Hollow Bastion, Second Visit:
In Which Old Comrades Are At Odds
There was no need to get directions; the misshapen castle in the distance provided a striking landmark, beckoning them towards the bailey -- the only way to pass through from the residential area into the castle grounds. They were probably going into an extremely dangerous situation, as Roxas was well aware. Leon was a formidable fighter, his magic and his swordsmanship nothing to take lightly, and no simple force of Heartless would've been able to take him down or trap him. Whatever had kept him so long must be a force to be reckoned with.
They were halfway up the stairs when Roxas thought to ask, "You got a weapon, too, right? What did you pick?"
"Oh," Namine said, startled, and held out her hands. "Yes-- I put it away, in the dark, like Axel does with his chakrams. A spear."
"A-- A spear, you say," Axel said, sounding like he was very narrowly keeping himself from laughing out loud. "Wow. Wouldn't it be longer than you are tall?"
Roxas was inclined to say something bemused in her defense -- or at least in defense of her height, since he was a very scant inch or two taller than she was -- until they came to the top of the stairs and he got a good glimpse of the surrounding territory. There was another castle, in the opposite direction, just barely visible... and surrounding it, and pouring through the canyon leading away from it, a vast, teeming darkness.
The sight of it silenced all of them. If Leon had been anywhere near that seething army of Heartless, the odds that he was still alive were negligible. How anyone could live near that...
This is what the Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee does, he thought, the sight making him understand with startling clarity. They keep these monsters away from the few people who survived and came back, and they chisel out tiny pieces of their home that can be defended.
It was nothing short of a heroic effort, and they were nowhere near done.
"Do you recognize it, Roxas?" Namine said, so soft it was hard to hear her over the wind. "That's where we were born."
Startled, Roxas looked up again, at the black castle far in the distance. Even now that she'd pointed it out, he still couldn't tell, but the very idea made part of him go still. That was where...
"We have company," Axel said, and they all spun around, familiar distortions twisting the air above the cobblestones. Four Armored Knight Heartless dropped to the ground on their bladed legs, rocking back and forth and staring at Roxas with greedy yellow eyes.
Namine will be able to fight with that thing, right? Roxas thought, gaze darting to her briefly, but she had already pulled the spear from the darkness and her jaw was set, determined. Good for her.
He summoned his own keyblades, sparing only a moment to think about Stiltzkin's keychain, still tucked away in a pocket -- but he was familiar with Oathkeeper and Oblivion, knew them like he knew the back of his hand, and he wasn't about to switch to unfamiliar weapons right before a fight like the one he was sure was ahead. Immediately he launched onto the offensive, batting one knight away from the others and setting into it with quick, pulverizing blows, and Axel sent up a wall of fire to keep the remaining Heartless away from him.
Namine lifted her spear in the air, making it look easy despite its awkward size, and a rain of thunder came crashing down around the Heartless Axel was harrying. Roxas skewered his opponent and ran back in their direction. "These guys can't be what Leon's dealing with," he said. "Be careful."
"You're the one who has to be careful," Axel said dryly.
They were both immediately proven wrong as Namine gave a sharp cry; they whipped around to see her stumble and fall hard, the brilliant light of the security system -- shit, forgot about that! -- fading back into the ground and drifting innocently away from her.
"Fine, you be careful too," Axel muttered, taking a step back to hover closer to her.
Roxas cursed the stupid security system. Apparently it did target Nobodies as well as Heartless. "Get up, get up, what if it comes back over?" he said sharply, knocking a knight away. Another wall of fire rose up, driving back the remaining two.
"It-- it hurts," Namine said tightly, sounding stunned, as if she'd never experienced pain before. She did manage to stumble to her feet, but immediately staggered back against the ramparts when she tried to put weight on her leg.
"Don't strain yourself," Roxas said. Axel spun his chakrams into the flames, effortlessly slicing the already-wounded Heartless beyond into ribbons, and another electronic sound from beyond indicated that the security system was still at work. When Axel finally let the flames die down, there was nothing left of the Heartless, and no trace of the security system.
Axel's eyes narrowed, looking out at their now-still surroundings. "Looks like the security system is only active when Heartless are around, but it'll happily take a bite out of Nobodies while it's up."
"Wonderful," Namine said, her voice strained but amused. "It only attacks Nobodies if they're fighting the Heartless." Roxas took a step closer to her, bringing Oathkeeper around to cast a cure spell, but Namine held out a hand and shook her head. "You can make the pain go away, but it'll still be numb," she said. "I'll be fine in a few minutes. You go ahead."
Roxas hesitated, then asked Axel, "She'll be okay?"
"It sounds like a glitch to me," Axel said, mutedly. "The system wasn't designed with Nobodies in mind. We just happen to fall into a hole in the programming."
Roxas glanced at him warily, but didn't say anything paranoid. He didn't trust any programming right now, but there was no reason to take it out on Axel. "Okay. Stay on the wall until you're ready to come down with us, and shout if anything happens."
Namine gave him a small smile. "I'll be okay." As if to prove it, she lifted her spear and summoned wind, spiraling down around Roxas in a small, intangible forcefield. "You two are going into the really dangerous place. Be careful."
"She's right," Axel murmured to him. "She'll be way safer out here than we are going in there."
The stairs leading down into the bailey went into darkness, and ended at a barred gate. Roxas frowned, putting a hand out to push on it, but it was locked. With a shrug, he raised Oathkeeper, but he was stopped by a sharp, hoarse cry of, "Don't open it!"
He looked up, alarmed, to find Leon -- immediately recognizable, dark and with that distinctive scar on his face -- cornered by an unusually large number of Dusks, holding them at bay with his gunblade. "But how will we get through to you?" Roxas asked, tensing at the sight of them. A few of the Nobodies glanced back at them and stiffened themselves.
"If you open the gate, they'll get out into the town." Leon shook his head sharply. "I can handle it."
Yeah, like you've been handling it for the last forty-eight hours, Roxas thought, observing the exhaustion in his lined face and taut bearing. It would be easy to take care of the Dusks without letting them past him, even though Leon would probably be pissed off if they broke the gate.
Axel tapped Roxas on the shoulder and jerked his head back at a corridor. Roxas's lips quirked up.
Their passage was unusually dense, as if traveling from one side of the gate to the other was somehow a great feat, and Roxas was unsurprised that the Dusks couldn't manage to get through the gate by corridoring to the other side. They emerged after what felt like far too long, and the Dusks scattered, withdrawing slightly in unease. Leon eased his posture very slightly, a symptom of his weariness more than anything else, and stared. "How did--?" He could see the still-closed gate behind them. "Who are you?"
"We're the rescue party," Roxas said without missing a beat, and slid forward, low to the ground, dizzying the Dusks.
"Heh. It's about time," Leon said, finally letting himself sink back against the wall and catching his breath. "Your names?"
Roxas crushed one's head and glanced back over his shoulder as it dissolved into black. "I'm Roxas, and he's Axel." Axel was holding back, standing in front of the gate, and Roxas tossed him a grateful smile. "Namine is outside."
Axel eyed Leon thoughtfully, and asked him, "You've been fighting here the whole time?"
Leon offered him a crooked smile. "Well, I haven't been letting these things go right past me." He shook his head, the smile fading immediately. "Couldn't. Damn, Cid said the security system was supposed to be working..."
"Not on these," Roxas said grimly. "They're not Heartless. They're Nobodies."
He killed a second Dusk and then they finally began to move, sliding around him towards the gate. Roxas hesitated and spun around to stab one in the back. There were so many -- were they really just after the gate? Had Leon really held so many off for so long? He was good, but these weren't just menial, mindless Heartless.
They were intelligent, and often, directed by a human-thinking strategic mind.
One Dusk flung itself forward, dangerous bound hands flailing, not at the gate but at Axel; he caught it in a chakram and threw it aside, then roasted it in short order. "You really need some method of signaling for help," he observed coolly. "Ever heard of Morse code?"
"You guys got here eventually." Leon wiped his forehead, watching them closely with a Potion in hand. "Although I admit I was starting to wonder."
"You have good friends," Roxas said softly, as his next victim dissipated as well. "You weren't the only one who was losing sleep, you know."
He didn't know why he felt the need to say it, especially at this jucture, with a handful of Dusks still headed straight for Axel. He just thought that Leon should know -- and appreciate them, even if they weren't here, or hadn't come earlier.
"They were..." Leon said slowly. "Worried?" He sounded much less tired.
Roxas smiled, but a strange thing distracted him quickly; the air went still, and then the remaining Dusks vanished in plumes of darkness. Even Leon pushed himself upright again, and all of them waited, wary. It couldn't be that easy. For one thing, if they had left so abruptly, it meant that higher-level Nobodies were close by, watching -- and that meant...
A trio of Nobodies stepped out of the darkness in perfect unison and stopped, waiting, still. They stood tall and straight, their bodies silver and gray with metal helmets over their heads.
No, Roxas thought, his whole body locking up. He stared at the Samurai, and they watched him in return, making no hostile movements, but they wouldn't be here if they didn't have a hostile intent.
Axel murmured his name and Leon asked something, but Roxas could hardly hear them. Slowly, Roxas stepped out into their path, between the gate and the semi-circle of Samurai, and he stood up to his full height, lowering his keyblades. His servants were creatures of habit, of routine, and elaborate protocol; he faced them like a Samurai, and waited for their response.
The three Samurai shifted, as if speaking amongst themselves, and then one by one they stepped forward and bowed deeply to Roxas. He could sense their regret; it was just like he could hear them speaking to him, even though he heard no voice in his head -- maybe couldn't hear, anymore, for all he knew.
He bowed back to them, and now he was supposed to kill them.
The one in the lead drew its blade. Roxas shifted quickly into a fighting stance, and then it happened, all in a blur: The Samurai darted forward and they swung their blades in perfect synchonization, and a glint of light illuminated the dark bailey. When it cleared, the Samurai slid to a stop, dropped to its knees, and faded away in perfect silence.
He was breathing fast, he noticed. How strange. He returned his blades to the correct position, warning the others vaguely, "Stay back. They never miss." Speed and agility were useless in a duel bout with the Samurai; the only thing that could give their opponent a fighting chance was flawless timing. Roxas knew the timing as well as he knew his own (his own) too-fast heartbeat.
The second Samurai stepped forward, and drew its blade. It settled for a moment in the same position that Roxas held, and then it raced for Roxas, sword lifting, but Oblivion sliced deep into its side. It followed the first Samurai to its knees.
He recovered faster this time, shaking his head and sinking down into battle posture, and glancing behind him at Axel and Leon. Axel had moved in front of Leon, as if he'd stopped him from interfering at some point. The third Samurai waited to have Roxas's full attenion before it drew its own blade, and it charged forward just as fearlessly as the first two. Roxas met it halfway, rewarding it for its bravery with a swifter death, so that it was gone before it had even touched the ground.
There. It's done. Finally, he thought, and closed his eyes.
His faithful servants. He couldn't even tell which ones they were anymore. Had his two most capable attendants been among those? Were they already dead, or mad, now that they had no master?
"Roxas?" Leon asked.
He realized all at once that that scene must've looked very strange to Leon; he turned around with a small smile, shaking it off with effort. "Yeah?"
"The man in the black coat," Leon said, evenly. "Is he with them?"
It took a moment for that to sink in, and then Roxas stiffened. "What man-- Here? Where?" He turned around, alert, and then zeroed quickly in on the figure standing on the far gate, across from the bailey. Almost immediately after Roxas spotted him, five others swept in behind him, each arriving in a dark corridor, fanning out around the first man.
"Ah, Roxas," said Xemnas, lifting his hands to sweep his hood down. His tone and his face were both equally expressionless as he gazed down at them. "It is good to know that you are well, and that the keyblade rests in such capable hands. Truly, this is a rewarding sight."
Shit, he thought, numb. He'd said that Xemnas would come to him when he was ready to deal with the idea of Roxas with a heart, but somehow he hadn't expected it to be so soon -- hadn't really been ready, himself, for this meeting. He licked his lips. "I didn't think you'd be so concerned for my well-being. You practically told me to leave."
Axel shifted, very slowly, behind him, as if he didn't want anyone to see his movement, and call attention to himself, but still wanted to be close enough to be seen standing with Roxas. Roxas could feel his tension, as if he was ready for an attack from any quarter.
Xemnas either did not see him or did not care. "And yet, doing so has brought you great power, has it not?" Xemnas lifted his arms into the air, reaching for the sky. "Great power that can be used on behalf of the Organization."
"I left the Organization," Roxas said, calm.
"Roxas," Axel whispered tensely.
"You left to find answers," Xemnas said, lowering his hands. Nothing in his expression had changed at all. "Answers you needed to be at peace with who you are. And you have found them now, haven't you? You've found... many things."
Roxas suddenly realized that he was the center of all their attention; six gazes, shrouded in darkness, looking at him with envy, wishing that they had what he had. It made him unexpectedly nervous, even though he knew that they were better than Heartless, knew that they knew that tearing his heart from his chest wouldn't help soothe the ache of what they didn't have.
Xemnas's voice was intent and soft, carrying on the air: "So now what do you do, Roxas? The Organization can still be a home to you -- and we, your brothers."
"Brothers," Axel repeated skeptically, but quiet, very quiet, still avoiding their attention.
The man on Xemnas's right waved casually; he didn't take down his hood, but it was easy to make out Xigbar's wiry figure and confident air. "What are you gonna do with yourself if you don't come back to the Organization? Rescue lion cubs like this one?" He laughed.
Leon stepped forward involuntarily, his expression taut and angry, but he managed to swallow his pride and ease up again, instead of doing something that would get himself killed. Roxas admired that courage -- much more than he would have, if the man had attacked Xigbar, who could have killed him without even paying attention -- and tried to mimic it, but his grip still felt slick with sweat on the hilts of his keyblades. "And what would I do if I did go back?"
"You would do what you did before, of course," said Xaldin, his deep voice emerging from within his hood for a beat before he lowered it. "Patrol the city, and aid us in our harvest."
"I don't care about your harvest," Roxas said flatly, and added quietly, "I never really did." Hearts hadn't been important to him, back before Riku had made him really think about himself; all he knew of life he knew from himself, and the rest of the Organization. He had been content with that. He had gone along with the harvest because...
...that was what everyone in his whole world had wanted.
"We give you a place to belong," Xemnas murmured. "We give you followers, and the company of others who understand you. We give you... a purpose," he said after a beat, spreading the fingers of one hand eloquently.
Followers, Roxas thought, his chest tightening. As if Xemnas could make the Samurai serve him again. But he knew intellectually, that Xemnas could make them, but they wouldn't really be his -- they could never be his again.
But it made him wonder. Why was he struggling against the people who wanted, needed, his help? In order to keep doing... nothing? He was kidding himself if he thought he had anywhere to go after they returned Leon to the people who were waiting for him.
Xemnas seized upon his silence, the monotone of his voice almost melodious, the even and undisturbed rise and fall of his voice almost hypnotic. "Have we not nurtured you, Roxas? Have we not taken you from the dark and brought you to the light? Will you turn from us, now, and deny us the happiness that you have come to know?"
Dangerous, so very dangerous. But he couldn't think of anything to say, any arguments against that seductive truth. Roxas ducked his head, trying not to feel like -- a little boy, young, and small, and very ungrateful. He'd thought vaguely that speaking with them again would make him distant and cool, the way he used to be, but that seemed much less painful now than... this.
"I see you are undecided," Xemnas said, leaning back. No trace of what he might have thought crossed his features. "Then consider your options well -- we will welcome you back, but we have no intention of forcing you to return if you wish otherwise. Fate will see to it that our paths cross again." He reached for his hood.
"Sir," said one of the men behind him, his dark tenor vibrant with the struggle to maintain his composure. "Surely you don't intend to leave the traitor here, to his own devices."
"Me?" Roxas said, startled from his own thoughts, and it wasn't until Axel stepped up to his elbow like a diligent servant, like the Samurai's steady presence, that he understood.
Xemnas was looking at Saix, dispassionate. The thinnest of the figures curled in on itself, arms folding defensively over his chest, but the man standing to his left shifted, gloved fingers moving restlessly, and said, "'His own devices,' you say. Haven't they paid off rather nicely so far?"
"Paid off?" Saix repeated sharply. "So we should reward rebellion and insubordination, as long as someone reaps the benefits?"
Luxord spread his hands, displaying his lack of hostile intent, and said, "Who knows? Axel isn't the only one who collected these winnings. In time, we may all be grateful for his little act of -- ah, insubordination." After a pause, he added, more distantly, "Perhaps not all of us."
"XIII has benefited... and XIII alone. But why, I wonder, hasn't he returned to us?"
Roxas frowned slightly, hearing in Saix's words an accusation -- one he couldn't quite deny. Axel had been the one who suggested they shouldn't return to the Organization. But...
"An interesting question," Xaldin said, vaguely disinterested. His gaze fell on Axel, his eyes so ruthlessly indifferent that it made Roxas feel colder just seeing them.
Saix visibly composed himself, posture relaxing as he addressed his senior with more dignity. "You must see the threat that the traitor poses -- having already had great opportunity to influence XIII, he mustn't be allowed to do so further."
Xaldin did not blink or waver, but his gaze turned slightly more intense. "You certainly have a point."
"I'm right here," Roxas said, terse. Their pleas for him to return had been almost stirring, but this -- to turn and talk about Axel like he was a toy they had thrown away? He glared at them. "I hate to burst your bubble, but I'm not going to cooperate with an Organization that wants to kill Axel."
"Don't do anything stupid," Axel hissed into his ear.
Saix went tight, and he wasn't the only one. Roxas could almost hear them brooding over Axel's influence, but he wasn't afraid of them. If they decided Axel was in the way, and needed to be killed, then there was no way he'd be helping them. And, crap, what about Namine? She hates the Organization. He hoped they hadn't noticed her outside.
Xigbar sighed, loud. "Okay, okay. Everybody chill. Let's not let our little reunion get jacked up with bloodlust." Very suddenly, a corridor consumed him and he vanished from the roof, reappearing a scant second later in the bailey, only a few feet away from Roxas.
Roxas jerked back, bringing up his weapons, immediately alarmed, a gesture echoed by Leon and Axel. Xigbar was someone who could be reasoned with, who occasionally listened to the ideas and reasons of others, but right now he was an enemy, and Roxas wanted all of his enemies in one place, where he could see them, and moving slowly.
Innocently, Xigbar lifted his hands, spreading them. "Hey! Look, fellas, no guns." He took a step closer and swept his hood back, letting them see his face as if to put them at ease. Probably precisely with that intention. He leaned in to peer at Roxas. "You don't look so good, little man. Feeling okay?"
"I don't need you to fake concern for me," Roxas said coolly.
"Ohh, man, you wound me." Xigbar put a hand to his heart, or where it would have been, dramatic. "But I've got to be concerned for you. See, the fact of the matter is that we want you back! Want your cooperation. So I will personally see to it that this matter is settled with as little bloodshed as Saix and Axel have ever settled anything." Xigbar stood up straight again, looking over Roxas's head at Axel and grinning like a wolf.
Saix made a choked, growling sound, but he said nothing. Xemnas was watching unmoved -- distant, as if all of this was happening very far away. Axel had straightened when Roxas glanced back at him; he was smirking slightly, confidence apparently restored. "Sounds good to me," he said.
Xigbar was the Organization's second-in-command, and although he was extremely unpredictable and more than a little dangerous, his word could usually be trusted. If Axel was willing to let him make the effort... Roxas frowned, but he said, "Fine. You do that." He looked up at Xemnas.
Apparently satisfied with his second's negotiations, Xemnas nodded, very slightly, and that was it; a dark corridor swirled up around him and swallowed him, carrying him elsewhere. Luxord and Xaldin followed directly, and Saix lingered a moment, staring at Roxas or Axel or both of them. Then he gestured sharply at the last figure and vanished as well. Demyx hesitated a moment longer, but he turned away and left without having spoken a single word.
Then Xigbar was the only one remaining. He chuckled a little, and said, "That could've gone better, huh?"
Leon asked stiffly, "Why are you still here?"
"So rude!" Xigbar patted him on the shoulder. "You should try to be more like your dad. There was a fun guy." Leon went stock-still, his eyes wide, and Xigbar brushed past him. "I have a reminder left to give, that's all. It's up to you, little dude," he said to Roxas, confidentially, "but I'd think it over. If you're really so interested in Axel's well-being, you oughta be on our side." He tapped a finger to the center of his chest significantly.
Roxas went stiff. He'd forgotten about that. Refusing to help the Organization not only meant turning against the people who had raised him, but -- it meant Axel would be incomplete, maybe forever. Once upon a time, he might've been okay with that, when incomplete was all he'd ever known and it hadn't seemed so bad, but now...
He wanted Axel to be happy, too.
"I don't need a heart," Axel said, his voice strange. Roxas looked up at him, but his face was unreadable, a mask like Xemnas's.
No, Roxas thought, his features twisting, and he looked away again quickly. No, you shouldn't have to say that.
Xigbar's smile twitched up a notch, satisfied. "Whatever you say, man." He stretched and called up a corridor for himself, then paused a moment longer, only one leg inside. "But if you don't want to come back, that's cool, too. I'll be real disappointed if you come back and I never get a chance to fight a keyblade master of your skill. It's been a long time." He laughed, pleased with himself, and drew his hood up to protect himself from the seething dark.
NEXT >>> Beast's Castle, Second Visit (Part 1)