Chapter One: Evanescent
Present Day
Kairi was not used to being the focus of attention.
Usually, when Sora and Riku went on an adventure, she was benched. Sidelined to a support role. A bystander. After she was kidnapped by Axel, she watched and observed mostly, as Naminé, Riku, and Sora took down the remainder of Organization XIII. Naminé at least had a deciding factor in some of the member's "outcomes." Then Sora and Riku took Xemnas down in the Castle that Never was, all the while Kairi sidelined with the King. Kairi knew this to be no fault but her own; at the time, she could not protect nor arm herself for the battles to befall her best friends. However, a particular irony stabbed at her soul after she was tricked by Xemnas the second time, in the Keyblade Graveyard; she went to end the abomination of Nothingness that threatened her lover and his Nobody, not to mention his friends, but underestimated such a creature's cunning. Turns out, if you threaten the plans of the Superior of the In-Between and his original self (who by himself is THE major threat to the worlds), you get slashed through the back. With the oldest and darkest Keyblade known. Go figure.
The ONE time Kairi had the chance to fight back, to make something of herself, she felt like she squandered it. Of course she let Xemnas take advantage of her. Of course she let Xemnas do the same thing to Sora. Kairi became confident in her abilities ONE time. She was foolish to believe in herself, to believe that Merlin's endless training in the time looped forest would be to her benefit. Kairi and Axel together stupidly hoped that they were prepared to aid the Guardians of Light. It ended up costing the one person she held closest the most the ultimate price. Her pride stabbed at the ego and performance of her two newest friends and comrades-in-arms, Axel and Xion, making them believe that they were somehow complicit in her own selfish downfall and eventual salvation through Sora. But in the end, they all got home. They all got to see the light at the end of the tunnel, save the Keyblade's Chosen One, her friend, her lover, her Sora.
For these reasons, Kairi was extremely put on edge when they finally confronted the Master and his lackeys, in the ruins the Keyblade War left behind.
"You know, Princess of Heart, you intrigue me."
Kairi felt that shiver, that feeling of fear overcome her once again. She looked at the ancient Master, clad in a black cloak, too cowardly (or too conniving) to reveal himself under the hood.
"And why is that? All you have done is thrash me around and make mincemeat of my friends!" Kairi exclaimed in equal part confusion, equal part rage.
The Master looked around, picking up a particular Keyblade from amongst the ruins of the Keyblade Graveyard. If she could speak body language, Kairi could have sworn she detected satisfaction, pride, and lament. Whatever that in tandem means. "For all the modern Guardians were worth, only YOU have not given up hope. Only YOU have had the conviction to carry themself forward towards me, towards something they don't know if they can control. Something that borders in the edge of light and something else entirely."
Kairi was confused, once again. 'Modern Guardians?' Were there ancient Keyblade wielders? Ancient peacekeepers that safeguarded the worlds as they knew them? 'Something else?' What in the everloving heck could lie in the worlds beyond, besides light, dark, and whatever Xemnas controlled? (How does one control nothing anyway? What then does one have control over)? She turned ever so slightly to see the damage. The Wayfinders slumped, defended by Aqua and whoever the brown haired man's name was, ever so miraculously, looking like they just saw Master Eraqus fall again. The Sea-Salt Trio wasn't fairing too much better; Inv,i and whatever passed as the ancient version of Terra in all his musclebound glory, stomped on Axel and placed a boot ever his neck, preventing any sort of movement. Roxas lay on the ground, unmoving; Xion, Kairi's seemingly extant 'sister,' was overflowing with rage and barely containing herself in the remnants of the courtyard.
"You're worse than Xemnas! GIVE ROXAS BACK! HEAL AXEL!" exclaimed Xion.
"Why?! I thought Vanitas was bad! I HATE YOU!" cried Ven, desperately trying to will himself to stand and fight alongside his comrades.
The Master seemingly gazed into the distance, towards the sunset. It was sickeningly similar to Twilight Town, and the Clocktower.
"All I do, I do for a reason. I don't WANT to maim your friends. I swear! I don't have a choice!"
Kairi looked at Riku, who himself was flabbergasted.
"I MUST DEFEAT THE DARKNESS! I MUST ATONE!" The Master exclaimed, the hint of desperation not lost on any person present.
What? Atone? What does atonement for mean for a cloaked man who so easily swatted away the people who dealt with Xehanort and his entourage of superpowered alter egos? WHERE IS SORA?
The master coughed. Then coughed again. It soon became a haughty, loose form of a hysterical giggle, one he could barely contain.
"The only path given to me is the one of the present. The same applies to all of you. Each of you will suffer as I have suffered, lose what I have lost. The worlds are not as kind as they make them out to be." the Master intoned.
The Master threw his hands, along with the Gazing Eye, forward. Immediately, all present, Foreteller and Guardian, received visions. Indescribable, torturous visions.
"Why, master?! What is the meaning of this?!" exclaimed Luxu. Kairi was taken aback. "This was not my role! This is NOBODY'S ROLE! THIS PAIN BELONGS TO NO ONE!"
The master paused. He then turned up to the sky, the continually darkening Kingdom Hearts loitering above. With a swift motion of his arm and Keyblade, each Guardian and Foreteller flew through the air, into Corridors of Darkness, and Liminalities of Light. Lims for short. The master liked that nickname.
"Know, my apprentice Luxu, that I do this not to kill nor torture you. Nor do I wish the same for any Guardian of Light. It is to prepare you."
The Master now stood alone in the Graveyard, box in one hand, Gazing Eye in the other. He thought of all that brought him to this very day; the girl; the Keyblade War; Kingdom Hearts; Darkness. He knew, if he could some each of them to specific worlds, worlds rife with suffering, darkness, people in need, he could train them better than he ever could. He could prepare them for illness, greed, infighting, humanity. He could teach them the meaning of death, of light and darkness in equilibrium. Something his OWN master never could.
The worlds he sent them too would try them. They were no ordinary realms. War; infection; suffering; discrimination. No evil or darkness was spared among the people of these worlds. But it was for the best. He had faith, in his well-trained apprentices, and the sturdy Guardians of Light, born of conflict. For the damned book to come to pass, for the brightest future, it must be done.
"For the future, I must send you all. You thought the Recusant was the only Sigil?" he asked, almost cockily, but relented after a moment.
"Forgive me. May they spare no mercy, towards the wicked."
The Master of Masters, now standing above the rest of the forsaken labyrinth that was no longer occupied with battling Keyblade wielders, walked away towards his own Lim.
"May your heart be your guiding Key."