Org. XIV (story)

"You know...where I come from, teleporting in battle is just outright rude...", Sylvia grumbled, rubbing the back of her head gingerly as her hand gripped firmly around the handle of the sword. That was a bad disadvantage. If only she'd managed to take one of those teleportation rings they sold back home. Although word was, that those devices rarely worked, and when they did, they came with potentially disastrous consequences.

"And I like to try to keep the upper hand. Which means taking the first swing. Didn't know you could teleport though." She remarked cooly, turning to look at Archer's body to locate the power source. "Throws a spanner in the works, that."

"Teleporting?" Archer faintly cocked an eyebrow. "No, I just sidestepped around you and smacked you over the head," she corrected, stepping back to gesture at the parted grass.

"Oh, so you're just fast? No one's that fast." Sylvia frowned disbelievingly. "Magic, and mumbo-jumbo? Oh, and thanks for the smack in the head. Appreciate it." She rolled her eyes sarcastically.

Archer rolled her eyes. "Yes, I'm just fast. This is basic footwork and I didn't reinforce my body at all," she informed Sylvia blandly. "This means that you weren't able to follow my movements nor were you paying attention to your surroundings other than what's in front of you." She sighed. "Hm, this might be tough."

Nick pressed into a forest clearing and found a group of Power Wilds surrounding a Bouncy Wild that was clutching a small golden coin to its chest, "What the?" He breathed quietly as he stood still watching the scene unfold.

Refusing to give up the coin to a large Power Wild apparently the troop's leader, the Bouncy Wild was slowly approached from all sides by the other heartless. Then, with the blink of an eye, a rocket punch launched the small heartless into a tree.

Immediately, Nick stepped in even if the small creature was a heartless, he still saw the treatment as cruel. He twirled his Gladius as the Power Wilds eyed the young man with tension, wondering why a human would interfere.

Then, a screech from the leader launched the attack as the Power Wilds charged Nick.

"Tough?" Sylvia growled, severely tired of being mocked. "I'll show you tough." She stepped forward, swinging her scimitar again in the same arc as she had done before. This time however, her eyes followed Archer's swift movements like a hawk, practically pirouetting on the spot to turn around and block the Tora-shinai's strike with a loud clang of metal that startled some birds nestling in the trees.

Nick smiled at the thirll of combat, his motions slicing fluidly through the Heartless as he used his personae in tandem, Surt and then Thor until the swarm of Powerwilds were defeated. Nick scooped up the golden coin that the Bouncy Wild had dropped and turned to the small, monkey-like Heartless.

The small creature cringed away and a voice trickled into Nick's mind.

N-no... I-I d-don't want to die!

The Bouncy Wild shielded itself with its boomerang, a feeble attempt at defense.

"You can talk?" Nick rose an eyebrow in confusion due to the small heartless.

At the same time Sylvia blocked Torashinai's casual counter-swing, Archer's left leg had snapped up at the same time to kick Sylvia's knee from the side, forcing the pirate down and letting the wooden sword slide down to smack her on the head lightly.

"Rule number 1," Archer backed away to let Sylvia get up, "Until I say start, training hasn't officially begun. So don't be too hasty. That's a sure-fire way of getting yourself killed."

X-Sigma finally composed himself. He stood, growling at the area where Aaron had disappeared. "Interfering wretches."

Hartz pulled back a step, shocked at his mentor's first sign of anger. "So, now what? Should I go after him?"

"No." He calmed. "For now, rest. You don't need to die."

Deciding it would be better not to argue this time, Hartz walked away for some distance and fell asleep.

"Ow! Hell!" Sylvia cursed as she leapt back up to her feet with a wince, rubbing her head with a bitter scowl. "Fine! Have it your way," she grumbled, taking a step backward to distance herself a little from Archer. "Then here's my little rule. Don't complain." She spat. "I'm here to fight, and get stronger, not to hear you whinge about how 'hard' this is going to be. Deal?"

"I complain all the time. It's what women do," Archer's answering smirk was playful. "Take the chip off your shoulder, lassie. It'd help a little." She flexed her neck slightly. "Ok. Rule number two. From the moment I say 'start' to the moment I say 'stop, we'll attempt to hit each other with our weapon and try to block it with them. Let's start."

Sylvia blinked. Archer was right; she really did need to loosen up. Unfortunately, the constant wounding of her pride had left her a little ragged, it seemed. She rolled back her shoulderblades, her heels digging into the dirt. "Gotcha." A smile cracked through, before she sprang forward, closing the gap between them as her scimitar swung up in a vertical slice, her eyes peeled for any sudden movement from the homunculus.

Yes, I can talk... Why? Did you help? I'm a Heartless. My kind is hated.

The small monkey looked down, confused.

Nick smiled, "You needed a hand. Why not? I figured if you're evil. I could just vanguish you." He sounded eerily honest about his reply.

Gah, really?! Well... I guess that makes sense... Heartless aren't really known for being nice...

Outer Tri-Star Town: Sparring Field

Rexial pointed to the tree. "Come on out. I know you're there, I can sense your energy." Can't make out the thoughts, though... maybe he's thinking quietly?

Adachi pointed his keyblade at the tree. "Who's been spying on us? Come out, now!"

There was a rustling sound, and a girl stepped out from behind the tree, holding her hands aoveher head.

Rexial recognized her. That girl... Uchikina?

"U-Uchi-chan!" Adachi immediately unsummoned his weapon. He seemed mortified by the fact that she had seen his Keyblade. No... she saw it. She'll remember the incident for sure, now...

She looked at Rexial. "...Uh... w-weren't you the substitute teacher f-from earlier today?"

"...Yeah, I was. So, any reason you were spying?" Rexial asked pointedly.

Adachi tried to soften things a little. "Er, were you worried about how suspicious this guy is? Don't worry, he's not a bad person. Just not from around here."

Uchikina appeared to be perplexed. Rexial took a peek into her thoughts for a moment...

I always watch Adachi-san train. It's become a habit... I didn't think somebody else would be here, fighting him. So I used some magic to help him out... Was that bad?

Rexial marveled for a moment at how helpful it was to dive into the minds of those who have been confused. They always tried to retrace their steps, giving him a broader view of things. ...And, in fact, she WAS thinking more quietly than most. Probably due to her shy disposition.

She finally spoke up, with a gentle, friendly tone. "Alright. So, he's a friend of yours?"

"I only just met him a couple of hours ago."

"Yes, and I saw him at the school. He was the substitute for our gym teacher..." Uchikina said, glancing at Rexial. "...In fact, who are you, really? You're not a teacher, I am certain of that."

"Ahhheheh... That'll take a while to explain." This girl is either a creepy stalker... or strangely cute. Does she REALLY have nothing better to do than watch Adachi train?

The blunt edge of Torashinai met Sylvia's face unceremoniously, the weapon having jabbed forward with such speed it hadn't looked like it had moved it all. Archer faintly shook her head in rebuke as the pirate girl stumbled back. "Swing's too wide. You left yourself wide open," she pointed out in a more serious tone.

<Been awhile since my last post. More random babbling I guess.>

It was fast approaching nightfall in Radiant Garden, and the quad of Observers were sitting content within the tavern, their stomachs full to the brim. Despite the guzzling of countless bottles of alcohol, both Roland and Gregor were still conscious, arm wrestling one another. Oxthmas was stacking a pile of coins into various shapes, chattering on about various gaming strategies to Gunamnex, who sat silent, nodding on and off again.

"Gunamnex, you seem a bit weary, well, more than usual." Oxthmas said, stopping his coin stacking for the moment.

"There's so many variables to take account for currently." Gunamnex said in between the abrupt shouts from other patrons as Roland and Gregor exchanged pins several times.

"We'll tackle the challenges the game brings forth to us as they happen boss" Oxthmas said with a smirk.

"Hopefully without resorting to the most drastic of strategies" Gunamnex replied just as Gregor pinned Roland and the crowd cheered.

Aleri cracked his neck. "Dante? Are you still here? I thought you wanted to see the town."

<Eques...>

S-so, what now?

"Well, I came here to get stronger... That little skirmish helped a little but I don't think it'll be enough..." Nick said thoughtfully.

Fine then! I'll come with you! Fighting together, we'll both get stronger! The small monkey leapt to Nick's shoulder and he raised a perplexed eyebrow.

"You can fight? Do you even have a weapon?" Nick asked confusedly.

Of course, I can. I have my boomerang! The small heartless held out its palm and a bright orange metallic boomerang materialized from a pool if darkness.

"Neat trick. Alright then, let's go." Nick strode forward into the forest's undergrowth with his new ally.

Rexial bowed his head in thought.

Uchikina comes to watch him train every day. She's seen his Keyblade plenty of times, and I'm sure she's seen him fight Heartless since "The Incident". But Adachi is convinced that she's mentally scarred, or forgot, or something. She seems fine to me, and I can see into her psyche. Apparently, there's been some kind of miscommunication here...

He snickered. What a couple of clowns! These two could've resolved this crap in a matter of minutes if they talked openly. I can't even remember how it feels to be timid, after all the stuff I've gone through. Adachi acts tough, but he's really just shy. At least Uchi-chan is openly sh... dammit, now I'm talking like them!

<Been so long. What I miss? And I mean since page 50 of the last topic to here. Who's in the Gray Area of TWTNW? Still Syxsur, Wayne and I think another? Where's Kyxcir? And more importanally, does Axel like avocados?>

Sylvia cursed under her breath as Archer's weapon narrowly missed her cheek, stepping back cautiously. "Alright then...show me how I should swing then," she challenged with raised eyebrows.

<Bored now, this topic's getting nowhere. Onward with my plot.>
A voice sounded behind Daniel. "Well. You look angry." Daniel spun around and saw someone not much older than he was, if at all. X-Sigma said, "I guess that's to be expected. After all, you get your heart back only to rejoin these guys. You're going crazy, aren't you?"

Daniel asked, "Who are you?"

"I'm not telling you."

"Who are you?" repeated Daniel.

"I'll tell you I'm important to your past. But beyond that, I'd rather not say."

"What does that have to do with me?"

Ignoring the question, X-Sigma looked around the room. "Man, you really went ape-sh*t on this place, didn't you? Looks like a cave."

At the mention of caves, Daniel tensed.

"Oh? Looks like I've struck something. What's so great about caves?"

Daniel glared at the man in front of him. "How do you know me?"

"Like I said. Important to your past."

"How important?"

"Remember those Heartless?"

Suddenly aware of the answer, Daniel went stiff, but nodded, turning pale.

"Looks like you know. Of course, I'm not exactly sure what your pals have against reuniting the worlds..."

It had been quite some time when Nick finally choose to exit the forest with his new primate ally and a new persona in tow, Skadi, Empress Arcana, the Frost Queen.

Nick smiled happily, "So, you fought pretty well for your size. So, what's your name?"

The others call me, Aeca. A-E-kuh. The small heartless enunciated with a small chittering very similar to the that of the animal she resembled.

"Reuniting the worlds?!" asked Daniel, stunned.

"Yep."

"But that would cause every kind of chaos!"

"Yeah. But an orderly world is so boring, right?"

Daniel looked at the ground as he replied, "Well, yeah, I guess...a world of perfect order. But that would only because humans wouldn't have free will! They'd be robots! At best!"

"But isn't that what chaos is? Perfect liberty. Besides, if the worlds were reunited, it'd all be so much easier to look after. And it'd be so much easier to communicate with everyone. As it stands now, any of this world's residents can't even talk to Twilight Town, and that's just the next world over! Come on, help me out."

"You killed me! Why in the hell would I help you!?"

"Killed you? But you're here right now."

"No thanks to you!"

"Look at it this way. If I hadn't sent those Heartless, you wouldn't have your little toy there." X-Sigma nodded toward Daniel's Keyblade. "And if I didn't do that...Your Saiyan pal would be dead. Long dead. After all, you and that blade were what saved his sorry ass." He laughed and shrugged. "But what do I know, right? I'm just the crazy psycho-murderer, right? Just trust me on this one: I didn't intend for you to become a Nobody."

"Really?" retorted Daniel. "Did you intend for me to get bitten by a werewolf?!" He pulled up his sleeve, revealing a white patch where that Heartless had bitten him.

"Well, yes."

"And while you're at it, it was you who persuaded me to tear my heart out, wasn't it?!"

"Well, yes."

"Then what was that about not meaning for me to become a Nobody?!"

"Well, I meant to snatch your soul and use that. But, I was distracted by this kid. He was busy whining about something, and by the time I got back to you, you were separate already. And your Nobody was gone. Just your Heartless was left. You shoulda seen how much I laughed when I saw it was a wolf."

Eoni and Zexaden clashed like two magnetic forces, But they weren't even, not by a long shot. The Knight of Power was fighting like a beast, moving insanely faster than anyone Eoni had fought in his lifetime. The cured warrior was slammed into the earth, then hooked into the blade before being thrown for miles.into a river. Zexaden walked onward lazily, the color draining from the forestas he stopped at the waters edge. Eoni floated to the surface. Broken and bloody. "Hahaha you say your powerful, what a shame your no longer immortal!" Then the Knight lifted the ex-Cursed Warrior from the water with an Aero spell. "Now Vanish from this world, let your legacy end!" He roared in triumphant glee. His blade crackled with white lightning but before he could end Eoni's life, he never saw the gunblades last bullet coming, the shot was the last of Eoni's life force, bit it had done its damage. It blew off the lightning weilders sword arm, leaving it a bloody wreckage. Zexaden screamed in pain and pure hate as Eoni's body had dissolved into red lights, one last drop of blood touching down onto the black earth. "Your Death is not your freedom Eoni! I'll hunt your children, and your childrens children!" Zexaden roared "I swear it on my own grave, the Di Vani clan shall flicker away". Just as his promise was finished, he let a portal envelope him.