Final Fantasy XV - Kingdom Hearts

Part 75

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

"So, wait a second, there's a THIRD Riku running around?", Gladiolus asks, incredulously.

"Kinda sort've? I dunno, he just popped out of nowhere like a ghost and then weird stuff happened, and bam, replica for Naminé", explains Noctis.

"How many clones are there…?", asks the shield quietly as he and Noctis race down the canyon leading into the deepest parts of the labyrinth. After regaling Gladiolus, the tale of his previous fight, Noctis pondered how far along Sora had or the others had gotten since his separation and his concerns for his company grew as time passes them. While he was sure Riku had to be somewhere closer to Xehanort by now, he had no idea where Ignis could be.

Along with his chamberlain's whereabouts being unknown to himself, he feared for Prompto's well-being more so. If he ran into someone from the organization on his own, even with all his training and new weapons he would at best hold off long enough to wear them down. He prayed someone is with him during this clash, all the while pondering just how many had fallen so far on either side of this war, and hoping to Kingdom Hearts itself his friends were okay.

"Noct, Gladio!".

They both stopped in their tracks and turn their eyes down another canyon to see Ignis running towards them, looking relieved. "It is about time I found *someone*, I've been running around this maze for what feels like hours", he sighed as he joined his brothers. Noctis sighs in relief at the sight of his brother while Gladiolus smirked at him, and says: "Didn't look too hard, we've just got done with Terra and that Sora lookalike".

Ignis furrowed his brow in confusion, turning to Noctis. "We got Terra back, freed his heart from Xehanort's control, and that Vanitas guy? Yeah, turns out he looked like Sora if he went evil sith lord on us", surmises the king. Ignis pushes up his glasses with a quiet hum, likely taking in the fact there happened to be a "fourth" Sora lookalike running around the place. "Right…at any rate, Demyx had arrived earlier and has procured Naminé's replica", he explains, "It is safely in the hands of Ienzo and Ansem the Wise".

"Great, so once we finish off Xehanort, we'll get put Naminé's heart into the replica and boom, we got her back", Gladiolus says, "And Noct says you took out Xigbar and that evil Riku, right?".

"Correct", Ignis affirms, "The loathsome man is finally out of our hairs for good". He then turns to Noctis and says: "And you say Terra has returned to us?". Noctis nods: "Yeah, he's just resting up with Aqua and Ven before they help us with Xehanort".

"GUYS!".

The trio of men turned around to see a speeding Prompto practically flying down the corridor in a sprint they had never seen him perform. Even kicking up clouds of dust from behind in his race. Only when he brakes himself and just barely managed to stop from crashing into the trio did he take a breath. Hands-on his knees while bending slightly, panting exhaustedly, and taking in large gulps of air, he raises his sweaty face to the others with panic.

"X-Xemnas…h-he's…", he pants but he is so out-breath the others feared he is close to collapsing. Ignis pats his back as Gladiolus hands him a stamina potion Aqua had made before they came. "Slow down Prompto, take a breath and start again", encourages Ignis. The gunner tore off the cap of the potion and scarfed it down in a single gulp, tossing the bottle aside as his body glowed green for a moment and then his breathing calms down to a more slow and natural pace.

"Now then, what happened?", Ignis asks.

"KAIRI! That lightsaber using nobody Xemnas kidnapped her!", Prompto shouts. Now all eyes widened in fear as Noctis grabbed his shoulder and asks: "And Sora? Is he ok?". "He ran off after her, me and Axel stayed behind to deal with Saix…Isa…GAH that one with the blue hair, a-a-and then Roxas just shows up, and we rescued Xion!", he rambled but then Gladiolus shakes his shoulder and stops him.

"Whose Xion?", he asked.

"That girl Axel and Roxas knew!", he reveals, "B-B-But she looks like Kairi! They're healing up and I just ran after Sora, got lost, and was wandering around this place like a lost tourist until I saw you guys!".

"ANOTHER lookalike? How many of them are there!?", Gladiolus groaned as he rubbed his head. "Forget about that!", Noctis ordered, "If Xemnas brought Kairi to Xehanort, then he's going to use her against Sora!". Noctis points down the pathway he and Gladiolus were running down before the reunion of the group and proclaims: "Let's get going!". The three nodded and all four started to run down the empty pathway to the meeting place.

Then as Noctis goes on ahead, three tendrils of darkness shot out from nowhere and bypass the king. He gasped and reels his head back to see the tendrils striking all three of his brother's in their chests, halting their run, and then each of them collapsed on the ground like they were worn out from a long drawn out fight. Noctis calls their name as the darkness evaporates from their bodies, they appearing unharmed.

"Now then…without further interruptions".

Noctis clenches his fists as he turns around to stare down the man who had brought ruin to his homeland, all thoughts of other matters forgotten. Strutting down to the king of kings, alone without any traces of a hidden ally or even the stench of a heartless, Ardyn waltz down the empty pathway towards Noctis. On his face is the famous smug look he always carried, the air of arrogance dancing in his yellow eyes.

"I heard you and Sora have been quite busy since we've last spoke", he says, "I would have loved to join the fun, but alas the Master requested I wait for you to make it this". Noctis takes a step closer to him, eyes fixed on him. "Since when did you take orders from someone else? Or has lost your immortality made you meek? Submissive? Scared?", taunts the king of light. "Or were you worried about fighting me alongside someone else?".

Ardyn chuckled darkly at the king's words, his smug smiles shifting into a dark and cruel smirk. "In some aspects, you're right. I didn't want to waste time with your subjects and just wanted to fight you alone", he confesses, then callously adds: "After all, can you stand on your own two feet without someone holding your hand?". Glowering at the man with such gall, Noctis clenched his fist as his Lucis light cloaks his body, eyes even having a certain glow to them.

This was pre-ordained, even out of their world. The chosen king will clash with the usurper, but instead of bringing backlight to his world, they would fight for the fate of all worlds. Bahamut must be rolling in his grave at the sight of the destined battle.

"If you wanna settle this, then draw your weapon, and let's get started", challenges Noctis. Ardyn, however, wags his fingers in a chastising and patronizing manner. "Ahh, ahh, this isn't the best place to settle things, now is it?", he asks, opening a corridor of darkness, "Perhaps we should resolve things without prying eyes?". Without waiting for Noctis' wishes, the man who was once in line for the throne disappears through the corridor, waiting for his chosen king to follow.

Noctis glances at his knocked-out brothers with a concerned frown before realizing this would be the only way to prevent Ardyn from harming them or using them as leverage. Clenching his teeth as a hiss escaped, realizing while he must deal with this constant nuisance of a nemesis Sora and the others would have to deal with Xehanort's heartless, nobody and even his youth without him while rescuing Kairi. But if he goes on ahead to help, for all he knows Ardyn would interfere and make the whole battle more of a trial than anything else.

Looking at his hand while swallowing the bitter pill of the severity of his situation, he turned to the dark corridor and strides into it.

*Elsewhere*

Jumping out of the corridor and finding himself at a large distance than where he previously was, the king of light looked around to see there is nothing but a clearing of the wasteland. A desolate and empty place devoid of life, with the only thing noteworthy, was the giant mountain of stone towering over a platform of what could have been a building from the bygone ages.

Likely where Xehanort and his replicas stayed, having the best seats in the house to watch the war commence for them.

Noctis sees Ardyn standing before him, looking to the darkening skies as the day slowly draws close to the end. He turned back to the king, callously smirking. "And here we are, no one to interfere without conflict", he says with flamboyance and with an overdramatic bow, "No keyblade masters, no heartless, vessels, just you and me". Noctis huffs at the last part as Ardyn's dark shadow loomed over him, the nobody of the brother of his fiancé. "Well…I never said anything about nobodies", cheekily remarks Ardyn.

"And there you were, going on about if I could stand on my own two feet…", calls out the king, gesturing the hypocrisy of the usurper. "Oh, don't mind it, they'll only intervene if say, things go south". Noctis huffs bitterly, readying himself for the final clash with his ancestor, calling his keyblade as Ardyn does. However, the fiery-haired man smirked as he raises his keyblade, thoughtfully staring at it.

"Oh, how could I forget? Should these keys clash, Xehanort will have enough to forge the final key for the X-Blade", casually reminds Ardyn. Noctis grunts as the keyblade suddenly got heavy in his hands, remembering the whole reason the keyblade wielders were an absolute necessity to this war. If he is right, then likely Sora must have fought and defeated the other vessels alongside the king and the others, and with him likely clashing with Xemnas and the other three…

That would mean the very moment Noctis and Ardyn's keyblades clash, the final key will be made, and the X-Blade born anew.

"Quite the predicament you're in, trained to be a wielder of the keyblade and yet it will be your undoing once we clash", comments the man of no consequences. Noctis looks at Night's Sky, a slow realization dawns on him as he stands there in the battleground, and then one look to Ardyn confirmed his choice. "Tell me something…do you care what happens?", Noctis questions. Ardyn raises a brow at him, prompting the king to continue.

"Light and darkness, Kingdom Hearts…does it any of it matter to you?", he says, "Or…is the reason you became a vessel for Xehanort, willing to stoop so low as to be a heart tank for him…is that so you could fight me?".

Ardyn huffs with a smirk. "I suppose that was transparent of me, wasn't it?", he says, "But I commend your observations". Ardyn grips his keyblade tightly as it becomes solid in his hand, disinterested in the divine weapon of light. "I care not what happens to the worlds, the realm of light or darkness…I don't even care if the old coot's head if loped from his shoulders…what I desire, what I want…", he lists.

"Is to put an end to the Lucis line…".

"Then…lets put that aside…", Noctis says. Ardyn raises his brow, both for the first time in shock when Noctis throws his keyblade far to left. It spins before stabbing into the ground like it marked a grave. Calling his Ultima Blade and holding it in his usual stance, the king stares down Ardyn. "I will fight and win as the king of Insomnia, and if you've got any semblance of pride within you, then toss your false keyblade aside and face me as the true founding king!", challenges Noctis.

For once, for the first time, Ardyn looks at Noctis with pride, as if he finally acknowledges the man before him as the true chosen king of light. In a bizarre twist, he almost saw his brother in his place, like a true and noble king. But this only fuelled the hate for the royal bloodline even further, and the rage, that desire to stomp out the hope of the light he brought back to his world roared within his blackened heart.

"For once…your majesty…I accept your challenge", Ardyn commends, tossing his keyblade aside.

Calling his Raksha blade as their Armigers came to life, surrounding the two in their respective colors, the king of light against the true founding king. There is no battle for the realm of light, no hearts to be rescued, nor would keyblades clash on this battlefield, the final resting place for either the line of Lucis or the Usurper. This is a battle of destiny, a clash of fate.

A true battle for the throne of Insomnia.

Both members of Lucis bloodline propelled themselves toward the other, their respective weapons forged for them slammed into each other. When the steel clashes, pillars of their Armiger shot up to the skies as a powerful gale of wind blows the earth and dust aside, the earth splitting beneath them as the king of light's Armiger clashes against the founding king's. Glaring daggers into each other as Noctis pushes him off and swings his blade at him.

The founding king jumps back, firing two royal arms at him in the process. His ghostly arms were struck down by Noctis' sword, the king warp struck towards him. Ardyn teleports away from the spot, appearing above Noctis in the skies and rains down a hail of darkness upon the king in the form of balls of a raging fire.

Noctis warps at them, calling the Axe of the Conqueror, and with one swing of his ancestor's weapon, he sends a force so great upon hitting one ball of darkness, it demolishes it. The force of the impact eradicated the others like a chain-detonation, sparing Noctis the armada of fireballs. The king warps again towards Ardyn, calling for Katana of the Warrior and brings it down to Ardyn. Instead of being split open, Ardyn retaliates by striking the legendary katana with his Blade of the Mystic, blocking the attack.

Both started to strikes at each other in the skies, their Armiger's keeping them flying in the air as the two kings unleashed their aggression upon the other. Every pain the man before them had inflicted on them, all the grievances and misery they had brought to each other. Ardyn's desire to finally claim the vengeance he had sought for so long, to rid the worlds of the line of Lucis for what the crystal had wrought onto him, taking his divine light and turning him into an abomination of the light.

Yet his vengeance paled in comparison to the fury that swirls within Noctis' heart. Every blow from Ardyn's sword against his steel, ringing out memories of the pain and atrocities he dared to put his friends, family, through. Memories of him tricking the king to doubt and attack Prompto, forcing Ignis to lose his eyesight, bringing Terra to torment Aqua and Gladiolus, making Riku and Ravus fight, stabbing Kairi, and then torturing Sora.

It isn't enough that he took Noctis' home, but to inflict so much more pain on his family just boiled his blood. Ardyn then repels one of the chosen king's strikes and stabbed at the king, but he hits only a ghostly blue replica of the king harmlessly. Noctis appears behind him and slammed Mace of the Tall right into Ardyn's back and knocked him further across the skies.

He chases after him, firing his Armiger at him, Ardyn in turn sends Ravus at the king, his deformed body taking the brunt of the attacks without harm. Ravus cups both hands and raises them above his head and then slammed them both down on the king of light's sword, sending Noctis careening downward back to the earth. Noctis flips and rolls in the air to correct himself in time to warp back to the earth safely.

Not a second had his feet touched the ground, his trained reflexes deduced Ravus had chased him as well. He raises the Shield of the Tall to guard against the nobody's giant fist, bouncing off his shield with ease, but undeterred the nobody then starts to pummel the shield with fury induced strikes. A flurry of punches is unleashed onto the shield, slowly pushing Noctis backward. The king pulls a feint on the nobody by dismissing his shield just before Ravus' fist landed on it.

The nobody stumbled forward and is then struck in the chest by Noctis' Ultima Blade, slashing it across the chest. It reeled back but Noctis warp-struck it, plunging his sword into its chest and then calls for his Sword of the Wise to use its divine power to strike at Ravus three times before flipping backward in the air while slashing it. The nobody clutches its chest in pain as Ardyn warps back down in front of it and stares down Noctis, dismissing his royal arm and calling back his sword.

Ardyn's royal arms appeared around him, twisting and spinning before with a gesture of his hand, he fires them all at Noctis like missiles. The chosen king in response uses his Armiger to go back to the skies and soars into the air while being chased. He looks back to them and then dives down into the chasm of the labyrinth, being chased still. The chosen king zips and flies over, under and around the many bridges, pillars, and walls that impede his path.

Luckily the royal arms would strike something that was in the king's way and each one met a crushing defeat, the king repeating this tactic until only one royal arm remained to chase him, ironically the Sword of the Father. With a smirk, Noctis shoots upward to the skies and out of the chasm, quickly using one of the many tricks he had been taught by Aqua. He locks onto Ardyn and then teleports in blue light, reappearing behind him and Ravus.

Slower to catch on, Ardyn is then kicked in the back into the air by Noctis, calling for his Ultima Sword and with one wave of his hand, calls for his royal arms. Flipping the sword in a reverse grip, he teleports in a whitish light this time just as Ardyn is about to fall.

The king of light strikes him from the front with two royal arms, Sword of the Wise and Mystic, then followed it up by an upward slash from Sword of the Wanderer and Star of the Rogue. He repeats this attack by constantly attacking the would-be king with every royal arm within his arsenal, up to a single thrust of his sword that blasted Ardyn further up into the skies. Lifting his right hand to aim at his ancestor, all of the arms gathered and spun around his aiming limb. Faster and faster they spun until they were bathed in Lucis light and becoming near invisible with the speed.

Form Noctis' hand, a large ball of light forms and with a roar from the chosen king, he fires a large beam of light at Ardyn. The white and blue light that burned brighter and hotter than the sun, rocketing towards the man who would have stolen the throne for himself. Ardyn manages to however stay off the attack, using the Shield of the Just to guard against it. With all his darkness empowering him, he not only holds back the attack but now he remains stationary in the air as if nothing were pushing against him.

Noctis grunts but before he can counter this defense, his shoulders were grabbed by Ravus, yanking his right hand back. This causes the king to stop his attack and relives Ardyn the burden of fighting against it. The usurper then took the chance to strike back at Noctis, firing four royal arms at the king and striking him head-on. Hit by four of the corrupted arms, Noctis was then slammed back down to the earth by Ravus.

He raises his fist to deliver the final blow to Noctis, only for the king to cry out: "Reflect!". Right in time to raise a barrier just before Ravus' fist touched the king; both were hit by the attack. Noctis being pushed further into the earth while Ravus is struck by light and thrown into the air. Growling and prying himself from the earth, Noctis sits up and looks to see Ardyn warped right before him, Axe of the Conqueror above his head.

The king quickly retaliates this copycat attack by aiming left hand at him and fires a bolt of white lightning at him. The bolt struck Ardyn's chest and threw him back from the king of light. Noctis quickly scrambles to his feet as Ravus charges towards him, narrowly phasing through his attacks and sidestepping them until he managed to duck under a fist and slash at his side. Noctis runs past the nobody as it snarled in pain, running towards Ardyn and calling out his gun.

Firing several shots at the man whilst running only to have the bullets be deflected by the wall of crystal around Ardyn, Noctis warp-struck to him with Ultima Blade and with one strike smashes the wall of crystals protecting the usurper. Ardyn dodges the king's attacks and even got behind him to deliver a roundhouse kick to the back of Noctis' head. The king stumbled forward while clutching the back of his hand with a single hand, spun around, and throws his blade at the man.

Ardyn quickly leans backward to evade having the sword plunge in between his eyes, almost surprised Noctis had such a quick reaction. But his quick reflexes weren't enough to counter Noctis' fist to his cheek. He staggered back but Noctis' surprise display of martial arts wasn't done. The king leaped into the air with a spin, his left knee connecting to Ardyn followed by his right leg kicking him into the air.

He warps upward to Ardyn and then strikes him three times with Ultima Blade, drawing blood from him at last. When Ardyn falls to the ground, his descended warps down with him and with his giant sword, spins around twice, hitting him each spin with the last one knocking back into his nobody. Ardyn is caught by his servant, placed back on his feet and then Ravus proceeds to fly towards Noctis. Noctis raises his sword for the confrontation, only to be blasted by violet lightning that flew from Ardyn's hand.

Noctis yells out in pain, caught off guard, and is easily snatched up by Ravus' giant hand. The nobody grabbed the king by his shoulders and squeezes them within his giant hand, Noctis struggles and growls in pain, forced to drop his weapon as the pain became too much for his hand to maintain its grip. The king glares into Ravus' mismatched eyes, staring down at him defiantly while trying to break free, wondering if a dark part of the former human was enjoying his handling of the king he once despised.

Ardyn stands behind his servant, smugly staring at Noctis as the king grits out a yell of pain. He did promise himself he would make the king's passing as slow and painful as he could before he would finally end his legacy after all.

The chosen king struggled to break free from this grip from the brother of his fiancé, trying to focus on warping or phasing out of the nobody's clutches. "R-Ravus…! Come on…let go!", pleaded the king, glaring at him, "You're not his slave, fight back!". The nobody didn't even register his words, instead, it only tightened its grip on Noctis's nearly crushed shoulders with a snarl, baring its teeth before the chosen king.

His mismatched eyes suddenly fell to the breast pocket of Noctis' jacket as a gentle golden light shines within it. The king then feels the grip lessen, prompting him to look and see the light within his jacket too, a warmth washing over his heart. The light shines through and slowly phasing through the clothes, the very same necklace the older Fleuret had given to his sister for her sixteenth birthday.

The necklace floats between the two people who cared for the owner of this necklace, the nobody sub-consciously dropping Noctis to his feet and clasped his large hands beneath the necklace as it gentle laid within them. The king stares up at the nobody and sees recognition within those eyes, almost shifting into a human's as Ravus likely started to remember more of his human life. He then turns to Noctis, a question spoke from his eyes and with a nod, Noctis answers the question with the answer he had longed for.

"She's safe…and not alone", assured the future husband of her grace. Slowly the metal around his mouth begins to disintegrate with the light, and when his lips were freed, he uttered his sister's name. The necklace shines brightly as warmth cloaks his body, slowly the darkness within him begins to be purified, freeing him from Ardyn's control. Ravus turned to Noctis with one final request.

"Free….me…", he begged.

With a heavy heart but stern nod, Noctis calls his keyblade and gripped it with both hands. With a single stroke downward, Noctis brings his keyblade upon Ravus, the necklace returning to the king's chest pocket as the keyblade brings Ravus' existence as a nobody to an end at long last. Ardyn yelled out for his slave as Ravus' begins to fade away into the darkness, wherever he will end up Noctis did not know.

The nobody breathes out one final "thank you" to the king before he vanishes from the battleground, free of his new hell. Watching the body turn golden with light before vanishing, the king of light looked at his hand as the keyblade disappeared into his arsenal. Another heart harmed and twisted by Ardyn, another good man who above all else wanted nothing more than to ensure his sister would have a happy life.

A man who had served the very people who brought ruin to his home, who used any means to grow strong to protect the sister who was supposed to be denied a wonderful life. A man who Noctis believed could have been a great guardian of light. And another victim of Ardyn's schemes…

"Well, …that was short-lived…", Ardyn huffs, disappointed, "A failure in life as a human, a heartless and a nobody…".

"But twice the man, you will ever be", Noctis counters.

Ardyn looks to the king, the anger in his blue eyes only rivaling the glowing embers of the Lucis light cloaking his body, his Ultima Blade covered in the white crystal light. "How many people have you ruined…how many souls and hearts has your quest for vengeance warped and twisted until they were beyond recognition?", he interrogates, his anger reaching to a new point of contempt for his ancestor.

Ardyn scoffs dismissively, calling his sword. "He did his part, his naïve hopes of being the "hero" served me well…were it not for the boy of the islands coming to rescue you all", dismisses Ardyn. Noctis' grip on his sword tightens with rage, ghostly imitations of his royal arms begin to appear around him as the light burning within him slowly reaches its critical point. "Have you no heart of your own? How many will you sacrifice for your vengeance!?".

"Until I have it!", snaps Ardyn, at long last his anger had finally reared its head. "If I have to let all of Eos burn to see you and your disgusting linage! The crystal, the gods, all of you deserved whatever fate I brought to you!".

"You had your vengeance when you killed Bahamut, brought Eos to the brink of its destruction, and that STILL wasn't enough!?", Noctis challenged. "Of course not, you still lived on! You still carried the crystal's will, and that blasted Oracle still had the gall to still draw breath when she deserved the same fate as you!", Ardyn bellows. Then, he chuckled darkly as his eyes darken with darkness, dark blue veins started to appear on his face.

"But rest assured, once I plunge your heart into the abyss, I will finish what I had started", he warns, "One by one I will send all you hold dear into the depths of hell…until only the Oracle remains to witness the deaths of all she loves!". With heartless laughter, his Armiger comes out full force as the weapons parodying the light go from dark crystal red to violet and black crystal while his body is cloaked in pure violet darkness, almost like the blight.

"I'll start with Sora of course, and watch his lover break down into despair…and only when she and the Oracle have lost all they love…then I will plunge them into eternal hell!".

Ardyn fires all his royal arms at Noctis, laughing maniacally. With a roar that resonated with his heart, Noctis stabs his sword into the ground, his body sparking wildly with a fiery aura that burned so hotly it destroyed the ghostly missiles. His royal arms appeared all around, bathed in the white crystal light, alit in flames. Even his eyes turned into dark blue lights, outshining even in the darkest depths of Ardyn's evil. Not even the usurper could keep his composure at such display of power, no member of the Lucis line had come close to this power.

"All this time, you're nothing but a parasite whose only survived this long thanks to the daemons and your blind hatred for the Lucis", Noctis chastises, "A slave to darkness…even after all this time you would forever be a pawn of it, whether it is from the blight's hand…or Xehanort's will".

King Noctis steps forward as the light brushes the darkness away from him, his sword cloaked in blue and white flames. "And you would be content with that so long as you cause me or those I cherish as much harm as you can…but that ends here and now…", he says, "I've lost too many people in the past, those I would have called subjects, the men and women who gave their all for me to fulfill my destiny, to my father who sacrificed everything to help me on the path I walked".

"And to those who stayed by my side…the ones I cherish with all my heart, I will not fall here!", proclaims the king of light. He raises his sword at this monster of an ancestor, eyes alit with hope and determination. "Here and now, I'll end your plans for vengeance and give you the end you so desperately want!".

Like an arrow piercing the darkness, Noctis charged forth with the light following closely behind him. His royal blade struck Ardyn in the chest, propelling him into the skies as his darkness grows more tense and wild. The members of the royal blood called all their arms together, dashing towards each other with their weapons clashing in the skies.

The ringing sound of crystals clashing boomed across the battlefield, light and darkness dualling in the skies with the two striking at every space in between them, not a single safe spot is to be found nor could either escape the dark or light. The booming sound of their steel is so loud it could have been heard from a thousand miles, perhaps even in the realm of darkness. Wildly thrashing weapons yet no crystal broke or cracked under the weight of the aggressive attacks.

Both royalties were using every fiber of their royal blood to bring out their full potential, Noctis blessed by his royal light and the training he gained from Aqua while Ardyn's darkness gifted by Xehanort put him at even odds against the king. Blades, maces, and all kinds of weapons had landed upon the two, clothes were torn and ripped while coated with blood and scars, darkness seeping out of Ardyn's body while Noctis' light dimmers.

Breaking apart from their hurricane of crystal weapons, they stared down at each other but when Noctis readies himself to continue, he is suddenly bound by darkness. Rings of shadows wrapped around his wrists, ankles, and neck, binding him as Ardyn raises his royal arms along with several portals of darkness appearing behind him. "You think you know me? You know nothing of what I have endured", glowers Ardyn as he raises his hand.

"Helpless…you were galivanting with your friends while your father died, you would've have been destroyed had the Oracle not intervene…without your friends, you are nothing!". Noctis struggled in his bounds as Ardyn readies himself to finally put an end to this long line of fools. "And then you have the gall to talk down to me… *ME*…The one who was denied what is rightfully mine!?".

"If the darkness has to die, then you will go before it!".

With a hateful cry, Ardyn fires all his Armiger and a barrage of dark firagas at the defenseless king. Noctis uses his own Armiger to create a wall to at least shield himself even slightly from this attack. The wall of arms managed to stay off much of the attacks before they were overpowered by the darkness and were repelled, leaving Noctis at the mercy of Ardyn's hatred. The explosions surrounded Noctis as the royal arms struck him, his body thrown into a world of new pains he never experienced before.

It is as if he was being stabbed a thousand times per second as the fire burns his body and pummels his form. He clenches his teeth and eyes as he bore through this agony, using his mana to at least absorb some of the beatings. The Armiger that struck him thankfully didn't pierce his body all the way and even the blunt ones only cracked a bone at the very least, not to say he wasn't in agony. Only when the barrage of fire finally stopped did Ardyn decide now would be the final blow that would do in the king of light.

With his Raksha blade, Ardyn speeds forward and plunges the blade into Noctis' stomach, piercing the king. Noctis gasped out, blood spurting out of his mouth as he feels the cold steel within him. Ardyn's wounded face glowed with victory, the vengeance he had so desperately wanted has finally come to his hands at long last.

"Have you made your peace yet, your majesty?", mockingly says Ardyn as he drinks in the bleeding king, "Is this how you would end it all?".

Ardyn's eyes widened when Noctis grabbed the sword, facing Ardyn with a light burning within his crystal blue glow. "This…ends here".

With a burst of light, Noctis shouts and expels of a blast of light that shoots Ardyn away from him, forcing him to lose his grip on the sword. Noctis then grabbed the blade and pulls it out of him with a yell of pain as his black clothes take on the color of his blood, but the king uses a small portion of his magic to heal himself enough to stop the bleeding. With his Ultimate Blade and Ardyn's Raksha in hand, the king of light bathes the latter in the Lucis light as Ardyn floats there.

"I'll show you…the true power of kings!", proclaims Noctis.

He calls his royal arms to appear one more time, then fires them all at Ardyn like blue arrows of light. The divine weapons struck Ardyn and with each hit he gets closer to the ground. Noctis then warps towards him, closing the distance instantly and uses every single royal arm he had carried since the day he started on the path to his destiny. Every arm that had helped him in his quest to fight against the empire, to reclaim his throne, to protect those he held dear to him.

The usurper was cut and sliced by each of these divine arms, cutting away the darkness within him and bringing him closer to the end he had long been denied by the gods. One swipe from the trident of the one who guided the chosen king, the blade of the father who loved his son above all else, to finally the sword that would pass on to the future generation of kings and queens of Lucis and the blade of the man who is the true founder of the bloodline, Noctis grabbed the two blades and while he cried: "ITS OVER!", he brings them both down onto Ardyn for the final time.

Slashing downwards onto the man who had taken so much from him, a pillar of blue light erecting high into the skies like a beacon from the king's devastating attack.

The battle for the throne…had ended…

On his two feet, drained and weak from the pain and mana depletion, Noctis drops both blades before staggering backward, only catching himself from falling by placing both hands on his knees. Panting and grunting with pain through clenched teeth, Noctis stares down his slowly dying ancestor as Ardyn lies there, looking at the darkening clouds above just as the rain began to fall upon the world. The dark chapter of the Lucis' history can finally come to an end.

"So…this is how you would end it", Ardyn comments with effort on his end, coughing blood as the life begins to fade from his eyes. The chosen king stares at him as the rain washes down upon them, blood trailing down their bodies while Ardyn merely chuckled at the turn of events. So close was he to his revenge, only for it to be snatched away by destiny's cruel plans. The founding king had once more been played by the hands of fate, and mercifully it would be for the very last time.

Noctis clutched his arm as he stood over Ardyn, looking at the man of his lineage with neither hatred nor even contempt, but with mercy and sympathy. After all, he had done to him and those closest to his heart, behind the man who spread the scourge that would have destroyed their world, is a man who was unfairly denounced and left forgotten in the darkness of history. Maybe Sora was rubbing off on him, or maybe it was from his journey to the throne but Noctis truly wondered had things gone a different route, had Ardyn been reached out by his father, would he truly be here now?

He must have shown something akin to those thoughts because Ardyn scoffs. "Save your tears, boy", he lectured, "What is done…is done…".

"…it didn't have to end like this…", Noctis sighed.

"…possibly…humph…do believe in another life, we may have been friends? Even family?", Ardyn muses. "Part of me wants to say yeah…but then again, we'd still end up fighting to death somehow". Ardyn chuckles in response to that conflicted yet honest answer, somehow agreeing with him. The man who founded the Lucis line sighs as his body slowly fades away into oblivion, where his heart will go neither knew. Purgatory? Oblivion? Or perhaps even back to her side?

"Haven't you dawdled long enough…?", Ardyn asks, "Shouldn't you go and rescue your friends?". Noctis huffs before using more mana, what little remained, to heal himself and stand tall. "Go forth then…better hurry too", he teases with a malicious smirk. "Xehanort will forge the X-Blade…and luckily for him, he has two means of doing it".

Noctis glowered at him, the man fading away looks to the skies as the rain pelts him. "How? What are you talking about?", demands Noctis. "Oh…I heard Xemnas had invited a certain princess to meet with the master…something about…the motivation for Sora?". The chosen king's eyes shoot open with realization, a horrible gut-wrenching feeling settled within his stomach. Looking at the discarded but slowly fading keyblade, he realizes there was more to justify their pride as the Lucis line.

"We were supposed to clash with keyblades, forging the next key for the master…but well…neither of us were good at following orders", Ardyn muses as Noctis snaps his head to him. "What is he planning!? Tell me, Ardyn!", growls Noctis. The man of no consequences smirks as his body fades, parting his legacy with one final sentence.

"Destiny, Noct…their destinies cannot be altered…", he forewarns before, at long last, the founding king fades away from the realm of light.

Watching his ancestor's darkness fade away into nothing, the king stares up at the hailing rain, clenching his fist. "One final screw you, huh?", Noctis growled. All that remains of the man who had brought so much misery is his royal arm, the Raksha blade. Without another word, Noctis raises his hand to the blade, blue light surging around the old weapon. It spins in the air before turning into a crystal and then like all others before it, it plunged within Noctis.

Joining his arsenal like all the others, purified of the blight and darkness. The king turns down the distance leading back to Xehanort and the others.

The fated dual was about to take place.

*Destined Battleground*

With a loud hum within his throat, Xehanort opened his eyes with a disappointed gaze. "So…you would delay destiny for the sake of your vengeance…", he mused quietly. From his tall mountain, the man of the darkness had seen all that had transpired between the two kings. "I suppose it is in your nature to attempt to defy what destiny had planned for you, Ardyn", he comments, "But meaningless effort on your part…it was your fate…".

He turned back to the platform below him, standing against his three versions were the two masters who at some point had become possibly the true masters. King Mickey and Riku stand before Xemnas, Ansem, and Young Xehanort, but as he would expect very soon, Sora would be joining them.

And speaking of the boy.

Running to join his best friend and king, Ultima resting on his shoulder calling his friends, Sora joins their side and immediately readied himself. With a playful smirk, Riku says: "What took you so long?". Sora quickly apologizes but his eyes were fixed on Xemnas, in his stance while clutching the keyblade as tightly as he could. "Xemnas, where's Kairi!?", demands the boy who slain half of their numbers.

"Wait, is she…", Riku starts before all his playfulness died out and now in its place was anger. Both boys steeled their gaze onto Xemnas as Mickey calls his keyblade. "Settle down, boy", lectures Xehanort from the top, smirking. "Its Sora!", snaps back Sora, aiming his keyblade at him, "WHERE IS SHE!?".

With a dry chuckle, Xehanort lifts his hand and on his left, appearing from a dark corridor, Kairi is levitated from it. Her eyes closed and her body left defenseless, but she appeared unharmed. Sora gasps her name as Riku grunts with worry, both islanders nearly running to her and would have were Xehanort's final line of defense barred their path. "The thirteen darkness and nine lights have clashed a total of ten times…but only yielded these nine keys", explains Xehanort. With a single swipe of his hand, he reveals the said keys, surrounding himself and Kairi.

"Keys?", Mickey questions.

"Ahh…but we are four short. Luckily for us, those keys will be forged for us right here, and now", forewarns Xehanort, confident. Sora shouts: "Yeah right! And makes you think we'll help!?". Xehanort smirked, calls his keyblade and without a moment's hesitance, lifts it to Kairi's neck, immediately making Sora yell her name and Riku roaring Xehanort's. "Have you forgotten boy? I plan for every eventuality", warns Xehanort.

Sora's fears confirmed, and all it takes to remind him of how he had been played to do his part in summoning Kingdom Hearts is to look at the girl he had once again failed to protect. He clenched his fist but Riku steps forward. "Even if you do summon Kingdom Hearts, we will defeat you, and will close it once again!", promises the master. With a smug smirk and closing his eyes to "mull" over the confidence in Riku's words, Xehanort says: "Possibly…that is of course…if you survive that long".

The three versions of the seeker of darkness call forth their darkness and weapons as the three masters and guardians ran to them.

Destiny is at hand…

A/N:

Short one but I'm not complaining. After three of them so far, I needed the break from it. Ardyn is finally done and free, leaving only three more to go!

QUESTIONS!

Q1: Thoughts on this chapter?

Q2: How was Ardyn and Noctis?

Q3: Ravus? Ever wanna see him as a human again?

Q4: Which of the 13 darkness was your favourite in the game?

Q5: Noctis taking Ardyn's royal arm?

Q6: Ready for the worst to come?

Q7: Wanna see Terra, Roxas and Xion interact with the chocobros?

So writers who read this, how do you plan out your stories? Do you ever think of making them short but then turn them into a long one or can you make a short and move on?

Also anyone else excited for Kairi in Memory Melody!?

Thanks for reading everyone, massive thanks to all the followers in the past few weeks, really makes the work worth it in the end! As always stay awesome but more importantly stay safe!