Atonement
"Oh!"
Everyone turned to look at Penny, who faced Oscar. "Weiss wishes to know if thus means she was mining the remains of all the people wiped out by the God of Darkness."
"She asked you?" Neo asked, looking surprised. "How?"
"Because their Hearts are still here." Terra realized. "While we sent their Bodies and Souls back to Remnant, their Hearts remained here, within Penny. They must've been keeping quiet ever since they showed up to help defeat Salem's Heartless."
"Not exactly." Penny grinned sheepishly. "They made a comment every now and again, but none of them had any questions they wished to express."
"Wait, they've been watching just as we have?" Neo asked with slightly widened eyes. "How come you never mentioned this before?"
"Ruby and the others wanted me to not tell you all just yet. They still needed time to try and recover physically and emotionally from their ordeal." Penny answered.
"That's understandable." Oscar nodded with a small smile. "I'm glad that they are at least talkative."
"And good to know they can see and hear us too." Neo grinned as she walked up to Penny with her hands on her hips and leaned forward, coming close to the confused avatar's face. "You hear me in there, Red? You, Blondie and the kitty, I helped save your lives and I'm never letting the three of you live it down."
For a second Oscar and Terra Neo might attack Penny or at least get into a shouting match with her, given her enmity with Team RWBY.
Then surprisingly, Neo broke out into a dance, spinning around Penny as she sang. "I saved your lives! I saved your lives! I saved your lives!"
"Neo." Oscar sighed in relief and exhaustion. "Is that really necessary?"
"As a matter of fact, yes." Neo stopped and faced the incarnation of both Ozma and Odin with a small smile. "Little Red and her friends have been nothing but a headache for me since the day they first tangled with Roman and sent our lives into a downward spiral from there with only Cinder being worse than them. While I now accept that Red didn't kill Roman that doesn't change much between us and since I helped save them from Drasil while risking my own life at the time I don't plan on ever letting them live it down, especially after Red hunted me when she and her buddies went all psycho emo and tried to cut my head off. Rubbing it in their faces that I helped save their lives is the least I can do."
"Oh Neo." Oscar sighed and looked away.
"Yang says she liked you better when you couldn't talk." Penny translated, maintaining a smile despite Neo's teasing. "And Weiss wonders why you didn't mention her?"
Neo shrugged. "Ice Queen has been less of a pain to me than the other three and she doesn't really stand out all that much."
"Her answer is…'Hey!'"
Xxx
"All right, here is how it goes."
Two men in dark coats followed a certain boy in a mask as he led them through the Realm of Darkness, coming upon the dark beach where their targets had been last sighted.
"When Aqua was supposed to fall here, there a single moment when a tear between realms and she fell into it instead of here." The boy in the mask, Vanitas stopped as he looked around the dark beach. "She came back here and found your old master then transported themselves supposedly to the world hidden here."
"So how do we follow them?" One of the dark coated men asked.
Vanitas chuckled as he summoned his Keyblade, Void Gear. "The fun thing about the Realm of Darkness is that the barriers between worlds here and more malleable. And it just so happens, the magical item Aqua used to escape here left a special kind of energy signature, one that can be followed by someone with a Keyblade."
He followed the trace of energy he could feel in the air, stopping in front of a dark cave.
"The magical item she used apparently created a kind of wormhole." Vanitas explained as he pointed his Keyblade forward. "They are rare but the old geezer encountered a few in his time and he studied them. When a wormhole is opened, the walls between worlds are temporarily weakened and if we can find that single place where it was…"
A beam of light came from the tip of his Keyblade and touched the air in front of him, forming into a bright swirling vortex of multi-colored light, lighting up the surrounding area.
"And presto." Vanitas chuckled as he lowered his Keyblade. "The way is reopened for us."
The two men silently followed Vanitas into the portal which then vanished a moment later.
Xxx
Terra had to stop watching Aqua's journey for a moment, mostly because he wanted to go and help her despite Penny's warnings. She warned him that if he joined Aqua in that part of Remnant's history he would be forced to walk Remnant for possibly thousands of years before reaching the present timeline that matched up to when Aqua was supposed to fall into the Realm of Darkness, thus not altering history too much.
Terra heard these reasons.
Terra understood them.
That didn't mean though he had to like them.
So what if he ended having to live for thousands of years?
He was already a walking suit of armor, a consequence of his mistakes and blindness to Master Xehanort's manipulations.
He had returned to this suit of armor because of Aqua and his desire to make things right.
She had freed him from the darkness and from being a puppet of Xehanort who still had control of his body.
It was because of her he was here, fighting on the right side and fighting with her again.
Why should it matter to him if he is trapped for thousands of years as a suit of armor?
As long as he could be with his friends, he would take this state of being over being a puppet of Xehanort no matter how long it takes to get his body back.
Terra walked onto the beach of the Ever After, looking out across the endless seas. He was briefly reminded of the world with the single island and those two boys he had met. Perhaps this world actually paralleled that world in a strange way.
'I remember Penny telling this world was affected by emotions and it was home to many creatures.' Terra thought as he glanced around. 'When those girls found out their world was destroyed, they lost hope and their hearts filled with despair. That despair affected this world so badly and when they gained their magic, the negative emotions caused this world to become so chaotic that so many of the creatures either fled or were destroyed.'
How sad it was for them to lose everything.
They unintentionally caused Aqua to fall here and because of some strange time difference she was here a while before they had landed here next. Terra had to wonder if the time difference here was enough that he along with the others would spend years in this place, watching Aqua journey through time on the world known as Remnant, trying to keep it from being destroyed.
Like a true Keyblade Master.
To put yourself through a journey that would possibly last for thousands of years, maybe even more for the sake of a world that will never know what you did for them, never praise you, never reward you or understand what was at stake.
Aqua made the choice despite having the option to walk away and return to the Realm of Light to awaken Ven.
Terra had the choice too but he couldn't walk away and leave Aqua to carry on this journey alone. He already turned away from her and Ven once and his fear of losing them drove him into Xehanort's trap.
He would not make the same mistake twice.
Terra's thoughts were interrupted when a familiar feeling made itself known to him. Despite not having a body of flesh and blood he still felt the metaphorical chill as he turned and 'looked' down the beach, seeing a portal of darkness appear.
And the masked boy that came out of it.
'Vanitas!' Terra immediately summoned his Keyblade and rushed forward.
Behind Vanitas came two men in dark coats that looked familiar but Terra would not waste time speculating.
Not when an old enemy has returned.
"Vanitas!"
The masked boy who became one the worst enemies of Terra and his friends turned and watched the armored warrior approach. "Ah, Terra. I heard you were back…But only in the metaphorical sense. Too bad your body isn't here with us."
Terra stopped several feet away and pointed his Keyblade the dark wielder. "How are you here? Aqua told me Ven destroyed you."
Vanitas threw his head back and laughed. "She did, did she? Well, I guess Aqua either forgot…or the one you know hasn't caught up yet."
"What?" Terra muttered.
"She's the reason I came back, Terra. She appeared in Ven's heart just as the X-blade was shattered and I managed to latch onto her, follow her through her long journey. Though by that point in time it was just about over." Vanitas answered with a snicker.
Just about over?
Terra had been watching Aqua's progress and it was nowhere near over from what he saw.
Unless…
"That's right, Bronze Knight." Vanitas taunted, having seemingly read Terra's mind. "You have only seen what she has done at the beginning. I am the end result of the near end of her journey when she used the Power of Waking to reach Ven's heart."
That's right.
The Power of Waking was meant to use hearts to reach other worlds.
But Aqua was using it somewhat differently.
She was using Ozma's heart apparently to travel through time on Remnant, reaching through countless time periods to reach the seven hearts she was already connected to in order to help stop the darkness from destroying Remnant.
But did that mean she ended up traveling off world at the time?
"When she reached Ven's heart, she wanted to save him so badly but she knew she couldn't. She was not nearly as selfish enough to cast aside her morals, even to save her friends." Vanitas snickered. "But she sure saved me."
"I doubt it was intentional." Terra retorted.
"Well, you actually might be right." Vanitas agreed before his tone turned bitter. "After she made it there, I was left formless…Shapeless…Weakened so badly I almost wished that squirt Ventus did destroy me. Luckily the negativity of that world was so potent and vast, I could feed on it and manifest my Unversed enough that they eventually spread out across that world, feeding on the widespread negativity and in turn they fed me upon their destruction. Eventually I was strong enough to take form again and wandered about that world until such time I was finally strong enough to leave and return on my own to the Realm of Light where the old geezer found me and took me back under his wing."
"Xehanort." Terra whispered before speaking up. "You're back with Xehanort."
"Only until I finally get what I was promised. And right now we need the two of you, or specifically Aqua back to continue the old geezer's plan. I would have dragged her back by myself but it seems her little venture time made her a bit stronger than before." Vanitas admitted. "And it didn't help that she had a lot of help and not just from the friends and family she made there. She had someone or something looking out for her. And now I stand here with the hired help," He gestured to the men in dark coats behind him. "To deal with one of her little helpers and after that I will finish my job and drag her from the darkness and into the light, ironically considering it's me of all people."
"I don't think so." Terra tightened his hold on his Keyblade. "I am not sure what exactly happened but I know that you're still an enemy and I won't let Xehanort near Aqua or any of my friends ever again."
"Oh how cute." Vanitas chuckled, placing his hands on his hips. "Still the proud guardian, Terra. Even after you failed miserably for so long. Did Xehanort taking over your body and leaving you in that suit of armor teach you absolutely nothing?"
"I learned a few things." Terra answered as he entered his fighting stance. "I doubt the same can be said for you, no matter how far ahead you might be."
Vanitas sighed and summoned his Keyblade. "Fine. It will be just like old times." He then looked to his associates. "Go ahead and find that tree and cut it down."
The two men nodded and moved forward.
"I don't think so!" Terra shouted, pointing his Keyblade at the trio. "Meteor!"
(Kingdom Hearts OST Fragments of Sorrow)
One of the dark coated men stepped forward and seemingly summoned a large black Axe Sword. It had red lines along the edge and other red patterns decorating it with a blue handle that was roughly the length of the blade.
Was it also important to mention the entire weapon was about a meter long?
The top of the blade was curved and flattened and fanned out while the bottom edge was serrated, sporting a strange, square, pale yellow guard on the opposite side of the handle. The guard was also decorated with black lines around the corners and a thin red 'X' on the top side. If he wasn't about to be in a fight, Terra might have cared to look closely at the weapon and consider that the guard was meant to act as a counterweight.
But he wasn't interested in the weapon of an enemy.
He was more focused on stopping these three.
A literal flaming meteor was conjured in the air above the trio and fell straight towards them. The man wielding the large Axe Sword took a ready stance and held his sword over his shoulder. He let out a loud roar and jumped into the air swinging his axe sword up and much to the surprise of Terra, literally cut through the meteor with one single swing.
The remains of the meteor crashed on either side of the trio as the man landed perfectly on the ground as Vanitas chuckled. "Didn't think it would be that easy, did you?"
Terra shot forward to attack but Vanitas intercepted him, the Void Gear clashing with the Ends of the Earth which sent sparks flying.
Vanitas looked over his shoulder at the two. "What did I just say? Find that tree and cut it down!"
The two men rushed past the two as Terra tried to pull back and stop them but Vanitas went on the attack, pushing Terra back who hastily blocked Vanitas' Keyblade several times.
"You're not going anywhere, Terra." Vanitas taunted as he pushed his Keyblade against Terra's. "With your heart in that suit of armor, we don't need you anymore. Your body will do just fine without you trying to take it back."
"I'll be taking it back sooner than you think!" Terra grunted as he shoved Vanitas back.
Vanitas jumped back, performing a somersault before landing perfectly on his feet and pointed his Keyblade at Terra. From the tip came a Dark Firaga that shot straight at Terra who held his Keyblade in front of him and much to the surprise of Vanitas, morphed into a shield that blocked the dark fire.
"Okay, that's new." The dark wielder admitted.
"So is this!" The shield then morphed into a whip that Terra swung at Vanitas before he could move, wrapping around his right wrist.
Terra then pulled with such strength that Vanitas was literally pulled off his feet and into the air as Terra swung around and then brought the whip down, slamming Vanitas into the ground. Sand and water were launched into the air, surrounding the small crater with Vanitas in the center. The dark wielder grunted as he got on his feet, groaning slightly but then chuckled.
"Okay, now I am getting impressed." Vanitas stood up and lifted his head up.
He then immediately dodged out of the way as Terra was upon him and swinging his Keyblade down. Vanitas cartwheeled to the side and pointed his Keyblade at Terra, causing of pillar of ice to form underneath him, seemingly freezing Terra on the spot. Vanitas then teleported in front of Terra to finish him with a single slash…
SHATTER!
Only for Terra to easily break free of the ice and grab Vanitas' arm, stopping his strike. Terra then head-butted Vanitas in the mask, causing to cracks to form as he staggered back with a grunt.
"Well," The dark wielder remarked as he faced Terra with the cracks stopping their spread from just in front of his face. "It seems you really shattered my expectations this time."
Terra said nothing as he swung his Keyblade again at Vanitas who vanished into the ground and popped up several feet away, firing dark lightning at him. Terra grunted as he felt the lightning hit his body that caused him to slow down. This gave Vanitas ample time to leap at him and deliver a few hard slashes that knocked him down. Luckily Terra didn't feel any pain and he immediately rolled out of the way as Vanitas brought his Keyblade down, forming a crater on impact.
Rather than let Terra get away, Vanitas pointed his Keyblade at the armored wielder. "Dark Cannon!"
Three shimmering orbs surrounded the Keyblade and from the tip came a beam of dark light that slammed into Terra just as he got up and blasted him down the beach.
BOOM!
(Kingdom Hearts OST Fragments of Sorrow Ends)
Xxx
BOOM!
Neo, Oscar and Penny's heads spun and looked in the direction of an explosion that seemingly came from the beach.
"Now what?" Neo hopped off her stump.
"This feeling…" Oscar whispered, taking a few steps forward. "It feels like darkness…and emptiness."
"You are correct, boy."
The three watched as two muscular men wearing dark coats emerged from the woods and slowly approached the tree. Neo stiffened at the sight of the dark coats they wore which were exactly the same as the one she was wearing.
And the same as the man who attacked her and Aqua.
However while she had a feeling these weren't as bad as that man, she still got the impression that they weren't the kind to take lightly.
"You came here from the darkness." Penny stated softly, staring them down with a calm but firm look. "State your purpose."
"We seek Ansem the Wise."
Xxx
Vanitas chuckled as he approached the dust clouded spot where he had blasted Terra. "Well, can't say I too disappointed by how easy it was. Aqua put up a much better fight as did those girls of hers. I guess leaping through thousands of years would have to make her strong enough to be a match for me. Too bad I can't say the same for you, Terra."
He stopped and looked around the clouded area.
"I had a few years to feed on the negativity of Remnant and it made me a whole lot stronger than before. Stronger than I was when we even fought in the graveyard. My Unversed spread all over Remnant and every bit of negativity they fed off of was then used to increase my own strength." Vanitas looked around. "You're just a suit of armor now, Terra. How can you possible hope to stand up to the likes of me?"
There was a glow through the clouds that caught his attention.
"You know something, Vanitas?" Terra's voice called out through the dust. "You talk too much."
Vanitas spun and summoned his Dark Cannon Shotlock again just as the dust cleared…
And revealed Terra holding a giant cannon.
Vanitas raised an eyebrow. "Oh."
Terra's cannon fired a beam of light before Vanitas could react, either to attack or dodge and in complete reverse to what happened a few seconds ago, Vanitas was blasted across the beach.
BOOM!
Terra's cannon morphed back into its original Keyblade form and he slowly approached the area where Vanitas had crashed. There was a large hole in the middle of the beach that was quickly filling up with water when Terra arrived and he could see Vanitas floating in the center. Terra aimed his Keyblade at the dark wielder, knowing it would take even more than a point blank blast from a cannon to take an opponent like Vanitas out.
He was proven correct when Vanitas lifted his head up and laughed as he jumped out of the water and landed on the other side of the hole. "I didn't not that coming!"
"There's more where that came from." Terra softly said. "You can't beat me, Vanitas."
"I could say the same for you, Terra." Vanitas retorted. "Ven was the only one who came close to destroying me and look what happened to him."
Terra's form was silent but Vanitas had the idea that if Terra could he would be glaring rather darkly at him right now.
"That's right. While you were getting possessed by the old geezer I possessed Ventus and merged our hearts together and for a brief second I held the X-blade in my hands." Vanitas held up his free hand and clenched it. "And then Aqua and that rat of a king shattered it while Ven nearly done me in at the same time. If it wasn't for Aqua's own time traveling adventure at the time I would have really been finished…How it burns me to owe that blue bird my life."
Terra remained on guard, waiting for Vanitas to make his move.
"I think the best way to get back at her is to dismantle you before you join her in her adventures." Vanitas chuckled as a dark aura surrounded him. "Command Style: Last Word!"
He shot forward and delivered a series of heavy slashes at Terra, forcing the armored wielder back. Terra grunted but had an idea as he and Vanitas clashed. A large rune appeared on the ground underneath them and lightning rained from above. Vanitas grunted as he felt the lightning hit him but Terra seemed to fight through it as he shoved Vanitas back again and his Keyblade then morphed into a giant mace. Underneath his mask, Vanitas' eyes went wide but he had no time to react as Terra reared back and swung the mace, slamming right into the dark wielder and sending him crashing through several trees into the woods.
There was snarling sound and Terra watched as Vanitas emerged from a pile of broken trees with his mask broken, showing the left side of his face. Terra remained on guard, watching as Vanitas kicked the trees out of his way and landed on the ground just a few feet away.
"Okay, now I'm mad!" Vanitas snarled as he prepared to attack.
Only before he could, a blast of wind slammed into him, knocking him into another tree that fell over. Opening his eyes, Vanitas was greeted with the surprising sight of the two men he had brought here standing with two kids who both had Keyblades
"What is this?" Vanitas grunted as he stood up.
"It's us…giving you our resignation, Vanitas." The man with dreadlocks answered. "Run back to your master and tell him we no longer serve him."
"Is that so?" Vanitas grunted but smiled. "You're Nobodies. How can you suddenly change sides like this?"
"Our brief return to our original beings showed us what we had allowed ourselves to become: pawns." The other man answered. "Pawns of your master. We only allowed ourselves to become Nobodies again…"
"To atone for our previous actions." Both men stated at the same time.
Vanitas grunted and spat. "I never wanted company along anyways…You think by now the old geezer would have learned to trust no one."
A portal of darkness appeared behind him and he slowly backed into it.
"Fine, we'll consider this a draw for the most part but just remember we are watching you just as much as you watch the world that your friend is making." Vanitas took one step into the portal. "And we have been making a lot of friends there."
He disappeared into the portal which then vanished. Seeing the threat was gone, Terra dismissed his Keyblade and turned to the others: Neo, Oscar and the two men with them.
"You two were with Vanitas." He simply said. "Why did you turn on him?"
The man with dreadlocks stepped forward. "I go by the name Xaldin but my real name is Dilan. With me is Lexaeus whose real name is Aeleus. We were former guards at Radiant Garden and both apprenticed to Ansem the Wise."
Terra looked at them, suddenly finding them familiar. "Ansem's apprentices who betrayed him and formed the Organization. Ansem told us about you."
"I am sure whatever he said was likely true." Lexaeus stated, closing his eyes and sighed. "We six have committed horrible crimes when we betrayed our master and became Nobodies. When we were restored, Saix offered us the chance to become Nobodies again in order to find our former master who disappeared into a new world."
"A world connected to this one that lies in the darkness, beyond even the Realm of Darkness." Xaldin nodded in agreement. "We agreed but not for the reasons Saix believed. We seek our former master, not to bring him to Xehanort…"
"But to atone for our past mistakes." Lexaeus finished with a stoic and yet remorseful look on his face.
Terra looked between the two, wondering if they were actually telling the truth.
"They speak the truth."
Terra watched as Penny stepped forward. "How do you know what?"
"I have seen it." Penny answered with a smile. "I have seen what these two will do when finding Mr. Ansem and what they will become."
"And what do they become?" Terra questioned skeptically.
There was a moment of silence.
"…Family."
