Final Fantasy XV - Kingdom Hearts
Part 66
Summary: Two warriors of Light, the Chosen King and Keyblade Master, face an unseen Darkness.
*Month Four: Day One hundred and one*
*?*
Descending slowly as though his body was being gently lowered, Noctis blinks his eyes open when he feels his back touching something smooth and cool. Above him he sees a circle of light within the dark grey clouds, the light beaming down on him as if it were a spotlight.
He slowly gets to his feet, taking in the emptiness of this strange yet familiar place he is in. All around him were naught but darkness and the breeze of the wind. Confused he looks down beneath his feet to see a large mural of himself. "Wha?", he asks as he turned around to take in the mural in full.
It showed him sitting on a throne with one leg over the other with his old sword resting beside him with the crystal above him, an elbow resting on the armrest with himself asleep. Around him were circles showing the people closest to him, Gladiolus, Ignis, Prompto, his father, Iris, and Cid, with a seventh above his throne, is a heart shape showing Lunafreya. The colors of his mural were crystal blue with royal black, numbers in the old language around him with each royal arm.
"Where…am I?", he asked himself, looking at the mural in confusion but also impressed by how it looked. His blue eyes fall onto the man who sat on the throne before him, his father. Noctis walks toward it and kneels, placing a hand on his father's portrait with a sullen look, but as he did, a light shines behind him. Turning his head slightly before standing up tall, a door resembling the very same that leads to the throne room appeared before him.
The king stands before it, looking at it as his hand reached for the handles. Hesitance clutched his heart, was this another one of that Master's games, or did this have something to do with the keyblade?
He swallowed his apprehension and opens the door with effort. Through the cracks he sees the blue light nearly blinding him yet still he pulled on the handles to open the door. The beautiful blue light bathes the king and engulfs him as he steps forward into it.
When his vision was free of the bright light, Noctis lowered his hand to find himself in an all too familiar place. A place he had not set foot in since his departure from his home, a place where one day he will rule his kingdom. The Insomnia Throne room.
Unlike what he feared the place was untouched by the carnage of war, all in pristine condition along with the beautiful yet cursed crystal hanging above the throne. He hears the bell within the citadel ringing softly, the sun beaming through the stained glasses that surround the throne. The throne, however, was empty. The future king stared at it, trying to see himself resting on it and hoping within his heart he would have the strength and courage to rule his home as a wise and good king.
Much like his father had before he did.
He hears the soft tap mimicking a footstep along the soft clacking of shoes approaching him, yet Noctis would not turn to face this visitor. His heart twitched and its strings tugged along with his throat tightening up, his breath held within when the steps grow closer and slower as they reached his side. The king couldn't look away from the throne, keeping his eyes fixed on it to avert his eyes away from the potential false hope.
When the steps ceased he felt their presence right by his side, not saying a word nor facing him. He heard a small sigh leave the lips of his company, a relieved one as if something horrible had not come to pass. "A king must face his hardships head on with head held high, never averting his gaze and never stepping back", his companion speaks with an old tired voice yet there is strength within it that could never be weakened.
"A king pushes onward always, accepting the consequences and never looking back", Noctis added, parroting the wise words that were passed down to him. A light chuckled is made from his companion, amused. "And yet here you are, looking back to the past", he says, not chastising but more closer to comforting. Noctis wills his strength to face the man who he greatly respected, a man he strives to match in quality of a king, and it takes all his accumulated strength to not cry.
King Regis stands before his son with a gentle smile, looking the same as the day he left the city for the first time. What changed though was the hidden look of remorse and pain within his old eyes, the guise of optimism and hope were nowhere to be seen. Noctis stands before his father, his eyes watery with pain and unspoken words that he wanted to say before he lost his home, his father.
For all the trials he faced, every foe he slew and every challenge from this journey with so much more to come, facing him again was something he never knew could be so painful.
"Dad…", he says with a hitch, hating it. He is no child anymore yet here he is about to cry before his father like a child who hadn't seen his father for a while. There is a chuckle from Regis, his smile warmer and soft as he raised a hand to lay it on his son's shoulder. When Noctis faced him, the former king says: "You've grown so much, my son". The pride in his voice, the one he desperately wanted to hear when he would ascend to the throne.
Noctis had so much he wanted to say, so many questions to ask yet all those burning questions turned to flickering embers as he took in his father once again. Regis turned to the throne with lament and says: "Once upon a time I was looking forward to the day where I would look to you as our king, to see my son had grown into a majestic king". His gaze lowered to the ground. "But when I learned of the price for such privilege, knowing what will come when you take your place…I cursed the blasted thing".
Noctis placed a hand on the resting one, looking at his father. "But it never happened, thanks to Eraqus", reminds the former prince. Regis raised his head with a small laugh. "Yes, that sly man had averted your fate by putting you on another road", Regis says, remembering the day. He sighed as he faced his son. "I never told you why he came, did I?", he asks rhetorically. For all his vague memories of the man who taught his mentor, Noctis couldn't recall why he came to his world, to begin with. Not even Ventus or Aqua had an answer to it.
Regis gestured his son to join him on a walk through their home, in part granting his son's wish. Through the halls of their home were the light beams through the windows, comforting the soon to be king as his father walks tall with him. Even with his cane he never hobbled nor staggered, if nothing else the cane was more of an accessory to the king.
"Eraqus had come to our world, years ago when the Niflheim empire's grip expanded", he regales his son, "During our war, I met him when he was merely exploring our world. He had recently become a master after all and sought out more knowledge of the worlds beyond his own".
"So, this was before he adopted Terra and Aqua then?", Noctis asks. "I believe so…He had spoken about seeking apprentices when we talked", Regis affirms, "But by the time you were eight years old, he had found them".
He spoke more about how Eraqus revealed to him about other worlds, the light and darkness and even some information of Xehanort when they were apprentices. He says Eraqus was a vital ally in helping defend their regions as the empire grew closer and closer to their capital, to the very point he would remain in Eos for months before the day came he would return to his world to prepare Aqua and Terra for their trials. Here Noctis regaled what he was told by Ventus and Aqua about their time there, surprising his father.
Then their journey comes to an end when they reached the door leading out of the building. Regis gently grasped the door handle with a small frown. "There was more to that moment", he says. Noctis crossed his arms, remembering the day he had to say farewell to Eraqus, though his memory was still foggy. Regis faced his son. "When he learned of the fate that the crystal had ordained for you, he offered me a solution to avoid it", he states.
"To take me as his apprentice?", Noctis says uncertain. "Yes. When the day would come where you will return as a master of the keyblade, he believed your destiny could be forfeit…", Regis says. Shame crossed his face as he opens the door. "But I couldn't bear the thought of losing my son…knowing I may never see you grow". Looking at his hand where once the ring of the Lucii once was, draining him of his life for the sake of his people. He heaves a dark chuckle as if he were told a cruel joke.
"Lose my son to the destiny the crystal had set before him…or lose him to become a wielder of the key…no matter what choice I was forced to make I'd lose you", he says with bitterness in his tone. "Where you would have had a happier life if I had granted Eraqus his wish, I chose to keep you out of selfishness of my heart".
Noctis looked away at the confession, partly out of pain for the truth that in a twisted way his fate was laced with tragedy. If he remained here, had things played out the way they were meant to, had Xigbar never come to this world, he wouldn't be here having this talk with his father. Yet even if he were to have gone with Eraqus, who knows what tragedy could have befallen him. He could have had his heart shattered, become a vessel for Xehanort, be lost in the darkness for years or something much worse could have happened.
Either way, his fate was doomed…or so did his father believe.
"…yet keeping me here, was the best decision you could have done for me", Noctis chuckled. He turned to his father when his gaze fixed on his son. The prince smiled in his usual way, the one his father knew was his smug cocky one, yet he sees the genuine growth and maturity within his eyes. "It wasn't an easy road to walk, Iggy can tell you we've hit some major roadblocks to get this far…but", he says, placing a hand on his heart.
Memories of his journey from the day he set out to meet Sora and his friends, seeing the world before him, surmounting the challenges they were facing and to the day he fulfilled his duty to bring back the light. They paled in comparison to the people who made their way into his heart, his brothers becoming so vital to him they were a part of his heart, to the woman who opened his heart and finally find a way to express his happiness with another.
The other world heroes who were like an extended family to him in many ways, remaining at his side as he did for them. They who had helped him save his world, help him reclaim his throne and bring back the light. Now he would stand amongst them as a king and keyblade wielder, protecting not just his world but many more.
And all because his father kept him on the path but let him walk it in his way.
"You wouldn't believe the amount of things we have seen, or what we did", he chuckled, "But me staying here, meeting not just Sora but having people like Gladio, Ignis, and Prompto by my side, I'd be nothing without them". He looked up to his dad with a new smile his father had never seen, a rare and genuine happy smile that showed his father he is no longer the wild and reckless prince that went to marry his future wife.
Before king Regis, was the future king of his city. And he couldn't be happier.
As the door opened and bathed their empty room in light, knowing this would be the final time he would speak to his father, Noctis faced him. "Sorry I have to go…there's just something I need to settle", apologizes to the crown prince. Regis gives his son one final smile, the smile only a father could give their sons when they are infinitely proud of them. Noctis gives his father the proper bow he should have given him a long time ago, bowing his head with a hand placed on his chest.
"Take care of yourself, your majesty", says the son of the king.
Regis chuckled softly and placed a hand on his son's shoulder for the final time while Noctis raises his head to face him. There again is that wonderful smile his father bore for his son and gives him a nod.
"Walk tall, my son", his father says, "And may your heart be your guiding key".
Noctis nods wisely as he turns to the entrance and walks through it, feeling his father's smile on his back as he is enveloped in the light.
*Room*
Stirred awake with a small grunt, Noctis rubbed his eyes with his arm and slowly sits up in his bed. No longer feeling the lull of sleep that often tugged on his body, he blinks when he felt something within his clenched fist.
Noctis opened his hand to see what looked to be the main key to the Regalia, small traces of Lucis magic swirl around it. With a smile, he grips the key within his hand. Nevermore feeling confident in himself.
*Training Grounds*
With ten of the guardians assembled at the ground save for the islanders, the group had already decided it was time to see what the royal retinue could do after nearly four months of training. Many concurred with the master's choices, mostly for some like Axel who just wanted to be lazy and take it easy for the next training.
He was completely unaware that Aqua secretly schedule with Ventus to make sure he and Axel would be sparring with her later. And she may or may not have decided to get a little serious with him.
"Right, time to see how far you guys have come in your training", Aqua announced, addressing the four members. "While we're not expecting you guys to be at the peak of your true potential, we need to make sure you guys are improving with us".
"Just a heads up, still can't do magic!", Prompto chirped with a sheepish smile. Aqua gave him a gentle smile and replied: "Neither can Goofy Prompto, I'm certain today you'll show what you did learn".
"Which is why we're pitting you against Noct", she says. The blonde gave her a look of horror, doing a double-take on Noctis then back to her. "Me against Noct!? Are you crazy?", he squeaks as Noctis gave him an evil smile. Aqua giggled playfully before she pulls her notebook out and says: "Noct is the closest thing to someone from the organization, plus we discussed you need to be able to fight people who can move fast and warp".
Prompto opened his mouth to argue before he ultimately slumped, submitting to his fate. "But first, Ignis, Gladio? You two are going first", she instructs as she gestured the king and gunner to join the others.
The two of the oldest members of the party stepped into the ring, weapons drawn as they do a few stretches and ready themselves. "Heh, last time we sparred was before we left for Altissia", Gladiolus says cracking joints in his neck.
"Our strengths were a far cry from what they are today", Ignis says, "Perhaps this time we'll decide which of us is the best".
Gladiolus smirks at the man's confidence, laying the masamune sword on his shoulder while Ignis occasionally flips his daggers. With Aqua announcing the fight to commence, Ignis makes the first move by dashing towards Gladiolus, leaving a trail of lighting his wake.
Within range, Ignis begins to strike at the shield with his right dagger with multiple jabs and stabbing motions. The shield uses his armored arm to block or parry the attacks before he backhanded the attack and swung his sword down onto him, forcing the advisor to roll away from him. He backflips and other forms of acrobatics to increase distance, while during his third flip he throws a large chunk of ice at Gladiolus.
Raising his shield to guard it, the ice struck the shield and explodes upon impact. The warrior immediately feels the harsh cold breeze by the shield and a huge increase of weight nearly causes the warrior to drop his defensive arm. Ignis calls for three dark javelins once he stood up properly, encasing them in violet lightning and then throws them at Gladiolus.
In response, Gladiolus dismissed his shield and grabbed his sword with both hands and swipes at the javelins. The legendary sword slices through them as if they were weeds in a garden, the force of the attack even sent a large hurricane of dust flying into the air and the force nearly knocked some of the spectators off their respective seats. The warrior stares down Ignis with a smirk as if he were challenging him to do better.
Ignis pushes his glasses up, accepting the silent challenge.
They both rushed in to meet steel with steel, the speedy Ignis striking at two places at once while Gladiolus can match him with his armored limb along with his sword taking more ground from the man. Gladiolus calls his shield to service and during a spin, he smacks Ignis with the full body of the weapon and throws him forward. Onto his back for no less than two seconds before rolling onto his feet, Ignis leaps into the air.
Crossing his daggers over his chest, he runs the two daggers along each other, eliciting a spark that creates a roaring violet fire. His weapons now burning, he aimed them both at Gladiolus and rains down a hailstorm of fire onto his comrade. Gladiolus kneels and raised his shield high, covering him as he soldiered through the shower of flames. The intense heat washed on him, nearly convincing him he was back in the desert again.
He grunted when he felt a more powerful strike on his shield, realizing Ignis wasn't stopping at any time soon. "Okay Ig…you asked for it", he thinks to himself.
The mighty shield of the king stands up and takes a deep breath, steeling himself before he lets out a roar while the shield glows in a golden-brown light, he slammed the shield into the ground. The ground shakes as a stone dome appeared around Gladiolus, shielding him from the raining fire. Within his dome, Gladiolus channels power from the shield into the earth and then once he was dead sure on where Ignis was levitating above, he punched the earth his with arm.
Ignis looks below him to see a large pillar of stone rise beneath his feet like a rocket taking off. He uses his dark power to turn his body in time to dodge the pillar and kicks off it. He lands behind Gladiolus' stone fortress as it breaks apart and reveals the warrior, rushing at him with his sword. Dismissing his daggers, Ignis called his spear and clashes with his comrade. Even with Gladiolus stronger form, the spear gave the advisor both range and kept him at a safe distance, plus his more agile feet versus Gladiolus' stubborn refusal to move gave him the advantage to dance around him.
Ignis managed to use the bottom of the spear to smack aside Gladiolus' weapon and allowed him to place his free hand on his chest and fire a force-based attack to throw him back. Even with such a powerful spell, Gladiolus was only pushed back two feet from the man as he dug his heels into the ground, which Ignis calculated and already had a backup plan. He immediately plunged his spell into the ground, infusing darkness within it.
He releases his spear and calls up for his daggers, bathing on in black ice and then tossing it to his left a few feet away from himself and he kept his last dagger, emblazing it. Flipping it in a reverse grip, he lets his left hand be cloaked in darkness. Gladiolus sweeps his sword at the man, aiming low and splitting the earth just as Ignis leaps backward from the attack, the man missing his spear. Ignis ducks and weaves around the man's wide swings, trying to get closer to him.
With his shield always close to him and being wielded in his armored hand, debilitating that would be a pipe dream considering how powerful that armor is. However, for Ignis, he already deduced what the best course of action would be to take down Gladiolus. His left hand was placed on the ground the very moment he got behind Gladiolus after he swung too roughly, exposing himself. He pressed his hand into the earth and fired a single wave of darkness from the ground at Gladiolus.
As predicted, Gladiolus turned around right on time to slam the shield onto the ground in front of him to block it. This was exactly what the dark user was waiting for, the moment his attack contacted Gladiolus, he uses the dark warp to vanish and re-appear behind Gladiolus. Swiftly he places his dagger right at his neck, pressing the edge against his neck. The shield lowered his eyes to the sudden appearance of the blade before Ignis pats his shoulder.
"It seems our match is over", he said confidently.
Then, Gladiolus smirked. "You sure about that?", he asks.
To the utter shock of Ignis, even with his dagger touching Gladiolus' neck, the man still rose and elbowed him in the gut. He felt his dagger cut into something but before he could fear the worst his world was nothing but pain as Gladiolus punched him in his stomach, grabbed his shoulders and flung him across the field. He falls on his side with a light thud and rolls onto his feet, looking at Gladiolus and sees nothing on his neck.
The man rubbed his neck with a chuckle, smirking at his friend. "Not gonna cut it, Ig", he remarks. To show his point, Gladiolus runs his sword over his right forearm and the advisor sees nothing happen to him, not even drawing blood. Gladiolus gestured his shield and says: "Pretty handy thing, a little trick that makes the skin hard as steel", he explains. Ignis frowns, concluding that the shield has more uses than its usual purpose.
The spectators, enraptured by the bought, all had the same question until Aqua speaks up. "Gladio' shield is more than just a weapon, it has inherited abilities that Terra used to be use before he gave up on them", she explains with her arms crossed. "Steel skin is an old ability that hardens the skin of the user, allowing them to take way more punishment". Axel whistled and rubbed his chin. "So basically…the guy is a living breathing mobile set of armor?", he asked.
"One that is gonna cut you in half, yeah", Noctis added in.
Ignis scoffs before he gets to his feet. No more playing around he sees, if steel cannot cut it, then magic will. The dagger in his hand burns brighter as his free hand was cloaked in frost, resonating with his planted dagger. "Steel on steel is a time-consuming battle, Gladio, but can your skin resist the cold?", questioned Ignis. He clenches his fist and then the dagger turns into a weapon of pure ice, shattering and spreading the cold all over the field.
The arena was covered in a wild storm of icy winds as the ground was covered in a layer of black ice. Gladiolus immediately loses his footing and slips onto his back, the cold freezing him to the point where it as if his joints had been frozen for decades. His body felt heavier and even gritting his teeth felt like an old crane trying to work through rocks constricting it. The steel skin ability may have protected him from weapons of the physical sense but magic, not so much.
Ignis uses the dark powers to call for his weapons back and vanishes before the man, spear in hand as he aimed it at the shield. This time Gladiolus stared up at him with chattering teeth before he growled, submitting.
Once Ignis gave the clear to Aqua, she dispelled his attack and the advisor used some of his heat to warm up his sparring partner. The intense cold leaves his body, Gladiolus breathes easier and slowly got to his feet, grumbling something on the lines of magic. Regardless he gave his friend a nod and patted his shoulder. Aqua stood before them with approval.
"Looks like you two are coming along nicely, more lessons and soon enough you two will be more than match for Xehanort's vessels", she praised. Then her smile turns playful and she smacks Gladiolus' shoulder. " *You* need to work on fighting magic mister!", she chastises. "Next time you'll spar with me!". Gladiolus gave her a raised brow and an exaggerated groan. "So your idea of helping me get used to fighting magic users is to go up against you?", he asked incredulously.
"I'll be gentle Gladio…I'll only use tier five spells!", assured the woman. She pats his gloom cheek and gestured them to exit the arena and allow Noctis and Prompto to take over.
The two younger men stepped in, the king flexing his hands while Prompto did a few stretches and squats, then dancing on the spot to quote: "Get pumped". Though a lot of the group knew it was him trying to burn off nervousness energy and give himself some hope he'd have a chance against the king.
Noctis calls for his keyblade while the gunner summoned his usual weapon, though this time it was loaded with rubber bullets. The master of the key declared the fight to start, and the first one to strike was Prompto. He fires three shots at the king, forcing Noctis to use his magic to phase and dance around the weapon's ammunition, then rushes to Prompto swinging.
The blonde dismissed his gun and calls for the switchblade of his and clashes with his best friend's weapon. Their steel clashing with Noctis having the superior training and footwork but unbeknown to the others Prompto is not only able to match his speed but his right robotic limb allowed him to match, no, surpass his strength. Every attack Noctis tried to land on the gunner he would easily retaliate with the king's strikes and protect himself.
Noctis warps into the air, calling for his crossbow and aimed it at Prompto, firing off a rain of arrows. Prompto in response runs and dances around his attacks, rolling jumping and leaping around the onslaught. Quickly Prompto sheathes his blade and aimed his robotic limb at the ground beneath Noctis, and to everyone's surprise, fires a single cable wire with a spike.
Loud whirring noises resonate from his arm and then he is yanked across the field after his spike buries itself in the ground. He skids as he is pulled below Noctis and once he is close he recalls his wire back. Underneath his king and his barrage of arrows, Prompto calls for his gun and fires off six shots at him by "fanning the hammer".
Noctis narrowly evades four of them, only having his leg and left shoulder grazed by the bullets before he warp struck back to the ground. He faces down Prompto who then grins at his best friend and stretches out his robotic limb. "Got a surprise for ya, Noct!", he bragged as his arm evaporates into the blue light. The limb disappears and in its place is a brand new weapon in the form of a gatling gun. Though smaller compared to the ones the empire uses, it was decent sized and had six slots around one extended point.
Prompto aimed and unleashed a storm of bullets at his majesty like a wild many, the gun bellowing loudly as it fires bursts of bullets. Noctis cursed loudly before he is forced to warp for his life, missing the chance of being having his body eradicated by bullets. Behind them, Aqua and Lunafreya already erected barriers to protect them from stray bullets, rubber or not. She hears a small laugh behind her and turned to see Gladiolus smirking knowingly.
"Imagine if he had that gun on his first day of training", he says. Aqua snickered and covered her mouth, remembering the story.
Back with the sparring boys, Noctis is still in the air while maintaining his warping as he avoids the unending torrent of bullets. Prompto had easily forced him to drain what mana he had left and after his last warp back to the ground, he was drained. He used small portions of it to phase through the bullets while using his agile movement to dodge the torrent before he relents in moving and calls for the Shield of the Tall and hunker down.
The rubber bullets bounce off the wall of a shield, but it was too heavy for Noctis to try and rush Prompto, thus he would have to wait it out until his mana replenished then go for the kill. That was the plan until the bullets stopped. "Hunkering down isn't gonna cut it, buddy!", Prompto yelled. Noctis peers from the side of his shield but quickly hides behind when Prompto throws his robotic arm at the wall.
The attack pushes the king back even with both feet and shield dug into the ground. He gasped in surprise as the feels his shield shake and vibrate with tremor, surprised by that display of power from Prompto of all people. Then the attack came again, pushing Noctis back further back and then he hears a drill of sorts, loud and whirring with full power. He peered to see Prompto now carrying a large drill for an arm.
Silvery design with the casing closer to Hammerhead's design and decals, Prompto jumps and plunges the spinning weapon into the shield. Noctis grunts in determination to fend off his friend's amazing display of strength, pushing against his drill. Then as the king looked up he sees to his utter disbelief the tiniest hole slowly grows with the silver bead of a drill tip pierce through the giant wall. He growled in aggravation, dismissing his weapon to preserve.
Noctis managed to side-step his friend's piercing weapon and uses his keyblade to strike at the weapon to throw him off. He uses the last portion of his mana to warp away from Prompto, once more giving his friend the advantage of having the distance between he and Noctis. He pants from his depletion of mana as Prompto changes his drill arm to the gatling gun once again and aimed it at his king, smirking.
Noctis feels a great deal of pride for his best friend despite the change in advantage between them. He had come a long way, just a shame it was against his king. And right now, with his mana gone and his friend seeming to have every counter for his arms, Noctis hated to say this fight may be in Prompto's favor.
That was until he felt a weight in his pocket, remembering his father's key. He slips his hand into his pocket and plucks it out while summoning his keyblade just as Prompto's barrel rotated and prepared to end the fight. Seeing the key in hand, Noctis glanced at his keyblade and smirks to himself. He clenched the key in his hand while his legendary weapon glowed in a bright light. Noctis throws his father's key up into the air, spins the keyblade and raises it high.
The key is enveloped in a beautiful light, turning into the light and pours into his majesty's keyblade. A gust of wind blows, creating clouds of dust just as Prompto unleashed a torrent of bullets at his majesty. When the dust settled thanks to one powerful burst of force, Noctis stood with his keyblade, except now there were thin walls of crystals surrounding him, the bullets were bouncing off them harmlessly.
Prompto lets out a "what the?" while unloading his bullets while everyone bore witness to Noctis' new ability, only with Ignis looking at him with shock. The future king wears a ghostly crystal hornlike crown on the right side of his head, held behind his ear, a gold knee-high guard on his right leg and a ghostly crystal ring on his left-hand middle finger, even his eyes showed a sharpness and wisdom within them none had ever seen from him.
For a moment, Ignis swore he saw his majesty king Regis standing before them.
Noctis held his keyblade in the same stance he usually would when wielding Sword of the Father, and aimed his ringed hand at Prompto, firing lightning at the gunner's gun arm. The lightning encased the weapon and completely fried it's functions, startling Prompto and in panic, he dislodged the weapon and let it fall to the ground as it sputtered and twitched from the jolt. Prompto quickly replaced his stump with his drill hand, turning to his best friend who was flying toward him like a charging angel.
"If I can pierce through your family shield, then I'll pierce through your crystals buddy!", promised Prompto as he reels his drill arm back. With a yell, he punched the king's wall of crystal. The drill, however, was immediately crushed and rendered dull from the attack, shocking all who witnessed the attack. Prompto didn't even have a chance to react because Noctis vanished before his eyes and reappeared behind him.
Prompto turned to face him and leaped back from him, his majesty didn't even try to stop nor harm him. Instead, he watches Prompto, giving him a chance to turn the tide against him once again. His mercy is rewarded with another cocky smirk from Prompto. "Okay buddy, I've got one more weapon left", he warned, switching out his arm for the next attachment. His new arm was truthfully less intimidating than the previous, almost comical with it being a large blue blaster like arm and there was something written on the body of it.
Prompto aims it at his best friend and says: "Eat this!". The blaster fired something at the barrier and broke apart upon impact. Noctis looks down at the remnant of the ammunition and sees it was…a biscuit.
At least the crumbs looked like they were biscuits, they could be cookies for all he knew. He just blinks, then turned to a mortified Prompto looking at his best friend. He then turned to his gun arm before he reached into his pocket and amusingly yanks out what looked like an instruction journal (the Hammerhead logo gave it away) and reads aloud: "Prompto, PS, the third gun is cosmetic, please don't think of using it in an actual fight, lots of love, Cindy".
"COSMETIC!? Cindy made me a biscuit gun instead of another badass arm!?", Prompto groaned in utter dismay. He slumps in defeat, submitting to his best friend. "My girlfriend trolled me…", he weeps.
Noctis sighs good-naturedly as his crystals disappeared, chuckling lightly at his friend. "H-Hey, all things said and done, you held your own against me", he offered with a shrug, "I mean…pretty sure those two arms will get the job done…". Prompto lets out a groan as he looked back at his joke weapon and then back to his best friend with a sheepish grin. "Guess so…but hey, least I can have a snack during the big fight", he says with optimism.
As most of the party went to cheer up the gunner while some got ready to start their training, Gladiolus pats Aqua on the shoulder and asked: "So where's our favorite trio?". Aqua smiled knowingly.
"Settling a score".
*Elsewhere*
Kairi just manages to evade the large explosion that consumed several trees behind her as she uses Flowmotion to dash through the forest. During her jumps, flips, and leaps she would occasionally spin and fire off spells of light to attack her chaser while keeping her eyes out for the other pursuer.
Finally, she dashed out of the dense trees and into a clearing where she swings her keyblade to strike at her prey. Riku only turned in time to not just block her attack but throw her over himself, making her roll on the ground and back onto her feet with a hand grabbing the earth and heels dug into the ground to stop.
Behind him Sora bursts through the trees in his Element Form, firing arrows at his two friends. Kairi meets his with her traditional Rays of Lights while Riku swipes his hand in front of him to create a dark slash that sailed towards the boy's arrows. Kairi's attack exploded upon impacting his while Riku's consumed then and sliced through several branches of the trees he came from. Sora soars over their attacks and lands in the clearing with them, reverting to his normal form, Oblivion called back.
He then rushes into the fray, going for Riku instantly and meeting his keyblade with his own. Rivals to the very end, the two veterans of the keyblade fought with vigor and raw determination, loud clashing steel and speed that could only rival the speed of light. Their impressive powers didn't stop Kairi from throwing herself into the clash, adding her keyblade into the dense dome of slashing blades. Together all three of them swiped, swung and struck at each other, no holds barred and going all out.
All three keyblades collided with one powerful stroke, the clang of their weapons echoed across the forest, shaking the earth beneath their feet and sent a gale so great they nearly bent the trees. They stared down each other, eyes burning with competition and determination to come out on top as their weapons groaned with strain with three different directions trying to overpower the other. Riku, however, creates a dark pool beneath his feet and sinks quickly into it, disappearing and causing the two to stagger as their weapons slip.
Kairi regains her footing quicker than Sora and starts to strike at him, clashing her divine keyblade against her dark blade. The two clashed and danced with Kairi striking with amazing speed while her boyfriend refuses to relent and give her an edge. Behind them Riku reappears by jumping out of his pool of darkness and swings his keyblade at them multiple times, throwing dark arcs at them. Kairi sees this with a glance over her shoulder and leaps aside, allowing Sora to take the brunt of the attack.
Sora, however, retaliates with a form change and changes into his Dark Form. Easily swiping his black keyblade, he cleaves through Riku's attacks as they soared past him, cutting down trees in their wake. He dashed towards his best friend, only to have a wall of earth erecting before him. He scoffs confidently and slashes through it, landing behind it seemingly without touching it as if he phased through it.
Then when he stands up, several slashes of light painted the stone wall and then it comes crashing down behind him. He turned to Kairi, hands glowing with magic with a frustrated look on her face. He winked at her before he places the tip of his keyblade down and swings upwards at her, firing off a wave of dark light at her in response to her attack before he rushes at Riku again. Kairi raised her keyblade to guard it, immediate contact caused her to be pushed through the forest as she dug the heels of her boots into the ground.
With the boys, Riku wasted no time in dueling Sora once more at the two exchanged blows with their mystical weapons of light with touches of the darkness. Riku matches Sora's two-handed attacks with just one-handed counters and even with his enhanced strength, Sora has no more of an advantage than Riku does. The two struck at each other until Sora managed to disarm Riku's keyblade from his hand by stabbing in between the handle and ring of the key and yanked it out.
Smirking at his friend's lack of a weapon, Sora swings at him. However, the master raised his right hand, shrouded in darkness and grabbed the body of the blade, halting the momentum of Sora's attack and aims his left hand at Sora's face. He fired a force-based spell that throws Sora across the field, his hands unintentionally relinquishing the keyblade to Riku. His back dragged into the earth before his form reverts and he rolls onto his feet.
Riku spins Oblivion in his hand with a confident smirk as he takes up his stance once more. Undeterred, Sora runs at Riku as the master charged towards him. Before either could commence an attack, Kairi suddenly appears between them, both hers and Riku's keyblade in her hands and spins on the spot until she moved so fast it was a blur. She cries out "Tornado" and then a green tornado appears where she spun, sucking both her boys up into it.
Not as gigantic as natures for the sake of keeping the collateral damage small, it is no less powerful as both keyblade wielders were sucked up and left being spun in the air without any means of escaping it. At the center of the tornado, Kairi leaps up and toward Riku, crossing both keyblades across her chest as she meets him with a stretch of both blades. Riku counters this by slamming Sora's keyblade right in the middle of her attack, blocking and stopping the momentum she needed to commence the attack.
Kairi glared at him as they spin in the tornado with Sora flailing around in it uselessly. Kairi managed to throw him off her and begins to hack and slash at him with both keys. Unlike Sora and his nobody, however, Kairi's use of two keys leaves much to be desired, carrying to weapons without proper training and lack of strength and coordination did little to worry Riku as he parried and struck at her. While they dueled in the middle, Sora is thrown up into the skies by the tornado, but this was exactly what he needed.
Sora flips himself upright in the air and looks down to his two friends, raising his hands and forming a large ball of roaring fire and like a basketball he dunked the ball right into the tornado. Both fighters looked to see a ball of fire diving toward them and in response, Riku kicked Kairi in the stomach and into the tornado, then tossed Sora's keyblade at the ball. His black steeled key struck home and detonated the ball, creating an explosion that obliterated the tornado and throws all three of them in different directions.
Kairi and Riku opposite directions while Sora is thrown higher into the air. Kairi bounced several times on the ground, losing Riku's keyblade and coming to a halt when she managed to get to her feet and stab her keyblade into the ground.
The master amongst them calls for his back and wastes no time in trying to take Kairi out of the match, slamming his hand onto the earth. The princess of light's senses kicked into overdrive and she rolled to avoid a spike of dark violet. It kept sprouting from where she laid so she kept rolling and rolling to avoid being skewered as Riku tried to land a hit. She flips during a roll, getting to her feet and performing several cartwheels, at one point nearly getting a spike through her face.
During one of her cartwheeling, she performed a single handstand and fired a pearl of light at Riku. Riku was struck and thrown onto his back, not concentrating on preserving himself and dead set on removing Kairi.
Kairi pants but keeps a confident smile on her face as her friend got to his feet, although she sees he was finding that simple task more challenging as the match goes on. Not she could say she'd be any better if she were knocked flat on her butt again.
They both looked up to see Sora diving back down to the ground, Oblivion in hand and standing in the middle of the two. None of his friends took a chance and aimed their keyblades at him, firing rays of light and darkness respectively at the boy. The beams closed in on Sora a bit too late though, because, with a cry, he entered his Double Form, calling Oathkeeper to his hand once again. With opposites meeting, Oblivion meeting Kairi's beam and Oathkeeper meeting Riku's, Sora manages to stay off the attacks.
He spins around and destroys their beams, then air-dashes towards Kairi. The princess doesn't back down however and meets her dual-wielding adversary with courage and vigor. Kairi dodges and attacks at the same time against the two keys, getting nicked and scratched here and there but in the grand scheme of things she was faring greater than either boy had hoped she would. Kairi knocks Oathkeeper out of Sora's hand and deadlocks with Oblivion, staring at him.
Their fight had been cut short thanks to Riku's interruption, making them leap back from him. Now in his hand instead of Brave Heart, it was his old keyblade, Way to the Dawn. The Way to the Dawn greatly resembles the Soul Eater sword he once wielded, though the once curved wing is now straight, and the keyblade's guard is composed of one angelic wing and one demonic wing, similar to the guards of Sora and Kairi's Oathkeeper and Oblivion keychains, respectively. Also, a dark angelic wing has been added to the top of the original blade of the Soul Eater to act as the teeth of the key. Its token is the heartless emblem, but without the spiked bars crossing it.
The two guessed that was thanks to Ravus' chain he managed to recall his first keyblade.
Then he spun the weapon in hand and yelled: "Let's get serious!". A flash of dark blue burst from his keyblade as it shifts and changed into its second form. The blade extends and creates a double-edged sword with Soul Eater's design with the angel and devil wings scheme as the edge of the blade, it was two inches taller than Riku with the pommels curved demon wings and the handle long wrapped in dark leather.
Kairi looks at her boys as Sora readied his keyblades and Riku grabbed the handle his new blade with both hands, sensing the battle has escalated. Well, she can and will match their prowess. Placing a hand on her pearl necklace, she is covered in the silvery pink Wayfinder charm as her body is covered in light, and then she is donning her armor once again. Dearly Beloved glowed in a shining pinkish-white light, power coursing through her.
All three blasted towards the other, leaving broken earth where they once stood as they all collided in the middle with all their powers poured into their weapons. The very moment the four blades collides, the very ground beneath their feet shattered and created a small crater beneath them as the gale of their attacks broke trees in half this time unlike their last one, some were even thrown into the skies and leaves and branches from others were stripped off the trees.
The three islanders fought for dominance as Kairi's armored glowed with light, Riku's body cloaked by darkness while Sora's own body is cloaked in a mix of both. Sparks flew like crazy between the four joint weapons, magic crackled around them as their feet dug into the earth, breaking dirt and stone alike. Their powers so great they broke their deadlock and like wild hurricanes, all of them struck the other with movements that appeared as blurs to the normal human eyes.
It didn't stop there, they kept striking at each other while protecting themselves and some of their attacks were including magic into the mix. Flames licked and scorched the earth, winds cutting down the trees and slicing the leaves to nothing, lightning striking all around them, ice freezing the water in the air and the earth breaking apart. Riku's dark might versus Kairi magical light while simultaneously dueling Sora's combination of endless surprises.
This battle kept up for so long none could keep track of time, none could tell how long they pushed themselves to the very limits of their bodies, discovering how deep their strengths could go. It is only when the moon beamed down upon them did the three allow their bodies to finally submit to the exhaustion and aches their bodies had adopted.
All three laid on the ground on their backs, arms and legs outstretched as they laid there panting and groaning in pain. Clothes ripped and torn in several places with the boys' shirts barely holding together as the princess' own clothes had seen and survived better in the past. Adorning the bodies were bruises, scratches and cut marks, Kairi had a few on her cheeks and forehead while her boys likely had worse.
By the time the moon had taken over duty in the skies, they all had nary enough strength between them to move from their spots.
"Ok…for the sake, reframing from killing ourselves from training…what do you guys…say to…a draw?", Riku pants with a groan.
"I…I'm cool with that…", Sora moaned weakly.
"I am…w-willing to accept a tie between us…only…because it was my first time sparring with two of you…", Kairi giggled weakly, slightly smug.
The two boys chuckled weakly in response as they all groaned in pain, surprised by how much of the day was spent training like this. Never in their lives had they felt so tired to the point they were all ok sleeping on the ground like this. Kairi cracks her eyes opened to see the sea of stars, smiling tiredly. "Hey, guys?", she croaks, "When this is all over…do you think we could, camp under the stars like this again?".
The two glanced over to her, only moving their eyes and heads ever so slightly as she stares up at the sky. "Just the three of us, stargazing…no training, no fights…just, like the old days?", she whispered. "Hmm…that, actually sounds pretty nice…", Riku confesses, staring at skies. "Maybe make some s'mores, campfire…".
"Catch some fish, few fruits…blankets for comfort", lists Sora as he joined his friends in stargazing. "Just the three of us…".
Kairi smiles softly as Riku hummed in agreement. Just the three of them, lord above when was the last time it was just the three of them she wondered. "Well, she thinks to herself, "we'll just have to make up for all of the lost time". Slowly all three drift off to sleep, found a small while later by the others and brought to the cottage.
*Later*
Sitting on the bed of his room with the moon shining, resting on the small pouf was the suitcase given to him by the three fairies. Axel stares at it in contemplation, trying to decide would it be for the best to finally don his new attire?
He was tapping his feet, trying to decide if he should. Sure, he would be happy to finally break off from his past life as a nobody. Yet whenever he thinks of Roxas and whoever that person who still lingers on his memory and heart, he feels as if a part of him is still in need of a rescue. Maybe as much as he wanted to distance himself from the past life, these robes still had a significance to him. Axel makes a loud groan and slumps on his back on the bed. Here he was worried about clothes like high school girl about to go on a date…
"Looks like someone's having a rough time".
Axel shoots up and turned behind him to see Roxas standing in front of the door to the balcony in a ghostly form, much like Naminé. The nobody of Sora gave his best friend a warm smile as he walks around the bed and sits on the suitcase. Face to face with his old friend, Axel just stared at him, wondering if he was dreaming. But from the way Roxas smiled at him and the fact he isn't seeing those weird sheep that often plague his dreams (he didn't nor want to know why).
He lets out a shaky laugh while shaking his head. "Man…you barely aged at all…", he jokes. Roxas chuckled in response, smiling at him. "Has anyone aged these past few years?", Roxas asked with a friendly smile, "I mean Aqua and Ventus have been out for nearly twelve years and look at them now".
Strange aging aside, Axel runs his hand through his wild hair, looking at his old friend. "…its, great to see you again", he sighed. Roxas' smiles dimmed as he looked at his ethereal form, stretching his arms to emphasize his point. "Just wish it wasn't like this…", Roxas laments, frowning, "Being a ghost isn't as fun as Naminé says". Axel had a good feeling not being able to physically touch someone along with eating and doing practically anything was probably worse than being a nobody.
Roxas then points at Axel's lack of emerald teardrops. "Hey, you got rid of those tattoos!", he says. Axel scoffs with a wave of his hand, and says: "I don't cry anymore, remember". Then Roxas smirked and reminds him when he and Kairi started training, he did indeed cry. This made the man huff stubbornly before he frowned in sadness. Slowly the two friends' smiles died and in their place were looks of loss and mourn.
"Roxas…I'm not crazy right? There was somebody else with us, right?", Axel asked, "I mean, I know everyone doesn't remember but…".
"She was real…she was our friend…", Roxas affirms, his voice was low and ridden with pain. He placed a hand on his heart and says: "When Sora's heart was shattered back in Eos, there was someone else with us helping him…". He shakes his head as Axel sees the poor kid's eyes were watering with pain. "But I can't remember her, and when I try to…all I see is Kairi or Naminé but the pain…".
Same with Axel, unable to remember the girl and worse whenever those two come to mind, a girl with dark hair takes their form and the pain comes back in full. Roxas sniffles and hiccups, tugging his older friend's heartstrings. Even if he is an ethereal form, Axel gently places a hand on his friend's lap, making him look at him. Without tears in his eyes, refusing to break down in front of someone who needed him.
He gave his best friend one of his rarest smiles, gentle and friendly. "Ya never know what's gonna happen in that fight, for all we know she could be waiting for us to pull her out of the fire", he says. "We'll get her back, and then once we get your body going, we'll have all the sea-salt ice cream we can eat!", he promises. Roxas chuckled, rubbing his eyes to stop any tears flow out of his eyes and gave his best friend a grin.
Axel takes the suitcase after Roxas gets off and puts it back into the pocket dimension. Until he finds this girl and brings his best friend back home, these robes will be a part of him. And instead of going to sleep, Axel spent the whole night talking to his old friend.
A/N:
…I had to be dragged away from Final Fantasy VII remake for this chapter…wanna know how bad? I spent yesterday and Friday playing that game…and had only three pages done for this chapter…SOOOOOOO I spent all day getting this done…
…I'mma go play it now…
Two more chapters on the training arc, next chapter is NOT gonna be training but chill time. Trust me I need a break from fighting considering what's coming next!
Big thanks to VashTheStampede0409 for helping with Prompto's new arm weapons!
QUESTIONS!:
Q1: Thoughts on this chapter?
Q2: Happy to see Way to the Dawn back, I'm sure someone suggested it come back, can't remember who. Please say!
Q3: Chocobros abilities, like or hate?
Q4: The Islander clash? How was it?
Q5: The two conversations between Axel and Noctis?
Q6: Riku's new weapon?
Q7: What do you wanna see the next chapter?
Q8: Prompto's new weapons?
As always everyone, thanks for reading! Stay awesome but more importantly stay safe!
