Chapter 20 - Moirae
The dome of the Moirae was not actually a free-floating building in the middle of the sea. It was a tower of sorts, whose base lay an unfathomable distance from the sea's surface, at the very bottom. This tower anchored a large platform into place, and upon the platform the dome sat. The platform itself was suspended above the water, but there was a set of stairs that led down to a smaller platform which was slanted so as to enter the water. It was here that a person lost in the Sea would wash up, if said person managed to survive the waters.
There were three individuals upon this small platform. Two of these bore long black hooded raincoats, and one of these two was slapping the other (who was on hands and knees, fighting for air) on the back. The other, a Crest Sorceress, sat not far from the two unknowns, her legs curled up against her chest, her eyes staring out at the furious waters.
Dyne administered another emphatic slap on the back.
"You alright, Riku?" asked the blonde haired kid, and the blindfolded young man gave a weak nod.
"A little wet. Touched by a Steward fish, but otherwise okay," was the response, and this was punctuated by a gagging cough.
"A what?"
"...a Steward fish."
Dyne, frowning, lifted himself to his feet and folded his arms. There was a mild look of concern in his eyes, but as he lifted his eyes out to the waters, the expression of worry become much more apparent.
"You don't... you don't think they drowned, do you?" spoke Lilka after a short while. "I'm getting sick of thinking about it, so I'm just going to ask."
"Sora and Asher?" queried Riku, before going into a short hacking fit. "Nope. Sora's too strong to drown out there, and Asher... I get the feeling that as long as Sora's around, we'll have Asher around, too."
The blindfolded unknown got to his feet and took a deep breath.
"I'm not so sure, Riku," said Dyne, standing vigilant. "I can sense Sora's getting near, but I can't sense Asher anywhere."
"There!" called Lilka, hopping up from her spot on the staircase to the edge of the platform. "Something's coming!"
Slowly, Sora's form rose to the surface. The water carried the Keyblade Master's unconscious form to the edge of the platform, and all three of the other survivors rushed to pull him out of the sea and onto the platform. Lilka's eyes were rife with worry. Riku, sensing her fear, glanced at her.
"Lilka, don't worry. He's not dead. In fact, I doubt he's taken in any water at all... he's only a heart-form. He can't die until he lets himself die."
"What...?"
"It's a long story, I'll explain it later, but calm down. We just need to be patient. He'll wake up."
It wasn't too long before the soaking-wet Keyblade Master opened his eyes. He rolled onto his side, nauseated, but the physical pain was dwarfed by the immense relief he felt in his mind. He may have been fooled by Memoria, but he knew who his love belonged to, and who waited for him. Throughout all this, he still had that one promise to keep.
"Sora, I'm so glad you're okay!" exclaimed Lilka after the long silence of Sora's recuperation. The brown-headed young man sat up, took a deep breath, and grinned up at Lilka.
"You really think some big puddle can keep me down? No way. I've got promises to keep."
"We'd best get to keeping them, Sora. The more time we spend here, the longer our friends suffer back home," interjected Riku, his brow furrowed. "The Darkness still exists, even if it's not here trying to erase us. I just hope these 'Moirae' will help us."
"Don't worry about it," replied Sora, getting to his feet. "Asher said... Asher. Where's Asher?"
"He hasn't washed up yet," answered Lilka, shaking her head wearily. "We haven't seen him at all."
"No! No..."
Dyne crossed his arms and looked directly at Sora. Sora put his face in his hands.
"You can't sense him, Sora?" asked Dyne. "I can't feel him at all. I don't know if he still lives."
They were quiet. The only sounds were the distant noise of a roiling sea and Sora's muffled breathing. Finally, Sora spoke.
"I... I can only sense his heart. It's weak. He's despairing."
Lilka's eyes began to water.
The Keyblade Master lowered his hands from his face, closing his eyes, extending his thoughts. His form began to glow as he reached out to try to help his friend, who was losing an impossible struggle.
(I hate him.)
Asher was very cold. He wrapped his arms around his legs, placing his head on his knees. His breath was visible. He looked around him. The room was empty. It was his own room. The one window was broken, boarded up. Snow fell softly outside, but he could find no warmth or happiness in the beautiful weather. He felt terrified. He felt hungry. He was freezing.
(Kydran...)
His green eyes moved to the doorway, where he thought he had heard something. Deep within him welled a feeling of horror, a feeling that told him not to be where he was because something terrible was going to come through the door.
(Let him come and get it.)
He got to his feet, and asked himself if he was truly himself anymore. No... no, he couldn't be. He was too weak from fear to pick himself up.
(What are you?)
The man, who always seemed so (corroded) furious, cruel, who was his own father and yet his worst enemy, entered the room. Asher could feel his blood boiling, but was paralyzed by fear. He was no longer in control of his own body; he was shouting things at the man now. He couldn't make out the words, but the man was frozen.
(...no...)
Fury, barely kept under a rein, was all he could read from his father's eyes. There was something different here... there wasn't just the stupid, glazed-over anger there usually was. He saw something in his father's eyes that paralyzed him, and still his body kept shouting.
(...he's going to kill me...)
Asher reeled back. He couldn't even feel the pain unil it came washing over him in waves of agony. He couldn't see anymore. His father struck him again, in the stomach. The boy doubled over. He felt pressure all around his neck. His father was choking him.
(Not if you kill him first.)
The boy felt the wall pound against his back as he retreated against it. The pain came in waves. He hurt all over. Nausea swept over him. Opening his eyes, he was startled by the clarity of everything. He had felt his father's hands clamp around his neck, but the pressure was quickly lifting. Light filled the room.
("Asher...")
The black-haired boy lifted a hand to shield his eyes from the blazing heart-form. He could almost make out the shape of somebody-
("Asher, open your eyes!")
The boy began to hack and cough. It began with a small cough, and escalated to full-scale choking. The hacking became worse. He felt his lungs filling up with something that certainly wasn't air, something that seized his lungs and forced all the air from it..
("He can't be dead! Asher, wake up!")
He was... drowning?
("Help him!")
He dropped to his knees. His eyes began to glaze over.
("PLEASE!")
Everything was spinning...
("Asher...? Wake-")
The boy with the black-and-red hair turned onto his side, nauseated. He felt his lungs tighten, and he gagged as they fought to expel the water. Riku and Lilka rolled Asher onto his stomach, helped him to brace himself on all fours as he coughed. Sputtering and hacking, and- finally- breathing, he lowered his upper body down and lay there, prone, on the ground, his breath coming in heaves.
Dyne stood not far from this spectacle, spitting and wiping vigorously at his lips. Lilka glanced to the blonde haired kid and grinned.
"Sora, don't ever ask me for any favors ever again, ever," spat the dual wielder, and Sora would have grinned if he were not so engrossed in the welfare of the Heart Key wielder. The brown-haired boy was crouched beside his revived friend, eyes reflecting his concern.
Sora felt relieved that Asher was breathing again, but in addition to the thought that he wouldn't make it, there was something he had felt, maybe not seen, but certainly felt, when he had reached out to drag Asher from the waters that had scared him. Stung him. Something that threatened to disillusion him entirely, that nearly broke down the basis of his sanity. He was grateful he didn't have to spend any longer in Asher's memories than he had to.
Coming back to some form of normalcy, Asher sat up, still on his knees, and rolled his head back to look upward. He was exhausted. Turning his head to look at Sora, he frowned.
"What just happened, Sora? Where are we?"
"We're there," replied Sora, getting to his feet and folding his arms. "The dome of the Moirae. You almost died. You just... fell into the Sea not long after we set sail, then I went in after you, an then... I don't know."
"A giant wave destroyed our boat," responded the platinum blonde. "We all washed up here."
"So here we are. I guess we couldn't go back, even if we wanted to," said Lilka. The Crest Sorceress edged closer to Riku, who stood above Asher, across from Sora.
"Can we get moving already?" called Dyne from the top of the steps leading from the platform to the dome itself. "He's fine."
Riku helped Asher to his feet. The young man wobbled on his exhausted legs, but managed to stay on his feet. The four of them made their way up the steps to meet Dyne, and then approached the Dome itself.
"I hate this place. If I never see it again, it'll be too soon," commented Lilka.
"If everything goes as planned, none of us will have to. The worlds will be rejoined, and everything will be like it was before the Darkness came," said Sora. "We're so close. I can feel the Light... it's more powerful than I ever thought."
"Good. Then our journey is almost over," replied Riku.
Finishing their climb upon the stairway, the five Light-seekers came before the great dome of the Moirae. The air was distinctly warm and comforting. High above them, the sun broke through the furious storm-clouds, shining down upon the gleaming copper dome. An immense golden archway opened into it, serving as the entrance point. Within, there was only darkness. The Keyblade Master, the Crest Sorceress, the Dual Wielder, the wielder of the Heart Key and the Wielder of Darkness stood before the archway.
For a short time, each of them contemplated their reasons for their journeys in silence. Sora had come to fulfill what he had assumed to be his destiny. Dyne had come to protect Sora. Asher had come for many reasons, and one of them was that he knew that he was, and always would be, tied to Sora's fate. Riku had come to atone for his weakness. Lilka had come because it was here, she hoped, she might be able to find an answer to her question.
Taking a deep breath, Sora took the first steps forward. Each of the others, in turn, moved to follow him into the dome of the Moirae.
The dome was lit immediately upon their first steps across the threshold. The dome had to be much, much larger than it appeared to be on the outside. Despite the fact that the dome was circular in shape on the outside, Sora and his companions now stood in a long hallway. It had to be at least a mile long. Everything seemed to glow eerily, all things were an alabaster white. The walls stretched upward forever, and the columns that held up no ceiling also upward as high as the light would reveal. Above them was a nearly pitch-black sky. Throughout the entire span of it, perhaps only ten stars shone faintly against the abyssal backdrop.
Sora looked upward as he pressed on. One of the only remaining stars blinked out suddenly. So few worlds remaining.
"And then what?" Sora spoke aloud, without meaning to. "After all worlds have been consumed, all those hearts absorbed and forgotten... then what?"
"Sora, that's the world without you. A world with no Keyblade Master, and no Keyblades," spoke Riku. "Nothing but Darkness. That's why we have to free the Light."
They walked further.
Nearing the end of the great hall, Asher sped up to walk beside Sora.
"Sora. What if we do finally find the Door?" he asked in a low tone, keeping his eyes straight ahead.
"We will find the Door, Asher. We don't have a choice."
"You know what that means, right?"
Sora was quiet.
"You know, don't you?"
"Yeah. I know," said Sora quietly. "But..."
"But, if that's what it takes, right?" responded Asher. "It's alright. I know. I've accepted it, just like you've accepted it. Just..."
Sora glanced at his friend.
"When it starts, I don't think I'll be me anymore. Just... promise me you'll win."
The Keyblade Master nodded.
Sora slowly came to a stop before the end of the hall. His eyes trailed from the base of the enormous mural upward. The wall stretched into the sky forever. Asher stood beside the Keyblade Master. Lilka and Riku came to a stop shortly behind them. Dyne, however, moved a little closer, eyes wide open, totally spellbound.
"Moirae... it's... it's them... it's the Fates!"
The female figures were immortalized into the gigantic mural. Their forms were carved out of the face of the granite wall itself, assembled in a triangular pattern. Each of them were surrounded by various images and facades of their station. Clotho, the Spinner, in the form of a young girl, weaved the strands of life out of nothingness, positioned in the upper-left side of the triad. Lachesis, the Apportioner, in the form of a woman at the peak of life, positioned at the bottom of the triad, measured out the length of the thread. Atropos, the ender of life, in the form of an old crone, cut the thread with a pair of scissors.
Dyne was simply stunned by the display of this mural. Perhaps more so than the others, though he couldn't say why.
"This is it. We're looking at the Fates, the ones who shape our destinies," uttered the blonde haired kid.
Riku folded his arms across his chest, while Lilka also looked on. Asher was watching Dyne, curious of his behavior. The boy was usually so nonchalant about everything; why now was he so impressed by a mural?
Sora moved toward the mural. While Dyne hung back, perhaps out of respect for the power of the Moirae, the Keyblade Master stepped right up against the mural, looking it over, examining it. At the base of the mural, below Lachesis's feet, were two keyholes, one of which was surrounded by feathers and ivy, the other by thorned vines and fire.
"This is it? We're supposed to ask a few stone statues about where to find the door?" thought Sora aloud. "If these are really the Fates... then they must know we're here and why."
"Sora, it's not like there's some button you're going to find. 'Press here to activate the Three Fates'. Pretty unlikely," called Riku, whose voice echoed for an unusually long time down the grand hall.
Sora froze, suddenly. He craned his neck as if listening to some distant whisper, some kind of echo, and then pivoted on his feet and made a beeline for his friends. Turning back around, his eyes locked on the mural.
"Cover your eyes!"
The sound was very quiet, but the heat they all felt came instantaneously. The granite right eyelid (the only one visible via the mural) of Clotho began to rise. The Spinner's eye was a globe of pure life energy, of immense heat. As the eye opened, all but Riku looked away, for the eye was like a miniature sun.
As the heat grew more and more powerful, as Sora began to think he was going to cook, Atropos's left eye began to open. A powerful wind erupted in the hallway as the void of Atropos's eye sucked the heat away, ended the life that Clotho created. All five of the adventurers braced themselves, feeling the wretched frigity of Atropos's power take hold over the hallway.
It was as Riku, Dyne, Sora, Lilka, and Asher all began to think that they were going to be annihilated by the power of the first two fates that Lachesis's eyes opened up. Her power, a neutral power, a balancing power, kept the heat of Clotho's life-giving energy and the frigidity of Atropos's life-taking force in check. The light from Clotho's eye lessened to a bearable level, and the temperature returned to normal.
The Fates, awakened, regarded the five before them quietly. Then, all three voices echoed in all five minds.
We've been expecting you.
"Uh... hello," responded Sora, bowing, not sure what else to do.
Calm yourselves. You would not be here had we not wished it.
"So, you really are the Fates. Can you help us?" asked the Keyblade Master. The others stood in silence.
Yes.
"You know where the Door to the Light is!"
Yes.
"Will you tell us?"
As reward for your struggle, we are obligated to answer three questions. Already, you stand at the door to another realm. Beyond us lies a realm without Fate. We hold sway over the realms Darkness, of Balance and over the Kingdom. Our function is to ensure the designation and destiny of each Keyblade Master, who holds the key to the Door. Within the realm beyond us lies the Door, which protects the first Light, the Crystal, the True Memory of all things since the beginning of all things. This is the Heart of Memoria. The Kingdom is only a reflection, the creation of this true Light.
For a long time, Sora and his friends stood quietly, reflecting on words of the Fates.
Now, you may ask your questions. When you have received your answers, the path will open.
The Keyblade Master turned to look at the others.
"I know you guys all have something to ask them, but they said-"
"They said the realm beyond them was without Fate, meaning that there's no guarantee that everything will be okay," Riku said, finishing Sora's sentence. "Don't worry. Whatever happens, we'll make it."
"That's right. The five of us have made it this far; if we can make it through this, we can make it through anything," Lilka added, nodding.
"We're all prepared to do what it takes, Sora," Dyne said. "I know now that I am."
Sora's eyes drifted to Asher. The young man ran a hand through his black hair, and shrugged.
"There's no choice. Fate can only carry us so far, Sora. I'm ready."
With that, Sora turned back to the mural and closed his eyes.
They stood for a while, thinking. Lilka was the only one out of them that didn't seem to be in deep thought except, perhaps, Asher. After a minute or so, Riku looked to the Crest Sorceress.
"Lilka. Why don't you ask your question? About your sister."
The girl nearly jumped at the sound of his voice. Her eyes moved to his face, and she looked at where his eyes should have been.
"How did you-"
"I spent a lot of time watching over you, in Elysium. We're very close to the Light, so close I could sense a lot of your memories just by the way you resonate with it. You came all this way to find your sister, right?"
The girl nodded, and sighed. She looked to the mural, at the eyes of the Fates that looked over them all. Finally, she shook her head.
"What we're doing is bigger than all of us. Sure, I came to find out about my sister, but I also came to help you guys. This fight between Light and Dark is more important; you guys need to know everything you can. Besides… when Sora opens the Door and everything is okay again, my sister and I will be together again, right? I'm not worried about it. Ask your questions. I don't have one."
"But, Lilka… are you sure?" asked Sora. "You really don't want to ask?"
Lilka, nodding, stepped back. Dyne stepped forward to ask his question.
"Please, tell me... what is the Eight?"
All were able to hear the answer.
Since the Light was first locked away, since the moment Light was separated from the Darkness, time has been looping back in an eternal cycle. Kingdom Hearts, source of all hearts, first festers with Darkness. The Darkness spreads, reaching out to consume the hearts of all worlds. A Keyblade Master is designated by the Keyblade, and the weapon finds and protects him until he is strong enough. The Keyblade Master, through various trials, reaches the Door to the Light, sacrifices himself to restore the True Memory, and the worlds return as they were, though the Darkness remains. Then the cycle begins anew.
"WHAT!" exclaimed Sora, stunned. "You mean... you mean you already k now what's going to happen!"
The Fates were silent. Riku moved forward.
"I'll ask... Fates, do you mean to say that once we have found the Door that we will only be completing the end of a neverending cycle? That we're just fulfilling our roles?"
No. There is something different now, something that should not have happened.
Another long silence punctuated the answer to Riku's question. Sora, now more than ever, felt unsure of what his destiny truly was- if he even had a destiny anymore.
"Alright, Sora. Your turn," said Lilka, nudging him forward. The Keyblade Master walked forth, faced the Fates, and spoke aloud.
"Will I be able to defeat my own shadow?"
Sora received the answer he already knew to be true in his heart.
The closer you get to the Light, the greater your shadow becomes.
Sora lowered his head, sighed, and looked back at his friends. All but Asher (who only became very pale) gave him a reaffirming nod. The Keyblade Master looked to the Fates and took a deep breath.
"We're ready, Moirae. Let us into the fateless realm."
There was no answer from the three Fates. Instead, all three granite eyelids came down over the glowing eyes of the Moirae, and the mural was simply a mural once again. Sora called the Oblivion and Oathkeeper into existence, and they came to him, forming slowly in each of his hands. Sora looked over the both of them, and stood in silence while he regarded the Oathkeeper and remembered his promise. Nodding, he braced himself and pointed the two keys at the pair of keyholes at the base of the mural.
Twin beams of energy fired from the ends of each keyblade, one of pure Light and the other of blackest Darkness. They weaved and danced about each other, intertwining and splitting only to enter their respective keyholes. The edges of the keyholes shined azure for a moment. The flames about the dark keyhole leapt to life, the thorned vines whipping at the air. On the other keyhole, the ivory feathers floated softly about it, the ivy creeping outward to spread over the entire mural.
The ground began to shake. The columns began to crumble. One of them toppled at the entrance, knocking over another. They crashed to the ground, sealing off the entrance. The granite mural cracked as the thorny vines and the tendrils of ivy tore it apart. Soon it appeared as broken glass would, and all at once the mural broke and fell away, all pieces of it sucked into the void beyond Memoria.
"Sora! Catch!" cried Riku as the vortex between realms washed over them. From the platinum blonde's gloved hand flew a small, golden keychain. The Inverse Key. Sora caught it as he was lifted off of his feet and pulled into the void.