Chapter 11: Destruction
Vexen had been spending an inordinate amount of time with the team upstairs. "It just doesn't make any sense," Zexion complained. "He and the others don't get along, so why is he up there all the time doing favors for them?"
"Ever since the hero of light and the hero of darkness showed up in the castle, he's been working more with Marluxia's group than with us," Lexaeus added bitterly.
"They're a distraction from our true mission."
Mikage had been told that they were looking for a specific room, and that was all. They hadn't minded having her tag along to help with that, but they still hadn't found it. "Do you want me to go upstairs and get him?" she offered.
"Normally I wouldn't bother him unless it was urgent, but this has gone on long enough."
Mikage opened a portal and went upstairs to find Vexen. "Vexen-san, they need you downstairs..." Her voice trailed off as she noticed what she'd walked in on. Vexen had been arguing with Marluxia, and Marluxia was holding the blade of his scythe against Vexen's neck. "Hey, what are you doing?" she exclaimed, moving in front of Vexen and underneath the blade.
"Yuri, no..." Axel said under his breath.
"Insolent girl. I am the master of this castle, not him," Marluxia growled, putting the blade against her throat instead.
"So what? He's still one of the Organization's founding members and the oldest one here. You should have some respect for him."
"Vexen, respectable? Ha!" Larxene scoffed.
Vexen grabbed Mikage's shoulders and moved her aside. "That will do, Miss Mikage. Tell them I will return after dealing with Sora."
Not long after, Zexion sensed Vexen's death at the hands of Axel and reported it to his two remaining companions. "What do we do now?" he asked, slightly unnerved.
"He'd want us to carry on for him, wouldn't he?" Mikage suggested. She hadn't told them about Marluxia threatening him, but it wouldn't have made Vexen's murder any less of a shock. Lea-kun...Why?
"Sora's the problem," Lexaeus put in. "Soon he'll be Marluxia's puppet."
“In that case, should we destroy Sora before he falls into Marluxia’s hands?” Zexion suggested drastically.
Lexaeus' eyes widened in surprise. "Destroy Sora? No. That won’t be necessary. If Marluxia is to gain the light that is Sora, then we will take the darkness.”
“…You mean, Riku?” Zexion said. Lexaeus nodded, then disappeared.
Mikage stepped up next to Zexion. "Hey, what's the matter? You're losing your focus."
Zexion's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean? My focus is always on our goal."
"Right now, Sora is the goal, if I'm not mistaken. Did you really want to destroy him?"
Zexion shook his head ruefully. "That may have been a bit premature on my part. Vexen made a grave miscalculation, and it cost him."
"Vexen-san wasn't one of the strongest fighters, so it's not surprising that he lost to Sora. If Axel was out of line, wouldn't you want him destroyed instead?" Marluxia must have told him to do it, but still...
"I don't like that one Organization member killed another, but I'm not about to suggest it should happen again."
"But getting rid of Sora is okay? Are you blaming him or were you just being spiteful?"
Zexion was tired of talking in circles. "If you have a point, then make it already."
"The only reason for you to have wanted Sora destroyed is vengeance. Admit it. It was for Vexen-san, wasn't it."
"You're wrong. I respected Vexen, but I hated him. I've always hated him."
Mikage looked sad. "Zexion-kun, you can't mean that."
"Oh yes I can. You know how he acted. He never liked me either. He hated having to look after me."
"I'm sure that's not true. You're only remembering the bad times. He loved you the only way he knew how. He'd had a strict upbringing by his father, but deep down he still knew compassion. I could see it in his eyes, the same way I see the affect he's had on you in yours. Isn't there one good memory of you two together?"
Zexion wasn't about to answer that line of questioning; instead, he kept his mouth shut so he wouldn't say anything else incriminating. He did remember vaguely when Even had gently but firmly tucked him in at night, and he supposed trying to keep him cooped up in the castle had been his way of protecting him. He stared at the floor in silence, waiting for Lexaeus to come back.
Unfortunately, he never did. Zexion gasped as he sensed Riku annihilate Lexaeus. "No...They can't both be gone...What's happening?" That old sinking feeling was returning. Not again...not again...not again! he thought miserably. All he wanted to do was curl up in a ball and hide in the corner, but he had a job to complete, with or without them. He wound up his courage and put on a brave face. "I must avenge them."
"Zexion-kun, you don't have to do this," Mikage said, trying to talk him out of it.
"Yes I do," he said emphatically, disappearing before she could stop him.
Zexion confronted Riku, taunting him before projecting an illusion of the night Destiny Island was destroyed. “You really should have known that this was going to happen,” he admonished. "You threw your friends away. You destroyed your own home!”
In that instant, darkness wrapped around them and rain began to beat down on Riku. Thunder echoed in the sky and then the world began to disintegrate. “The island where you were born crumbled away, and many hearts vanished into the darkness. It was your fault!”
Yes...If I hadn’t been so easily tempted...if I hadn’t believed his words... Both of them thought this. Deep down, Zexion knew he was just as guilty as Riku, led astray as they both were by Xehanort. It was my fault, my fault, my fault! I threw away my relationship with Ansem and helped destroy our home. I wish Xehanort had never come to Radiant Garden...
“The one who got sick of the small-island lifestyle, thoughtlessly opened the door to darkness and destroyed the islands was you! You were tempted by the darkness. And now, you are a complete resident of the darkness.” As am I. We're the same, Riku. I'd ask you to join me in darkness, but you killed my best friend, so you may say hello to him for me in oblivion instead.
But Zexion hadn't counted on interference from Namine. She pulled Riku out of the darkness by telling him it was okay, that he was in control of himself. This gave Riku the confidence he needed to overcome the illusions and beat Zexion.
Zexion survived and returned to the basement on the verge of tears. Mikage ran over to him as he tried to lean against the wall for support. "Zexion-kun, you're hurt!"
"I'm fine," he lied, trying to recover his strength. "Leave me alone!" The thoughts in his head were too much for him to bear without a heart to give his would-be tears release. He had failed to avenge Lexaeus, and Riku had really gotten to him instead of the other way around. Unlike him, Riku wasn't giving in to the darkness this time. Worse yet, Zexion had lost the people who mattered most to him again, and there still wasn't anything he could do about it. "It's not fair!" he yelled, hitting the wall repeatedly with his fist. "It just shouldn't be possible! Why?!"
"Zexion..." Mikage had never seen him like this before, and for a Nobody that was saying something. He'd lost his parents, Ansem, Vexen, and Lexaeus, and now he'd been defeated in an important fight. She read the thoughts swirling around in his mind: he was a failure, and he knew how the Organization punished failure; Xigbar and Xaldin wouldn't let that happen to him, would they? Even if he didn't have a heart, something inside him broke. He pulled his arm back to hit the wall again, but she caught it, stopping him. He looked back at her with an anguished expression on his face. "It's okay. I'm here."
"Kage-nee..." Zexion unclenched his fist and relaxed his arm, letting her hold his hand.
As Mikage tried to console him, Axel showed up with Replica Riku. Zexion got scared when he saw the replica and clung to Mikage for a moment. He seemed to calm down when he realized it wasn't the real Riku and that he was on their side. "Of course," he said, breathing a sigh of relief and letting go of Mikage. "We can send the replica to fight Riku."
"You'll need some more energy to secure a win. Why not take Zexion's?" Axel said to the replica.
"What are you saying? That's not funny, Axel." Zexion was getting nervous and scared again as he realized that Axel was being serious.
Mikage moved in front of Zexion as a shield. "What has this kid ever done to you?"
"This kid, as you call him, was one of the ones who did this to us. I thought you would have figured that out since you were so close with those living in the castle."
"Yes, I realize that now. I had no idea what was going on before I left."
"You liar. You had to have known something."
"If I had known, I would have gotten out of there and taken him with me."
"Doesn't matter now. The two of you know too much. Take her out first."
"No!" Zexion shouted, pushing her out of the way. Replica Riku strangled him and took his energy as Mikage watched in horror.
"Why are you doing this? I thought we were all on the same side!" Mikage shouted.
"Sorry, Yuri," he said coldly, preparing to snap his fingers.
"Don't-!" Instead of having the replica steal her life force, Axel just set her on fire like he had previously done to Vexen.
***
Having faked his death at the hands of Sora, Axel waited a while before returning to the main castle. "The traitors have been dealt with," he reported to Saix. "Marluxia and Larxene were the ones plotting against the Superior, just like you suspected."
"Namine has gone missing, has she not?" Saix asked without acknowledging Axel's words.
"I don't know how she managed to escape. One minute she was there and then the next...gone." Axel dared not look his friend in the face while telling such a lie, having been the one who'd let her leave in the first place.
"And Kagemiya?"
"She chose destruction, trying to protect that whiny little brat Zexion. I got rid of him for you, and Vexen too. The heroes took care of the rest."
"I'd rounded up all the people I wanted gone, and now they are out of my way."
"Whoa, that doesn't include me, does it?"
"What does it matter? You came back, didn't you?" Saix gave him a look that told him not to question it, and then turned and left.
"Hey, you're welcome!" Axel shouted sarcastically to the empty air.
No comments:
Post a Comment