Part 28: Day 96: Xion's Keyblade

This sounds promising.

Music: Sacred Moon


Morning, Xion.
You ready for another day?

Too much positivity detected. Deploying asshole.



Xion's not hooded here. It's like the game forgot about its twist or something.

What? Why?
Two major Heartless targets have surfaced in two separate worlds. Roxas, you take Beast's Castle. Xion, you go to Agrabah.
But how can- Never mind.
Whoa, you're gonna send Roxas to Beast's Castle? I dunno...



Axel to the rescue (again)!

You don't want to pit Roxas against that thing. Not by himself.

Spoiler: Roxas can totally handle the Heartless by himself.

If I send them both, who's going to handle the Heartless in Agrabah?
I will.
You?
Sure, I'm a big boy.
Except you can't collect hearts.
So what? I'll keep the Heartless out of trouble, then they can hit it another day.
Is that okay with you, Saix?
Fine. But this is the last day. Starting tomorrow, you both work solo.



We get another Ability Unit last mission, so we can unlock the second ability from Chrono Gear. It's Magic Bracer, which makes you invincible while casting magic. A better version of Leaf Bracer, essentially.





If you bring me a Moonstone, I'll trade you one.



We have 29 Moonstones but only 4 Aerial Techs, so this isn't a bad trade. Not that I synthesized much.

Good. Here, take what's yours. (Obtained: Aerial Tech)
We've already made our exchange. Surely you have work to be doing now.





Spoiler: There will be more mission where Roxas is paired with Xion.







Good, because that lie is so obvious. And if Saix actually believed that, he could've sent Axel along with Roxas and Xion would be screwed.

Believed what?
That reprehensible performance.
Uh-huh, well... I'd better get over to Agrabah.



Music: Waltz of the Diamond
Music: Dance of the Darling


Meanwhile Roxas and Xion are somehow unaware that no one is fooled by their ruse. Saix and Xigbar just goes along with it, Xaldin and Demyx doesn't care, and Xemnas is too lazy to do anything about it.

...

I feel like I'm missing someone. Oh well.



I don't know what I'm gonna do starting tomorrow.



What about my Keyblade? Can you control mine? *hands the Keyblade to Xion*
I guess...I can.
Then go ahead and use it for the day.
But Roxas-
Maybe it'll help you remember how to summon your own.
What are you gonna use?
Well...





I think I know where this is going...

Hey, you managed without the Keyblade. You think I'm not up to it? Just take it. It's fine.
Okay, if you're sure. Thanks, Roxas.



So...yeah. We're using a stick for this mission. Our physical attacks have been severely reduced. It's just like Hollow Bastion in KH 1 only instead of relying on Beast, we have to rely on Xion.



Unfortunately, Xion is nowhere near as badass as Beast. Remember the times I said in the last few missions about how Xion helped with her magic? That's not happening in this mission. She's only doing physical attacks which is pathetic. Her physical attack deals damage roughly equal to Roxas' currently, so she's not going to help. She took 5 full combos to defeat this Mega-Shadow.



Seeing that it took 5 full combos to take out half a bar, the game sees fit to make us face enemies with more than 2 bars of health. Great.



Yes, it's enemies. Plural. The chest contains Ether.



The Keyblade abilities still work, though, as shown by the Thunder Finish causing Jolt here. At least this makes physical attacks not completely worthless.



Frost Shard here. Now let's go to the main entrance...





The clock...
He mentioned Belle.
Remember the last time we were here? The candelabra was talking about the same thing. The servants seem awfully interested in making sure Belle and their master get along.
You think it's strange?
Only that they seem to be in such a rush about it.
True...
Well, let's just focus on our target.
Okay.
We have to slip by here without being seen.

I'm beginning to hate this castle.



The corridor is very narrow and there's a badge on the left. And this is our fourth stealth mission! And if we get caught...



(Uh-oh!) *runs*
How curious... I was certain... Hmph! Pull yourself together, Cogsworth. The whole castle is enchanted, after all.
Whew... He almost spotted us. We need to be more careful.

Alright, I think I harped on this game enough. It's time for some positivity. Let's hope Saix won't ruin it.



Cogsworth turns slower than Lumiere, so he's MUCH easier to deal with. I actually got through him on the first try.



There's a Bulky Vendor here, which is a rare sight. It also has an Ordeal Blazon, which unlock the second challenge. The game tells you how many badges there is to get on the mission briefing. It's in the tree black dots next to the treasure chest.



The Heartless here have (marginally) less health than the previous ones, so that's 2 less combos to deal with.



We get to see Xion's limit. It's exactly the same as Roxas', but it's something.

Oh, and the two chests shown both have Ethers. In fact, all except one chest in this mission contains an Ether. It's basically the game's way of saying "Use magic" since people might not use it due to RPG hoarding syndrome. Fire works extremely well for the Snapper Dogs while Blizzard can be used to freeze the Sergeants.

The only way available is to the Ballroom, so let's go there.



It's not too bad if you're actually using magic. And I did complain that the mission was boring last time, so it's actually kinda nice to switch it up once in a while. Still don't appreciate the stealth, but that's the game's fault.

It's fine. No need to worry about me. How about you? Has using it jogged your memory at all?
Nothing yet... Sorry.
Don't be.
I'm sure it'll come back to you soon. Don't sweat it.
Yeah... Thanks, Roxas.

Music: Tension Rising


That's our Heartless! You ready, Xion?
Any time!

But first we have to collect the treasures.



All three has Ethers, like I said earlier.



The Bully Dog itself has a bark attack. It can do it either once or repeatedly depending on the RNG. I'm pretty sure the only improvement between this and Snapper Dogs is the multiple barks.



It also has a pounce attack, which I didn't get on the original run.



Just kill it with fire and let it burn while Xion tries to whittle its health away with the Keyblade.



If you're playing this, just remember to bring lots of magic, preferably Fire. I didn't need to do special preparation because of the Ethers here, but it won't hurt to be prepared.

Music: Waltz of the Diamond


Did it help? Do you remember how it works now?
I don't know... Let me give it another try.



You did it!



Xion jumping around in glee is just so

It's less so if you remember that she's glad because she won't be executed anymore.

I can't wait to see Axel's face when we tell him about this. C'mon!
Okay!

Music: At Dusk, I Will Think of You...




Hey hey! What are you grinning about?
How was your mission?
Oh, loads of fun... Would it kill the Heartless to hold still? I fell right on my butt chasing the stupid thing.

Actually, it would.

Nice. Didn't I hear you tell Saix you were a big boy?
Very funny. How'd your caper go?



I'd like to dedicate this Keyblade summoning to my good friends Roxas and Axel.
Pfft, me? I didn't do anything.
Sure you did. If you hadn't spoken up for us this morning, me and Roxas would've had to split up.
And then Xion might never have remembered how to use the Keyblade.
Thanks, Axel.
Ahem... How 'bout an ice cream, then?
Huh?

Even Xion is surprised by Axel's addiction. I'm surprised he isn't already eating it.

It's kinda hard to stay positive in the clock tower scenes, you guys.

Buy me one, and we'll call it even.
Heh, you got it. Wait here, I'll be right back!

*Xion runs off before the screen fades to black*



KH 358/2=179 Days of Falling Salty Diabetes
Twilight Station Tower: 19
Sea-Salt Ice Cream: 36

What's gotten into you?
I just...want these days to last forever. Hanging out, the ice cream, the sunsets...

I don't. You guys did the exact same thing every day. Here's a thought: Why don't you guys try eating ice cream at somewhere else? Like Agrabah, for example? It would feel nice eating ice cream on a hot weather, and you might even be able to start an inter-world business! And if you do, you can do recon openly, gaining more information!

Just do something else together. Please.

Nothing lasts forever, man. Least of all for a bunch of Nobodies. But you know, we'll still have each other...even if things change and we can't do this anymore.
Yeah?
As long as we remember each other, we'll never be apart. Got it memorized?
Ha ha, wow, Axel. That sounded ridiculous.
What? I thought it was pretty deep.

Kingdom Hearts in a nutshell, folks.

Heh heh.
Ha ha ha!

Music: Crossing the Finish Line


Ordeal Blazon is just like a second Ordeal Badge. The Pack Extender is kind of like a Level Doubler. All backpack panels linked into it will increase the inventory by 4 instead of 2. We did get an Ether and Slot Releaser that are not shown here.

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