Final Fantasy XV - Kingdom Hearts
Part 65
Summary: Two warriors of Light, the Chosen King and Keyblade Master, face an unseen Darkness.
*Keyblade Graveyard*
He didn't think Niflhiem could lose its crown of most dull location in all worlds, but as Ardyn had discovered merely awaiting on a pillar of stone in a graveyard filled with rusted or broken keyblades was twice as dull.
The wind whistling by was like a song of the departed, the history of this world laid bare before him by Xehanort. How once upon a time, those who wield the keyblade were meant to safeguard the light and usher an age of peace, but oh how easy it is for all dreams of an eternity of safety and peace to be crushed into the dirt when a little bit of paranoia and distrust begins to tug at the hearts. Here lie the unmarked graves of countless warriors of the key, all battling for reasons he couldn't fathom.
Truly a fitting place for the great war to take place once again, and for the Usurper, the perfect place to put an end to the line of Lucis once and for all.
Standing near a cliff in thought that overlooked the labyrinth, he waits patiently for the day to finally come where he would finally put the sword to that false king's neck and strike down the interlopers who dared to stay off his vengeance. Oh how he looked forward to seeing the look of anguish on that princess' face, to watching Noctis' followers wallow in agony when they see their king fall to him, so many of them had ruined his grand scheme.
He had a special plan for Sora, that is certain. Had the brat not regained his heart then that false king would never have stood a chance against him. Thankfully for Ardyn, when it comes to hurting Sora he had plenty of options to choose from.
"Oi, creepy".
With a sardonic sigh and theatrics turned to see exiting a dark corridor was none other than his second favorite "teammate", the twelfth member of the organization, Larxene, the Savage Nymph. She wears the normal Organization black coat and gloves, along with knee-high boots (though with more narrow toes and higher heels). Her blonde hair is slicked back and about jaw-length, with two long strands styled into a distinctive antennae-like appearance.
Like everyone the old man had recruited, she had golden eyes same as Ardyn. That wonderful sneer on her face that seemed to be present whenever she was addressing him only pleased Ardyn, he felt special that she had a dislike toward him.
"Oh my dear Larxene", he greets with playful empty eagerness, "To what do I owe the pleasure of being blessed by your company?". The look of disgust on her face only furthered his desires to keep up this charade, judging by the cackling of lighting dancing along her knuckles he believed were it not for Xehanort they would partake in a wonderful dance of blades and knives. She must have learned some restraint though because she scoffed.
"Get your ass over to the labyrinth, old scarface wants to see what you're made of", the blonde head said before a wicked gleam appeared in her eyes. "And guess whose gonna kick your ass?".
Ardyn chuckled lightly as his corridor of darkness opened behind him. "Oh I'm sure Saix will leave me black and blue by the end…I'm more concerned about you my dear", he says with empty concern. "From what I heard, your last battle with a much weaker and less experienced Sora ended quite…poorly".
With a dramatic turn, he entered his dark corridor, almost missing that snarl from the livid woman. Far too easy to rill up he lamented, missing the blonde MT unit. At least with him, there was effort required to enrage him.
Within the labyrinth, the man of Eos almost gave all visitors a look of bemusement seeing nearly everyone had arrived to take part.
First of them was the nobody and former leader of the "false organization XIII", Xemnas. Although his organization uniform was as standard as they came, the black coat, gloves and boots, Ardyn knew he was far from standard. He has amber-orange eyes, and dark skin like his complete being, Xehanort. Xemnas's hair is long, reaching to about mid-back, silver in color, and some of it falls over his shoulders.
His sparring buddy, one of them anyway, is Saix. Like Young Xehanort, he wears a basic organization black coat, along with the usual black gloves and boots. He has long blue hair vaguely reminiscent of that turncoat scientist in style and length, though Saix's is a bit wilder at the top. Most of his hair is tucked into his cloak, though a portion is not and falls over the back. Apparently, after becoming a vessel for Xehanort's heart, Saix shares his pointed ears and amber eyes. Saix also wears stud earrings like another former member that returned to being human.
The X-shaped scar on Saix's face is his most distinctive trait, with the vertex of this "X" lying between his eyes and extending from halfway up his forehead to just under his eyes. He was curious as to how he came to obtaining such a scar, but the man refused to dispense the answer.
The other sparring buddy is someone Ardyn had never expected to see but took great joy in after learning his history. A younger Riku who, from what Xigbar had told him, gave in to the darkness at the younger age of fifteen. Instead of the dark coat, his outfit consists of a form-fitting suit that appears to be made of black muscle tissue.
The suit has a purple-blue color on the chest and part of the torso with the heartless emblem on the chest, but without the spiked bars crossing it. It has purple feet and shins that fade into black legs. It has a dark purple belt and a cloth around his waist, opening in the front. The cloth is an off-white color that fades into dark purple and is ripped all-around at the bottom. Unlike the real one, he wields the saber version of the weapon Ravus once carried.
Though it'd be far more amusing to say aloud, Ardyn kept his thoughts on the boy's power silent. In comparison, Riku from the king's party was far more powerful just with the darkness within him. For the fake's sake, he best have something up that ridiculously tight sleeve of his.
Ah, but he wasn't the only one with peculiar fashion sense. He had a rival in the contest of ridiculous uniforms, and that was Vanitas. That boy wears a black and red organic-looking bodysuit, which is quite like Riku's. He wears a silver helmet covered with dark glass, hiding his face from view. Ever since Ardyn had arrived here he has never seen the boy without his helmet off, not that he cared to commit his face to memory of anything.
Lastly, and perhaps the strangest one amongst them all was that one. Standing beside Saix as quiet as a statue, was the supposed final member of the organization, dressed in the same coat with slightly pointed shoulders and closer-fitting sleeves. She also wears the more feminine, heeled boots that Larxene wears and the basic black gloves. Like Vanitas, she always has her hood down, and no matter when or where he sees her, the hood conceals her twenty-four/seven.
What was it with the youth and concealing their faces he wondered?
He saunters to the center of the field with a dry smile as Larxene appears from her corridor with her usual snarl. Once everyone was here, the Superior speaks up: "Now that everyone is here, it is time to see if our newest member is strong enough to stand with us".
"My dear Xemnas, a tad bit harsh, wouldn't you say?", argued the former chancellor, "Haven't I proven myself during my bout with the boy?".
"Getting your ass kicked by him and a newbie keyblade wannabe isn't a badge you'd wanna wear around", Larxene remarks catty, smirking. "I mean, I heard you got destroyed!".
"And you did *so* much better when you fought him?", Vanitas says with a cruel tone. The woman glares at the helmet head, but anyone amongst them could tell he was smirking at that question. Larxene opens her mouth to rip into him before Saix stepped up. "Irrelevant", he huffs, "You've lost your immortality among your powers of the blight. This is to make sure you'll live long enough to claim the light from one of the guardians".
Ardyn resists the urge to roll his eyes, deciding he'd play along with their commands for now. While taking out one or two of Sora's friends would be a nice bonus, Ardyn's true target was the false king. But while the vixen's loudmouth was nothing more than her trying to get under his skin, hers and Saïx's words did bring a cold reminder that he indeed lost the power of the blight, and certainly, he isn't as powerful as he was back home.
"Just don't break a bone or two during our sparring, old man", Dark Riku says with mocking concern. "Oh your concern is so touching, Riku", Ardyn replied, "Just a shame that is the closest thing to harming me you shall ever accomplish". The silver-haired boy growled while Vanitas laughed, agreeing with the "old man".
Unamused, Xemnas turns to Saix. "I assume you have no qualms in joining the sparring?", he says rhetorically. With one curt bow to his former superior, Saix gestures the hooded girl and Larxene to stand by his side while Vanitas and Dark Riku joins Ardyn. Xemnas steps back before floating in the air to oversee the battle.
The very moment he declares the fight to commence, everyone draws their weapons and rushes in. Dark Riku with Soul Eater instantly took on the girl while Vanitas takes his fight with Saix, calling for his keyblade, the Void Gear. Its teeth and head are black with a red outline and possesses a round, cog-like shape. The handle is red, and the guard has the same coloration and cog-like shape as the teeth. The shaft is predominantly colored in shades of grey and sports a copper-colored gear in the center, with two intersecting, black chains wrapped around it.
Two more chains are wrapped around the base of the shaft in a similar fashion. It also has two Gazing Eyes: one located in the head of the blade and one embedded in the hilt. Its Keychain is comprised of three small, copper gears and ends in a charm resembling two halves of a gear arranged in an S-shape.
Which left Ardyn to dance with the vixen, who immediately rushed to him with the speed of lightning. She instantly appeared before him with a flurry of knives punching at him, but the man was easily evading them. Using his form of the Armiger, leaving traces of red hologram versions of himself with each sidestep and evasion, tricking the woman into attacking them.
Ardyn calls for his arm, the Raksha blade, and swings at her. Larxene leaps over his attack and backflips a few feet from him. He turns around to her, seeing clones of herself appear from each side, now smirking evilly. The clones rush in, unleashing a storm of knives and lightning. Ardyn managed to quicken his movements by infusing the darkness within his heart into his Armiger, his body coated in a miasma of violet tinted crimson.
He grabbed one Larxene clone by her neck mid-punch and engulfed her in darkness before reducing her to nothing. Ardyn turned around to the other clone with his Raksha cleaving her in half, making her body evaporate into nothingness. Once her "sisters" perished, Ardyn turned to the real one with his left hand and unleashes a barrage of dark fire at her. The woman bolts around the attacks, chaining lightning behind her as she "teleported" in several points on the ground and air.
When she reached him in the air, she flipped forward and brought her heel onto him. Ardyn defended himself using the flat surface of the sword, but this makes Larxene's smirk turn more malicious and cruel because she turns into lightning and zips over him. When five feet from him she snaps his fingers and suddenly the chain of lightning grows larger and wider like a true bolt of lightning. The chained lightning zips across the field, tracing her movements and striking Ardyn in the chest.
His body encased in golden lightning with pain running through his nerves, paralyzing him in tow. He lets out a growl of pain, long accustomed to it now thanks to Noctis and Sora, unable to move. This gives the wicked lightning user a chance to strike at him, increasing her speed and zipping around him while striking at him. Combing knives and lightning with each strike, Ardyn was forced to bear this torturous ordeal as the woman laughs and taunts him.
With a scoff, his dark crystalized weapons appear around him and began to rotate around his body with the same speed as Larxene. This makes the woman zip back from him when one of those swords tried to lop her head off. As the lightning encasing him eased off, Ardyn aimed his free unarmed hand at her and fires a barrage of crystal sword-shaped beams at her. Larxene dodged and dances around the attacks, her speed outclassing his attacks.
When she narrowly dodged one more, she was struck in the back of her head by a sweeping kick from Ardyn. She stumbled forward and turned back on him, playfully smirking. "Tag…you're it", he says as he warped across the field, tauntingly and smirking at her. "Oooh…I'm going to tear you apart ya slimy creep!", she snarled.
A chase between the Lucis magic vs the speed of lightning across the field of battle, for every chance Larxene had to strike she'd miss or hit a hologram of him, his voice continuously taunting her and furthering her rage against him.
She kicked another hologram and was struck herself at the side, hit by a blast of darkness. She bounced off the ground before zipping across the field and managed to get behind the real one. Shooting up she struck at him, her sharp fists blocked by a scepter as Ardyn deflects her attacks. The lightning user unleashed a furry of strikes onto Ardyn, striking at every space between them like a hurricane of knives.
Though she combined lightning strikes along with her blinding speed and even managed to strike his arms, shoulders and even his hip the woman couldn't land a devastating hit on the man. For all the hits she does land Ardyn seemed to be completely unfazed by the hits as he kept evading the more serious blows. He managed to phase around her mid-strike and got right behind her once more, aiming his hand at her back.
This time however the woman was prepared for that cheap shot because another clone rushed into strike at Ardyn. The clone leaps and slammed her clawed fists into the ground, erecting five pillars of lightning with one right beneath Ardyn. Shocking him and throwing him into the air as the pillar rose, Larxene and three more clones jumped up at him like bolts of lightning. Ardyn erects his barrier of weapons once again, but this time they were violet and dark like a heartless.
He looks down at Larxene with a dark grin as violet flames surround him. The flames instantly consumed the clones with the real one zipping back down to the ground the moment she felt the intense heat brush across her cheeks, almost lighting her hair on fire. Back on the ground as Ardyn levitates back to his feet, she grits her teeth in frustration as her shoulders are covered with sparks of lightning.
She flings her knives at him with speed so quick they appeared invisible. The man smirks evilly as his left-hand rises and bathed in violet flames, he aimed it at her daggers and unleashes a stream of flames. The knives were consumed and melted by the flames, yet it didn't stop Larxene from zipping above him and calling down a tower of thunder upon him. Even with her within it not only was she unharmed but rejuvenated.
She is happy to say the same wasn't said for Ardyn.
Larxene throws her knives at him from above and zips out of the tower, watching her knives plant themselves around him in a star pattern. Lightning races from them and trapped Ardyn in a den of lightning, shocking him with even more bolts of lightning and shock. The sick side of her hoped she "accidentally" caused him to perish.
Instead, Ardyn snarls and fires off a wave of darkness that covered him and obliterated the lightning around him. The shockwave was so strong it made even Larxene raise an arm to block it, but in doing so she allowed herself to be wide open.
Ardyn warped in front of way with the red Mace of the Fierce and with one blow into the stomach, struck home and throw her across the field. She skidded on the dirt and was only able to stop herself from flying into a wall by plunging her knives into the ground. They cut into the earth like a rake on a farmer's field and even with how short they were she managed to dig them deep enough to feel the struggle of being thrown.
Finally, able to stop, she grunted out in pain before coughing, near-vomiting from the attack. Spitting out a drop of blood, she glared at Ardyn with seething rage as he brushes off dust from his shoulder. Getting to her feet fast, she readied herself to rip him apart, but before she could put that smug bastard in his place, she turned to just narrowly avoid being hit by Dark Riku. The false Riku smashed into a wall by the back and fell to a knee.
Ardyn raised a brow at this turn, looked to see the girl in the hood was now "facing" him, aiming her keyblade at the man, the Two Become One. One of the more sword-like keyblades, possessing a curved, notched blade with a noticeably sharp edge. Its color scheme is derived from a fusion of the two keys Oathkeeper and Oblivion and the handle is composed of a checkerboard pattern. The keyblade's design is also covered with references to a certain nobody; the usual nobody thorns make up the teeth and rain guard, which is black and rounded. The chain links are heavily stylized versions of the nobody Emblem, and the full nobody emblem adorns the hilt.
Thinking this girl wanted to take a swing at him, Ardyn smirks and opens his arms. "Well, grown bored with Riku already?", he questions, "I suppose I can entertain you if that is what you want".
"…Ardyn…", she says, slowly and almost like she was saying his name for the first time. Which she was. This is the first time the girl had so much as sighed near him. He raises a brow as she looked at her keyblade, repeating his name.
"Ardyn…Ardyn…ARDYN!".
The more she spoke his name, the more angry she started to sound. She grabbed her head and started to growl and grunt in pain, causing the man she called out to frown with curiosity. Was it something he said?
With a yell of rage, she dashes across the field and struck at him. Ardyn managed to block her attack with his Raksha blade but the blow forced him to step back from it. The girl unleashes a flurry of attack with her keyblade striking him with incredible strength, clashing with her as he steps back and gives up ground to her. Sparks of light flashes from their colliding steel as the hooded girl wildly struck at him, roaring his name with untold hatred within her.
The man warps and phases around her, his movement more calculated and concentrated than his fight with Larxene, now sparring with Riku. Unlike the woman who he managed to take control over the battlefield thanks to her temper, this one's rage wasn't stopping her from keeping up with the man. If nothing else her rage is improving her chances of winning the bout, her strength was enough to put him on the defense.
The girl's body glows with a faint red light cloaking her form, and then when she dashes to him, she unleashed a flurry of red-coated strikes onto him. By the fourth strike, she managed to dislodge his sword aside and even landed six more hits onto his body. The seventh was a thrust that stabbed into his stomach and throw Ardyn forward. He bounced onto his back before rolling to his feet and shaking his head.
When he looked up to her, she held her keyblade with both hands and over her head, creating a large ball of flames and light. With a cry she swung the keyblade and aimed it at him, the ball condensing into a large ray of fire and light like a cannon toward him. Ardyn called for the Sword of the Tall and with an-over the shoulder swing and yell, splits the cannon sized ray in half, splitting it from the blade and destroying two parts of the wall behind him. Ardyn warps into the air after the beam dissipated and fires a hailstorm of his ghostly weapons down to her.
Fearless, the girl leaps and beings to strike at the air while creating a glyph before her and aimed the keyblade at the golden red and orange glyph. With a yell she fired off the exact number of curling beams of burning light at the weapons, exploding upon impact with each weapon. She soars through the smoke and clashes with Ardyn in the skies once again with a cry. In the air with his Armiger keeping him afloat and the girl seemingly unaffected by gravity, their weapons clashed and danced.
She kept crying out his name in hate, fury filled strikes with each swing of her keyblade that even Ardyn had trouble combating. His mind was wracking for answers as to why this girl knew him and despised him to the point where just saying his name filled her with hate only he could rival. One swing of her keyblade sent him down to the ground and she chases him onward, crying out in fury.
He managed to block her again, both had their feet firmly planted into the ground to try and overpower the other. Ardyn was about to comment on her being significantly more of a challenge than her colleague, perhaps dare he say he could almost compare her to Noctis with that temper.
That was until he saw her face.
Those eyes…bright blue eyes, the same eyes a certain princess had yet her face was more innocent. The eyes of the girl who had made him feel pain, the one who crushed his plans of vengeance to the king, and the one who had a strong hand in taking away his power.
With hate renewed, Ardyn growls and brings forth his dark power. The girl was caught off guard by the display of power as Ardyn's body is now cloaked by violet flames, eyes turning purple and finally, with a single swing of his family sword, the girl is thrown forward. When she landed on her feet, Ardyn fired a horde of his Armiger at her in the form of spikes. The girl raises her keyblade to protect herself as it was too late to move from the barrage nor were there any time to raise a barrier.
The guard does little for her as the weapons strike her, tearing flesh and cloth as her cries went mute with the whistling wind of weapons striking and passing her. Yet she didn't submit and kept standing tall, staring defiantly at the man. Ardyn sees those eyes burning with determination, the eyes that refused to give in to him. Those eyes that Kairi had when she rejected his offer.
He wanted them gone, he wanted HER gone.
Ardyn calls for his Raksha sword again, grabbing it with both hands and bathing it with violet flames and red Armiger. The dark weapon bathed in violet and red flames, Ardyn raced towards the girl after the swarm of weapons ceased. He gave her no time to evade him as he brings down the weapon on her even as she raised her keyblade to protect herself. The attack slammed her onto her back, but it didn't end there. He struck the keyblade out of her hands and grabbed her neck, making her grab his arm as the darkness covered his limb.
He may have lost the power of the blight but the darkness replaced a great deal of his original powers, including one turning someone into a heartless. The girl struggled against him, eyes burning with defiance as if goading him. Ardyn tightened his grip on her…
Then his shoulder was grabbed and yanked away from her. He looked to see a barely restrained Saix glaring at her. "Enough", he lectured. He yanks Ardyn back and away from the coughing girl, then grabbed her as she lunged toward the man of no consequences. Saix grunts before he gives her a punch to the stomach and knocked the air out of her. The girl staggers and weakly wheezes before she slumps into Saix.
Ardyn glared at both before the blue-haired berserker throws the girl over his shoulder. "This session is over…", he announces.
Ardyn gave him a look as the others cease their fighting, even the superior watched him. The man grunts and turned to Ardyn with a scowl. "She is a vessel and vital to our plans. Think on that before you pull a stunt like that again", he warned, a snarl nearly creeping out, "I'd sincerely hate to inform your king you had an accident before the battle".
With that, Saix opened the dark corridor and exited with the sleeping girl. Once gone, Ardyn rubbed his neck from the stiffness as Dark Riku marches off, angry while Vanitas and Larxene just disappear through their portals. Leaving Ardyn behind with Xemnas, the former looked at his hand with his receding anger. With a scoff, he turned to leave.
"It seems Noctis wasn't the only one to leave an impact on you", Xemnas remarked coldly. Ardyn chuckled darkly as he turns to his so-called "superior", giving him a sarcastic smirk. "Oh? I was merely taking my temper out on the wrong person", he deflects, "That vixen's ability to get underneath the skin is to be admired".
"Is that a fact?", challenges Xemnas, "Yet your anger comes out when you fought that puppet?". Ardyn's smirk slips slightly, not liking how he was becoming easy to read to these people. While he liked being the company of like-minded people as he and sure it was a nice change compared to his associates back at the empire, the fact keeping secrets in shadows from the was becoming more difficult with the passing months is beginning to irritate him.
Xemnas gives an empty chuckle. "I hadn't seen such anger from her in quite some time, I wonder what it is about you that brought out such an outburst of hatred", Xemnas says. Ardyn shrugged, feigning disinterest. "How would I know? Her first words to me were my name", he says, "And if I am right, she has barely said a word to anyone here, has she not?".
Xemnas hums in thought before he waves off the question. "For your sake, perhaps you would do well to avoid her", he instructs, "We wouldn't want anything to happen to you before the clash".
"Your concern for my well-being is touching, oh dear superior", Ardyn replied, "But worry not, I shall be the better man and play nice". Xemnas scoffs as he entered his dark corridor, saying: "Report to the young master, it is time for you to finally stand amongst us", and leaves him.
Alone in the empty labyrinth, Ardyn looked at his hand and clenches it.
"Soon, dear Noct…this world shall become the final resting spot for Lucis bloodline", he swears.
*Secret Forest*
*Month Three: Day Seventy*
"Easy…easy", Donald stressed while the gentle candlelight size flame flickers and grows within the palm of Ignis.
The former blind man kept his breathing steady and eyes fixed on the flames slowly growing. His stance was still as Donald watches him master the fourth element, controlling the heat and size of the spell in hand. The candle size turns torch worthy as the fire dances within the palm, going from golden red to violet. "That's it…now, throw it", Donald commands.
With a flick of his wrist, Ignis throws the violet ball of fire at the dummy target across from him and Donald. The ball strikes the humanoid-shaped dummy and engulfs the torso in violet flames, exploding in a contained size compared to Aqua's spells.
Ignis looks to Donald for answers, the duck crossing his arms and nodded approvingly. "Nice work!", he praised, clapping Ignis on his leg, "Another spell down!". Ignis hums happily at this, pleased. He always had an affinity for fire magic and granted he may have used it along with the other two elemental magics but learning it without the aid of the Lucis magic made the fruits of the labor all the sweeter.
He flexes his fingers as he felt the magic coursing through him, a power deep within him he never knew could be felt. Ever since his lessons with Donald in the magical arts, he felt his power steadily grow even without the dark power Riku helped bring out. Call him bizarre or overly cautious but he is eternally grateful to Donald for helping him learn the other methods of combat. The duck, though his patience was short, had been nothing but encouraging and determined for him to get the grasp on magic as quickly as possible.
Though a part of Ignis is certain it was a matter of pride for the duck to be able to teach someone magic, he is none the less grateful for the duck's determination to teach him. They hit some roadblocks certainly with the amount of trial and effort they had, along with the miscalculation and overfilling the mana required for the spells. Plus for as great of a mage he is, Ignis noticed Donald was quite accidental-prone to all sorts of misfortune.
From him displaying the power of ice and turning himself into an ice block or once he accidentally shocked himself. Humorous as they were and of course Ignis chuckled profusely at the events, he started to wonder if perhaps Aqua would be a better mentor for him. Regardless of his concerns, Donald proved, when his minuscule of patience hadn't evaporated within five minutes, to be a vital teacher.
"Okay! Next, let's work on your aero magic!", he declared, ready to get started on the next session. Nodding wholeheartedly, Ignis listened to the lectures of the spell while keeping a track record of his progress.
Within the second month already he felt a large change within him, slowly ascending the human limits. Not only were his senses at a whole new level to the point where even without his eyes he could keep track of even the swiftest foes. The example was during his sparring session with Ventus, who was moving so fast it seemed he had become invisible. Yet when he closed his eyes and listened intently, using his newly enhanced radar-like senses to track him, he not only caught him but outwitted him too.
Strength had never been his forte certainly, he usually leaves the brawn to Gladiolus and Noctis, but like Riku, he felt his strength surmounting the usual trials he used to deal with. With himself at a new level of physical heights, he was able to lift a dumbbell he never dreamed of attempting with ease. A feat he never would have accomplished back home, and even his sparring sessions with Noctis had given him an edge against his king.
The darkness he uses was still in development though, he knew he was merely scratching the surface of what it could grant him but there is always that chill of concern that tugged at his common sense. Mastering the dark fire move along with enhancing his daggers was all he managed to accomplish thus far, with Riku doing his training with Aqua and the others. They had decided he best master the normal magical training before developing more of his dark power.
Ignis starts to call upon the wind to blow to his will while listening to Donald giving him the instructions. Slowly green swirls of air began to form within his palm as the gust of air rushes around his hand. Concentrating on the spell, Ignis exhales softly as the small swirl turns into a tiny tornado within his hand, making Donald quack in approval. He throws it into the open field and when the tornado hit the ground, it turns into a bed of wind that was only a tiny bit lesser than Sora's usual ones.
Ignis smirked with confidence as Donald applaud him. Once Ignis made another one at a quicker pace, Donald was satisfied with him for now and both decided to take a few minutes to themselves. Both sat down on logs with Ignis taking a sip of water while Donald lazed about on his stump.
"It seems our progress has greatly improved compared to the first month", Ignis says lowering his bottle. "Yup, way better!", Donald states confidently. He looked at Ignis. "You got on magic a lot faster than Sora did!", he praised. Ignis looked at the duck with a surprised look, after seeing Sora's magic he assumed the boy had a latent gift for the magical arts. "Truly?", he asked.
Donald nodded, "Yup! It took him forever to learn ice, thunder and other magic!", he chastised playfully, "Just as well he was better at smacking bad guys with the keyblade". Ignis had to agree with that, the boy had quite the skill when it came to beating his enemies. The former blind man looked to the cliff that overlooked the forest and sunset. He rotates the bottle in his hands, thinking about the battle that is to come.
Their progress has come a long way, yes, but he wasn't able to shed that doubt within his heart about what comes next. He wondered if Ardyn had gotten more powerful with Xehanort or if any of them had grown more powerful since Sora and company had been trapped in Eos. Ignis would say it'd be best to bank on Xehanort's arrogance, but after Aqua's explanation on him and how he worked, the advisor doubted he'd take any chances.
"Donald, do you think we have a chance against Xehanort and his vessels?", he asks, looking at the duck. The mage gave him a "are you kidding" look and replied: "Of course we can! We've fought most of them before!".
"A good argument, but keep in mind Xehanort was never part of those fights, and he is the strongest keyblade master out there", Ignis reminds before he sighed, "Not to mention he managed to turn the tide against you all more than once". Donald sighed impatiently at that, begrudgingly agreeing he had a valid argument. Then he huffs. "Aww phooey! That guy is just a sneaky jerk! If he didn't muck up Sora's exam he'd be a master!", Donald huffed, "Probably too scared of him to face him as a master!.
Ignis sighed in agreement, he didn't want to imagine how disappointed he must have been. But then Donald continued: "But we'll be fine. Sora's pulled our butts out of the fire before; he'll get us through this". Ignis turns to him, saying: "You seem rather confident in him". Donald gave him a stubborn look. "Of course I am! Sora's saved the worlds twice now! Just because Xehanort's here, doesn't mean we're not gonna win!".
The level of faith and confidence in the boy he had for him, it surprised Ignis. Then again, among all the companions Donald and Goofy had been with Sora and had seen what he's accomplished. From the day he started to here, for all Ignis knew Sora was more than ready to take on Xehanort, gods above he was sure he could take on the entire organization on his own. "Its no different than your faith in Noct, right?", Donald said, pointing at the man.
Ignis hummed in thought, rotating the bottle in his hands while he thought on the question. Though there were days Noctis had shown some concerns, yet the right hand of the king had never doubted his capabilities as the future king. The day when he would sit on his throne and be crowned the king, he thought that would be his proudest moment. He may not have officially been declared king, yet from the day he met Sora and from his journey to this point, he never had been so proud of him.
He has accomplished so much in the near year of their journey, and from becoming a keyblade wielder to reclaiming his homeland, restoring hope and light to the world, his doubts about him if he had any all disappeared.
He chuckled lightly before he got off his seat. "True enough, both of them have quite the feats to back up our confidence within them", he concurred. "However, they're rather hopeless without our help". Ignis turns back to Donald and says: "Best we resume our training, no doubt they'll need us to pick them up should things go awry".
With a nod, Donald hops off his stump and resumes his lectures.
*Cottage*
Groaning with aches in her body as she dragged her feet through the empty halls of the cottage, Kairi makes an occasional hiss, groan and whimper of pain as she uses the small fragments of her will power to at least get to her room and bed then collapse in pain.
Today had been one of those days for her, training with Aqua in combat had proven to be more painful than she would have liked. Between her master wiping the floor with her with superior magic, to constantly getting her butt kicked in physical combat, it was a nightmare of a day. Least it was not an entirely one-sided fight, she managed to get a few hits in, slow her down and even got her to take her seriously.
And she almost felt bad for Xehanort when she bore the brunt of Aqua going all out, she can't imagine how ruthless she'll be with the man who took everything from her.
"Almost there…just get into bed, then die peacefully…", she says encouragingly to herself.
She grasped the door handle and opened it up, resisting the urge to just fall to the floor and sleep there. The floor looked cozy enough to her. Her tired eyes lit up with confusion when she sees there was a significant change to the shared room.
Firstly the room was only brightened by the amount of candles scattered on the shelves, desk and table nearby, the wonderous smell of vanilla tickled her nose and helped her be at ease, making her temporarily forget the pain in her body. There was music being played low not to disturb the others but at a volume for her ears to enjoy, a simple piano music played with soft words. What caught her eyes is Sora standing by the bed in simple PJS, pants and a vest.
"Welcome back", he greets warmly and softly. She gave the boy a tired smile, grateful for the romantic atmosphere of the room along with her favorite candles decorating it. But before she could say anything to express her gratitude, he handed her a pair of PJS and asked her to change into them with a smile. As tired as she was, she trusted him and went along with her simple task, besides the PJS looked SUPER comfy.
Once she got changed and folded her adventure clothes onto the sink for tomorrow, she leaves the bathroom. Now dressed in a pair of night shorts and a simple soft t-shirt, she stands before Sora before he guides her to the bed. Eager to snuggle up with Sora and get a good sleep she climbed on the bed, but before she could tuck her feet beneath the sheets, Sora stops her. Resisting her urge to groan tiredly at the boy denying her snuggle sleepy times, she turns to him.
"Do you trust me?", he asks, low and caringly. Kairi would have given him a sassy response were it any other time, but she nuzzles into his chest. "Are you seriously asking me that? Of course, I trust you", she says kindly. "Then…would you mind if I…", he says, tugging at the hem of her shirt. Blushing softly but still trusting him, she wordlessly nods and allows him to remove her shirt. He doesn't look at her for the sake of decency and asks her to lie on her stomach.
Again, following his instructions, she lays down and rests her chin on her folded hands. Then a feeling of bliss washes over her whilst a gentle moan escaped her mouth. Behind her Sora was rubbing her tired and aching toes with his thumbs and fingers, popping a few joints of her toes. She moans softly as she allows the scent of the candles to lull her into a sense of serenity, her lover's skillful massages helping lessen the aches in her body.
Slowly Sora moves up to her thighs, massaging them carefully to not hurt her. Kairi blushes when she felt his fingers brush her rear, a shiver racing down her spine at the intimate touch before he starts to settle himself on her lower back. He massaged her sides before doing her shoulders, making the girl smothered face in the pillow to hold back the moan. Where did he learn such wonderful techniques? She knows he has the gentle hands but never magic hands like she heard from the adults back at home, he could make a career out of this.
He leans into her ear and whispers nothing but sweet nothings, encouraging her to relax and let all the day's aches and stress fade away while he helps speed the process. Kairi shivered again, when did he get that tone of a voice and why the heck did he keep it from her for so long? She managed to roll her face to see his and smiled gratefully at him before she reached for the back of his head and capture his lips.
Slowly they shifted and settled into a nice position, with her resting on his laps with her legs wrapping around him, kissing him as they held each other. Sora waved his hand around and blew out the candles with magic, only through the thin veil of the curtains could the moon provide light in their room. Unable to break apart, finally having this long-overdue moment together. Kairi looks at the boy from her slightly higher viewpoint, seeing the love within his eyes for her.
She giggles before she launches herself forward, making Sora fall on his back and resume their little session.
Sleep can come later…
A/N:
So originally I did plan on Young Xehanort interacting with Ardyn, but I was sick of all the fighting so decided sod it, one fight! I'll add that next time!
Next chapter is gonna be showing off Noctis and company's abilities, along with cameo from XV character, Axel getting a visit, and one fight I think a lot of you are gonna enjoy.
Also! In regards to Naminé…I kinda thing of doing that three way relationship, but with her, Roxas…and Xion. What do you people think? Let me know what your thoughts are.
QUESTIONS!:
Q1: Thoughts on this chapter?
Q2: How were the organization members?
Q3: Can you figure out why you know who went berserk on Ardyn?
Q4: Donald and Ignis bonding? Odd or good?
Q5: Sora and Kairi's moment?
Q6: What would you like to see next time?
Q7: Are you tired of these fighting chapters yet?
Also to the guest who is wondering about the dark souls story, I will finish it after this story is done!
As always everyone, thanks for reading! Stay awesome but more importantly stay safe!
