Holy smokes, hello, I'm alive. As I always said, I'm never leaving permanently. Life does life-things and you end up in places you don't expect. The point here is this: I've been holding off on uploading new chapters because I didn't want to fall behind again, so I've been writing the next six or so chapters to keep ahead. I finally feel safe in uploading this and, hopefully, I'll keep ahead after that. The chapters have been getting way longer (in the future), though, so we'll see. I hope you all are well.
Chapter XIX: Wayfinders—Folklore
Nature's first green is gold,
her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf's a flower,
but only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf,
so Eden sank to grief,
so dawn goes down to day—
nothing gold can stay.
~Robert Frost
Through copious attention and intense consideration, Aqua had come to determine three things.
First, she wasn't really here.
She was some sort of spirit, dreamily looking out from inside the body of this young girl named Ifalna, about fourteen, who was all brunette ringlets (which she incessantly played with) and radiant, earnest, excited love for her friends, who she talked about continually with the tall, thin boy who sat beside her, his own feet dangling over the little hillside they sat on.
This was Sephiroth, whose voice seemed impervious to insecurity or doubt. He was of equal age, with a handsome, face thin and sharp, illuminated by piercing eyes. His long, white hair was pulled back in a ponytail, which fell back over the black coat he wore with the sleeves rolled up, over some kind of white gi—complementing nicely the dark purple dress Ifalna wore, accented by a maroon sash.
The two had been chatting for awhile about friends and plans and some incident that had gone down a week before which plastered Sephiroth's face in a permanent smirk when referring to him, which caused Ifalna to play it off as nothing—though, from the inside, Aqua could somehow tell that story was suspect.
Indeed, oddly, she felt it. Not from herself, nor from Ifalna, but from Sephiroth. She could feel him. The only way that she could describe it was like a suddenly fullness, to which her old life was now comparatively an absence—one she had never been aware of until now. At this moment, she could feel the reality of the person across from her, as truly as she felt the reality of herself.
It wasn't quite as if she could read his mind, no, but rather as if the boundaries between what made her, her, and him, him, had melted away just slightly and she could peak through the gap and see that, yes, that Other one was just like herself, radiating all the same feelings and concerns and loves.
It was as if, normally, to her, one's heart was always somewhat locked away—behind and within the body, only known through effects. But here, she could feel the other's heart: a real, imminent reality. There was no denying that the person who sat across from Ifalna was just like her, and the experience was both humbling and transcending, demanding a sense of totalizing solidarity: there was no space for excuses or fear or suspicion; no area where one might distrust or hide or ignore the reality of the other's existence. Their heart was, in a very real way, her own heart.
It was nearly overwhelming, like drowning.
The point, though—Aqua had to keep reminding herself—was that she wasn't really here. She had no influence, no agency. She only watched this half-vision play out before her, like the most lucid dream she had ever had. It was entrancing and distracting and kept re-absorbing her into its bizarre surreality every time she thought that she had finally accustomed herself to whatever she had been plunged into.
Second, somehow, Aqua had begun to accept that she was in an…older time?
Yes, a much older time.
Because below her, Hollow Bastion was being built by creatures of every size and shape, like samples gathered from every otherworldly tale Father had ever told at work upon its spires and parapets, moving its foundation stones and carving its arches (she felt them, too, like a vast network of immediately and beloved familiarity all at joyous work together).
Furthermore, between them, she could hear Ifalna and Sephiroth speaking in a language she did not know—the words formed by their lips were old and unfamiliar. But Aqua nonetheless understood them, she felt, somehow perceiving them through Ifalna. She felt, too, the strength of the body around her—something firmer and more long-lasting than her own, which now, in her memories, felt as fragile as glass. Something here united heart, mind and spirit more deeply—a long-held theory by old scholars about the cause of long-lived ancient keyblade bearers.
And most of all, above her, Kingdom Hearts shone from the sky as if that was totally normal: a mammoth heart, glowing with a light whose shade she could not even properly identify.
The air itself, what she could sense, felt alive, tingling; warming and yet caressing. Somehow, these were the days of legends; the days of her books, when the worlds had been one and the light free for all. The grass was greener, the sky bluer—everything more vivid and full of life; moving, flowing, carrying her along in some background harmony.
Here there had been more than five Keyblades, hundreds, even, possessed by long-lived, wielders, long before the mythic Keyblade War. It was all as if torn from one of her memories, tucked into her little bed, regaled to her by Father: tales of nameless heroes who had originally wielded their Keyblades against the dark; as Kingdom Hearts warmed the world.
Had Aqua really been there, she thought she would have wept at the sheer beauty, shook with shock and terror at being in the presence of such beings, while laughing uncontrollably for the infectious vivacity that seemed to permeate the world.
But rather, and Third, Aqua knew, because of all of this, she had to be dreaming. This simply wasn't possible. Whatever had happened at the Castle had knocked her out, they had given her something; she was hallucinating, unconscious—anything. These were all her dreams of times-passed come true. It was her imagination, activated by some unknown cause.
Nothing else could explain this, other than being the most lovely dream she had ever had.
"You know, I'm not sure I'm ready for everything to change." Ifalna was saying, her fingers absently twirling her hair.
Sephiroth nodded, fingers laced across his knees as he leaned forward over of the slight ridge, "Understandable. But destiny will be what it is, all the same." He sighed, "All we can do is hope to weather it."
"That's not how he sees it." Ifalna answered, as Aqua felt a slight smile, "He said we can choose; change it all, if we want."
"He would." Sephiroth chuckled, "And you'd believe him, too."
"I do—and no!" Ifalna shoved at him, "not just because of that!"
"It'll be a long wait, you know, for him to look away from the sky long enough to see you." Sephiroth answered, with a frown, "That's why he'll still freely choose this life we're destined for—to serve Kingdom Hearts."
"Isn't that noble?" Ifalna asked, before pivoting, "What about you, Sephiroth? Why are you still here?"
A slight, ghostly smile played across Sephiroth's lips as he looked back out over the valley and the immense construction, "Because it's my destiny. I was chosen."
"All of us were, y'know." Ifalna nudged, "Don't get all high-and-mighty!"
"Right—" Sephiroth nodded, "All of us; together."
"Sorry we're late." Murmured a voice from behind, to which Ifalna turned excitedly and climbed to her feet. Aqua felt her, too, before she saw her.
"Lightning!"
Running forward, the young girl fell around the neck of her friend, seemingly also about her age, wearing a short white jacket over a brown jumper with shorts and tall, brown boots. Her face was sharp, topped by light-pink hair pulled off to the side in a short, explosive ponytail that contrasted with the inexpression of her face.
"Wouldn't miss it." Lightning responded with a quiet, unemotive pat.
As Ifalna pulled back, keeping her arms on her shoulders, Aqua was startled to get a good look at her light-green, nearly sky-blue, eyes. There was something familiar there; something she recognized. Something, someone, behind them—
"Ahem." Coughed a low voice, from the right.
"Oh, Auron, no one's forgetting about you!" Ifalna cried, reaching out with her left hand to drag another friend in by the wrist—a boy, short and stocky wrapped in a sharp red cloak that fell around his waist, over plain-black trousers and, with sleeves rolled up to his forearms. A mop of black hair piled atop his head, matching his dark eyes that gazed out from behind small, round spectacles.
And again, in those dark eyes, Aqua felt acquaintance; something she could pick up on, but Ifalna didn't seem to respond to. Yes, she definitely could feel it—more than one…more than one heart…there was Lightning, who felt so strongly that Aqua thought she might burst: how did she keep such a straight face, when what lived below the surface was so deep? And this Auron was the opposite: a calm pool at heart, reflective and quiet.
But the two others…?
How did they live like this? So intimately? So real? Aqua couldn't imagine not being able to pull back or hide. To always be present, to never have anything to fear, to always feel another as real as you feel yourself…
"I'd hope not." The boy replied, allowing himself to be welcomed, as Ifalna simply gazed back and forth between them, her smile feeling to Aqua as if it were about to explode.
"What are you doing?" Lightning asked, eyebrow raised.
Ifalna's smile turned to a slight sniffle, "I just…I'm just trying to remember this moment. Forever."
Auron frowned, but with a slight sympathetic upturn, "You do realize we'll still be together, right?"
Ifalna sighed, "Of course I do! Just…not like this. Not as, y'know…how its always been."
"It's better that way." Lightning shrugged, walking past her to kick slightly at Sephiroth, who had remained seated, "We can't be kids forever. We have to grow up sometime."
Sephiroth accepted the blow with a smile, sighing as he leaned forward, "With so many untold years ahead of us, I'm surprised you're so eager."
"I'll have plenty of time to regret it then, if I'm wrong." Lightning murmured, pulling back to look out over the construction for Hollow Bastion, just as another great tower was capped by a spiraling, blue peak.
"You won't be." Auron affirmed, stepping up beside her. "Everything starts tomorrow."
Aqua could feel Ifalna smiling, even if a little hestitantly—just standing behind, watching her friend's backs; memorizing their silhouettes against the light of Kingdom Hearts and the nascent Hollow Bastion. What were they all awaiting? What was to happen tomorrow? Was this really…just as dream?
"You ready for tomorrow?" a soft hand on Ifalna's shoulder beckoned her to turn.
Turning, Ifalna let out a little whistled exclamation—behind her stood another boy, with darker skin that contrasted the wisps of bright-silver hair that fell across his face, before retreating, up and back, in shorter and shorter tufts. He wore a sleeveless black overcoat, with light violet trim, over a low, white waistcoat and dark trousers. His grey, nearly translucent eyes, reflected the yellowed warmth of Kingdom Hearts behind her, as his thin lips offered a smile to accompany his question.
And, somehow, Aqua felt like she should recognize him. His heart felt so earnest and true; forthright and free. Trailing behind him, slightly shorter, came a younger girl: wide glasses, dark brown eyes, wearing a white cloak edged in orange triangles and clutching a book; wise and considerate, clearly and happily reliant, her heart seemed to hover attached near his. Siblings?
"Garnet!" Ifalna cried, falling upon her next—something Aqua was getting the feeling she did often—before turning to answer the new boy: "As ready as I'll ever be!" she grinned, a bit of warmth coming to her cheeks, "Not quite as much as Sephiroth or Lightning, though."
"Ah-hm."
"Or Auron!" She added, quickly.
Greeting the others with a nod, the new boy added, "We'll just have to share the uncertainty ourselves."
"You too?" Ifalna asked—it seemed to Aqua like perhaps it had been awhile since these five had been together.
"Of course." The boy nodded, "There's no way I'm worthy enough for this."
"Me neither." Garnet added, speaking for the first time.
"Hm. The idealists turned realists." Auron's eyebrow raised, "Never thought I'd see the day."
"Right—isn't that our job?" Lightning added over her shoulder, hand on her hip.
"Well, that makes me feel a bit better!" Ifalna sighed, levelling a playfully accusatory finger, before gathering the two new arrivals together with her, "Us over here, we'll be figuring it all out still, if that's okay with you all!"
As Sephiroth merely waved her off with a cheeky grin, Ifalna reached her hand out straight and splayed her fingers—and, with a flash, there in her hand materialized a Keyblade; its silver metallic sheen reflecting her bright green eyes and soft face, now visible to Aqua for the first time.
But Aqua barely noticed the reflected face, instead, she recognized the Keyblade. Golden hilt and guard, silver blade and three crown-like teeth.
There was nothing more familiar to her in all the world.
That was her Keyblade.
That was the Kingdom Key, appearing as it had when it first came to her, in those dark, lonely nights in her tiny cot at the orphanage.
It was here.
So that…is that why she was…here…?
Ifalna smiled at her reflection, with a confidence born of the solidarity of another, "Thank you, Xehanort."
When Ifalna looked back up at her friend, it was to share a smile with him. But Aqua felt nothing of the sort; indeed, she had no idea what she felt. Her mind felt like it was slogging through mud, trying to process two startling revelations.
Because that was Xehanort. The same Xehanort, many years younger. A child. Here.
In this dream?
No. No, it wasn't possible.
Because Aqua remembered when Xehanort had been announced in the Garden and adopted by the Lord Protector—she had been a child then, but she remembered all the same being hoisted up to her father's shoulders to see the new apprentice of Ansem be presented to the people.
And he had been older than this youth. This was a Xehanort she did not recognize, yet, it was clearly he. How could she know this, to have a dream present it to her? The alternative couldn't possibly be the case—
Nodding in return, Xehanort held out his own hand and, with another glittering light, a Keyblade appeared in his: dark silver, with intricately carved guard, the blade erupted from twin horns that jutted out from the hilt in two parallel blades, with grey detailing that caught ever contour of the twisted weapon, before both pieces came together into three, graduating wings that curved back down as teeth.
"We're all servants of Kingdom Hearts now." Xehanort answered, offering his blade out to touch the tip of hers.
"Without me?" suddenly, Sephiroth was standing beside them, his own Keyblade now included in their growing circle—and another that Aqua recognized; the opposite of hers, a silver handle and golden blade: the original form of Father's Lightseeker.
But that would mean—
"We'll do the best we can!" Garnet, shortest of them all, urged quietly as she pulled forth her own blade: long and dark and curved as a scimitar, with three scythe-like points at the end, it flew forth from an ornate guard that nearly covered the handle entirely, like a that of a rapier. She startled only slightly when Lightning stepped up beside her.
"This is just a little hackneyed, don't you think?" Lightning frowned, belying a gleam to her eye as she added her own blade to the offering; a steelish-grey, its guard appeared as two pairs of wings: growing upward from its base and downward from where the hilt met the blade, wingspans almost touching in the middle.
The blade, covered by another guard in the shape of a curved wing, split briefly before reuniting its parallel blades halfway up the shaft in a cylindrical shape, its tip a sharped point of dark metal, like a spear. From there, the teeth of the Keyblade emerged as another pair of wings, splitting over from a ornate centerpiece in the shape of the Great Heart.
Aqua wanted to shout, but no words could come. This dream wasn't hers—but that blade was Ven's original; Oathkeeper.
Ven! Are you in there?!
Which left—
"I think it's beautiful—like a vow!" Ifalna cheered, looking over to their last member, who still stood over the hillside, looking down at the quieting construction site, "Auron…?"
"Tomorrow, we all reach our dream…Knights of Kingdom Hearts…" Auron murmured, hands deep in his pockets, "And we're still going to be doing stuff like this?"
"If I can manage it, you certainly can." Sephiroth sighed, shifting his blade, "Quick, though, this is getting old."
"We don't have to—" Garnet began to suggest, before being interrupted.
"Don't be a bore, Auron." Lightning beckoned, "We're all going to suffer together."
"Fine…" Auron turned, stretching out his right hand in the process to call forth a long, thick blade—it had no teeth at its tip, only circular indentations dotted like tumblers, along the hefty, dark-silver blade. Its guard was black and heavy, thick enough to deflect a direct blow itself.
Aqua had expected it: Terra's original blade.
Could she really have made all this, with her own mind?
Or was she really here, somehow, in some spirited dream state, in the body of one of her past wielders? Did that mean, too, that Terra and Ven here, affected somehow by that door in the Castle basement? How was this possible? Whateven was this?
"Alright, let's…" Ifalna thought for a moment as she looked down at the six crossed blades, "Alright, let's promise: a united front, against the darkness."
Another realization hit Aqua then, flowing in tandem with the first: clearly, the Keyblade War had not yet occurred—
"Even if Sephiroth becomes the Arch-Master?" Xehanort inquired, raising an eyebrow, "That condescension would seem like a great sacrifice for him, then."
—and she knew four of them, which meant—
"And just for you, Xehanort, I'd be willing to make it." Sephiroth smirked back.
—these were probably the Wielders whose blades survived the War—
Ifalna giggled, "You'd better. After getting ahead of a hundred other Knights, you'll need someone to keep your head from exploding."
—and the fifth blade, the one Father had been looking for, her long-hoped-for sister—
"I'll save him from that fate." Lightning spoke solemnly, "He won't get past me."
—could very well be in the hands of Xehanort, apprentice to Ansem the Wise, and attempted murderer of her family; the heart of darkness within Hollow Bastion—
"Is that a challenge, blitz?" Sephiroth smirked, and Garnet stifled a giggle.
—and Aqua had no idea whatsoever what to do with that information. If Xehanort had turned to the darkness in her time, did that mean that he was a catalyst for this war, ages past? Would he have betray all these friends? And how could he have survived for that long?
She could feel his heart, right now, and right here—there was no darkness in it. As with all of them, as with everything in this beautifully innocent world, they were all forthright, all earnest, all trusting and being trusted. Not an ounce of suspicion or pinch of fear sullied their experience of each other as fully as they experience, knew, and trusted themselves.
Lightning's eyes narrowed, "And I had thought we made a moratorium on childish nicknames…Sephy?"
Apparently, Ifalna knew what was about to happen, and while their blades still remained linked, quickly rolled out their oath, "Weherebysolemnlysweartosticktogethernomatterwhat—"
And then, the two had crossed blades with a spark, started by an upward swing from Lightning, which Sephiroth parried with careless ease.
Sighing, Auron stepped away from them, "Best of luck."
"To her or me?" Sephiroth inquired with a handsome smile, as Lightning shoved back against his parry, forcing him back a step, "It had better be to me."
Across Auron's lips, a smile ghosted—though on anyone else, it would've merely been called a twitch, "You, of course."
And suddenly, Lightning was in the air, flipping straight over Sephiroth and reigning down strike upon strike as she crossed upside-down, directly over his head. Three quick blocks on his part, mere turns from his elbow alone, kept Sephiroth safe from the flurry of attacks, as Lightning lighted down behind him, stretching out her Keyblade at him, from which a circle of translucent duplicates were ejected, circling around him.
With a slight harrumph, Sephiroth jabbed his own Keyblade down, causing an erupted of blades from the earth around him, in a spinning, glowing shield—from which every one of Lightning's blows were deflected.
For Aqua, though, all consideration of what the hell was going on here had frozen, as she watched Lightning and Sephiroth exchange blows. Their movements…their techniques…the ease with which they transformed the Keyblade into forms and energy—it was like watching someone eat a main course of which she had only had the leftovers.
These were the original powers of the Keyblade, of which she and her brother, her Father, and who knows how many Masters stretching back, had only inherited ever-degrading forms of.
It was magnificent, here in the glow of Kingdom Hearts; in the perfection of this Old, United World. Like art. She could only gape.
"Please—please be careful, you two!" Garnet pleaded, her own Keyblade disappearing.
"Hm, I don't think anyone will fall into the Realm of Darkness today, don't worry." Auron patted her shoulder in a mock encouragement.
"Not funny!" Garnet countered, shrugging him off, "The Realm of Darkness isn't a joke!"
"The darkness is far away, Garnet, we've received no reports for years." Xehanort comforted her with a pat on the head, as he took a seat on the grass to watch the proceedings—now filled with greater and greater explosions of light and the clang of crossing blades.
"I don't know…lots could go wrong." Ifalna answered, plopping herself down beside him as Auron remained standing, arms stoically crossed.
Ifalna nodded, "Maybe—but nothing Sephiroth or Lightning couldn't shrug off!"
"Maybe…" Garnet murmured, watching the two clash, as Sephiroth summoned up small pillars of fire that Lightning acrobatically slid her way through.
"Besides, Kingdom Hearts is watching over—all is well." Xehanort added, nodding, almost as to himself.
Ifalna looked to Xehanort a long while, quiet, allowing Aqua the opportunity to make her own study—same hair, same structure: she could see how this boy might grow just a little older to be the Xehanort she recognized.
The only difference was his eyes. This one's were a steel-grey—a far cry from the amber glow that made Xehanort's appearance so ethereal and commanding in the Bastion.
Suddenly, Ifalna spoke up, in stilted, hesitant tone, "Xehanort, Garnet…how…how are you…about…the anniversary…"
"They're a part of Kingdom Hearts now." Xehanort nodded, responding quickly enough that Aqua felt it more like a mantra than an actual response, though warmth seemed to emanate in appreciation, "To tell you the truth, Ilf, in a weird way, I'm a little jealous."
"What—" Garnet and Ifalna began simultaneously, confusion evident, before Xehanort shook his head quickly
"No, no—not like that." He corrected, startled, as if a reverie had been broken, "No, just…passing into the light; where no darkness can reach."
A louder-than-average-grunt from Lightning announced Sephiroth had said something to trouble her nerves; a small explosion followed.
"I see…" Ifalna murmured, her heart slow and face downcast, "But surely you must miss them?"
"They fought the long infection of darkness to the end, rather than succumb." Xehanort nodded, looking to Garnet for a moment of affirmation, which he received. "They'll receive their reward."
"But what about you?"
Xehanort's eyes slid back to her, brow raised, "Me?"
"Yeah—what about you? You're still here. It'd be alright if you were…sad…or mad…" Ifalna offered, "Kingdom Hearts would understand."
"She just gave him the advantage." Auron murmured, from above them. A brief glance showed that Ifalna, with a swirl of blades, had knocked Sephiroth into the air—and now he was falling upon her with his blade greatly-extended by the silhouette of light around it. With a resounding crash, one great strike fell upon Lightning's attempted block, sending a small burst of dirt and dust flying out.
"How did you feel about your parents, when they were away building Watchpoint Oblivion?" Xehanort asked, shielding his eyes.
Oblivion…? For what felt like the hundredth time, Aqua's thoughts were brought to a sudden, crashing, halt. She knew that name…the Summas spoke of it—an ancient castle, on a hidden world; the only world inhabiting the thin line of the Realm of In-Between; flanked by their Realm of Light and the chaos of the Realm of Darkness, ever seeking to break through…is that what they were fighting?
"I missed them, but I knew they'd be back soon. That helped." Ifalna answered.
A muttered curse from Lightning and a sudden quiet told Aqua that, though Ifalna wasn't looking, Sephiroth had won.
"It's like that. Except—I'll be the one to go them." Xehanort swallowed ever-so-slightly, a nervous motion that Aqua wouldn't have noticed if Ifalna's eyes had not been trained so thoroughly upon him, "Kingdom Hearts knows best."
"And you, Garnet?" Ifalna asked, head tilted towards the girl who was, it seemed, only pretending to read as she leaned against Xehanort.
"I…I agree with Xehanort." She didn't look up, but she didn't need to: it didn't feel like she was ignoring them or hiding, because her heart was still so openly felt, Aqua could sense even the pain there, freely offered to share—not smothered or hidden or projected or ignored: "It's…unbelievably sorrowful, but our sacrifices together…is what makes things beautiful. Kingdom Hearts will make it right."
"Is that so?" Sephiroth asked, trying to cover his slight pant and he and Lightning stumbled over to stand with them, "Then why let the Realm of Darkness be such a threat?"
"I don't know." Xehanort responded absently, "Why let the First Ones turn away at all and find darkness, bringing her to life and forcing the realmsplit?"
Sephiroth brushed back the stray strands of hair that escaped their band, "Simple. Light's only bright in contrast to shadow. Our light is all the more appreciated by knowing its place in the grand plan. Everything occurs for a reason: we're being tested—over and against the Realm of Darkness."
"You have it backwards. Light needs no shadow. Kingdom Hearts doesn't need anything." Xehanort's fingers reached out, almost as if he could grasp a beam of the Great Heart's radiance, "It alone is necessary. Light alone is worth it. We invented darkness; the First Ones and their freedom."
Aqua was entranced—it was as if she was watching one of the ancient texts come together in real-time. The risk of mortal freedom, the conflicting origins of darkness, its embodiment in the form of a monstrous being—
Garnet nodded, flipping through the book she held as if looking for a passage, "That's why they say darkness is like an absence—it's what happens when you try to take what Kingdom Hearts seeks only to give. If you took away what we have here, in the Realm of Light."
"Defeat me, and I'll admit that you're right."
"Huh?" Xehanort blinked, "I don't need you—"
Sephiroth smirked, "Come on. The chance to hear me say 'you're right'"?
"That is a lot to turn down." Auron nodded, arms crossed, "But don't you think it's a little foolhardy to go again so soon, Sephiro—"
"Hush—" Sephiroth smirked mischievously, placing a single finger against Auron's face, "Don't question your leader."
Ifalna giggled as Auron rolled his eyes and Lightning collapsed next to Ifalna with a bit of a cheer, shoving Xehanort up, "Dooo it."
"It may not be logical, but it may be fun?" Garnet offered, brow raised.
"Alright," Xehanort nodded, cracking his fingers and calling his Keyblade forth, "I accept your offer."
Smile widening, Sephiroth back away, taking his own blade up in his left hand and angling it down to his right, resting over his upraised right forearm; the position obscured his face—but for those two, crystal-like eyes staring over his blade.
"Show me your strength."
Facing him, Xehanort stood slack, one arm tucked behind his back and Keyblade hanging low to the ground.
Before Aqua could recognize it had started, Sephiroth had moved—a single, seamless charge that left the grass fluttering his wake. With two flicks of his blade, Xehanort murmured two blizzard spells, but neither slowed Sephiroth, as each flew wide to create misshapen pillars of ice.
And then Sephiroth was upon him, with strikes faster than could be followed. Xehanort's quick movements, parried each one in a sparking clashes, before his empty hand suddenly flew forward, tossing a small Fire spell at Sephiroth from close range.
"Fira." Came the whisper
Ducking low and rolling, Sephiroth came to his feet again behind Xehanort, just as the other turned again to release two more bolts of Blizzard with the same controlled tone—Sephiroth easily deflected the first, and other that crashed into the earth where Sephiroth had just been standing.
And then Sephiroth was underneath Xehanort again, with speed Aqua found difficult to believe was not augmented with some Haste spell, striking up with his blade. Xehanort barely parried, as his Keyblade glanced the ground as he seemed to almost murmur another spell, and was tossed back through the air, crashing into one of his own melting towers of ice.
"Hm." Sephiroth breathed, as he stood to his height and readied his blade again.
At the same time, Xehanort—rather than being stopped by the ice, reached out his empty hand to slide with it—landed behind it, where three quick cuts sent shards of ice soaring into the air, with three particularly sharp shapes flying like spears toward Sephiroth.
With ease, Sephiroth cut in one in half, shattering them into hundreds of crystal shards that glittered in the light, like small constellations about his brow.
"Does he want Sephiroth to win?" Lightning muttered to Ifalna's left.
"No," Ifalna and Garnet responded, almost simultaneously, "He knows what he's doing."
Lightning nodded, "Good. He better."
Again, Xehanort had chopped at his Blizzard leftover, tossing even larger chunks toward Sephiroth. As the young man parried the first two, though, with another twist of his fingers and quiet murmur, Xehanort released another Fira ball that chased down the last of the icy blocks—the two connected with a hiss, and immediately, the former converted the latter entirely to water, which burst against Sephiroth with surprising force, blinding him for but a moment.
And in that moment, Xehanort charged forward himself, blade trailing behind him for a mighty swing. Aqua found herself totally invested in the moment, all wonder and confusion and fear forgotten—the whole thing was unbelievable.
As Sephiroth wiped at his eyes, Xehanort closed in—ten feet, five feet, strike—
But Sephiroth's blade was up with a great swing, just as Xehanort's left the ground with another murmur, meeting them together with a ring that Aqua imagined must have sent shockwaves up their arms, as it tossed Xehanort stumbling back, falling him over himself, and down to one knee in the dirt.
Throwing the last of the water from his fingertips, Sephiroth chuckled, "Impressive try, but—"
Just then, Xehanort looked up and snapped his fingers and, simultaneously, two Luxa explosions erupted, one on either side of Sephiroth, and one just slightly after the other so that when the force of the first blew Sephiroth forward, the second was there to catch him and throw him back, tumbling.
"Yes!" Lightning yelled, as Ifalna and Auron clapped, even as Sephiroth groaned.
And even though it was Xehanort who stood to his feet and walked to where his friend lay, Aqua wanted to clap, too. Just a little bit. It had been planned from the beginning, she realized.
Two Luxa spells, hidden in the midst of fog of the fight, and kept there under lock of some sort of reverse-haste magic—the most complex and exhausting of all magicks, requiring immense concentration to keep it locking whatever one wished. It was impossible to keep going for any serious length of time, as even a second's lapse in concentration would lose it. The enchanted thing could not interact or be interacted with for the duration of the spell—it was totally frozen outside of continuity.
And that was only with objects. Persons, acting people with wills and hearts, were impossible to held in such a spell, as far as she could imagine.
Which is why Xehanort had cast most of his magic early, and used such advanced magicks only to keep two, small Luxa explosions in an incipient state for what amounted to only a few seconds. Impressive—and effective.
As Xehanort stood over Sephiroth and offered a hand down to him with a small, good-natured smile, suddenly, the sky seemed to ripple—and slowly, Kingdom Hearts began to turn from its warm yellow to a pale blue, not at all cold or concerning, indeed, it was beautiful in its own way and Aqua could only watch in thoughtless awe at what she was seeing, the transference of Sun to Moon.
Was she certain this wasn't just a dream?
Ifalna turned to say something to Lightning, but Aqua couldn't hear it anymore. Everything suddenly sounded muffled; distant. And Lightning was no longer herself, but rather, Ven reclining next to her, nodding back.
Ifalna then looked up at Auron, as if for some sort of affirmation, but it was Terra—tall and serious—who nodded back.
Again, Aqua tried to speak, tried to shout for them, but the edges of her vision were darkening and all senses were fading fast, like she was falling asleep in that uncontrollable way that she hadn't experienced since she was a child. She felt the hearts around her slipping away; her own perception of herself returning to that familiar, now recognized, separation. Isolation—how could one go back—
And there, with the blue light of Kingdom Hearts her final vision, Aqua's sight faded and, with it, her consciousness.