Naminé exited the Dark Corridor and immediately blocked a bolt of lightning with Way to the Dawn—although it was clear Elrena had intended to hit a figure in a black cloak who was deflecting her attack without even moving the Keyblade slung over their shoulder. Almost immediately, Naminé realized she was in even further over her head than she initially thought. The figure they were referring to as Luxu had wielded Xehanort's old Keyblade. This figure was using something that looked like what Sora had found in the Keyblade Graveyard, with its blue guard and star-shaped teeth, although this Keyblade had a golden shaft and a ten-pointed star for teeth. This meant there was yet another unknown enemy, and the fact that they could seemingly be so careless with someone of Elrena's skill level did not bode well.
The Savage Nymph and her opponent weren't the only ones at their destination, though they were the only ones standing. A second figure in a black cloak was struggling to push herself off of the ground, but Naminé didn't recognize the woman with long black hair who seemed to be around Elrena's age. The only other one there was who Naminé assumed to be Zinnia, although she looked a bit different than she had when Kairi had last described her. The white cloak and orangish-red hair were the same, but instead of the blank face associated with a Replica vessel she now had a doll-like face—although Naminé couldn't tell if the glassy eyes were due to her still incomplete state or if it was a result of her lying lifeless on the ground missing an arm and a leg. She knew the prototype Replica had survived being rebuilt after taking worse in her fight with Diablo, but she could understand Elrena's fury at her family member being reduced to such a state.
However, the remaining figure didn't seem to particularly care about the Savage Nymph throwing everything she had at him, even managing to joke as he calmly deflected her attacks without seeming to make any movements. "Well, looks like we get another little trip down memory lane here. If I had known I'd have this much fun, I'd have left a little earlier. It's trivia night at Hanekoma's and I really don't want to be late for that. I've got a title to defend, after all."
The tone of the man's voice reminded Naminé of Xigbar's, although the voice was different enough that she doubted it was Braig under the hood. After all, if Xigbar had claimed he was going through all of Xehanort's plan just to get a Keyblade, it wouldn't make sense for Braig to just be casually wielding his own so quickly after that plan had failed. Elrena just snarled and continued sending more attacks at him, although none of them made contact. Naminé quickly cast Libra and identified a probable cause—the man had variants of Protect and Shell up, although they were so far beyond anything she had ever seen that she wasn't sure if they were Protectza and Shellza or if they were even beyond that tier.
Quickly realizing just how outmatched she was, she pulled out her Gummiphone to call in everyone for backup only for the screen to display nothing but static. Without being able to summon any help that way, she knew she'd have to carefully observe the situation and find the best way to get out of here. While it was easy to assume the man was an enemy, there was a slight chance this was just a misunderstanding, since she had no idea who the two cloaked figures were and Elrena would have easily flown off the handle seeing Zinnia damaged.
The man eventually seemed to grow bored of Elrena's barrage as he let out a melodramatic sigh while holding his head in his hands. "Oh, come on! Isn't it obvious that this isn't working? And I know things are a bit different in this worldline, but are you really doing this just for some empty doll? I've got some use for it, and it's not like you to pretend to be motherly over some inanimate object."
Naminé's eyes widened in shock. This man was speaking as if he knew Elrena, but how could that be? The Savage Nymph didn't seem to care about the mystery as she snarled back. "You're right. I'm as far from nurturing as they come, and I shudder to think of what a kid of mine would turn out like. But Zinnia deserves the best, and I'm the closest thing she's got so I'll just have to make do!" Seven clones suddenly burst out of her and charged the man, who actually moved his weapon in response. However, the pulse of magic he released caused Naminé to flinch as her Libra spell suddenly fizzled out—along with the clones. He then pointed his key at Elrena and a brief flash later the Savage Nymph was trapped in a glowing cube.
While Elrena started cursing at him while she fruitlessly beat on the walls of her cage with her knives, the man walked over to Zinnia. "Don't worry, I won't do...irreparable harm to it. The Replicas in this worldline are an amazing thing, and since my current experiments have been...less than ideal...I figure I may as well just take the better version. Now, why don't you be a good girl and sit in your timeout while I take your toy away?"
He reached for Zinnia, only to pull back his hand a moment before he would have lost it to the blade of Lauriam's scythe. "Well, that was rude…" He trailed off for an instant as he took in the sight of Lauriam and let out an audible groan. "Okay, is there something about this particular worldline that means Dandelions just pop out of nowhere? I'm starting to fall behind, and I really can't afford to have more interruptions." He sent out another pulse of light, and when it washed over Naminé she saw that she and Lauriam had also been imprisoned similar to Elrena while their Dark Corridor faded away. The man just chuckled.
"There, so now we should have some privacy. No sound, light, electronic signals, or magic can get out of here, and no darkness can intrude in. You also can't get out of those prisons without a Keyblade, and since they two of you seem to not have them and miss Shrinking Violet back there isn't someone I recognize she must be one of the sprouts from here that aren't anything close to mattering in the scheme of things. So it's been fun, but I've got to take the prizes and go. I'll have to come back to see how a couple of more weeds sprang up here, but I've only got two hands so priorities I guess."
Naminé realized she was being overlooked, and while that might help save her against an overwhelming opponent she could also use being underestimated to her advantage. "Okay, there's no way one person could possibly maintain all of those spells. Who even are you?"
The man paused. "Uh, fine. Seriously, all the kids in this age seem to fixate on that. Never mind that the truth is what you see with your eyes…Yes, I am able to maintain all these spells. I might be spreading myself a little thin with them so someone strong enough could break them, but I'm so far out of your league that it doesn't matter. As for who I am, my name is—"
Naminé gasped as the world seemed to freeze with a flash of light and the buzz of static filled her ears. A second later, the only sound was the man's laughter. "You know, if I had known how much fun that little spell would be, I would have invented it AGES ago! You have no idea how satisfying it is to be able to censor your own name! But if you really want to call me something, you can just call me the Master. I'd say just Master, but you look a little on the young side for that. But then again, I wouldn't be offended if you called me MoM, but mommy might be going a bit too far…"
Naminé resolved to scream about running into another freaky situation on this world when she wasn't in danger, but she didn't have the time. As soon as the seemingly insane Master turned away from her to gather up Zinnia's body, she brandished Way to the Dawn. The man had made it clear he was a threat and would probably shift from taking Zinnia to kidnapping her if he knew she had an improved version of a Replica body, but he had also been overconfident. He had all but said his prison could be unlocked with a Keyblade, and then turned his back on the only Keyblade wielder he had captured. She unlocked her prison and pointed her key towards Lauriam, only for the Master to suddenly appear right in front of her.
"You know, I was hoping you'd be smarter than that, but oh well. Yoink!" He suddenly ripped Way to the Dawn out of her hand, leaving her to stumble for a second before regaining her footing. The man just shook his head as he turned away. "There, so now you have no magic and no Keyblade. That just leaves you with unarmed combat as a way to fight, and I'm pretty sure I can take you if you attack me since I now have another Keyblade. Just stand down, kid."
Naminé blinked. Did this guy really think just physically pulling away a Keyblade was enough to separate it from people? Sure, some of the Keyblades abilities had been mysteries when Sora and Roxas had had to figure things out without guidance, but everyone was well past the point where they were surprised that they could summon Keyblades back to their hands. She reached out to recall Way to the Dawn—and nothing happened. The Master didn't even bother turning around as he chuckled.
"Okay, you're probably just now realizing you can't get your Keyblade back. But don't worry, there's nothing wrong! I'm just...hanging on to it for a bit. You see, I taught some Keyblade wielders myself back in the day, and I also had some plans I knew they wouldn't exactly be happy with. So, I knew things could eventually come to a fight, and I'd be an idiot if I just let them keep their best weapon. And while I'm sure there are many things you could say about my mind, I like to think its brilliance cannot be denied. So I figured out a way to...hold Keyblades hostage, for lack of a better term. Don't feel bad for falling for it, though. After all, I did the same thing to her before you showed up and I'm fairly certain she has many more years of use and much better training than you think."
Naminé grit her teeth, but she wasn't going to give up now. Sure, the Master was holding Way to the Dawn hostage, but it wasn't the only Keyblade she could summon. She reached out for Destiny's Embrace and once again encountered the strange slippery blockage she had felt since shortly after Kairi had gone to sleep. Normally she was able to reach around the barrier after some time, but she wasn't sure how much time she had in this case. Instead, she decided to just force her way straight through and as soon as she felt the familiar weight of metal in her hand, she immediately sprang into action. She knew she wasn't the kind of fighter who could take someone out in one physical hit, but she still put all of her strength into an attack to the back of the Master's head. Predictably, getting hit by surprise like that caused him to stumble, and she was planning on using the opening to free Lauriam and Elrena while potentially even knocking the two Keyblades he was holding out of his grip while he recovered.
Unfortunately, she had overestimated how much the hit would affect the Master. She had barely gotten her Keyblade to point at Lauriam's prison before Way to the Dawn batted her key down and caused it to shoot its beam into the ground. As opposed to his previous joking manner, his voice was deadly serious as he kept her blade locked to the ground.
"And how exactly did you pull this off? Keyblades are a reflection of the wielder's heart. I have your Keyblade. You can't have two!" Naminé struggled to free her weapon, but since she had at least managed to get in her opponent's head a little bit she tried to press the psychological advantage if she couldn't get the physical one.
"Well, you must be some ancient Keyblade Master if you had students, and while we lost a lot of knowledge over time, we also found some new things. Sure, I might not personally be able to use two Keyblades at once, but who ever said that Keyblade you're holding was originally mine? I'm borrowing it from a friend."
She could hear the master practically growl in response. "You borrowed it? That's not how this works! Sure, you can inherit someone's Keyblade, but it replaces your own and won't go back to them. A Keyblade can only bond to one heart!"
Naminé chuckled. "You say that like a heart exists in a vacuum. Sure, maybe a Keyblade can only bond to one heart, but what's stopping the heart it's bonded to from bonding with another heart? That Way to the Dawn may not be mine, but it trusts me, just like this Memory's Canvas!"
Only once the words left her mouth did Naminé realize she wasn't holding Destiny's Embrace, but instead a new Keyblade. The name had just popped into her head, and a glance at the weapon showed the new appearance. It was most similar to Roxas's Oathkeeper, although the teeth resembled red, orange, yellow, green, and blue crayons. The heart shape where the blade met the teeth was instead the Greek letter theta, the wings around the handle were colored purple, and the twin shafts each were a gradient from white to black, with the bottom shaft being a reverse of the top. Naminé just wished she had more time to appreciate finally manifesting her own Keyblade before the Master grew tired of the blade lock and brought his other stolen Keyblade down on her. She barely managed to roll out of the way and made sure to dismiss her Keyblade immediately so it couldn't be held hostage again.
Before she could re-summon her Keyblade though, the Master was right above her and ready to strike before a clicking sound rang through the air. The Master immediately spun around and performed a double block against Elrena and Lauriam. Naminé wasn't sure how they had escaped, until she noticed the weapons they were using. Instead of their scythe and knives, they were each holding a Keyblade. She wasn't sure how they had managed to copy her in summoning one when they had never seemed to have any connection to the weapon before, but the Master seemed to recognize the reason as he let out a pulse of magic that sent everyone flying.
"Of all the things that have gone wrong in this timeline, why is everything coming to a head now? Is it me? Am I just so powerful that I'm reawakening everyone? Still, you've used up the little bit of patience I had. I came up here to uproot one Dandelion that was growing in the wrong place so I could re-educate and replant it, but now I've got three poking out at me. You've annoyed me enough that I might start fighting semi-seriously, and for that I apologize to anybody who drew maps of this area. Maybe it'll be best to just start—"
Whatever he was planning, he cut himself off at yet another interruption—this time in the form of a Dark Corridor opening next to him. Considering what he said earlier, it would take someone incredibly powerful to break through his spell, and Naminé wasn't sure who would qualify. If something was strong enough to keep Lauriam and Elrena trapped, it would probably work on Isa and Lea as well. Maybe after their time in the Realm of Darkness Terra, Aqua, and Ven might be at a higher level, but at this point she had to assume Riku was still their strongest when it came to using darkness, and considering she had repeatedly sparred against him she wasn't sure he was so far ahead of her that he was close to the Master in terms of power.
Naminé wasn't sure if it would be more likely for an enemy or for Riku to step out of the corridor, but even her wildest guesses wouldn't have predicted Pluto bounding through with a growl and launching himself at the Master's throat. The Master seemed to take this threat far more seriously than he did the threat of facing three Keyblade wielders, and quickly brought both of his stolen Keyblades down on the leaping dog. Naminé gasped out sure that nothing good could come of a weapon as powerful as a Keyblade being unleashed on someone with no combat training, but before she could worry too much a dark shroud covered Pluto and the attack failed to do any damage. Pluto was knocked backwards, but landed on his feet and snarled as he lunged again. This time the Master responded by locking him away much as he had Lauriam and Elrena, but the darkness roiled against the walls of its prison until it broke through after only a second.
The Master just sighed. "Of all of your fellows that could come after me for imprisoning your leader, why did it have to be you? I used to be able to at least have some fun talking with your kind, but of course I get the one that accidentally possessed a common dog and found itself liking the situation. I could destroy you in that form, but I just don't have the time. I guess my three little weeds get to enjoy their time in my garden before I come back to uproot them…"
Pluto again lunged at the Master, only to pass through empty air as the Master dissolved into motes of light. Naminé felt a strange pop as her Libra spell resumed, allowing her to see the hint of a form in the darkness surrounding the dog before it suddenly vanished as Pluto shook himself. With the darkness gone, he bounded over to the woman on the ground and started licking her face, probably in an attempt to help her. Of course, what was more effective was the sudden green glow of a cure spell that washed over her, and Naminé turned towards Lauriam to thank him for remembering that when she noticed yet another figure in a cloak had appeared, this time extending an all-too-familiar Keyblade as he cast the spell.
Naminé heard Elrena groan. "Oh great. We all get our asses kicked by some mysterious Keyblade master trying to save a stranger, and now another Keyblade master shows up and shows we shouldn't have bothered since she's not on our side either. Well, Luxu, I may be going down, but I got a lovely jagged new Keyblade that I'm going to at least enjoy shoving in as many places that I can find before I do."
Luxu hung his head as he responded in a voice that made the former Organization members flinch back. "Oh come on, Sparky, is that really any way to treat your old friend? I mean, Daisy might be into that kind of thing, but not me." He lowered his hood, only to reveal a familiar face with a distinctive eyepatch.
Naminé gasped. "Xigbar? Or, I guess Braig now? How do you have that Keyblade? I thought Luxu was the one who had it!"
The former number II in the organization smirked at her. "Well…" he paused and his smile turned almost sheepish. "I was going to give you a cute nickname as well, but I guess I just never really interacted with you before to know what would fit...and considering what just happened I'm not exactly at the top of my game right now…"
Lauraim brandished his rose-themed Keyblade at his former comrade. "I think all of us have far too many questions right now for you to add to them. Either give us a short answer or leave. Who are you really, and what are you doing here?"
Xigbar dismissed his Keyblade and held up his hands in surrender. "Call me Xigbar. But technically I'm also Braig, and Luxu. It's a really long story, but the short version is I've been alive since before the first Keyblade War and have gone through the centuries hopping from body to body. At first I just stole my next vessel, but after quite a few lifetimes of soul searching while having my captives try to wrest control back I finally had enough time to process all the shit I was going through and come up with a better way. So now my heart just sort of merges with that of a like-minded individual every time my previous vessel dies and I carry forward as a new person. Unfortunately, 'like-minded' can be pretty broad, and Braig happened to share a good deal of self-loathing with a fair bit less of purpose to keep going on. He was all too happy to hand the reins over to me, and since he just wanted to fade away I'll keep the name of Xigbar as long as I have this body."
Elrena scoffed. "Wow, what a heartfelt story, and you didn't even slip into any jokes while telling it. Too bad we've got years of experience knowing never to trust you at your word. Tell it to someone who cares."
Xigbar chuckled. "Yeah, I probably deserve that. Hell, I deserve a whole lot worse than that. But think about it. Xemnas claimed he recruited you because of an ancient Keyblade legacy, but Xehanort hardly kept any of his old memories. So how do you think he came to believe that? Here's a little something Luxord pulled on me...if the boss doesn't know the reason for the order, the information had to come from the one who carried it out. Why do you think I personally recruited you two when that wasn't my main role?"
Lauriam didn't lower his weapon. "Yes, that would be suspicious...if our time in the second organization didn't clearly paint the picture that you carried on Xehanort's will even when he forgot everything. Sure, Xemnas may have learned something from you, but it could just as easily be information you had from Xehanort beforehand."
Xigbar facepalmed. "Oh great, now why didn't I think of that? Oh wait, I did. I knew I had to have some evidence before anybody would believe me. Well, admittedly I was relying on her, but you gave me two new pieces. You've got your Keyblades now, and I'm sure they triggered you to remember their names. So, how does it feel to be holding Divine Rose and Spriteshock again?"
Both of the newly-awakened Keyblade wielders gasped, letting Naminé know that Xigbar had been right on the mark. The woman Xigbar had healed took this as an opportunity to enter the conversation. "They have Keyblades too? Are they like me? Are they two of my four friends?"
Xigbar shrugged. "In order, fully yes, partially yes, and partially yes. Why don't you fill everyone in about you first so they can have context before I go into the details."
The woman rolled her eyes. "You'd think after all these years I'd be used to you dodging questions, but I guess I can play along for a little longer if you promise answers. I've been going by the name Urd, but I know that isn't my true name. He's actually the one who gave it to me, saying my real name was too dangerous to use…"
Xigbar raised his hands in surrender. "Fine, blackmail me a little more. There's a reason I didn't tell you, and it's for the simple fact that your name would have drawn the Master to you much sooner. I was trying to keep you safe as a favor to an old...well, friend isn't the right word but it's close enough. Anyway, I think it's safe to say the cat's out of the bag now since he knows you exist, so it won't hurt you to know. Your true name is Skuld."
Naminé expected the shock that crossed Skuld's face as she had seen similar looks cross the faces of all of her friends she had helped realize unfortunate truths, but she hadn't expected Lauriam and Elrena to grab their heads as well. Xigbar just groaned.
"Of course memories would start coming back now. Although I'm surprised it's to both of them. I'm honestly not sure if you and Elrena ever really interacted much in Daybreak Town, although you'd definitely have more memories of your fellow Union Leader—"
"Lauriam! That's your name, isn't it?" Skuld practically shouted as she seemed to recover another lost memory. Xigbar sighed. "Yes, and while I'm sure you'd love to get more memories back you should probably finish filling everyone in first. I've got some rather unruly companions I need to get back to babysitting, and your story is about the only thing I've got that can make these people see that I'm actually trying to help here."
Skuld looked like she was about to snap at him, but took a couple of deep breaths before continuing. "Fine. Anyway, the whole reason I didn't know my name was I suddenly woke up on an unfamiliar world with only a couple of hints to my past. I knew my home was like something from a fairy tale, I knew I had four friends and there was something about a key that tied us together, and I remembered the saying 'may my heart be my guiding key' was something we all said. Luckily I appeared near a castle filled with scientists, and they were researching the mysteries of the heart. They even had a colleague who also had amnesia, so they were doing a lot of research into cures and I became known as Subject X as they tried to help me."
Naminé felt like she knew where this was going, as that situation was all too familiar. Sure enough, Skuld's next words confirmed exactly which world she had ended up in. "Things were fine under Ansem's research, but when we still couldn't get answers Xehanort started to push harder and harder. I'm not sure what exactly went on, but eventually I stopped seeing Ansem at all, my room became a cell, and the only friendly encounters I had were when a pair of boys named Isa and Lea would break in and talk with me. At least, until one day Xigbar here breaks in, throws me a cloak, and takes me to another world. He helped me summon a Keyblade again in case of emergencies, gives me a fake name, and tells me to lay low because someone dangerous will try to grab me if they find out I'm alive. That was almost ten years ago, and I lived relatively peacefully on an island called Motunui until a few days ago when that man in the cloak showed up, said something about needing to re-educate me. I tried to fight, but let's just say that didn't go well and I spent the next couple of days knowing exactly how a mouse feels against a cat."
Xigbar shuddered. "Yeah, you don't want to deal with him. He was known as the Master of Masters for a reason. He's far and away the most powerful person on this side of reality, and I say that with pretty high confidence that I'm the second strongest person. He's also so determined to see an end in the fight between light and darkness that he's way too dangerous to deal with without a major plan."
Naminé raised an eyebrow. "Why is it so bad to end the fight between light and darkness? I mean, that's basically what we're trying to do after the last Keyblade War is to let there be a peaceful balance."
Xigbar grimaced. "Because he's working on a much different scale than you are, and peaceful coexistence is the last thing on his mind. He trained six apprentices that were the best Keyblade Wielders in the Land of Fairytales—and then he manipulated them to start what you know as the first Keyblade War. And all of this was to prepare those six to be possessed by six of the seven strongest primordial darknesses so they would have a form that could be destroyed. I'm sure in his mind it's all for the greater good, but as one of his sacrificial lambs I can tell you the ends don't justify the means—especially since you can't eliminate all darkness from the current realm without also wiping out all of the people living here."
Skuld seemed to be the only one who was still giving Xigbar the benefit of the doubt, but she still was willing to voice her question instead of writing off his story. "If he's so dangerous, and you've been alive since the age of fairytales, why haven't you worked to stop him? I get if he's stronger so you have to be smart, but if you actually lived all those years instead of just somehow skipping them like I apparently did, shouldn't you have been able to do something about it?"
Xigbar clenched his fist. "Don't you think I would have if I could have? And when I say I couldn't, I literally mean it was impossible. The Master's greatest ability was his foresight—he wrote an entire book of prophecy that detailed the entire course of history. Unfortunately, I happened to be the one who had to actually show him all of that information. He planted his Gazing Eye within my Keyblade, and I had to pass it on through generations so it could witness everything so he would be able to write it."
Elrena scoffed. "Okay, so if you knew all that, it seems like a simple solution. Chuck the Keyblade somewhere nobody can find it and the Master sees nothing for the rest of eternity. Seems like a really easy choice to make for someone who apparently had no choice."
Xigbar shot her a glare. "Okay, don't you think that was the first thing I thought of trying? But I didn't get this Keyblade until AFTER the Master wrote out his book. So, at that point, I knew the Keyblade had already been passed down through the future. That meant one of two paths were open before me: either I could change things and completely fuck up the timestream by doing so, or all my actions wouldn't matter and no matter what I did the information would still get out. I'm not Luxord to gamble on something where the positive outcome still shatters the notion of time, and I'm not some hero who can somehow overcome the rules of how things should work to be able to accomplish getting out of the punishment for violating the laws of nature. I did the best I could—I passed it on and kept an eye on it through the centuries, so I could always know what it would see and make whatever little moves I could in its small blind spots."
Lauriam sighed. "Well, if your story is true, we just lost all benefit from it. If this Master is aware of everything that happens around this Gazing Eye, and you have tried to keep your actions secret from it, you really should have dismissed it before explaining all of this."
Xigbar smirked. "Oh please, do you really think I'd be working towards a goal for this long only to stumble on something as minor as that? I learned how to veil the insight of the Gazing Eye. Now, it only shows the Master what I want him to see."
Naminé narrowed her eyes. "And you just figured that out now? Seems awfully convenient."
Xigbar shuddered. "No. Learning how to do this was far from convenient. It took me the course of five lifetimes to figure out the nature of how the Gazing Eye worked, another couple to figure out a way to counteract it, and all in all it came the closest to driving me insane. The absolute worst part was living with the fact that I theoretically could stop it but not being able to thanks to that damn Book of Prophecies. Sure, me actually reading the book would be another temporal paradox, but that didn't stop me from hanging around other people who could read it and piecing together bits of information from there. So I knew how the whole thing ended: 'on that land shall darkness prevail, and light expire.'"
He had switched to an overly solemn tone as he quoted that, but seeing his audience not reacting he sighed and continued in his regular voice. "Now, that obviously referred to a Keyblade War, but it couldn't be the first one. Sure, the world being scattered and Kingdom Hearts disappearing into the darkness would be darkness prevailing, but the light in the world was only scattered, not eradicated. So, there must be another War coming, and I would only be able to move overtly against the Master AFTER that war. I just had to work towards that war while minimizing the casualties so I could save as many others as possible. In that regard, Xehanort's plan twelve years ago was almost perfect—something strong enough to call forth the Χ-Blade that only threatened four Guardians of Light who all fully chose to be there? It would have been perfect, but thanks to their combined efforts that ended in nothing that could be called a total victory for darkness."
Elrena scoffed. "For someone who claims he's so against doing things for the greater good, you sure sound disappointed that your plan to sacrifice four people for the greater good didn't work out."
Xigbar grimaced. "You don't seriously think that thought never crossed my mind? There's a reason I said Braig's commonality with me was self-loathing. Whatever punishment you could think up, I guarantee you I'll deserve far worse. But right now, I'm the only one who has anything approaching a plan against someone who could easily bring the universe to an end. So, if you could just trust me enough to keep preparing yourselves for a fight that will make Xehanort seem like a cakewalk, I'll be happy to shoulder your hatred until the fight is over."
Xigbar's head suddenly jerked to the side as if he had heard something nobody else did, and he groaned. "Already? Just how hard-headed can a guy be?" He turned back to the others. "Okay, so the other potential allies I'm working with are waking up faster than I expected after taking Holy to the face. And before you ask, yes, I'm sorry about that too. All the other Foretellers just found out their entire lives have been manipulated, and they were at the point of lashing out. It took me multiple lifetimes before I could get over that, but we don't have that kind of time now that the Master is starting to be active. They needed to learn that for all of their power they can't just randomly attack, so I sent them to the one world I knew that had enough defense to drive them back."
Lauriam sighed and dismissed Divine Rose. "Obviously it's pointless to expect more from you or keep you here, but can we at least get in contact with you later? There's still a lot to unpack here."
Xigbar brushed his concerns away. "Of course. I'll know how to find you—or someone who can call you. Speaking of which, would you mind taking Skuld to see Flamesilocks and Moon Pie for me? Or, well, for her sake, I'll suppose I'll say Lea and Isa since she won't be up to date on the old Organization nicknames. I figure helping reconnect some old friends might be enough to garner some goodwill to at least get you all to hear me out for a bit before defaulting to the old 'whack Xigbar with a Keyblade' strategy that's been all the rage these last couple of decades."
Since Naminé knew she was the only one who had regular contact with Lea and Isa, she quickly responded. "I can do that. And if you have to drop in anywhere to talk with us, make it Radiant Garden—they have the best setup for getting in touch with everyone."
Xigbar chuckled. "And the most reason to not trust the guy who helped their world fall, but I guess I can't ask you to trust me without taking a risk of my own. Also, I'll wipe out the Master's lingering stealth spell right now, but I really have to bow out. Later!" Apparently, he meant bow out literally, as he bent into a theatrical bow...and then kept going down. Instead of hitting the ground, though, he fell into a dark corridor he had opened along the ground, leading to Elrena sighing.
"And he wonders why we didn't ask him to join us at Castle Oblivion. Vexen was enough of a drama queen as it was…"
Before anybody else could respond, yet another Dark Corridor appeared. This time, Riku ran out with Braveheart in a ready position. "Naminé, are you…" he trailed off as he stared at the assembled group, eyes lingering on the one unfamiliar person and the three Keyblades he didn't recognize in the hands of people he did. "Okay, there's a whole lot going on here, but everyone seems mostly okay. What exactly happened? My lead was a dead end so I was checking in here when Naminé's signal suddenly disappeared. It just came back now, so what happened?"
Naminé noticed Elrena smirk and immediately cut in before the older woman could say anything that would probably embarrass her. "I'm not sure I fully understand either, but the gist of things seems to be that the figure we thought was Luxu was also Xigbar, he might not actually be our enemy since he's fighting against another ancient Master who's even stronger than the Foretellers and wants to eradicate everyone to eradicate darkness, also he was attacking Skuld here who seems to be like Ven in terms of living now and during the first Keyblade War, and apparently Lauriam and Elrena were too?"
Riku flinched back. "Okay, yeah, that's a lot. I guess we can have Ven and Chirithy come and talk with everyone to see if that helps us unpack stuff? And at least we know about this even stronger enemy now, and we all came out of it okay…" he trailed off as his eyes swung around the group again and this time noticed Zinnia's body. "Shit, I didn't notice before. Is there anything we can do to help Zinnia—at least, I think that was her name? I know she got badly hurt by Diablo before, but I'm not sure how much she can withstand…"
Lauriam sighed. "I think she will be fine. Her heart isn't strongly connected to her body, so physical damage to a vessel doesn't seem to permanently affect her. She doesn't enjoy being damaged, but she hasn't expressed any concern that it actually hurts her. I'm sure when we repair her body she will be back as good as new."
Riku nodded. "I'll make sure to let Even know to be ready to fix a Replica. And we'll probably be seeing more of each other in the near future to talk through all of this. Would you like for us to visit you here, or would you prefer to come to us?"
Elrena scoffed. "I'd rather keep our little hideaway as secret as possible, which is hard to do if people keep noticing strange travelers coming through here. As much as Naminé got out of the experience, it's not something I'd like to repeat."
Naminé felt her face heat up when Riku sent her a questioning look. There was no way Elrena could have known some of her thoughts...right? Luckily, Riku seemed to take her words with a different meaning. "Did it have something to do with getting that Keyblade? I know you've been trying to get your own for a while, so I'm glad you finally got it!"
Naminé managed to get her blushing under control. "Yeah, it's great to finally have my own, even if Memory's Canvas took its sweet time. It's just…" she trailed off, unsure of how to best voice her latest feelings. "I'm just not sure if I'm cut out to actually use it as a full-time wielder right now…"
Riku cut her off with a quick "No." as he walked over her and put his hand on her shoulder. "You've done more than enough to prove you're ready for this even before you had your own Keyblade. Don't go doubting yourself now. Just because you're relatively inexperienced doesn't mean you aren't good at this. You're already way better than Sora or I were when we started our journeys, so just give it some time before you say you can't do it."
Naminé grabbed Riku's hand and moved it off of her shoulder but didn't let go as she looked into his eyes. "Sorry, that's not quite what I meant. I know if I devoted time to this I could get a lot better, but I'm not sure that's the best thing for me to do. I mean, I'll still do a little bit so I can help a bit in a fight, but facing off against the ancient Master I'm not sure if I could close that gap without doing nothing else for years. But there's something else I could do right now that might be more help. I'm the best person when it comes to memories, and maybe if I can get more answers from Ven—and now Lauriam, Elrena, and Skuld—about the ancient past we can learn even more than what Xigbar tells us. And I still think I might be able to get the best lead on Sora if I focus on my memory powers and maybe work with Roxas and Xion as conduits. I just think I'll be more helpful if I focus there rather than trying to reach your level with the Keyblade first."
Riku chuckled. "If that's what you want, that's fine with me. Although there's going to be a bit of a change from the last time you used your powers for so long. Last time we were forcing you to work all the time. This time, I'm going to be making sure you spend a bit more time taking care of yourself too."
Before Naminé could respond, Elrena let out an exaggerated "Aww!" Riku awkwardly chuckled at the situation, but Elrena wasn't done. "You know, if things get too bad, Naminé did walk in on one of my favorite forms of stress relief that works incredibly well. Maybe you should try it out with her!"
Naminé wasn't sure what was worse—the burning flush she was sure Riku could feel through their hands, or the hesitant "Sure, I guess…" he gave to the older woman without knowing exactly what he was agreeing to...
Author's Note: Thanks for sticking through another story! We've got the pieces on this side of reality now set up for where they'll be in Melody of Memory, so the next story will be instead finally showing us what's been going on from Sora's side of things. It's going to be five chapters and three of them are written, but unfortunately the two that are left I'm really struggling with so I'm not sure how long that will be.
I've also started a document that I'm calling bonus scenes for this series, where I'm putting things that I don't think fit in the timeline of a story I'm writing but are still canon to the events. I've got one scene written out, although I'm not sure if I should publish it now and update whenever another scene comes to me or if I should just wait and put it out once I finish the main storyline I'm writing. So I figured I'd let reader feedback help me decide: what do you all think in terms of how I publish these bonus scenes?
