AN:
Hey! In my friend group, we've got this thing where you just say the thing you celebrate during this season and the other person says theirs and no one complains. So Merry Christmas!
To gamelover41592: I hope that the fight doesn't disappoint!
To Warder of Lore: I know. Don't worry, he's going to accept that he has Darkness, but he won't be using it. The times he has used it on his own in games have either been Anti-Form where he doesn't seem to have control of himself, and Dream Drop Distance where he was already succumbing to Darkness so I don't really see it being a key weapon for him.
To warrior of six blades: Yes, the Heartless that saved him wasn't acting completely on instinct, though I hope the who is surprising!
To Guest: I know. Don't worry. His total reaction against Darkness was just because of how he lost control. He won't be using it, because I feel like the times he has in games have been when he couldn't really control himself, but he's going to understand that it's part of him.
To Kingofclubs8129: I do really like Blake, too. The next two chapters are going to have more conversations between characters who haven't talked to each other much so far.
To Soul's Release: Thanks! Also, great timing, you didn't have to wait long at all.
Chapter 35: The Break of Dawn
The Land of Departure
Ozpin walked across the green fields that stretched out from the edge of Yen Sid's castle, following a feeling that tugged at his Heart. To pass the time, he began gazing at the blue sky and the mountains that cut through it. The world was a good one for training new Keyblade Wielders. Calm, wide open, bright. The lack of any Heartless was also very beneficial, though it seemed the number of Heartless in general had decreased dramatically since his time. Eraqus had only read of them in journals left by the ancient Keyblade Masters. Reading those was a privilege he was afforded only because he was very close to completing his training under Yen Sid, which was probably also the reason he was allowed to accompany the man who had existed before the world they walked upon. "So what was the strongest one of those monsters that you faced?" Eraqus asked from Oz's hip.
"We called it a Dark Hide. It had four legs and at its shoulder was twice as tall as me," Ozpin said, looking down at the boy for a moment. Eraqus was hanging on every word, eyes wide. Ozpin looked away. "It was a substantial Darkness."
"But it was no match for the Light," the young man pointed out. "No amount of Darkness is ever a match for the Light!"
Ozpin frowned at that. Yen Sid's decisions regarding his student were not those that Ozpin would have made, but he respected them nonetheless. If the Wizard did not want his student to know that Darkness was so alluring for a reason, Ozpin could at least try to understand the decision. Removing any direct temptation to latch onto the force and its abilities could perhaps shield Eraqus from falling to it. Ozpin believed it left Eraqus simply unprepared for when he would come face to face with that incredible power, or from understanding and helping those who had not strayed too far down that path. "I survived," Ozpin muttered dryly, and he left it at that despite Eraqus' obvious desire for more information.
Eraqus grunted and crossed his arms, annoyed. Yet he did not press the issue further. Despite his obvious desire to know more, his master had ingrained in him both patience and a strict adherence to the Light. His mind would put together the truth it desired, regardless of what Ozpin supplied. "Who trained you to use your Keyblade?" the boy instead asked. "Are there any other masters out there?"
"The woman I'm hunting trained me, Eraqus," Ozpin said. He stopped in his tracks and clenched his fists at his side, filled with rage. "Before she -" Ozpin frowned when the feeling that had been leading him suddenly changed completely. When the hair on the back of his neck stood up suddenly, he jumped in front of the young man beside him and summoned up a powerful Reflect wall in front of them. Sting appeared in his hand, deflecting the powerful explosion of Darkness that appeared suddenly in front of them. The waves of purple-black energy crashed against the Reflect spell, causing the hexagons of Light to flash every few moments.
Ozpin looked over his shoulder at the now terrified Eraqus. Well, his antipathy of Darkness and those who used it was pretty much set in place now. "Go, get your Master," Ozpin snapped as the Darkness began to die down. Eraqus did not move, instead staring blankly out at the wave of energy. "Eraqus!"
The boy snapped out of his stupor and nodded vigorously. He raised his right hand to his left shoulder and slapped his palm against the large, white circle that rested atop a pauldron of metal on his shoulder. There was a bright light that flashed around the young man's form, and his clothes were magically and instantaneously replaced with copper brown and white. The armor clinked when he nodded again and sprinted off, protected from the much weaker river of Darkness into which he ran.
Ozpin returned his attention to the source of this Darkness and narrowed his eyes. It smelled all too familiar. The wave of energy disappeared after a few moments, and Ozpin could see a young man with white hair and golden eyes standing beside an annoyed looking woman with pale white skin and glowing red eyes. "I was hoping to surprise you with that," Salem growled. She lowered her outstretched right arm and pulled her sleeve further down her wrist before summoning the Kingdom Key to her hand. "Ozpin."
"Salem." He looked over at the boy. "Who is this?"
"Well, having students worked out so well for you, I thought I'd try it out," the woman said, her face contorting into a mocking grin.
"Hm," Ozpin grunted. He slowly moved Sting in front of him and took a slow breath before he readied for battle. It had been a few days since he had awoken, and he was already healed completely. He had been loathe to admit it, but the wounds he had suffered had been bad enough he still should have been out of commission for weeks longer. And yet he was now fully healed. He hoped that their trip through time had not caused this, otherwise Salem would be much more difficult to defeat in this coming battle.
Ozpin moved so quickly from where he stood that it seemed that he had simply disappeared. Xehanort's eyes widened in surprise and hunger. This was the power that a Keyblade Wielder could possess? He wondered, then, what the wielder of the χ -blade could accomplish... What he could accomplish with it.
Ozpin reappeared behind Salem and, without making even the quietest of noises, slashed horizontally at Salem's head. She responded in time to stop him, moving slower than usual. Ozpin grimaced and let the block throw him back; so she had also become stronger from exposure to whatever forces pulled them through time. He flipped midair and landed on his feet in a ready stance once again. To Xehanort's eye, the entire exchange had taken a fraction of a second and he had not perceived a large portion of it. "You're faster than before," Salem noted, turning around to face Ozpin. He narrowed his eyes behind his glasses and clenched his fists around his weapon's handle. She rushed him, moving much slower than he had, and lashed out with her weapon. The blade crashed uselessly into Sting and was slapped away at every turn until Ozpin caught one of the blows with the teeth of his weapon and delivered a sharp blow to her temple with his elbow.
While she stumbled away Ozpin readied for a counterattack that never came. Salem forced herself to stand still and glare at the now very confused man. It dawned on him a moment later. She isn't toying with me. To test this hypothesis, he rushed her again with a blow much slower than her average speed, one that also left him wide open for attack. He focused on her weapon as he attacked, waiting for her to respond by sliding through his defenses and killing him. Instead, she barely managed to bring her weapon up to save herself and block his blow. Ozpin flicked his wrist and sent the woman tumbling, her body crashing into the boy accompanying her and sending them both crashing into the ground a dozen feet away. Ozpin took a slow breath and let his Keyblade fall to his side. She really isn't toying with me... He smiled and raised his Keyblade above his shoulder in both hands, sprinting towards the woman who was struggling to push herself to her feet. The boy she had arrived with was unconscious from the force of the blow.
His blow rained down to slash at her skull, and Salem's red and black eyes widened in terror. Her Kingdom Key appeared in her hands above her, catching the heavy blow. Her arms shuddered, causing her once tight sleeves to shake free of her wrists. Ozpin gasped in surprise and stumbled backwards; the skin on her arms was wrinkled and blackened. Dying. "Your arms! What's happening to you, Salem?"
"So it isn't happening to you," the woman growled. She stood up and swept her weapon to her side. "You grew stronger. You can survive more."
"You're falling apart..." Ozpin said. He glanced at the ground and shook his head. "I'm... Stay with me, maybe we can save you! We can protect this World!" He looked up at Salem again, knowing it was a mistake but not caring. He'd give her this one last chance. Not because everyone deserved redemption, but because he wanted to have her back despite himself.
"Really?" Salem asked, her gaze softening. Ozpin smiled softly and nodded. Maybe she could be saved! Maybe – His dreams were shattered when she got close enough to lash out with her weapon in a one handed blow. Ozpin was able to easily deflect the blow, the rebound so strong that it sent the Kingdom Key flying out of the woman's hand. The tip of the blade hit the ground just as her arm wrapped around Ozpin's throat. She looped around him and got him into a position from which he could not easily escape, his arms flailing uselessly in the air.
"I wonder if another trip will make me the strong one, Oz," the woman whispered into his ear. Ozpin's eyes widened and he redoubled his struggle. She wanted to travel further through time?!
"Salem, don't! It could kill you – it could kill us both!" Ozpin snapped.
His pleas fell on deaf ears. "Don't disappoint me, boy," Salem commanded the young man who was regaining consciousness now. "Have it ready for me when I get back." Then she opened the portal beneath her and Ozpin, and they began to sink into the inky blackness.
Before they vanished completely, Ozpin lashed backwards with his head, the blow causing his skull to slam into the woman's nose. She yelped in surprise and let him go, though it was too late to escape. The two fell through the portal completely, and were no longer on any world. The Kingdom Key, however, remained. Xehanort stared at the weapon instead of the portal she had disappeared through and smiled. This powerful Keyblade could be – he was cut off when the weapon rose into the air, glowing a bright white, and then flew straight up and out of the world's boundaries. He continued watching where it had come from even as a pair of men, one young and one old, with Keyblades approached him at a full sprint.
Elsewhere, Ozpin flew out of a portal of Darkness a hundred feet above an empty meadow. He crashed into the ground and slid through the dirt, destroying many of the flowers and crashing painfully through the stone buried beneath the soil. He slid to a stop after a few moments and groaned. "Why do always have such bad landings," he grumbled before pushing himself to his feet and checking for any broken bones. A fall like that should have done something to him. A bruise or two on his head, at the very least. He reached up tentatively to the back of his scalp and patted it gingerly. He was surprised when no pain ran through his brain. He was perfectly fine now. "What the hell?"
"What. The. HELL!?"
Ozpin spun on his heel, Keyblade already in hand. It fell from his hand a moment later and he stared in disgust at the creature before him. Salem – at least he thought it was. It was wearing the same clothes as she had been and her hatred for him was very similar. However, Ozpin could not recognize the thing in front of him. The flesh had begun to melt right off the bones of the woman, disappearing into Nothingness at her feet. "What did you do to me!?"
Ozpin took a horrified step back. "Salem... is that you?"
"I'll kill you for this!" the creature snarled. Salem took a step forward and crumpled; the flesh had turned to ash around her legs, and the movement had caused her bones to separate completely. She screamed out in pain and landed face first in the dirt. The impact caused the bones that remained within her to shatter and her screams of pain grew louder. Ozpin set his jaw. At least it would all be over soon. The woman's eyes met his and he had to hold his terror back when the skin began to fall from her skull, the bone itself already fractured in a dozen places. The bone fell with the skin and muscle until, finally, nothing was left of the woman but a blackened Heart floating above a mist of Darkness. Ozpin forced his eyes to remain open so he could watch her pass from this world with his own eyes.
She didn't.
The Heart remained where it was for some time after it should have disappeared. Ozpin's eyes widened. Her Heart could no longer pass on to Kingdom hearts on its own. "Salem, what did you do to yourself?" he asked. What had happened to her? He looked down at his body; what had happened to him? He looked back up at the Heart and noticed, with a start, it was gone, though he doubted that Salem was gone. He wasn't that lucky.
He grimaced and sprinted into the forest surrounding them, not knowing he was on a cliff overlooking an emerald forest. This forest was on the largest continent on this world, the only world that remained now. Nor did he notice the shattered moon visible even in the daytime sky.
Ozpin had arrived on The Remnant.
R W B Y
Sora swept Crescent Rose upward with both hands, the blow colliding with the knuckles of the huge black fist rushing down at him. Darkness exploded out from the point of contact, rushing around the young man in a massive wave. The huge creature of Darkness hissed in pain as the blade of the weapon dragged through its flesh, though it did not seem to mind it too much, as the force behind its fist continued to push down. Sora growled to himself as the Heartless continued to push and used the Keyblade dug into the creature's hide to flip onto the top of its hand. This Darkside was a lot larger than any other Darkside he had seen before, its fist large enough it would take him a few steps to cross it. Was this how powerful the Darkness in his Heart had become? Sora felt a cold feeling run down his spine, but tried to ignore it.
Sora slammed the tip of the weapon in his hand down, burying it in the Darkside's hand so he could keep from falling off of the hand as the creature brought its arm up. The creature roared in pain this time when the blade erupted through its palm. The Heartless swept its hand backwards instinctively and Sora felt the Keyblade begin to slide out of the wound it had created, sending him soaring straight up into the air above his Darkness. The creature's yellow eyes drifted up to lock onto Sora, and the tentacle like hair around its face seemed to contort into a smile. The Heartless' hand shot through the air towards Sora. Sora raised his weapon to defend against the blow, but the creature did not care. Its fingers wrapped around Sora for a moment before immediately throwing him straight down.
Sora slammed into the face of the pillar and shouted out in pain as the image on its surface cracked beneath the force of his landing. The young man groaned and rolled onto his back just in time to see a huge foot floating above him. "Huh," he grunted before it began to plummet down to crush him. He pushed himself up as quickly as he could and picked up his weapon before leaping forward as far as he could, rolling to his feet just as the Heartless' foot slammed into where he had been standing a moment earlier. The ground beneath the blow gave way and was replaced by a large pool of purple and black Darkness. The surface writhed for a moment before Shadows began to pull themselves out of the ground and turn their bug like faces on Sora, antennae twitching in anticipation.
"It's like they only have three moves," Sora laughed to himself before jumping forward, slashing an incoming Shadow in half before its claws could rake his chest. The Heartless exploded, a puff of black smoke that was dispersed the moment Sora passed through it, already onto the next one. He rolled past the next Shadow's attack and jumped over one that tried to slash at him from where it had been flat on the ground. He spun mid air, twirling the faux-Crescent Rose around in his hand before leveling its tip at the ankle of the Darkside that protruded from the portal. A bright flash of Light erupted around him, causing the Shadows that were pointlessly attacking to disappear all at once, a beam of the same energy rocketing out from the end of the Keyblade to shoot cleanly through the monster's leg. There was a second of quiet before the point of contact exploded, severing the leg of Sora's Darkness.
The giant's arms flailed, the entire thing looking a little comical as it tumbled backwards and landed on its back. The pillar shook as the Heartless hit the ground, momentarily stunned and giving Sora an opening. He sprinted ahead, slashing at the monster's legs as he did, hoping to annoy the creature into attacking. The Darkness snarled and pushed itself up into a sitting position, raising one hand and trying to slam it down on top of Sora. He was on the creature's knee at this point, and he grinned before leaping to the other leg and letting the Heartless deliver a massive blow to its own fragile joint. There was a loud snap when the blow collided and the lower half of the creature's left leg bent upward unnaturally.
Sora jumped from the Heartless' right leg and onto its arm, landing easily on his feet and sprinting up towards its shoulder. "I don't need you!" Sora shouted defiantly. He looked up on instinct and snarled. A moment later, he backflipped off of the Heartless' arm to avoid the incoming hand. He was lucky enough to slide between two of the monster's fingers, letting him jab his weapon into its flesh so he could slow himself and gain a new foothold on its hand. When his feet were firmly planted, he flourished the weapon to pull it out and the finger he had used to stop his momentum was cut off accompanied by the sound of singing metal. Sora ignored the monster's pain and ran along its twisting arm. He dragged his weapon behind him, leaving a long, yet also deep cut down the length of the monster's limb before reaching the creature's shoulder and launching himself into the air above its head.
The creature's eyes followed him. "I don't need you, so I am going to destroy you!" Sora roared as his momentum faded and he came to a stop. He raised his weapon behind him. "Now, come on!"
The Darkside roared angrily and a ball of Darkness appeared between it and Sora, a huge orb of destruction that was glowing with a burning fire at its core. Black lightning shot out from its surface, one bolt flashing just past Sora's head. He didn't even flinch, instead just gritting his teeth. "Darkness will never win. Never!" he snapped, batting the next bolt of energy into the cloudy Darkness surrounding the pillar. He then aimed the tip of the weapon straight towards the ball below and charged the blade with pure Light. He swung the weapon back again. "And I'll be the one to show you that!" He flicked his wrist and the Keyblade flew forward, firing off the blade of Light in a long, razor thin projectile. Upon colliding with the ball of Darkness below, the surface of the sphere bent inward, the forces trying to defeat one another, before the blade finally won out and cleaved the destructive sphere in two. The energy disappeared, leaving only a cloud of swirling Light and Dark mist that Sora fell through before delivering the finishing blow to his Darkness.
Or he would have, if the Darkside hadn't disappeared completely. Sora was instead kneeling at the center of the pillar itself. "Thanks, I needed a pick me up." Sora stood up in a hurry and spun towards the source of the voice. His voice.
Walking towards him, cracking its neck, was Sora himself. Or, rather, a Darker version of him. The creature looked like it had before their fight had begun, with skin of pure black and glowing yellow eyes. Its jagged, toothy grin was only visible as its mouth – the same bright yellow-orange as the eyes – was slightly open, making the facade of the creature unsettling. When it spoke, the mouth didn't move at all, which added to the unsettling feeling traveling down Sora's spine. "You're always so insufferably bright. 'Light this, friendship that.' Honestly, it's no wonder people think I'm not in here! But get you in a fight and there it is!" The eyes angled, as if making a mocking angry face. "Me!"
"What?" Sora asked, taking a step back. He narrowed his eyes and shook his head, swinging his weapon forwards so that the cartoon-ish Dream Sword was held in both hands – "WHAT!?" The blue and white sword was significantly shorter than the Crescent Rose he had been holding before, and far less suited for battle.
"Huh," the Anti-Form Sora muttered in surprise. He looked into Sora's accusatory and angry blue eyes. "Okay, that wasn't me. If something is wrong, it's all on your end. Now... where was I..?
"Right! So, every time you get in a fight, I take a step up. And you get in an absurd amount of fights," the Anti-Form said. Sora tried to ignore what was being said, instead charging the Heartless and slashing at its head. The creature laughed and sidestepped the attack, batting the attack away with a swirling vortex of Darkness. "It's weird though. Until the Keyblade proved it was a momma's boy, it didn't matter. You just kinda... dealt with me. And I got strong back then. I had the Darkness of everyone you'd ever met at my back and you just ignored me like I was nothing." It spun around the next stab Sora tried to land before grabbing his throat with one of its black claws. Another vortex of Darkness appeared in its palm and crashed into Sora's face a dozen times, each blow adding to the force of the next until the last one sent him tumbling off the edge of the pillar.
"Oh come on! Where's all that bravado?" Sora turned to the source of the voice that was beside him as he plummeted through the Darkness. The Anti-Form shook its head and grabbed onto his face before spinning and throwing him away again. Sora crashed into the edge of the pillar and flew above it. He looked down and caught sight of the image of Ruby and Jaune, though he noticed with a start that it seemed to be the other side of the image. The Keyblades were hidden behind their bodies, and their horizontal positions had been flipped. A massive blow that felt like a kick crashed into the small of his back, sending him like a missile down at the pillar's surface. "Ah, home sweet home." Sora pushed himself up to his knees, only for another blow to land on his face. "My side of the Heart."
"What?" Sora asked, managing to get to his feet and avoid the next attack.
"Is that the only word you know?" the Anti-Form inquired dryly. It waited for Sora to attack and simply caught the Dream Sword's edge in its hand, effortlessly holding it in place as Sora struggled against it's overwhelming strength.
"This can't be. This is my Heart! Those are my friends, my Light!" Sora growled as the blade was torn from his hand and disappeared in a burst of shadow. He was kicked in the center of his chest and fell to his back, sliding a short ways across the pillar.
"You know, you can be so empty headed sometimes. The very first thing you were told when this all began – 'The closer you get to Light, the greater your shadow becomes.' Love, friendship. You know what accompanies those?" The creature asked. Sora didn't respond, so the creature kicked him again and he slid across the pillar's face. "Fear of losing Ruby, and hating yourself for failing Jaune." Another kick sent Sora spinning closer to the edge.
Sora covered his eyes with his arm as he realized that the other Sora wasn't lying. "I..."
The Anti-Form Sora knelt down beside his bright opposite and shook its head. "Ugh... Running like a scared little kid." It grabbed Sora by his hair and lifted his head. "Not even worth the effort." It slammed Sora's face into the ground before kicking him again and sending him over the edge. The creature turned around as Sora fell over the edge, then it looked up at the source of Light above. "Now, to get out of here and..." It froze and turned around in surprise. "What did you say?"
Sora was dangling off the edge of the pillar by one hand, barely holding on. "No."
"Wow, you can even surprise yourself," the Anti-Form muttered. It walked over to peer down at Sora, its evil grin becoming more of a frown. "What is it you said? 'I'm going to destroy you?'" Sora's Darkness raised its claw above its head, a huge ball of black ribbons swirling in its palm. "Yeah, that sounds right!"
"No," Sora repeated, immediately before a bright flash of Light appeared and threw the Anti-Sora back across the pillar. The energy it had been holding in its palm flew from its hand, a huge beam of Darkness soaring away from the pillar. The creature righted itself mid-air and placed its hands together in front of it to launch a beam of energy at Sora. The young man was dressed in gleaming white and black clothes now, and that familiar aura of Light seemed to surround his entire body. Sora just let the beam hit him, the energy dying and dispersing around his form as he slowly approached his inner Darkness. "You're right."
The Anti-Form didn't say anything, instead just firing off another beam of destructive Dark energy. It glanced off of his glowing form a moment later. "I was scared of you. That's why I wanted to get rid of you, because I was running." Another beam of Darkness larger than Sora flowed around him like a mere breeze. He came to a stop just a few feet in front of the Darkness that continued to launch beams of Darkness at him. "I'm done." He reached out with a hand and placed it on the Anti-Form's chest, causing a massive explosion of Light to erupt from its body. A massive Darkside flew from its body and it soared through the air. Sora narrowed his eyes and moved even faster, appearing in the path of his Darkness and holding his hand out again. There was another powerful explosion, and the Darkside disappeared, a small black shape flying out from where it had been a moment earlier.
Sora let himself fall down to the pillar's surface, and the white glow surrounding him disappeared, leaving him in his normal clothes again. His coat was gone now, revealing the outfit he had bought on Patch before leaving with Ozpin and the others. He walked slowly over to the smoking creature and looked down at it with a sad frown. "So that's all I was afraid of."
The small shadow looked up at Sora, its yellow eyes communicating its fear of the young man. It stumbled backwards. Sora's eyes widened as he realized it was running from him. He shook his head. "I'm not going to destroy you." The Shadow froze and cocked its head to the side in confusion. Sora nodded. "I get it now. You aren't evil, exactly. You're afraid. Of me, of everything. You hate me... You are me."
Sora sat down beside the creature. "I get that now. Light and Darkness aren't all that different, because I was afraid of you, and I hated you. I wanted to destroy you, but that wouldn't help me. Riku used his Darkness for good, and so does Blake.
"But that isn't who I am. I think you're here to help me get stronger, to challenge me." Sora stood up and looked down at the creature, his Darkness, and laughed. "I can't believe I was ever afraid of you."
The Shadow shivered for a moment, then melted into the ground and disappeared. Sora took a breath and turned around. He may never use Darkness like Riku did, but it was still part of him. He wouldn't be afraid anymore.
It was at that moment that an echoing ding rang out through Sora's Heart. He looked to his left and blinked at the glowing stairs made of Light that led into the Dark fog. "I wonder what's over there!" Sora shouted exuberantly to himself, his battle already forgotten. He grinned like a child and sprinted towards the stairs, eager to find out what was going to happen next. And, hopefully, a way out so he could help his friends.
Sora continued walking across the glowing stairs, now far enough from where he had fought his Darkness that he could no longer see the glowing column. He gazed out into the murky Darkness expectantly, but nothing would appeared to change the monotony of his surroundings. Indeed, all that was visible was two steps in front of him and two steps behind. As soon as he stepped to the next, one ahead would blink into existence and one behind would fade into Darkness. He was slowly growing impatient with the emptiness. His friends were waiting for him to shut off DISC and get his Keyblade. He frowned worriedly: if he survived long enough. DISC's vibrations had almost killed him after a couple seconds, and who knew how long he'd been unconscious?
Thankfully, that was when something new began to appear. What looked to be almost two dozen floating steps away was another column, a quiet light blooming above it. Sora stopped where he stood and stared into the distance, catching sight of a single figure standing at one side of the circular platform. Sora's eyes widened for a moment. Who the heck was this person? Another aspect of his Darkness? He shook his head and decided it didn't matter. He'd be ready no matter what. He sprinted off towards the column, one foot hitting each of the floating steps before he bounced off onto the next one.
He ran at full speed for a few seconds, at most, and was soon sliding to a stop at the edge furthest from the figure dressed only in a black cloak. The ground beneath the two of them was almost blue, save for the thin sliver of black that bisected the platform's face. Sora stood at one vertex of the sliver and the cloaked figure stood across from him at the other one. He was looking directly at Sora, though his features were, as always with the Black Coats, completely obscured by the hood. What a weirdly dramatic design choice. The man was quiet for a while, keeping his gaze locked intently on Sora. Sora, feeling uncomfortable about all of this, did the same.
Finally, the man spoke. "What, are you just going to stare at me all day?" The black arms of the cloak crossed and his head cocked slightly to the side "No, wait, I can do better... I know! 'What are you so afraid of?'"
R W B Y
Blake jumped backwards, leaving behind one of her shadows where she had stood. A Gryphon's claws swiped through where she had been, causing the mirage to fade away as she disappeared into the mass of monsters. Her back slammed into Sun's and the two wordlessly readied for battle, Sun bringing the end of his staff around so it was just above her shoulder. Blake took a moment to tie the ribbon of Gambol Shroud around the staff. Sun then used his Semblance to generate a few of his Light copies beneath his feet, instantly launching his body into the air at high speeds. Blake pulled in on the ribbon, and Sun began to spin around her. Every so often, he would shoot off one of his clones while he trailed from his weapon. The Light copy would explode as it collided with the Grimm, sending chunks of the swarm disappearing into nothing. Eventually, Blake pulled in harder and Sun landed beside her with a grin. "You just can't let go of me," he said.
"Duck," Blake commanded before aiming her gun over his shoulder and decimating a group of Creeps running towards them. When the Grimm died, she pushed herself around Sun and turned her weapon back into its sword form. "You should be serious for five minutes."
"Why? You've got my back," Sun pointed out. He spun his staff quickly around, summoning up a storm of Aero that he sent flying into the Grimm. They flew into the air, where they were hit by a huge blast of Thunder sent by Nora somewhere else on the battlefield. Sun was given a small respite from the onslaught of Grimm, giving him time to glance over his shoulder at the place where Ozpin and Goodwitch were trying to deal with the Dragon. "Do you really think they're going to be okay?"
Blake followed his glance and frowned. "I think they'll be fine." Her words contained enough confidence to make him believe it. Under her breath, however, she added, "Unless Sora doesn't show up." She, Ren, and the professors trying and failing to deal with the Dragon Grimm roaring above their heads were all acutely aware that this fight was only getting worse as time ran on. A large chunk of rock was tossed through the air, crashing against the huge Grimm and doing little more than causing a rain of newborn Grimm to fall from its flesh like sweat. Ozpin and Goodwitch were more than skilled as warriors, but destroying the Dragon would only work if it was done in a single, powerful blow. The kind only a Keyblade could deliver.
Blake shook herself from her thoughts when am Beowolf tried to cleave her in two. She dodged using her Semblance, and the resulting explosion of Darkness destroyed the Grimm and a pair of younger Beowolfs that had been treating the larger creature as a pack Alpha. Her twin blades slashed up and caught an Ursai's wrist, slicing the hand clean off before she stabbed the main blade through its chest and it disappeared in a burst of Black Dust. But it wasn't enough. The Dragon kept dripping more Grimm onto the battlefield, bolstering the already impossible to contain numbers of the Grimm. They were going to lose this battle. As if to emphasize this point, she was slapped away by the huge trunk of a Goliath, followed closely by Sun.
On the other side of the battlefield, also keeping as many of the Grimm away from the Professors attacking the Dragon, were Ren and Nora. Nora's... enthusiasm was more than making up for the fact there were only the two of them against half of an endless horde. "This is so much fun!" Nora shrieked while launching a volley of grenades into the sky, killing a squadron of Gryphons swooping towards them.
"You do realize we're fighting to prevent countless deaths, right Nora?" Ren countered. He used one palm to slap the incoming white head of a King Taijitu away so he could bury Stormflower's blade in its eye.
"I can still have fun," Nora retorted, mock hurt in her voice. She jumped up and changed her weapon back into its hammer mode to slam it down hard on the other one of the Grimm's two heads. The force of the blow was strong enough that, instead of simply dispersing into a cloud of Dust as was usual, the creature instead exploded violently. Black Dust exploded into the sky and came down like rain, save for the fact that it disappeared before bathing them in its evil. Nora placed her hammer over one shoulder for a second and her free hand on her hip before shooting Ren a smirk then turned around and demolished a trio of Ursai Majors coming at her.
Ren sighed. "I suppose I can't really argue with you on that." He couldn't deny he was enjoying himself a little despite the stakes of the battle. He ran towards Nora and jumped onto her shoulder, using her as a springboard to begin jumping from Gryphon to Nevermore in the sky.
"Hey!" Nora shouted indignantly before letting her scowl turn into a wild grin. She shifted her weapon back into a hammer and twirled it around her body, slamming the face of the weapon's head into the ground and firing. The explosion of force sent her flying upward. She laughed wildly again and twirled her hammer above her to summon a swirling storm of Thunder spells. A dozen Grimm were demolished around her, and from then it only took a small amount of effort to land heavily beside Ren on the back of a rather large Nevermore. The giant bird's spine snapped under the weight of the young woman's impact, causing its beak and tail to both point straight up and its flesh beneath the young warriors' feet to give way. Nora grabbed onto Ren's arm and shifted her weapon again into its grenade form before firing off a series of grenades to slow their descent. She and Ren were sideswiped by a Nevermore as they fell.
"Nora!" Ren screamed, reaching out for her as they were sent flying away from each other.
He landed against the back of a Nevermore, jumping away from the creature to try and reach the girl. He was relieved when an invisible force caught her instead and held her still, giving him more than enough time to reach her.
"The children are in no small amount of danger, Ozpin." Glynda Goodwitch let go of Nora and returned her attention to the impossibly huge creature she and Ozpin were attempting – poorly – to contend with. Its previous defeat had required the unleashing of an ancient, magical power and the death of the other creature had required a Keyblade Wielder sharing his power. The woman grimaced as Ozpin approached the Dragon – for the fifth time – and was slapped away by the monster's wing, almost casually.
"I am afraid that none of us are in what I would call a... good position, Glynda," he groaned as he flipped over the air and landed beside her. He leveled his cane on the creature instead and fired off a burst of Fira spells, the best he could manage at the moment, and the magic bounced off of the monster's flesh, shaking loose another group of newborn Grimm from its skin.
"We're doing more harm than good here, Ozpin." Still, she catapulted a sizable chunk of the school up at the monster. The stone crashed into its head and it snarled angrily, raising its wings above it.
"And now it seems we are only doing harm." The dragon flapped its wings and took off, roaring like the monstrous predator it was. It began flying in a circle around the school. It swooped down, making sure to come in as close as it could above Glynda and Ozpin as if taunting them. It flapped its wings again and the two warriors were flattened against the ground by the force of the resultant winds. Ozpin tried to push himself up to his feet, and was torn suddenly from the ground a moment later by the gargantuan claws of the Dragon. The man struggled against its grip, but he couldn't escape as it climbed far above the school's hollow bones before it tossed him upward and opened its maw to devour him.
Ozpin raised his cane on instinct, even though he knew that this was a useless endeavor. Stuck as far in the sky as he was, with nothing that could harm the dragon, he knew that it was over. In the back of his mind, he realized that the school hadn't exploded yet, which meant Sora had shut off the doomsday weapon beneath the school's grounds. Well, at least I have that. Then the Dragon's jaws slammed shut around the man, and the world went black.
R W B Y
"What?" Sora asked the man.
"Oh, right! Introductions first!" the man shouted. He shook his hooded head and slapped his forehead. "Can't believe I forgot about that!" He twisted his hand around and pulled down his hood to reveal the blue eyes, spiky brown hair, and wide grin that Sora had only seen on his reflection until then. He raised his hand and waved good naturedly at Sora. "Hi, I'm Skye!"
Sora blinked in surprise. Skye? As in... Ozpin's long dead first apprentice? "Uh... Hi. I'm Sora," he responded slowly. Skye nodded, as if waiting for more to be said. Sora bit the inside of his cheek before sighing and shaking his head. He couldn't figure out how this had happened. "Um... How are you here? Ozpin said..."
"Yeah, I honestly don't really know either," Skye replied as he looked around slowly. He shrugged and placed his hands in his pockets. "I should be... no, we're getting off topic. Look, how isn't all that important right now, is it?"
Sora slapped his forehead. What was he doing? "You're right! Ruby, Oz! I have to get out, shut off DISC! I have to -"
"Whoa! Is this what I was like as a kid?" Skye asked. He grimaced and placed one hand over his face in exasperation. "This is going to be a long day, isn't it?"
"Hey!" Sora shouted indignantly, earning laughter from Skye.
"Sorry, sorry!" placated the man who looked just like Sora. He placed his hands on his hips and looked up. "Hmph, you've got a friend out there apparently. Still, you probably want to hurry this up, huh? That's what I'd want to do."
Sora nodded when the man looked down. "I need to help my friends."
"Even the ones that don't want your help?"
Sora glanced at the ground. "Especially them."
Skye frowned. "Even if trying to save them could destroy the world?" the man asked quietly, the question surprising Sora.
Sora glanced at the ground. "I..." He shook his head before resolutely staring up at Skye and saying, "Everyone can have a happy ending. Everyone who tries to make a real one."
Skye nodded. He understood what Sora meant. "I agree. But only if they're strong enough, Sora." Sora frowned at that. It sounded heartless to say only some people could even try. Skye noticed and clarified after a couple seconds. "Anyone can be strong enough, but not everyone is. "
"How?" Sora asked, though he felt like he already knew the answer.
"And we're back on track," Skye noted. He pointed one gloved finger directly at Sora. "Now, what are you so afraid of? Darkness is it? That it's evil?"
Sora shook his head. "I ran from my Darkness because I was scared of it. Was. I'm afraid of myself anymore, Skye. Never again." Sora took a step towards the other man. "Overcoming my Darkness, other people's Darkness, is what has always made me my strongest. Besides, it's part of me. It's not evil it's just... it's not me. So, no, I'm not afraid of Darkness and I'll never be afraid of it again."
Skye nodded slowly, simply taking the reply in. "Then what?"
"Losing – Losing everyone I love all over again," Sora admitted sadly, a tinge of fear running behind his words. He thought back to Kairi and the others with a sad frown. His mind traveled next to Jaune, Ozpin, Ren, Nora, Neptune, Sun, and, finally, Ruby. Sora's gaze fell and he fought off tears in his eyes. He hated to admit that he was afraid of what could happen to him without them. It had broken him and they had been there to help him. Without them... "I'm not strong enough to survive that again."
"I can understand that," Skye muttered. He took a step forward as well, and Sora noticed that the platform behind him had suddenly changed behind him from blue and black into a rust and gunmetal. Sora turned around and saw that the platform behind him had also changed into those same colors. As Sora continued to stare, Skye cut in and said something. "What do you want out of life?"
Sora turned to the man who looked like him. Who, for all intents and purposes was him. "Do we really have to do all this again?"
"Are you saying your answers are the same?" Skye inquired. He grinned. "That you're the same person."
"Hmph," Sora conceded.
"That's what I thought," Skye said, a smirk across his face. "Now then, what is it you want out of life."
"To save the World. Obviously," Sora grunted. "You know, from the giant dragon and explosion stuff."
"Ha ha!" Skye said before rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "Y-yeah, I guess I should've known that one, huh? So I guess I won't even bother asking the last one, should I? We both know that Ruby is what you care about the most." Skye looked past Sora and smiled at the cloudy expanse beyond for a moment before returning his attention to Sora. There was a bright flash in his hand and Skye flipped the Master Keeper so its blade was in his hand and the handle pointed towards Sora. Skye took a few steps towards Sora and bridged the gap, the rest of the platform behind him changing colors as he walked. Eventually, the surface had changed from the black and blue eye and into a silvery-gray Heart shape surrounded by a rusty red.
Skye stopped just in front of Sora and held the weapon out. "In your hand, take this Key," he began, a serious and proud smile on his face. "So long as you have the makings, then through this simple act of taking, its wielder you shall be. And you will find me, friend – no ocean will contain you then. No more borders around, or below, or above, so long as you champion the ones you love." He shook the Key for a moment and Sora grabbed hold of the handle. Skye let go of the weapon and Sora grimaced as he almost dropped it, though he was able to keep it from falling. The older of the two looked up and nodded before returning his attention to Sora. "You aren't too bad a legacy to leave behind, Kid. Oh, and tell Oz I said 'Hi,' would ya?"
"Wait, I'm waking up?" Sora asked dumbly, though excitedly.
"Yeah. Whatever was killing you was shut off," Skye explained. He pointed at the Keyblade in his younger counterpart's hands. "And don't worry about the Master Keeper, kay? Now that you're not afraid of reaching down here anymore, you'll be able to grab onto its power again. It'll come when you call."
Sora's eyes flew open a moment later, barely in time to catch sight of the blonde young man in a black coat running through a corridor of Darkness. All of Sora's wounds were healed, as if by a Curaga, and the DISC was cut into pieces beside him, the damage consistent with a Keyblade's attacks. Sora pushed himself up to a sitting position and watched the portal of Darkness slowly shut behind Jaune Arc. "I'll pay you back for this one, Jaune. Promise," Sora said to himself before pushing himself to his feet. He held his hand out in front of himself and took a deep breath before reaching into his Heart again. The world in front of him turned a blinding white, and a new Keyblade rested in Sora's outstretched hand.
Its blade was a charcoal cylinder that tapered out at both ends, an 'E' making up the teeth of the weapon. The top and bottom of the E had small squares cut out from their length. The guard of the weapon was boxy, made up of gunmetal blocks and copper colored cylinders that connected those plates. The teeth was squared and had rivets down the center. The chain that dangled from the weapon's base was a gunmetal colored, spiky Heart shape. Sora unzipped his Coat and took it off, dismissing and resummoning the Master Keeper to his right hand, then tensed his legs and prepared to jump through a hundred feet of pure rock to save his friends. "Time for a test run," he told the Keyblade in his hand, then he launched himself straight up.
R W B Y
Just as the Dragon's maw closed around him and he resigned himself to his own death, the world for Ozpin was filled with an echoing scream of rage and pain. The Dragon's jaws opened wide and the world became bright again as the ancient warrior was thrown from his death and into the open sky above Beacon. A sphere made of intersecting hexagons of Light appeared around him as he tumbled towards the ground so far below, giving the man the ability to land safely. He wasn't really focusing on that, however. His eyes were locked on the young man above him.
The wind was whipping around Sora fast enough to become a blade, one that had dealt a nasty albeit superficial blow to the Dragon's hide. That injury was likely what had caused the creature to regurgitate Ozpin. Sora was surrounded by small chunks of stone and dirt, as if he had exploded through the ground and this far into the air with a single jump. Ozpin did not dare look down to see if that was correct as he worried he would miss the action if he did. Sora's coat was held in his outstretched left hand, the black fabric flapping about with the windblade Sora had created until the young man let it go and it began to drift slowly to the ground. He was dressed now in the dual colored pants and short sleeved jacket he had bought on Patch before they had all separated, and the wild grin on his face was wider than Ozpin had ever seen it before. It was easy to tell why. The Master Keeper was held in Sora's right hand, the Keyblade glinting in the Light of the day as the young man soared above the dragon.
Ozpin smiled to himself and cheered so Sora could hear him. The young man had done it! He had saved them, and now it was only a matter of watching him finish the Dragon.
Sora landed on the back of the huge Grimm, rolling across its pitch flesh and to his feet as he sprinted along its back and towards its wings. The Dragon shrieked angrily and performed a roll, twisting in the air in an attempt to get Sora to fall from its back. The newly re-minted Keyblade Wielder dashed towards one of the bony spikes coming out from the creature's spine and looped his arms and legs around it as tight as he could. The beast continued to twirl, but it was to no avail. Sora would not fall.
It stopped after a few loops, at which point Sora jumped from the spike and continued to run along the monster's back and towards its wings. The Dragon's flesh coagulated in front of him and a Gryphon leaped out to attack Sora. He simply raised his blade and cut down the Grimm before it could react, then hooked a sharp turn so he could run along the thin membrane of the Dragon's flapping wing. Sora twirled the Master Keeper above his head for a few seconds while he summoned a powerful blade of Light to its edge. Then he let the blade fall behind him so he could drag it along as he ran, leaving a huge gash through the Grimm's wing.
The Dragon shrieked and trembled, the loss of tension in its wing throwing its entire body off balance Sora could feel the wind around him change as the Dragon tried to compensate for the damage to its wing, even somehow managing it for a few seconds. Sora grinned in triumph and backflipped off of the first wing while raising the Keyblade above his shoulder. He aimed for a moment, then tossed the weapon as hard as he could at the other wing. The blade cleaved through the membrane like it was butter, at which point Sora summoned the weapon back to his hand and did it again. A half dozen times he did it as he fell until both of the monster's wings were little more than tattered, red rags.
Sora hit the ground a second later and lowered the Keyblade in both hands to his right side, then twisted it so the blade was pointed upward. The weapon glowed bright white after a moment, forming another blade of Light. Sora tensed his legs, then jumped upward with as much force as he could muster. Simultaneously, he began to lengthen the blade of Light around his new weapon. It grew and grew until, finally, he brought the huge blade up and around. The tip of the weapon dragged through the skeleton of the broken Beacon Academy, causing a couple of the buildings to crumble a little more. The attack cleared the school with minimal damage, and arced up to the Dragon, blade catching on its side. "Come on!" Sora shouted as he began to twist his body and push harder against the monster, and the blade began to drag through the Grimm's body until it was completely cleaved in two. Sora roared victoriously as the creature was cut clean in two and its body separated. He flew between the two halves of the creature and turned around to aim his Keyblade at the huge mass of Grimm far below as well as the slowly disintegrating twin masses of the Dragon. The tip of the Keyblade glowed a bright white for a moment, a huge ball of Light appearing until Sora let it loose in a brilliant flash that blinded Ozpin and the others on the ground.
When their vision returned to them, Sora was sitting on top of the Beacon Huntsman Statue, staring up at the moon with a smile on his face. The Master Keeper was resting beside him. "Where happened to all of the Grimm?" Glynda asked. She looked around, awestruck by what had happened. The Grounds of Beacon Academy, which had just moments before been filled completely by Grimm, were now devoid of the monsters. Ozpin and the others looked around to confirm what she had pointed out.
"What happened?" Ozpin echoed as the sunlight hit Sora and illuminated the content smile on the boy's face. Sora turned towards them, shooting a grin and wave. "The world got some of its Hope back, Glynda. Something it desperately needed." Then Ozpin led them towards the boy so they could celebrate their victory.