Escape [Zexion]

[Aerith]

Sitting, Waiting, Wishing

Her efforts to find a way off the islands had so far proved ineffective. Gummi Ships were a rare sight here, and the only reason Sora had probably been able to find one was because of his connection to King Mickey. Unfortunately, she was not sure how to get in touch with anyone outside this world, so the most she could hope for was if a random passerby landed here with a ship she could use to catch a ride. In the meantime, all she could do was pace the beach in her free time and try not to let worry gnaw too much at her mind.

It had been several, several days now since she had seen that weird vision. She hadn't told anyone about it for fear of looking paranoid and mentally unstable. But Selphie had noticed a change in her, anyway. School was little more than a block of time in which she wasn't completely consumed with thoughts of Sora's whereabouts and well-being. The spunky brunette had tried to get Kairi to hang out as often as possible, but the only place she wanted to be was the beach whenever she could.

The sun was setting again, just like it had been when she had felt that odd connection to Sora. Seagulls hovered nearby, their cries shrill against the backdrop of the ocean waves. She held no fruit in her hands this time, but she still couldn't help but hope that the similar setting might provoke another vision. Anything to let her know where Sora was and how he was doing.

[Fate]

Dropping By For a Visit
Missing You ~ Namine by Hiroyuki Nakayama.

After giving it some thought, Zexion decided against sending Axas to Destiny Islands and instead went himself; he wasn't sure what he could trust the newest member of the Organization with, but it certainly wasn't something that was important. After all, anything regarding the Champion was his responsibility and if he were here, then it would look better if Zexion went instead of Axas. Though, as soon as he came into the world, he knew that the Champion was not; the world was moving as it typically did and had no overwhelming scent of darkness almost encapsulating it. It also looked untouched, not sharing in Radiant Garden's look of destruction.

"How unusual..." he mused to himself. What exactly happened here then if the Champion did not wreak havoc on it? He supposed he would have to look around more carefully to find the answer to that question, though it would certainly take a while. Zexion was not about to linger here for too long anyhow, not wanting to risk 'accidentally' bumping into Sora; the boy would most likely just kill him first and ask questions later.

Before he chose to make his trek into town to spy, something else caught his attention. Down a ways on the beach stood someone who he had to turn his head toward to get a good look at. He didn't sense her there before, though there was a good reason for that; he could only sense the darkness within people, not the light. This person had not one hint of darkness within her, which made her identification all the more easier: Kairi. Now, Zexion had a choice to make: he could approach her, or he could leave her. She would never know he was there if he did the latter.

Though, the former was certainly more intriguing. He had never met Kairi himself just as he had never met Sora before Castle Oblivion, yet he knew of her. Different ideas started to come into his head as he made the decision, walking the short distance down the beach to near where she stood. He brought his hood down as well, not wanting to look more ominous than he needed to look. He stopped about ten feet away from her, not wanting to get too close; this encounter had to be treated with care.

"What a lovely sunset," he said somewhat quietly, attempting to not completely startle her. There was no emotion behind his words naturally, the words themselves trivial and only to draw her attention. After that, who knew what would happen?

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[Aerith]

Well, This Seems Familiar...

The crunch of boots on sand let her know someone was approaching. But she didn't think anything of it until the sound stopped and her visitor commented on the sunset. "Yes, it is pretty." She made no effort to disguise the wistfulness in her voice. The view would have been even more special if Sora had been here.

She turned her head to greet whoever had joined her. The voice was unfamiliar, certainly not belonging to Selphie, Tidus, or Wakka. The face attached to the voice also turned out to be unfamiliar, but the black cloak was most certainly not. She let out a soft gasp of surprise and took a step back, one arm raised in front of her.

Not one to automatically jump to conclusions, however, Kairi refrained from making a sharp comment about getting kidnapped again, being put in cages, or acting as bait. Instead, she opted for a less scathing question. "Who are you?" She knew well enough who he was with, if that cloak was any indication, so the more important question, motive, also needed to be asked. "And why are you here?"

[Fate]

Something is Missing Here

It was sort of interesting to hear her reply to his trivial question before she turned around and look at him. She didn't hide the longing in her voice either, which was at least a little bit of a clue as to why she was here at the beach. There could only be one reason why she was wistful and that was Sora, who was not on the island. Though, his location was easy enough to find, even in the vast universe they existed in. That thought alone got the wheels turning in Zexion's head, though he kept that behind his signature blank face.

Kairi, thankfully, did not try to attack him on sight and instead tried to shield herself. She asked him who he was and why he was here, both good questions and straight to the point. He decided to answer both of them. "I am Zexion," he replied simply of first, "I am from Organization XIII. However, I did not come here to attack, nor can I say I expected to find you Kairi." That part was truthful at the very least.

"I came looking for something else, something both Sora and the Organization is currently after." He might as well continue to be honest for the moment to gain her trust. "There is currently a very powerful force of darkness that exists in the universe, one that poses a very serious threat. I was able to track it back here, though it seems to have vanished a few days ago." He let some disappointment come out of his voice when he said that, thinking of what to say next.

"Now may I ask why you are here? I would have thought you would be traveling with Sora." Mild curiosity seeped into his tone. He already thought he knew the answer and, if he proved to be right, he could use it. It would not help him with the current state of the Organization, but it could certainly help with his deal with Axel.

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[Aerith]

Skepticism

This was different from the last time she had been confronted by an Organization member on this beach. At least so far. She was still wary of Dusks that might pop up at any moment. But she could tell that what Zexion said was the truth. She couldn't think of any reason why he would lie about this force of darkness roaming the worlds. Was that why Sora and Riku had left so suddenly? Why hadn't they told her anything about it?

Then another thought occurred to her. Maybe this dark force was responsible for what she had seen happening to Sora. If so, he might not be out of danger even now. As worry now spread across her face, she relaxed, fingers brushing absentmindedly against her necklace. She almost seemed to go somewhere else for a bit, but she quickly returned to the here and now.

"Sora and Riku... left." She shifted her gaze out toward the sea again. "And they left me behind. As usual. Guess they think it's too dangerous out there." With an exasperated sigh, she looked back at Zexion. "That's really the only reason you're here? The last time one of you Organization members showed up, he just wanted to capture me. So, sorry if I'm a little skeptical."

[Fate]

Assurance and an Offering

Zexion nodded in acknowledgement as he listened. Sora and Riku did as they had done before, which was leave the Princess behind while they go off through the universe to fight evil. One could say that there was chivalry behind that, but Zexion truly did not care enough to put meaning behind their actions. The point was they left Kairi behind yet again, something she didn't seem too happy about. Though, it wasn't quite anger that was present, but something else the Nobody couldn't place.

She then said something rather odd to him, making him raise an eyebrow. He didn't remember anyone going to capture Kairi both recently and before Castle Oblivion. It most likely happened after Castle Oblivion, which he would figure out the circumstances behind later. "I don't intend to capture you, nor does the rest of the Organization," he told her quite blankly, "I can assure you of that." He couldn't see why they would want to anyhow; it would be rather pointless aside from getting Sora further enraged with them.

"I only came looking for what Sora and Riku are seemingly after." He cast his gaze out to the sea as well; it wasn't something a Nobody saw everyday when he lived in the World That Never Was. "Though, perhaps now that I am here, I can offer you something else," he said, looking back to her, "I do not normally offer this, but I have the ability to sense others no matter where they are so long as they have darkness within their hearts. I can find Sora for you if you wish."

It was only an offer at this point, not something he was going to force upon her; whichever Nobody had captured her before had most likely not shown her the same "kindness" he had. He had a very specific motive here and it involved getting Kairi's trust. If he could get her trust, then that could work in his favor for getting Sora's trust. Once he was able to gain that, possibilities would open up for him to obtain Roxas.

One step at a time though; he couldn't get too carried away in his plans. "I can understand if you do not wish to take this offer. It is your decision." He crossed his arms and waited.

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[Aerith]

Deliberation

Assurances of her safety weren't actually very reassuring when coming from someone wearing that cloak. She had had nothing but bad experiences with the Organization, and there was no way she could be completely sure that this wasn't another attempt to use her as bait to draw Sora somewhere or make him do something he probably didn't really want to do. On the other hand...

Why don't we go see him?

The memory startled her into glancing quickly over her shoulder, only to find empty beach that stretched out of sight. Realizing how paranoid this was probably making her look, she returned her gaze to Zexion as she considered. Should she risk falling into some Organization trap in the hopes that Zexion really would lead her to Sora? Then again, she had thought Sora and Riku had finished off all the Organization members a year ago. Maybe they had missed a few? "I thought all of you were... gone?" The question might strike him as off-subject, but she wanted an answer to it.

Regardless of the answer, Zexion was still here and still offering her a chance to find Sora. "Are you just going to tell me where to find him?" She might have felt better about simply getting the information and finding her own way off the islands, but even knowing where she was going, she still had no viable way to leave this world. And she remembered that the Organization members used those Corridors of Darkness to move around.

[Fate]

Some Oddities Here and There

He let her think some, keeping his eyes on her as she did so. He watched as she randomly looked over her shoulder and flicked his eyes in the same direction; there wasn't anything there, making the action rather peculiar. It would be pointless to understand every little nuance and she was back to looking at him anyhow. She had every reason not to trust him on this; the Organization did not exactly have a good name amongst the heroes, particularly the Keyblade Masters. If Kairi had indeed gotten captured by them, then she would have even more of a reason not to trust anyone who wore the cloak.

She asked a rather odd question again, stating that she thought the Organization was gone. He shook his head to this. "Sora and Riku did indeed defeat all of the Organization, but we have still returned. I cannot tell you why for certain, unfortunately. I suspect that even nothingness rejected us." There was a slight bit of sarcasm as he gave his bit of conjecture; it would be tragically ironic if that were the case, though Zexion couldn't say he truly had any idea why he, or the rest of the Organization, was brought back.

She then asked if he was only going to tell her the information. Indeed, how would she get off of this island even with that information? If she had a way off, she would not be here; simple as that. Right now, Zexion was her only way of getting away from Destiny Islands. He hid his smirk as he answered. "I will tell you where he is and, if you wish, bring you to him. The Corridor of Darkness should not affect you due to your infrequent use of them. I can assure you safe travel."

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[Aerith]

Consent

So she had been right in a way. All of the Organization had been defeated once Sora and Riku had taken care of Xemnas. But for some reason, they had all returned, according to Zexion. What did that mean for her, Sora, and Riku? Did they have to worry about this new dark force as well as the resurrected Organization? And she was sure the Heartless were still out there.

Before she could become too embroiled in her own thoughts, Kairi distracted herself by tracing the sand at her feet with her eyes. She knew that she wanted, more than anything else, to see Sora, to know he was still all right. And the only way she could do that was to trust that Zexion wasn't lying to her. But if he wanted to capture her, he probably would have used force by now. The beach remained barren of other Nobodies.

"Okay, tell me where he is." She hesitated for only a moment. "And please take me to him." She had decided. Sitting around here, playing hopeful waiting princess, wasn't something she wanted to do anymore.

[Fate]

Key of Destiny

"As you wish." He sighed before he closed his eyes, concentrating just as he did before when he was looking for the Champion. He had to sift through far too many scents to count, going through world after world. He stood still the entire time, not moving an inch. Sora's scent was not quite as pungent as the Champion's, therefore it was a little more difficult to find. Thankfully, he had sensed it before when in Castle Oblivion, giving him at least a little familiarity with it. It wasn't much, but it was something to work with at the very least.

After a few moments, he opened his eyes with a slight gasp and a bit of a headache. He ignored that for now and looked straight to Kairi. "He is currently in the Land of Dragons. We should be able to find him in time for you to meet with him." He summoned a Corridor of Darkness in front of the two of them just before the ocean met the sand, gesturing for her to go first. "After you."

Albeit, he was a little surprised that Kairi went along with this and was trusting him up to this point. She was either naïve, desperate, or a combination of the two. Zexion was of course mostly oblivious to the strong bond Kairi and Sora shared, only able to touch upon it slightly when he was in Castle Oblivion. He had been dabbling then, only guessing that Sora had incredibly strong feelings for this girl now standing in front of him. It was definitely a tool for manipulation on both sides, but Kairi wasn't the one he needed to manipulate all of the way. Once he had the opportunity, he would get Sora.

He wouldn't underestimate him next time either.

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[Aerith]

No Parental Excuse Will Cover This

Kairi kept her eyes on Zexion while he did whatever he needed to do to find Sora. The way she stared so intently at him, it was almost as though she thought it would help him find Sora faster. Finally, he opened his eyes again with a soft gasp, a chink in that cold, Nobody disposition of his.

When he said that Sora was in Land of Dragons and then told her that's where he would take her, she nodded. Had he said Sora was somewhere like, oh, The World That Never Was, she would have backed out of this agreement faster than Wakka ran for the kitchen whenever someone mentioned food. But Land of Dragons seemed safe enough, assuming of course that was where they did in fact end up after this little trip.

One of those eerie Corridors blossomed next to the two of them, marring the perfect sunset scenery. Her resolve wavered only a little. Sora could be waiting at the other end of this path. Or she could wind up getting passed around various Organization members again until finally ending up in another dungeon. That latter wasn't a very pleasant thought, and she tried to push it aside as much as the bad taste in her mouth would allow. She needed to focus on the positive. Sora. He was her whole reason for doing this.

If you have a dream, don't wait. Act.

"Right." It was a response to both the memory and Zexion's prompting for her to enter first. As she had back then, she would act, but it would only be for her own reasons. She stared into the Corridor as she stood mere feet from it. Her companion into the darkness this time was not nearly as comforting as Pluto had been. But she would be strong for Sora. She had to be.

Sorry, Selphie. Looks like I won't be coming back to school for a little while.

Without looking back, she stepped forward and once again left the islands.