Final Fantasy XV - Kingdom Hearts
Part 53
Summary: Two warriors of Light, the Chosen King and Keyblade Master, face an unseen Darkness.
*Space*
This is the first time Noctis had ever been grateful to not have had any of Ignis' dinner, otherwise, he'd probably be no different than poor Prompto. In his seat still a touch green in the face with his head in a hand, shakily breathing and swallowing dryly.
'You guys…could have told us this could happen…', groaned the king, gulping back the bile. 'Sorry, but too be fair Cindy didn't get motion sickness', Sora says with a friendly smile as he pats the king's shoulder. They both cringed in disgust at the sound of Prompto vomiting in the bathroom nearby, hearing him groan and moan in the usual agony of one who is forced to spill their guts out. No sooner had the party reached space, almost all the royal retinue had gotten motion sickness.
Gladiolus having fared better than the rest, stubbornly refusing to kneel to the strain on his stomach and just sat in his seat until the ship moved a slower pace for comfort. Ignis just exhaled and relaxed upon entering the cosmos. Prompto…not so much.
He was being cared for by Ventus in the bathroom, hoping to help adjust the gunner to their new surroundings and methods of transportations. Every one else fared much better, while some like Kairi and Aqua were still unused to takeoffs with the ships merely held onto something or someone's hand to control their anxieties. It impressed the others how Aqua didn't end up breaking Gladiolus' hand from how tight she held it, based on the excruciating pain the shield implied on his face.
Cindy in the main seat of the ship switched off the main engines for warp drive and started to steer the ship into a slower drive to alleviate the others. 'Estimating time of arriving at Ole Yen Sid's tower? Two days, folks', she announced as she switched on a few other devices for a more leisure cruise worthy of the trip. Once she announced it, everyone had gotten out of their seats and started to walk around the ship, some still groaning with the launch and a few stretched.
'That long? Jeez, I'd thought we'd be there in, like an hour or two', Noctis says looking at Sora. The boy shrugged in response while putting his hands behind his head. 'Well for me and the other two half-pints', he said with a cheeky grin, 'Its usually just an hour'. Mickey approached the two with a smile. 'We're taking our time with the trip to help you and the others get used to being out of your world', he explained, 'Besides, it'd be nice for some winding downtime before we discuss the matter with Xehanort with the master'.
The word "master" probed a concern the king of Insomnia, that alone was a subject he needed to bring up during the meeting. After everything that man had done to him and Kairi, and if he was a betting man may have done something to Sora in turn at some point, it'd be a wonderful chance to finally get some clarity on the guy.
Once he assured Sora he wouldn't be puking up his guts and let the boy wander off to Kairi, the king turns to the windscreen beside him and stared into the sea of the cosmos. His breath was swept away from the awe and majesty that was the beauty of the stars, several nebulas, smaller meteors, crystallized rocks and stars blinking beautifully before him. Back home whenever they'd be camping the stars were out were breathtaking but now those views feel like half-baked photos of those moments.
It still amazed him just where he and the others were and are going in this time, the thought of other worlds just waiting for them to explore them all. A sense of excitement that he'd ashamedly admits would be the inner child within him was bouncing within his heart. Placing a hand on the windscreen, his thoughts went to his father and he wonders what he would have said had he seen where his son and his friend ended up.
A door shifting open caught his attention and when he turned around, he sees a less than stellar looking Prompto shuffling out of the bathroom with a groan with the youngest member of Sora's team ushering him and patting his back. '*Shudder* Please tell me you'd get used to that?', he asked weakly, wiping whatever traces of vomit from his lips. 'Sooner or later yeah', promises Ventus, 'But hey, we've got time to kill on board'.
'We should also decide on the rooms too', Axel yawned, 'I'm already heading for a nap'. 'You just got up three hours ago!', Aqua remarked while crossing her arms. The pyro shrugged. 'My point exactly, plus I helped with the heavy lifting!', he argues. 'Oh yeah, the "heavy lifting",', Gladiolus jokes with using his fingers for air quotes, 'All you had to lift was a box of vegetables and that's it!'.
'I think Kairi got the heavier stuff', Riku laughed, turning to her, 'Didn't you carry some of Cindy's tools?'. Kairi smirked at the redhead with a cocky look in her eyes, wiggling her eyebrows. 'Three of them actually', she bragged, 'And I'm not even tired'. Axel rolls his eyes as he leaves the room with a smirk. 'Like you'd go to bed without Sora by this point', he teased. Out went Kairi's smug look and in its place was dark red fluster.
'…he's not wrong', Noctis muses quietly, low enough for no one to hear him just as Axel leaves the cockpit. Kairi pouts at the disappeared man, muttering something under her breath while Sora smiled on, not bothered or remotely embarrassed. Aqua sighed and shakes her head good-naturedly, 'He's got a point though, best we all know where everyone's sleeping', she announced. There was a collection of hums agreeing with her, and most dispersed to claim their rooms.
Subtly she glanced at Gladiolus, smiling shyly at him as he smirked at her in response. Together they entered their room and found it to be close to what the Galdin Quay had to offer. The room was spacious like a five-star hotel with a large king-sized bed taking most of the space, a nice color scheme of blue and teal with two lamp desks on each side of the bed. The patio was locked with a large dome of glass around it.
Aqua looked around while Gladiolus smirks at the décor and whistled. 'Eat your heart out Galdin Quay…', he says to himself, crossing his arms approvingly. She couldn't disagree there, the space her was larger than the one they stayed in before heading to Altissia and the fact she had it with Gladiolus only made it the better for them. As the shield got cozy on the bed she removed her armored pieces of clothing, deciding to spend the next few days not armored to the teeth.
No sooner did she get her boots off, she climbs onto the bed with Gladiolus, amazed by the softness of the mattress and the smells of jasmine-scented sheets. It immediately wrapped her senses in the sensation of ease. She exhaled softly and rested her head on Gladiolus' chest as he wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her closer to himself.
Letting a yawn escape himself, which causes Aqua to yawn too, they both opted to follow Axel's example and go for a nap together. 'Feeling up to catching some z's?', asked Gladiolus. 'That sounds so good right now', Aqua agreed.
The two throw the sheets over themselves, Gladiolus pulling her against his bare chest (she had to resist the girlish giggle in return) and let their legs get tangled up before they both drifted to sleep.
*Lounge Room*
In the comfortable space of the ship, Kairi watched in amusement as Prompto was showing Ventus some of his photos of their adventures in Eos. The two had immediately hit it off the moment they spoke to each other, the older blonde's grin was as infectious as Sora's and combined with Ventus being Ventus, it was like these two were old buddies that had recently caught up to each other. It was a joy to see the more peppy and cheerful Prompto back again, given what they endured back at the MT factory.
She regrets not spending more time with him after they had all reunited but after being separated from Sora for such a long time she wanted to be selfish for a change and focus on them. The spiky-haired boy was sitting on the lounge chair with her resting on his laps, snuggled into him as she watches Prompto bond with Ventus. Behind them using the nearby kitchen was Ignis using the makeshift utilities to whip up a dinner for everyone.
Despite the group's insistence he'd take some downtime for himself, the man is adamant he cook something as he stated he feared he might have gotten rusty since he lost his sight and with how little time he had to whip something up in the past. The man assured them all he was more than happy to do this to help pass the time.
'Huh? Wait, what were those?', Ventus asked, pointing at the screen. Swiping it back, Prompto showed the team it was him and Kairi in a selfie with their chocobos. 'Oh those are our feathered buddies', Prompto says with a sigh, 'One last photo before we had to go and be heroes'. Kairi pats him comfortingly, agreeing with his lamenting tone. It was so brief to be reunited with those feathered creatures that had done so much for them with transport, to be spirted away from them so soon hurt her heart.
'They're called chocobos', Sora said helpfully, 'And the one with the red medal was Kairi's'. 'I named him Feathers…', Kairi pouted, 'He was so fluffy…'. The trio laughed at the name despite her blushing cheeks.
*Chirp*
They all jumped at the sound and looked around the room, even Ignis' propped his head up at the noise. They glanced at each other as they stood up, confused. 'D-Did you guys here that?', Ventus asked. 'Yeah…was that a bird?', Sora asked, looking around.
*Chirp*
Kairi looked alarmed and searched around her. 'That sounded too close to my ears', she says worriedly. Saying that Sora looked at his girlfriend's hoodie and saw subtle shuffles in the pink cloth. 'Kairi, hold still', he said, placing a hand on her shoulder to stop her from moving. Kairi stiffens at the command as Sora reached into her hood but then immediately retracts his hand back with a startled yelp. 'What what!?', Kairi squeaks, suddenly feeling extremely uncomfortable. 'Something pecked my finger!', whined Sora.
Ignis strolled over to the children and approaches Kairi. 'Allow me', he says, not waiting for her permission to see the source of the noise. With his gloves on, he felt something try to peck his fingers but thanks to the roughness of his gloves all he felt was a slight prod. Carefully his fingers brushed against something soft and feathery, which made him groan internally. Gently as he could, he lifts out the culprit of the noise that spooked the poor redhead.
'I believe we have a stowaway', he says, showing their mysterious passenger. All eyes fell to the small bundle of golden feathers with a small beak and tiny wings, chirping innocently with its black eyes opening and closing repeatedly. A chocobo chick.
Kairi squealed in delight at the small bird, grinning happily at him as the bird chirped at her, fluttering its small wings. 'A-A chick? A chocobo chick?', Sora asked, looking at Ignis. 'Without a doubt…', Ignis confirms with equal sounds of exasperation and worry. He then turned to Kairi with suspicion, surprised and equally worried it took the poor thing to chirp for her to take note she was acting as a vessel for the small creature.
The girl, in turn, looked at Ignis with a shrug. 'How was I supposed to know? I didn't even feel him enter my hoodie', she argued. 'What I wanna know is how he got into your hoodie to begin with', Ventus asked with a smile as he gently rubbed the top of the bird's head with his finger. Prompto and Kairi looked at each other since they were the only ones with the chocobos before they left Eos. That's when a realization begins to dawn on their faces, and with reluctance, they turned to the older man.
'I think the little guy might have jumped in when I was playing with them', she explained sheepishly, 'They were mostly fluttering around my shoulders and head'. While she might have gotten a tad bit carried away with them, namely fussing over them and being extremely playful with them to the point where she would stand as still as possible for them to use her like a tower for them. However, as lovable they were she was adamant in making sure they would be with their families and even thoroughly checked herself to make sure.
Curious, Sora peeked into Kairi's hoodie to see if there was something else in the hood. He sees nothing but tiny fluffs of yellow and some bits of dirt which could have been from anything. The little bird was chirping insistently, fluttering its little feathers at Kairi. 'I believe they wish to return to Kairi', Ignis said, allowing the girl to cup her hands and let the bird jump onto her hands. The bird fluttered into the air, chirping at her happily.
'…I'm keeping you', Kairi stated. The bird chirps at her, like it, understood what she was saying. Sora looked at the bird and Kairi before turning to Ignis who simply sighed and pushed his glasses up his nose. 'We can't turn back now, seeing as we're not even certain of its gender nor do Kairi or Prompto know who the parent is', he lists, 'Like it or not, I fear Kairi has become a mother of a chocobo'.
'What? Aww how come she gets to keep them?', Prompto complained. 'Because she is responsible and will care for it…and it seems to adore her more', Ignis says. Prompto opened his mouth, turned to the two and with a frown, accepts defeat. 'Congrats Sora, you're a dad now…', Prompto teases as he and Ventus returned to the couch. Ignis chuckles softly and heads back to finish what he was doing while Sora looked at the bird and Kairi.
She smiled at Sora and said: 'We should make him a nest, so he'll have somewhere to sleep'. Together the new parents ran off to build a baby room for their child. The start of the journey had certainly taken a strange direction after all.
*Mysterious Tower*
The entire flight was not just for the party to unwind and be at ease, for the masters it was prep time for them to prepare for the battle of debates with Yen Sid. Gladiolus had informed Sora and the others that Aqua had been practicing her speech and argument for the entire day, only stopping to use the bathroom or when she and he quote: "Wanted comfort snuggles".
Kindly he said that when Axel wasn't in earshot of the conversation.
Truth be told even Noctis was envying Aqua's work ethic now because upon meeting the old man who had the scowl that even Ardyn would wet himself from being under the end of it, he wished he prepared for this. The negotiations with Camila couldn't hold a candle to how tense and severe the atmosphere of the room was, none but the master who broke the Order had spoken between herself and Yen Sid.
After arriving, taking the time for the four brothers to take in a unique and different world compared to Eos. Whereat home was modern (at least for them) this place feels like he stepped into a storybook his father used to tell him. A time of fairy tales, the light and stars around the tower felt welcoming and friendly to the king. Prompto had took dozens of photos of the place just from the outside and made everyone swear they'd take part in posing for him.
That was a subject the king was surprised none of the masters had caught him on, none had even attempted to persuade him to reel back his need for photography.
The climb up was odd and just perplexed him on the tower itself since on the outside it didn't look as big as some towers in the stories he read. Climbing it was another kettle of fish, that was for sure. From one door that lead them into a spiraling stairway in the middle of the cosmos to another, he almost held his breath the whole climb up before Donald assured him they could still breath even in a place like this.
He kept himself quiet as Aqua and Yen Sid spoke, the master before the retired keyblade master was stiff but resolute with her speech and arguments. She left very little detail out of her report, explaining the circumstances of how and why they were trapped for so long, what Xigbar's goals, presumably, were, and of course how Noctis became a wielder of the keyblade. At least that part the old man was more forgiving to an extent.
She finished her story finally, allowing the master to take in all that had transpired. To say he was displeased was an understatement if that seemingly permanent scowl on his face gave any idea. His grey eyes fixed on the blue head. 'Aqua, while I will not discredit yours and the others work for stopping Xigbar and preserving another of the Seven Lights…what you have done…', he lectured.
The master stood firm, but her friends could see her shoulders tensed as the deep baritone of the master shook their spines. 'Revealing not only the Organization to another world…but speaking of other worlds to them, disregarding the Order that has been in place for eons. That is a serious crime against the balance'.
'I know, Master Yen Sid', Aqua replied, not taking her eyes off him. 'And…whatever the consequences are, I will bare them'. Yen Sid shook his head. 'Aqua, a crime such as this, the only fitting one I could think of, would be to renounce your title as a master…and even denounce you as a keyblade wielder'.
It took all her strength not to gasp or even tear up at that as Aqua held firm. This, however, did not sit well with the others. Sora immediately stepped up. 'What? But, you can't', he tired but the old Master raised his hand. 'Sora be silent', he commands. Noctis scowled at this dismissive tone but before he would join Sora, Gladiolus caught his shoulder, shaking his head. The last thing the four needed to do was give more incentive for the man to reject their aid.
The boy clenched his fist as Riku steps forward. 'Master Yen Sid, with all due respect, Aqua was put in a position that would have put us in a state a lot worse than informing Noctis and the others', he argued. 'Riku, it's…fine', Aqua said weakly, raising a hand to silence his arguments. Aqua faced the old master. 'If I must renounce the keyblade as punishment, then so be it. But until Xehanort is stopped I will continue to wield it'.
The man nodded at her, then turned to the Island trio. Call Sora presumptuous or a pessimist, but he had a good feeling he wasn't particularly liked by the old man. Maybe it was because of how casual he spoke to him or likely he wasn't chosen by the keyblade, but he knew whenever he was under his eyes he always felt like he was nothing more than an afterthought or just another lesser student.
'Sora…Riku and Kairi…you three are just as guilty as Aqua for your faults and actions', the master lectured. Sora opened his mouth to argue but the master cuts him off, glaring at the two. 'Riku, your use of the darkness upon others, reckless and foolish without proper training of it', he lectures, gesturing to Ignis before to Kairi. The princess held her feet firm, but her eyes should anticipation of fear. '…I didn't believe anyone could match, nor surpass Sora's penchant for recklessness, but you princess, you may have exceeded him'.
'Misuse of the star shard, taking another vital ally with you and getting yourselves stranded, all the while disobeying strict others to remain within the tower', he lists as Kairi shrank under his glare and even cast her head down in shame. 'Were we not in desperate need of assembling the guardians of light…', he threatened with a sigh. If she felt bad now, Kairi felt as if someone had just kicked her in the face and stomped on her heart.
He couldn't take it anymore of this, Noctis strode forth. 'You've got a stick up your ass if you can sit here and lecture these guys', growled Noctis. All eyes fall to him but his brothers did nothing to stop him. He gestured the accused, 'Hate to break it to you old man, but these four are probably your best shots against Xehanort, along with us'.
'You have no right…', Yen Sid starts but Noctis draws Night's Sky and holds it in front of him. 'I think going by your old training buddy Eraqus, I have a leg to stand on', he said. Facing the old man, he says: 'We put Aqua on the spot to talk, she would've left us unaware of the other worlds if we hadn't pressured her into speaking. So you want someone to pin that "crime" on, you're looking at him.
'Actually, …that's on me…', Gladiolus said with regret in his tone, hand raised like a student. Noctis gave him a look but the shield just smirked. 'Don't take my credit of me discovering of other worlds', he taunts. '…saves me to crime I guess…', Noctis huffs, before turning to Yen Sid again. 'Riku managed to heal my brother, and not only giving him the strength to fight back against your enemies but restored his sight as well. Plus, something tells me teaching how to use the darkness wasn't part of keyblade school'.
Riku subtly gave the king a grateful smirk, as well as Aqua though she directed hers to Gladiolus while Yen Sid's eyes were focused on Noctis. The shield mouthed "Your welcome" to her with his smirk shifting into a smile. Noctis then turned to Kairi and gestured to her. 'She's the reason we got Sora back from Xigbar, she's responsible for him being alive long enough to get this far, and you're telling me if she hadn't done anything, he'd be with us still?', he accused. 'Plus, she came fresh out of training right?'.
'She was trained as a keyblade wielder, as was Axel', Yen Sid argued, but then Sora stepped in. 'So why the heck did I barely sense her strength when we fought together?', Sora asked. All eyes fell onto the glaring young man. 'Back when she first arrived, she wasn't any stronger than me when I started, and she had training!'.
'It's true…'.
Then all eyes fall to Axel, who gave the old man a look. 'Me and Kairi trained, but without a master. When we got out, I barely felt any stronger, so imagine how worried I was with her'. Kairi wouldn't exactly harp on Merlin for his negligence, to be fair she would prefer to be independent and rely on her training to work out the kinks, but Axel did point out a massive flaw in their training. 'Neither of them were ready for Xehanort, and you would've let them go anyway?', Sora asked.
The old man said nothing, the odds having now turned on him. As much as he would've loved to give the old man a tearing into he rightfully deserved, Noctis reels back his temper and using the wisdom Aqua had displayed numerous times, dismissed his keyblade.
'You know, as well as everyone in this room, what Xehanort is capable of', he says, 'And right now, your outnumbered and probably outmatch by him and his other vessels'. 'Not to mention he has legions of heartless and nobodies', Ignis added in. 'And unversed', Ventus pipped up. The four turned to him, confused before Aqua raises her hand. 'We'll explain that later…', she says, gesturing Noctis to continue. He was certainly doing a better job holding his own at the master.
The king returned to Yen Sid. 'The Order is important, trust me we get the dangers of other worlds knowing other worlds, but think of it this way. We don't stop Xehanort, that Order is gonna mean jack to him'.
Yen Sid looked at Noctis, secretly impressed by the king's determination and bravado against him. In so many ways he was like Sora, having that power to connect to people's hearts, but in a way to lead them, not bond. While he was firm in his beliefs of Aqua's crime, the level of loyalty they displayed moved his heart. The Order was sacred, but as the king pointed out, there is no time for him to be picky and decide the rule must take place.
In a turnabout of chance, Sora had brought forth champions of light that could help stay, no, defeat Xehanort and his Organization XIII. The king's light and power was almost comparable to Sora.
With a great sigh, he faced them all. 'Then…I have no choice but to acknowledge you four, as Guardians of Light', he says. Noctis nods with approval as the three brothers bowed to him in gratitude, while the other nine guardians grin excitedly.
The celebration was cut short however when Kairi stepped forward. 'Master Yen Sid…there's, something I have to report', she says courteously. The team glanced at her as she summoned Dearly Beloved, placed her hand on Sora's crown still resting on her chest. Glyphs of a silvery pink of her Wayfinder charm appeared around her and then she glows with light. Once done, she was clad in her keyblade armor, minus the helmet.
This made the master's brows shoot up, surprised by this display. Behind the group, Ventus was grinning excitedly at Aqua, not aware of the smiles on his face. Kairi faced the old master. 'Kairi, how…where did you obtain this?', he questioned. He turned to Aqua, who shakes her head. 'She donned this back at Eos, long after we were separated from her', she explained. 'What does that have to do with the armor?', Sora asked, confused.
'When myself, Terra and Ven got ours, they were given to us by Eraqus', she explained, 'Only a master can help create the keyblade armor and pass it on to their students. They also help protect us from the darkness'.
All eyes went back to Kairi as she faced Yen Sid. 'I was given this armor after myself and Prompto were separated', she says and regales her story.
*Eos, near Gralea several days ago…*
Shivering with intense cold, teeth chattering like they were doing the river dance and every movement felt like her limbs were caked in rigid frost that slowed her movement. Every breath she took she feels the cold seep into her mouth, partially she was amazed her tongue didn't catch frostbite as she tried to navigate through the dark and blizzard.
Kairi had her arms wrapped around herself as she trudged through the deep snow, shivering and whimpering with the cold as she blindly makes her way forward. Too cold to even concentrate for a spell to warm herself up as the frost cakes her cheeks, her hat pulled down to nearly covering her eyes as the cold seeps into her legs. Her strength slowly is being sapped away from the cold, the darkness around her only put her on edge for daemons, heartless or wildlife.
The moment she had awoken she was alone and without transport, their snowmobile had been reduced to scrap with the flames of the engine barely living long enough to grant her some warmth. She guessed it was the empire, more so Ardyn's intervention to divert hers and Prompto's course to the capital. Figured he'd abandoned her to freeze to death, not the first time he's left her in such a dire situation.
She pressed on however despite how weary her bones felt, her thoughts going back to Sora and how close she had to be to see him again. Yet for all she knew she could be walking AWAY from the capital, her sense of direction had been thrown in for a loop thanks to being knocked out. No way to contact the others since she lost her GP days ago, she had no clue where she was or even how much further her destination was.
Truly, she was in a hopeless situation.
Kairi falls onto her knees with a weak grunt, shivering and shaking profusely as she thought her body went numb with the cold. Fear grabbed at her heart, fear of perhaps this was her fate, the last thing she would do would be to die from the cold.
'No…', she whimpers, 'Not here…'.
Alone in the dark cold, her breathing getting lower and shorter with each moment passing her as whatever strength she had left disappears on her. The howling winds grew harsher and whipped against her nearly numbed cheeks like a harsh cut of glass against herself. She raises her head with chattering teeth to see nothing but the darkness of the night ahead of her with flakes of harsh winds and snow flutter ahead.
'Come on…get going…', she grunts, trying to push her tired form to press forward.
Suddenly, the cold that had wrapped around her had disappeared as the did the sounds of the blustery winds. Kairi weakly raised her head, a horrible sense of déjà vu washes over her at this familiar situation of halting the world around her. Prepared for that snarky jerk, she tried to get to her feet to meet him but with so much of the cold still left in her body, she was amazed she could raise her head to face him.
But approaching her was not the Master of Masters…
Before Kairi stands girl, hiding her face under a white fox mask that has a blue trim. Her pink, hooded cloak is decorated with light green tassels and covers a white robe, light purple shirt, and light purple sash. Her presence felt familiar, kin to MOM but oddly there was something peculiar about this girl who couldn't be any older than herself. The fact she could halt time in the world alone gave her a clue she may be in league with the MOM.
'Princess', she greets, soft and warm like Kairi's tone. It was odd how similar she sounded, Kairi could compare her voice to hers except it was a little more mature and older. 'W-Who are you?', she asked, shivering. The fox girl says nothing but raised her hand, and then a light shined in her palm. When it stopped, appearing levitating in her hand was Sora's crown.
Kairi panicked and quickly checked her neck to indeed find the chain wasn't anywhere on her. She turned on this stranger who remained still. 'A powerful light resides within this chain, a link connecting a princess of light to a wielder of the keyblade', she muses, 'A link so strong, even apart your hearts remained connected'. She heard a touch of envy in her tone as if she admired this bond she and Sora carried and hears lament in her voice.
'Give that back, or I swear I'll…', Kairi growled before she hesitates as memories of the MOM flashes in her mind. If this girl was in league with him then surely she'd be just as powerful, and the last thing Kairi needs is having all her bones broke in the middle of a blizzard. The fox girl turned to Kairi. 'Tell me, what is it that kept you from succumbing to despair? Why has your heart not given in to the darkness?', she asked.
'Because there's someone I want to see again', Kairi says firmly, 'Somebody who I care for more than anything'. The fox girl's lips curl into a small but genuinely soft smile. 'Love then?', she asked. Kairi's cheeks were already red from the cold, but now they glowed from that question. 'Yes…', she says, getting to her feet. The girl hummed and looks back at the chain before she made it disappear and Kairi felt the chains wrap around her neck again.
'You will never make it as you are. The distance to great, but even should you do…your strength won't save him', she warned. Kairi places a hand on her chain over her heart yet does not writhe with the despair this girl was trying to coax her into feeling. Instead, she only feels courage and power swell within her heart. 'He did it for me, and many times my life was saved by him', she stated, firmly. 'I promised myself, I would protect him this time, and that's a promise I will keep'.
Kairi tried to pass this girl, but she was suddenly stopped by a keyblade in her hands. Kairi instantly jumped back from her and draws Oathkeeper, narrowing her eyes at this woman. However, the girl merely shakes her head. 'A promise like your own, is meaningless without the strength to back it up, princess', she lectured with wisdom beyond her years. She lifts her keyblade to aim it at Kairi, and then says: 'The power within that chain is the key to inner strength within you'.
Kairi plucked the chain from her jacket and holds it out with her keyblade still in hand, looking at them both. Closing her eyes and following her heart with the fox girl's hint, she unchained her good luck charm and attached Sora's crown to it. Slowly in a brilliant light, it shifts into Dearly Beloved. Holding the weapon while laying the flat surface on the palm of her hand, Kairi feels the power coursing through it as if she was holding the legendary X-Blade itself.
This was the bond they had created with her promise, to be his guiding light to whenever he was lost in the darkness. Kairi faces the fox girl but before she could speak, a beam of light touched her. 'May this shield you and him from the darkness…', she says. A brilliant light surrounded Kairi and when the light fades, her world is darkened by a visor and the cold no longer touches her body. She looked at her body to see herself encased in the keyblade armor.
Looking around she couldn't see the fox girl anymore, the world's flow of time restored, and everything is as it should be. As the wind howls, Kairi looks at her keyblade and nods. She remembers how Aqua and her brothers managed to use their weapons to create gliders, and calling upon her light, the keyblade begins to shift and turn into her glider. The glider takes the form of a bike with two wings in a downward angle on both sides of the crimson and light pink glider with a seat and handlebars.
Kairi jumps on board and the moment her hands touch the handlebars, it sings to life and blasts her off to the capital…
*Present time*
'After that, I made my way to Gralea and…well you all know the rest', finishes Kairi.
'Another keyblade wielder? But she didn't tell you her name?', Sora asked, confused and having her in his arms for a warm hug. He did this during her story, and she has yet to tell him to let go. She nods. 'She was strange too; her light was something else entirely. Even Luna's wasn't like it', she says. 'But she didn't seem like she was with Xehanort'.
'But you think she's with that ass Master of Masters?', Noctis questioned with his arms crossed. 'Yeah? I mean, she gave me that the vibe that he and she were somehow connected in some ways', Kairi tries to explain. Yen Sid was very quiet, however, hands clasped as he mulled over the princess' story and as much as he would have like to say it was an impossibility that the man she and Noctis have met was nothing more then a guise Xehanort was using to snare them into his scheme, he knew better.
Not even Xehanort was that brave to earn the ire of their master.
'But who is that guy? I mean stopping time, making Kairi see all that weird vision stuff and being so tough he could one-shot her with a finger? That's like, a hundred Sora's into one!', Prompto says, running his hands through his hair. Aqua and Mickey looked at each other, the question lingering on their minds as much as the others, while Ventus frowns at the description of the fox girl. He couldn't help it, but somehow he feels like he knew her…
'It is a matter of which we can put aside for now', Yen Sid assured the team with wave of his hands, 'Let us return to our main point of concern'. While many of them had questions, as the great war loomed over them those would have to be answered another time. As they all stood ready for the next part of this meeting, the old man address the trio of Noctis' party. 'While I admire your courage and loyalty to Noctis, I fear your powers are far below those of Xehanort's vessels', he warned.
'What? Me, I get! But Gladio and Iggy!?', Prompto questioned, pointing to the two men. 'Though they have greatly extended their strength, Prompto, they will have little chances against them', explained the old man.
'I fear he may have a point, Prompto. Even with the dark power, Terra was more than I could handle', Ignis states humbly. 'And hate to join the pity party here…but I don't think me and Ven over there fare any better…maybe worse', Axel huffs. Ventus gave the man a look before Aqua frowned in silent agreement, memories of their clash with Xehanort boomed in her mind. Noctis folds his arms and pondered a solution to it, but with time against them and likely Xehanort's tolerance to the guardian procrastinating probably dwindled to the point of Ignis going a day without ebony.
'So what do we do?', Donald speaks up, 'We can't train long enough to go up against Xehanort…'.
Kairi frowns in agreement as she clasped the necklace around her neck, seeing the trouble. Until Axel swung his arm around Kairi's shoulders and dramatically sighed. 'Damn, what a shame, huh Kairi? If only we had somewhere we could train without worrying about time…', he dramatically said. 'Yeah…that'd be great…', Kairi mused in ignorance. This didn't sit with Axel, and with a tad more force then he needed, pats her shoulder.
'Gee whiz! If ONLY *we* knew SOMEONE who could do that for us!', he stressed. Kairi rolled her eyes. 'Yes Axel, I get it…', she huffed. Then she paused, mulling his words, before clapping her hands. 'The forest!', she exclaimed. Axel makes an exaggerated "duh" noise as Kairi steps up. 'If Merlin takes us there, we could train for as long as we need!'.
'With no time waste and plenty of it to brush up', Riku adds with a smirk as everyone else nodded in agreement. 'Wait…like, time never moves?', Prompto asked. 'No, time will flow much slower there than out here', Yen Sid explained, 'One day out in the worlds could be a month in there'. 'An eternity of training…with Gladio…', Noctis breaths out, 'That sounds like hell…'. 'Oh dude…we're doomed…', Prompto adds with flashbacks of the training.
'Splendid', Ignis says, ignoring their concerns as he turned to Axel and Kairi. 'Then how do we get there?'.
'…we have no idea', they both said together.
'Well gee fellas, we just need to find Merlin', Goofy reminds with a smile, 'I'm sure he'd be happy to take us there if we ask'. 'But where do you think he is?', Donald asks, 'You think he's still in Twilight Town?'. Yen Sid shook his head and said: 'No, Merlin has long returned to Radiant Garden. I sense his magic there'.
'Then we know where we're going! Back to Radiant Garden!', Sora said with a grin. They all gave Yen Sid a bow before they all sprint out of the tower to continue their journey. Once the room was emptied save for Yen Sid, he lowered his head and closes his eyes.
"After all these years…he still wanders …", he thought.
*Space*
With Cindy at the helm and giving the quick run down by the others, the team was resting in the lounge room reading for the trip while going over the world with Noctis' company. Sora was talking about his previous adventures there as Kairi laid her head on his lap. She was taking every chance to be close to him, apparently filling up on her Sora gauge. Something Noctis teased her about earlier.
And she informed him he'll be doing the same when they return to Lunafreya.
'By the way, Axel', Ignis says as he hands everyone their drinks, 'Back at Zegnautus, the nobodies that stopped Terra, you control them correct?'. 'Yeah, guess even after getting my human form back they still listen to me', Axel muses while sipping his drink. 'Learned how to resummons them during training with Kairi'. 'But how many can you summon?', Ignis asked. The pyro shrugged and claims that every assassin nobody technically bowed to him, much like the sniper nobodies bowed to Xigbar's command.
He says only Xemnas, Xehanort's Nobody, was able to create more powerful new ones, and even then sparingly. 'But unlike good ole X-man, I have my own set of bodyguards', he bragged. He snaps his fingers and then five nobody assassins sprouted from the ground before the team. Some of them were a little uncomfortable with them due to their past histories with them, but they were docile and bowed to Axel…and Kairi strangely.
'Hey boys', Axel greets. Kairi waves at them and says: 'Hi Regis, Grey, Hikaru, Sebastian, Walt!'. They kindly bowed back to her with more enthusiasm while everyone just looked at Kairi. She blinks at the stares and asked why. 'D-Did you name them?', Axel growled. 'You never gave them names when you summoned them for the first time', Kairi argued, 'I felt bad for them'. 'B-But they're my bodyguards!'.
'First name first serve', Kairi giggles with cheek in her smiles. Axel huffs and crossed his arms, not going to argue with the girl. Sora though looked at her. 'How do you know which is which?', he asked, curiously. 'Oh simple. See Grey is slightly taller than the rest, Regis always stand proper like royalty, Hikaru is feminine with her movements, Walt is playful, and Sebastian is super quiet', Kairi explained.
'…you got all that just from watching them?', Noctis asked, somewhat creeped out. 'Uh-huh!', Kairi says.
'Speaking of naming', Aqua says, looking at the chocobo chick in her little nest on the table Aqua sat at. 'What's hers?'. 'Oh, well me and Sora agreed on "Koko" since she's a girl', Kairi explained. 'I still think Bartz was better…', Sora muttered. Kairi rolled her eyes at his compliant before Cindy's voice called out on the radio. 'Folks? Ya'll may wanna come on up the cockpit for this', she said worriedly. The party quickly headed for the elevator with Kairi picking up Koko carefully.
Once everyone was there, they could see through the monitor displaying the world before them was Radiant Garden…except unlike the first time Cindy and her bad arrived, it was now like the second time Sora and his friends returned on the second adventure.
It was covered in darkness…
*Keyblade Graveyard*
'So if I am understanding you correctly…the light will expire and the darkness will prevail, as it is foretold?'.
'That's correct', Xehanort states as the world is slowly reaching into the night stage. With the sun slowly descending behind the mountains, the darkness slowly encasing the world. 'You and I know that Noctis will come here, the keyblade demands his light to clash against the darkness'. His companion chuckled knowingly, looking at the new weapon in his hand. 'Oh I know', he chuckled, 'And likely his boyband will be joining him'.
Xehanort chuckled darkly. 'Not that you would mind correct? All more to fall into the darkness, and plenty of chances to return the punishment for their interferences', Xehanort questioned. 'Not at all…however I do have some issues with this… "heart tank" thing your lovely vixen has been spouting', he says. 'And?', he asked, 'What do you have to fear?'.
'Oh no my good friend, I have no concerns over it', his partner remarks as he dismisses his weapon, 'I'm just wondering if it bods any concern when I get to finally put dear Noct's neck to the sword', he asked. 'As far as we are concerned, rest assured, the king of light is yours to deal with', Xehanort says, 'But you know about your end of the deal, yes?'.
'Oh certainly, so long as you get that curiously named weapon of yours, I can do whatever I want with the king?'. Xehanort nods. 'Any other concerns?', asked the older man.
Opening his eyes to reveal golden eyes, Ardyn smiled wickedly. 'None at all'.
A/N: I'm much happier with this chapter! YAY!
As you can see, the party are now heading for the next story arc, the battle for Radiant Garden! And now Ardyn is a vessel for Xehanort, even more powerful than ever. What fun we'll have in the final war…help me…
The chocobo chick was suggested by jikker jack because…yes, we need more chocobos. Thanks for your support.
The names of the nobodies were from a conversation with VashTheStampede0409, so kudos to ya for the talk!
Now remember how I discussed Kairi getting her armour and with KH not going into details how? Well thanks to talking to KakeruPB, we have a smidgen of an idea how they work so thanks for the talk!
Also this will be the last time we see MOM and you know who for the rest of the main story, just so we don't have to worry about anymore characters!
Questions!
Q1: Thoughts on this chapter?
Q2: What did you think of Yen Sid in this chapter? I don't regret making him a jerk :3.
Q3: Thoughts the names of the chocobo and nobodies? Can you figure out the significance of them?
Q4: Kairi's Glider? Like or hate?
Q5: What are you excited to see in the next chapter?
Q6: Ardyn as a vessel? Like or hate?
Q7: Any FF characters you wanna see possibly?
