Kingdom Hearts: Last Remnants

Flinging open the wide doors, Xabet found himself to be just outside the entrance of a large, oddly designed castle, which rested in the middle of seemingly nowhere. A long, blue stone path extended out before him, which did not appear to lead anywhere. "Oh man," he sighed, running a hand through his hair. "This is nuts. Where am I supposed to go?" Without warning there was a sudden swirl of darkness and three beings appeared before him. The had silvery, flexible bodies and no visible faces, and seemed to almost flow through the air. Each one was surrounded by a sickly dark glow. What are these things? thought Xabet in a panic, backing up slowly. He cried out as one of them lunged at him, throwing his arm in front of his face to defend himself...and was surprised when a blade extended out of his coat sleeve, impaling the creature in the head, which promptly caused it to dissolve into nothingness. Xabet was shocked, and looked up to see the other two beings preparing to strike. Steeling himself, he leapt first, sliding a second blade out of his other sleeve to slice both of them in half. As they faded, he pulled back his sleeves to reveal the blades were strapped to his wrists by some contraption. Sweet, he thought. But how did I know how to do that? Shrugging it off, he decided to concentrate on getting out of here, and finding out what those things were. An image flashed in his mind to of a cloaked figure raising a hand and create a swirling portal of darkness in the air, then it was gone. Could I do that? Deciding it couldn't hurt to try, he raised his hand and pointed in front of him, concentrating as hard as he could on being somewhere, anywhere, than here. He was shocked when a portal appeared in front of him, not made of swirling darkness, but of light. Bracing himself, he stepped into it and vanished.

 

Cyphus was slowly returning to conciousness. He didn't know how long he had been sleeping, and he realized he had been in a sort of waking sleep for what could be minutes or possibly years. In vain he searched his memory, looking for any hint of who he was, and why he was here. He was where? He slowly opened his eyes, finding himself in a vast expanse of nothingness. As far as the eye could see, there was nothing. There wasn't even solid ground for him to stand on. He was just... hovering in the air. He looked around, surprised. How was he supposed to leave? It didn't look like there was anywhere to go. He might as well just fade back into sleep... Then, a light shone bright right beneath his eyes. Startled, Cyphus looked down to see a necklace, hanging around his neck. A pendant hung from the string, what appeared to be a broken crystal, yet surging with the light inside. He didn't know how he knew what to do; he just did. He reached his hand up and held the shard tightly in his hand and closed his eyes. "I believe," he thought. And the fragmant of his heart (for that's what it was) suddenly seemed to explode with light, completely blinding him.

When the light faded, he looked around, and found himself standing on a crumbling stone balcony, overlooking a city, with a strange-looking castle behind him. (OOC: Hollow Bastion)

 

Poke finally made it in Hollow Bastion/Radiant Garden. He smelled the ever-so fresh air of the town's known beauty. He stopped after a few shadow heartless appeared. "No one interrupts my smelling! ....Ok, that was not right." The shadows would then jump at Poke, in an effort to damage him. He sighed, before bringing out his Hikoint. With the hook-shaped end, he quickly hooked it in to the shadow's black skin, before flinging it at another one. Both of them disappeared instantly, but one more shadow was still going straight for Poke. He simply ripped it in half with teh sharp edge of the Hikoint. The hikoint disappeared in a white flash. "Damn, heartlesses..." He said, thinking as he walked off in the streets of the town.

 

With a burst of light, Xabet reappeared in a new place. Looking at his surroundings, he found himself in what appeared to be a town still partway through construction. Upon closer inspection, he realised that it was being rebuilt- the basic framework had been there for a long time, but had been destroyed at some point. In the distance he could see a large, badly damaged castle overlooking the town. He noticed that despite the improvements, very few people were walking the streets, and seemed to go about their business nervously, as if afraid of something. Xabet was shocked to see a group a shadowy beings materialise out of thin air, just like the beings that had attacked him before. Unlike those beings however, these creatures were made of pure darkness. He witnessed in horror as they leapt at a boywho had been simply taking in the air. No! I'm too far away to help him in time! He was relieved, but surprised to see the boy conjure an oddly shaped blade out of nowhere and quickly dispatching the creatures. The kid brushed it off like it was a minor annoyance and walked away.

Xabet was stunned. This is getting nuts. Monsters seem to be everywhere and I have no idea what they even are! I need to find out as much as I can about them. Perhaps then I'll find a clue to getting my memory back. He glanced around again - all the townsfolk had seemingly fled when the creatures appeared, not stopping to help the boy. Typical, thought Xabet. I guess I'll just catch up to that kid and see what he can tell me. With that, he ran in the direction the boy had gone.

 

Elti screamed at the top of his lungs. "HOLY CRAP!" he cried, "HOLY ****ING CRAP!" he stumbled backwards and turned to run.
"Hey, Chipper!" came the chipmunk's voice, "That kid's leaving!" The other chipmunk frowned and yelled, "Hey! Kiddo! You gotta help us out here!" Elti screamed again. "Y-you don't scare me..." he whispered in obvious terror. The chipmunks crossed their arms and laughed. "Alright, Dale. He won't listen to us..." said the one called Chip. Dale grinned, "Do we teleport him?" Chip smiled. "Yep." he said smirking, "But be careful- the robot didn't survive, remember?" Dale guffawed and slapped his stomach in his laughter. Elti shook his head and summoned his Keyblades. "Don't think so." he muttered, and rushed towards the chipmunks. "C'mon, Chipper!" yelled Dale. "Go!"

Elti coughed and wiped the blood off his forehead. "Heh..." he muttered. "Back in Radiant Garden." The land stretched out far beyond and Elti sighed. "Villain's Vale?" he said in disbelief. "Not again..."

 

Poke would spin his arms in a circular way, before hearing running footsteps. Assuming it was a Heartless or Nobody, he turned a corner before spinning around and summoned his Hikoint keyblade and prepared to stab through the enemy--Only to see it was a human that seemed to be curious. "Oh! Sorry about that!" Poke put on a silly expression because of his foolishness. "Anyway, why'd you run up to me like that? You could've been sliced and diced." Poke said, lowering his blade. Talk about self defense... Poke thought to himself.

 

Cyphus also saw the strange monsters attack the boy. He was startled when the boy defended himself, but was even more startled that nobody around him had tried to help him. So he jumped down from the balcony and ran towards him, but stopped before he got there. Something wasn't right... Cyphus looked around for the source of the feeling. Suddenly, more of those monster things appeared in front of him. He didn't know what to do. That other boy had pulled out some kind of weapon, but... how? Cyphus didn't know anything about... well, anything. He looked around at the crowd, hoping to find a helpful face as one of the monsters jumped to attack.

 

"Err...sorry." Said Xabet, glad the guy had stopped before skewering him. "It's just, I have some questions for you. I know its a bit rude, but I need to know-" He trailed off as he heard screams from behind him. Turning around, he saw that the dark beings had returned and were attacking someone again. "Come on!" Xabet yelled to his new comrade. "We have to help him!" Not waiting for a response, he dashed forward, sliding one of his wrist blades out from his coat, and impaling a shadow that had just been about to devour the man. "You ok there?"

 

Cyphus caught his breath as the stranger destroyed the monster. "Yeah," he said. "Yeah, I'm alright. Thanks." He turned to the stranger. "I'm Cyphus, by the way. You wouldn't happen to know where I am, would you?" He looked around at the town, so obviously recovering from near-destruction. He felt... sad, almost, like he had lost a very old friend. He tried to shake the feeling off.

 

"Sorry Cyphus, I don't know what this place is either." replied Xabet, noting the man's sadness. It seemed he wasn't the only lost soul to have been washed up here. "In fact, I don't know much about anything. I woke up just a few hours ago, and I haven't got any memories at all except for my name." As he spoke, Xabet slowly grew melancholy as he started to process the situation he was in. He knew nothing. Where was his family? Were they looking for him? Did he have any friends? Sighing, he pushed these questions to the back of his mind. Focus on the here and know. "My name's Xabet, by the way."

 

Poke quickly followed after Xabet once he defeated the heartless with his strange, assassin-like knife that potruded from his sleeve. He was about to ask when he got interrupted by the mini conversation. What shocked him was both of the two not knowing where they were, and even more shocking, was Xabet forgetting everything except for his name. Whoa, Shadow the hedgehog reference there. Poke thought to himself, before shaking his head. He then decided to answer the two's curiosity of their current location. "Well, this place is Radiant Garden. Not that radiant as much now that the heartless're here and nobodies're here." Poke realized that they probably never heard of the heartless or nobodies, so he decided to explain before they asked. "Yeah, Heartless is, what I've heard of, the dark side of people's hearts. Soon, the dark takes over and then the human turns in to a heartless....I think. However, if someone with a strong will and mind turned into a heartless, then they leave behind an empty 'shell' of sorts. That shell becomes alive, and that's a nobody. Catching on so far?" He asked, rubbing his head.

 

Xabet listened attentively to Poke's explanation. Radiant Garden? Looking around, it was difficult to see much radiance here. It must have been truly beautiful once. Heartless and Nobodies...they sound awful, he thought. "But why were these...Heartless attacking these people? And Nobodies...I think I've met them too. Before I came here, I had to fight these silvery creatures covered in darkness. Was that them?"

 

It's amazing someplaces can still be peaceful. Allen thought looking at the sky in the middle of the forest. Getting bored with this place, he pointed his keyblade in front of him and opened a portal into a different world and walked through.

 

Cyphus also listened. "So, this place is radient Gardens, and those things that attacked me were... Heartless, or Nobodies?" He was intrigued by Xabets story. It was the same for him, except, he had only been awake for a few moments, where Xabet had been up for a few hours. What had happened to them? Well, he had to know how to defend himself if he was attacked again. "How did you fight them, whatever they were?" he asked.

 

"I don't know." Replied Xabet. "Fighting with my blades like that just seems to come natrually to me." Sliding a blade out of his sleeve, he examined it sadly, watching it reflect the sunlight. I guess its the only clue as to who I was...before. Looking up, he addressed the others. "What about you two? What's your story? I noticed you are a pretty skilled fighter also, Poke."

 

Poke would listen to the other two talk about the town and then the enemies. But then, Xabet mentioning the keyblade had just made him realize something. Wait a minute! If Xabet's good enough to destroy a heartless...Then maybe...He might be one of the ones that my dad was talking about! But... Poke took a look at the wrist blade that sparkled in the light. He doesn't use a keyblade... Poke thought for a moment or two, before realizing Cyphus' question and Xabet's compliment. "Oh, thanks, Xabet. Well, I fight with this." Poke raised his arm in the air, hands open, before a flash overtook his hand. Then, the flash disappeared, but a blade that was hooked was in place of where the flash took place. "I fight with the keyblade. And I also have 3." The 'keyblade' then flashed again, before it disappeared as Poke brought his arm down. He would then answer Cyphus' identification question.

"Ah, well, there aren't many types of nobodies. Heartless, most of them are a bit 'shady.' Personally, I think Heartless have a better chance of attacking you, since Heartless like to steal people's hearts. Oh yeah, the nobodies got crazy abilities, so they can be bad, too. But there are sometimes a special group that look human. Don't recall seeing one like that before..." Poke said, looking up at the sun. "As for my story..." Poke looked at Xabet, before opening his mouth to say something--only to be interrupted by a strange, growling noise that came from Poke's belly. He looked down and blushed in embarrassment. "Oh, sorry about that, heheh! I guess I'm pretty hungry after training today, and fighting the heartless. Maybe we each, Cyphus and I, could tell our stories after we get something to eat. Sound like a good idea?" He asked, turning his face to each of them.

 

Cyphus smiled, suddenly realizing that he wasn't too full himself. I wonder when the last time I ate was? He thought. Out loud, he said "Sure, that sounds pretty good, actually. What's good around here?"

 

Xabet nodded in agreement, still processing Poke's explanation. It seemed these creatures were even more deadly then he thought. Stealing peoples hearts? He decided to put those thoughts aside for a moment- for now he would concentrate on immediate concerns. "I am rather hungry. Are there any restaurants or takeaways or anything?"

 

Xoram noticed the strangers and went to listen. He didn't hear much but they apperently seemed to know a bit about the Heartless. I'll tail them! he thought and when he stepped over to hide in another spot, he stepped on a branch that broke in two.

 

"What was that?" Cyphus turned towards the sound and saw nothing, Someone was there, he could tell, but they were hidden. "Hey, who's there?" he called out. "Show yourself!"