Disclaimer: The following contains characters and elements from Disney, Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy, Dissidia Final Fantasy, TWEWY, and some OCs. I own nothing but the idea and the OCs.
AN: Hello! I'm back! Okay, well at the moment, it looks like the only one who's voted so far is my dear friend, Vanitas-of-Darkness, ( who is a truly wonderful human being) so, the votes are currently tallied as follows:
Forever Crescent: 1
Brothers in Arms: 1 (Did I mention that you can vote for as many as you want? I thought I did)
Family?!: 0
A Prince or a Pauper?: 0
Test of the Heart: 0
Guardians of the Other World: 0
The first chapter of Brothers in Arms is ready to go, and I'm still working through some of the details for Forever Crescent. However, those of you who haven't voted yet, (Yue, Hazama-Chan, I'm talking to you ) there is still time, so stop your dilly dallying, 'kay? Alright, here we go.
Chapter 6: A Strange Place, and the Lady of Harmony
Where was he? That was the first question to pop into his mind after who knows how long. The last thing he remembered was his brother's shouting. Those shouts had been filled with unbelievable pain and anguish. Worry filled him. What had happened to him? Where was his brother? What happened to -
"Vani!" The blonde haired boy jolted upright to find himself sitting on a slightly rumpled bed in an unfamiliar room. The walls were bare and beige in color, yet difficult to see due to the heavy curtains blocking the window. There was carpet on the floor, and a nightstand next to the bed, but not much else. One thing the boy was sure of, though, was that this was definitely not his room in the Land of Departure.
"Well, there's only one step to take at the moment."
The boy hopped out of the bed and checked himself for injuries. To his surprise, any and every cut, bruise, or scrape he had had been cleaned and neatly bandaged in a way that reminded him of his old friend Aqua. Even his clothing had been washed and mended! Whoever it was that had saved him, they had done an amazing job.
Sounds coming from outside of the bedroom door caused the boy to look up, startled out of his thoughts. Maybe it wasn't the best idea to assume that he was safe quite yet. Summoning his beloved Keyblade Wayward Wind to his hand, the boy approached the door cautiously as the sounds grew louder, arm raised and ready to strike if the source of the noise proved to be a threat. The door was suddenly pushed back from the outside-
The blonde boy couldn't believe his eyes. Standing there was a pale boy with spiky black hair and golden eyes dressed entirely in black. He looked a little surprised, but also relieved. The blonde stepped back a pace. He felt dizzy all of a sudden.
"V-Vanitas?"
Vanitas' thin lips slowly pulled into a small smile, one that looked like it wasn't used to being there.
"Ventus. You're okay. Welcome home, Little Brother." Vanitas looked around their surroundings and shrugged.
"Well, welcome to your new home, at least."
Riku wasn't sure what had happened to him. One minute he had been sitting quietly in his room, or meditating, as his uncle called it, and the next thing he knew, he opened his eyes and found himself in the strangest, yet most beautiful place he had ever seen in his life, and that included his memories of his old home. What was this place?
The ground below his feet was covered with water everywhere he looked, yet the water never went above his ankles. The sky above was a rich, vibrant, cyan blue littered with soft, puffy, white clouds drifting lazily by. The tranquil trill of birdsong was the only sound he heard. The air was the cleanest and the sweetest that he had ever breathed. Only one thing seemed off to him, but not by much. The sky above him was crisscrossed with long lines of soft green light branching in every direction. The lights were brimming in power, Riku could feel it in the very marrow of his bones, yet they weren't a threat.
"Riku."
Riku whirled around, startled. What was that? Did someone call him?
"Riku. Come here."
There it was again. The voice was soft, distinctly feminine, and barely above a whisper, yet it was lyrical and full of life. However, it also carried with it an undertone that was brimming with an intense power that nearly made Riku fall to his knees simply by hearing it. Who did he know that had a voice like that? No one, of that he was sure.
"Riku. Come here, little one."
"What?"
"Come along, child. I'm here. I'm waiting for you."
"Who are you? How do you know my name? What do you want with me?"
"Riku, come here. I'm waiting for you."
Riku bit his lip and spun on his heel, unsure of what to do. He had noticed that every time the voice spoke, the water on the ground, the clouds in the sky, the green lines of light, all of it seemed to pulse and vibrate with each word the voice said. Who alive had so much power that they could affect the environment simply by speaking?
Riku was terrified.
"I know you're frightened, dear heart, and I know you're confused. It's all right. Come. You have nothing to fear from this place, and nothing to fear from me. I simply want to speak to you. Come here."
Riku felt a strange sensation tugging on him, pulling him towards what he assumed to be the source of the voice. He felt a soothing, comforting warmth envelope him. One that quickly wiped away any thoughts of resisting that he had. Riku moved in the direction he was being guided to, and found himself walking to a small, circular, white dais raised shortly above the ground. What Riku saw next nearly made his jaw drop and his heart clench.
Seated on a low, backless, stool on the dais was the most, incredible, woman he had ever seen. Tall, with porcelain skin, eyes the same exact shade of cyan blue as the sky above them, framed by locks of long, golden hair that floated softly around her face with their own energy. She was dressed in a long, snugly fitted, green colored gown that left her arms and shoulders bare while covering everything else. Her feet were hidden, due to the length of the gown around them. Gold wristbands decorated the space just above her delicate, long fingered hands. A long wrap of what could only be described as gold silk was draped elegantly around her forearms and behind her back. She smiled at Riku as he came close.
"It's good to finally speak to you face to face, my dearest Riku."
"Who are you?"
"Don't be alarmed. I mean you no harm. Call me Cosmos."
"Cosmos?"
"That's right, my little one."
Riku's heart skipped. Cosmos? The Cosmos? That was impossible! All of the books he had read during his training stated that many Keyblades drew their power from a force known to the Keyblade Wielders as Cosmos, or The Force of Light and Harmony. According to what he'd read, it was this harmonic force that gave all Keyblades the power to repel Darkness and banish the Heartless, Nobodies, and Nightmares from The Realm of Light. But this force was just that, a force! How could Cosmos be a person?
"I am not a person, child. What you read in your books was all true."
"You're the force that powers all Keyblades?! How? I-I don't"
"I am The Lady of Light and Harmony, little one, and the force that guides your Keyblades' power. However, I don't guide all of them, as you seem to assume."
"But if you're not an actual person, then how-?"
"I am an entity that can only be seen in this form by those with the heart to do so. I am visible to you due to the strength of your heart and mind."
Smiling, Cosmos stood up from her stool and stepped towards Riku, who wasn't sure whether to stay where he was, move closer to her, or run. He wanted to do all three.
As if sensing his indecision, Cosmos glided up to him and placed a soft, gentle hand on the boy's shoulder. That swarm, comforting sensation closed around Riku a second time, and he found himself staring up at her, waiting for her to say something to him.
"I need you to pay close attention to me now, child, as your test has only just begun."
"Test?"
"Hush, dear heart. Listen. I am afraid that the trials you must face are not yet over."
Cosmos smiled sadly at the boy before her.
"My dear Riku, Fate has dealt you a poor hand, but you will overcome it, and I will be there to help and guide you, as I always have ."
"Guide me? Why would you-?"
" The past has a way of catching up with the present, and soon, the ones that you have loved and lost will return to you. However, your enemies are strong, and appear at the least expected time, and in the least expected way. You are a Summoner, Riku, a rare brand of Keyblade Wielder that was thought to have died out centuries ago. Your Partner Vanitas is also a Summoner, and for that he was an outcast amongst his own kind."
Riku nodded and lowered his head. He knew what many of the members of The Old Order had put Vanitas through twelve years ago . They hadn't understood his abilities. They hadn't understood him. For that reason, his own comrades had marked him as a sort of monster. One of Vanitas' biggest problems at that time had been his accidental summoning of his Unversed whenever he was upset or angry. He could control that side effect of his powers now, but back then, he had been digging his own grave every time someone pulled a prank or teased him. Not like Riku's situation was any better, of course. He summoned creatures whenever someone upset him too, but let's face it; Spirits aren't nearly as threatening as Unversed. They're also a lot more cuddly. It was just one of the many differences between Vanitas' summoning abilities and his own. Speaking of which-
"L-Lady Cosmos? May I ask you something?"
"Of course, little one."
"Vanitas and I are of the same Keyblade Affinity, yet our abilities are different. He summons Unversed when he's angry, and I summon Spirits. His Unversed are frightening, while my Spirits look about as threatening as a pile of stuffed animals. Even when we summon the same eidolon, mine differs from his. My Bahamut is blue and spits lightning. His is red and breathes fire. When I summon one, I have to either chant or sing a long, complicated incantation. Sometimes, depending on the one I'm summoning, I even have to dance. All Vani has to do is stamp on the ground and yell. Why are we both so different?"
Cosmos smiled.
"Pay attention, little one. The reason is simple. Earth and Sky. Fire and Ice. Sun and Rain. Sound and Silence. Love and Hate. War and Peace. Darkness and Light. Harmony and Discord. Cosmos…and Chaos."
AN: Aaaaaand, that's a wrap for now! Yue, I know you want to read more about what happened to Vani, but I can't put that in quite yet. Maybe next chapter, if you vote anyway. Hee hee. I'm kidding. Next chapter, 'kay? Be patient. In the meantime, if there any Batman fans out there, I've added a possible Batman fic to my voting lineup. PM or review to vote! And if you do plan on voting, you might want to hurry up some 'kay? I don't wanna keep Vanitas-of-Darkness waiting for too much longer. At the moment, she's one of the only three *official* friends I have on this site. (I'd say four, but I'm not sure if Dark Hikari Twilight considers me a friend or a nuisance, so I'll say nothing)Anyway, bye for now! Reviews get a hug and a cookie!
