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Fitting Pieces
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Trapped
Something Dark
Fitting Pieces
Start the Search
Trapped
Something Dark
Hikari Bunni Tenshi
XxInto_the_NightxX
Fitting Pieces
"That was him?" she asked incredulously. She was positive that it could have been, the look in his eyes said it all. "And the keyblade and the keychain, the one in the picture, were his?"
She thought a bit more, looking down at the groaning Rak and shaking her head. "So what are they doing lying around? Shouldn't there have been another wielder by now with all the Heartless?"
Marquis thought for a moment. Minnie answered Lacie's question with "It hasn't chosen a new master yet..." Rakshema was still groaning in pain as Aih went to help him, and Marquis nodded. "Good explanation!" He said to Minnie, but then he asked her, "Why not?"
"The Keyblade will only choose one with a pure heart, or one with a completely corrupt heart..." Minnie answered. "Well, no chance for me!" He said, throwing his hands into the air. "Not necessarily, Marquis..." Minnie told him. He dropped his arms, saying "What...?" "You found extra keychains, correct? That means more Blank Blades await your finding." Minnie answered him. "But first, it'll take a true wielder to use this Keyblade..." She said, stepping towards Aih to take the Blank Blade.
"So this isn't the only keyblade out there?" Lacie asked, as the Queen grabbed the Blank Blade. "Where are they?"
Aih handed Minnie the Blank Blade, and Minnie told Lacie "There are four out there..." She brought the Blank Blade to a spot between all four of the travellers, and said "One, for the purest of heart..." She placed the Blank Blade on the ground, and said "One, for the dark that returned to the light..." The Blank Blade started to tremble a little, and Minnie said "One for the greatest ruler..." Then, the Blank Blade started to turn, and the key faced Marquis. "And one for the one who wasn't meant to be..." Minnie said as the Blank Blade stopped.
"Wasn't meant to be? Be what, a keyblade wielder?" Though, the tone of voice finally caught her and she realized it was a darker meaning. "Oh. . ."
Marquis sighed, and looked at Minnie. "Which one am I? Can you tell?" He asked her. She nodded, and a ball of light appeared in front of him. "What do you see?" She asked him. "I see... a guy with a... black robe, and hood..." Marquis replied. Minnie sighed, and Mickey said "The Organization..."
Minnie dismissed the ball of light, and said "You are the one who wasn't meant to be..." "What!?" Marquis asked, in shock. "You must be some kind of Nobody then..." Mickey said to him, standing up straight, his hands still on the sceptre.
She knew it would probably agitate him, but she leaned over and poked Marquis in the arm three times, muttering to herself, "If someone's here doesn't that mean they are, so they were meant to be?"
This only served to mix up her thoughts even more so she turned to Minnie and asked "What do you mean? He's real enough to fool me." She poked him once more in the arm, staring hard at the spot of skin, looking for any strange manifestations.
Minnie shook her head, and said "You have to have fought them at least once, Lacie..." Marquis was looking at the ground now, his eyes being covered by his shadow, and a tear hit the ground. "Those silver creatures... are Nobodies..." Mickey said to Lacie. "They aren't meant to be, and are breaking reality when they are." He stated clearly.
She nodded slowly, "Yeah, whenever a Heartless changes a Chain, those are strange monsters on my world from the Will of the Abyss, a silver counterpart -I guess a Nobody- appears when the Chain is turned into a Heartless."
She glanced over at Marquis, and a feeling like sympathy rolled in the pit of her stomach. It was strange for her to actually worry, the time alone in the Abyss having shown her only anger and sadness. Now that she had people who could call her friends it hurt to see them hurt.
"But . . ." she hated to ask, but she felt compelled to "what does that mean for him? He's still Marquis. . ."
Mickey shook his head and said "His name is Marquis. That is all that he is. A name, and a borrowed face." Marquis shook his head, and whispered "No..." Rakshema worked to stand up, saying "No matter what Marquis..." He groaned, and said "You're still our friend..." "How can I be your friend when I'm not even supposed to exist!" Marquis said to him.
Lacie snapped her head toward the two and sighed, "So what?! If you had never found this out, you would have gone on being yourself. See?! Yourself, you are your own person. Your standing right there, right? Whatever you are, aren't you still here? Beat and Rhyme are dead, but they're still here."
She turned away from them to Aih and said with a half smile, "The more I see of others, the more frightened I am to find out what could possibly happened to me."
Marquis grabbed his hair tight, and screamed "I'm not supposed to exist! I'm an abomination!" He went to turn and leave when a boy in a white shirt and pants stood in his way. His face was exactly like Sora's. "You may not have been meant to be, but you still are... that's what makes Nobodies like you and me special..." the boy said. Marquis nodded slowly, and the boy put a hand on his shoulder. the name "Roxas" would come to Lacie's mind, as well as Marquis'.
She jumped, not realizing someone else had come in. Something was odd about him and she suddenly realized he somehow looked like the Sora guy in the mirrors, even his eyes.
She was hoping that at least he got the point across. She did not understand most of the Heartless and Nobody things, but all she knew was that if he was there, he was there, meant to be or not.
She scooted behind the new boy, Roxas, and looked at Marquis for a moment. She peered from behind the blonde, and reached over to poke Marquis in the arm.
"Hey you," she poked him again, "you dragged me into this mess, me not knowing anything about everything. You still gotta help me out here, I'm clueless over here." She tilted her head to imitate her usual confusion and added quiet 'please'.
Marquis wouldn't move, as Roxas handed him a small, blue crystal orb. "Keep it. Remember what I can't..." Roxas said to him. Marquis nodded, and Roxas disappeared. Marquis snapped out of it, and said "Huh, what...?" He looked at Lacie, then to everyone behind him. "What's everyone...?"
"Are you okay?" she asked then looked around. "And where'd he go? He was right here. . ." she motioned to the ground directly in front of her.
Marquis sighed, and scratched the back of his head. "I'm not sure..." He said. He looked at the King and Queen, asking "Does the name "Roxas" mean anything to you two?" They looked at eachother, then shook their heads at him. "We don't know him..."
She poked Marquis and asked a bit quietly, "Didn't you think he looked a lot like that Sora kid? Brother maybe? He said something about you and him being special."
Marquis looked at his hand, mumbling "Nobodies..." He clenched his fist, the concepts of Nobodies flowing into his brain. "Half of the one who was truly meant to be..." Marquis said. "Roxas... was half of Sora..."
She let this try to sink in for a moment before asking "But don't you have to become a Heartless to have a Nobody? I thought they went hand in hand, and who would your other half be?"
She turned to others as if asking the question to them, too.
"You dont have to remain a Heartless to have a Nobody." Mickey told Lacie. "Sora was saved by his friend, Kairi, when his heart was taken." Minnie said. Marquis looked at the King and Queen, asking "What about my other half? Who's my original?" the King shook his head, and said "We couldn't tell you, for we do not know..."
"Maybe we'll find him along the way, either him or his Heartless..." this brought another point to her mind in which she addressed Mickey. "So, uh, what are we supposed to be doing again?" Her stomach let out yet another plea for food, "ah and can we talk about it over food?"
Marquis and the others looked at the king and queen, and Mickey said "The brooms'll take care of dinner shortly." Suddenly, a large group of walking brooms brought in dining furniture. Tables, chairs, cloths, everything was brought in, and everyone was seated appropriately.
Lacie sat down warily, wondering if her chair would get up and walk away, too. "Wow," she breathed, watching the brooms work.
"That's so odd it's almost creepy, but I guess you guys are used to it."
Marquis stared, saying "I'm still trying..." Rakshema and Aih sat next to eachother, and the brooms seated Lacie beside Marquis. "Oh, look at that, I'm at a five-start resturaunt now." He said sarcastically.
"I'd take the scraps of the restaurant right about now," she laughed. "Besides, it's easier to focus on what everyone's saying when there's food in front of your face."
Marquis laughed, then thought for a moment. "You sure about that? I'm pretty sure if there's food in front of a hungry person, they'll be to distracted eating." He said to Lacie. He laughed a little, and took some food for his plate.
She shot him a half-glare but finished chewing her meat before replying, "Well I can't focus while I'm hungry or agitated. When eating food, it makes you content." She went back to eating and looked up at the King and Queen to see when they were ready.
The King and Queen got ready, and sat down. "There are three more Blank Blades waiting for you out there..." Mickey said. Minnie nodded, and said "One awaits you in Hollow Bastion. Another in Twilight Town." Mickey nodded, and said "And one here..." Rakshema gagged in surprise while taking a bite of his food. "Here!?" He asked Mickey. "Yes. It was mine, but I lost my Keychain long ago..."
Lacie tried to imagine the old king fighting Heartless with a keyblade and nearly laughed from the image. She was able to successfully hold it in by taking another bite. She waited for the moment to pass before talking.
"So we know one is here, another one back in Twilight Town, and the other. . ." she thought a bit on the name, "Hallow Bastion, didn't you guys mention that earlier?"
Aih nodded, and said "I'm from there..." Rakshema nodded, and said "Same here. We were planning on going back anyway, but since we're collecting Keyblade, it's a win-win."
"Ah, so we go there after we finish up here? Why were we going there to start with?"
Start the Search
Rakshema takes a bite from his food, and Aih says "We were going to visit some old friends of ours." Marquis ate his food quickly since there was barely any he'd taken, and said "Well, I'm ready."
Lacie looked up from her near-empty plate. "To go? I thought there was a blank blade here..." she paused before a bit before turning to King and Queen. "Um, so how exactly do we know who gets what Blade? We figured out the keychains easily enough, but we don't know who the titles go to. Who did the blades belong to before anyways?"
Mickey sighed, and said "The Blade here is in a secret place..." He stood up, using his sceptre for support. "The one who wasn't meant to be, was Roxas, Sora's Nobody. Then, the one with the Purest of hearts, is Sora himself. The one who leapt from Darkness into the Light, was Riku, Sora's best friend... Then, the Greatest Ruler of all... Was mine..." Minnie stood up, and said "Each Keyblade will show you who it belongs to. The way to find out who gets what title, is through me. Return here when you get a Blank Blade to find out who you are..."
She finished off her meal, downing her glass, and stood up. "So are we looking here first or going to one of the other places? We know Marquis has Roxas's and the Kings is here. We don't know who Sora's belongs you yet, though." She stretched and looked around at the others to figure out what the plan of action was.
"Well, we can get the one here, then we can go to Hollow Bastion." Marquis said. Mickey nodded, and said "My old one awaits you four underneathe this room, beside the Cornerstone of Light." Rakshema stood up, and said "Let's go get it then!"
"Yeah, yeah!" Lacie cheered, jumping up in down with a grin. "We'll have them gathered in no time!"
Marquis nodded, and said "Then let's go!" Mickey smiled, as did Minnie, as they both pressed a button underneathe the arms of their chairs. the floor behind them opened, with a staircase inside. "Go right in," Mickey said.
"Would've never guessed," Lacie mumbled as she headed towards the stairs. She looked down into the room, but could only see something glowing out of sight. She looked behind her and motioned for the others to come before stepping down the stairs.
She soon saw that the glow was from a large orb in the middle of a room. Next to it was a tall white door.
Marquis looked at the orb, then to the door, pointing at it and saying "Was that always there?" Mickey was mumbling, and he said "Merlin was supposed to close it, not just poof it away..." He looked around, and said "It's in there, then." "Oh, hooRAY!" Marquis groaned.
"Why so glum?" she prodded. She was staring at the orb though; it was swirling with energy and letting out a bright but soft glow. "When you said Cornerstone, I was thinking, well a stone."
"Well, it's a door, not connected to a wall, which only means bad things." Marquis replied to Lacie's question. "I did say cornerstone. It is a cornerstone. It holds the power of light inside of it..." Micey told her. Marquis stared at it as well, feeling a burning sensation. "Should I feel like I'm on fire?"
"Heartburn?" she offered from her spot behind the door. She was carefully inspecting it, touching the frame and walking all around. "I think I see what you might mean," she mumbled.
"Where does it go?" she asked aloud.
Mickey chuckled, and said "You are asking the wrong question. The correct question is when does it go." "Wait, you're telling me we have a time-travelling door here?" Marquis asked him.
"Sounds fun!" Lacie exclaimed, forgetting any suspicions she had. She was about opened the door after some struggling to reveal a wall of light. "Uh, that's odd. . ."
She moved to the very edge of the door so that she could see the back and carefully stuck her arm through the light. She wasn't so shocked to find that she couldn't see her arm on the other side, but it still felt weird.
Marquis stood beside the door, looking at the side Lacie wasn't on, and laughed to himself. "I bet if we went outside, we'd see a really old version of your arm." He said. Mickey shook his head, smiling, as he said "Just go inside, would you?" "Fine, fine, we'll go." Marquis said. He looked at the Cornerstone once more, and then said to Lacie "You going in first or what?"
She pulled out her arm and turned to look at him with a huff. She muttered something under her breath that sounded close to 'kill the next cowardy . . . ladies first. Pah!' before stepping in.
She walked in and had to blink multiple times. Then she rubbed her eyes for a few minutes. She finally stuck her head back out the door and the color was perfectly normal again.
"Oy, somethings up with the color in here!" She walked pulled back in though and took a look around. Looking down at herself, she saw that her fingers were much rounder. Her overcoat had changed, too; the sleeves and the trail behind cut short to a regular shirt size. Her skirt was much longer and ruffled out instead of sticking to her legs. Her boots, she shuddered, were now high-heeled sandals.
She sighed, "I don't even want to know what happened to my face"
Marquis walked in, seeming to have a face from a classic cartoon, while his clothing and body underwent most of the same changes as Lacie's did. He walked by her, mumbling something, and when she said the remark about her face, he quickly said "You look adorable" in a slightly angry tone. The others came in, but remained silent about their changes.
She scoffed at his grumpy tone but had to muffle her laughter. "I'm guessing it looks close to yours minus the scowl."
She doubted he do anything but she back-stepped a few steps just in case and changed the subject. "Soooooooo, where is this Blade." She paused though and added "and the other two."
Marquis thought for a moment, and said "Well, we've gotta look around for this Blade apparently..." Rakshema and Aih walked towards the circle the group was now in. "I count three, no, four doors." Rakshema said. "And one locked one." Aih added. "Hmm... Pick one." Marquis said to Lacie.
"Um, this one?" She stepped in and expected yet another color change. The only difference it seemed though, was that she had grown 60 feet tall, towering over houses and even two towers.
"If it's in here, we'll need a magnifying glass."
Marquis stood there with his hands in his pockets as he looked down at the tiny city. "That could be a problem..." He said, nudging one of the tall buildings with his foot, knocking it over by accident.
"Are we tall or are they just small? I don't remember feeling as if I got taller. Maybe a different door? Anyone know the layout?"
She carefully tried to turn around, but couldn't hep knocking anything down.
He looked down at the buildings, and laughed a little. "They're so tiny!" He said, smiling. Then, some Heartless appeared, looking like firetrucks and policecars. "Oh, look at that."
"So the chances of the place remaining intact amount to none," she contemplated. "If anyone asks, it was there fau-!" She was cut off by a charging car that sent her flying backwards. It skidded to a halt and revved to come at her again. In the next instant, B. Rabbit was in her hand. Using the shaft, she lifted herself off the ground and over the car.
She winced, holding her side. "That hurt. . ."
Marquis went to draw his swords, but one was missing, and when he pulled out the one he had, it turned into the Keyblade he'd gotten earlier, but the keychain was different. the one they'd found at Twilight Town had disappeared, leaving This one behind. Marquis shrugged, and started fighting the Heartless off.
Lacie recovered from the blow and jumped into the fray. She ducked down low and swung her scythe around, leveling a circle of buildings and killing a cop car and hitting two fire-trucks in the process. She had jump to avoid another vehicle charging at her.
"Where'd you get the the new keyblade? Is that what we were looking for?" she yelled, coming down on top of a Heartless with the point of B. Rabbit
Marquis looked at the new Keyblade, and shrugged. It'd work, he thought. He fought off the Heartless easily with it, as they were vanquished with just about one hit each time.
"Well that was fast," she commented, finishing off her own opponent. She looked around at the destroyed mini-city and chuckled. "It wasn't me."
She two another window-like doors on either side of the town. One that had a picture of a construction zone, the other of a fire. "So where to?"
Marquis didn't know how to make the Keyblade go away, so he rested it on his shoulder. "Pick one." He said, shrugging.
Careless of the now-destroyed tiny-town, she stepped over debris to the window with the burning building. She stepped through to find herself at the scene of a major fire, the building spewing flames.
She looked around for a moment before commenting "Unless he wanted it to burn, I doubt it's here. . ." On the other side of the area was another stage-like portal depicting a house with a mouse image inscribed in it.
"Hey, isn't that the King's symbol?" she asked, pointing to it.
Marquis looked at the symbol, and nodded. "From what I remember, yes. It is." He said to Lacie. Suddenly, more Heartless appeared, coming out of the windows of the house. "Problem." He said, getting into a beattle-ready stance.
"You'd think a burning building would be enough to keep them away," she grumbled, summoning her scythe once again and fighting off the new enemies.
She grinned widely as another car-based Heartless revved up to charge her. She ran toward it as it took off, slicing the air with her weapon. The two crossed and as the Heartless skidded to a halt, it burst into shadows.
"Slow down; someone might get hurt."
Marquis fought the others off easily, and eventually, they stopped coming at the two. When the Heartless stopped, Marquis looked around, then to the burning house. "I wonder what caused that..." He said, resting the Keyblade on his shoulder.
Lacie observed as the flames began to die down "Maybe somebody tried to cook something the wrong way? It seems it's weakening now that the Heartless are gone." She headed towards the window across the lot and motioned him over. "If I end up in some underwater city, I'm give up," she sighed.
She stepped though to find herself inside a neat living room. "It's all clear!" she called to him, then added to herself in a mutter, "For now. . ."
Marquis went with her, and looked around the Living Room. "This seems like a good place to hide a Keyblade." He said. "Let's get searching." He told her, before starting to rummage through everything in the room.
"Where would it be," she muttered to herself, pulling the cushions off of the sofa.
It was when she was squinting up the chimney when the grandfather clock struck the hour and began to toll.
"Hey," she called from inside the fireplace, "Does that gong sound weird?"
Marquis stopped where he stood, saying "Yeah... It does..." He looked around, wondering what was going on. He stepped towards the clock, examining it closely.
Lacie backed out of the fireplace, coughing, and dusted the sooth out of her hair. "Augh, I can't tell whether it's on me or not unless I pay attention to the shades of gray. Let's find it soon so I can get back to color." She approached the clock, a slight scowl on her cartoonish face.
The pendulum's neck was quite thick, more so than it needed to be for the size of the head. A ribbon was tied in a bow at the base. She waited till loud gonging stopped after four chimes and opened the door to the clock, reaching behind the swing pendulum.
"There's something here," she said, untying the ribbon. As soon as the knot was undone, a Blank Blade fell to the bottom of the clock.
Trapped
Marquis looked at the clock, and quirked a brow. "There it is..." He said. Suddenly, a bright light would blind both him and Lacie, and they would see themselves back at the castle basement, but the King was nowhere to be seen. "How long were we gone?" Marquis asked. Rakshema shrugged, and Aih looked confused. "Great..."
"Color," she sighed happily, examining her hands and clothes.
"Well, maybe they're upstairs?" she suggested, running toward the stairs. "We gotta show him your keyblade, too."
Marquis nodded, and led the group to the stairs, when he saw the worst. "Um, guys?" He said. "What is it?" Aih asked him. "The door's closed." Marquis said, pointing to the closed door above. "What!?" Rakshema yelled. He ran to the top, and attempted to push it open. "He's gonna throw out his back..." Marquis said.
Lacie didn't hear him though, as she was beside Rakeshema, banging on the door above and pushing with all her might.
"You guys didn't see it close?" she complained between efforts of shoving. "Aw, this is useless!" She stepped down a few steps to give herself room. She held out her hand to her side and gripped her scythe as it appeared.
"Move outta the way!" She called, somewhat ticked but enjoying a chance to vent her energy.
Rakshema only jumped aside, grabbing a large amount of Kunai from his pouch, putting his fingers through the holes of each of them, slicing at the door rapidly. Marquis sighed, and turned around, pinching the bridge of his nose as Aih just watched.
In a flurry of motion, she swung her scythe around at the door. After a few seconds she stopped and examined her work: a handful of deep gouges surrounded my smaller scratches. "Nothing," she growled
She plopped down on the stairs, resting her elbows on her knees with a sigh. She groaned loudly "We're locked in!"
Marquis sighed. He paced around, thinking of what the four of them could try to do to get out of here. Rakshema trotted down the stairs, and fell to the ground, tired.
A sudden idea occurred to Lacie and she jumped up suddenly and trotted down the stairs to Aih. "Hey, you made quick work of those Heartless at the tower with your magic! Can't you just, you know, burn a whole in the door?"
Aih looked at the door, and said "The door is made of solid concrete." "Yeah, besides, god knows how thick it is!" Marquis added. Rakshema seemed to be out of it on the floor now, apparently in some sort of bliss.
"Oh," she sighed and plopped back on to the floor. "Well I guess we wait till they open the door. What's with him?" she asked, jerking her head in Rakshema's direction.
Marquis looked at Rakshema, and Aih laughed a little. "He does that when he's tired..." She told Lacie. "But I don't wanna get the milk..." Rakshema said, apparently dreaming. Marquis walked over, and nudged Rakshema with his foot. "Yep." He said. "He's out."
Weird," she commented, "but I guess there's nothing else to do. We're locked in for now. . . Unless there's some secret doorway in the walls, but their so blank, it'd have to be seamless."
Marquis looked around, then straight at the Cornerstone. "Maybe this can help us..." He said, walking up to it. He felt the burning sensation again like last time, but he had to figure out what was going on.
"How can that help us?" she asked, laying back against the steps and looking up at hers and Rakshema's work on the door.
Marquis approached the Cornerstone more, and put his hand on it. A bright light would blind the whole group, and Lacie would wake up to find herself in the ruins of Disney Castle, with no one else around.
"Gah, you had to touch it," she grumbled, rubbing her eyes and looking around, only to see that no one was there. "Guys?" She noticed the state of the room she was in and a weird sensation traveled across her spine.
"This is weird," she breathed, looking at the ruins. She was wondering if there had been a huge fight in which she had gotten knocked out, but as she examined the crumbled remains of one wall, she was able to lift a layer of dust off with her finger.
"Maybe I went through that door the wrong way," she wondered. She noticed that along with everything else, the door above the stairs had crumbled. She walked up the old stone steps to the throne room.
One wall had completely fallen in, giving view to the garden full of dead shrubbery.
She walked up and down the hall but still could find no one, "G-guys?" she called feebly, one of her worst fears taking control again. She was all alone.
"Guys?!" she yelled. When no one answered her worry turned to frustration and she called out B. Rabbit, destroying what was left of the statue next to her. "Great! This time I don't even have the lowly Chains to kill. What the hell happened?!!!!!"
Something Dark
Suddenly, a person wearing a black hood and robe would be seen far away from Lacie. A voice would be heard, presumably from this figure, saying one thing. "Hearts..." it said. It was a woman's voice, close to Lacie's. The figure turned around, and looked at Lacie. "A Heart, is darkness, and light..." The voice said. The figure would start walking towards Lacie, and if she tried to summon B.Rabbit, she would see she was unable to.
Suddenly, more then likely to Lacie's dismay, B.Rabbit would appear in the cloaked figures hand, as the voice said "If a Heart is darkness, then the Heartless do indeed have hearts..." The figure stopped, in range of Lacie to point B.rabbit at her throat. "If a Heart is Light, then the Heartless should not exist..."
The figure used it's free hand to pull down the hood it had on, and Lacie's face would be shown on this person's body. "What is a Heart really, then?" The other girl asked.
Lacie looked down, unsure of herself. The girl looked just like her, and had B. Rabbit, too; that couldn't be, though. She was Lacie. Was she? She had no memories of her life, maybe she wasn't. Though, with a sudden resolve she remembered that whoever she was, she would be herself.
She looked up at the figure with a glare. "I don't know, you tell me; it seems you have the answers. I'd come to believe a Heart was a balance. Everyone has darkness, it's what happens when Hearts hurt each other, but overcoming that darkness is what gives it strength."
She added in a low, almost threatening voice, "So if your planning on summoning the little creeps, I'd think twice. If they have Hearts at all, they're weak, feeble things. I can fight them without B. Rabbit."
"So who are you? What did you do with everyone?"
The look alike girl laughed, disturbingly the same as Lacie, and said "I won't be summoning the Heartless." She twirled B.Rabbit in her fingers, and said "It wasn't I that did this." Then, she got into a battle-ready stance, saying "It was you."
When she said this, Lacie would be bombarded with memories of her slaughtering people with B. Rabbit. Though there was a flaw with all of them. It wasn't exactly her doing all of it. There was something about her that would seem different. Then it was made obvious when it showed the one difference between Lacie and this look alike.
Her eyes were darker, and emptier, then Lacie's. "I am Elcixa. You lost your heart some time ago, Lacie..." The girl said. "I, am your Nobody."
Suddenly, the absence that Lacie had felt without B. Rabbit would be filled with something else, and if Lacie tried to see what it was, she would summon a Dark, disturbing Keyblade.
She looked down at the strange weapon for but a second and a smirk made it's way to her lips. She swung the keyblade up in front of her, knocking B. Rabbit's blade away from her throat. She jumped back to steps and held out the keyblade at full arm's length.
"What are you talking about?! I was in this castle a few moments ago with my friends. I haven't lost anything but my sense of time and I have a feeling you have something to do with it. You shouldn't be here, anyways. I have a Heart!"
She paused for just a second though, taking a deep breath to feel her pulse. She wondered for a second if anger counted as an emotion; along with confusion, it was starting to well up deep inside her. She looked back up at her self-proclaimed Nobody and sneered.
"I'll ask again: What the hell did you do?!"
Elcixa laughed at Lacie, saying "The memories don't lie, Lacie." She took a step back, and said "You have no friends. They were just people who decided to be fools. Now, they're dead."
"Now I will tell you what happened to your heart..." She said, resting B.Rabbit on her shoulder. "Do you recall the boy named "Sora?" He was a great Key bearer..."
"N-no," she breathed, unable to believe what the girl was saying. She shook her head as if to remove the though. "But they were just there. . ." she continued in a whisper. Her head was starting to grow dizzy from this new information, and these odd, foreign memories that she would not yet call her own. The castle was bright and bustling just moments ago, and everyone was there. Now it was desolate, ruined.
What was going on here anyways? Something was strange. . . It happened when Marquis touched The Cornerstone of Light. . .
She looked back to Elcixa with a glare, though not quite as strong as her last, still holding the keyblade out.
"Yeah, yeah, I heard it from them earlier. I met his ghost. What does he have to do with me?"
Elcixa laughed some more, and said "You're just like him. Your heart was taken, and then returned to you." Suddenly, another Strange Figure came from behind Elcixa, and drew the sword from his back. After he drew it, though, a familiar Keyblade would appear in his hand. The new figure cut Elcixa's back with this Keyblade, and Elcixa fell to the ground, screaming.
Marquis' voice came from the new figure, saying "Stop messing with my friend." He kicked her to the ground, and thrust his Keyblade into her. When Elcixa disappeared, he looked at Lacie, and said "Are you okay?"
Her words shocked Lacie, for she remembered it was what happened to Sora. Had she really turned into a Heartless? Before she knew it, a new person had appeared and killed her Nobody.
"Marquis?" she asked warily. "What happened?! You touched the stone, it was bright, then I was here. . . Did I really turn into a Heartless?" She clutched her head with one hand, holding on to the dark keyblade, but stayed back, unsure of anything going on.
Marquis shrugged. "I'm a Nobody now, I know that. But that doesn't mean I listen to the New Organization." He told Lacie. "You beame a Heartless after the Cornerstone... Shattered." He said, resting his Keyblade on his shoulder. "It was destroyed, and a Massive Heartless appeared in it's place. Suddenly that Nobody appeared after the big thing took your heart."
He looked at where Elcixa was, and said "That Nobody stole your Heart from that Heartless and tried to run off, but not before changing me into this..."
"So it's true," she whispered. She looked back to the new Marquis, "What happened to you?"
She looked around a bit though and asked carefully, "What happened to Aih and Rak . . . The King, The Queen? How did I return to normal?" She caught sight of her keyblade out of the corner of her eye and waved it in front of her as if to say "What the mess is this?"
Marquis put his free hand on his hip, and said "I'll answer all your questions."
"I was turned into this Nobody by Elcixa when she came to take your heart. This is my true form, it turns out, and my Keyblade only strengthens it." He stated, answering Lacie's first question.
"Aih and Rak got out of here quickly after the attack. It's been three months since it started apparently. I only just saw the King and Queen a few minutes ago... They're... not with us anymore. The Queen told me, though, which of the four you are..." He paused for a moment as a tear went down his face. He wiped it off, and said "You're the one from the Darkness, returned to Light..."
"As for the Keyblade there, it's yours. The Blank Blade was replaced after the attack. Kinda creepy lookin'..." He told Lacie.
She examined her keyblade closely at his comment, the eye staring through her. "It works, you saw the place I lived in. Besides, Aih would freak if it were hers." She laughed.
"Three months," she commented, "and I don't remember much of anything." She sighed a small laugh, "Well, I guess that's no different for me. So how did I get my heart back. It's been three months and just woke up from what seems like a dream." She looked down at her open palm, flexing her fingers.
Marquis sighed, and said "I'd taken your heart from Elcixa to return it to you. When I got it to you, She came back to try getting it again..." He laughed a little at her remark, and said "Rakshema changed his outfit, and started learning new techniques as a Ninja, and Aqua became a battlemage to defend Hollow Bastion." He looked at the ground, and said "I was left behind here by them, because they thought I'd become an enemy..."
She looked up at him, confused. "But you were a Nobody before, why would you suddenly turn? So that's why both of you were here. . ."
Marquis looked at her, saying "What do you mean by that?" Suddenly, a beam of light appeared far away from them. When it disappeared soon after, two figures would be seen running towards Marquis and Lacie. "Get ready..." He said, getting his Keyblade ready.
