A beam of light fired from the tip of the Keyblade, hitting the voodoo binding spell head on. With an echoing sound of something being unlocked echoing through the Earth King's throne room, the pink bands binding Aggie faded away.
"Oh thank you, Jim!" Aggie said gratefully as she cracked her back. "I was beginning to get rather stiff. Oh and A plus work on unlocking spells. Your magic is becoming most impressive."
"Thanks Aggie," Jim replied with a grin. "Couldn't have done it without you."
Jim glanced behind him and was quickly reminded of the presence of Zuko and the Princesses of Heart.
"Oh right," Jim said. "Guys, this is my friend and magic teacher, Aggie Cromwell."
Zuko stepped forward, put one hand into a fist and touched it to his other hand which he held in a straight upward position. He then bowed gracefully with his upper body.
"I'm honored to meet you, Master Aggie," Zuko said as he bowed.
"Ohoho," Aggie grinned at the honorifics. "I like this one. A polite young gentleman."
"Aggie, this is Fire Lord Zuko," Jim said. Aggie curtsied respectfully.
"And these young women," Jim continued, "are Cinderella, Belle, Alice, Anya, and Marina. They're the Princesses of Heart."
"Pleased to make your acquaintance," Cinderella said with a curtsy.
Aggie's eyes widened. "The Princesses of Heart? But I was under the impression that you were all being kept protected on Earth-145. What are you all doing here?"
"Well, we were," Cinderella began, "but after Jim's visit, we talked it over and decided that our place wasn't being hidden away on the sidelines. We were chosen to hold the seven purest lights in the multi-verse; we have a duty to protect the people."
"That's very noble of you all," Aggie nodded.
Sokka walked back over to the group after speaking with King Kuei.
"The Earth King has made an official word on the rebellion," Sokka explained. "Long Feng and his generals are to be arrested and brought to trial for their crimes. The peasants in the army will be granted a full pardon on the condition that they stop fighting and return home."
"Sounds very generous," Zuko said. "My father would have thrown the peasants in prison with no trial and had the leaders executed by a firing squad."
"Well we all know Ozai was a bad dude," Sokka said with a wave of his hand. "And this week on Life Crippling Daddy Issues, we have Zuko... again... with 'My dad is a sociopathic dictator'."
"Anyway," Jim interjected to change the subject, "something weird happened to Zuko and me when we were fighting Jafar."
"Yeah," Zuko nodded, "it was like we merged into one person."
"With two Keyblades and a new wardrobe design with lots of red," Jim added.
"I think I know what you're talking about," Belle said. "Sora had the ability to merge with either Donald or Goofy for a short period of time when fighting. I think the one you discovered was one he called 'Valor Form' which appeared to be a more physical based merger."
"I did feel a lot stronger and more agile in that form," Jim said. "But how did it happen? I've never learned how to do that."
"Sora was able to manage the transformation because of magical clothes given to him by the three good fairies," Belle explained. "However, judging by you doing it on your own here, it would appear that these 'Drive Forms' are a skill tied to the Keyblade itself. If I had to wager a guess, it's probably triggered by deep running connections to others."
Jim and Zuko exchanged a look.
"Uh, let's... not mention that part of it to Jack," Jim said with an uncomfortable laugh. "He'd probably take that the wrong way."
"You encountered Sora again after he stopped Ansem?" Cinderella asked Belle.
"Oh yes, I did," Belle nodded. "I met him again when he came to my home world. I was staying in some castle at the time. I don't remember whose. It's a bit fuzzy."
"You can remember vivid details about the powers of a Keyblade wielder, but you can't remember the person whose castle you were living in at the time?" Zuko asked.
"To make Jim's Keyblade, we all had to give up our most precious memories," Cinderella explained. "Belle's most precious memory must have been of the castle's master."
Jim's stomach sank. He never wanted this to happen. He could see plainly on Belle's face that the absence of that memory was paining her. Losing his memories of Silver was utterly inconceivable. Would he even be the same person without those memories? He imagined it had to be the same for all five of the princesses. They had given up their most precious memories, and for what? An oddly shaped sword that he was okay at best with wielding? What a waste. He wanted to forfeit the Keyblade; give the damn thing up so that they could have their memories back. But Jim knew that wasn't in the cards. There was too much at stake and too much riding on him to use this power. That notion, however, didn't do anything to curb the guilt he was feeling.
"So what brought you ladies here to this world?" Aggie asked.
"We actually came here to find the seventh Princess of Heart," Anya explained.
"We followed the light, and it led us here," Alice explained.
"We don't know if she's on this world," Marina explain, "but we're almost positive that this is her home world."
"Well the only princesses I know of on this world are my ex and Zuko's sister," Sokka said. "My ex became the moon, and Zuko's sister is a wack job."
"Well 'princess' is a bit of a misnomer," Marina replied. "A Princess of Heart does not necessarily have to be a princess by royal blood. It's about the heart, not the crown."
"Do you know anything about this princess?" Zuko asked.
"Nothing," Anya admitted. "Not even Master Yen Sid could find her. We're at the start of a new quest of uncharted waters."
"Umm, excuse me," Graham said as he entered the room.
"Graham! Glad to see you're alright!" Jim said with a smile.
"There's someone I found who wanted to see you," Graham stated.
The Huntsman stepped to his left to reveal Cid behind him.
Cid scratched the back of his neck awkwardly before speaking. "Hey kid."
Hama and Yakone quickly slid back into the home in the Upper Ring that they were occupying and locked the doors behind them. Staying within the city walls was no longer strategically advantageous with the White Lotus sweeping the city in the aftermath of the rebellion. However, the Upper Ring home was a good place for the two bloodbenders to catch their breath. Jafar took form through a Corridor of Darkness several seconds after their arrival.
"We failed you, my lord," Hama said quietly, recoiling from the Overlord in utter terror.
Jafar sneered, unwilling to admit that Zuko's survival was more his fault that Hama's. "Your petty squabble with the Avatar and his little whore has complicated matters. The full moon has been wasted. I should eliminate you both where you stand. However, your services may still be of use to me. We may yet be able to rectify the situation."
"What do you have planned, my lord?" Hama asked.
"You two lay low," the evil sorcerer ordered. "Do nothing that will draw unnecessary attention to yourselves. I shall return when I have devised our next course of action."
The black tendrils of a Corridor of Darkness wrapped around Jafar and soon after vanished away into the shadows.
"So, uhhh," Cid said, scratching the back of his neck, "I guess I should start off with an apology."
"Cid, let's not do this," Jim replied. "I was an inconsiderate dumbass, and you were an overreacting asshole. We're a couple of jackasses, so let's just forgive and forget."
"Heh," Cid chuckled to himself. "Deal."
"Great!" Jim said. "So before we take off, Zuko and I are-"
"Whoa there, kid," Cid interrupted. "I didn't say we were gonna travel together again. I just didn't want to leave things on shitty terms."
"Oh c'mon," Jim said with a roll of his eyes. "Don't be ridiculous."
"I'm not bein' ridiculous," Cid insisted. "I'm no good to ya, and I'm better off flyin' solo anyway. That way I don't fuck up anyone else's lives."
"This isn't just about me, is it?" Jim asked, knowing the answer already.
Cid turned away, not wanting to look Jim in the eyes.
"I was their dad, and I fucked up," the older man said with heavy strain evident in his voice. "I couldn't even save my God damn kids. I just... I can't fuckin' deal with another group under my care. I won't watch another family die."
"Cid, you've got the stop blaming yourself," the young Keyblade master insisted. "It was all the Overlords. You are not to blame."
"Like Hell I'm not. You don't even know the whole fuckin' story," the older man growled.
"Well... maybe you should tell me," Jim replied. "Maybe if you talked about it, you'd be able to stop bottling everything up."
Cid let out a deep sigh before turning back around to face Jim.
"Not now. Maybe someday, but I can't dig up those memories today."
"Someday? Does that mean we are gonna travel together?" Jim asked hopefully.
"Stop twistin' my words," Cid grunted. "Jim, I'm tryin' to do what's best for you here."
"And I'm trying to tell you that you're wrong about what's best for me," Jim replied. "And maybe you should start thinking about what's best for you. I'm going with Zuko to find his mother after the conference. Take that time to just think about that before you make your final decision here."
Cid nodded. "Alright."
The doors to the throne room opened, and in walked Aang, Katara, Toph, Jack, Elsa, Iroh, and several White Lotus sentries. Jack and Jim immediately locked eyes from across the room, prompting Jack to sprint forward and pull Jim into a tight hug. The boyfriends held one another in their arms once again, as if afraid letting go would cause them to be separated again.
Must be nice, Zuko thought to himself, having someone who cares for you that much. Jim's a lucky guy.
"What's he doing here?" Jack asked when he saw Cid.
"Nice to see you too, Jack," Cid growled
Jack made a motion to start yelling, but Jim stopped him.
"Jack, not now," Jim said.
Jack looked back and forth between Jim and Cid before ultimately deciding to just drop it. "I've missed you."
"I've missed you too," Jim replied. "How'd the waterbending go?"
"Oh yeah!" Jack said, his face lighting up at the thought. "I figured out how to do it! I had some trouble at first, but then I got some help. You'll never guess from who!"
"Who?"
"Keyblade Master Riku!"
"What? How?"
"He became a Dream Eater just like me. He came to me in my dreams!"
"Jack... that's amazing! God, I've got like a million questions I wanna ask him."
"And he wants to teach you what he knows, he just hasn't figured out how to reach you in your dreams yet... since you're not a Dream Eater and whatnot."
"Maybe Aggie knows a lucid dreaming spell!"
"Right! That's a great idea! Oh my God, I'm so excited for you, Jim! Riku is just... He's just a great guy. You'll love him! This is just so awesome; it's weird how excited I am for you."
"And that's why I love you."
Jim gave Jack a quick peck on the lips.
"Oh my gosh!" Jack exclaimed, noticing the princesses for the first time. "Cinderella! Belle! Alice! Anya! Marina!"
The winter spirit ran over to greet his old friends and the six came together in a group hug.
"When'd you guys get here?" Jack asked. "How's everyone back home?"
"Just today," Cinderella answered.
"And everyone's doing great!" Marina said.
"The other guardians miss you," Anya added.
"I miss them a lot too," Jack said. "Hope they don't miss me too much. Let me guess: you guys decided to search for the seventh princess?"
"Precisely," Alice nodded.
"It's a good thing we did too," Belle said. "We were just in time to save Jim and Zuko from Jafar."
Belle gestured to Jim and Zuko. Jack looked over and finally noticed the young Fire Lord. "Oh, so you're Fire Lord Zuko? I... pictured you... older."
"It's good to meet you," Zuko said, putting on a smile. "Jim told me a lot about you. You're very lucky to have him."
"Yeah, I am," Jack said in a tone that sounded a bit stand-offish to Zuko.
"Tomorrow Zuko and I are going to the Quintessence Bank to see if his mother is being held there," Jim jumped in.
"Oh? Sounds important," Jack replied. "I'll come too. You might need some waterbending while you're there."
"That'd be... great," Zuko said. "The more the merrier. In fact, it might be a good idea if Aang comes with us too."
As much as Zuko liked Jim, he did not want to end up third wheeling with Jim and Jack. Plus Aang was his best friend; he needed him by his side on a day so important.
"Right! Good thinking," Jim said. "The rest of my crew can stay back here to help with clean-up."
"Sounds like a plan!" Jack laughed a bit to himself.
"Quite so," one of the White Lotus sentries muttered under his breath before exiting the room.
Meanwhile, far from the World of the Four Nations, another showdown was just beginning...
"Blast him!" Sookie shouted to her comrades.
The combined energy of the fairies blasted forward at full force into the chest of the oncoming vampire, the infamous Russell Edgington. Though the blast combined the magic of over thirty fairies, Russell continued pressing forward, practically unphased by the magic. Russell's boyfriend, vampire spokesman Steve Newlin, watched the sight with both concern and awe visibly present on his face. Despite the force of the blast, Russell laughed with wicked arrogance at the feeble attempt to stop him.
"Seriously?" Russell taunted with sadistic glee. "Is that the best you can do? Ha! I can't even feel it... except for a very slight, oooh, tingling sensation. Which, unfortunately for you gorgeous little pixies, only wets my appetite!"
What happened next was something that Russell could only describe as being an "out of body experience." He had heard testimonies of various humans who have described looking over at their own bodies and watching traumatic events take place, but he'd never believed the sensation to be anything more than a feeble human mind playing tricks on itself. Yet here he was, off to the far side of the field watching as Eric Northman tackled and staked his body. He was witnessing his own death.
"Well... fuck," his body groaned out as it exploded into a pile of blood and goo.
There were worse final words, Russell decided. As his body met its untimely demise, Steve's expression twisted into utter horror as the young vampire turned and high tailed it out of there as quickly as his vampiric speed could carry him. Russell couldn't really blame his boyfriend. After all, he had no desire to see another lover destroyed. Yet, part of him longed for Steve to weep over his remains the same way he himself had over Talbot. Russell suddenly became very aware of how odd this sensation was. He had just witnessed himself meeting his ultimate demise, yet here he was, still watching the entire thing transpire.
"You're welcome," a voice with a thick British accent said from behind him.
Russell's instinctive reaction prompted him to speedily whirl around and grab the source of the voice by the neck. The man within his grasp with a pale man with long ebony hair and piercing green eyes wearing an elaborate horned helmet. The man smelled strongly of frozen meat, a stark contrast to the sweet and succulent aroma of the fairies nearby.
"Is that any way to treat a god?" the man growled.
"A god?" Russell replied with his thick southern accent. "Judgin' by your get up, I think you have me confused with a certain Maenad."
"Russell, I am here for you," the god said. "I have just saved your life. You can repay my generosity by releasing my neck and listening to my proposition."
Wanting answers and knowing that this man was the one who could provide them, Russell released his grasp on the man's neck. The god stood nearly a head taller than him and carried himself with a certain proud dignity.
"I am Loki, known in many worlds as the Norse god of mischief," Loki introduced himself. "I have a certain talent for creating illusions, which you have just witnessed this very night."
"Ah, so you made an illusion of me to fool that fuckin' prick into thinkin' he'd put an end to me for good," Russell smirked. "I am positively impressed. Why'd ya do it? What's your angle, Loki?"
"I am currently in the market for allies," Loki explained. "Like-minded and useful individuals to aid me in the destruction of the Overlords."
"Overlords?" the vampire king scoffed. "And who the fuck are they?"
"Let's just say they were the ones responsible for that Lilith manifestation controlling the Authority."
"I knew somethin' was up! No woman has real tits that perfect! Fuckin' Sanguistas and their closed-minded idiocy."
"If you'll come with me, we can discuss my plans in greater detail."
"Of course, of course. But first we need to find Steve, let him know I'm alive, and bring him with us."
"I am here to recruit you, Russell. Not you and Steve."
Russell bared his fangs and hissed at Loki.
"You want me as an ally?" Russell growled, slipping into his original Druid accent. "Then Steve comes in a package deal. Am I clear?"
Loki chuckled a bit to himself before replying. "Very well. I shall make room to include Steve as well."
Russell retracted his fangs to show that this new proposal was more agreeable to him. Loki vanished quickly in a blur of green light and almost immediately after reappeared with Steve held in a headlock. Crimson tears hardened on Steve's pale white cheeks.
"Russell!" Steve said as utter joy and relief washed over his bloodstained face.
The two vampire lovers rushed to embrace one another. Steve held Russell tightly in his arms, terrified that if he let go, he'd have to let go forever. Loki looked on at the two. The sight was oddly saccharine despite the fact that the two lovers in question were blood-thirsty homicidal maniacs. Part of him wished that he could find a bond that profound for himself, but that was a triviality in the grand scheme of things.
"Ahem, gentlemen," Loki said as he opened a Corridor of Darkness. "If you will each step through here, I can begin to tell you of a delicious feast for you both."
"Oh, I do so love delicious meals," Russell chuckled as he broke away from the hug. "What exactly is on this oh so succulent menu?"
"A fairy," Loki explained. "But one even more powerful that all of the fairies on this world combined. One whose blood should prove to be the most delectable thing you two will ever sink your teeth into."