Skew: yeah, that starts again tomorrow. New semester for me. Anyways, we're actually starting to get towards the end here. After this chapter, it's the last world before Hollow Bastion. Then will be the calm before the storm, when I'm gonna wander about some and have some short stories following other characters, followed by the storm itself. Otherways to count it down is that today I reveal anothe keyblade, and after it, there are only five left. Anyways, R&R folks.
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"Hey, old man, we're back!" shouted Arc.
"Oh, it's you guys," grinned Cid as he slacked behind the counter of the Accessory Store, reading a magazine. "Haven't seen you about. Where you been?"
"Oh, here and there," said Orchid nonchalantly. "Just saving the universe, that kind of stuff."
"Heh, nice to see you're in a good mood," said Cid as he went back to reading, occasionally scratching his spiked out beard.
"So where are the others, kupo?" asked Montblanc as they sat down on the couch.
"Zell hasn't gotten back yet," answered Cid. "Yuffie and Rikku are at some office trying to see if they can get that old house in Third District again. And Sora's out on Heartless patrol with some spike-headed tough-guy that got here recently."
"Then I guess everyone's busy," sighed Orchid.
"We usually meet up in the hotel for dinner around six," added Cid. "But until then, find something to do other than loiter in my shop."
"Hey, big words from a slacker like you," pointed out Arc sourly.
"Come on, Arc," grinned Orchid, hopping off the couch and giving him a playful kick to the leg. "Quit being such a punk."
"Fine," he groaned as he hauled himself up and followed her and Montblanc out the door.
"So what now?" asked Orchid as they walked up the stairs towards Second District. She looked up and checked a clock hanging over a door. "We got an hour to burn."
"Hey, Montblanc, you still got that shard Cloud gave us?" asked Arc.
"Right here, kupo," said the moogle, pulling it out of a pocket with the Fairy Gem. "And I picked up this other one in Halloween after you sealed the keyhole."
"They're probably summon gems," said Orchid. "Let's take them to the Fairy Godmother."
"My thoughts exactly," nodded Arc.
-
"I see," said Merlin, sipping his tea as they finished telling him of their latest adventures. "I find the parts about the Shadowless extremely intruiging."
"Yeah, I always thought it was light against dark before," said Orchid, nibbling at a biscuit. "But now it's us against light and dark."
"It's always best to follow the middle road," observed the wizard. He paused. "I suspect there is another, purer form of the Shadowless."
"What makes you say that, kupo?" asked Montblanc.
"Well, the ones you described still retained their identity," he answered. "Much like Jafar, or Hades, from when Sora fought them. However, one would assume that there is a baser, purer form of the Shadowless, like the regular Heartless you meet. Mindless and purely light, no even remotely human qualities left, see what I mean?"
"Yeah, maybe," agreed Orchid. "But the Shadowless are a lot more powerful and different, so maybe not?"
"No point discussing it," grumbled Arc. "If we see a big burning white thing roaring incoherently at us, then we'll know. If not, then we won't. Simple."
"Well, I'm going to see the Fairy Godmother about the summon gems," said Montblanc, hopping down from his chair and flittering over to the pumpkin carraige on his little wings. Immediatly as he landed, there was a puff of smoke, and the little toy carraige was replaced by the matronly figure of the Fairy Godmother.
"You called?" she asked the little moogle.
"We found some more summon gems," said Montblanc. He handed the Lightning Fragment over to her.
"Oh, I see," she said. She was quiet for a moment, as if listening. "Mmm, very prideful. Well, time to release you."
She waved her wand and the crystal shard floated before here, then burst apart. There was a static quality to the air, and the lights seemed to dim. Then suddenly, there was a rushing discharge of energy, and and explosion of light. Lightning coursed from floor to ceiling around them as the voice hailed them.
"I tHaNk YoU fOr My ReLeAsE. i Am YoUrS tO cOmMaNd, MaStEr."
"And what shall I call you, kupo?" asked Montblanc, lapsing into archiac at the formality in the summon's speech.
"I aM iXiOn, FrEe SpIrIt Of LiGhTnInG."
"You may leave for now, kupo. I will call upon you when you are needed."
There was a burst of light, and the presence was gone.
"That was so cool!" yelled Orchid gleefully, sitting backwards in her chair, straddling the back.
"Eh...just a bunch of bright lights," brushed off Arc.
"And we found this other one," continued Montblanc, handing the Fairy Gem to the lady.
"Two this time?" she remarked off-hand as she looked intently into the gem. "Oh, such a nice little guy."
She waved her wand again, and the disc-like gem floated before her. There was a gentle tinkling, like the sound of chimes as the gem broke apart into fragments of light. Sparkling light filled the room, gently swirling about them. Then it concentrated into a glowing ball of shimmering energy before the moogle.
"thank you for releasing me. what is your wish, my master?"
"If you'd just tell me your name," said Montblanc gently.
"my name is carbuncle, fairy of healing."
"And I am Montblanc," said the moogle. "You can go now."
There was a shimmering, and the sound of chimes, then it was gone.
-
"Ixion and Carbuncle, huh?" mused Orchid as they walked out into the Third District square. They still had another half hour before everyone would be back at the hotel. "Well, that's pretty neat."
"Nowhere near as cool as Ifrit, though," smirked Arc.
"Hey, if you want cool, Shiva is the queen of cold, Arc," pointed out Orchid smugly.
"Bad pun, little bud," groaned the man.
"Kupo...is it just me, or is it kind of quiet?" interrupted Montblanc.
"It's always kind of quiet here," said Orchid.
"No...he's right. It's too quiet," said Arc cautiously, pushing up his yellow tinted glasses. "Something's wrong."
"Heartless?" asked the girl, getting into a fighting stance, the keyblade appearing in her hands.
"No...it doesn't feel the same," he said, getting out his shield and Sequence. "Something else."
There was a flash of light, and then it stood before them.
A figure in flame, eyes ablaze was there, shining pure, white light. It was vaguely in the shape of a person, but from the way that it blazed and shifted, it was hard to distinguish features. As it moved, the air shrieked about it in its blaze.
Darkness is like water, cold and dead; it pools together. But this, this glorious light, it blazes like a fire, alive, burning with power; running together or alone. Can't you see it? It is perfect.
The voice from eternity disappeared with a soft, lilting laugh.
"What the hell is that?" shouted Arc over the roar of the unearthly fire.
"I think it means that Merlin was right," replied Orchid grimly.
"It shines, leaving no shadow," pointed out Montblanc as he held his rod in front of him, preparing his spells.
"Shadowless," agreed the Keyblade Master. She charged forwards and struck with Nightshade.
The burning figure stumbled back, screeching in pain, the lashed back at her, knocking her away with one flaring arm.
"Hey, don't forget about me!" shouted Arc. The Shadowless turned just in time to take Arc's sheild full in the face. "Hah!"
Unfortunately, this did not seem to be a crippling blow like it would have been to a human. Instead, it just reached out and grabbed his arm, then threw him away. He landed hard and slid across the stone paved floor.
"Blizzara!" shouted Montblanc. Freezing wind filled with icy shards flew out from him at the Shadowless. It shrieked in pain, but did not seem all that harmed.
"You can't toss me around!" shouted Arc, running up for a second bout. He swung with his sword, and the Shadowless burst apart, practically before he even touched it. "Hah, you aren't so tough."
Then all the fragments of burning flame came back together around him, engulfing him in burning light.
Arc screamed in pain as it seared his flesh with the blinding, unnatural fires.
"Get offa him!" cried Orchid. "Nightmare!"
Inky dark shapes with fluttering wings descended from the night sky, engulfing the Shadowless and Arc in a stain as black as sin, then bursting apart, tearing at the white flames. Arc stumbled away and collapsed on the ground as the light struggled with the dark. The spell ended, and the burning flames of light come back together into the Shadowless, which loudly screeched its anger at them.
"You stay away from my friends!" raged Orchid as she charged at it.
"Orchid, what's happening?" shouted a voice. It was Sora, running in from the Second district door, followed down the stairs by a blonde-haired man carrying an enormous sword.
"Now, go away!" yelled the girl, ignoring the newcomers as she swung the keyblade.
The Shadowless roared, and moved to block. But then its head turned at the last instant, and it stared at the figures that had just turned the corner from coming down the stairs, and its bright burning eyes grew wide.
The keyblade struck, and there was an explosion of energy, but Orchid managed to hold on and keep from being blown back. The white flames faded and flickered as they were sucked into the vortex, siphoned into the Nightshade. The light disappeared faster than she thought they would.
When they were gone, a figure that had not been there before stood unsteadily, weakly holding her ground.
"C...Cloud..." she gasped before falling to the ground.
"Aerith!" shouted Cloud as he ran up with Sora. "Oh, my god, it's really you."
"Yes," she whispered softly, then closed her eyes.
Silent tears fell from sad, blue eyes, gently landing on her tired, yet calm face. He had found his light.
-
"Well, it appears that she's going to be alright," said Merlin as he closed the green room door behind him. "She'll need to rest for a while, and she'll probably be very confused at first, but I don't think there's anything to really worry about."
Cloud nodded numbly, but gave a sigh of relief.
"Wow...never thought that'd happen," said Arc quietly as the trio walked away to leave the man alone.
"Who was that?" asked Orchid.
"That was Aerith," he explained. "She and Cloud were, well, y'know... together. They got torn apart during the first crisis of the Heartless, but finally got together after Sora fixed everything. She's the one he went to look for when we left him in Seventh Heaven."
"Oh...I get it," she said. "So how did she turn into a Shadowless?"
"We can't know for sure, until she tells her story," said Merlin, walking up beside them. "But I can probably take a guess at it, knowing who she is and what she's like."
"So what do you think happened, kupo?" asked Montblanc.
"I'm guessing that, most likely, when they were seperated, she was very lonely, lost and afraid," answered the wizard. "She is of a very kind and caring nature. Chances are, her avarice towards the dark, combined with her will to help, and be good, and everything the dark isn't, led to her becoming Shadowless. The loss of Cloud and some sort of security was probably the catalyst for turning her from a good samaratin to a mindless being of light."
"Oh," said Orchid, absently swinging the keyblade.
"Woah, Orchid, it changed!" shouted Arc suddenly, pointing frantically at the keyblade.
"What? Oh, my god, you're right!"
What had once been the dark and sinister Nightshade was now replaced by a work of abject beauty. The keyblade pulsed a vibrant green with its lush, living vines that made up the haft, the handle and the hand guards. Razor sharp leaves, thin and vividly green spiked the outside of the guards. But the most amazing thing was the end. Where the dark bloom of Nightshade had been, now was a rose, esquisite and crystal clear, as if made of glass. It was beautiful and perfect in all aspects.
"Glass Rose," whispered Orchid reverentially as they stared in awe.
"It must have been from absorbing the Shadowless essence off of Aerith," said Arc.
"I guess," she agreed.
"Kupopo...but wait," interrupted Montblanc. "If... it just changed, this means it's the next natural level of it, right? So there's no keychain on it."
"Yeah, there isn't," said Orchid, raising up the keyblade and showing the empty loop at near end.
"So doesn't that mean the keychain for Nightshade dropped off back in Third District, kupo?" reasoned the moogle.
"Oh, crap, you're right!" she shouted, taking off into a sprint out the hotel door. "Augh, I can't lose that!"
"Hahaha, some Keyblade Master you are," laughed Arc as he chased after her.
Merlin smiled as he watched the trio go. It was so refreshing to see such frivolity in these serious, gloomy times.
-
"Maaan...we've been searching for hours..."
"Maybe someone picked it up, kupo?"
"Hey, Arc, why don't you actually help instead of... hey, what's that in your hand?"
"Huh? What're you talking about?"
"I saw you just shove it in your pocket!"
"You must be hallucinating."
"You dirty-"
"Hey, hey, hey, is that anyway to talk to the guy who found what you lost?"
"You've been sitting there for hours while we broke our backs scrounging on the ground for it! Damn it, how could you let us do that!"
"Eh... you looked like you were having fun."
"Fun!? Do these scraped up knees look like fun to you? Now give it to me!"
"What's the magic word?"
"Give it to me or I'll kill you!"
"That's four words."
"Shut up!"
"I bet dinner's cold by now, kupo..."
