A corridor of darkness opened up in the torn city and Xana stepped out from it. A slight gasp escaped her lips as she gazed at her surroundings. Buildings were toppled, the streets were beyond repair, and automobiles were flipped over. Small fires burned here and there and countless bodies lay across the ground. The dark, cloudy sky didn’t help the situation either.
"Organization XIII must have already been here." She sighed as she bent down to examine a young boy. "His heart has been captured by the heartless, it seems. That must have been the fate of all the residents then." She pushed his blond hair out of the way and took in his features. "He’ll slowly turn into a Nobody now, a lesser one though, maybe a dusk."
She laid his head on the ground gently and continued her search for survivors. The sound of concrete falling to the ground caught her attention. Her gaze snapped to a nearby building with a hole bored into its center as if something drilled through it. Thousands of yellow eyes began to appear and Xana immediately backed up, but was stopped by someone. Slowly turning around, she found herself facing a Dusk, and behind it stood an army of heartless and nobodies alike.
"How in the world…?" Xana’s voice trailed off as she processed the situation. She looked back to ground and found that the boy was now standing. "Are you all right? Are you somehow still alive?"
With a bright flash, the boy no longer held his humanoid form. A Dusk now stood in his place and attacked. Xana quickly picked up the closest item nearest her, in this case a bloodied crowbar, swung and defeated it. However, the rest of the heartless and Nobodies began to close in slowly. There was no way that she could do this on her own, but she had no choice. She raised her empty hand and it began to glow brightly.
"I’m not going down without a fight, so give me all you’ve got!"
As if a cannon had just been fired, a large fiery blast escaped from Xana’s palm ravaged across the city, vaporizing heartless and nobodies alike. However, it was to no avail because more enemies showed up. She dropped the crowbar and lifted her other hand.
"I guess we’ll have to do this the hard way then!" she shouted as both of her hands began to glow.
The enemies finally pounced, but right as they did so, Xana began to spin rapidly. Just before the enemies could touch her, a large orange shock wave emitted from her spin cycle, sending a huge wave of flames across the city. It swallowed any and everything in its path. More building toppled to the ground while cars where launched into the air. The heartless and nobodies were trying to escape, but were all eventually caught in Xana’s devastating inferno.
Finally coming to stop, Xana fell to her knees, partially exhausted. She wiped the sweat from here brow and let out a sigh of relief. "Wait until I tell Rextanse about this. He’ll so proud of me," she breathed.
"Duck!" came an unknown voice.
Ducking just in time, an axe sped over her head and sliced through a dozen more heartless. Surprised, Xana turned around to see thousands of heartless coming.
"Are you kidding me!" she exclaimed as she picked herself up again, ready for another round.
"Don’t worry about it, I can handle t. Just come with me," said the same voice.
Xana reared her head yet saw no one. "Who’s there?"
"Down here." the voice answered. "If you want to live, then I suggest you come with me."
Xana couldn’t possibly believe what she was seeing. A large, gray hand was laying on the ground talking to her. One of its fingers motioned for her to come forward and she did so. The hand gently wrapped its fingers around her body.
"Who are you and why are you here?" she asked cautiously.
"Don’t worry, your questions will be answered in due time." The hand spoke. "For now, let’s get you to safety.
Xana’s body began to go numb and she noticed that her feet were vaporizing. Panic struck her, but the numbness stopped her from taking action. Quickly, her entire body was becoming vapor. Her neck disappeared, then her mouth, and then there was nothing left but a mass of vapor, which rose into the air mysteriously.
The sky was stirring with activity. The clouds were moving around eerily, changing into what seemed to be cannons pointed at the ground. The heartless below were scrambling around, wondering where their meal had disappeared.
On a faraway building the mass of vapor settled and began to take the familiar shape of Xana. She gasped as her head solidified. She looked down as her body came back to her. She wiggled her fingers as the numbness subsided and immediately looked around. There, sitting on a gray recliner, sat a young man.
"Are you okay?" he asked softly. "I’m sorry for the abrupt transportation, but it was the quickest way to get you out of range of the fireworks."
"Who the heck are you and did you–." Xana suddenly stopped "Fireworks?"
"Don’t worry, it’s just my attack. It’s going to get rid of our little heartless problem," he answered politely.
"Okay, but who are you and why did you feel compelled to save me?" she asked more politely this around.
"I suppose an introduction is in order, but let it wait until after the storm passes, okay? Do you like thunder?" He asked unexpectedly.
"No, why? And wait, what do you mean by ‘wait until after the storm passes’?" she questioned quickly.
"Just cover your ears and after that I’ll explain," he explained as he pointed to a small gray chair sitting behind her.
She reluctantly covered her ears and took a seat. So many thoughts were running through her head at the moment, but the force of the thunder above immediately interrupted them. She turned around to see what looked like the sky bombing the city with cannons made from the dark clouds in the sky. She immediately turned around to look at the mysterious man. Who was he and how was he doing this? After several minutes the thunder ceased and she uncovered her ears. Looking back towards the center of the city, she could only see smoke.
"I’m Zixan," he introduced while extending his hand.
"Oh, I’m Xana." she said quickly, turning around just in time to shake his hand.
"I suppose, I should answer some of your questions now, right?" he sighed. "Well, I’m sure you’ve already surmised that I’m a nobody like yourself."
"How did you know that?" she asked quickly.
"Even though you defected from the Organization, you still don their cloak, just like the other three in your rebellious group. Rextanse, Xowlin, and Zaxeldion were their names, correct?"
"How do you know about all of this?" she asked, now feeling uneasy.
"I had my own little run in with Organization XIII in the past. It’s how I got my cool, new name, Zixan. It’s the only thing I thank them for…well that and something else." The axe that was leaning against his recliner disappeared suddenly. "However, I digress, that’s another story for another time. All that matters is that I’ve been keeping tabs on your little group. You’re recruiting people, are you not?"
"Yeah, and that’s actually why I’m out here by myself. I’m on a recruiting mission to find more powerful nobodies to join up with us so that we can take down the organization."
"Well, you’ve only gotten three recruits so far and that’s not enough to take down the organization. You’re going to need to pick up the pace." he commented.
"Well, it’s not easy finding powerful Nobodies." she remarked.
"Sure it is. I’ve seen at least three on my journey in the past month. One of which, you’re little group has already recruited. Actually, I’ve seen Ruxel on many occasions. Then again, my ability makes finding things somewhat easy."
"You can see using the clouds as your medium, can’t you? Your element is ‘cloud,’ right?" she guessed.
"That’s partially correct. I have the ability of liquid, but only in its vaporized form." He answered. "So, vapor would be the correct answer."
"I can see how that could aid in reconnaissance." she commented.
"I’m curious as to why you didn’t use your time powers back there." Zixan said curiously.
"I don’t have a total grasp on that ability just yet. My spells, however, are mastered for the most part. That’s why I tend to lean on those. Plus, time is a tricky ability to mess with."
"Yes, I can see how that could cause difficulty." he nodded slowly.
"So, I’m sure you’ve been expecting this, but will you join our group?" she asked timidly.
"I’ve seen how people can change. I’ve been a nobody for 40 years and I’ve seen it countless times. It’s partly why I’ve been monitoring your little group. You’re an offshoot of Organization XIII and I’m not sure if their ideals are still instilled within your minds. Are you all also after Kingdom Hearts? Do you want to become whole or just gain more power? Are you willing to sacrifice worlds for your cause? That’s why I had to get out. I may not have my heart anymore, but I knew what they were doing was evil and evildoers must be stopped…" his voice began to trail off.
"We’re nothing like them, though." she defended.
"Well, you’re recruiting others nobodies. Surely, some of these nobodies would want their hearts back. How would you deal with those nobodies? Would call upon Kingdom Hearts to grant their wish?" he pressed.
Xana grew silent. She was at a loss for words. She looked to the ground thoughtlessly, letting Zixan’s words sink in.
"We’re not perfect and I can’t predict where we will be in the future. However, we’re currently trying to take down the Organization. That is what I can say for sure. If you want to be a part of that, then I beg of you to join us. Your ability would be a great asset to us." she slowly looked up at him.
"I suppose I could tag along. Plus, I’m curious to your group’s resolve once they’ve accomplished their goal, where they’ll go when the Organization is no longer the problem." he said as he accepted her offer. "Besides, I get this nagging feeling that this won’t be the last time I save your life."
A corridor of darkness appeared at Xana’s side as she stood. She stretched out her hand and Zixan tentatively took it as it he raised from his chair as well. With a smile, he followed her into the corridor.