A/N: What's that? I finally added an actual plot?
WHY YES, I DID xD
Just hoping I can pull it all off~
Edited to Add: I'm posting a series on here that I wrote ages ago, "Destiny High." It's the basis for the chapters in this series where [Name] is stuck on Destiny Islands. But it's fun and I personally love it so please go check it out on my page :D <3 I'll love you forever~
~Alex
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As soon as you appear in the connected room from where you're assuming the noise originated, you're blown backwards by a sharp strike to the stomach. You fall on your back, skidding a bit on the rough, rocky ground. With a groan, you crawl to a seated position and rest a hand over your throbbing abdomen as you take the opportunity to look around.
You're seated in a large room filled with shimmering gold coins, trinkets, vases, jewels... For a moment, you're entranced by the sight – until you realize the room is filled with a seemingly never-ending hoard of Heartless and Nobodies pouring in through a floating orb of darkness smack in the middle of the farthest wall.
There's no sign of any humans, and for a moment you wonder if the noise you heard was just a Nobody knocking over a vase.
A flash of silver gains your attention, and with a gasp you quickly roll out of the way as a curved sword slashes towards you. The awful sound of metal clashing with rock rings in your ears as you jump to your feet, stumbling forward a bit down narrow stairs. You can feel the sword bearing down on you from behind, so you push your arm back and blast a stream of flames towards the Heartless. Glancing over your shoulder, you manage to catch a glimpse of the creature vanishing into black smoke.
"Still got it," you murmur with a small smile, glancing down at your hand before running towards a narrow doorway on the other side of the room.
You blast Heartless and Nobodies with lightning as they swarm in around you, hurrying through the doorway. You're standing atop a dark stairway that leads into a circular room with intricate pillars lining the walls. The ground dips down slightly in the center of the room, and across from you is a tall, stone platform. You can just barely make out an unconscious body with dark brown hair strewn out atop the platform – Terra.
Your heart soars, a wide smile growing on your face as you tear down the stairway and across the room, carefully avoiding a shallow puddle of water trapped in the lowered portion of the room. Reaching the platform, you frown as you search for a way up. You step back a bit, readying yourself before you jump in the air. Your hands fall down to your side, a burst of wind escaping your palms as you're given an extra boost.
You shriek as the wind stops, flailing through the air before you land rather ungracefully on your side.
"Ow," you mutter, rubbing your sore shoulder as you sit up.
Your eyes widen when you spot Terra lying there. His head's resting on its side, his eyes closed. He looks like he's sleeping. You crawl towards him, kneeling beside him as you slowly reach towards his face. Pushing aside how gross and invasive it feels, you carefully open one of his eyes.
A gasp leaves your mouth as you scramble backwards, feeling your heart rise to your throat. You were expecting to see swirling pink and purple, like Aqua. Instead, his eyes are a dark gold and red, like the embers of a flame.
"Hasn't anyone told you not to wander off alone?"
You jump in surprise, your blood running cold at the sound of a hauntingly familiar voice. One you hadn't heard for over a year, whose owner tried to take Riku from you...
The sharpened tip of a silver lance brushes against your cheek, and you look up only to spot a bulky man dressed all in blank standing before you. A gloved hand sweeps over the man's face as he pulls off his hood, revealing a perfectly trimmed beard and wild, black dreadlocks pulled back in a ponytail.
"It's a shame Riku won't be here to save you this time," Xaldin continues, pulling back the lance as he stares down at you. "I'll just have to kill him later."
A harsh burst of wind hits you, knocking you from your seated position. You fly through the air, slamming against one of the pillars carved into the wall before crumpling down to the ground. Your eyes flutter open, groaning quietly as your body seizes with pain.
"How stupid do you have to be," Xaldin continues, a windstorm surrounding him as a shield of lances grows to protect him, "to think we'd just let you waltz away with one of the trio?"
You glance up just in time to see one of the lances whizzing straight towards you. Hurriedly and pushing aside all pain, you roll over as fast as you can and pull yourself to your feet by holding onto the jagged rock wall. The skin on your hip is ripped open, and blood is starting to leak through your shirt. Your shoulder is sore, as well as your knees, but when the lance embeds itself within inches of your body, you realize you can worry about your injuries later.
Your eyes dart forward, locking with Xaldin's dark and almost deadened gaze as he floats down towards you. A hand is hiding behind your back as you start to form small but sharp ice crystals in your palm. Once Xaldin is within a close enough striking distance, you extend your hand and flex your fingers. Dozens of small daggers of ice fly forward, embedding themselves in any piece of his body they can manage to find. He cries out, losing his balance as he falls to his knees. Blood is dripping from his body, mixing with the water pooling on the ground below. Slowly, his gaze rises, nothing but anger in its most pure form flashing through his eyes.
"You want a fight, girl?" he snarls, pushing himself to his feet. The mixture of his bright red blood with his Organization robes brings back horrible memories of his death. "Well, you know what they say – be careful what you wish for."
"Yeah, right back at you," you retort before your entire right arm is swallowed in flames.
You dart forward, running as fast as your legs allow as you weave underneath a soaring lance. Xaldin thrusts another lance towards you faster than you can keep up with, and you throw your hands up in front of your face, managing to catch the lance between your red-hot palms. The flames lap at the weapon, and Xaldin drops it with gritted teeth as the lance turns white from the heat. A low growl echoes in his throat as he jumps forward and you leap to the side, barely managing to escape the blade as his lance juts past you. You reach a hand out, a jolt of electricity charging through the air and lighting up the room as it strikes Xaldin right in the chest.
Luckily for you, you realize he's apparently shit against magic as he stumbles backwards. You hit him with another blast of lightning for good measure, watching for a moment as he falls to the ground before you start to run back towards the platform - and Terra. He's much too heavy for you to carry, but maybe with an anti-gravity spell you could fly him towards the others... Where is everyone anyway?!
Before you can continue internally rambling, just as you're about to climb up to the top of the platform, a black portal appears in front of you and a gloved hand darts out. You try to skid to a stop, but it's too late; the hand grasps your neck, fingers wrapping around your skin as you're left dangling pathetically and held up in the air by a snarling and bleeding Xaldin.
His fingers are wrapped around your neck so tightly that you can practically feel your skin bruising and the tissue tearing. Tears are leaking from your eyes, your fingers desperately grasping at his as you try to gasp for air.
"You will never beat us," Xaldin hisses, pulling you so that his eyes are mere inches from yours. "We will kill everyone you've ever cared about. You will watch them take their last breaths, your heart turned to pure, beautiful darkness just before you're obliterated."
With all the strength you can muster, you swing your leg out, kicking him as hard as you can in his ribs. Your neck is released as Xaldin's hand flies to his side, and you fall to the ground. Quick pants and gasps of air escape your throat as you hold a hand to your neck. The skin is sensitive to the touch, and you're barely able to handle a finger pressing against the bruise that's surely growing.
"S-Stay back," you stammer, holding out a hand in warning as you scramble backwards as Xaldin takes a warning step towards you.
"Is that supposed to scare me?" he asks with a barking laugh, a lance appearing in his hand as he tilts his head to better study you. "You're skilled with magic, I'll give you that. But..."
He trails off with a low groan, and your eyes trail down to a silver blade sticking out of his torso. A hint of a smile flashes to your lips as you flick your finger once more. Another lance flies through the air, embedding in Xaldin's left shoulder.
"What was that?" you ask in a voice of mock curiosity as Xaldin collapses to his hands and knees, ragged and pained breaths escaping his mouth. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a friend to save."
With that you slink to your feet and run to the platform. Your feet are almost tripping over each other due to your heightened stress and fear that in any second Xaldin will be up and fuming mad, but you're somehow able to pull yourself up to the top of the platform from the adrenaline. You kneel beside Terra, pulling him against your chest as you try to stand up. His weight brings you back to the ground with a frustrated groan.
"Geez Terr, how much do you weigh," you ask yourself quietly as you hover a hand over his chest.
Just as you're about to unleash an anti-gravity spell, you feel someone's presence directly behind you. You look down at the ground, spotting a pair of large black boots standing behind you. Blood is tripping onto the sand-colored stones of the platform.
"You're dead."
Without a moment's hesitation you scramble forward, barely managing to dodge a sea of lances before taking a running leap off of the platform. You land in a skid on the ground below, continuing to run as you throw a hand out towards the pool of water at your feet. Just as Terra taught you what seems like a lifetime ago, a stream of water flies up into the air as you move your hand up. You twist your body and point both hands towards Xaldin, who's charging towards you.
"Wha... no!" he cries as the stream of water sails towards him.
The water expands and grows like a web as it creates a giant orb that encircles him. Your gaze sets on the orb, feeling nothing but hatred coursing through you as you manipulate the water holding Xaldin in a tomb. All you're focusing on is the power, the never-ending power... Flashes of darkness start to burst through the water, expanding and swallowing the water in a hauntingly beautiful pattern.
All the times you've been beat down, mocked, lost a fight – this is your revenge. This is your final stand. As the water turns as black as the night's sky, a smile grows on your face.
"[Name]..."
A voice suddenly rings in your ear – a girl.
"Naminé?" you mutter, not taking your eyes off of the orb.
"Don't use the darkness!"
Like a smack to the face or a punch to the gut, her words cause your resistance to shatter like broken glass. You drop your hands, staring down at them in horror. The tips of your fingers have turned as black as the night's sky, like a horrible case of frostbite.
"What..."
You trail off as a loud thump echoes through the room. The orb floating above you has burst, black water falling to the ground as well as Xaldin's body. His body collides roughly with the floor, and your heart starts to race when you realize he's not moving.
You ever so slowly start to walk towards his body, your heart racing so quickly and violently that you feel like you're about to pass out. You stumble a bit from the wound to your hip, but you don't stop moving. You stop at his feet, your eyes trailing up his body and to his face. His chest isn't moving, and his dark eyes are glassy and still.
His body slowly starts to disintegrate into black specs that start to float in the air. You can feel tears forming in your eyes, though you're not quite sure. Are you sad? Relieved? Both? Either way, your heart feels like it's going to rip out of your chest.
A black portal suddenly appears underneath him, and he falls through the swirling darkness. With a 'whoosh'ing noise, the portal disappears, and your gaze snaps up towards the platform. Standing there is a lean figure all in black, light blue hair framing his pale and scarred face.
"Better luck next time," Saix muses, placing a hand on Terra's chest before the two of them disappear in a poof of black smoke.
"No!" you cry out, starting to run towards the platform.
You only make it a few steps; your body is so tired, and the blood loss from your hip is making you so woozy, that you almost immediately lose consciousness and fall to the ground in a crumpled heap.
As you fall, a figure watches, hidden in the shadows.
His eyes flash a reddish gold before he disappears into darkness.
(No, it's not Vanitas.)
[♥]
"Well? How is he?"
Vexen glances up from his gaze set on the floor, immediately spotting a scowling Saix standing outside his office in the laboratory.
"I tried, but I was too late. Xaldin is dead," Vexen replies, his face revealing no emotion whatsoever. "It was too much darkness; Hojo's formula couldn't bring him back."
"Isn't that supposed to keep us alive?" Marluxia asks, his arms crossed over his chest as he studies the scientist. "I mean – that's why we're still here, right?"
"I cannot protect your bodies against darkness. No one can," Professor Hojo replies as he slinks out of Vexen's office.
"Great. Then you're going to be the one to tell Xemnas," Saix decides dryly.
>> Fast-Forward >>
Xemnas sits on his throne, drawing invisible circles and patterns into his armrest with a gloved finger. Standing before him is three idiots, whose usefulness appear to be wearing thin.
"So, let me get this straight," Xemnas states, taking a deep breath, "we can still be killed by darkness, the very thing that created us."
"Yes, but you are immune to any other form of injury," Professor Hojo replies quickly.
Xemnas glares down at him, and he immediately shuts up.
"One of my best warriors was killed by an obnoxious girl who escaped this very castle and scarred my face –"
"And holds the key to our salvation and domination," Saix speaks up, earning his own glare.
"And, to top it all off, you MORONS have been hiding the only people who can stop us in random worlds with no protection?!" Xemnas finishes, standing up as black smoke starts to grow out of his body.
His aura of homicidal fury is enough to make the three standing before him cower in their shoes.
"S-Sir, we did not feel –"
"Save it!" Xemnas barks, interrupting a trembling Vexen. "They shall be kept with Naminé from now on. Those idiots have their hands on one of the trio – it's a drawback but, the only way they are of any use is with all of them together."
"Sir, if I may," Professor Hojo speaks up, raising a finger in the air. Xemnas watches him with a look of dissatisfaction, though he doesn't stop him from talking. "We have made an... interesting discovery. The boy, Terra – he has an extraordinary amount of darkness in his heart."
"And?" Xemnas asks boredly, his cheek resting in his palm. "We already know his history."
"Yes, of course, but such darkness can be easily manipulated," Professor Hojo points out simply. "Look at that abomination you have working for you, born from Ventus. If I may be allowed to do so, I think I could create a true weapon with this boy."
Xemnas blinks a few times in silence before releasing a quiet hum and allowing a grin to grow on his face.
"Alright. Terra is yours, and Ventus will be sent to Naminé for protection. I expect daily reports on your progress."
The three bow in a show of respect before hurrying out of the room and leaving Xemnas alone to his seething thoughts.
"Why didn't you tell him we already began the experiments on Terra?" Vexen asks.
The Professor smirks slightly, opening the folder clasped in his hands as he starts to flip through the pages.
"Sometimes it's best to conduct side projects, without informing those in charge. Or else experiments can be tainted and ruined."
Vexen and Saix exchange confused looks as they follow the mad professor down the stark-white hallway and towards the laboratory.
A dark-haired head pokes around the wall the second they're out of sight, frowning a bit at the conversation he overheard.
Manipulated, huh?
Two can play at that game.
>> THREE DAYS LATER <<
After collapsing following your fight with Xaldin, you awoke on the Gummi ship. Once you were sufficiently harassed by a worried Yuffie and poked and prodded by Dr. Riku, you were able to sit up and tell them everything – your fight, Terra's disappearance, Saix's warning. It was a quiet ride back, with everyone worried to death about Terra and Ven's safety and stunned that you were able to kill Xaldin all by yourself.
Truthfully, even you weren't sure how you managed to do it.
For the next three days, you were mainly a lazy blob in your room. Your body was sore, and unfortunately your collision with the wall had re-opened the key-shaped scar on your hip. It was painful to do much more than lie down and shuffle around your room.
Goofy, Yuffie, and Xion had been nice enough to bring your meals up to you, and offer some companionship. You still hadn't really talked to [him] – he had popped in a few times, but conversations were strained and awkward. Not that you really cared, since you're not in the wrong and he's being ridiculous.
With a content sigh you snuggle down in the thick blankets, watching some stupid rom-com as you do your best to forget about Xaldin and Organization drama. Just as you can feel yourself drifting off to sleep, a black portal appears on the wall. You sit up, your heart skipping a beat at the sight. When you realize who's stepping through the swirls of black and purple, however, you groan and pull the covers over your head.
"Damn it, get out of my room," you grumble into your pillow.
You can hear heavy footsteps moving across the room before the covers are rather unceremoniously ripped from your body.
"Hey!" you snap, grabbing the blankets and pulling them over yourself as you glare up at a smirking Vanitas. "Get out. I don't have the energy to deal with you right now."
The slight smile on his face quickly lowers to a frown, and you can't stop a pit in your stomach from forming as he sighs and takes a seat next to you on your bed. You've never seen him so... human.
"What's the matter with you? Why are you so quiet? Did you not see my pajamas – they're covered in baby chocobos! Where's the insults?" you ramble, sitting up against the pillows propped on the headboard as you watch the male next to you.
His gaze is lowered to his hands, ungloved and clasped together as he rests his elbows on his legs and leans forwards. Golden eyes dart to yours, and the pit grows.
"We need to talk, [Name]."