Remnant Advent: All That Remains

[XIII's follower]

Hello, this is my second fan fiction and I hope you like it. Anyway, this is just a prologue:

Chapter 1: Prologue

A young woman and a young man speak:

I’m glad you’re here; I need to speak to you.

Okay; about what?

It’s about the newcomers. I’ve done some observing and I think I know some things about them now.

Really?! Well, how much do you know? Did you speak to them?

Well, no; I didn’t speak to them, so I don’t know them intimately. However, I know some basic things about them, many of which they have in common, so I think I have a basic understanding now.

That’s … excellent! So, where did they come from? Who … who are they?

Actually, it’s … it’s who were they.

(Taken aback) Who … were they?! You mean they’re …

Yes, they are … dead. At least they were anyway.

…

I’m sorry; I know how you feel about …

It’s … It’s alright. So what … (pauses to gain composure) what happened to them?

I don’t know all the details, but they seemed to have all died the same way: They sustained a massive trauma that caused their very beings to slowly unravel until they just … faded away. From what I can tell, it was a very slow and agonizing way to end.

(Saddened) Wow. I mean, they’re a little rough sure, but they definitely didn’t deserve that. That’s horrible … who would do something like that to someone?

Yes, it is … disheartening, but I think that the way they died, as tortuous as it was, is what caused them to survive and arrive here.

(Surprised) Oh? Why do you say that?

A small piece of their being managed to fuse into their weapons, and, because of the force needed to break them apart, their weapons were jettisoned away and landed where you eventually found them.

(Understanding) Alright, but that gives me another question. Other people found those weapons before I did, so why did they choose me? Why did they come to me?

(Shakes her head) That I’m not so sure about; I’m sorry. If I were to guess, I would say that they might have recognized you as a capable host, and because of your … ‘situation’, it is possible you welcomed them.

That’s sounds like a pretty good guess. Still, something worries me. None of them seem that compliant; I mean all of them fought me when they arrived here.

But, you won, right?

I don’t know; what would've happened if I lost?

Odds are you would’ve died, and the one who beat you would become the new host.

(Surprised) In that case, I’m glad I survived. However, they still have strong personalities. I’m afraid they may turn into … split personalities for me. Do you think they’ll actually start … taking over me?

(Smiles as she shakes her head) I doubt it. When you defeated them, they became a part of you, and you became their host, which leads me to this. They can roam all throughout this place all they want; they can even meet each other if they wish, but they can never leave here.

Really?! Why?

Remember when I said they are dead? Well, in truth, they were dead until you found them. They, in essence, are just parts of a mind and soul. Parts that are now part of you; they rely on your body and soul as a vessel. Whether they recognize it, realize it, or not, you are their only hope for life, their only means for existence. If they leave, they will be lost forever.

(First surprised, then smiles) Well, at least I know someone needs me. By the way, you seem to know a lot about this.

(Smiles) Well, it turns out that they arrived here in a process similar to how I got here. For me, however, I am still alive, meaning my true self is still out there. The same, as you know, does not go for them. Now, they are just fragments of who they used to be, remnants of who they once were.

Remnants.

Okay, I know it's vague but this is just an intro to the canon and logic. Anyway, until I can get chapter 1 up, Feed back is welcome (and desired).

[XIII's follower]

WARNING: this is a long chapter.

Chapter 2

Nothing No Longer: "You’re a somebody to me"

“No... Nooooo!! I refuse to lose to a bunch of losers! I... I'm fading?! NO...this isn't...the way I... I won't...ALLOW...”

BZZZZT!! The young woman appeared in a flash of electricity and in state of near unconsciousness, and quickly fell to the ground. Her eyes slowly flickered open, putting her disorientation in full effect. The room spun rapidly around her until it all melted together into a sick blur. She even felt she would throw up if she wasn’t so hungry. She felt weak, her muscles aching and she barely able to move; with every attempt to stand, she could only manage to will herself forward a few inches. “Oh man… Hey, are you ok,” she heard in what sounded like a male’s voice, followed by hurried almost running footsteps toward her. Slowly, the fog of confusion disappeared, and everything came into focus. Then, she noticed that this guy had helped to her feet, and was half holding her up. Quickly, despite her still aching body and weakened state, she quickly set her feet, and swung her fist at his face. She didn’t want his help or want him to think she needed help; “I’m still Larxene,” she thought to herself.

However, the young man easily dodged her swing and even jumped back a little. Noticing the quickness of his reaction, Larxene began to wonder if he expected it or if he just had good reflexes, but this quickly left her mind as other questions came to her mind.

“Where … where am I,” said Larxene as she began to look the young man over, “who are you?”

The young man looked a little younger than she was, 17 or 18 she guessed, and she guessed he was about 6’1”, about three inches taller than her. He had long, below-shoulder-length, flowing onyx-black hair and violet-blue eyes that seemed to shine with brilliance and lucidity. He wore a black leather jacket that hung below his waist and that he kept unzipped, revealing a crimson red shirt underneath a deep violet, multi-zippered vest he wore over his chest. He wore fingerless gloves on his hands, black pants with a single belt with a modest silver buckle through them on his lower body, and combat boots on his feet. In truth, Larxene found the young man’s dress a little … mundane especially compared to the attire of the guys she’d spent the most time with. Based on the way his clothes hung on him and the impression he made in them, Larxene could tell he was well-built and somewhat muscular, but his mannerisms and stature seemed uncertain and slightly shaky; because of that, she deduced she could beat him in fight if she wanted.

As that thought crossed her mind, Larxene noticed the young man was looking at her with a semi-concerned, semi-confused look. Did he notice what she what doing? Did he know she was analyzing him?

Finally, the young man asked with obvious concern, “Are you alright?”

Larxene, beginning to feel her strength returning, responded by waving a finger side to side and saying with a slight smile, “I asked you a question first.”

The young man still with obvious concern on his face said, “I’m just a friend. But I more worried about you. Are you alright? I mean, you took a pretty nasty fall.”

“A friend," Larxene thought half laughing to herself; she obviously had stumbled upon a compassionate person who didn’t know her very well.

Still, she found herself intrigued enough to lead him on, responding in a sincere tone, “Oh, I think I’ll be fine. Thanks though.”

The young man seemed to be slightly relieved by her response, but Larxene had already turned her attention to her still-returning strength. Slowly, she had felt the electricity returning and resurging through her body as it did before, but she still didn’t know how well her body had recuperated. One particular ability Larxene knew she would need to fight effectively was still in question, so she decided to try and see if she could still do it.

Larxene, after her brief moment of thought, said to the young man, “Actually, there is something you can help me with,” and, as she was finishing her statement, focused the electricity in her body and focused on the area behind the young man.

Then, in a brief flash of sparks, Larxene disappeared just as she’d always had, and reappeared behind the young man, in the exact spot she wanted. Just like before, the action was almost instant, fast enough for her to lightly place her hand on his shoulder with very little of his notice, causing him to jump a little as he turned to her slightly although he didn’t seem that surprised by the act.

Glad that she got the results she wanted, Larxene naturally smiled as she finished her statement saying, “I’m actually starving; you think you can help me with that?”

The young man looked off into the distance as he was thinking for a moment until he seemed to come back with the realization of something, and unzipped one of the compartments on his vest. Larxene circled around slightly to see better as he reached into the pocket and pulled two yellow-colored capsules.

He then proceeded to hand them to Larxene as he said, “These are special vitamins I take when I need some extra energy. They’re not as good as food, but they should give you a nice boost.”

Larxene looked suspiciously at the two small capsules sitting in her hand for a moment, trying to see if they were dangerous at all, until she decided to risk it, and quickly swallowed them dry. Larxene was still for a moment, waiting for any possible negative effects, but, almost immediately after she felt the capsules hit her stomach, she felt an intense rush of energy as all her strength returned and any remaining haze quickly faded away. The surprise and impact of how fast and well the vitamin worked actually caused Larxene to stagger backward slightly as she now felt better than she did at Castle Oblivion.

The young man, apparently seeing that the dose worked, gave a slight smile as he said to Larxene, “If there is anything else I can do for you, if you need a place to stay or a place to sleep, just let me know and I’ll try to help you."

With that, Larxene smiled not because of what he said, but because of how her situation had changed. The young man had just proven himself to be compassionate even to people he didn’t know, which Larxene considered a form of weakness, and, now with all her strength back, she knew she could take this guy down.

No longer wanting to keep up the friendly demeanor any longer, Larxene began to quickly analyze the area as it would the arena for the upcoming fight. In truth, the area looked like a larger version of a Castle Oblivion white room. It was overall pristine white with all the patterns on the walls and floor being a very light grey. The floor had a vaguely tribal pattern running along its border and was relatively large in area. The area had a high ceiling that had a large skylight revealing a starry night sky filled with stars. Overall, the space of the area made it a good place to fight, especially for Larxene who liked to move around a lot.

After finding the place very acceptable, Larxene turned and began to walk away from the young man as she said, “Thank you so much; you’re such a nice guy…”

Then, after she figured she was a good distance away from him, she stopped, turned back to him, and finished her comment saying to him with a wink, “and handsome, too.”

Hoping to put him off guard, Larxene added the last part to try to flatter him and possibly try to tap into his ego.

But instead of how she expected him to react, the young man seemed to hold back a smile, and his face seemed to get little red, but he quickly seemed to calm himself and responded humbly saying, “Well, I don’t know about that last part, but otherwise I do my best.”

Larxene maintained the smile on her face as she continued, “You know, I’m glad I met you. I doubt this would be as fun if you weren’t so kind.” With that, Larxene focuses the electricity in her arms into her hands, ‘summoning’ her kunai, and assumed her fighting stance, holding her left arm down in front of her while keeping her right arm raised near her head.

The young man was completely surprised and taken aback by her sudden move, and responded saying, “Hold on. I’m … I’m not going to fight you. I mean, you’re kind of my guest. Besides, you haven’t done anything to me.”

Larxene, sensing the sincerity and unwillingness in his voice, said in a harshly sarcastic tone, “Aww, how noble of you. Weak and cowardly, but noble. I bet you’re a ‘bleeding heart’, too," and then made her smile disappear as she changed her tone to one more sinister saying, “Just so you know, I’m very foul mood; I lost a fight I should never lost, one that still haunts even now. So, your kindness doesn’t have much effect on me. In fact, it’s starting to piss me off.”

The young man, seemingly trying to settle the situation, responded in a sincere tone, “Okay, I’m sorry … I’m sorry that that happened to you. Please, I don’t want to fight you; I don’t have the reason or will for it. And I’m sorry I angered you; I honestly meant no offense.”

Larxene only sighed as she shook her head, and responded, “Again, there you go being a nice guy. Well, in any case, with all that good karma you’re storing, I’m sure you’ll go to a nice place.”

A sinister smile then came to her face as she said, “You’ll just be going there a little early.”

Upon hearing this, the young man was visibly hurt and almost distraught, but didn’t at all seem surprised or terrified; it was as if he heard the saying numerous times before. Although she did enjoy his evident pain, this was not at all the reaction Larxene expected or wanted and this caused her to become slightly angry, thusly causing electricity to emanate from and trail across her body.

Finally, as her smile disappeared again, Larxene said in a sinister tone, “Well, if you’re not going to fight, then just hold still so I don’t waste much energy thrashing you.”

With that, Larxene coiled at her knees and dashed at the young man, ready to strike. Before she got very close, the young man reached in to his jacket, and pulled out a full-length double-edged sword seemingly out of the lining of his jacket just as she closed in on him, allowing him to block her initial strike. Reacting quickly, Larxene flipped over him while raining down several kunai onto his head, but the young man was able to counter this as well, deflecting them aside. The young man then closed in on her as she was landing, and swung at her with a quick wide-arc, horizontal slash, but, using a counter of her own, ducked under his attack and behind him. Quickly taking advantage of the opportunity, Larxene aimed right for his head, and tossed a kunai at him. The young man turned around just the kunai was about reach him, but showed good reaction speed when he managed to move his head enough for the flying knife to just graze his cheek instead planting in his forehead. However, he apparently hadn’t considered on the electricity laden within it as he was surprised by the shock to his face and jumped back in pain.

Larxene let out a mocking laugh, and said as she summoned her kunai again, “Oh, so you are gonna fight? In that case, at least try to make this interesting.”

She then began to giggle sinisterly as the area suddenly began to change: the white room disappeared and the area changed in a larger, circular outdoor arena with no boundary on its outer ring. This platform was apparently high up in the air as the whole area around it was pitch-black and windy. The most obvious thing about this arena was overhead the night sky was almost covered with thick clouds that flickered with lightning and roared with thunder. Larxene, although surprised by the sudden change of scenery, liked this place; to her, it seemed appropriate, and it fit for her. The young man and Larxene both prepared themselves, and the fight began.

Newly refreshed, Larxene easily slipped back into her fighting style: she easily teleported at will to get an advantage, used her powerful electric attacks for long range and paralyzing attacks, and used her martial art skills and kunai for close range attacks and to apply pressure. At first, she felt a little rusty as some attacks didn’t come out as fast they usually did, but she quickly shook this off as she quickly got back into rhythm, a personal trait that she was particularly proud of. During the fight, Larxene realized that the young man was no slouch himself, and could fight better than she gave him credit for in the beginning.

First, she quickly realized that his sword was not the source of his strength; rather early in the fight, she managed to disarm him. Thinking she could just physically pressure and overwhelm him, she was caught off-guard when the young man revealed that he had some knowledge and skill of martial arts. Larxene couldn’t tell how much he knew, but he showed he knew enough to at least not be overwhelmed while he regained his sword.

Next, she found out that he had access to some energy attacks although he didn’t use them very often. When he did use them, his eyes would glow sapphire and the accompanying energy was also sapphire in color.

The most interesting weapon he had, however, was his sword; while the middle of it was metal, the outer edges and the tip seemed to be made of some sort of gemstone that would glow with the same sapphire light as his eyes and his energy. Also, the blade seemed to be somewhat intangible as it would seemingly go right through Larxene with little resistance and relatively little pain when he managed to slash or slice her.

After a long and draining fight, Larxene managed to knock the young man back with a close range electrical attack; he did roll through but didn’t stand straight up, instead dropping to one knee in fatigue and pain as he labored to catch his breath. Although she was tired, Larxene didn’t at all feel injured, and, seeing an opportunity, prepared for a final attack. She quickly dashed at the young man, but, halfway, she suddenly froze in place; she suddenly felt herself so gripped with pain that she couldn’t move.

Slowly, she felt every time the young man had successfully attacked with his sword, and it became apparent why they seemed ineffective at the time: his sword had a delay effect so that all the damage occurred at once. As the damage began to accumulate, Larxene began to stagger and grit her teeth in an attempt to outlast it, but then she remembered that he managed to briefly impale her.

"AHHHHH!" Larxene yelled out in anguish as the pain quickly overwhelmed her and her kunai disappeared in a brief flash of light, and dropped to her knees as she began to clutch her heart.

The storm arena then disappeared and the area reverted back into the white room it was before.

“I … I lost,” Larxene said with anger and disbelief evident in her voice, “But … how? First, those three losers and now … a weakling like you. This … can’t … this can’t be!”

At that moment, she felt herself beginning to break apart and fade away. Then, Larxene felt something she hadn’t in a while: she actually felt scared, scared at the prospect of dying.

Obviously, noticing something occurring, the young man jumped to his feet, and asked in a very concerned voice, “What’s … what’s happening to you?”

Recognizing the same concern in his voice as before and combining it with her growing fear, Larxene seriously considered asking him for his help, but …

“What’s it look like, genius. I’m … I’m dying,” Larxene snapped at him.

Almost instantly after her comment, Larxene began to levitate independent of her own will, and glow with a sapphire aura. Then, she noticed the young man had his hand outstretched toward her, and his eyes were glowing sapphire just like before. Slowly, as she continued to levitate in place, Larxene felt herself coming back together and solidifying until she finally fell back to the ground, fully healed, as the aura disappeared. The young man dropped his hand and his eyes stopped glowing as Larxene jumped up to her feet. Although she was still tired, her injuries had been healed and she was whole again.

Larxene, still not sure what had just happened, asked him with complete surprise, “Did you just … heal me?"

The young man didn’t immediately response as he seemed a bit hesitant, but finally answered saying, “Yes, I did. I’m not going to let you die. Whether you thank me or hate me, you will not lose your life because of me."

Larxene’s sinister smile returned as she mockingly said, “Aww, how sweet. Stupid but sweet.”

She then shook her head as if disappointed and said, “Looks like I was right after all; you’re every bit the ‘bleeding heart ’I thought you were.”

Larxene then summoned her kunai again and assumed her fighting stance as her smile returned and said sinisterly, “It was foolish of you to revive me, and now we’ll see if I can make your heart really bleed.”

The young man only slightly bowed his head before reassuming his stance, and the two began to fight again. However, because of Larxene’s lack of injury and the young man’s still-present exhaustion and pain, the fight was rather one-sided. Then, after a careless error by Larxene, the young man managed to put her off-balance in perfect position for a finishing blow but he didn’t take it or at least hesitated long enough for her to escape, which she did.

In disbelief over his actions, Larxene asked harshly with disbelief evident in her voice, “What is with you?! You just had a clear shot at me, the perfect opportunity to finish me off, and didn’t take it; you just let me off the hook. Now, you have no hope."

The young man looked dejected as he responded, “It’s like I told you before. I refuse to let you die because of me or anyone else for that matter. Two people lost their lives because of me, and another four lost their lives because I couldn’t save them. I have enough Death to my name, and I refuse to have any more.”

His tone then turned determined as he continued, “So, as long as you are in my presence, I swear upon my own life that neither I nor anyone else will endanger your life. You can attack me all you want, to your heart’s content, but I will not be the one to cut you down.”

Larxene was mystified by his comments as she stood silent for a moment as if allowing the words to sink in. Finally, her kunai disappeared in a flash of sparks, and she folded her arms across her chest as she said, “Let me get this straight. So in essence, what you’re saying is that you would give up your life for mine?”

The young man simply nodded in response without hesitation. Slowly, Larxene’s shoulders began to bounce up and down as she tried to hold herself together, but to no avail as she broke into a fit of riotous laughter, which seemingly caused the young man to look even more dejected than before.

Then, through her laughs and tears, Larxene managed to choke out, “That is, by far, the mostly overly-sympathetic, misguided, ill-directed, unbelievably-pathetic, incredibly-stupid thing I’ve ever heard.”

Finally, she let out a sigh as her laughter seized and she wiped the tears from her eyes, and then finished, saying, “I guess it’s a nice thought; too bad I can’t appreciate it. Listen. You’re wasting your sympathy on me; I’m the wrong person. I care nothing of your plight; I can’t appreciate compassion or good gestures. I feel nothing! It’s beyond me. I am heart-less, a Nobody. So, keep all of your …”

At that moment, the young man cut her off by saying, “I don’t care about that.”

Completely surprised by his response, asked, “Wha … What?”

The young man then responded with strength and touch of anger, “I said I don’t care about that. I don’t care if you don’t appreciate what I’m doing or think I’m an idiot for doing so.”

He then seemed to calm himself continued with the same strength and a passion in his voice, “Most people do. Sometimes I do, but it’s who I am, and I can’t help that. And I don’t care who told you that you were a nobody. You’re alive and you’re here right now. That makes you somebody to me. And because you are a somebody to me, whether you appreciate it or not, whether you believe it or not, whether you agree with it or not, your life is precious to me, even if mine isn’t precious to you and even though I don’t know you, and your life is worth sparing and/or saving.”

This left Larxene completely astonished, confused, and almost speechless; she couldn’t believe what he’d just said.

Still, she tried to comprehend it, saying aloud incoherently, “How can you … but you don’t … I mean, that’s … unbelievable. Somebody. Precious.”

Try as she might, Larxene couldn’t understand it. It completely defied her logic; no one had ever said anything even like to her or even around her for that matter. But, the passion and sincerity in his voice and eyes caused her to believe him, and, in complete surprise to herself, she was almost somewhat touched. Finally, she sighed and shrugged her shoulders in seeming frustration.

An acceptant look then crossed her face as she said, “Well, congratulations. You’ve completely stumped me with that last one. I can’t even fathom what you just said. I don’t even feel like fighting you anymore.”

Having really lost her will to fight, Larxene tried to avoid any awkwardness, asking, “Anyway, what did you say your name was?”

The young man placed his sword back in the lining of his jacket, where it surprisingly fit without making any impression or poking out the other end, and answered, saying, “My name is Sirius, and you?”

Larxene then responded, “I’m Larxene or, as they call me, ‘the savage nymph’”

Sirius then muttered under his breath ,"I’ll say," and coughed, covering him mouth with his forearm.

Not really hearing what he said, Larxene inquired, “Excuse me,” but Sirius quickly replied, pointing to his neck, “Nothing; throats dry.”

He then made an accompanying hand gesture, and said, “Please continue.”

Larxene shot him a suspicious look, and continued, saying, “Well, I was no. 12 of XIII, but I doubt many of us have survived.”

Sirius, not really understanding, asked with a hint of surprise, “You have 12 siblings?”

Larxene thought for a moment, and responded, “Something like that. We share a certain … bond, but I don’t see them as my brothers. Anyway, I digress. I guess I should be going.”

Sirius then quickly said, “Actually, you don’t have to have to go if you don’t want to.”

Larxene chuckled as she’d guessed he might offer her to stay, and said, “Why am I not surprised. Man, you’re lucky you’re still whole , because you would’ve made a horrible no. 15.”

Sirius, in response, asked in confusion, “What? What do you mean ‘still whole’,” but Larxene, not really wanting to explain, simply said, “Uh, don’t worry about it.”

Trying to change the subject, Larxene asked, “So, you said there’s a place to stay here?”

This apparently made Sirius happy as he almost lit up when he responded, “Yes. There’s plenty of room here; stay as long as you like.”

Larxene, seeing his poorly-hidden elation and trying to calm him, said, “Hold on; don't get too excited. I’m just staying because I have nowhere else to go.”

As she was saying that, she noticed Sirius’ smile; it had an endearing, sincere, and almost infectious quality to it and, despite her best efforts, she couldn’t help but like it.

Sirius respectfully replied, “A guest is a guest,"

Larxene then saw a flash of light behind her. Quickly, she turned and saw a lightning bolt shaped gate that lead to a flight of stairs behind her. Sensing this was for her by the shape of it, Larxene walked toward it, but stopped at about midway.

A thought suddenly popped into her head, but, for some reason, before she could dismiss it, she found herself turning back to Sirius slightly and offering it, saying, “Hey, if you ever need help fighting or getting out of something, call me and I’ll help you.”

Sirius seemed slightly confused by the offer and all Larxene could think to herself was , “Why did I just say that?”

Quickly thinking of some kind of reason, Larxene continued, saying, “Because I can’t have a rematch with you if someone else takes you out.”

This was good because she did want to fight him again, and he seemed to accept it as he simply smiled and responded, “Right. Thank you.”

Larxene waved at him, saying “Ta-Ta,” and, as she entered through the gate, heard Sirius say, “See you around.”

Walking up the stairs, Larxene contemplated if she was really going to stay in this place and for how long. Then, a thought came to her mind. “If I ended up here, who else will end up here,” she thought aloud to herself.

Alright that's chapter 1. Until next time, please give feedback. Seriously, I'm dying to hear from somebody, anybody. Even if you send me down in flames.