Jason has traveled back in time, to a time before Larxene. But not all is at it seems…will he pierce the mystery before him?
秒 basement exit hall: "Ow…" Itzal woke to an aching head. He had not seen Xion's betrayal coming, and now had a nasty welt on his head, as well as being bound up in chains in an unknown room. Standing off in the distance was Roxas, who turned around upon hearing the boy awaken. "I don't know who 你 are," he stated bluntly, "And I don't want to know." Itzal studied the golden-blond's face briefly. "Whatever you're doing obviously seems important," Itzal stated in an equally blunt manner, "But is it the right thing to do? Would Xion and Axel really want this?" Roxas continued to stand there while pointing his Keyblade at the expansive door in front of them. But Itzal could tell that his words had sunk in. Now he just had to wait for them to take effect.
Twilight Town: Jason sat pensively at an ice cream shop. It had been a two days since he had been discharged from the hospital. Over those past two days, he'd had a really restless feeling that things were just not right. His parents had told him that he had awoken spouting nonsense about a 城堡 and blonde women with antennae hair. Out of concern, Eileen counseled Jason to put the feverish dreams out of his head. But…
But the dreams he had just wouldn't leave his mind. He saw various things flitting behind his eyelids: An older version of himself pushing Jason off the Clock Tower…Jason joking around with the same man…a blue-haired man talking to him while holding a giant book…a tanned, silver-haired man glaring down at him. A black-haired girl summoning a giant key…a spiky-haired golden-blond able to do the same thing…a blond Brit with a deck of playing cards…an old man with an eyepatch using Jason for target practice.
The redhead looked off into the constant sunset. Then there was dreams of another Castle, this one with walls of pure white. There was a giant, intimidating man with dark dreadlocks and six lances around him…an equally big man with a shock of 橙子, 橙色 hair wielding a giant ax…a blue-haired man with a X-shaped scar howling at the moon…a man with long hair and a blue shield sprouting wings of ice…a teenaged dirty blond sitting on an underwater 王座, 宝座 holding a sitar…and the dream that disturbed Jason the most: One of Jason watching a pink-haired effeminate man fade away into the Darkness, and knowing that he was the reason the man was dying.
"Hey Jason! Are 你 ok? I heard 你 got hit 由 a tram." Hayner, a friend with whom Jason occasion talked with, was looking at the redhead with worry. "Yeah, I'm fine." Jason responded. "But for the past couple of days I've been having really weird dreams." Hayner shook his head and offered a bar of the local Sea-Salt ice cream. The redhead took the bar and nibbled on it. The heat of early May made a few droplets of the ice cream melt and land on Jason's leather pants. After which the entire bar fell off the stick and landed on his 衬衫 and pants. "Don't worry, Don't worry." Jason 说 to Hayner. "I'll just go to Eileen for a change of clothes." Hayner settled down. "But Jason, I advise that 你 forget your dreams. You're 首页 now."
First floor: "Where's Larxene?" Xemnas asked Roxas, who was waiting patiently from the 秒 basement. "I don't know," The Key of Destiny admitted, "Xion told me that she manged to 密封 Jason away and subdue the mysterious boy, but Larxene got away." Xemnas looked deep in thought. After a while, he shrugged it off. "The puppet managed to do what she was told, but so I should be happy for that much." Roxas glowed red with anger. "Her name is Xion! At least call her 由 her name!" Xemnas disregarded this and cut the connection. "We are so close to completing Kingdom Hearts. Jason is no longer useful to us, so I may as well dispose of him," Xemnas mused to himself, "And while I'm at it, I may as well dispose of the rest of my Organization. I failed the first time. I will not fail again."
秒 Basement exit hall: After the connection was lost, Roxas dipped his head, pensive. He thought he wanted revenge. But now that Roxas had taken the time to cool down, he realized that he had no real grudge against Jason. This was also because the words the blue-haired boy 说 from earlier had taken effect, and Roxas realized that neither Axel nor Xion approved of this. In fact, both of them had forgiven the redhead. <But it's out of my hands now. It's all up to Jason.>
Jason's House: "There 你 go, little brother. Be careful 下一个 time!" Eileen chided as she put the dirty clothes in the laundry hamper. Jason admired his new clothes, and for a 分裂, 拆分 second, he saw himself wearing a black cloak. Then the image faded, leaving the redhead confused. Then it occurred to him: Something about this whole situation didn't seem quite right. All he could think to do was ask a single question. Depending on how Eileen answered the question, Jason would be able to seperate fact from fiction, dream from reality. "Eileen, what was a doing before I was hit 由 the tram?" Eileen was caught 由 suprise, but after a couple beats she answered: "You were on your way to work, don't 你 remember?" Jason grunted but otherwise showed no external reaction. He bid his sister farewell and left. But internally…
«I knew it I knew it I knew it I KNEW IT! That's what's wrong with the story.» Jason realized as he dashed down the streets. «Everyone says that I was run over 由 the tram on the way to work. But in order to avoid just that, I picked a route that avoided the tram! Which means that everyone is lying…or I'm the only one that really knows the truth. The truth…the truth is…» Jason tried to break the block on his true memories. In his mind's eye, he saw a blond teen in a plain white dress. Her blue eyes shone with a kindness that made 你 want to trust her. "Just a little more," Naminé, for of course it was her, 说 in an encouraging voice. "Just a little more, Jason. Think about the person most precious to you, the spell will break and the rest of your memories will follow." Jason considered this briefly. The person most precious to him? That person was…he considered his family and discarded it. That person was…he considered Serenna, and discarded it. That person was…
His mind instantly began to bubble with memories, all of them with the same central image: the blonde women with antennae hair. «All I need is a name.» The redhead thought in desperation. A memory of the woman holding an open box before Jason, and there were knives in it. «What's her name?» A memory of the blonde melting in his arms, with Jason slowly unzipping her cloak. «Her name is…» A memory of Jason and the blonde whispering to each other, and a kiss.
Several 更多 memories, this time of the 城堡 of pure white(Oblivion) the blonde holding cards…the blonde thumping him on the forehead…Jason and the blonde flying together…Jason holding her bridal style as her face burned red in blush…and yet another kiss. A final memory of the blonde watching him tenderly as he fell asleep.
«Her name is Larxene. She is the Nobody I love, and she is going to be my wife.»
1st basement floor: In a flash, Naminé's spell broke, sending the girl flying into a wall. Nevertheless, Naminé grinned, satisfied. Jason had broken the spell on his own, so she could pretend she had been following orders.
Back in Twilight Town: In a flash, the spell broke, and all of truth washed into Jason's head, stunning the redhead. He was not in Twilight Town—he was in 城堡 Oblivion, the 秒 basement floor. «Ok, I'm guessing this is Roxas's idea of revenge. But two days have already passed, so why haven't I been declared a loser? Unless time passes different on this floor. But what would be the point of that?» Jason's thought process whirled through many different possibilities. The first thing he noticed was a chain that was protruding from his 心 and meandering off somewhere else. Jason followed the chain hurriedly because he knew where it was headed and wanted to get there desperately. So he almost didn't notice the Samurai nobodies that were barring his way until he almost crashed with them. One of the silvery humanoid Nobodies reached for its sheath. Now that Jason could see the Truth, he could see that he was wearing his Organization cloak. Jason reached into his 刀 sheath…
Not fast enough. The Samurai nobody was behind Jason before the redhead knew what happened. So the 下一个 thing he was looking at was jagged 斯莱什 across his chest. Jason threw his head back and screamed as the other Samurai nobodies converged on him.
First basement floor: Xemnas sighed through his nostrils. For a moment, he thought the redhead was done for, but deus ex machina had intervened. Now the redhead was running through the simulated Twilight Town. It was a delicate operation requiring many of his Nobodies: Naminé on the floor above Jason's manipulating memory, Luxord on the floor below Jason's manipulating time, and Roxas and the puppet(Xion) waiting on both ends of the 秒 basement if a certain condition was fufilled. And that condition would be fufilled in—Xemnas looked at the clock, which read 38hrs15mins—about an hour. But the redhead had broken the Naminé's spell, cranking up the stakes. Xemnas grinned. «This will be interesting to watch. If Jason defeats Roxas, he will have defeated my entire Organization. Which leaves me with perhaps one other option besides extermination…»
Market Street, ten 分钟 ago: The Samurai Nobodies converged on him—and a cloaked figure came out of nowhere and destroyed them all in a flash. "Who are you?" Jason asked in wonder. The figure appeared to stare at Jason through the hood, then vanished as fast as it appeared. For a few minutes, Jason could only gape in wonder. Then it occurred to him to keep following the chain that was still protruding from his heart.
Meanwhile, the cloaked figure followed Jason discretely from the rooftops. An unexpected puff of wind blew off the cloak's hood, revealing Selene before she pulled the 兜帽, 罩, 发动机罩 back on her head. She knew where her father was going. And she knew that she was risking everything 由 doing this. But Selene just had to see this for herself. She skidded to a halt as they arrived at…
Sunset hill, now: Jason knew where the chain ended. So it came to no suprise when he saw her on 最佳, 返回页首 of Sunset hill: Larxene, fingering the chain protruding from the place where her 心 would be. The two 爱人 spotted each other, the chain connecting them measuring the distance. Even if Larxene had no heart, that had not stopped her very soul from falling in love, though it wasn't complete without the heart. Larxene sat on the viewing bench and gestured invitingly. Jason slowly walked towards her, the light of the sunset reflecting off the shorting chain. Finally, Jason seated himself 下一个 to Larxene, the chain less than an inch long. Much to the lovers's suprise, 更多 chains sprouted, entangling the two until their faces were less that an inch away. Larxene managed to keep her cool, but Jason's face burned a red as his hair. "What are you, thirteen?" Larxene asked playfully. After the light moment was over, she looked at the chains and asked, "What are these, anyway?" He didn't know how. But Jason already knew the answer. In his heart, he knew the answer. "Those…are the Chains of Affection."
Selene gasped as she spied on her young parents. One of the first things that stuck in the young girl's mind was what her father told once before bedtime: "I ascended from the pits of hell…I followed the Chains of Affection…and I found your mother on the other end of it. And under the Sunset, we made a promise to each other." When Selene was older, she ran the story past her mom only to discover that it was in fact, true. This was what Selene wanted to see, and it wasn't over. She went back to her observation.
Jason manged to keep eye contact despite Larxene's incredulous look. He went on to explain: "I didn't see the chain until I was thinking about you. And when 你 asked me what it was, I just knew. These are the Chains of Affection." Larxene considered this briefly, and her sapphire eyes filled with a kind of playful disbelief. But she accepted it, and was ready when Jason asked, "So what's going on here anyway? It involves Luxord, Roxas, and Naminé. But other than that, I don't know." Larxene smirked to herself. "That's not very much, and that kind of ignorance usually gets 你 killed." she 评论 sardonically. Jason didn't look offended, and awaited for the answer. So Larxene gave it to him: "I knew this was going to happen from the very beginning. But the need to inform 你 never came up, because after I did forgive 你 for your lies, Xion betrayed her friends, and she was an integral part of the plan. But then she betrayed us, and all I could do was escape. So now I can tell 你 the plan: Naminé wiped your memories upon your arrival on this floor, and replaced them with an alternate story where we never met. After that, Luxord cast a time spell on this floor that made one 日 pass on this floor for every 小时 that passes outside of it." Jason sighed in relief. This meant that though two days had passed in the Town, only two hours had passed outside of it. But Larxene, who wouldn't let the redhead become complacent for his own good, continued, "The reason for the time spell was to test you. Your task is to break Naminé's memory spell, which 你 already did, defeat Roxas, and escape this floor in three hours. Well, one 小时 now." The Savage Nymph could see the 问题 in those grass-green eyes: "What happens when the three hours run out?" It occurred to her that she could cushion the blow, but that just wasn't Larxene's style, and Jason knew that. So she delivered the blow in her usual fashion: "If 你 don't defeat Roxas 由 the end of the day, he and Xion will step out onto the entrance and exit halls. After that, they will 密封 this floor off with 你 in it…forever."
Jason shuddered at this, but he then smiled and said, "Thanks for being honest with me, Larx." The Chains of Affection holding them loosened up enough so that the two 爱人 could sit properly on the viewing bench. While they viewed the majestic sunset, the redhead realized that he couldn't let a moment like this escape. "Larxene," he began, causing the blonde to pay attention to him, "Though 你 haven't been exactly nicest person, you've been honest, even when 你 didn't have to be. That's 更多 than I can say for myself. I really should have told 你 I was faking my own death. I should have told 你 that Axel and I were still at war." Larxene gave the boy a "No duh," look but otherwise kept quiet. "But I didn't. Which is why I'm going to make 你 a promise." Jason looked Larxene in the eyes, and the Chains seemed to be glowing. "I can't always be honest, and I can't always be understanding 或者 in a good mood. But I can promise 你 one thing. I promise to 爱情 你 for the rest of my life."
Larxene put her mouth near Jason's ear and whispered, "And I promise to 爱情 你 for the rest of my life." Sardonically, she added, "They are just words, Jason. They don't really mean anything 由 themselves." Jason had been prepared for this, so he smiled. "Words don't mean anything 由 themselves, Larx. So let's both promise to back up our promises so they do have meaning." Being that Larxene had already been leaning in, Jason's response caused her to lose her balance, causing the blonde to fall on 最佳, 返回页首 of the redhead. Laying on the bench, they sealed the promise with a kiss. The Chains of Affection glowed white and ensnared the two 爱人 so tight that their bodies were pressed together.
Selene gaped, feeling distinctly embarrassed. This part of the story had obviously been censored for the sake of her young ears. «Those Chains are going to keep anything else from happening…so I may as well go back to my exploring of this Castle. Something important to me is hidden in here, and I have to find it.»
First floor: Zexion had not just been sitting around doing nothing. His illusion powers had been slowly kicking back in, and before she had left, Larxene had taken the time to disable the power-sapping chains with a bolt of lightning. For the entire time Jason had been in the 秒 basement, Zexion had been keeping an eye on the redhead. Before the chain had sprouted out of Jason, Zexion had used his illusion powers to make the screens transmit a series of 图片 展示 Jason outrunning the Samurai Nobodies. Which was lucky, because if the Organization had seen the "heated" moment between Jason and Larxene, then the consequences would have been fatal in a spectacular fashion. Zexion sniffed the ambient airs and detected a familiar scent. "Zexion, who'd 你 find?" Serenna asked. He smirked. "Selene." Upon hearing the name, the spell Naminé had placed on them broke, at least for Serenna and Zexion. The black-haired girl had a pensive moment of her own. "So Selene is making sure Jason makes it out of this alive. But what else is she looking for? Because it seems like she came here with another purpose in mind." Zexion remained silent. If Selene had another purpose, he didn't know what it was. What was 更多 interesting was that the feelings between Jason and Larxene had taken on a physical form. «I've never heard of anything like this. There is much to be studied here.»
Chamber of Waking: Selene's wanderings ended when she found the room she was looking for. She didn't know why. Maybe it was the same force that led Jason to Larxene. But Selene knew that the person in this room would be important to her life. Sleep-sitting on the 王座, 宝座 in the center of the room was Ventus. She approached the young boy while staring in wonder. She never imagined she would find a place like this. Once Selene reached the throne, she lifted Ventus into her arms. As she did, his eyelids fluttered open, revealing eyes as blue as the ocean. "Wh—who are you?" Ventus asked weakly. Selene spared the boy a grin, and her name. What harm could it do? "My name is Selene, and your name is sleepy-head." The boy shook his head. "My name is Ventus," he protested before falling asleep again. Selene opened a Dark Corridor and walked through it while still carrying Ventus.
秒 basement exit hall: Roxas woke up. Out of boredom, he summoned his Keyblades and started to practice with them. While he was, he happened to toss one into the air and failed to catch it. The Keyblade struck Roxas in the chest, and he had fallen unconscious. Now he was awake, and everything seemed ok…but all his emotions had dimmed. Before Roxas could think on it too hard, an alarm went off. Roxas walked into the simulated Twilight Town, ready for battle.
In front of the Mansion in the woods: Once the 吻乐队(Kiss) ended, the Chains of Affections faded away. Jason and Larxene made their way to the Mansion with Jason leading the way. Being a Twlight Town native, Jason knew two things: How not to get lost, and how to tell time. The 日 was coming to a close. Once they reached the Mansion, the redhead walked through the gates only for them to close, leaving Larxene outside and Jason stranded on the front lawn. But once again, the redhead's instincts started to buzz. The doors of the Mansion opened, a bright white light spilling forth as Roxas entered the scene. The two boys faced each other for a single, tense moment. "Why should I spare your life? You've wrecked mine without a hint of mercy." Roxas spat out. Jason walked towards the Key of Destiny, and appeared to be grabbing into thin air in front of Roxas's chest. Suddenly, a Chain of Affection became visible. When Naminé's spell broke, something had awoken inside Jason, and if he choose to, the redhead could see the Chains of Affection that bound people together, and make it visible to others. Jason showed the Chain to Roxas. "Your life is fine," he whispered softly, "But your drive for revenge is ruining the relationships 你 have." Indeed, the Chain coming out of Roxas was rusting. The dirty blond gasped. He had not realized how selfish he had been acting. But his thirst for vengeance, and his anger still had not dimmed as had the rest of his emotions. And he still had his orders from Xemnas. "Maybe 你 should have done this earlier…" Roxas said, the dark rage pulsing in his voice, "Instead of taking both my best 老友记 away FROM ME!!!
With a scream Roxas summoned a single Keyblade, but quickly found that he couldn't summon his 秒 Keyblade. If anything, this made him angrier, and he lashed out. Jason was forced on the defensive instantly, weaving through the assault. As a precaution, Jason used the Vexen card. As he did, Roxas cast a Blizzagun spell, which hit Jason square in the chest and healed his wounds. «Well that's convenient!» Jason thought cheerly. He managed to unsheath his knives and begin attacking. But the aggressive style that Roxas used kept Jason on the defensive, despite the spells the redhead mixed in with his strikes. "Roxas! Snap out of it!" Jason pleaded as he managed a lucky strike to the Nobody's ribs. "Why should I?!" he yelled back, "Everything was fine until 你 showed up!" Roxas began to 火, 消防 beams of Light at Jason, which stung but didn't do much damage. The reason being the redhead had affiliated himself with Light.
The words revealed to Jason what really fueled the rage. Quickly, he manifested Roxas's Chains of Affection and grabbed it. «If 你 can hear me, help me! Roxas has completely 迷失 it!» Jason mentally transmitted through the Chains. "Let go of me!" Roxas snarled. "Zantetsuken!" Just in time, Jason dodged the attack but the Chain dissolved. "I'm sorry for turning everyone's lives upside down!" Jason shouted, "But both your best 老友记 have come to terms with it. You're the only one still wishing I'll go away!" Roxas didn't say anything, just hurled his Keyblade at Jason. A giant firestorm sprouted under the Keyblade, following the redhead. Finally, Jason stood his ground and sent an Thundagun spell at it. The firestorm followed the spell, hitting Roxas with the full force of both attacks. But the Keyblade managed to hit Jason in the gut, winding the boy. Out the corner of his eye, Jason saw something fly towards him. He caught a Curagun spell Larxene had thrown, healing the redhead of most of his wounds. "Don't interfere!" Roxas snapped. "At this point I'm no longer a member of Organization XIII," she responded blithely, "So I can do whatever I want. Including this!" Larxene sent a bolt of lightning at Roxas, who dodged it. But this had just been a distraction while Larxene sent Jason another present.
The redhead stood back to his feet while pocketing the gift, a couple of Blue cards that had been attached to the note, "Stay Golden!" Jason could have sworn he could actually hear Larxene winking at him. Regardless, Roxas resummoned his Keyblade but could not heal himself as he had used the last of his magic power on his firestorm spell. "I don't know how I'm supposed to feel," Roxas mused aloud, "I know I should forgive you. I have no real reason to hold a grudge. But I can't help but be really angry at you!" He manifested 13 light shields, which formed an arena around the fighters. At the same time, a Twilight mist formed, obscuring Jason's vision. Out of nowhere, blue spheres began to appear, all of them aimed towards the redhead. While avoiding these, Jason noticed a streak of light darting about the mist. «I wonder…» Jason took a gamble and tried to use the knives to block a blue sphere and send it back. Jason managed to deflect one, and it went spinning into the mist until it hit something, after which he heard, "Ow!" Jason rushed towards that direction to find Roxas and attacked, damaging the blond until he manged to use the Keyblade to bat him away. Once again Roxas disappeared, careful not to get beat 由 his own attack again. Jason simply looked for Roxas's Chain while avoiding the spheres with various degrees of success. With perfect timing, Jason managed to nail Roxas with his knives, leaving an opening the redhead took advantage of.
The mist cleared, revealing a bedraggled Jason and Roxas with the Keyblade bearer looking worse for wear. But the redhead knew the look in the golden blond's eyes. It was desperation, a desperation to destroy the person that shook up his life to the point where it could no longer be recognized. Light started to collect on the edge of the Keyblade, and suddenly, Roxas struck again. In an extremely fast glide, Roxas attempted to hit Jason again and again, making sure to be as brutal as possible. «I'm going to die from this if I don't stop him. There's only one thing left to do.» Jason clenched one hand in a fist and put the other in his pocket. When Roxas came back to strike, Jason waited, and right when the Key of Destiny was right on 最佳, 返回页首 of him, the redhead drove his fist into the Nobody's gut. As Roxas tried to recover, Jason took his hand out of his pocket to reveal three Larxene cards: a golden one and two blue ones. "Teleport rush…"
First floor: Roxas's monitor erupted in a storm of static and turned off. "No way," Xigbar breathed. "Slaveboy really did it. I almost feel sorry for him," Xaldin grunted, still nursing a broken arm. "Our Leader will take care of him shortly. Meanwhile, what do we do about them?" Them referring to the rapidly approaching spaceship. The clock read, "37hrs18mins".
Agrabah, Bazaar: A merchant was preparing his wares for another 日 of business. He turned to a jar to find it was cracked, and blood was leaking out of it. The merchant tentatively touched the jar, only for it to break, spilling Axel onto the floor in a broken, bloody heap. "Have to get to Roxas," the unfortunate Selene-ified Nobody groaned. "Also, I'm getting your parents to ground 你 when this is all over Selene. Got it memorized?"
Mansion grounds: Jason watched as Roxas's amber eyes returned to their usual shade of blue. The redhead had suspected that someone had bolstered the Nobody's feelings of rage and vengeance. And at this point, only one Nobody was left to do this: Xemnas. "Are we even?" the redhead asked. Roxas tried to get up but found his broken body was not ready yet. "Yeah, we're even," he answered. "But I can't imagine what my 老友记 think of me. If I still have friends." Jason smiled, and stepped aside to reveal Xion and Naminé. "I'm mostly mad at myself for not stopping you," Xion commented. Naminé bent down and kissed Roxas softly. "I—I didn't want to do anything because Xemnas was watching. 你 didn't fail us Roxas. We failed you." He cut in with his usual protests to the contrary. Jason hated to break up the moment, but he tapped Xion's shoulder. "Catch up later. Larx and I still need to find Itzal and defeat Xemnas to take back my family. We need 你 with us Xion. We still consider 你 our friend." Larxene rolled her eyes. That statement was a bit of a stretch, but hey. Whatever got the 船, 小船 rolling. Xion nodded, and the three of them left. This left Roxas and Naminé alone, and Naminé pulled Roxas's head into her lap so that the two could enjoy each others company, with out any interruptions.
The realm of Darkness: Selene darted through as fast as she could while making sure not to drop Ventus. She had only recently learned how to open Dark Corridors, and since Selene was just a 心 with physical form at the moment, she was extra cautious. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw something detach itself from the Darkness and follow her. Selene saw her exit open up and felt grateful. But suddenly, the figure tackled Selene, pushing all three back into the Castle.
First Basement exit hall: After freeing Itzal from his chains, the group as went up the flight of stairs, knowing that the greatest challenge of all was up ahead.
But in no way were they ready for what was waiting for them.
Sora, Kairi, and Riku entered battle poses when they saw the group coming up the stairs. But they all received a suprise.
"Larxene? I thought I killed you!" Sora asked, confused.
"Xion? I though 你 were merged with Sora!" Riku asked, equally confused.
"Who are 你 two?" Kairi asked, looking at Jason and Itzal.
The chaos cranked up another notch as a Dark Corridor opened, spilling out three bodies. "Someone get her off of me!" Selene snarled as she wrestled with Aqua. Ventus opened his eyes and looked around as he got back on his feet. His jaw gaped as he yelled the 问题 that froze the chaos:
"What's going on here?!"
What do 你 think, Serenna? 或者 are 你 still taking in the fluff overload? The story heads to its climax!
秒 basement exit hall: "Ow…" Itzal woke to an aching head. He had not seen Xion's betrayal coming, and now had a nasty welt on his head, as well as being bound up in chains in an unknown room. Standing off in the distance was Roxas, who turned around upon hearing the boy awaken. "I don't know who 你 are," he stated bluntly, "And I don't want to know." Itzal studied the golden-blond's face briefly. "Whatever you're doing obviously seems important," Itzal stated in an equally blunt manner, "But is it the right thing to do? Would Xion and Axel really want this?" Roxas continued to stand there while pointing his Keyblade at the expansive door in front of them. But Itzal could tell that his words had sunk in. Now he just had to wait for them to take effect.
Twilight Town: Jason sat pensively at an ice cream shop. It had been a two days since he had been discharged from the hospital. Over those past two days, he'd had a really restless feeling that things were just not right. His parents had told him that he had awoken spouting nonsense about a 城堡 and blonde women with antennae hair. Out of concern, Eileen counseled Jason to put the feverish dreams out of his head. But…
But the dreams he had just wouldn't leave his mind. He saw various things flitting behind his eyelids: An older version of himself pushing Jason off the Clock Tower…Jason joking around with the same man…a blue-haired man talking to him while holding a giant book…a tanned, silver-haired man glaring down at him. A black-haired girl summoning a giant key…a spiky-haired golden-blond able to do the same thing…a blond Brit with a deck of playing cards…an old man with an eyepatch using Jason for target practice.
The redhead looked off into the constant sunset. Then there was dreams of another Castle, this one with walls of pure white. There was a giant, intimidating man with dark dreadlocks and six lances around him…an equally big man with a shock of 橙子, 橙色 hair wielding a giant ax…a blue-haired man with a X-shaped scar howling at the moon…a man with long hair and a blue shield sprouting wings of ice…a teenaged dirty blond sitting on an underwater 王座, 宝座 holding a sitar…and the dream that disturbed Jason the most: One of Jason watching a pink-haired effeminate man fade away into the Darkness, and knowing that he was the reason the man was dying.
"Hey Jason! Are 你 ok? I heard 你 got hit 由 a tram." Hayner, a friend with whom Jason occasion talked with, was looking at the redhead with worry. "Yeah, I'm fine." Jason responded. "But for the past couple of days I've been having really weird dreams." Hayner shook his head and offered a bar of the local Sea-Salt ice cream. The redhead took the bar and nibbled on it. The heat of early May made a few droplets of the ice cream melt and land on Jason's leather pants. After which the entire bar fell off the stick and landed on his 衬衫 and pants. "Don't worry, Don't worry." Jason 说 to Hayner. "I'll just go to Eileen for a change of clothes." Hayner settled down. "But Jason, I advise that 你 forget your dreams. You're 首页 now."
First floor: "Where's Larxene?" Xemnas asked Roxas, who was waiting patiently from the 秒 basement. "I don't know," The Key of Destiny admitted, "Xion told me that she manged to 密封 Jason away and subdue the mysterious boy, but Larxene got away." Xemnas looked deep in thought. After a while, he shrugged it off. "The puppet managed to do what she was told, but so I should be happy for that much." Roxas glowed red with anger. "Her name is Xion! At least call her 由 her name!" Xemnas disregarded this and cut the connection. "We are so close to completing Kingdom Hearts. Jason is no longer useful to us, so I may as well dispose of him," Xemnas mused to himself, "And while I'm at it, I may as well dispose of the rest of my Organization. I failed the first time. I will not fail again."
秒 Basement exit hall: After the connection was lost, Roxas dipped his head, pensive. He thought he wanted revenge. But now that Roxas had taken the time to cool down, he realized that he had no real grudge against Jason. This was also because the words the blue-haired boy 说 from earlier had taken effect, and Roxas realized that neither Axel nor Xion approved of this. In fact, both of them had forgiven the redhead. <But it's out of my hands now. It's all up to Jason.>
Jason's House: "There 你 go, little brother. Be careful 下一个 time!" Eileen chided as she put the dirty clothes in the laundry hamper. Jason admired his new clothes, and for a 分裂, 拆分 second, he saw himself wearing a black cloak. Then the image faded, leaving the redhead confused. Then it occurred to him: Something about this whole situation didn't seem quite right. All he could think to do was ask a single question. Depending on how Eileen answered the question, Jason would be able to seperate fact from fiction, dream from reality. "Eileen, what was a doing before I was hit 由 the tram?" Eileen was caught 由 suprise, but after a couple beats she answered: "You were on your way to work, don't 你 remember?" Jason grunted but otherwise showed no external reaction. He bid his sister farewell and left. But internally…
«I knew it I knew it I knew it I KNEW IT! That's what's wrong with the story.» Jason realized as he dashed down the streets. «Everyone says that I was run over 由 the tram on the way to work. But in order to avoid just that, I picked a route that avoided the tram! Which means that everyone is lying…or I'm the only one that really knows the truth. The truth…the truth is…» Jason tried to break the block on his true memories. In his mind's eye, he saw a blond teen in a plain white dress. Her blue eyes shone with a kindness that made 你 want to trust her. "Just a little more," Naminé, for of course it was her, 说 in an encouraging voice. "Just a little more, Jason. Think about the person most precious to you, the spell will break and the rest of your memories will follow." Jason considered this briefly. The person most precious to him? That person was…he considered his family and discarded it. That person was…he considered Serenna, and discarded it. That person was…
His mind instantly began to bubble with memories, all of them with the same central image: the blonde women with antennae hair. «All I need is a name.» The redhead thought in desperation. A memory of the woman holding an open box before Jason, and there were knives in it. «What's her name?» A memory of the blonde melting in his arms, with Jason slowly unzipping her cloak. «Her name is…» A memory of Jason and the blonde whispering to each other, and a kiss.
Several 更多 memories, this time of the 城堡 of pure white(Oblivion) the blonde holding cards…the blonde thumping him on the forehead…Jason and the blonde flying together…Jason holding her bridal style as her face burned red in blush…and yet another kiss. A final memory of the blonde watching him tenderly as he fell asleep.
«Her name is Larxene. She is the Nobody I love, and she is going to be my wife.»
1st basement floor: In a flash, Naminé's spell broke, sending the girl flying into a wall. Nevertheless, Naminé grinned, satisfied. Jason had broken the spell on his own, so she could pretend she had been following orders.
Back in Twilight Town: In a flash, the spell broke, and all of truth washed into Jason's head, stunning the redhead. He was not in Twilight Town—he was in 城堡 Oblivion, the 秒 basement floor. «Ok, I'm guessing this is Roxas's idea of revenge. But two days have already passed, so why haven't I been declared a loser? Unless time passes different on this floor. But what would be the point of that?» Jason's thought process whirled through many different possibilities. The first thing he noticed was a chain that was protruding from his 心 and meandering off somewhere else. Jason followed the chain hurriedly because he knew where it was headed and wanted to get there desperately. So he almost didn't notice the Samurai nobodies that were barring his way until he almost crashed with them. One of the silvery humanoid Nobodies reached for its sheath. Now that Jason could see the Truth, he could see that he was wearing his Organization cloak. Jason reached into his 刀 sheath…
Not fast enough. The Samurai nobody was behind Jason before the redhead knew what happened. So the 下一个 thing he was looking at was jagged 斯莱什 across his chest. Jason threw his head back and screamed as the other Samurai nobodies converged on him.
First basement floor: Xemnas sighed through his nostrils. For a moment, he thought the redhead was done for, but deus ex machina had intervened. Now the redhead was running through the simulated Twilight Town. It was a delicate operation requiring many of his Nobodies: Naminé on the floor above Jason's manipulating memory, Luxord on the floor below Jason's manipulating time, and Roxas and the puppet(Xion) waiting on both ends of the 秒 basement if a certain condition was fufilled. And that condition would be fufilled in—Xemnas looked at the clock, which read 38hrs15mins—about an hour. But the redhead had broken the Naminé's spell, cranking up the stakes. Xemnas grinned. «This will be interesting to watch. If Jason defeats Roxas, he will have defeated my entire Organization. Which leaves me with perhaps one other option besides extermination…»
Market Street, ten 分钟 ago: The Samurai Nobodies converged on him—and a cloaked figure came out of nowhere and destroyed them all in a flash. "Who are you?" Jason asked in wonder. The figure appeared to stare at Jason through the hood, then vanished as fast as it appeared. For a few minutes, Jason could only gape in wonder. Then it occurred to him to keep following the chain that was still protruding from his heart.
Meanwhile, the cloaked figure followed Jason discretely from the rooftops. An unexpected puff of wind blew off the cloak's hood, revealing Selene before she pulled the 兜帽, 罩, 发动机罩 back on her head. She knew where her father was going. And she knew that she was risking everything 由 doing this. But Selene just had to see this for herself. She skidded to a halt as they arrived at…
Sunset hill, now: Jason knew where the chain ended. So it came to no suprise when he saw her on 最佳, 返回页首 of Sunset hill: Larxene, fingering the chain protruding from the place where her 心 would be. The two 爱人 spotted each other, the chain connecting them measuring the distance. Even if Larxene had no heart, that had not stopped her very soul from falling in love, though it wasn't complete without the heart. Larxene sat on the viewing bench and gestured invitingly. Jason slowly walked towards her, the light of the sunset reflecting off the shorting chain. Finally, Jason seated himself 下一个 to Larxene, the chain less than an inch long. Much to the lovers's suprise, 更多 chains sprouted, entangling the two until their faces were less that an inch away. Larxene managed to keep her cool, but Jason's face burned a red as his hair. "What are you, thirteen?" Larxene asked playfully. After the light moment was over, she looked at the chains and asked, "What are these, anyway?" He didn't know how. But Jason already knew the answer. In his heart, he knew the answer. "Those…are the Chains of Affection."
Selene gasped as she spied on her young parents. One of the first things that stuck in the young girl's mind was what her father told once before bedtime: "I ascended from the pits of hell…I followed the Chains of Affection…and I found your mother on the other end of it. And under the Sunset, we made a promise to each other." When Selene was older, she ran the story past her mom only to discover that it was in fact, true. This was what Selene wanted to see, and it wasn't over. She went back to her observation.
Jason manged to keep eye contact despite Larxene's incredulous look. He went on to explain: "I didn't see the chain until I was thinking about you. And when 你 asked me what it was, I just knew. These are the Chains of Affection." Larxene considered this briefly, and her sapphire eyes filled with a kind of playful disbelief. But she accepted it, and was ready when Jason asked, "So what's going on here anyway? It involves Luxord, Roxas, and Naminé. But other than that, I don't know." Larxene smirked to herself. "That's not very much, and that kind of ignorance usually gets 你 killed." she 评论 sardonically. Jason didn't look offended, and awaited for the answer. So Larxene gave it to him: "I knew this was going to happen from the very beginning. But the need to inform 你 never came up, because after I did forgive 你 for your lies, Xion betrayed her friends, and she was an integral part of the plan. But then she betrayed us, and all I could do was escape. So now I can tell 你 the plan: Naminé wiped your memories upon your arrival on this floor, and replaced them with an alternate story where we never met. After that, Luxord cast a time spell on this floor that made one 日 pass on this floor for every 小时 that passes outside of it." Jason sighed in relief. This meant that though two days had passed in the Town, only two hours had passed outside of it. But Larxene, who wouldn't let the redhead become complacent for his own good, continued, "The reason for the time spell was to test you. Your task is to break Naminé's memory spell, which 你 already did, defeat Roxas, and escape this floor in three hours. Well, one 小时 now." The Savage Nymph could see the 问题 in those grass-green eyes: "What happens when the three hours run out?" It occurred to her that she could cushion the blow, but that just wasn't Larxene's style, and Jason knew that. So she delivered the blow in her usual fashion: "If 你 don't defeat Roxas 由 the end of the day, he and Xion will step out onto the entrance and exit halls. After that, they will 密封 this floor off with 你 in it…forever."
Jason shuddered at this, but he then smiled and said, "Thanks for being honest with me, Larx." The Chains of Affection holding them loosened up enough so that the two 爱人 could sit properly on the viewing bench. While they viewed the majestic sunset, the redhead realized that he couldn't let a moment like this escape. "Larxene," he began, causing the blonde to pay attention to him, "Though 你 haven't been exactly nicest person, you've been honest, even when 你 didn't have to be. That's 更多 than I can say for myself. I really should have told 你 I was faking my own death. I should have told 你 that Axel and I were still at war." Larxene gave the boy a "No duh," look but otherwise kept quiet. "But I didn't. Which is why I'm going to make 你 a promise." Jason looked Larxene in the eyes, and the Chains seemed to be glowing. "I can't always be honest, and I can't always be understanding 或者 in a good mood. But I can promise 你 one thing. I promise to 爱情 你 for the rest of my life."
Larxene put her mouth near Jason's ear and whispered, "And I promise to 爱情 你 for the rest of my life." Sardonically, she added, "They are just words, Jason. They don't really mean anything 由 themselves." Jason had been prepared for this, so he smiled. "Words don't mean anything 由 themselves, Larx. So let's both promise to back up our promises so they do have meaning." Being that Larxene had already been leaning in, Jason's response caused her to lose her balance, causing the blonde to fall on 最佳, 返回页首 of the redhead. Laying on the bench, they sealed the promise with a kiss. The Chains of Affection glowed white and ensnared the two 爱人 so tight that their bodies were pressed together.
Selene gaped, feeling distinctly embarrassed. This part of the story had obviously been censored for the sake of her young ears. «Those Chains are going to keep anything else from happening…so I may as well go back to my exploring of this Castle. Something important to me is hidden in here, and I have to find it.»
First floor: Zexion had not just been sitting around doing nothing. His illusion powers had been slowly kicking back in, and before she had left, Larxene had taken the time to disable the power-sapping chains with a bolt of lightning. For the entire time Jason had been in the 秒 basement, Zexion had been keeping an eye on the redhead. Before the chain had sprouted out of Jason, Zexion had used his illusion powers to make the screens transmit a series of 图片 展示 Jason outrunning the Samurai Nobodies. Which was lucky, because if the Organization had seen the "heated" moment between Jason and Larxene, then the consequences would have been fatal in a spectacular fashion. Zexion sniffed the ambient airs and detected a familiar scent. "Zexion, who'd 你 find?" Serenna asked. He smirked. "Selene." Upon hearing the name, the spell Naminé had placed on them broke, at least for Serenna and Zexion. The black-haired girl had a pensive moment of her own. "So Selene is making sure Jason makes it out of this alive. But what else is she looking for? Because it seems like she came here with another purpose in mind." Zexion remained silent. If Selene had another purpose, he didn't know what it was. What was 更多 interesting was that the feelings between Jason and Larxene had taken on a physical form. «I've never heard of anything like this. There is much to be studied here.»
Chamber of Waking: Selene's wanderings ended when she found the room she was looking for. She didn't know why. Maybe it was the same force that led Jason to Larxene. But Selene knew that the person in this room would be important to her life. Sleep-sitting on the 王座, 宝座 in the center of the room was Ventus. She approached the young boy while staring in wonder. She never imagined she would find a place like this. Once Selene reached the throne, she lifted Ventus into her arms. As she did, his eyelids fluttered open, revealing eyes as blue as the ocean. "Wh—who are you?" Ventus asked weakly. Selene spared the boy a grin, and her name. What harm could it do? "My name is Selene, and your name is sleepy-head." The boy shook his head. "My name is Ventus," he protested before falling asleep again. Selene opened a Dark Corridor and walked through it while still carrying Ventus.
秒 basement exit hall: Roxas woke up. Out of boredom, he summoned his Keyblades and started to practice with them. While he was, he happened to toss one into the air and failed to catch it. The Keyblade struck Roxas in the chest, and he had fallen unconscious. Now he was awake, and everything seemed ok…but all his emotions had dimmed. Before Roxas could think on it too hard, an alarm went off. Roxas walked into the simulated Twilight Town, ready for battle.
In front of the Mansion in the woods: Once the 吻乐队(Kiss) ended, the Chains of Affections faded away. Jason and Larxene made their way to the Mansion with Jason leading the way. Being a Twlight Town native, Jason knew two things: How not to get lost, and how to tell time. The 日 was coming to a close. Once they reached the Mansion, the redhead walked through the gates only for them to close, leaving Larxene outside and Jason stranded on the front lawn. But once again, the redhead's instincts started to buzz. The doors of the Mansion opened, a bright white light spilling forth as Roxas entered the scene. The two boys faced each other for a single, tense moment. "Why should I spare your life? You've wrecked mine without a hint of mercy." Roxas spat out. Jason walked towards the Key of Destiny, and appeared to be grabbing into thin air in front of Roxas's chest. Suddenly, a Chain of Affection became visible. When Naminé's spell broke, something had awoken inside Jason, and if he choose to, the redhead could see the Chains of Affection that bound people together, and make it visible to others. Jason showed the Chain to Roxas. "Your life is fine," he whispered softly, "But your drive for revenge is ruining the relationships 你 have." Indeed, the Chain coming out of Roxas was rusting. The dirty blond gasped. He had not realized how selfish he had been acting. But his thirst for vengeance, and his anger still had not dimmed as had the rest of his emotions. And he still had his orders from Xemnas. "Maybe 你 should have done this earlier…" Roxas said, the dark rage pulsing in his voice, "Instead of taking both my best 老友记 away FROM ME!!!
With a scream Roxas summoned a single Keyblade, but quickly found that he couldn't summon his 秒 Keyblade. If anything, this made him angrier, and he lashed out. Jason was forced on the defensive instantly, weaving through the assault. As a precaution, Jason used the Vexen card. As he did, Roxas cast a Blizzagun spell, which hit Jason square in the chest and healed his wounds. «Well that's convenient!» Jason thought cheerly. He managed to unsheath his knives and begin attacking. But the aggressive style that Roxas used kept Jason on the defensive, despite the spells the redhead mixed in with his strikes. "Roxas! Snap out of it!" Jason pleaded as he managed a lucky strike to the Nobody's ribs. "Why should I?!" he yelled back, "Everything was fine until 你 showed up!" Roxas began to 火, 消防 beams of Light at Jason, which stung but didn't do much damage. The reason being the redhead had affiliated himself with Light.
The words revealed to Jason what really fueled the rage. Quickly, he manifested Roxas's Chains of Affection and grabbed it. «If 你 can hear me, help me! Roxas has completely 迷失 it!» Jason mentally transmitted through the Chains. "Let go of me!" Roxas snarled. "Zantetsuken!" Just in time, Jason dodged the attack but the Chain dissolved. "I'm sorry for turning everyone's lives upside down!" Jason shouted, "But both your best 老友记 have come to terms with it. You're the only one still wishing I'll go away!" Roxas didn't say anything, just hurled his Keyblade at Jason. A giant firestorm sprouted under the Keyblade, following the redhead. Finally, Jason stood his ground and sent an Thundagun spell at it. The firestorm followed the spell, hitting Roxas with the full force of both attacks. But the Keyblade managed to hit Jason in the gut, winding the boy. Out the corner of his eye, Jason saw something fly towards him. He caught a Curagun spell Larxene had thrown, healing the redhead of most of his wounds. "Don't interfere!" Roxas snapped. "At this point I'm no longer a member of Organization XIII," she responded blithely, "So I can do whatever I want. Including this!" Larxene sent a bolt of lightning at Roxas, who dodged it. But this had just been a distraction while Larxene sent Jason another present.
The redhead stood back to his feet while pocketing the gift, a couple of Blue cards that had been attached to the note, "Stay Golden!" Jason could have sworn he could actually hear Larxene winking at him. Regardless, Roxas resummoned his Keyblade but could not heal himself as he had used the last of his magic power on his firestorm spell. "I don't know how I'm supposed to feel," Roxas mused aloud, "I know I should forgive you. I have no real reason to hold a grudge. But I can't help but be really angry at you!" He manifested 13 light shields, which formed an arena around the fighters. At the same time, a Twilight mist formed, obscuring Jason's vision. Out of nowhere, blue spheres began to appear, all of them aimed towards the redhead. While avoiding these, Jason noticed a streak of light darting about the mist. «I wonder…» Jason took a gamble and tried to use the knives to block a blue sphere and send it back. Jason managed to deflect one, and it went spinning into the mist until it hit something, after which he heard, "Ow!" Jason rushed towards that direction to find Roxas and attacked, damaging the blond until he manged to use the Keyblade to bat him away. Once again Roxas disappeared, careful not to get beat 由 his own attack again. Jason simply looked for Roxas's Chain while avoiding the spheres with various degrees of success. With perfect timing, Jason managed to nail Roxas with his knives, leaving an opening the redhead took advantage of.
The mist cleared, revealing a bedraggled Jason and Roxas with the Keyblade bearer looking worse for wear. But the redhead knew the look in the golden blond's eyes. It was desperation, a desperation to destroy the person that shook up his life to the point where it could no longer be recognized. Light started to collect on the edge of the Keyblade, and suddenly, Roxas struck again. In an extremely fast glide, Roxas attempted to hit Jason again and again, making sure to be as brutal as possible. «I'm going to die from this if I don't stop him. There's only one thing left to do.» Jason clenched one hand in a fist and put the other in his pocket. When Roxas came back to strike, Jason waited, and right when the Key of Destiny was right on 最佳, 返回页首 of him, the redhead drove his fist into the Nobody's gut. As Roxas tried to recover, Jason took his hand out of his pocket to reveal three Larxene cards: a golden one and two blue ones. "Teleport rush…"
First floor: Roxas's monitor erupted in a storm of static and turned off. "No way," Xigbar breathed. "Slaveboy really did it. I almost feel sorry for him," Xaldin grunted, still nursing a broken arm. "Our Leader will take care of him shortly. Meanwhile, what do we do about them?" Them referring to the rapidly approaching spaceship. The clock read, "37hrs18mins".
Agrabah, Bazaar: A merchant was preparing his wares for another 日 of business. He turned to a jar to find it was cracked, and blood was leaking out of it. The merchant tentatively touched the jar, only for it to break, spilling Axel onto the floor in a broken, bloody heap. "Have to get to Roxas," the unfortunate Selene-ified Nobody groaned. "Also, I'm getting your parents to ground 你 when this is all over Selene. Got it memorized?"
Mansion grounds: Jason watched as Roxas's amber eyes returned to their usual shade of blue. The redhead had suspected that someone had bolstered the Nobody's feelings of rage and vengeance. And at this point, only one Nobody was left to do this: Xemnas. "Are we even?" the redhead asked. Roxas tried to get up but found his broken body was not ready yet. "Yeah, we're even," he answered. "But I can't imagine what my 老友记 think of me. If I still have friends." Jason smiled, and stepped aside to reveal Xion and Naminé. "I'm mostly mad at myself for not stopping you," Xion commented. Naminé bent down and kissed Roxas softly. "I—I didn't want to do anything because Xemnas was watching. 你 didn't fail us Roxas. We failed you." He cut in with his usual protests to the contrary. Jason hated to break up the moment, but he tapped Xion's shoulder. "Catch up later. Larx and I still need to find Itzal and defeat Xemnas to take back my family. We need 你 with us Xion. We still consider 你 our friend." Larxene rolled her eyes. That statement was a bit of a stretch, but hey. Whatever got the 船, 小船 rolling. Xion nodded, and the three of them left. This left Roxas and Naminé alone, and Naminé pulled Roxas's head into her lap so that the two could enjoy each others company, with out any interruptions.
The realm of Darkness: Selene darted through as fast as she could while making sure not to drop Ventus. She had only recently learned how to open Dark Corridors, and since Selene was just a 心 with physical form at the moment, she was extra cautious. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw something detach itself from the Darkness and follow her. Selene saw her exit open up and felt grateful. But suddenly, the figure tackled Selene, pushing all three back into the Castle.
First Basement exit hall: After freeing Itzal from his chains, the group as went up the flight of stairs, knowing that the greatest challenge of all was up ahead.
But in no way were they ready for what was waiting for them.
Sora, Kairi, and Riku entered battle poses when they saw the group coming up the stairs. But they all received a suprise.
"Larxene? I thought I killed you!" Sora asked, confused.
"Xion? I though 你 were merged with Sora!" Riku asked, equally confused.
"Who are 你 two?" Kairi asked, looking at Jason and Itzal.
The chaos cranked up another notch as a Dark Corridor opened, spilling out three bodies. "Someone get her off of me!" Selene snarled as she wrestled with Aqua. Ventus opened his eyes and looked around as he got back on his feet. His jaw gaped as he yelled the 问题 that froze the chaos:
"What's going on here?!"
What do 你 think, Serenna? 或者 are 你 still taking in the fluff overload? The story heads to its climax!