If this is The End
Chapter 4: A Promise Kept
Axel…
The sound of his name had never sounded so sweet. Axel listened intently to it, and imagined himself sitting on the edge of the clocktower, with Roxas by his side. He could picture her there, all that soft blonde hair stretching down her back, eyes blue as the ocean, her hands clutching an ice cream in her hands.
"Roxas…"
Have you forgotten?
"Huh? Forgotten what?"
You made us a promise… you said you'd always be there to bring us back.
"Yeah…" he recalled saying so… but couldn't venture a guess who he told it to. "I did."
"Got it memorized?" His image of Roxas began to fade, but the last thing he saw before she did was that confident teasing smile.
"Hmmm…" He laughed a little staring down at the ice cream in his own hand, wishing he could actually taste it. So all of it was a dream, and now it was time to wake up. Didn't that just figure? "I got it, Roxie."
He felt the world around him fade to black… but the numbness was gone, replaced by a fatigue and queasiness he hadn't felt before. He slowly stirred, blinking his eyes open one at a time and getting his bearings.
"Where am I? Roxas?" He looked around for her, thethen remembered she wouldn't be there. She was where she belonged, inside Sora's heart.
"Damn it…" just woke up and the first thing he felt was a sharp pain in his chest from an aching heart.
Felt… pain… it was real. All of it was real.
He stood up eying his reflection in the glass and touching his face in disbelief.
"We're people again." He looked at the others in the room. Even, Dilan, Aeleus, Ienzo… no Xehanort, No Braig… no Isa. "What's going on?"
~With Riku~
These worlds were so diverse. He'd seen various worlds before, but he'd done his best to avoid conflict, stay out of everyone's way, and not meddle. This time around Riku was purposely searching for the conflicts of a world, seeking the darkness that was forcing it to stay in slumber.
He wondered if Sora had been transported to a different world. Searching around he found no trace of her, and the few people he talked to hadn't seen a girl with her description. He and Sora stood out, that much was clear, so he was certain if she was in the world, someone would have noticed.
Either way he had a mission to accomplish. He had to find what was causing disruption in this world. What he'd found in this architectural wonder, was Judge Frollo. His tyrannical leadership gave him a position of power in which he was using to wipe out the gypsies, or the vermin of the world as he called them. Riku wasn't sure what a gypsy was, but the woman Esmeralda had explained that gypsies were merely a common folk who loved their freedom.
Didn't matter much to him, because one look at this so called Judge had the familiar scent of darkness wafting to his nose. Riku didn't trust this judge, or his ideals, and in the end it lead him straight where he needed.
~The Farm and Phoebus~
After dodging the attacks from a large bat-like nightmare Riku ducked through a canyon path and came up to a little farm house tucked next to a large windmill. He spotted two figures in front and narrowed his eyes on the situation.
"Stand aside, Captain Phoebus!" Judge Frollo warned in a sneering tone.
"I will not! What have these people done wrong?" The blonde man in golden armor stood tall and firm. He held his sword out, prepared to protect the helpless people inside from harm.
"I know for a fact these people have given harbor to Gypsies." Frollo replied, lifting his chin haughtily.
"What? That's not a crime!"
"I can think of few crimes that are greater." Frollo glanced back, the large bat-like nightmare flying across the sky and hovering above him like a well trained pet.
"What demon is this?!" Phoebus stare up in disbelief. Riku ran up to the group staring up and narrowing his eyes at Frollo. He'd found his anomaly.
"You are mistaken Captain, this is no demon, it is righteous judgement." Darkness oozed out of Frollo, his lips twitching as the confident smile spread and his eyes go chaotic. "I have been granted this power so that I may smite the gypsies now and forever."
"This is all wrong!" Phoebus slashed his sword out again, Riku standing beside him prepared to fight as well.
"He won't listen, once you've fallen that deep, there's almost no coming back." That, Riku knew, from his own personal experience with darkness.
"How dare you?" Frollo sneered, completely insulted by Riku's accusation. "I am a virtuous man. Good and evil shall be made plain once the gypsies face the fires of judgement."
Frollo walked away, laughter bubbling in his throat as his goal was clear in sight. The nightmare created by his twisted dream, a world without the "taint" of gypsies, fed the darkness and destruction soon overtook the city.
Riku followed it and him back to the city. He needed to stop it; stop the destruction, stop the darkness, stop Frollo. He ran straight into the square, pausing only briefly to check on Esmerelda who had been rescued by Quasimodo, the abused and disfigured ward of Judge Frollo.
With her safe, and the city set aflame, Riku ran to the top of the citadel to face down Frollo and the Nightmare in his control.
"Yes! Let it burn!" Frollo laughed, sword in hand and eyes glittering with dark delight. "The flames with consume everything!" He heard Riku come up behind him and he twisted his head around to converse with him. "You see? This is the power that has been granted to me!"
"All I see is a sad old man with a dark heart." Riku retorted, wiping sweat from his brow as the heat from the flames started to take its toll on his body.
"Again you are wrong!" Frustrated that his vision wasn't being praised, Frollo let his darkness grow. He raised his hands high above his head, summoning his beast to him. The rapid beat of the nightmare's wings knocked Frollo's body off the citadel, but the craze of his darkness had become too great.
"Judgement is mine!" Frollo laughed as his body fell and became consumed by the flames.
RIku let out a heavy sigh, his tension easing some. He'd expected the darkness to overtake him… but it didn't make the waste of life anymore sad.
The sounds of footsteps caught his attention, and his tension returned when he spotted two familiar figures. He whirled to face them, gritting his teeth at the cloaked figures.
"You're ansem! Why are you here?!" Riku accused striking his hand through the air.
"Your best friend is never far." Young Xehanort explained and glanced to Ansem. He'd known Ansem was the right choice to bring here as he had the closest connection with the darkness inside Riku's heart. If anyone could warp the mind of this kid it would be him.
"So sad, the cost one suffers to yield to the darkness." Ansem knelt down to pick up the discarded sword Frollo left behind.
'You could write a book about that!" Riku sneered.
"I am different. I embrace the darkness." Ansem corrected and pointed the shimmering blade at the young keyblade wielder. "Unless you hurry and do the same, your fate will end just like his."'
"No!" Riku materialized his keyblade, his heart and mind clear in his path, "I walk the road to dawn!"
"Still afraid of the dark I see…" disappointed in the strong resistance Riku showed, Young Xehanort turned his back to him and walked through the dark portal. Ansem dropped the blade turning after his companion… smirking briefly at his former vessel. He was certain that sooner or later he would break down the walls of light in Riku's heart.
~A few moments later~
After his encounter with Ansem Riku defeated the lingering nightmare Frollo had left behind. The flames extinguished, and the city returned to normal. His job here was done, and it was time to move on. He went back down to the center of the cathedral to make his way out and onto the next world, but as he turned for the exit he spotted Sora at the front and his eyes went wide.
"Sora!" He rushed to her, his hand reaching out and passing right through her. "What?"
She stepped forward passing right through him and his heart ached a little.
"So, the worlds are still split into two." He followed her with his eyes. "Which means you and I have to each take this journey alone…" The emotions inside him battled; concern, longing...hope. A soft smile spread on his lips and he held his heart. No matter, he thought with a smile. Even if separated by worlds you're always right here… making me stronger.
"Just like I'm with you… I'll see you soon, Sora." He raised his keyblade up and opened the path to the next world.
~With Sora~
"Quasimodo…" Sora looked to the misshapen man she'd journeyed with. The town was saved from Frollo's dark clutches, the gypsies safe and free from his tyrannical rule, but she worried whether or not Quasi would still be chained to his way of life.
For years Quasimodo had suffered under the thumb of his caretaker. Listening to someone belittle you, call you a monster and instill fear inside you… it was a life that was hard to break free from. She wanted to assure him that there was a better world out there… a better life.
"Quasi!" She stepped toward him her eyes showing determination. "You can't let your heart be a-"
"I know." Quasimodo cut her off and looked back at his new friend. "I can't blame Frollo for putting walls around me. It wasn't the walls that were holding me back."
Sora gave a soft smile and touched her heart nodding. He returned the smile, his eyes no longer sad and forlorn, but filled with determination and strength.
"My heart is free now," He turned his back to her, the dark halls of the citadel encased him, but he stepped toward the open doors, and to the light of the outside. "I'm ready to really see what's out there."
"Good for you, Quasi." She stepped back and admired the grand architecture inside the cathedral. When she'd first come to this world she'd been amazed by the beauty of it, and the grandness of it's high walls and elegant artwork.
Caught by its beauty again she stepped towards a statue up at the altar and admired it. As she did she went over her experiences in this world, and drew a solid conclusion as to why this world had been kept sleeping.
"All that time, Quasi stayed trapped inside the nightmares Frollo gave him." She sighed sadly. "No one's heart should be made a prison."
"Hypocrite… you are the one who has made your heart a prison"
The voice startled Sora and she whirled around to face the guy in the black cloak. She'd seen his face in the projection of the other Twilight Town, and now to see him here she was certain this guy was following her. Was he also part of the test?
"You again!?"
She glared and then gasped as a shadow stepped out from behind him… she held no form, a cloud of smoke with eyes filled with hate and annoyance.
Vanita stare at the girl in front of her, her teeth bared in a wicked grin even as her eyes glared maliciously.
"Even if you are not the prisoner" their voices warped together, sending chills down her spine. Sora shook her head rubbing her eyes. When she blinked them open the girl was gone and only Young Xehanort stood in front of her.
"What?"
Young Xehanort smirked, his mission to confuse the young keyblade wielder complete. He stepped through the black gate appearing outside the cathedral. He glanced off to the side at Vanita who stood behind him.
"A bit bitter I see…" He noted and had Vanita clicking her tongue at him.
"You would be too if you were stuck in limbo. When you first appeared you said you'd get me out of here. I can slowly feel my strength returning, but it takes all I have just to maintain this shadow form." Vanita glared at him. "So do us both a favor and speed up this ridiculous process."
"Patience… all is going as it should. The girl will continue to follow her heart deeper into the abyss, and you will get stronger. Once her heart has completely sunk in you'll be able to step through the darkness and receive a proper welcome to the real world."
"Is that what your elder self told you?" She laughed at him. "His plans are as crazy as ever… he does remember I'm only half of a heart… How does he intend to reconstruct the rest of it without Venus?"
"You needn't worry about that. I wouldn't waste my time telling you any of this if it would just mean you'd stay stranded here."
"Fine… but what about the boy?" She warned. "You managed to split the dream worlds in two and keep them separated… but if he catches wind of your plan then he may try to save the girl."
"The fool is still unaware of what's going on, and the longer he stays in her dreams, the more likely he is to fall into that same abyss." Young Xehanort explained waving it off. "Sora is in our grasp, walking the path we've laid out for her and leading her right where we want her to. Even if Riku does manage to open all seven keyholes inside her dreams he won't be able to reach her to finish the task. He'll appear in the real world and we'll be able to eliminate him ourselves."
"… and Terra?" Her eyes flickered from angry to sad at just the thought of him. Even in this abyss she could still feel he pang of his absence. A pang, she knew, Venus shared with her.
"You'll see him soon enough. just do as your told and you will have everything you were promised." He looked up as the light formed indicating Sora had opened the gate to the next world. He formed his own portal to follow her. "Have patience."
"Easy for you to say…" She muttered and disappeared from the dream, and back into the void.
~Axel~
"Where are they? I've turned this castle upside down." Axel grunted and stepped into the remnants of Ansem's old study. He eyed Zexion and Aeleus who were going through the scraps and such left behind. "Hey are the other two still out cold?"
"Dilan and Even are conscious, but still unstable. They're resting inside." Aeleus explained, fixing a broken shelf and sorting out the scattered books.
"Gotcha…" Axel stretched and glanced around quick before sighing. "Well I guess I'll give the castle grounds a sweep."
"Don't, if they were back we would have found them by now." Aeleus suggested and stood tall again.
"Hmmm…" Axel wandered back in, his eyes taking in the destruction. Through his search around the inside castle he'd let his thoughts wander on what to do next. Several members he knew wouldn't be here because they'd been recruited on other worlds… but Isa, Braig, and Xehanort were still M.I.A. which made him wary.
He tuned into Zexion's long winded lecture with half an ear, his mind whirling with his own plan. He waved his hand as if to wave off the explanation.
"No look, the point is we're here, we've been recompleted right?" He spoke concisely, wanting to make sure his own thoughts were being heard and understood. "Which means they should be here too, plain and simple."
"I agree it is strange."
"What a drag… could they not have been re-completed at all?" He caught sight of the diagram drawn on the wall. He'd seen how Xehanort's mind worked, seen the chaos he could inflict and wondered just what the man was doing now that his grand master plan was destroyed.
… or was it?
He stepped up to the diagram, his quick witted mind putting together theories like puzzle pieces. The door to darkness… Seven Pure Hearts… Thirteen Darknesses… just what if…
"You know what, never mind." He decided putting his hands on his hips. If Xehanort was still out there plotting and planning, he wasn't about to let his friends dragged back into the chaos. He knew Sora, and in turn Roxas would be targeted. No way was he going to let her become Xehanort's pawn again. "I'll bring them back myself."
"Hmm?" Zexion turned to face him. "How, exactly?"
Simple… Axel thought with a smirk… by keeping his promise. If Xehanort was still on this whole completing Kingdom Hearts, heart of all worlds, light vs. darkness spiel, then Axel knew exactly which side he wanted to be a part of.
"Why do I always get stuck with the icky jobs?"
~Ask Briry~
Briry: Sorry this chapter took a little time and came out so short. I want this story to be enjoyed even if you guys haven't gotten the chance to play Dream Drop Distance, so I had to figure out which events to flush out. Hope you guys are enjoying the ride!
Next Chapter: The Other Me