Vagabond Hearts: True
I'd like to apologize for how long it's taken to get this story posted. I don't have regular access to the internet, and I have been putting heavy effort into some original science-fiction / fantasy epic I've been working on off and on for years, and I've also been jotting down a lot of notes for a card game based on some silly old comics my then-girlfriend (and future girlfriend, if I have my way. And, yes, she is reading this) and I used to draw in our high school psychology class. But, believe me when I say that the only reason this story is taking so long this time around is because I want it to be as awesome as possible for you and her, my fans.
Anyway, copyright lawyers, take note of my usual denial of ownership over any and all locations and characters related to Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy, and anything made by Disney or Square-Enix.
Chapter Three:
Hex had to feel his way along the inside of the tree branch for a time, as there was no light within the hollow passage. It seemed that he had been walking for an hour or more, and had definitely walked the length of the village above him, before he finally saw an eerie, dim glow ahead of him. He quickened his pace when he saw this, and in moments, came to the place where the branch he was walking in met the tree's actual trunk.
Aided by the glow, which seemed to come from both below and above him in the trunk, Hex could see that it seemed the entire tree was hollow, or at least riddled with large caverns and passages. He stepped out onto a ledge into the trunk, and peered over the edge. He couldn't really make out any solid features of the tree below him. There seemed to be a massive, glowing lake below. With no idea how high up the tree he actually was, he was left to guess how deep this glowing ocean was. And since he wasn't much of a diver, he decided to leave it at a guess, and head up into the dimmer glow above him. He released a small electrical charge into his spellhands, and used the resulting static to aid his long climb up the side of the tree's inside.
It didn't actually occur to him to wonder what, exactly, he was looking for.
"Well, he came, just like he said he would," Locke said as he walked onto the bridge of the Star Falcon. He was speaking to a man with long, silvery hair standing in the shadows of the bridge, near the view window in the front.
"So..?" the man said. He turned to face Locke, his dark trench coat billowing around him, his face still obscured in shadow.
"So it's the proof you wanted, Setzer," Locke said, not caring to hide his exasperation.
"Proof of what, Locke?" Setzer asked, stepping from the shadows into the light filtering in through the view window. "Proof of some grand destiny we are a part of? Why would I believe that?"
"Because it's already begun, Setzer."
Locke and Setzer turned to the door, where Terra stood. Yuna and Lulu stood behind her, peering over her shoulder into the bridge.
"It was Hex who warned us that Locke and Celes had discovered the truth," Terra said firmly as she walked towards Setzer. "It was Hex who helped us escape our Kingdom as the Heartless brought it down around our ears, led by the man - "
Setzer cut her off with a scoff, looking out the window again. But Terra was near him now, and stepped back into his view, her anger shining in her eyes. "Led by the man, " she continued, "who was supposed to protect us."
"Right, so some guy who claims to be from the future suddenly drops into our laps, with all this knowledge of what is to come," Setzer replied coldly. "He turns our palace on its ears, pits our defenders against each other, claims he's trying to save our Kingdom, and then fails to do so. And he says it's all for destiny?" Setzer tone rose to anger as he spoke. "Well, I don't believe in destiny! I'm a gambler! We don't do destiny. It wasn't destiny that let our friends get taken by the Heartless, and it wasn't destiny that cost us our Kingdom!." Setzer looked away from everyone on the bridge, but Terra noticed the dim, green-tinted sunlight filtering through the window glint off a single tear on Setzer's cheek.
"It was Hex. He let those things happen."
Terra looked at Locke, Yuna, and Lulu in turn, but each of them remained silent. She looked back at Setzer, and was silent for a moment, herself. Finally, she said, "Hex lost just as much as we lost in that final battle, Setzer. Only he had to deal with the fact that he had to give it up. He had come from a dark future to prevent it, and was forced instead to accept it. And now, this Hex, he doesn't even know what he's getting himself into." Setzer scoffed again, but Terra continued. She spoke softly, there was no anger in her voice.
"But he will know. And he will make the choice to return to this future, he will make the choice to let himself experience it, and he will ask us -" she took Setzer's chin in her hand, and turned his face to look at hers. "He will ask us to help him. Yes, Setzer, we all lost something, and we all lost someone, in that battle. But that wasn't Hex's fault."
"Well, it wasn't destiny, either," Setzer said quietly.
"No, it wasn't destiny, either," Terra agreed. "It was Magus. It was Chaos. And it was Ansem. It was their fault. But it is destiny that sets Hex's path before him, and it is Hex who chooses to walk it, to do his best to end the threat of the Heartless. And it is destiny that sets us at Hex's side on this path. I will walk it."
"And so will I," Locke said finally. "And Celes, when Hex wakes her, like he promised he would."
"But he doesn't even know he made the promise," Setzer said. He looked at Yuna and Lulu, and said, "And what about you two. You used to be three, but your sister was taken from you."
Yuna lowered her head, but Lulu stepped forward, with only the faintest sign of pain on her face. "We lost a sister to the Heartless, but Hex saved her in the end. We may not know where she is, but we believe Hex will help us find her."
Yuna stepped forward and nodded, tears running down her own cheeks. "That's right. We will walk with Hex for Paine, and for everyone else who needs our help. Hex will help us find our sister, I believe that, and that is something he didn't promise. But I believe it, anyway."
Setzer looked at everyone gathered before him. After a moment, he smiled. "You people are making this boy into a messiah, you know that, right?" No one responded, and Setzer shook his head. "And you are doing it based solely on the promise of the man he will become. But promises are easily broken, especially when they have yet to be made." He looked out the window again. The others didn't realize it, but Setzer hated this place, this village and this tree. He couldn't see the sky, the sky he loved so much. But, deep down inside, Setzer's concern wasn't whether or not he would see his sky again, with its thousands of beautiful stars. In truth, Setzer was worried that the sky soon wouldn't be there for the future generations, for the children of the Orphanage to see again.
Finally, he looked back at his friends. "Fine, I'm in. If this is destiny, then I have no choice anyway. If it isn't, then I'll follow you on the chance that this boy will become the man we need him to be."
Locke walked over to Setzer, and clapped him on the back. "Glad to hear it, man. Hex has already gone into the tree to the Shrine of Destiny, and we'll need the Falcon ready when he comes back."
Setzer looked at Locke for a moment, with his mouth hanging open. "He already went in? He's already chosen to help us?" Locke nodded, and Setzer shook his head. "That guy is something else. How could he make that choice, knowing what his destiny is? What he will have to give up."
"He told us not to tell him, remember?" Terra said. "So we didn't."
"So he's doing this as a gamble, with no idea of what he's walking into?"
"Completely blind, trusting himself to that force of fate you love so much, yourself," Locke said.
"Wow, he sounds like he really will be my kind of guy..."Setzer said, looking out the window again. This time, however, he smiled.
Panting and sweating, Hex pulled himself up over one final ledge. He had been climbing for what seemed like forever. His arms and back ached, and the static he had charged his spellhands with had long ago given out.
He knelt on the ledge for a few minutes, struggling to catch his breath, and willing the stiffness and pain out of his body. Finally, with great effort, he lifted his head to look around. To his left and right, he saw that the ledge ran all around the inside of the Mana Tree, though it angled slightly downward to his left. In all, the Mana Tree was at least two miles thick on the inside, and Hex was awestruck by the sheer size of the tree. But he saw nothing on this ledge, just as he had on all the ledges he had pulled himself over before. Absolutely nothing.
Sighing a sigh that came from the very depths of his being, Hex pushed himself to his feet and looked up for some way up the wall. To his great surprise, however, he saw that he had reached the top of this chamber. There was no more up to climb.
Hex stood there, his neck craned upward and his mouth hanging open for a good ten minutes, until a little drool running down his chin snapped him out of it. He shook his head and swallowed, and then looked up again. There was nowhere else to go, and no sign of the glow he had climbed up towards in the first place. Completely and totally lost, Hex looked around the tree for anywhere else to go that didn't involve climbing all the way down again. After a moment, he noticed the origin of the glow he had been following.
It seemed dimmer now, but the glow was definitely coming from a rock nearby. Hex walked towards the rock, resting on another ledge connected to the one he had climbed to by the angled path he had noticed before. Hex came to the rock, and seeing that it was flat and warm to the touch, he decided to sit down. Sitting there, it suddenly dawned on Hex that he could have climbed right past whatever he was looking for. He made a mental note to himself to tell Locke to tell him what to look for, but realized after a moment that it didn't matter. Either he would choose not to tell Locke, or Locke would choose not to tell him...
Hex shook his head again. He was having trouble with this whole time traveling thing, the idea that he was eventually going to take a trip into the past. It felt like he was working towards some goal, but that his only clues to that goal were the tales of his having already reached it. Hex had always been willing to accept the possibility of destiny, but only because he believed that destiny would only take someone so far. It was left up to the person to choose to walk the path set before them.
Hex stared into the glowing lake so far below him, thinking this over. Destiny could set the path, he knew that. But it was up to the person to walk it. And here he was, his path set before him, but Hex couldn't help but think that he was already walking it, that he had never been given the choice. If his path had already taken him into the past, which had in turn set his path for him already, did he have any choice in this destiny, at all? Could he choose to turn around now, or was it too late?
Finally, Hex stood on the rock. The questions had driven the pain and stiffness from his body, and now he looked up at the cavern ceiling above him. "So, what's the deal here?" he asked out loud. "Is my destiny set, or do I still have choices to make? Or are you just banking on the idea that I'll make the right choices, and walk this path on my own, after all?"
"A lot of people are counting on me. Locke and the others made that clear. But, if I already saved them once, does that mean destiny will see me through all these coming challenges I have to face?"
Another thought suddenly struck him, one far deeper then the question of whether or not he could still turn around. He looked down at the lake below him, and asked quietly, "Can I die?"
"Destiny only takes a person so far, the person must choose to walk the path. So, whatever you are, this power that sets the path before me, you must be taking quite a gamble, hoping I'll make the right decisions, and that I will choose to walk it."
Hex stepped to the edge of the rock. "Let's see how far you'll go to get me to walk it," he said with a smile, and leapt of the edge.
Hex fell headfirst past all the ledges he had spent so much time climbing up, and he had time to think what a fitting metaphor it was before he hit the surface of the lake, only to discover that it was actually a very thick fog...
Hex awoke suddenly, and his first reaction was anger at how much time he was spending unconscious, lately. He was on his back, however, and soon saw that he was no longer in the trunk of the Mana Tree.
All around him, now, was a grey fog and random floating rocks. In the distance above him, he could just make out the form of a great doorway on one of the rocks. It seemed to be the only source of light in this great abyss.
Hex got to his feet and looked around. He was on a stained glass platform, surrounded by six other platforms rising from the mists and darkness a short distance away. Each of the other platforms seemed to represent an element; fire and water, earth and air, light and dark. The platform Hex himself stood on seemed split into three parts, two halves around a center.
One half of his platform seemed to depict nothing but chaos: darkness, pain, destruction, and anger. The other side seemed to depict balance: light, pleasure, and creation. In the center was a melding of the two in a magnificent swirling pattern, coalescing into a single green star.
Compelled by the beauty of it, Hex stepped into the center star. There was a sudden surge of air around him, which split and spread in six directions to the platforms surrounding this one, but nothing else happened. Hex looked around for a moment, not leaving that spot, until he happened to glance behind him and saw something there.
It stood there patiently enough, a creature almost all black, but with a tan face. It stood about as tall as the shadows Hex had fought before, at the Lifebeat, and that measurement included the creature's massive, rounded ears. Hex at first thought it was a Heartless, though a second look gave the impression that the creature in the red shorts was really more of a humanoid mouse.
"Hello, Hex," the creature said in a high-pitched, but oddly endearing voice.
"Um, hello," Hex returned uncertainly.
"No need to be afraid," the creature continued, stepping forward. "Name's Mickey Mouse, king of the Magic Kingdom."
"You're a king?"
"That's right," Mickey said with a chuckle.
"Well, King Mickey," Hex said with a touch of anger in his voice, "Perhaps you can tell me were I am, and what I'm doing here."
Mickey took on a more somber tone. "You are standing on the Shrine of Destiny, deep within the Abyss. The door above you leads to Kingdom Hearts, the source of all Kingdoms"
Hex nodded. That wasn't as clear an answer as he had hoped for.
"You are here in the Abyss," Mickey continued, "for matters of destiny, as have been a handful of others before you. Not just your destiny, or theirs, but the destiny of all Kingdoms."
Hex nodded again, but still said nothing.
"And you got here by taking a flying leap of faith from the top of the Mana Tree," Mickey concluded.
"Hold it," Hex said, holding up a hand. "That wasn't a leap of faith. That was a leap of distinct non-faith. That was a leap of proof."
"And what did it prove?" Mickey asked.
"That my destiny is set in stone," Hex answered defiantly. 'And until I fulfill it, I am not in control of my actions."
"How do you come to that?" Mickey asked, as innocently as he had the last question.
"Because I keep falling unconscious, and waking up were I need to be. I don't choose where I end up."
"No, but you choose to take the actions that bring you there," Mickey said with a smile. "You chose to leap into the mist that brought you here."
"Yes, but I told you: that was a test," Hex said.
"Yes, and I'm trying to tell you: you are drawing the wrong conclusions," Mickey returned, still smiling. The "king" was starting to grate on Hex's nerves.
"So what conclusions should I be drawing?" Hex asked angrily.
"Let me explain something to you, Hex," Mickey said. He began to circle around Hex as he spoke. "A few years ago, a force of darkness known as the Heartless was unleashed against the Kingdoms. We don't know by who or what; it could have been the sage known as Ansem, or it could have been something else.
"We do know that all Kingdoms will fall to the Heartless, who are being led by a handful of people and creatures. Something must be done, and I set out to learn what. Though I don't know all the answers, I do know this: that destiny has already set in motion the key to winning this battle against the Heartless.
"Have you ever heard the saying, 'One sky, one destiny?'" Mickey asked Hex.
"Yes, it's a saying in my Kingdom, Neon," Hex said.
"It's a saying in a lot of Kingdoms, and no one knows where it came from. But do you know what it means?"
"That all things share a common destiny," Hex answered with certainty.
Mickey nodded. "Exactly. But not all things, and not all people, share a common path to that destiny. Whatever power is behind that door," Mickey pointed at the door to Kingdom Hearts, "seems to have set a number of paths at the feet of a handful of select individuals, destined hero- types like myself, and you.
"You, however, are a special case. Yours is one of a small number of hearts who's destiny was chosen long ago."
"But, that right there is what I told you," Hex interrupted. "That I have no choice in my destiny. You said that wasn't true."
"That's right," Mickey said. "Your destiny is set. But the path you take to reach it is entirely up to you."
"But the fact that I have already affected the past means that the choice of path has already been set, too!" Hex insisted.
"Yes," Mickey said with a serene smile. "By you."
Hex said nothing, he only stared at Mickey. After a moment, Mickey said, "Look into your heart, Hex. You know it's true."
Hex closed his eyes and thought about it, and he suddenly felt a surge of air around him again. He opened his eyes, and saw that Mickey was no longer beside him. He didn't appear to be anywhere, himself, either. He seemed to be skipping from place to place in a blur of images and faces. Some places and faces he recognized, most he did not. But he knew these people and places for what they were: lost to the Heartless, or else nearly so.
Suddenly, the faces of Terra and Locke reared up out of the blur, and the faces of Yuna, Lulu, and the other orphans behind them. Hex tried to look away, only to be confronted by the faces of his friends on Neon, Crystal and Damon among them.
Hex shut his eyes again and cried out, and when he opened them again, he was back at the Shrine of Destiny, with Mickey in front of him.
"Mickey," he said slowly. "All those faces, they will be lost to the Heartless if I don't do something?"
"Not just you," Mickey said reassuringly. "Like I said, you are not alone in this battle."
"Mickey," Hex said again. "Why didn't I see my face?"
Mickey frowned, and sorrow shone in his eyes. It was truly a saddening sight. "Because you will not be lost to the Heartless."
Hex did not understand Mickey's sorrow in this answer, but it didn't matter. He didn't matter, it was all those other people who mattered, his friends and those children, all those innocent lives.
Hex nodded. "What do you need me to do?"
"The Shadow Dragon attacked this place some years ago, seeking to send all Kingdoms into Chaos," Mickey answered. "When he did so, the eight Elemental Hearts, along with the Heart of Destiny, left this place to hide among the Kingdoms.
"The Shadow Dragon was a powerful True Heartless, not one of the artificial creatures made in Ansem's machines. He tracked down the Heart of Chaos in Ansem's own Kingdom, during its final days. But a human had taken control of it, and the Shadow Dragon was forced to merge with this human to gain the Heart's power. The Heartless known as Chaos was the result of that merging.
"Now, Chaos seeks the Elemental Hearts, and the Heart of Balance. He will destroy the Heart of Balance, so that when the six Elemental Hearts are gathered, the Heart of Destiny will be forced to choose Chaos as the path for all Kingdoms."
"And I have to stop him," Hex said.
"Yes, with this," Mickey stepped back. Hex held out his hand, and a very unique sword suddenly appeared in it. It was shaped like a key, with a black, bastard sword blade. The teeth were set on the back of the blade, a trio of electric green lightning bolts. Electric green veins ran down the length of the blade to the teeth. Holding it, Hex could feel that the sword was handled more like a short sword, despite its size. The handle was built to allow Hex to wield the weapon with the back of the blade against his forearm, setting the teeth above his shoulder.
"This is your Keyblade, the Vagabond's Path," Mickey said. "That medallion around your neck..."
Hex looked down and saw a key-shaped medallion hanging from a chain around his neck. It's handle ended in sharply angled hawk wings, which was where the chain was attached. It was silver in color, but seemed to give off a light reflection of green.
"...Will take you to the hiding places of the Elemental Hearts," Mickey said. "From there, you will channel the Hearts from their hiding places, into the hearts of the Vagabonds chosen to carry them."
"How will I know who is meant to carry the Hearts?" Hex asked.
"Trust that they will be by your side when you need them," Mickey answered.
"Right, then," Hex said with a firm nod. Without even thinking, Hex swung the sword backward, and it disappeared from his hand suddenly. Hex did not question it, however. "Where to, first?"
"That choice is up to you."
Hex thought for a moment. "Guess I better head back to the Mana Tree. The Orphanage will be waiting for me."
"Good luck, then," Mickey said with a smile, stepping back.
"You're not coming?" Hex asked.
"No, my path is different then yours," Mickey answered. "But our destiny is the same. We will meet again."
Hex nodded as the air surged around him again. He began to close his eyes, when Mickey spoke again.
"Hex," the mouse said, "You have lost a lot in the battle, more then you realize. And you will have to give up more. Your path will be hard, but do not trust your heroic destiny too much, or lose yourself to it. There is a foe more dangerous then the Heartless on the horizon, and if you give up yourself, you will fall to them. Be careful."
Hex smiled and nodded, and then closed his eyes.
There was a rush of air, and then darkness again.
I'd like to apologize for how long it's taken to get this story posted. I don't have regular access to the internet, and I have been putting heavy effort into some original science-fiction / fantasy epic I've been working on off and on for years, and I've also been jotting down a lot of notes for a card game based on some silly old comics my then-girlfriend (and future girlfriend, if I have my way. And, yes, she is reading this) and I used to draw in our high school psychology class. But, believe me when I say that the only reason this story is taking so long this time around is because I want it to be as awesome as possible for you and her, my fans.
Anyway, copyright lawyers, take note of my usual denial of ownership over any and all locations and characters related to Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy, and anything made by Disney or Square-Enix.
Chapter Three:
Hex had to feel his way along the inside of the tree branch for a time, as there was no light within the hollow passage. It seemed that he had been walking for an hour or more, and had definitely walked the length of the village above him, before he finally saw an eerie, dim glow ahead of him. He quickened his pace when he saw this, and in moments, came to the place where the branch he was walking in met the tree's actual trunk.
Aided by the glow, which seemed to come from both below and above him in the trunk, Hex could see that it seemed the entire tree was hollow, or at least riddled with large caverns and passages. He stepped out onto a ledge into the trunk, and peered over the edge. He couldn't really make out any solid features of the tree below him. There seemed to be a massive, glowing lake below. With no idea how high up the tree he actually was, he was left to guess how deep this glowing ocean was. And since he wasn't much of a diver, he decided to leave it at a guess, and head up into the dimmer glow above him. He released a small electrical charge into his spellhands, and used the resulting static to aid his long climb up the side of the tree's inside.
It didn't actually occur to him to wonder what, exactly, he was looking for.
"Well, he came, just like he said he would," Locke said as he walked onto the bridge of the Star Falcon. He was speaking to a man with long, silvery hair standing in the shadows of the bridge, near the view window in the front.
"So..?" the man said. He turned to face Locke, his dark trench coat billowing around him, his face still obscured in shadow.
"So it's the proof you wanted, Setzer," Locke said, not caring to hide his exasperation.
"Proof of what, Locke?" Setzer asked, stepping from the shadows into the light filtering in through the view window. "Proof of some grand destiny we are a part of? Why would I believe that?"
"Because it's already begun, Setzer."
Locke and Setzer turned to the door, where Terra stood. Yuna and Lulu stood behind her, peering over her shoulder into the bridge.
"It was Hex who warned us that Locke and Celes had discovered the truth," Terra said firmly as she walked towards Setzer. "It was Hex who helped us escape our Kingdom as the Heartless brought it down around our ears, led by the man - "
Setzer cut her off with a scoff, looking out the window again. But Terra was near him now, and stepped back into his view, her anger shining in her eyes. "Led by the man, " she continued, "who was supposed to protect us."
"Right, so some guy who claims to be from the future suddenly drops into our laps, with all this knowledge of what is to come," Setzer replied coldly. "He turns our palace on its ears, pits our defenders against each other, claims he's trying to save our Kingdom, and then fails to do so. And he says it's all for destiny?" Setzer tone rose to anger as he spoke. "Well, I don't believe in destiny! I'm a gambler! We don't do destiny. It wasn't destiny that let our friends get taken by the Heartless, and it wasn't destiny that cost us our Kingdom!." Setzer looked away from everyone on the bridge, but Terra noticed the dim, green-tinted sunlight filtering through the window glint off a single tear on Setzer's cheek.
"It was Hex. He let those things happen."
Terra looked at Locke, Yuna, and Lulu in turn, but each of them remained silent. She looked back at Setzer, and was silent for a moment, herself. Finally, she said, "Hex lost just as much as we lost in that final battle, Setzer. Only he had to deal with the fact that he had to give it up. He had come from a dark future to prevent it, and was forced instead to accept it. And now, this Hex, he doesn't even know what he's getting himself into." Setzer scoffed again, but Terra continued. She spoke softly, there was no anger in her voice.
"But he will know. And he will make the choice to return to this future, he will make the choice to let himself experience it, and he will ask us -" she took Setzer's chin in her hand, and turned his face to look at hers. "He will ask us to help him. Yes, Setzer, we all lost something, and we all lost someone, in that battle. But that wasn't Hex's fault."
"Well, it wasn't destiny, either," Setzer said quietly.
"No, it wasn't destiny, either," Terra agreed. "It was Magus. It was Chaos. And it was Ansem. It was their fault. But it is destiny that sets Hex's path before him, and it is Hex who chooses to walk it, to do his best to end the threat of the Heartless. And it is destiny that sets us at Hex's side on this path. I will walk it."
"And so will I," Locke said finally. "And Celes, when Hex wakes her, like he promised he would."
"But he doesn't even know he made the promise," Setzer said. He looked at Yuna and Lulu, and said, "And what about you two. You used to be three, but your sister was taken from you."
Yuna lowered her head, but Lulu stepped forward, with only the faintest sign of pain on her face. "We lost a sister to the Heartless, but Hex saved her in the end. We may not know where she is, but we believe Hex will help us find her."
Yuna stepped forward and nodded, tears running down her own cheeks. "That's right. We will walk with Hex for Paine, and for everyone else who needs our help. Hex will help us find our sister, I believe that, and that is something he didn't promise. But I believe it, anyway."
Setzer looked at everyone gathered before him. After a moment, he smiled. "You people are making this boy into a messiah, you know that, right?" No one responded, and Setzer shook his head. "And you are doing it based solely on the promise of the man he will become. But promises are easily broken, especially when they have yet to be made." He looked out the window again. The others didn't realize it, but Setzer hated this place, this village and this tree. He couldn't see the sky, the sky he loved so much. But, deep down inside, Setzer's concern wasn't whether or not he would see his sky again, with its thousands of beautiful stars. In truth, Setzer was worried that the sky soon wouldn't be there for the future generations, for the children of the Orphanage to see again.
Finally, he looked back at his friends. "Fine, I'm in. If this is destiny, then I have no choice anyway. If it isn't, then I'll follow you on the chance that this boy will become the man we need him to be."
Locke walked over to Setzer, and clapped him on the back. "Glad to hear it, man. Hex has already gone into the tree to the Shrine of Destiny, and we'll need the Falcon ready when he comes back."
Setzer looked at Locke for a moment, with his mouth hanging open. "He already went in? He's already chosen to help us?" Locke nodded, and Setzer shook his head. "That guy is something else. How could he make that choice, knowing what his destiny is? What he will have to give up."
"He told us not to tell him, remember?" Terra said. "So we didn't."
"So he's doing this as a gamble, with no idea of what he's walking into?"
"Completely blind, trusting himself to that force of fate you love so much, yourself," Locke said.
"Wow, he sounds like he really will be my kind of guy..."Setzer said, looking out the window again. This time, however, he smiled.
Panting and sweating, Hex pulled himself up over one final ledge. He had been climbing for what seemed like forever. His arms and back ached, and the static he had charged his spellhands with had long ago given out.
He knelt on the ledge for a few minutes, struggling to catch his breath, and willing the stiffness and pain out of his body. Finally, with great effort, he lifted his head to look around. To his left and right, he saw that the ledge ran all around the inside of the Mana Tree, though it angled slightly downward to his left. In all, the Mana Tree was at least two miles thick on the inside, and Hex was awestruck by the sheer size of the tree. But he saw nothing on this ledge, just as he had on all the ledges he had pulled himself over before. Absolutely nothing.
Sighing a sigh that came from the very depths of his being, Hex pushed himself to his feet and looked up for some way up the wall. To his great surprise, however, he saw that he had reached the top of this chamber. There was no more up to climb.
Hex stood there, his neck craned upward and his mouth hanging open for a good ten minutes, until a little drool running down his chin snapped him out of it. He shook his head and swallowed, and then looked up again. There was nowhere else to go, and no sign of the glow he had climbed up towards in the first place. Completely and totally lost, Hex looked around the tree for anywhere else to go that didn't involve climbing all the way down again. After a moment, he noticed the origin of the glow he had been following.
It seemed dimmer now, but the glow was definitely coming from a rock nearby. Hex walked towards the rock, resting on another ledge connected to the one he had climbed to by the angled path he had noticed before. Hex came to the rock, and seeing that it was flat and warm to the touch, he decided to sit down. Sitting there, it suddenly dawned on Hex that he could have climbed right past whatever he was looking for. He made a mental note to himself to tell Locke to tell him what to look for, but realized after a moment that it didn't matter. Either he would choose not to tell Locke, or Locke would choose not to tell him...
Hex shook his head again. He was having trouble with this whole time traveling thing, the idea that he was eventually going to take a trip into the past. It felt like he was working towards some goal, but that his only clues to that goal were the tales of his having already reached it. Hex had always been willing to accept the possibility of destiny, but only because he believed that destiny would only take someone so far. It was left up to the person to choose to walk the path set before them.
Hex stared into the glowing lake so far below him, thinking this over. Destiny could set the path, he knew that. But it was up to the person to walk it. And here he was, his path set before him, but Hex couldn't help but think that he was already walking it, that he had never been given the choice. If his path had already taken him into the past, which had in turn set his path for him already, did he have any choice in this destiny, at all? Could he choose to turn around now, or was it too late?
Finally, Hex stood on the rock. The questions had driven the pain and stiffness from his body, and now he looked up at the cavern ceiling above him. "So, what's the deal here?" he asked out loud. "Is my destiny set, or do I still have choices to make? Or are you just banking on the idea that I'll make the right choices, and walk this path on my own, after all?"
"A lot of people are counting on me. Locke and the others made that clear. But, if I already saved them once, does that mean destiny will see me through all these coming challenges I have to face?"
Another thought suddenly struck him, one far deeper then the question of whether or not he could still turn around. He looked down at the lake below him, and asked quietly, "Can I die?"
"Destiny only takes a person so far, the person must choose to walk the path. So, whatever you are, this power that sets the path before me, you must be taking quite a gamble, hoping I'll make the right decisions, and that I will choose to walk it."
Hex stepped to the edge of the rock. "Let's see how far you'll go to get me to walk it," he said with a smile, and leapt of the edge.
Hex fell headfirst past all the ledges he had spent so much time climbing up, and he had time to think what a fitting metaphor it was before he hit the surface of the lake, only to discover that it was actually a very thick fog...
Hex awoke suddenly, and his first reaction was anger at how much time he was spending unconscious, lately. He was on his back, however, and soon saw that he was no longer in the trunk of the Mana Tree.
All around him, now, was a grey fog and random floating rocks. In the distance above him, he could just make out the form of a great doorway on one of the rocks. It seemed to be the only source of light in this great abyss.
Hex got to his feet and looked around. He was on a stained glass platform, surrounded by six other platforms rising from the mists and darkness a short distance away. Each of the other platforms seemed to represent an element; fire and water, earth and air, light and dark. The platform Hex himself stood on seemed split into three parts, two halves around a center.
One half of his platform seemed to depict nothing but chaos: darkness, pain, destruction, and anger. The other side seemed to depict balance: light, pleasure, and creation. In the center was a melding of the two in a magnificent swirling pattern, coalescing into a single green star.
Compelled by the beauty of it, Hex stepped into the center star. There was a sudden surge of air around him, which split and spread in six directions to the platforms surrounding this one, but nothing else happened. Hex looked around for a moment, not leaving that spot, until he happened to glance behind him and saw something there.
It stood there patiently enough, a creature almost all black, but with a tan face. It stood about as tall as the shadows Hex had fought before, at the Lifebeat, and that measurement included the creature's massive, rounded ears. Hex at first thought it was a Heartless, though a second look gave the impression that the creature in the red shorts was really more of a humanoid mouse.
"Hello, Hex," the creature said in a high-pitched, but oddly endearing voice.
"Um, hello," Hex returned uncertainly.
"No need to be afraid," the creature continued, stepping forward. "Name's Mickey Mouse, king of the Magic Kingdom."
"You're a king?"
"That's right," Mickey said with a chuckle.
"Well, King Mickey," Hex said with a touch of anger in his voice, "Perhaps you can tell me were I am, and what I'm doing here."
Mickey took on a more somber tone. "You are standing on the Shrine of Destiny, deep within the Abyss. The door above you leads to Kingdom Hearts, the source of all Kingdoms"
Hex nodded. That wasn't as clear an answer as he had hoped for.
"You are here in the Abyss," Mickey continued, "for matters of destiny, as have been a handful of others before you. Not just your destiny, or theirs, but the destiny of all Kingdoms."
Hex nodded again, but still said nothing.
"And you got here by taking a flying leap of faith from the top of the Mana Tree," Mickey concluded.
"Hold it," Hex said, holding up a hand. "That wasn't a leap of faith. That was a leap of distinct non-faith. That was a leap of proof."
"And what did it prove?" Mickey asked.
"That my destiny is set in stone," Hex answered defiantly. 'And until I fulfill it, I am not in control of my actions."
"How do you come to that?" Mickey asked, as innocently as he had the last question.
"Because I keep falling unconscious, and waking up were I need to be. I don't choose where I end up."
"No, but you choose to take the actions that bring you there," Mickey said with a smile. "You chose to leap into the mist that brought you here."
"Yes, but I told you: that was a test," Hex said.
"Yes, and I'm trying to tell you: you are drawing the wrong conclusions," Mickey returned, still smiling. The "king" was starting to grate on Hex's nerves.
"So what conclusions should I be drawing?" Hex asked angrily.
"Let me explain something to you, Hex," Mickey said. He began to circle around Hex as he spoke. "A few years ago, a force of darkness known as the Heartless was unleashed against the Kingdoms. We don't know by who or what; it could have been the sage known as Ansem, or it could have been something else.
"We do know that all Kingdoms will fall to the Heartless, who are being led by a handful of people and creatures. Something must be done, and I set out to learn what. Though I don't know all the answers, I do know this: that destiny has already set in motion the key to winning this battle against the Heartless.
"Have you ever heard the saying, 'One sky, one destiny?'" Mickey asked Hex.
"Yes, it's a saying in my Kingdom, Neon," Hex said.
"It's a saying in a lot of Kingdoms, and no one knows where it came from. But do you know what it means?"
"That all things share a common destiny," Hex answered with certainty.
Mickey nodded. "Exactly. But not all things, and not all people, share a common path to that destiny. Whatever power is behind that door," Mickey pointed at the door to Kingdom Hearts, "seems to have set a number of paths at the feet of a handful of select individuals, destined hero- types like myself, and you.
"You, however, are a special case. Yours is one of a small number of hearts who's destiny was chosen long ago."
"But, that right there is what I told you," Hex interrupted. "That I have no choice in my destiny. You said that wasn't true."
"That's right," Mickey said. "Your destiny is set. But the path you take to reach it is entirely up to you."
"But the fact that I have already affected the past means that the choice of path has already been set, too!" Hex insisted.
"Yes," Mickey said with a serene smile. "By you."
Hex said nothing, he only stared at Mickey. After a moment, Mickey said, "Look into your heart, Hex. You know it's true."
Hex closed his eyes and thought about it, and he suddenly felt a surge of air around him again. He opened his eyes, and saw that Mickey was no longer beside him. He didn't appear to be anywhere, himself, either. He seemed to be skipping from place to place in a blur of images and faces. Some places and faces he recognized, most he did not. But he knew these people and places for what they were: lost to the Heartless, or else nearly so.
Suddenly, the faces of Terra and Locke reared up out of the blur, and the faces of Yuna, Lulu, and the other orphans behind them. Hex tried to look away, only to be confronted by the faces of his friends on Neon, Crystal and Damon among them.
Hex shut his eyes again and cried out, and when he opened them again, he was back at the Shrine of Destiny, with Mickey in front of him.
"Mickey," he said slowly. "All those faces, they will be lost to the Heartless if I don't do something?"
"Not just you," Mickey said reassuringly. "Like I said, you are not alone in this battle."
"Mickey," Hex said again. "Why didn't I see my face?"
Mickey frowned, and sorrow shone in his eyes. It was truly a saddening sight. "Because you will not be lost to the Heartless."
Hex did not understand Mickey's sorrow in this answer, but it didn't matter. He didn't matter, it was all those other people who mattered, his friends and those children, all those innocent lives.
Hex nodded. "What do you need me to do?"
"The Shadow Dragon attacked this place some years ago, seeking to send all Kingdoms into Chaos," Mickey answered. "When he did so, the eight Elemental Hearts, along with the Heart of Destiny, left this place to hide among the Kingdoms.
"The Shadow Dragon was a powerful True Heartless, not one of the artificial creatures made in Ansem's machines. He tracked down the Heart of Chaos in Ansem's own Kingdom, during its final days. But a human had taken control of it, and the Shadow Dragon was forced to merge with this human to gain the Heart's power. The Heartless known as Chaos was the result of that merging.
"Now, Chaos seeks the Elemental Hearts, and the Heart of Balance. He will destroy the Heart of Balance, so that when the six Elemental Hearts are gathered, the Heart of Destiny will be forced to choose Chaos as the path for all Kingdoms."
"And I have to stop him," Hex said.
"Yes, with this," Mickey stepped back. Hex held out his hand, and a very unique sword suddenly appeared in it. It was shaped like a key, with a black, bastard sword blade. The teeth were set on the back of the blade, a trio of electric green lightning bolts. Electric green veins ran down the length of the blade to the teeth. Holding it, Hex could feel that the sword was handled more like a short sword, despite its size. The handle was built to allow Hex to wield the weapon with the back of the blade against his forearm, setting the teeth above his shoulder.
"This is your Keyblade, the Vagabond's Path," Mickey said. "That medallion around your neck..."
Hex looked down and saw a key-shaped medallion hanging from a chain around his neck. It's handle ended in sharply angled hawk wings, which was where the chain was attached. It was silver in color, but seemed to give off a light reflection of green.
"...Will take you to the hiding places of the Elemental Hearts," Mickey said. "From there, you will channel the Hearts from their hiding places, into the hearts of the Vagabonds chosen to carry them."
"How will I know who is meant to carry the Hearts?" Hex asked.
"Trust that they will be by your side when you need them," Mickey answered.
"Right, then," Hex said with a firm nod. Without even thinking, Hex swung the sword backward, and it disappeared from his hand suddenly. Hex did not question it, however. "Where to, first?"
"That choice is up to you."
Hex thought for a moment. "Guess I better head back to the Mana Tree. The Orphanage will be waiting for me."
"Good luck, then," Mickey said with a smile, stepping back.
"You're not coming?" Hex asked.
"No, my path is different then yours," Mickey answered. "But our destiny is the same. We will meet again."
Hex nodded as the air surged around him again. He began to close his eyes, when Mickey spoke again.
"Hex," the mouse said, "You have lost a lot in the battle, more then you realize. And you will have to give up more. Your path will be hard, but do not trust your heroic destiny too much, or lose yourself to it. There is a foe more dangerous then the Heartless on the horizon, and if you give up yourself, you will fall to them. Be careful."
Hex smiled and nodded, and then closed his eyes.
There was a rush of air, and then darkness again.
