The silence was deafening, as Tenmei stared in horror. Meanwhile, the satisfied grin on Xao's face only sold how much of an inhuman creature he was. Ren's eyes glanced down towards the blade in his heart, his eyes widened in shock and pain. Even when Tenmei had broken both of his arms, he did not feel the agony that he was feeling now, as if his heart was threatening to be ripped from his body. It was so intense, he could barely move, barely feel, and he couldn't even let out a single sound as the pain filled his senses.
Shouts of horror and fear came from the girls, but Ren could hardly hear them, slowly staring up at the malicious smirk on his enemy's face. Suddenly, a pulse erupted from his body, sending everyone flying, including Xao, who only continued to smirk in victory despite being sent back at a rapid speed. Ren's heart then left his body, sparkles of light and darkness emitting from the now vanishing boy, as his heart hovered in place, free for the taking.
"Mine", Xao lustfully whispered, getting up and walking slowly to Ren's heart as if in a dream, his hand outstretched.
Tenmei had been hit so hard, he couldn't keep up the Dark Surge, his focus broken. He looked up, seeing Xao had already taken his first stride, approaching the heart with new vigor. The boy felt his tears streaming down his face, unable to be contained at the pain and horror he felt.
This is what you get for using Darkness so much!
You deserve this!
You failed them all!
You failed your friends, your family!
You let our world fall!
You let him win!
Voices of anger and loathing spun through his head, calling him every insult under the sun. He could only watch in misery as Xao got closer, his fingers almost touching the heart.
But then, one voice spoke out above all the others, one that silenced everything else, and his purpose became clear.
You may deserve what's coming to you... but Ren does not.
Just as Xao was about to claim his prize, a barrier suddenly appeared, nearly slicing his fingers off as it completely made Ren's heart untouchable. Before he could even fully process what happened, more barriers appeared, layering upon each other until it was impossible for Xao to claim his prize. The three humans turned, wondering what caused this, and soon, their eyes landed on Tenmei. He still was on the ground, and his tears continued to fall, but his demeanor had changed. Now, his eyes took on a violet hue, and Xao could see his wounds being mended in the aura of light about him. Even his hair became brighter, reflecting more of the ambient light about him, making it difficult to look at him. He stood slowly, a determined glare in his eyes as he stared the psycho down.
"That heart... belongs to... my family", he said slowly, his voice echoing with an ethereal feel to it. "You, monster... will not touch it."
The rage Xao felt, his prize so close, yet out of reach, was more powerful than anything he had ever felt. A roar escaped the man, resembling that of a heartless... or, perhaps, even worse then that. Hikari and Yumi watched in utter terror as Xao flew forward, resembling a beast that was fighting for its last meal, and all they could see was blurs of motion from that point on.
"R-Ren", came the broken voice of Hikari, who was staring in shock at Ren's floating heart, still unable to process what was going on, but it only got worse. The heart was vibrating wildly, until suddenly the unthinkable happed.
It split into two.
"REN!" Hikari screamed, attempting to penetrate the barrier to claim the heart herself, but the power of it repelled her backwards. A light glow surrounded one of the halves, while a aura of darkness took hold of the other. Suddenly, both halves vanished, leaving not a trace of themselves behind, and the barrier that Tenmei had cast fell, no longer needing to protect the heart it once contained.
"YOU LITTLE BRAT!" Xao cursed, swinging his blade down with fury.
Tenmei, meanwhile, had summoned the Guardian, blocking each blow. Xao was surging with power, that much was certain, but his rage made his blows predictable. After taking a few strikes, he had begun fighting defensively, slowly turning the tables on the man. Suddenly, mid-strike, he split his keyblade in two, using one to strike out and cut up Xao's leg. That one strike alone did more damage than any he had landed in Dark Surge, and Xao let out a loud howl of pain before being kicked back, thrown off balance by his new injury. Tenmei stood straight, glaring at the man before him as he wielded the split Twilight's Guardian, ready to move at a moment's notice.
"You have lost, Xao", Tenmei said. "Just like how my father defeated you fifteen years ago. You never learned your lesson, and your focus on your goal, underestimating your opponent... that caused you to lose."
"My goal was within sight", Xao snarled, standing up, the pain in his leg being ignored by the pure rage he felt. "A good for nothing, snot nosed, accursed brat like you would NEVER understand! IF I CAN'T HAVE REN'S HEART, THEN YOURS WILL BE JUST AS GOOD!" He attempted to stab Tenmei, but the predictability of the move allowed even Hikari and Yumi, who couldn't see that well over the aura of darkness that Xao had surrounded himself with, to know what would happen before it even did.
Tenmei merely dodged. Not even something fancy, he merely twisted his stomach a bit, narrowly dodging the blade, before striking up at Xao's arm, leaving a nasty gash with his weapon. He then kicked again, knocking Xao away. "Your taunts will not work, Xao. Not this time." He held his reunited blade up again, glaring forward. "The only thing I hate more than you right now? Myself... for letting you remove his heart. Nothing you say can top how I feel about failing my people yet again."
"Then. Let. Me. End. That. Pain!" Xao breathed, weakened to the point where he could no longer shout, though he stumbled forward, attempting to raise his keyblade-like sword, but his arm was shaking and he could hardly muster the strength to move.
"Do you ever shut up?"
The new voice startled them all, who looked at the space between Tenmei and Xao with widened eyes. A figure appeared suddenly, wearing nothing but a pair of white pants, and black boots. He opened his eyes, revealing the same chartreuse yellow eyes that Ren had taken when he entered Dark Surge, which he brushed long, white hair out of to stare at Xao with anger. To the surprise of them all, the newcomer held what looked like the dark half of Twilight's Balance in his right hand, the blade tip pointed right at Xao's heart.
Xao looked at the figure with a mixture of emotions, but the one that showed the most was bewilderment at the appearance of the tan skinned individual. "I... did not foresee this. I knew if you became a heartless, you would be powerful... but with your mind still in tact, humanoid in appearence, and still able to wield your keyblade... what kind of being are you, to do what not even Xehanort could do?"
"This isn't a real body", the figure stated, looking down at himself. "I am still just half a heart, after what you did to me. The strength of my darkness is what is allowing me to assume a human like form... but like all heartless, all I am right now is a manifested heart surrounded by darkness."
"R-Ren?", Hikari croaked, unable to believe what she was seeing.
Xao then backed away, a dark corridor appearing behind him. "I have lost this fight... I cannot defeat Tenmei or you as you are... consider this your victory, boys, but I will get what I want. One way, or another." And with that, he had vanished into the abyss of shadows.
At the disappearance of Xao, Tenmei allowed his surge to fade, dismissing his keyblade. He looked over to the Heartless that came to his aid, but he did not look happy. If anything... he looked rather morose. He looked away from Ren, unable to bear looking at the face of his friend. "I... I'm sorry", he said softly. "This... this is all my fault..."
The heartless of Ren only glanced over at Tenmei with an emotionless expression, only to acknowledge to the boy that he had heard him. "If you want to apologize to me, then help me restore myself."
Yumi stepped up next, looking to the two of them. "R-right... we'll go, too. It'll be easier if it's the four of us, right?" She looked back at Hikari, who had not yet moved. "Sis? We can help Ren! Come on, it's okay!"
Ren looked at Hikari for only a brief moment, a sudden flash of what felt like emotions rising within him for a second, knowing exactly what the blonde was thinking in that moment of time. "No, Yumi", Ren stated.
"Wh-what?" she stammered, surprised. "But, R-Ren-"
"No... he's right, Yumi", Tenmei stated. "This... is something we need to do... alone."
"But why?!" She stated loudly, looking about ready to cry again. "W-We just got you back, Tenmei... why can't we help you?! Why do you keep pushing us away?!"
"It's not necessarily him pushing you away from us right now, Yumi," Ren muttered, looking away from Hikari at that moment. "Besides, I am a heartless now. My darkness will only affect you two in my current condition if I am around you for too long, and I don't want you to go through that. Tenmei is used to the darkness, so he can come with me, but for you two the best thing to do is to... stay away."
Tenmei gave a sigh. "Besides... even if you could come with us... would you want to?" he asked, looking at Hikari as he said that. "Even with your help... I couldn't help as much as I wished. You were right... I do not deserve your trust." He looked at his hand. "I do not deserve my title... or my keyblade. I... I must atone for the hurt, the despair I put you all through. And if Ren is willing to allow me to help him... I think that might be a good first step."
Hikari said nothing for a good minute, Yumi looking between her and the boys in agony, just awaiting what her sister could possibly say right now. Finally, she gave a sigh, looking at Tenmei first. "Atone then. Perhaps then we can talk..." She then turned to Ren's heartless, tears beginning to swell up, threatening to fall. "I'm sorry... but... I hate the darkness, and the Heartless, more than anything. I can't stand seeing you like this... even if I could come, I... don't want to."
"I understand", Ren said, nodding a bit. "Stick with Sora. We still have a timeline to keep on track."
Yumi gave a sniffle, and stepped back to walk with Hikari. The two girls began to leave... when she stopped once more. With a shake of her head, she suddenly turned, rushing the two and grabbing Tenmei in a tight hug. The prince only stiffened under her grip, not sure how to react as the embrace took him completely by surprise.
"I don't care what you think of yourself", she said softly, so only he could hear. "You're still... my prince." And with that, she let go, facing away quickly so he wouldn't see the tears streaming down her cheeks. She rejoined Hikari, holding her shield up over her lower face, trying to hide her now rosy, puffy cheeks as she silently sobbed.
The sisters left the room and shut the door behind them. Ren looked after them for a few moments, before suddenly movement caught his attention. He turned, a figure approaching from a broken off corner of the room, and only once he got closer did the two see that it was Shun, who was injured greatly.
"I... don't remember doing that much damage to you", Ren stated, looking at him once over.
Shun only gave a chuckle at that, "Word of advice. Don't go to the Realm of Darkness without a weapon... course as a heartless now, you might not be in that bad of shape."
Tenmei immediately moved, wrapping his arm around Shun to support him. "Easy... I got you", he said, helping the boy over. "Now... care to explain what happened? How did you get out so fast?"
"I-I saw a bright light", Shun muttered, squinting as he tried to remember the exact details. "I think it was... a half of a heart. It lead me to a corridor, I'm guessing it was one of the ones Xao used, but somehow it was still active..."
Tenmei gave a soft sigh. "Ren's other half..." He shook his head. "We'll have to focus on that later." He looked over to the heartless, quirking an eyebrow. "Do you think Shun could be helpful? I can heal him, but... I'm not so sure I want to trust anything he says right now." He looked over at the boy, his words still echoing even now. "I don't take kindly to those badmouthing their king."
"H-hey, when did I do that!?" Shun asked, flabbergasted. "Last thing I remember saying to you guys was that it was too late to stop what is fated... course I'm still here so that proves fate is bullshit."
At that, Tenmei sighed. "Xao... of course." He gave a sigh, focusing on his light powers as he began to heal Shun. "My... apologies... I should have been a better teacher." He gave a scowl, feeling his self-loathing rise even more. "I can't seem to do anything right by any of you..."
Shun huffed at that, almost wanting to punch Tenmei. "Speak for yourself... you didn't go crazy with depression after finding out that you are a replica of a mad-man who tore apart your world, join said man thinking that you have no choice but to serve him because you are said replica, only to get some sense knocked back into you by your best friend and sent into a dark void, then saved by said best friend's light half."
Tenmei blinked at that. The wordy description was not expected, and for the second time, he let out a startled chuckle. This time, though, he let himself laugh, glad for the moment. "Good point... though... I did try to break Ren's arms so bad he wouldn't be able to come anywhere near here... if I had been any further in the Darkness, I probably would have torn them off..."
"Well, we both got some ass-kissing to do then", Shun muttered, looking at Tenmei. "Though... gotta admit that's messed up, bro."
"That's what happens when you say 'screw balance' and go for broke, betting on Darkness to help you", Tenmei said, finishing what he could. "There... you should be able to move easier." He then looked at Ren, sighing. "So... what's our plan?"
"First, we need to get out of here, before Sora and the girls get back to lock the final Keyhole", Ren explained to them both. "Afterwards, we'll start tracking down my Nobody. If I am theorizing this correctly, I've literally been split into two, so logically he should be half of me and seeking me out right now as well... though I will admit, what parts of me he might have gotten scare me a bit."
Tenmei looked at the heartless, noting how no-nonsense he was, and soon began to pale a bit. "Oh... no..."
XxXxXxX
"Well, that was fun", a black haired boy was muttering to himself, his arms draped back and his hands on the back of his head as he walked, his cerulean eyes focused on the woodlands that were lying ahead of him. "That dark and moody side of me owes me big time for reuniting him with Shun... kinda wish he could come with me instead, but I get the feeling he's gonna need all the help he can get... or, rather, I need all the help I can get? ...ugh, this is confusing."
The Nobody stopped, looking down at his outfit and frowning a bit. "Had to be literal, huh? I'm literally wearing what I was when I got stabbed, but the black is white, and the white is black. Geez, what is with the Light and wanting to mess with me? Look, just because half of me is Darkness, it doesn't mean you should be that way!"
He sighed again, and continued his walk, humming happily to himself before coming to the old mansion that they had stayed in once before. He smirked, looking up at the tattered building with interest. "Wonder if there's any food still left over so that I can eat before Shun, Tenmei and my other half get here..." Suddenly, however, he felt a presence behind him, and quickly muttered to himself "oh, gotta act like a Nobody actually would", before turning to the figure with a blank stare, focusing on his shoes.
"Your presence here is most unforeseen, but not entirely unwanted", a voice that Ren's light half knew as Xemnas spoke. Resisting the urge to snort at the fact that his name could be anagrammed to 'man sex', he listened to Xemnas as he spoke. "You will not have an official place within our rankings, but it seems that you are just like Roxas was when I found him... emotionless, empty of memories, and perfect for my taking."
That's what you think, the light Nobody couldn't help but think, but remained expressionless. But this is perfect! Instead of reforming myself, I can use my Nobody body to gain knowledge on the Organization and how it could be affected by Xao being in this timeline! And with them, I can get stronger so when I do become Ren again, it'll be like twice as strong due to the experiences I get as both a heartless and a nobody! Oh, Tenmei will be so proud of this plan, I just know it!
"Now, a name", Xemnas waved his hand, and a giant X with the letters of Ren's name appeared. It didn't change all the much, the X only splitting the Re and N apart, spelling out 'Rexn'. "From now on, you shall be called Rexn!"
Aww man, I wanted something cooler... still, at least it's not something stupid like Renx or Nexr, the newly dubbed Rexn thought, but on the outside he kept his expression as blank as possible. "Rexn..."
"Come, Rexn", Xemnas said, placing a hand on the shoulder of the Twilight Keyblader's nobody and guiding him into the same dark corridor he had appeared from. "Your new home awaits..."
I hope I get a room with a good view!
XxXxXxX
"Yumi? Are you okay?"
The redhead stared out the window, watching as Hollow Bastion faded from sight. With the heartless swarming the world after Ansem, the seeker of Darkness, made his play for Kairi's heart, they were forced to retreat with Sora, Donald, Goofy and Kairi. Currently, Hikari was standing to the side, watching the space go by, already fuming thanks to what happened with Tenmei. At the second calling of her name, she turned, seeing Kairi was staring at her. "Are you okay?"
Yumi gave a soft smile. "Yeah... I'm good... I..." She looked back to the old world, the smile fading. "I just... didn't want to say goodbye..."
Kairi frowned, not liking that answer. "You're crying."
It was only when the Princess of Heart said that did Yumi notice. A single tear had trailed down her cheek, and she hastily wiped it away. "Ugh... I've been doing that so much, I don't even notice anymore..." she muttered, sniffling a bit. She looked over at Kairi, giving a gentle sigh. "I... need time to think. Could you leave me alone, please?"
Kairi only nodded, obviously still worried but leaving her be. Yumi glanced at her right hand, clenching her fingers as her gauntlet clinked a bit. Then she looked at her small, circular shield, seeing a bit of her reflection in the metal.
I'm stronger than this, she said, staring at herself. If I kept being strong... I could've helped more. I could've stopped Tenmei from hurting Ren... and I could've done something to help them win that fight. But I keep crying... I keep letting the past hurt me. She thought about her parents, and knew they had done what they did to protect her and Hikari growing up. She wished she could return the favor, but knew they'd prefer that she lived, even if they fell to the darkness. What would they think, seeing her crying like this all the time?
No more tears, she thought to herself. She looked back out to the space. Tenmei... Ren... Shun... I will see you again... and next time, I'll be your shield.