83Me: I'm back with the chapter you've all been waiting for patiently. I want to thank all my reviewers for sticking with this story. Now, enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own the song and lyrics of 'Numb' by Linkin Park.
Chapter 22: The final battle, part 2
Normal pov
"Hey, what's wrong?"
Ria was still curled up on the ground, hardly realising that the voice, and that the child to which the voice belonged, chased the nothingness away. She was sobbing too hard.
The child, a small boy, appearing to be five years of age, gazed down on her with bright, gentle blue eyes. He was very worried. He felt like it was his duty to comfort her.
He touched Ria's shoulder softly with his small, delicate hands and began patting her back.
As Ria lifted her tear-stained face, the boy smiled cutely. He noticed how terrible she looked. It triggered a silent, angry curse.
The boy looked like a younger version of Roxas. His hair was lighter though, and soft as feathers. His eyes were full of intelligence. For his age, it was a strange trend. He wore grey shorts and a white, plain t-shirt.
"Who . . . who are you?" Ria asked between her sobs. She sat up right. The five-year old sat down beside her.
The question seemed to frustrate him.
"I don't have a name. Xemnas never gave me one." He stated. It was obvious that he wasn't happy about it.
"Xemnas?!" Victoria exclaimed.
"Yeah, he's my creator. I'm a puppet, just like Xion was till Sora helped her gain a heart." He paused while Ria's heart filled with disgust that was aimed at the silver-haired Superior.
Then he continued.
"I was originally made to lure Roxas back to the organisation, but then Xemnas realised that he could use me to lure you to him. That's why I look like a younger version of your friend. At first, I looked like the person who appealed the most to Roxas, but now Xemnas changed me to appear like a younger version of the person that appeals to you the most. When Xemnas made me sent those nobodies into your world, to fish out the girl from the prophecy, I felt so bad for what I had done after I found you. In order to ease my shame, I rescued you from the Nobodies and teleported you to another place. You're probably wondering why I left you on the beach. Well, Xigbar was checking on what I was doing and I preferred not to reveal you to him so I dropped you off somewhere random. I had no control over where because I rushed it." The boy paused again. Ria stared at him, putting the pieces of her mysterious appearance in Twilight Town together.
"So, it was you. . ." The boy nodded. "How old are you?"
"I don't really know. Xemnas told me I was five but I'm never really a certain age because he keeps changing me. I'm always younger than the actual person I'm supposed to look like"
"Well, you can't be that young, your language skills are impressing."
"Xemnas taught me to talk like this."
"Oh. . ." Ria's forehead creased.
"I'm not supposed to be here. Xemnas wanted to leave you in the darkness till you went insane. But I'm refusing to let him win. I'm sick of him trying to hurt you!" The boy slammed his fist on top of the palm of his other hand, while narrowing his beautiful eyes.
"Ok. . . You know, I'll give you a name for starters." Ria stated. She smiled at the boy, causing a hopeful smile to touch his lips. His personality matched Roxas' as good as his looks did.
"Because you look like Roxas, but you're not him, I'll call you Roxas Junior, Jr. for short." Ria said and crossed her arms, content.
"Cool!" Roxas Jr. clapped excitedly. Ria copied him and together they clapped for a moment while grinning at each other like two happy fools.
After the clapping session was over, Ria looked around thoughtfully.
"Um . . . how did you. . ." Ria gestured at the white surroundings.
"Oh . . . dunno. Weird things happen around me. I really have no clue to where we are exactly. It's probably some in-between thing." Roxas Jr. shrugged and got up. He held his hand out to Ria.
"C'mon, let's get out of here and bring you back to your friends." Ria took the blonde's hand and he pulled her up. His strength was overwhelming. It made it obvious that he wasn't a natural being.
"Hold my hand and close your eyes." Roxas Jr ordered. Ria did so willingly.
An ice cold feeling touched Ria cheeks, neck, arms and legs. A surge of panic overwhelmed her as the icy feeling completely covered her body. The coldness seemed flow down into her skin and through her blood veins. She cringed and wanted to break free from Roxas Jr.'s small hand, but he was holding on to her too firmly.
After a few seconds, it was over. The ice retreated from her veins and body and Roxas Jr.'s touch filled her with new warmth. As opened her eyes, Junior's eyes were locked onto her. He was worried again.
"I'm Ok, really." She reassured him.
They were in the hall were Ria had met Xemnas previously. Her friends were nowhere to be seen but they soon spotted Xemnas staring darkly at Roxas Jr.
Roxas Jr. returned Xemnas' glare right back at him. Ria's grip around Roxas Jr. hand tightened.
Suddenly, Xemnas' face grew into an evil grin. He swiftly gestured at the wall, creating a black oval abyss. Then he waved, pulling something out of the abyss that made Ria gasp in horror as he did so.
"No way!" She shrieked.
Ria's pov
"I knew you would betray me, puppet!" Xemnas spat at my little friend. Oddly, he wasn't unnerved or greatly angered, just annoyed. "You let you facsimile sense of right and wrong get into the way of things. But because I always have two plans, I prepared something a little different from the original one." He grinned nefariously.
From the abyss, a number of complete black figures dropped to the ground like stones. Their human shape resembled my friends, and it only took a moment to realise that they were my friends. Xemnas had turned them into some kind of lifeless creatures. The different forms they had were really the only thing that gave away their identities.
"What did you do to them!?" I spat, still utterly horrified. Roxas Jr. squeezed my hand. He was afraid of Xemnas' grin which became increasingly wide.
"What are you saying? Your negative feelings triggered their doom." He paused so he could amuse himself with my frustrated and horrified expression. "See, the realm were I sent you to, absorbed these feelings and they were the key to open the very special door."
Everything came crashing down on me. The Door was opened without me even knowing it. I stared at Xemnas, extremely shocked. I tried hard not to believe him but deep inside, I knew it was true.
"Yes Ria, you opened it for me! The Door to Everlasting Darkness!" He roared triumphantly and lifted his arms. From under Xemnas, a black stream of some sort of liquid flowed out of a black gap. It soon transformed into a relentless river, engulfing our white surroundings with its noxious darkness. It choked all the light of this world.
I felt the grip around my hand loosen; it was followed by a quite thud. My vision snapped to the ground. The little blond boy had collapsed. His breathing was irregular and his eyes were tightly shut. His face was ragged with pain. I stared helplessly at the young boy. Knowing that I had no idea how to safe him, created a massive deal of panic in me.
The black river began devouring him slowly. He was beginning to look like Roxas and the rest, like a lifeless black shell. I glanced at Xemnas, he was enjoying himself.
What kind of sick person does that, you ask? A sadistic one.
Before Junior's arms and face were devoured, his hand gripped mine hastily and his blue eyes opened slowly.
"Ria, you have to stop Xemnas. He is using your negative emotions that linger in your heart to absorb the light of all the worlds and people of Light! You have to get rid of the hatred you feel for him! Before it devours you too!" He whispered desperately. Then his grip loosened again and his eyes closed.
The black stream engulfed him completely and then he was like everyone else, another lifeless black shell.
Xemnas' depraved laugh echoed around me as I shook the shell, whining. It summoned uncontrollable hatred, fury and revulsion in me.
I roared, releasing all those feelings through it and charged at the silver-haired monster. It was a mistake though. As soon as I took a couple of steps, nausea overwhelmed me. I shuttered and my legs buckled under me. The sick feeling worked its way up to my head. Numbness followed after it.
I lost all strength in my limbs. They lay loosely on the black liquid. I didn't sink but just like it did with Roxas Jr.; it began swallowing me slowly, beginning at my legs. The crawling movement was silent.
"No!" I cried desperately. Xemnas laughed again.
"Yes, Ria. You'll soon join your pathetic friends." My uncontrollable feelings caused me to roar again. It sped up the black river drastically; it was halfway over my stomach in less than two seconds.
"Feel your heart being consumed by darkness, feel your senses becoming numb. Feel the lifeless shell you will become!" His voice was euphoric.
"Cease the hatred you feel towards Xemnas!" Junior's words echoed through my head.
'But how can I when he is creating sentences that I can't stand?!"
"Please Xemnas, stop!" I begged faintly. I locked my eyes onto his and put on the most pleading look on that I could. "I can help you become whole again! All you have to do it stop this madness!"
The stream ceased flowing further up my body for a moment. Positive emotions caused it to retreat slowly.
Xemnas smirked. His amber-orange eyes locked onto mine.
"No one can help me. And if I can't have a heart, NO ONE SHALL HAVE ONE!"
His arms shoot upwards and the river flowed up his body, following his arms. Soon he was covered entirely in the liquid.
A sleek silver mist soon wrapped itself around Xemnas too. It transformed him into something big and bulky
Soon there stood a massive basalt-colour, armoured, human-shaped beast in front of my tiny body. It seemed to be staring at me.
Our surroundings changed too. The river retreated back into the hole it came from but it left behind a navy and purple galaxy. I recognized all the worlds me and the boys visited and some new worlds that I hadn't seen before floating around a huge, glowing, heart shaped moon. Something was wrong with them. I could only make out which worlds they were by their shapes as they too were completely covered in blackness. Just like my friends, they had become lifeless shells. Beneath me, an invisible force formed a hard floor. Each footstep echoed around us ten times.
Xemnas' words were true. The opening of the door causes great evil to take over.
Then I suddenly realised that the Door to Darkness wasn't an actual door, it was . . . me! I was the Darkness, the source. I was the weapon. Xemnas used my hatred-filled heart to absorb all the light from the people of Light and the worlds themselves.
Zexion's words came back to me.
"He found out that you're The Key to a door he says is special, the door to everlasting darkness. Beyond that door is something so evil, it will destroy all the worlds and cause great losses to ever living being. The person, who finds it, controls it. The door lies somewhere deep within the castle and only with your help can Xemnas open it."
'But how's that possible? If Xemnas said that the door lies deep within the castle . . .'
I suddenly realised that I was deep within the castle. Of course I still wondered how me being the Door was possible but I had no time for asking questions. I had to find a way to get rid of the solid hatred that came from deep within my heart. The maniac monster that Zexion had mentioned was my dark heart. My heart might not be scary, but it was impossible to rid it of hatred. It didn't literally destroy the worlds, it just destroyed the light.
I grasped my keyblade tightly and took a few deep breathes. My numbed senses were returning slowly as the liquid that had been covering some of my body had vanished.
The mount of amour towering in front me waited silently for my next move. He seemed unconcerned.
"OK Xemnas, I tried it the peaceful way but obviously, you don't want to co-operate. You just sealed your doom!" It was sort of funny that I was trying to talk like him. I could clearly see the effects it had on me if I was in Xemnas' presence for too long.
The mount didn't move. I took my chances and sprang at him hastily. Ha, it would be funny if it were that easy to attack. But it wasn't.
I slammed against an invisible wall a couple of centimetres before the blade of my key could slice Xemnas' armoured stomach. Some sort of ward that Xemnas had placed around him held me away from his physical being.
The collision with the invisible force had left a crack in my nose. Warm, rich, red blood streamed slowly down my face. It stained my clothes. Some of it escaped into my mouth. It tasted salty.
"You fool! There is a reason why people feared the opening of the Door, and that is because the one who opens it, feeds the one whom receives, with ultimate dark power! It comes from your heart and no matter how small that piece of hate or anger is deep within your heart, it will always be enough to feed me with this ultimate power!" Xemnas roared with evil delight.
I felt truly powerless. No matter how terrified I was in all my battles with other people before, nothing compared with this kind of fear. I felt like a rabbit confronting a wolf.
Then another thought hit me.
"But what if I try to focus my thoughts on my three best friends Roxas, Axel and Roxas Jr.?" I mentioned Junior because he helped me out twice and I owed him at least that much. "What if that triggers affectionate feelings for them? I'll forget about the hate, and fill myself with positive feelings!" A spark of hope and a lot of happy memories set my heart on fire with these so-called positive feelings. The happy fire pulsed through my veins and gave me new strength.
It had a visible effect on the armoured beast.
"No!" I heard Xemnas cry. The sleek silver mist wrapped itself around him again. Whatever it was, it disappeared right at the moment it reached the top of Xemnas' helmet. To my surprise, it made him even bigger than before. A large, bulky sword was added to his hands. It resembled Zelix's blade an awful lot. I was totally dumbfounded for a moment.
Xemnas laughed again. This time hysterically. He had become completely insane. I took my chances again and charged. I nearly tripped a couple of times but Xemnas didn't realise that I was trying to attack him. He just continued laughing in his own hysterical way.
When my keyblade was within reaching distance, I sprang up, over Xemnas' helmet and with all my might, slammed my keyblade down into his head, trying to break the helmet in two which was covered in blood droplets from my nose. I was glad the the ward had vanished.
As my feet touched the invisible ground again, and my hair fell back on my shoulders, a loud cracking sound ripped through the air. Xemnas' whole armour split in two. The pieces began to smoke and then disintegrated, this time forming black mist which began to cover the figure that had been carefully wrapped in the armour. The figure wasn't Xemnas but I couldn't see clearly enough to recognize who it was.
The mist seemed to shrink the figure down to an adult male's size. I gasped as the mist retreated slowly.
My keyblade slipped out of my hand as I stared blankly at the person who had taken Xemnas' position.
In front of me, grinning just as evil as Xemnas, stood Zelix.
(A/N: I was so very, VERY tempted to end this chapter right here, just to add to the suspense. But, BUT don't worry. I asked myself, 'should I really be so mean?' and I answered, 'I don't think so!' I don't want to end up like Xemnas. Y'know, a lot people hate him. Anyway, moving along 'cause I don't want to keep you all waiting)
I'm tired of being what you want me to be
Feeling so faithless, lost under the surface
I was once again, dumbfounded. Scratching the back of my head, I gestured at Zelix. I noted that his eyes were lightly closed.
"How did you . . .? I stared at him, totally confused.
I don't know what you're expecting of me
Put under the pressure of walking in your shoes
"Like it? So this is how it feels to posses ultimate power." The voice didn't belong to Zelix. It was the deep rich voice of Xemnas. He was obviously trying to trick me into thinking he was Zelix. A thing only a complete idiot would do.
(Caught in the undertow just caught in the undertow)
I chuckled quietly. All that greed for power must have processed his non-existing brain into pudding. How stupid did he think I was that I wouldn't recognize his voice easily?
Every step that I take is another mistake to you
"Xemnas, you have to do way better than that? Taking the shape of Zelix is soooo lame! It won't stop me from attacking you, y'know?" I stated smugly. It felt great to outsmart an evil genius.
(Caught in the undertow just caught in the undertow)
"Once again you proved what a fool you are! Do you really think I would consume time by trying to gain the shape of another? No, it is a lot less complicated to just posses a victim. The darkness of your friend's heart is enough to enable me to get into him!"
I've become so numb I can't feel you there
Become so tired so much more aware
"What?" I slapped my forehead. So much for my Xemnas-brain-pudding theory. I didn't know why I didn't think about the whole possessing-a-body thing before. I made myself look pretty stupid.
' . . .Wait, Zelix doesn't have a heart. What is Xemnas on about?'
I'm becoming this all I want to do
Is be more like me and be less like you
A loud groan interrupted my thoughts. My attention turned to Zelix. Both his hands were clawed to his head. It was like he was trying to pierce the skin on his head.
Then his eyes opened widely. The blue colour of his eyes kept switching to amber orange and then back to blue again. He took a few steps forward and then tripped. His arms reached out towards me, trying to grasp me. His clenched teeth were bared. He was bracing himself for something. Or was he fighting Xemnas' control?
Can't you see that you're smothering me?
Holding too tightly, afraid to lose control
"Ria, you have to run! Before Xemnas gains complete control of my body! I won't . . . be able to stop myself from hurting you!" Zelix's voice kept breaking into Xemnas' and then into his own again.
Cause everything that you thought I would be
Has fallen apart right in front of you
"No! I won't let that happen! No one can do that to my friends!" I yelled. The positive fire in my heart was replaced with the collection of negative feelings. I hear a quite 'yes' coming from Zelix's half-possessed body. It was Xemnas' voice again.
"Ria, PLEASE!" That was Zelix's voice again. The switching of voices was frustrating. "Before the darkness completely consumes your heart and before I lose all control over my body!" His broke into Xemnas' once again. It was weird to hear Xemnas pleading.
Every step that I take is another mistake to you
As I thought about my heart, the solution dawned on me. It was a big choice to make but it was necessary.
"If this is all because of my heart, then I have to get rid of mine." I stated calmly. I had made my choice.
And every second I waste is more than I can take
Zelix's expression betrayed the confusion of both people. I held my keyblade in a way that its tip was pointing upwards. Then I held it in such a position that the tip pointed right to the place where my heart was beating rapidly.
I've become so numb I can't feel you there
Become so tired so much more aware
Then Zelix exploded. Both of them had finally coped on to what I was going to do.
I'm becoming this all I want to do
Is be more like me and be less like you
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Zelix roared desperately. This time the voice was a mixture of Xemnas' and Zelix's. Xemnas was desperate not to lose the power that was coming from my dark heart and Zelix was desperate not to lose me. I felt selfish but shook it off immediately.
And I know I may end up failing too
But I know you were just like me
With someone disappointed in you
"Sometimes, great sacrifices have to be made in order to win the near endless battle against eternal darkness. Better my heart, than the hearts of everyone else." I said clearly and calmly even though my heart raced. It was as if it knew that it will soon be stabbed.
I've become so numb I can't feel you there
Become so tired so much more aware
"I'm sorry . . . but it's the only way to end this and save your life, Roxas' life and everyone else." I muttered.
I'm becoming this all I want to do
Is be more like me and be less like you
"Ria, NO!"
Zelix got up off the ground and charged at me with his eyes dark blue eyes full of panic. I panicked myself so I took a one last deep breath and stabbed my keyblade swiftly into my body before I got a chance to think about it.
I've become so numb I can't feel you there
I'm tired of being what you want me to be
I was numbed in an instant. I was faintly surprised that there was no pain. My vision began to fade. Blackness crawled from the edges of it to the centre slowly. My heart was gone.
I've become so numb I can't feel you there
I'm tired of being what you want me to be
As I dropped to my knees, my keyblade fell out of my hand. Zelix had stopped running and stared helplessly at my near-lifeless body. Tears had welled in the corners of his eyes. I gave my last, sad smile to him before my head hit the invisible ground and my vision completely faded.
It was over.
Me: I know, I'm doing it again but I have to stop here. I'm really not trying to be mean. Don't worry; this is not the last chapter. It's not over for Ria yet. There WILL be a happy ending to this story. Please tell me what you think and please point out mistakes to me if I made them. And before I go for now, I want to apologize again. Sorry
Oh yeah, I think the song 'Numb' really fit's Zelix in the position he is in right now, Y'know, trying to become himself again and free himself out of Xemnas' claws.