AN: Here we get the conclusions to Riku's stuff and to Ven's stuff/Cloud's stuff lol. xD Kairi's main stuff will all be next chappy, as the main finale el grande or whatever! :D Well I mean, still got an epilogue after that lol, as is customary. My "credits scenes" and "post credits" scenes... :D
Riku watched the latest group of liberated people disappear into the woods with relief in his Heart.
He turned back to the city walls, reaffirming his grip on his weapon as he eyed the great big monsters pouring out of the front gates - along with the swarm of knights and cloaked mages.
Crap. It looked like they'd decided to stop defending the city itself, and had instead decided to come on out and chase them down to their exit spot - the teleportation circle back in the forest. That made sense; it wasn't like anyone had any real interest in attacking the city - they were rescuing the people in it. So why bother defending towers and streets? Just...
Drive them out of the city, and destroy them out in the open.
They didn't have working wall turrets anymore, but they made up for it with the mages themselves - and those giant monstrosities.
Energy beams and powerful blasts began to fly out across the field, striking trees and obliterating them - lighting them aflame.
"RIKU!"
Riku startled, turning to see Terra landing in the grass nearby. "What?" he said quickly.
Terra ran and tackled him, swinging his arm out as his weapon transformed: it became a great big, blue shield. A huge ball of blue flames flew down and struck his shield; the heat and shockwave rippled out in every direction except the one that mattered. Terra straightened, reverting his weapon.
"Oh..." Riku said, flushing. "Thanks."
"You're not paying attention," Terra said.
"I was- analyzing the battle!" Riku said quickly.
"Do it on the move," Terra told him, gesturing into the trees.
"Are we leaving?" Riku asked, even as he turned to run with Terra back into the smoke and fires of the forest.
"Monique thinks it's the smart choice at this point," Terra replied. "We're hemorrhaging fighters - this was never going to be a sustained siege - and there are too many enemies congregating in the streets leading on to the castle now to try and push for it."
"But..."
"That wasn't the goal I even promised her," Terra spoke tightly. "But the number of people we've managed to free this past hour alone...we can be glad for that. That we helped so many lives escape their enslavement. That's something to be celebrated all its own-"
Suddenly, several energy blasts struck the ground around them, felling clusters of trees! Terra was almost crushed, but he leapt out of the way quickly.
"Where is all this extra fire-" Riku shouted, turning back to look.
Bad move.
There were dozens of those giant monsters now lumbering across the grass, and there were even these strange, hovering...vehicles, with giant cannons on them crackling with blue lightning. They had fins sticking out of them, and swirling orbs on the underside. They were like...magical wagons or something. With deadly weapons mounted onto them.
"-coming from..." Riku sighed.
"Even more reason to pull back while we can," Terra said, grasping his arm and yanking him onward. "You see? There's a point where you can't push your luck! Where the wisest choice is to concede defeat, and retreat!"
Powerful burning beams of blue energy scorched out past them, blowing through trees, burning great furrows in the ground that turned into blue crystal - and burning through fleeing fighters...and the innocent people they were escorting.
Riku stared all around him, watching them fall, the screams ringing out in the forest, the smells reaching his nose...
No... No!
Riku stopped, turning back to gaze through the falling trees that denoted the approach of the enemy's assault forces. Nearer and nearer...
"Riku!" Terra said, racing back for him once more. "Stop stopping, we need to just..."
For the world...for these people here and now...and for Erin...all I want is to protect them!
Riku shook his head, and he stepped forward - toward the incoming army of artillery. He drew a breath, reaching for the darkness in his Heart, and he pulled up as much of it as he possibly could. He held it all in his hands, closing his eyes, and he began to burn it brighter. The flames became a bonfire, and then a raging wildfire. He held it all, cordoning it off in his Heart, holding it in one specific area...and then he cast it out into the world as he thrust his hands out before him!
A shimmering, dark barrier of hexagons flew out to his left and right, rising higher than the trees, as the onslaught of energy beams and magical blasts assailed it. Scorch marks and cracks formed on it...
But Riku held his arms up, and he held that barrier there, reinforcing it with more power, drawing more and more from his Heart continuously.
"Riku-" Terra began.
Riku didn't look at him. He didn't react. He didn't feel, in his Heart. He maintained his focus, keeping his eyes on the approaching soldiers. Keeping his head high. He took in a new breath, and let it go again. And then he turned his head to look at Terra, dead in the visor. "Keep going. Get them to safety."
Terra hesitated only a moment. Then he nodded, and turned to run.
Riku refocused himself, recentered himself, the purple aura surrounding his body now. Not loose, uncontrollable tendrils of energy - contained, controlled power. He felt it squirming inside himself, felt it searching, feeling for something to grasp - anything to take, to light the spark. But Riku had nothing there to feed it. No fuel, no fire but the one he'd constructed here tonight. With his own hands and a...a stick, or something. Like memories of camping out with his parents...with Sora, and his mom - and even Kairi and her dad, once or twice...
Riku was torn from his memories as something came rushing straight for him, slamming into his barrier. Energy rippled out across the barrier, warping it and cracking it more severely - and then it shattered, falling apart! It was a woman, a true warrior of an immediately higher caliber - she had golden and blue armor with spikes on the shoulders, an intricate design on the chest plate, and she had long blonde hair billowing behind her. She swung a big, golden sword with symbols engraved down its length, and a powerful energy blast flew out to strike Riku.
He raised a hand and tried to summon up another barrier - but the panic in his Heart prevented it, as the darkness flickered wildly around inside him.
The blast flew for his Heart - and then, a second, a single foot before it was to make contact, it exploded in the air directly in front of him, splashing across his entire upper body. But mostly, his exposed, vulnerable face.
Riku's world became a burning, brilliantly bright place as he flew back across the forest, hit the ground hard, and lay still.
Terra turned back as he felt something deep in his core. The Heart he didn't even have.
He was just in time to witness Riku be struck almost directly in the face by a powerful blast of energy - directed at him by a woman in golden armor.
"RIKU!" Terra ran back for the boy, faster than anything as he flew through the forest. He skidded down into the dirt beside him, taking him into his arms. His lifeless body, his...
His eyes...
His face and upper torso was...just this mess of burning, bubbling flesh, scorching energy seeping into his body...
"CURAGA!" Terra yelled, as the boy's body glowed green from the inside out, lighting up the forest. "Come on - CURAGA, CURAGA - Riku, come on, come on!"
Riku finally stirred. His...the remains of what were once eyelids twitched, struggling feebly to move muscle and sinew. "So-rry...T-Terr...a..."
"No, don't apologize! You-"
"J-just...wan'ed to...live- live up to- the p-promise..."
"You did, you have - I've been telling you that," Terra said quickly, lifting the boy up in his arms as he stood. "You've been doing good, Riku - all right? So good lately. And- and what you just did- that was so, so incredibly brave of you, and you were strong, and- what you did with the darkness, I've never seen anything like it before! You-"
"Ter-ra...? 'm I...dying?"
"No! No, you're not. You're going to be fine. We just need to get you someplace to rest - to get more treatment. Better than a simple Cure spell can do..."
"I should...die...be...better for...everyone..."
"No. What's better for everyone is that you live so that you can continue to do the right thing - just like you did here tonight! For all of these people!"
"S-so I did...g-good thing...?"
"You did. You did a wonderful, amazing thing here. And you've already helped make a positive impact on so many people's lives here. So just...hold on, Riku!"
"Hold on...? Y-yeah...Erin...be upset if I...died too...no one to- r-remember h-her..."
Terra raised the boy up in his arms, turning with him - and finding that woman in golden armor standing there. Gold and blue, of a far higher quality than anyone else he'd fought here tonight. It might have even been custom made, like his own armor. She had long strands of blonde hair, and fierce blue eyes.
"How could you do this to him?!" Terra shouted at her, rage and pain alike causing a tremor in his voice. "He's a CHILD!"
"He's an of-age and willing fighter!" the woman spoke coldly. "And if he's going to participate in battles, he's not going to be spared the consequences."
"Neither will you!" Terra yelled. He held his weapon out from his body, and flashed forward past the woman in the blink of an eye, leaving a massive trail of energy behind him - and a scattering of flower petals.
He stood motionless a moment - until he heard the gasp of air, and the thud behind him.
He relinquished his Keyblade and held Riku more securely, and he began to run with him.
"Erin...h-her...j-jacket...is it o-okay...?"
Terra glanced down at the boy. "The jacket's fine," he lied. They could repair it later - surely someone here knew clothing repair magicks?
"'K...g-good... Terra...?"
"Yes?"
"D-do it...the Hourglass...for them... Now. I know you can still...do this...right? You can do anything...'cause you're that...cool..."
Terra stopped. He looked around desperately, flagging down a passing figure. "Hey! Can you take him? Please, get him to safety!"
"Of course!" came the simple, firm response from the man. "You should think about doing the same! We're in full retreat-"
"Not me, not yet," Terra said firmly. "Just take him."
He handed Riku over, and stood watching the man go. Then he turned back toward the oncoming assault. He looked past them, to the city walls, to the towers glinting in the night - to the castle among them all.
He took in a mental breath, summoning all his powers, his emotions - and his body was enveloped in a golden glow.
He flew up into the air in an explosion of dirt and power, and then he streaked across the night sky like a comet of fiery orange - heading straight for the distant castle. The teeming streets of warriors didn't matter - the wall turrets didn't matter; nothing could touch him up here, and not with as fast as he was moving in that moment.
Terra closed in on the castle in under half a minute, rocketing down and crashing straight through the roof, landing in a wide, ornately decorated corridor as stone crumbled around him and dust blew up everywhere.
He ran straight ahead through it all - and came across three armored figures with magical weapons immediately.
Terra flew forward and eviscerated them with single, powerful, swift strikes - leaving one life alive deliberately. He seized them by their armor, his fingers digging into the metal itself and crumpling it, and slammed them against the nearest wall. "WHERE'S THE ENTRANCE TO THE BASEMENT?!" he yelled ragefully.
"U-uh- down the hall, take a left, then go down and take a right, then another left - then there's some stairs!" the woman babbled out.
Terra tossed his opponent aside and flew down the corridor - literally, gliding across the ground without touching it.
He turned left, flew on, turned right, then took another left - and found the stairwell.
He shouldered his way through the thick metal door, and he vaulted the railing and flew straight down the middle, landing on the lowest floor and cracking the stone.
He kicked his way through another door, entering torchlit hallways.
He flew through the maze, fighting enemies as they came to him. But blowing past anyone who didn't actually try to fight him - he wasn't here to waste time. Not his time: everyone else's time back at the compound. Every life currently fleeing the capital. By sheer process of elimination and searching, he found another staircase and then...after some more hallways, he came to a pair of giant red doors with glowing green electricity all over it. A ward. A magic barrier. Terra aimed his Keyblade and erased the barrier, then slammed his way through the doors.
He emerged into a vast chamber with floating green mechanisms and torches. And in the center of it all, pulsing green, was a giant hourglass of emerald sands. Terra raised his Keyblade, transforming it into a massive cannon that he braced on his shoulder, and he charged up and let loose an enormous beam of pure magical energy. The Hourglass of Ethesi was obliterated - along with the far wall behind it, causing the chamber to tremble and stone and rock to begin to fall. Terra took a mental breath, allowing himself to fade from existence - to rematerialize out in the woods again.
He immediately mounted his glider and flew off for the rendezvous point. Only now feeling the inkling of doubt and fear about what he had just done. What if it had just killed all of them? What if he had...? No. He had to have hope. Confidence. Security. And he had to-
A beam of pink energy suddenly seared through the air to his left. He swerved aside and went into evasive maneuvers as more beams erupted around him. They were coming from below - and ahead.
Terra flew onward, faster, and he leapt off his bike and reverted his Keyblade. He landed in the dirt, spotting the teleportation ring swirling just ahead.
And a single figure standing there between him and it.
His attacker from the other day - Karina Altisa.
The woman - a Marked woman - was standing before him, healthy and alive. After he had destroyed that Hourglass.
Terra held his weapon at his side, and offered her his free hand, palm up. "You don't have to do this anymore. You don't have to keep fighting for them - you don't have to die for them tonight."
"We all have to die sometime," came the reply, almost rote, to Terra's ears.
"And what if you didn't have to?" Terra spoke. "What would you do, then?"
Karina considered him. She frowned, glanced away. "What does it matter? There's no escaping my fate. This bondage is forever."
Terra stood stock still, staring at her. So she didn't know yet? Hadn't seen her own...? He supposed most people wouldn't even want to look at their own clock - to constantly have to feel how little time they had left in the world... He shifted his stance, raising a hand to wave it about. "Really?" he said, amusement in his voice. "I disagree."
"Disagree all you want - the measure of the time I have left...it's never going away."
"Are you sure about that? Why not take a look? I think you'll be surprised."
"What are you say-" Karina looked at her shoulder. Then she did a double-take. "What...did you do to me?! How did you- when did you-"
"About two or three minutes ago - I destroyed the Ethesi Hourglass. I obliterated it myself," Terra said casually.
"N-no, you- it's an illusion, a trick, you can't just- you couldn't have actually-" Karina fell silent, staring at her arm. She reached out to touch her skin...and nothing happened. No jolt of green energy, no wracking, writhing pain. She gasped, looking to Terra swiftly again. "Y-you..." She said thickly. "HOW?"
"Well, I used a giant cannon..."
"You must be the most powerful warrior in the entire world..." she breathed, falling forward before him, gazing up at him in shock and wonder. And almost a kind of reverence that Terra didn't much like to see in a person.
Terra shook his head, and he strode forward and knelt down before her, getting on her level. "I'm afraid not. It's just that the magic I wield...it's- of a different makeup than the kind you use here in this world. Fortunately, it was lucky for me that the Hourglass wasn't more resistant to my attacks. It could have been nigh impregnable. On other worlds, other kinds of magic, it wouldn't have been so simple. It's all about...compatibility, when deciding which kind of magic flows easier or harder against the flow of another kind."
"Other...worlds?"
"That's right." A small part of Terra still wanted to heed the teachings of his late Master, but from all Riku had said about himself, his friends, and the state of the worlds themselves...well, keeping the world order was sort of an impossible task these days. He didn't feel like trying too hard, lately, to maintain it.
"This isn't a trick?" the woman whispered, gazing back at him with tears. She was trembling now, her hand clasped over her shoulder where that tattoo used to be. "You're not just being cruel...and I'm going to die in an hour anyways..."
"I would never," Terra said firmly. "But, if you're worried about it, how about you come with me - stick around - and after an hour passes, you can see you're still here. And if you do start to die, you can kill me for it before you go. How about that? I won't stop you, I won't fight back."
Karina nodded shakily. "Agreed..."
"Okay." Terra reached for her hand, slowly rising - and pulling her with him. He turned toward the teleportation circle, and he walked into it with Karina Altisa.
Thirty seconds was all they had.
That's all we need! Ven thought fiercely.
Ven leapt for Sephiroth with a swift swing of his Keyblade, covered in flames.
Sephiroth met his strike with his own sword, then gave a flick of his wrist to send Ven flying backwards - it was so powerful, so overwhelming that Ven flew back across the whole plaza, striking the wall hard.
Ven cried out, falling forward, his Keyblade falling out of his hand! He put a hand to his chest, gasping. How could one guy hit so hard? How could he just...? It was like he hadn't even been trying before... He got this feet and ran to rejoin the fight!
Cloud slashed for the man horizontally, but Sephiroth blocked it, then spun around and stabbed for Cloud in retaliation! Cloud twisted out of the way and flashed out a hand, sending out a blast of Fire magic! A powerful one! It hit Sephiroth dead in the chest, sending the man flying back across the plaza. Cloud chased after him, leaping up and twirling his blade with blue energy, slamming down on him. Sephiroth skidded back, and he met the wall of a building.
Sephiroth flew straight up - only to find Tifa there in the air above, waiting for him; she went into a furious spin, casting off orange energy, and she spiked him down to the ground so hard that a big crater was left behind.
Aerith swirled her staff overhead, and dozens of twisting strands of energy flew out across the plaza, curving straight down into that crater to explode.
Ven added a quick barrage from Flame Salvo, kicking up dust in that crater.
Sephiroth leapt up out of it, awash with energy and rising smoke - and Cloud was right there, slashing him across the chest!
Sephiroth stumbled, hand going to his wounded body. He raised his free hand, and dark projectiles struck Cloud several times over, sending him flipping backwards. Then he waved a hand, conjuring up pulsing dark spheres that exploded around Tifa, Aerith and Ven - sending them all scattering!
But Cloud had avoided it all. He landed, got his footing, and he stopped. He adjusted his weapon, and his whole body lit up with blue energy. Then he flew at Sephiroth again, and began furiously slashing at and leaping about him! Sephiroth turned and tried to block, but he was being attacked from practically all directions at once!
Cloud ended it all with a mighty upward swing across Sephiroth's body, and a backflip. He landed on a knee, his weapon held before him in both hands.
Sephiroth gazed at Cloud...and then he fell to a knee as well.
The giant sphere of energy above them all evaporated just before it was to reach the rooftops of the highest buildings.
The orange light faded, and the clouds reformed, and the sky...became a peaceful, starry night sky again.
"Looks like it's over for you, Sephiroth!" Cloud called out, straightening with weapon at his side. A small smirk crossed his lips.
Sephiroth bowed his head, hair falling forth. "And what will you do now, Cloud? Bask in your victory for a day, then drive away all your friends again, and submerge yourself in darkness once more? Is this a temporary victory, or an eternal one?"
Cloud shook his head. "Who can say? But I know...that as long as I've got my friends by my side...and as long as I can still see my light-" He turned, giving a nod and a smile to Tifa. Tifa's eyes fluttered, and she smiled back, nodding too. "-I can take every day as they come, and decide at the end of each one. Do I want to give in, give up - or do I want to get up again, and keep going?"
Sephiroth raised his head, his hand falling from his chest. An uninjured chest! He rose to his feet, holding his weapon at his side. "Oh...? Is that so, Cloud?"
"Yeah." Cloud raised his sword, aiming it out. "So get out of my town already, and become nothing but a bad memory in my Heart."
"Well...gladly."
"Hm?" Cloud tilted his head.
Sephiroth's face became one filled with...pleasure? Happiness? It looked weird on the guy, but it was there. He turned away, gazing up at the night sky. "I was wondering how long it would take for you to finally begin to reconcile with your past - and make your Heart whole again - one with your Light."
"What...?" Aerith breathed, confused.
Sephiroth glanced at her over a shoulder, a half-smile quirking his lips. But he didn't respond.
"Sephiroth," Cloud spoke, stepping forward, a strange look crossing his face. "You used to be a hero of the worlds - traveling alone, fighting for good." There was a question in there somewhere, tentative as could be.
"I was never alone - but for the loneliness I brought upon myself...by falling prey to the darkness, and the weakness within." Sephiroth lowered his head from the sky, and turned back to face Cloud. "I was once a hero - and then, for a time, I wasn't anymore. But, now, I am neither hero nor-"
"Villain?" Ven called out.
"Yes. In honor of their memories, of his memory...I am simply nothing but myself." Sephiroth's gaze fell to Cloud's sword, lingering there. "A long time ago, I indeed fell to the darkness - to my eternal shame. But, after finding my way out again with the helping hand of another, I vowed never to do so again. As well as to never allow another, similar young man to suffer the same fate. For many years now, Cloud, you have been teetering on that ledge - about to fall into the endless abyss. But...today...at last, you finally chose to take a step back from it."
"Bullshit," Cloud said flatly.
Sephiroth began to laugh, spreading his arms. A rich, pleasant laugh. "It is exactly as I've been telling you for all these years, Cloud: You chose to turn your back on the present and live in the past, because the light of the present was too much for you. Was I wrong?"
"So, what, you're saying you've been trying to help him this whole time?" Aerith questioned with narrowed eyes.
"That's right," Sephiroth said simply.
"Still don't believe you," Cloud stated.
"Believe me or don't - either way, it matters not. Because, either way - whether or not I'm hero or villain - I helped you overcome your past and find your missing light again...didn't I? That's a fact," Sephiroth said with a smirk.
"Still a smug bastard, either way," Cloud quipped back.
Sephiroth laughed again, and took a step forward, simple, lazy. His hand raised, a finger pointed to Cloud's blade. "Cherish that sword, Cloud. Honor the memory of the man who fell in defense of Radiant Garden - of you. Unlike I, the fool who did not cherish the man who wielded it before you. As I...was once foolish to bow to darkness's whims, and severed all ties with that very man I once called friend - and perhaps, even brother. A man who, even still, pulled me out from that darkness..."
Sephiroth turned away, slashing his long sword before him to summon a swirling portal of darkness. He began to take slow, leisurely steps toward it...
"WAIT! The man who saved me - who was he?!" Cloud shouted after him, reaching out a hand.
Sephiroth didn't stop; he continued on, disappearing through the portal. But, as the portal dissipated, Sephiroth's voice echoed all around them, speaking only two words. A name.
"Zack Fair..."
The four of them were left staring at one another in the plaza.
Tifa suddenly stepped up to Cloud, hands coming up to her chest.
"Cloud - as your light, I belong with you... Literally. I'm meant to be inside you."
"And that kind of talk is never going to stop tickling my funny bone," Aerith chortled.
Tifa blushed, but shook her head. "You know it's true, Cloud. I was a part of you, I was taken from you - I'm meant to be with you again now! So let me-"
"Hmph - no need." Cloud gave a small smile, shaking his head right back at her. "I said I'd find my light - and I have. There's nothing else on the agenda to do after that, is there? That was all I wanted, and I did it. So as long as I know you're out there, close by or far off, as long as you're still alive and shining bright...I'm good, Tifa. Besides, I'd rather not lose any more friends, if that's all the same to you."
Tifa's red eyes fluttered, her lips parting. "Cloud..." she breathed, giving a watery smile. "Are you sure...?"
"Didn't realize you needed my permission to exist," Cloud said mildly. "But if you need it, I'm giving it, okay? Just keep being you, Tifa, and I'll be happy." Cloud turned to Aerith, then looked back to Tifa. And then, he held out an arm - to each of them. "Now what do you say we...mosey on over to First District? You were doing that brownie special today, weren't you? I wouldn't mind a taste of that recipe..."
Aerith's hand went to her mouth as she giggled. Tifa laughed loudly, a grin coming over her. They took Cloud's arms, and began to march him off out of Fifth District together.
Ven gazed after them with a smile, his Heart full of warmth. Then, his smile faded. He raised a hand to his chest, sighing. Aqua...Terra...Sora, Kairi, Xion...am I ever gonna get to be with you guys again like that too?
AN: Seriously lol am I the ONLY ONE who thought Kh2 Sephiroth was legit trying to help Cloud out?! His lines about "I'm going to do nothing; Cloud is the one who hungers for darkness." and also that famous one I alluded to here about him telling Cloud shit like, "Face it, you turn your back on the present and live in the past, because the light of the present is too much." He seriously came off to me like he was doing a Beerus and he was trying to really train/help Cloud move on lol. Therapist Sephiroth. He just has extreme ass methods with his patients. xD He never even actually attacked anyone or anything! He just waited for Cloud to show up!