Light, or Sora, fought with everything he had, pouring all his power into his Keyblade, Ultima Weapon. Here was something to blame. Here was the cause of every problem. He was in cold phase of clarity, where everything made sense. Where everything was simple.
He wanted to blame Darkness for killing Kairi. Just the mention of her name brought that burning feeling that made him want to thrust his hand into his chest and rip out his organs, and also brought about the voices. The voices that always told him to pull himself together, the voices the voices that told him to fight back! and the voices that screamed at him to WAKE UP.
He lost that clear vision whenever these voices came, and he tried to force them back whenever he could. Darkness took advantage of his momentary distraction to barrel into his chest, sending him further out into the Lanes Between. He let Light flow through him, and the old feeling of bliss fill him up. It wasn't his fault Kairi had died, it was Darkness'. He could remake a world where he could be with his friends forever, just like it had been in the old days. It was possible, and only needed Darkness to be gone. Light was stability and order. It could keep things as they were for all eternity.
Could it? Fresh agony came as Sora doubted himself. He hated doubt because it brought pain, but the doubt came despite Sora's attempts to quell it with the smooth and steady Light that was now a part of him. Was destroying Darkness really what Kairi would have wanted?
NO!
What would have Kairi wanted? And why were the voices so loud!?
Sora gasped and realized he was alone. Darkness hadn't pursued him, and he was drifting in the Lanes Between by himself. All by himself. No Kairi, no Riku, no nothing, and he had been drifting aimlessly for a long time. His head and Heart were burning in pain, but it was the burn of a wound being cauterized.
Sora? Sora! I think he's awake, Rox-
Then the feeling of cold certainty washed over Sora, and the bliss that came with knowing what was right and what was wrong oozed through his Heart again.
You feel pain with uncertainty. Join with me, and you will not have to feel pain. You will be happy, not knowing whether it was your fault Kairi died.
Sora felt like his ribcage had been jerked open at the idea that it might have been him that killed Kairi. He had been there. He had been there as Darkness KILLED her. He had been-
Sora! Don't listen-
Escape the pain.
It's not real, it's not-
Was it your fault? Do you really want to know?
You can't do this! Don't-
See things my way. The way of order, the way things used to be for you. When she was alive.
It's not righ-
Embrace me, embrace me.
Sora! Sor-
YOU ARE MINE.
The feeling of clarity filled him again, and once again it became him. And this time, when the voices stopped, he felt a relief that overshadowed his disquiet. But he had a mission to accomplish. Darkness had baited him, and had tricked him into leaving Lydia with the Remnants.
He would find her, and at the same time leak his influence into the rest of his Realm. Only when his realm was overflowing with Light, and all the deceitful were weeded out, would he be able to completely destroy Darkness, like he should have eons ago when he came into being. That way no one would have to feel the fear that he had felt so long ago.
The fear that had come about when Sora had turned into a Heartless to save Kairi. Sora had experienced it for himself that day. The chaos that invaded his mind and sent him straight to oblivion. Those feelings and memories had been buried, but with his ordeal in the Keyblade Graveyard, he knew that he would make sure no one ever felt that fear again. He would make sure no one would have to feel that fear and uncertainty again. It was his duty to protect others from being lost like he was.
Feeling grim but content, he disappeared in a flash of Light and set up his slow, methodical and orderly execution of Darkness.
They had lost the Remnants. Normally Avomis would state this formally to Astelik before begging, which he called 'strongly suggesting', to be sent out again. Astelik didn't need to remind himself that Avomis was dead, because Corruption simply stated this fact using Avomis' armour before giving more orders.
"I shall spread my influence across the Realms of Light and Darkness. Continue to search for the imbalances."
Astelik nodded, controlling his emotions as Avomis' armour jerked around from the power of death and decay, and watched the four other Remnants disappear off into a portal.
"And then there were three."
Alethia sauntered to the edge of the tower they had emerged in after trying to chase the Remnants through the stream of Corruption. Astelik had assumed, with more regret, that the Remnants would be found immediately if they were caught in a stream of Corruption. They proved him wrong.
"And then there were three."
"Your bid for attention is sickening," Agatha said, as she sat on a chair in the room. "You are like an infant begging to be coddled by its parent."
"Well, it's better than brooding, like Astelik is." Alethia said, "If we're going to have our bodies back, let's make use of them."
"There are three where there used to be almost a hundred." Astelik murmured. "It is something that needs to be remembered."
"We killed thousands of Keyblade Wielders mere days ago," Agatha said, "To whom are you referring to?"
"Our army."
The two others fell silent, and didn't need to go into any more detail. There were three. It seemed that three was an enchanted number. Three Divine Beings, three remaining Grandmasters, and three fools who started the whole mess.
He remembered meeting Abelia and Kane in Traverse City, with Agatha as his apprentice. Eight hundred years ago, Traverse City was a warzone, with what seemed like every world fighting to gain a foothold. The Keyblade Wielders' camp had been a mash of tents and small houses made out of cheap metal. It was built by people who thought the war would be temporary, but had become permanent He had first met Abelia and Kane when the three of them had gathered together for their first meeting. The three of them were in charge of a hundred Keyblade Wielders meant to subjugate a region with an area of less than fifty square kilometres.
He hadn't thought either Kane or Abelia were special. Kingdom Hearts, he hadn't thought he'd be anyone special either. But Kane had proven him wrong, as he had done so many times afterwards. At the time, he'd just been another Master, just another fighter in one of the countless factions that had gathered in Traverse Town, the biggest no-man's land in history. The entire world was being fought over like rabid dogs fought over a scrap of meat, because each faction knew that Traverse Town was the juncture into most of the key worlds. If Traverse Town belonged to one faction, the self-destructive equilibrium that had been eating away at the Realm of Light would be disrupted, and the war might end.
Before he first met Kane, Astelik had thought he would fight until he was killed a few years later. No matter how strong or intelligent one was, being outnumbered, exhausted, struck by a lucky arrow, disease, or any other device of death would run that person into the ground. But Kane had proven him wrong again, just like he had done so from the beginning.
In fact, Astelik's first impression of Kane was lazy and insubordinate. Most Keyblade Masters sat straightbacked with dignity and a grim air as they were crushed under the responsibility of an impossible task: ending a war. Kane had lounged in his chair as he waved Astelik over to follow suit.
Abelia had paid token gesture to protocol, but even she had only done so because it hadn't mattered either way to her. From the start it was obvious Abelia and Kane were siblings. It wasn't just their superficial insubordination. It wasn't just the platinum blond hair or olive skin they shared. It was the spark in their eyes that Astelik had never seen before. It was raw hope and ambition, something a war that lasted for decades stamped out.
Astelik had been young then, but one of the reasons he'd been promoted was because of his methodical approach to battles, and the fact that he never lost his head. He focused on the details, and was thorough with his planning. He rarely missed out anything.
Kane had been the opposite. Astelik looked at each detail and considered every scenario he could before planning, but Kane never planned things. He saw them, no matter how insane people thought he might be. How things changed.
What Astelik had found so fascinating and charismatic about Abelia was that she understood people. Kane's pale eyes had seen the future and infinite possibilities, but when Abelia stared into space, she saw the people she was fighting against and fighting with. She understood them better than they understood themselves, something that allowed her to predict events that even Kane couldn't see.
Of course, like Kane's aptitude, her's came with a price.
There was one time where Abelia and Astelik had been captured by a horde of soldiers that had ambushed them. It hadn't taken long for Kane to work out where they were and lead a rescue operation that only worked because of its abrupt and hasty execution. Kane had made the decision instantly based on impulse, where most masters would have deliberated for hours to make the same decision. Like everything he did, the plan could have fallen apart easily, but for some reason it never did.
As Astelik and Abelia had run from the enemy camp while Kane, Agatha, and their troops came to help them, Abelia had looked at one of the guards lying on the ground, dazed from the burns Astelik had inflicted on him. She went up to the man and whispered something in his ear before leaving, and Astelik saw that she felt sorrow for the man who had been threatening to commit atrocities towards her an hour ago.
Later on, when their troops were celebrating the rescue in their camp, Astelik had went to her tent and asked her what she had said,
"I told him that his family didn't want him fighting, no matter how much his masters were paying him." Abelia had looked somberely at Astelik before looking at the ground.
Astelik had stared at Abelia, who continued, "There's a story behind each person and it's there for anyone to read, just so long you know how."
"Why do you empathize with these people?" Astelik had asked, "Why do you insist on understanding them if they're just going to die?"
"It's because they're about to die that I have to do it." Abelia said, looking earnestly at him with her silver-yellow eyes. Astelik had never seen a shade of eye colour as pale as Kane and Abelia's before. "If they're about to die at our hand, remembering their story is the least I can do."
"Are stories that important?" Astelik asked, "There are so many of them. How do you remember?"
"Of course our stories are important. They define us and are literally our whole life." Abelia was silent for a moment before saying, "If I'm ending their story, I feel it's my responsibility to know it first. I don't want to become one who ends things I know nothing about."
"So what's my story?" Astelik had asked, moving closer to Abelia. She had smiled and replied, "A righteous man. One who wants to do what's right. Someone who doesn't fly, but one who keeps on walking, no matter what he has to go through. Someone who will keep on walking because he believes in a friend's dream."
Even now Astelik could remember the way Abelia had looked straight into him. No one had understood him as well as Abelia had. He hadn't normally done things on impulse, but he had asked, "And what's your story?"
Abelia had smiled and raised her eyebrow. "You answer the questions this time."
Astelik had been around Abelia and Kane for a few months now, but it felt like a lifetime. A lifetime of striving towards a higher goal, a lifetime of hope and ambition. And it was with this lifetime of knowledge that he hadn't hesitated to say, "A woman who has the curse and blessing to love her enemies. To understand why they fight and to love the people she kills." Alcohol in Traverse Town was as rare as life-giving water in a desert, but Astelik had still felt drunk as he looked at Abelia through a haze of emotions. "I see the story of someone who believes so strongly in her brother's dreams that she will kill those she could have helped."
Abelia nodded and added, "I see a man who strives to make this world a better place."
"I see a woman who wishes the same." Astelik had said.
Abelia had responded. "I see a man who wishes to end this war."
"I see one who has so much hope in this hopeless world."
"I see one whose determination will never falter.
"I see one who may tear herself apart from guilt."
"I see one who will follow but will never lead."
"I see one who kills, even though she despises it."
"I see one whose passion teeters on the edge of hatred."
Thinking back, Astelik bowed his head in shame. What was left of him? He was pathetic, and everything that Abelia had admired in him was gone. He was truly a Remnant: a sliver of a man that had once been admirable. He felt an anger and a sorrow that he hadn't felt in centuries. And it felt liberating. It seemed to give him courage, something that he hadn't needed for eight hundred years.
But then it was gone, and he was left with an empty feeling as he remembered that night with Abelia. He wasn't sure how long it had taken, nor was he sure who had said it first, but as their voices and Hearts had melded together, one of them had said, "I see one whom I love."
Abelia and Astelik had stared at each other for a moment longer before Abelia moved in. They had understood each other, and they had confirmed that fact as they tentatively kissed. There had been no sense of awkwardness, no sense of passion, just a comfort and the feeling that it was right. The festivities in outside progressed, but for all the noise that their soldiers made as they celebrated, it paled in comparison to the depth and passion that melded Abelia and Astelik together.
As Astelik had tenderly driven himself into Abelia, she received him readily, and with it she also received him for his faults and virtues. He had seen so much death in Traverse Town that he had thought of bodies as nothing but tissue, muscle and flesh. But Abelia proved him wrong that day. She had proven to him that bodies were vessels for their Hearts. Each caress had made his Heart twinge, and made his body shiver, and in that moment, they had transcended their bodies as they shared the same thoughts and same feelings.
Astelik was jerked out of that world with a kick from Agatha's metal boot. He was jerked away from the world where he had friends and was working towards a higher goal to a world where the three of them were alone in a battle between Gods. How much of this had Kane foreseen? Astelik's eyes glazed over as he saw red mix with white, Darkness mix with Light.
"If you are quite done gazing into the past like a decrepit grandfather, we are leaving."
"But he is a decrepit grandfather," Alethia said as Agatha stood in front of Astelik, "Let him sit in his rocking chair for a few hours."
"Do you remember when we took our first city with Kane and Abelia?" Astelik stood and faced Agatha, who stared steadily at Astelik.
"Why do you wish to dwell on the past? You do nothing but prolong your agony." Agatha started to turn away, but Astelik got up and called, "Where else are we to go? Corruption has granted us a semblance of freedom, but we must still obey him, or else he will snatch it from us. Don't forget that Corruption still lingers, if not consciously, and he can take over if it pleases him."
"Anywhere is better than this ruin." Agatha said, "Even in its glory days I abhorred residing here."
"Our glory days?" Alethia laughed, "Oh, yes, you mean the days where we fulfilled our pact of stabilizing and stagnating the Realm of Light? What awe we must have inspired in Kane, had he been there."
"Kane would be bored by those times." Astelik murmured, "It was his dream, but he could never thrive in a peaceful age." He held up his shining gauntlet and looked at the reflection of his helmet that was twisted and convoluted from the curves and lines of his gauntlet. "We fought him with hatred in our Hearts, and in the end we carried out his will."
"We are not Kane," Agatha said. "I knew him as well, and I know that the two of you are different."
Astelik appraised her and stood up as well. "Indeed. You were with us most of the time as my apprentice. Were you there when Kane told us of Kingdom Hearts?"
"If you are referring to the night when Kane indoctrinated you, then yes, I was there."
Alethia moved in closer, interested at this conversation. She hadn't been present when Kane gently blew air into the small flame of his ambition. She had only been present when the inferno was blazing.
"It was after we had conquered our first outpost." Astelik said, "I remember you had a key role in that."
"You made me lead the rest of our troops as we acted decoy." Agatha responded icily. "Enough. This reminiscence tires me."
"Where will you go, then?" Astelik asked as they walked out of the room. "There is nowhere for us to go, nothing for us to be. All that's left is Corruption's mission. We cannot fight it, should it choose to invade us again. Light alone knows we tried."
This was what they were reduced to. Pawns that were resigned to their own fates after they had fought against their destinies so long ago. It galled Astelik, but the three of them had all tried fighting back as Corruption used them, and all to no avail.
"Then let us find these Keyblade Wielders," Alethia said, "At the very least they can entertain us before Corruption grows weary of us."
Astelik nodded briefly and the three of them disappeared into a Portal to start their search.
Raphael checked himself for broken bones and was thankful to see there were none. They had been placed down so gently he hadn't even been bruised. He got up and staggered weakly to the side. At first he thought he was merely dizzy, but he realized it was something else.
Gasping slightly, he said, "Magic doesn't work."
The other Remnants looked at him and quickly confirmed what he just said. Jason looked around and said, "Light and Darkness are practically gone from this world. This would be an effective haven from the Divine Beings."
"But how did we get here?" Jack quickly got his bearings and looked around the verdant forest they were in. If they hadn't been completely confused and bewildered, they might have been able to appreciate it.
"We were blown around by the Corruption generated from Sora and," Jason's voice shook for a moment before continuing on, "from Sora and Marek. Perhaps it blew us here." He trailed off as he realized the implausibility of his statement. If Corruption had blown them anywhere, chances were they'd end up in the Lanes Between, not some fantastical world where the sea fell off the edge of the world, grassy hills could exists tens of thousands of metres high, and where there even seemed to be a person inside the sun.
"Where's Seth?" Mist's pale white armour seemed to be duller than usual, maybe a result of a lack of Light in the air.
Everyone whirled around suddenly, realizing that Raphael was the only human in their midst. Lydia also should have been in their company, but she too was missing. They quickly split up and went to see if the humans had been flung further afield. Jack didn't think so. All of them had landed within a metre of each other and it seemed unlikely that Seth and Lydia would have been thrown off course.
He was right, but found something even more surprising a few metres away. In another small clearing, he saw Ven, Aqua and Eraqus looking around warily. All three of them whirled around and yelled in delight. Ven was the first to reach Jack and hugged him briefly. "Where have you guys been? We haven't seen you ever since we ran from the Keyblade Graveyard!"
He was right. Terra, Ven, Aqua and Eraqus had been at the back of his thoughts the entire time. He had always wondered what the other Remnants had been doing. Mist and the others had rushed over as they heard Ven's suit of armour crash against Jack's, and they were relieved and amazed to be so conveniently reunited.
Aqua looked up and suddenly summoned her Keyblade. Everyone whirled around, but realized she, and now Ven, was pointing her weapon at Vanitas.
Vanitas laughed and opened his arms wide in an offering of peace. "Well, well, let's get along. Can't let what happened a thousand years ago affect what's happening now."
"You helped Xehanort start this whole mess!" Ven yelled, "If you hadn't existed-"
"Xehanort still would have found a way to fulfill his goals." Raphael stepped in between Ven and Vanitas. He remembered how he would have stared in awe at Ven when he had first gotten thrown into the Keyblade Graveyard, but times changed. And so could Vanitas.
Unfortunately, Vanitas didn't seem to be in the mood for reassuring people of that fact. He darted past Raphael and tried to hug Ven. Predictably, he was struck on the breastplate with Ven's Keyblade, which tore a large gash in his armour. Evidently their armour as well as their magic was weakened. Despite not being able to heal himself, Vanitas laughed and sauntered back to Raphael's side, his footsteps made a hollow boong every time he took a step.
The idiot. Why did he have to try and convince everyone that he was either insane or villainous?
"Because it's all he has left?" Riku interjected. Raphael's mind went immediately alert. Riku's scarcity of words had made Raphael hang onto anything Riku said. There was a pause, and Riku said, "When people think you're unstable and steeped in Darkness, and when that's all you thought you were capable of, reverting to old habits can be comforting."
Raphael wanted Riku to elaborate, but Riku had run away again. It was just occurring to him that Riku had problems of his own that needed to be resolved. He still admired Riku, but had come far from idolizing him as a perfect knight. None of the Remnants were perfect, and it was easier to talk to them once Raphael realized that fact.
Raphael looked up and saw Rayne reasoning with Aqua and Ven. She was pointedly ignoring her parents, whose silence made it clear they were on Aqua and Ven's side. Funnily enough, Aqua seemed to be taking Eraqus' place as a leader while the Master stood to the side.
After some arguments, Ven and Aqua agreed to let Vanitas stay with them, although Raphael suspected it was because they couldn't open Portals on this world to kick him out, even if they wanted to. Raphael was worried they might not ever get back to the Realms of Light and Darkness. What if they were stuck here forever?
All of them then sat down, and Jason went first to tell Eraqus and the others what they had been through. Eraqus didn't seem surprised when they told him of their quest to control the X-Blade, although he was surprised that Raphael had gotten half of it.
None of the Remnants seemed surprised when Jason told them Marek and Sora had become vessels of the Divine Beings, and Jack asked, "Were you there at the end of the battle? We only know how the battle started from Seth."
"Seth's alive?" Aqua said, "That was why Marek gave into Darkness. He thought Seth had died and wanted to kill Xehanort."
"What?" Jack interrupted, "Marek's not that stupid. Did he see Seth get injured?"
"Let us start from the beginning." Aqua said. Jack nodded, seeing the sense in things. Raphael saw Rayne get increasingly tense, wanting to know what had happened to Marek, and he wanted to reassure her, but something inside stopped him from doing it.
Raphael listened intently to Aqua's story. He was amazed at finding out that Max was involved in this whole thing. He remembered how the kid had seen through his act in a moment. He'd be a useful ally to have. He, with the other Remnants, shot each other an urgent look as Aqua told them about the significance of the Kingdom Key and Kingdom Key D. They had never thought of using these weapons to seal Light and Darkness.
Raphael listened with increased attention as Aqua described their visit to the Destiny Islands and their adventures in Baron. He had been there a few times, but had never guessed beings like the Summoners or Eidolons even existed. Once Aqua had narrated her way to Troia, Eraqus started speaking quietly. He had gone with Lea, Kairi and Max, and told a different tale of trying to find Frost and ending up in the Caves of Eblan and temporarily escaping Xehanort. Seth had already told them about Marek and their adventures in the Dwarven Kingdom before he met up with Ven, Terra, Aqua and the others, and Jack was eager to hear what happened in Troia.
Raphael's first realization that something was wrong came when Aqua and Ven shot each other a look. They didn't know where to go from there, and they fell silent for several seconds, trying to avoid the events of Troia.
"So, I guess Terra, Lea and Kairi are dead?" Vanitas asked, as he lounged on the floor next to Rayne.
Raphael's eyes widened as Eraqus stepped forward with his Keyblade drawn, and Ven sent his own whirling at Vanitas, who rolled out of the way and sprang to his feet. "Shut up! I bet you wanted it to happen, didn't you. You were always the jealous one, dancing on Xehanort's strings just because you were too weak to-"
Raphael stood up and summoned Heaven's Clarity. At the same time, Aqua put a reassuring hand on Ven's shoulder. She whispered something to him that Raphael couldn't hear, while Rayne summoned Equillibrium and stood beside him. He couldn't help noticing the shimmering aura that her white and black armour cast around her. He was glad she stood next to him to defend Vanitas. There was just something reassuring about her that made him calmer.
He jerked his eyes away from Rayne and they rested on Jack. He still sat there on the ground as if in shock, his helm completely still. Mist was trying to talk to him, but he was ignoring her.
Just then, a low rumble permeated the air. It lasted for so long and seemed so natural that Raphael thought the rumble was the air, and he was breathing in the breath of a huge beast. He looked around and saw a lion plod slowly out of the forest. Though he couldn't have been much larger than a normal lion, Raphael felt diminutive when he looked at this animal. Then the lion looked at him, and Raphael's gazed immediately went to the ground. He felt a pressure in his Heart as the lion's gaze swept over him.
Then it spoke, and Raphael felt it sink into his mind and being, giving him a compulsion to obey without question. "You must journey east. These are the last days of Narnia, and you need to leave this world."
The lion's appearance shook Jack out of his sorrow and he quickly approached Aslan along with Aqua and Ven. "But, Aslan, isn't there something we can do? We always find our ways here when Narnia's in need."
"That you have, child," Aslan said. For some reason, Aslan calling Jack a child didn't seem unusual. The lion seemed so wise and noble that he could call anyone a child, and that person would admire and believe this lion like it was his own father.
"But everything must end. Flowers wilt, rivers dry, friends are lost," he looked at Ven and Eraqusthis time, who looked at the ground in shame of his unwarranted outburst towards Vanitas. "Mountains erode, Stars die out, and worlds fade. Narnia is no different."
"We can't just abandon this world," Aqua said, remembering the adventures she and the others had with Peter and his siblings. "What will happen to the animals and the people?"
"Lives shall not be lost." Aslan said, "Follow me." He turned back into the forest, and all the others stood up and walked with him. They didn't rush. Aslan walked at a comfortable pace, and the Remnants spread out into groups. Eraqus, Ven and Aqua walked in front next to Aslan, with Jason several metres behind them, followed by Jack, and Mist, and finally Vanitas, Rayne and Raphael brought up the rear.
"Did you truly mean what you said?" Ven looked at Aslan before looking away again. "No, course not. I mean, I am who I am because Vanitas was born. If Vanitas hadn't existed, I wouldn't have been who I am." He sighed, remembering Vanitas cutting down Aqua while he lay there frozen in the Keyblade Graveyard. "It's just that he's done so much to us, I just can't accept him as a friend."
"When you found out you were half of the X-Blade," Aslan asked, "When you realized Eraqus was hiding your own existence from you, how did you feel?"
"Confused, angry, unsure, I guess."
"Do you think Vanitas feels any different?"
Ven felt a jolt of surprise from his feet to his helmet. He hadn't thought of it that way before. Vanitas was always laughing, always drawing attention to his actions. In the end he had effectively drawn attention away from himself, like an unseen layer of steel that deflected judgment and pity.
"I'm sorry," Ven said, turning back to Aslan. But Aslan wasn't there. Ven didn't know why, but he took it as a sign that Aslan didn't want to hear his apology. Not because it was insufficient, but because Aslan wasn't who Ven needed to apologize to. Ven resolved to make things as right as he could with Vanitas. He wouldn't overlook Vanitas' past crimes, but he wouldn't hold grudges for ones he hadn't committed.
Mist laid a hand on Jack's shoulder, and he didn't shake it off. They walked in miserable silence for a few minutes before he said, "Terra was like a brother to me."
Mist nodded but didn't try to offer sympathy. Jack needed to talk, to let the wound bleed out. "He was always so faithful and just, well, there. I can't believe he's dea- gone."
"I thought that once we defeated Marek, we'd have peace." Jack put his own hand on Mist's shoulder. "I guess we did have a few decades of peace, but now we just got thrown into another battle and I don't know what to do."
"None of us really do," Mist said, "But-"
"That's not what I'm talking about." Jack interrupted, "I just don't know who I am."
He uttered the admission in such a low voice Mist almost missed it. He looked behind him to make sure Rayne hadn't heard it. He didn't want anyone, let alone Rayne, to realize that he was drifting again.
He didn't want to go into some tragic monologue, but it felt liberating to be able to trust Mist like this. It took a certain courage to admit to all of this, and he felt as if Aslan had filled him with it, just like he'd given them courage the other times he had come here when he had his body.
"You feel like you had built the life of a parent, the life of a peacemaker, and you were happy with that." Mist said in an equally soft voice. "But now you're forced to fight, and you don't know if it was right to be happy if it meant being ill-prepared for this."
Jack stared at her, as she articulated what he had been unable to express. His doubts, his resolve that he clung onto, and his memories of the past. He shouldn't have been surprised that Mist knew him so well.
"I know how you feel because I feel that too." Mist said. Jack looked at her intently as she continued, "When we had bodies, I was Rayne's and then Pierce's mom. I could fight, but I never felt the need to do much. I just loved seeing Rayne and Pierce start from a baby that couldn't even walk into fighters who were taller than I was. I loved seeing them start from taking their first step to jumping and running circles around our opponents."
Jack nodded. He had felt the same joy in seeing Pierce and Rayne. He hung onto every word Mist said as she continued. "And now Pierce is long dead and Rayne might be our daughter but she's just as capable as us."
Jack felt like he wanted to say something, and Mist knew what it was. "Don't try and deny it. If she masters the X-Blade she'll be stronger than any of us, and even if she hasn't, she's still stronger than most of the Remnants here."
There was another silence where Mist let Jack mull that over before she went on. "I always identified myself as Rayne and Pierce's mom, and I was happy with that. There was nothing else I wanted to be." Discreetly, Jack looked back at Rayne, and saw her conducting her own conversation in low whispers with Raphael and Vanitas. "But now I don't know who I'm supposed to be, and maybe that's why we've been so over protective of her."
"We haven't been-" Jack's protest was cut off by Mist just looking at him. "Alright, maybe we have." Mist didn't laugh, but Jack could feel her amusement and he responded in kind.
After a bit, she continued, "I was talking with Chotip and said with certainty that I knew what was best for Rayne, but I don't even know who either of us are anymore."
"I'm not sure who I am, either." Jack murmured, "Maybe we'll find out after this is all over."
"Does your identity matter that much to you, my children?" Aslan was now plodding beside them as if he had been doing so the whole time. Once the shock of his initial appearance had left, Jack was able to talk to him in an even tone like the last time he was here a thousand years ago to help Prince Caspian.
"How can our Hearts be true if we don't know who we are?"
"You have been under the illusion for your entire life that you are stuck between two roles: a wanderer and a parent."
Jack nodded and Aslan said to Mist, "You have been content in your role as a parent, a wife, yet you now find this role lacking." Mist nodded and he continued, "Do you love your family?"
Jack and Mist both nodded again.
"Do you want to protect your friends?"
They nodded.
"Do you want to stop the Divine Beings?"
They nodded.
"You know what you love, you know what you stand against. What else do you need? Do your desires and ideals change under the mantles you don?"
Jack thought for a bit and shook his head again. "I guess I'm still me, no matter what I choose to do. It's harder to see that when we're fighting non-stop."
He looked back down, but Aslan was walking ahead of them again, as if he'd never been next to Jack.
Jack shook his head at Aslan. He and Mist mulled what Aslan had said over in their heads while they followed the ponderous lion eastwards.
"You just had to provoke Ven." Raphael grumbled. "Why do you have the compulsion to make everyone hate you?"
"I'm the incarnation of bad emotions." Vanitas said, "I feed off those emotions like you feed off Darkness."
Raphael was about to retort when Vanitas quickly changed the subject. "Speaking of feeding, I don't think I've seen you eat. Have you found that strange?"
Raphael had thought about that. He hadn't needed to eat anything in the Keyblade Graveyard, but he hadn't come up with an explanation."
"Granddad made a study into that," Rayne said, "It was something about Darkness being a short term substitute. That and your body slows down or acts weird in the Realm of Darkness."
"That's a pretty bad explanation."
"Well, excuse me for not remembering some boring obscure thesis Granddad wrote a thousand years ago."
Raphael smiled a little as he shrugged, and Vanitas piped up, "Rayne, did you have to eat when you were a human?"
Rayne nodded. "Not eating can sustain you, but if you do it for an extended amount of time," she looked steadily at Raphael, "your body starts to break down."
"Alright, next time I see a café in the Dark Meridian, I'll stop for a bite."
"Rayne laughed and shoved him lightly, causing Raphael to rub his arm, who said, "There was a rumour going around Radiant Garden a year or so ago that Masters don't eat because they don't want to take it off going to the toilet." Raphael remembered the stories about the agility and strength Keyblade Armour gave the wielder. He had been on the verge of earning it had he not been exiled.
"Did Masters ever do a poo poo in their armour?"
Raphael's face felt like a fire spell had been cast at him, and he shoved Vanitas, almost cutting his hand on the sharp edges Ven had torn in Vanitas' armour. He shot a glance at Rayne, who he hoped wasn't offended. To his relief, Rayne rubbed her helmet with her gauntlet and said in an even tone, "I'm pretty sure Lea did it more than necessary just because he could."
"More than necessary?"
Rayne paused before staying silent. Vanitas started laughing a genuine laugh full of actual amusement. Not the fake cackle he clung onto in order to fool people, but a laugh that actually made Raphael think Vanitas was happy.
Raphael's heart was beating faster in his chest, and he muttered, "So did you, you know…"
Rayne looked at him pointedly and he felt like they had walked a kilometer in the interim. He dropped his gaze, feeling a lot younger than the twenty four year old he was. After an awkward silence, Rayne said, "Sometimes you're fighting a long battle, or sometimes you're running the risk of attack for hours and can't afford to take off your armour. Besides, when one goes into battle, one should try and remove as many distractions as one can."
She paused, and said slowly, "So, in answer to your question, I, Rayne Rikkison, vessel of the X-Blade, have relieved myself in my Keyblade Armour."
This was by far the most awkward moment Raphael had ever experienced, even when he had stumbled on Caspar naked with another girl beneath him. He could practically feel Riku rolling around laughing.
"Did you have to wash your armour?" Vanitas asked, "I'm surprised the stink wouldn't have scared away all Heartless near you guys."
Rayne chuckled and said, "Somehow the waste always disappeared when we dismissed and resummoned our armour."
"You just discovered the solution to sanitation in developing worlds!" Vanitas cried out in mock euphoria, waving his arms around extravagantly. "Who needs a toilet when you can take shits in Keyblade Armour?"
Riku was mentally jabbing at Raphael, pounding his knee and convulsing with laughter. Raphael would have thought that Riku's new brooding persona would have stopped his teasing. Just then he found a way to get back at Riku and answer a question he had been wondering for a bit. Turning to Rayne, he asked, "So were Riku and Xion a thing?"
Immediately a mental battle ensued, where Riku tried to gain control of Raphael's body to try and extract vengeance. The struggle between the two of them felt so strong that Raphael wouldn't have been surprised if his eyes weren't flickering between his hazel ones and Riku's sky blue ones. Meanwhile, Rayne was mulling over the question in her head. "Riku and Xion were going out, yeah. I didn't think Riku would have shared much."
"Well, Vanitas here wanted to know about love," Raphael mumbled through gritted teeth, "And it seems that Riku here is the only one with such experien-" Raphael's fist smashed into his own mouth, effectively cutting off his sentence.
Rayne tilted her head for a moment before saying, "To them, love was being able to tell each other everything. Riku loved Sora and Kairi, but he always felt this compulsion to "stay strong" and not "burden" them with his problems."
Raphael's eyes were watering as his muscles were at war with each other, but he could still process what Rayne was saying. "But Xion actually got him to break out of the dark and silent stereotype."
"For them, love was like the freedom to admit to weaknesses. God knows Riku had problems doing that with Sora, even after he was middle-aged."
"Love means admitting you're weak?" Vanitas asked. If he had his face, it would be with a raised eyebrow and a sneer.
Riku suddenly let up, and Raphael's body was his. All except for his mouth. It opened and Riku said, "Xion was open and so genuine. She left herself vulnerable to Roxas, Lea, Namine and me just by confiding, but the trust she put in us just pulled us all closer together."
Turning to Vanitas, Riku said, "Love isn't some mighty power to blow away the Darkness. It's a small ember that is the result of flames and sparks. It's the promise made when both want to give up. It's the memory of a smile that makes you keep on going, even when it feels pointless. It's small and can only be found within each person's Heart, but once it's awakened it can turn into something beautiful."
There was a slightly awed silence as the three of them drank in what Riku said. Raphael never would have guessed Riku even had such profound thoughts, let alone that he was willing to just come out and say it. He wondered what, if anything, had brought on this confession. Then Riku smashed Raphael's fist into his eye, and Raphael promptly stopped considering Riku's motives for talking.
"So you're saying," Vanitas said, "That love can't withstand Darkness?"
"I never said that," Riku said, "I just said that it's nothing extravagant or awe inspiring. It's there in all of our Hearts. We just need to know how to reach it."
"I always thought of love like some story." Rayne said, "It starts and ends, but each person's story is different."
"I think love's like a story too." Vanitas interjected, "If you get to the climax too quickly your reader's disappointed." Jack and Mist, who had been walking in content silence, whirled around as they heard the sound of metal striking metal. Their weapons sprung to their hands, but all they saw was Raphael hitting Vanitas with the hilt of Heaven's Clarity while Rayne was laughing and holding onto a tree to stay standing.
"What in Light's name is going on?" Mist asked, starting to walk forward. Rayne just waved a hand and said, "Nothing. Go back to your deep and romantic conversation with dad."
Mist looked for a moment at the Raphael, Vanitas and Rayne before sighing and catching up to Jack. Rayne turned to Vanitas and asked, "Where exactly did you get your sense of humour from?"
Vanitas shrugged. "I hung out with some unsavory people back in the day, and I was interested in what they found funny." He looked over at Raphael, whose face had never been redder in the time they had known each other, even after a strenuous spar where Raphael had almost lost an arm. He poked Raphael's face, who batted away Vanitas' gauntlet.
Before he could say anything, he looked up and realized that the entire group had stopped. In front of them was a door in the middle of the forest that seemed to lead nowhere. But as Aslan stepped closer to the door, it opened out into a shimmering and shifting image of colours. Everyone followed Aslan through the door, and once the door closed, it disappeared from the forest.
