Fate: Destiny's End (A Xion Fanfic)

[Snow]

This is a story that was just concocted into my mind, no relevance to timeline or anything in Days. This does not contain any spoilers. My spoilers start from Act III, and I will not release it until Days is out in English

And also, to reassure on lack of spoiler, I'm not even following Day's timeline, and Xion's birth is fiction (at least what I'm writing is), Xion's visit to Castle Oblivion is naught but fiction.

And, have fun. I wrote this in 3 hours.

Spoilers begin Act III. If you haven't played Days, don't look there.

If you want to follow this story without trailing through comments, drop me a message, I will message you when I release a new chapter.

And comments are more than welcome. I want to keep this thread alive.

Directory:
Opening Phase: Insurrection(You are here)
Act II: Priority
Act III: Conflict
Act IV: Circle
Act V: Shattered

Originally Posted by Grimmedslug Productions

Good day, I assume you are reading this because it is here. But this is a broadcast system to give a basic outline of the story.

A Grimmedslug Studios Production
From Grimmedslug

For Xion

Protagonist: Xion

Antagonist: Everyone Else

Timeframe: Just before Axel returns back from Castle Oblivion and until a bit further after that.

Story's View: From different characters depending on situation.

Introduction: Xion is sent by Xemnas to a mission in Castle Oblivion when it is in turmoil after the havoc of two keyblade masters decimating everybody, but it is in that Castle where Xion will encounter her destiny, and realise that one can never really throw the past behind them.

Why Should You Read This Fic:
1. Xion
2. Innovative Storyline encompassing Cave of Remembrance and Gummi Ships XD
3. Xion

Finally, have fun.

Fate: Destiny's End
「ﾌｧｲﾄ:ﾀﾞｼﾀﾆｽｱﾝﾄﾞ」

- ｼｵｿ

Opening Phase: Insurrection

The Castle That Never Was

Already, two dozen days since she came into the Organization. Or perhaps more? Time itself had dissolved into nothingness, just like the members itself in this place. Xion smiled to herself. Such cruel irony. Then again, without it, where would there ever be humour in life?

Two doors forward, a turn to the corridor on the left. Even while Xion had never personally been to this wing of the castle before, the instructions issued by Saix had been clear enough. Perhaps too clear. Before her, sitting on a white cupboard hidden in an alcove, was a note, a message scrawled across it, untidy, yet somehow simultaneously looking regal.

"Come to the hallway of your conception. Attached is the disc."

Picking the note off the table, she spotted the disc taped behind it. Xion touched the tape connecting the disc to the note, prodding at it, trying to find a weakness to peel it off. Unfortunately, the disc had been crudely attached, and a slight touch caused it to fall onto the ground, rolling along until it was halted suddenly by the wall. Reaching down with gloved hands, Xion picked up the disc. With her left hand clutching the disc in her fingers, she held out her right palm before her, causing a path of darkness to erupt from a rift in the air. With barely a backwards glance, she stepped through, the light of the corridor she left behind fading rapidly, until all that remained was darkness.

Castle Oblivion, Floor 13

Walking idly along the floor, Axel cursed his luck, nursing his wounds. A mishap, a careless accident, had resulted in about a dozen injuries as the keyblade master took advantage of that slight opening, landing blow after blow.

Either way, he had full confidence that the keyblade master had the ability to defeat Marluxia. Still, there was no harm in checking personally. For all he knew, Marluxia may have gotten one up above that guy. One can never underestimate Marluxia, even through all that pink, he was a tough guy to be reckoned with. As some people said, real men wear pink. Personally, Axel never believed any of that nonsense though. Real men are real men no matter what colour they wear. Back on topic, Marluxia would probably be in his den at the last room...

Pushing open the door to the left, he threw from his left hand a flaming chakram, directed at a trigger happy Neoshadow that had just decided to jump on him, and brought down his right arm in an arc, slicing in half another one just popping out of the ground. Marluxia's den should be two more rooms ahead. Personally, Axel hoped that they both died fighting one another. Axel had no intention of losing Roxas yet as far as he was concerned, and if the keyblade master died, that would just be killing two birds with one stone, no pun intended.

Walking under a hanging chandeliar, a Morning Star dropped out of it, aiming to crush Axel with its spikes. Axel barely spared it a moment's glance as an upward chakram throw sliced the heartless clean into two. The two halves smashed onto the ground with a resounding thud, before fading away into darkness. Reaching the end of the corridor, Axel looked at the card requirements. One blue 9 card. Checking his stock, he realised he had none.

"You know what? To hell with this." With a well aimed kick, Axel smashed the door open.

There were signs of fighting all over the room, most notably the deep wedges in some of the wall, and small slices, damage all over the room. Yet no one was there. Then again, there was someone. A person appeared to have collapsed on the ground.

This was interesting. Wasn't he Vexen's pet project? Summoning up a chakram, Axel walked above Riku Replica, spinning it round in his hand, then placed a spike by his hapless foe's neck.

"Any last words?" asked Axel.

"Plenty," grunted Riku Replica. "Hear me out. I have some information which may be of interest to you. Then again, it'll probably be much easier to show you."

"Hmm," Axel wondered if that broken doll was just buying for time.

"Trust me, it'll be worth your time. If it is not satisfactory, you can always kill me later. I'll show you, but only on one condition: You help me kill Zexion."

"Kill Zexion? Are you kidding me? If I so much as touch one strand of his hair, Xemnas would string me up and bake me like a turkey on a roast spit."

"Ahh, but you shouldn't have killed Vexen either. What I'll show you will be your most perfect alibi."

No harm in following his charade for awhile, thought Axel.

"Ok. Fine. You win. Lead the way."

Pulling his body off the ground, clutching his side, Riku Replica walked out of the room, while Axel made no effort to help him.

Finally reaching the main lobby entrance, Riku Replica touched the teleporting sphere, and said, "See you at B5." With that, he disappeared in a flash of light.

Axel arrived on B5 to see the replica pulling a strand of his memory out of his head, solidifying it into a card. It did not look like something Axel had even remotely seen before.

"So where is this thing you want me to see?"

"You'll see."

Lifting up the card, he opened the door to B5. Before the flash of light was gone, Riku Replica had already entered. Axel cautiously entered, wary of an ambush.

Yet what beheld him once he entered the room caused him to lose his entire composure. He nearly collapsed onto the ground as he reviewed the sight that was before him. His eyes widened with apparent shock. He was simply speechless.

"I told you that you would find this interesting."

"This is... My god..."

Hollow Bastion, Heartless Manufactorium

Coming out of the computer room, Xion patiently waited for the ramp to fully open. Last time, she had tripped and fell, taking a tumble down the stairs.

Being in this place always made her feel uneasy. The endless wide space with hearts, encapsulated, isolated. Even so, it got worse below ground. She just hated everything to do with this place. Yet it was not a truth she could freely run away from.

The ramp ground to a halt. One tentative step, then another. Xion slowly entered into the dark passage, and climbed down the spiral path. Apparently, this was constructed to be similar to the one that existed in Disney Castle. In that way, she felt pity for those who had to climb down that one. The journey was extremely long, and she vaguely considered trying to glide to the other end. The distance seemed short enough. But there were stories. If she fell, she would probably end up drowning in a bottomless pool of acid, or something similarly horrible. She had no desire to be one to test what it really was.

Finally, she stood before a door. Placing her hand on it, the door read through the print and body temperature, then a dozen or so cameras in the vicinity identified her. The door then slid open smoothly. What was before her was a long corridor, where she had been a dozen times and more, with doors on both sides of it, and a larger one at the other end of the corridor. This place was just one that she was trying to forget, the bad memories it gave her was just something she wanted to lock away forever, somewhere at the back of her heart. Metaphorically speaking. Memories were in the brain, weren't they?

At the opposite end of the hallway, the door slid open a fraction. In that small gap, a laser came flying out, aimed at Xion's face. She quickly ducked, and the laser struck the control panel of the door behind her, causing the door to close.

"Good to see that you're still nimble."

Xion did not reply. She was not supposed to. The others who were actually dumb or foolhardy enough to speak to Xemnas generally ended up incinerated, or worse, and she did not wish to add to that number.

"Look. I'm in a hurry. I'll make this quick. Castle Oblivion has sent no word for over 12 hours. The casualty count is already there, but I would think Zexion or Axel would have reported in by now. I cannot afford to lose control of that Castle. It is vital for my experiments. I am busy, and cannot personally make a visit to check on the situation, so I am sending you as my emissary. Check the place, and secure the Castle against all intruders if necessary. Failure will not be permitted." With that, the door began closing.

"Oh yes, I supposed I should give you some time to prepare. You have got until 1800 hours today, no longer." The voice sounded out against the mechanical hum of the closing door.

As Xemnas moved to one side, Xion managed to get a glimpse into that secret room. On the ground, there was something shiny, reflecting light towards her, yet seemingly piled in a heap. And something sticking out of the ground. Was that..

Opening a path of darkness before her, she stepped through, into the void and beyond. There was somewhere she had to go before the trip.

Twilight Town, the Clock Tower

An eternal sunset. The end of the light illuminating throughout the day. It was a distinguishing feature of this very world, straying close into the void between light and darkness itself.

Below Xion, the clock moved forward, its internal mechanism bringing the minute hand one step to the front, as yet another minute dissolved into nothing. Yet time did not really affect this world. Shrouded in the coming darkness, yet light still endlessly shining through, it was as though time itself has ceased for this very world. Xion did not have that luxury, though.

"He's late!" She grumbled to no one in particular.

Another thing that time also showed no mercy on was the ice cream she was holding in her hands. As the seconds drew by, drop after drop trickled from the ice cream, falling metres down to the station entrance, or otherwise seeping into her gloves. Yet it just did not feel good to eat the ice cream by herself, alone.

Already, she had expended almost two and a half hours of the three hours Xemnas had given her, doing nothing, and sitting through three melting ice creams. If he did not come soon, she supposed she would have no choice but to leave a note.

The clock showed only the hour and minute hands, yet the seconds could rather be estimated by each drop of ice cream, sliding off the end of the stick, falling off the very depths of this tower.

After an eternity, Xion glanced at the clock. It read 5:48. She supposed she could wait no longer. Swinging her legs off the ledge, she threw the stick behind her. It fell off the building, fading from her sight as it passed over the lip of the ledge, just as quickly as her hope for him coming dissipated into nothing. Reaching into her back pocket, she extricated a light blue pen and some post-its. Peeling one off, she wrote a small message onto it, then stuck it by the wall of the clock tower. It was a pity the colour was the same as the wall, though. She hoped Roxas would be observant enough to see it.

Opening a path before her, she stepped through, retreating back into the darkness, where she felt she truly belonged, her heart sullen by this unfulfilled desire.

Twilight Town, the Clock Tower
5 minutes later

"Damn, why did the lift have to choose today to break down?" Roxas complained as he took the stairs three at a time.

He was late enough as it already was. Fortunately, Xion was still up there, he had spotted her as he was climbing up Station Heights. He just wished she hadn't thrown her ice cream stick at him while he had been entering the station.

Pushing open the door, Roxas turned the corner.

"Hey Xion, sorry I'm... late?"

An empty ledge awaited him as he swung around the corner. There was nothing there, nobody.

"So much for having a companion while eating ice cream," mumbled Roxas, as he lowered himself over the ledge. He had even bought an extra ice cream for her as compensation, since she should have finished hers by then.

The cool summer breeze blew in from the fields, bringing in the scent of the grasslands in the distance. At the corner of the eye, Roxas noticed a piece of paper being dislodged from the wall behind him. Reaching up with two fingers, he grabbed the paper between them.

"Dear Roxas," he read, "Xemnas has given me a mission in Castle Oblivion. I'm sorry, but we won't be able to see each other or eat ice cream together for awhile. Xion."

Roxas sighed, "I guess I'll be companionless until one of them gets back."

Even so, he felt that there was something missing. Something the message did not entail. Perhaps it was somewhere at the back of his heart.

He frowned to himself. He did not have a heart. But perhaps, eventually, he'll be able to understand the true point of the message. Somehow, it hinted of frustration, a tinge of sadness, perhaps disappointment? It was marvellous 30 words could do so much. Shutting it out of his mind, he took out two ice creams from his pocket. Contemplating it for a moment, he threw both ice creams off the ledge, then opened a path before him, returning back where he belonged.

The pieces are in place. The story is about to begin. No, perhaps it has been fated to begin, but only now has destiny been set in its momentum, bringing together in the winds, all the characters for this fateful recount, a new reality for Xion's journey.

Fin~



And that's it! Man, 5 pages of pencil writing take really long to write down. Please, comments. I need to know how to improve.

[Snow]

Directory:
Opening Phase: Insurrection
Act II: Priority(You are here)
Act III: Conflict
Act IV: Circle
Act V: Shattered

Act II: Priority

Castle Oblivion, B1, Ground Zero, Basement Group Top Secret Headquarters

Clutching his side in agony, Zexion fumbled his way across the room. So much for his flawless plan. In his fury, he smashed the vase on the cupboard down onto the ground, the glass tinkering, and flung a photo frame of the Basement gang across the room, watching as the glass panel shattered. Not that he was a sentimental person to own a photo frame, it was just that the room would be too empty otherwise. And who fouled up his flawless plan? The stupid nobody, still hiding, somewhere in the Castle, just like the coward she was.

He needed to concentrate. If he was good, coordinating his next move may just turn the situation back in his favour. The most important priority right now was to stop the two keyblade masters from making direct contact, while that irritating nobody could be killed. Revenge was sweet. Either way, there was no use left for her. A sparkof an idea popped into his head. Maybe, just maybe. He still had the ability to do so. This time, instead of masquerading as Sora...

"Yo."

The voice startled him out of his reverie. But he had no need to fear. He recognized that voice. Slowly, he turned around. "Good timing. Help me for a while. I need to..."

The rest of the words were stuffed back in his throat as a hand grabbed his head, followed by a surge of darkness that condensed his world into nothing.

Castle Oblivion, B1, Main Hallway

Stepping out of the corridor of darkness, Xion glanced about, taking stock of her surroundings. White, white white everywhere. It was as though this whole place had been bleached. The colour scheme certainly had a way to make her feel uneasy.

First thing to do would be to rendezvous with any survivors. Anything else is secondary until that first objective was met. Although in the worst case, she felt unsure of her abilities to battle.

Even though Xemnas had entrusted her the duty of securing the Castle, she felt she had not the ability to do so. After her initiation, her powers had gone out of sync, as a dark element user like her was forced to embrace light so as to control the keyblade. This lack of practice made her doubtful of whether she could effectively utilize full power in battle. To complicate things further, this was Castle Oblivion. Not only had she not used her ability here before, the changing 'worlds' in this place could result in unforseen circumstances.

Even so, she still needed to accomplish her mission. Worrying about such things could come later. It was not as though she could not use the keyblade anyway. The mission was priority. They always were, the Organization put much stock into them, although she could not really see why. Removing the mysterious device she had strapped onto the back, she placed it behind a concealing flowery patterned cube structure, hiding it from view, and watched as it deployed fully. This equipment was meant to be top secret, but she supposed if questions were asked by Axel or Zexion, she could always pass it off as a radio transmitter. What with the Organization's nobody logo on it and all.

Pushing the panel located somewhere on the left, the wall slid open, revealing a secret room. The air in the room gushed out, courtesy of the lack of ventilation in it. Ground Zero. If there were any survivors, they were likely to be in this room.

The first thing she noticed was the smell of blood, the strong stench of iron lingering in the air pouring out of the room. This could not mean anything good. Swinging her arm out, she summoned the keyblade. The touch of cold steel, the immense weight of the weapon, they all made her feel much safer and ready to handle anything. But not by much. With the stench of clamouring death, no one can really ever feel safe.

The room was empty. Or at least, it looked like it. Yet the first things that caught her eye told her something had happened here. The photo frame, smashed, laying across the room. A vase, dropped from its original position above the cabinet. On a subsequent sweep, the most obvious signs of violence were obviously the spray of dark blood across the wall, and wisps of darkness coming from below there, hidden by the sofa. How she could have initially missed that she did not know.

Carefully, Xion walked by the place, jumping and turning just in case there was an ambush waiting for her. But there was no one, only Zexion, who was coughing blood, as well as a spectacular light show brought about by his book bursting into bright blue flames, but she dismissed it as irrelevant. Patiently, she stood down and waited until Zexion seemed in a fit state to talk.

"Red...Turban..." Zexion managed to spout out these two words before he disappeared into smoke.

"Red turban?" Xion repeated. She scanned around the room, and walked around the entire Ground Zero, looking for any sighs of it. Apart from the blood spray, there was nothing even remotely red apart from the capsicums in the kitchen. And it was in the kitchen where she found it. A door of darkness before her, pulsing with energy. Being the excellent sleuth, she quickly deduced that the killer had likely escaped through this. And had somehow forgotten to close the gateway out.

Of course, it did not occur to her that there might be a trap waiting for her at the other end. Not giving heed for her safety, she proceeded to go through as well, and let the darkness swallow her entirely.

Fin~

Ok, this act is really short, but whatever. I had a bit more, but I think it'll go down into the next act. Either way, does my story suck, or are people just lazy to post?

[Reika]

I like it. ^^ I can't wait until Act III, I'm curious what'll happen next. =)

[Snow]

Haha, thanks. You're like, the first person to post here. I've already got up to Act IV, but there's spoilers in III and IV so I'm waiting for Days to come out first.

[TwilightRiku_13]

Oh man, I can't believe that I didn't see this story before. This is a really good story you have going here. Great job, and I definitely look forward to the next part.

[Snow]

Hmm... Act V is done, but Days is still not out...

Am I allowed to post Act III in spoiler tags? Or do I have to put the spoiler warning out at the front?

I really pity Xion by Act V though. She gets defeated alot by then.

And does this fanfic suck? All the other fanfics have more comments... This is really discouraging.

[TwilightRiku_13]

Originally Posted by grimmedslug

Hmm... Act V is done, but Days is still not out...

Am I allowed to post Act III in spoiler tags? Or do I have to put the spoiler warning out at the front?

I really pity Xion by Act V though. She gets defeated alot by then.

And does this fanfic suck? All the other fanfics have more comments... This is really discouraging.

No, your fanfic doesn't suck. I think it is has a lot of great potential. You just have to keep up with your posting. To be honest, I have read quite a few fanfics where I have been the only person posting comments; even if there is just one person posting comments, that should be good motivation to keep posting because at least one person is reading it. Now, about the spoiler tag thing, I don't know if you can put them in fanfics, but I definitely wouldn't recommend it. That would just totally interupt the whole flow of the story; you would just be better off just warning people of the spoilers. But, whatever, you're the author and you should do whatever you decide, I'll still read this story.

[Azrael]

Oh son of a bitch! This is really good man!

[khfreak17]

omfg!!! this is really good!!! u need to post more!

[Snow]

I should be able to get the next Act typed out by this weekend, since I'm busy all week.

It'll be really long. In an attempt to cut short maximum number of acts, act III and IV will be combined into one.

I hope it'll still be good though.

[LadyScythe]

This is really good, and i;ve enjoyed reading it, cant wait to read more.

[Snow]

Well, Days is out, and I have some time today, so let's get on with it.

Directory:
Opening Phase: Insurrection
Act II: Priority
Act III: Conflict(You are here)
Act IV: Circle
Act V: Shattered

Act III: Conflict
Castle Oblivion, Twilight Town Level

Emerging back out into the light, Xion squinted her eyes at the sudden brightness, quickly taking stock of her surroundings. Somehow, this place seemed strangely familiar.

Of course. It was Twilight Town. Right now, she was standing in the part where she fondly called the 'junkyard', because it was stacked high with metal scraps for as long as she could remember. Yet today it was strangely empty for some reason, which was unusual.

Fortunately, her arrival was seemingly unnoticed. There was a girl standing in front of her, about the same height as Xion herself, with yellow hair streaming down her shoulders, wearing what appeared to be a nightgown and slippers. What a ridiculous outfit. Thankfully, the girl was facing the other way, so Xion had not been spotted. However, to make herself known, she strode forward, taking one step, her heels striking the ground audibly.

This managed to get the attention of the girl, who spun around. Somehow, she seemed to go into shock at the sight of Xion, minus the frothing at the mouth or rolling on the ground, and it seemed she was genuinely surprised from Xion's appearance. Perhaps she knew nothing, but the fear in her eyes seemed to suggest otherwise. Xion supposed the Organization coat looked kind of scary; sometimes she was intimidated, even. Anyway, she seemed like she could have vital information.

"Have you seen a red turban anywhere?" Asked Xion.

The girl seemed to want to say something, but she stopped, hesitating. Xion realised that it would end up with her lying or something similar. Perhaps a little threat might help bring the point across.

Lifting up her keyblade on her right hand, she pointed it into the girl's face. It was lucky they were both about the same height.

"Have you seen a red turban?" Xion repeated.

Instinct saved her. Xion drew back, drawing the keyblade slightly back down into an angle, swinging herself sideways, and tensing herself, while raising her left hand to provide support for a strong impact on her keyblade. Right on cue, a burst of dark shots exploded into the area, tearing gouges deep into the ground up and around her, and possibly even her if her keyblade had not been there. Again, her instincts shouted out to her, and she took a step backwards, positioning the keyblade directly in front of her. Through all the smoke of the explosions, a sweeping blow cut a swathe through it in a straight line, blocked by her keyblade. Pushing out with both her arms, she forced the enemy back two steps, then swung her whole body around, flinging the enemy with ice shards from her left hand, at the position where the enemy last stood.

Meanwhile, the yellow haired girl backed away towards the wall, trying to escape from this huge combat situation. Xion deduced that she was responsible for this ambush. Running forward, she tensed, then leapt, swinging the keyblade upwards towards the girl's face.

With a ring that resounded through the entire area, the keyblade was halted short of its intended target. In Xion's direct sight was a sword splayed with tinges of blood red and icy blue, and a familiar wing shape that she had definitely seen before.

"You!" Shouted Xion. Breaking away, she skidded backwards, coming to a halt, taking in a deep breath.

"Hello again, number one. It's been quite awhile, hasn't it been? In such a short time, you've turned into an Organization dog. I'm disappointed. I had expected better."

Leaping back into the fray, Riku Replica threw a few blows at Xion, testing her abilities and basic skills, but suddenly, he faltered, his whole body wracked with pain. He was still badly injured from Marluxia. His left leg gave way, and he quickly compensated by kicking hard with his right leg, in an attempt to propel himself away from the other attacks that would take advantage of his temporary opening.

"Shut up! You don't have the right to insult me!" Xion did not give him the time to recover, quickly zooming in on that slight gap, throwing hit after hit at vulnerable areas, pushing the battle forward. A hit on the collarbone, and another on the thigh. It was not enough to incapacitate, but clearly Riku Replica was beginning to tire.

Suddenly interrupting the battle, a corridor of darkness opened at the other end of this area. Temporarily distracted, Xion turned away, while Riku Replica used this as an opportunity to leap back and break away from the engagement. From within the darkness, something red appeared.

"Namine, what's keeping you? Sora's already been brought..." The man that came out of the corridor began speaking.

Xion quickly noticed the red bandages tied to his head. So that was the red turban!

"The red turban!" Xion shouted, leaping high into the air.

"Red turban? It's not a turban!" DiZ shouted back.

Xion did not really care. In quick succession, she loosed something along the lines of 50 firagas down at the man, not considering any overkill. It was her duty to claim vengeance for another Organization member.

Yet they did not seem to be actually doing much. Each firaga was pretty much reflected away from the man back onto the ground. Clearly, some strange defensive mechanism was protecting that person, a somewhat transparent shield surrounding his front.

Out of the corner of her eyes, Xion saw Riku Replica racing along the ground, running to get into a good position, ready to leap airborne to engage her. Swinging her body fully, she hurled the keyblade down at him, but as expected he deflected the keyblade aside with his sword. Not there was an opening even a blind man can't possibly miss.

Holding out her right arm, she mustered her energy and called forth the keyblade back to her hands. One more hit, and this would be over for good.

But all that came was a slight wisp of light, which quickly disintegrated. It should have worked. The keyblade definitely disappeared from the ground. But apparently it would not come to her.

"What the?!" Xion was shocked. Why could she not summon the keyblade? Of course, she practically only had a second to think about it before it was knocked out of her head as Riku Replica slashed at her in midflight, and she fell out of the air, landing on the cobblestones with a bone jarring impact.

As her vision rapidly deteriorated, she tried once more, holding out her hand before her, summoning the keyblade with as much concentration as she could. The shimmer of light that quickly disappeared was the last thing she saw before she lost consciousness entirely.

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"Who is she?" was the first question, shot out by DiZ.

"We were careless. The Organization would have noticed if there had not been any reports," said Namine.

Riku Replica remained silent. But now he had something to say.

"Leave her to me. Dead men tell no tales. Anyway, I need to show her. Or rather, remind her."

DiZ quickly understood. So she was of the same construct as he was. Quite interesting.

"But why couldn't she summon her keyblade? She seemed genuinely shocked when it didn't come," asked Namine,.

"I think it's because I just moved Sora down. It seems that she cannot summon in the proximity of a real Keyblade Master," inferred DiZ.

"Do with her what you want. We need to get ready to put forth the next phase of our operation." With that, DiZ and Namine left.

Hoisting up the unconscious Xion onto his shoulders, Riku Replica opened a door to darkness. If nightmares were anything to go by, the place he would be bringing her to would be the combination of everyone's worst nightmares, brought to the plane of reality.

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As Xemnas stood watching, the proof crumbled, as one crack ran through the center, collapsing the entire structure over the picture of a book that lay below, which quickly lost its bluish glow. There was hardly any trace that it ever stood before.

Xemnas shook his head. Too many had died. Xion's incompetence had cost the Organization. It was unacceptable for him. He turned around.

"You know what to do?"

From the darkness, a voice spoke out.

"Oh, so number one won't be stealing the spotlight anymore, eh? Very good. An easy disposal mission. Nothing that could, or would go wrong."

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Castle Oblivion, Unknown Position

Shrugging herself back into consciousness, Xion quickly felt the pain spiking through her cranium, and she moaned. She had smashed head first into the ground, so it was to be expected. It was a miracle it was still intact anyway.

She quickly realised that she was no longer in Twilight Town. This place was really dark, with bearly any light as compared to where she had been previously. And there was something binding her wrists, probably a pair of manacles. The cold steel bound her tight, allowing precious little room for manoeuvring. Somehow, these manacles were not tied to anything on the other end of it, but it still held her in position, and even if she pulled with as much strength as she could collect, the manacles still could not move past an inch of where they started.

As her eyes adapted into the darkness, she picked up several details of this area. Dim lights shone at her from wall mounted torches, the flickering flames casting eerie shadows all over the place. From the light of the flames, she realised that the walls were not exactly walls, but rather a bluish rock face, like a cave. Perhaps she was in one?

Out of the darkness, a figure stood up, casting a long shadow across the area.

"So you've awoken. Finally."

Picking up his blade, he walked over to Xion, taking long, careful strides, just in case she actually decided to do something. Not that he was actually worried. A bound, confused, disoriented enemy could hardly stand up to an attack, let alone think of executing one.

If she could move her hands, Xion would have clutched her head right about now. It may just be her head still slightly hurt, but somehow every sound seemed ludicrously sharp in this room, each slight vibration another spike impaled through her mind. Through all that pain, she managed to squeeze out two questions.

'Where... am I? Why did you bring me here?"

Riku Replica frowned. Xion winced. She guessed she shouldn't have asked.

"Insubordination!" Shouted Riku Replica, raising his right hand, sending it swinging down on Xion's face. Rather than try to counter it, she let the force carry her along, and she was flung around with the chains as a pivot, her cheeks stinging with pain.

"It looks as though you don't understand the situation. You are now a prisoner, and I am the captor. I ask the questions, not you. Your audacity would not be appreciated."

Walking around Xion, Riku replica casually placed her hand around Xion's shoulder, just as interrogators did in those old war movies Xion had watched. She shirked slightly from the uncomfortable contact. Not that there was really much space to move about anyway.

"Unfortunately, you will have no opportunity to talk. The questions I asked would not require an answer, being more of the rhetorical sort and all."

Finally, Riku Replica stopped moving around Xion, an improvement, at least for her, because watching him go round and round was making her dizzy.

"Now, why did you join the Organization willingly? Have you forgotten what they did to you? What they did to all of us?"

Riku Replica stopped. With mock horror, he took a step back.

"Oh wait, you probably didn't get the worst of it. Sure, you were sent to the combat zone once, but you barely took any injuries. You were lucky. You were never badly injured, or sent to the torture cell unlike dozens others. You actually survived the initiation trial with me, with my help no less, while the others fell. But surely you saw others suffering, didn't you?"

Xion found that she could move one of her hands. Not that it really mattered. She was too busy trying to deal with the pain from the sounds as well as from that caused by her memories, trying to stem the tide flowing in her, memories she had chosen to lock up deep inside her. She cradled her hand in her free hand, trying to drown out the pain.

"Please... Stop... Don't remind me."

Something happened. Riku Replica suddenly halted for perhaps half a second, although not likely from mercy, then his interrogator role resumed.

"No matter how hard you try to hide from your memories, they are always a part of you, always kept within you. The pull of Castle Oblivion can awaken the very memories you choose to hide. You can try to throw them away, but they will never let you go."

Riku Replica turned around.

"I suppose I shouldn't hold you up. Some old acquaintances want to meet you. Either way, I am otherwise engaged now."

Walking into a corridor of darkness, he disappeared, leaving behind only wisps of darkness in his wake. On the other side of the room, a glimmer of light slowly grew as a door opened.

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Castle Oblivion, Twilight Town Level

Even after climbing up so many levels, Riku was lost for words.

All the other places he had clearly been to before, but this place was different. It was totally new, totally different. Somehow, it reminded him of home...

He shook his head. That cloaked person was right. He had forsaken his home to seek power, at the detriment of those around him. A soldier heartless dove at him from the roof of a nearby shop, cleanly dispatched by a neat slice. Riku kept on walking.

A locked gate appeared before him as he emerged from a thick canopy of trees. Before him stood a huge mansion, which had clearly seen better times. The paint was visibly flaking, and the building looked as though it would collapse at the slightest touch. It made him wonder why they even bothered putting a padlock on such a place.

Feeling a surge of dark energy behind him, Riku whirled around, swirling his blade with as much strength as he could muster. He did not even need to know who it was. As confirmation, his look alike stood before him, matching his blade with an identical one.

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Castle Oblivion, Unknown Location

Taking advantage of the sudden reprieve, Xion tugged at the remaining chain, trying to get it out, yet it remained stubbornly stuck.

"Don't bother, 353."

A familiar voice.

"Oh wait. I forgot. After surviving the run, you were officially given a new name. Xion."

What Xion had dreaded was really coming true. How did that Replica manage to get this guy into this too? Then she remembered. He knew him too.

"Don't say you've forgotten me already, Xion. What of our promise?"

Yes, she wanted to say. I have forgotten you already. I have moved on. But it would be a lie. In her heart, he was always remembered. It was really a figure of speech, since she did not have a heart. But still, it would be hard to forget someone when he died for you.

Turning around, Xion saw a group of 12 people. All of whom she recognized.

"Why did you not help us take revenge? Our cursed fate as dolls, created by the Organization, who in turn made our lives literal hell. Have you forgotten? Why are you trying to forget us?"

Yes. The doll known as 331 was talking to her. But she did not reply. She knew that her memories were coming back to haunt her.

"What of our promise, Xion? Have you forgotten? You were the one who initiated it, after all," 331 asked.

No, of course she had not. The promise. A thanks to 331 for being the first who stood up for her, accepting her, persuading the others to bring her along for their initiation run. Taking a hit for Xion, he had died, so she still had feelings for him. But no matter how fond she was of him...

"You're dead! You're all dead! The dead belong only in the realm of death. Nothing I did could have brought you all back!" Shouted Xion. She really couldn't take it. In all her frustration she had actually began crying.

"But we're all here, aren't we?" Retorted 331.

"Shut up! Shut up!" Screamed Xion in his face. Summoning a veil of darkness before her, she cloaked her entire body in it, quickly engulfing herself in a roiling mass of swirling darkness.

"She's really going to use it..." One of the other dolls commented.

"Take care of her," said 331, as he walked out of the room.

Releasing herself from every sense of restrain she had, Xion only managed to glimpse the determined faces of the group, some similarly cloaking themselves in darkness, before the darkness took over completely.

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Castle Oblivion, Twilight Town Level

"Why did that Replica have to just run off, ignore orders and get himself killed? He's really done it this time!" Grumbled DiZ.

"Well, at least he did do his job," consoled Namine. "We should give him to right to choose how he wishes to end his own life."

DiZ grunted, shaking his head.

"Still, what happened to that Organization doll that he brought away?"

"I think she's down at B5 or something. She's probably still down there."

Running through some mathematical figures in his head, DiZ acknowledged the fact that the plan was still proceeding as scheduled. Taking a battered chair, he settled down for a cup of coffee.

Fin~


And that is Act III, a compilation of my original Act III and IV that I wrote down, because I wanted to reduce total number of acts. Hope you liked it!

For the next chapter, well, let's say it's kind of touching. But I've got really no time to write it today, so, next time I guess.

Once more, I really really hope that this thread doesn't fall to page two again.

[TwilightRiku_13]

Holy cow, what the heck is going on? So, the Org. is just churning out replicas? I wonder why. Anyway, great job, definiately worth the wait, and I look forward to more.

[Snow]

Yep, the Org is just churning out replicas. Eventually I'll explain why, haha. I've already developed the entire story in my head, just not brought it down onto paper yet.

[khfreak17]

wow. confusing, but realy good. cant wait for the next act-chapter-thingy