Well, Destiny Islands..how shall I say it?...kicked the crap out of all the other choices. So, that shall be where Marly ends up next! Figments of Your Imagination ~~Chapter 5~~ ~~Sai~~ The wind swept Marluxia's hair to the left. The refreshing smell of it, and the occasional taste of sea salt spraying up onto the air and into Marluxia's mouth, was enough for it to be labeled a paradise. The sun shone down on him, a warm beacon and a smiling entity of pure joy. A smile crept across Marluxia's lips; everything was serene as could be; even the joyous cries of children away carried on the wind. Marluxia took a whiff of it, finding it all a bit difficult to take in after being in Castle Oblivion for so long. Beautiful red roses danced, twirled, and leaped a few yards away. The picturesque scene was, to Marluxia, heavenly. "Whoa! Look out!" Marluxia turned around just in time to see a big red ball flying into his face. It bounced off as he fell to the sand. He got up rubbing his nose, which now had a bump on it. A boy wearing an open jacket ran up to get it. He beamed up at Marluxia, more like grinned actually... "Hey, are you alright?!" Marluxia scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, I guess..." The boy took a minute to examine him. His sandy-bown hair wove in the wind. "Hmmm..." He quickly jumped around. "Hey! Wakka! Selphie! Riku! Kairi! Sora! C'mere, there's a new guy!" A cold chill ran down Marluxia's back. Sora was here?! It couldn't be possible...could it? But Sora came running towards the boy with 4 others. Marluxia stepped back. Coincidentally, Sora stopped at the same time, his eyes fixed on the Nobody standing in front of him. After a moment, he leapt at him, Keyblade out. Marluxia had to quickly summon his scythe and hop backwards. He jammed the blunt end of it into the ground and jumped onto it with only his hands holding it. He twirled around the handle, trying to kick Sora away from him; both missed. Sora landed with a scowl, and Marluxia touched ground with an expression between shocked and angry. "Uh...Sora...do you know him?" Sora nodded, then shook his head. "I think I do...but the memories are so blurry." Marluxia got his poker-face on. "Does the name Marluxia ring a bell?" A nonexistent wind swept through Sora; at once, his light anger turned to pure fury. "Take this, you...you... "FREAK!" He took a lunge at Marluxia, who punched him in the gut; Sora lost his breath, and his Keyblade slid to the sand. Saliva dripped from his mouth as he fell alongside it. Riku hurried up to him; he put a hand on Sora's back, then shot a glance at Marluxia. "Zexion told me about you! I thought you were destroyed!" Marluxia chuckled. "Funny thing is...none of us are gone." "What?!" "And, I have something against Zexy. If Sora would get up, we can do something about it." Upon hearing Marluxia, Sora hurriedly got to his feet. "C'mon, then! As long as you'll go later!" Marluxia nodded. "When we're done with Zexion. Come." The two started off, but Riku ran with them. Marluxia held out his scythe towards him. "Only Sora and I. You stay here in case he comes here." Reluctantly, Riku stayed put after that. ~~~~~~ As the two got up the last few rock flights, they saw Saix standing, looking toward the sunset. He turned around as Marluxia ascended. "Welcome, 11." "I would say the same to you, 7, but I know by now that that isn't you." A smirk appeared on Saix's face. "What do you mean?" Sora asked. "To make it simple...that's an illusion made by Zexion." Saix began to laugh wildly. "How right you are! We can skip the explanations! I am Sai; now, prepare to die!" He got out his claymore, while Marluxia and Sora got out their weapons. "Ha...Come prepared, have you? Fine, I like it better that way.†Without hesitating or waiting for some kind of dramatic battle music, he charged. The sharp points on his claymore grazed Marluxia’s cloak. He twirled away, and jumped at Sai. Sai, having a bit of precognition, was well able to dodge the oncoming assault; even the follow-up by Sora was simple to evade. Marluxia had to react insanely fast to parry the incoming Keyblade. At that point, Sai’s very along-the-lines strategy was revealed to Marluxia. He wanted the two to fight each other since he didn’t have the power of moonlight on his side. Once he had realized this, Marluxia knew how to go at his opponent. “Sora…Attack me!†Sora stopped; had Marluxia just said what he thought he just said? Sai silently laughed. That idiot just sealed his fate. But he wasn’t paying any attention to the fight. In an instant, Marluxia had jumped over Sora, and had slashed at Sai’s chest; it made contact. Warm blood dropped from the wound, and Sai was caught off-guard. “What the hell?!†On a whim, he used the bottom of his claymore to try and impale Marluxia. Marluxia dropped to the ground, trying to avoid it; but Sai thought fast. He changed direction, and Marluxia had to clap his hands together, dropping his scythe, to stop the attack. For a minute, the two struggled with the weapon, until Marluxia pulled it out of Sai’s hands. He used the top to smash Sai’s face. He flew near the edge, but not off. He leapt back up, only to see the bottom of his own claymore sticking through his chest. His eyes went misty, and he disappeared along with the claymore. Marluxia went over and picked up his scythe. “Thank you, Sora, for revealing his strategy to me. I cannot-“ “You can’t what, Marly?†Zexion sat upon a paupu fruit tree, arms crossed, a grin emblazoned on his face. His eyebrows twitched. “So, you’ve beaten three of them. I must say, I didn’t expect you to see Sai’s plan; but you got lucky, and got Sora to come with you.†“Who are you?!†Sora yelled out. Zexion just chuckled. A Corridor of Darkness rose behind Marluxia. “Go in, Marly; and see what awaits on the other side>†Sora began in. “Stop, young Keyblade Bearer!†Sora halted. “Only Marluxia can go; you belong here.†And with that, Zexion disappeared, and the Corridor of Darkness began to disperse. Marluxia smiled at Sora. “Until next time…†Then, he dove into the Corridor of Darkness as it, too, disappeared. ~~End of Chapter 5~~ Whew, really long chapter. I know which world Marly’s going to next, so no poll (besides, I can’t do polls anymore). Although, feedback and suggestions are always welcome.
