Reminder of A Hero's Past

(Kingdom Hearts II OST The 13th Dilemma)

"RAGH!" Yang shouted as she shot at Terra again, her flaming fist colliding with his Keyblade, releasing sparks and flames in all directions.

Terra swung his Keyblade at her but Yang dodged and punched him in the 'stomach'. The girl then let out a growl, actually feeling her bones crack against Terra's armor. Terra then grabbed her fist with one free hand and the landed a blow on her stomach that sent her flying back across the scorched and scarred battlefield.

Yang landed on the ground and got up with flames surrounding her. "COME ON! SHOW ME THAT PRETTY FACE OF YOURS!"

She thrust her fists forward, launching a barrage of fire balls at Terra who raised his Keyblade and used the Reflega spell to block and deflect Yang's attacks while slowly walking forward.

"Forgetting about someone?"

Blake appeared behind Terra, throwing an icy version of Gambol Shroud at him which wrapped him around his neck. Blake then pulled as hard as she could, aiming to cut off Terra's air supply.

Only she and Yang didn't know that Terra's body was only his Heart and Mind linked with his armor and thus he didn't need to breathe.

"What? You good at holding your breath?" Yang asked as she charged forward and let loose punch after punch on Terra.

He used his Keyblade to block most of her strikes but some managed to get through.

"How do you like th-" Yang shouted but was cut off when Terra swung his Keyblade and swiped her legs out from under her and then swung upwards, sending her up into the air.

He then grabbed Blake's ice whip and pulled hard, causing the Summer Maiden to get pulled off her feet and fly straight at Terra who then ducked and swung his Keyblade which collided with Blake and sent her crashing into Yang as the Spring Maiden was falling back to the ground.

"AAAAAAH!" Both Maidens cried out as they flew back across the scorched area, skidding across the ground before coming to an erupt halt.

Yang's eyes shot open and they were blazing red as she got up. Her Semblance was fully activated from the full force of Terra's blows and was even enhanced by the power of the Spring Maiden as she brought her fists together and let loose a fiery shockwave that burned the surrounding ground and trees.

In the wake of the shockwave, Yang was standing with a fiery aura surrounding her and circling around her prosthetic fist was a literal tornado of flames.

Terra knew that Yang was pouring all of her power into one final strike and acted accordingly. "Meteor!"

Terra raised his Keyblade above his head and in a flash of light, summoned a giant flaming meteor that fell towards Yang.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Yang screamed as she shot forward, undaunted by the sight of the giant meteor falling towards her.

A literal storm appeared in the sky above as Yang and the meteor grew closer and closer...

Yang reared her fist back, gathering more power in the form of lightning that circled with the flames around her fist…

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Then sent it forward.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

As soon as Yang's fist collided with the meteor, a giant explosion shook the entire island.

Trees were either knocked down or blasted away.

The surrounding ground cracked and broke.

A pillar of fire exploded up into the air, blinding anyone who might have been watching.

"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!" Blake screamed, seemingly returning to sanity in that brief moment.

And in a matter of seconds it was over…

(Kingdom Hearts II OST The 13th Dilemma Ends)

Terra stood up, having plunged his Keyblade into the ground to hold on to when the force of the explosion threatened to blow him away. He looked up and saw a massive crater formed in the wake of the two colliding forces of nature.

He looked and saw Yang standing in the center…

Her clothes burnt and torn.

Her hair, matted and dirty with dirt and soot.

And her prosthetic arm having completely vanished.

She looked up at Terra…and then promptly fell over.

'Ruby, Weiss, Blake…' She thought as she fell over. 'I'm sorry…This is all my fault. I did all this.'

Why would anyone think she did this?

'I got Ruby nearly killed when I went out looking for clues about Raven.'

'I let my temper get the better of me in my fight with Mercury and let everyone think I was a psychopath.'

'I rushed in like a brat on adrenaline and got my arm cut off because I didn't stop and use my head in battle.'

'I drove Ruby away when she wanted to help me and sent her off on that trip to Haven all because I couldn't stop feeling sorry for myself.'

'I demanded everyone be open and up front with no secrets but I went ahead and kept dangerous secrets without telling anyone. The exact same thing I condemned Ozpin for doing.'

'I kept Raven's secret even though she endangered our lives to save her own.'

'I blabbed to Robyn about Amity without telling our friends and pretty much destroyed our credibility with Ironwood.'

'I blamed it on Ruby instead of owning up to my mistakes.'

'I left them alone to battle Cinder and Neo.'

'Blake had hurt so much.'

'We lost mom.'

'We lost Pyrrha.'

'We lost Penny…twice.'

'And this is all we have left.' After what felt like an eternity, Yang finally hit the ground, her vision blurring. 'Just fighting for the sake of letting out all the anger, all the pain, all of our grief…Just so we don't have to remember what we lost.'

Their home…

Their families…

All gone.

'Ruby,' Yang thought as she finally blacked out. '…I'm so sorry.'

"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!" Blake screamed again as she ran over to her downed partner.

She checked her over, sighing in relief at seeing she was still alive and then looked up at Terra with an angered face as she snarled and hissed.

"Stand down." Terra pointed his Keyblade at her. "I don't want to hurt you or your friend."

"Too late for that…" Blake softly said as she stood up, her eyes flaming.

(Kingdom Hearts 3D Dream Drop Distance OST: The Dread of Night)

Blake charged forward, summoning two clones alongside her with one blazing with fire while the other was covered in lightning like a second skin. All three charged at Terra who morphed his Keyblade into a whip and slashed at all three. Blake created a clone to take her place as an afterimage while the other two were slashed in half before they even got close to Terra. Blake swung her weapon down, releasing an Aura wave that was enhanced by Maiden magic in the form of ice.

Terra raised his Keyblade to block and ended up frozen head to toe. Landing on the ground, Blake snarled and moved to finish him off…

SHATTER!

Only for Terra to instantly break free of the ice.

'She can augment any attack with that elemental magic she shares with her friends.' Terra thought, watching Blake closely as she jumped back from him as he broke free of the ice meant to hold him down. 'And she can summon those duplicates of herself to actually fight alongside her rather than act as mere decoys.'

Once Blake had enough room she slammed her weapon into the ground and a massive chunk of ice erupted from the ground, traveling straight at Terra who morphed his Keyblade into a giant cannon as he jumped back, avoiding the spikes of ice meant to skewer.

Not that he was sure that they could have.

"Ultima Cannon!" He shouted just before the cannon fired a beam of light that blasted through the ice and straight at Blake who stared with widened eyes…

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

The island was rocked by yet another explosion that formed another large crater next the one made by Yang and Terra's Meteor spell. While Terra had not wanted to kill Blake he couldn't hold back against her if he wanted to end the fight quickly. Once the explosion ended, Terra landed in the center of the crater, looking around to see if there was anything left of Blake.

'Scan.' Terra mentally spoke.

For a second there was nothing…

And then.

The ground behind him burst open and from it emerged Blake, who burrowed underground with the use of her Maiden powers to avoid the blast.

"AAAAAHHHHHH-"

ZAP!

Terra spun around, his Keyblade morphing into a bow that fired an arrow of light, blasting Blake back and sending her crashing into the ground. Her Aura shattered on impact and this time she appeared to be down for the count.

(Kingdom Hearts 3D Dream Drop Distance OST: The Dread of Night Ends)

Blake groaned, her body aching all over as she managed to lift her head and glare at Terra with one open flaming eye. "Damn…you…"

Terra stared silently at the beaten Faunus. 'She was more angry when I defeated her friend…I can't say I wouldn't have felt the same if the same had happened to Aqua or Ven.'

Xxx

Inside the massive tree, Drasil whose spirit form had possessed Penny's dead body grinned. "It is time…"

Xxx

Terra's 'head' looked up and he could see a strange mist filling the area. "What is this?"

He looked back at Blake but the mist covered her completely. He looked over at Yang, only see she had vanished into the mist as well.

'This is not a natural mist.' Terra looked up at the giant tree. 'This Drasil, Aqua spoke of. Is this her doing?'

Xxx

Aqua was still helping Weiss reach the area where Ruby and Neo had fought when a mist suddenly surrounded them.

"What is this?" Weiss weakly raised a hand and tried to use her Maiden powers to force the mist away but to her surprise nothing happened. "I…I can't make the mist go away."

"This is not a natural mist. I remember seeing this the first time I came here." Aqua recalled, her eyes narrowing. "…Drasil."

Xxx

A crater, much like the ones made during Terra's battle with Blake and Yang, was left in the aftermath of Neo and Ruby's final attack. The two were lying on their backs on opposite ends of the crater, both of them looking bruised and dirty.

Both of them were too weak to move.

" ... You're right..." Ruby said, surprising Neo. "You suffered because the people who swore to protect you, but didn't... nothing I can say will change that... but do you seriously think that gives you the right to do what you did..."

Neo was enraged. "Excuse me-"

"Every choice is our own! Maybe the circumstances influenced them, but at the end of the day, it was you who believed Cinder when she told you I killed Roman! It was Ironwood who turned himself into a monster!" Ruby trailed off as a look of self-realization appeared on her face. "It... it was me who let all this happen... who let everyone drift apart... who pushed Oz away... but not anymore! If I'm going to make choices, they're gonna be mine! And Neo..." Ruby glared as a white glow began growing from her chest. "I'm going to make things right!"

A pillar of light erupted from Ruby Rose, sending Neo flying back. When she landed, she looked in awe at the power. It was... it was more powerful than anything she ever felt before, more than Salem, maybe even more than Aqua!

But... how...?

A mist then fell over them and obscured Neo's vision of Ruby, the light vanishing a second later.

Xxx

Aqua gasped as she felt a powerful light enter the world as the pillar erupted and vanished a moment later.

"This light... I've felt it before..."

A girl who managed to smile despite being a slave to her stepmother.

A girl who managed to dream despite the cruelty of her stepfamily.

And a girl cursed to die by a malevolent fairy.

"What is that?" Weiss asked, seeing the light appearing where Ruby should be.

Something grabbed Weiss by the leg and she was suddenly ripped from Aqua's grasp and pulled into the mist. "WHA-HELP!"

Xxx

A man in a black cloak watched from a hill. "How surprising... one of the New Seven Hearts in this world..."

Xxx

"Come to me, my dear Maidens." Drasil softly sang as the mist continued covering the island. "Come to me."

Xxx

"Host of Ozma...Before Ozpin?" Oscar repeated dumbly, taking a step back. "That's impossible. Ozma only changes hosts when the previous host dies. I became his host when Ozpin was killed the night of the Fall. If you really did come before Ozpin you would be long dead and I would have your memories."

"Supposedly if I was like any other host Ozma had but I am more different than you could even imagine, boy. For starters, I am not from Remnant. I was not even on Remnant when Ozma joined his Heart and Soul to me." Odin replied calmly, placing a hand over his chest. "When Ozma's host dies, his soul circles the borders between life and death, waiting in the Final World before coming back and choosing a like-minded host. The difference for me is that when the King of Vale died here in the Relic of Time, his soul was left to wander around the worlds until it could find a suitable host, which turned out to be me, Master Odin of Scala ad Caelum."

"Scala ad Caelum?" Oscar could not help but find himself repeating the old man's words more than once. "Your world?"

"The seat of power for all Keyblade Wielders and the nexus for all worlds in the Realm of Light. You could call it the light counterpart of Remnant. It was fortunate Ozma's soul would find its way there where I would be." Odin continued, turning away and taking a few steps forward into the Grand Hall of the Temple of Time. "I was already an elderly man when Ozma made himself known to me and we quickly deciphered each other's nature, due to his past as one of the greatest magical warriors to walk the surface of Remnant and my own knowledge of the Keyblade and the Heart. I remember being Ozma, the Emerald Knight who faced down beasts and warlords in the ancient times of Remnant. I remember being Diggs, the former peasant who pretended to be a god alongside Salem and building a vast kingdom and family with her.

"I remember being Ambroise, the man who was broken by the memories of that horrible night when we tried to save our daughters, only to get them killed in our first battle with Salem. I remember being Emmannuel, the man who drowned himself in sorrow and regret, attempting to forget. I remember being Henkel, the man who was the first of us to move with the help of his beloved wife and children and who reminded us of our mission and what we were fighting for. I remember being Norman, who sought out the Relics, believing they could provide an answer to our questions…It was only after Ozma met with me did we consider that maybe he did not ask the proper question."

"What do you mean?" Oscar couldn't help but interrupt with a question.

"We asked Jinn how do we destroy Salem? Could it be that in all that time, you never wondered if perhaps that was the wrong question? That perhaps it would have been better to ask how could Salem be defeated?" Odin answered with questions of his own.

Oscar's eyes widened in shock, considering what Odin told him. "But…She's immortal and controls the Grimm, not to mention she's the most powerful being on Remnant. What if she can't-"

WHACK!

"OW!" Oscar rubbed his head, glaring at Odin. "What was that for?!"

"You are allowing doubt to cloud your judgement again, boy!" Odin barked, pulling his fist back. "All this time wondering what if the answers we seek are not the ones we are hoping for and yet never bothering to take the risk! I thought you said you and your friends have done nothing but take risks!"

Oscar just stared, dumbfounded at his own words being used against him.

"Ozma wanted to give up as well but he knew and understood the stakes. That is why he kept going, even though he would endure constant doubt and betrayal even when he was being fully truthful. The constant betrayals from those he had trusted, people who would go on act in their self-interests rather than the good of humanity, even joining Salem in the foolish hopes they would be spared her wrath, or trying fight her in their own way and becoming hypocrites when they themselves adopt the same approach Ozma would take. Sound familiar, boy?" Odin asked as he leaned forward with an interested look on his face.

Oscar flinched, understanding what Odin was talking about.

They had condemned Ozpin for his habit of keeping secrets but did the exact same thing to Ironwood upon arriving at Atlas. Now it could be argued they were right to keep what they knew a secret at the beginning since they were not entirely sure what to make of the situation between Ironwood's plan and the growing discontent in Mantle. Maybe they should have told him the truth earlier, before the weight of everything from Mantle, Jacques and Robyn competing for a seat on the council, and Salem's agents sowing discord had crushed Ironwood so severely that when he knew the truth along with Yang and Blake revealing the secret of Amity to Robyn and the news that Salem herself was on her way to Atlas that he resorted to desperate and inhuman measures.

In a way, they had done Salem's work for her and completely broke the man.

Oscar could recognize that, even if he didn't regret what he did in trying to stop Ironwood. The man had good intentions but he never stopped to listen to others. He only focused on winning and that was his problem.

Ozpin had given up looking for a way to win long ago and only focused on reacting to each crises as best as he could.

It wasn't the best or smartest approach but it was the most practical and he tried to open up as best as he could but the fear of betrayal and the grief of the past weighed heavily on him to the point that Oscar wouldn't be surprised if he had gone through what happened with Ironwood many times before.

So how could he expect things to go different?

"It seems you are starting to understand." Odin observed the look of contemplation on Oscar's face. "Good. There might be hope for you yet. Now then, back to my story…As we shared knowledge of Remnant and the other worlds it became clear we had to find a way back to Remnant soon before Salem noticed Oz's absence. With the Huntsmen Academies finally built and the Relics sealed away, we had to keep an eye out for what Salem might try."

Oscar blinked, still not sure what to think of Odin being a former host of Ozma but he seemed to know things only someone who was once an incarnation of Oz would know.

"We gathered what we needed and bid our apprentices good-bye before setting off to find Remnant and we found it but only after we arrived the domain of Drasil." Odin continued. "We learned her connection to the Brothers and discovered they had continued creating worlds and more Relics long after they left Remnant. Eventually we learned how to trace our steps back to here, the Relic of Time which was made to take the appearance of a vast and giant temple. However, when Drasil declared her intentions we had to close off this place and fight her, immobilizing her main body with Gungnir and after that, Master Odin would pass on, returning Ozma's soul to Remnant where he would reincarnate into the man that would become Professor Ozpin, the man who would train the next generation of humanity's defenders."

Oscar stared for a moment before he finally asked his question. "But then how are you standing before me if you have passed on?"

"Do you not understand the nature of this place, boy? This is the Relic of Time!" Odin spun and held out his arms. "Of course that I would with some time and effort, learn how to take one moment of time and shunt it forward after Odin's passing to appear her!"

Oscar's eyes widened. "You what?!"

"There are certain rules to time traveling, boy. The first rule is that you must leave your body, becoming a disembodied Heart. This act allows one to gain the power to travel through time to find different incarnations of themselves scattered through different points of time. Before Odin passed on, he traveled through time to find his past self and gave him the instructions and the power to travel through time and that is how we have come to meet boy." Odin pointed at Oscar. "In order to travel to a certain point in time, there must be another version of yourself waiting at said destination. You came here via the Chamber of Revival here in the Temple of Time, programmed by Ozma in the event Remnant is destroyed by the Heartless and thus, I was able to come here and meet you for you are an incarnation of Ozma like me. We share the same Heart so thus it is only proper that you would be the one I would find when I made my journey here. Two incarnations of Ozma, meeting in the gaps between time."

Oscar was absolutely stunned to hear what he was being told. "…"

"Amazing to hear, is it not?" The old man smiled.

"B-But, if that is true why not go back in time to Remnant's past and stop Salem from turning into a monster? If you could really only visit periods of time where there is another version of you then you could visit any point in time of Remnant's history and change it for the better!" Oscar exclaimed.

"That cannot be done." Odin's smile faded. "Rewriting events that destined to happen is forbidden in the laws of time. What is set in stone cannot be changed. Salem or someone like her was always to be the catalyst for humanity's downfall and the creation of Remnant for the Brother Gods could never truly understand the hearts of their own creations. Once my purpose here is fulfilled I will return to my original time and lose my memory of meeting you here but the experience will be etched in my heart and thus etched in yours."

"In me?" Oscar held a hand over his chest. "…What is your purpose?"

"To instruct you how to defeat Drasil and prepare you." Odin stepped forward. "While I cannot alter the events that were destined to happen, someone will alter Remnant's history in ways we cannot imagine, thanks to what is to come."

"What are you-" Oscar was cut off as Odin rushed at him and slammed the palm of his hand into Oscar's chest. "WHA-?!"

"The time for talk ends here!" Odin's voice thundered throughout the Grand Hall. "Just as I was granted the power over time, you too will be granted this power!"

Oscar let out a cry as he felt something, a sense of great power entering his body. "What are you doing?!"

"Preparing you for your role. When you become a part of the new timeline, you will forget this place along with everything that happened to events leading you to be stranded in the other world. However they will be forever etched into your heart." Odin answered as a bright light entered Oscar's chest. "They will be part of your soul and thus you will retain your potential for greatness…but you must not falter in the wake doubt, distrust and fear. These are the weapons of Salem, of the Darkness, you must answer back with trust, honesty and bravery if you are to survive what is coming."

"What is coming?" Oscar stumbled back, holding his chest as he panted and fell to his knees. "What do you mean?"

"This won't end with Drasil, boy. Defeat her and you will simply take the next step. Hopefully, you can make things slightly better when the time is right." Odin then held up his hand and Oscar was lifted up into the air. "Go now! The Maidens need you!"

Oscar let out a shocked scream as he thrown into a portal on the seventh floor, which would take him back to Drasil's island.