If you haven't read the prior chapter, you REALLY should before this one :)
Oh, and speech in italics reference whichever boy you choose~
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Lexaeus was killed by Sora with a fatal blow to the head.
Xaldin was shot to death by Riku.
Marluxia was gutted by Roxas.
Luxord was stabbed by you.
Larxene was defeated by a blow to the back of the head by Ven.
Vexen was killed, but how and by whom, you weren't sure. It was either Cloud, Leon, Xion, or Genesis who accomplished the deed.
Saix was fighting Reno, Axel, Terra, and Aqua.
Xigbar was engulfed in a death match with Zack, Noctis, and Yuffie.
Sora, Riku, and Roxas had disappeared to find Xemnas.
Demyx and Zexion were nowhere to be found, so you could only guess their fates.
And Vanitas is dead, his lifeless body lying in his own blood in the room above you.
You start to sniffle slightly, your eyes burning from the angry tears falling down your cheeks. It wasn't the first time you had watched someone die, since Luxord died at your hands and in your arms, but your heart is still breaking ever so slightly. You tried to save Vanitas in the simplest way you could, but you failed. He had still tried to kill you, remaining a pawn of the darkness until the end. Ven gently starts to rub your exposed arm, and your eyes dart up to his.
"Are you okay?" he asks softly, and numbly, you start to nod.
"I will be," you murmur, resting a hand on top of his. "I owe you my life, Ven."
He laughs a little at your statement, shrugging a shoulder lazily. You can tell by the flush on his cheeks he's embarrassed.
"Good thing I was sent up here then, isn't it?" he asks, and you tilt your head slightly.
"You were sent up here...?"
"After your discussion, over the headset... He told me to hurry to the top of the castle. To kill Vanitas," Ven explains, and your eyes widen.
The headset! Yours was either smashed or caked in blood by now, possibly both. Noticing your expression, Ven smiles as he takes your hand in his. Something bulky is placed in your palm, and you glance down only to spot his headset sitting there.
"Talk to him," he adds, dropping your hand as he takes a step back to give you some space.
A small smile grows on your face as you place the headset into your ear, the mouthpiece hanging across your cheek. With a shaky finger you press the button, taking a deep breath before calling out his name. You're greeted with nothing but silence for a few moments before static starts to ring through your ear.
"[Name]?" his voice replies quietly, as if he's in disbelief. Your knees buckle slightly in relief, resting a hand against the wall for support. "Are you okay? What happened? Where's Ven?"
You can't help but release a small laugh at the barrage of questions.
"I'm fine, Ven's fine. He," you trail off, shooting the blond a grateful smile. "Ven saved my life."
"What happened with Vanitas?" he asks breathlessly as Ven returns your grin.
You pause, searching for words. Do you tell him now, the entirety of what happened? No, definitely not. Who knows who's listening in to this conversation? Something like this needed to be told in person, in private, especially since you were still trying to wrap your mind around it.
"... He's dead. Stabbed through the heart."
"Good. Bastard deserved it."
You swallow uncomfortably, averting your gaze towards the ground as you clench your eyes shut. Burning tears slide down your cheek as the memory of scared, golden eyes cross your vision, the guilt and your failure suffocating.
"Yeah, he... he did," you finally agree with a surprisingly calm voice, hugging yourself around the waist with your free arm. A small hiss leaves your lips as your fingers brush across the stab wound on your hip and the deep burn on your waist. You had almost forgotten about your injuries. "Are you okay?"
"I will be, yeah. We're all pretty beat up I think. Wait where you are, we're coming."
"Okay," you murmur as the line goes dead. You glance up at Ven, who's watching you like a hawk. "He said to wait here. They're coming."
"Yeah, we planned on meeting up here," Ven tells you as you pluck the headset from your ear and toss it into his waiting hands.
"So, what did I miss?" you ask, straightening your back as you do your best to stay composed.
"Last I saw, Axel defeated Saix. Then we heard Vanitas through the headset, and I left."
Good, so all that's left is Xigbar and Xemnas. Maybe the odds were finally in your favor. Before you can respond, echoing footsteps ring through the hallway just outside of the door, and you glance past the makeshift Organization graveyard beside you. The first person to walk through is Noctis, one of his eyes purple and swollen shut. You spring into action, running towards the group of defeated-looking SOLDIERs.
"Are you okay?!" you exclaim, running a finger down his cheek.
Noctis' skin is puffy and bruised, and it looks like he was hit in the face with a mallet. You glance over his shoulder, and slowly realize he looks the least injured of the bunch. Axel's skin is practically scorched, black smoke and smudges covering every inch of his body. Reno, Terra, and Aqua look similar, though not quite as intense. So Saix must have burned in a fire... How horrible.
"Better than. It's almost over," Reno replies, giving you a thumbs up and a smile.
"... I never want to see another fire again," Terra coughs out as Aqua gently pats his back.
Ven rushes over to his friends, immediately starting to fret over their burns and scrapes. More people are trickling in behind them, slowly filling the large room. A scuffed-up Cloud is helping Zack walk, who looks as pale as a ghost from loss of blood due to his shoulder injury. Yuffie and Xion have various bruises and slashes across their skin, and Genesis has a case of frostbite on his forearm. Leon's head is covered in blood from a wound to the scalp.
"What happened to you?" Roxas speaks up, resting a hand over the gaping hole on your hip.
You suck in a quick intake of pained breath, shooing his hand away as he starts to apologize quickly. You immediately stop, however, when you realize he's favoring his right leg and grabbing at his stomach, which is caked with dried blood.
"I... just got nicked by his Keyblade," you admit, glancing around at the approaching people. Riku, whose earlier wound has obviously been reopened by the blood falling from his middle, glances down at your raw waist. "... and burned," you add, realizing where he's staring.
"Bastard," Zack mutters, a hand pressed against his still-bleeding shoulder as Cloud starts to make a tourniquet for him.
You open your mouth to speak again, but you're interrupted by Sora: "It's okay, you don't need to say anything. We know what happened."
"Wha-?"
"Zexion," Riku explains, a hand covering the gash on his waist. "Sora, Roxas, and I ran into him in the hall when we were looking for Xemnas. He almost killed Sora."
You glance over at the brunet, eyes watering ever so slightly at the sad smile he shoots you. So that's why there's a deep gash on his neck. It looks like he was almost beheaded, had the cut been deeper.
"He got away, unfortunately. But before he did," Roxas adds, brushing his hand against yours, "he showed us what happened. Probably in an attempt to hurt us."
You tilt your head slightly in confusion, but the second you spot his bitter smile, your heart drops. Oh god. So they not only heard, but they saw, too?
"Y-You saw?" you repeat, praying that he's talking about the fight.
You could handle them watching you get your ass kicked, but kissing another man? A man who tried to kill you multiple times? Inexcusable.
"Everything," Sora clarifies, his voice raspy from the wound on his neck.
Their hurt expressions causes your heart to break even more, and you curse Zexion's name. This wasn't the way it was supposed to go. You were supposed to have a chance to explain your actions, to explain that you had the best intentions in an impossible situation...
"I... I didn't..." you stammer, the tips of your fingers playing together nervously. All eyes are on you, like the defendant on the stand at a murder trial. So the three had told everyone else what they saw, it's apparent by their expressions... And, again, you were alone.
"[Name] was courageous," Ven speaks up, standing beside you as he claps a hand on your shoulder. "She was just trying to save him, and her life. But it backfired, so... I stabbed him just as he was about to kill her."
Silence again falls over the group, and you avert your gaze towards the floor. What else could be said? Whether they forgave you or not, it happened. And nothing can take it back.
"It's understandable," Leon finally speaks up, a hand resting on his bleeding head. "You were just trying to be a good person, right?"
"If anything, we should be mad at you for putting yourself in that dangerous situation," Cloud adds with a glance towards you as he finishes up Zack's tourniquet. "But, as Leon said... it's understandable."
"Admirable, even," Yuffie adds, a smile on her face as she bounces slightly on her heels.
It takes everything in you not to burst into tears, so instead you settle on nodding your head enthusiastically. Words are failing you, relief the only sensation you know.
"Now can you stop sulking so we can finish this?" Zack asks, a small smirk on his face as he swings his injured arm a bit in the air to test out its agility.
You laugh, nodding your head again as you wipe away a spare tear.
"Y-Yeah. Thank you, everyone... for understanding," you murmur, your heart swelling with relief.
Their injured faces all beam back up you, but the smiles are wiped from everyone's faces as a loud bang is heard from above. You stare up at the ceiling with narrowed eyes. The only thing up there is...
"Could he still be alive?" you ask in a harsh whisper, snapping your head towards Ven.
"No, no way. I gave him a clean shot to the heart," he replies, shaking his head.
"Xemnas?" Genesis suggests with a shrug.
"Let's find out," Axel adds, limping away and towards the staircase.
Your heart feels like it's about to race out of your chest as you follow, each step heavy and hollow. This was about the last place you wanted to be, mere feet from a dead body that had just minutes before been so full of life. It was morbid, horrible, the worst experience ever. As you turn the corner, you eyes land on Vanitas' bloody and crumpled form. A silent gag escapes your mouth as you glance away as quickly as possible, those fixed golden eyes all you can see. Were you relieved he was still gone, or disappointed?
"Huh. Then what was that sound?" Roxas asks as he kneels down by Vanitas, pressing two fingers to his neck as he checks to make sure he's really gone.
"You know, it really is just too easy to lure you out here," a smooth voice calls out, and you start to glance around nervously.
Suddenly, your eyes dart up into the sky just as a silver-haired man appears out of nowhere. His skin is very darkly tanned, and his body huge. Yellow eyes stare down directly at you, as if he's staring into your very soul.
"Xemnas," Sora murmurs, summoning his Keyblade.
Your eyes widen. This is Xemnas...?
"Keybearer," Xemnas greets, his arms crossing over his chest as he continues to float in the air above your group.
Slowly, he starts to lower towards the ground, finally landing on his feet by Vanitas. He stares down at his body, a scoff escaping his lips.
"Give it up, Xemnas. Your men are all gone," Riku points out.
"Not even Zexion's here to help," Reno adds.
Xemnas' eyes stay on Vanitas' form, refusing to meet anyone else's gaze.
"That's because he failed his mission. I had him terminated," Xemnas mutters, and you feel another stab at your heart. Just how many more people had to die? "Though, they're not all gone. I still have another left to fight for me."
As soon as the last word leaves his mouth a familiar, girlish giggle fills the air around you. Your eyes narrow, wondering just why it sounds so known, but as you try to swivel your head around, you can't. You're frozen to the spot, unable to move. Suddenly, a dark, swirling portal appears in front of you, and out of the darkness walks an Organization member. The hood of her coat is down, revealing long, [opposite hair color] hair and blue eyes that are so dark they're almost black. A smile grows on her face as she stops in front of you, and a wave of nausea washes over you at the obvious familiarity of her face.
"Hello there, [Name]," she greets with a tilt of her head, running a finger down your slightly parted lips. "I've been just dying to meet you!"
Your Nobody releases a shrill laugh, and your blood runs cold.