A scream tore from their throat as they tumbled, over and over, towards the grinding pillars. The X-Blade slipped from their fingers; they grasped for it desperately, fingers brushing the handle, missing, before finally gripping it by the keychain.
Holding a weapon didn't change the fact that they were about to be shredded by the churning glass.
"Please," they gasped out, unsure if they were begging to each other, the X-Blade, or Kingdom Hearts itself.
All they knew was that it couldn't end like this. Not when they'd never eaten another crêpe. Not when Terra was still in danger of being consumed. Not when the universe was collapsing.
Not when they didn't know who they were.
They cast Barrier, hoping that it would protect them long enough to—to do something. Anything. Shards struck their shield, sparkling it with spiderweb cracks. They braced themself, arms crossed in front of their face—
thump-THUMP CRASH
Their Barrier shattered… against a solid platform that had risen out of the chaos. They pushed themself to their hands and knees, on top of a vivid rainbow that arced across the island and sea painted in the glass.
Neverland. Neverland's heart had saved them. The touch of its glass stirred their memory, dredging up the fight between Vanitas and Aqua. It felt like a lifetime ago.
(Maybe it was.)
"Thank you," they whispered, shaking with relief. Then their injured arm gave out, and they collapsed back onto their face. The melted glass Terra had used against them sloughed off of their skin, peeling their cheeks raw.
Fantastic. Absolutely fantastic. All the power of the X-Blade, and Terra still managed to beat them up with some broken-looking rod. Why were they trying to save him, again?
He was Aqua's friend. He was Vanitas's enemy. But they weren't Aqua, and they weren't Vanitas. All they could feel was a vague sense of annoyance towards the other keyblade wielder for dragging them into this mess.
That was bad. If anyone should've been able to sift Aqua and Vanitas apart, it was Terra. Had his attack changed Aqua's mind, crossed her last line, made her will align with Vanitas's? Or had she spent her last speck of faith on softening Vanitas's anger to apathy?
They didn't know. The voices in their head were silent.
"We still have to get him out of here," they spoke to themselves, anyway. "There's no telling what he could do to the worlds. What he's already done to the worlds."
It wasn't a matter of heroics. They happened to live in the worlds. There would be no crêpes if they got destroyed.
"Alright. New plan, then."
Terra hovered on their glider overhead, barely visible in the glow of the higher pillars. They dismissed Stormfall, but didn't summon the glider back—it would be too difficult to navigate the tight quarters between colliding platforms.
(That, and they didn't want to risk Aqua's keyblade rejecting their amalgamate heart.)
As Terra fell from the sky, they took a running leap off of Neverland's pillar.
Faith. Trust. Pixie dust. Those were the ingredients that the Lost Boys had told Aqua were needed for flight. But they had something different in mind.
At the height of their leap, they called out to the nearest world's heart. Crystal windows broke off from the Castle of Dreams' sides and swirled beneath their feet.
Memories swirled as their feet struck the makeshift steps. Terra's back, turned as he asked Aqua if she shared the same dream. A swelling orchestra, emotions from the melody infusing Vanitas's newest Unversed. Each fragment from their two halves felt equally vivid.
Each fragment felt equally distant.
Until they swung the X-Blade at the falling Terra's shoulder. Aqua's memories snapped into focus as their weapon jerked to the side.
Terra fell past unscathed—only to crash through the fragile steps. Floundering at the impact, he managed to cling to the edge of one pane by the tips of his fingers. His unfinished keyblade dangled from its single handguard on his wrist.
"Aqua!" he called out desperately.
"Now you think we're Aqua?" they snapped, shaking off her memories that stifled like a too-small coat. "You couldn't have trusted us before you dropped us into the—whatever mess you made down there?"
"I didn't… you can't…" His teeth grit in time with the gnashing glass.
Dwarf Woodlands was engulfing the Castle of Dreams, and its appendage steps were shuddering with it. They didn't have time for this.
"Whatever. We're getting you out of here, whether you like it or not."
They tugged him up by his hand, then jumped from the failing stairs onto—
Oh.
This pillar, smaller but more stable than the surrounding ones… it bore their image in dark blue glass.
Their image. Singular. No Vanitas, no Aqua, only—
"I can't let you do that. Whoever you are." Terra's eyes narrowed. He jerked his hand from their grip, spinning his blade around his wrist and catching it in a fighting stance.
"What can you possibly want here?" they asked, even though they could feel the answer, drumming with every discordant heartbeat.
The X-Blade tempered the raw temptation, but Kingdom Hearts glowed with power. The light that permeated the pillars called out to them, begging their heart to merge, to give itself up to the universe's union.
No, thank you. They'd had enough merging for one day.
"I swore to make things right," Terra said firmly. "You didn't see the Land of Departure. Xehanort destroyed our home. Not to mention what Vanitas did to you!"
He pointed his blunt weapon down at the stained glass. At Aqua's shimmering face, inlaid with Vanitas's golden eyes.
"You… you think you can fix that?" they asked, guarding the hope in their voice.
(They didn't bother pointing out that they had seen the Land of Departure. They had more important things to discuss right now than a world that was only half their home.)
Terra stepped closer. He looked a little more like himself now, a little less taken by Kingdom Hearts' thrall.
"This weapon," he raised the broken key, "is made with the power of the Princesses of Heart. You saw the glass it can create. It can change hearts here. I can feel it."
He stared at them, blue eyes pleading. He was either right, or convinced of a lie. They wanted to believe the former—to believe that there was an easy way to return to the individuals they'd been.
But behind him, worlds continued to crumble.
"If it can change hearts, then why not fix the rest of this?" They waved the X-Blade vaguely. "I think the rest of the worlds are in a bit more danger than we are."
Terra's eyes darkened.
"The worlds are following their own hearts. They want this."
"Want what? To be crushed together? To lose themselves?" They shook their head. "There's no telling what that could do to the worlds outside. The only way we can stop it is by sealing Kingdom Hearts away."
Kingdom Hearts. The heart of all worlds—or rather, a force that drew all worlds' hearts into itself. And probably all people's, once it was done with that. It wouldn't matter if Terra could separate Vanitas and Aqua. Everything would be one.
There would be nothing left.
"You don't understand, Aqua—"
"I'm not Aqua."
They gripped the X-Blade tight, channeling their magic through its crossed blades, and spoke the name that finally came to them.
"I'm Flood."
Their Sleepga spell burst free in a swirl of light. Terra barely had time to gasp before crumpling to the platform. The odd keyblade slipped from his fingers, thunking heavily against the thick glass.
The chaos of light and glass slowed. The pillars didn't still entirely, but they must have been connected to Terra, somehow. He'd been the first one to enter Kingdom Hearts. It was a force, not an intelligence, so maybe it needed a consciousness to direct it?
Flood didn't know. They were a bit nervous to pick up the iron keyblade, in case it restarted the worlds' turmoil, but they could hardly leave it here.
Not like we can make anything worse, probably, they thought.
Flood sliced the X-Blade in two crossing strikes through the air, tearing a way back to the Keyblade Graveyard. Then they scooped Terra up under their arm and awkwardly picked up the other keyblade. It felt too warm to the touch, but nothing happened.
"Good. I'm really not in the mood for any more surprises," they muttered.
They froze before stepping through the jagged portal.
I'm. They'd said I'm.
"…They knew what this might cost," Flood murmured under their breath.
Terra had been willing to pay any price to split them apart. But Vanitas and Aqua had made the higher bid.
And now, Flood was left to take home the consolation prize.
XXX
Ten. Luxu flipped open the latch. It creaked in counterpoint to the screech of violins, coming from everywhere and nowhere.
Eleven. The air felt still, no longer boiling with misplaced chunks of worlds. The previous ones remained, but at least he didn't have to worry about any wayward pieces appearing on top of him.
Twelve. His heart pounded with anticipation. What would happen when the box finally opened? What would the worlds be like without the threat of Kingdom Hearts looming every millennium or so?
Most importantly, what would Luxu's life be like once his mission was complete? Would Ira, and Aced, and Invi and Gula and Ava come back to stand in awe of his success? Would the Master actually return, clapping in congratulation?
(Or would they still count Luxu a traitor, at the end of it all?)
His hand trembled on the final latch.
Thirteen—
THUD.
Luxu hopped back as someone landed in a crouch atop the Box. They held an unconscious Terra under one arm, their hands full with two mismatched weapons—that dull Keyblade of Heart, and the garish X-Blade.
Figures. Luxu found himself relaxing a little, though. Was he really so worried about finishing his role that he'd rather fight Aqua-slash-Vanitas? He was too close to the finish line to get cold feet.
They dropped Terra and the gray keyblade beside the box, next to Ventus. Luxu fought back a grimace. If they'd been tough enough to take out Terra, and they still looked ready for round two…
He'd been stupid to take off his coat. He'd had a potion or two tucked in the pockets that would've come in handy.
"Get back," they growled. It was Aqua's voice, but pitched down slightly, with a hint of gravel undercutting it. "You don't know what you're dealing with."
Luxu forced a laugh.
"As if! Think you're the one out of your league here—Aqua, is it? Or am I talkin' to the shadow?"
"Neither," they snapped quickly. "The name's Flood."
Touchy, touchy. And interesting. Luxu could make use of an identity crisis like that.
"Flood, eh? Not a bad pick. You can call me Luxu."
Their eyes narrowed suspiciously.
"But you're—"
"Braig?" He twirled No Name around one finger, watching as their golden eyes followed its aquamarine one. "Hey, you're not the only matryoshka here, kid. No point in me putting up fronts if you aren't."
They continued to stare, calculating. More patient than either Vanitas or Aqua had been before. They must have Vanitas's memories, though, if they could recognize that Luxu wasn't normally his name.
"Luxu. Ava mentioned you."
He nearly fumbled his keyblade. He played it off as tossing it from one hand to another. He was ambidextrous enough by now to make it look intentional.
"She said… you thought the war couldn't be stopped." Flood frowned. "But we did it. The monsters fled. I got Terra out. No one is fighting over Kingdom Hearts… unless you were planning to try your luck."
For all his bluffing, he wasn't stupid. He wasn't gonna best Flood on brute strength, not even with No Name.
"Guess you proved me wrong, huh?" He grinned. "Sounds like we're on the same side, then. I'm just here to sweep up the mess your friends left behind."
He nodded up at the moon. A dark X cut through its center, probably where Flood had popped out. Hopefully that wouldn't cause any problems.
"I've got that handled." They raised the X-Blade. Light sparkled at its sword-like tip.
"Woah, hey now. Let's not jump the gun here." He stepped closer. He just had to flip that last latch, preferably without getting sliced in half. "Sure, that'll get rid of the old moon for now. But I've been around the block a few times. It won't be long before someone else comes and summons it right back."
"Someone like you?" they said.
Ugh. Playing along with Xehanort probably hadn't done him any favors in their eyes. But Flood seemed like someone he could reason with. They hadn't jumped straight to attacking like their puny friend.
"As if." He rolled his eyes. "Look, this Box's been waiting to see some action for thousands of years. It was specifically designed to trap Kingdom Hearts somewhere it can't do this kind of damage. Doesn't that sound like a better plan?"
"Maybe if it didn't involve trusting you."
Luxu let out a heavy sigh—and unfortunately, it wasn't exaggerated. The X-Blade's light was already beaming up to Kingdom Hearts. If Flood got it locked up before the Box was open, it was game over.
He'd have to wait another thousand years for a chance like this. Leave No Name with another poor sucker. Throw himself from vessel to vessel to vessel, again and again and again. Watch and wait and watch and wait and wait and wait.
No. He'd had enough of this.
He lashed out with No Name. A reckless, furious swipe, one that was easy for Flood to backflip away from. But that cut their connection to the moon—and left the Box exposed.
Luxu dove forward. He dropped his weapon to fumble with the last latch, the giant spiked one on the Box's front. It creaked as he pried his fingers under it.
Come on come on come on—
The latch flipped. Flood leapt.
The Box opened.
For a heartbeat, nothing happened. Time seemed to freeze as Flood leapt at him, the X-Blade inches from piercing his chest.
And then the Box's light caught them.