The Lion, the Witch, and the Keyblade

by SJO

Takes place after Kingdom Hearts 2 does contain spoilers. King Mickey sends Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Riku to Narnia where they uncover a dangerous plot that could mean the end of Sora's adventures.

6. The Final Struggle

Chapter 6: The Final Struggle

As soon as all of the Witch's minions had cleared out, the three watchers approached the statue, all that remained of Aslan. "Is there anything we can do?" Riku whispered. He looked at Kairi. "Don't you have a Cure spell? No wait," he turned to Aerith, "You said your expertise was in healing. Can you turn this around somehow."

Aerith touched the statue. "His spirit has not become one with the planet."

"Huh?" Kairi and Riku said together.

"He's not dead. But his HP is at zero. I can revive that, but it's difficult."

"Are you sure you should?" Kairi said. "If I understood what the Witch was saying, the whole reason she got his HP down to zero was to prevent him from becoming a Nobody, and if he became a Nobody he'd be under her control and fight on her side, and I can't bear the thought of that!"

"Can't you reverse the effect?" Riku asked. "Turn him back from stone?"

"Well . . . yes, I can dispel a Status change. I'm not sure if it'll work. Hang on, I think I have . . ." Aerith searched her pockets and pulled out a bottle of powder.

"What's that?" Kairi asked.

"It's called Soft, and it's supposed to reverse Stone." She sprinkled the powder all over the statue, but the wind just blew it away. "Alright, let me try something else." She put her hands on the statue and moved her lips like she was saying something. Aslan was surrounded in a spear of light, but when it faded he was still a statue. "It's no use. The Witch's spell is too strong."

Riku turned away and nearly broke down. Kairi came up to him and stroked his arm. "He must have known what he was doing, Riku."

"Kairi, don't you see?" he replied. "He did this for me. He gave himself up so I wouldn't have to." He paused as he let that sunk in, and then he shook his head. "Because of my stupid mistakes, we're going to lose the battle tomorrow. We're going to lose Narnia."

"How can you say that?" Aerith said. "It hasn't even started yet."

"Well, how are we going to win without Aslan?"

"We still have the Keyblade," Kairi said.

"Yes, but for how long?"

"You know there are other things that can protect the Keyblade other than Aslan?"

"Yeah? What else?"

"For one thing, there's you."

Riku scoffed. "How do I–?" But then he stopped as he looked into Kairi's eyes. "Oh, I see. Well, I'll do my best." Then he saw just beneath the Stone table a stray lock of Aslan's shorn mane. Riku picked it up and tied it around his arm. Then he touched the face of the statue. "I'll never forget what you did for me, my friend. I'll fight in your name, and maybe I'll repay my debt to you." Another tear escaped his eye. Then he turned to the girls. "I need to go back. I made a promise to Sora that I wouldn't leave any more."

"And you need to tell them of the surprise attack," Aerith said.

"Oh yes! Are you coming?"

"I don't want to leave Aslan," Kairi said.

"And maybe I'll find something that can turn this around," Aerith said. "We'll head back at sunrise."

"Well, hurry!" Kairi said urgently. Riku ran back toward the camp.

Sora also was having trouble sleeping. He fell asleep early in the evening, but then he had a nightmare about the upcoming war, and he woke up. His own, troubled thoughts and Donald's snoring kept him up. He still didn't feel like he was ready. Finally, when he couldn't stand either of these, he got out of bed and went to Aslan's tent. "Aslan?" he called through the tent flap. "Can I come in, please? I'm just so anxious about tomorrow. I hope you don't mind if I come in and talk to you for a while." There was no reply. "Aslan? Are you awake?" He debated whether or not he should come in. He was sure Aslan was not fun to be around when he's cranky. Finally, he slowly lifted the flap of the tent. "Huh?" He thought his eyes were playing tricks on him, but as he opened the flap even more, he could see that Aslan was not even there. Sora searched for him through the camp, but he couldn't find him. Then he came up to Cloud and Leon. "Have you guys seen Aslan?"

"He hasn't gone out, so he must be somewhere in the camp," Cloud said.

"But I looked everywhere, and I can't find him. You sure you guys didn't fall asleep at your post?"

Leon scoffed. "Us? Sleep?"

"Riku, Kairi, and Aerith left a few hours ago, but not Aslan," Cloud said

"Riku left!" Sora said, infuriated. "He promised!"

"Relax, kid," Leon said. "They were only going for a walk. Come to think of it, they should have been back by now."

Sora shook his head. "Well, I guess I'll have to worry about that later. We gotta wake everybody up and look for Aslan!"

"It's no use," a quiet voice said from the entrance. Everybody looked up and saw a dejected Riku. He held up his arm to reveal Aslan's mane. "Aslan is gone."

"Gone? What do you mean, gone? He can't be gone!"

"If you don't believe me, go to the Stone Table. I'm sure that'll serve as his memorial from now on. The Witch turned his heart to stone."

"She can't do that!"

"She can, because he let her."

"How can he do that? He told me he couldn't promise that he would be with me in battle, but he deliberately left me like this!" Sora took a deep breath. "I gotta trust in him. I gotta trust in him. In must have been for a reason."

Riku looked down. He didn't want to say what the reason was.

"I guess in the meantime, we're gonna have to think about what to do about this war."

"Well, whatever it is, we'll have to think fast because the Witch has planned a surprise attack. They're coming."

"Now? So, I have to lead everybody into battle this instant by myself?" Sora's face went a little pale and he fidgeted like he was very nervous.

Riku put his hand on Sora's shoulder. "It'll be fine. You're a good leader, Sora. Aslan believed in you. King Mickey believes in you. And I do, too."

"I thought you wanted to take charge."

"Yeah . . . well, that's past now. Even then, though, I didn't doubt your leadership."

"But you're older."

"Older doesn't always mean wiser."

Sora glared. "Let's wake everybody up. We gotta get ready." He found Kairi's horn in her tent and blew it loudly to make everyone wake up. No one liked waking so early, but once they heard about Aslan and the surprise attack, it was like they were injected with caffeine. They put on their armor, sharpened their weapons, and surrounded the camp. "Remember," Sora instructed them, "Sons of Adam, Daughters of Eve, and Donald and Goofy, concentrate all your powers on the Nobodies. The rest of you will take on . . . the rest." Then, he positioned himself in the front. All of King Mickey's subjects stood just behind him.

A griffin flew down and landed by Sora. "They're coming in numbers far greater than our own."

"Numbers don't win a battle," Riku said.

"Yeah," Sora nodded. "We just need to trust in the light."

Soon, the army came, and it was a huge army. In the front were many kinds of silvery creatures, the Nobodies. At the head of the army in a chariot was the Witch. She was back in her white dress again, but her hair was still down, and she wore Aslan's mane around her neck, and there was a fire in her eyes like no other time before. "They are prepared," she sneered. "Who loosed the secret?"

The dwarf shrugged. "Wasn't me, your Majesty."

"Well, it doesn't matter." She ordered her armies, "Whoever you don't kill, turn over to me at once so that I may have more Nobodies. Yet do not greatly harm the Keyblade Wielder. Leave him to me."

Sora took a deep breath. He looked over at Riku. "Are you ready?"

"Yes," he replied in a flat voice. His face looked resolute, as though he already had a plan in mind.

"Let's go then," Sora said in a soft voice.

Goofy held his shield above his head. "For Narnia!" he called.

Donald drew his Wizard's Staff. "For King Mickey!" he called.

Sora and Riku drew their keyblades and called together, "And for Aslan!"

Immediately, the armies charged. Sora ran ahead, searching for the Witch. All around him, it sounded like every soldier was doing exactly what they should be doing. He could hear Donald and Goofy doing their usual attacks in tandem. Riku was doing all of his best attacks. Yuffie was doing all of her best attacks, all the while making her usual taunts like, "Was that supposed to hurt?" Leon's sword grew large, and was using it to wipe out several Nobodies at once while screaming his usual threats like, "It's over!" Cloud kept screaming "Huh!" as he was doing Sonic Blade over and over and over. Sora just charged and hit any Nobody that got in his way with a quick combo. Occasionally, he'd stop if he found someone in critical condition and do a quick Cure spell (wishing that Kairi and Aerith would hurry up wherever they were so that they could do it instead), and sometimes when he came across a friend, he'd go into a Limit Attack.

"Looking for me, Keyblade Wielder?" a voice said behind him. He turned around and saw the Witch standing calmly before him. She held a sword in one hand and her wand in the other. She came close to him slowly, as if nothing was happening around them. "Look around you, Son of Adam. Such devastation, such carnage, such meaningless destruction. Is this what you want, Sora? Is this what Aslan wants?"

"Who are you to talk about meaningless destruction?" Sora said closely.

"My point is, Sora, there is a way to stop all this. You know there is. Just hand me the Keyblade." She reached out her hand for it.

Sora gripped his weapon tighter. "I can't. You know that."

"Why, because of the spell? I'm sure if you give it to me willingly, it will–"

"It's not just because of that! It's because I know what you're going to do with it once you have it in your hands."

"Then I suppose I must take it from you."

Sora reached for a sphere of light and squeezed it. "Give me strength!" He nearly transformed into Master mode, but he immediately reverted. He looked up and saw that the Witch had her wand pointed at him.

"I'm not going to make it that easy on you, Son of Adam." Immediately, the battle commenced. Sora was able to attack her immediately, but he found that the Witch had a ridiculous amount of HP. At first, she just hit him with the hilt of her sword, and that caused a little damage. As the battle went on, though, Sora soon discovered that the Witch was able to do a lot more with her wand than turn hearts to stone. She would summon a blistering cold wind that would knock Sora off his feet whenever he tried to approach her. She created a rain of icicles to come down on him. She could teleport, too, and often when Sora was running around, trying to get away, she'd appear before him and strike him. Often, though, in the middle of the fight, she would turn another opponent to stone, though it seemed like she was only striking Narnians. Riku, meanwhile, saw Sora fight and tried to join in, but the dwarf ran in front of Riku and fought him. Sora was starting to learn to block the Witch's attacks with his Keyblade.

In the middle of the battle, she drew near him with her sword. Sora stared her in the eyes. "I'm still convinced, Son of Adam, that we've met before," the Witch said quietly. "There's something about your eyes. Yes. I know I've seen those eyes."

Sora furiously pushed her back with the Keyblade. She could have been trying to trick him, and he wasn't about to fall for it.

She approached him and raised her wand. "Well, it doesn't matter. If I knew you or not, your fate will be the same."

Sora raised his Keyblade to block her attack, but she struck him low. He screamed loudly as he felt his heart harden.

"Sora!" Goofy and Donald screamed together.

The battle stopped dead. Everyone on both sides fell silent and still. Riku ran beyond the dwarf toward his friend. "No!" he yelled in an anguished cry. But there stood a statue of Sora holding high his Keyblade with a look of pain and terror on his face.

At the Stone Table, the moment the Witch attacked, Kairi sat up and gasped. "Sora!" she cried. She wiped her tears. "Aerith, we gotta go to the battlefield. Something terrible's happened to Sora!"

Aerith looked up. "Are you sure?"

"I feel it in my heart."

"Alright. The sun's almost up anyway, and it looks like there's nothing I can do."

They started running toward the camp, but about halfway there, they heard a loud and terrible crack.

"What was that?" Kairi said.

"Oh no, they're doing something even worse to him!"

"What do we do?"

"I'm sure Sora can wait just a second longer. We must stop whoever's hurting Aslan!" So they ran back.

Meanwhile, the Witch (who was quite unaware of what was happening at the Stone Table) broke the stunned silence. She had sheathed her sword and put her wand back under her belt. Then she reached for the statue and gingerly took the Keyblade out of its hands. "It's mine," she whispered. She took a step back to see that she still held it. Then to everyone's horror, she held the Keyblade high above her head with both hands and screamed joyfully, "IT'S MIIIIIIIIIIIINE!"

Then, just as suddenly, the Keyblade vanished. "No, it isn't," a voice said calmly.

The Witch looked up. Just behind Sora's statue stood a boy about Sora's height and age with sandy blond, pointy hair. He was wearing black and white street clothes, and he held the Keyblade in his hand.

"Roxas?" the Witch said.

"Queen Jadis," he replied. "I remember you. It's kinda hazy, but I remember you, and I see you remember me."

"Why are you here?"

"You summoned me."

"Where is Axel?"

"Forget him. He's not here."

"Pity. His conversation was much more intriguing."

Roxas scoffed. "You say that, but I know it's a lie. I knew all along that you were more interested in me, or should I say you were more interested in this?" He held up the Keyblade.

"Put that toy away, child. It doesn't belong to you."

"But it does."

"No! I won it! It's my war trophy!"

"Tough. It chose me, not you."

"I'll teach you some respect with someone your own size. Sora, attack that boy!"

Roxas laughed. "Are you trying to summon Sora's Nobody to fight me? Don't you see, Queen? I AM SORA'S NOBODY!"

The Witch's eyes again blazed with fury. She drew her sword and wand and came at him.

Meanwhile, Aerith and Kairi ran back to the Stone Table to see it split down the middle, and Aslan was gone. "What could this mean, more magic?" Aerith said.

"Yes!" a voice said triumphantly. "It is more magic!" There, standing before the remains of the Stone Table stood the Lion himself, his mane and flesh restored.

"Aslan!" the girls cried together. They rushed up and hugged him. Kairi had some mild doubts that Aslan might have become a Nobody, but the moment she touched him she could feel his heart beating and the power of his spirit.

"But what does it mean?" Aerith said. "We saw the Witch turn your heart to stone."

"Yes," Aslan answered, "but the Witch's knowledge only goes back to the dawn of time. I know of an even Deeper Magic from before the dawn of time. Therefore, I interpreted the Deep Magic differently. If one who committed no treachery willing sacrifices himself in a traitor's stead, the Stone Table would crack and all ceremony that was committed thereon would reverse. For you see, children, that in that day, the Deep Magic would not only be appeased. It would be fulfilled."

"Oh, I understand," Aerith said.

"But why didn't you tell us?" Kairi asked. "Riku wouldn't be as worried."

"Perhaps I should have," Aslan replied solemnly, "but even deep in my heart I was afraid."

"You were afraid?" Aerith said in amazement.

"Oh yes, child, petrified. I'm not even sure why."

Kairi shook her head. She knew this was a matter she would never completely understand. "Aslan, we must go back to the camp. Something has happened to Sora!"

Aslan bowed his head. "Yes. I felt a sting in my own heart just as I was rising. I'm sorry, dear Princess Kairi. Sora has lost his heart."

"NO!" Tears immediately flooded her eyes again. She buried her head into Aslan's fur. Aerith also began to cry.

"It is true, and yet, I still feel from Sora strength and courage. He is still struggling against the Witch, and it feels as though he may prevail."

"So he's not turned to stone?" Aerith said.

"Sora is," Aslan explained, "but his Nobody–"

"His Nobody! Roxas!" Kairi's heart surged with joy once more, and she wasn't sure where it came from. Of course, it was Naminé inside of her, and it was she who said aloud, "Oh, it's going to be ok!"

"Yes," Aslan nodded. "I know Roxas as well. I am sure he can hold his own, but he's going to need help. Climb on my back, children. We have far to go."

"How do you know Roxas, Aslan?" Kairi asked as she climbed on his back.

"There is no time, dear one. I shall tell you one day when this is over." He galloped through the forest and sprung over hills. Riding on him was one of the fastest and most amazing rides Kairi and Aerith ever experienced. Aslan never slowed down until they reached the destination–the ice castle.

"What could be here that could help?" Aerith asked.

"Reinforcements," Aslan answered. He bounded inside. The girls looked in wonder and terror at the many statues around them in the great hall.

"But Aslan, we tried everything," Kairi said. "We can't reverse the Witch's spell."

Aslan just looked at her for a moment, and Kairi knew this was no time for backtalk. Aslan approached the nearest statue, which was that of a faun, and he breathed on the statue. Aerith and Kairi didn't see how that made any bit of a difference, but then Kairi heard the low, dull thud of a heart. It seemed to echo throughout the castle. Then, it seemed as though a silver wind flew past them and settled on the faun. Slowly, his stiffness melted away, and he began to move and breathe. Then he looked over at them. "You are the Daughter of Eve named Kairi, aren't you?"

Kairi nodded eagerly. "Then you must be Mr. Tumnus. Sora spoke wonderful things about you."

"He did?" The faun looked as though the weight of the whole world was finally off his shoulders."

"I see now," Aerith said. "That's why I couldn't do anything. Only Aslan can restore a heart to its owner."

"But I thought the Keyblade–" Kairi started.

"Yes, the Keyblade sets hearts free from Heartless, but they don't go anywhere in particular after that. Aslan does have a power we don't."

"Hurry!" Aslan yelled. "Leave no corner unexplored. There's no telling where the Witch would hide her prisoners. Sora needs all the friends we can find, and remember every being we set free is no longer in control of the Witch."

Kairi's eyes brightened. "Because their Nobodies will return and won't be part of her army anymore!"

Through the battle, our heroes were becoming acquainted with this fact as well. Cloud lost balance in his Sonic Blade attack because his target disappeared. Yuffie was disappointed when they did a fantastic leap, and hit nothing. But Leon saw what was going on. He ran forward and approached Roxas, who was still fighting with the Witch. "The Witch's army is rapidly decreasing! Her Nobodies are vanishing! We're winning!"

The Witch grew even more furious. She started using her wand even more to turn Aslan's army to stone. The good thing was it left her open for more attacks from Roxas.

Riku at last made his final blow in his fight with the dwarf and approached the Witch. "Hey! Why are you wasting your time with him? It's me you want."

"You, Riku? I'm afraid you're mistaken. The Keyblade is, and always has been, my target."

"Then why did you tell Aslan last night that you were going to take my heart?"

The Witch's eyes grew wide. "How do you know about that?"

Riku held up his arm to show her the Lion's mane. "Because I was there. I saw it all. You tricked me into betraying Aslan and all of my friends, but I betrayed you. So come on, take your due."

"No Riku!" Donald cried.

"Don't do it, Riku!" Goofy yelled. "King Mickey still needs ya!"

But Riku didn't even turn to face them. The Witch headed toward Riku. She held up her wand, but in a split second, Riku drew his keyblade, and with a loud war cry, he set it down on the wand. He smiled at having accomplished such a thing, but then he looked over at Sora's statue, and it was still as stone as ever. In his moment of being caught off guard, the Witch stabbed him with what remained of her wand. Riku fell over in terrible pain.

Roxas then charged at the Witch. He hoped that she'd be easier to fight now that she didn't have any magic, but the Witch now had two swords. She was still difficult to beat, perhaps even more difficult. She finally kicked him over and pinned him down with her sword. "I can still destroy you, and then the Keyblade will be mine to take, unless you give to me."

"Aslan!" Roxas yelled.

The Witch laughed coldly. "Scream all you wish for that big cat friend of yours. You'll only get a sore throat."

But Roxas screamed only louder, "ASLAAAAAAN! AAAAAAAAAAAAASLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!"

And he was answered by a loud roar. The Witch looked up in shock. "It's impossible!" Just behind Aslan were Kairi, Aerith, and the many beings they found in the castle whom Aslan disenchanted. They joined the battle swiftly.

Aslan leapt down in front of Roxas and freed him. "Let's finish her off together, Keyblade Wielder," he said.

"Right," Roxas nodded. With Aslan by his side, the battle seemed to take seconds. The Witch was vanquished, and once again the war seemed to automatically halt.

Aslan approached the statue of Sora. "He must be a fine and strong-hearted lad if he stayed faithful to me even without his heart."

"I remembered you, Aslan," Roxas said. "I don't remember much of what happened when Axel and I came here, but I remember that I never really trusted the Queen. And then you came to me and told me to call on your name if I needed help. When you called to Sora, I heard you call to me as well."

Aslan gave him something of a smile. "Yes Roxas. I am glad of your service to me, but you must realize that now you must go back."

Roxas nodded. "Yes Aslan. Please." Aslan breathed on Sora's statue, and Roxas walked back to him and took his place. The Keyblade reappeared in Sora's raised hands. Once Sora was revived, he put his arms down, and he hugged Aslan's neck.

Then he withdrew and looked down. "Where's Riku?"

Several members of the army had already surrounded Riku, who was not in good shape. Donald did a few Cure spells and Goofy gave him an Elixir, but Riku still had a nasty wound. Aerith then came and recited one of her strongest spells, and that seemed to do the job. Riku sat up and smiled. "Well, at least I did something," Aerith said.

"We could probably do more," Kairi said. "There are a lot of people wounded out there."

"Come on," Aerith said. So they went and continued to heal, and Aslan disenchanted any statue he found.

Then he turned to Riku. "Riku, hand me your keyblade and kneel." Riku did so, and he felt the keyblade's tip touch his shoulders. "Arise, Sir Riku Lion's-Mane."

Riku stood and gave a curt bow to Aslan. "Thank you, sir."

The next day they went to Cair Paravel to finally fulfill the prophecy. Aslan offered crowns to all of King Mickey's heroes, but Cloud, Leon, and Yuffie all said that they'd rather be named knights.

"Because we really didn't do much," Cloud explained.

"And we have obligations at home," Leon added.

"Besides, being called a knight is a lot cooler!" Yuffie concluded with a grin.

Donald and Goofy also would not accept a crown, saying that they were still servants to a king. Aerith tried to get out of accepting her crown, but Aslan would not hear it. "Four thrones must be filled."

So, before a large audience of many great, mythical creatures, Aslan presented Aerith, Kairi, Riku, and Sora as Kings and Queens. As Mr. Tumnus handed Sora his crown at last, it began to glow and float. As the crowd gasped, the crown levitated well above their heads. Once again, Sora drew his Keyblade and was surrounded by light. A brilliant beam came from the tip of the Keyblade and shot toward the crown and beyond to a giant keyhole in the sky. Then the crown slowly lowered back into his hands. As the guests murmured about what had just happened, Sora approached them, "I'm sorry, but I can't be your king." There was a gasp of disbelief from everyone. "I'd love to. I really would. But you see, I'm the Keyblade Wielder. There are other worlds beyond Narnia that need the Keyblade as badly as Narnia did, and I have to go see them. I can't stay here and rule you."

"He's right," Aerith said. "And I'm afraid I must leave, too. I did my part to help restore this kingdom, but now I have another kingdom to restore, my home Radiant Garden."

"I still have unfinished business with King Mickey," Kairi said quietly.

"Still?" Sora said.

"I suppose I can stay," Riku said quietly.

"No, Riku! We still need you!"

"Well, I have no other obligations, and I bet I'll just mess up the missions anyway. But these people need a leader. I can stay for them."

"We're very sorry, everyone, especially to you, Aslan." Sora began to hand back his crown, but Aslan pushed it back with his paw.

"Once a king or queen of Narnia, always a king or queen," he said quietly. "I, too, must go to other countries in need of my strength and power, but even when I am gone, I will continue to reign in my subjects' hearts. And so will you. And when you return, which I'm sure we all hope will be very soon, my people will look to you for leadership. Bear it well, Son of Adam."

Sora nodded. "I will try." He placed the crown on his brow. The Narnian crowd cheered wildly. The heroes stood long enough to hear them cheer, "Long live King Sora! Long live King Riku! Long live Queen Aerith! Long live Queen Kairi!"