttered a, ‘No way...’

“Inconceivable...” Xaldin murmured. “He died long ago. When Radiant Garden collapsed!”

“No, it’s gotta be him!” Xigbar protested. “I doubt it, but something’s tellin’ me that he survived all these years. And that’s him!”

“It can’t be...”

“No matter,” Xemnas interrupted. “So Roxas has reformed with Sora. Good. Now he’s twice as strong. Gentlemen. We shall meet at Radiant Garden to greet our friend with the Keyblade.” No timing could have been more perfect then just then when Axel decided to pop in to say ‘hello’.

“I’m sorry, sir, but I couldn’t get Roxas back. I tried.” He said lowly, walking right up to us.

“Ah, Axel. Nice of you to join us.” Xemnas replied. “We are off to meet Sora. Care to join us?”

“Of course,” He bowed, hiding a smile.

“Then come, let us go.” The screen showed Sora running about the town, fighting Heartless with his companions. A duck and a dog. What kind of friends are those? We left immediately for the place that used to be Radiant Garden.

“Remember, gentlemen. We shouldn’t give it all away at once.” Xemnas grinned, pulling his hood over his face. We all did the same. I guess hiding our identity was all we cared about in the end. We silently watched over the town. Luxord had the smart idea to listen closely to our buddy with the Keyblade. And we did. And he was talking about us.

“...The guys we need to worry about are those Nobodies.” Sora said, talking to some guy I didn’t know.

“And those Organization XIII guys in charge, too!” His dog-friend added. It was time to screw around.

“You called?” Xemnas grinned, making his voice heard to Sora, and his companions. They all stopped in their tracks, scanning the area for anyone at all, and finding nothing. He quickly fled from the scene, to an open area. It was time to make our grand appearance.

“You’re doing well,” Xaldin complimented.

“Who’s that?!” Sora shouted, summoning his weapon.

“This calls for a celebration,” Xemnas stated, summoning low-classed Nobodies. Sora quickly disposed of them, triumphant in his victory.

“The Keyblade...” Xemnas noted. “A truly marvelous weapon. If only it were in more... capable hands.” We smiled to each other, laughing up a storm.

“Show yourselves!” Sora demanded, obviously not finding it as funny as we did. And that’s exactly what we did. First was Xemnas. He appeared on a ledge, high above Sora. And we followed.

“Organization XIII!!” The dog exclaimed. Well, who was he expecting?

“Good!” Sora scowled. “Now we can settle this!”

“What a shame,” Xemnas sighed. “And here, I thought we could be friends.” We started to laugh a little. I had to admit. Even I thought that was fun. We started to leave.

“Stop!” the duck screetched. We left, but Xigbar stayed behind to taunt them a little. I couldn’t help but stand off to the side, and watch.

“What’s the big idea?!” The duck screamed.

“Whoops!” Xigbar shrugged.

“Move! You’re in the way.” Sora yelled, readying his Keyblade.

“Now, do you think that’s polite?” Xigbar taunted. I could tell he was truly enjoying this. “Shutting me down like that?”

“I said, get outta the way!” Sora roared again.

“As if. You can talk all you want, but that won’t change a thing.”

“Then we’re gonna make you move!” Said the duck. It was kind of hard to understand the little guy.

“See, that would work if I was just any old dude.” He pointed at himself. “‘Cept I’m not. I’m with the Organization. Nothin’ ‘any old’ about me.” True. He wasn’t just any old guy. Not to me, not to anyone. I was starting to miss his company.

“Hah!” Sora grinned. “Tough talk for someone who sat on the sidelines while his Nobody flunkies did all the fighting.”

“Oh dear... I think you got the wrong impression.”

“You gonna cry?”

“As if. Why don’t I remind you how tough the crowd you’re dealing with really is!” He wasn’t going to fight, was he? That can’t be good.

“Remind me?” Sora scowled, grunting at the confusion.

“Hahaha, that’s right! He used to give me the same exact look!” That’s right. Roxas never did like Xigbar.

“I guess you think you can psyche me out by saying really random stuff.”

“Gee, I just don’t know.” They stood there for a long time. Finally, Xigbar said his goodbyes. “Be a good boy, now!” And then he was gone. It was probably time I was on my way as well.

So that was it. He didn’t seem so tough. But then again, why was I still afraid to face him? Was I really afraid of some punk kid? No. I wasn’t afraid.

It was then, I figured I should finish up my assignment. I wanted to get it over with before I faced Sora. I was on my way out when Xigbar approached me.

“Hey, kid.”

“Oh.. Hey Xigbar.”

“Xemnas wanted me to tell you that if you see Roxas, and he doesn’t respond, you’re gonna have to fight him and jog his memory.”

“What?”

“He wanted me to give you this.” He handed me a small white card. I read it silently to myself.

“Oh.. Thank you.” I said, not really knowing what else to say. I stashed the card in my pocket. Xigbar then turned to leave.

“Be safe, kid.” And then he was gone. Out of my other pocket, I pulled the photo of which I had stolen. ‘BRAIG &MYDE’. I folded it back up, returned it to my pocket, and left the castle, bound for the Underworld.

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