Raid #68 [Plot]

What had the Thief of Light been doing this whole time? He had finished repairing his ship from the damage it had taken months before, but he had felt compelled to stay at that world of pirates, thieves, and other such law breakers. Despite being a hero of the Light, the Hakuro was still a thief. He wanted to be at peace for a bit, all the while stealing some money from some abusive government officials. However, his duties as a warrior of light were at the top of his list.

The thief of Light was flying through the emptiness of this space between the worlds in his modified Air Ship. Hakuro stood at the helm, examining the patterns of the stars and planets that pierced the dark sheet of space like holes in black paper. His eyes were drooping a bit due to his lack of sleep.

"Gahh... I need to get some sleep, but I need to also find a world to set the ship down on. I don't want to have to find it being attacked by a falling meteor or, God forbid, another ship! That blasted clown really did some damage to it, but it's a good thing that the main component remained intact," the Thief stated to himself, his mind drifting back to what happened months before, when some insane magical clown had flown an aircraft straight into his own.

The thief looked to the right lazily, to notice a world shrouded in what seemed like a velvety purple shell. He took interest in it and turned his ship towards it quickly. Maybe he'd finally get to rest? Hakuro had hoped that he would be able to do this. However, there was a chance that this world was being covered in darkness and he'd have to somehow free it...

"Here we go," Hakuro stated to himself. The ship began to fall towards the surface of the world quickly. He kept the ship steady, so that it wouldn't break apart on him. The ship quickly started heating up, like it was about to burst in flames from all the friction of the air rubbing against the ship. The thief pulled a lever, activating thrusters at the bottom of the ship. The ship's decent slowed down, but kept going. Eventually, it stopped descending and remained in the air. Hakuro pulled another lever, to get the propellers started. He pushed back the previous level to disengage the thrusters.

He left the helm to examine his surroundings. There was a large forest, leaves being on more trees away from what seemed to be the center of the forest, while the forest looked dead near the center. In the distance, he noticed a castle near the center of the forest. He smiled, thinking that the owner of this castle would let him stay for bit to rest. The Thief of Light quickly walked back to the helm of the ship and took over the controls once more. He pushed a button, with propelled the ship forward. The thief turned the wheel, causing the ship to turn towards the castle.

"I hope this guy's nice enough to let me stay for a little while! It'll be hell for me if it turns out he's just some dark, unrelenting spirit! I have dealt with those way too much in the past," Hakuro thought out loud once more, his thoughts going back to when he and the others fought countless waves of the undead, along with ghosts, ghouls, and various other types of beings. He had been thinking this because the forest looked much like what happened when the Earth had been tainted by the darkness.

He brought a ship to a halt over the castle's bridge. The thief left the ship flying over the ship bridge, to get a better look at the castle. It looked majestic, awe-inspiring, and... a little creepy in the moon light, honestly. The Thief bit his lip, thinking, "Maybe I shouldn't have come here... Something about this place is telling me that I'm about to experience hell again..."

The Thief quickly ran inside the ship fetch his weapons, in case if he were to run into a fight again. He kept thinking to himself that he won't end up fighting anyone or anything, but it never hurt to take some precautions.

The sky ripped open on the roof of the large castle. Lexaeus had decided to make an appearance at the site where Xaldin, his fellow Organization member, had battled Sora, the Keybearer. The physical titan gazed out into the vast forest, which appeared to stretch as far as he could see. He came to the world having sensed a dark presence.

The Silent Hero hadn’t felt this presence before, and it obviously intrigued him. As he stood staring out over his surroundings, he caught a brief glimpse of the presence he caught earlier. The creature looked as if he were made for the word ‘abysmal’ as that was exactly how he looked. He could see a small clan of children developing scary stories around such a wretch. It almost amused Number Five, and probably would have if Lexaeus had a heart.

It was at that point that the powerful Nobody caught a second presence in the area. He noticed a small man dressed in fully-green attire, which was odd even for this world. The man had just crossed the bridge into the courtyard, and only missed the creature who he’d later learn to be the Lich by mere moments. This would prove to be interesting and maybe even a chance for Lexaeus to dust off his Skysplitter.

He entered through the castle owner’s bedroom window and began to make his way towards the main hall. He paid very close attention to make sure he was caught, because even though his hood was up, he was the easiest to recognize of any member of Organization XIII, only because he towered over everybody but the Superior in size. Slowly, Lexaeus made his way to the top of the staircase in the main hall and stood, covered in the doorway’s shadow, hidden watching the scene unfold.

Hakuro came out from inside the ship, with Kotetsu and his other weapon strapped to him. The Thief of Light walked over to the side of his still floating ship and looked down at the bridge below him. It had been decaying greatly, as if the sands of time were wearing it down purposely. The thief looked towards the castle, quickly taking notice that someone was there. The man had long white hair, heavily tanned skin, attire consisting mainly of black clothing with yellow trim, and long white gloves.

"When did he get there? Did I really take a while to just fetch these two things," Hakuro thought, as he stared at the man. He looked around for some rope to tie to the side of the ship so that he could climb down to the bridge. The thief found some rope next to the mast of the ship and quickly picked up and brought it to the side of the ship. He grabbed one end and began to wrap it through a hole meant for cannons to fire through. After tying it as tightly as he could, he tossed the rest over the side. The other end of the rope stopped a couple of feet above the decaying bridge and dangled in the wind produced from the propellers of the ship.

Hakuro grabbed the rope with one hand and jumped over the side. He quickly grabbed the rope with his other hand and slid down a little, his hands burning a bit from the rope. The thief ignored the pain as best he could as he descended from his ship. In his mind, the Thief thought, "Note to self. Bring gloves so you can slide down without burning your hands."

His feet touched the ground and he released his grip on the rope. He turned to the man waiting at the other end of the bridge and quickly began to walk. Hakuro shook his hands, to try to relieve the pain in his hands. He looked at his hands, while keeping his pace, to see the damage he did. He thought to himself once more, thinking, "Well, it's nothing serious. A few blisters may form, but those can be taken care of easy."

The thief shook his hands and looked back towards the the man again. He could now see the color of his eyes and, what's more, the symbol on his jacket. Burnt sienna eyes and the symbol of those dark beings Hakuro encountered in the past. Upon seeing this, Hakuro stopped and immediately drew his sword off his back. His face revealed his disposition and alarm quickly, as well.

"What are you?! Are you like those dark beings I encountered on the other worlds," Hakuro asked with confusion. This... 'man', seemed to have been pulsating with darkness, almost as if it could taint anything it touched. Why Hakuro didn't notice it while he was on the ship was unclear to him. It may have been because of his time spent being around many people with darkness in their own hearts at Port Royal.

He held his sword ready, in case if this person would attack him. There seemed to be another presence of darkness near by, one that was familiar, but this person's darkness was overlapping it greatly. It prevent Hakuro from determining who exactly it was that had bore the other presence of darkness, but the decay of the earth gave him a good idea of who it may have been... Rather, WHAT it may have been. He wouldn't stand much of a chance, even in his strongest form, against this person and the other, especially if it was what he thought it had been.

Lexaeus wasn’t ready to be noticed yet. He thought that the now two dark warriors would encounter the man in green tights before he would be found. It was no matter, Lexaeus didn’t have a heart to fear this…creature. As the thing spoke to the Silent Hero, Lexaeus considered his words.

The figure suggested that it was his castle, but Organization data had suggested that the castle belonged to a Somebody named ‘Beast.’ Perhaps the creature had slain the beast and declared the castle for his own? Perhaps Beast vacated his own keep. The former seemed more likely.

Back to the matter at hand, Number Five knew that this creature demanded to know what Lexaeus had planned to accomplish at Beast’s Castle. That was a simple question, he was only here to observe the presences that had been brought to his attention, nothing more. This creature wasn’t worth a lie, so Lexaeus decided he might as well tell the fiend the truth.

”I am merely here to observe the inevitable battle between you and the Somebody outside at this time. As for my identification, you only need to know that I am with the Organization.”[/b]

Lexaeus had not even moved from his perch on the staircase to this point. But now he figured he should let his face be known. He did not need to start a conflict yet. If he did decide to enter the fray, he would let his presence be known in another sense. He would crush either this fiend or the other presence that now occupied the world.

The Silent Hero now stepped forward and lowered his hood to reveal his face to the creature. His face looked as if it were etched from stone and it was only exaggerated by his short orange hair. The Nobody’s face even looked like it would be able to crush an opponent with little effort. Most Somebodies would more than likely avoid a person of Lexaeus’s stature, and that would more than likely be a good idea.

”Carry on with your affairs.”[/b]

Something even worse? That wasn't good at all. The man began walking around a bit for some level ground. Hakuro turned and moved around, keeping the man in front of him. The man then began to levitate as he summoned a hulking beast behind him! His power poured out of his body in large waves. To the Thief of Light, they felt like gusts of wind, trying to push him off the decaying bridge.

"This is going to be a long fight," the Thief of Light thought in his mind. He tightened the grip on his sword and focused his attention at the man with hulking darkness behind him. He lowered Kotetsu to his right side, preparing to move in to strike. If he went out in the beginning, he would not be able to defend himself properly. Striking while in his current state would allow him to analyze this person's fighting ability and be able to fight on par with him and create an opening for Hakuro to use.

The thief of Light charged at the man, his sword raised level with his shoulder. He slashed horizontally at the man's chest, while keeping his momentum to run behind the man and go for a rising slash towards the hulking dark being on the backside. After that, he would roll to the side and fixate his position so that he was facing the man once more and ready to defend himself as best as he could against any up coming attacks.

Lexaeus was not a man who was usually ignored. Generally, when the physical titan entered the room all attention immediately turned towards his massive frame. However, it seemed as if the floating creature, whom Lexaeus would later learn to be the Lich, was doing just that.

Lexaeus had been sensing the oncoming conflict outside the halls of the castle, and he would have anticipated the soon-to-come conflict, if he had a heart to anticipate anything. Lich now sought to disrupt the battle between the neon green bandit and the man with the scent close to the Superior’s. Lexaeus had caught this scent once more, deep in the basements of Castle Oblivion.

The Fiend of the Earth had committed two tragic errors to Terra’s advantage, and The Silent Hero immediately recognized them. First, the Lich turned his back to Number V. Again, this was a definite first in Lexaeus’s existence. He wasn’t even used to the sight of something bigger than he was, which even among Heartless and Nobodies was difficult to imagine. A lion should not turn his back away from a tiger, or the lesser animal will have the advantage.

Size meant nothing here. Lexaeus had proven time after time that he had the physical power that even rivaled the Superior. Sure, Xemnas was the better Nobody, but Lexaeus considered himself high on the pecking order of Organization XIII. He was one of the original members of the Organization, and he would prove his superiority to this monstrosity.

That led Lexaeus to Lich’s second mistake, underestimating the earth-bearing titan of Organization XIII. Nobody had underestimated him, not even Riku when they had their battle in the Organization’s second castle. Riku was forced to use the darkness to overcome Lexaeus, which had surprised The Silent Hero. Lex hadn’t figured on Riku holding that much of the dark inside him, at least while maintaining control.

Now, the time finally came for Lexaeus to act on the Lich’s distraction. Lexaeus drew his Skysplitter, the massive axe-sword that had a full meter of reach to it. At the same time, he summoned eight Dusks, each one at a different angle around the Lich. Each of the tall, white creatures danced in its own unique pattern around the monster.

”I have decided that it would be prudent to see a conclusion to the conflict outside. You will have to participate in a duel with me if you want to interrupt them.”[/b]

At that, Lexaeus silently ordered his Nobodies to attack the monstrosity. They each dove forward and slashed at the creature with the ivory claws. It actually timed out so that each Nobody would attempt a slash at the freak at a different time but in succession. As the Dusks launched themselves backwards, following their attacks, Lexaeus knew it was time for his own strength to make itself known.

The powerful Nobody now tossed his Skysplitter towards the Lich in a manner that would easily be mistaken for a Strike Raid. The blade, much like the aforementioned keyblader technique, flew back towards the hand of its master after it attempted to slash through the powerful fiend of the earth. Lexaeus caught his axe-blade in midair as he landed in the exact spot between the two pillars closest to the staircases. The Silent Hero looked up to examine the damage he attempted to inflict on the creature.