Final Fantasy XV - Kingdom Hearts
Part 16
Summary: Two warriors of Light, the Chosen King and Keyblade Master, face an unseen Darkness.
Sitting in the lounge Riku was looking at the newspaper while drinking a coffee brewed by Ignis earlier. Following their conversations about other worlds and all the things he, as well as Aqua, will no doubt be hearing about from the mage of the King.
Riku truthfully wasn't bothered too much by the fact Noctis and company knew about other worlds, giving their assistance in their tasks and seeing as the Organization was involved, it was only fair they knew what exactly what they were up against. He has yet to talk to Sora and Kairi about the whole thing but ultimately decided to leave them alone while she recovers.
Light knows they need more time together.
'Hey Riku', called a voice.
Riku looked up from the paper and sees Iris approaching him, hands behind her back with that cute smile on her face. He greets her with a raise of his mug, smiling at her. 'Hey Iris, are you doing well?', he asked, lowering the paper on the table. The girl sat down on a chair near him, nodding. 'Yeah, just took care of Talcott and have some free time', she said, 'Plus Gladdy is heading to the bar for a bit, saying something on the lines of "I need a drink…or seven", she mimicked her brother's tone by deepening her voice.
Riku chuckled behind his mug, he could imagine after everything they told him. 'Well hopefully he won't be too tough to deal with after a few drinks', he joked. 'Oh, trust me, I'm not babysitting a drunk Gladdy, I'm leaving that to Iggy', she replied with a grin.
'Better than Prompto, right?', Riku teased.
'Yup! Last time he tried to care for him, he ended up being crushed under Gladdy for the whole night!', she laughed.
Riku chuckled lightly, finishing his mug of coffee and placing it on the table. He wasn't exactly a coffee drinker before coming to this world, but ever since Ignis introduced him to ebony coffee, he started to develop alike to the substance. They sat there in comfortable silence, looking out the glass panels to see the rain had grown heavier and became torrential outside. 'Guess we're not going anywhere today', he hummed.
Leaning back into his chair in thought the silver-haired master started to ponder more about Xigbar and his motives. As far as he recalls what Sora's encounters with him and the other members of the Organization, very few ideas formed in his mind. Whatever he wanted with Kairi and Noctis did nothing for him, as Sora mentioned to him before they wanted to make sure the next seven princesses of light were unharmed.
Why now he suddenly seeks Kairi is worrying, but Noctis as well was in danger. It'd help if he knew more about the empire's group, maybe someone with strong darkness within their hearts attracted him, someone, close to Maleficent or the other villains they had fought in the past.
'Well that's fine, nothing wrong with a break fight? I mean you guys spent three days running from the empire, right? And then went to grab a royal arm', Iris reminded, smiling. 'True. Given everything that's happened it's nice to just chill out, you know?', Riku agreed. 'Just now, I'm kind of bored'. Iris at this smiled excitedly and hopped off the chair. 'If you're bored, we could watch something? There's a TV in Gladdy's room with a movie channel', she suggested. Riku grinned back.
'Sounds great', he responded, 'Shall we?'.
They got up and headed for Gladiolus' room, though Riku sees there was a noticeable spring in Iris' steps. He shrugged it off as they climbed the stairs, thinking back to the day he first met the girl. Following his ship teleporting him to Lestallum, he tried to contact Sora using the Gummi Phone and at least get an idea where he could be, but unluckily for him, his own was damaged during the ship rocketing left and right.
Thus, he at the time, he had no phone, no clue to where he was, the location of his friends was unknown. A bad situation to be in for sure, especially when the fate of all the world was at stake. Then came the nobodies, Iris and him accidentally revealing himself to her along with the keyblade. A part of him thought he should have declined her offer in favor of searching for Sora and Kairi, but maybe he knew given how huge this world was searching on foot would yield only failed searches and aching feet.
Staying at the hotel for a day with her was comfortable he'd readily admit. The girl had told him about her brother, she helped him explore the town and even showed him some of the sights like the meteor ahead of the town. It was fun to explore the town with her, and maybe it was because he didn't have to fight nobodies, heartless or anything dangerous. Looking back Riku realized whenever he did go to other worlds, he never had a chance to take them in.
Iris helped him take a load off his shoulders and just see the town, a new world for him to see. Then came the empire and his mini vacation ended there and then.
Sure, they helped reunite him with his buddies, but still, he wished he'd take a page or six out of Sora's smaller notebook and just took more time to explore the world at his leisure. Entering the room of the giant, they both sat down on the bed, well he did, and Iris just laid on the bed on her stomach. Truthfully the shows and movies they watched were at minimal distracting and helped passed the time, but Riku was barely paying any attention to them.
Growing up tv shows and movies never really caught his attention as a kid, he spent most of his free time with Sora and Kairi, playing on the islands and camping with them. Luckily for him he never needed technology to amuse himself, and while there were a few shows here and there that he'd watch it wasn't something he'd consider a fun pass time.
As the film ended the two teens just laid down, the silver head on his back looking at the ceiling in thought. 'That was…weird…', he commented, shrugging. 'A crocodile…it was a crocodile the whole time…', Iris said, aghast. 'Gladdy, you ass'.
'Guessing he tormented you with that?', Riku asked, smirking.
'I never went swimming in a lake for nearly six years…', Iris confessed.
Riku chuckled. 'I used to do the same to Sora and Kairi when we were kids', he admitted. 'Told them all kinds of stories back home'.
'Like what?', Iris inquired, looking at him as he sat up to face her. 'Well, once I had to get them home early and told them we had to leave the play island, they asked me why', he started. Then he made a wicked grin. 'So I, being the little brat I was, told them some tale about a terrifying Kraken that would snatch up naughty kids that didn't go home early on that day'.
'Riku, that's so mean!', Iris laughed, 'How could you do such a thing to your friends when they were kids no less!'.
'Hey, I was a kid too! And a brat, might I add!', Riku argued. 'But trust me I ended up paying for that later…'. 'Oh? Your parents lectured you on not being a little brat?', Iris asked. '…no…trying to calm down two terrified crying kids who started to argue they'll stay on the islands forever…', Riku groaned.
Iris laughed at the sheepish and blushing Riku, scratching the back of his head. Not exactly his proudest moment as a kid and looking further back the boy realized he was more of a brat than he remembers. How in the heck he managed to stay friends with those two was beyond him, but he could chuck it up to Sora just being…Sora.
'I remember Noct and I used to scare the crap out of Gladdy whenever we played hide and seek', Iris mused, 'one time we hid in a closet all day, by the Iggy found us we were sleeping on the spare blankets'.
'Sheesh, that guy can sleep, anywhere can't he?', Riku remarked. 'You have no idea…', Iris grinned. 'Once he fell asleep during training with Gladdy on the bench before they even started!'. Riku chuckled back. They sat there in content, talking more of their childhoods, friends and all the mischievous activities they got into, Riku feeling a genuine sense of relaxation and just had fun with this girl.
Laying there together looking up at the ceiling in thought, Iris is looking at him, studiously. Riku didn't notice her so she was free to take in his features. Again, he did bare a lot of similarities to Noctis, but now that she took in him fully, she found herself staring. He was younger than Noctis from height and facial structure alone, but she found that more attractive to her. His silvery unkempt looking hair added a sense of exoticness to him like he was from another world (if only she knew).
His blue-green eyes were something she felt like if she stared into him, she could see everything within his soul, the strength behind them and the maturity glowing. If there was one thing he and the others had in common, it was amazing sets of eyes.
'Like what you see?', he asked, not looking at her.
Iris blushed softly before smirking. 'Maybe~ I mean…how many guys have silver hair?', she asked. '…I know a few…' he muttered; several faces appeared in his mind. Iris raised a brow at this but shrugged it off when he didn't elaborate further. 'Other than that, your eyes', she said, 'Next to Noct, I don't think I've ever seen your type'.
Riku understood in part, back home most of the islanders had unique eyes like Sora and even a few others he knew. Compared to the people here some had pretty eyes but so far, he had no one to compare to the others. Excluding Iris', he will readily admit her eyes were something else. Maybe it was the innocence within them, but he sees a strength resembling someone he knew. 'Why would you? Islander trait', he bragged softly.
'Oh yeah? So do all islanders have muscle like you or?', she questioned.
'Pfft, just me and Sora I guess', he shrugged, not remembering anyone else with muscles like him and Sora. 'We spent most of our time back home doing all kinds of activities, mostly sparring'. Iris playfully rolled her eyes, 'Boys will be boys', she teased.
'And what did you do when you were a kid?', challenged Riku.
'Watch Gladdy bench pressing like a mad man and mostly watched him and Noct spar almost every day', Iris said simply, 'I spent most of my life just learning what it means to be an Amicitia and went to a regular school'.
'Really? Not gonna be a future shield?', he asked, surprised. 'Not unless Noct's wedding goes through…', she said, a sad sigh escaped her lips. Riku raised a brow. ' "Wedding"? Wait', he said, sitting properly. 'W-Was Noctis supposed to get married?'.
'Yeah…long story', she sighed. 'See, it started with-
The door suddenly opened, making them both jump and look. Gladiolus was at the door looking at them, not remotely buzzed but he had a serious look on his face. His glare was tense, and Riku didn't know why but he was suddenly considering how fast he could jump out that window. Why he felt it he didn't know.
Gladiolus broke the silence by addressing the young man. 'We've got get going', he said. Riku got up the bed and looked at him, 'What's going on?', he asked. 'Cor's here, says we've got a problem', Gladiolus hinted, 'A big one'. Nodding, Riku smiled at Iris and then followed Gladiolus out of the room and down to the lobby.
There they see the others waiting around with Cor standing at the entrance, wet from the rain despite having an umbrella by his side. 'What's going on, Marshal?', Noctis asked, arms folded. 'We have a situation that concerns you, and your new associates', the Immortal said, looking at Aqua and Sora. 'We've have had reports of the empire's forces fortifying the bases surrounding this region', he said, pulling out a folder. He opened it up and laid it on the table for them all to see several bases in different parts of Celigne.
One near Old Lestallum, another just by the valley leading back to Leide and finally one just a few miles away from Cape Caem.
There were several looks of concern from everyone, more so from Noctis when he sees just how far the empire's bases were and how much land they managed to cover for themselves. 'Why are they all just popping up left and right?', Noctis asked. 'Probably trying to regain more control over the land, more so especially after the fiasco that occurred here four days ago', Cor said. 'The more land under their thumbs, the better the chances of catching you'.
Cor showed them a photo of Xigbar in one of the bases. 'This man here has been sighted by one of spies in the last few days before the bases being constructed', he said, 'The moment he started to show up at each base, more of those white monsters appeared'. The other world heroes glanced at each other. 'Care to explain?', Cor asked, eyeing them. 'Enemies of our own, unfortunately', Aqua said tactically.
'And considering we're alive thanks to these people, they are our enemies too', Ignis said, giving the Marshal a "do not" look. Cor relented as Aqua picked up another picture and showed it to the others. 'Who's this?', she questioned. 'That is the empire's commodore. Aranea Highwind, the mercenary', he revealed. 'From what I gathered she's a renowned fighter in the air and one who was recently hired by the emperor himself'.
'Oh great…', Noctis groaned. 'She doesn't look *that* tough', Riku remarked, looking at the picture. 'Looks can be deceiving, young man', Ignis reminded, gesturing Donald and Goofy. 'Good point'.
'Regardless, we can't ignore the empire's reach growing. If we do so, we might end up having the regions full of bases like this', Cor said adamantly. He turned to the prince, 'Its time for you and your friends to start kicking some of them out of your land, your majesty'.
Noctis turned to Sora's team, and they all nodded, ready to help. Noctis turned to the Marshal with a nod. 'I was looking for an excuse to go after some bucket heads', he said with a smirk.
'Don't forget, it's not just the magitek soldiers we're facing', Aqua reminded, 'If Xigbar has been around, we'll be fighting nobodies too, and possibly the heartless'. 'She's right', Ignis agreed, 'If we're going to do this, we'll need to plan accordingly'.
*Later*
There was silence among the royal retinue as they drove to Hammerhead with Aqua's car in the back, none had spoken a word since they left Lestallum, each of them keeping to themselves in thought. Noctis sat in his seat in quiet contemplation, he'd often glance to his friends to see if any of them had wanted to say something yet like him, they'd much keep the silence alive and let any noise or talk remain unwanted and unheard.
Gladiolus was nose deep in his book, but the prince knew he was just using it to keep himself out of any conversation seeing as the prince noticed he'd been on the same page for nearly half an hour now. Prompto was only sitting in the seat fiddling with his camera and only occasionally making some humming noises. Ignis just drove in silence while occasionally taking a sip of his coffee, not making any attempts to converse with his brothers.
As grateful as the prince was for the silence and breathing space to think, he felt like something needed to be said, something that he knew they were all thinking about. '…we're outclassed', he confessed with a sigh. No one said anything but he knew he had their attention. 'You saw what those nobodies were like, and we all know if we didn't have Riku and the other two, we wouldn't be here'. 'And as shit, as that sounds, we're now heading into our home filled with those things'.
'Noct, if you're trying to boost morale, you're doing a REALLY bad job at it', Prompto weakly laughed, leaning back in his seat.
Chuckling in response, Noctis turned to each of them and continued: 'My point is…I trust them, as much as I trust in you guys and the Marshal'. He leaned forward on his seat as Gladiolus lowered his book and Prompto sat down his camera. 'If I had any doubts, we could do this, I'd tell the Marshal we'd just have to hold off on it…but you seen what they can do, we know what *we* can do'. 'And this is our chance to finally kick back the empire for what they did. Not just to our home, but our people'.
Looking at one at a time, he could see in their eyes the same fire he had. Gladiolus chuckled and ruffled his head in good nature. 'What the hell happened to you suddenly?', he laughed, 'Coming out with that speech'.
'Yeah, sure you didn't secretly practice this with Iggy before getting into the car?', questioned the blonde, eyeing Noctis playfully.
'Noct, I fear they might have seen our notes', Ignis whispered loudly, smiling.
'Screw you guys…', laughed the prince.
*Hammerhead*
Driving into the parking lot of the station, the team had already split up for their duties. Ignis with Kairi and Goofy to procure some curatives and other items while Donald, Gladiolus, and Riku headed for the weapon shop for a few things the shield thought they'll be needing soon.
The rest of the team headed for the garage where Cindy was waiting after Sora reminded them all they had to pick up the bike from Cindy. They approached it seeing several of Cindy's crew members running about and installing what looked to be CTVs all around her garage, their boss looking around frazzled and miffed.
'Uh oh, something's happened', Noctis stated, gesturing the miffed engineer.
Upon reaching her, Cindy turned to the group with a look that replaced her annoyance with a look that said, "aww crap". 'Something up?', Sora asked. 'What's happened?'.
Cindy wordlessly though, reached into her pocket and handed Aqua back what looked to be a hefty sum of Gil. Confused, the blue head looked at her. 'This is the fee for the bike', she said. Aqua looked at the Gil, then back to the girl. 'Why?', Aqua asked. Cindy took off her cap and ran an oily hand through her already messy hair with a grunt. 'Well sweetie, I can't sell you something that I no longer own', she grunted.
The four looked at her with shock. 'What!?', Sora asked. 'B-but you had a bike!', he argued. 'I *did* kiddo. But then while you were all gone, some no-good son of a sabertusk stole it from my garage', she revealed. 'Hence why we're installing more cameras around the place'.
'Well, do you have an idea who stole the bike? Maybe we could track them down for you?', Noctis offered. 'I appreciate that prince, but I reckon you'd only be wasting your time. My boys told me he's long gone, heading down to Insomnia', she said. 'If them imperials hadn't taken him out, then either those daemons or wild critters got him', Cindy declined. 'Mighty sorry bout your ride being snatched away'.
'Shame too, I was starting to look forward to the bike', Sora said with a smile.
'Pfft, we both know none of us would let you ride that thing', Noctis scoffed, smirking. 'Hey, I've rode a bike!', Sora argued. Aqua rolled her eyes at the boys with a smile as Prompto waved Cindy bid them a good day and went back to organizing the set up of the CTVs. 'Name one time', challenged Noctis.
'Simple! When I was stuck inside a computer world and had to use a bike to win a death course!', Sora revealed with a grin. Noctis and Prompto both blinked at the boy, then turned to an equally surprised Aqua. '…how…?', Aqua started slowly. 'I'll tell you guys later, but what do we do now? We still need another ride unless we wanna stuff Aqua's car with two more passengers', Sora said. 'Insomnia isn't that far from here, we can use the chocobos for that trip', Noctis said.
'Right then, we'll just decide whose going with me', Aqua started, but the photographer piped up. 'Hold on, you haven't given your car a name yet?', he asked. 'No?', Aqua said slowly, confused. 'What? Why not?', he replied. '…should I?'.
'Well duh, we've the Regalia, yours needs a name too!', he argued.
'Guy's got a point', Noctis spoke, 'It's yours, gotta give it a good name'.
'Noct, I can understand naming your car because of your late father but mine's…', she tried but then Sora raised a hand. 'New Destiny!', he cried.
'What? How about… Wayfinder!?', Prompto suggested.
'I-I already have something named that…', she squeaked.
'Destination Seeker', Noctis joined in.
'That's lame…', Sora pouted. 'And yours sounds better?', Noctis challenged. 'You both suck at names!', Prompto stated cockily.
'Are you three seriously having a serious argument about naming my car…?', Aqua said exasperatedly. As they argued amongst themselves the master took out the keys to her car and for a moment of poor parenting, she looked at Kairi and contemplated giving her the keys and the car. 'She is the most mature and responsible…', she mused to herself.
'You guys ready to go?', yelled Gladiolus as he closed the trunk of the Regalia, 'We've gotta meet up with Cor and the others at the Haven'.
'On our way', Noctis said, he and Prompto joining the giant. As the team gathered up in their respective cars, Sora and Kairi deciding to use the chocobos this time to give Donald and Goofy space in the backseat. They all headed off down the direction to the Haven, thoughts on the task that laid before them…excluding Aqua.
"New Destiny has a nice ring to it…but Wayfinder is much more fitting…but I already have something named that…Destination Seeker makes sense but…somehow not making sense…", she pondered heavily. "Darn it, this is gonna bother me for the rest of the drive".
As the master was heavily pondering the name of her car, Riku watched her worriedly as her brows furrowed with impatience and a touch of irritation. Confused, he took a glance at the two backseat passengers, each giving him shrugs of equal confusion and concern.
By the first base just near the entrance to Cleigne, they all hopped out of their vehicles and birds to decide who was going where. The base is merely a drive away from the hunter's HQ and didn't look so fortified compared to the two in the other region. Sora and Riku performed a quick scout around the area using chocobos and after they returned and told the others the result, they started to formulate a plan.
'Right now, the Marshal is waiting for a party to meet him at the Fort near Cape Caem, meaning Xigbar or someone else equally threatening is there', Ignis said, getting off his phone. 'Which means trouble for him, right?', Sora said.
'Quite, so it would be wise for one or two keyblade wielders to go with him', he said. 'But for now, let us decide who will deal with this fortress'.
'Well…it didn't look heavily fortified from the outside, but inside could be an entirely different ball game', Riku said, hand on his hip. 'Or worse, it could be a trap to lure us in', Kairi offered, 'If Xigbar told them about us they wouldn't take any chances, right?'.
'Can't disagree with the little lady here', Gladiolus hummed, 'that place could be crawling with nobodies'.
Noctis looked at the base, then he looked to Riku and then smirked. 'Well, it sure as heck will be when they see me going in, right?', he said. Everyone looked at him as he nodded. 'Xigbar probably told them I won't stand a chance against the nobodies, and there I go walking into a base full of them…but remember who a certain general mistook somebody else to be me?'.
'Like a person who's fought and beaten nobodies in the past…', Riku grinned, catching on his friend's train of thought. '…I don't get it', Donald said, looking between the two.
'If Riku goes into the base, disguised as Noctis, then the empire will be focused on him', Kairi simplified, 'And that way, the other bases' security will be more lax when they hear the prince had been sighted at another base'.
'Right on the nail, Kairi', Noctis praised.
'I dunno, ya think they'll fall for that trick again?', Prompto said, looking at the two, 'I mean Caligo probably got a better look at Riku last time'.
Sora, however, gave Donald a grin. 'Care to give Riku a new wardrobe?', he asked. Donald nodded and summoned his staff, pointing at Riku. Everyone stepped away from him as he opened his arms and nodded. With a small ball of magic leaping off the tip of Donald's staff, the sphere landed on Riku's clothes and in a bright light, they changed entirely.
He now wears a poncho-like jacket that reached to his knees, a pair of black pants with black boots, two black leather greaves. Around his waist were two pouches made of brown leather, the collar reached below his jaw.
Looking at his new gear, he grinned as he turned to admire them. 'Damn Donald, if you ever give up magic, you'd make a killing in the fashion business', he praised. Even Sora and Kairi were looking at his outfit with a mixture of awe and envy, both making mental notes to make sure they ask Donald to do the same to their later.
'That'll do', Ignis said, nodding. 'Hopefully, they'll overlook the hair'.
'Okay then, so who wants to go with Riku?', Noctis asked, looking at everyone. 'Me and Donald can go with him', Goofy offered, hand raised, 'We can handle nobodies easily'. 'That's right!', agreed Donald.
'Well Prompto, wanna tag along?', Riku offered. The blonde looked surprised he was the first one he'd ask, but grinned and nodded. 'No worries! I've got your backs!'.
'Awesome', Riku said. He turned to the others and nodded. 'Alright, we'll ring you guys once we're done busting the place up'.
'Time to Bust-A-Base!', Prompto cheered, throwing his fist in the air.
'We're…not calling it that', Riku said as Prompto, Donald, and Goofy hopped onto the chocobos. He turned back to the others. 'Watch yourselves, alright? If Xigbar isn't at this base, then he'll be at the others'.
'We'll be fine, just be careful over there, okay?', Kairi ordered softly. He nods once more and hops onto his Chocobo, kicked in the sides and the four sped off towards the base. Once they were at a fair distance, the six turned to each other. 'All that remains is Fort Vaullerey and Cape Caem', Ignis listed. 'Vaullerey is just nearby Old Lestallum while Caem is at the very least a two-hour drive from there, that's where Cor awaits'.
Before Sora could offer to with Cor, Aqua stepped up. 'I'll go to Cor, and Noctis can deal with Vaullerey', she said. 'You sure that's a good idea?', Noctis asked. 'Yes. Wherever the Marshal is going must be the most dangerous, and the last thing we need is to hear the empire bringing the full force upon it if word gets out you've been sighted there'.
'Aqua's right Noct, at least with Vaullerey you can draw a few eyes there and we can help the Marshal without worrying about too much reinforcements arriving', Ignis said, cupping his chin in thought.
Seeing the point behind this, Noctis ultimately agreed to the plan. 'Right, me, Sora and Kairi can take down that fortress', he said, 'While you two go with Aqua'. Gladiolus looked ready to argue about being separated from the prince, but then he looked back to Sora and Kairi, who gave the man assuring nods and determined smiles. As much as he hated to be away from Noctis, he couldn't deny putting his safety in two keyblade wielders' hands wasn't exactly a bad choice.
'Are you sure Noct?', Ignis asked. Not insulted but surprised. 'Yeah, between the three of us we can handle whatever the empire throws at us. You guys though have no clue what's going on at that base'.
'Heck, if we get ours done as soon as possible we can always meet you there!', Sora said with confidence. 'He's right you know', Kairi agreed with a nod.
The two men looked at each other before Gladiolus shrugged. 'Alright then, if you're sure about this'. 'I am', Noctis promised.
Once they were done, Noctis and his team jumped into the Regalia while the rest took Aqua's car and each of them sped off to their mission.
A great battle was about to unfold.
A/N: Part one of this little arc…
So the original idea was for them to reclaim Insomnia…but I couldn't think of a legit reason why they'd take a massive risk like that so I decided base busting would the next best thing…debatably…
Q1: So the name of Aqua's car is still undecided but two reviews have suggested the names:
knarf2010: Wayfinder.
Speedy24: New Destiny.
Which of these names do you think would suit the car name better? Let me know!
Q2: Has anyone figured out who the "hero" is?
Q3: Does anyone know the significance of Riku's disguise.
Q4: Who can guess who stole the bike?
Q5: Whose excited to see Aranea?
I wanna say sorry for this messy chapter, I just wrote myself into a wall. Hopefully, I'll make the next chapter a lot better and worth your time. Thanks for reading, as always, Stay Awesome but more importantly Stay Safe!
