A/N: And now, on to Chapter 12! Enjoy~
Disclaimer: I own nothing but Kesshi & Kasshitas.
Kingdom Hearts BBS, Kesshi's Story
Chapter 12
Hearts Rejoined
We entered the Keyblade Graveyard and looked around at the scars that were left in the landscape. Ven held his hand out in front of him and summoned his Keyblade, and I placed my glowing claws over his hand.
"Friends forever," we murmured, and Ven released it. We left through the area, and eventually found Terra and Aqua. When we approached them, we explained what happened. "Xehanort wants us and Vanitas and Kasshitas to fight, and make some kind of 'X-blade.' But the Master said we can't let that happen…and he tried to destroy us for it."
"X-blade?" Aqua repeated, confused.
"We still don't know exactly what it is. But…it scares us to death," we admitted. "Even just the thought of it."
"Relax, Ven and Kesshi," Terra told us. "We're here and we're gonna take care of you."
"We may have to fight Vanitas and Kasshitas after all," we murmured. "If we do, guys…we want you to—"
"The four of us can never be torn apart, all right?" Terra said. "I'll always find a way."
"We're asking you, as friends…Just…put an end to us," we begged, and they gasped. The wind suddenly picked up then, and we all looked in the same direction. Master Xehanort was walking towards us, and Vanitas and Kasshitas appeared behind him. They soon stopped.
"Behold…These lifeless keys used to be full of power—united with the hearts of their masters. On this barren soil, Keyblades of light and darkness were locked in combat…as a great Keyblade War raged. Countless Keyblade wielders gave up their lives, all in search of one, ultimate key. And it will soon belong to me…" Xehanort said and pointed at Ven and me. "X-blade." My friends donned their armor, and Ven and I started to rush over, but Terra held us back and charged forward himself. He started to attack, but was slammed hard by earth that rushed up from the ground, thanks to Xehanort. Terra slid across the earth, and after regaining himself, watched Xehanort, Vanitas, and Kasshitas as they rose up on another plateau of earth. Xehanort stretched his arm towards the Keyblades below him. The sky grew dark and he created a cyclone of Keyblades that were ripped from the ground, and he sent them towards Aqua, Ven, and me.
"Ven! Kesshi!" Aqua screamed, and we fled from it as Vanitas jumped and rode on it with Kasshitas flying alongside him. Ven and I got knocked down, and then the dark pair took off after Terra, who was knocked off of one of the cliffs by the Keyblade cyclone. Aqua looked up, but was thrown into the air when the Keyblades rose from the ground under her. When she landed, we ran over to see if she was okay.
"Aqua!" I cried out. Aqua grabbed her Keyblade and pointed it up while it began to glow.
"Terra!" she yelled, and a magic spell flew from her Keyblade to Terra, who was being lifted into the air by the cyclone of Keyblades. When it reached him, he was in front of Xehanort, and it formed a barrier around him, stopping the Keyblades from hitting him. It didn't last long, though, and exploded as Xehanort watched, smiling maliciously. Aqua, who had lost her helmet, Ven, and I all looked up after the explosion. Ven and I suddenly ran to Terra, who had been thrown across the plateau's ground after the explosion. Terra landed in front of Xehanort, who readied his Keyblade. Ven and I ran to attack Xehanort from behind, but he disappeared only to reappear behind us, and grabbed us in each hand by the head.
"Ven! Kesshi!" Terra yelled in terror. We flailed, trying to get free but couldn't. Terra charged at Xehanort, but was thrown back by the Keyblade cyclone that Vanitas and Kasshitas were still using. The dark pair landed next to Xehanort, and Aqua stood up, watching helplessly as we struggled.
"Ven! Kesshi!" she screamed, and we looked at her as we were covered in dark mist and frozen by Xehanort. The evil monster dropped us over the cliff, but Aqua caught us both before we could hit the ground, and we slid across it. She looked at us and saw we were still alive, both of our pairs of eyes moving. "Ven, Kesshi, are you okay?" she asked in a panic. Xehanort, who was holding a dark ball of flames, laughed, and held his arm to the sky, releasing the dark flame to the clouds. The clouds moved away, revealing a blue heart-shaped moon, Kingdom Hearts. Aqua looked up in amazement, still holding us, frozen.
"How 'bout you leave the popsicles with me, so you can go have your little fight with Terra," a man's voice nearby said, and Aqua gasped. "You can't be too happy about him deep-sixing your Master." He laughed, and we could barely see that his one visible eye was yellow, and that he had pointed ears.
"Who are you?" Aqua demanded.
"You think you three have got some grand role to play. As if," he said. "You're only here so that when I finish you off…Terra will succumb to the darkness. So…who wants to go first?"
"Shut up!" Ven yelled furiously from his icy prison.
"Oh, so this kiddo thinks he's a full-fledged Keyblade wielder?" the man taunted. "He's got the angry look down."
"Go ahead if you want to waste your time," Aqua said with a deathly calm. "Keep trying to drive us apart with your mind games. It'll never work!" She laid us down, and we struggled to move as she stood up. "Terra will prove to you he's stronger!" She summoned her Keyblade and charged at the man.
"Aqua!" we both cried out desperately, and we continued to struggle, trying to move. After Aqua defeated the man, he backed away.
"I keep forgetting—don't mess with Keyblade wielders," he said. "But you know what? That just means I made the right choice!" Aqua charged towards the man again, and he said, "Well…he wanted me to buy time, and I'd say he got it." And with that, he turned and fled.
"What? Ven! Kesshi!" Aqua cried out.
"Aqua!" we screamed, and we could see Vanitas and Kasshitas falling from the cliff, heading straight for Aqua. As they fell, they struck Aqua down. We struggled as hard as we could, doing our best to free ourselves. Vanitas held his Keyblade over Aqua's heart while Kasshitas unsheathed his claws to kill her.
"NO!" we shrieked, and broke free of the ice. We put ourselves into a fighting stance and fought Vanitas and Kasshitas. We fought as hard as we could, and soon struck them down. Once they were beaten, they hunched over, a dark aura surrounding them both.
"You've done it, Ventus and Kesshi," they said in unison. Vanitas released his Keyblade and their masks began to dissolve, revealing their faces. "Now that our bodies are about to perish…you two and us will have to join together! The X-blade will be forged!" They released some darkness, and Unversed shot out from it, restraining us each.
"The Unversed…come from you two?" we gasped, horrified.
"It happened when you and us were split into two. The negativity took shape as these monsters. They are what we feel—a horde of fledgling emotions under our control. We released them in all the worlds we could, hoping to lure you away from home and isolate you both from your Master. We needed to make you both stronger. The Unversed were the perfect opponents. And better yet, no matter how many times you defeat them…their negativity flows right back into us," they explained, and absorbed all but the few Unversed holding us. "Neither of you ever stood a chance against us, Ventus and Kesshi." The pair walked closer to us, and a sphere of light surrounded us, growing in size and blowing Aqua back. The ground cracked around us from the force of it. Ven and I screamed and the sphere condensed, firing a red light towards the sky. When we woke up, Ven was no longer in his armor, and we floated down to a stained glass station of our hearts. Vanitas and Kasshitas floated down, Vanitas holding a new weapon, and Kasshitas glowing with a grey light.
"Our union was not finished," they murmured in unison. The stained glass station now included Vanitas and Kasshitas in its design. The weapon that Vanitas held, a blade that came from two Kingdom Keys crossed, was broken and missing pieces. "The X-blade shouldn't stay broken like this. Join us now, and we can complete the X-blade!" Vanitas pointed the blade at us, and Kasshitas bristled furiously. We shook our heads, no.
"We've got a better idea," we said. "How 'bout we destroy all three of you?" Ven summoned his Keyblade as I glowed with white light. The dark pair laughed at us.
"The X-blade is made of your hearts, too, idiots," they reminded us. "If you destroy it, your hearts will vanish forever."
"Whatever it takes," we told them calmly. "Anything to save Terra and Aqua."
"Hmph, it's always about your friends, isn't it?" they taunted.
"At least we have some!" we snapped back. "We've become a part of their hearts, just as they've become a part of ours! Our friends are our power…and we're theirs!" We fought our final fight with Vanitas and Kasshitas, performing our best magic and strikes with the Keyblade and light. After they were beaten, our heart station was shattered, and we dealt the final deathly blow to the dark pair. The X-blade slipped from Vanitas, and he struggled, trying to grab it, but couldn't. Kasshitas screamed in agony as the light and darkness left him. They dark pair fell, and the X-blade shattered, followed by Ven's Keyblade. Vanitas and Kasshitas fell toward a darkened broken station, and when they neared it, they faded to light. The light hit the station and restored it, with only Ven and my pictures on it. We landed on it, turned into hearts, and flew off. We soon splashed through a bright light that felt very warm and welcoming. As we fell, we were separated, and we opened our eyes. We were still linked, but were separated.
"These places…" we murmured. "We've been here. So warm…we remember now. These are your hearts."
