Chapter 40: We're Never Alone!
Sora and Ruby wasted no time in attacking Salem again. The two of them launched themselves at the ancient witch, their Keyblades glowing bright white with Light energy that elongated the weapons and made them much more dangerous. Sora went high, jumping high into the air with his weapon raised above his right shoulder; his face was locked in a determined snarl as he flew towards Salem. Ruby, meanwhile, attacked low. She sprinted at Salem's legs, crouching as she ran. The tip of her Keyblade dragged against the ground, carving a line in the crystal at her right side. Ruby's face was determined, her glowing eyes filled with determination made even stronger by the silvery light. Ozpin stood still, waiting for an opening to help the two young warriors without getting in their way. Emerald... had disappeared from sight.
Salem took a half step back, her smirk remaining plastered on her face. She tossed one of the Key shaped hatchets at Ruby, letting the silver and gold weapon arc towards the young woman. Ruby brought her Keyblade up and slapped the attack away. Her Keyblade rested above her left shoulder for a moment before she jumped forward, turning into a torpedo of rose petals tipped with a silvery point. Salem summoned the hatchet back to her hand and dashed to the side, avoiding Ruby's attack. Simultaneously, she turned towards Sora and threw one of the hatchets again, this time coated in flames. Sora raised his hand and caught the spinning weapon by its handle, then tossed it right back at its owner.
That was when Ozpin decided to strike. She was off balance from her dodge and was going to have to deal with the incoming projectile, too; she was open. He launched himself forward at full speed, the tip of his cane moving faster than almost anyone could react. Salem just scoffed and waited for him to strike, simply summoning up a Reflega wall as the two attacks closed in on her. Ozpin was thrown across the arena by an explosion of Light, sending him over the edge. He barely caught the edge in time to save himself, slamming his cane through the smooth, purple crystal before he could fall too far. The hatchet, meanwhile, flew back at Sora fast enough that he barely was able to bring the Master Keeper up in time to block the attack. The sudden rebounding and multiplication of the attack's force caused him to lose his momentum and flip mid air. He began to fall to the ground back first.
Salem summoned the hatchet back to her hand and smirked at the the two men she had easily slapped away. She was a little too engrossed in this moment, however, allowing Ruby the time to slash upward with her Keyblade just as the Reflect wall disappeared. Salem turned just in time for the attack to slam into her chin, sending her spinning straight up. Salem felt a smile tug at her lips because of the pain flowering in her face. She tightened her leash on Summer's Heart once more, something she had been required to do often ever since seeing the Princess of Heart for the first time, and a scowl replaced the smile.
Salem then dismissed the hatchets and returned the Kingdom Key to its natural form. She twirled the weapon and used its power to stop her spinning. Sora had already recovered, returning to his feet and running over to help Ozpin back up onto the arena. Salem's eyes sparked and she raised the tip of the Kingdom Key, aiming it down at the three warriors. A bright white orb of Light appeared at the tip of the weapon, power radiating from it, and she twisted the Key to send them flying.
However, just as that happened, she felt her weapon be tugged in another direction. The beam of energy flew wide, flying across the battlefield and into a mass of Grimm and Heartless. The area of the collision went silent for a moment, then exploded violently from her power. "Cinder's child," Salem noted. She reached down with her left hand and yanked hard. Emerald flew upwards, yelping as she was torn from the ground. Chains appeared around the Keyblade and in Salem's fistas the young woman's concentration was broken and she grew ever closer, face approaching Salem's.
Salem dismissed her weapon but held tight on the chains. "Thunder," Salem said simply, and yellow electricity arced from her palm, down the length of the weapon in an instant. Emerald screamed out in pain as the energy coursed through her and forced her hands to tighten around the handles of her weapons. This effect lasted long enough that she had no time to release her kurasigama so she could dodge Salem's fist. Emerald flew down and slammed into the crystal beside Mercury. She wasn't moving when she hit the surface, though her Aura had yet to disappear.
Sora was the one who rushed over to her side. "Heal!" he shouted, a Curaga appearing around the girl. It would not wake her up to help fight, but he supposed it was better that she and Mercury were out of this fight. They weren't on this level.
"Sora, Keychain!" Sora looked over at Ruby and nodded. He stood up and cracked his neck, then sprinted forward to gain momentum, at which point he jumped as high up as he could. Given he was a Keyblade Wielder, this was quite the considerable distance. Ruby leaped up after him, just a moment behind. Sora turned and held his hand out, grabbing onto her outstretched arm, at which point he spun and tossed her straight at Salem. Ruby doubled her speed with her Semblance, turning into a red beam that streaked past Salem before the ancient warrior. Ruby grabbed hold of the woman to stop herself, then brought her Keyblade down in a two handed blow. Salem raised her Keyblade and blocked the attack, but was still sent plummeting like a stone towards Sora.
He pointed his Keyblade at her falling body. "Fire!" he screamed. A ball of flames exploded from the end of his weapon and flew towards Salem, crashing into her. The flames exploded upon contact, engulfing her completely and leaving behind a cloud of smoke. The smoke had barely drifted apart before Salem tore through it like a rocket. Sora raised his weapon and used it to slap the incoming attack, letting him move to the side to avoid the attack. He used the movement to spin and brought his own attack around in response. She blocked it with the guard of the Kingdom Key. She flipped when distance was placed between them and landed softly on the crystal below.
She turned upon seeing movement out of the corner of her eye, slapping Ozpin's cane clean out of his hands. His eyes widened in surprise and fear as Salem turned into a back kick. Ozpin heard something in his body snap, a rib probably, and he keeled over at the sudden explosion of pain. He rolled across the arena until hitting the crystal covered χ -blade. "Come now, Ozpin, is this truly the best that you and your students can do?" she mocked, an evil grin stretching across her face.
"We're just getting warmed up!" Salem looked up at the source of the voice. Sora had his weapon leveled on her again, though this time a swirling mass of multicolored energy was amassed around the end of the blade. "Ragnarok!" The thin beams of energy exploded outward, swirling around and outward for a moment before seemingly locking on to Salem. The woman's eyes widened; she had not expected that. She raised her left hand, forcing a slab of crystal to rocket upwards and block the first group of needle thin beams.
That did not stop the rest of them from spiraling through the air in every direction, moving to enclose her. She turned and sprinted to one side of the arena. She slid to her side and off the edge, simultaneously casting a weak and continuous Gravity spell on the side of the structure. Her feet were dragged, slowly at first but increasingly fast, towards the wall. Some of the remaining streams crashed into the crystal above her, but she was already running down the wall. She glanced over her shoulder for a moment; maybe a quarter of the beams had been destroyed, but the rest were still following her closely. "This is becoming increasingly annoying," she growled to herself. "How long am I going to have to wait for Oz's children to fill out the χ -blade?"
"Long enough." Ruby appeared in front of Salem in a blur of black lines. Her Keyblade slashed at the ancient witch's throat, close enough that Salem was forced to fall to her back and slide past the attack. Ruby pulled herself onto the wall as well and began to attack Salem as they ran down the crystal, their Keyblades slamming into one another with enough force to generate lightning that pulverized the crystal around them. "Now let my mom go!" Ruby flipped forward, coating her Keyblade in Blizzard magic that made her two handed blow even more powerful.
"But she's still so important," Salem responded, her voice a mocking snarl. She used the Kingdom Key to just barely deflect the attack, letting the magical blade crash into the wall of the crystalline temple. Spikes of ice shot upward, erupting from the ground for a dozen feet. Salem jumped to the other side of the icicles and continued running even as another group of the energy beams exploded against the ice. Salem turned around when she heard the explosion and began to slide backwards, Keyblade raised to block Ruby's incoming attack. The weapons clanged when they collided and a shower of golden sparks flew out from the point of contact. Salem shoved through the younger woman's continued force, slapping the red Keyblade to the side and providing Salem with a large opening for an attack. She stabbed forward with the Kingdom Key, fast enough that Ruby's dodge wouldn't matter –!
The Kingdom Key slid between Ruby's arm and her body, uselessly avoiding damaging the young woman in the least. Salem's face grew stony so the young Keyblade Wielder would not realize the tremendous advantage that she had. It seemed that no matter how tightly the chains were wrapped around Summer Rose's metaphorical throat, nor how high the walls were that surrounded her will, she retained an annoying level of control over their shared Heart and body in regards to Ruby Rose. It sickened Salem, who wanted to simply break Summer's considerable will and destroy the young woman completely, that she had to instead take this defeat as given. It would only endanger her plans, at the moment, to engage in a battle for control simultaneous with that for the χ -blade.
Salem pulled the Kingdom Key back and brought her free hand forward to slam into Ruby's midsection. The young woman yelped and was thrown up the wall, passing the remaining streams of Ragnarok energy during her ascent; Salem turned and began to run down the crystal once more. She narrowed her eyes when she saw Sora appear as a blur of lines at the bottom of the wall. He buried his Keyblade in the crystal and twisted it, the move causing a large fissure in the purple substance. The growing crack and the sharp, jutting fragments that accompanied it flew towards Salem, obscuring the young man from view and giving her a way to easily destroy the last of the multicolored energy following her. She jumped away from the crystal structure just as the fissure was a few feet in front of her, cutting the flow of magic to her feet so she could put distance between the wall and herself. The beams turned to follow, but the fissure continued, stone rising to block their path.
It seemed that Sora was slightly more intelligent than she gave him credit for, however. She was at her most vulnerable, still spread-eagle in the air and soaring away from the crystal, when he made his move. Sora moved with a speed that only a Keyblade Master – or Ruby – could manage, and threw himself into the air beside her. He grinned, appreciating the coming victory despite knowing it was a small one, and slammed a two handed Keyblade strike into the small of Salem's back. The creator of the first Keyblades could not contain an exclamation that came with the sudden spike of pain, her back arching at an incredibly painful angle for a brief moment despite the strength and durability afforded her by her weapon. Another noise of pain, almost the same as the first, escaped her lips when she slammed into the ground below.
She rolled to the side, expecting Sora to try another attack while she was distracted. A glowing white blade slammed into the ground where she had been lying. Salem made it up to her feet, flipping up with her open palm, and launched a burning Firaga at the young man crouching on the ground. He turned and narrowed his eyes, summoning a gleaming dome of Light around his body. The fire spell rebounded off of the Reflega and rocketed back at Salem, though the woman easily slapped it away with the Keyblade. The fire soared upward, exploding when sufficiently far from its caster. "You can't think you're going to win."
Salem smiled and stood up to her full height, flourishing the Kingdom Key out to her side. "I can't?" She inquired. She disappeared and reappeared in a blur of black lines, slashing down at Sora with her weapon. The young man rolled forward to dodge the attack, moving beneath the woman to avoid the blow. He grabbed onto the woman's cape when he rolled up to his feet, then yanked on it. Still in the air, Salem was thrown out of balance. She flailed backwards on instinct, trying to hit Sora so she could escape. He dodged the attacks before tensing his legs and leaping straight up. The air whipped around the two as they ascended, filling the world with whistling.
Salem grunted when she was suddenly slammed into the top of the crystal structure once again, the force cracking the surface beneath her. Sora confirmed what she had asked, a triumphant grin on his face: "You can't." He twirled his Keyblade in front of him, Ruby leaping up to his side and doing the same. They were back to back, Sora with his weapon in his right hand and Ruby with hers in her left. The two of them aimed their weapons at the same time, brilliant balls of Light appearing and merging. "You really can't." Then the orbs of Light exploded as one and flew towards the enemy woman, consuming the region where she had been laying. The two fell to the ground and watched the purple cloud, knowing this couldn't be the end, because it was never the end when a cloud of dust was involved.
"Finally." Ah, there it was. The smoke cleared, pushed away by the sudden upward movement of a pillar of crystal. Sora and Ruby saw debris and detritus begin to fall towards the place where Ozpin was working on freeing Mercury with the now awake Emerald. The two Keyblade Wielders shot towards their allies, easily destroying the falling crystals. Ruby watched for more falling crystal while Sora moved over to Mercury and slashed away the crystals holding him down. He wasn't awake yet, but it wasn't like he would be much help. Sora and Ruby both waited another moment for more falling crystals, then ran up the new pillar together when no more appeared. They reached the top at the same time and stood with their weapons at the ready. They froze when they saw what was waiting for them.
Salem was aiming her weapon at her own chest, a wild grin on her face. The χ -blade was buried in the crystal right beside her. "Your friends have done everything that I needed them to do," Salem said victoriously. Sora and Ruby watched her with wide eyes, somehow afraid that the woman would follow through on what she was about to do unless they stood still. They knew that was stupid, but it was an irrational thought clinging to the back of their minds. Salem's fingers loosened then tightened around the teeth of the Kingdom Key, causing the warriors to flinch forward a step. She smiled cruelly. "Stop." Sora and Ruby stopped moving midstep, the unseen force of magic keeping them stuck in place.
"The χ -blade is nearly complete. More than a dozen Hearts of Darkness have now filled its form alongside six Hearts of Light. Lucky me that I have one more that I need to get rid of right here." Then Salem plunged the weapon into her own chest. Ruby, frozen by the spell holding her, could not even widen her eyes in terror and rage. She wanted to cry as she saw the pure, white Light that was her mother's Heart, but she couldn't. She couldn't do anything.
The Heart floated just above the tip of the Kingdom Key, held in place by the unseen will of Salem. The ancient witch turned the blade around and grasped the handle of the weapon, brandishing the Heart that was connected to it. She aimed the glowing orb at the χ -blade and it floated off, spiralling under Salem's control until it was absorbed by the ancient weapon in a dim burst of Light. The χ -blade flared to life, the crystal around it vaporized suddenly. It was gleaming, the rust and decay that had overtaken it now gone. The blade was a gleaming white, the keys that formed the handle were a brilliant gold. A rainbow of colors shined out from the snowflake like design that made up a majority of the weapon's body.
Salem tossed the Kingdom Key aside, letting the now useless weapon tumble down from the considerable heights that she stood. The ancient witch moved then towards the χ -blade, placing the handle beside her right palm with a slow, deliberate appreciation for what was happening. "I did not truly appreciate this moment, last time," she said. Her voice was quiet, filled with awe and joy. Her fingers closed one after another around the handle, each taking their time. "But now I..." She pulled the weapon from the crystal. "Now, I win." She raised the blade to the sky; a huge stream of Light shot from the tip of the χ -blade, arcing through the sky towards the broken moon. Accompanying this shot was an explosion of air, back blast from the stream. The crystal beneath Salem's feet shattered, the break continuing down the crystal and into the main structure. Soon, the entire structure was falling apart.
The Stop wore off then; Sora and the others flew away from her, the result of the sudden explosion of air. The two tumbled away, different emotions filling their eyes. Ruby was equally distraught and filled with rage, the righteous anger of one who had just had one that they loved torn away from them before their eyes. She had not been fully aware of how much she had hoped her mother could be freed until right then, and it hurt; all she could do was try to make sure her mother did not die in vain. Sora, meanwhile, had grown more determined and perhaps slightly worried. The χ -blade was a dangerous weapon in anyone's hands, not the least those of a woman they had been struggling to defeat when she used only a Keyblade.
Salem watched the stars and moon begin to come together into Kingdom Hearts, the source of all power. The terror and confusion that filled the entire She floated in the place where she had stood moments earlier, and watched the Heart of All Things return from death. She raised the χ -blade once again, summoning up the image of a Keyhole across the face of the glowing, Heart shaped moon. A less powerful, but equally foreboding, beam of Darkness appeared from the tip of the χ -blade, striking the moon. All around Remnant could be heard a single noise – the unlocking of a giant tumbler lock. Soon, a negative effect was encroaching on the moon: white became black and black became white.
Sora pushed himself out of the rubble, shoving large stones off of his body and looking around. Ruby and Ozpin were soon doing the same. They had been slightly faster than Sora, using a Reflega to defend themselves and, in Ozpin's case, Emerald and the still unconscious Mercury. Sora was fine, but it was still hurt a little. His eyes caught sight of Kingdom Hearts and he gulped down fear in his throat. What was happening to it? "Sora, do you see that?" Ozpin asked.
"What is that?" Ruby asked.
"This is the only world remaining. By unlocking its Heart to Darkness, Salem has unlocked all of Kingdom Hearts to the Darkness," Ozpin explained. He glanced at the ground. "We have lost."
There was a brief pause. "Not if we get the χ -blade from her," Ruby said resolutely, turning her anger and pain at what had happened to her mother into defiant strength.
Ozpin sighed. "How, though?" he asked, despite knowing it was a foolish inquiry.
Sora grinned and shrugged. All he knew was that it was way too early to give up hope. "We can do it. Just make sure everybody else is okay. Please Oz?" Sora asked when he saw the worried face that the man in green was giving him. The man acquiesced upon seeing the resolute bravery in Sora's eyes. He aided Emerald in lifting Mercury, and ran off to find their remaining allies. He knew: it was this or death. He would do the difficult thing, just as he had told Salem he would, and believe.
Salem finally took note of the warriors so far below. They had been a threat before this, but now? Now they were more of a nuisance. Still, she would not underestimate them as she had in their prior life. They deserved her full, deadly attention. With a moment of concentration, she flew towards the ground faster than Sora or Ruby could react. The χ -blade's pommel slammed into Sora's midsection, sending him flying back a dozen feet. Crystal fragments exploded where he bounced, purple Dust clouds trailing behind him. From that attack, Salem slashed down slightly slower with her weapon to test that Summer Rose's Heart was no longer in control.
Indeed, she was not. The χ -blade slammed into Ruby's clumsy block and the young woman's Keyblade was torn from her grip, slamming into the ground at her feet. Ruby dashed backwards, turning into a torpedo of rose petals. As she tried to escape, she summoned her weapon back to her hand with a gesture.
But Salem was prepared for that. She was already in Ruby's path before the young woman could regain her feet. The χ -blade slammed into the girl's back, causing the young woman's velocity to completely reverse. "Hmm... I thought that would bisect you," Salem noted. She placed the tip of the weapon into the ground. "I must not be at my full strength yet." She lifted the weapon and returned her attention to the place where the two younger warriors stood at the ready.
"So... I don't know if I saw her move," Sora said.
"Good, I was worried it was just me." The two of them grimaced worriedly. Ruby looked at Sora out of the corner of one glowing eye. "You have any ideas?"
"I was kind of hoping that you did," Sora said. His grip on his Keyblade tightened. "Okay, how about this... for now let's just work on getting the χ -blade away from her. We need to reverse whatever it was she did to Kingdom Hearts."
"That's not a plan. That's a goal."
Sora groaned. "It's the best I've got right now." Then he launched himself at Salem, sweeping the Master Keeper around to crash into the χ -blade's block. Ruby came around the other side, slashing with her own weapon at the woman's head. Salem's hand simply came up to block the attack, wrapping around the Keyblade. She turned around the χ -blade, slamming Ruby into Sora like a bat. The young man rolled across the ground a few feet before getting to his feet. Salem turned again and threw Ruby directly at Sora, who caught her and stumbled backwards again. He turned around, following an explosion of instinct in the back of his mind, and his weapon blocked a powerful, two handed blow from Salem's χ -blade. He grit his teeth, ignoring the intense pain of the weapon shuddering in his hand.
Ruby jumped off of him and slashed upward at Salem's throat, the blow landing against a Reflect hexagon. Ruby yelped in pain as the force of the blow was redirected back at her. Salem kicked Sora away and turned to slash at Ruby's throat. The young woman ducked just in time and dashed into Salem's knees, her weapon slamming into the ancient witch's legs and causing the older woman to flip where she was and land face first in the ground. Ruby was already dashing away, retreating temporarily to where Sora was forcing himself back up to his feet. "I think she's hitting me harder," Sora grumbled. He frowned. "Just like before..."
A small, hopeful smile tugged the corners of Ruby's lips up. "You don't think she's –"
Sora glanced up, thinking. Summer's in the χ -blade. "I do."
"It's the best we've got," Ruby said, shrugging. She looked over at Salem, who was walking slowly, threateningly towards them. This was a battle of attrition for the white haired witch; victory would come if she killed the two or waited them out. "We've been going about this wrong – I'll distract, you attack."
"We'll have to try our hardest, then," Sora said. He swept his free hand out to the side and a bright flash of white appeared around his hand. The Kingdom Key appeared out of the bright flash, and Sora slammed the two Keyblades together. A bright Light traveled down the length of the Master Keeper from his right hand, jumping from Keyblade to Keyblade at the end and traveling back up to his left hand. The Kingdom Key shivered, and all of a sudden it was as if a weight was lifted from the Keyblade. It was as if this weight that had always been there but he had never noticed, like he had believed the Keyblade was meant to feel that way. All of a sudden, Sora was the sole master of two of the most powerful Keyblades ever crafted.
Ruby smiled. "Nice to have it back?" she asked. Sora grinned and nodded while Ruby twirled her Keyblade over her head, causing her weapon to glow a bright red and shift its shape into that of a massive scythe. She rested Crescent Rose over her shoulders and the two looked up at the moon. The Darkness had encroached on almost half of Kingdom Hearts' surface, turning the moon an evil tone of pitch covered with bright white lines. They had to hurry. Ruby fired off an explosive Firaga from the tip of her scythe and flew towards Salem at full speed, turning into a torpedo of roses that moved almost as fast as Salem could. Still, the woman was able to raise the mythical weapon and block the attack.
The end of Ruby's scythe looped around the χ -blade, letting the young woman aim the end of her weapon directly at Salem's face. "Slow!" Salem grunted angrily at the sudden spell. Her body was no longer responding as quickly as it should have, though given the power of the weapon in her hands it only made her as slow as a Keyblade Wielder.
Against these two, that was nowhere near fast enough.
Sora appeared beside her, moving with the speed of two Keyblades. Salem snarled and slashed upward, her speed slowly increasing as the spell on her began to wear off. The Kingdom Key slammed into the snow flake at the center of the χ -blade, slapping the weapon away from Salem and giving him and opening to attack. The Master Keeper shot forward, tip slamming into Salem's throat. The woman's black and red eyes widened in surprise as her windpipe was suddenly forced shut, and her mind filled with terror for a split second. Her instincts took over and she channeled an explosion of energy from her skin. Darkness flared up around her, forcing both Keyblade Wielders to raised their weapons defensively to keep from being thrown away. Sora's two weapons crossed in an 'X' in front of him, their power doing away with a majority of the Darkness coming his way. Meanwhile, Ruby brought the bottom of her weapon up and around. The handle split the Darkness around her. The two of them were only forced back perhaps six feet, rather than being thrown across the entire battlefield.
Sora counter attacked as quickly as he could. He slammed the teeth of the Kingdom Key into those of the Master Keeper, chaining the weapons together, and gripped the handle of the Master Keeper with both hands. He swung as powerfully as he could, the force of the attack colliding with the χ -blade causing an explosion of air to continue past Salem. The ground surrounded by that air began to sink, crumbling from the vibrations that had just traveled across its surface. The Dust in the ground exploded, doing nothing to either warrior in this fight.
Ruby swept at Salem's legs with her Keyblade-scythe, using spells to increase the speed of the weapon in her hands so the ancient witch wouldn't be able to dodge. But dodge the woman did. She stepped on top of the blade, letting it move her out of Sora's path. She jumped from the scythe when it was pointed away from Sora, soaring away and aiming her weapon at the two children. A burst of spherical flames erupted from the weapon, six total, and began to hone in on the younger warriors. Ruby sprinted away, causing three to peel off and follow her. Sora ran right at the three that were aimed at him, a defiant grin on his face. He sliced cleanly through the first with the Kingdom Key and whirled unharmed through the resulting explosion. For the next one, he fired his own Blizzaga from the Master Keeper; the fire hissed and created a steam cloud where the spells had collided. The Keyblades crossed as he jumped out of the steam, a thin wall of Reflega hexagons appearing to reverse the course of the attack completely.
Sora was on top of Salem in another moment. He swung with a pair of overhead slashes, his twin Keyblades crashing into the χ -blade as one. The weapons rang out with a bright peal that almost sounded like Light made physical. "You understand that you are merely delaying the inevitable. You cannot defeat me."
"Really?" he asked cockily, his trademark wild grin on his face. Sora jumped back a half step and began to unleash an onslaught of attacks on his enemy. The Kingdom Key rained down, slamming into the χ -blade's horizontal flat. Sora turned as soon as the collision happened, spinning around to slash at Salem with an attack parallel to the χ -blade itself. She moved fast enough to block the attack, though only just. Was... was he growing faster, somehow?
"Submit!" She shoved the young man back a step and slashed down at him, a two handed diagonal blow moving at his left shoulder. He jumped to the side and slapped the attack past him, then stabbed at Salem's head. She moved her head to the side to just barely avoid the attack, then spun and slashed at Sora much as he had at her. He flipped while midair to avoid the attack slashed with both weapons at the same time. Salem brought up the χ -blade and took the blow. She clarified her earlier statement: "You cannot defeat me alone!"
Sora grinned and jumped away from her, performing a backflip just for kicks. He pointed his left shoulder at Salem and slowly raised the Kingdom Key in the same direction. "And just who said I'm alone?" Salem's eyes grew wide. Again? This was going to happen again? She swore to herself when she saw ethereal figures appear behind Sora. First appeared Qrow, Jaune, Ren, and Nora. Then Sun, Neptune, Ozpin, Yang, Blake, and Weiss. Countless people she had never seen before, Keyblades and weapons resting atop their shoulders or at their sides. Six in particular stood out to her, the spitting images of Ozpin's first students. This young man had far more people in his Heart than even the Thief had managed. "My friends are always in my Heart, so I'll never be alone." Then he leaped towards the woman once more, slashing in a precise, but powerful series of attacks. Every move seemed to be paralleled by one of the specters his Heart was projecting, the blow made all the stronger for it.
Jaune watched the fight with wide eyes, standing between his team mates and his father. "Do you think they can do it?" Argent asked simply, his eyes fixing on the brown haired young man striking as hard as he could in an attempt to disarm the ancient witch.
Jaune glanced at the ground. If they didn't, it was his fault. He'd managed to screw everything up. What did I do, Pyrrha? He asked. And he couldn't even do anything to help. If he tried to fight Salem, the Darkness would just fill him up again. He couldn't let that happen. So he stood where he was, paralyzed with fear and self doubt.
"Those two? Sora's good, and I trained Ruby myself," Qrow said, a smirk gracing his features. Jaune knew that the man wasn't going to lie or try to sugar coat this at all, no matter what he said. His crimson eyes, though, looked sad. As if he was sure someone he loved was going to die today. "Honestly, I'd be more surprised if they didn't pull it off."
Sora continued his continuous assault on the ancient Keyblade Master, not letting the woman have a single opening through which to attack him. Every blow was aimed at disarming her and stealing the χ -blade so he could save Kingdom Hearts, a time barrier they were quickly pressing up against. The Kingdom Key and the Master Keeper moved like lightning, each strike moving fluidly into the next so he could easily attack the woman. "I'm going to stop you from hurting anyone. Ever again." He twirled, channeling a massive amount of Light energy into his twin Keyblades, and delivered a powerful simultaneous blow to the χ -blade; this initiated a blade lock and the two warriors began to push against one another.
"You cannot be serious," Salem laughed dryly. She pushed against him while staring into his blue, determined eyes. He was planning something. But what could it be? What could this boy alone accomplish? The χ -blade in her hands grew warm for a moment and she realized it did not matter. "I am a god."
"That's what Xehanort said. Three times." Sora kicked the woman away and threw both her Keyblades at her, grinning as they began to respond to his mental commands. They spun like the blades of saws, spinning around the woman and attacking her from every direction. "And I beat him. Three times." Sora rushed forward, his fists placed together at his right side. He began to channel Light energy through his palms, forcing a blade of pure Light to appear in his grasp, and he used this weapon to slash upward when he got close enough to Salem. She tried to dodge, but the blade elongated suddenly and caught her by the chin. She was sent flying, world a blur until she used the power of the χ -blade to stop her momentum.
Sora leaped after her, confidence flooding out of his every feature. His first Keyblade collided with the χ -blade, and Salem angled the weapon to force the Master Keeper to slide away uselessly. Sora slashed down with the Kingdom Key, and that was when the momentum shifted once more. The χ -blade moved faster than even the master of twin Keyblades could react, and he suddenly found himself on his back, laying on the ground. His brain was tingling, trying to process something that it didn't understand. "W-what?" he muttered. He looked to his right, seeing the Master Keeper clutched in his fist. He blinked once and rolled, using the weapon to push himself to his feet. He used Curaga as he stood, healing whatever had been done to him. Still, the feeling persisted. He looked down, trying to understand what had happened, and he saw his left hand on the ground, the Kingdom Key still held in his white knuckled grip. His eyes widened in surprise. "That -" He was cut off by a woman's foot slamming into his face, and he was thrown away once more.
"It's always a dozen feet with you two," Salem noted, glaring down at Sora. She opened her mouth to say more, but froze. Two. She looked around. "Two... Where is the girl?"
"Right behind you." Salem spun as quickly as she could, just in time to see the determined Silver Eyed warrior disappear in a blur of black lines. She was replaced by a trio of Firaga spheres, each moving too fast to suddenly change directions. With as close as the fast moving Firaga Burst had gotten to her, Salem could not move in time so the spells she had cast with the χ -blade crashed into her. She stumbled back a step with each blow, dazed every time. Ruby reappeared in front of her, a few feet away. "SLOW!"
Salem snarled when the spell took effect; it was stronger than the last, forcing her to a metaphorical crawl. They had planned this? Why hadn't she thought of the girl, why hadn't she been paying attention to Ruby?! Salem's mind drifted to the χ -blade, where Summer Rose's Heart rested. NO!
"NOW!" Ruby screamed, lowering the scythe to her left side.
Sora's voice was hoarse with pain, but the word that came out was clear and filled with the righteous rage of a thousand Keyblade Masters fighting the Darkness. A red glint appeared at the end of his Keyblade as it was leveled at Salem. "FIRAZA!"
The ground beneath Salem exploded, and something even hotter than fire filled her entire world. Lava, freed from the physical mantle of Remnant, surrounded her like a pillar of destruction. She would have screamed out in pain, but she was moving far too slowly to do anything of the kind. Everything was still pain, just pain and the smell of melting flesh. She used the χ -blade and her force of will to keep herself together despite the attack, but she could feel herself slipping. Her grip on the χ -blade was loosening with every moment she was engulfed in the eruption. Or were they really moments? Was it really just the pain making every second a year? Eventually, the lava stopped streaming up from beneath Salem, and she began to fall forward. Her leg shot out to steady herself, and her arms fell limply to her sides.
This was just what Ruby needed. She dashed forward, rose petals spreading in her wake, and slashed the woman's wrist with all her might. The attack caused Salem's right hand to come off, a clean slice that was accompanied by a sudden spurt of blood. Ruby turned with her momentum and slammed the heel of her foot into the flat of the χ -blade's falling form, sending it flying right to Sora. He reached out for it, dismissing the Master Keeper from his sole remaining hand.
They were going to win. They were going to –!
"Well, then the least I can do is take one last thing from you!" Salem roared.
Sora's eyes widened when he heard Salem's scream of rage, and time began to slow around him. Her body was falling apart, the lava he had unleashed with his Firaza finally taking its toll without the χ -blade to protect her. She pulled her left hand up to her chest, grabbing her blackened Heart through sheer force of will. Ruby's eyes widened and she turned to try and run. Sora knew, though... she wouldn't be fast enough. He began to angle himself to save her, but he knew... he knew he wouldn't be fast enough. But he also knew he couldn't stop himself from doing it.
Jaune knew it too. So, as soon as he had seen the Firaza and realized what the two Keyblade Wielders were going to do, he began to sprint towards Salem. He had spent more than enough time around the woman to know she would do the most spiteful thing she could do in order to ensure her victory. She would survive, especially if it meant the destruction of Sora or Ruby. She would win. Jaune was already diving between the two when Salem had thrown her Heart.
It hit the young man, and he fell to the ground with a quiet albeit Heart stopping thud.
Sora forced himself to keep moving despite the trouble his friend was in. He reached out with his hand just as he was about to pass the χ -blade, and with a single fluid movement aimed it up at the moon. The Darkness had nearly consumed Kingdom Hearts completely by this point, leaving nothing but a single, thin circle of Light surviving. If Jaune hadn't saved Ruby, Sora wouldn't have had the time to do this. A beam of Light flew from the tip of the χ -blade, colliding with Kingdom Hearts just as the Darkness was about to consume the last of the Light. In an instant, the Light returned to the surface of the Heart of All Things. Sora took a deep breath and smiled at the Heart shaped moon. Clouds soon began to drift in front of the moon. It was receding, disappearing once again.
Sora turned on his heel and sprinted towards where everyone was gathered around Jaune's body. "Jaune..." Sora breathed as he slid to a stop beside the young man. He took a worried breath; this was too familiar. He looked over at Ozpin, eyes begging for an answer. Ozpin simply shook his head. For once, he did not know what to do.
Thankfully, it appeared someone else did. The χ -blade pulled Sora toward Jaune, a brilliant blade of Light protruding from its form. "What's going on!?" Sora shouted. He reached back with his left arm, flailing until Ruby grabbed him. He continued to be dragged forward. Yang grabbed onto Ruby, then Blake and Yang. Then Ren, Nora, and everyone else until they were all struggling to help Sora stop moving. It was to no avail, however. The χ -blade was determined and buried itself in Jaune's Heart. Light exploded upon contact, and the world went white for the chain of people that had been struggling against its power.
R W B Y
"You idiot boy!" Jaune flinched as another kick slammed into his face and he was sent sliding across the cracked, half blackened pillar that was his Heart. He stopped on top of what used to be Pyrrha's face, though it had been twisted into the facade of a monster... because of him. He had done terrible things for Pyrrha. He knew now that... that she wouldn't have wanted him to do what he had done. She would have wanted him to be strong. He should have been more like Pyrrha.
Salem stomped after him, her eyes wide with rage. "You got in my way! Why would you get in my way!?"
Jaune didn't answer. He suspected that the woman already knew why he had done what he had done. Instead, he struggled to his feet and raised his fists. He was wearing his old armor, now, the white across his shoulders and chest dented and rusted by Darkness. Still, he wouldn't let this end. "Is that..." He clenched his teeth as the world threatened to go sideways, then shook his head. "Is that all you've got?"
Salem glowered down at Jaune. "You know what? It's not." She wasn't smiling, but Jaune could see some sort of perverse joy in her black eyes. She stepped towards Jaune and raised her hand towards him. Golden chains erupted from the ground around him, wrapping around his arms and throat. He was yanked to his knees, choking against the power now holding him down. Salem leaned down and gripped Jaune's hair, yanking on it until she had forced his eyes to meet hers. He was gritting his teeth, determined not to give the woman the satisfaction of hearing him cry out. "Do you want to know what I am going to do now? What I am going to do because you ruined my plans? A thousand years of plans? Yes, Sora and Ruby disarmed me, but I had won. He would not have had the time to stem the tide of Darkness had I taken her body. But instead I took yours and Kingdom Hearts is gone. It will take another thousand years for me to attain what I need once more! An eternity more of planning because of you! Do you want to know what is a fair trade for what you have done?"
Jaune snarled at her, remaining defiant.
"I am going to go to your home, to the people you love the most." Jaune felt his blood chill as she began to speak. "And I am going to make you watch what I do. I'm going to make you watch as you slaughter them each. One. By. One. Your hands will bathe in the blood of your sisters. You will slash your own father to pieces. And with the Keyblade, you shall unlock your own mother's Heart to the Darkness."
Jaune could feel tears streaming from his face now. He was able to get words out through sheer force of rage. "I won't let you..." he gurgled through the chain wrapped tight around his throat.
Salem smiled at that, a smile that curdled Jaune's blood. "And that matters how? You can't stop me, all alone in your broken little Heart."
"Didn't I just finish telling you that people like us are never alone?"
Salem stood up straight and turned slowly towards the source of the voice. Sora stood there, arms crossed over his chest and a smug grin on his face. Ruby was beside him, her eyes resolute. Qrow, smirking, and the other children standing at their sides. Jaune's team mates took a few steps forward, intent on protecting their friend. And Oz, he was just glaring at Salem with that same disappointment filling his features as a thousand years earlier.
Salem looked at the faces all around her. "You can't stop me. Because of my connection with Ozpin, his immortality of the body means the immortality of my Heart." she said. She moved behind Jaune and grabbed his hair again, yanking his head to the side. He grit his teeth again and only let out a small hiss of pain. "Besides, I have far more practice in controlling Hearts than any of you do." She raised her free hand, causing huge, impenetrable walls of steel to divide the Heart in two. She looked down at Jaune. "Now... time for the two of us to get close."
"Unfortunately for you, I won't let that happen."
"Always with the dramatic interruptions," Salem muttered, turning around. She frowned. "And who are you?"
The young woman glared at Salem, green eyes meeting red. The young warrior's scarlet hair cascaded down her back, the long and loose style unlike how she had worn it in life. Her bronze armor was gleaming with Light that made it almost seem golden. A red sash hung from her hips, swaying in some unfelt wind like a hero's cape. "Pyrrha Nikos." The young woman raised her left arm, and the shield that was on it, above and behind her. "Now get away from him."
"This... should not be possible," Salem noted quietly. This girl was supposed to be dead, her Heart cast into the cycle of rebirth. "You aren't a specter – you're actually here. How is your Heart in his?"
Pyrrha did not respond, instead opting to throw her shield straight at Salem's head. She sprinted after the disc flying at Salem, raising a javelin made of the same material as her armor above her head. She tossed the weapon at the ancient witch when the shield was swatted away, forcing the woman to take a step back to avoid the attack. The shield came around, sliding onto Pyrrha's arm, and the javelin bounced off of the pillar and back into her hand. She twirled the javelin at her side, changing its shape into that of a sword as she did, and lashed out at Salem's throat.
Salem raised her arm, materializing a longsword out of pure Darkness to block the blow. "Answer my question!" she snapped, forcing Pyrrha's attack away. She summoned another blade of Darkness to her off hand and began to slash at the dead woman trying to save Jaune.
On the other side of the steel wall, Sora and the others were trying to break the wall, slamming their weapons against it to no avail. "Jaune, we're coming!" they would shout, not knowing whether or not he could hear them on the other side of the wall, but taking comfort in trying nonetheless. The assault on the wall continued unabated. None was trying harder than Argent, who was slamming into the wall with the full force his Heart could muster. Still, to no avail.
"We're never going to get through like this," Sora growled to himself. They had to figure another way around the wall. He turned around when he felt a bright Light brush against him. "What was –"
The Light moved and he watched it approach Ruby. "What is that?" he wondered aloud. The others stopped attacking the wall, wondering what Sora was looking at, and followed his gaze. Ruby blinked and turned around, finding herself face to face with her mirror image.
Everyone was silent, unsure if they were seeing what they were seeing. "Summer?" It was Qrow's voice that broke the silence, and it caused the woman to turn her eyes on him. She shut her silver eyes and smiled kindly, if somewhat timidly, at him. Qrow took a few steps towards her. "Summer is that you?"
"Who else would it be, Birdy?" Summer mocked good naturedly. She walked over to the stunned man and placed her hand on his arm. "I've missed you." She was a shorter than Qrow, forcing her to crane her neck to look up at him. She stretched up to her tip toes and kissed his cheek, a chaste but affectionate act. "I'm glad to see you."
Qrow bit his cheek and forced himself not to cry. He was too strong for that. It made Summer laugh, the noise bringing to Qrow's mind all their times together as kids. "Big and strong like always. I'm glad to see you haven't changed too much, even if you did find someone." Qrow smiled sadly. Summer shook her head. "I approve." She hugged her old partner one more time, whispering into his ear. "Good bye." She lingered, hugging her old friend, then walked towards Ruby.
Summer and her daughter were standing eye to eye, Ruby with tears streaming from hers and Summer's filled with a smile that held back tears. To break the tension that was holding them both to silence, Summer decided to quote a song that she and her daughter had listened to together many times. She thought it described her feelings quite well. "'I wanna tell you that you're all that ever mattered. Want you to know that for eternity I'm shattered. I tried so hard just to protect you, but I failed to...'"
"Mom..." Ruby cried, jumping forward into her mother's arms. Ruby gripped the elder Rose around the neck with her arms and Sora knew, in that moment, she would never want to let go. He also knew that, with her body now gone, Summer would never return. Ruby began to cry into her mother's shoulder, the sounds muffled. Sora walked over, letting Ruby now he was there with her but nothing else. She deserved that this moment be just hers.
Summer glanced over at the young man, studying his features, then turned back to her daughter and placed her lips atop the young woman's head. "It's time to save your friend, Rosebud," she said. She pushed her daughter away gently and smiled again, still holding back tears. "We don't have long."
Ruby looked down, wiping her face with the sleeve of her shirt. Finally, she looked up at her mother and nodded. Summer placed her hand on top of her daughter's head and ruffled her hair, smiling fondly at the look the young woman gave her, then stepped over to the wall. The woman coughed once, clearing away the emotion constricting her throat. "As a part of the χ -blade I can still use its power. For now. It's going to break apart soon," Summer explained as she placed her hand on the smooth surface. "And then I will have to leave."
Ruby looked at the ground, fighting back tears once more. She didn't want this, she didn't want her mother to leave again. "I'm sorry, Rosebud," Summer said quietly, then she poured the χ -blade's power into the destruction of the wall.
Salem glanced over at the wall as it began to disintegrate. "That isn't possible!" she screamed for the hundredth time since entering Jaune's Heart. She looked back at Pyrrha just in time to slap away the shield once more and block a slash of the short sword. She glowered at Pyrrha. "Do not interrupt me!" She forced the young woman back and began to attack again, shifting black blades slashing at the red heads throat. Pyrrha avoided the attacks like a professional, dodging and weaving until her shield returned and she blocked the last blow.
By this point, the wall was gone completely, and a pair of warriors flew through it. One wielded a hammer as large as she and the other a pair of bladed guns. The young man with the guns landed a kick to Salem's face, causing her to stumble backwards, at which point the young woman with the hammer brought her weapon down to flatten Salem. She rolled her eyes and held her hand up, catching the full force of the hammer. "I don't think you all understand," she snapped. She brought the hammer down and tossed the young man and woman away. She let the next blow from Pyrrha slam into her chest. It was painful, more painful than Salem had expected, but she ignored it. She turned towards Pyrrha instead of crying out and simply pulled the blade from her chest. "Like I said... my Heart, much like dear old Oz's body, is immortal. You can't defeat me, you cannot contain me. Eventually I will be forgotten and I will escape!"
"He didn't have the χ -blade then." Summer Rose walked across the remains of the barrier and stood solemnly in front of Salem.
Salem didn't even bother making the exclamation again. Instead, she buried her blade in Summer's gut. "No!"
Summer raised her hand at the group's exclamation. She turned to the side, revealing that the blade of Darkness had been completely destroyed. "Like I said, Salem, we have the χ -blade on our side." Then she slammed her fist into Salem's face, sending her stumbling to the side of the pillar. She stopped herself from going over, only for Summer's shoulder to slam into her midsection. Salem toppled over. Jaune yelped and was pulled to his back by his chains, forcing him to lay flat on his back, choking as they tightened around his throat.
"I'm not going to die," Salem stated simply, ignoring the weight of Summer Rose trying to drag her Heart to its next life and her Soul to the next plane of existence. Her hand was wrapped in a chain of glowing energy, the other end wrapped tightly around Jaune's throat. She put her other hand above the first and began to pull herself up. "I refuse to die!"
"Jaune..." Pyrrha muttered worriedly. She ran over to the choking young man and smiled. "Thank you for letting me stay just a little longer. I got to protect you a few more times." She looked over her shoulder at Nora and Ren, who were torn between being scared for Jaune and elated at seeing Pyrrha again. Pyrrha turned back to Jaune, who was staring at her with love filled eyes. "It's because I love you that I'm going to ask you to promise me something, okay, Jaune?" She waited until he nodded to continue. "Find someone else who completes you, okay? Don't make me the last person you love." She leaned down and let her lips touch Jaune's. It was passionate, enough so that time seemed to slow down around them. Despite that, it ended all too soon for the young man. Pyrrha stood up, drew her sword, and dove off the edge of the pillar.
The chain around Jaune's throat shattered, and every Heart that was not his own was expelled from his body.
AN: Sup.
So, that's the climax of Smaller, More Honest Souls. I hope the battle was epic enough, because I tried to make it as epic and amazing as possible. Anyways, I know this doesn't exactly tie up all the loose ends or explanations, but that's what the Epilogue chapter is going to be for. This chapter was about the fight, pure and simple, and showing Jaune wants redemption so much he'd die for his friends. I hope you loved reading it, because I honestly loved writing it. Even some of my favorite chapters so far had a section or two that felt like a chore, but none of this chapter had that feeling. I couldn't stop writing, to be honest, until I finished.
I'll save all the waxing poetic, as well as the grand reveal of the Spin-Quel's title, for the Epilogue. I'll at least say th the more I think about the title, the more I love it.
And now, responses.
To gamelover41592: I'm glad you liked chapter 39. I wanted to have a good send off for all the supporting cast, because they are some of my favorite fictional characters ever and they deserve to be as badass as possible all the time.
To grimlock987: I honestly forgot about that until you reminded me, so thanks. I think it added in a level of seriousness and consequence for the fight, so I hope it doesn't seem forced. Don't worry, the Epilogue has a short time skip so we'll see Sora's and Sun's prosthetics in the next chapter.
To Blazer777: I definitely get where you're coming from. Unfortunately, when I started writing the flashbacks, Back Cover hadn't come out yet, aside from trailers where the camera angles did very little to accurately display how tall the characters were in relation to one another. I understand not liking the whole integration thing, but I just wanted to do something different. There are so many great stories about Sora visiting a non-Disney and non-FF world that exist, I just wanted to do something different. And I agree, it would be annoying if KH3 ended with Xehanort escaping. Unless the final movie explained it really well.
To warrior of six blades: Wow, that is the longest review you've given! Thanks for all the time you spent on it! I'm really happy that you liked all of the send off battles, I loved writing them too.
To ReneTheKeyblader: I hope this was even more tense! If it was, the next chapter will be your wind down.