Author's Note: In case no one else has saw on the weekend, but two new KH3 trailers had been released, and, while I'm not a fan of the movie, Monsters Inc World rumor is confirmed as true, and we got to see Riku and King Mickey's new outfits, with Riku getting a new Keyblade...though, just to give a heads up, the new Keyblade isn't that impressive.
In the meantime, I'm also considering of adding a Brave world into this story. But first, let's continue on.
I don't own Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy or Anastasia.
CH31: How to Choose.
It wasn't long before Sora and his companions arrived in the small office room where the Duchess herself was waiting. The worldly travellers bowed their respects to the woman they only just met briefly the other night before.
"You summoned us, your majesty?" Aqua inquired.
The elder woman gestured at the case full of bills, saying, "10 million roubles, as promised, with my gratitude."
Donald's eyes lit up, but it was the stern looks from both Mickey and Sora that made him slump back, mentally grumbling. As much as he respected Mickey as his king as well as one of his childhood best friends, and Sora had also become one of his best friends as well, sometimes Donald hated it when they would point black just give him a look that translated 'No'. Despite slight differences, Sora and Mickey were very much alike.
"We appreciate it, ma'am, but none of us wanted the money to begin with." Sora respectfully told the Empress. "We only wanted to help Anya-I mean, Princess Anastasia to find her family, to find you. It's never been about rewards."
The rest of the group-including the slightly grumpy Donald-all nodded in agreement.
"Wait a minute." Xion spoke up, suddenly realising something. "If the money's here...that means Dimitri didn't take it?"
Suddenly catching on, the group shared surprised glances before gazing back at the Empress who shook her head slightly.
"He did not want the reward; not anymore, he told me." The Empress explained.
"So, um, don't mean to ask, your Majesty, but, why's that?" Noctis asked, puzzled.
"He told me, it was more a change of heart, rather than the mind." The Empress answered, before continuing, "In fact, he actually once worked at the Palace in St. Petersburg long ago. It was during the siege that he got Anastasia and I out to safety. He saved her life, and mine, and with your help, restored her to me."
"So...Dimitri was the boy that she remembered?" Kairi asked, surprised, remembering how Anya mentioned that info back at Sophie's house during the quiz and before the ballet.
"Gosh...That's why he seemed really different before he left." Mickey realised, now feeling a little bit guilty for being angry, and while he was still a little mad at him, the fact that Dimitri went out of his way after having figured out the truth of Anya's past even before she fully remembered had made him come to regret his actions and rather than continuing with the con, instead fully intended on reuniting her with the Empress...because Dimitri felt guilty for having used her.
"He was doing what his heart just told him and he's still following it." Terra nodded in agreement.
More than that, the group were coming to the facts that, since Anastasia was the Princess, Dimitri, throughout the journey, must've fallen in love with her and because of that, he knew, once he figured out the truth, he would have to walk out of her life forever. It was really sad, but otherwise not much of a choice. The group now felt sorry for him. To Sora, it reminded him how close Aladdin got in losing Princess Jasmine.
"Now then, is there anything I can do to help? Anything at all?" The Empress asked.
"Well...maybe just one thing." Sora began, hesitatedly. "Have you seen anybody supicious before we got here? A guy in a bear mask and shade-yellow coat?"
"Or a boy with white hair and red scarf?" Skuld piped up.
"Or maybe one of my friends?" Noctis spoke up, "A guy with blond hair named Prompto or another guy with glasses named Ignis?"
The Empress thought about the questions, before apologetically shook her head, "I'm afraid not. I am sorry."
Even though the group were disappointed, it wasn't the Empress's fault.
"Would you all like to stay for the party, at least?"
"No, thank you. We, have a lot of things to do." Sora answered.
"Very well. You're welcome to come here to visit any time." The Empress nodded her understanding.
"Thank you, your majesty. We better get going." Riku spoke up, as he and the rest of the group bowed before leaving the room.
The Empress watched the young people with a middle-aged man leave, before smiling softly to herself. "And here I thought I was giving away the money."
"It'll take a while to put this piece of the Gummi Block into the Gummi-Ship." Mickey informed the group as they walked through out the lesser populated parts of Paris.
"Define a while, your highnie?" Jack asked, hesitatedly.
"Don't worry. We'll be off again by early tonight. Ay-yhuck!" Goofy replied.
"If Cid was here, it'd probably take much less time, right? He is the mechanic." Lea shrugged.
Suddenly that made Myde nervous, as he glanced at Mickey, Donald, and Goofy, asking, "...You can at least fix it, right?"
"Aw, don't worry. Fixing up the Gummiship is half-easy once you know the basics. I did help with inventing it." Mickey explained, before sheepishly admitting, "Not like before I even heard of the Keyblade."
"Like how, Mickey?" Ven asked, suddenly curious.
"...I uh...kinda once tried to build a boat and an air-plane...both times without the instructions and both times, was a disaster. The boat sank and the plane was just a model." The King sheepishly answered.
"Really?" Sora asked, incrediously. Who would've thought that King Mickey would've done that a long time ago?
Mickey shrugged, as though answering Sora's unasked question, "I was kind of a lot different back then. Master Yen Sid taught me to think more carefully than to rush things."
"Do me a favor and don't ask me to build anything." Myde shuddered.
"Duly noted." Isa muttered sarcastically.
Several hours later...
Mickey, Donald and Goofy, without the aid of Chip and Dale due to the Wall Aced created still blocking them from returning home, were doing their best to refit the piece of the Gummi-Block into the Gummi-Ship, while everyone else were waiting, having wandered around Paris, taking out the Heartless and Aqua, Terra, Skuld, Isa and Riku were trying to find the source of the problems for the last few days. So far, still no clue.
Sora yawned in boredom as he and the rest of the group wondered how much longer this would take, when something caught Noctis' eye, while the rest of his friends sensed something...something wrong and familiar. The young prince turned sharply to his right and his eyes widened...as a man, very familiar, casually walked by, seemingly unaware, vanishing around the corner of a building, seeming following a green light to somewhere.
Noctis knew that man...and not a friendly man either.
"No way!" Noctis cried out, and without even telling the others what was going on, he immediately ran off to give chase, alarming the rest of the group.
"Noctis?" Skuld called out, worriedly.
"Oi! Where are you going?" Jack called out.
"Noct! Wait up!" Sora cried out, hurrying to follow Noctis, with the others following two seconds later in great worry.
But as Sora followed Noctis through a hedge that wasn't even there before, the moment he went through, a new growth of hedge suddenly appeared, blocking Kairi and the rest of the group who skid to a stop and gasped.
"Sora! Noctis!" Kairi cried out, summoning her Keyblade and slashed at the hedge wall that blocked her and the others. It did make a difference, but Sora and Noctis were already too far ahead and seemingly vanished. In front of them was a huge maze.
"I can feel darkness...someone or something's leading Sora and Noctis somewhere dangerous." Aqua informed them, worriedly.
"Well, don't just stand there!" Lea told them urgently, "We have to find them!"
Noctis slowed to a stop as he now found himself a bit lost in a huge maze that was unfamiliar. Where could've that man gone? Had he been hallucinating?
"Noct!" Sora called up as he finally caught up with him. "Hey, what's going on?"
"I thought I saw someone...some guy that I recongise, and sadly, not a friend." Noctis answered.
"Pooka? Here boy." A familiar voice called out, as suddenly light caught the two boys attention from their right.
"Anya?" Sora and Noctis asked, sharing a concerned and confused glance before hurrying over to see if they heard right. They followed the voice as well as the familiar barking, and to their surprise, even as their entrance suddenly closed up, there they saw, crouched down as she reunited with her puppy, was Anya, still in her dress that they and the others saw her wearing.
"Anastasia?" Sora called out, as he and Noctis approached the surprised Princess.
"Sora? Noctis? I thought you guys left." Anya blinked, just as surprised to see two of her friends.
But before either one could answer her, all three of them heard a sinister voice, speak hauntingly, "Anastasia..."
The trio looked around, before they were all forced forward as they realised there was no way back to where they came from. Sora and Noctis both summoned their weapons to try and block the sudden moving thorny vines that attempted to attack them, but they, Anastasia and Pooka were forced out into finally the opening and landed on the ground. When they all stood up, their eyes widened as the maze suddenly disappeared and they found themselves on a bridge somewhere in Paris, where on the other side was a huge statue of a Pegasus.
"How did...?" Sora began before trailing off, unable to figure out what just happened.
"Anastasia..." The same haunting sinister voice spoke, this time closer and less echo-y. The group turned to see a tall man in a dark robe, long black hair and beard, skin turning grey, and from the bad feeling Sora and Noctis were getting from this guy, they weren't taking any chances. They stood in defence while having Anya behind them to keep her safe, and Pooka growled at the man, instantly not liking him.
It was Rasputin.
"Your lmperial Highness. Look what ten years has done to us. You, a beautiful young flower." He began, before grumbling as he added, "And me, a rotting corpse!"
"That face..." Anastasia whispered, eyes widening as more memories dawned into her mind. "A curse..."
"Who're you!?" Sora demanded to the unfamiliar but nasty man.
"Someone who has bad guy written all over him." Noctis answered, glaring at Rasputin.
Rasputin smirked dangerously, answering to the two younger men, "You two and your friends have gotten on my bad side, because you kept on saving the Princess! Now you are to die as well, along with them once I'm done with all three of you...Sora, Noctis."
"What?!" Noctis asked, shocked.
That's when Anastasia finally spoke out the man, with slight fear but more anger, now remembering how she ended up losing her memories and most of her family in the first place. "Rasputin!"
"Huh?" Sora and Noctis both asked, looking back and forth between Anastasia and Rasputin, wondering if the two knew each other.
"Rasputin! Heh-heh-heh!" Rasputin mocked girlishly. He then growled angrily, "Destroyed by your insufferable family!"
Sora, shocked as well, realised the truth and turned to glare at the evil man, yelling accusingly, "You're the one who was causing all the troubles for the past few days, aren't you!? You somehow made the train crash which nearly took our lives, and then you gave us those nightmares and sent the Heartless!"
"And considering you have that weird looking bottle that glows, you can use darkness which explains that whacked-out maze!" Noctis growled, before demanding, "Just one thing...why did you kill Anastasia's family and want to kill her!?"
"Perhaps you should ask them, once you all join them...in DEATH!" Rasputin growled.
Watching this from another statue nearby, Bartok had just landed and finally had enough of Rasputin's evil ways.
"You and Mr. Ardyn are on your own, sir! This could only end in tears!" He called out while hugging himself, shuddering at the very thought of being teared into pieces by his former master's smoke-people.
"Forget it!" Sora yelled at Rasputin as he and Noctis stood in fighting positions to keep Anastasia safe. "Not in a million years!"
"I'm not afraid of you!" Anastasia yelled at Rasputin, glaring at the man who ruined her life a decade a go.
"I can fix that!" Rasputin said, sinisterly. "You three care for a little swim...Under the Ice!?" as he used his powers to freeze the river and the bridge, before thrusting out magic to break apart the bridge. "Say your prayers!"
"Not a chance!" Noctis growled, telling Sora and Anya to quickly hold on as he tossed his sword which re-acted in having all three of them teleported to safety onto the none-crumbling part of the bridge, only to be blocked off by a dark shield that sent them flying backwards. While Sora and Noctis landed near the debries, Anastasia rolled and was unfortunately back onto the broken part of the bridge that was slowly falling into the river as she was forced to hold on for dear life.
"Ah, ah, ah. No preventing death." A familiar voice mockingly tsked, and when Sora and Noctis looked up, their eyes widened as Arydn stood there on the other side, grinning evilly.
"YOU!?" Sora cried out, alarmed. He'd first seen Arydn back at Twilight Town.
"I knew it...! Ardyn, you son of a Ifrit!" Noctis cursed angrily.
"Now, no one can save any of you!" Rasputin laughed evilly.
"Wanna bet!?" A voice yelled, when Dimitri suddenly rushed over and slugged the undead man right in the jaw, knocking him over before rushing over to help Anastasia, leaping onto the broken platform and grabbed her arms to pull her back up.
"Dimtiri!" Anya sighed, very relieved and deciding to ask who the man she'd been angry with earlier until her grandmother told her that he didn't take the money, and instead said, "If we live through this, remind me to thank-"
"You can thank me later!" Dimitri cut her off, not stopping in pulling her back up to safety.
Arydn wasn't impressed, and instead focused on unleashing a blast of dark energy at Sora and Noctis who, hoping that Dimitri can get Anya to safety without Rasputin doing anything, stood in defences, summoning their weapons once more, only for Arydn to be interrupted when he suddenly turned and blocked another unfamiliar man's attack of ice-blades when he yelled out, before being shoved back towards where Sora and Noctis were, much to their confusion and surprise.
He was a young man, a bit older than Noctis and Dimitri, with brown-ish blonde hair that sticked up, a fine culture outfit of black and white, wearing thin glasses.
"You...how did you survive!?" Arydn growled as he and Noctis recongised the new-commer.
"It will take more than separation to kill me." The man replied, in a deep-ish and gentlemen like voice.
"Ignis!" Noctis cried out, relieved.
"You're Ignis?" Sora muttered, surprised that one of Noct's friends had been here and none of them even noticed.
"I think introductions are saved later. It's good to see you are safe, Noct." The man, named Ignis, pointed out, before glaring at Arydn, while Rasputin in the background stared, dumbfounded at the new commer.
Seeing how things were about to turn out, Arydn just snorted before taking his leave, even without a wave.
"Hey, get back here!" Sora yelled out, only for him and Noctis to be blocked by Ignis who shook his head.
"Ugh, I knew I shouldn't have trusted that man..." Rasputin growled, which had the trio to turn around to glare at him. He then shook his head, "Fine! I'll deal with the five of you myself!" holding up the reliquary as his powers pulled Dimitri back, forcing him towards the giant Pegasus statue which, under Rasputin's command, instantly came to life when, by the darkness in his heart, turned black before transforming into a Heartless.
"Things just got quite complicated." Ignis stated, stunned and shocked.
"You got that right, specs." Noctis grumbled in agreement.
"We'll handle this!" Sora declared boldly, and the other two didn't disagree.
Rasputin laughed evilly before unleashing his powers where the Spirits appeared, forcing Sora, Noctis and Ignis to fight against them while avoiding the evil man's blast of energy aimed at them. Sora rolled out of the way before slashing and hacking at three Spirits with his Keyblade before tossing it at other Spirits which were destroyed by contact. He then chanted Thunderaga at Rasputin who attempted to block it, but was hit by an Ice spell by Ignis who slid on the ground before smacking his materialized weapons at him, followed by Noctis warping at him and smacked him a few feet away across the bridge with his swords.
The three of them then rolled out of the way when the Heartless landed the bridge with a powerful tremor, causing Dimitri to fall over before he tried to join in the bridge as he grabbed broken parts of the bridge to block the giant Heartless. Sora then leaped onto the bridge and, using his Motionflow powers, glowed in blue light before leaping up onto the Heartless's body while hitting it with his Keyblade as it went while trying to hold on as the Heartless stood on it's hind-legs and attempted to crush his friends down below. Sora reached the head and smashed it's head several times which allowed Noctis, Ignis and Dimitri to leap out of the way to avoid in getting crushed or hit badly.
Sora then saw Rasputin approach Anastasia to stop her from climbing up to safety. Thankfully, Dimitri, at Noctis' urging, rushed over and threw himself onto the evil Sorcerer, forcing him down onto the ground before being blasted away once again, hitting the ground hard on the back of his head, rendered on unconscious, much to Anya, Sora, and Noctis' dismay. The Heartless used this distraction to throw Sora off, causing him to scream as he crashed into Noctis and Ignis who all fell to the ground hard, but thankfully not unconscious. Rasputin laughed evilly as he attempted to kill all four of them, when he yelled out in pain as Pooka was now biting his leg to stop him from killing Anastasia and her friends.
Furious, Rasputin blasted at the dog, sending one Spirit to fight Pooka who tried to fight it off him. This distraction had Sora toss his Keyblade at Rasputin twice who yelled out by the surprise attack, while Noctis wrapped himself onto the Heartless' head, stabbing his sword through the head, causing it to yell out in agony. Ignis summoned a staff and stabbed it through the chest when he slid underneath it to help his friend. Sora in the meantime chanted Firaga at more Spirits that Rasputin summoned to stop him from reaching and saving Anastasia. The teenager then leaped out of the way before he held up his Keyblade, and just like on the boat earlier with the giant Heartless, his Keyblade turned into the two Key-Blade guns which allowed him to blast light at the shocked Sorcerer, sending him backwards once again.
Just then Sora heard yells as both Noctis and Ignis were knocked back by the Heartless, and he quickly shot out with the Keyblade-Guns, firing at it's head and causing it to real back. Though his Keyblade returned to normal, Sora didn't stop there, as, after using Curaga on Noctis, Ignis and the still unconscious Dimitri, rushed over towards the Heartless before leaping up onto it's head just before it could squash him when it head-butted onto the ground, creating another huge tremor that shook the bridge, and making things a bit more difficult for Anastasia to climb up to safety without falling to her death. Sora then aimed carefully at the Heartless' head and focused, chanting Blue Orb Light Spells that he briefly learned from Mickey and Kairi, weakining the enemy even further, though the impact did cause him to fall towards the ground, but he air-flipped and landed safely before he could hurt himself.
Sora then quickly chanted a Barrier spell on himself, Noctis and Ignis to block a furious Rasputin's blast of energy, which reflected and pushed him back slightly, but once the barrier wore off, the trio were surrounded by more Spirits, forcing them to slash and attack them while blocking them at the same time. Sora then slide-zipped around the Spirits to attack them from behind and then chanted Blizzaraga to freeze the enemies which made things easier for Noctis and Ignis, though the surprise attack from the giant Heartless knocked them over to the ground once again at the powerful tremor that knocked the wind out of them. Leaping himself up to recover, Sora pulled out a potion and exiliar to heal himself and restore his Mana which was getting really low again before turning his attention to the Heartless, dodging it as did Noctis and Ignis who both fought Rasputin to keep him away from Anastasia.
Sora then used his Mark of Mastery skills to slide along the bridge's stone railing before leaping up and landed onto the Heartless back when it flew up into the air for another attack while attempting to shake him off before he could cause more damage. Despite the wobbily balance, Sora successfully reached it's head and once again attacked it full on, and leaped up before tossing his Keyblade at the back of the head once again before landing back onto it. The Heartless landed onto the ground, dazed, which allowed Sora to continue the assault while fending off more Spirits that appeared surrounding him, while on the ground, Noctis warpped himself and Ignis out of the way before Rasputin could blast them again, and was hit several times when they attacked him and the Spirits that lingered around to try and stop them from harming their master and also in their attempt to kill Anya.
Just as Rasputin knocked the duo back, and the Heartless knocked down Sora, Anya, having made it back up to safety, to everyone's surprise, tackled Rasputin down onto the ground and struggled against him for the reliquary as she realised that it was the source of his powers. Sora and the others recovered while rolling out of the way and, seeing the Heartless weakening, nodded to Noctis and Ignis who both nodded, and while Ignis blasted another ice spell, Noctis warpped himself and Sora back onto the Heartless' head and with combined swordsman skills, the two of them thrusted their weapons right into the head, causing the Heartless to yell out in agony as light began cracking along it's body. Just as the two of them and Ignis backed away, the Heartless somewhat exploded into nothing, the heart disappearing, and the Pegasus statue back in it's place with glowing green eyes.
Rasputin knocked the brunnette girl off him and was about to attack while the statue was about to attack the shocked trio, when Pooka, having defeated the Spirit, leaped up and grabbed the reliquary from the evil man's hands while using his ears as wings, flapping towards Anya before landing on the ground. The reliquary rolled right towards the Princess who saw her chance, and stomped her foot onto it. It began to crack and turn from glowing green to glowing angry red.
This also caused the statue to also explode and Sora quickly used barrier to block the broken debries from falling onto himself, Noctis, Ignis and the unconscious Dimitri who hadn't woken up during the entire fight, much to Anya's dismay and anger.
"This is for Dimitri!" Anya grunted, continuing to stomp and crush the reliquary under her foot, dragging it away from Rasputin who, horrified, tried to retrieve it.
"Give it back!" He pleaded.
"This is for my friends and my family!" Anya continued.
"I'll tear you into pieces!" Rasputin growled, though everyone could hear that the fear was attempting to overpower his threats.
"And this-this is for you!" Anya concluded. With a final stomp, the reliquary was smashed and it exploded, separating her from Rasputin who was also knocked back and a huge cyclone of Spirits began circling around the sorcerer who screamed in horror.
Sora, Noctis and Ignis hurried over to Anya, pulling her and Dimitri over to shield them while bracing themselves. Neither had to worry for their safeties, because the Spirits of the destroyed Reliquary focused on Rasputin, hitting and electrocuing him while he screamed in agony before becoming liquifed, turning into a skeletion that shook violently before disintigrating into dust, which blew away and vanished into a small gust of wind. When Sora and the others looked, there wasn't a single trace of Rasputin whatsoever.
"Sora! Noct!" Riku's voice called out from nowhere, causing all four of them to turn to see Riku himself along with the rest of the worldly travellers, including Mickey, Donald and Goofy who, after returning from the semi-fixed Gummi-Ship, were told of what happened, hurrying over towards the group.
"Hey, you're okay!" Donald exclaimed in relief.
"Yeah." Noctis simply said.
"New friends of yours, Noct?" Ignis inquired, before teasingly asking, "Should I be jealous?"
"Oh, shut up." The young Prince chuckled.
Before Sora could say anything, Kairi nearly glomped him when she threw her arms around him in huge relief, tears visible in her eyes.
"Ow! Kairi! Easy! I'm okay." Sora cried out, startled and wincing a little.
"I was so worried!" Kairi half-sobbed.
Anya sighed, only for a groan behind her get her and everyone else's attentions and to their relief, Dimitri sat up groggily, holding his head as he had a splitting headache. Whipping around, Anya accidently and unknowingly slapped him on the face.
"Dimitri! Oh!" Anya cried out in relief, throwing her arms around Dimitri who winched.
"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow! Let go. Let go." Dimitri pleaded, which Anya released him, and the rest of the worldly travellers wondered what in the world just happened.
"Sorry." Anya grimiced.
"Yeah, yeah. I know. All men are babies." Dimitri replied, while groaning again. The rest of the men looked offended, but shrug it off.
"What happened?" Aqua asked, concerned.
"Just fought a bad guy who was the cause of the incidents with the train and nightmares, and who is also the one who caused Anya to lose most of her family and render her with amnesia, managed to kill him with the help of one of my best friends and the bad guy just...well, disintigrated about a minute or two before you guys arrived. Long story." Noctis answered simply.
"That was what that green light-show was about?" Myde asked, blinking. "That explains everything...except that Dimtiri is here."
While the worldly travellers were talking and Kairi still fretting over Sora, Anya knelt along with Dimitri, before she was saying, "I thought you were going to St. Pete-"
"I was." Dimitri cut her off gently.
"You didn't take the-"
"I...couldn't."
"Why?" Anya asked, her previous anger now all but gone. Now she could no longer deny it. Despite his misleads, he had a complete change of heart and the fact that he came back to try and save her, as he did several times along with the others through out the journey, it was because of him that she had made it this far...
She loved him. And she realised, despite not getting the answer, he loved her.
"Because...I..." Dimitri began, only for Anya to silently and gently shush him. The two looked at each other in the eyes, and slowly leaned for a kiss, but was interrupted when Pooka barked. They and everyone else turned their attention to the dog who was grinning while having Anya's crown which had fallen off during the battle between his teeth.
Everyone stood as Sora, Kairi, Noctis, Ignis, Anya and Dimitri stood up while the latter took the crown.
"They're waiting for you." Dimitri told Anya who gently took it. She stared at it before staring at Dimitri in return.
She made her decision.
An hour later, Sora, his group and Ignis were seeing Anya and Dimitri off as they were about take the boat back to St. Petersburg, with Anya having decided, although she had found what she was looking for, she decided to follow her heart and join the man she loved, and she knew, her Grandmama would understand, because it was her encouragement that, whatever Anastasia chose, they would always be together in their hearts.
She had already sent the crown back to the Empress, along with a letter to let her know that she was fine and that they would be together again soon.
"You sure you wanna leave?" Goofy asked.
"Yep. I sure do. Besides, I'm thinking, with Dimitri's help, we could, you know, try and rebuilt the Palace." Anya replied.
"Sounds good to me." Dimitri replied, while knowing that Vlad had decided to stay, to be with Sophie.
"I'm just really sorry to get you guys involved." Anya continued.
Sora grinned happily, "Nah, it's okay. We're glad to have helped, and besides, if we hadn't, I don't think Noct would've found out that one of his friends was here."
"Yeah. I should be thanking you." Noctis added with a smile. He then turned to Ignis and said, "And Iggy, thanks for saving our butts back there."
"Always my pleasure. It is my job to keep you in line, as a friend, and a brother, Noct." Ignis replied, before adding sternly, "And also to make you eat your vegatables."
The young prince groaned at that, "Aw, c'mon!" which made almost everyone else laugh.
"But it is good for you, you know." Aqua said in her best motherly tone.
Lea shook his head with a smirk, whispering to Isa, Roxas, and Xion, "She's soundin' just like my mother."
Before anyone else could say anything, to the group's surprise, the Effel Tower began to glow and glitter in light, which was triggered by Sora's Kingdom Key which materialized. Realising what this meant, he held it out as the crown shape appearing underneath him as the world's Keyhole appeared via a beam of light shooting out from the Effel Tower. Sora then thrusted the Kingdom Key upward and via another beam of light, he locked up the world's keyhole, protecting it from the darkness before things returned to normal.
"What was that?" Dimitri asked, stunned. Anya and Ignis were both amazed as well.
"Everything will be okay here, now." Kairi replied, before adding, "And it's time for us to get going too." with the others nodding in agreement.
"I hope we'll see each other again soon." Anya responded, a little sad to have to say goodbye.
"Don't worry. We'll see each other again." Mickey promised.
The others nodded in agreement, as Anya and Dimitri gave their final goodbyes to the group before they and Pooka boarded the ferry. Sora and the rest of the group waved at them as the boat sailed away towards under the bridge. They, now joined by Ignis who agreed to come along to rejoin Gladio at Olympus Coliseum, then secretly left the Romanov Empire behind to continue their adventure, to find a world to locate the second and final piece of the Gummi-Ship to continue travelling through other worlds safely.
Back at the palace, after retrieving the crown, the Dowger Empress read the letter left by her granddaughter and smiled in relief and understanding. She knew Anastasia would make that decision, and it was fine with her.
She can live a happy life and be with the man she loved, the honorable man who found the music box and had kept her safe.
"Dear Grandmamma, wish me luck. We'll be together in Paris again soon."
When she handed the letter to a worried Sophie, the latter's expression turned to relief, and emotional with happiness.
"They've eloped. Isn't it romantic?" Sophie smiled happily, wiping away her tears. "It's a perfect ending."
"No." The Empress corrected with a smile. "It's a perfect beginning." and blew a soft kiss to farewell her granddaughter, this time, this separation was peaceful.
{ROMANOV EMPIRE}
Meanwhile, Ardyn had returned to the secret domain of Chaos who had awaited him, and the latter wasn't happy at all because of the man's failure to kill the worldly travellers.
"You disappoint me, Arydn Izunia. But not as much as that foolish Sorcerer who had fallen to the hands of those pititful mortals, especially the Princess who has no powers within her!" Chaos growled angrily, as his body flared up slightly in fiery anger.
"But his death was quite useful, my lord." Arydn pointed out, while still angry himself due to Ignis' sudden arrival at the Romanov Empire. "The more those who become inner Heartless die, the more it makes things easier to anger the Gods who lothe those who have hearts."
"What are you quiring?"
The man chuckled, taking two steps closer as he explained, "Your goal, of course. You want to start the war and have one of those Keyblade wielders to call upon Light and Darkness to summon what you seek to destroy everything, do you not?"
Chaos perched it's gaze at the man, before turning away slightly while muttering, "The Heart of all worlds of the pitiful Light Realm; Kingdom Hearts. I must have it...I must...DESTROY IT."
He clutched his hand tight.
In the secret base, Aced was facing his three prisoners which he had assembled into a single room to interrogate them. Yen Sid, and the battered up Angeal and Genesis, were all chained with heavy magical chains that prevents them from escaping, up against the wall where they glared at the Keyblade Master from the Ancient Past the first Keyblade War.
"I will ask again; Why did you choose those young people? They are incapable of protecting the Realm of Light!" Aced questioned, glaring heatedly at them.
"It was not a choice either one of us made." Yen Sid informed him, glaring back at the foolish Keyblade wielder in return. "The Keyblade choose their masters. It is because their hearts it made them follow their path."
"It doesn't answer my question!"
"That's in reverse." Angeal pointed out. "Look, it's not our fault Xehanort decided to go against the Realm of Light or that Chaos was connected to him once it was freed from Vincent's body. Neither it is for Sora or anyone else. Don't take it out on them, especially since they've been risking their lives to save the worlds."
Aced turned away, growling, "They're not doing it the right way. The world must be returned to it's former glory, and I will make sure to set everyone at the right course, of strength and power."
"It is the same mistake Xehanort once attempted, only that curiosity of the Keyblade War made him fall into the Seeker's Life." Yen Sid shook his head.
No one even flinched when Aced aimed his Keyblade right at Yen Sid's throat, threatening to kill him on the spot.
"You know nothing of the Keyblade War." Aced hissed.
"I know only that it split the world into what is known today, and the destruction is can cause. That is why it was only when Xehanort sought to recreate it and summon Kingdom Hearts that things went out of hand. The safety of the worlds and all of the inhabits was our true concern, as we knew that learning of it's secrets was forbidden." Yen Sid calmly replied.
"So, did someone tell you what would happen in the future too?" Aced grunted angrily.
"He was only implying that not much is known for years, to prevent history from repeating itself.' Genesis spoke up, calmly. "Yet, Xehanort was far too curious for his own. Looking for the answers of something that should never have been discovered."
"And so Sora and his friends successfully stopped him, but in doing so, freed Chaos." Aced pointed out, though he did lower his Keyblade, seemingly a bit more calm. "What do they intend to do in order to eliminate this threat?"
"Whichever way they can without the cost of the Realm of Light." Yen Sid responded again this time, closing his eyes. "Though I hope it would not cost them their own lives, their own safeties are not their main priority."
"Even if one of them has a much stronger light than most." Aced shook his head, before turning as he began to walk out of the room to leave the trio chained. "We will talk again soon." closing the door and locking it behind him.
It was several moments before Angeal finally spoke to his fellow prisoners.
"Well...that went well." He muttered sarcastically.
"The Princesses of Heart are now in grave danger." Yen Sid muttered gravely. "I can sense the Stars giving me a warning; Chaos will no doubt be going after them...especially Kairi. Sora and the others must make haste and proceed with great caution."
He really hoped that they would be alright.
Meanwhile, in another new world, Cloud and Zack, in their search for Sora and the others, were fighting off against Heartless on their way, and had just finished up in defeating Gothlic-like Bear Heartless with a final slice as they slashed the monster instantly, while it disappeared for the time being. Though both of them knew that only Keyblade wielders can permamently destroy the Heartless and the hearts of those that were lost will return to their rightful owners.
"I think that's the last of them for now." Cloud announced once he and Zack couldn't sense anymore and both men relaxed their postures while sheathing their swords.
"Hope so. This place really gives me the creeps." Zack nodded, gesturing at the huge towering stones that were formed in a circle, near the edge of a thick forest, which, given Cloud's experience of sensing darkness, felt a chill down his spine that somewhere in the forest, was something he wouldn't like at all.
Definitely not where they'd find the worldly travellers. At the moment, at least.
"Yeah. Let's get going." Cloud suggested, taking the lead towards east, with Zack quickly following a couple of steps.
The two friends walked side by side, poundering over the situation so far.
"Y'know, I never really thought we'd actually travel together. You know, just you and me. Not that I don't like it." Zack spoke up, as he turned and walked backwards, placing his hands behind his head.
"I know what you mean." Cloud admitted, with a small smile. "I've travelled on my own for so long, having you want is...a little overwhelming."
Zack just laughed, then mockingly pouted, "Aw, c'mon! That's hurtful, man." which made Cloud chuckle even though he tried to hide it. "That sort of reminds me. How'd you meet Sora anyway?"
"Well...we met at Olympus Coliseum, though not in a good way." Cloud shrugged awkwardly.
"Let me guess; Hades, right?" Zack guessed, and at Cloud's a bit surprised but confirmed nod, the older-ish man sighed, "That guy likes to Con people none-stop just to get what he wants. I'm still smacking myself for having fallen to his stupid plots."
"Tell me about it." Cloud nodded in agreement. "Kind of hard to believe that the kid managed to forgive me for attacking him, Donald and Goofy during the games, but then again, he reminded me a lot of you, Zack."
"Oh, really?" Zack asked, before teasingly inquiring, "Should I be jealous?"
This caused the two friends to share a laugh at the joke, which was startlingly interrupted when an unfamiliar voice, that sounded like an elderly woman's voice, speak rather too closely to the men's taste. "Jealousy can lead to one's fate. But you boys look like you already accepted your fate."
Cloud and Zack spun into the same direction towards the right, near the forest and were greeted by a short diminutive old woman with a beehive of wild white hair and ears that looked too big for her head. She wore a brown-ish medivel dress and looked like a woodcutter or something. They both had the sudden chill crawling down their spines.
She wasn't to be trusted.
"Uh...excuse us?" Zack asked, nervously.
"Oh, don't worry, dearie." The old woman chuckled. "There's nothing to worry about. As far as I can see, you both already went through obstecles that lead you both to your fates, and I gotta say, it's much better compared to Mor'du."
"Mor'du?" Cloud asked, suspiciously as he shared an uncertain glance with Zack. What in the Realm of Light was this lady talking about.?
"First time here, eh? Well, let me tell you of the legend." The old woman stated, before beginning, almost omniously, "Not far from here, there was a prosperous,
flourishing kingdom."
Suddenly, a black bird appeared which startled the two young men for the second time as it hovered, squawking as it said in human language, surprising them for the third time in not even a second, "The prince! Ancient kingdom! Ancient!"
"Would you let me tell it?" The old woman grumbled at the bird in annoyance. Once the bird shut up, and Cloud and Zack shared another uncertain glance, she continued, "It was ruled by a king whose wisdom was equaled by the love of his people. The King had four sons, each gifted in his own way. The youngest was wise. The third was compassionate. The second son was just. And the King's eldest son was strong, but he mistook great strength for character. One dark autumn, the King grew ill. On his deathbed, he proclaimed the crown would not pass to the eldest, but that he would divide the rule. That the combined gifts of the brothers would make an even greater kingdom. But the eldest son felt disgraced. Believing that he alone should be the sole heir, a seed of selfishness grew in him like a poison. To his brothers he declared his claim, and demanded their obedience, shattering the bonds of their brotherhood."
'So the selfishness caused darkness to take over his heart. Not to mention greed.' Cloud thought grimly to himself.
"Ouch." Zack commented.
The old woman nodded, before continuing, "Words turned to war. Brother fought brother, and the fate of this great kingdom was forever changed. The prince commanded a powerful army, but the battle remained a bitter stalemate. Starving for a victory, the prince cursed his fate. He stalked the woods, coming to rest within an ancient ring of stones."
Both young men gasped, as they turned to the direction where they came from. An ancient ring of stones...and those stones they were nearby looked decidingly old. If that was true, then no wonder it gave them the creeps. They turned back to the old woman, letting her continue even though they could feel and hear their instinces telling them that they needed to leave, and fast. But for some reason, they were somehow glued to the ground, far too enchanted into the story as they could practically picture the events that happened in the past in their minds.
"The will-O'-the-wisps appeared, drawing him, guiding him, to the edge of a dark loch and a tiny cottage far from the shore. There, lived a rare creature, a beautiful conjurer, an enchantress of elegance and grace, a ravishing vision of magnificent loveliness; A witch!" The old woman continued.
'...Yeah, I'm not liking this one bit.' Zack thought to himself, nervously.
"He demanded she create a spell that would change his fate. The strength of ten he desired, and he offered his signet ring to persuade her. The Witch could see the wounded soul behind his bluster and so she made him a spell that offered him a choice, to fulfill his dark wish or heal the family bonds he had broken. Baiting his brothers with a false truce, the prince claimed his kingdom. To the brothers' protests, he stood before them and drank the spell." The old woman continued.
"And things went bad to worse, right?" Cloud interrupted, unable to stop himself from nervously swallowing the lump that formed in his throat, his mouth gone all dry.
"Unfortunately, yes." The old woman nodded, continuing the story, "At that moment the spell took effect, giving him strength tenfold, but, to his surprise, in the form of a great black bear. Still there was the spell breaker she had given him, if he would only choose to mend the bond torn by pride. Instead, he accepted the shape of the monster. And defeated his brothers. He returned to command his army, but they saw only the beast."
"Well, who wouldn't? I mean, it did change his appearence. Who would've recongised him if no one else saw what happened?" Zack nervously pointed out despite Cloud's look that told him to keep silent.
"Very true indeed." The old woman agreed. "They took arms against him. He slew a great many, and the rest fled the kingdom in terror. With the armies of the brothers fractured, the kingdom collapsed into darkness, and the blight of the Great Black, Mor'du, fell across his domain. Desiring power over the bonds of family, Mor'du has wandered endlessly, his soul forever buried inside the scarred and tormented shell. A grim fate." She concluded.
So this world really did have darkness...a powerful darkness.
"Uh...t-thank you. For sharing us with that story." Cloud muttered, somewhat shakily. "We...should be on our way."
"Yeah, uh...sorry for interrupting your time, ma'am." Zack muttered, also somewhat shakily.
The two young men bowed slightly to the old woman before turning and tried not to run as they quickly made their leave to get out of this creepy dark world that seemed to scare them more than the Heartless or Sephiroth ever did. Though admittedly, it wasn't as scary as seeing Chaos.
"Nice chatting with you two! Take care of yourselves, sweeties!" The old woman called out as her voice was fading the further away Cloud and Zack walked.
"Man! Doesn't that old woman give you the heebie jeebies?" Zack shuddered once he was certain that the old lady couldn't hear him and his friend.
"Considering the those stones in a circle, the fact she appeared out of nowhere, telling us about fate and telling us a story that'll give me nightmares...I think she's the witch in the story she was just talking about." Cloud muttered, trying and failing to surpress the shudder that crawled into his skin. "I'm just glad we didn't even borther asking for directions or anything."
"Me too. I wouldn't wanna rely on her for help, that's for sure." Zack nodded in agreement.
"Just hope Sora and the others haven't met her." Cloud said, now getting increasingly worried. Not that Sora would be stupid enough to talk to the crazy old lady about that, and he was certain that Riku and Aqua would've sensed something off with her anyway. Myde'd probably would've freaked out and run off half-way through the story.
For now, the sooner Cloud and Zack got off this world and continue their search for the group to warn them about the mysterious but rather dangerous man in the black coat, the better.
Even though the Gummi-Ship was getting a bit crowded, the group continued onward towards the nearest world where they would hopefully find the second Gummi-Block to head back to Olympus to have Noctis and now Ignis to reunite with Gladio.
The group had explained to their briefly new companion of what was happening, especially since Ignis was also aware of other worlds due to having been in Romanov Empire for quite sometime, no thanks to Ardyn.
Right now, though, some of them had fallen asleep. Especially Noctis and Myde, with the latter snoring his head off.
"It appears I have met another Noctis." Ignis commented about Myde.
"Only with sleep, mate." Jack pointed out, before turning his attention back to his compass, repeatedly mumbling to himself, "I know what I want, I know what I want, I know what I want, I, know, what, I, want!" and opened it, only for groan when it still spun around and around in circles before slamming it shut and gave it a violent shake and tried again.
Seeing the pirate's frustration over the compass, Ignis couldn't help but inquire to the rest of the worldly travellers, "Is there anything special about that compass?"
"Well, it points to what you want most." Lea shrugged, "If I remember correctly, he got it off from a creepy voodoo lady a long time ago, and at the moment, I don't think he even knows what he wants right now."
"If his brains were any more scrambled due to rum, I'd faint from shock." Isa commented sarcastically.
"I heard that!" Jack pouted.
"Gee, I wonder why Ardyn joined up with Ras-twotion, uh, Rasphoey, um, Raspberry...you know, the sorcerer who tried to hurt Anastasia." Goofy thought aloud worriedly, while unable to pronounce Rasputin's name.
"Maybe Ardyn wants to cause trouble to everyone." Sora shrugged, cluelessly. "I mean, he did knock me, Noct and Anya over when we tried to warp to safety."
"The question is...other than hurting Noct and his friends, why try to manipulate us too?" Riku thought with a deep frown. "All I can think of is that he's dangerous."
"And it's doubtful that he and Caius would ally themselves with Master Aced." Skuld nodded in firm agreement.
"Yeah, those guys can use the power of darkness, and Aced doesn't like darkness." Ven added, his arms folded to his chest.
"He does have Lamuria on his side, though. And that guy as Marluxia was one of the experts of darkness and manipulation." Lea pointed out with a serious expression. "But then again, you're right. Those two guys are really dangerous."
"Ardyn did nearly had us off-guard when we first met him in Twilight Town. We gotta be a lot more careful from now on." Mickey nodded, with a firm but very worried expression, shuddering at the memories of that horrible meeting. If it weren't for Serah and Strelitzia, who knew what would've happened.
"Maybe he's with Chaos?" Kairi asked, worriedly. "I mean, who else can be more dangerous than Chaos to be that evil?"
A tensed and hesitated silence.
"That's a good point." Sora nodded in agreement. "If there's one bad guy that we still haven't figure out how to stop yet other than Aced, it's Chaos. Plus, I don't think Maleficent would even consider Ardyn either, not with what Xehanort did with her."
"Yeah, that old hag is a mistress of manipulation, but even she was manipulated. Plus, she's too busy looking for that stupid book." Vanitas surprisingly agreed in Sora's mind, even though the teenager, while deciding not to talk to him, had to admit that he had a good point.
"You know, call me crazy, but Ardyn kind of reminds me of how Cloud warned about Sephiroth." Roxas commented, which, as most of the group shared glances, realised that the former nobody was right. Cloud did warn Sora, Donald and Goofy that Sephiroth had the dangerous ability to manipulate people.
"I got a really bad feeling about this." Terra muttered, frowning deepily. Suddenly this was the case of Xehanort twelve years ago all over again.
"Mickey's right. We have to be more careful now." Aqua nodded in agreement.
"I just hope there aren't any more bad people out there like Xehanort or Chaos." Xion shuddered, and no one argued with her.
Just then, the alarm went off, which jarred Myde and Noctis from their peaceful slumber.
"Hey, we're at another world!" Donald called out, since he was the one at the controls this time.
"That was fast." Noctis muttered, failing to hide a yawn.
Myde on the other hand just slumped back into his seat, sleepily mutterring, "Five more minutes."
Everyone else rolled their eyes, as Lea stood up and snapped his fingers in front of the mullet-haired younger man, rudely awakening him fully awake.
"C'mon, Sleeping Beauty. Time to wake up." The redhead told him.
While they had to be careful since the radar isn't working until they retrieved the other piece of the Gummi-Ship, at least it can still alert them that they were close, and they had to land now anyway since the ride had been getting rather bumpy.
So, the worldly travellers disembarked.
A/N: Just thought I'd give Brave a sneak preview, even though it's not the next world now. So, I'm down by three choices:
Agrabah.
Kingdom of Coronia.
The Jungle Book.
I'm edging more closer to the first of the list, but who can say. Due to adding Ignis, the Great Mouse Detective World will have to wait until after the second visit to Olympus Coliseum. See you in the next chapter as soon as possible!