Hello, everyone!
So sorry this is so late. Life threw quite a few curve balls at me both this semester and over break, and for a bit I almost lost all motivation to continue.
But, I'm back! We are continuing on to the second act of the story. But before we do so, this chapter will slow down and take care of a few things before we move on to more lore and action. I hope you all enjoy!
He brought down his Keyblade, sending another Unversed into a cloud of darkness. Darkness that just came right back to him. Pain sparked in his chest, and he barely stifled a grunt before three more were where the one just was.
"Good," came the now automatic reply from Xehanort. That old coot. He was the only one happy about this turnout. The only one that was happy he had been reborn. If it were up to him, he would have stayed in the cold embrace of oblivion forever.
And that didn't even count the goody-two-shoes. Aqua and Terra. If they saw him, he could kiss his miserable existence goodbye. And Ventus. Thinking about his reaction made his skin crawl.
He could feel what Ven was feeling right now. The weakling just woke up. Happiness, joy, the hope that everything would be okay. All of it tiny, all of it just out of his reach. It made him even angrier.
His Keyblade annihilated the next group of Unversed, sending a shockwave of pain coursing through him as the darkness came flooding back. He didn't hear the response. He looked up, seeing Master Xehanort had left in the flurry.
He pulled off his helmet, his face drenched in sweat, throwing it to the ground, gasping for breath, not even knowing when he began working himself to his limit. He wanted the fighting to be done, but to his annoyance, a singular Flood showed up in front of him.
"Seriously?" he asked it. "Can't you see I'm done here?" The Flood just stood there, gazing up at its master.
"Go away," he said. It stayed. His eye twitched. "I said go away!" He raised his Keyblade to strike the Flood.
It cocked its head.
Vanitas stopped, feeling something wet fall down his face. His Void Gear lowering, his other hand felt the water rolling from his eyes. He couldn't remember the last time he'd cried. He was told it was a form of weakness, and swore to himself he'd never let another tear fall. So why was it happening now?
He growled to himself. Normally, the releasing of the Unversed helped him stint these weak emotions. Yet here he was, Unversed in front of him, angry tears streaming down his face.
He rubbed the tears away, feeling something on his leg. Looking down, he froze when he saw the Flood rubbing its head against his leg. Annoyed, he nudged the creature away. If it wasn't going to fight him, he wouldn't destroy it. It would save him some pain, anyway.
He rolled his eyes when the Flood reattached itself to his leg. "What?" he demanded.
Its red eyes only gazed up at him, its head tilting again. Vanitas looked around, both in exasperation and to make sure no on else was watching the odd exchange. He hesitated before kneeling, taking the Unversed by the scruff and peeling it off his leg. Upon contact, the leathery substance that was his skin felt like it was vibrating, as if a thousand tiny heartbeats were pulsing from the Flood.
He pulled himself out of his thoughts, and his brow twitched when he saw its new position, his mind connecting the way it curled in on itself to a cat.
"Look," Vanitas said. "If you can stay out of my way, and not let the old coot see you, I won't destroy you." He looked for any sign of intelligence, and narrowed his eyes when he found none. Despite himself, he set the Flood down. It only stood, gazing up at its master.
He felt is lip twitch upward, almost like a smirk, but not quite. He snorted a laugh as he finally acknowledged the absurdity of the situation. He stopped when he felt a shift in his chest. His anger was still there, as was his sadness and pain. But for some reason, for the first time in his life, it was…less than it usually was.
He eyed the Flood suspiciously. It tilted its head in return. He took a deep breath and groaned out a sigh, pinching his nose. He strode over to his helmet and picked it up, glancing behind him to find the Flood following at a couple feet behind him. He rolled his eyes, fixing the helmet back on his head before summoning a Corridor.
He glanced behind him. "Stay out of my way," he reminded it, stepping through. The Flood followed quietly, and the Corridor closed behind the both of them.
The silence within the Mysterious Tower made her ears buzz. In the faint light of the stars outside, she kept her eyes closed, though sleep had alluded her for hours. The book from the library rested open on her chest, where her arm lazily rested.
She didn't know what it was she was trying to think about, but found the events of the day before playing through her mind on repeat, with a myriad of thoughts accompanying their appearance.
'I can't believe that was Kingdom Hearts.'
'Who was that woman?'
'How am I supposed to free all those wielders?'
'Will I be able to free Strelitzia the same way?'
'Will we be able to restore her body? I want to give her a second chance, too, but I don't know how I'll be able to do that.'
'And Aerglo…how did he know about this? Is he still alive? Maybe if I can figure out my homeworld, I could find him?'
'But what if—'
The sound of a door opening snapped her out of her thoughts. Her eyes left the ceiling and landed on her own door, where she heard soft footsteps stepping down the hallway toward her. She sat up as they passed her, carefully closing and placing The Tale of the King on the bed and creeping to the door.
It opened silently, and she pressed her head out as a figure of pink and red disappeared around the corner, heading for the stairs.
'Kairi,' she thought to herself, pausing as she came to a decision. She glanced back to see Chirithy soundly asleep at the foot of her bed before shuffling out of her room and closing the door softly behind her.
She crept to the stairs, careful to keep her steps silent as she went. Descending, she heard the entrance to the Tower close beneath her, and paused, hoping Kairi hadn't left the Mysterious Tower completely.
She eased the front door open, sighing to herself as she saw the red-head sitting upon the top step, staring out into the starry night before her.
She smiled to herself before asking, "Can't sleep?"
Kairi jumped, twisting around to see Nightly peering out at her. She relaxed, bringing a small smile to her face as she replied, "Yeah. You too?"
Nightly closed the door and joined her at the step. "Eh, I've dealt with insomnia before. I usually just ask Chirithy to help me sleep, but I wanted to try and sleep naturally tonight. Didn't really work out, though."
Kairi gave her a sympathetic smile. "The last couple days have been really hectic, huh?"
"Mm-hmm," Nightly hummed in response, bringing her eyes up to the stars, glistening the same way the woman's eyes did within Kingdom Hearts.
Nightly let the silence sit between them for a moment, then finally asked, "So…what's on your mind?"
At first, Kairi didn't respond. Then, slowly, her eyes left the sky and found Nightly's, her answer unspoken, yet obvious.
"Yeah, I figured as much," Nightly said, both looking back up to the sky before the brunette glanced back to Kairi. "Is there anything you wanna talk about?"
This made Kairi pause, before she finally looked back down and said, "I'm really sorry."
"Wh…about what?" Nightly asked, not expecting that to be the first thing said between them.
"About everything," Kairi replied, tears welling up in her eyes. "I feel like everything wrong that happened is somehow my fault now. I mean, I know it's not; but I feel like I'm connected to it in some way, which makes me feel responsible for the mess that was left behind." She dug the heel of her hand into her eye. "And I'm so confused…about everything. I mean, I don't even remember growing up in Radiant Garden. Everything is still as blank as it ever was, how am I supposed to know what to do when I can't remember anything?"
As she spoke, Nightly drew her knees into her chest, hugging her legs and resting her chin on her knees. With a sad smile, she said, "I know exactly how you feel."
Kairi paused in her rambling, rubbing her eye as she glanced at the girl beside her. Nightly continued, "Since I found that book, my whole world feels completely turned upside-down. Things I never even thought to think about suddenly feel so important. I feel like I should know the story I'm reading, and the person who wrote the letters, but I just…don't."
Nightly offered a small smile to Kairi. "It's hard to think someone is expecting something of you when you don't know who that person is or what it is they're expecting."
The words hung in the air for a moment. Finally, Kairi gave a light chuckle and returned Nightly's understanding smile. The two looked back up at the stars, content to just sit in silence and enjoy the company of another.
Nightly's thoughts began churning again, this time following a different path. A thought occurred to her, and she looked back to Kairi. "Hey," she said, "do me a favor?"
Kairi cocked a brow at Nightly. "Yeah?"
"Can you summon Master—uh, your grandma's—Keyblade?"
Kairi hesitated a moment before she finally nodded. Her hand over her heart, she held it there with her eyes closed for a moment before reaching out as if to grab something out of thin air. A flash of light, and the Keyblade of the former Master Ava appeared in her hand.
Nightly smiled and summoned her Starlight. "Okay," she explained, moving her Keyblade to match what she was saying, "hold it out so it crosses in front of you like this, and touch two fingers to the crosspiece." She did so to Starlight, and light flashed from the star that made up the crosspiece, five medals swirling out from its center.
Red eyebrows rose in interest as blue eyes looked on. Kairi mimicked her movements, the light emanating from the crosspiece of her grandmother's Keyblade. But instead of five medals, only a single, gray area appeared from the fox head.
"Huh," Nightly thought out loud. "Only one space."
"Is that what this is?" Kairi asked, pointing to the grey area. At Nightly's nod, she asked, "Is that bad?"
Nightly shook her head. "No, no, not at all. I just expected five spaces instead of one. But it makes sense. Each Foreteller had a signature move that they were able to perform. Every once in a while, the Book of Prophecies would allow us to call upon new medals to give us new special attacks, and one time it granted us access to the Foretellers' moves. Each Foreteller had a signature move, and those moves were put into a medal," she explained as she pulled up her inventory, a space Kairi herself was unable to see.
"Huh. Okay, but…how does that help?" Kairi inquired.
Nightly smiled as she plucked what she was looking for from her inventory. To Kairi, a large golden medal had appeared in her hand from nowhere. The brunette grinned as she presented the item to the red-head.
Kairi's heart jumped as she took in the gold medal. It's intricate design twisted and turned from a heart shape at the top left of the medal. Light seemed to pulse from the metal itself, illuminating the picture held at its center.
Frozen in time, Master Ava rushed forward as if in an attack, her Keyblade raised and her mouth open in a cry.
"Woah," Kairi breathed. "This let's you use her attack?"
Nightly nodded, holding out the medal for Kairi to take. The redhead hesitated before taking it, feeling the woven pieces and sharp points of the metal.
"Equip it to the Keyblade," Nightly instructed.
Kairi blinked, pulled from her reverie. "What?"
Nightly chuckled, "Equip it." She pointed at the gray spot suspended over the crosspiece.
"Oh," Kairi said as it clicked. She held the medal gently over the area, and it snapped from her fingers into place at the crosspiece.
Once it was settled into place, information about the medal flooded Kairi's mind. Most of it, she couldn't understand, so she ignored it. But one thing stood out to her.
"Foxtrot?" she asked.
Nightly nodded. "It's what Master Ava called her signature move. It, uh…well, it's hard to explain what it does. The best way to tell would be to just let you try it out for yourself."
"What? You mean, like, spar?"
"Mm-hmm," Nightly nodded as she hopped up from her place on the step. She offered a hand to Kairi. "Come on, I'll show you how to use it."
Ventus furrowed his brow at the sound of voices. He sat up from his bed, having been unable to sleep that night. He had suspected he wouldn't be able to sleep for a couple days, his body having been in a coma for a decade, but he had thought everyone else would have been able to sleep just fine. Apparently, he was wrong.
He had heard the two doors open earlier, but decided to leave them be. If one was Aqua, she would just worry until Ven claimed he was going back to sleep. If it were either of the two kids from Radiant Garden…
Ven shook his head, clearing away the looks Ephemer and Skuld had given him. They had looked so sad, like they were expecting him to say something he didn't know.
He listened for the voices. Neither of them sounded like Aqua, but he didn't quite know the voices of his new companions yet, either.
Still, his curiosity got the better of him. He rose from his bed and quietly opened the door. He crossed to Master Yen Sid's study, moving to a window overlooking the area outside the tower. He could make out two of their companions; one he knew well from Sora's memories, and the other he had just met.
Kairi and Nightly were holding their Keyblades, and Nightly was showing Kairi something in her hand. Ven's eyes landed on Kairi's new Keyblade, a dizzying feeling of déjà vu pulsing through his head.
He shook off the feeling. He had never seen that Keyblade before in his life, and there was no reason for him to recognize it.
He watched the two rise from their seats and walk over to an open area of the field. He smiled as Nightly made a motion with her hand—a motion that once again sent a pang of déjà vu through his mind—and crossed to the other side of the field, where she summoned her Keyblade and held it in a block. He smiled to himself, excited to see the battle that was about to unfold.
"Okay," Nightly said, positioning her other hand directly under the head of her Keyblade, holding her Keyblade so it crossed over her body. "Activate the special attack!"
Kairi hesitated, looking at the waiting girl before glancing down at her grandmother's Keyblade and then looking back up at Nightly. "Are you sure!?"
Nightly grinned. "Yes!" she called back. "I've used it hundreds of times before, I know what to expect! Just let your body do what it wants to do."
Kairi swallowed hard, nodding to herself. She adjusted her grip, splaying her left hand to the side, watching the solitary medal materialize from out of nowhere. She steeled herself, forcing her shoulders to relax as she pointed two fingers to the medal and slid it in front of her, aiming for Nightly.
The effect was immediate. Kairi felt her arms raise to her sides, a light coming from behind her. She strained her neck to see three figures of light radiating from either side of her, creating six new warriors of light.
Before she could blink, she found herself and her clones forming a circle in the air around Nightly. With Kairi at the very top, the seven light wielders lunged at the awaiting girl, striking her at the same point simultaneously as they crossed each other.
There was a pause—then a burst of blinding white light and what Kairi could only describe as rose petals before the attack finished and the light and petals disappeared altogether.
With the final burst of light, Nightly felt her arms give way. Her own Starlight slammed against her chest, unable to hold off the attack. The force sent her flying backwards, flipping over herself before landing on her stomach, knocking the breath out of her.
Blinded by the finishing flash, Kairi squinted as she found herself flipping backwards away from Nightly. Once her feet hit the ground, she felt the magic relinquish control of her body.
As she came down from the rush, she noticed the incapacitated girl on the ground, turning herself over and gasping for breath. With a shout, she rushed forward, landing on her knees beside her. "Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry! Are you okay?"
Nightly squinted up at Kairi as she held her ribcage. She pulled on a pained smile and grunted, "Yeah…ow…that was great…good job!"
Kairi took the younger girl's shoulders and helped her sit up. Nightly took a moment to catch her breath before asking, "Do you want to go again?"
"And hit you like that again? No, thank you."
Nightly chuckled. "Aw, it wasn't that bad, promise. I've just never been at the receiving end of that attack."
Kairi gaped at the confession, then shook her head with a groan, massaging her temple. "You're just like Sora."
Nightly giggled, the pain in her chest dulling to an ache as her breath returned to her.
"Hey, Kairi," she began.
"Yeah?"
"I had a thought. How about we go back to Radiant Garden today, let you look around places besides the library this time. Maybe that'll trigger something. At the very least, it'll give you a chance to find something familiar. I can go with you, if you want."
At the mention of her supposed childhood home, Kairi tensed. "I don't know. Maybe? I don't want to go back and find something else that…you know…"
Nightly smiled patiently at the Princess of Heart. Though her Heart was no longer with her, she felt the familiar pull toward Kairi. The same pull she had felt toward Master Ava, and all the other Princesses of Heart she had ever come across. The pull, the call, the want, the need to protect them.
"I'll be with you," she promised. "Sora and Riku can come, too. Whatever you find, you won't be alone. And if you want to leave, we can leave."
Kairi searched Nightly's gaze, finding only sincerity in her eyes. If she were being honest with herself, she wanted to go back. She wanted to find something else, something that let her see her grandmother more as how her fleeting memory told her she was. Something away from the fear she had previously felt.
She smiled at the eager child. "Okay."
Ienzo twiddled his thumbs on his stomach, staring up at the ceiling. He huffed a sigh, his eyes squinting as if he were trying to make out tiny words written above him. In his mind, he was puzzling over everything that had happened that day. Specifically, the two that had struck a chord with him.
'Ephemer and Skuld,' thought to himself. 'Why do those two feel familiar? Ventus, too. I'm sure I've seen him here in Radiant Garden before, but even then it feels like I've seen him before that. Why?'
The scientist groaned to himself, sitting up in his bed. Without a second thought, he swung his feet over and stood, padding out into the darkened hallway of Radiant Garden's castle.
He knew the castle like the back of his hand, and this wasn't the first time he had gone for a nightly stroll. He let his feet begin walking down the familiar route while his mind thought over all that had happened just a day ago.
He started with the oddity that was the three guests that had found themselves within Radiant Garden. 'Ephemer, Skuld, and Nightly,' he pondered, 'what an odd trio. Especially considering they seem to be literally out of their own time. It is still hard to believe they actually knew who Lady Eve was, and that she was a Keyblade Master, at that. What was it she said to me again?'
He thought back on her words. ''There you find the answers you seek.' What answers does she think I need? What questions does she think I have? What questions do I have?'
His brow furrowed as he tossed the thoughts around in his head. Should anyone have seen the scientist at that moment, they would have been shocked to find the scowl adorning the normally placid-faced man skulking down the hallway.
Another thought rushed through his head: ''Does the name Brain mean anything to you?' 'Or the number 4?''
'Why would those mean anything? Who would be named Brain, and why would they have anything to do with me? Or the number 4, for that matter? What does the number 4 have to do with a person?'
'Is it a ranking? A date, perhaps? Maybe an order?'
For some reason, the idea of an order remained in his head. 'But what kind of order? This still doesn't make any sense.'
''There you will find the answers you seek.''
Grunting in frustration, knowing he may not find anything useful, he turned on his heel and headed directly for the place Lady Eve had told him to go.
He threw open the door to the old study, grabbing the key hanging from the cork board. He briskly approached the file cabinet at the far corner and unlocked the topmost drawer.
Without hesitation, he yanked the drawer open, and stopped at what he found. An old black doctor's bag sat inconspicuously in the center of the drawer. He blinked at the lumpy thing, feeling an odd frustration settle over his Heart. Why couldn't this be simple?
He grabbed the bag and shut the drawer, bringing the bag into the main study and clearing the tabletop of papers before setting it on the desk. He took a breath in and out through his nose before grabbing hold of the clasp of the bag and popping it open.
He gazed at what was inside, his brow no longer furrowing in frustration, but confusion. He reached inside, gingerly taking the object, and carefully pulling it out of the bag.
He ran his thumb over the bill of the black fedora he now held in his hands. The light of the room reflected off of the thick silver ribbon of the fedora holding in place a long, thin feather colored red on the outer edges, gold in the middle, and black in between.
He ran the silky feather between two fingers, its feel unexplainably familiar. Humming to himself, he placed the hat down and reached into the bag again, shaking out the new object he had pulled out.
He held it out at arm's length, looking the black jacket up and down as he held it by the shoulders, taking in the large collar and golden buttons that detailed the fabric.
He stared at it for a moment, once again feeling an odd sense of familiarity settling over his being before he folded it once and set it beside the fedora. His eyes lingering on the two items, he had to actively pull his gaze away from them and focus back on the bag. He frowned at the next two objects, reaching in with one hand and pulling them out at the same time.
He nudged the bag aside and lay the two books down, taking in their features. The first was a green spiral-bound notebook with simple patterns around the edges of the cover. The second was a plain leather-bound journal small enough to fit in one's pocket.
He rubbed his chin, reaching for the green notebook and opening it. He was shocked to see the first page read:
Instructions for the Next Leaders
'How strange,' he thought to himself. He put the notebook back down and picked up the journal, flipping it open to the first full page of writing. He once again felt like something was familiar as he took in the handwriting on the page.
Day 1
Welp, today begins the first day of the rest of our lives. 1 and 2 showed the rest of us where the Foretellers used to work, since they apparently came up before...everything...
The Foretellers are gone...man that's gonna be hard to get used to. Anyway, we talked about what to do first, what with the War having finished and the Foretellers having disappeared. We decided—well, more like 2 convinced us—that the remaining kids of Daybreak Town don't need to know about the Foretellers leaving, not to mention all of their friends are currently dg no longer with us.
It makes sense. I can't speak for all of us, but if I could choose...I'd rather not remember…
In order to make the transition a little easier on all of us, I'm taking on a project that will essentially keep an eye on all the Dandelions while also making sure no one will remember the Keyblade War. I managed to find a recipe in one of the Foreteller's books. It's the same stuff that makes up our Chirithys. These guys won't be able to talk, though; but they will be able to help everyone improve their powers by upgrading their medals.
5 was helping me set up, but he left a little while ago to do some kind of investigation. 3 wandered back in here about an hour ago. He said 1 and 2 said something about checking up on a friend. Normally, I work alone, but as long as he doesn't break anything, I'm fine. He's...a bit of a clutz.
The space between this paragraph and the next was larger than the others, and Ienzo could only guess this was after some time had passed.
Well...what do you know...turns out it was me that ended up breaking something. Dropped a whole rack of test tubes right on the floor. Ven managed to catch most of them, so only two actually broke.
Man, that guy's fast.
The interruption made me lose where I was in the recipe, not to mention the motion mixed up the combinations far too much. I'm gonna start again tomorrow. Hopefully I'll have better luck then.
Ienzo read the entry again, trying to figure out what made the writing feel so familiar. He mentally noted the mention of Ven's name, deciding to later show the book to him as possible proof that what Ephemer and Skuld were saying was true.
He nodded to himself, picking up the notebook and heading to the lab.
He flicked on the lights. "Tron?" He called.
"Good morning, Ienzo," Tron greeted. "May I ask what you are doing awake so early in the morning?"
"I couldn't sleep," Ienzo replied simply. "Would you mind analyzing something for me?"
"Absolutely," Tron answered cheerfully. "What would you like me to analyze?"
"The handwriting of this notebook," Ienzo replied, presenting the journal to Tron. In response, the light from the red sensor reached out to the journal and lifted it out of Ienzo's hands.
"I will be back shortly, Tron. Update me on your progress when I have returned."
"Of course," Tron replied.
Tron sensed Ienzo leave the room, and set to work on analyzing the penmanship of the writer of the journal. His hypothesis was correct: Ienzo had presented him with the journal because the writing within its pages was familiar. The only difference between Ienzo and himself was he knew exactly why.
For comparison, Tron pulled up another document he had within his memory banks. He ran Comparison, and was met with a 100% match.
He smiled to himself, running Comparison with another document. Three times more, he ran Comparison, less because he was surprised, and more because he knew Ienzo would request him to do so.
By the time he had completed and received the fifth 100% result, he sensed Ienzo's return, now in his normal scientist outfit.
"Have you completed the analysis, Tron?" Ienzo inquired.
"I have," Tron replied. "In fact, I ran Comparison five separate times with five separate documents and yielded the same results each time."
"Ah, excellent," Ienzo commended, nonchalantly flipping through the green apparent instruction manual, eyes scanning its contents. "Have you deduced who the writer is?"
"I have," Tron repeated, preparing himself for the reaction he knew was coming. "From my results, the writer of the journal is none other than yourself, Ienzo."
Tron watched as Ienzo paused in his reading, standing still a moment before he finally spoke again.
Right on cue, Ienzo spun to face the main computer. "But that's impossible!"
And scene!
So, what do you guys think? We got Vanitas back, Kairi and Nightly coming to terms with a new reality, and Ienzo on the cusp of having an existential crisis! Fun, right?
I have a couple new works posted on my Deviantart page if you would like to see some work. I have recently posted a headcannon I have regarding toons in the world of Kingdom Hearts, as well as a headshot of human Chirithy and a mysterious figure you guys will see later on in this story.
Just find me under the same username: NightOwl9810.
The next chapter is underway, and will most certainly not take as long as this one did. See you guys soon!