As soon as Beast left to scout ahead for anymore surprises left by the Heartless, a figure in black came from around the corner. Keeping a hand on Crocea Mors, Jaune waited for the stranger to make a move.
"So, you must be Jaune. Correct?" The man wearing a black hood asked calmly. Cautious as to what he wanted from him, Jaune hesitantly nodded.
"I'm Jaune. Why are you looking for me?" Almost too quick for him to follow, the hooded man tossed him a small package.
"I know what's going on in your head. The despair, the hate, and all of that animosity. Surprisingly, I went through the same thing." Jaune undid some of the wrappings before shooting a glare at him.
"Why. Are. You. Here?" Jaune grunted out as he dropped the picture. In response, the man took off his hood and stared right into Jaune's widening eyes.
"To remind you-"
...
"Maleficient, why did you help me back there?" Jaune was escourting the dark fairy through the castle, noting how various Heartless would stop to kneel before resuming patrol of the halls as they went by. Their final destination was only known to Maleficient as they grew further and further away from Jaune's former classmates.
"No-not that I'm ungrateful for the help or anything!" he sputtered at the sight of her raising a single brow in question. "I am only curious as to why you defended me." She chuckled slightly before smirking.
"Here, in my castle, you are my intriguing guest. Your former partner-," Jaune stayed passive at the mention of Pyrrha. "-was a guest who had overstayed her welcome."
"As my host then, I thank you. Again." The fairy's smile turned demure for less than a second before fading as someone coughed behind them.
"When are we going to get to Bell?" They had come upon Beast struggling to get back into the main entrance from another room minutes after having left Weiss, Yang, and Pyrrha to their own devices. Maleficient gestured for two armored Heartless to come forward and then addressed Beast.
"I need for you to go to the barracks and bring me back that utter imbecile, Pete, before he gets eaten by my raven. These two will accompany you there and back to me once you have him-," Beast looked like he was about to start shouting in pure rage before Maleficient finished with, "-where I will be waiting with the Princesses of Heart, of which Bell is a member of."
"Please do it Beast," Jaune gave him a tired smile. "You've made it this far, what's a few more minutes?"
After that, Beast silently followed the Heartless, leaving Jaune alone to proceed forward with current ruler of Hollow Bastion.
...
"So, what's wrong with her?" Jaune eyed Ruby's unconscious form while his host examined an incomplete doorway of clashing colors.
Maleficient had led Jaune to where the Princesses of Heart slept, waiting to fulfill their, "purpose." Jaune had no idea as to why they had been collected here, but saw no real point in knowing.
"The day your world was taken by the Heartless, Ruby lost her heart, as well as keeping this Keyhole from appearing too." Jaune stayed still, his face blank as he listened to the fairy.
"Until she regains it, she'll remain this way, and I won't be able to acquire what I desire from this world."
"What do you want?"
All was quiet for the moment, silent, except for the clicking of Maleficient's shoes as she walked away from the door. Jaune followed after her until she stopped by one of the unconscious Princesses. She was blond, wearing a violet dress, and looked no older than Jaune himself.
"Her name is Aurora. She was the Princess of a kingdom I despised for a long time. Her father'," she stopped for a moment, as if unsure what to say. "-he left her in the care of three, useless, pixies to raise her in his stead while he went insane from preventing a horrible fate from happening to her. A fate I had caused..."
Jaune looked back to see Maleficient was biting her lip. His expression became less blank as he silently observed the lone tear trailing down her face. The fairy became startled when she felt the young man's hand slide into hers.
(Play: Final Fantasy XV: Somnus Extended)
Maleficient glanced up to see Jaune looking back at her. This was the only time anyone has ever seen him look like this. His eyes weren't blank, or dead to the world, but they weren't full of emotion either. They were sad, melancholic, and tired. Almost as tired as the solemn, smile on his face. When their eyes met, there wasn't a need to say anything.
They simply knew
As one, they turned to face the sleeping girl stuck in her crystal pod, their minds finally at ease for a moment in this chaotic mess that they'd been pulled into when the Heartless stepped foot into their lives.
For the moment, they weren't jaded and wrathful.
For the moment, they weren't cynical and sharp.
For the moment, they weren't empty and dissatisfied with life.
For the next few minutes of peace, they were just a man and a woman, taking comfort in the knowledge that they weren't alone.
...
"To remind you that whatever may come, it's up to you to get to where you wanna go." A face that was his, but not his appeared under that hood. He had a dark tan, eyes the color of blood, and ink black hair. Despite these differences, Jaune would've recognized this man's face anywhere.
For it was his own.
"Remember, Jaune," the older teen turned away before pulling his hood back up.
"ALL world's share the same sky. One sky-"
...
"-one destiny."
Beast had returned with a big, roundish dog-like creature that he could only assume was Pete after he and Maleficient had finished doing... whatever it was they had done. Jaune shook his head to stop thinking about that for the moment, and concentrated.
"Hey, Ruby. I'm sorry I took so long getting here. Would you have believed me if I said your sister had problems trying to drive our ride?"
...
"Impossible!" Maleficient snarled before continuing to limp away from her chambers.
Despite the increased patrols, immense concentration of Heartless, and complexity to how the castle worked, Pyrrha and her company had managed to fight their way to her. To add insult to injury, they were able to damage her badly in spite of the fact that Jaune told her what they could do, and how they behaved in battle.
...
"Regardless of Yang's inadequate piloting skills with the gummy ship, I came here because I had to tell you something. Sure, you may not be able to respond, or hear me, but I still need to say it."
...
"The King's lackies had to have been why," she grumbled as the dark fairy continued to limp away from her adversaries only to stop as a Corridor opened before her.
"While a good host should comfort their guests, I would be a bad guest I didn't assist my host." Jaune imply smiled before helping Maleficient to the Corridor.
"Stop right there!" a, weirdish, voice shouted?
Jaune glanced back to find an anthropic duck and dog charging forward across the empty space with Weiss, Yang, and Pyrrha not too far behind them.
"VOMIT BOY!"
Jaune rolled his eyes before snapping his fingers. Countless Neoshadows sprang into existence before engaging Pyrrha and company. Buying more than enough time for Jaune and Maleficient to leave via the Corridor before disappearing themselves, as per instruction.
...
"I have been tired for a long time. Tired with my family not helping me train. Tired with my sad excuse of a love life. Tired with never making it at Beacon. I'm just... tired. But you helped me feel like I had worth, a lot more than Pyrrha ever did."
...
"Why are you telling me to leave my own castle, Jaune?!"
"Because this has gotten too far out of either of our controls. Also, he is here." Maleficient stopped shouting for a moment, then glared at the ground, willing for it to combust.
Pete glanced between the two of them before staring worriedly at the barred doors keeping Pyrrha and the others away from the Princesses for the time being.
"I have one last thing to do while I'm here, same with Beast. However, you still need to be around for when Aurora wakes up when this is all over, my benevolent host." Jaune snarled half-heartedly.
...
"Despite this, I need to tell you goodbye, Ruby. I've been here for too long. It's time for me to take this next step, alone." Sitting down in the middle of the platform before the door and away from Ruby, Jaune closed his eyes.
"I know you are here."
"..."
"I know what you want with me, and I have a deal for you, Ansem."
"Well now, what do you want then, Mr. Arc?" A deep voice came from behind Jaune.
"To give my final regards, and leave the past behind me for good."
...
"Ruby!" Pyrrha raced to her friend's motionless body before the incomplete Keyhole, ignorant of the fact that a barrier had come up, separating her off from Goofy and Weiss.
"Come on! Why won't your eyes open sis! I'm right here before you, so please open your eyes!"
"She won't wake. No matter what you do," an empty voice startled them from behind.
Pyrrha sharply turned around to find Jaune sitting atop the doorway, wearing jeans and an unbuttoned black overcoat with nothing underneath. Before she could sputter a response, Jaune continued speaking, a blank look present on his face.
"The door will remain closed as long as the final Princess of Heart still sleeps." Jaune dropped from his purchase not even a second later.
"Hold on a second Vomit Boy! How in the Hell is Ruby a princess?" Yang's hair was already alight, but her eyes weren't red yet.
"I've learned all that there is to know. Especially, about what comes next." Putting the pieces together, Pyrrha readied her Keyblade.
"Give them back their hearts, whoever you are!" Jaune only tsked before chuckling a bit.
"Don't worry too much, Ms. Nikos. The final Princess will awaken, but first-" he quickly casted Reflect, causing Yang to bounce off and crash on the other side of the barrier. "-you and I have a score to settle, Pyrrha." Then, effortlessly, he pushed Donald away causing the duck to crash into Yang as Beast appeared, engaging Pyrrha's friends alongside various Heartless on the other side of the barrier.
"This-," a black wing sprouted out of his shoulder while he summoned his blade. "-is where we part ways, my, partner." Jaune glared at her with his blue eyes before their blades started to clash.
AN: Hope you people are enjoying yourselves with this and KH3. Also yes, this Maleficient is kinda more like her Angelina movie part than her cartoon self. Well until next time, may our hearts be our guiding keys.