Chapter 12: A History Lesson
Sora wobbled as he walked back to the Grey Castle. He wondered how he managed to make the distance from the castle to the portal in the first place and running while he was. He could only assume that the effects of the spell increased as time passed, he might have been strong enough to get a spell of when he was first hit, he should have risked a Cure. He knew there was no way he'd manage any spell now.
Only two thoughts kept him placing one shaky foot in front of the other. The first was that Kairi was back at the castle, and he couldn't wait to see her again. The other was that he knew someone there would be able to heal him and get rid of the pain that coursed through him. The next thing Sora knew he was lying on his back on the ground and Anos was leaning over him pouring healing energies into him. He could feel all that pain and fatigue leave his body and slowly sat up as they washed away.
"Ugh, what happened?" Sora asked placing a hand on his forehead.
"You passed out about six miles out, Spitfire saw you as it was scouting and got Seig to bring you back," Anos explained as he finished up and got to his feet.
Sora nodded his thanks as hot got up as well, then he got a look around at the devastation, "and what happened here?" he asked.
The Grey Castle was gone. Parts of the outer walls still stood, but everything else was one large pile of rubble. Sora and Anos were just inside the outer wall in a cleared area. "Where is everyone?" Sora asked after a moment looking around.
"Seig sent the Omega's to put out any fires Antilus may have started while we were here fighting the first two waves. Him and Riku are taking care of the Digger bodies while Kairi and Yen Sid sift through the rubble to see if anything useful is undamaged," Anos said as he looked around the remains.
"So much for holding off the siege then…" Sora said defeated.
"Not really," Seig said as he and Riku walked around a part of the remaining wall and headed towards the pair.
"What does that mean?" Riku asked as the got closer.
"The castle was going to fall anyway, what matters is we didn't loose anyone when it happened," Seig said as they reached the pair.
"What the hell are you talking about?" Anos demanded.
"Yeah I'll get to that. I don't feel like explaining myself twice so let's wait for the group to get back," Seig said avoiding everyone's gaze.
"Nothing," Yen Sid called from one of the larger piles of rubble.
Everyone looked over to see him and Kairi walking towards them through the rubble. "What do you mean nothing?" Sora asked as the pair reached them.
"Nothing of use survived the destruction," Yen Sid clarified.
"Even the Legendary Keyblades are gone. Do you have them?" Kairi asked looking at Sora.
Sora expended his hand outwards and adopted a determined look on his face before sighing and dropping his arm, "nope," was all he said.
"So what's this about the Grey Castle falling anyway," Riku asked looking at Seig as Sora's hand dropped.
Seig sighed and looked at Riku, "I said I don't want to-"
"Oh please, don't stop on our account," a voice called from above them.
"Yes, by all means, do tell," another chided.
The group looked up to see the three Omegas standing on the outer wall, each was glaring at Seig. Beside them stood Leon, Cloud, and Auron, all of which were more occupied by what had happened to the castle then who stood below them. "Cloud, Leon, Auron what are you guys doing here?" Sora asked upon seeing the trio.
"Lending a hand," Auron said taking his eyes off the destroyed castle and looking at Sora.
"Xexox said you would need a hand soon," Leon explained as he jabbed a thumb towards the Omegas.
"Really?" Yen Sid said looking at Xexox.
The Omegas jumped down off the wall and Cloud soon followed, Auron and Leon taking what remained of the stairs, "Considering what you want me to do tomorrow, having them here seems a good idea," Xexox said looking at Yen Sid.
"That makes sense, but why are they here now?" Seig asked and everyone looked at him. He sighed and rubbed his forehead with his right hand as if to relieve pressure, "I have nothing against them in anyway, but I'm going to divulge information tonight that they don't have an understanding of. I don't feel like wasting the night bringing them up to speed with the rest of you."
"What don't we know?" Cloud asked taking a step towards Seig.
Seig dropped his hand and looked at Cloud, "What Era we're in. as well as a lot of what's been going on around here. I've no doubt you all know that something's up, but I don't think you know the finer details. You're all good warriors and I would greatly appreciate the help you can give us tomorrow, but unless you can all sit and listen without interrupting as I explain things…"
"I think we get it," Leon said nodding, Cloud remained silent.
"Kings," Auron said after a moment. Everyone looked at him.
"What?" Bruxeus asked.
"It's the Era of Kings," Auron said simply. Everyone just stared at him for a moment.
"Wow, I honestly wasn't expecting that," Seig said slightly dumbfounded.
"Bruxeus, I think we should head back to Radiant Garden, you can get us in the morning when you need us," Leon said turning to the Omega.
"Right, come on guys, I'll get you in the morning," Bruxeus said waving Auron and Cloud to him and Leon.
The four vanished and a few minutes later Bruxeus reappeared. "Let's set up a camp here before I get started," Seig said turning from the group.
They all worked in relative silence as they cleared away the ruble to make enough room for a fire and them all to sit around it. Once the space was cleared Seig started the fire while Yen Sid summoned seats for them all.
As soon as they were all seated Xexox turned to Seig, "why was my castle supposed to fall?"
Seig sighed and turned to Xexox, "it's not your castle. It never was, you all lived here and used it, quite well I'll admit, but it was never yours. The Kings own the castles on this world, just as they own this world."
"So which King owned the Grey Castle?" Bruxeus asked.
"Doesn't matter, they never tried to remove you and the castle's gone," Yen Sid said.
"That doesn't answer my question," Xexox said simply.
"Right," Seig said leaning forward, "to put it simply the castle didn't really matter. We just needed a place to hold off the attacks of the Nanos and the White Castle wouldn't work. For the Era of Kings to come to a full end the World of Kings needs to be destroyed, so the state of the castles on it is already determined," Seig said simply.
"Why does the world need to be destroyed?" Bruxeus asked.
"To cover our bases," Seig said shrugging, "now to the point of all this-"
"Wait," Sora said and everyone looked at him. "Who is Antilus? You said you knew his mother," Sora said looking at Seig while everyone looked confusedly at him.
At the mention of Antilus' mother Seig's eyes widened and he shot to his feet, "oh crap," he said before vanishing.
"Where'd he go now?" Riku asked looking around.
"To tell Antilus' mother that her son is still alive," Yen Sid said simply.
After a few minutes Seig reappeared a few feet from everyone else. As soon as he appeared he took a few stumbling steps forward and muttered to himself before a second figure appeared behind him. This figure held a staff of some kind in its hands and took tow quick steps towards Seig before a loud crack rang out as the end of the staff hit the side of his head and Seig hit the ground.
The figure continued to beat Seig with the staff, saying something to him while it did but none of the others heard it. They had all gotten to their feet and started towards the pair to stop the attack when a third being appeared and caught the staff mid-swing. It was at this point that Sora recognized the two, it was Sakura and Gandalf.
The staff in Sakura's hands was the same one as what she held in her stain-glass image. Once Gandalf stopped her Sakura stepped away from Seig and her staff vanished. The group reached the trio as Seig regained his feet. "What was that about?" Riku asked looking at Sakura.
Sakura looked at Riku with a neutral expression, "when the Keyblade Wars ended Seig told me my son had died, he just told me he's still alive," Sakura said calmly before glaring at Seig again.
"Whoa, Antilus was your son?" Sora said shocked.
"But that doesn't make any sense. John was sealed away eons ago and the Keyblade Wars just happened. You said you had to grant John long life how could Antilus live that long?" Kairi asked looking from Gandalf to Sakura.
"He did get certain abilities from me. And if that wasn't one of them, why would I not grant such a gift to my son?" Sakura answered.
"But, he turned to the darkness," Anos said sternly.
"Not for a long time. It was shortly before the Keyblade Wars that Antilus fell to the darkness in his heart," Yen Sid said from behind Kairi.
"Consequently, that's how he's alive," Seig said calmly turning to Sakura and Gandalf.
"What do you mean 'that,' the darkness?" Sakura asked staring into Seig.
"No, the gifts he got from you. He found himself worthy and so came back. He also brought back the Black King and Queen, along with Nax," Seig said folding his arms.
"What? Are they at their full power?" Gandalf demanded.
"I don't know. Jenova has been shape shifting but both Nax and Darkness look different. The Black King is much smaller than he was, but he's still larger than normal people," Seig said with a shrug.
"You knew about this," Gandalf said jabbing Seig in the chest with his pointer finger.
"I had a hunch, but we didn't find out for sure until today," Seig said pushing Gandalf's hand away.
"And those younger eyes you saw through?" Sakura asked folding her arms.
"Parts are hazy, sometimes we don't recall until its already happening," Yen Sid explained simply.
"Now if you'll excuse us, I'm trying to explain things to these fine youngsters," Seig said gesturing Sora and the others.
"Things you don't want us to know?" Gandalf asked taking another step towards Seig.
"Things you already know," Yen Sid answered simply.
With a look at Yen Sid and his impassive features Gandalf sighed and nodded before vanishing. Sakura apologized to everyone before she too vanished. Once they were gone Seig walked back to where he was sitting and the others followed his example. Once they were all seated Riku turned to Seig, "I just remembered."
"I am never going to get around to telling them, am I?" Seig asked looking at Yen Sid.
"Eventually," Riku said grinning. "All this talk of a son reminded me that you said I met your son. I know you wouldn't normally answer my question, but I know I got you at least one time in the fight, meaning I get at least this question," Riku said his grin not fading.
"Who my son is?" Seig asked raising an eyebrow at Riku then glancing at Yen Sid. "I can tell you of my first son, but not my second," he said finally looking at Riku.
"Wait, you have more than one?" Kairi asked.
"Just the two. And no daughters," Seig answered with a nod.
"No, I want to know about both," Riku said crossing his arms.
"Can't, I made a promise to Yen Sid that I won't reveal my second born until I had a chance to talk with him in private about it," Seig said simply.
"Your son doesn't know you're his father?" Sora shouted.
Seig flinched at the volume but nodded, "Unfortunately. He's been raised well but things have been far too demanding the past few decades for it to be by my hand."
"Fine, then who's your oldest?" Riku asked interested.
"John," Seig said simply.
There was silence for a long time before Sora, Riku, and Kairi all shouted "What?" at the same time.
"John is my son. Which makes Antilus my grandson," Seig repeated.
"Does Sakura know? Does Antilus know?" Sora asked.
"Yes. On both fronts," Seig answered.
"But, I don't get it. The navigation gummi Jon left behind took me to his home world, but it was gone," Riku said confused.
"That wasn't his home world. It's just were he was trained as he grew. It was destroyed in the Keyblade War," Seig replied with a shrug.
"Why did you let him die like that? Why didn't you fight the Jack? I know you're way stronger than John was, why did you let your son go out to die?" Sora demanded.
"He asked me to. Gandalf and Sakura came and asked me to do it, and I refused. It wasn't my place to kill the Black King. John was there, he met them, and after they left asked me if he could do it. So I said yes," Seig said somewhat removed as the memories returned.
"How old was he?" Kairi asked.
"Eight," Seig said quietly.
"And you left him to his fate? He was just a child, you could have easily said no," Sora shouted.
"I didn't leave him anywhere. It was his decision, and yeah he was a kid, but he never wavered from his choice. Every year I asked if he wanted to change his mind, I told him it was always his choice and if he wanted to stop he could and I would back him. He never changed his mind at any point. I kept it his choice and when he was ready I let him know," Seig said proud of his son.
"What do you mean you let him know?" Riku asked with a raised eyebrow.
"I'm the one that gave him that blade, as well as put the power into it," Seig said pointing at the handle of Phantasmagoria.
"But I thought Gandalf and Sakura gave it to him," Kairi said looking at Seig.
"And you said he infused Phantasmagoria into the blade," Sora said pointing at the sword.
"Gandalf may have given John a weapon for his fight against that Black King, but I gave him that blade before that and it's what he used," Seig said folding his arms.
"And he did ask me to infuse the blade with Phantasmagoria but it didn't take, though I never told him such," Yen Sid added.
"That's why Sakura was nervous about you finding out I had John's sword and coat," Riku said looking down at himself.
"That would be why. I have no idea where he got the coat, but if Sakura said you can have it, then keep it, but just be warned, I may need that sword back before things are done," Seig said with a grin and pointing at Phantasmagoria again.
"Yeah, sure," Riku said nodding.
"Now, if there are no more questions, and there better not be, I'll get to explaining what's behind all this," Seig said rubbing his hands together eagerly.
"You mean someone controlling Antilus?" Anos asked from beside Bruxeus who jumped as he spoke, forgetting Anos was there.
"No, Antilus is the top dog, he's not one to work under someone else, at least not someone who isn't teaching him, and even then its strained," Seig said.
"There are very few who could know something Antilus would want to learn at this point. And his dislike of teachers was steep before his fall, it would be near vertical by now," Yen Sid added.
"What I mean is that we're not entirely sure what Antilus is trying to do. All we know is a full takeover of this realm, which only shows his ignorance. He's targeting the Omegas and the White King and Queen because they are the only ones he sees as able to stop him. The rest of us have placed ourselves on his hit list.
"What I'm going to be explaining is exactly what we're going to do to stop him, and why it matters. Antilus has no care for the Era of Kings, or the Age of Resolution, he just wants. We are the ones who will be bringing the end to the era. But before that a history lesson, and before the history a cosmology lesson. Sora, how many realms are there?" Seig asked leaning forward and looking at Sora.
"Um, well there's the Realm of Darkness, the Nano realm, the Realm of Light, and maybe Kingdom Hearts so… four?" Sora said hopefully.
"There's six. Two light, two dark, and two twilight. The first realm is the Realm of Morning, and is, as you said, Kingdom Hearts. The second realm is the Realm of Day or Realm of Light as you called it, and is where the White King and Queen, as well as their Knights are from. The third is the Realm of Dawn; the fourth is the Realm of Dusk which is where the Nobodies traveled through as well as being where the World that Never Was used to be. The fifth realm is the Realm of Midnight which you called the Realm of Darkness and is where the Heartless are from and where the Black Castle was moved to. The sixth realm is the Realm of Moon Night and is the Nano realm.
"You made the same mistake that Antilus is making, when you said Realm of Light, you meant this realm, but we're in the Realm of Dawn. To end the Era of Kings, we must remove what they rule over, take away their kingship. That means both light realms and dark realms," Seig said informatively.
"What about the other Nanos?" Anos demanded standing up.
"What about the people in the Realm of Light and the Nano realm?" Kairi asked almost at the same time as Anos' outburst.
"Gandalf and Sakura are currently if not already done evacuating the Realm of Day. And we will evacuate the Realm of Moon Night before we eliminate it as well. There will obviously be no loss from the Realm of Midnight being destroyed, and Gandalf told me the Realm of Morning is already gone, so we can see there was no backlash from that," Seig said as he made calming motions with his hands. As he spoke Anos sat back down.
"Okay I get that you want to end the Era of Kings, and how we're going to do that. I'm not sure how we destroy a realm but I'm guessing you do. What I don't get is how doing this will stop Antilus from getting what he wants," Riku said looking at Seig.
"Eventually Darkness will demand to know the full extent of Antilus' plan, if he hasn't already. Antilus will no doubt lie to him every time he asks, and Darkness will know it's a lie which is why he will ask again and again. At some point one of two things will happen: Darkness will have annoyed Antilus into telling him the truth or they will be at the point where lying is pointless. Either way Antilus will tell Darkness the true extent of his plan.
"I don't know his full plan, but I'm certain he want control of this realm. He's always seen it as his birth right, because he thinks this is the Realm of Light, the realm his mother is from, where she gets her powers, and where he gets his. Darkness knows the truth and will tell Antilus about the six realms. At which point Antilus will not only want to control this realm but he will need to keep the Realm of Day intact," Seig said with a grin.
"Which is why we destroy it. And we destroy the dark realms for balance, thus ending the Era of Kings," Riku said nodding his understanding.
"Correct, and now to history. I told you before that I remember before the Dooms Wars when the Kings got along. Well the conflict started when the Black King asked me to help him with something. It was an idea he had, a project. I admitted to not knowing much in the areas he needed and suggested Yen Sid help," Seig said gesturing to Yen Sid.
"I informed the Black King that it was an unwise path to take," Yen Sid said when Seig gestured to him.
"You were there too?" Kairi asked looking at Yen Sid.
"From the beginning, yes. At that time I was just coming into the magical abilities I have now. I was rather eager to test myself, but knew better than to try on something that I, also, did not fully understand," Yen Sid replied with a nod.
"This was before the Doom Wars right? Before the worlds first opened to each other?" Sora asked.
"Correct," Yen Sid said simply.
"How many of you were there back then, how many people did you know?" Kairi asked.
"Well, there were Sakura and Gandalf in the White castle; their Knights were still in the Realm of Day. Jenova and… you call him Jack in the Black Castle; they had no Knights at this time. And Yen Sid and I were allowed to live in the Grey Castle along with…" Seig trailed off and everyone looked at him confused.
"Clare," Yen Sid finished for him, his face somber.
"Who's Clare?" Anos asked looking back and forth between Yen Sid and Seig.
"John's mother, she's… she's on a mission now and not likely to return…" Seig said with his head hung low.
"Oh, sorry," Anos said quietly.
After a moment Seig raised his head back up, "Anyway, there were just the seven of us. We all lived on this world and got along rather well, and if the Kings worked together we could warp to a different world. That was the only way past the barriers. And if I remember correctly Jack's project was a way to let us teleport without needing the Kings or draining them so much. Gandalf didn't know much about it either but he was eager to find a way around the hurdle too so the pair worked together to find a solution.
"Things went bad and the barriers between the worlds broke which brought on the Dooms Wars. Gandalf and Jack blamed each other for the mistake and the friendship was put through its trials. The seven of us worked together to stop the wars, to quell the fighting and put things back to how they should have been. But something was working against us, egging on the fights and raising the mayhem. It's what brought out the Heartless, then the Nobodies.
"Jack was able to reign in the Heartless pretty well, but nothing we did would control the Nobodies. Its funny, I just now remembered the titles…" Seig said with a laugh as he looked across at Yen Sid.
Yen Sid 'humph'ed as he leaned back in his chair.
"What titles?" Kairi asked.
"I'm sure you know the Organization had a title for each of its members, they got this from Xehanort's memory with Antilus, who got it from the Omegas, who got it from us," Seig said looking at the Omegas.
"We did not get it from you," Xexox said sternly.
"Antilus got it from us?" Bruxeus asked.
"Yes he did, and yes you did. Xaal started it and you just followed her… his… its example," Seig explained.
"What are your titles?" Anos asked eagerly.
"It doesn't matter," Seig said.
"Embarrassed you gave yourselves titles?" Riku asked with a grin.
"They were given to us. We earned them on battlefields where we stopped the fights form happening, lessening the casualties. The Omegas started the trend of giving yourself a title," Yen Sid corrected.
"What were they?" Sora repeated Anos' question.
Seig looked at Yen Sid who sighed and nodded, "Yen Sid was the Sage of Time, and is thus the namesake of the mage groups of Sages of Our Time and Sages of All Time," Seig said simply.
"How'd you get that?" Riku asked looking at Yen Sid.
"Vast time spells. I would stop entire battle fields, remove or destroy all their weapons, then unstop them. I also sometimes slowed them and tried to persuade them against the fight," Yen Sid said informatively.
"And you?" Kairi asked looking at Seig.
"Heart's True Shade; and I won't tell how I got it," Seig answered before the next question could be asked.
"And the others?" Anos asked.
Seig put his head in his hand, "Jack was Heart's Black Soul; Jenova was the Calamity of the Skies; Gandalf was Heart's Pure Hold; Sakura was Truth Giving Grace and Clare was… Clare was the Last Warrior Standing…"
"She would enter the battlefield alone against both armies and when she was done all the others were down. She never killed one of them, only broke bones and knocked them out so they couldn't keep fighting. Everyone was afraid of her," Yen Sid said after a moment.
"That fear is part of what helped us end the wars and fix the barriers. Once everything was mended Gandalf and Jack had their big falling out and Jack moved the Black Castle. The fix we had wasn't as got as it was before the wars, Jacks goal of letting us warp on our own was achieved, but none of us were happy with the cost. After years of the argument festering it grew from a dispute into outright hate and Gandalf saw the start of the wars as being Jacks intention from the beginning.
"This led to words like 'good' and 'evil' being thrown around which led into Gandalf honestly believing that Jack needed to be destroyed for things to be safe again, his best and only real arguments were that it was Jacks idea for the warp that led to the Dooms Wars; and that he was the Black King which made him in great association with the Black Queen. Jenova had gone slightly insane from the wars, as evident by her title.
"She tended to stop the battles by arriving in a great fireball and killing everyone from both sides. The fear of her arriving was another big factor in letting us stop the wars, but she didn't get better when they were done. This led to them asking me and Clare for help in killing Jack and Jenova. Both Gandalf and Sakura are powerful, but their power is not as battle orientated as Jack and Jenova's, they would have no chance in a fight.
"Obviously Clare and I refused, both wanting the feud to end. But John saw Sakura, I didn't know then why he wanted to help them, but it didn't take that long to figure it out. You already know John's story, and what comes next," Seig said leaning far into the back of his chair.
"Why do we need to know all this though?" Sora asked confused.
"Because I'm sure some of it might be mentioned in some part over the course of the nest few days and I don't want you all asking what's going on while we're in the middle of a fight. Also, things might be mentioned in further detail, now you know the general story," Seig said looking at Sora from the back of his chair.
"Okay, so that's the end of the history, what's the game plan now?" Riku asked leaning forward.
"Tomorrow morning Xexox will be at the White Castle, or somewhere else far from the center of the conflict, performing a certain task for me. You all don't need to know what it is. Bruxeus will get Leon and the other two and bring them here, because the Nanos are bound to make a second attack in the morning. Anos and… someone will go into the Realm of Midnight while the Nanos attack and begin extracting people from the Realm of Moon Night," Seig said looking around the group.
"Who goes with Anos?" Sora asked.
"And why do I need to go, I'm a healer and Sora knows the way from the portal to the Cathedral just like me," Anos said.
"The Nanos on the other side of the portal won't listen to Sora like they will you. And who goes depends on who come with the army. Because who comes with affects who's left behind in the castle, and who Anos will have to avoid and may be up against," Seig said looking at Anos then Sora.
"Is that all for the night?" Kairi asked with a yawn.
"For you yes, I'd like a quick word with Riku, Sora, and Anos before they turn in," Seig said looking at the three boys.
They nodded as everyone else left to find some means of sleep only to notice that there were now three small cabins just outside the firelight. Yen Sid entered the one on the right and took one the two beds inside. The Omegas went to the one on the left and Xexox and Bruxeus had a quick debate over who would get top bunk of the single bunk-bed while Vaxer took the single bed in the cabin. Kairi entered the center cabin to see two bunk-beds. She sat on the lower bunk of one of them and waited for the boys to show up.
When the others were all in the cabins Seig leaned forward again and the three boys moved to sit closer to him, "first off, Riku, you asked a lot of questions tonight, I wasn't keeping count but I think we'll call us even on that front," Seig said looking at Riku who nodded. "Secondly, that job you're going to do for me-"
"Hey, Xexox hasn't ruled who won the fight, I might not have to do it," Riku said cutting him off.
"He called it a draw and we had the choice of either neither getting their end or we both do. Go ask if you don't believe me," Seig said with a grin and Riku scowled slightly. "I know I said it would be you and Sora on this, but I realized it would actually be all three of you."
"Wait what? What's going on?" Anos asked looking back and forth between Riku and Seig.
"They made a bet on a fight, Riku said if he lost me and him would do a job for Seig, Riku lost so we have to do it. Now he's saying we need your help to do it," Sora clarified.
"You can refuse if you want, but at least let me explain things first…" Seig said as he leaned in closer to the boys and dropped his voice.
-XXX-
Several minutes later Sora and Anos walked into their cabin to see Kairi sitting on the lower bed of the left hand bunk, he head rested against one of the polls supporting the top bunk, sleeping silently. They both smirked at the sight and Sora gestured for Anos to get on the other bunk, while he walked quietly over to Kairi.
Anos silently took the top bunk and watched as Sora gently eased Kairi onto the bed lying down and covered her with the blanket before he silently and stealthily moved to the top bunk. After a few more minutes Riku quietly entered the cabin and took the bunk under Anos. Moments after Riku got into his bunk the light from the fire outside went out as Seig extinguished the flames and went to his bed in the far right cabin.
The boys had agreed to the job he had for them, despite not knowing the finer details yet, and had all promised not to tell anyone what they had talked about. In addition to that he ha told Riku what he had wanted to tell him a few days ago but didn't have the time. That information was up to Riku whether or not it would spread; Seig would not tell others if Riku didn't want him to.
As Seig lay in bed his thoughts were of tomorrow. He remembered some things happening differently than they had now and he hopped tomorrow would be another one of those things. The tomorrow of his memories was full of bad news; he could only hope that they would be able to act fast enough to beat out that bad news.