Alright, here we are at the last official chapter of Beyond the Dark Veil! There's still the secret ending, but the credits roll here, haha! Shout outs:

13TheAce: Well, it's funny because in my original script back when I was planning for this story, I ended the story with Eclipse's death, but I agree, this is better. It really shows how much Marek has grown throughout the story, much like Pierce did in NPNW. I wanted to mirror that growth because Marek served as Pierce's sort of mentor throughout that story.

Shadowdragon1317: Ha, congrats on catching up! I knew you could do it! I don't have sadistic tendencies…..do I?

The Unknowing Herald: It symbolizes Marek's rebirth into a new creature, not one driven by hatred, but one heading toward redemption. Thanks, and well, I'm not completely finished with him yet. Yeah, it was supposed to be like that. You'll see why now.

Well, I own a lot of what appears this chapter. If you don't remember it being in the games, I probably own it, haha! Enjoy!

Chapter 49: Revelations

Marek backed away from Anetar's body, holding the Eternity Fang in his hand, which was now stained with the Ancient's blood. Jack walked up to him, and the brothers looked at each other for a moment. The dark Keyblader then held out the weapon to him. "Here. I prefer my own." he muttered. Jack smiled slightly and reached out, taking it in his hand. Marek then flexed his hand and called his own blade to his grasp.

Except it was different. His Vengeance Seeker had changed. It was still much broader than usual Keyblades, but it looked closer in appearance to Jack's now. He stared at it questioningly, until Jason reluctantly spoke to him. "I believe this is your mark of mastery. Your Keyblade understands that your desire for vengeance is gone. Perhaps you should give it a new name." he explained. He expected some sarcastic retort from his son, but Marek studied his blade and nodded without comment.

"What are you gonna name it? Redeeming Darkness?" Jack asked him with a slight smile. Marek looked up at his brother with a solemn stare.

"It's time I stopped pretending I was alone. I have people who care about me, both among the living…..and the dead. No, I choose a new name: Wanderer's Legacy. I think we both still have a bit of that mantle left on us, Brother. There's definitely enough to go around." he replied. Jack smiled sincerely and reached out, touching his brother's shoulder.

"I think that would be wise." announced another voice.

The brothers, Jason, and the rest of the LE turned toward the voice. A glyph appeared on the ground a few dozen yards away from them, and in a flash of light, Maechil stood facing them, his six fellow Council members forming a semi-circle behind him. "Maechil." Jack greeted as he stepped to the forefront of the group. Maechil nodded in his direction, but Saenatar angrily pointed at the former Wanderer.

"Lord Omnivion to you, human!" he spat. Maechil held up his hand to him and addressed the LE.

"Brave of you all to stand against an Ancient, however misguided. Truly a commendable effort." he told them. Sora narrowed his eyes warily and looked over at Dawnomar, whose face was unreadable.

"I told you before, we will do whatever it takes to defend our worlds." Jack replied calmly, keeping his voice measured even though they all knew the Council appearing in the mortal realm did not bode well. Maechil nodded at his comment and glanced at his fellow members, noticeably skipping over Dawnomar. Adenar and Saenatar were flanking him on either side, their smirks visible as they crossed their arms. In the middle on each side were Kunomar and Tsunetar, the two women of the group looking none too pleased about something. Then on the ends were Dawnomar and Maynaimar, who didn't seem to care either way.

"Amusing that you should tell me that, Jack Rikkison. As I recall, I gave you a mission and certain permittance on some things." he began, but Sora cut him off.

"You told us to stop the threats against the worlds, which we did." he replied. Maechil waved his arm, instantly knocking Sora off his feet before speaking again.

"I told you to stop Eclipse. I did not order you to kill a member of the Council." he replied dangerously, a strange look in his eyes. Everyone but Jack looked over at Marek, who stepped forward to comment.

"You told me to stop Eclipse AND his master!" he argued, but in his heart, he had already figured out what was happening, long before the others had. Maechil widened his stance and placed his hands at his sides.

"Indeed. I told you to STOP him. I did not give you clearance to kill him." he calmly argued.

"Well, what's the difference?!" the white haired Rikkison yelled angrily. Maechil held his arms out, causing the very ground beneath them to tremble. They struggled to keep their footing even as the lord of the universe spoke.

"An assault on a member of the Council….is a treasonous offense. The murder of not only an Ancient, but a member of the Council…is an act of war." he thundered as the skies grew dark. (The Enemy is Coming, Epic Score)

Jack's eyes grew wide as he heard Maechil's words. He shook his head in disbelief. "You're not serious!" he yelled, but Maechil had already turned away from him.

"Tsunetar, prepare our forces. Adenar, Saenatar, keep them at bay until we have finished." he ordered his people. Jack turned back to his allies.

"Ready yourselves!" he roared as he held up the Eternity Fang and placed himself in front of them all. Even as Maechil was giving orders to his fellows, a massive fleet of flying ships was already appearing in the sky. "Maechil!" he yelled out pleadingly. The lord of the universe turned back to him with a smirk.

"At last, this universe shall be cleansed. Through water and darkness whence we all come. Now, through fire and Divine power shall humanity meet its end!" he yelled happily. Jack shook his head in disbelief.

"MAECHIL!" he roared as loud as he could. He couldn't believe what was happening. He turned to his comrades.

"Jason, Mist, Aqua, Xion, Riku, get up in the air and delay the ships as much as you can! The rest of us will…." he began, but Terra cut him off.

"Jack!" he yelled, staring behind him. Jack whirled around and saw Saenatar and Adenar already advancing on them. Saenatar had pulled out his massive battleaxe while Adenar held a longsword in one hand, a mace in the other.

"This can't be happening!" Sora yelled from somewhere behind him.

"On me!" he yelled to them. Marek, Sora, Terra, Eraqus, and all the others gathered around him, their blades at the ready. Saenatar chuckled arrogantly.

"Stupid humans. It took a force this large to defeat a master of trickery and lies? We are the metal arm of the Council, and we command their armies! You will find we are far out of your league!" he yelled as he brandished his weapon.

Jack suddenly leaped forward toward him, and the massive Ancient ran to meet him while Adenar watched silently.

Suddenly, a massive storm began blowing in between them, stopping both sides. The storm became a tornado that focused in on itself, turning into Dawnomar's human form. He glanced back at Jack and the others. "Go now! You will not have much time!" he ordered them as he brandished his staff at his fellows.

"Dawnomar?!" Jason questioned, but Jack had already turned to them.

"Go, just go! We have to get out of here! If we don't, then the worlds have already been lost!" he told them urgently. They nodded, and Eraqus quickly summoned a portal of light, something they couldn't do while Anetar was blocking the light energy into the world upon their arrival.

As the LE hurried through their portal, Dawnomar calmly stared at his former comrades. "You have chosen your side then, old man." Adenar coldly stated. In response, the hooded man thumped his staff against the ground one single time, instantaneously knocking both of them off their feet and leaving a world-wide split in the planet's surface. By the time they were on their feet, he was already gone.

Maechil had placed himself upon the highest precipice in the world, overlooking his vast fleet that was making its way into the human realm. He smiled. "At long last, my war shall come. I finally have my excuse for destroying these miserable mortals, not that I ever needed one. It is time for this world to end in fire, so that we can raise a new one up from the embers, one fashioned in our image, our glory, where all worship us….forever. I must thank you, Anetar, for being a loyal servant and agreeing to give up your existence so that our goals may come to fruition." he thought to himself. He then turned, and with a flick of his cloak, he was gone. (end the Enemy is Coming)

SOME TIME LATER, LAND OF DEPARTURE…..

Upon their return, nobody knew how to react to what had happened. They had stopped an Ancient, and for their reward, Maechil was invading the worlds with the intent of destroying everything in his path. "There's no hope." Roxas muttered to the room.

"Stop it." Namine told him, although she silently agreed with him.

"We were doomed from the start. Seriously, how were we supposed to prevent this? Maechil waited for us to kill Anetar, and he made his move." Lea said.

"We don't know that." Jason told him, but Sora shook his head.

"Lea's right. There's no way he mobilized his armies that quick. Maechil has been planning this for who knows how long." he explained.

It went unspoken throughout the room that there was no hope for what was coming. Jack was deep in thought from where he was leaning against the wall, but he noticed everyone in the room constantly looking over at him, for guidance, maybe. "Or for leadership." he thought sullenly. He looked over at their Grandmaster, who looked like he had given up hope more than anyone else in the room. He sighed and cleared his throat so he could gain everyone's attention.

"We all know, Maechil's a dick. But what else do we know?" he asked them. Nobody replied, as he walked over and grabbed onto the Keychain lying on the table, summoning the Eternity Fang to his hand. "We know that we can kill him, and his allies. Hope is not lost, so don't think that. Hope is only lost when the LE lies beaten and scattered. Alone and divided, yeah, we might as well give up hope. But together, the bonds we share are something savage enough to match any dragon. Look deep inside yourselves, and you'll find many reasons to fight. Self-preservation, those we love, those we are duty-bound to protect, the list goes on. I can't be the only one who knows we can do this. Come on." he told them from his heart. He didn't know how to tell them that this was still a battle that could be won. Sure, things didn't look good at all, but they had fought against impossible odds before, and he knew they could do it again.

He looked over as Sora stepped forward and nodded. "I agree, Jack. We can do this." he said as he looked around the room. Jack sighed in relief and watched as Terra nodded to him, smiling slightly. Terra, Ven, Riku, Rayne, Mist, Roxas, Xion, Kairi, Namine, Lea, Aqua, and Eraqus all nodded in agreement with him. He then looked over at Marek, who shrugged his shoulders.

"Hey, I'm not part of the LE, so bite me." he muttered, but there was humor in his eyes. Jack smiled at him as they all looked over at Jason, who was studying the ground.

"Jason…." his younger son began, but the Grandmaster looked up.

"So we're agreed then?" he responded. Jack smiled at him, but then Ven looked out the window.

"Something's happening outside!" he exclaimed. Everyone in the room quickly whirled around, following Jack outside to the disturbance.

Said disturbance was a trickle of smoke in the middle of the courtyard. The smoke furled in on itself several times and morphed into the form of their Ancient friend. "Still alive, old man?" Jack greeted. Dawnomar nodded.

"Indeed. I trust you have realized by now that we shall be fighting a losing war. Nevertheless, we are not alone. You have allies throughout the worlds, allies who will fight for their worlds unto their deaths. We will have to call upon them, for this is a true war, and we shall need our soldiers." he explained.

"Why did you choose us over them?" Rayne asked him. He looked down at her and smiled slightly.

"Have I not made my intentions clear over this past year? I have found you humans worthy of protecting. Although I failed to see through Anetar's true intentions, I now know Maechil's. He set Anetar against you, who agreed to willingly give his life that they might overlook the inter-realm charter that forbade them from warring with this realm. Maechil organized all of this from the beginning. Anetar allowed himself to be used as a puppet, and allowed his death to overtake him." he explained kindly, but turned to the foremost figures among them with his last few statements. Jack, Jason, Sora, and Riku all glanced at each other.

"So you stand with us?" Jack asked him. (Dragon Rider, Two Steps from Hell)

Dawnomar gave them his equivalent of a smirk and nodded.

"Indeed I do. However, I do not stand alone." he replied as he flexed his hand upward. A strange looking portal appeared several yards in the sky as the Ancient began speaking. "You see, another benefit of having me on your side means I get to bend the rules just a small bit." he explained to them.

"So who else is there?" Terra asked him. Dawnomar smirked and looked up at the portal, something they all did too.

"He who became the universe's greatest hero." he answered as someone leaped out and fell to the ground, landing in a crouch. A moment later, he slowly looked up at them and smiled cockily. He stood to his feet and brushed some dirt off of his clothes.

"Come on. You know you missed me." Pierce announced to the group as they stared at him and didn't know exactly what to say.

A TerraKH production…..

Fifth Book in the Wanderer's Series….

The Dark Rikkison's tale has been told…

And now our heroes face their toughest enemy yet….

For they stand against the creators of the universe itself…..

Prepare for the Final Number…..

This leads to United We Stand: The War for Kingdom Hearts.

Well, there you have it. There is the 'before-credits' ending of Beyond the Dark Veil. I know it's been a rocky journey, but thanks to all of you who stuck with me to the end. I'll do personal thank yous' next chapter, so stay tuned for BTDV's Secret Ending: Prepare for the End!