Memories of the Hearts

Chapter XV

"I've always been searching for my reason to exist." ~Alice (Kamisama no Memochou)
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A few weeks after being abducted by the Organization, Xion returned to the Haunted Mansion but by her own will. It happened one morning when I glance out my bedroom window and saw her standing outside the gated fence, staring into the mansion. I ran out of my room immediately after seeing her and grabbed the bars if the metal gate, yelling, "Xion! What brings you back here?"

"There's something I need to discuss with...what was her name again?" Xion replied as she looked over her shoulder as if she was checking that she wasn't being followed.

"Do you mean Naminè?" I replied.

"Yes, her," Xion nodded as she looked over her shoulder once more.

I pulled open the metal gate as it groaned as it was rusting and heavy. Xion quickly went in and I shut the gate behind us and I followed Xion to Naminè's room. Xion stood outside it, her hand trembling on the knob as she inhaled, held her breath for a few seconds and exhaling and opening the door. This was my first time in Naminè's room so I had a look around, Her room was identical to the one she had in Castle Oblivion except she had decorated the walls of some of the drawings she did.

She looked up from her work and smiled at Xion when she saw her come in. "Are you...Naminè?" Xion asked slowly.

"I've always wanted to meet you, Xion," Naminè smiled softly as Xion seated herself across the table from Naminè.

"What should I do now...?" Xion said.

"What do you want to do, Xion?" Naminè replied.

"Uh...." Xion gave that question a bit of thought before responding. "I...want to stay with Roxas and the others. But...there's no way I can continue to be with Roxas. Being with him means I'll sap his powers. And eventually, he'll..."

Movement outside the window caught my eye and I quietly left the room and shut the door slowly, making sure not to disturb the two of them. I went down the stairs to the first floor of the Haunted Mansion and looked out the main window to see if I could see the same movement there. I heard the sound of furniture being shifted and I turned to see DiZ approaching me, the furniture moving back in place to conceal his doorway to his lab. "Is something the matter, Sakura?" He asked me.

"I just...thought I saw something on the higher floors and I wanted to make sure that I wasn't seeing things," I explained, still staring out the window.

Then, I saw the movement again. I got a closer look at whoever was moving, and it was strange sight. It was strange creature that was thin, sinuous body that is capable of dumbfounding feats of flexibility. It has a large, cylindrical head with a flat top that is emblazoned with a symbol of some sort. Its body seems to be covered in a light grey jumpsuit, and its "mouth" is actually a zipper that undoes itself to reveal its actual, grey, sharp-toothed mouth underneath. It appeared to be fairly muscular, though its arms and legs are very thin. The sides of its body are lined by a black line, which pulses weakly with light. Its feet and hands are pointed and lack digits, and its hands each sport two black bands around them. The movement they were making were taking large, exaggerated steps forward and jumping off the ground and twirling in the air because flying off.

I blinked, confused. They certainly did not look like the Heartless, so what were they? I turned to look at DiZ for answers, but his eye was wide open. "Oh no..." He muttered as he summoned a Corridor of Darkness and going through it. I followed him through the portal to get some answers but he and teleported us to Naminè's room. "Naminè!" He shouted. "They've found us!"

The same creatures I had saw in the front were now levitating outside the window of Naminè's room and peering in. "Dusks...!!" She gasped.

They rammed into the window, causing spiderweb cracks to appear where they hit the window. "I told you we couldn't trust 'it' to to come to this place!" DiZ yelled. "That blasted puppet...! It led them right to our doorstep!"

One of the Dusks broke through the window and Naminè shrieked. I reacted quickly by drawing my dagger from underneath my black coat and swiping the Dusk with it, causing it to disappear in white smoke. "I'll let rid of them!" Xion offered as she bolted out of the room, summoning her Keyblade.

"Xion!!" Naminè cried as she ran after her but DiZ beat her to the door and shut it close, pressing his body against it.

"You cannot leave this room!" He boomed. "Nobody can. These Dusks are after it, so let them go after the puppet. I do not know if they've broken into the first floor or if any Organization members are with them, and I cannot risk losing any of you to them."

Naminè and I nodded as we looked out the window and I saw the hole that the one Dusk created. After Xion had left the room it appeared that they had floated away from the cracks they made, not interested in making them bigger as they could get in and they wandered around on the grounds, circling the Haunted Mansion so we, or rather, Xion, had no place to hide. I guess DiZ was right; they were only after Xion. "How much longer do those wretched Dusks intend to linger?" DiZ muttered.

"Xion...I hope she is safe..." Naminè prayed.

"It does not matter which road it takes, it'll have to disappear in the end anyway," DiZ remarked. "Why pray for such nonsense."

"Even though her final outcome is the same...she still has the right to choose her path," Naminè replied.

"What other ways are open to it?" DiZ sniffed. "In the end, it'll disappear all the same. One can never defy their fate. That goes the same for that puppet...and for Roxas."

As we continued to stare at the lingering Dusks, I no longer was paying attention to them, even though they were still a threat to us. DiZ's words rang in my head over and over again. What did he mean by that? I thought.