Chapter XV: Beauty and the Beast

Sora watched as his younger self left the first room of Castle Oblivion, only to be faced with Axel and the first hooded guy.

"Hello!" Axel greeted with a smirk on his mouth.

The hooded man was unfazed. "What do you want?"

Axel faked his hurt feelings. "No hogging the hero now."

Younger Sora glared. "Where is Kairi?!"

"She's safe and sound," the hooded man said, turning to Axel. "Perhaps you would like to test him then?"

"Absolutely," Axel said.

The hooded man left in a dark corridor.

Axel spread his arms. "My show now, keyblade master! Oh, who am I? The name's Axel, got it memorized?"

Present-day Sora dropped open his jaw. "I knew Axel before?"

The soft voice in the void spoke. "Yes. You knew him before your memory was altered."

Younger Sora wasn't sure how to take the introduction. "Uh, sure?"

Axel wanted to laugh. "Good, you're getting it. So Sora, now that we're getting to know each other better—" He put his hands out and summoned to his grip two chakrams in a flurry of dancing flames. "—You better give me one hell of a show!"

The gang arrived back inside the castle. Not a single Heartless in sight.

Which was deeply concerning.

The Beast paced back and forth in the main hall. His attire was all cleaned and refined. He noticed Kairi, Donald, and Goofy had entered, but an important person wasn't with them.

"Where is Sora?"

Kairi was surprised by the inquiry, even if she expected it. She answered anyways. "He's missing. We're trying to find him."

Beast grumbled, turning around to face them. "I wish you luck. Tonight is very," he paused to think of the right description before continuing. "…special."

That explained the getup.

"Uhh, maybe we came at the wrong time?" Goofy said.

Donald looked around. "No Heartless either."

Kairi shook her head. "I have a sinking feeling the Organization is up to something though."

The servants opened the doors to the ballroom. Belle made her way down the stairs dressed in a beautiful sunshine dress. Beast took her hand and led her inside.

Kairi pictured herself wearing a beautiful dress just like Belle's, only pink with a white skirt, golden flowers as accents. Sora, dressed just like a prince, would take her hand with a smile. His uncontainable spikes would hold a crown on his head. They would dance just like how they did in Agrabah. They would sway and sway to soft music. Probably talk about nothing and everything.

"We should stand by in case something happens," Goofy said, snapping Kairi out of her daydream.

The three followed far behind the couple of the evening.

"Monsieur, Mademoiselle, enjoy the evening," Lumière said, stepping back by the pillars with Cogsworth and Mrs. Potts.

"An evening indeed," said Xaldin's booming voice from above.

Kairi without another thought ran to the center of the dance floor. Belle clung to the Beast in fear. The Beast glared at the man on top of the balcony.

"Xaldin! Leave them alone!" Kairi yelled, summoning her keyblade.

He didn't even flinch at her orders. "You don't know when to quit, do you, little girl?" He revealed the item he was holding behind his back: a glowing rose in its casing.

The Beast roared in boiling anger.

"Hmph. I have something very precious to you indeed. Let your anger grow." Xaldin left in a black corridor, Nobodies of a new type appearing and surrounding everyone. Their wings flapped about, their claws holding a giant pinkish lance.

"Belle! Get back!" Beast shouted to her, fists clenched. He slammed a dragoon out of the way.

The Nobodies had wings and a lance in their grips. They swarmed in, teleporting into the air and darting down with their lances. Upon landing, it unleashed a shockwave that tossed everyone into the air. Goofy tossed his shield at one of the dragoons, bashing it right in the head. Donald lodged a barrage of ice crystals at the Nobodies. Kairi's body slid across the floor until she was stopped by a column. She pushed herself back up, breathing raggedly.

Blood pounded in her ears. She put up her keyblade to block a jab from the dragoon's lance. A small aura of wind formed around the torso of the dragoon. It had a lance pulling up and then down. Seeing her opening, Kairi tapped the aura with her keyblade and teleported up and above the Nobody, destroying it in one go.

The Beast flared his claws at the last dragoon and destroyed it. The ballroom was emptied of all enemies.

Beast turned around to look for Belle, who ran to hide outside with the servants.

Only the servants came back inside.

"Oh no…" Kairi said under her breath.

"Where. Is. Belle?" Beast growled.

The doors to the main hall creaked. Donald and Goofy whipped around and saw a slip of black and sunshine leaving.

"Oh no! They went that way!" Goofy pointed to the ajar doors. Kairi, Donald, Goofy, and the Beast ran out to the main hall.

Standing up above the grand ballroom doors was Xaldin, his gloved hand silencing Belle from speaking, and in his other hand, the rose.

Kairi pointed her keyblade at the Whirlwind Lancer. "What do you guys want?! Let her go!"

"Kingdom Hearts. When Kingdom Hearts is ours, we can exist fully and completely," he said. "So you see Beast, that's why we need your Heartless and your Nobody."

"Let Belle go and get out of my castle now!" Beast roared.

"Hmph."

A giant gust of wind so strong forced them backwards. Donald and Goofy went flying, Kairi and the Beast struggling to stay upright. Kairi's shoes slid across the floor, leaving rough marks in their stead.

When the wind ceased, Kairi and the Beast looked up to the ledge on top of the stairs and saw nothing. Kairi's eyes widened in panic. Where did they go? She ran over to a dazed Donald and Goofy. With her keyblade in hand she cast cure.

"They have to be outside!" Donald declared.

The four ran out to the courtyard. Neither Belle nor Xaldin was in sight.

"There," Beast pointed his claw at the main gates. "On the bridge."

As they all ran onto the bridge, a very familiar Heartless watched behind him, twitching on all fours.

Axel, bested and out of breath, dismissed his chakrams. "Hah, you're very tough. Good, good."

Younger Sora kept his hand on his keyblade. "You were just testing us."

"And you've passed. Congratulations! You're ready to take on Castle Oblivion. You will need-" Axel put a hand over his chest where his heart should have been," to follow your memories. Trust what you remember and seek what you forget. Then you'll find someone very special. You have lost sight of the light in the darkness, and it seems you have forgotten that you forgot."

"Kairi, he had to be talking about Kairi," Present-day Sora said. "What happened to her?"

"Your memories," the soft voice explained, "You carry some of Kairi's due to your special connection. Her pain is echoed in your heart. I can show you."

The scene changed to a room with a looking glass and a girl in white sat upon a chair, drawing with a frown on her lips.

"Wait..." Sora looked over the scene. "Why does that girl look like Kairi?"

The voice said nothing.

A man with dirty blonde hair appeared, not even looking to the small girl as he waited for his comrades to appear.

Axel appeared next. Then another hooded person, someone with a smaller figure and build than the men in the room. She tossed off her hood to show her green eyes and bright yellow slicked-back hair. In her grip was the arm belonging to fourteen-year-old Kairi.

"Look what the cat dragged in," the woman said with a sinister smirk. "One Princess of Heart."

Sora formed a fist and gritted his teeth. "Let. Her. Go."

Axel shook his head at the woman's antics. "You can thank Marluxia for that, Larxene."

Larxene tightened her grip on the poor girl's arm. "It's not every day you get to capture a rare wimpy girl like this."

Kairi looked up to see the girl in white staring at her shoes. She tried to step back but Larxene's grip was too tight. Larxene yanked her over to the blonde man. "Here Vexen, the final factor in your little experiment."

The girl in white suddenly shuddered and fell over off of her chair. Axel's eyes widened as he rushed over to her.

Vexen grabbed Kairi by the arm. "Separate them, Naminé and Kairi must not be near each other!" he ordered. "Don't worry, I will put Kairi in the basement." With a snap of his fingers, he and Kairi disappeared in a dark corridor.

"Experiment?!" Sora's mouth was agape. "What… What did they do to her?!" He looked over to the girl in white.

"You alright?" Axel asked her, pulling her up.

Her soft high pitched voice croaked. "I-I'm fine. It just felt...odd."

"Wait a minute," Sora furrowed his brows. "That's you. You're Naminé."

The voice from above took a moment before answering. "Yes. I am Naminé."

"What… What happened to you when Kairi got too close?"

"If I get too close to Kairi I will disappear."

"Disappear?!"

"Yes. It's inevitable, but that is what will happen."

Sora watched as the scene before him faded away and he was back on the stained glass floor.

"You! Get out of my castle now!" Beast growled.

Kairi pointed her keyblade at Xaldin. "Leave these people and never come back!"

Xaldin smirked under his hood. "With pleasure. But I prefer to travel light. What should I leave behind? Belle?" He yanked at her arm. "Or the rose?"

"Let me go, mutton chops," Belle muttered under her breath.

Beast charged down the bridge, calling out for the girl he held dear. "Belle!" Kairi, Donald, and Goofy followed behind.

Belle saw the look of determination on Kairi's face. She knew exactly what she had to do. She elbowed Xaldin in the gut and grabbed the rose. She gripped the rose in her hands for dear life, trying not to trip over her skirt as she ran across the bridge to safety. He grunted in pain, his hood falling off his head to reveal black hair and sideburns creeping over his face.

Kairi pointed her keyblade at Xaldin. "It's over."

He glared at her, smirking. "Oh, really princess? You're so bold as to dare think you can take on an experienced strategist without even the likes of your boyfriend?"

She tried to remain stoic at his words, but keeping an indifferent face became impossible as Xaldin summoned forth pillars of a tornado around him. The pillars turned into one, two, three, four, five, six purple lances, one in his left hand, two in his right, with the remaining three hovering in the air.

Oh crap.

Kairi, Donald, Goofy, and the Beast all scattered.

"Wind!" Xaldin called to the heavens. Donald launched a thunder strike at Xaldin, but he teleported to Donald immediately, using the wind to launch the poor duck into the air.

"I'll show you!" Donald quacked as he fired blizzard crystals at Xaldin. They hit him smack in the face but he didn't even flinch.

"Where's the fun in this?" Xaldin asked, the ice falling off his coat and blasting Donald right into the Beast, slamming the both of them into the wall of the gate.

Kairi chucked a potion towards the two and looked to Goofy who was backing away slowly from Xaldin's approach.

"Goofy!" Kairi ran towards Goofy, keyblade up in front of her.

Goofy raised his shield and began spinning. Xaldin took a free lance and jabbed it at Goofy, but his shield blocked it. The tension froze the two in place, and Kairi managed one strike against Xaldin in-between all his lances and the wind. Xaldin grinned wickedly as he blasted back the duo with aero. Beast charged at Xaldin, knocking him down flat on his face. Another blast of aero made the Beast slam into Donald.

Kairi got back up, casting cure on herself and Goofy. "How do we fight this guy?" Kairi asked.

Goofy raised his shield again. "I have a feeling we gotta survive first."

Indeed. Xaldin took his lances and shot out a giant orb of sharp wind. Kairi held up her keyblade and formed a barrier around herself and Goofy. The orb dissipated, smashing the barrier to shards.

Xaldin connected his lances together and spun them around in a wide arc. Kairi and Goofy ducked down and then jumped over the lances. Kairi struggled to keep hold of her keyblade in the gusts of wind caused by the lances. Xaldin continued to spin and spin. Kairi's legs became jelly from the constant strain of jumping then ducking. He jumped up, his lances expanding into a serpentine form. He hopped onto the head of the dragon and floated about and out of reach, going underneath the bridge.

Kairi and Goofy grabbed Beast and Donald. Goofy prepared his shield in front of them alongside Kairi. But Xaldin appeared behind them on his lance-dragon. Three lasers formed from the mouth. "You wear the face of despair!"

A vortex of wind circled most of the bridge. Goofy grabbed Kairi and pushed her out of reach as he put up his shield to take all of the damage, knocking him, Donald, and the Beast away.

Kairi got up using her keyblade. She was the only one left now in this battle. Xaldin smirked as he got off his dragon and his lances returned to his grip. A small aura of wind formed around him, the same one that the dragoons had. Kairi pointed her keyblade at the aura, a small orb of light exploding out and tapping the aura.

"Look at you, pathetic. Useless," Xaldin mocked, his lances dancing around in the wind.

Kairi wiped her mouth. Without a word to retort, she leaped up above Xaldin and stabbed her keyblade downwards. He was stunned in mid-air at the wound, so she did another jump. And another.

His shield reformed and blasted her against the wall. She collapsed to the ground; limp by the side of her friends. She struggled to get back up even as a lance was stabbed very closely by her arm. Xaldin kicked her keyblade away from her, turning around with his lance resting on his shoulder.

"I won't destroy you, but I will not deny if I had a heart I would be amused at your feeble attempt at fighting. You're a foolish, pathetic little girl who should only stick to bashing Heartless with a stick," he took a few steps away from her, looking at Destiny's Embrace with disgust. "How sad that you gained a keyblade. I had my doubts about your pathetic boyfriend being a keyblade wielder but you, you are such a defenseless weakling that the keyblade must've chosen you out of pity."

Her eyes stung. She blinked back the tears as she tried to muster the strength to sit up.

"Why do you even bother trying," Xaldin continued. "To protect this beast? For what? To protect true love? Love withers and dies, it never conquers."

A beam of light hit Xaldin square in the face, bouncing back immediately after impact.

"That's a lie."

Kairi gasped as another figure in black stood in-between her and Xaldin. In one hand was Oathkeeper barely touching the ground. In the other hand was a black chained keyblade pointed right at Xaldin's chin. The voice, the extremely familiar voice, spoke once more, having silenced Xaldin's cruel words.

"You once said that love was weakness, useless, pathetic," the boy spat. "Guess what, Whirlwind Liar, love is strength, power, and ultimately for you, your demise."

Xaldin struggled to spit out any words. "You trait—"

He was silenced as the boy in black chucked his keyblade at Xaldin again. Xaldin barely managed to get his lances up in time to block the spinning keyblade. It bounced off and back to the boy's grip. He jumped up and summoned thirteen pillars of light upon Xaldin. They knocked all his wind lances out of his hands. The boy tucked in his arms and unleashed a whirlwind of light, beating back the Whirlwind Lancer. Xaldin grabbed a stray lance to push himself up but the boy was moving at the speed of light itself and stabbed the black keyblade—Oblivion—into Xaldin's chest.

Xaldin fell backward, the forces of wind lifting him into the air as his lances disappeared. He screamed in agony as he shuddered and faded into oblivion.

The boy stood there staring at where Xaldin once was with his keyblades in hand. "Love is what makes you strong, Kairi. Don't ever doubt that."

Kairi reached out for him as he left in a dark corridor. "Wait!"

But the boy was gone.

The remaining Organization members gathered in the Room Where Nothing Gathers.

Saïx, ever stoic, gave his report. "Number III is no more. However, a curious detail might be of value to us. It was Roxas who destroyed him."

Xigbar leaned back in his seat. "That kiddo really packs a punch."

"With his temper and power, getting him under our control will be difficult," Saïx said. "However Naminé will prove to us an advantage. Roxas snuck into the castle once already, he will be back before long for her."

"And what of the poor princess?" Xigbar asked. "Her constitution is weakening every moment."

"It seems her heartbreak is taking a toll on her strength," Luxord said, flipping through his cards. "She was dealt a rough hand, and her luck is running thin. But she is like-minded with Sora."

Xemnas leaned on his hand, bored. "I have full confidence that the Princess of Heart will continue acting in our favor. Her stubborn and optimistic interior will not falter in the time of need."

Kairi, Donald, Goofy, and the servants all watched as Belle handed Beast the rose.

"It's yours again," Belle said, soft and low in her tone.

He took the rose, unsure how to respond besides the typical "Thank you." He looked at her with uncertainty, nerves, and a lump in his throat. "What matters is you weren't hurt by Xaldin. I'm very grateful to you for bringing the rose back to me."

Belle nodded, giving him a sweet smile. "It was the least I could do, you're very good to me."

Beast stuttered as he tried to find the right words again.

Kairi, Donald, and Goofy all leaned in anticipation.

"You've got this," Kairi said.

"Don't be bashful now," Goofy added.

Donald nodded. "C'mon!"

Lumière waved his candle hand. "Go on!"

Cogsworth adjusted his clock mustache. "We have full confidence."

"You can do it," Mrs. Potts reassured him.

Beast took a deep breath, looking into Belle's beautiful brown eyes. "Belle, would you like to stay here… with me? If you want to."

She blinked. Her smile grew even wider as she presented her hand to him. "I would love to."

Some other servants as violins and even the piano ran out onto the courtyard steps and began playing.

The pair danced around the courtyard, just as they'd wanted to earlier that evening.

Kairi swayed to the music. Her thoughts drifted to the boy who had single-handedly defeated Xaldin with such incredible strength, perhaps even stronger than Sora. He wasn't Sora, that was for sure. But she definitely recognized him from somewhere. His voice was mirrored in Sora's before.

She was curious as to why he had two keyblades without the powers of her and Sora's connection.

The shame that she needed rescuing weighed down her heavy heart.

Missing Journal Entry 22

She loved my gift.

But VIII knows. I let it slip, like an idiot.

Most importantly he was more concerned that I knew where the girl in white was. Like I would ever tell. VII was breathing down my neck about everything now.

Kingdom Hearts was growing, but I didn't really want them to get their hands on it. They shouldn't get their hands on it.

And I refuse to let them get her.

I don't know what to do anymore. If I rebel they will turn me into a dusk. But if I had already let slip to VIII that I knew where she was, it was only a matter of time before they find out.

I'm done with this.

A/N:

:D I have no shame in how much I love Roxas (Namine, Kairi, and Sora a close second too)

This was beta'd by DuskyDancing once again! Thank you so much!

theCaesar09: Namine has been up to some shenanigans and its all thanks to Roxas XD. You'll see soon...ish what exactly happened to Kairi in CO

Kakeru: Thanks! Yeah fight scenes are always a struggle for me.

Yurosoku: Thank you! I always wanted to give Kairi some of the spotlight for a while, Sora can kick back for a few minutes while he's a heartless and let his best friend grow XD

Q-A the Authoress: Yaas Mulan World Visit 2 was my favorite because AYYY Xigbar and Riku. Kairi will be able to save Sora after I put her through more doubt and pain because it's the natural order of things XD

Slayer76: Good, all according to plan :D

Thank you all so much for the reviews and favorites! I also have a prequel about Roxas' days in the Organization called Another Side Another Line. That will be the next update I plan on doing for a little bit. See you next time!