Final Fantasy XV - Kingdom Hearts

Part 68

Summary: Two warriors of Light, the Chosen King and Keyblade Master, face an unseen Darkness.

*Month Twelve: Day Three hundred and sixty*

Five days.

Only five days (six technically) remaining for the guardians of light to finish their training and then take part in the great battle between light and darkness.

Once they reached the final month of their year-long training session, everyone had put two hundred percent into improving their strengths, all free time was spent honing their powers and whatever else needed to be ironed out. With the royal retinue having finally exceeding the limits of humanity, mastering the new powers given to them, and several sparring sessions showing the other they were ready for the clash.

The less trained keyblade wielders having finally graduated to novices to skilled veterans of the mystical weapon, evidenced by Axel holding his own against Noctis and Kairi at once and even managing to win over the princess, to Ventus finally able to stand against Aqua despite the vast gap of strength between the master and apprentice. And most importantly Sora having grown alongside his friends with all his training, mentored exclusively by Aqua while sparring with Riku.

The silver master is convinced whatever power his best friend had lost because of Xehanort had returned to him, and it only was evidenced when Sora finally won against him in one sparring session.

Today had started normally for Sora and Kairi, get up, dressed, and have some breakfast but when they exited the cottage, Riku was already waiting for them outside. He said Aqua wanted to have a word with them and said nothing more, leading them on. Curious and worried about whatever their master is concerned with, they followed him. His silence did not stop them from pestering him with questions and concerns, yet all he would do was walk onwards with a smirk on his lips.

When they came to a clearing with the others waiting, they see Aqua speaking to Mickey before she turned to her students. The king nods and walks away from her, just as she gestured them to come to her. The two islanders looked at each other before they nodded together and walked over, until Sora was stopped by Donald and Goofy, allowing Kairi to go ahead of them.

He looks at them both, searching for answers in their eyes yet there is nothing to glean from them. They were strong and hopeful yet there is pride in their eyes when they were focused on Sora. Goofy patted his shoulder kindly and strongly, somewhat like a father would do to encourage their son while Donald pats the boy's leg, comforting yet assuring him. He did not know exactly why they would feel this need to assure him of whatever comes, but he appreciated their kind gesture. Maybe he looked more worried than he thought.

"Good luck", says Goofy as Donald hands him a keychain. "You've got this", assured the duck. Once Sora took the chain, they leave him to join the others.

Kairi watched them, smiling at the bond before she clasped the pearl hanging below her neck, trying to brush off the nerves plaguing her mind. She feels a hand placed on her shoulder, kicking her worries and musings aside and turned to see Axel there. She expected him to smirk or tease her about her worries, but no. Instead in his green eyes, there is something warmer and brotherly in them, his smile was gentle and kind. Completely different from his usual ones, heck she never has seen him smile like this.

"No more worrying about whether or not you're good enough", he says, squeezing her shoulder, "Everyone here believes you've earned your place among us, and now you've gotta believe it yourself". Kairi stared at him with an open mouth, taken aback by the sheer honesty and genuine belief in her from him. Granted he never teased her about her doubts, nor did he ever downplay them, yet he never really addressed them. Having him speak to her as if she were someone he respected and the confidence in her shook her.

He then points to his head and says: "Got it memorized?".

She giggled and replicates his gesture with a smile, promising she indeed memorized his words. He squeezes her shoulder one more time and walks away to join the others. Sora joined her side the moment he is done with Donald and Goofy, and they stood before Aqua with Lunafreya standing next to her. The master of the keyblade gives her a nod, and without a word, the Oracle tapped the earth with her trident's end. A corridor of light opens before them, glowing with gentle white and yellow light.

"Follow me", instructs the master of the key, walking through the corridor. Together the islanders followed their master, embraced by the warmth and gentle light.

*?*

When they walked through it, to the surprise of the two teens they were no longer standing in the secret forest, but rather what could be space for all they know. Standing on a single small grey island of stone, surrounded by many floating islands and platforms of stone, planets, not worlds, hovering millions of miles away from them, cosmos trails surrounding them with billions of stars decorated around them.

They took in their surroundings with wide eyes and gasps of awe, looking around before their eyes fell onto Aqua's back. Suddenly they felt a change in the air as the corridor of light disappeared behind them, isolating them from the others and leaving only Aqua as their only company. Aqua turns to face them, her eyes held expectations yet great faith within them, facing her students.

"We have little time remaining before we cross swords against Xehanort", she reminds, "And today will be your final lesson". The islanders looked at each, surprised that there would be no more for her to mentor them on, then back at Aqua. She summons the Master's Defender and takes up her stance. "Your final lesson…is to face me", she instructs. "And I want both of you to come at me with every intent to win".

Kairi gave her master a look of worry as did Sora, though he was more suspicious of this. "Me and Kairi?", he asks, not wanting to misinterpret her words. Aqua nodded and said: "Correct, and no holding back. Come at me as if I were Xehanort himself". Kairi makes a small smirk on her face, and says: "You sure about this? Not to brag, but me and Sora aren't the same when we started".

Aqua raised a brow disapprovingly at the confidence of her student. "And you think *that* will matter in the fight? If you are not willing to give me your all, Kairi, then please stand aside", instructs her master. Kairi's smirk is wiped from her face and shock replaces it, never hearing her master sounding so…bossy like that. Here is when the princess realizes her master is dead set on this session, no more room for playful banter nor half measures.

Kairi calls for Destiny's Embrace as Sora calls for his Kingdom Key and the two take up their stance.

Without another word, Aqua makes the first move by dashing to them so quick she manages to get right behind them before either could comprehend it. It is only thanks to their quick reflexes they managed to spin around and identify her in time to parry her attack. The legendary keyblade was halted by the two wielders, a loud clang ringing out from their spot and across the cosmos. Sora was the one to stop her attack but even with his superior physical strength it still took him an extra dose of strength to not be thrown off his feet.

Kairi swung her keyblade at her master's waist while her keyblade was locked with Sora's. Only for Aqua to dislodge her key free of Sora and swipe against Kairi's, throwing it upwards and struck back at Sora when he tried to attack her. Both students combined their assault as keyblades clashed in the cosmos, the master using only one hand to parry and deflect the attacks of her students. She spins her keyblade with such elegance and grace yet with the strength of a dragon to counter them, never stepping back or surrendering ground.

A subtle look to each other, Kairi leaped away from Aqua and allowed Sora to continue the thrashing of keyblades without worrying about hitting Kairi. He started to use to handed strikes against his master, this time his strikes forces Aqua to replicate his stance by grabbing hers with both hands. While Sora kept Aqua busy, Kairi spins her keyblade in one hand, creating a ring of fire manifesting into a flare-based spell.

With it in a reverse grip, Kairi swung the flared ring at the two, Sora allowing Aqua's strike to knock him away to avoid the attack. The master meets Kairi's spell with her left hand aimed at the ring and fires a ray of blue ice at the ring, the ray immediately froze the roaring hot ring. She sliced the ring in half when it was turned into crystallized ice and aimed her hand at the girl. A sparkling chain of yellow lightning raced towards Kairi, nearly reaching her before she rolled away from it.

The static of the attack stung her leg though as it strikes a large boulder and obliterates it into dust. Kairi aimed her keyblade after rolling to her feet and fires off several balls of fire at her master, but Aqua just danced around her magical assault and easily evaded them all with what Kairi feared was the minimal effort. She easily closed the gap before her student and spun around, swinging her keyblade upward. Kairi blocked the attack by lifting her keyblade but the sheer unexpected power from Aqua throws her up in the air.

Sora rushes in to stop the master from flying up to meet Kairi in the air, his body glowing in a golden light. He yells as he performs his old signature move Ars Arcanum, striking at his master with incredible strength and speed. Even with her strength, the blue head's guard has quickly defeated thanks to Sora's strength, he almost lands a hit on her had she not cast a wall of magic just the second he brings down the keyblade on her. The shell-form barrier was strong enough to repel Sora's attack and bounce his key off it.

Exposed, Sora was kicked in the stomach by his master which sent him flying. He back-flipped mid-air and struck at the air, creating a sphere of red from the tip of his keyblade. He fires off several fiery rays at his master that swirled and danced in the air. Spinning her keyblade in front of her like a fan, she creates several spheres of light like a clock. The spheres fly to the rays and upon contact exploded, destroying both spheres and rays and resulting in a dense cloud of smoke.

Sora lands on his feet as the smoke evaporates, his master standing on the other side facing him down. She spins to her right, hands-on her keyblade, and fires a blue ray of light at Kairi, who was on a floating platform's side. The princess quickly leaps off it just before the beam touched her, destroying the platform she once rested on and jumps onto another platform. But her master refuses to let up, unleashing more rays onto the girl.

Kairi jumps from platform to platform as Sora charges in again to stop this attack. Together the two dashes toward Aqua, covering air and land and unleash a barrage of attacks onto the master. Once again Aqua kept up with them both, standing her ground while Kairi flips and air-dashes around her while at the same time attacking with Sora keeping the strength in check for the two. The hero's raw power against Aqua should have, normally, trounced her yet even with Kairi striking alongside him she kept up with both keyblade wielders.

Sora's attack is repelled by a swift retaliation from Aqua's keyblade and she grabbed Kairi's wrist and flung her to the boy. Sora was smacked by Kairi's body and both were thrown across the ground.

Kairi apologizes to him as she quickly scampered to her feet and yanked him back to his. They took up their stances again to face the master, not even panting or sweating from this bout. They both felt the pressure from her, the strength and magic she was using are beyond what she was like back in Eos, and even during their separate sessions with her, none of the two had ever seen her this strong. Kairi clenched her keyblade, pondering what would be the best method against her.

Sora looked at Kairi, and they both nodded. The boy swapped out his usual key and changes it into his Shooting Star keyblade. Quick as lightning, he changes into his Element Form and calls for the Arrow-Guns. Sora dashes into the air and begins to rain down arrows of light on Aqua. This makes the master dance and evades his arrows while at the same time strike at the arrows, leaving Kairi to gather up her magical energies.

She clenched the keyblade in hand and shifts into her Form change, Strike Form, and changes her keyblade into the Dual-Blade. Kairi rushes in during Aqua's dancing, catching her off guard and swings her blade at her. The master flips over her attack and her student, striking the arrows during her flip and lands behind the girl. Aqua raises her head at the girl as Kairi begins a storm of flashing steel on her master.

With her longer weapon covering range, distance, and having two blades attacking at once, Kairi regains control over the fight between her and Aqua, seeing her master was putting herself on the defense. Plus, even if Kairi had left opportunities for her to counterattack or even had an opening in her attacks, Sora covered his lover by firing arrows at specific points during the fight where he knew for certain Kairi would not be hit.

From the air and ground the combined might between Sora and Kairi had put Aqua into a very precarious situation where the tide was slowly but certainly turning against her. She is utterly amazed by the synergy between these two, it is as if their hearts were one with each other. Sora knew where to shoot where Kairi would not be hit accidentally and she knew where to strike to give him a chance to hit her master.

This display of teamwork is amazing and greater than she had seen before, but it would not be enough. She knows they were more capable than this. Aqua raises her left hand, a sphere of violet appearing in her hand. A large pillar of violet magic rose from her feet, encasing her in a barrier that expanded and forces the two to get out of range. Sora and Kairi leap away from the barrier a few feet, but then tendrils stretch out of the barrier and begin to charge at them like arrows, breaking off the barrier.

Sora and Kairi combined their evasive leaps and jumping with their striking, Kairi cutting the violet chasing arrows while Sora blasted them with his guns. The arrows that didn't hit them destroyed the ground near them, likely trying to trip them up or catch them off guard and give them as little legroom as possible. When they were forced to the ledge of their platform, Aqua condensed her barrier pillar into her keyblade, cloaking it in purple magic. Grasping her keyblade in both hands, she raises it and aimed it at the two.

A large sphere of black and purple forms on the tip of Master's Defender, the power from it blowing the broken debris aside with a wild gust of wind ran wild through the platform. Aqua fires the dark sphere at the two, breaking the stone beneath it as if it were ripping through the earth.

Kairi immediately stepped in front of Sora and raised her hand, bathed in the golden light of a princess of light. "Mighty Guard!", exclaims Kairi. A large shell-wall of dark and light blue appeared before her just as the sphere reached the two. It collides with the barrier, a loud "bang" noise booms across the field, the cosmos. The boulders around the platform were blown apart by Kairi's barrier and Aqua's attack clashing, yet even with the superior magical attack Kairi's wall did not break nor crack under pressure.

The princess grits her teeth as she poured her light into the defense, allowing Sora to jump into the air well over ten feet. He flips in the air as his Arrow Guns changed into the Magic Launcher and aimed it at the sphere that was trying to break through Kairi's wall. One glance towards each other, communicating with each through their hearts. Kairi turned back to the sphere, dismissed her keyblade, and raises her other hand to form a small dome of yellow magic around herself, lessen the magic for the guard.

Sora fires his giant sphere of magic at his master's. Their spheres immediately exploded the moment they were in contact with each other, a flash of light blasts forth and nearly blinded them all. The explosion created from it utterly eradicated the platform the keyblade wielders stood on, but fortunately for them, all the amount of smaller floating platforms drifting lazily in the emptiness of the cosmos provided plenty of ways to get around.

Once the explosion occurred all three were thrown off the platform, allowing themselves to be thrown off and used Flowmotion to skirt and hop on the platforms until they all reached another large battleground worthy platform.

The apprentices of the master land on their feet and faced their master, looking at the two with respect and approval. Despite their turnaround and halting Aqua's attack, neither of the islanders believed she was running out of steam. Aqua then sighed and folds her arms, studying them.

"I'm impressed", she confesses. The two islanders relaxed their stances and looked at her. Aqua gives them both a proud smile before saying: "You two are almost completely in sync with each other, and your strengths have grown so much since we started". The level of pride in her voice caught the two of them off guard, never hearing her speak so genuine about their performance. "But…now's the moment where you two are going to show me if you are truly ready".

Aqua raises her keyblade and crosses over her chest as her body glows in white light with glyphs of petals appearing around her. Then the light around her shines brilliantly and divine it forces the two to shield their eyes with their arms. Grey dust from the ground is thrown up into clouds, the powerful wind rushing past them, and even made the two keyblade wielders stand firm before this strength.

The light fades as the wind dies out, granting them mercy on their eyes, lowering their arms. They stared in awe at the sight before them, their master in her keyblade armor. Except not in her original armor.

Aqua's new armor is mostly colored in shades of silver, grey and blue, in homage to her original minus the black. Notable additions include a silver breastplate resembling an upside-down crescent moon and with two grey sashes crisscrossing over her chest with her emblem proudly stamped on it, colored in sapphire.

The armor on her arms was grey and blue that represented her older form just in far more pristine shine, with each elbow having a short wing curved blades on them. Her shoulder pads were similar to the armor on her elbows but akin to wings of an angel with dark blue metallic feathers that glowed with magic glimmering.

A single dark grey/blue sash around her hips with a single silver wrap holding it, her legs adorned in silver and blue steel with two prongs on each knee and one on the back of each heel. A cape is that of a navy color with grey stars and half a crescent moon etched on the back. Her helmet's visor was dark like the original except instead of a smooth visor it had sharp teeth patterns on the top and bottom of the visor, two prongs on each side of the helmet, dark blue lines for the jawline.

In her right hand is neither Master's Defender nor Brightcrest, but a new keyblade. The blade is long as her master's keyblade with crystal see-through blue water that mimicked a river, the blade's teeth are three points of a star with crystal spheres on the tips with the end of the blade was flat, crystal blue. The ring guard is silvery and grey, jagged in the shapes of crescent moons, the handle is grey. Finally, the key chain is her emblem except dark blue.

Her keyblade remade, the Queen of Storms.

The master raises her keyblade at the two, silent as her students take in that the training gloves had been thrown off and burnt to dust. Their master had no intention of restraining herself and the aura of aggression from her only told them that no more half measures.

The true battle had begun.

Sora quickly switched out his original key for Oblivion and just narrowly managed to block Aqua's attack, her keyblade brought down onto him. The collision from their attack sent of a monstrous shockwave that splits the small boulders surrounding them creates a small crater beneath their feet and even tossed Kairi away into the air. Sora grits his teeth as horrible vibrations ran through his arms up to his shoulders, never in all his journeys did blocking someone so strong felt so utterly agonizing. He throws his master's key off and swings at her, only for Aqua to retaliate with a swift swing that knocks his key out of his hands.

Sora gasped in shock for less than a second for Aqua placed her armored hand on his chest and fires off a force push that rocketed the boy across the platform. He crashes through a boulder and bounces off the ground until he slammed into another boulder with a heavy crash. He falls to his side, groaning in pain and coughing out blood, shaking his head from the agony. The boy barely had time to raise his head to see his master teleporting above him and fired a barrage of icicles at him.

He was saved by Kairi intervening and responding to Aqua's attack with a vortex of flames that melted her attack. The flames did not reach her but Kairi used her version of the warp-strike to close the distance and struck at her master with wild swings. In the air, the two keyblade wielders dueled with Kairi using two-handed strikes as Aqua repelled her attacks with just one hand. Her master teleports when Kairi swung at her and reappeared atop a boulder.

Kairi lands on a single stone pillar as Aqua lifts her keyblade and holds in front of her with both hands, flames encircling around it until the key shifts into a new weapon. Now in the hands of the master as her armor turns crimson and red is a wide two-edged masamune. Wide as Gladiolus' original sword with many details representing Storm Fall but bathing in flames, Aqua holds it and dashes toward Kairi.

The princess of light jumps in the air as Aqua slashed the stone pillar in half before she air-dashed after her student. Kairi aimed her keyblade and cried: "Blizzaja!". Kairi's entire keyblade is shrouded in frost as shards of frost form on the teeth of her keyblade, a large crystal manifesting before she fired a car-sized chunk of ice at her master. Aqua grabbed her sword and holds it upwards, her body is bathing in intense roaring flames like a cloak.

"Hellfire!".

Aqua's body is then shielded in a roaring pillar of flames that rose right below the two and erupts up to Kairi. Her powerful ice spell is instantly melted into water and at the same time evaporates into nothing. Shocked, Kairi quickly erects a barrier in a desperate attempt to shield herself from being eaten by the flames. Her dome was swallowed quickly by the flames, she could feel the heat rivaling a volcano wash over her and sweats profusely as her magical wards slowly crackled from the attack.

She could not even open her eyes from the intense heat. Aqua reaches her and slammed her sword on her barrier and knocked her out of the pillar of flames, through a mountain and back to the ground, her barrier holding on long enough for her to land on her feet and dig her heels to stop herself from smashing into a wall. Kairi pants from the exertion of her use of mana and wiped the sweat off her head, looking to see Aqua landing a few feet before her, still crimson.

Before Aqua attacked her though, she spins around to block a flying Oblivion that had just narrowly missed her shoulder with a loud clang. But the weapon is back in hands as suddenly Sora appears right before Aqua. He made several quick strikes at her as she blocked his attacks, but his surprise attack caught her off guard and he struck her in the stomach with the teeth of Oblivion and pushes her back from him.

Although the attack was superficial at best given the density and toughness of her armor, Sora took satisfaction he managed to hit his master. The master in question stares down the boy, now in his Crownsguard Form with ghostly blue light cloaking his body as Oblivion is surrounded by fluttering crystals. Sora warps to Aqua as her reverts to her normal armor form, their weapons clashing with the boy back on equal footing with her.

Sora takes a few hits on the cheek, shoulders, and sides of his stomach yet he managed to land several hits of his own on Aqua, though there were merely bumps and dents to her armor in comparison. Their fight grows intense as Aqua and he started to move across the field, striking at each other. Sora phases from one of her attacks and appeared behind her and slammed the keyblade onto her back. Even then Aqua managed to spin around and halt another attack of his, seemingly unharmed.

Sora warps to the top of a cliff, gripping the keyblade with both hands several ghostly crystal-like keyblades appeared around him, a total of six including his own. He lets out a yell as the weapons rocketed toward Aqua as he warps at her. The master dashes backward, using her keyblade and magic to deflect the weapons while Sora appeared in front of her with his own, swinging Oblivion at her while occasionally grabbing the ghostly weapons that became physical.

They both flew across the battlefield, Sora striking at her wildly with every ounce of his strength and speed, splitting the ground and mountains near him while a few of his hits did land on Aqua. He heard a few grunts and hisses of pain from her, indicating he was finally harming her at long last. Sora grabs one keyblade, warping back from her while leaving the other keys to keep her occupied. Sora crosses both keys across his chest, the ground shaking from him gathering up power.

The moment the final ghostly keyblade strikes Aqua, Sora zooms across the field and swings both keyblades at the master. However, before he could open his arms, Aqua slammed Queen of Storms right in the middle of Sora's keys, effectively stopping his attack. The boy stares at her in utter disbelief, horrified she had the speed and reaction time to halt him even when she was dealing with every key he used to keep her off balance.

His ghostly key disappeared but he did not register his missing weapon. Aqua struck at him and sends him five feet from her, earning a yell from him. Sora rolled onto his side and back to his feet quickly just as Aqua's keyblade shifts into another weapon while her armor takes on a rocky brown color. Her keyblade takes the form of an otsuchi, a giant hammer, much like the masamune it had a lot of Storm Fall's design.

Aqua grabbed the gigantic weapon that none of their party would ever dream of her wielding and with all her strength, she slammed it right into the stone of their battlefield. Not only did the whole field shake as if an earthquake was occurring, but giant spikes of stone rose around her like a fort, pillars of stone reaching high as small homes and the earth splitting apart. A row of spikes raced towards Sora, making him leap and stay off the ground by using Flowmotion to zip around the pillars and run/jump on them.

When he uses Oblivion to latch onto a pillar and spin around it to give him a boost of speed, he jumps into the air and sees Aqua smacking a giant boulder at him. Sora responds to her attack by slicing it in half and air-dashes towards her. She levitates more stones and bends them to turn into pikes to launch at the boy. Sora, undaunted, flips over them and slices some. He roars as he reached Aqua and brings down Oblivion on her.

"Gaia's Wrath!", Aqua yelled.

Aqua slammed the hammer into the ground, a burst of stone pillars arose to shield her and some smacked Sora, repelling him and sending him back into the sky. The master rides a rising pillar upward that exceeds the speed of the others and in no time she stands above her pillars. Aqua jumps off her pillar backward and when she was halfway down, she struck the combined towers with enough force to break them into hundreds of pieces and fires the broken stone at Sora.

Sora managed to luckily slice and cut several stones from pummelling him into a paste. However, he reverts to his normal form, weary and wounded too badly to effectively keep himself from being hit several times by the stones his master fired at him. Sora falls to the ground with just as his master, like himself, reverts to her original form. Slowly he gets to his feet, not out of the battle yet as Aqua stands on top of a cliff, staring down at him through her visor.

Sora grits his teeth, body aching with pain as he staggers in his stance, his keyblade felt so heavy in his hands yet he refuses to give up. The master's keyblade, much to Sora's dismay, shifts again into another weapon while her armor takes on a jade color. Now in her hands is a yumi, a much longer than average bow while on her back were arrows of wind along with small green tendrils of wind on her weapon.

"Oh come on…give me a break…", he groaned out, realizing what was coming next. Aqua didn't disappoint.

Aqua aimed the bow and fired an onslaught of arrows at Sora. Before they reached him, Sora was suddenly yanked from the battlefield, and the next thing he knew he was flying. He blinks and looked to see he was riding on Kairi's glider as she drives them to safety, herself armored up. When the arrows struck the earth, large tornados of wind explode and decorated the battlefield, their suction so strong it nearly yanked the two keyblade wielders back into the field and causes Kairi to nearly go off course.

Kairi swerves and rides around the tornados as Aqua uses Flowmotion to chase them across the mountains and cliffs, firing arrows to the ground and occasionally at the two to try and strike Kairi. The youngest keyblade wielder stays on course, keeping herself and Sora from being sucked up and ripped apart, even with the number of tornados her master is making. Until Aqua teleports just a few feet from her students and lets loose a single arrow at them.

Panicking, Kairi turns a hard left that just narrowly evades the arrow and flies closer to the ground. Seeing her student's quick thinking, Aqua stands on a pillar and aims her bow upward and bathes it in green light.

"Call of the Crosswinds!".

Aqua fired a single arrow into the sky, watching it soar to the heavens before it descends to the earth. Sora looks behind them to see the arrows explode into hundreds of arrows, darkening the cosmos skies as they rained down onto them. With each arrow striking the ground, large tornados swarmed the two and despite Kairi's best efforts, they were both sucked up into the tornados. Yelling and trying to stabilize themselves with dozens of tornados fighting each other, they could not even keep track of each other.

Kairi tries to control herself in the ocean of tornados, only to escape on and be sucked into another. Kairi grunts as she is thrown out of one tornado through the top and uses her magic to regain control over herself and uses it to stay above them. Through her visor she sees Sora being spun around within the dozens of tornados. She uses her magic to shoot one beam of light that upon contacting Sora, engulfing him in a barrier.

With him shielded and safe, Kairi summons Dearly Beloved and calls up all her magic within her. Her armor crackled with lightning as sparks of gold flashes around her, she raises her keyblade high and lets out a cry: "Thundaja!".

Ten bolts as wide as skyscrapers roared down around Kairi, striking the tornados. The explosion of wind versus lightning destroyed the platforms around them and the very one they stood on, bursts lightning explodes from the ground and obliterates the ground. The light so bright it could have blinded anybody.

Once the spell ended, Kairi recalled her glider and zooms to Sora as he falls. She catches him and together they fly onto the last large platform unharmed by Kairi's magic. They land on the platform where Aqua waits for them, reverted to her normal form but Kairi sensed her master's magic had dropped to a good portion, but it paled to her lower amount. The princess and Sora hopped off her glider and landed before her, keyblades in hand.

"She's…really strong…", Kairi compliments, dismissing her helmet.

"Yeah…maybe even stronger than Ardyn…", Sora concurred.

He lets out a weak chuckle, the vast gap of power between them, and Aqua was staggeringly clear, not that he was completely surprised. This is a master after all. He felt his confidence dip slightly, wondering if he is having so much trouble against Aqua, then just how would he fare against someone like Xehanort? All his training and yet he still cannot see himself beating Xehanort and the doubt that plagued him since he failed his exam came back at full force.

Kairi herself could feel those own inner voices telling her she was out of her element, that this before her is someone she strived to be, to be that strong to keep those she loved safe. Is she strong enough or was this a horrible reality check to remind her she was still nothing but a hindrance to her friends? All her training and now before her, she was still unable to match her master's strength.

Both unaware of their master refusing to give up on them, never had her confidence and faith in the two been so strong. Deep within her heart, she knows they can do this.

Kairi shakes her head, stubbornly. No, she was not that weakling anymore. She is not that same helpless girl who was forced to be put on the side-lines, no more would she be a burden to Sora. This training was to make her stronger, to be able to push herself to be able to be her lover's shield against the worst of times. Her time with Axel, her time in Eos, and nowhere, they would be for nothing. Not while she had a say in the matter.

She turned to Sora and gives him a smile that evaporated her doubts. "But that doesn't matter!", she asks, "Together, we can beat anyone, right?". Sora looks at her, then to his keyblade, and feels that gentle warmth in his pocket, reminding him of the strength that had kept him pushing onwards no matter what comes their way. The strength that helped him keep her safe. Now with her by his side, as an equal, he feels invigorated and even stronger.

With a large grin, he nods. "Yeah, you and me, we can take on anyone!", he agrees. He reaches into his pocket, pulling out the old keychain Donald and Goofy had given him. His friends are what gives him the strength to surmount any trial that laid before him, and with Kairi, his source of strength that not even the darkest beings could halt, he knew within his heart he, no, they could do this. With one final glance to each other, they nodded and yelled: "Let's go!".

Kairi dons her helmet again and dashes towards Aqua as Sora equips his new chain and the very moment it connected to his keyblade; an overwhelming surge of power enveloped around him. He flips in the air and yells out as light engulfs his body.

The princess struck at her master, their keys meeting on the field with a loud clang that rumbled within the earth before they unleash a flurry of strikes upon each other. Sparks covering them as hits landed on their armors yet neither faltered in their clash, both dead set on winning the bout between each other.

Aqua baths her keyblade in roaring flames while Kairi retaliates by engulfing hers in ice, clashing with her master as the opposing elements clashed. Each swung from their keys they would swap out magic and face each other's opposing element, their bouts ending in draws, thunder crushing the wind while the flames were doused by water, and so on. Aqua ripostes Kairi's attack and struck at her with a downward swipe, hitting her and blasting her away from her.

Kairi's armor now bears a large tear in the chest but she is fortunately unharmed. She pants from the surprise of the attack and grits her teeth. She rushes at Aqua again as her master lifts her free hand and makes the earth bend to her will. She aimed her hand as stone pillars and spikes shot up from the ground. Using her magic to break off some of the points she fired them at her student who meets these stone spikes with her magic.

Kairi aims her key and cried: "Rays of Light!". Her key fires off twenty thin rays of golden light at her master, destroying the spikes charging at her while she sides steps and dances around the rising pillars. Aqua leaped into the air while being chased by Kairi's attack, crying out: "Reflect!". A dome of bright light covered the master and the very moment Kairi's rays struck her, they not only bounced off but were redirected at Kairi.

Before the rays could strike their creator, a wild hurricane of swords suddenly appeared before Kairi and eviscerated the rays like they were thrown into a blender. Kairi and Aqua land on a mountain, joining the princess was Sora. Except in a new form that Kairi swore reminded her of one of his older powerful forms.

The Ultimate Form. Sora's clothes are now adorning a silvery-white and black color scheme, like Final Form he once donned. Black wisplike stripes can be seen on his pant legs and three crowns on each of his sleeves. Now in his hand was the legendary weapon few keyblade wielders have ever wielded, Aqua herself at one point even, a fabled key that could rival even Xehanort's keyblade. Ultima Weapon.

Sora was even hovering above the ground, light surged around him as power practically seeped from him. He turned to Kairi, together they nod and back to Aqua. Together they glowed in their shared light, a blend of golden and white as Kairi's armor glows and even repaired the tear on her chest plate. They both zoomed towards Aqua, Kairi's rays of light surrounding her while swords fly around the boy.

Aqua lifts her keyblade quickly as her armor glows in violet light, shifting her keyblade into the strongest form she had in her arsenal. The weapon shifts quickly into a beautiful and elegantly made katana, grey and blue steel with the hilt in the form of her Wayfinder with the handle longer than average katanas and a single token dangling from the pommel which is her emblem. Her armor turns black and red with her helmet morphing and shaping into what looked to be a dark knight's helm.

The three collide with their weapons with all the might within their bodies and hearts, a trinity of light clashing. The very second the weapons struck, a burst of some of the purest and strongest light explodes in a pillar that reached the heavens. The ground splitting and breaking apart as the three flew in the air, striking with keyblade and magic. Their steel ringing out across the cosmos, the master striking away one to deal with another while the combined union of the apprentices' light pressed hard on her.

Sora's attacks covered nearly every space while Kairi's impossibly unending pool of magic covered where he could not. Aqua had taken more hits than she ever expected from the two, her armor dented and battered, though not as much as Kairi's and Sora's clothes were getting closer to becoming tattered. She managed to finally land a devastating hit on Kairi that cut her armor and throw her back to the ground with her going through a mountain.

This leaves just Sora to deal with. Even in the skies and despite Sora's army of weapons, Aqua's katana cuts through them and forced the boy to use his main arm. Their weapons clash and sparked while their magic was met at standstills, their attacks even in strength and accuracy to the point where it felt neither were pushing the other. Aqua uses her magic to teleport back to the ground to give her some space from Sora.

While she takes the ground, Sora remained in the air as his swords swirl around him and glow in the light. He grabbed his main blade as he readied himself for the final clash with his master as she sheathed her katana, holding it by her side while bending her knees in a stance. Without a word from either, they both rocketed towards them, crying out their attack names.

"Ultimate Finish!", cried Sora.

"Shin-Zantetsuken!", declares Aqua.

A flash of light beamed for a second, Sora and Aqua now on opposite sides of each other. Sora's multiple swords suddenly shined with several blade sized cuts and then they all fell apart like broken glasses and he falls to one knee. Aqua's armor fared better than his swords but it slowly reached the pinnacle point of breaking apart and she feels the pain from the attacks finally.

The master turned to Sora slowly try to stand on his feet, but the damage had been done and from the way he had one eye closed and hissing through his clenched teeth, she believed he is on the last ounce of his will power.

Then before she could put him out of the fight, Sora suddenly is encased in light for a brief second and when it fades, there he stands in Kairi's armor minus the helmet. Aqua gasped and only had a second to stop Kairi's attack from the distance. Her katana turning back to her keyblade in time for her to raise and block a stream of light that immediately pushed her back despite her heels digging into the ground. The large stream would have been enough to decimate her armor had she not blocked it.

Using, regretfully, another large portion of her depleting mana, Aqua teleports out of the direction of the beam and reappears a few feet from Sora and sees Kairi warp-striking towards her. The master counters her attack by erecting a wall of stone in front of her and them jumps to the top of the wall. Kairi slices through the wall and brought it down too late for Aqua to tumble and fall, but she instantly casts gravity on her master.

Trapped in a small black ball of stars and magic, Aqua is thrown back down to the earth to meet her student once more. She slammed on the ground but rolled onto her side and stares down at her student. Unlike herself, however, Kairi was panting and her body showed her armor may have stayed off more grievous wounds, yet it was clear she is on her last legs. Aqua could sense her magic had reached its conclusion and figured that gravity spell was her last attempt to deal damage to her.

Even still, she sees Sora joining her side, staggering and weakly yet the moment they stood together, the fire within their eyes burned even brighter. Kairi dismisses her armor from him and together with shaking limbs from sheer exhaustion, they take up their stance again and ready for the next attack their master was going to throw at them.

Unbeknownst to either of them, Aqua could see the light within their hearts and sees the dark within Sora's is contained. Many instances he could have gone wild with his Rage-Form and maybe even turn the tide against her yet she saw the control he had over it. The bond those two shared, the way they fought together as if they were one mind and heart, their strength surpassing any keyblade. She smiles behind her visor.

"That's enough", she declares.

Her armor and keyblade dismissed, showing the two she was wounded too. While not as bad as her students, she certainly felt like she had been through the worst those two had done. She was going to feel all this in the morning.

Her students gave her confused and baffled looks before they dismissed their keyblades as the corridor of light opens behind Aqua. "Come, we're heading back", she says. "H-hey, wait, what was the point behind this?", Kairi said taking a step but then flinches and nearly stumbles, being caught by Sora who flinched as well. Aqua replied: "Later. Come and heal".

*Secret Forest*

Once the three returned, almost immediately Sora and Kairi were taken by Riku and Axel, having the two practically collapsed and losing consciousness. The master told the two to take them back to the cottage and have Donald and Lunafreya heal them while she speaks to Mickey. She assured the others they would be informed what this trial was after the two awaken. With that, the other dispersed and headed off.

The master sighs before she nearly collapsed to the ground, being caught by Gladiolus. "Hot damn, Blue…", Gladiolus remarks, lifting her and throws one of her arms over his shoulder. "You look like shit".

"I feel like beaten shit, yes…", Aqua concurred, groaning in pain. The fact she swore only affirmed Gladiolus' worries she was probably in a state that could only rival near death. Bruises decorating her exposed skin, cuts, and wounds with stains of her crimson blood painting her clothes, her cheeks bruised too along with some nicks. He didn't want to imagine the aches her body must be enduring. "Hang on, we'll get you patched up there…", he promises, helping her get back to the cottage. He would have carried her but despite liking to be pampered by him on the off occasion, he knows the woman's pride as a master was at stake.

Not that it would stop him from taking good care of her when they got to their room of course.

*Later*

As night falls and after the trio of the keyblade users healed up, Sora and Kairi were currently waiting in their room waiting for the call. After they were taken to their room and healed up, Riku had told them to just wait around and rest up until Aqua called for them.

Sora busied himself by pacing around the room while Kairi sat on the bed with her hands clasped and pondered what their master was up to. The fight itself gave her little clue as to what she was planning, she thought it was to see if she and Sora were prepared for what Xehanort was conjuring up for them yet the battle felt as if Aqua was trying to maul them. Never had her master shown such power before, even in Eos and today had broadened Kairi's views on her, wondering if that is the true strength of a master.

The fact even together with Sora at their fullest they still ended the battle at a standstill, neither had been defeated and despite how tired and hurt they were she still believed they could have won through perseverance and will alone.

Their door opened and Riku peeked in, saying: "Alrighty, we've kept you both in suspense long enough, come on".

Without waiting for a reply, Riku walked off. Chasing him for answers, the two younger wielders followed him out of the cottage and back to the training field once again. There the party outside of Mickey and Aqua sat down at the sidelines, watching them intently and without a word. Kairi tried not to let her nerves show as the suspense is slowly killing her, what exactly was going on here?

Riku and the king stand side by side as Aqua addressed the two. For the first time since they knew her, none of them could tell what was going through her mind, her eyes were guarded and somewhat reminded them of Yen Sid. Just somehow…more nerve-wracking.

"We're coming to the end of our training, and soon we'll be taking part in the war that split one world into thousands", Aqua says, firm and strong. "At first, as many of you know, it was to help our friends prepare for Xehanort and his vessels…but as time went on, I confess, I had another motive".

She looked to her apprentices, both standing straight when her gaze fell to them like good pupils. Kairi held her breath as Sora resists that nervous prone fist-clenching he does, neither speaking. Aqua summons her keyblade and holds up to look at it, to show everyone it. "Our time in Eos has helped me grow not just as a wielder of the keyblade but as a master as well. Not only that, but it helped me see the potential you two carried within you".

"Kairi", she starts, making Kairi stand even straighter. "You, possibly among all of us, have had the least experience as a guardian of light, and many probably would say you shouldn't be amongst us because of your status as a princess of light", Aqua says. "And yet not only have you shown excellence as a keyblade wielder, your aid has not only saved one of our own, but you've displayed bravery, loyalty, and strength beyond what anyone could expect from you".

Kairi held back the little sniffle in her throat, stinging sensations running amok in her eyes as all of her gaggle of friends nodded and silently agree with what Aqua is saying. Joy swells within her heart, not being seen as a princess but a true member of the guardians, she didn't think anything could top being praised by Sora, but this is a definite close second.

"Sora", Aqua says, turning to him next. She makes a small sigh but says: "Truth be told, I don't even know where to start with you. But I'll try anyway". She clears her throat and lowers her keyblade. "Between saving the worlds from Xehanort's heartless and nobody, saving so many of us, myself included, and bringing another set of guardians to us, accidental or otherwise. Its thanks to you, we are all here, and have a fighting chance against Xehanort. And to top it all off, despite you not being chosen at first, you have shown and demonstrated exactly what makes you a worthy choice of the keyblade".

Sora looked lost for words, genuinely unable to think. He never before felt such gratitude for all he had done, everything from day one he did it because he followed his heart. Sure, he did not do anything this for glory or a reward, but to have someone be this thankful for all he had done, and even praise him despite not being chosen from day one. He smiles softly back, nodding to his master.

Aqua nodded in turn before she turned to Riku and Mickey. "Can you two vouch for them? Do you believe they've earned their place?". Now the two glanced at each other, concerned. Was there something they were not informed about? Were there concerns about them being part of the battle?

"Yup, wholeheartedly!", Mickey says.

"I think so, without a doubt", Riku concurs with a nod.

Aqua nodded and turned to their friends, Axel, Donald, and Goofy standing up. "And you three? What do you think?". Donald and Goofy both gave thumbs up while Axel merely smirks and salutes Kairi. With a smile, Aqua turned back to her students.

"Then, as a master of the keyblade, I, Aqua, herby acknowledge you two, as masters of the keyblade".

Sora and Kairi's bodies loosened up as the words as they were registered in their minds. Sora's eyes were wide as they can be while Kairi repeated quietly what Aqua just said, unable to believe it. She knows Sora deserved a second chance, absolutely and knows if he hadn't been interrupted by Xehanort he could have, no, WOULD have made master. Herself she never even considered worthy of it, let alone Aqua of all people believing she deserved the title.

She looks at Sora, seemingly unable to accept he had finally become something he had tried to obtain for so long. "A-Are…you sure?", he whispered, low and soft, almost too low for Aqua to hear. The master smiles warmly and gently placed a hand on his shoulder, prompting him to look up at her. "You would have become one before, but now after everything you did along with how strong your heart is, there is no doubt in my heart you are worthy". She turns to Kairi and says: "You have shown to be worthy of it, not because of your royal blood but because of your feats, strengths and that the light within you".

"As far as I am concerned, no, as far as everyone here is concerned, there are none who deserved those titles than you two", she affirms warmly and strongly.

Sora and Kairi looked to each other one more time before they started to sob and hug Aqua. She holds them close as everyone cheered the two, praising them and congratulating them all. The master held her students as they kept thanking her, she sheds a tear of joy for them.

"I'm so proud of you two", she thinks to herself…

*Month Twelve: Day three hundred and sixty-five*

The day has come at long last. A year together, stronger than ever and ready for whatever comes next, the party of fourteen leaves the Secret Forest with renewed strengths and hopes for the battle ahead. The moment they walk out, their final day of peace will be all they will have before the fates of all worlds, the fate of the realm of light, will be decided.

Sora glances back to the forest one more time, thanking it for the memories it gave him and marking it as the place where he finally became a master. He feels his hand being grasped gently, turned to his fellow master, Kairi with a beaming smile.

"Let's go", she says with a smile.

Together they exited the forest…stronger than ever, but more connected…

A/N:

We are in the endgame now folks, the training arc concluded.

Now before somebody says: "Wait, shouldn't they be going to fight Xehanort on the seventh day?", Ardyn said they had "seven" days before the war, meaning after the seventh, THEN they fight.

I know a few will argue Kairi shouldn't be made a master yet when we compare her to Sora, but…who's gonna complain?

QUESTIONS!

Q1: Thoughts on this chapter?

Q2: How do you like the ceremony?

Q3: Thoughts on Aqua's armor, weapons, and specials? If ya get the references you are instantly awesome!

Q4: How did you like this arc altogether?

Q5: What are you excited about next?

Q6: Happy to see Ultimate Weapon?

Q7: Should Donald and Goofy explain where they got the token for Ultimate Weapon?

By the way, according to an artist on tumbler who does a LOT of KH stuff (some awesome ones by the way) they showed off an old image of the original kh game where Sora could in fact summon Bahamut. What are your thoughts on that? I would say that's pretty awesome!

As always everyone, thanks for reading! Stay awesome but more importantly stay safe!