As the creatures swarmed the crowd, Prince Tenmei and King Yami both took their stand. "Guards! Protect the citizens! Get them out of here!" the king ordered, while his son rushed off the stage, catching his father's attention. "Tenmei! Where are you going?!"
"To protect my people!" Tenmei stated, brandishing his weapon and catching the attention of many of the beasts. "Heartless! If you're looking for a tasty snack, I have a keyblade wielding heart waiting for you! Come and get it!"
While not effective on all of the heartless, many of the shadow creatures could not resist the temptation, and began swarming around the prince. But he was no pushover; he began his elegant dance, swinging his weapon like a pro as he began his fight, destroying Shadow after Shadow. To the untrained eye, he looked more than competent enough to take on the army of Shadows by himself.
"Ren, we need to move!" Hikari shouted, tugging on her friend's arm.
"But, they need help!" Ren shouted, pointing towards Tenmei and the king.
"And what can you do, boy?" came the voice of his teacher. Hiroto stepped forward, holding out his hand. In a flash, a bronze colored keyblade with a square, platinum handle appeared, the teeth of the blade in the shape of a star. "Get moving! I will do all I can to protect you and the civilians! You, Hikari and Shun need to find Yumi and get somewhere safe!"
"But..." Ren began to protest, though a shadow leaping over the crowd directly at him cut him off.
"Blizzard!" Hikari shouted, holding out her hand, shooting a bolt of ice from her outstretched fingers, which struck the heartless down instantly. "Grandpa is right, Ren! Come on!" And without waiting for him to argue, Hikari grabbed both Ren and Shun's hands and began to drag them through the crowd.
While they escaped, Tenmei continued his battle, striking down the last Heartless that had fallen for his taunt. However, he knew it was far from over. He looked back, seeing Hiroto standing his ground, and leapt to the old man's side. "Master!" he yelled, cutting down yet another Shadow as he landed. "I'm glad you made it to the coronation... I apologize that it didn't go quite as planned!"
"Focus, my Prince," Hiroto stated, looking at Tenmei only briefly as he struck down another heartless. "There will come a time for apologies. But for now, we must do our part."
Tenmei, however, did not smile at the assurance. He felt how much darkness there was stretching over this world, after all. "If we make it, that is... but I do not see an end to these Heartless, Master... it's as if our world finally teetered over to the dark realm itself..." He let out a grunt as he took out three of the shadows with one swing. "What has Xao done?!"
Hiroto took a moment to reply, destroying no less then a dozen Heartless in the meantime. "He has opened the keyhole to the heart of our world..."
"If that's the case, then where is this keyhole?" Tenmei asked, looking panicked at his teacher, pleading for the answer. "If I can get to it and lock it before it gets too bad, we can at least hold off his attack! We can save our world, if nothing else!"
Hiroto only shook his head, looking grim as he watched some people get swallowed by the darkness. "That, your highness... is something that I do not know..."
Tenmei's eyes widened at that. He then looked over to Xao, who was grinning gleefully as he watched his Heartless strike out. Rage enveloped the prince, and he let out a growl. "Then... by my right as Prince... I order you to collect as many of our people as you can... and escape this doomed world."
"And what of you?" Hiroto asked, staring back at the prince in shock. "Surely you don't intend to-"
Tenmei glared ahead, gripping his keyblade with both hands. "I will hold off the commander of the Heartless for as long as I can. It is the most I can do for my people!"
"Tenmei, no!" Hiroto shouted, but it was too late. Tenmei rushed forward, just as Xao trust his hand forward and unleashed a sea of heartless towards another group. As the two clashed blades, the heartless sea devoured all in it's path, flying through the crowd as if it was a hot knife through butter. The swarm continued it's rampage, until finally it broke free from the crowd and began to chase down any and all fleeing, including Ren and his friends.
"They're gaining on us!" Shun shouted, panting as he ran to keep up with HIkari and Ren.
"Fire!" Hikari shouted, holding her hand out behind her, but her fireball did barely anything to the swarm, only knocking a few lose from the giant tornado that was forming behind them. The trio raced around a corner, only to be met with a wall of stone. Hikari and Shun gasped, turning around to face the sea of darkness that threatened to send them to their demise.
"Thunder!" HIkari shouted, attempting yet another spell. This one was a bit more effective, but again, the swarms was simply too large. They began to close in, hunger echoing in their glowing eyes.
And before they knew what had happened, the sea struck.
Ren scrunched his eyes shut, gritting his teeth, but found that no pain came to him. Stunned, but still wary, he began to open his eyes, shock filling him as he found he was no longer at Twilight Citadel, but instead was standing on a stained glass platform. He looked down, seeing a white and black pattern on the glass, and images of him, Hikari, Shun, and Yumi painted onto the glass. Confusion was etched on his face, as he took some careful steps forward, looking around farther and seeing nothing but darkness.
"...is this heaven?" Ren asked, looking a bit panicked.
No, a voice echoed.
"Then... where am I?" Ren questioned, looking around for the source of the voice. "And who are you?"
Light... Darkness... One cannot exist without the other, the voice echoed again. To have them out of balance, would bring the world to ruin.
"That old story again?" Ren asked, his face twisting into a harsh glare. "Come on!"
You saw for yourself the truth. When the prince summoned one of the two blades of legend.
"Okay, and?" Ren scowled.
You... Ren... are the other link.
"The who of what now?" Ren asked, the scowl vanishing immediately, but suddenly a sea of light and shadow formed around him, enveloping him. Ren gasped as the light and darkness swallowed him, pulling him into the center of the stained-glass platform, despite the boy's struggles to escape from the trap.
Go, Ren... Wielder of Twilight's Balance.
Ren gasped, suddenly finding himself standing in Twilight's Citadel again. The swarm of heartless was gone, and both Hikari and Shun were on the ground, looking up at him shocked. Ren blinked, attempting to process what had happened, only to find himself holding onto something. He looked down, and gasped at what was in his hands. A keyblade had appeared there, one similar to the one he had seen Tenmei summon just minutes before. The guard of the blade had one angel wing, white as snow, on one side; the other side had a demonic wing as black as the night sky. A purple gem that shined in the sun set in the center of the guard, and from it emerged two separate blades, one white and one black. The two blades crossed twice, before extending outwards and meeting at the top. The teeth of the blade were three pointed, with a half circle housing the three points, the same color as the blade they emerged from. A yin-yang symbol danged off a chain from the base of the handle, signifying the blade was truly a keyblade with the keychain.
"Ren... that's a keyblade," Hikari gasped, looking in awe at the blade.
"But... what kind of keyblade is that?" Shun asked.
Ren only had a moment to ponder it before a swarm of heartless appeared, and acting purely on instant, Ren struck most of them down in one fell swoop before turning to his friends. "I'm going back! I need to save those people, and help Master and the Prince!"
"Wait, Ren!" Hikari shouted, but her cry couldn't reach him as he was already sprinting off in the direction they had come from, slashing at any heartless that dare to stand in his way.
As he ran back, Tenmei let out a loud grunt as he was kicked away, his keyblade temporarily leaving his hand. The prince, however, springboarded off of a shadow's head, flying in the air and catching Twilight's Guradian mid flip, before striking straight down, destroying the heartless that clammored to attack him. He glared at his enemy, a man he hadn't even gotten a single strike.
"You bastard..." Tenmei panted out, staring Xao down with nothing but anger. "You destroyed what used to be your home... why?! Why have you turned from the path of Twilight?!"
Xao smirked at that, almost as if glad that Tenmei had asked him that question. "Have I? Twilight... the state when Darkness and Light are in perfect balance, and your duty to guard them and make sure one never out powers the other... is what your kingdom really offers this?" He gestured to the crumbling world around them, the buildings surrounding the castle slowly being engulfed in shadows. "Is safeguarding the people here not denying Darkness from running it's destructive course?"
"Protecting my people from the raw darkness while they live here is our duty!" Tenmei shouted in defiance. "They have the option to delve into the darkness, to learn what lurks underneath, but this castle- no, this world is a beacon in an otherwise unforgiving sea!"
Xao only chuckled at this. "Your father has truly passed on his ignorance onto you... a shame..." Xao stepped forward, eying Tenmei carefully. "Very well, I'll let you in on a secret, boy... I came here for not just one reason, but two."
"I care not for your second reason, you monster", Tenmei snarled. He brought his keyblade into his right hand, pointing at Xao's chest. "You murder my people, destroy my home... I couldn't care if your secret was they key to controlling Kingdom Hearts itself. I will destroy you for what you have done!"
Xao only chuckled again. "Very well... then you will find out my second reason, when I strike you down!" Xao raised his arm, but suddenly he glanced to his right, as if something caught his eye. "Well now... once again, I am surprised."
Tenmei followed his gaze, and spotted Ren running back to the fight. Panicked, he spoke up, holding his free hand towards him. "Get back! You need to get out of here, it's not safe for citi...zens..." That was when his eyes landed on Ren's weapon, and his jaw dropped in shock. "Twilight's... Balance...?"
"The second of the two Legendary Keyblades from the Realm Between..." Xao smiled, as if a child receiving the best gift on Christmas. "Who would have thought that there be not one here... but two..."
Ren scoffed at Xao, readying his weapon. "You're done, Xao! You can't take us both on!"
Tenmei soon collected himself, and steeled his gaze as he glared defiantly at the madman. His arm raised once more, taking another battle stance as an orb of light started glowing in his palm. "You will call off your Heartless and leave this world or we shall strike you down, here and now!"
Xao looked from Tenmei, back to Ren, and back to Tenmei again. The grin on the man's face only getting bigger with each glance. "Now, why would I do that? My goal... is just within reach now, Tenmei... and besides, I'm still winning... can you feel the hearts of this kingdom cry out as they are taken? Can you hear the screams of the people as they lose what little light they have left? No, Tenmei, I will not leave... until I have what I came for."
"And what would that be?" Ren asked, stepping forward.
It was only now that Tenmei seemed to feel it click in his mind. He glanced over at Ren, and his eyes widened, seeing something he had not seen before. He didn't want to believe it, but now he had no choice. He looked back to Xao.
"Our hearts", he whispered, for the first time wavering in fear. "He came to collect hearts of Light and Darkness... and what would be most beneficial to you than two hearts of Twilight?"
"And he answered correctly," Xao whispered, looking at Tenmei's now terrified expression, to Ren's confused one. "The two reincarnations of the First King's sons, two individuals with hearts equally balanced... never wavering no matter what... yes, Tenmei, I will claim your hearts for my own purposes..."
"No, you won't!" a defiant voice echoed into the air. Tenmei and Ren both turned, as Hiroto emerged from some stone rubble nearby, holding his keyblade in the air. His purple robe had been dirtied and torn, and his once sleek hair was now covered in dust and dirt, very ratty in comparison. "Xao... I will do now what I should have done so many years ago... what our King failed to do!"
Xao looked at Hiroto as if seeing something revolting crawl out from the dirt, "Please... spare me your heroic speech, old man. You can hardly wield that weapon, and you expect to stop me?"
Hiroto sighed, lowering his head, before raising it again and forming a smile on his face, stepping forward with his keyblade held firmly in his hand. "You two... I want you to look after whoever makes it through this... promise me that."
"Master..." Tenmei's voice shool, hearing the finality in Hiroto's voice. "Y-you can't... my training's not complete..."
"Your training will have to be on your own now, Tenmei," Hiroto informed him, staring at Tenmei with his signature look, as if staring into Tenmei's heart.
"Master, what are you doing!?" Ren shouted, running to his side.
"Ren," Hiroto smiled down at him, placing an old, tired hand on his student's head, ruffling his silver hair. "I am... so proud. I knew you were a keyblade wielder, didn't I? Now, please... look after Hikari and Yumi. They need you..." Hiroto then stepped forward, light appearing around him in an aura of power, getting brighter and brighter as he walked forward. Xao's eyes widened, fear finally falling on the man's face as he seemed to realize what was happening.
"MASTER!" Ren shouted, attempting to run forward, but a sudden pulse of light knocked him back. Hiroto gave one last warm smile, his body vanishing into specks of light, his heart vanishing almost as quickly as it appeared, and the enemy let out a loud cry of pain, the light severing him from the darkness, if only momentarily.
Tenmei felt his tears streaming down his face, but he clasped his hands together. His keyblade began shining with light as well, and he took careful aim at Xao, who was doing his best to hold his ground against Hiroto's final strike. With an angry roar, he unleashed his own attack, a beam of pure light shooting forward and piercing through Xao. As he screamed in anger and pain, Xao felt himself being ripped away, and in an instant, he was gone, banished from the doomed world.
"Master..." Ren muttered, falling to his knees, dropping his keyblade, which instantly vanished in a sea of light and shadow energy. "He... can't be..."
Tenmei wiped his tears away hastily, though it was obvious he was hurt by this as well. He grabbed Ren's shoulder, forcing him to stand again. "Come on! The world is falling! We have to find the last hearts that still resonate and get them out of here!"
Ren looked at Tenmei, fresh tears erupting, before he wiped them away, nodding as he summoned his new weapon to his side. "Ok."
"If we get through this... you and I are going to have quite the long talk... cousin", Tenmei stated. He looked toward the city. "I sense three hearts... I can't believe it... they... they're all that's left..." He then shook his head, gripping Twilight's Guardian tighter. "Come on! If we don't hurry, they might fall with the world, too!"
"Hikari, Yumi, Shun!" Ren shouted, and with newfound strength, he sprinted forward, praying with every ounce of his heart that they were the three still standing from the slaughter. The two twilight teens ran through the city, destroying every heartless that tried to attack them, but for each one killed, two more were there to take the place of the fallen creature. Finally, Ren looked and saw a familiar figure standing in a sea of darkness.
"Yumi!"
Tenmei reacted to the name immediately, and felt a surge of light burst through him. He immediately rushed over to Yumi's side, grabbing her and jumping back towards Ren. He could see she was staring numbly at the sea before her, silent tears dripping down. "Yumi! Yumi, answer me!"
"Mom... Dad..." she sobbed out, staring only at the sea. "I... I'm sorry... I'm s-s-so sorry..."
"Are Shun and Hikari nearby?" Ren asked, though he suddenly remembered two others. "Or my parents!?"
"There's only two other hearts", Tenmei responded, trying to steel his voice so it wouldn't shake and betray his emotions yet again. "I don't know who they are... but I think I have met your father before, Ren... he is not one of them. I'm sorry."
New tears formed in Ren's eyes, but before they could even fall, another sea of darkness formed before them. Before Tenmei could react, however, Ren had lashed out in rage, the creatures disappearing before their eyes. "Let's go... we need to find Hikari... she is one of them, she has to be..."
Tenmei nodded, picking up Yumi and carrying her like a princess. "I don't know what she saw, but she won't be able to fight. I'll lead the way, you fight for me." He looked toward's the streets, and Ren recognized that he was staring in the direction Hikari and Shun were before he separated from them. "The hearts are over there... the darkness has lulled, but I doubt it'll stay away for too long."
Ren only nodded, and took off in a run towards the direction Tenmei had gestured to. HIs blade danced through the air, keeping the three safe from the dark grip that threatened to choke them, all while his thoughts were on Hikari and Shun, and how they could not be gone as well.
We already lost too much today... don't take them away from me too...
"Water!" a voice pierced the air, and relief surged through Ren's body like an electrical charge. Hikari's magic blasted away several heartless that were surrounding her and Shun, the boy lying on the ground out cold, his broadsword at his side uselessly.
"Hikari!" Ren shouted at her, slaying the heartless that stood between him and his friends.
Tenmei rushed over, looking at Shun with concern. "It looks like he took quite a beating from the Heartless... I can heal him, but it'll be pointless if we stay here. Are either of you strong enough to carry him?"
"I don't think that matters much if we don't get through this sea..." Ren muttered, as another wave of darkness erupted form nowhere. Ren, Hikari and Tenmei all looked around, seeing nothing but black with yellow spots for miles.
Tenmei let out a snarl, glaring at the Heartless, before looking back to Hikari. Her eyes looked oddly familiar, and he soon pieced it together. "You... you're Hiroto's granddaughter, aren't you?"
"I am," Hikari confirmed, looking at Tenmei with a puzzled expression on her face.
"Then you know magic... magic that can get us out of here without the use of a corridor", he responded. "For everyone here... I beg you, you must save us. This world is going to fall, and us with it if we don't get out of here."
Hikari looked at Tenmei for a moment, before stepping forward, and raising her blue staff into the air, before slamming the base of it to the ground, holding it firmly. "I know a spell... but I was told to never use it... it requires all my focus, and I'll need to be guarded.."
"Then hurry!" Ren shouted, swinging wildly. "We can't hold them for much longer!"
Tenmei shifted Yumi's weight, holding her closer as he huddled close to Hikari. "Grab him and get as close to her as you can, Ren! If this is a transport spell, we'll need to stick together as best as we can!"
Ren grabbed Shun's arm with one hand, while keeping his keyblade in the other. The four of them converged around Hikari, who was chanting in a language that none of them understood. Finally, she opened her eyes as a flash of light formed around them, engulfing them in it's radiant glow. Ren's vision filled with nothing but white before he was able to see again, and then he did he could hardly believe it. They were flying through a void of stars and images, each one playing out events that Ren had learned about before.
"Where... are we?" Ren asked, confused.
Hikari looked around as well, confusion filling her face as well. "I'm not sure... I was told only to focus on whatever light I could, and the only light I could sense was somewhere far away..."
"Perhaps that burst that Hiroto and I used to banish Xao", Tenmei muttered, growling. "So, I'll get a chance to finish him off as long as nothing happens..."
"Wait, we're going to Xao!?" Ren asked, shock and fear filling his voice.
It was at this moment that Hikari gasped, suddenly realizing something. "These events... they're from the past... I think I know what is going on..."
"And that would be?" Ren asked, looking at her with panic.
"It's not... where we're going... it's when", Tenmei finished, his eyes growing wide. "... we're not just going to another world, Ren... we're going to another time."
XxXxXxX
Hey guys, got something to share from both BloodWingdAngel and myself.
We know that this is not how time travel is supposed to work in Kingdom Hearts. But, in all honesty, in order for this story to work, we needed to come up with a different way to do this. Honestly, the whole Time Travel thing introduced in Dream Drop Distance was kinda dumb in my opinion, but hey, it made Kingdom Hearts 3 amazing in the end.
With Xehanort's time travel, you are only able to travel through time if there is a version of yourself present at the time you want to travel to. Also, you cannot change what is destined to happen. Additionally, since this is the case, your time travel was already written to begin with, hence why it's not the most common form of time travel you see in modern media...
'Multiverse' Time Travel, which is what Hikari accidentally did here. Instead of traveling back in time, they are going to a point in time in another universe. So, essentially, what Future Trunks did in DragonBall Z; it was just called time travel for the sake of explanation.
Anyway, that's all I wanted to share with you guys. I hope you're enjoying the story as is!