"Ah, it's a beautiful day!"
Haruka Rose just looked at her partner in disbelief. "Maylin, I don't think there even is night or day in the Lanes Between."
Maylin Rae just huffed. "Well, excuse me for trying to lighten the mood."
Though Maylin's tone of voice implied she felt like she'd been insulted, Haruka could easily see the smile forming on Maylin's face. She knew that Maylin never held a grudge against people she considered her friends.
Sensing that all was forgiven (that was just how Maylin was), Haruka returned to the controls of their personal vessel, the Gummi Ship, created by themselves out of gummi blocks infused with the same dimensional traveling power as the Heart of Candracar itself, allowing the ship to travel to many different worlds via the Lanes Between.
It had been six months since Maylin, Haruka, and their new friend Nick Kelly had saved the multiverse from Izanami-no-Mikoto, a mad goddess with dark designs on all the worlds. Though a great sacrifice had been made, the trio was able to overcome Izanami-no-Mikoto and seal off Kingdom Hearts, the heart of all worlds, so it could not be overrun by darkness.
Nick had returned home to Heatherfield to resume his life there, and Maylin and Haruka had decided to continue searching for their own worlds, which had been consumed by darkness and restored upon Izanami-no-Mikoto's demise.
"This is weird, isn't it?" Haruka quipped.
"What, that it's a little trickier finding worlds we've been to before?" Maylin quipped. "Not really a surprise to me. They all went back to their original places, even the worlds that were restored, when we took down that marauder, right?"
"I guess so," Haruka replied. "It's just annoying because we basically lost our bookmarks..."
Before Maylin could reply to that, she noticed something just up ahead.
A large red planet, with cities dotted around the sphere that represented it.
"Hey, I think that's a world we know," Haruka realized as they approached.
"And if it's the one I truly think it is, we're gonna be in for a heck of a ride!" Maylin giggled, remembering exactly what had happened the last time they'd been here. "Well, head pilot, let's get down there so we can kick some faces!"
Haruka smiled at Maylin's enthusiasm. "Roger that, then. Prepare for landing!"
(In your hand, take this key. So long as you have the makings, then through this simple act of taking, its wielder you shall one day be. And you will find me, friend. No ocean will contain you then. No more borders around, or below, or above, so long as you champion the ones you love. May your hearts be your guiding key.)
The Blue Time Ranger is proud to present:
W.I.T.C.H.: Key to Her Heart ~A Fragmentary Passage~
Story Created: February 6th, 2017
Story Rated: T for Teen
Story Summary: Taking place in the year between Key to Her Heart HD Remix and Key to Her Heart II, Maylin and Haruka were definitely on adventures of their own while Nick was renewing his life in Heatherfield. Now is the time to chronicle those adventures and see what Maylin and Haruka were up to during that in-between year. But as they journey on, they have no clue that they're being watched from beyond by a strange figure. Could this be the precursor to Organization XIII? Did Izanami-no-Mikoto have sympathizers who wish to undo her defeat at Nick's hands? Or is this a brand new evil, simply waiting to make its move?
Author's Notes: Ah, yes, here's an idea I've had. Similar in effect to Xenosaga: The Missing Year and inspired by Birth by Sleep 0.2 A Fragmentary Passage, this story is going to chronicle some of the adventures that Maylin and Haruka had during the year between the main stories. An interlude story, if you will.
Author's Notes the Second: Now, you're probably wondering: why did this one get deleted, then replaced by another version, and then THAT one got deleted and this one's coming back? Simple: I wanted to reboot A Fragmentary Passage into something different, but thanks to some constructive criticism by Lonnie Lonnster/AlexisRhodes74, I realized that maybe I shouldn't have made a story out of a KH game I've never played, and there were a LOT of things I did wrong compared to what I usually do in my stories that I lost faith in my reboot, so we're going back to the original idea. Again, thanks for the critique, Lonnie, it really helped!
Theme Song Notes: Since I can't post the opening and ending sequences anymore so as to not get my stuff axed, the opening theme for this story is "Baton Road" by KANA-BOON (the first opening theme to Boruto: Naruto Next Generations), and the ending theme is "Dreamy Journey" by the peggies (the first ending theme to Boruto: Naruto Next Generations).
And Now, the Obligatory Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to W.I.T.C.H. or any of its affiliations. It belongs solely to Elisabetta Gnone and Disney if we're talking the cartoon. The only things of this story I DO own are any characters created by yours truly for the story. Any characters or things I don't own, I am just borrowing with no intent of copyright infringement, only for the entertainment of my readers. The same goes for any anime, video game, or comic book series that will be represented here. Besides, if I did own W.I.T.C.H., which I don't, why would I be writing fiction on a fan site?
For Today's World: First stop on our fragmentary passage is the world of Gundams! Specifically, we're jumping into Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans, one of the recent Gundam series. Warning, there will be spoilers for episode 41 in today's passage, because... *sniff* ARGH F*boop* YOU JASLEY *starts crying*
Episode 1: Promises to Keep
Lafter Frankland smiled as she caught sight of an utterly adorable plush bear sitting on that nearby shelf.
"Oh, I know he'll just love it," Lafter giggled.
After taking the bear from the shelf and paying for it, Lafter walked back outside, contemplating how she would admit her feelings, only to stop her train of thought when she heard two familiar voices.
"It's good to finally be back here, isn't it?"
Lafter looked ahead and saw Maylin and Haruka walking through the hallway, absent-mindedly glancing around the various stores.
"It hasn't been that long, Maylin," Haruka quipped.
"Well, don't blame me, Haruka!" Maylin sputtered. "This was one of the worlds that got swallowed by the darkness before, remember?"
Lafter relaxed a bit, knowing that if they were here, there probably wouldn't be any trouble. I'm gonna go say hi, as long as they're here, Lafter thought.
"Things seem quiet around here," Maylin stated.
"But you know that can change at any moment, right?" Haruka quipped. "I don't think you forgot what happened last time we were here, do you?"
Maylin immediately snapped her gaze back to Haruka. "Um, Haruka, that's something I'm trying to forget. Do you have any idea how badly I just wanted to murder Jasley for what he and his mooks did?! If you hadn't stopped me, I would have honestly impaled that creepshow right then and there!"
"I didn't want you to do something you'd regret," Haruka admitted.
"Ooh, I hope Jasley shows his face again, just so I can rearrange it," Maylin growled. "I made a promise to myself, after all."
Haruka looked at her partner in confusion. "You made a promise to beat Jasley's face in?"
"More than that," Maylin answered. But before she could explain what she meant by that, she was tackled by Lafter, and the two ended up crashing to the ground.
It took a couple seconds for Maylin to register who had glomped her, but once she figured it out, she had no trouble returning the hug.
"Hey, Lafter! How ya been?!" Maylin exclaimed.
"I could ask you two the same thing!" Lafter replied. "What have you guys been up to?"
"Oh, the usual things," Haruka answered. "Wiping out Heartless wherever we go, just keeping the balance in check. Kinda our job."
"Hey, what's with the teddy bear?" Maylin stated, a wide grin forming. "Ooh, I get it. You got it for him, didn't you?"
If Lafter could turn any more red in the face, she may as well have looked like a ripe tomato.
"Well... was it that obvious?" Lafter sighed.
"Hey, I'm the master at noticing things like this," Maylin laughed. "How else do you think I got Nick and Cornelia to finally fess up?"
"Not all of your matchmaking attempts are gonna be as successful, you know," Haruka teased.
"I just wanted to show him how much I appreciate him," Lafter answered. "He's been so sweet to me, especially since..."
Maylin instantly reached out to catch the tear that fell from Lafter's eye. She knew exactly what Lafter must have been thinking, having been there to witness the deaths of Naze and Amida because of Iok's Dáinsleif squadron. It was that particular moment that made Maylin swear to crush Jasley and/or Iok the next time she laid eyes on them.
"You don't have to talk about it if you don't wanna," Maylin stated. "I know it still hurts. And I swear to you, Lafter, if I ever lay my eyes on those nutheads while we're here, I'll personally send them straight to hell."
Lafter just smiled, happy to have such wonderful friends.
Unseen to any of them, a shadowed figure was lurking in a far-off hallway, aiming his weapon straight for Lafter.
"Target in sight," the man stated to the person on the other end of his communication.
A strange wind blew through the square a few moments later, causing Haruka to gaze around to search for the source. After a few seconds, she silently gestured to Maylin, then pointed to behind her and Lafter.
Maylin was the first to gaze behind her, only to gasp in shock at the sight.
"LAFTER, GET DOWN!" Maylin screamed, pushing Lafter back down to the floor just in time to avoid the twister-like swarm of Shadows that flew through the air where they had just been.
When Maylin was able to get a good look at their attacker, she saw a gigantic swarm of lowly Shadows (though these ones all had red eyes instead of yellow) spiraling around as if they were a tornado of Heartless, swirling across the ground much like a tornado would.
"Ugh, this thing again?!" Maylin growled, picking both herself and Lafter up while summoning her keyblade, Counterpoint, to her free hand. "Didn't you have enough last time?!"
"Let's just defeat it and get back to Tekkadan, then," Haruka replied, summoning her own keyblade, Rumbling Rose. "Lafter, you may want to get somewhere safe. This could get ugly."
Lafter just nodded, immediately retreating to behind a nearby statue so Maylin and Haruka could face off with the Demon Tower.
The dark twister undulated through the air as it approached the two keyblade wielders, as if appraising its opponents for a moment, before twisting around and lunging for them.
"Back, twister boy! Force, know my plight! Release the light! THUNDER!" Maylin shouted, swinging Counterpoint to strike one of her many spell coins. The coin's ancient text flared brightly, and a bolt of lightning dropped down from the sky to strike the very center of the Demon Tower's mass, spreading out in multiple directions to cause more damage.
With the Demon Tower momentarily stalled, Maylin rushed in to attack, landing three concrete slashes against the twister before completing the combo with her new finishing move, Magic Hour, throwing her hands to the sky and causing a trio of powerful magic orbs to spiral around her and damage the Demon Tower further.
Haruka wasn't far behind Maylin, slashing at the Demon Tower before it could recover, though the twister eventually moved away before diving into the ground and creating pools of darkness in random spots. Every couple seconds, great torrents of those demonic red-eyed Shadows would surge upwards from the pools, forcing Maylin and Haruka to stay on their toes.
After a few more whacks, the Demon Tower suddenly stopped and began to spin around even faster, drawing in other spawning Heartless to increase its mass.
"Oh, forget it!" Maylin exclaimed. "Haruka, can I bust out the super spell already? I've been itching to do it again since we wasted Izanami-no-Mikoto!"
Haruka simply shrugged, even as she dodged the Demon Tower as it flew by her. "Hey, I'm not gonna stop you. Be my guest and fry this thing already."
"YAY!" Maylin laughed before reaching into her pocket and pulling out one of her patented "super spell coins". Most of Maylin's spell coins had either been gifted to her by the Oracle or just found in random places, but these ones were different. These "super spell coins" were developed and created by Maylin herself, having thought of creating a super-powerful spell or two to keep as a trump card against a particularly rough enemy, like the massive spell she had used against Izanami-no-Mikoto not too long ago.
Maylin twirled Counterpoint around in dramatic fashion before tossing the super spell coin into the air. "Hold fast to the ancient laws, and let magic be my guide! THUNDAJA!" Maylin shouted before striking the coin.
A circle of light beams surrounded the Demon Tower as it continued to swirl around. Before it could think to hatch an escape plan, multiple bolts of lightning began to bombard it from all sides before three wicked thunderbolts cracked down all at once, followed by another bombardment of regular lightning bolts, and finishing with one final, bluish-white thunderbolt surging down into the Demon Tower and causing a great explosion of electricity that utterly disintegrated all of the demonic Shadows that made up the Demon Tower.
"And another one bites the dust!" Maylin shouted before falling to her knees to catch her breath. The biggest reason Maylin had decided to save her super spell coins for a finisher or a trump card was because of how much it drained her energy after using one. These were extremely powerful spells, after all, and despite her experience and magical prowess, Maylin was still learning more and more about magic.
"That was pretty cool," Lafter admitted once she'd deemed it safe enough to return to the square. "Hey, you okay?"
"She's just exhausted," Haruka stated. "Using those super finisher spells takes a lot out of her."
"I still say it's worth it when you need a flashy way to end a fight," Maylin giggled.
The figure hiding in the shadows, having heard this, decided that now was the time, considering he had hidden until the Demon Tower had been vanquished.
"So, what are you guys up to now?" Lafter wondered.
"We just decided to..."
Haruka suddenly stopped, having sensed something off about the area.
"What's up, Haruka?" Maylin wondered.
A loud thunderclap echoed through the square, and Maylin and Haruka could only watch in terror as three bullets flew from the far-off shadows and pierced through Lafter's chest, instantly causing her to collapse in a world of pain.
Haruka immediately dashed over to catch Lafter before she could hit the ground, knowing that with the wounds she'd just suffered, an impact like that could easily kill her.
Maylin, however, began to frantically rake her gaze around for the culprit, already having a clear understanding of who it could possibly be. Eventually, her eyes landed on the shadowed hallway where the bullets had come from, seeing the silhouette of the assassin.
"YOU!" Maylin exclaimed, causing the figure to twitch nervously. "You are SO FREAKING DEAD!"
"Maylin, we don't have time to deal with him," Haruka stated, trying her best to keep her composure.
"Haruka, if you don't mind, let me go over there and KILL THIS SON OF A BITCH!" Maylin shouted. "I KNOW that was one of Jasley's mooks!"
"If you go off and murder him, who's gonna help Lafter?" Haruka proclaimed matter-of-factly.
Lafter suddenly reached up with shaking hands, handing off her teddy bear to Haruka.
"G-Give that to him for me... okay?" Lafter gasped before her eyes closed and she collapsed into Haruka's lap.
Maylin just stood there, her whole body shaking at the implications. "Oh, god, is... is she...?"
Haruka leaned down to put her ear to Lafter's chest, hearing a very slow beat that was fading fast.
"She's still alive, but for how much longer, I can only guess," Haruka replied. "We might be in a pickle here, Maylin. I don't know if there's any doctors nearby, or if we even have a way to get in contact with Tekkadan..."
"No..."
Haruka looked up at Maylin, and was surprised to see a steady stream of tears falling from her eyes.
"No... I-I won't... I won't allow it..."
"Maylin, there might not be anything you can do," Haruka stated. "You know your Cure spells won't work on someone who's already dead, and considering the extent of Lafter's injuries, I'm not sure if..."
"I SAID I WON'T ALLOW IT!" Maylin screamed, making Haruka flinch back slightly. She'd never seen Maylin this upset before. "Haruka, don't you get it?! If we just stay there and accept her fate, that means I broke my promise!"
Maylin didn't wait for Haruka to answer her, digging into her pocket and retrieving another super spell coin with almost frantic speed.
"M-Maylin, you're not seriously going to use another of those things so soon?" Haruka quipped.
"I promised Nick! I promised Marie! I promised MYSELF!" Maylin cried, trying to see straight through her tears. "And... someone very special to me taught me... to NEVER BREAK MY PROMISES!"
Maylin tossed her spell coin into the air before striking it with Counterpoint as it fell down, hoping beyond all hope that she wasn't too late. "Hold fast to the ancient laws, and let magic be my guide! CURAJA!"
Maylin sliced Counterpoint through the air to strike the coin, its ancient letters shining with a bright green light, and a column of emerald light descended from the air to surround Lafter's body. A few seconds passed before the column disappeared, and everything around the trio was silent.
Seconds passed, and nothing seemed to have changed. But just as Maylin was about to begin despairing, Lafter shook her head as if clearing away a headache before looking up at Maylin's tear-streaked face, slightly confused as to what had just happened.
"Um... are you okay, Maylin?" Lafter asked. Just hearing Lafter's voice seemed to finally break Maylin, as she burst out crying and threw herself at Lafter, holding the older girl tightly to her as if she feared letting go would separate them forever.
"Oh, god, Lafter, please tell me you're okay!" Maylin shouted.
"I... I think so," Lafter admitted, slowly but confidently returning Maylin's embrace. "What exactly happened?"
"You were almost assassinated," Haruka replied. "One of Jasley's goon patrol must have been hiding back in the alleys while we fought that Demon Tower. He was probably waiting for his moment to strike. Maylin saved your life just in the nick of time."
"Thank god... thank you, god..." Maylin sobbed, still hugging Lafter as if her life depended on it.
"Hey, it's okay, Maylin," Lafter stated, patting the back of Maylin's head. "I'm still here. You don't have to worry."
"And now I see what you meant by your 'promise'," Haruka quipped, now understanding what Maylin had meant.
In response, Maylin just nodded. "After we defeated Izanami-no-Mikoto... I made a promise to myself," Maylin explained now that she was finally starting to calm down. "After what Nick had to do... after what happened to Marie... I swore to myself that I would never, ever let innocent people die while I had the power to prevent it. It hurt enough when we lost Marie, and I knew exactly how Nick felt. I don't ever want anyone else to feel that kind of pain, the pain of losing someone you love..."
"And that explains why you were crying so hard after you vented last time we were here," Haruka realized. "Because we lost Naze and Amida, you felt like you'd broken that promise, even though, due to our circumstances, there was nothing we could have done anyway..."
"And that's what hurt the most!" Maylin admitted. "Knowing there wasn't a damn thing I could do to save them, despite the oath I made... that's precisely the reason why I also told myself that if I ever, EVER see Jasley or Iok's stupid faces again, they're going to wish they'd never incurred my wrath."
"And I'll personally see to that," Haruka laughed. "I've got my own beef with those numbnuts, after all."
"Lafter?!" Azee Gurumin's voice resounded, sounding very panicked as she raced back to the scene of the battle. No doubt she had heard the commotion caused by the Demon Tower and Lafter's near-assassination. "Oh, god, are you okay? I heard the gunshots, and... I thought you'd been killed!"
"I... almost was, honestly," Lafter admitted. Despite Azee's horror-struck face, Lafter just smiled. "But... I'm still here. Maylin saved me just in time."
"I can understand if you're still a bit wary of me, Azee," Maylin admitted. "I scared myself then, too."
The last time Maylin and Haruka had been to this world, Maylin had gone on a bit of a rampage. When Jasley and his men had shown up at Naze and Amida's funeral simply to mock their deaths, Maylin (against Haruka's warnings) had practically exploded with unyielding rage, actually attacking Jasley and wrecking part of a nearby abandoned building with an overpowered spell.
She had, thankfully, stopped short of wasting Jasley right on the spot, instead merely warning him not to cross her again. Jasley had just laughed in her face, despite seeing Maylin's magical prowess up close and personal.
I won't be giving you another chance, jackass, Maylin thought. He probably did this just to goad us into fighting him. Well, if that's what he wants, by god, he's gonna regret it.
"I'm just happy you were able to save Lafter," Azee admitted. "If she had died when I couldn't even protect her, I would have lost it..."
Maylin slowly let go of Lafter and resummoned Counterpoint. "Oh, trust me, Jasley is gonna pay for screwing us over. But right now... we should probably get back to Tekkadan. After all, Akihiro's waiting for you, isn't he, Lafter?"
Maylin couldn't help but giggle to herself when Lafter's face went red again. I'm getting pretty good at this whole matchmaking thing, Maylin thought. But seriously, I really hope those two can be happy. They deserve happiness after everything they've been through.
Akihiro Altland didn't look like he was angry. On the outside, he appeared to be perfectly calm. But on the inside, he was angrier than he had ever been.
He had practically told Orga so when asking to let him loose on Jasley the next time they encountered him.
The instant he'd heard that Jasley and his men had assassinated Lafter, Akihiro had nearly lost it, despite willing his expression to show none of his building rage.
Akihiro saw someone approaching from the nearby hallway, and put himself on edge, not expecting anyone to walk by in his agitated state.
"Whoa, calm down, doof, it's just us," Maylin quipped.
"W-wait, Maylin, when did you come back?" Akihiro wondered.
"Long story short, we just got out of a pretty huge battle of our own," Haruka replied. "Everything okay, Akihiro? You seem kind of angry."
Akihiro just sighed, knowing he couldn't hide it from Maylin and Haruka. "Someone I... someone I was falling in love with was just murdered," Akihiro admitted. "And... I never got the chance to admit it before..."
To Akihiro's annoyance, Maylin simply smiled brightly. "I believe that's the cue we need. Lafter, you may wanna get in here!"
Akihiro didn't even have time to respond as Lafter turned the corner and threw herself at Akihiro, hugging him tightly despite his shock.
"L-Lafter, you're... you're alive?!" Akihiro gasped. "I thought Jasley had you assassinated!"
"Maylin foiled that plot," Lafter repeated. "We just got back to the base. And, well..."
Lafter decided to just go for it, and leaped forward to kiss Akihiro, who took a few seconds to respond, but put his arms around Lafter once he'd recovered and returned the kiss in kind.
Score one for me, Maylin thought as she watched Lafter and Akihiro kiss.
"I love you, Akihiro," Lafter admitted. "I know it sounds strange, but I really do love you. I told myself I'd tell you the next time I saw you. Gotta live for today, right?"
Haruka couldn't help but smile, knowing that was something Nick liked to say a lot.
"I..." Akihiro stumbled for a second before deciding to just go with his gut feeling. "I love you, too, Lafter. I'm sorry I didn't see it before..."
Lafter just kissed Akihiro again, her smile never leaving her face.
"It's okay," Lafter responded. "I understand."
"Well, we'll let you two lovebirds be," Maylin quipped. "Wouldn't want to rain on your parade, after all."
"Wait, wait, before you go," Lafter stated, reaching into her pocket and retrieving something else she'd found at the mall, revealed to be a trinket shaped like a teddy bear, closely resembling the one she'd gotten for Akihiro. "This one's for you two."
Lafter tossed the keychain to Maylin, who snatched it out of midair, curious to see how this would actually work. After all, she'd never tried any of Nick's keychains, preferring to stick with Spellbinder and Counterpoint.
Deciding to satisfy her curiosity, Maylin attached the keychain to Counterpoint, then dramatically slashed it horizontally, the keyblade transforming in mid-swing.
The new keyblade had a blade shaped like the katana used by the Gundam Barbatos Lupus, with two strands wrapping around the blade that looked a lot like Lafter's pigtails, the teeth was a blooming steel rose, the hilt resembled the "crown" of the Barbatos Lupus, the handle resembled the booster protrusions of Lafter's own mobile suit, the Hyakuri, and the keychain resembled the prongs of the Alaya-Vijnana system. As Maylin studied her new keyblade, the words Iron Flower ran through her head.
"Whoa, I didn't know your weapon could do that," Akihiro gasped. He'd seen Maylin in action, but he'd never seen her keyblade transform like that.
"I've never actually done it before," Maylin admitted. "My friend always did that with his keyblade, because he's the one who got all the keychains."
As the conversation continued, Haruka saw something strange out of the corner of her eye, politely excusing herself from the conversation to go and investigate.
Gazing around the different areas of the base, Haruka kept her guard up, knowing that whatever it was could be waiting to ambush her at any second.
Once she reached the mobile suit hangar, she saw it.
Standing in front of the Gundam Barbatos Lupus was a figure completely obscured by a familiar black hood and robe, exactly like the one that Mariko Kusumi had worn for most of their previous adventure.
"Um... can I help you?" Haruka asked, summoning Rumbling Rose to her hands.
The figure slowly began to walk towards Haruka, forcing her to raise Rumbling Rose in defense even though the figure didn't appear to be attacking.
"Maybe I can help you," the figure responded in a female voice, slightly deep but still a bit high-pitched.
"You'll have to forgive me if I'm a little wary of people wearing those black hoods," Haruka stated. "Anyone wearing that has been nothing but trouble for me and my friends."
"I understand that, but I merely wish to help this world along," the figure replied. "After all, I don't want a repeat of anything that has already happened."
"Meaning...?" Haruka asked, her body immediately going on the defensive when the figure summoned a keyblade to her hand.
This keyblade had a dark black handle with a raised spiral carved around it. Its pommel and guard resembled black, demonic wings. The base of the blade was an etching of a goat, and the shaft was formed from two black, barbed blades, etched with a white icon resembling a bramble of thorns. The teeth were formed in the shape of a demonic wing, and was set with what appeared to be an eye of darkness. The keychain was made of small, grey links, and the token was an entangled, grey talisman with an additional eye of darkness.
Haruka took a good look at the keyblade, only to start shivering a bit. That was a keyblade she had hoped never to see again.
"W-where did you get that keyblade?" Haruka asked, ready to start fighting if she needed to. "I-I thought it had been destroyed!"
"Hmph. Shows what you know about history," the Mysterious Figure taunted, swinging No Name and unleashing a wave of darkness that blasted Haruka clear out of the hangar and made her crash straight into the wall of the nearby hallway, unintentionally scaring Atra Mixta, who had been walking by at that moment.
"Oh, jeez, are you okay?" Atra asked, dashing over to help Haruka to her feet.
"That was a cheap shot, lady," Haruka growled, switching from Rumbling Rose to a new keyblade.
This keyblade's blade was a red, single-edged sword with a white inner edge. A yellow wing sweeping around it formed the teeth. The hilt blended into more grey with the symbol of a rainbow-colored ring in the middle. The handle was a deep red, and the guard was another sweeping wing, colored blue and circling around the handle but not connecting. The token was a shooting star with a prominent bow shock, connected by a keychain made of three silver sunbursts.
"I haven't used this one in a while, so I guess I should commend you for getting me to bust out the museum piece!" Haruka proclaimed, clutching the handle of Divewing and charging back into the hangar to square off with the Mysterious Figure.
Haruka and the Mysterious Figure began to clash, trading blows with their keyblades before backing off to unleash magical attacks.
"Haruka, what was that?! I felt a flare of darkness and..." Maylin exclaimed, having just joined the ruckus, only to stop in mid-sentence when she noticed the No Name in the Mysterious Figure's hands.
The Mysterious Figure performed a spinning buzzsaw slash to put some distance between herself and Haruka.
"Gaze upon this ancient weapon," the Mysterious Figure proclaimed, holding the No Name up for both Maylin and Haruka to see. "Imbedded with the Master's Gazing Eye that can see the future."
"W-wait, the Master's Gazing Eye?!" Haruka shouted. "You can't be serious!"
"Oh, but I am," the Mysterious Figure responded. "I swore upon this most ancient keyblade that I will not let this tragedy continue, even if I have to erase everything else to do so."
"You're not getting that chance, miss hood!" Maylin growled, summoning Iron Flower and aiming a super spell coin for the Mysterious Figure, only for her to plant No Name's teeth into the ground and unleash a shockwave of darkness.
Maylin and Haruka went on the defense, ready for more, but when the shockwave dissipated, the Mysterious Figure was gone, leaving no trace that she'd ever been there at all.
The hangar was quiet, Maylin and Haruka just staring at each other in obvious concern. If that keyblade really was the No Name...
"Is... everything okay, you two?" Atra asked now that the battle was over.
"Just... got some things to think about, Atra," Haruka answered as she activated the teleporter on her wrist communicator, surrounding Maylin and Haruka with a beam of light that returned them to the Gummi Ship.
Atra watched them leave with a mixture of confusion and uneasiness highlighting her expression. They usually always said their proper goodbyes before teleporting away.
Must be something serious, Atra thought.
"Haruka?" Maylin asked once they were both in their respective seats. "Do you... do you think we should call Nick for this?"
"Nah, we should probably let him relax for now," Haruka replied. "I'm sure he's got his own priorities to deal with, what with school and everything."
"Now I remember why I never liked school," Maylin groaned teasingly.
Haruka smiled back before returning to the controls, only for Maylin to suddenly plop herself down beside her in the pilot's chair.
"H-Hey," Haruka gasped.
"Room for two?" Maylin giggled.
Haruka couldn't help but laugh herself. Maylin always knew how to make her feel better.
"For you, best buddy, always," Haruka giggled.
With that, Haruka turned the Gummi Ship around and began to chart a course for the next world on their journey.
The thoughts of that keyblade would linger for a while, though, as the two heroines hoped they'd eventually get some information on...
...whatever it was they were up against.
After all, if that particular keyblade was still out and about when it was supposed to have been destroyed...
...then something was, indeed, very wrong.
To be continued...
New keyblade acquired!
Iron Flower
Strength: 9
Magic: 11
Ability: Finishing Plus
Description: A keyblade representing the warriors of Tekkadan, the iron flower that never wilts. A magically-superior weapon that increases critical hit rate by 30% and allows combo finishing moves to be unleashed successively.
New keyblade acquired!
Divewing
Strength: 15
Magic: 6
Ability: Aero Boost
Description: A keyblade representing the will of an ancient ally who only wished for freedom. Increases the damage of wind-based attacks and magic by 20%.
On the next episode...
Maylin: Well, how about that? We have our own adventure to go on!
Haruka: Yeah, well, it isn't all sunshine and daisies. We've got a real problem, Maylin, if that keyblade is really what I think it is...
Maylin: Hey, we'll figure things out eventually, I know it. This is our journey, after all!
Haruka: ...point taken. Hey, Maylin, why are we in a castle?
Maylin: I was wondering that myself. Wait, wait, is that who I think it is?! What's he doing here?
Haruka: Maybe he's looking for someone. Flynn, I'm willing to guess?
Maylin: If Flynn's nowhere to be found, then something is definitely wrong there. Next time on W.I.T.C.H.: Key to Her Heart ~A Fragmentary Passage~, "Ballad of the Blastia"!
Maylin & Haruka: May your hearts be your guiding key!