As the Gummi Ship descended towards the world ahead, Nick caught a glimpse of something odd on the very edge of the Lanes Between.
Upon as close of an inspection as he could make with the distance between them, he noticed that it was someone completely clad in dark blue armor, riding on a really strange-looking glider.
What the heck? I thought you had to have a Gummi Ship to travel through the Lanes Between? Nick wondered. Eh. I'll worry about that later. Right now, it's time for our new journey to begin.
But Nick couldn't get the strange sight out of his mind, an odd feeling passing through his mind that he would eventually meet whoever this person was.
"Everything okay there, buddy?" Maylin wondered.
"I think so," Nick replied. "I just thought I saw something way out there, something weird. It looked like someone in a suit of armor was flying through the Lanes Between. Is that weird to either of you?"
"Maybe it might have been another keyblade wielder," Haruka answered. "I'm sure there were keyblade wielders who were able to move through the Lanes without a Gummi Ship. But... it's supposed to be dangerous without a vessel, because of how close the light and darkness looms around here."
"You think the armor is protecting the dude-slash-dudette?" Maylin wondered.
"Only thing I can think of," Haruka replied. "Now that you mention it, one of the older tales I've heard mentions a bunch of keyblade wielders who clad themselves in powerful armor while they traveled between worlds. That's probably how they got around, since it was only recently that the Oracle came up with the idea of the Gummi Ship."
"With some ideas from yours truly, of course!" Maylin laughed.
"Sure, keep telling yourself that," Haruka teased.
Nick just smiled as his companions' bickering as the Gummi Ship approached the world. Still haven't changed even after all this time.
If Nick had paid attention, he would have noticed that Maylin seemed surprised at the revelation.
Wait, an armor-wearing keyblade wielder? Maylin thought. No way... that couldn't be her, could it?
(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 II
Story Created: January 2nd, 2017
Story Rated: T for Teen
Story Summary: A year has passed since Nick, Maylin, and Haruka saved the heart of all worlds from being consumed by the darkness. Things are getting back to normal in Heatherfield, but true peace is always a fleeting dream. New arrivals start pouring in, including a girl from the future who claims to be the daughter of two of the Guardians, strange new creatures very much unlike the Heartless, and a group of black-hooded tyrants who only aim to bring destruction to the worlds. To save the multiverse from these new threats, Nick, Maylin, and Haruka must once again take up their keyblades and travel through many worlds to keep the balance of light and darkness in check. But what does the mysterious Organization XIII truly want with the worlds?
On Today's Episode: Not expecting a strange mansion to be their first stop, Nick, Maylin, and Haruka decide to explore while clearing out the Heartless threat. But upon discovering that this is a world they've been to before, albeit a world that has changed immensely since last they were there, how will they decide to help a certain despairing heiress when she needs it the most, and how does Organization XIII possibly fit into all of this?
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?
Author's Note/For Today's World: All right, for the first stop, we're returning to Rooster Teeth's anime-esque showcase known only as RWBY. Timeline-wise, this starts at and then skews off from episode seven of volume four, "Punished". Everything in canon up to that point happened here, too, with the only exception being the obvious White Rose (Ruby/Weiss ship). And, let's be perfectly, brutally honest... this chapter is going to be quite a bit of catharsis for me due to a certain father person... yeah, the FNDM was totally spot-on about him. Let's just start before I slip into a nerd rage...
Episode 2: The Last Remnant
As they did every time, the trio began to rake their gazes around their surroundings, trying to glean information about the world they were currently standing in. From the looks of things, they appeared to be standing in an office inside of a gigantic mansion, like you would see rich people living in. A peculiar snowflake-shaped crest was emblazoned on many objects around them, though it wasn't initially registering as familiar.
"Okay, was not expecting a mansion," Maylin quipped, trying to think of why that crest looked so familiar.
"It seems like we've got a lot of ground to cover, so we should probably get moving," Haruka replied.
Nick simply balanced the Kingdom Key on his shoulder, unable to shake the feeling that he knew something about this place.
Just then, it came to him. Where exactly he'd seen the crest before.
"Guys... that crest is of the Schnee family. You know, Weiss?" Nick stated.
"Holy crap, does that mean we're back on Remnant?" Maylin gasped.
"If so, why exactly did we get taken to what I can only assume is the main manor of the Schnee Dust Company?" Haruka wondered. "And how much time passed since our last trip here?"
"Aw, man, that probably means we missed the Vytal Festival Tournament!" Maylin groaned. "I wanted to see Team RWBY kick some backside!"
In their discussion, the trio hadn't noticed a group of strange Heartless slowly approaching them, slinking through the shadows in hopes of staying unnoticed.
Maylin perked up when she heard an odd slithering sound from just off in the distance.
"Security, we have intruders!"
Nick spun around to notice a threesome of suited figures just down the next hallway, no doubt security agents for the manor. And they were all focused on them.
"Oh, crap, we're busted," Maylin groaned.
"Come on, silly, we can take them," Haruka responded, summoning Rumbling Rose to her right hand.
Just as Nick raised the Kingdom Key in defense, he realized that the three agents were no longer focusing on them, but a group of Heartless that had ambushed them, looking like little blue monsters dressed in ceremonial Chinese robes and armed with freakishly-long claws.
"Oh, great, not those things again," Maylin growled, quickly summoning Counterpoint. "I really hoped I'd never have to deal with them. They're a PAIN IN THE ASS!"
"Those things are Nightwalkers," Haruka explained to Nick, getting him up to speed on the new Heartless type. "Obviously, they have huge hurty claws, but that's really all they've got, so try to stay in long range."
"Ooh, like this?" Maylin giggled, charging for the pack of Nightwalkers and raising Counterpoint.
"Force, know my plight! Release the light! WIND!" Maylin exclaimed, striking a spell coin and creating a torrent of wind gusts around the Nightwalkers that acted as razor wind, slashing at the Heartless and taking two of them out.
The last remaining Nightwalker rushed forward and swiped at one of the agents with its exaggeratedly-large claws, but Nick was over there quickly, swiping upwards to deflect the overhead claw strike before lashing out with a sideways chop to knock it back, finishing off with a leaping slash that destroyed the Nightwalker.
"You guys okay?" Nick asked, addressing the security agents.
"We should be," the first agent stuttered, still slightly shaken from the ordeal. "What manner of nightmare were those things?!"
"Heartless," Maylin quipped automatically, as if this was something she'd explained a thousand times. "Monsters born of the darkness of people's hearts. They're not attracted to negative emotions like Grimm are, but they're still bad news."
"I should have figured they'd be here," Nick sighed.
"Aren't they supposed to, you know, just give up now that they can't swallow this world in darkness?" Maylin wondered. "We locked the keyhole, didn't we?"
"I'm sure there's just less Heartless than last time, at any rate," Haruka stated. "Remember, the Heartless are darkness made real, so as long as there's darkness in every heart, we can't truly vanquish them."
At this point, the agents suddenly remembered why they'd stopped the trio in the first place. "Say, why are you three here?" the second agent asked. "How did you slip past our security?"
Maylin laughed slightly at that. "Ah, blame the Gummi Ship. We had no idea where it was going to send us when we got here."
The first agent gasped loudly when he noticed the Kingdom Key in Nick's right hand.
"Oh, that would explain it," the first agent proclaimed. "You're the bearers of the keyblade, aren't you?"
"Nailed it," Maylin giggled.
The third agent radioed his superior, now that the coast was clear. "Boss, we drove the intruders away. The sit-rep is all clear."
"Just be careful while you're doing whatever it is you're doing out there," the first agent stated. "If those Heartless freaks are anything like the Grimm, we wouldn't want to get wrapped up in such chaos."
"Well, don't worry, that's what we're here for!" Maylin proclaimed rather heroically.
As the three agents went back to their normal patrol routes, a shadowed figure continued to watch from the darkness, the cloak it was wearing shielding it from any prying eyes who just happened to be close by. As the figure contemplated, it decided to see how events played out as it slipped back into the shadows, as if it had never been there in the first place.
"Okay, here's my question," Maylin proclaimed after about a half-hour exploring the manor. "WHERE IS EVERYTHING HERE?!"
"Seriously, Maylin?" Haruka groaned. That was the fifth time she'd said that or some other colorful variation of the phrase. "How many more times are you going to say that?"
"As many times as it takes!" Maylin shot back. "I really thought we were gonna get dropped off at Beacon Academy!"
"And, back to the question I brought up earlier, how much time passed here since the last time we were around?" Nick stated. "Things are probably different here than in Vale, since, if I remember correctly, the Schnee Dust Company is somewhere in Atlas."
"Oh, just wonderful," Maylin groaned, casually swinging Counterpoint to destroy a Shadowulf that had jumped them. "That means we're gonna be here for days..."
Nick couldn't help but silently chuckle at Maylin's antics. She was never the patient type, after all.
"Let's just keep looking," Nick replied. "I'm sure we'll run into something we know."
As luck would have it, a familiar sound coming from a nearby room drew the trio's attention.
"Is someone sword fighting in there?" Maylin wondered. "I can hear the swishing, and it's pretty loud."
Nick, deciding to take the chance, walked up to the door in question, putting his ear to it so he could listen for the source of the familiar sound.
After about two to three minutes, he heard a voice.
"Almost got it... no, I can do this..."
And it was definitely a voice he recognized, too.
Inside the room in question, one Weiss Schnee focused her efforts once again, determined not to falter in her summoning practice. It was the last thing she wanted to finish before she plotted her escape.
"I can do this..." Weiss whispered, trying her best not to let her conflicting emotions get the better of her, not after what had just happened.
Weiss' concentration was temporarily disrupted when she heard voices coming from just outside the door to her room. This immediately set her on edge, and she raised Myrtenaster in defense. She didn't immediately recognize the voices, so she was ready to attack if need be. Dust damn it all, if that's Whitley again, I swear I'm going to...
"What's up, fearless leader?"
Weiss froze. That voice... no, it couldn't be.
"H-hello?" Weiss tentatively asked, hoping it was who she thought it was.
"Weiss?" Nick answered. "Weiss, is that you?"
"N-Nick?" Weiss gasped, rushing to the door even though she knew it was locked from the outside.
"Weiss, can we come in?" Nick called back.
"The door's locked!" Weiss exclaimed.
Nick simply grinned. "Locked, you say... Weiss, stand clear of the door."
After hearing footsteps from the room to confirm Weiss had done so, Nick raised the Kingdom Key towards the door, a circle of light shining around the teeth of the blade. After about a second of windup, a beam of light erupted from the Kingdom Key, easily undoing the lock and allowing the door to open by itself.
Nick, Maylin, and Haruka crossed into the room, making sure to close the door behind them so as not to arouse any suspicion from unwanted eyes. Nick had barely taken three steps into the room before Weiss had thrown herself at him, sending both of them crashing to the ground.
"Whoa, Weiss, what's with the sudden hug?" Nick quipped once he had recovered from almost getting the wind knocked out of him.
"I thought I was never going to see you again!" Weiss exclaimed. "I thought... I thought I'd never see any of my friends again..."
Nick easily picked up on the inherent sadness lacing Weiss' sentence. Almost immediately, he knew something had happened since the last time they'd seen each other.
"Weiss, we're probably going to be here for a while, so if it's not too much trouble..." Nick started. "Maybe you could explain what's happened since we've been gone?"
After picking herself up and apologizing for being so emotional (Nick believed Ruby's influence had something to do with it), Weiss walked over and sat down on her bed, looking out the nearby window as she began to recount everything that had occurred.
According to Weiss, it had been exactly seven months since the strange incident where Team RWBY, alongside all the friends the trio had made along their journey, had been summoned by Himerish to help defeat Izanami-no-Mikoto once and for all. Maylin was indeed miffed that they'd missed the Vytal Festival Tournament, but was quickly shocked into silence when Weiss revealed that due to a group of powerful villains, two promising Huntresses had been killed and Beacon Academy had fallen in the ensuing conflict.
Beacon Academy had fallen. The shock was palpable to the trio, who believed that as long as Beacon Academy held true, the kingdom of Vale would be safe.
Weiss went on to explain everything that she had borne witness to since returning to her home here in Atlas, making sure not to leave anything out. Of note, Weiss actually cringed at the almost murderous expression coming from Nick after she told him of what her father had done.
"You okay there, fearless leader?" Maylin asked. She, too, had noticed Nick's imminent rage at the inexcusable actions of Jacques Schnee.
"That... that son of a bitch..." Nick growled, suddenly wanting to go find Jacques and teach him a painful lesson.
"Down, Nick," Haruka responded. "Blindly lashing out to beat the jerk's teeth in won't do us any good right now. We just need to find a way to get Weiss out of here before we do anything else to the contrary."
"Is there... anywhere specific you want to go, Weiss?" Maylin asked. "Maybe... maybe you want to go see Ruby?"
Maylin silently chuckled at the blush that popped up on Weiss' face at the mention of her girlfriend.
"If I'm being honest with myself... I miss her," Weiss admitted. "Ruby did something I never thought anyone would do... she melted that ice wall I built around myself. Thing is, I have no idea where she could be, and considering the wireless network has been down ever since the CCT tower was compromised, I don't even know if we can get in contact with her..."
"We... might have a way to help you there," Maylin quipped. "We just have to get you out of here first."
Just then, a strange wind blew through the admittedly spacious room. Weiss immediately tensed up, as she knew her windows were closed. So where had that odd wind come from?
"WEISS, WATCH OUT!" Maylin screamed, and Weiss decided to listen, diving away just as a strange swarm of shadows flew through the spot where she had just been.
When everyone in the room was able to size up their attacker, they saw a large twister-like formation of demonic-looking red-eyed Shadows, all clumped together and spinning violently like a tornado.
"Oh, not this stupid thing again," Maylin growled, summoning Counterpoint to her hands. "I still have bad dreams about what the last one did to me!"
"Then let's take it down before it gets that chance," Haruka replied, summoning Rumbling Rose.
The dark twister undulated through the air as it approached the three 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.
She definitely took my advice to heart, Nick thought as he leaped away from the Demon Tower's lunge to slash at it himself. Good to know.
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 the trio to stay on their toes.
Weiss, meanwhile, continued to dive around the room, using the interval between each jump to fire off an elemental spell from Myrtenaster, keeping the Demon Tower locked in its place.
After a few more whacks, the Demon Tower suddenly stopped and began to spin around even faster. While it did, dozens of Shadows began to spawn all around the room, the Demon Tower drawing them into itself to increase its mass.
"Oh, what nonsense is this?!" Maylin exclaimed. "The last one didn't do this!"
The super-sized Demon Tower spiraled around the three keyblade wielders before lunging straight for Weiss. Almost on instinct, the heiress planted Myrtenaster's blade into the ground, creating a gigantic glyph on the floor in front of her.
One flare later, a large, glowing armored knight appeared in front of Weiss, slashing out with its oversized sword to stop the Demon Tower's charge cold. The sheer force of the two colliding was enough to completely shatter the bedroom windows in the process.
This still didn't seem to be enough to stop the Demon Tower, as still more of those red-eyed Shadows spawned, all of them being drawn to the Demon Tower.
"All right, enough of this!" 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.
"Watch and learn, Nick," Haruka giggled. "You're going to love this, I assure you."
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.
By the time the barrage had ended, only the Demon Tower's core was left, floating helplessly through the room. Weiss put an end to the Demon Tower's core by having her summoned knight deliver one final slash that bisected the core and made it explode into wisps of darkness.
"And KA-BOOM!" 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.
A surprised gasp caught everyone's attention, and they all turned to the door to see Weiss' butler Klein standing there, in the now-open door, with a disbelieving look on his face.
Nick immediately shifted back into a battle stance, assuming that Klein had been sent by Jacques.
Weiss simply waved to calm him down. "It's okay, Nick. Klein's probably the only person here besides the three of you that I would trust with my life. Unlike my father, Klein has always supported me."
"I assume you have made your choice?" Klein proclaimed, his surprise quickly fading to a knowing glance.
"Yes, Klein, I have," Weiss answered. "To be frank, I'm actually glad that I'm no longer the heiress to this company. Father can't control me anymore."
"Trust me, Klein, we'll make sure Weiss is safe," Maylin put in. "Weiss won't have to feel like she's a prisoner in her own home any more if we have something to say about it."
"Then I wish you the best," Klein replied as Weiss walked up and hugged him. "If you see miss Winter, tell her that I still miss her."
"I will, Klein," Weiss responded. "Take care of yourself."
Nodding in approval, Klein made his way back to where he had come from, leaving Weiss to her thoughts.
"We should probably get going now," Weiss proclaimed. "This may be our only chance."
"But how do you propose we beat it?" Maylin wondered. "Security's probably pretty tight around here, and the only reason those guards from earlier let us off was because we saved them from the Heartless!"
"Klein told me about a secret pathway that we can use," Weiss replied. "We should get there quickly."
Nothing more needed to be said. After Weiss gathered a suitcase to carry some of her possessions for the trip, the quartet immediately made their way down the hallways towards the library, where said secret passage awaited.
Alas, it wouldn't be anywhere that simple.
When they crossed into the library, just inches from Weiss' freedom, they were greeted by three of the manor's security agents...
...with Jacques Schnee himself standing in the center of the room.
Weiss immediately went on the defensive, ready for anything Jacques would try. She wasn't going to let him walk all over her any longer.
"It seems I haven't done that well of a job of keeping you in line, apparently," Jacques proclaimed rather condescendingly.
"You can forget it, father," Weiss growled, purposefully adding a bit of venom to that last. "I won't be your puppet on a string any more. You disinheriting me basically means you lost anything you can use to control me."
Jacques sighed heavily. "Why do all my attempts to reach you fail? It's no wonder you and Winter get along so well. You both refuse to listen to my authority."
"It's not authority, it's control," Weiss corrected. "You just want me to kowtow to your selfish wishes and play the role that you fabricated for me. Well, no longer. I'm through bowing to you!"
Jacques moved his right hand to his belt buckle, unsheathing his own rapier, Schwarzdorn, and pointing it threateningly at Weiss.
"I see there will be no more persuading you, then," Jacques proclaimed. "Very well. Then I have no choice... but to put you in your place myself!"
Jacques rushed forward with every intent of seemingly skewering Weiss, but Nick was over there in a flash, slicing Kingdom Key through the air to stop Jacques' attack cold.
"Forget it, Jacques," Nick growled. "You're not touching her."
Jacques leapt back, sizing up his new opponent, before laughing mockingly. "Even you would stand against me, keyblade bearer? I would have expected better of you."
"We're not in the mood for any of your condescending crap," Maylin shot right back, raising Counterpoint. "So don't even bother."
"I absolutely despise people like you, Jacques," Nick proclaimed. "All you care about is winning, even if you have to abuse everyone beneath you to do so. And don't think of denying it, because Weiss told me everything. Honestly, why do you think that just because you married into the Schnee name you can take control of something that was never rightfully yours to begin with?!"
"Don't talk as if you know how this company works, boy," Jacques snarled.
"I don't need to know how this company works to see how you work," Nick challenged. "Even under all the false pretenses you put up to appease the general public who depend on your company's resources to simply defend this world, you're just a power-hungry dictator who only cares about himself. For god's sake, look at what you did to your own daughter, simply because she told you the truth! Talk about not being able to stand the heat!"
"This isn't your family, boy," Jacques stated. "You're too young to even know what family truly means, anyway."
Maylin and Haruka suddenly tensed up, realizing that Jacques had just unknowingly crossed a dangerous line. Even now, over a year later, the territory of Nick's family, particular his deceased sister Marie, was still a twitchy subject.
"I'm sorry, what was that?" Nick growled in a low and hateful voice.
"Don't presume you automatically understand what family is all about because you took the word of a rebellious brat over the obvious authority figure here," Jacques responded.
"I'm warning you, Jacques, you're treading on dangerous ground here," Maylin proclaimed, knowing exactly what would happen if Jacques kept up his tirade.
"I don't care what I have to tread on," Jacques proclaimed. "You don't know anything about family, boy."
Once Haruka saw Nick's free hand beginning to shake, she wisely began to step backwards, motioning for Maylin and Weiss to do the same.
Jacques simply raised Schwarzdorn in preparation, only to be utterly blindsided when Nick rushed towards him so swiftly he appeared to blink out of existence for a second, savagely slashing the Kingdom Key across Jacques' chest. A small part of Nick's mind wondered why he seemingly hadn't done any damage despite the ferocity of the attack, but Nick chalked it up to Jacques' Aura.
"You have no idea what you just stepped in, you son of a bitch!" Nick shouted, lashing out with multiple strikes, intent on causing as much damage as he could.
A fierce overhead strike sent Jacques cartwheeling to the ground.
"For your information, jackass, my family is more precious to me than anything!" Nick screamed as he leaped over to land more blows on Jacques, not giving him a second to react or chance to break out. "My sister sacrificed her very goddamn existence without a second thought to save the worlds she loved so much, and she did it so I could be happy! How fucking DARE you insinuate that I don't know anything about family?!"
Nick continued to assault Jacques with everything he had, unleashing all the rage and sadness he'd kept in over the issue of Marie.
"In fact, if it wasn't for what Marie did, this world probably wouldn't even still be here!" Nick bellowed. "So don't you dare insult my family, you wretch!"
In the middle of his attack, however, Nick stumbled back, suddenly feeling sick to his stomach. Weiss was the first one to take a step towards Nick, confused as to what was happening.
Before Maylin could think to cast a Cure spell, Nick fell to his knees, clutching violently at his chest. Only a few seconds more passed before dark energy exploded from Nick's body and reconverged on him, leaving him to look like he'd turned into a Heartless again, only he still had his original form. In this state, Nick's entire body was stained an inky black, his eyes became the glowing yellow eyes of the Heartless, and his new clothes turned black with blue accents. Misty wisps of darkness began to flow from the backs of his shoulders and hands, which had become sets of wickedly sharp claws, his keyblade nowhere to be found.
"W-what the hell?!" Maylin exclaimed. "What just happened?! Did... did he turn into a Heartless again?!"
Haruka studied Nick's new transformation closely. "No... no, I think this is different..."
Jacques quickly picked himself up, willing his expression to show no fear of Nick's current state, even if he was inwardly terrified, as in this form, Nick's darkness-enhanced strength flowed completely unchecked from his body, so much so that you'd have to be either blind or completely unable to sense energy to not see the power he now possessed.
And as Nick lifted his head to face Jacques, that blank, golden-eyed stare boring into his very soul, Jacques finally accepted that he was in a load of trouble.
That was all the time Jacques had to acknowledge that fact before Nick resumed his attack, utilizing his newfound power to teleport around Jacques and strike from multiple angles with swift barrages of claw lashes, almost like a feral animal acting only on pure primal instinct.
Even when Jacques' Aura finally depleted itself due to the unending assault, Nick continued to ravage the man's form with his unnaturally sharp appendages. It was as if all reason had fled from Nick's mind during this transformation.
"We need to stop him," Haruka proclaimed, snapping Maylin and Weiss' attention to her. "Because I think if we just leave him to his own devices, Nick's actually going to kill Jacques, regardless if he deserves it or not."
That was all Maylin needed to hear, readying Counterpoint for whatever she had to do.
Nick continued to unleash everything he had on Jacques' body, no longer caring about the wounds he was now inflicting.
"Force, know my plight! Release the light! THUNDER!"
A bolt of lightning dropped from the sky and crashed down between Nick and Jacques, forcing the two apart and finally ending the assault.
"Nick, get your marbles together," Maylin proclaimed. "This isn't you."
Nick simply lunged at Maylin, clearly intending to eviscerate her right on the spot. Only a quick cast of Reflect stopped Nick's attack.
"Haruka, any ideas?! I'm not getting through to him!" Maylin shouted. "What the hell happened to him?!"
Haruka was busy thinking, trying to draw connections.
Of course! Haruka thought as she realized what was happening. It's technically a form change, since he's still basically himself, but he's acting like a Heartless. Why is that, though? What caused him to turn into that? Could it be... wait, he DID turn into a Heartless at one point, right? Could that be it?
"Maylin! I figured it out!" Haruka exclaimed.
"Well, hurry up! I can't keep this barrier up forever!" Maylin shouted as Nick continued to slash at her Reflect barrier.
"Remember when Nick was turned into a Heartless, back at the Blue Sky Kingdom?" Haruka explained. "Even though he turned back to normal, that darkness is probably still lingering in his heart. I'm guessing that when Nick started lashing out in his emotional state, that darkness must have taken a hold of him and turned him into that."
"Okay, that's all well and good, but how do we get him out of it?!" Maylin shouted.
Unfortunately, Maylin had been distracted a second too long, as Nick finally broke through her Reflect barrier and slashed out fiercely, catching the young mage across the shoulder and knocking her back to the ground.
As Maylin clutched at her wound, she looked back up at Nick, who had seemingly stopped in his tracks.
As the two stared at each other for what seemed like forever, Nick finally seemed to snap out of his feral state, his eyes opening to reveal their normal brown color. Nick relaxed his stance, and the darkness coating his body faded away, leaving him in his normal form and allowing the Kingdom Key to return to his right hand.
"Nick? Are you back to being you again?" Maylin wondered.
"What... what the hell just happened?!" Nick gasped.
Haruka took a step forward to explain everything that she had put together about this strange transformation of his.
"So, that's basically everything," Haruka finished. "The darkness of your heart must have manifested when you went berserk and basically turned you into what I'm going to call 'Anti-Form'. I sorta consider it an incentive not to overuse your new transformation powers, especially when you're not thinking straight."
"Jeez, I just... I don't know, I just snapped when he started smack-talking my family," Nick sighed. "It just enraged me, especially considering that I'm still not over it..."
"If it's any consolation, Nick, I believe that what Marie did for all of us was incredibly brave and selfless," Weiss admitted. After all, she had been there during that final battle. "She had the courage to do something most people probably wouldn't even consider."
"Even so, I still miss her," Nick replied. "She was family. It hurts to lose family..."
"Speaking of which, is he going to be okay?" Maylin wondered, gesturing towards the unconscious Jacques. "You really did a number on him."
Weiss walked over to check it out. "He's unconscious, but he'll survive. His aura just needs to regenerate before his wounds can heal. We should probably take our leave now before he wakes up."
"One problem with that, though," Nick realized. "The whole manor's probably on high alert after that stunt, so they'll probably be waiting at all the exits, probably even the secret one!"
To Nick's confusion, a huge smile broke out on Maylin's face. "Who said we're taking the normal, boring way out? Haruka, if you will?"
"With pleasure," Haruka laughed as she activated the program on her wrist communicator, enveloping all four of them in a beam of light that transported them to the cockpit of the Gummi Ship.
"Oh, I get it now," Nick quipped. "We're taking the express way."
"Whoa," Weiss gasped. "This is... pretty impressive."
"Yep," Maylin giggled. "This is the Lanes Between. It's basically how we get around the worlds."
"Okay, so what's this plan of yours?" Nick asked. "None of us know where Ruby is right now, and if the CCT Tower is down, then, well..."
Maylin just continued to smile as she activated the Gummi Ship's communicators.
Ruby Rose looked up into the sky, glad that things were finally settling down after that crazy battle with Tyrian. Qrow was asleep, the rest of Team RNJR was keeping watch for any more crazies, and Ruby herself just wanted to relax.
And she was ready to return to the others and do just that...
...when her scroll beeped.
Now Ruby was a little on edge again. With communications basically down across all of Remnant, how the heck was her scroll working?
...and who could possibly be calling her, if that was the case?
Realizing that her curiosity was starting to overwhelm her, Ruby opened her scroll and answered the incoming call...
...only to leap nearly five feet into the air at the monster-like snarl that Maylin had unleashed.
"I literally can't believe that worked!" Maylin exclaimed, trying not to fall out of her seat due to her loud laughter. "That's payback for all the times you scared the jeepers out of me!"
"Was that really necessary, Maylin?" Nick groaned.
Ruby's mood suddenly lifted at the familiar sights. "Hey, guys!" Ruby exclaimed, happily waving to her friends. "How exactly did you guys get through? I don't know if you've heard, but communications are kinda... well, borked, for lack of a better term."
"I guess Gummi Ships are different," Haruka stated. "Maybe it's not the kind of communication that's limited by transmission towers..."
"We're universal, baby!" Maylin proclaimed.
Ruby just giggled.
"Jeez, that sounds as lame as one of Yang's puns..."
"H-Hey, I thought hard on that one!"
And if Ruby was already surprised, that particular voice seemed to fill her with a sense of elation she hadn't felt since before everything had gone to hell in a handbasket.
"Is... is that you, Weiss?!" Ruby gasped.
And sure enough, Weiss popped up on the comm screen, and Ruby couldn't contain her happiness at the sight of her girlfriend, the one she swore she may never see again.
"Yes, Ruby, it's me," Weiss replied.
"Weiss, how the heck did you get on the Gummi Ship?" Ruby wondered, genuinely confused.
"It's a long story, Ruby, but we'd be happy to tell it once we make it to you," Nick explained. "That's actually why we called, so we can lock on to your position and just zap ourselves to you. Keep your scroll on so we can find you, and we'll be there in about five minutes."
Ruby just nodded and prepared herself.
Those few minutes had to have been some of the longest of her life.
Thankfully, she didn't have to wait for too long.
A large column of light descended from the heavens, and Nick, Maylin, and Haruka popped out of it, with Weiss following closely behind.
"Is it weird that I miss Beacon already?" Maylin quipped, only for all three keyblade wielders to be tackled in one of Ruby's famous flying hugs.
"I can't believe you guys made it back!" Ruby exclaimed. "We all missed you so much!"
"We missed you, too, Ruby," Haruka replied. "We're sorry we couldn't help during the Battle of Beacon. All the worlds went back to their original places after we defeated Izanami-no-Mikoto, so we basically lost our map."
"Yeah, if we'd have been there, it probably wouldn't have been a contest," Maylin proclaimed. "Oh, Ruby, by the way, I love your new look!"
"Thanks," Ruby giggled before releasing them and walking up to Weiss, unsure of what to say.
"Um... h-hi, Weiss..." Ruby stammered. Weiss just smiled and crossed the distance that separated them, pulling Ruby into a hug.
"You don't have to say anything, Ruby," Weiss replied. "I know exactly what you're thinking, and I missed you, too."
"Aw, Weiss..." Ruby giggled, leaning over to kiss Weiss.
"Well, I suppose you'll want to know how I got here," Weiss quipped.
"Very much! I-I mean, if that's okay," Ruby stammered. Weiss honestly hoped that Ruby never stopped being a child like this.
So Weiss explained to Ruby everything that had happened since she had been returned to Atlas, leaving nothing out and letting Nick step in to explain what had gone down not even an hour ago.
"So, basically, you finally had enough of your dad's nonsense and left after Nick unleashed his inner darkness on him?" Ruby summarized. "Aw, man, I always miss the fun parts!"
Despite the fact that everyone else burst into laughs at this, Nick cast a worried glance at Maylin, more specifically her right shoulder, where he'd slashed her while still under the influence of Anti-Form.
Maylin looked over at Nick, having noticed this change in his expression. "Why the long face, fearless leader? We got Beacon Academy's Couple of the Year back together! It's a cause for celebration!"
Ignoring the fact that Ruby and Weiss blushed so spectacularly that it could be seen from space...
"H-How's your shoulder, Maylin?" Nick asked.
"Oh, my shoulder? It's fine!" Maylin quipped, not quite understanding. "I didn't really take..."
Then, it fell into place. "Oh. Nick, is that why you're so long-faced? I'm okay, promise!"
"Maylin, I could have killed you!" Nick shouted.
Nick was honestly surprised when Maylin walked up and hugged him tightly.
"You weren't yourself, Nick. Believe me, I've been in that situation more times than I can possibly count," Maylin stated. "I don't blame you in the slightest, Nick. Okay?"
"I really do have the best friends ever, don't I?" Nick quipped, returning Maylin's embrace.
"Of course, buddy! We're pals for life, remember?" Maylin giggled.
"Relish that friendship while you can."
Nick immediately spun around, summoning the Kingdom Key to his hands and laying his eyes on the owner of the voice, a figure completely covered by the black hood of Organization XIII.
Ruby wasted no time in unfurling Crescent Rose and preparing for a fight. "You again!" Ruby exclaimed, believing that this figure was Mariko Kusumi, despite Izanami-no-Mikoto's defeat. "How many times are you gonna come back from the dead?!"
"This is someone different, Ruby," Nick replied before taking a few steps towards the figure. "All right, you, what's your game here?!"
The figure simply glided backwards, his trajectory seemingly back towards Oniyuri, where Team RNJR had just fought off Tyrian.
"Oh, crap, he's going back to Oniyuri!" Ruby exclaimed. "What if he starts attracting more Grimm, or possibly that crazy guy again?!"
"Then let's go there and stop him!" Maylin proclaimed, and all five of them charged towards Oniyuri.
But when they reached the city again, the figure was nowhere to be found. All that remained of his presence was a large pool of darkness in the plaza where Team RNJR had fought Tyrian.
"Um, what is that?!" Ruby exclaimed as a strange creature rose up from the pool of darkness, dripping blobs of shadow like raindrops as it did so. The Heartless' body was a black sphere with several twisted tentacles sprouting out of it, two of them large, each sporting two metal bands around them, while the rest were smaller and placed more haphazardly around the Heartless' body, their tips all orange. The creature's jagged maw was red on the inside, and its eyes were eerie, glowing, yellow circles with pitch-black rings around them. The most prominent feature of the Heartless were the two long chains wrapped around its body, with each end of both chains attached to a conical weight.
"I'd guess it's his backup," Nick quipped.
The Shadow Stalker bobbed up and down, roaring in challenge before it flew off, searching for something to possess.
"Hey, get back here!" Ruby shouted, leaping into the air and turning into a spiral of rose petals before blasting off at remarkable speeds towards the retreating Shadow Stalker, reappearing to land a few slashes on its body before zipping back around to avoid retaliation.
"Damn, she's gotten so much stronger with that Semblance of hers," Haruka quipped.
Ruby continued to flash around the Shadow Stalker, dealing as much damage as she could until it flew off to a nearby statue, actually absorbing itself into the statue and making it come to life.
"Okay, no one told me Heartless could do that!" Maylin shouted, casting Thundara to keep the statue at bay.
Weiss switched Myrtenaster's settings and swung hard, creating a large glyph in front of her that unleashed a storm of icicles to batter at the statue. Haruka followed this up by rushing in to smash Rumbling Rose into the statue's knees, causing it to keel over so Nick could charge in and land a few hits himself.
After a short time of this, the statue jerked up and froze completely, the face of the Shadow Stalker showing up on the statue's chest.
"I think that's our cue! Let's get that thing out!" Maylin proclaimed.
Nick quickly rushed up to the statue and held up the Kingdom Key. Light poured from the blade into the statue's body, forcing the Shadow Stalker out and leaving it unremarkable stone once more.
However, the Shadow Stalker seemed to understand that it was in trouble and began to dart around like lightning, seemingly faster than they could keep up with.
"Dang it, stop moving!" Ruby shouted, using her Semblance to approach, only for the Shadow Stalker to easily dodge her.
As Ruby landed, Nick was struck by inspiration, deciding to try a power he hadn't used yet.
"Hey, Ruby?" Nick asked.
"Yup?" Ruby quipped.
"I've got an idea," Nick responded. "I wanna try something I learned recently, and I might need your help to do it."
"If it'll get this ball thing to stay still, I'm all for it!" Ruby stated.
Nick stood behind Ruby and let his hands rest on her shoulders even as the Shadow Stalker approached them.
As Nick focused, he could feel Ruby's aura flowing from her body. Nick reached out to link that power with his own.
"Harmonization Ready!" Nick shouted, a spiraling ring of light surrounding him and Ruby.
("Harmony" by Timbaland feat. Dalton Diehl plays)
The ring of light shattered into shards, and Nick leaped into the air and shot off after the Shadow Stalker, trailing flower petals behind him as he moved at speeds that rivaled Ruby.
The Shadow Stalker looked surprised, but Nick didn't give it any time to acknowledge that fact before slashing at it, using his now super-charged momentum to attack from all angles, zipping around to land each strike and making it look as if he was pinballing the Shadow Stalker through the air.
After a while of this, Nick finished the assault with an overhead slam that spiked the Shadow Stalker back into the ground.
Satisfied that the thing had been dealt with, Nick flashed back to the ground, much to the surprised looks of everyone present.
"That... was... AWESOME!" Ruby shouted. "Did you actually, like, copy my Semblance? I didn't know you could do that!"
Nick smiled in response. "It's one of the powers my own new duds give me," Nick explained. "It's called Harmonization, and I basically combine my power with the power of someone from this world to pretty much temporarily gain their abilities."
"You've certainly learned a lot since the last time," Weiss admitted.
Before Nick could accept the compliment, the Shadow Stalker picked itself up, surrounding its body with a spiraling cocoon of darkness.
"What the heck is it doing?" Ruby wondered.
"I don't think we're done yet," Haruka replied.
Sure enough, as soon as Haruka had said that, the cocoon shattered itself to reveal that the Shadow Stalker had transformed into a new Heartless, a massive creature with black skin. Its entire body was wrapped in teal thorns, and both of its wrists and ankles still had manacles on them. The chains on its arms were broken, but the chain connecting its feet was not. The creature had a large, red, toothy maw and beady, glowing yellow eyes. While it was very muscular and had large hands and feet, it also had rather thin limbs. Each of its limbs sported three digits with long, red claws. To top it all off, the creature also had two enormous, orange horns and a massive, orange mane.
"Get ready for round two, guys!" Maylin exclaimed as the Dark Thorn rushed straight for them.
Weiss wasn't having any of that, however, and planted Myrtenaster's blade into the ground to summon her personal knight, which knocked the Dark Thorn off balance with a powerful slash.
"All right, let's RIOT!" Maylin shouted, and the three keyblade wielders rushed in while the Dark Thorn was dazed to attack it with everything they had.
After a few seconds of this, the Dark Thorn roared to scatter its attackers, then turned itself invisible before charging around the city.
"Where'd it go?" Haruka wondered.
Weiss heard footsteps behind her and quickly jumped away to avoid a powerful punch attack that left a crater in the ground where she had just been. Her knight responded with a three-step slash combo that actually did some damage to the Dark Thorn.
Weiss quickly blasted the Dark Thorn with a bolt of lightning from Myrtenaster, until it seemed to leap over her and charge straight for Nick.
Nick wasn't scared, though, swiftly setting up a Reflect barrier just as the Dark Thorn lashed out, the prism-shaped shield stopping the attack cold.
The Dark Thorn didn't seem discouraged, however, continuing to slash at the barrier in hopes of breaking through. Nick simply grinned and raised the Kingdom Key, shattering the barrier and sending all the damage it had taken back as a spiral of flashing lights around him, driving the Dark Thorn to its knees.
For good measure, Maylin cast another Thundara spell to keep the Dark Thorn in its place so Nick could land the decisive blow.
However, as Nick leaped up to attack the Dark Thorn's face, it snatched him out of mid-jump and brutally tossed him away.
Despite the concerns of his friends, Nick was able to right himself in time to land feet-first on one of the abandoned buildings, using the momentum to fling himself back towards the Dark Thorn. As he approached, Nick began to spin with his keyblade extended, looking much like a spiral of death itself.
The Dark Thorn only had time to roar in disbelief as Nick made contact, using his spin to cut the Dark Thorn's throat, just barely missing decapitating the beast. But it seemed to be enough. The Dark Thorn clutched at its throat as it twitched violently before roaring again. The Dark Thorn froze this way, light escaping from its wounds before it exploded into wisps of darkness that faded away as quickly as they had appeared.
"Victory!" Ruby proclaimed, hefting Crescent Rose proudly.
"So you think."
Nick quickly spun around to face the Organization member that was standing there. "What's your deal, freak show?!"
"Not your concern. Farewell for now," the figure proclaimed before vanishing through a corridor of darkness.
"Yeah, you do that, jerk boy," Ruby groaned before turning to Weiss. "That was so cool that you finally got the hang of your summoning, Weiss!"
"Well, I've been training ever since I was taken home," Weiss admitted rather proudly.
Just then, Ruby gasped in shock. "Wait, Weiss, what if your father comes after you, or sends a bunch of big, burly mooks to take you back by force?! I mean, I know for a fact you can take care of yourself, but..."
Despite all of Ruby's fears, Weiss simply smiled, the mere sight of it calming the young reaper down. "Don't worry, Ruby. I'm not afraid of him or any of his 'agents'. Like I said, I refuse to be his puppet on a string any longer."
"That's a relief," Ruby stated.
"Besides," Weiss replied in a quiet tone as she hugged Ruby tightly. "The only thing I'm truly scared of is losing you."
Maylin couldn't help but swoon at the romantic display. That was just the way she was, after all, being a romantic at heart.
Ruby suddenly felt a strange twinge of energy, and dug into her pocket, realizing that her scroll was glowing for some odd reason.
"Jeez, what is it with these things and them just wanting to... well, not work?" Ruby groaned.
Nick quickly noticed that a similar glow was surrounding the Kingdom Key. Realizing what he needed to do, he held the Kingdom Key aloft, to Ruby and Weiss' confusion.
Energy began to gather around the Kingdom Key's teeth, before eventually absorbing into the ground below Nick and creating the shape of a crown under his feet. Wind began to swirl around Nick's body as he channeled his power, eventually forming into a large keyhole in the sky.
Nick jumped back, spinning the Kingdom Key a few times before aiming and firing a beam of light from the keyblade into the keyhole. Reality seemed to shatter in a large circle around the keyhole, lines of light flowing into it before creating a bright flare that caused the keyhole to disappear.
"That's our sign, guys! The gate is open!" Maylin proclaimed.
"You guys are leaving?" Ruby gasped.
"Other worlds are calling, as always," Haruka replied. "As you probably saw, we've got a new threat to deal with."
"Hey, yeah, who was that hooded nut?" Ruby wondered. "I almost thought it was that Mari-whosits..."
"These guys are bad news, too," Nick explained. "They call themselves Organization XIII, and they're a bunch of Nobodies, as in the cast-off body and soul of someone who's lost their heart. All we know about them is that they're up to something sneaky, and that it possibly involves Kingdom Hearts, the heart of all worlds. So yeah, not good."
"So it's our job as keyblade wielders to deal with them!" Maylin proclaimed. "It's what we do, after all."
"Will you be okay here, Weiss?" Haruka asked.
"I have Ruby and her friends watching over me," Weiss answered. "I'm sure I'll be just fine."
"Oh, hey!" Ruby gasped, reaching into her pocket and pulling out a small charm shaped like her rose decals. "I wanted to give you this, Nick. I think you probably know what it does by now."
Indeed, Nick did, as he accepted the charm and attached it to the base of his Kingdom Key. After about a second, the Kingdom Key transformed into an entirely new keyblade which appeared to be modeled after the weapons of Team RNJR. The hilt was a cross between the hilt of Weiss' Myrtenaster and a large rose decal like on Ruby's Crescent Rose, the handlebars resembled Ren's Storm Flower blades, the shaft of the weapon was the blade of Jaune's Crocea Mors in its sheathed state, and the teeth of the blade resembled the hammer "head" Nora's Magnhild. As Nick studied the new keyblade, the words Riot Ranger ran through his head.
"Drop by if you're ever in the neighborhood!" Ruby giggled.
"Don't worry, Ruby, we will," Nick replied. "And if we ever find any of these bad guys you've all been tailing, I promise you they'll pay in spades."
Ruby just nodded, smiling happily as the three keyblade wielders teleported back to the Gummi Ship.
"Oh, Uncle Qrow! We should probably go check on him," Ruby gasped. "I hope that fight didn't attract any Grimm..."
Weiss knew how concerned Ruby was about her incapacitated uncle, so she followed the reaper to rejoin the rest of Team RNJR.
The shadows cast by the trees concealed the sight of a strange figure, brandishing two very alike-looking keyblades.
"Wow, he really did it. But I'd better keep going. I still have to save him!"
"Well, another world down," Maylin proclaimed. "And that's already two members of the Organization we've driven off!"
"It's not gonna get any easier from here, Maylin," Haruka replied as the Gummi Ship took off for the next world. "We need to stay on our toes."
"And I just realized, we never found that girl," Nick gasped, remembering the events of earlier.
"Girl?" Maylin wondered.
"It was right before you guys came to get me, remember?" Nick answered. "I told the Oracle about her, too. I have no idea why she's here or how she can wield two keyblades, since I thought I was the only one who could, but if she's out there trying to fight the Organization, we need to make sure she's all right."
"You think we'll find her in the next world?" Haruka asked.
"Here's hoping," Nick replied.
After about ten minutes of flying through the Lanes Between, the next world came into view. The structure representing it appeared to resemble a chain of large floating islands floating in a rainbow-patterned sky. The four largest islands had impressive cities on them, one futuristic, one industrial, one covered in snowy terrain, and one modern-esque.
"Gotta love the variety, huh?" Maylin proclaimed.
"All right, let's check out this new route so we can get to our next destination," Haruka proclaimed, steering the Gummi Ship into the large door that led to the connecting route. "Full speed ahead!"
As the Gummi Ship made its way in, Maylin caught another glimpse of the strange armored figure out at the very edge of the Lanes Between.
Again? Maylin thought, just as it clicked into place in her mind. Aqua! THAT'S who that is! No wonder she looked so familiar! But my question is...
Maylin made sure to catch one last glimpse of Aqua before the entire Gummi Ship was engulfed in light.
...if Aqua's flying through the Lanes Between all on her own... what exactly happened to Terra and Ven?
Maylin made sure to ask Aqua about that if she ever saw her in person. After all, not too long ago they'd all been...
To be continued...
New Harmonization acquired!
Semblance Copy
Drive Gauge Points Needed: 2
Purpose: Copy a party member's specific Semblance to gain their abilities for a short time.
New keyblade acquired!
Riot Ranger
Strength: 6
Magic: 4
Ability: MP Haste
A keyblade representing a fragmented team on a journey for justice. Increases the speed at which the MP Gauge recharges by 25%.
On the next episode:
Maylin: Next world ahoy!
Haruka: And boy, did we pick a pretty trippy world to find, huh? Why do all four of these nations sound like they're ripping off game consoles?
Maylin: Hey, you said it yourself, some of these worlds are pretty oddball.
Haruka: And do these people not even care about the fourth wall or something?
Nick: Wait, fourth wall? Who do I know that likes to break the fourth wall?
Maylin: Wait, you don't think...?
Nick: Next time on W.I.T.C.H.: Key to Her Heart II, "Game On"!
Nick, Maylin, & Haruka: May your hearts be your guiding key!
