Final Fantasy XV - Kingdom Hearts
Part 20
Summary: Two warriors of Light, the Chosen King and Keyblade Master, face an unseen Darkness.
Lestallum
As the sun started to descend Noctis pulled the Regalia into the parking lot, letting out a sigh of exhaustion and slumped into his seat. 'Next thing you two are gonna learn? Driving', he announced as they all slowly exited the car.
'Wouldn't be a bad idea…give Iggy and Aqua a break', Kairi said, letting out a small groan after as she stretched. The party had agreed, before separating, to reunite at the hotel in Lestallum after they finished their raids. However, they all also agreed not to use phones to contact them until either they all make it back to the hotel or two days had passed just to ensure no distractions or potentially make their tasks any more difficult.
Making their way to the hotel, each of the three let out several sighs and groans from their fight. Sephiroth may not have harmed them to the point of immobility but given what he put them through it was enough for all of them to contemplate sleeping in the streets just for a reprieve. Noctis himself taking a meteor felt like if Kairi hadn't healed him he'd probably be out cold.
Seeing the hotel as the lights started to light up, they entered it and Noctis paid for their rooms while asking the staff member if anyone else of their party had arrived before them. The worker claimed to only take the shift just now after their latest guest arriving, none matching Riku's or Prompto's description. Regardless, the three of them decided to wait for them and head for their rooms, Noctis getting one for himself and the other members of the royal retinue and one for the keyblade wielders.
As they proceeded down the corridor to their rooms, a door opened showing Goofy exiting it. He turned on the three with a relieved smile. 'Hey fellas, welcome back', he greeted. 'Hey, Goof…', Noctis grunted, showing a tired smile. 'Gwarsh, you ok?'.
'Long story…but hey, we took down the base', Sora said with a tired smile, 'What about you guys?'.
Goofy opened the door to show them in, despite how tired they were and entered. Inside they see Prompto sitting in one of the arms chairs, exhausted but alive, Donald sitting on the bed looking at Riku, who was in the bed and looking rather beaten. Kairi and Sora instantly went by his side, concern. He gave the two friends a weak wave and smile. 'Hey…', he groaned. 'Riku, what happened? Did you fight heartless? Nobodies?', Kairi asked.
'No…we got to meet Ravus though…', he grunted.
Noctis' eyes glowered at this, folding his arms. Then his face shifted to confusion. 'Wait…Ravus did this to you?', he said, 'But, last time I checked he just got a prosthetic arm, how the heck did he do *this* to you?'. Riku sighed. 'Pretty the last time you saw him, he wasn't using the darkness to summon Anti-Ravus' and using to try and kill you'.
'What? What do you mean?', Sora asked.
'Remember when *I* was tricked by Maleficent? Yeah, that kind of dark power', Riku grunted, sitting up in the bed. 'And judging by how many he managed to summon, along with how strong he got compared to what Prompto told me? I'd say he's far into using it'.
Kairi folded her arms with worry before she frowned. 'Do you think Xigbar tempted him to using it?', she offered. 'I mean, can Xigbar do that? Give someone the power of darkness to summon and use the heartless?'. 'It's likely Xehanort taught him to corrupt potential vessels', Riku theorized, 'Given how close he is to the darkness'. 'So, does this mean anyone can use the same powers as Ravus?', Prompto asked.
'No, if you had a weak heart, you'd be no different than a heartless in human form, if anything they're often used by the heartless', Sora explained, recalling a few former enemies in the past. 'But if Ravus can do all that then his heart has to be strong'.
'But it'll only be a matter of time before the heartless eventually consume his heart', Riku said. 'And then he'll turn into a heartless'. Noctis frowned at this information, his thoughts going back to Ravus' sister. Does she know what the empire is doing to her brother, or how deep his hatred went for the royal family that he'd be willing to use the darkness? Looking down, he tried not to think how'd she react to all this.
Riku then laid back with a grunt. 'But we'll cross that bridge when we come to it', he sighed, 'I dunno about you guys, but I'm going to take a nap'. Deciding the silver-haired boy had the right idea, and after everything that had happened today a nap was in order, Noctis hummed in agreement before yawning. 'Sounds good to me', the prince agreed, 'I'll see you guys later'. Once they bid each other a good night, everyone headed off to rest. Donald and Goofy shared their room with Riku while Prompto went downstairs to cancel the other room he reserved for him and royal retinue.
Entering their room, the two keyblade wielders took off their shoes and socks, with Sora removing his jacket and Kairi just threw off her top, keeping her white shirt on and the PJS bottom, wanting to have some comfort while sleeping. They both laid on the bed together, throwing the sheets over them, and like before Sora, wanting to give her space, shuffled a bit to the edge of the bed…only for Kairi to shuffle closer to him, looking at him.
'No escape', she warned playfully, then wrapped her arms around him and nuzzled her head into his chest. Sora shyly blushed, still not used to Kairi being so close to him like this. Not that he was complaining he loves having her close to him. Hesitantly he wrapped his arm strong arms around her, pulling her close to him. Kairi looked up at him, smiling at him. Sora gently brushed the back of his hand against her cheek, his eyes warm and she sees something else in them.
'You did great today', he said, confident. Kairi raised a brow before catching on what he was talking about, softly blushing. 'Well…you and Noct helped me with Sephiroth…', she started, but he chuckled softly. 'Come on, even I couldn't beat him alone. But aside from standing your ground against him, you managed to shut down an entire base! And you could take on Aranea alone if you had to!'.
Kairi felt her cheeks grow warm, ducking her head shyly as she relished in the praise Sora was bestowing onto her, her heart swelling with delight. 'T-Thank you…', she squeaked softly. She heard him chuckle so more before he petted her head and made her blush harder. Laying together in the bed, face to face sense sleeping was starting to become a secondary option, besides she wanted to have more time with Sora alone.
They stared at each, taking in the wonderous silence and peace, no more fighting, no bad guys or Prompto interrupting their moments. Sora pushed a strain of her hair out her face but doing so made a question pop up in Kairi's mind, and after some mental debate, she spoke: 'W-what do you think of my haircut?'.
Sora blinked, tilting his head in confusion. 'I-I mean…I did cut it just to be shorter…y-y-ya know, umm…long hair can get grabbed in a fight…a-and mine was growing a bit too much to keep neat so-so…', she rambled, blushing deeper and deeper as her voice got more hi-pitched with embarrassment. Thinking back to the reason why she cut her hair, Kairi did admittedly cut it because it was getting longer during the first few weeks(at least she thought it was the forest screwed up her sense of time), and it became more of a hassle to care for.
The downside was after a few days later when she sees it again, she hadn't seen just how young it made her look. Even Axel teased her that he almost mistook her for being a pre-teen. She didn't hold back in the arena that day…
Her rambles were ceased when Sora kissed her cheek. 'You look beautiful', he said softly.
Kairi's cheeks had gone from a soft hue of red, to "I dunk my head into the reddest paint in the world" red, so red it spread to her ears. She suddenly turned around, back turned to Sora, not even daring to let him see just how red those three words nearly turned her into a squealing high school girl getting a compliment from her boyfriend (despite…being that).
'K-Kairi?', he asked, confused.
'SLEEP TIME! WE SLEEP NOW!', she squeaked.
'H-huh? But, why aren't you looking at me?', he persisted.
'Goodnight Sora!', she said, turning off the light and purposefully breathing like she was sleeping.
Blinking in utter confusion, the boy shrugged and wrapped his arms around the girl, resting his head in the crook of her shoulders, sighing contently before following her idea and going to dreamworld.
*Next Morning*
With a sigh, Riku laid his phone on the table near his bed and stared up at the ceiling. Not a word from Aqua yet, and it is slowly starting to wear on his mind. Hands down, next to the King, she is the best keyblade master amongst them, and surely taking her on a mission like this was the equivalent to using a gummi ship's cannons to wipe out an anthill. Plus, he's seen what Gladiolus and Ignis could do, heck they exceeded his expectations before, and if what Prompto told him about Cor was true, then this should have been a cakewalk.
So why was it taking them so long to respond?
Looking to his left he sees Prompto on his phone tapping away madly on it. He had his tongue sticking out in concentration and Riku could hear the small sounds from his device. 'What are you doing?', he asked. Prompto ceased his taps and looked at the boy, blinking for a second then smiling. 'Just playing King's Knight', he said, turning his phone to show him. Riku hummed in response: 'Oh yeah…that game you and Noct were going on about last time'.
'Yeah, we've been playing this since the launch day!', he replied, then grinned. 'You wanna have a shot?'. Riku sat up as Prompto sat near him and handed the device to the boy, giving some quick tips on how to work the thing. Riku immediately knew he wasn't going to enjoy this, the phone was much, MUCH, slimmer and convenient sized than the GP, and the game…he had no clue how to play it.
After fifteen minutes of him dying and the music starting to annoy him, the master gave up and handed it back to Prompto. 'Nope, not for me', he lamented. 'Aww come on, maybe if you started it on your phone maybe you'll have it easier?', Prompto argued. 'I don't even know if my phone can play games…', Riku muttered, lifting his own and showed Prompto it. The blonde hummed taking the phone and after some tapping, he found what looked to be an application to buy games.
'Huh, looks like you guys can connect to the stores here too', Prompto said. He started to show Riku a few apps within the cyberstore, some audiobooks, music and other things outside of games. When they found King's Knight, Riku figured hey may as well let the older boy download it for him. Who knows, maybe he'd get into it if he starts from the bottom. Prompto placed the phone down on the table, telling him it'd take some time for the app to download.
'It'll take a few minutes to download, your phone's slow when it comes to downloads', Prompto teased. 'Heh, but I can use to contact people from other worlds, millions of miles away from here', replied Riku. Prompto laughed in response, saying he couldn't argue there. Sitting down on the bed, the blonde started to fiddle with his camera before Riku, curiosity getting the better of him, asked about it. 'Just a little hobby of mine, you know?', Prompto said, 'Plus, it's a good way to create memories'.
Riku nodded in agreement, making him think of the journals Sora kept during his journeys, and even Riku himself during his adventures. 'You wanna look? I think I got a few of you and the others', Prompto offered. 'Sure, show me'. Prompto started to show off his photos he managed to save and to say Riku was impressed by his work was an understatement. The photos were impressive, several images of amazing locations that he must have taken during their journey. One photo was showing Sora and Kairi fighting one of the empire's MA-X units, the brunet leaping over the rockets while Kairi was gracefully back-flipping over them.
Another was one with Aqua spinning in one spot with her keyblade held high, crystal water floating around her as the heartless shadows were being destroyed. The way Prompto managed to capture the image made the woman look like an exotic being from another world, the color blue glowing beautifully around her as the sunlight glistened off the water.
The next photo showed off Noctis and Riku fighting one of the iron golems during the three-day run. Once again Prompto captured the two of them in such a way Riku had to do a double-take. In his right hand, he was channeling sparks of lightning, while Noctis was glowing in his blue light as he used Blade of the Wanderer to strike at the giant.
'Damn Prom…these are good', Riku praised, smiling at the photos. 'You nailed them'. Prompto beamed with pride in his eyes, the two of them looking more of them, snickering when they see the selfies he took during the fights. Some more beautiful visuals of the world, some images of food Ignis cooked, some of Sora's theme park ride tricks, and a few pics of Prompto with the others. He mentioned he wanted to get a photo of everyone soon.
Soon enough, there was a knock on the door, and entered was Iris. 'Hey guys', she greeted. Her eyes softened at Riku's state. 'The base raiding didn't go so well?', she asked. 'Not as bad as I look', Riku laughed, 'we took them down before Ravus came and kicked my ass'.
Iris giggled at him. 'Well you didn't die, so that's a plus', she teased. Riku nodded in agreement. Prompto, however, took note of the girl's…tone to Riku. For as long as he's known her, Iris always had a crush on Noctis, but ever since the last time he's seen her, he noticed her tone to the prince was more friendly and casual. Now with Riku…its like she was talking to Noctis again. Plus, Riku's tone was more friendly and warm to her.
Looking back and forth between the two, Prompto was slowly starting to see something between them…and he wasn't sure if he should take a snapshot of this or be terrified if Gladiolus found out. The blonde shrugged in the end, maybe he was just misreading the situation between them and got off the bed. 'Well if you guys are gonna stick around, I'm gonna head into the city and see what's up', he said, putting his camera in his pocket.
'Sure, just stay safe and text us if you see Gladio or the others', Riku said, looking at him. 'Will do!', Prompto promised, heading out of the room. Once he was gone, Iris turned back to Riku, frowning. 'You going to be ok?', she asked. 'Yeah, Donald healed me after I got settled in, but *grunts* there was only so much he could do', he said. Iris sat down on the bed after he offered, smiling at her. 'So, like it or not, I'm bedridden until the duck says otherwise'.
'Least you can take it easy', she reminded. 'Bet Noct is still probably asleep'. Riku chuckled in response, smiling at her. There was a comfortable atmosphere between them as she told Riku what's been going on since they headed off for their missions. After they got word the bases, at least Riku and Sora's ones anyway, were dealt with Iris and the others were then moved back to Lestallum, though she confesses to Riku it was rather redundant seeing as she was told they would be moved to Cape Caem soon.
She told him the Crownsguards had discovered Noctis' father's boat within the lighthouse, and they've moved a few soldiers there along with asking for Cindy's father to help fix it. 'What's so special about the boat?', Riku asked. 'Aside from it being Noct's father's?', she said with a cheeky smile. Riku gave her a mock glare, before flicking her forehead, she giggled. 'Well Mr, it's your only way to get to Altissia'.
'Why? What's Altissia?', Riku further questioned. Iris rolled her eyes. 'Sheesh, do the guys tell you anything?', she accused playfully. 'Ehhh…secrets are kinda a running gag between us', Riku mused half playfully half-serious. 'Seriously? So, do you know Noct is going to get married?', Iris asked. Riku blinked, before letting out an "oh" and then nodding. '…can you explain that?', he asked, sheepishly smiling. Iris laughed and then started to tell him what she knew.
*Lobby*
After waking up and having a small breakfast, Sora and Kairi exited the lobby after texting everyone they'd be leaving the hotel for a few hours to kill time. However, Kairi was positively excited the moment she and Sora left the hotel because after they work up Sora had pointed out since coming to this world, they had nothing to do today. They both agreed not to take any hunts without anyone who could drive, they didn't sense any heartless or darkness looming over the city.
Sora also pointed out they couldn't train either since there wasn't a secluded spot and the less attention, they drew upon themselves the better. So today was their first and very likely last "day off" from heroism. As happy as that sounded to her, Kairi didn't exactly want to stay in a hotel to rest or spend the day doing nothing, but then Sora spoke up and said the second most desired words she wanted to hear from his mouth.
'Then…do you wanna…go out with me? A-As in…a date?', he asked, shyly and cutely.
It took all her training to not squeal and tackle him into the tightest hug her arms could do.
Thus, here they were outside of the hotel and looked to see the perfect clear skies above them, a perfectly hot day that paled in comparison to the heat of the island. Sora turned to her and with a majestic bow, he said: 'And the date starts…now'.
Kairi giggled as they walked down the steps and into the city, but not before Kairi caught his hand and held it. Sora blushed softly but smiled happily, and they continued to walk into the town, Sora swinging their joint hands together, fully enjoying this as much as she was.
Once in the busy section of the town, the two were already taking in the large town. There were plenty of people were walking around, talking to one another about the local news, more so about the actions of the empire, the lockdown of the town and then rumors about there being two prince Noctis'. The two giggled at that last one, making their way to the marketplace as the hustle and bustle of the town had caught their attention.
Several stalls with dozens of people all over the place, they were mostly looking at the hand-crafted things that were made. Kairi picked up a rather beautifully crafted ornament that looked like an ancient dream catcher. Chocobo feathers with silk netting with bamboo for the structure, and she smelled beautiful floral-like scent. The price tag was unfairly cheap she found, and when she bought it, she left a good tip to the old woman and acting like she was in a hurry so she couldn't wait for her to work out the change.
After that they explored the market, finding a few more hand made items and even some spices and herbs Ignis had been meaning to buy for dinner later, they went near the carpark and started to take in the sight of the crater. Leaning over the rails to see, they both let out awes at the sight. Kairi even went into detail how the meteorite that landed on the crater years ago became the main power source of the city's power company. Something she had learned from Ignis before leaving here.
'Hey, wanna get a picture of this together?', Sora asked. Kairi nodded excitedly as he pulled out his phone. Adjust themselves for Sora to get them and the crater behind them, the girl gave the peace sign while Sora gave a goofy smile, taking the picture. He took two more of them but on the third, he sneakily kissed her on the cheek, making her blush during the photo.
After that, they went back to the town, but they nearly passed a stall that was selling some kebabs. The smell alone got their stomachs growling and Sora paid for two each, handing two to Kairi. Sitting down on the steps, they took bites out of their food. 'MMM…delicious!', Kairi said, swallowing her meat. 'Yeah, this world has so many tasty foods!', Sora agreed, taking a chunk out of his own. Kairi finished her first stick and started on her second one, thinking to herself.
She was smiling though, a sense of content washing over here as she took in the warmth of the day. She missed this, being able to relax with her best friend, not to worry about the up-coming troubles or whatever danger was waiting for them. Here in the now, eating good food, relaxing with her boyfriend, she truly wished for more of this. But that's not to say she hadn't enjoyed the dangerous side of the adventure.
Exploring the world with her friends, fighting together with them was fun and thrilling, seeing what the world had to offer, the history, the locals, the towns, everything. It certainly quenched her thirst, but she wanted to see more of the worlds, maybe even go on her adventures. Well, …she wouldn't mind having company, that was for sure. She must have been staring in the distance because then she felt a poke in her thigh.
Kairi looked to see Sora poking her playfully, the stick in his mouth. 'You okay?', he asked. 'Yeah, just thinking', she confessed, taking a bite out her kebab. 'What about?', he said, flicking his two sticks over his head. Kairi turned to see impressively the two sticks landed straight into the bins behind them, giggling slightly. Of course, he could do that…
Kairi placed her naked stick down beside her and said: 'About other worlds, you know? I mean', she looked up the sky, 'I was thinking, ever since I came here, I realized just how big this world is, and it's only made me think about the others'. Sora smiled, but said nothing, encouraging her press on. 'You, Riku, Aqua, you've all seen so many places. And I wanna go myself', Kairi said, almost wistfully. She then giggled, scratching the back of her head. 'I mean…if we…win, you know?', she said.
Her thoughts slowly drifted back to the fateful day that will come, maybe sooner than they'd wanted. The day where the guardians of light will clash with the thirteen darkness, where the fate of all worlds will be decided. Fear tugged on her heart, despite how much she had improved since her training and how her confidence had grown. Clasping her necklace softly, she lowered her head as her smile dimmed.
'Then let's go on a tour!'.
Kairi raised her head to look at the brightly grinning Sora. He stood up and offered her his hand. 'How about it? We beat Xehanort, save the worlds, and then we go on our worlds tour!', he suggested, 'Just you and me! All the worlds we can find, do what we want, and see what's out there!'. Kairi looked at his hand, then back to his glowing smile. There it is again, that smile of his, the one that couldn't be toppled by anything you throw at him. The confidence she wished she had, but at the same time felt invigorated just by being on the receiving end of it.
Kairi grinned in the end, taking his hand. 'It's a promise', she said. Sora lifted her to her feet, his smile SOMEHOW getting even bigger and brighter. 'Then it's settled!', he exclaimed, leading her back into the town. A weight lifted off her heart thanks to him, thoughts of that day buried deep into nothing but the void of her mind, here in the now she was going to enjoy her time with her boyfriend. She took hold of his arm and laid her head on his shoulder, enjoying the closeness between them. Sora flashed her a cheesy grin in response.
They reached the power plant of Lestallum and took the sights in, the girl taking photos of the town during their walks, thinking of showing these to Axel when they find their way back to them. Then as they were about to head down the alley where it'd take them back to the marketplace, Sora stopped walking, startling her. She looked at him then followed his gaze, a small black dog trotting towards them.
There was a green rope around its neck and right leg, giving the two the impression it was a pet along with how well-cared he looked. When the dog approached them, he sat before them, barking softly at them. Kairi cooed and knelt before him. 'Hi there', she greeted, scratching behind his ears. The dog yipped in approval, panting and wagging its fluffy black tail. 'Aww, whose good puppy?', Kairi further praised.
Sora knelt with her and ruffled the dog's head. It was then he sees the pouch tied on the rope on his body. The dog looked at Kairi and turned slightly to show the pouch as if telling her to look in. Curious, she reached in the pouch and pulled out two items, a small notebook with a small piece of paper attached to it with "Noctis" on it. 'Oh, are you delivering something to Noctis?', Kairi asked, looking at the little furball. The dog yipped, confirming her thoughts.
'What about the envelope?', Sora asked. Kairi looked to see it was a rather fancy looking one, a plain white letter with a seal she didn't recognize but on the back of envelope had her name on it. Kairi frowned and looked back at Sora with confusion. 'Its…for me', she said. Sora's smile dimmed and looked back to the dog. 'Weird, this little guy doesn't have any darkness around him…', he mused. 'Maybe Noctis will know something', she said. They stood up and decided to return to the hotel, with Sora sending a quick text to Riku.
*Hotel*
Entering Riku's room with everyone (excluding Iris, having left earlier) joining in, but no sight of their missing companions. However, when Noctis and Prompto spotted the dog, they both beamed at him. 'Hey, Umbra!', Prompto greeted, scratching his ears affectionately. 'Oh, so you guys do know him?', Sora stated, smiling at the dog prancing around Noctis. Kairi handed the prince the notebook, and when he opened it, he smiled warmly. The smile was different though, it was something that reminded Kairi of Sora's when he was smiling at her.
With a note pen, he wrote back a message and closed the book delicately, then gently returned it to the pouch. 'Thanks for bringing me the message boy', he said, gratefully. Umbra barked happily, wagging his tail at him. The dog then turned to Kairi expectedly, making the redhead blink before she took out her envelope. 'Oh? Do you want me to write a response to…whoever sent you?', she asked, confused. Umbra barked softly as if to say "yes". 'His name's Umbra, and his Luna's dog. A messenger really', Noctis explained. 'Whose Luna?', Sora asked.
'Noctis' apparent fiancé', Riku remarked, looking at the prince. Kairi and Sora looked at Riku, then back to Noctis, before jumping in shock. 'Wait, you're engaged!?', Kairi said. 'And NOW you tell us?', Sora asked. Noctis huffed, his cheeks turning slightly red from the sudden attention to his love life. 'Aww guys, now you put him in pouty Noctis mode~', Prompto teased, 'He ALWAYS gets like this whenever his wonderful fiancé is mentioned~'.
'Shut up Prompto…', Noctis warned darkly. 'Aww Noctis that's so cute~', Kairi praised, not the slightest bit of teasing in her tone. 'It's pretty romantic, a prince who lost his home is now on a quest to reunite with his love!'. Noctis' cheeks darkened, and he sent Kairi a death glare like she was pouring oil on an open fire that was his embarrassment. 'But wait a second, if you and she are engaged, what happened to the wedding?', Sora asked.
'That's…', Noctis said, but then Goofy pipped up. 'Well, Ignis told us that the whole reason for the wedding was meant for a lease fire-
'Ceasefire!', Donald corrected.
'Right, a ceasefire. Insomnia and Niflhiem were at war with each other, and the wedding was supposed to be a way to end that war', Goofy said.
'You mean, the one with Insomnia and the empire?', Kairi said, only asking because she feels like she missed out on a conversation. 'Yup, me and the other two told Donald, Aqua and Goofy about this the day after we met you guys', Prompto said. 'The wedding was supposed to be the empire's peace offer, I marry Luna, Insomnia surrenders to the empire and the war ends', Noctis said. 'But it was all just an act, soon as the Nilfs got into Insomnia, they betrayed my dad and took over'.
Sora and Kairi glanced at one another, giving the prince sympathetic looks. He waved them off and looked at the redhead. 'But you got a letter from her too?', he asked. Kairi nodded and showed him her own, to which Noctis raised a brow. 'Huh…that's weird', he mused. 'Does she send letters to everyone that way?', Riku asked.
'No, outside of me and Prompto, I dunno anyone else she'd send a letter to', Noctis confessed. Kairi opened her letter up and read it to herself.
"Greetings, Princess Kairi.
My name is Lunafreya Nox Fleuret, Noctis' fiancé and the Oracle of Tenebrae. Firstly, I wish to bestow to you and your companions my gratitude for keeping Noctis and his brothers save from the heartless and nobodies. I cannot pretend to know the burden the warriors of light must carry, but please know your safety is in my prayers.
If you intend to come to Altissia, I would be most grateful if we could speak properly, face to face. I know you have questions, and I wish I could say more, but for privacy reasons, and keeping Order, I must reframe.
May your heart be your guiding Key, Princess.
Lunafreya".
Kairi looked at everyone with bewilderment as everyone shared the same looks of shock. She re-read the letter over and over in disbelief. 'She called me a princess…she knows about the Order…and the guardians of light', Kairi gasped.
'She even knew the old saying…', Goofy said. 'Gwarsh, even I thought I must have misheard it before…'.
'How does she know about all that!?', Donald said, 'We didn't say squat to her!'. He then glared at Noctis, but the raven glared back. 'Buzz off feathers, I didn't get a letter from her for weeks!', he defended himself. 'It doesn't matter', Riku said, getting everyone's attention. 'If Luna does know about other worlds, there's got be a reason why she would be privy to that information'. He looked to Kairi, 'You better write back to her soon, maybe tell her about Ravus'.
'Yeah', Noctis hummed in agreement, 'Maybe she can talk to him? Get him to dump that darkness garbage before he does turn into a heartless…or worse'. Kairi nodded and began to write a response to the Oracle just as Noctis' phone went off. He picked up and let a breath of relief. 'Its Iggy', he said. Standing up, Noctis answered the phone. 'Hey specs, where've you been?', he asked cheerily. But then his face slowly slipped into concern, 'What? W-Wait…what happened?', he said.
All eyes fell on the prince as he started to pace and listen to Ignis, his face contorting into anger and worry at once. 'Where are you now?', he asked. He then nodded. 'Ok…we're on our way', he announced. He hangs up then, looking at his phone then back to the others. 'We gotta go to Cape Caem', he said. 'Why? What happened? Are they ok?', Prompto asked. 'They…they're fine but…', he staggered but then growled.
'Cor's dead'.
There was a silence, none had spoken and even Kairi stopped writing her response to Luna, turning around to the prince. Prompto paled and fell to the bed. 'W-What…?', he whispered, 'No…No…NO! T-That's gotta be a mistake!', Prompto yelled, getting to his feet, 'You're talking about Cor the Immortal! THE IMMORTAL! There's no way he's gone!'.
'Ignis wouldn't lie or joke about something like this Prompto!', Noctis yelled back. 'He told me they got off the airship, yeah a freaking airship, but he stayed behind to stop some freak and bought them time to escape!'.
'B-But, Aqua, and the others were there! There's no way they couldn't have handled whatever the empire had!', Sora said, standing up and looking at Noctis. When the prince turned to Sora, then to the other guardians of light, he shook his head. 'Her keyblade was broken', he sighed. The eyes of the guardians widened with pure shock and horror, Riku's own darkened. 'W-What?', Sora gasped, falling onto a seat. 'No way…'.
'Ignis told me it was someone from Xigbar's group…some guy she knew before. Someone who wiped the floor with Gladiolus and Aqua', Noctis lamented. 'Terra…', Riku grunted. 'Yeah, Gladiolus said something like that', Noctis confirmed.
'Aqua was forced to fight Terra…and likely, she couldn't beat him…', Kairi said, her voice close to a whisper. She took a deep breath and resumed her writing as Riku got out of the bed, grunting with pain. 'Then we need to go, if Aqua's keyblade is broken, then she's defenseless and the heartless WILL take advantage of that!', he stated.
'Right…Prompto, get Iris, tell her we're heading to Cape Caem', Noctis said. The blonde nodded and ran out of the room for the girl. Kairi finished her letter and handed it to Umbra, putting it back in the pouch. 'Be safe, ok little guy?', she pleaded, ruffling his fur. Umbra whimpered softly, nuzzling into her palm to comfort her. He then scampered off out of the room, leaving the team.
Once everything was sorted, arrangements made, the team drove off to Cape Caem, Iris was given a spare car from the Crownsguards, which Prompto drove.
Their situation had taken a drastic turn for the worst.
A/N:
So Luna knows about the Order, Kairi's heritage and the guardians of light~ How is that possible? Who knows? …well I do but besides me!
Anyways, hope you all enjoyed this chapter, a little bit of a wind-down, some fluff between Sora and Kairi (Which I haven't done a lot of) and now we're heading for Cape Caem. How will Aqua deal with her broken weapon? We'll find out soon!
So if you have a question, please ask away!
Here's mine:
Q1: If I was planning to do the Assassin's Creed Festival, should it be included in this story or should it be a separate thing? I mean I do plan to do it like the games where it takes place in its continuity but just wondering.
Q2: Sora, Riku and Kairi's KH3 designs? What do you all think of them? I like Riku and Kairi's…but I still prefer KH2 Sora :)
Q3: Would guys like to see more Ardyn in this story? I know I haven't used him a lot.
Q4: Do you think Donald and Goofy should get more screen time?
As always, thanks for reading. Stay awesome but more importantly, stay safe!
