Disclaimer: All characters belong to their respective owners and not me with the exception of original characters. Only this story is mine, nothing else. Please read and review. Helpful reviews welcome, really bad flames shall be ignored and/or deleted. Enjoy
The Twilight Will
By Demonabyss
Chapter 37: Day 415: Heavy Metal (by Sammy Hagar)
There were times Roxas thought that Fate was trying to get back at him for messing up its plans. It wasn't often but given some of the weird things he had seen he wouldn't put it past whatever was in charge of Fate. Considering he was currently hanging on for dear life on top of a massive, tricked out bus going at break neck speed with nasty little demons on motorcycles chasing after it, throwing bombs at it, and subsequently him, Kumotome, Rao, and Tammy, it was a fair assumption. His mind went back to a few days ago, to when they had just defeated Yami.
-XIII-Flashback Start-XIII-
After recovering for a few hours in the arena where they had fought Yami, Roxas and the others eventually made their way to the control center of Ark of Yamato after getting a map with Compass from the ship's systems, what was left of them anyway. With the destruction of Yami and the shutdown of the essence containers, the Ark was running on backup power until the containers reset themselves, which wouldn't be for another day or so given the nature of the energy contained in them. Looking at the screens and not making any sense of them, he connected Compass to the system. "Okay, Compass run a full diagnostic on this thing's systems and see if you can get control of the navigation systems," he ordered the computer.
[Affirmative. Processing,] the device responded. After a few moments it chimed in again. [Systems currently running on backup power until primary energy production systems are restored. All offensive and defensive systems are offline. Life support, scanning, and subsidiary systems are fully operational. Navigation is currently locked by outside system.]
That surprised him. Given the tech level of this world, it made him wonder who would have a computer capable of interfacing and taking control of a ship like this. It then hit him that Waka probably had a system somewhere to make sure the Ark would remain under his control just in case someone released it early. "Compass, can you trace the source of the outside system? Also, have any of the other systems been used recently?" he asked the connected machine.
"If I may interrupt Lord Roxas," Rao said from inside the Precursor computer. "Before my demise, I had found a small flying ship in Sei-An city floating high above. The only way to get to it would be to fly to it. It bore similar designs to the Ark," she explained. "I had deduced it to be the home base of the Tao Troopers that were commanded by Waka. Unfortunately, before I could fully investigate it I was called back to my temple where Tamamo-no-Mae ambushed me," she explained.
The kitsune had the decency to look slightly sheepish until she remembered something. "But ... I didn't send any summons to you. I simply waited at the temple to ambush you as I knew you would return sooner or later and there was no one there other than myself," she said in confusion at the unspoken question. Who had sent that summons?
Roxas figured the answer. "It sounds like Waka didn't want anyone snooping in his club house and lured you there. Either you'd take out Rao or she would take you down, fueling the Ark. Either way it would've benefitted him," he stated plainly, causing Tammy to growl at the moon tribesman's manipulations.
[Alert! Unknown energy signature detected,] Compass chimed in. It brought up a map of an area of Nippon that was south of their current location in the area of Kamiki Village. [Unable to obtain lock on signature. Energy readings do not coincide with any known demonic or divine entity.]
The Nobody sighed before turning to his companions. "The first order of business is deciding what to do with the Ark? After that we can investigate the strange energy readings in Kamiki Village."
Amaterasu spoke up, her thoughts centering on the Ark and what needed to be done. "Nippon is at peace for the time being. The Celestial Heavens are very likely still in turmoil. I will need to go there and set things right and undo the damage and manipulations Waka has wrought," she said firmly. "I would recommend having ship do a full scan of itself and make any repairs it can. Meanwhile, we will investigate Kamiki and then to Sei-An City to see what information Waka left behind." They all nodded, agreeing with that plan.
-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-
Exiting the Ark, they found the Oina tribe waiting for them. Tuskle came forward, surprised to see them again. "What happened? Is it over?" she asked worriedly.
Roxas nodded. "The evil has been purged from the Ark. Right now it's repairing itself for the journey to the heavens. In the meantime, we have a couple places to investigate. One is a strange power that was detected in Kamiki Village and the other is in Sei-An City. Waka, the guy who started this whole mess in the first place 200 years ago, left something behind."
Oki came forward, still brandishing the sword Kutone. "Will we need to worry about him returning to claim the Ark?" he asked as he gripped his blade tightly.
Tammy chuckled in her half-human form. "I doubt it. That fool got himself eaten by the very creature he was trying to control. Good riddance I say," she sneered, still irked that she hadn't killed the bastard herself despite him meeting his end in an ironic fashion.
Oki nodded, having similar thoughts given how that so-called prophet had tried to manipulate him to his own ends. "Regardless, the Ark will be protected until you return and it is safely underway," he promised.
Roxas nodded in agreement. "Good. The last thing anyone needs is someone tampering with the Ark. While its primary weapon has been ... disabled ... we don't know what this thing it fully capable of. Right now there is a leash on the thing keeping it from going anywhere. We plan to disable that and let it take Amaterasu to the Celestial Heavens to sort out the mess there. Before we do that we need to investigate something that has come up in Kamiki Village," he explained. "For now though, I think we're going to head to Sasa Sanctuary to rest. It's been a long day and I'm sore in places I didn't even know I had," he said rubbing his shoulder. Most of them chuckled at that, knowing that the group had earned a little time off.
-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-
After relaxing for a day at Sasa Sanctuary, the group headed into Kamiki Village with Roxas leading the way. Looking down at Compass he was confused. "The source of the readings seems to be coming from Konohana, but it's distorted somehow," he explained.
"We had best investigate it. If something happens to Sakuya, it could affect all the Guardian Saplings in Nippon," Kumotome said from his shoulder. While the arachnid would rather see Kamiki Village burn to the ground for what they did to her over a hundred years ago, she had no desire to see the same happen to the rest of Nippon. The kitsune was of a similar mind. While she was glad to soon be rid of Nippon and its human population, she didn't want the land itself to suffer. The fox truly didn't mind the Guardian Saplings as they sustained the land and kept the annoying weaker demons in check. The imps were good servants, but one could only deal with them for so long before you started to starve for intelligent conversation.
Making their way through the village quickly, they came to the wooden archway just before the sacred tree. At first, nothing looked out of place, though the readings were now much stronger, yet still distorted. The tree looked much more impressive than it did 100 years ago and had several sacred stones tied planted at the base of it. Once they went through the archway however, it changed. The area darkened and a gateway of light appeared at the base of the tree. Another thing that appeared was the tree sprite herself, though she was no longer cute little girl. Sakuya had grown with her tree in the past century into a gorgeous young (relatively speaking) woman with perfect pale skin, long black hair that fell around the sides of her face, and a kind, gentle aura. She wore a pale pink sash around her waist, several leaves sticking out of her hair, an ethereal ribbon around her arms the looped behind her like a large halo, and a bikini made up of two leaves that gave her well endowed chest a curious ... peachy appearance. In short, she was the type of tree sprite that would make Daxter seriously take up gardening with one look.
"Great Mother Okami Amaterasu," she greeted the white wolf immediately before turning to the others. "Void Swordsman Roxas, Oni Island Lord Tamamo-no-Mae, and Silk Weaver Kumotome, welcome back to Kamiki Village. It seems you have won against the dark force in the north. I would have thought you would have left for the Celestial Heavens, what brings you here?" she asked kindly.
Roxas bowed slightly in respect to the sprite before speaking. "There is an unknown energy that appeared that we tracked down to your tree. With the great evil in the north recently destroyed, we are taking no chances. Has anything strange happened here recently?" he asked.
The wood sprite nodded and motioned to three peaches that were hanging from her tree, though they were very different than any fruit they had seen before. Each was an unusual color with a symbol on it. The first peach was a pure gold color with what looked like a spokes wheel with spiky edges on it. The second was pitch-black with the Heartless symbol. The last was pure, pristine white with the Nobody emblem on it. "After the great evil left, these three peaches appeared on my tree without my intervention. I have been unable to remove them or determine their purpose," Sakuya explained. On a hunch, Roxas pointed the Chaos tear and got a similar reaction from each peach. It flash the same symbol as what was on the peach with the corresponding Primal Element gem lighting up and then change to a picture of a keyhole.
The Keyblade user smirked, understanding the images. He drew Two Become One and Sun Tale and with a Power Slash, cut down the gold peach with the spokes wheel representing Light. It fell, crashed, and shattered open, released firefly-like particles of Light. The particles floated up and converged on a spot on Konohana, forming a transparent image of a keyhole. He repeated the process with the other two peaches of Darkness and Nothingness respectively. Tendrils of Darkness and twisted bolts of Nothingness added themselves to the keyhole, completing it and bringing it into reality. The keyhole shined on Konohana's trunk, waiting to be locked. A massive version of the Nobody symbol appeared beneath him with Light, Darkness, and Nothingness swirling around him as it the previous times. With the tips of his Keyblades together, three rings appeared, each for one of the Primal Elements, linking together to seal this world's heart. The rings flashed and a triple helix of the elements shot forward, striking the keyhole and causing it to lock. A massive click sound was heard as it was sealed before the keyhole disintegrated, leaving only an outline of where it had been.
The tree sprite ran her hand over the outline, finding no pain or damage, just a phantom sensation that something had been locked into place. "What did you do Roxas?" she asked concerned.
He dismissed his weapons as he explained. "That was keyhole to the gateway to this world's heart. If the Heartless … Dark Ones ever got to it this whole planet and everyone and everything would have been swallowed by pure Darkness and ceased to exist. To prevent this, the world and or the keyhole itself separated itself into Light, Darkness, and Nothingness and hid the pieces in your tree. Once the threat of the Dark Ones had passed, it revealed the pieces in order to have them reassembled into the keyhole and to have it permanently locked."
The sprite nodded. "I see, thank you Roxas," she said sincerely.
"My pleasure," he said as his mind went over what he had just seen. While the pieces had reassembled themselves quickly and easily, it brought up the question of how the keyhole had been split in the first place. While the different worlds mixed the Primal Elements differently, they were always mixed so well that it was impossible to separate them by any means that didn't require one of the Elements in the first place. Who or what had split the keyhole and how did they do it? Had the keyhole split itself? Had the world itself split it or was it someone or something else?
The Organization had researched keyholes in relation to Kingdom Hearts. Each one had protected itself by hiding in some obscure yet significant place in relation to the world itself. In the desert world of Agrabah the keyhole hid itself in the Cave of Wonders, a magic cave full of forbidden treasure. The keyhole in Hallow Bastion was hidden in the basement of the castle belonging to the ruler of that world. In Haven City it had been in the tomb of one of their greatest leaders and historical figures. Given the pattern, it made sense that the keyhole of this world was hidden in the trunk of a sacred tree that protected the land from corruption and demonic influence. But why had the keyhole been split into the individual Primal Elements? The most he had seen was a shield around the keyhole and that was in Haven City when the Heartless appeared in the tomb. He shook his head; he would keep it in mind in the future, right now he had other things to worry about.
-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-
Sei-An city had recovered well since the poison mist had been cleared out, though many still mourned the loss of Queen Himiko. Tammy was slightly uncomfortable being here, even in her disguise of Priestess Rao. They had all entered in their human forms to keep the worship and attention to a minimum. From her place in Compass, the real Rao had pointed out where the ship she mentioned was. Looking up, the group nearly got cricks in their necks looking up at it.
It was a small ship, no bigger than one of the houses in the common quarter which it was located above. Still, there was the question of how they were going to get up there. Looking over, they saw a pond under where the ship was. "Elevator anyone?" Roxas said motioning to the pond. Getting the idea, they stepped into the pond and Amaterasu used Waterspout to cause a geyser. The stream of water pushed them up and up until they were higher than the palace. They eventually came to the ship. It looked like a small pagoda on a floating rock with a single extension.
Walking forward they met a pair of guards with a similar outfits to Waka's, though theirs were white with purple pants and trimming with a tall black hat and gold masks. As they approached the guard stood in front of them, blocking the doorway. "Halt! By order of Captain Waka, no one is allowed to enter, not even you Lady Amaterasu and certainly not that kitsune trash or that Nobody," the one on the left sneered while the other tried to hide his fear.
Tamamo-no-Mae growled at him but was held back by Roxas. "Okay, three things you should consider. One; we've faced down monsters, demons, Dark Ones, and the embodiment of destruction and came out on top, two; we outnumber you, and three; your imbecile of a captain is dead due to his own arrogance and stupidity. Now, do you really want to do this?" he asked as he summoned Two Become One.
The guard on the right looked back and forth between them and his comrade a few times before opening the door and stepping to the side. "Right this way, sorry to bother you," he said simply.
This enraged the first guard. "You traitor! How dare you betray the Tao Master Special Investigation Troop!" he yelled. However, before he could get further, a quick Galestorm from Tammy threw him off the ship and into the city below. People looked up to see a screaming Tao Trooper fall from the sky and right into canal via a massive cannon ball splash, soaking a few of citizens nearby.
The kitsune looked smug and completely unapologetic at what she did while Amaterasu frowned at her. "He deserved it, besides he's still alive … I think," she said as she glanced over the railing of the small ship to confirm that he was still alive, though unconscious and floating face up in the canal. "Nice form, but his entry needs work," she chuckled as the remaining guard let them in.
The inside of the ship was very different from any other place in Nippon. While the outside looked like a pagoda, the inside was styled more like Beast's Castle with several pillars, statues, and a massive stained glass window in back. The pillars had blue energy lines similar to what they had seen on the Ark of Yamato and were glowing steadily. The statues on the right side of the entrance along with the stained glass were of the Celestials, blonde haired humans in togas with wings coming out of their heads. On the left side were a number of computers, auto scrolling through data and flashing symbols similar to what they had seen on the Ark, specifically the symbols representing the different demons needed to power it. One of the screens was flashing red while showing the symbol representing a nine-tailed kitsune and the Heartless Symbol. Amaterasu frowned at seeing the screens. While she didn't understand this technology, it was damning enough that Waka had this and obviously kept to himself to further his plans. "Roxas, can you tell what these machines are for?" she asked though she could guess.
Sitting down at one of the stations, he brought up Compass. "Access all files and systems. Let's see what that fraud was hiding," Roxas said as the machine went to work. It didn't take long as it seemed Waka didn't have any real security for his system. Since he was really the only one with knowledge and access to this level of technology on this world as well as the only one who could read this language, he had figured he didn't have to worry about it. "Okay, it looks like Waka was a general of the Moon Tribe, dishonorably discharged due to constantly overstepping his authority. Apparently he set everything up so that he could collect the demon essence for the Ark. Amaterasu was the only one who had enough holy power to take them down without suffering corruption from their deaths."
The kitsune snarled, now really wishing she could have shoved Ninestrike up that bastard's ass. "But why those demons?" she asked, though the unspoken question was why her and her kind.
The greater Nobody looked through the data before replying. "It looks like Yami and the Ark required several specific types of youkai essence in order to fully function. The essences needed were from a demon lord, a mortal turned demon, a demon resurrected from the remains of another, a demon created from an object, and finally a demon with access to divine or holy powers," he explained as everyone mentally listed the demons corresponding to the descriptions. Orochi, Spider Queen, Crimson Helm, Blight, and finally Tamamo-no-Mae herself. "However, when we spared you, that threw all his plans way off and he had to find a substitute and used Riku's Darkness as a replacement … bad idea according to these readings," he said motioning to the screen flashing red.
"What did the Darkness do?" Amaterasu asked concerned.
Roxas frowned at the readings. "While it looks like the Darkness worked well enough as a substitute energy source, it also acted like a virus … a semi-sentient disease," he clarified for his friends as they weren't as familiar with technology as he was. "The Darkness amplified all of Yami's emotions to extreme levels. Unfortunately the only emotions it knew were rage and hate and thus any reasoning it may have had was pretty much buried. It also fried what few control systems were in the thing to start with, though from the looks of it they wouldn't have done much good anyway. The Darkness was corrupting it from the inside out," he said in a surprised state.
"Corrupting Yami? I thought that creature was the Lord of the Kingdom of Darkness, how could it be corrupted by Darkness?" Tammy asked surprised.
The Nobody sight for a moment before speaking. "Yami was the Lord of Darkness … for THIS world," he emphasized. "It ruled over darkness just like Ammy rules over light. They're both gods of those elements, but only as they apply and manifest in this world through its means. The Darkness that was used was the Primal Element version, one of the three things that make up ALL worlds and dimensions at most basic of levels. To put it in a way you can understand, Yami was used to wielding a katana and instead got something more potent than your Ninestrike and it was frying the god from the inside out," he explained. Tammy nodded, understanding that analogy well enough. "Frankly I'm surprised Yami didn't become a Heartless instantly. It looks like he also tampered with Kaguya's ship as a way to lure us away from the city and get the fire artifact. This guy was busy," he said absently as he had the plans to both the Ark and Kaguya's rocket to make sure they were properly repaired.
Tammy frowned for a moment before she asked a question that had been on her mind since they had returned from Wonderland. "Roxas … when do you plan to leave?" she asked tentatively.
The Nobody gave her an odd look before answering. "Once the Ark is repaired and ready to take Ammy back to the Celestial Plains I was planning to drop you off at Wonderland before continuing on," he explained calmly.
A moment of silence. "I want to go with you."
He blinked at that, not sure if he had heard correctly. "What?"
She sighed before speaking. "It is because of you that I'm even alive right now and that I was able to avenge my family and ancestors. It was also because of you that those of Oni Island were given another chance in Wonderland. While I am no longer their leader, I know my people will be well taken care of by Alice and the Red Queen."
Roxas nodded slowly before speaking. "Okay I get that, but you don't owe me anything. I just … saw someone who had been screwed by those that should've helped them … like I was. Besides, you're my friend," he said simply.
The kitsune shook her head while Kumotome explained. "It is more than that Roxas. It is a matter of demon honor. You have basically given her and her people everything they could have wanted and now she is well in your debt, same as me. While demons may be tricksters and deceivers, we place a great value on our honor and will strive to see any debts repaid in full," the arachnid Nobody explained.
"Also," Tammy added, "ever since we went to Wonderland, I've wanted to see just what else was out there … what other worlds there are and what wonders they hold. By traveling with you, I can see what's out there and repay my debt. You helped me avenge my family so now I help you avenge yours," she said, referring to Xion and what had happened to her.
The Keyblade user sighed before smiling wearily. "I'm not going to convince you to stay in Wonderland am I?" he asked rhetorically to which the fox just grinned like the Cheshire Cat. "Okay, but just to warn you … there's no telling what we'll come across or where we'll end up," he said seriously.
Tammy just shrugged it off. "After Wonderland, how bad could it be?" she said with a grin.
-XIII-Flashback End-XIII-
The nine-tailed kitsune was seriously regretting those words right now. Tumbling from a Chaos Corridor several stories up in the air only to land on this speeding, metal monster half the size of Orochi with smaller monsters tossing explosives at it would make anyone reevaluate their choices. She dug her claws into the metal of the beast as Roxas did the same with Leviathan's and Astral Blast's hook-like ends. The machine they were riding on was going far faster than any beast she had ever known; even the Water Dragon wasn't as fast as this thing. Keeping her claws firmly dug into the metal, she used her tails to Power Slash and sent the explosive back at the strange little demons attacking them. Roxas did the same with his Light Shields, burning vertical lines of Light taking out several of the little two-wheeled monsters as he held his Keyblades in a death grip.
Behind them was a human in another metal beast, armed with rapid fire guns like what Roxas' Eco Surge could change into. The human was moving to take out the attacking demons as the dashed along the road. Absently the dimensional travelers noticed they were in a very odd forest. Massive pieces of metal stuck out of the land looking both natural and manmade at the same time. Some looking like swords, spears, axes, and signs, a few they had to duck under. The clouds above them thundered and roared in an epic crimson storm with lightning striking the trees yet not harming them in the least. In the distance, stood massive stone structures resembling a cross, a sword, and a guitar? Where the Void had they landed?
-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-
Edward Riggs had seen some gnarly and awesome things since coming to the brutal land of Metal, but nothing so far could have prepared him for what just happened. As the roadie in his Druid Plow hot rod was escorting the band battle bus to Battersmith, they had come under attack by these nasty little devil monkey things on choppers. As he was blasting the hell out of them, a weird portal of black, white, and gray energy opened up above them and two things dropped out. One looked like a huge black beast with multiple tails and two badass massive swords on its back. The other was some young guy in a black coat with blonde hair and a pair of weird swords. Both had landed on top of the bus and had dug into the roof to keep from flying off.
Strangely they didn't seem to be attacking the bus but defending it. The bombs the little Tick Choppers were throwing were being sent back before they could hit by weird slashes in the air in different colors. Also beams of pure light were appearing, more focused and dangerous than any laser show or spotlight he had had ever seen, and were mowing down the little bastards Suddenly Mangus called in over the radio. "Boss, we got some hitchhikers on the top of the bus!" he called out worriedly.
The roadie immediately called back as he blasted another of the demons on wheels after his bus. "Keep going Mangus, looks like they're helping us out," he reported back from his hot rod. He kept up the speed, following closely to give his friends cover, though it looked like it wasn't as needed this time as before as more of those weird laser shields appeared and fried a few more of the demons on wheels. As they passed through a canyon with high walls, several strange spheres materialized on the road. Eddie avoided them but a couple of Tick Choppers weren't so lucky, driving too close to them and causing them to explode in a very impressive pyrotechnic display. He'd have to remember those for the show.
This continued as the tour bus drove full speed up a ramp and into the remains of the great highway. They soon came to rocky area just outside Battersmith, the mountain that was shaped by the Metal Titans into a massive anvil that overlooked the land. Mangus called over the radio. "Boss, I think we're here," he said carefully as the bus stopped. Eddie pulled up next to it and glared at the couple of demon riders left, daring them to try anything. Knowing better, the Tick Choppers drove off, not wanting to pick a fight they knew they would lose.
Unloading off the bus, everyone turned to see who it was they had inadvertently picked up. They watched as a night-sky colored, multi-tailed beast jumped down along with dude in the black coat, who was just a teenager from the looks of it. The beast spoke in a clear female voice that was annoyed. "Did you intend for us to appear in the middle of the sky and land on this metal thing racing faster than the wind? My fur didn't need airing out that desperately," she said as she shook herself and tried to straighten out her fur.
The blonde in the black coat held up his hands in peace. "Hey, how was I supposed to know the Chaos Corridor would dump us several stories up in the air? I'm still getting used to using those things," he replied.
A young woman with shoulder length blond hair, black leather vest and pants, various bands with spikes on her arms and with a halberd pointed at them came forward. "Who are you and why did you attack us?" Lita Halford accused.
The beast growled back at her. "Attack? I was hanging on for dear life while those pathetic excuses for demons attacked us and this … metal beast," she said motioning to the bus. It seemed like a pretty apt description given the thing had tusks and was at least three stories tall.
"We didn't attack you, we just … landed on you," Roxas said sheepishly, not sure how else to say it.
A handsome man with long blonde hair and brown leather vest came forward, putting a hand on Lita's shoulder and getting her to back up a little bit. "Calm down Lita, if they had wanted to hurt us they would've done so by now. Instead they helped to defend us against the Tainted Coil on the way here. I'm Lars Halford, leader of Ironheade. This is my sister Lita and our roadie Edward Riggs," he introduced himself and the rest of them in a calm and friendly manner.
The teenager motioned to himself then the beast. "I'm Roxas, this is Kumotome and Tamamo-no-Mae, Tammy for short," he said motioning to a strange spider on his shoulder and the beast respectively.
Eddie then spoke up. "So where are you all from? I saw you drop out of the sky out of some weird portal thing," he asked confused.
The beast and boy looked at each other for a moment before Roxas sighed. "It's a really long story," he said with a sad smile.
Lars nodded before speaking, "Then we'll have to hear it. Let's set unload the bus and set up camp for the night. They helped us against the Tainted Coil hunters, we can at least hear their story," he ordered to everyone, much to Lita's chagrin.
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The members of Ironheade listened intensely as the dimensional travelers told their story, summarizing as best they could unless asked for more details. Around the campfires with beer and meat in hand, the said nothing as Roxas recounted his past adventures along with his companions the kitsune, the priestess spirit, and the spider Nobody. While they had been a little freaked out by the appearance of Kumotome; that was quickly overcome as they listened to what had happened in Nippon against the corrupted god Yami. He soon came to the end to where they had … met up with the tour bus. "We went through the corridor, landed on your bus, and here we are," he said finally. While he was unsure about telling them more or less everything, he figured this time there was little use in hiding. In Nippon no one had seen his initial entrance into the world so had the option to be discreet; here they all knew they had entered through the Corridor so he figured it was easier just to be straight with them.
Lars looked at the young man thoughtfully. "So you're trying to return to this World that Never Was in order to undo what you helped create and avenge your sister," he asked for clarification. The story the boy had told was unbelievable to the extreme, yet the kitsune resting next to him and the Keyblades he had shown all of them were proof that what he said was true. Plus Eddie had traveled to this world via a totem of the Eternal Fire Beast Ormagöden, was it really that much of a stretch to think other beings could do the same with other methods?
The greater Nobody sighed before speaking. "Yeah, though I'm not sure how close I'm getting," he said as he held up Compass for them to see. "This is recording the locations of the worlds I go to in order to make a map, using them like landmarks. Unfortunately the multi-verse is a huge place and it may take some time," he said dejectedly.
"Couldn't you have forced that Riku guy to take you back?" a young woman with long black hair, jean pants, and a black shirt with a fallen crow with an ankh on it asked.
Tammy snorted before answering Ophelia. "The coward was gone by the time we exited the Ark. We had left him with the Oina tribe but he had vanished without a trace when we came out again. We have no clue where the bastard may be now," she growled before lying down again. She had remained in her full kitsune form mostly because she didn't trust humans and because it had been a while before since she had spent any real time in her true form.
Roxas shook his head. "Right now I have other concerns, like finding a good weapon smith," he said wearily.
"Why would you need a weapon smith?" Ophelia asked. Roxas only smiled sadly as he held out his hand and summoned Rejection of Fate … or what was left of it. "What happened to it?" she asked surprised at the seeing the state of the Keyblade. His other Keyblades he had shown them had been pristine, deadly looking, and they could feel the power they held. This one looked like it had been run over multiple times and whatever power it may have had was now twisted and in pieces.
"It saved us against the dark destruction god Yami," he explained. "However, the backlash of power twisted and fried it inside and out. The one who originally gave me the keychain for it is back in the World that Never Was, so I can't get them to repair it. So … anyone know a good blacksmith?" he asked wearily as he thought of the moogle that had given him the keychain in the first place and had followed him to Twilight Town. He absently wondered what happened to that little puff ball
Surprisingly to him, Eddie spoke up. "I think I know someone who could help. He may not be a black smith, but he does have a few secrets that could help you out," he said as he got up. "You up for a quick drive?" he asked as motioned to the Druid Plow. Roxas nodded, wanting one of his first Keyblades to be repaired.
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The drive through the motor forge had been quite a ride as Eddie drove Roxas. The motor forge had looked like a cross between a garage and a giant engine with a skull with tailpipe wings on top of the door. Going in they had raced down underground, all of it lit up with magma and ancient markings of power. They soon came to massively open cave with waterfalls and oceans of hot molten rock, islands shaped like anvils, and chains with links half the size of the car hanging from them and connecting them. Kumotome clutched his shoulder tightly as they drove. Tammy had opted to stay behind as Eddie's car was just a two seat.
The car came to the end of the road over an ocean of magma. All around them it flowed and in the distance were massive giants, titans pounding at forges, shaping metal in gnarly and fantastic ways. It was an awesome sight to see. As they got out of the car, a geyser of magma shot up and arched onto the platform, revealing a figure. He wore black robes with tassels, a fire red cross symbol on the back, numerous gold and metal necklaces and rings, long black hair, and ruby tinted glasses. With a sweep of his arms he bowed to the two slightly. "The Guardian of Metal welcomes you," he said with a British accent. "I'm surprised you came back so soon," he stated as he walked up to them.
"Well it's not for me. This guy here needs some help and was hoping maybe you could do something," Eddie said while motioning to Roxas.
The Guardian turned to look at the kid in the black coat and his eyes seemed to widen behind his ruby glasses. "A Nobody? Damn, never thought I d see one of your kind around here," he stated surprised. The Metal Titans in the background seemed to have heard him and turned to watch them in interest, though the group on the stone anvil hadn't noticed yet.
Roxas shrugged, glad that he didn't have to explain what he was again even though he was slightly curious as to how this guy knew about Nobodies. "Yeah, that's a really long story. In any case, my name is Roxas I need your help," he asked calmly.
The Guardian of Metal raised an eyebrow in interest. "And what would a being made from Nothingness itself need with secrets of Metal?" he asked carefully. The Guardian knew full well what Roxas was and what Nobodies in general were supposed to be like though this was the first time he met one personally. While he had no problem sharing secrets with the roadie as he had earned the Metal Gods favor by understanding their instructions and passing them on along with kicking demon ass, Roxas was an unknown.
His mouth dropped in surprise however as the Nobody summoned a Keyblade, though it looked like it had been stomped on by one of the Metal Titans repeatedly. "Is that a Keyblade!? What the fucking hell happened to it!?" he exclaimed in surprise. Now the Titans were really interested.
Roxas sighed as he showed them Rejection of Fate. "It saved my sorry butt against a crazed demon god of destruction," he said frankly as he handed it to the Guardian to look at who was shocked even more by the reason. "As you can see, the backlash did a number on it. Anything you can do about it?" he asked hopefully.
The Guardian examined the damaged weapon carefully. Despite its horrible condition, he could still feel the power this weapon once had and still held. Unfortunately it had shattered and forcibly fused back into the weapon, causing its own power to overload its form and twist it from the inside out. This was not going to be a simple repair job. More importantly a Keyblade user could either be really good or really bad for their world given what he knew of them. He glanced at the Titans in the distance to see what they thought. One gave only a slow nod, conveying its wishes. "Okay, here's the deal. You earn enough Fire Tributes and I'll see if we can use the secrets of Metal to fix your Keyblade," the Guardian offered.
"Fire Tributes?" the Nobody asked confused.
Eddie chimed in at that point. "Basically if you do something awesome that the Gods of Metal like, they honor you with a Fire Tribute," he said as he held up and ignited his lighter. "Get enough and our friend here will trade them for kick ass secrets."
Roxas raised an eyebrow at the explanation. "The Gods here help anyone then?" he asked as he thought of the Brush Gods of Nippon who had favored humans exclusively. It sounded like the Gods of this world worked differently. He wondered how Tammy would take that as that had been a sore point of hers back in Nippon.
"More or less. When they ascended from Titans to Gods, they left instructions of how to do so. But nobody understood any of it, bloody wankers," the Guardian snarled. "It wasn't until this guy came along that they started to get it. The Gods made it so that if you wanted their help, you had to earn it or at least understand their instructions regardless of who or what you are," he explained. Roxas nodded at that. It sounded fair enough and allowed anyone to earn the Gods favor since they let their instructions for anyone who could understand them.
"So what kind of stuff do I have to do in order to get Fire Tributes?" he asked curiously, hoping he didn't have to offer a ton of prayers or sacrifices or something stupid like that.
"Basically anything awesome; raising relics, insane deeds, kicking ass in general, things like that," Eddie explained. Roxas nodded, liking those options very well.
"I take it you've earned a few Tributes yourself?" he asked the roadie who nodded. "So I help you in whatever it is you're doing, earn some Fire Tributes, and the Guardian here will see if he can fix my Keyblade once I have enough," he stated plainly.
"You got it," the robed man confirmed. The two nodded, got back into the car, and drove back up to the surface. "I want you to go fucking crazy out there!" he yelled after them. Once they had driven off, he turned to the Titans who had watched the whole exchange. "Well, it looks like things are going to get interesting soon," he commented as the Titans seemed to chuckle at that.
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Namine looked at Sora in contemplation. Recently there had been another surge of power through the link from Roxas. However, unlike the previous surge which had been an inferno of demonic rage, this one had been like a tsunami of divine peace. Like the previous wave it had overflowed and affected everyone connected to Sora. To many it hadn't done much other than undo the damage done by the demonic wave which had occurred a couple weeks earlier. It had also pushed back the Darkness infecting Sora completely, basically returning them to square one with him still unconscious. The only real difference was that the wave had eaten the through the link between the two like acid. Apparently, whether demonic or divine, Roxas' powers wanted him free of Sora.
There was also the issue of Riku and the Organization. The Organization was still being quiet, still focusing their efforts on searching the Realm of Darkness as well as searching for them. DiZ had abandoned the mansion in Twilight Town and moved them to a new location to monitor Sora and try to figure out another way to revive him. One thought was to replace his lost memories with false copies, but that was scrapped as it wouldn't restore the power he needed to fight the Organization and if the memories were ever broken or revealed to be false, it could end up causing more damage than what they started with.
Riku was also MIA since he had first tracked Roxas to an unknown world. He had reported that he had found an ally against Roxas and was moving to retrieve the Nobody. However, he had not contacted them since. While they knew he was still alive from his connection to Sora, something had changed dramatically for the worse from what she had sensed. He had delved deeper into the power of Darkness that Ansem wielded. That Darkness, nearly all of it, was forcibly ripped out of him by something. Shortly after that the Darkness returned to Riku … along with something else.
Before the Darkness from Ansem was like a chained animal, under control for the time being but could easily turn on its master if handled incorrectly. Now there was another aspect to the Darkness, a hunger to destroy and eliminate everything along with a cold, merciless intelligence that was growing as time went on. The memory witch couldn't explain it; it was like the Darkness had been corrupted by something, like a parasite of some sort, feeding off of it and evolving somehow. She was afraid they might have something worse than Ansem to deal with if it continued.
Last but not least was that there were now four stations to Roxas' heart. The main one, the one belonging to the Twilight Thorn, the one with the Red Demon, and the most recently completed one with the Blue Kitsune. With each one Roxas became more independent of Sora, no longer needing to connect to his heart. Even stranger was that as the connection between them thinned, more unknown memories and emotions transferred from Roxas to Sora. She hadn't noticed it at first due to the memories being … asleep for lack of a better word. It was like what was happening with Xion's memories only in reverse. While her memories were leaving Sora to stay with Roxas, these unknown memories were leaving Roxas to stay with Sora. She had informed DiZ of this and he had just scowled at her. Even more so when she told him she could not view the memories clearly as they were blurred, either due to separation from their owner or that their owner was inactive in some way she couldn't tell. This mad the bandaged scientist question even more the success of merging Roxas back with Sora, especially after the two emotion waves that had come through.
As she stood gazing at Sora's sleeping form, her mind wandered to her experiences in the area that she had realized a short time ago was becoming Roxas' heart. As the connection thinned it was getting harder and harder to go there, though she was reluctant to do so, given the creatures and that grinning demon cat that resided there. She thought back to the storm that had raged there months ago when the Twilight Thorn and the Red Demon tried to break free to get at her. Both had called her a traitor and had attempted to break free to kill her. The Blue Kitsune had later mockingly given Sora the title of Hero Heartless and gave her the title of Treasonous Witch. Was that how Roxas saw her … an eternal traitor? The girl admitted that from the outside, it seemed that betraying people was what she was good at. She had betrayed Organization XIII for Marluxia, Marluxia for DiZ, DiZ for Roxas, and recently betrayed Roxas for Sora only to have that backfire on her and DiZ with his escape and current forming of his own heart.
The grinning cat had hinted at this happening, had hinted that Greater Nobodies could form their own hearts and become whole again without merging back with his or her somebody or accessing Kingdom Hearts. She had initially questioned why none of Ansem's research had hinted at this, but it had been clear as to why. His research had assumed Lesser Nobodies and Greater Nobodies were the same in regards to how they functioned. That was wrong. Greater Nobodies were more than just advanced versions of Lesser Nobodies, they were unique and adaptable versions. Roxas showed this by meeting and becoming friends with people who wanted to know him, not Sora but Roxas himself, treating him as a unique individual and thus causing him to grow his own heart.
There was another thing that made Roxas unique that she had brought up to DiZ which had worried the scientist once it had been pointed out by the Blue Kitsune. All the Greater Nobodies had looked EXACTLY like the people they had once been … except for Roxas. His appearance was completely different from Sora which had made them question whether or not he was Sora's Nobody in the first place. What did that mean? How was he unique? Was it an effect of having the Keyblade or something else? All these questions needed to be answered if they were ever going to awaken Sora again.
-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-XIII-
Roxas lay back against Tammy in her full kitsune form as he gazed up into the night time sky. It was a sight to see as stars twinkled and ribbons of light danced across the sky in an aurora borealis. The group they had joined, Ironheade, had made camp just outside the field leading to Battersmith. They planned to assault the main barracks of their enemy in the morning which Roxas and Tammy would join in on.
While he was initially unsure about helping them, after hearing their story he was far more inclined to do so. Even Tammy was after hearing how the local humans had been treated by General Lionwhyte and subsequently the Tainted Coil. While she had initially been against helping the humans and trying to appease the Metal Gods, she knew it was their best chance to repair Rejection of Fate who they owed their lives to. Also after hearing about how Lionwhyte betrayed his own people and enslaved many of his fellow humans under the demons' orders, even she was disgusted by that. Betrayal was something none of them would tolerate.
Rao and Kumotome were also interested in Ironheade's tale, specifically the stories about Madronal and the Chrome Spider Queen. Madronal was the sacred drinking or beer tree. Unfortunately without Aetulia to provide for its roots, its power had diminished quite a bit over time. The priestess was curious as to whether that power could be restored and if it could be used like Konohana to protect the land from demons. However, because this world, its spirits, and its gods operated differently than Nippon, the ritual to do so would have to be altered accordingly.
Kumotome was interested in the Chrome Spider Queen. While she was content with her current form and her drider form, neither form were anywhere near as powerful as her original Spider Queen form and it made her feel somewhat useless. She had been unable to transform against Yami simply because the creature ATE youkai energy and if she had transformed would have only fed the thing. Still if what she heard from Eddie and Killmaster about the Chrome Spider Queen was true, then she would have a chance to restore her power, though it was a risky chance if possible. The simple fact was that this world was obviously very different from Nippon and the way it and the powers within it operated were also very different. One of the few things she had learned as a demon was that mixing different magic and power was very risky. It would be like mixing two random chemicals together, resulting in one or more of several possibilities. The combination could cause one power to enhance the other, weaken the other, combine into something new or random, do nothing, or violently react and explode. Unfortunately, the last possibility happened more often than not, even between energies that had similar properties. The fact that Tamamo-no-Mae for example, could use demonic and divine energies so well was surprising.
Roxas gazed up at the sky, marveling at the sight. This world certainly didn't do anything by halves. "Interesting place we've landed huh?" he said absently.
The fox snorted. "I could have done without the ride. Anyway, are you sure you want to help them? I don't like the idea of having to appease gods," the demoness said lowly as her mind went back to the Brush Gods of Nippon. With the exception of Amaterasu who had actually humbled herself before her and Kumotome, Tammy still resented the Brush Gods and their blatant favoritism of humans.
The Nobody sighed. "Like we have a better option," he said as he summoned Rejection of Fate still twisted like a pretzel and sparking badly. "If we want this repaired we need an expert smith and who better than beings that forged a place like this," he said motioning to the land around them. The fox had to admit that he had a point. Metal was integrated into everything on this world, from the plants to the animals, many of which acted like living machines if what she was told about the Razor Girls' weapons was true.
"Still, that Eddie guy smells weird," she said as she laid her head in her paws.
"Smells weird?" Roxas asked in confusion.
"He doesn't smell completely human," the fox clarified. "There's also something off about that Ophelia woman, something dark. I'm not sure what though for either of them."
The spider spoke up from her place on his shoulder. "We'll just have to deal with it as it comes. For now, we should rest, tomorrow is going to be an interesting day," she said simply as they laid down to rest under the brilliant night sky.
Journal Entry: Day 415
Waka: I'm glad to be rid of him, though I have to respect his dedication to his cause. He planned out all that for Ammy over the span of over two hundred years. I have to wonder if Xemnas planned that far ahead with his plans, whatever they are. On the other hand, he didn't seem to have any type of backup plans given how easily they were derailed by sparing Tammy. I wonder if Xemnas had any backup plans for when I left?
AN: Okay, so this is more of a transitory chapter, boring but needed. The next one will truly start Roxas' journey in the world of Brutal Legend. Oddly, only a few people guessed it, most thought I was talking about Dark Souls or Darksiders, which I might use down the line but I don't have any plans for either of them. In any case, for the Brutal Legend arch, I plan to use Heavy Metal and Rock songs as the titles that fit with each chapter. I would recommend listening to them but it isn't needed. Just to be clear, I DO NOT own these songs at all and I am NOT making any money off them in any way, shape, or form as I am not a musician or a producer. These songs belong to their respective creators and if you want to hear them, try iTunes or Youtube.
On a side note, a reviewer wondered why Roxas seems more Good and then Neutral so far. Roxas isn't a mean or nasty person by nature or by personality. Short tempered and defiant yes, but not cruel or vicious. In Wonderland he needed guidance and became part of that world just by being there. Haven he was simply looking to survive and made a deal that would benefit him in the end with Compass. Nippon he wanted to know who or what was controlling the Heartless and he saw some of himself in Tamamo-no-Mae. Plus the actions of the Heartless went against what he knew of them. There was also the fact that Yami was said to be the Lord of the Land of Darkness, which he literally lived in. It made him wonder if Heartless had nobility/leaders the same way Nobodies did. While he does help the good guys, he usually initially does it in order to gain something for himself and later becomes friends with them. In the case of Brutal Legend, it's getting Rejection of Fate repaired. If you had a weapon that could block a crazed god's attack, wouldn't you want it fixed?
AN Current World: Brutal Legend (Videogame by Double Fine)