Kingdom Hearts 358-2 Days Page 4

  “Poppet?” He had no idea who that was.

  “Xion. I’m talking about Xion, kiddo!” Xigbar seemed amused by the reply.

  “Kiddo?” Roxas was about to add that his name was not “kiddo,” when Saïx interrupted him.

  “Roxas. Get to work. Today you’ll go to Twilight Town with Xion again and defeat Heartless.”

  “…Right,” he replied.

  Xion still didn’t give a response.

  Saïx, however, didn’t appear to have expected one.

  Roxas turned to Xion and opened the Corridors of Darkness without any further discussion. Either he would have a partner today or he wouldn’t.

  But when he glanced back, there was Xion following him, just like yesterday.

  The mission was to take out a swarm of Heartless in Twilight Town’s sandlot. Roxas didn’t bother giving Xion any instructions before charging in, Keyblade in hand.

  But today, it went differently.

  In the midst of the melee, he caught a glimpse of Xion casting spells—not just standing there blankly like before.

  After defeating the last Heartless, he could feel his partner watching him.

  “I’ve got someplace to be again today,” said Roxas, “so you can RTC without me.”

  He had just started to walk away when he heard a voice.

  “R…Roxas…”

  “Huh?” He had never heard so much as a sound out of Xion. “What did you say…?” he asked, turning around.

  The voice was feminine.

  Xion’s face was still shadowed under the hood, and she didn’t move.

  Just as he started wondering if he had imagined the whole thing, Xion spoke again. “That’s your name…isn’t it? …Roxas?”

  Well, what else would it be? he thought. I don’t have any other names.

  “Yeah,” he said aloud.

  She nodded and stepped into the corridors.

  A strange feeling came over him.

  “‘Roxas’…,” he murmured.

  He would go to the sweets shop to clear his head.

  Marluxia’s face was hidden under his hood as he greeted the Keyblade master and his companions—Sora with Donald and Goofy.

  Axel peeked at them from a blind corner. With his Keyblade at the ready, Sora did look a lot like Roxas.

  They were on the first story of Castle Oblivion. “So did you enjoy meeting the shadows of your memories?” Marluxia taunted.

  “It was good to see everyone,” said Sora, “but what do you really want from me?”

  Marluxia folded his arms, considering his answer carefully.

  If he could, Axel wanted to speak with Sora, although that definitely wasn’t part of Marluxia’s plan.

  Too bad.

  “Hello!” he announced, appearing beside Marluxia.

  “What do you want?” Predictably, Marluxia did not sound very happy.

  “No hogging the hero now.” Axel bent down to peer at Sora from eye level.

  They really are similar…

  Sora glared right back at them both.

  “Then perhaps you’d like to test him.” Marluxia tossed three cards to Axel.

  “Perhaps I would,” Axel replied with mock enthusiasm.

  With nothing more to say, Marluxia promptly disappeared.

  “Hey, wait!” Sora ran for the portal, but Axel blocked his path.

  “My show now, Keyblade master.”

  “…Who are you?” Sora readied his weapon again.

  “Oh, my name’s Axel. Got it memorized?” He remembered introducing himself to Roxas only days ago.

  “Axel…,” Sora mumbled, then straightened to meet his eyes.

  “Good, you’re a quick learner.” Axel grinned and summoned his chakrams.

  Behind Sora, Donald raised his wand, and Goofy brandished his shield.

  “So, Sora, now that we’re getting to know each other better…don’t you go and die on me now!” With that, Axel leaped up and took his first swipe at Goofy.

  “Whoa!” Goofy went sprawling.

  “Wak!” Donald was next, wand and all.

  Only Sora was left standing.

  After a moment, Axel swung his arms downward, and a wall of flame burst up from the floor. It pressed in on Sora. “Look out—you’ll get roasted!”

  Donald and Goofy had backed away, but Sora called out to them, grabbing each by the hand. The trio ran straight at the flames and rolled on the floor to make it through.

  “Oh, not bad!” Axel smirked as Sora dashed at him, Keyblade swinging. His chakrams deflected the blow, but he pretended it had struck home and disappeared on the spot.

  There was no need to bring down Sora. In fact, there was every reason not to.

  Still hiding, Axel threw the cards he’d received from Marluxia into Sora’s open hand.

  “So we’re supposed to use these and keep going…,” said Sora.

  “That’s right,” Axel replied, revealing himself again.

  “Axel?!”

  Apparently, he really did think he’d won. Must be a shock.

  “Did you really think I’d give up oh so easily after an introduction like that?” Axel teased.

  “You were testing us, huh?” Sora brandished his Keyblade.

  “And you passed. Congratulations! You’re ready now—ready to take on Castle Oblivion,” said Axel. “You will need to follow your memories. Trust what you remember and seek what you forget. Then you’ll find someone very special.”

  Goofy cocked his head. “You mean King Mickey and Riku?”

  “Heh… You’ll just have to give some more thought to who it is that’s…most important to you. Our most precious memories lie so deep within our hearts that they’re out of reach. But I’m sure that you can find yours, Sora.”

  “Why me?” Sora shifted from his fighting stance into a more thoughtful posture.

  As Axel fanned Sora’s curiosity, he fell into thought himself.

  Nobodies were guided by their memories. But that was precisely why they might lose sight of what those memories meant. Maybe it could really happen.

  And now, here in Castle Oblivion, Sora was about to have the secrets of his memory twisted and tangled by Naminé the witch and Marluxia the schemer.

  We have to switch out Sora’s memories here, in this castle, Axel thought. And so he continued his speech to lay the groundwork for their plan.

  “You’ve lost sight of the light within the darkness. And it seems that you’ve forgotten that you forgot.”

  “The light within the darkness…,” Sora murmured, as if it reminded him of something.

  Axel seized on that. “You want me to give you a hint?”

  Goofy looked uncertainly at his friend. “Sora… Do ya need it?”

  “I’m gonna figure it out for myself!” Sora retorted, angrily gripping the Keyblade again.

  “Good answer! Just what I’d expect from the Keyblade master. But be forewarned… When your sleeping memories awaken, you may no longer be who you are now.”

  Leaving them to ponder that, Axel disappeared for real this time.

  It was three days since Axel had gone to Castle Oblivion.

  Just like yesterday, Xion was standing in the lobby. Actually—it wasn’t quite the same, Roxas realized.

  The moment he walked into the Grey Area, Xion turned the tiniest bit to look at him from under her hood. Or at least, he thought she did.

  He walked over to her. “Morning, Xion.”

  She didn’t answer him. Maybe that glance had been his imagination after all. Roxas wasn’t sure what to say next.

  Still…she was different from before. Xion was looking at him.

  “Um, do you need anything?” That was all he came up with. It sounded weird when he was the one approaching her, but he didn’t have any better ideas.

  Then—

  “Good morning, Roxas.”

  That was an answer. A greeting. He couldn’t have imagined it coming from Xion yesterday.

  “Y-yeah,” Roxas st
ammered, fumbling to offer a reply just as Saïx stepped up to them.

  “I have a mission of critical importance for you two,” said Saïx. “A giant Heartless has surfaced. Eliminate it.”

  “A giant Heartless?”

  All his missions so far had been taking out Heartless, but Roxas had never handled anything giant.

  “Yes,” Saïx replied. “Be on your guard.”

  Roxas nodded. “Let’s go, Xion.”

  It seemed to him like Xion nodded, too.

  They stepped from the Corridors of Darkness atop the stairs from the Twilight Town sandlot, squinting into the red rays of the setting sun.

  “Roxas…”

  He turned. Xion was looking at him. He still couldn’t read her expression under her hood—but just then, she slowly pushed it back to reveal black hair and a girlish face.

  Roxas had the feeling he must have met her somewhere before. But this was the first time he’d seen her face.

  “Let’s get that thing.” Xion smiled.

  “R-right. Let’s go.”

  They didn’t know where this giant Heartless might be, but there were only a few places in Twilight Town where something huge would have room to move around.

  Like that wide-open space by the clock tower at the station.

  Roxas took off at a run.

  As they arrived at the station plaza, the bells tolled like some kind of omen; the air trembled, and they could hear something roaring from behind them.

  Roxas reflexively spun around to see an enormous, pitch-dark, humanoid creature rising out of the ground. This was the giant Heartless—a Darkside.

  “There’s our target!” He summoned his Keyblade. “You ready?”

  At its full height, the Darkside stood nearly as tall as the clock tower.

  “Yeah,” Xion replied. She didn’t have a weapon at all, but Roxas imagined she would back him up with magic, like before.

  He rushed at the Darkside. It had a hollow through its chest in the shape of a heart, giving him an unpleasant chill as he realized he could see right through it. Was it attacking in search of the heart it had lost?

  His mind was wandering. Trying to shake it off, he sprang up and aimed for the Darkside’s arm. The Keyblade pierced through the haze of darkness that seemed to envelop it and struck home.

  Behind him, Xion flung a fireball at the Darkside’s head. It let out an eerie cry and plunged a fist into the ground. Inky darkness gathered around it and flung Xion and Roxas away with a terrible shock wave.

  Groaning, Roxas somehow kept his balance and charged at the monstrous fist with a sweeping blow. But the Darkside batted aside the Keyblade and Roxas with it.

  “Oh no!”

  The Keyblade went flying from his hand and spinning across the ground.

  It stopped at Xion’s feet. And then, the next thing they knew, she was holding it.

  “Wha…?” While Roxas was recovering from the tumble, Xion took a running start and launched herself at the Darkside. High in the air, she brought down the Keyblade and dealt it a final blow.

  She touched down on the far side as it dissolved into shadowy mist.

  “Wow…,” Roxas murmured, finally getting to his feet. Xion can use my weapon?

  All the members of the Organization had their own weapons. He had never heard of anyone using someone else’s.

  The Keyblade returned from Xion’s hand to Roxas’s.

  “Xion, I didn’t know you could use the Keyblade,” said Roxas.

  “Yeah… Neither did I.” She smiled, a little bit awkward.

  He had never even entertained the thought that someone besides him might be able to wield it. In his hand, the Keyblade glowed and vanished, as it always did after the fighting was done.

  It gave him an odd feeling. This was new to him—ending a mission with the exciting sense of discovery.

  And now it was time for… Right.

  “You did amazing, Xion,” said Roxas. “You deserve a little something extra.”

  “Extra…?” Xion echoed in surprise.

  “Yeah. I know a good spot. But first, the icing on the cake.” He gave her a grin. “Wait right here.”

  “Huh? Roxas, hold on…”

  He raced off for the sweets shop.

  After Roxas returned to the station plaza with two ice cream bars, he and Xion climbed up the clock tower.

  At the shop, he was almost tempted to use the Winner freebie but held off. He had already decided to use it when Axel came back.

  “How did you find such a great spot?” Xion wondered.

  “Let’s sit down.”

  “Okay.” She sat in front of the clockface, gazing toward the sunset in the distance.

  “Here ya go.” Roxas handed her an ice cream.

  She stared at it curiously. “What is it…?”

  “Sea-salt ice cream. Go on, try it.”

  “Well, okay…” Xion took a tiny bite and murmured, “It’s sweet…but kinda salty, too.”

  “It’s really good, right? Me and Axel always come up here and have ice cream after work.” Roxas bit down on his, too. Salty and sweet, perfectly balanced. “It’s Axel’s favorite.”

  Xion looked at him, laughing a little as he told her about his faraway friend. “Sounds like it’s your favorite, too.”

  “I guess it is.” He nodded and took another bite. “Axel took me here for ice cream my very first day with the Organization. And then, after my first mission, he treated me again. ‘Icing on the cake,’ he called it.”

  “…Like you just treated me?” said Xion.

  “Yup.”

  He didn’t really understand the “icing” part, except that it was ice cream. Like Winner, though, it meant something special. So when Axel came back, Roxas would use the freebie and get him some “icing.”

  Beside him, Xion savored her ice cream, kicking her dangling feet.

  “You two must be really close,” she said after a moment.

  Roxas wasn’t sure how to respond to that—but then he remembered the right word. “Well, Axel and I are friends.”

  “Do you think…I could be a friend?” Xion peered at him uncertainly.

  “When Axel gets back, we can all have ice cream together.” Roxas took a bite to punctuate the declaration.

  Axel would be back soon. And then they would get ice cream, the three of them.

  He wasn’t sure yet if he would be friends with Xion. But if he did, he thought, that wouldn’t be so bad.

  Chapter 4

  Castle Oblivion

  RIKU ARRIVED AT THE TENTH UNDERGROUND FLOOR OF CASTLE OBLIVION, where Vexen was waiting.

  “Riku, I presume?”

  We don’t need the witch’s power. My research should hypothetically make it possible to transfer his memories and abilities into the puppet. If we proceed with my Operation Replica…

  “Who are you?” said Riku. “Are you with Ansem?”

  “You are half-correct. Let us say that it’s not the Ansem you know. He is Ansem, and he is not—which is to say, he’s nobody at all.” Vexen stepped closer.

  He could sense a ferocious dark power emanating from Riku. And that power will surpass even the wielder of the Keyblade, he thought.

  Riku glared. “Nobody? Sorry, riddles aren’t my thing. Try making some sense.”

  “He belongs neither to light nor to darkness but walks in the twilight. Does that suffice?” Vexen chuckled. “That sounds rather like you at the moment, in fact—between light and darkness. So am I. You see, we have much in common.”

  “…Maybe.” Riku slowly raised Soul Eater. “What about it? Is that an invitation to join your club? Because you’re right, there is still darkness in me. But it’s my enemy! And so are you—you reek of it.”

  “Oh ho. So it’s a fight you want. Very well! Fight me, if you can!”

  That was exactly the method by which Vexen would obtain Riku’s power. He was a scientist by nature, not well suited to combat…but there was no better option. All he had t
o do was draw out the greatest strength the boy could muster.

  And then, if he succeeded in mass-producing the replicas, the Organization would have greater power than ever before. Far beyond even Emblem Heartless.

  Vexen deflected a strike from Soul Eater with his shield of ice. “Release your rage… Show me the strength of the darkness you harbor!”

  Again and again, Riku swung his sword, and each time Vexen accumulated more of his memories and power as data.

  “I’m not— I—!”

  “Your skill with the power of darkness is still rather lacking. But for your sake, I hope you learn quickly!” Vexen charged and brought down his shield.

  Riku parried the blow with savage ease.

  “Wonderful!” he cried. “The darkness hidden within you has such immense power—well worth the trouble of stoking your ire.”

  “…Great. So this was a trick.” Riku chided himself, still holding Soul Eater ready.

  “Your fiery reaction provided just the data I needed. You have my thanks, Riku.” With a high, cruel laugh, Vexen vanished from the room.

  The only thing left to do now was to plant those memories in the puppet as a catalyst…

  “It looks like Sora’s memories have begun to awaken.” Larxene giggled, peering at the image of Sora in the crystal ball.

  Axel looked up and smirked faintly at her. “Proceeding according to plan, huh? Let them make it as far as they can.”

  The fake memories were taking hold in Sora. Bit by bit, his past was being painted over so that he’d act as the Organization wanted, and his true memories were fading.

  Fragments of memory were such delicately balanced things. The tiniest push could dislodge them.

  Naminé had the power to give that push and string the pieces together in different ways. Although that was only because of the strength and scheming of the Organization.

  “About time for the next step, wouldn’t you say?”

  “Wait—you had your fun on the first floor.” Larxene flashed her most bewitching smile. “This time, it’s my turn.”

  “…Don’t break him,” said Axel before he thought it through.

  “Ohhh, do I detect a soft spot?”

  “Sora is half one of us. He’s on our side.” But even as he said it, Axel wasn’t entirely sure what he meant. It threw him off for a moment.