This is my favorite chapter. And your last chance to not have the Epilogue of KHIII spoiled for you. If you haven't beaten the game, be prepared. Major spoilers ahead.
Braig.
She sits on the pavement and draws with chalk, legs folded up like a pretzel. She draws with chalk a lot, he's noticed, and he's been paying attention. Oh, has he been paying attention.
After all, there was a time when he thought she was his daughter.
Mayris, her mother, had been a lot more than just a fellow member of the guard. He remembers the redheaded woman with full lips and a mole just beneath them all too fondly. He remembers pinning her to the wall, in a dark corner of the castle, her legs wrapped around his waist. He remembers her screaming and throwing empty glass vials at him whenever he pissed her off, and he pissed her off a lot. He remembers the woman calling it quits with him and running off with some pilot. But said pilot had about as much personality as a bowl of oatmeal, and Mayris always came running back. Even when her pilot husband joined the guard.
She met with Braig in secret, constantly, desperately. That was, until the day she found out she was pregnant.
The timeline fit, the girl could've been Braig's daughter. But when she came out with the exact same blonde hair and sea green eyes the pilot had, that settled Braig's doubts. Still, Mayris was the most fun he'd ever had…at least, in this body.
'The child born of obligation, not love, will be your guiding key. Keep her safe, at all costs. Keep her away from the darkness. For if she remembers the shadows that will fall, she will become nothing but a pawn.'
Braig, Luxu, whatever. It doesn't matter what he calls himself. He remembers not only Mayris, but every other life he's ever had. And clearer than ever, he remembers the Master of Master's words. The child born of obligation. Here she is, in the flesh, chewing on her full lower lip, brow creased. Her drawings aren't good, not in the slightest.
But that doesn't. matter. At the end of the day, as long as she fills her role in this war, as long as she is his guiding key, then hey, that's all that counts.
With purposeful footsteps, he approaches her. Immediately, her eyes dart up, bright and aware. She presses her lips together and sits up a little straighter, regarding him in a way that makes her look older than she actually is. Braig nearly laughs. Damn, she's not his. But with an attitude like that, she could be.
"Hey there, kiddo." He drawls. She prickles.
"Uncle Cid says I'm not supposed to talk to strangers." She says, flatly, returning to her drawings. Ha, little bitch. She's gonna grow up just like her mom, he's certain of that.
And fuck Cid Highwind, for that matter.
"Awe man, thing is, I'm not a stranger. I knew your parents. We were in the guard together." Braig says, crouching down on his haunches to look her in the eye. She however, refuses to meet his gaze.
"I don't remember my parents. And I don't know you." She shrugs.
"Well, I'm Braig." Although he's tempted to tell her his real name. He nearly told Mayris, because if someone's going to scream his name, he'd rather it be the real one. Still, that'll have to wait. All good things, right?
The little girl looks up at him, eyes narrowed as though she is trying to figure out what to make of him. Finally, after a moment worth of debate, she drops the chalk to the ground and thrusts her hand out to him.
"I'm Rueki." She announces. He snickers as he shakes her hand, and to his surprise, for being some short, chubby little marshmallow of a girl, she's got a hell of a handshake. She could be intimidating if she were a decade older and her bangs weren't standing straight up.
"Nice to meet ya, Rueki. Whatcha drawing?" Because truly, he cannot make out what's she's trying to create. Seriously, art is not her forte.
"An owl." She says, proudly. "See, those are the wings." She points to something that looks a lot more like a tree than wings, but he nods, a smile playing at the edges of his lips.
"Yeah?" He raises an eyebrow.
"It's not very good though." She says, but it's very matter of fact. She's not looking for sympathy, she's not looking for a father figure to praise her. Maybe Cid Highwind is doing something right in raising the girl, after all.
"Hey, you said it, not me." He grins wildly, and to his surprise, she smiles back. Bright and genuine, so truly real. For the first time, he thinks she looks like a young Mayris. But then her expression settles, and he sees the pilot again. He chuckles, ruffling her messy hair.
"Hey!" She protests.
He likes the kid, really, he does. He's incredibly good at faking tolerance for others. Part of the job description. Luxu, go and observe. Luxu, follow around some asshole who's going to summon Kingdom Hearts. Luxu do this, Luxu do that. He's gotten so good over the years at bullshitting his way through things. But her? This little girl? Well, as long as she keeps on the same path, maybe she won't be the worst 'guiding key' out there.
At the very least, if her attitude doesn't disappear, she'll make life interesting for him, and after so many years of hopping from body to body, entertainment is the best he can hope for.
"Maybe you should find another hobby. Or go off and play with your little friends." He offers.
"I don't have any more books to read." She sighs, dramatically. It isn't lost on him that she doesn't say a single word about friends. He thinks of the little black haired girl that follows her around, and how Rueki's gotta be at least nine now, and probably outgrowing dolls. He thinks of the two little shit teenagers who just became apprentices, and how it's painfully obvious that they've been sneaking into the Castle, into the dungeons where Ansem the Wise houses his little experiments. The boys are probably infinitely more fixated on HER, than they are on Rueki. He looks at the little girl, who picks up her chalk once again, and wonders if she's as lonely as he is. "I don't really have any friends. I mean, I thought I did. But, I guess this is just what happens when you're smarter than most people. It's okay though. I don't really like hanging out with stupid people. It's not fun."
How right she is. His face hardens a little as he looks at her.
The child born out of obligation, not love.
She's his guiding key and this world is going to fall to shit at any minute. Braig knows what Xehanort has planned, he knows all of Xehanort's plans. He knows everything and then some and when this world falls, this little girl will fall to darkness too. Even as she draws, mouth pressed together in a pout, eyes suddenly hard, he sees a spark in her presence. A flame that wants so desperately to ignite. No way will that happen if she gets snuffed out too soon. No. Now that he's found her, there's only one option to keep her safe. And that's by shining a light so bright on her, nothing can eclipse it.
"No, it's not." He agrees. She looks up through her lashes at him, raising her eyebrows, as though she forgot he was there. "Maybe you're just destined for bigger and better things."
"Probably. I'm gonna be a pilot, like my dad. I'm gonna see everything out there." She tells him, and there's no stupid, youthful optimism in her tone. No, she just looks at him like nothing can stop her if she works hard enough, and that's endearing, really, it is.
"Sure you are, kiddo." He says.
"My name is Rueki." She reminds him.
"Yeah, little Rueki. I won't forget that." He cracks a smile.
"You know, you're not as mean as I thought you'd be." She says, that spark brightening in her eyes.
"You thought I was mean? As if!" Braig laughs.
"Yeah, you look mean." She says. "I thought only pirates wore eye patches." She says. He howls out laughing, and she starts giggling too. It's not a cute sound, she snorts and wheezes, but she means it, and he likes that about her. She's real, fuck, this little kid is as real as it gets. He hopes she stays like this.
"Ha, is that what you like? Books about pirates?" He asks. She shrugs.
"I like books about anything. I'd rather read a boring book than do nothing at all." She says. He nods. She is it. Without a doubt, she's the one. And wouldn't it be grand to get to look her in the eyes, here and now, and tell her that her life was meant for so much greater than this? That one day, she will live the most beautiful adventure of all?
But instead, he smiles softly at her as she starts to scribble maybe another wing on the owl.
"Hey, kid?" He asks.
"Rueki." She reminds him.
"Little Rueki." He says. She looks up, sitting up tall once more. "Don't sweat the other kids. I think you're right. I think you'll see a lot more of life than just this tiny world." He says, reaching out to her. Her eyes widen as he sets his index and middle finger against her forehead. There's a moment that passes between the two of them that completely takes her breath away. She gasps, as light radiates from his fingertips, engulfing the two of them in a warm glow. But just as quick as it began, the light is extinguished and it completely drains the girl. Her body crumbles, but with quick reflexes, he reaches out and tucks her against the side of the house, knees curled to her chest. She'll wake up in a few minutes, but protection spells are tricky. Hell, even he is tired.
Keep her safe at all costs. Keep her away from the darkness.
All it'll take is a little darkness—like the flipping of a switch, if darkness so much as touches her, she will be hurled as far away from this nightmare as possible. To the tiniest, hole of a world, the middle of nowhere. Her memories will be locked away, safely out of her reach, like a tourniquet for a wound. She'll be so far removed from Xehanort, from this Keyblade War, safely untouched until the day comes that she needs to light his way.
And, if destiny intervenes and all else fails?
Well, Braig…no, Luxu, is quick on his feet. If he fails at keeping her safe, at least this body still has one good eye to watch over her with.
He doesn't visit the girl again before Radiant Garden falls, however, he does send her a book of fairy tales and scribbles on the inside of it 'may your heart be your guiding key'.