****Chapter 1**** Everything had been quiet in his castle for quite a while now, since Sora had helped him, and then left. He hoped Sora had succeeded on his quest, although he was happy with where he was. Soon, his curse would be broken. He could be human again, and he and Belle could live happily. He was interrupted by the sound of the door opening. He knew by the softness of the footsteps that it was Belle. "Beast?" said her soft voice. It was one of his few joys in life. "It's so gloomy in here. Come back to the rest of us." He looked around at her. As always, she didn't flinch or take a step back at seeing his face. That was one of the things he really loved about her. "But Xaldin took the rose. Someone could take it again." He said with his rough voice. She looked at him consolingly as he strode towards her. "Xaldin's dead, remember? Sora saw to that. Don't worry. It won't be much longer before we can-" Belle was interrupted when Beast suddenly threw her aside. No sooner did he do so that he was pinned against the far wall by two spears. Beast could never mistake their design. "Xaldin!" He growled, his voice dripping with pure venom as the black-coated figure emerged from the shadows, with several others alongside him, and took down his hood, revealing his face and long black hair. "Quite. I didn't think it possible that I could be defeated by you. But rest assured, my plans are no longer for you. Xemnas died with his Kingdom Hearts, and I don't plan to follow him. We've come here to interrogate someone who is...trapped here." Fear showed in Beast's eyes. "Belle, run!" He shouted. One of the black-coated figures made as if to pursue her, but a motion from Xaldin halted his pursuit. "No, we're not here for you or Belle. An old colleague of ours is here. And we need something he had. Where is Marluxia?" He demanded. Beast glared angrily and grated out a response. "There is no Marluxia here. I don't know who you are talking about." Xaldin advanced in anger, obviously irritated at Beast's answer. "You lie! He is here, I sense him!" But as he came close, a glint in the corner caught his eye. "There it is." He said, a sense of relief in his voice. He walked over to a strange and curious object in the corner. It was odd, Beast had never seen it before. Xaldin held up a hand to it, and it suddenly hovered in the air, glowing with a bright pink hue. "There you are." He said with a smirk. But rather than go through the mysterious portal, he turned to one of the others. "Vexen" He asked, "Would you like the honors?" The one called Vexen shed his hood as well, revealing himself to be a man with very light blonde, almost white hair and fair complexion. Right now, Vexen was grinning evilly. "Greatly." He walked past Xaldin and through the portal. Almost immediately, Beast disliked Vexen even more than Xaldin. "Hm." He grunted. "If this Marluxia is against you, he can't be a bad person." He finished. Xaldin simply glanced at him and said, "You have no idea."
****Chapter 2**** It was all white expanse that stretched around Vexen, save for the platform he was standing on. But of his notice was the orb floating in the air, with the shape of Marluxia's weapon engraved in it. As Vexen looked on, Marluxia appeared. "You, why are you disturbing me here?" Vexen glared with pure hatred at the upstart boy. He wasn't too much younger than Vexen, but he had done enough to gain his hate. In life, anyway. Vexen snapped, causing several Dusks to take form around Marluxia. "The Superior has need of you, Marluxia." He said. The pink-haired man looked at him. "Xemnas? What did he ever know?" He replied. Vexen laughed out loud. "No, I'm afraid Xemnas is long gone. Our new Superior, however, has great need of you." Said the scientist. Marluxia's eyes cocked in curiosity as the Dusks attacked. --------------------------------------------- "So, Xaldin, how are you back? Sora and I fought you. I watched you die." "We all died, Beast. But Xemnas trusted with us things that ensured certain... precautions, in case of such accidents." He answered. "Why, then isn't Xemnas here as well?" Asked Beast in reply. Xaldin looked at him and continued his explanation. "Because Xemnas could not be restored from the power of Kingdom Hearts, as he was inside it when he was destroyed. There is nowhere to go from there, I'm afraid." Beast grunted. "How did you know where to find this castle. After Sora left, I made certain to redirect the portal to somewhere else." He said. "Well," replied Xaldin, "A villager named Gastone told us where Belle always went off to. I decided it would be a good place to start." He smirked. Beast roared at him, but did not move. ------------------------------------------- Vexen looked around in an unimpressed manner after Marluxia dispatched all the Dusks. "This is my place, Vexen. You're as useless here as you were in the Castle Oblivion." Said Marluxia. Vexen snarled in anger as he summoned his shield. "Fine. We'll see who's useless." Was his reply. For a few seconds, they stared each other down, before Marluxia jumped. He attempted to bring his scythe down toward Vexen's head, but Vexen blocked with his shield and took advantage of the opening to throw an ice blast at Marluxia. the force of it sent Marluxia sliding back, but he retaliated by sending a slicing wave of energy toward his adversary. Vexen blocked it, but it sent him sliding as well. Marluxia took advantage of Vexen's loss of balance by jumping and coming at him again. But before he reached Vexen, he stopped. Vexen smirked as he looked at Marluxia, now frozen up to his head in ice. Marluxia thrashed his head around, trying to break the rest of himself free, but it was futile. Vexen picked up the ice sculpture. "Now, you need to tell me where you hid it, because Xaldin will be very angry if you don't." He said. Marluxia spit in his face. "You take orders from braid boy now, do you?" There was a long silence. But ultimately, Vexen spoke calmly. "You are going to tell me now, or you are going to fade forever." ************** Cool, It will become quickly obvious how they came back once I start to reveal it.
Lol, Marluxia got owned. I'd have to say though, when you fight them in Final Mix, it seems Marluxia would win. But then what fun would that be.
Well, story and gameplay give two different perspectives. For example, according to the story, Xemnas is supposed to be the strongest, but in gameplay, he's easier than Demyx or Xaldin.
****Chapter 3**** As the five black-coated figures stood waiting for the other, he, at length, come from the portal, smirking. Xaldin came to him. "Did you find out where it is?" Vexen nodded. "I found out where half of it is." He said. Xaldin looked disappointed. "Half? Where is the other half, pray tell?" To this, Vexen nodded knowingly. "I don't know, but I think I know who does. Larxene was always Marluxia's lackey. If he trusted anyone with it's location, it was her." Xaldin looked around. "Well, I'm afraid I don't know where Larxene is. Do any of you?" He said, looking at the other hooded people. Finally, one rose a hand. "Yeah. I think Luxord mentioned something about 'feeling her' when he was on that mission we sent him on in Port Royal." He said. Xaldin held up a hand, and another spear came into his hand. "We have a destination, then. Unfortunately, Beast, you are a witness. And that simply won't do." In the blink of an eye, he had thrown the spear at Beast. But before the spear could hit, Beast had broken free of the other two. But rather than rushing the group, he bolted for the window and leapt, just as another spear embedded itself where he had been moments before. Xaldin ran and looked out the window, watched as Beast grabbed an outhanging pole and propelled himself to safety. Xaldin whispered a curse to himself before he turned back to the others. "We should hurry, then. It may not be long before our old friend the Keyblade Master is upon us again." With the final words, each of them disappeared into darkness. **************** The chapters are shorter than I'd like them to be, but I'm taking it bit by bit.
****Chapter 4**** Sora had been all over the place since they had returned. He always figured that what he wanted most was to come home and stay home. But things just hadn't happened that way. All that time adventuring and fighting evil had taken the quiet part of him right off into the distance. He couldn't stay put for a second. And he couldn't stop looking at Kairi... As he thought about these things while walking down the beach, a glint caught his eye. He looked to the shore. A bottle? It looked like it, but inside was a message. Excitedly, he picked up the foreign object and took the message out of it. Immediately, he called to his friends as he saw the King's seal on it. --------------------- Dear Riku, Sora and Kairi, I have bad news. Beast tells me Xaldin and some of the other Organization members are back. Xaldin and Vexen are the only ones he identified, but they said they're going to Port Royal. Don't worry, Beast and Belle both made it out alright, but if the Organization is back, then we have trouble. I imagine they'll come looking for Roxas and Namine eventually, so you'd better hurry and find them, before they find you. Yours truly, King Mickey --------------------- Sora mulled this over. He knew Xaldin, but... "Who's Vexen?" He asked. Riku looked at him curiously. "I remember Vexen. I guess you never met him, but I fought him in Castle Oblivion. Then he made a clone of me that I eventually killed." Sora's eyes widened as flashes came to him. He saw a man with extremely light blonde hair and green eyes. "Green eyes? Almost white hair?" He said, giving the general description. "Yeah." Confirmed Riku. "You met him?" He said. There was a long silence before Sora continued. "Well, we have to go to Port Royal, if the Organization is going to be there." "Right." Said Kairi and Riku at the same time. Riku looked at Kairi in surprise. "Kairi, I think you should stay here. It was just a week ago that you fully recovered from the effects of first leaving the islands. Remember? You lost your heart? Ansem? Namine? Xemnas? Ringing any bells?" he asked. Kairi looked indignant. "There is no reason why I can't go." Then Sora cut in. "Come on, Riku let her go. She's proved she's tough enough." He implored. "NO!" Shouted Riku, silencing both of them. "I'm not letting you get hurt. Sora, come on, we're going." He asserted. Sora reluctantly followed Riku toward the doorway. It was actually kind of creepy being here. The last time he had seen the real islands, they turned out to be part of Ansem's dark world. He just didn't know what to trust anymore. "I don't think it's fair, really, Riku. She's proved she can handle it." He said. But Riku was adamant. "Listen, Sora. I like Kairi the same way you do. That's why I'm not letting her go. I submitted to that darkness once. I won't let that happen to either of you." Finally, they reached the door. Each of the Keyblade wielders put a hand to it, and it opened. Both of them passed through. As they did, Riku could still faintly hear the same chilling, distant voice that he had heard the first time he opened this door. "I'm still here, Riku..."
