AN: My god, I am so excited for you guys to read this chapter!
Chapter 27
With the girls' confrontations with their doppelgangers having concluded, the group made their way back to the original mirror that brought them to this chamber. A flash of light engulfed the five of them, and they found themselves in another forest area, this time with monstrously large, thorny vines everywhere.
It was yet another world Aqua recognized. This time the Enchanted Dominion, where she met Prince Philip and helped him defeat Maleficent.
It was that same witch that caused Aqua to first begin doubting Terra.
"So, that's what happened to Prince Philip," she said to herself. She had noticed a year or so back that she couldn't use her Semblance to summon him anymore, which meant that he was either dead or had lost his heart, but she never imagined that he was lost because his world fell.
"Who?" Yang asked.
"Someone I met in this world," Aqua answered.
"Another prince?" Weiss asked skeptically.
"How did you get so lucky to keep meeting all these princes?" Ruby asked jealously.
"I don't know how it happened," Aqua said, rubbing the back of her head. "Just a weird coincidence, I guess."
"What world is this, anyway?" Yang asked.
"It's called the Enchanted Dominion. A witch named Maleficent imprisoned me in her dungeon. That's actually where I met Prince Philip. We helped each other escape, Maleficent transformed into a dragon, and then we defeated her."
"Why does your life sound like a children's story book?" Weiss asked.
"I know, isn't it the best?!" Ruby yelled with stars in her eyes, causing Weiss to just sigh in annoyance, while Aqua simply chuckled. The group kept walking forward for only a few minutes before Aqua saw something.
Walking along the path in front of them were the retreating forms of Terra and Ven.
"Terra! Ven!" she called out to them, running after the duo. She had no idea if it was really them, or if the Darkness was playing some trick on her to lure her to her doom, but she had to know for sure.
She just missed them so much.
As she got closer to the two boys, however, a wall of thorns suddenly grew right in front of her, obstructing the path. She summoned her Keyblade and tore right through the thorns, leading her into an opening filled with Heartless.
"Get out of my way!" She yelled, raising her Keyblade. "Thundaja!" She yelled, summoning massive bolts of lightning that cleared out the area in seconds.
She only waited a second before she took off running further into the forest.
She needed to see Terra and Ven.
And nothing was going to stand in her way.
"Mom, wait!" Ruby yelled from behind her mother. She had never seen her this angry before. She was running forward like a woman possessed, destroying everything in her path, be it Heartless or weird random thorns that kept growing directly in front of them. She was so singularly focused on catching up to Uncle Terra and Uncle Ven that she kept leaving Team RWBY behind.
It was honestly a little worrying.
She could see Mom cutting her way through more vines up ahead and running through the path, only to stop and stare upwards.
"Thanks for waiting up," Ruby said, and then she saw just what Mom was looking at.
They had stepped out of the forest, and onto barren, rocky soil.
And the area was absolutely teeming with Darksides, and they seemed to be feeding energy to large, bright ball floating in the air.
Her breath caught in her throat, and she could hear the rest of her team gasp in horror.
"Those are the creature we fought during the Initiation," Weiss said.
"There are so many of them," Blake said.
"One of them was hard enough to beat," Yang said. "I'm not so sure we can take a hundred."
"Okay, then," Mom said, taking off into the horde.
"Wait!" Ruby called after her. "We can't take them all!"
"They're not keeping me from my friends!" Without any further argument, and despite some very intense apprehension, Team RWBY followed after her.
They ran along a narrow path, dodging orbs of energy that the Darksides were throwing at them, until they eventually ran into a single one standing in the middle of the path, directly under the giant ball.
"We need to destroy that sphere!" Mom yelled, pointing her Keyblade at the Darkside's head. "Fire!" she yelled, launching a Firaga spell at the monster. It slammed into the creature's face, and she ran up its long arm, trying to head straight for the ball. But the Heartless recovered faster than she expected it to, grabbed her leg, and threw her back to the ground. She flipped in mid-air and landed on her feet.
"Okay, looks like we might need to take care of him, first," Mom said.
"How are we supposed to do that?" Blake asked. "We could barely handle the one from Initiation."
"Because," Mom said, holding up her Keyblade and gathering energy into her body, "I don't have to hold back anymore." The energy gathered around her exploded, causing her body to be surrounded in a bright light that Ruby recognized as her Spellweaver Style Change. The Darkside slammed its fist into the ground, summoning a group of Shadows, while the other Darksides around them continued to bombard the group with orbs of energy.
Mom charged past the Shadows, and attacked the Darkside relentlessly, her Keyblade floating around her rather than being held in her hand. Ruby summoned her own Keyblade and turned towards her team.
"Blake, Yang, take care of the Shadows," she ordered. "Weiss, try using your Dust to attack that ball up there. If we can break it open, maybe that will do something!"
"What about you?" Weiss asked.
"I'm going to back up Mom," Ruby said, transforming her Keyblade into its scythe mode and using her Semblance to charge at the Darkside. She used her magic to coat the blade of her scythe in fire, and spun around to strike its leg with her weapon, bringing it down on one knee. She swung at its other leg, making the Heartless collapse. Mom used the opportunity to launch a barrage of attacks against its head.
Suddenly, the Darkside was surrounded by what looked like bright red raindrops pouring relentlessly around it, falling from the giant ball. Whatever it was created a barrier, knocking Ruby and Mom away from it.
Ruby was trying to come up with a plan when she heard a noise above her. Something in her head screamed at her.
"Move!" she yelled, and bright red lasers hit the ground from above them!
"Lasers?!" Yang yelled. "Are you freaking kidding me?!"
The beams traveled quickly along the ground in seemingly random directions, meaning that the five warriors had to constantly move to avoid being hit by them. The Darkside slowly stood up to its full height, surrounding itself in its makeshift barrier, while it gathered energy in its chest.
She had a feeling that she shouldn't let it finish whatever it was.
She transformed Crescent Rose into its sniper form, and used its Shotlock. She locked onto its head, and hoped that this worked.
She built up energy in the end of Crescent Rose's barrel, and after a few seconds, released it, firing a massive laser directly at the Darkside's head. It punched through the barrier, and the Heartless collapsed to its knees, its arms falling to its sides.
"Vine-ra!" Ruby yelled, making giant vines sprout from the ground to wrap around the Darkside's wrists and hold it in place. "Let's go!" she shouted to her team and her mom. "Let's get that orb!" Team RWBY fired at the orb, while Mom climbed up the trapped form of the Darkside, launching herself off its head and striking the ball with her Keyblade.
The energy making up the orb fluctuated, and it finally exploded, filling the area with a bright light.
When the light faded, all the Darksides were gone.
"Whoa…" Ruby said in awe, looking around her.
"Okay, that was awesome," Yang said, but she was still clearly in shock.
"Nice work, girls," Mom said, sending her Keyblade away.
"Where was that power the last time we had to fight one of those things?" Weiss asked, still trying to catch her breath. Mom sighed.
"Ruby and I have to hold back when we're fighting around other people on Remnant," she answered.
"Why?" Blake asked.
"Remnant is the most warrior-driven world I've ever been to," Aqua said. "Because of people's Semblances only granting one special ability and the lack of magic, we have to limit the things we can do to avoid arousing suspicion. In other worlds, magic is a lot more plentiful, so I've never had to worry about people questioning me before. But with all the things the Keyblade lets us do, people will eventually ask questions that we can't answer. Questions that would upset the World Order."
"What's the World Order?" Weiss asked.
"Basically, us Keyblade Wielders have to keep the existence of other worlds a secret from the people inhabiting the worlds we visit."
"But why do they need to be kept secret?" Blake asked.
"Let me give you an example," Mom said. "You're all familiar with the last King of Mantle, right? The one that plunged all of Remnant into war and is remembered to this day as a tyrant? What do you think would happen if someone like him found out about other worlds?"
"He would try to find and conquer them," Weiss said after a moment of thought.
"Correct," Mom said, bringing out her inner teacher. "And a man whose heart is as dark as his was would bring untold numbers of Heartless with him. The worlds are all walled off from each other for their own protection, so that all of existence isn't swallowed up by the Darkness. If they were common knowledge, it would put every world at risk. So to answer your original question, we have to hold back on Remnant so people don't find out our power is otherworldly."
"Uh, guys," Yang said, "I know we're learning some valuable information here, but don't we need to get a move on?"
"You're right," Mom said. "Let's go."
Aqua led the group further along the path, the one she recognized once led to Maleficent's castle. Finally, in front of her, with their backs turned, were her friends.
"Terra! Ven!" she called as she ran towards them. Terra turned around to face her, but Ven stood still, his head slightly lowered towards the ground.
"Aqua, you're—" Terra said, surprising Aqua.
"Terra, you spoke?" Aqua asked him. The last time she saw him, he didn't respond, so she was wary about whether or not it was really him.
"You can see me?" he asked, and she could swear she heard hope in his voice.
"Yes. I can see Ven, too."
"Ven's here?" Terra asked, looking around in confusion.
"Terra, what's wrong? Don't you see him?" he shook his head. "Hold on, maybe this will work. There are some people I want to introduce you to."
"Who?" Aqua gestured for Ruby and Yang to stand next to her, and they did.
"These are my daughters, Ruby and Yang," she said, placing a hand on each of their shoulders.
"H-hi, Uncle Terra," Ruby said, waving shyly.
"Yeah, I'm not calling someone that hot my uncle," Yang said, earning a smack in the stomach by Ruby.
"Daughters?" Terra asked. "I don't understand. I don't see anyone besides you."
"You don't?" Aqua asked.
"I don't even know where we are."
"We're in one of the worlds the darkness consumed. It's Enchanted Dominion," she explained.
"Consumed? The worlds fell?" he asked, his brow furrowing in concern.
"How do I know that you're really Terra, and not the darkness playing tricks on me again?" she asked, her hands tensing. "Ven, please say something," she pleaded, walking towards the blond boy. When she looked at his face, she saw that his eyes were closed, almost as if he was sleeping standing up. She looked at the boy she once saw as a little brother sadly.
"Aqua, listen," Terra said. "I promise this is me. But I'm not myself."
"What do you mean?"
"You're using the name 'Terra'. That means you're seeing me the way that you remember me. But your heart is just painting the picture that it wants you to see."
"What is he talking about?" Yang questioned, before Ruby shushed her.
"The real me is lost in shadow," he continued, looking down sadly.
"Then you're here, trapped in the Realm of Darkness," Aqua said.
"No," he retorted. "My heart has ties to the dark. That must be why we can talk. But I can't see anything, Aqua. If you say Ven is there, then he's like me- an illusion created by your heart."
"I understand," she said. "Then, you and Ven are safe in the Realm of Light?"
"I think."
"That's good. But, how did you find me?"
"I looked here," he said, placing a hand to his chest. "And I heard you in the darkness."
"Right, but why does your heart have ties to the darkness now?" she asked. "What did you mean, 'lost in shadow'?"
"Just forget about me," he said. "Listen. Xehanort is trying to locate Ven."
"Xehanort?" Weiss questioned.
"He's a really bad guy," Ruby explained.
"He'll never find him," Aqua said. "I hid Ven well." She turned to look at Ven, her back now turned to Terra. "I think the reason he's not talking to me here, is because he's still there sleeping." She heard Ruby gasp.
"Mom, look!" Aqua quickly turned around, and saw that Terra was clutching his head in pain, his body surrounded with clouds of darkness, and his hair changing from brown to bright white.
It was the same as that day 10 years ago, when everything changed.
She took a defensive stance in front of Ven.
"This 'place'," he said, his voice deeper than Terra's, "Is it the Chamber of Waking?"
"Who are you?" Aqua asked angrily. He slowly opened his eyes, revealing that they had changed to a shimmering golden color.
"You don't know?" he asked with a confident smirk. "My name—"
He was interrupted by a second Terra, this one surrounded in a golden light appearing behind him and trapping him in a headlock.
"Aqua, get back!" the real Terra urged, pulling back against the white-haired version of himself.
"What's going on?" Blake asked in alarm.
"What happened to him?" Weiss asked.
"Terra!" Aqua called.
"I messed up," Terra said, still struggling. "Xehanort is a part of me. Now he's trying to use me so you'll tell him where you hid Ven!"
"Silence!" The white-haired Terra, now revealed to be Xehanort, commanded, covering the area in truly oppressive darkness. The women found it hard to breathe.
"I won't give in!" Terra yelled. "Aqua, you have to-!" He was interrupted by Xehanort breaking out of the headlock and grabbing his face with his hand.
"Still you struggle!" Xehanort growled, lifting Terra up by the face. Aqua called out her friend's name in concern, when a large, pitch black hand suddenly grabbed Ven, and another one grabbed Aqua.
"Aqua!" Terra yelled.
"MOM!" Ruby and Yang screamed, running towards her. The hands started pulling Aqua and Ven towards a large black portal. Team RWBY drew their weapons and began attacking the hands, trying to free her.
"Now you can be one with the darkness!" Xehanort yelled happily. The hand squeezed, making Aqua flinch. She looked over at Ven, sitting lifelessly in the creature's clutches.
"That is ENOUGH!" Terra roared, summoning masses of chains that wrapped around Xehanort and engulfed the entire area in light.
The last thing Aqua saw before losing consciousness was Xehanort attempting to struggle.
"Gosh, are you all okay?" a high-pitched voice asked. Aqua slowly opened her eyes, and was met by the sight of a short creature with giant round ears on top of his head, a black shirt, red shorts, and big yellow shoes. They were lying in an area surrounded by weird glowing rocks. She saw that the members of Team RWBY were regaining consciousness, too, and saw the creature standing in front of them.
He was honestly the last person Aqua was expecting to see here.
Mickey Mouse.
"Mickey?" She asked.
"AH! WHAT IS THAT?!" Blake and Weiss asked in shock.
"OH MY GOSH, IT'S MICKEY!" Ruby yelled happily, before tackling the diminutive mouse and cuddling him close to her chest like he was a teddy bear. "Ah, he's even cuter in person!"
"You know this creature?" Weiss asked.
"It's Mickey Mouse!" Ruby answered happily, still snuggling with the King, whom was a little too shocked to react.
"He's an old friend of Mom's," Yang answered. "We've seen her summon him before. He's like her favorite summon. Well, besides Uncle Qrow, of course."
"He doesn't look like any Faunus I've ever seen," Blake said, glaring at him harshly for some reason.
"He's not a Faunus, he's just a mouse," Aqua said. "He's also a powerful Keyblade wielder, and a King," Aqua said, pointing that last comment at her younger daughter, who still didn't see the issue with aggressively cuddling royalty.
"A king?" Weiss asked, eyebrow raised in extreme skepticism.
"Yup," Aqua said, popping the "p" sound at the end. "King of Disney Castle."
"Here that, Rubes?" Yang said. "That's royalty you're squeezing the life out of. You should probably stop before it's off with your head."
"Mickey wouldn't do that to a fellow Keyblade wielder!" Ruby said indignantly. "Right?" She asked the mouse, whose face had started turning blue. Ruby yelped and dropped him, the king taking a huge gulp of air. "Oh, my gosh, I'm so sorry, Your Majesty! Please don't behead me!" Ruby pleaded, getting on her knees, and clasping her hands together dramatically.
"Gosh, I'm not gonna behead, you, um…" Mickey said, trailing off at realizing that he didn't know her name.
"Oh, I'm Ruby Rose, Your Majesty," Ruby said, trying to curtsy but stumbling. "Keyblade Wielder extraordinaire!"
"Pump the brakes there, sis," Yang said. "I'm Yang Xiao Long. I'm Ruby's sister."
"Nice to meet ya," Mickey said, looking to the remaining two girls. "And you are?"
"Not about to introduce myself to a talking mouse," Weiss said, crossing her arms in front her haughtily.
"Ice Queen over there is called Weiss Schnee," Yang said. "Don't mind her. Her panties have been in a bunch all day."
"Hey!"
"And what about you?" Mickey asked Blake, who just narrowed her eyes and looked like she was about to attack him for some reason.
"Blake Belladonna," she said through gritted teeth, causing Mickey to take a cautious step backwards.
"It's, uh, nice to meet you all," he said nervously. "I gotta say, Aqua. I never expected I'd find you in the Realm of Darkness of all places." He turned to look back at Ruby. "And you say you've got a Keyblade?"
"Yes, Your Majesty!" Ruby said, summoning Crescent Rose.
"Neat," he said. "So you're Aqua's apprentice?"
"Yes sir!"
"There's a world trapped down here, called 'Remnant'," Aqua explained. "I've been teaching Ruby to use her Keyblade so we can try and restore it."
"Gosh, that sounds like it'll be hard," Mickey said.
"Eh, it's nothing we can't handle," Yang said.
"Yang, be more respectful when talking to a King!" Ruby scolded her sister. "I'm sorry about her manners, Your Majesty."
"Aw, it's fine," he said. "You can just call me 'Mickey'. But I didn't think it was possible to have an intact world down here."
"Me neither," Aqua said.
"You know, we've been looking for you for a long time," Mickey said to the blue-haired master. "How'd you end up down here?"
"Well, after we last spoke, I hid Ven somewhere safe, and then I went after Terra." She took her Wayfinder off her neck and held the blue one, the one from her first batch, up to the light from the rocks. "But Terra was about to fall to darkness, so I had one choice. I stayed behind in hopes of giving him a chance."
"I…didn't know," Mickey said sadly.
"After I fell, I woke up in a forest, where I met Ruby, Yang, and the man who eventually became my husband."
"Husband?" Mickey asked, his eyes widening in surprise.
"Yeah, his name is Qrow," Aqua explained with a smile. "We've been married for a year."
"Wow, congratulations!" Mickey said happily.
"Thanks," Aqua said with a smile, kneeling down so they were at eye-level with each other. "So, how about you? What brought you here? Has something happened in the Realm of Light?"
"It's the Heartless," Mickey said, his happiness at the news of Aqua's marriage fading, replaced with melancholy. "They've been attacking worlds and taking their hearts."
"We've seen a few," Yang said.
"It's been a happening a lot more frequently lately," Mickey said. "But if we can lock the door between the two realms- light and dark- from both sides, we can protect the other worlds. So, ya see, I came here to find the key on this side. Turns out, it's not so easy getting into the Realm of Darkness. The points you can cross have become unstable. It's only when a world gets consumed, that an entrance appears in the realm between. So, I waited for my chance to sneak in." He walked up the her, and took hold of her hand that was still holding her Wayfinder. "But hey, when I got here, I felt a warm, familiar light. I followed it to find my way- to you."
Aqua held the blue charm close, looking at it fondly.
"So they were helping," she said. "Terra and Ven brought you and I back together again. After all this time, they're still looking out for us."
"Yeah," Mickey said with a slight nod.
"But, the worlds are still in danger. Did Terra make it back to the Realm of Light?"
"We still haven't found him," Mickey said, slumping his shoulders.
"I see," she said, looking down. "Well, wherever he is, he's fighting," Aqua continued, gripping her Wayfinder close to her chest in determination. "He'll beat his darkness. And I know he wants me to fight, too."
"I think you're right," Mickey said. "He'll be just fine."
"Yes. But what about Ven? He won't wake up unless I'm with him."
"Well, come back with me, then," Mickey said. "If you go back to the Realm of Light, you can wake him up."
Aqua felt her heart soar for an instant at the thought of getting her little brother back, but a glance at the worried looks on her daughters' faces changed it.
"I can't," she said.
"Why not?" Mickey asked.
"I have a life in Remnant," she explained. "I'm married, I have a home. And Ruby isn't just my apprentice. She and Yang are my daughters. I have to be there for them. I know I have a responsibility as a Keyblade Master, but I also have a responsibility as a mother and as a wife."
"I understand," Mickey said. "Sometimes, family comes first. I'm sure Ven will understand, too."
"Thanks," Aqua said. "We'll still help you find that key, though, right girls?"
"Of course!" Ruby said happily.
"There you go. We'll stick with you at least until you find the key you're looking for, then I guess we'll head back to Remnant," Aqua said. "You do know how you're going to get out of here, right?"
"Uh, about that," Mickey said, rubbing the back of his head nervously. "I was so busy finding a way in, that I didn't give a lot of thought about a way out. But I'm sure we'll find one!"
Aqua couldn't help but chuckle, remembering Mickey's tendency to go flying off into space with his Star Shard.
"You haven't changed at all," Aqua said, causing Mickey to start laughing, too.
"Now I definitely don't believe this nonsense about someone that scatter-brained being a King," Weiss commented.
"Weiss!" Ruby hissed. "Stop being rude!"
"May our hearts be our guiding key," Mickey said, looking off into the distance.
"There's a phrase no one's used in ages," Aqua commented.
"What does 'guiding key' even mean?" Blake asked.
"Keyblade wielders used to say those words to each other," Mickey explained. "It was kinda like wishing each other good luck. It's something I like to try and remember."
"Oh!" Ruby said excitedly. "Yang and I have one of those, too!"
"Keep your light burning strong!" the sisters said in unison, striking a pose. Weiss just rolled her eyes, and Blake let out an amused hum. Mickey laughed happily.
"I like that one, too," he said. "So, ready?" he asked the group.
"Ready," Aqua said.
To the group's surprise, the path ahead led to an opening, with light pouring through it. None of them thought that light even existed here, this being the "Realm of Darkness" and all. As they approached the mouth of the cave they were in, the rocky ground gradually gave way to sand, and when they exited they found themselves standing on a beach.
Or at least, what was left of one. Instead of leading directly into the water, it dropped off into a sheer cliff face, with broken -down wooden structures all around them. The sky was clear, and the sun was beating down on them.
"This is kinda pretty," Ruby commented.
"I just don't get how a place this sunny exists in the Realm of Darkness," Yang said.
"Nothing about this has made any sense," Weiss pointed out.
"Wait, this is where I met those children," Aqua observed.
"Another world you know?" Blake asked.
"So many of them have been lost, it's not surprising that you know a few of them," Mickey said, and Blake looked down angrily at the little mouse. "And now they're trapped here in the dark. How do you know this place, anyway?"
"I visited this place once," she said. "And I met two boys I considered passing the Keyblade on to. But because Terra had already given one of them the power, I didn't."
"Aqua, what were those boys' names?" Mickey asked urgently, as if he had just realized something very important.
"…I don't remember," she said after thinking about it for several seconds. "It was ten years ago, after all."
"Were their names Sora and Riku?" Mickey asked.
"Yes, I think so," Aqua answered.
"I see," Mickey said seriously. "We're getting warm."
"What do you mean?" Ruby asked.
"Welp, it's Sora and Riku who've been helping me. We're trying to get that door shut for good."
"Wait, those same boys?" Aqua asked. Mickey nodded.
"Aqua, if this is where my friends first got the Keyblade, it also must be where we'll find its counterpart. The Keyblade of Darkness has gotta be here on the dark side of their world." The group heard a loud bang that shook the ground beneath their feet.
"What was that?" Yang asked.
"We have to hurry," Mickey said, running towards a small cave behind them. Just as they were about to reach it, a massive swarm of Heartless flew out of the cave entrance. A constantly-moving wave of Shadow Heartless flew past them, flying around the beach. The group all drew their weapons, with Ruby, Aqua, and Mickey summoning their Keyblades.
The three Keyblade wielders all launched fire spells at the swarm, while Yang and Blake shot at them and Weiss used her Dust. Shadows fell from the swarm in large numbers, only to run at the group. Aqua saw Ruby rapidly dashing back and forth between Heartless, using her Keyblade's base Shotlock. To her horror, after her attack ended, Ruby was swept up in the tide of Heartless.
"RUBY!" She yelled, running towards the hoard.
"Petalra!" She heard Ruby shout, and a large chunk of Shadows was swept out from the group, freeing her daughter.
"Guys!" Ruby shouted. "In the front of the group, there's this big ball that the Shadows are clinging to! Go for that!"
"Got it!" Aqua shouted, firing her own Shotlock at the mass in front. The energy shots hit several Shadows, making it easier to see the ball that Ruby was talking about. "Good eye, honey!" The swarm of Heartless suddenly took a nosedive into the ground, completely vanishing from view. When it suddenly re-emerged, it appeared right in the middle of Yang, Blake, and Weiss's formation, knocking all three of them away, multiple Shadows having hit them on the way. She saw the swarm about to dive again, right above where Ruby was standing.
"Oh no, you don't!" Aqua yelled, calling on her Semblance. "Goofy!" she yelled, and her summon jumped in front of Ruby, defending her from the onslaught before vanishing.
"Curaga!" She heard Mickey shout, and she saw that the king had healed the other three RWBY members, before jumping on top of the ball as the swarm surfaced again.
"Aqua, now!" he shouted, and used his Keyblade to knock the ball towards her like a bat. Aqua summoned golden, glowing chains around her body, like the ones Terra used to restrain Xehanort, and launched them at the ball, immobilizing it, and trapping a few Shadows on it. Aqua herself was left covered in a golden glow of her own, having not realized that her team-up with Mickey resulted in a new Style Change.
Aqua and Mickey started teleporting around the immobilized mass of Shadows, striking it every time they did. Finally, they teleported underneath the ball, firing many bright orbs of light at the Shadows, breaking the chains holding them, and launching the ball away from them.
"Holy crap," Yang muttered. The ball dove back into the ground, coating the entire area in darkness. A bright red orb slowly rose back up, with Shadows swirling around it like a tornado. Shadows were launched at the warriors like bullets, forcing them all to keep moving.
Ruby used her Semblance to launch herself straight up, over the tornado of Heartless. She transformed her Keyblade into its scythe form in mid-air, and cast Fire above her. The recoil fired her back down to the ground and high speeds, and Ruby roared, slicing through the orb of Darkness on the way down.
The ball exploded, and the Heartless disappeared.
Everyone stopped for a few seconds to catch their breath.
"Nice work, everyone," Aqua said.
"Let's keep going," Mickey said, pointing at the cave they were originally trying to enter.
The cave required them to crawl to enter it, but once they were inside, they found that the walls had all been scribbled on with chalk. At the back end of the cave, they saw what looked to be a brown door without a handle against the wall.
"I think we're here," Mickey said, and he and Aqua approached the door and pushed it open.
A pitch-black space greeted them, with the only visible feature being a single glowing Keyblade floating several feet in front of them.
"There!" Mickey said, and the group approached it. It was a more basic Keyblade, like Aqua's Master Keeper. Its teeth were shaped like a crown, with a golden blade, and a silver guard. The keychain, oddly enough, was shaped like Mickey's head.
"Is that what you're after?" Aqua asked.
"Yep," Mickey said. "It's just the key I was looking for. A Keyblade from the dark realm."
"A Keyblade of Darkness," Aqua said thoughtfully.
"'The door of darkness…tied by two keys'," Mickey recited as he picked the weapon up. "'the door of darkness…the seal the light'." He held the blade aloft, admiring it. "Welp, we've got the keys. Now, we find the ones to close the door."
"Sorry?" Aqua asked, confused.
"The door between the two realms- it won't let a heart with light pass through," Mickey explained. "So, only darkness keeps spilling out. We can lock the door using the two Keyblades, but we need help on both sides to get the door shut."
"Well then, since you'll be the one doing the locking, let me be the one to close the door," Aqua said.
"Sorry, but that job's taken by somebody else," Mickey said, confusing Aqua. Suddenly, the ground shook again, and the group was consumed by a bright light.
When the light faded, they found themselves surrounded by glowing rocks again. They cautiously walked forward, before they saw a truly massive bright white door, left slightly open.
"Is that the one?" Aqua asked.
"Yup, the door to Kingdom Hearts," Mickey answered.
"Wait, what's 'Kingdom Hearts'?" Blake asked.
"I thought we were closing the door between the realms of light and darkness," Weiss said.
"Kingdom Hearts is the heart of all worlds," Aqua explained. "Xehanort tried to summon it 10 years ago by sacrificing Ven. It's the reason why Ven's asleep right now, actually."
"Welp, it's not the same Kingdom Hearts from last time," Mickey said. "Not exactly. But even though it's smaller, it's still the heart of many worlds. And even if it's not a complete Kingdom Hearts, we definitely can't leave it open like this, or darkness will escape and destroy the remaining worlds."
"Okay, I don't really get it, but it sounds like all we have to do is shut that door, and we're like, the ultimate heroes," Yang commented. "Sounds easy enough."
"It's time," Mickey said, holding his Keyblade out in front of him. "With this key and Sora's in the Realm of Light, we're gonna close this door. Now, all we need is Riku."
"Sora and Riku," Aqua said thoughtfully. It was kind of hard to imagine that those same two little boys she met on Destiny Islands had since become the Realm of Light's best hope in her absence.
"There!" Mickey shouted, and the group saw a boy with shoulder-length silver hair and a yellow shirt running towards the door in the distance. "That's everyone we need! Come on!"
At that moment, another swarm of Shadows appeared, but it completely ignored them.
"It's headed for Riku!" Ruby shouted. Aqua sprinted ahead of the group, summoning her Keyblade. She called out the golden chains again, and restrained the ball of darkness in the middle like last time.
"Back off!" She shouted, and the mass of Heartless started fighting back, yanking her left and right as she tried to get them under control. "Little help here!" she called, and the girls grabbed onto her, trying to keep her in place.
"Just go!" Yang shouted to Mickey. "We'll hold them off!"
"But-!" Mickey tried to argue.
"Make sure Sora and Riku get the door closed!" Ruby shouted. "We're Huntresses! We can handle this!"
The Heartless broke out of the chains, and the swarm reformed, picking up the entire group, and throwing Mickey aside. Everybody else was carried back through the door, depositing them back on the remains of Destiny Islands.
The group quickly picked themselves up and got ready for combat.
As soon as Ansem disappeared, Sora, Donald, and Goofy made a beeline for the still-open door to Kingdom Hearts.
"Come on!" Sora shouted to his two companions, as he pressed up against the right-hand side, while Donald and Goofy pushed against the left. They pushed as hard as they could, but the doors just wouldn't budge. Goofy decided to take a look on the other side of the door, and judging by the scared gasp, he really didn't like what he saw.
"Stop staring and keep pushing!" Donald scolded him, but couldn't help himself and took a look himself.
"The Heartless!" They yelled in fear.
"Hurry!" Donald urged.
"I can't…" Sora said. The door just wouldn't move.
"Don't give up!" a voice said to him, while a gloved hand grabbed the door from the other side. Riku poked his head around from the dark side of the door to look at his best friend. "Come on, Sora! Together, we can do it!"
"Okay!" Sora said, and kept pushing, while Riku pulled. Finally, it started moving. But they could feel the darkness pouring out of the door. It might have been too late.
"It's hopeless!" Donald wailed, when a bright light burst through the door, killing several Heartless. They watched in awe as a small figure with giant ears appeared before them, Keyblade held high.
"Your Majesty!" Donald and Goofy said happily.
"Now, Sora!" the King said. "Let's close this door for good!"
"Let's close it, quick!" Donald urged.
"But…" Sora said. Riku and the King were still on the other side.
"Don't worry," the King said. "There will always be a door to the light."
"Sora, you can trust King Mickey," Goofy said.
"Now! They're coming!" Riku said urgently.
"Donald, Goofy, thank you," the King said.
The trio started pushing the door closed with renewed vigor, when Riku turned around to look back at Sora.
"Take care of her," he said, before the door closed, separating them. Sora held his Keyblade high, and the door was engulfed in a brilliant light before disappearing. Sora could only look down at the ground sadly. He knew that they had closed the door the Kingdom Hearts and saved the worlds, but he had to leave Riku behind. And Donald and Goofy had to leave their King. He looked up and saw a familiar figure in the distance.
It was a very familiar red-haired girl standing on a patch of sand.
"Kairi!" he called out, running towards her.
"Sora!" she said, taking a step towards him. Suddenly, the patch of ground she was standing on started to move, making her lose her balance. Sora took her hand to keep her from falling, but she continued moving away from him.
"Kairi, remember what you said before?" he asked, having to stretch his arm further and further to keep her hand in his. "I'm always with you, too. I'll come back to you. I promise!"
"I know you will!" she said, and then he was forced to let go, and could only watch as she drifted away from him.
"So, you think those guys were able to handle it?" Yang asked, lying down on the sand. Night had fallen over what was left of the Destiny Islands, and the group was absolutely exhausted from fighting all those Heartless.
"I sincerely hope so," Weiss said. "I'm not sure I could take much more of this."
"Does anybody else feel like their arms are about to fall off?" Blake asked.
"Yup," Ruby said. "Hey, look." The group looked around them, and saw that the island was slowly being covered in small orbs of light. "It's so pretty."
"They did it," Aqua said quietly. "They really did it."
"Oh, good," Yang sighed.
"Uh, guys, we're losing ground," Blake said, and sure enough, the beach around them was starting to disappear. "What's going on?"
"The world is being restored," Aqua said. "Which means we can't stay here. It's time to go home."
"How do we do that?" Weiss asked, starting to get worried.
"Just think of home, and your heart will guide you."
The group closed their eyes, and finally, the ground around them disappeared.
AN: I am so happy with this chapter! I actually consider this to be a milestone in the story, since I was finally able to have Sora, Riku, and Mickey make an appearance.
And you can probably imagine, but I loved writing Team RWBY meeting Mickey for the first time. It might be my favorite thing that I've done in this story in a while.
I also just threw in the ending to the first game because my inner fanboy wouldn't let me not. I actually started singing "Simple and Clean" in my head after Sora and Kairi separate.
So, I also gave an explanation why Aqua seems a little weaker in this story than in Kingdom Hearts canon. It's because she and Ruby have to hold way back in order to not look suspicious, since they can do stuff that shouldn't be possible on Remnant.
It was in the process of watching a playthrough of 0.2 on YouTube that I realized the problem with adapting Kingdom Hearts for a fanfiction like this. In Kingdom Hearts, the only rule that dictates a character's limits is the Rule of Cool. It's why you can have Sora slice skyscrapers in half in one scene, but still get knocked out by Marluxia in another. The characters can literally just do whatever is needed to make the scene look cool without any regards for consistency or reason. Like, where did Aqua get the ability to summon those golden chains that she never used before and never will again? In a world like Remnant, which has very strict rules governing what someone can and can't do (only one Semblance, no magic, etc.), it becomes hard to write a character with no rules, unless those rules are self-imposed. Hence, Aqua is weaker than in canon because she's forcing herself to hold back. It's also easier to write when there are limits, if only because I don't have the imagination for a character that can do literally anything.
So, do you guys want to actually see Yang, Ruby, and Aqua explain what the hell just happened to Blake and Weiss, or do it offscreen? If you do want to see it, it'll be just another super short interlude chapter.
I'm probably going to be putting the story ideas that I want to give people on my profile in a few days. Check back for that.
As always, thank you so much for reading, and I'll see you all next time!
Edit: I put the story ideas up on my profile. Check it out and PM me if you guys are interested.