Final Fantasy XV - Kingdom Hearts

Part 79

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

*?*

Stirred awake by the gentle breeze, smells of a flower that held a special place within his light's heart fill his senses. The body suffers from a light weariness, the pain subsided and eyes slowly opening to see a world full of those flowers, yet he felt no light nor darkness from this world.

Rather, Noctis feels a sense of ease yet it is tainted with sorrow. Had he died? Did Xehanort's attack finally bring down the Chosen King of Light?

He shakes his head, slowly pushing himself up by his hands first then using one knee to raise, Noctis takes in this strange world he had fallen into. Unknown and foreign to him but a part of him feels as if he were somewhere he should not be in, like trespassing in a place that is unfit for mortals. Noctis blinks out the blurriness from his eyes like they had finally opened after a hundred years of slumber, the visions clearing as a figure gracefully walks toward him.

"Luna…?", he whispers, low and hoarse as he weakly gets to his feet, holding his head with a hand.

"You found your way here to me…at last", she says softly, but Noctis picked up an immeasurable sadness within her gentle tone. Lowering his hand down to look at her, he sees the smile that he thought had disappeared from her a long time ago. The smile that hides the sadness and pain she dealt with for all those years as a prisoner of the empire, the smile that everyone had worked so hard to make a thing of the past and a smile he secretly wished to never see again.

Why? Why was that fake smile back on her beautiful face again?

"You…found me…", Noctis says with little argument, glancing around him. Lunafreya makes a thoughtful hum within her throat while walking around idly, hands clasped before her. "A chance to see you awake…one last time. Is this fate? A miracle…or perhaps, one last pain to bear?", Lunafreya says wistfully like she was reciting a paragraph from one of her stories. Noctis looks at her, his heart feeling heavier and a strange lump in his throat formed.

"W-why wouldn't you see me again?", Noctis asks, "We…we were going to…to…".

With a shake of his head and a hiss to contain the pain within, he looked at her. "Luna…what's happened? Where are we?", he asks. With a gentle turn to the king, her king, Lunafreya's fake smile turns ever so softly into one of warmth and love for the king. Her eyes glowed with those spoken feelings, a light shining within those blue orbs that had grown so much since her freedom was claimed by the guardians.

"I never…got a chance to say thank you, Noctis", she says, looking down with a smaller smile, "I…had a wonderful time with all of you. Even the dark days were so much more bearable with all of you by my side". Brushing a single hand through her blond locks, now loosened and free, she lets a giggle. "I shall cherish those memories we made within the forest, the journey to rescue the keyblade wielder, but above all else, I will always cherish my time with you".

Noctis shakes his head, taking a bold step forward. "What are you talking about? Why do you mean? Y-you're acting like you…you're going away", whispers the king, reaching out to her. Lunafreya looks at his gesture with tears shimmering in her eyes, the winds blowing behind her made the flowers bend toward the king, their petals flying into the air. Lunafreya placed a hand on her heart, her smiles so small and soft it ripped Noctis' heart apart, the skies darkening around them as the remaining petals of the flowers began to fly away into an unknown future.

"Would that I could have stayed by your side…until the end of our journey", she says tearfully, "This small moment, will have to be enough".

Here the world begins to fade away, the flowers, the ground and grass all turning into dark wisps slithering in the air, surrounding the king and Oracle. Noctis shakes his head, unable to believe what was happening before his eyes. "No…NO!", Noctis shouts, "Luna, you can't! W-what about our promise!? What about seeing Naminé again!? Having everyone together again!?". The king tries to march toward her, adamant to keep her in his arms and not let history repeat itself.

He could already see those horrible memories of the day he was separated from her, where he was a weak child who had no power of his own to save those he loved. He tries to catch her hand, calling her name as the darkness of the world surrounds them, slithering up the air and slowly turn everything in the likeness of them being trapped underwater. A dark and violet realm would be their final memory together, where the realms of light and darkness are on the opposite sides and in the middle, the final world.

A world where only Lunafreya may venture…

As her tears run down her cheeks while maintaining that loving smile, Lunafreya holds her sobs as Noctis tries to reach for her, calling her name and punching the darkness that separates them. Bending slightly down, she plucks a single sylleblossom. "When the world falls around you, and hope is lost", she says, comfortingly, "Even when you find yourself alone, in a lightless place. Look to the distance and know that I am there".

"And that I am watching over you…always", she says, letting the flower gently glide to the king, "Farewell…my dear Noctis".

Slowly Lunafreya falls backward into the dark waters behind her, but her king cries her name and desperately swims for her. Suspended in the air, moving only further away from her as he cried, even trying to use his warping powers. Yet for the first time since he lost them, his powers would not be summoned by his desperate call to save the woman of his heart. "Luna, please! Come back!", begged Noctis as their distance grows further and further apart, "I…I CAN'T DO THIS WITHOUT YOU!".

Her tears fluttered towards him, gracefully leaping off her cheeks as she vainly reaches out for him. Noctis yells in anger, pain, and anguish as the darkness wraps around her, trying to reach her, to save her. Flashes of their time together, their stolen moments where neither was a king or Oracle, from all those moments where they brought her into their circle of friends. Free from her burden of being the messenger of the gods, to be able to have a family again.

And the promise he made to her when they would stop Xehanort and bring all those lost hearts home again, to give her a life she had deserved from the moment she was born. All the training he did, to be strong enough to protect her, to walk with her to their joined futures.

Here in this dark place, watching her be consumed by shadows as she closed her eyes forevermore, would be the final memory Noctis will ever have of this woman as the light cruelly takes him away from this haunting place. The flower that glided toward him shifts and from the black wisps, the key chain to his divine weapon fluttered before him, and whether he grabbed it because it was from her or because he did unconsciously, he will never be able to answer it.

"Luna…", he whimpers before his world goes dark.

*Keyblade Graveyard*

Rolling onto his side, Noctis gasps as he shoots up to a sitting position. Clutching something with both hands, he looks down to see instead of the keychain, it was Lunafreya's necklace. His thumb brushes against the flat smooth crescent moon, shakily gasping and whimpering as his tears dropped onto the metal. No longer could he feel her light warming his heart, no more would he see her smiles again, and never again will he hear his name being spoken by the woman who had claimed his heart.

Clutching the necklace in his hands to his chest, Noctis sobs in despair, hunched over. He cries and cries, repeating Lunafreya's name repeatedly as if saying so would bring her to him, but all it did was remind him of his shortcomings and what he had lost.

On his knees with his arms resting beside his head, his sadness and grief shifts into a rage as he throws his head back with a cry. He punched the ground repeatedly, crying and screaming with fury. Breaking the earth with several cracks growing longer and multiply until one final enraged punched creates a small crater beneath his feet, the king of light slumps in his spot, tears running down his eyes as his fist bleeds, Lunafreya's necklace still held tightly within it.

"Luna…I'm sorry…I'm so sorry", sobbed the king.

As his grief overtakes him, Noctis senses the heartless forming around him, slowly a small horde of neo-shadows entrapped the king. His bloodied hand tightens up as the Armiger surges around him, his teeth clenched as his eyes burned with fury, knowing these creatures were the reason she was taken from him, the cause of her demise. The thieves who stole her future from her, denying her the happiness of being surrounded by people who loved her.

Stolen…from him.

"You…bastards…have taken so much from us…and now Luna", growled Noctis as he stands tall, Lunafreya's necklace transporting into his pocket dimension. "I'll kill you…I'll kill everyone last one of you…and then…Xehanort…", Noctis growled as he calls both Night's Sky and Sword of the Father to his hands, his body cloaked in a fiery blue light. "I swear, I'll make you pay for this Xehanort…even if I have to destroy Kingdom Hearts itself!".

With a bellowing roar as his Armiger almost shifts into a familiar red, Noctis launches himself to the horde…

*Elsewhere*

Heaving a colorful block of an unknown substance, Gladiolus chucks the giant block off the cliff that bared their paths. Panting angrily as he listens to the block smashing against the walls and other debris, he waves for the others to come up after making sure there is no ambush.

The three students of Eraqus join his side as they get an overview of the ruined world of the Keyblade Graveyard, taking in the dark and twisted world. The maze that once served as the battleground was nothing more than a relic of a bygone age, many stone walls rotted and withered away to no more the height of a teenager, the pillars all broken and caked in dust. The canyon they found themselves in was more multi-colored than the graveyard first appeared, dark purple, dark green, and other darker colors.

Even the sky above was nothing more than a sheet of darkness with grey lifeless clouds barely moving, red and violet lightning sparking within them as the world is bathed in shadows. The light of the world on the brink of expiring, a tiny fragment of it barely shining or traceable within the guardians. Darkness surrounded them like sharks in the ocean, waiting for their only safeguards against them to fall and then be consumed.

But even in the darkest place, all their thoughts were gone back to the woman who had given them a fighting chance against destiny. When the shadows swallowed them, Lunafreya's light-shielded them from sharing her fate, and only when the world began to break away did her light perish. Gladiolus being the first to awaken, immediately recalled what transpired, and were he not in the company of his love and friends, he would have ripped and torn apart the world around in an uncontrollable rage.

Looking at his clenching fist, trying to keep himself from attacking anything at this point, reel back the anger and focus on the task at hand. Gladiolus glanced at the others, Terra fixed on the world before them as the wind howls and distant thunder booms, but Ventus looked down and from the way, he tries to hide his eyes, looked ready to cry. When Gladiolus raises his glance at Aqua, she was already placing a hand on his arm with eyes showing sorrow but offering comfort.

His fury is doused slightly, remembering it wasn't just him who lost someone close. And now for all he knows, Lunafreya may have been just the start of the tragedy that may come for them soon.

"What…what do we do now?", Ventus asks, soft and quiet, "We lost…Xehanort has the X-Blade and…Luna…".

Gladiolus and Aqua watch Terra comfort the youngest one, eyes marred by sorrow and dismay. Aqua stares to the distance and sees before them another maze, on the other side of it was a large tower in the form of a door. Likely the door Xehanort called to access the heart of all worlds and in the high chances of where many of the guardians that still breathe and have the will to press on wait. Though it was difficult to see with the purple fog that obscured her vision, she believed there would be the meeting grounds.

She places a hand on her heart, trying to sense where the others could have been dropped. But because of the density of the darkness here, even with her light more powerful than ever, finding even the smallest glimmers of light was too much to hope for. The pain of Lunafreya's passing and fears for the well-being of the others weighed on her heart to such an agonizing margin it felt like it was dangling from the pool of despair and only one more snip would beneath for her to fall.

Opening her eyes, she takes a silent breath and pushes her fears aside. "We can't wait here, the others are likely waiting for us", she says, turning to the steep hill leading into the maze, "We'll have to keep pushing forward and hope we'll find them along the way".

Gladiolus turns to the path, in turn, nodding. "Right…no point in standing here all day", he says gruffly. Aqua nods in response, Terra folds his arms and sighed. "But even if we do find them, this world isn't going to last much longer", he says, "If what Luna said is true, then this world's heart will eventually be swallowed the heartless".

"The world's heart?", Gladiolus asked, fuzzy on the details. Aqua turns and explains: "Do you remember the keyhole Sora and Noct sealed back in your world? That keyhole leads to the heart of the world, where heartless seek out". "If the heart is consumed, the world will disappear", Terra adds, "And with this world being on the brink of destruction, they'll likely find the keyhole". Gladiolus grunts, the situation's severity clear to him now. "And once it goes, we go with it, and there won't be anybody to stop Xehanort…".

"Whether we lose our hearts or we will be taken to another world, either fate ends with the realm of light falling", Aqua says wisely, "All the more reason we can't stand here all day and wait". "But…what if we…", Ventus starts, no more confident in their chances of winning this than anyone else. Aqua turns to him with a frown, surprised the boy's despair was this high. "Ven…you're sounding like you're…", she dared not to finish that sentence. Just hearing it would make her lose hope as well.

"B-but Aqua…we're stuck in this place, the darkness is everywhere, and we lost Luna…Xehanort's got the X-Blade and…and…", he lists, growing more and more smaller with each listing. Terra plants a hand on his shoulder, prompting the boy to raise his eyes to his. There on his brother's face was a smile of hope that he couldn't remember ever seeing on him before.

"Things are looking bad, really bad right now, we know that…but that's not going to stop us", he says. "Luna believes in us; she gave her light so we could still fight this. And so many others are counting on all of us to see this to the end". He glanced at Gladiolus and Aqua, seeing their hopes slowly coming back within their eyes as well as Ventus' despair pushing back down into the depths of his heart. He pats his little brother's back with a grin and says: "If you guys can bring me back from the darkness, then saving the world is probably a cakewalk with all of us".

"Guys' got a point", Gladiolus remarks, "We've survived Eos when it went to shit, this is gonna be nothing".

Ventus smiles back, nodding in agreement as hope places itself back in his heart. "Besides", Gladiolus says with a smirk, "Bet'cha your girlfriend will be probably upset if you don't make it back to her". This causes Ventus to blush darkly, suddenly looking away while Aqua snickers at his bashfulness. Terra, however, looked at his brother with shock and disbelief, jaw wide open. "Girlfriend? Ven? What!?".

"Oh yeah", Aqua says with a playful smile, "Ven's dating someone too". Terra folds his arms with a rather childish pout adorning his face. "I disappear for a while and both of you get partners? How come all the fun stuff is happening AFTER I leave?", he asks. Gladiolus chuckles and pats Aqua's shoulder, saying: "Should've seen Blue's reaction, I was worried she was gonna go after Rikku and rip her head off when she saw the hickies".

Aqua blushes, remembering her slight overreaction to the news that a woman had touched her precious Ventus. Terra looks at his sister, confusion in his expression. "Riku? Wait…Ven's dating…", he says slowly, before he looked at his brother with confusion. Ventus turned even redder as Aqua and Gladiolus laugh at the implications. "GAAAH! NOT OUR RIKU! THERE'S A GIRL NAMED RIKKU! WITH TWO K's!", shouted Ventus, waving his arms up and down as Terra stares at him with bafflement while the couple's laughter grows louder.

Terra raises a brow with a smirk before he ruffles his brother's hair. "Aww, who knew you'd land yourself one after just waking up, huh?", teases the brother, "Gonna have to introduce me to her when this is over". Ventus pouts and crosses his arms, grumbling at the teasing from his siblings with Gladiolus doing absolutely nothing to help make this ordeal any less of a trial. But even with him being the victim of these teases that will likely pursue later in the future, he was grateful for them.

"All the more reason to get going", Aqua says wisely as her laughter dies down, and now stoically speaking. "We're not out of this fight yet, and neither are our friends". The men nodded and then Terra saying: "Then let's get going, no one else is getting left behind". Together the four warriors run down the steep hill and into the maze, weapons in hand as they make their ways through the trials that lie in wait for them.

*In the Maze*

One-shot from his triple barrelled gun fired, Prompto brings down another invisible that swooped in for the kill just as Roxas slices through two more. The gunner turned around to fire off several shots at the dark balls that were pestering Xion and Axel whilst they deal with the neo-shadows that decided they were the pressing threat to their kind.

Prompto is then attacked by a flock of angel stars, firing bullets of energy. The gunner quickly runs from the hail of bullets, taking shots at them while evading the burning energies and dodging shadows from trying to strike him. Unrelenting energy bullets flying towards Prompto doesn't go unnoticed by Xion, bringing down another neo-shadow and spins around to cut down one more before she runs to the angels focusing on Prompto. The raven-haired girl slashes and cuts down more shadows before she uses on giga shadow's head as a platform and leaps into the air.

She spins her keyblade in her hand before chucking it like a saw disk at the angels, empowering it in light. The Two Become One key ricochet across each angel, cutting them down one by one like she was knocking apples from a tree, and once her keyblade severs an angel's wing, she recalls her keyblade and shoots one ball of light at it, destroying the angel.

The girl falls back to the ground with a roll and is just saved by Prompto's short blade, severing the head of the giga shadow she used as a platform. He quickly lifts her to her feet as she and he stood back to back with the heartless surrounding them. He quickly calls for his gatling gun arm and fires at the horde while Xion strikes down the shadows, both holding their ground and only yelling to each other to warn the other from attacks from the skies.

Since their light shields vanished, the four of the guardians had been bombarded with heartless, only managing to clear one hallway before they would wind up in a clearing surrounded by the dark minions. The gang had barely regained their full strength since their fights, Prompto more so still drained from what Ardyn had done to him earlier, and it was only because he relied on his weapons as opposed to magic and other abilities his friends used he managed to keep himself on his feet.

He wishes he could say the same for the keyblade wielders, but one glance at Axel and Roxas, taking minor hits and only just managing to evade more lethal strikes told him they were a far cry from their usual forms of strength. Even Xion was starting to slow down, panting and obvious shakes in her hands showing the exhaustion and weight of the keyblade. Prompto quickly turns and shoots down a charging novashadow that almost ran into him but was tackled in the back by a spinning neo-shadow.

Thrown onto his stomach with his gun clattering away, the blonde Kingsglaive just rolled onto his side in time avoid an invisible's sword coming down onto him. He is saved by a flying chakram that tears through the invisible's chest, destroying it and sees two more darkballs being split in half by keyblades.

Xion quickly helps him to his feet and just managed to block another darkball from taking a large bite out of her, her keyblade acting like a chew toy for the dark monster's jaw. It closes its massive maw on the keyblade and forces it out of Xion's hand and chucks it aside, exposing the girl. It opens its massive mouth to close upon her, Prompto takes her spot and lifts his gun arm into the heartless' mouth as it closes on his armed limb.

"You wanna eat? EAT THIS!", shouts Prompto.

He unloads as many bullets from his gatling gun into the heart, tearing through it and even hitting some in the air, hovering around the ground. He retracts his gun as the heartless evaporates into nothing, thanking the Astrals heartless drool wasn't a thing as Xion calls back her keyblade, him calling his triple barrelled gun too.

"We can't keep this up!", Axel yells, taking a slash to the shoulder by a shadow and responded with a kick. "Anybody see an exit!?".

Roxas stabbed one shadow through the head and with Oblivion points to another passageway. "This way! We'll have to take this route!", he yells. But when he turns his head, he calls out the others in horror as a demon tower rushes through the passageway, flying into the dark sky and thrashes around the clearing. It collides with the heartless and absorbs them into its large body, growing more and more like a balloon being filled with more air.

The tower thrashes and flails around the area, attacking everything that was moving be they the guardians of light and heartless. The guardians were now facing a wild thrashing tower while fighting the hordes of heartless hungry for their hearts, but this torture takes a horrible turn.

Xion plunges her keyblade into a darkball and falls through its evaporating body onto the ground, panting and trying to catch her breath from all the fighting. She looks up when her name was screamed out, and then she is tackled by the tower, the shadows within it grabbing her as it soars to the skies. The girl yells in fear while trying to hack away at the heartless, but she is easily overwhelmed as she is swallowed into the dark tower.

Her name is cried by her two closest friends, Prompto kicks a shadow aside and runs to the tower as it slithers to the sky, likely going for another clearing with its prize. Prompto aims his metal limb and fires the wire with a loud *bang*. The grapple pierces into the tower's shadows and immediately lifts Prompto from the ground and into the air with him holding on while yelling: "THIS WAS A BAD IDEA!".

As the tower flails around in the air with its prize and straggler, Prompto is turning and flailing himself as he tries to yank himself up to the tower while keeping himself from plastering on the tall pillars and high walls.

He lets out a "yikes" and just barely managed to throw his body around an oncoming pillar and almost got his wire tangled. Quickly he has the wire retract and pull him to the tower, allowing him to grab onto the other shadows that tried to consume him. The moment his feet landed, he pulls out the short sword and cleaves the claws that try to grab him and pull him into the darkness. Prompto runs along with the tower as carefully and quickly as he could, seeing Xion's keyblade thrashing while she's struggling within the tower.

The shadows were constantly grabbing at his feet and legs, their claws scratching him and occasionally forcing him to stumble but stabbing the blade into them worked as a great method to keep himself from falling and the quick shot from the triple barrelled gun did wonders to stay them off long enough for him to reach Xion. He nearly got whacked by her keyblade and only managed to grab her shoulder to steady himself and keep her close while the tower fought against his heroic attempt.

"Hang on!", he shouts over the rushing winds and noises the shadows made. He begins to hack away at the shadows holding her, carefully as to avoid accidentally cutting her, and only for a brief second he had her clear of shadows, he yanked her out. Xion stumbles onto the tower with Prompto holding her close with his free arm as the tower attempts to perform loops in the air. Prompto tightened his hold on her and aimed his robotic limb to fire the wire again to an isolated stone arch.

"Hold on tight!", he commands, making the raven hold onto him tightly before he leaps off the tower and swings them away from the heartless.

But the tower loops in the air as they swing down and begins to pursue the two guardians. "Prompto, they're chasing us!", yelled Xion. Prompto groans as they're thrown up in the air, quickly detaching the wire from the arch. Xion recalls her keyblade and takes a hazardous and wonky aim at the tower, crying out: "Reflect!". A dome of crystals and light shines around the two just as the tower slammed into it headfirst.

A powerful burst of light explodes in the air, decimating a vast majority of the tower's dark structure but in turn, the force of their attack protrude the two away. The barrier disappears and both guardians were thrown over a high wall and both slammed onto the ground with several bounces and a few swears from Prompto before coming to the wall on the other side of the clearing. Both groaned in pain and dizziness, Xion mostly and nearly vomiting.

Prompto groans and shakes his head to knock off the dizziness in his head, slowly getting to his feet while Xion rubbed the sides of her head and held her eyes shut. Prompto sighed in relief when he confirms she wasn't harmed too badly and blissfully hoping the tower would leave them alone after losing so many heartless from Xion's counterattack. Now that they were no longer in any danger, at least with no heartless prowling around them, the gunner takes in the sights of the strange colored makeover the dusty desert.

But even as he tries hard to question the world or be on guard for heartless, he couldn't. It is already taking everything he had not to break down and mourn the Oracle's sacrifice, and part of him hoped the heartless show up again as quickly as they could so he could take his anguish out on them. So much of their journey focused on reuniting her with Noctis, and after so much had gone wrong in Eos, he thought, begged for things to finally look up for them.

And now she was gone.

Shaking his head to stop his eyes from going watery, he looked to Xion, and too his worries he sees her clutching her arm nervously and saw the pain in her eyes. Worry immediately overwrites his despair, pushing aside his mourning to check on the new girl. "Xion? You ok?", he asks softly, hesitating on placing his hand on her shoulder, remembering they had only known each for literally ten minutes despite fighting together. The girl shakes her head, small whimper rumbles in her throat. "N-No…", she says.

She turns to Prompto with a very down look adorning her innocent features, and wrings her hands saying: "We're away from Roxas and Axel…". The gunner frowns, immediately coming to understanding the girl's dreary tone. Reunited with two people closest to her and not even a day later she is taken away from them, and now they were all trapped in what could very well the realm of darkness soon. Xion looks at him with desperation and says: "W-What if they're under attack by worse heartless? O-O-Or maybe Xehanort? Or-

"Xion, calm down", Prompto says, placing both hands on her shoulders, halting her worrying rambles. "Don't worry, Axel was trying with all of us before we came here, he can handle himself", he says warmly, "And if Roxas is Sora's nobody, then he could probably take on an army of bad guys on his own!".

Prompto hated to pull the wool over the girl's eyes, but he wasn't entirely sure how strong Roxas was in comparison to the others. Call the gunner arrogant or smug, but even when he managed to catch the boy in action earlier, he saw a lot of his attack patterns were short on strategy or weren't refined like Sora or Kairi. Most of his attacks were wild and angry like he was just thrashing around like he was enraged, and against enemies way more lethal than your average heartless even someone like Prompto could safely say that fight would be a one-sided bout.

Xion didn't seem to buy into his defenses for Roxas, because she shakes her head and says: "But Roxas is still hurt and tired from Saix…". Prompto scratches his cheek, remembering that almost no one had regained even a small ounce of their strengths back from the constant fights. Even he was running one wild energy and adrenaline. He hears whimpers and when he turns to Xion again, he saw tears were starting to glisten within her adorable blue eyes, shoulders shaking under his gentle grip.

The fear in her eyes astounded the young man to almost rendering him speechless, it was like she had been told her pet puppy had just died. One tear boldly ran down her cheek as she uselessly tries to rub her eyes to stop the tears. "Xion…", Prompto gasps. "I…I…".

"I just got them back…I was finally back with two people I love…b-b-b-but now…we're separated again…", she sobbed softly, "Its like…w-w-we can't stay together…".

Suddenly the girl is pulled into a tight embrace by the gunner, holding her close. The girl's sobs are stalled from this action, suddenly realizing this was the first hug she had gotten from somebody else bar Axel and Roxas. It felt strange to her, despite not knowing the gunner as well as she knows Roxas and Axel, the hug is comforting her and she felt safer, like even in someone as scrawny like Prompto she felt like nobody, not even Xehanort could hurt her.

"Don't think like that…just because they're not here physically, doesn't mean they aren't with you", he assures warmly, breaking the closeness for a moment to let the girl face him. With his cheery smile, he points to her heart and says: "Doesn't matter how far apart you guys are, or even if you forget one another, you guys still are connected no matter what". Xion looks at her heart and plants a hand on it, feeling the soft vibration of its beat along with the warming light she had discovered upon gaining a heart of her own.

"Even if your name and face were forgotten, *you* were still a part of Axel's heart. And the very moment Sora reached out to you, he remembered everything and even fought Saix for you", he continues, "So does that sound like you guys aren't supposed to stay together?".

Xion looks at the warm sunny smile of the blonde, who pats her head gently and ruffles her hair. A small giggle makes its way out of her mouth as she smiles back at him through her tears and fears. A small twang of pain tugged on the gunner's heartstrings, the girl reminded him so much of Kairi it was like he was back in that same spot again. Except this is a person who had so much taken from her, been through the worst of whatever schemes Xehanort conjured up, and now she is in a place like this away from her friends.

That and she looked so fragile, even though her smile and giggle it only hides the fear within her heart. A fear that shouldn't be within her heart, a similar fear he had to fight in his past. But he had someone by his side to help him, to make him see it wasn't where he came from that defined him, but who he is. And in a bizarre twist of fate, Xion was kinda in the same situation as himself, fearing that she wouldn't be able to stay with those two who held places within her heart.

Prompto pats her head again but when he opens his mouth to talk, he suddenly grabbed her arm and yanks her behind him. Turning his body with his gun, to his annoyance he sees the tower soaring in the skies before it dives into the clearing, twisting and looping around in their space, looming over the two. "Guess it wasn't finished with us yet…", Prompto grunts with an uneasy smile, "But hey, least now we can settle the score".

Xion looks at his hand clutching her arm, then back to the heartless with resolution in her eyes. She calls her keyblade to her hand and gently removes his hand from her arm, making him glance at her. She nods to him and stands by his side, saying: "I'm going home with my friends…and no one is gonna stop me". With a proud smile, Prompto takes up his stance as she does the same, no more fear holding either back, the loss of their friend only strengthened their resolve.

Except they wouldn't display it before the tower.

From above, an ominous red-light shines for the briefest second before a lone figure dives down right in front of them. Several flashes of light dances around the tower's form before it is obliterated into nothing, breaking apart with hundreds of shadows falling out of it, either disappearing before or after they hit the ground.

The two guardians look on in bafflement before their eyes descend onto the figure, cloaked in a dark red aura, armored but the details of the suit were shadowed by this inhuman aura. Prompto could feel the power radiating from it, a keyblade in hand that looked as if it were bathed in fire, so hot he couldn't even see the design of the weapon. But what he felt scared him the most, this unholy rage that could melt stone and the sheer dominance of the aura weighed on him like something was dragging him down.

"Prompto…what is this?", Xion asks, raising her keyblade, "A heartless?".

"Got me, Xion…", Prompto answers, gun held in both hands.

The figure raises their helmet-wearing head to the two, likely fixed on them. It raises their keyblade and prepares to strike them, Prompto aiming his gun at them. "Xion…stay back, ok?", he asks. Xion glanced at him and sees the trepidation in his eyes, no trace of confidence, or even a shred of assurance that this fight would be won on their end.

And all Xion had to do to see why her friend had little confidence in victory is to glance at the figure and sense not only their great rage, but the power behind them was staggering. Even Ardyn wasn't that strong. "What do we do?", Xion asks. "…if we're lucky…last long enough for the others to come and rescue our butts…", Prompto grimaced. Xion gulps and nods, not wanting to hear their unlucky outcome.

The figure instantly rushes towards them, Xion and Prompto meeting them…

*Elsewhere*

Tracking their friends within this darkness was more of a trial than Ignis had feared, the world's fragile state becoming more and more difficult for him to pick apart what was the heartless and the darkness within the hearts of their companions.

He inhales through his nose as himself, Donald and Goofy climbed down a wall leading into the maze, the strange colored walls and their squishy surfaces made the trip down not only uncomfortable, but he tried not to wonder what the substance was. He would chuck it up to darkness and be satisfied with the answer. Fortune smiled on him it seems for when he awoke from his slumber, Donald was leading while Goofy carried him.

Likely the two believed waiting for him to awaken would be a waste of time, time that could be spent on looking for their missing friends in this dying world. Once he awoke and had been given the details to their current predicament, his first thought was to find Noctis first and foremost along with the others. Refusing to rest for even half an hour just to get his bearings, his worries for his king took priority, not only for his potential wounds…but for his heart.

Never had the man who had sworn to stay by his king's side felt such a terrible state of failure and misery before. Cursing his dilly-dallying and weakened state, had he been stronger and better, then his lady wouldn't have given up her life to save them. He cursed Ardyn, Xehanort, and all who worked with that daemon of a man, had his king not endured enough for the sake of his duty? Every part of him hoped when Noctis did put that loathsome man down he made sure every hit hurt him, that he had been in agony.

Such thoughts were unbecoming of a man such as himself, but for the time being, right now, he savored the images of Ardyn being on the receiving end of his king's rage and looked forward to paying Xehanort back for everything he had ever done to his friends. He was darkly eager for the chance to plunge his dagger into his blackened heart when he gets the chance.

"Anything yet, Ignis?", Donald quacks, looking over his shoulder to the man. Pulling him out of his dark thoughts for revenge, Ignis shakes his head. "There's so much darkness here it's rather difficult to tell apart heartless from the others", he explains, "But I'm still searching". The duck's eyes showed worry, but he kept his quill closed, pressing onward while Goofy, bringing up the rear, kept the lookout for anyone or anything.

While he searched using the radar his darkness granted him, Ignis' jaw tightens as his searches become more desperate, quickly scouring the place for the others. He dared not to ponder why among all of them he was finding trouble finding Kairi, the only one now amongst them with a heart of light. He refused to think about what horrible fate had befallen the girl, desperately trying not to come to the horrible conclusion she had met a similar fate to their Oracle.

Losing one friend today was enough for him.

"I hope the others are ok…", Goofy says sadly.

"Chances of them being bunched together are quite high, Goofy", assures Ignis, "Likely they're in a group of three or four at most".

"I'm more worried about the King and others, they were fighting all of Xehanort's versions", Goofy laments, "They're probably exhausted…".

Ignis couldn't help but lock that worrying thought within his mind, it did nothing to assuage his fears for the conditions of the others. If Xehanort's youth, heartless and nobody were as daunting as their future self and somebody, as well as having Kairi as a hostage, then he dreaded their state. For all he knew they could be on death's doorstep or in such a critical condition they would be rendered unfit for any more combat.

And having four of them out of the battle would destroy their morale and chances of slaying Xehanort.

"All the more reason we should pick up the pace and find the others as soon as possible", Ignis speaks with a commanding tone, "If I can just bloody find one of them…". He muttered the last bit to himself, chastising. This world's new form had thrown his senses into a complete loop of confusion and misguidance, like he was tied to a chair and being spun around, disorientating him. Every glimmer of light often leads to the consumed heart, traces of their friends vanish into thin air as they likely traverse the dark world and distance can also be contributed to his lack of success.

There as they make start to cross a white bridge covered in snow-like ground, he sensed a light. Stopping on the spot and accidentally making Goofy bump into him, Ignis says: "I have one". He searched within his mind to trace where the light was and opening his eyes, he glances to the right side of the bridge and sees to his relief mixed fears, Sora. The boy was on his knees, keyblade stabbed into the ground before him but moving.

"Sora!", yelled the advisor as Donald and Goofy nearly jump off the bridge to the boy. Unfortunately, aside from him not hearing Ignis calling his name, Sora was isolated on a small platform attached to the wall with extraordinarily little ground for the others to traverse on. Ignis would have no trouble given his training and superior athletic form but leaving Donald and Goofy behind was the last thing on his mind. No sense in losing those two and being alone with Sora, the boy didn't need to fear for their safety on top of everything else.

"Donald, can you create some platforms for us?", Ignis asks, gesturing the distance between them and Sora. The duck looks at the bridge and Sora's island before he nods and calls his staff. Waving it around as gentle white wisps flutter around the top, he quacks. Icy platforms appeared before them, hovering in the air for them to travel. Ignis then uses his magic to create a stone path upon the blocks, slipping off the platforms wasn't a needed outcome after all.

Together the three raced across the levitating duck made bridge and once they were over the island, they all jumped down to the boy. In less than a second, Donald and Goofy were already by their friend's side, calling his name and placing their hands on him while Ignis takes a quick look around for any heartless that could be lying in wait for them. Though he was puzzled as to why Sora, who could have been here all this time, hadn't been attacked yet.

"Sora, you're ok!", Goofy says with joy.

"You had us worried ya, you half-pint!", Donald teases, patting his back.

Ignis turns to the kneeling boy, concerned with the silence that loomed around them. He approaches them while the faces of his two long time companions fall into worry, kneeling before the boy. "Sora?", he says, looking at him.

His heart was smashed to pieces.

The look of utter despair on his face, the usual light in his vibrant blue eyes is gone and replaced by indescribable pain, even his skin was grey as if he were drained of color. There is red below his eyes, tear stains old and new marked his cheeks, noticeable tears in his clothes mixed with some dried blood, and Ignis feared his wounds haven't even been tended to. "Sora…by the astrals boy", Ignis says, quickly raising his hand and placing it on his wounded shoulder. He barely flinched from the touch, less so when Ignis uses his magic to patch his flesh.

"Sora? What happened?", Goofy inquires, worried. The boy doesn't even utter a word, so still and desolate it was like all life had left his body. Ignis glances at his friends, neither of them having any more answers than he. Turning to the boy again, Ignis gently squeezes his healed shoulder to try and jolt the boy whilst offering comfort. "Sora? Please answer us, what happened to you?", he pleads softly.

Sora finally shakes his head softly, facing Ignis for the first time like he finally acknowledged his friends were here at last. "K-Kairi…", he whimpers, "Xehanort…".

No more words were needed to tell the three what he is implying, the two anthropomorphic beings face taking looks of despair while Ignis bows his head in sorrow. The two were nearly ready the shed tears of anguish for the loss of their friend and Sora's state as Ignis swallows his tears and anguish. "Sora…", Ignis started, but the boy whimpers more. "He killed her…I-I…I attacked him, and he…he managed to create the X-Blade", he starts but then he weeps.

"…a light perished…a strong one…I-Ignis…d-did…did Luna…?", he tries but the boy couldn't bring himself to utter the rest of his question. A knife to his heart would be less painful than hearing the boy's pain to Ignis, sounding so close to losing himself to despair and agony. But his silence only answered the boy's question, he shakes and nearly falls onto Ignis, crying. "She's gone, isn't she!? She died because of me!", he lashes.

As he weeps, Ignis faces him and sees just how torn apart he is, the tears of anguish and the absolute loss in his eyes ripped the hearts of the three. Lashing inward, blaming himself, and dealing with the loss of his love, Ignis himself was amazed he hadn't bawled himself. However, seeing the boy in this state, thinking to Xehanort only enraged the man. Before him, after so much time had passed it finally hit Ignis the severity.

He could see Noctis in the boy, the same anguish that wrecked his king when Insomnia fell to the empire, the same pain he endured when he lost his powers and failure to protect everyone. But the difference here was this was still a young boy, a boy who shouldn't have to fight such an agonizing pain within his heart, who shouldn't have had to watch his love die before his eyes nor have his pain be used to further the agendas of disgusting degenerate like Xehanort.

His fury is quelled for the moment when Sora's whimpers bring him back to their predicament, the boy sobbing now. Slowly he pulls Sora into a hug, remembering the times when Noctis as a child needed the comfort of a friend, a brother more so. Sora doesn't move into the hug, just allowing himself to be held by Ignis just as Donald and Goofy group hugged him, offering their warmth and comfort to the boy.

"I…I can't do this…", Sora whimpered, "I can't do it without her…".

Ignis held him tightly, unable to offer any words of comfort that he so desperately needed. What could he possibly say to the boy?

Yet for all his years of caring for Noctis, the two other world beings gently help him face them, their pain in their eyes hidden with hope. "You can, buddy", Goofy says warmly, "Remember when we lost you? Kairi was in the same spot you were in too". Donald nods and says: "Yeah, and for a long time she couldn't get herself up and go".

"But she did…because she knew she was gonna find you and bring you home", Goofy says gently. Shaking his head, Sora replied: "I…I wasn't…g-gone like her…". He couldn't even muster to say that dreaded word used to describe Lunafreya's state, the tremble in his voice and fragility in his tone cut far deeper into the group than any knife. Then Ignis patted his shoulder, earning his attention as a memory replayed in his mind.

"Sora…did you see Kairi's body disappear?", he asks. The boy shakes his head and tells them about her heart, to which Ignis forms a small but gentle smile. "Ahh…so in a sense, it is like your situation before, when your heart was broken by Xigbar", he reminds softly, "Which could mean there may be a chance to find her". Donald and Goofy nodded in agreement, patting the boy as his eyes slowly started to regain the light within them, a glimmer of hope. "So that means she could just be waiting for ya to come and rescue her!", Goofy cheered.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!", Donald says, jumping to his feet. Sora, however, casts his head down. Ignis' smile fades into worry as the other's dropped theirs. "Sora…", Ignis says. "I can't keep her safe…even if…even if we find her, I screwed up protecting her-

"Kairi's fate was not your fault, nor is any of this", Ignis chastises firmly, gripping the boy's shoulders. "Whatever nonsense that old fool has planted within your mind, cast it aside". Sora faces him as the man continues: "None of us knew how things would play out, we are all equally guilty of losing Lunafreya. Losing her will haunt us till the day we perish, but we have a chance to save Kairi". Donald nodded and points at Sora. "And we can't do it without you!", he lectured, "You made a promise to her, are you gonna break it?".

Goofy plants a warm hand on the hero's head, gently ruffling his spiky locks. "I think she's probably in need of seeing you again, even if it means to see you're safe", Goofy encourages softly, "And I think…you need her too". Sora glances at the three of them before he sobbed even as he tries to smile in gratitude, Ignis, by instinct, pulls him into a gentle embrace. As the boy weeps into him, Ignis glanced at the other two rubbing his back to help soothe the grief and anguish that clung to his heart.

His mind wanders slowly filled by anger again towards the man who brought so much misery to the people he held dear. All for the sake of his curiosity and lust for knowledge…

Sora suddenly shoots up, almost smashing his head into Ignis' jaw with a gasp, then jerks his head to the leftover a tall wall. "Sora?", Ignis asks as he suddenly scrambles to his feet and runs to the ledge. Standing there, he looks around before settling on the maze that lies before them, seeing flashes of light and magic within one of the clearings. "Xion…Prompto…they're in danger", he says with a low gasp. As quickly as the boy, the three of them join his side, Ignis immediately picking up their light as well as an inhuman amount of anger.

"What is this…?", he asks lowly, "I don't think I've sensed something so full of rage before…".

"Whatever it is…it's attacking Xion and Prompto", Sora hummed, placing a hand on his heart, sensing their danger. He nods and says: "Lets go…we're not gonna lose any more of our friends". Together with the help of Donald's magic, the four descend to the maze entrance and race through the corridor. Though the hero's heart had not repaired entirely as well as the pain unrelenting, he couldn't stand idly by any longer.

He just hoped the light would grant him some mercy…

*East side of the Maze*

With his giant blade cleaving an invisible in half, Gladiolus spins on his heels swinging his sword and cutting down another invisible just as Terra demolishes another with a solid punch to the skull. With the airborne heartless taken down by Ventus and the rest dealt with by the magical prowess of Aqua, the guardians of light could finally take a breath and be at ease.

"And that's what? The sixth clearing…cleared?", Gladiolus says, hefting the sword and laying it on his shoulder. "I think so…lost count earlier", Aqua sighs as she dismisses her keyblade, "But I'm sure if we backpedal to them we'll be swamped with them again". "Talk about no turning back…", Terra grunts, rocking his shoulders, "So Gladio, that makes sixty-six for me". Gladiolus scoffs and with a smirk, retorts: "Eighty-nine".

"What? You're out of your mind!", Terra replied, "Where'd you learn to count, I've killed WAY more!".

"Ha! Keep telling yourself that!", Gladiolus says with mirth. "Ven, your kill count? Anything better than Terra's?". Ventus scratches his neck sheepishly and chuckles. "I uh…didn't keep score", he confessed shyly. Both men chuckle, knowing the boy was either being humble or too meek to confess his number, probably feeling self-conscious about the matter. Aqua ruffles his hair softly, then smirks at the boys. "…One hundred and thirty-six", she says confidently. "Oh no, no!", Terra says with a wave of his hand, "Only keyblades, no magic! You don't count!".

"Excuse me?", Aqua says with crossing her arms, "Last time I checked there were no rules that strictly forbids magic!". "Did you see me or anyone else use magic?", Terra argued. "I can't use magic…", Gladiolus muttered quietly. Aqua scoffs with a wave of her hand, "That's no excuse. *You* choose not to use magic, nobody said you couldn't". Ventus just laughs as Terra groans with Gladiolus shrugging in acceptance, deciding the argument wasn't going to change in Terra's favor.

But as their argument dies down, Gladiolus' ears picked up the sound of a fight taking place. He turns to the direction of the fight and sees further down the corridor a gang of heartless surrounding Noctis in another clearing up ahead of them. Relief and concern adorned the shield's face for a brief second until shock took over them both, seeing his king's armiger had taken a reddish color than its usual blue one.

"Noct…", he grunts out, earning the attention of the others. They followed his gaze and see the battle ahead of them. Immediately Aqua returns her eyes to the shield, seeing the same concern in her eyes that adorned his. "Come on!", she commands.

Together the four ran down the corridor, weapons out, and leap into the fray. The king's shield focused on taking down the shadows nearby his king while Aqua and the other two dealt with the ones further from him and in the air, granting the warrior a way to get closer to Noctis while keeping back the darkness. Once he was in range and in the king's space, where once their synchronization should have immediately been picked up upon close contact, Noctis didn't even register the shield.

Instead of calling his name or bantering, Noctis was ripping and tearing the heartless apart like a wild animal. Cursing and roaring as his weapons of choice were flailing around in his arms, the ghostly weapons that surrounded him were glowing darker red with every moment, his eyes were glowing in that same hue of color whenever he used to summon the Astrals for aid. But where Gladiolus could see the king was mustering the strength to call them, he could only see rage so great it could only be described as a berserker going wild.

The darkness surging around him didn't do Gladiolus' worries any favors either.

Luckily with the aid of the wielders of the keyblade, Gladiolus and his king finish off the rest of the heartless in record time. But the raging king was snarling and frantically looking around for the more heartless as if they were just taking their time to spawn before him. He calls them out, taunting them and threatening the air, earning the concerns of the shield and his friends. Before Noctis marched off to his enraged demise, his shoulder is roughly grasped by Gladiolus.

Rearing angrily at his shield with teeth bared, Noctis glares at his shield's impatient look. "Calm your ass down, they're gone!", barks Gladiolus. Noctis aggressively shrugs off the shield's hand and shouts: "I'm not finished with them yet! Where are they!?".

"Noct, please calm down!", Aqua says pleadingly, "I know you're angry-

"What the hell would *you* know about how angry I am!?", roars Noctis, now turning his gaze to the master, "Are Terra and Ven standing there!? Or are they just figments of my imagination!?". Aqua looks at the king with shock but holds her temper in place, remembering the king's loss. "I know what it's like to lose someone, Noct", she says tersely, keeping her cool, "I lost my father…".

"Don't justify yourself, Blue", Gladiolus says, "There's no, and shouldn't be, a need". Gladiolus steps in front of Noctis, blocking his view from Aqua. "Noct…look, I get it. You're pissed, and you've every right to be…", he starts, trying to keep his anger in check. As much as the fires of his rage from earlier had quelled with time and focusing on his tasks to find the others helped douse the flames a fair bit, he could feel the flames being fanned by his king's anger.

"Luna…Luna is dead, Gladio!", Noctis snaps, the heartache cracking his angry tone, "And it's because of Xehanort and the heartless!".

"You think we don't know that? We were ALL there Noct!", Gladiolus says, "But biting our heads off ain't gonna help us! Calm the hell down!". Noctis growls, his reddish Armiger becoming darker and almost a perfect match to Ardyn's. "DON'T TELL *ME* TO CALM DOWN, GLADIO!", roars the king. A burst of force booms from the king, almost blowing everyone off their feet and broke the earth beneath the king's feet, as if his anger was slowly becoming a literal force of nature.

But Gladiolus remains undeterred, rather his patience quickly drops to none and out went being gentle, enter his usual methods. Snapping, Gladiolus grabbed the cuff of his king's jacket and lifted him, faces inches away from each other. "Get a god damn grip Noct! Look at your Armiger, you're starting to put on a shitty cosplay of Ardyn here!", snapped the shield. This set Noctis on a new level of rage and here Gladiolus immediately regretted bringing up the man who had caused them so many grievances in the past.

"DON'T YOU DARE COMPARE ME TO HIM!", roars Noctis. He roughly breaks free of Gladiolus' grip, a royal arm materializing in his hand, and his arm reels back. He swings but his blade is blocked by Aqua's keyblade, stepping right in the middle of the two brothers. "Noct, stop this!", commands Aqua, "Look at what you're doing!". But her words never reach the king, his eyes burning with rage that practically cloaked his entire being as his weapons take a blight-like color.

The master throws the arm off her keyblade and forced Noctis to back away from the couple, but when she readied herself for Noctis again, Gladiolus placed a hand on her shoulder. "Blue…stay out of this", he says, not facing her. "W-What? Gladio!", she says as he walks past her. "He's pissed, Blue. Words aren't going to cut it this time", explains Gladiolus, stepping towards his king while calling Blade of the King, "So if he won't listen to words…I'll just go with my old method of getting him to cool off".

"And that's called: kicking his ass".

Gladiolus rushes towards his king as Noctis warp-strikes to him. King and shield meeting on the battleground for the first time outside of training, the keyblade that had given Noctis the chance to reclaim his power meets with the blade wielded by his guardian. They glare intensely at each other as their blades were locked, the king's might pale in comparison to the superior physical strength of Gladiolus. He throws Noctis up in the air, letting his king take to the air.

Noctis snarls and warps behind the shield, dagger in hand. But too slow for Gladiolus, because with one spin to face his king, Noctis is backhanded by Gladiolus' fist and knocked to the side. He grunts and spits out blood, snapping his head to Gladiolus and leaps to his feet, Sword of the Tall in hand and with an overhead swing brings down the sword. Gladiolus slammed his sword into the legendary weapon, his greater and quicker strike not only repels the blade, but it sends tremors down the steel and into the hands of the king.

Noctis' hands were unprepared for the attack and he clumsily drops the weapon, allowing Gladiolus to shoulder tackle his king into the ground. Noctis falls on his back, sitting up and glaring at his shield, who sported an equally impatient glare. "Come on, I thought you were better than this! GET UP!", snaps Gladiolus, "You think that will be enough to get payback for Luna!?". Yelling in anger, Noctis springs to his feet, keyblade in hand, and runs to Gladiolus.

He strikes and strikes the sword of his guardian without any signs of planning, like a wild man attacking him for the sake of attacking. Some of his attacks were more focused and better planned when he tried pulling feints or attacking one way but then going in a completely different direction, but each of them was repelled by Gladiolus. He hadn't even summoned his shield to combat his king despite, as much as it hurt his ego to say it, how vast the gap between them had gotten.

This wasn't a fight for Gladiolus to win to save his skin, this is a fight to save his king from his anger. The teeth of the keyblade got caught by Gladiolus' hilt, holding it in place and given him a chance to talk. "Are you even trying!? Where the hell is that determination of yours? That fucking spine I used to think you never had!?", bellowed Gladiolus, "You're the god damn king and a keyblade wielder and THIS is all you got for me!?".

"Shut up!", Noctis snaps, dismissing his keyblade for Sword of the Wise. He strikes his shield with more precise and careful attacks, yet the rage that is slowly consuming him remains. Gladiolus swung his sword to strike aside the royal arm and expose his king. He spins and throws his right elbow to the king, only to hit a blue hologram-like vision of his liege. The warrior turns in time to lift his sword to block another blade going for his body, halting his king back from drawing blood.

"That's more like it…", he remarks, "Just a shame you're wasting it!".

Pushing the blade off himself, Gladiolus dismissed his sword and grabbed for Noctis. He clamps his hands on the sword arm of the king and chucks him over his shoulder. Noctis flies in the air before skidding onto the ground and rolls onto his feet. Noctis aims his hand at his brother, firing tendrils of fire at the shield. Gladiolus recalled his blade and with spin and upward swing, he creates a monstrous gale that blows the flames out.

Noctis curses and then warp-strikes back to combat his shield yet again, except the moment he appears, Gladiolus delivers a sock to his jaw. Dazed by the attack, Noctis couldn't react in time to stop Gladiolus from grabbing him into a bear hug and holding him in place, the king thrashing defiantly against his shield. He tries to claw his way out while struggling, but the shield keeps a tight hold on him, one arm wrapped around his waist with his right arm bound and another arm around his neck.

"Look at us, here we are trapped in a shitty knockoff of the realm of darkness, fighting each other!", Gladiolus shouts as he holds his king in place, "Is that why Luna died!? Just so she could see her boyfriend and friend fight!?". Noctis' thrashing somewhat lessens as the words started to reach his heart, his nails dug into Gladiolus' arm around his neck and even drew blood. He still fights as Gladiolus holds him.

"I know you're angry, hell everyone is probably as angry as you…and we sure as hell are hurting", Gladiolus confesses as he lectures his king, "And believe me Noct…if it were Blue…I'd probably be no different than how you are now". The anger of the king begins to fade as his struggles slowly recede into defeat, the strength in his legs waning. Gladiolus loosens his grip on the king ever so slightly as to avoid him from breaking free.

"…it wasn't your fault…you didn't get her killed", Gladiolus says, "I dunno how hard this is for you, and I'm not gonna pretend I'll ever get it…but I know that you don't have to carry that anger by yourself".

Slowly Noctis falls to his knees with Gladiolus releasing him, panting and gripping his clawed arm while Noctis looks to the ground. All his anger is taken and thrown into the wind; the Armiger that hovered around him begins to return to the natural blue crystal light. Gladiolus looks at his fallen king with no more anger or impatience but genuine sympathy and grief, shaken from the ordeal they had been through.

"Luna gave up her life to save us…because she knew we still have a chance to save the world…but more importantly, she knows YOU can still save the realm of light", Gladiolus laments, "But…that didn't mean no one wasn't as angry, hurt or feeling like complete failures…". He walks around to his liege and kneels to him, seeing the look of despair that didn't belong on his king's face. "We shouldn't be at each other's throats, we should be on the same page", he says, "But look at us".

Noctis looked at his hands, shame coating his face. The anger within him turns into remorse and shame, he raised a sword against his brother out of misdirected anger to him and his friends. He couldn't imagine how disappointed Lunafreya would have been if she had to see her lover acting like an enraged animal. The fact he attacked Gladiolus, snapped at Aqua with such little regard for her losses, and the anger that seeped into his heart disgusted him.

A second chance to stop all worlds from being lost to darkness, yet here he is squandering it. "Gladio…I…I'm sorry…", he says, his voice so low and weak it was a far cry from the Chosen King. "Don't be sorry…be the king I know you are", Gladiolus says, patting his head, "And just admit I'm always right". For the first time in a long time, Noctis chuckled, facing his brother's smug smile. "Don't push it…", grunts the king as he is helped back to his feet.

They were approached by the wielders of the keyblade, but before Noctis could apologize to Aqua, she says: "We're all mourning Luna's loss…but the pain you're feeling…I understand". "…doesn't mean I should've snapped at you like that…I am sorry", apologizes Noctis. The woman smiled softly to him and offers a handshake, which he takes and grips it tightly.

"Did you find the others?", he asks, looking around. "Unfortunately, just you…we've been held back by heartless with each clearing we enter", Aqua laments, "We only managed to find you thanks to the light within you".

"Which means the others could be further in and likely fighting", Terra sighed, "And without rest". Noctis nods and says: "Then let's get going, sooner we find…". He pauses and then looked to his right and sees a pathway before them. He frowned. "Wait…d-did you guys come from that way or that one?", Noctis inquires, pointing to the two corridors. The guardians looked at both before Ventus confirms the latter route is how they came here.

"Then where'd this one come from?", Gladiolus questions while folding his arms, "Don't remember making this". "But you guys feel that?", Terra asked, feeling the great rage before them. "Yeah…but I can sense light too", Ventus added, "Maybe someone's fighting a strong heartless".

"One way to find out", Noctis says, sprinting towards the danger with friends in tow.

*Centre of Maze*

Thrown into a wall and having her body imprinted into it, Xion lets out a cry of pain as Prompto is thrown to the ground before her. Both guardians defeated and overwhelmed by this figure of rage, Xion falling out of her body imprinted wall and onto her knees, shaking with excruciating pain while Prompto just managing to roll onto a knee.

Both marred with wounds, clothes ripped and torn, Xion sporting a cut above her left eyebrow, cheek and chin with blood leaking while Prompto looking as if he had been thrown through every single building in a small village. The keyblade wielder looks to the figure stalking towards them, keyblade dragging in the dirt menacingly, nary a trace of fatigue or even so much as a scratch from the two. Every hit they landed on it was either brushed off or didn't even so much as faze it like their strength was so weak it didn't matter if Prompto shot it point-blank.

"Okay…this…is bad…", grunts Prompto, trying to get to his feet, "Xion…could do with a "Sora Miracle" right now…".

"I'm…out…", Xion whimpers in pain, "I can't even feel my legs…is that bad?". Prompto weakly chuckles, "Really bad, buddy". Prompto manages to get to his feet, but he looks as though if a breeze came by he'd collapse like a house of cards. His gun in hand felt so heavy like his fingers were above to snap off, and even his gatling gun felt like it weighed a million tons. Out of potions and Xion running on nothing but the air in her lungs, running wasn't even an option for them.

The figure raises the keyblade, ready to put an end to this pitiful event called a fight but turns to swing the keyblade and fire off an arc of energy. The arc is destroyed by two blades cutting it in two and rushing towards the figure was Roxas.

"Guys, I've got this!", he yells as he closes the gap between him and the figure. Roxas yells with each swing of the two keyblades, striking at the figure with a flurry of swings. The figure manages to match both speed and ferocity of the former nobody, repelling each attack with one-armed swings, but fails to see Axel rushing past it and towards the two.

He hands Prompto a potion and tends to Xion, sitting her up and resting her against him. "Damn it, Xion. I leave you alone for a bit and look at you", chastises Axel in a weak attempt to be playful. You wouldn't need to know the man to see how fragile the attempt to lighten things is, Prompto could hear the underlying terror in his voice as well as the desperation to save the girl. Xion however giggles at his attempt, smiling with strain. "Sorry…", she whimpers, "My robe is all messy and torn…".

"Eh, they're going out of style anyways", Axel says, playing along.

Prompto downs the potion quickly, lessening the grievous wounds and at least helping him stand on his feet. He hisses in pain and nearly staggers to his knees, his body too damaged to join Roxas. "A-Axel…you got another potion on you?", Prompto wheezes, "Feels like my legs are gonna snap in two…". "That was the second last one…", Axel reveals as he helps Xion drink the last one, "We had to use some to patch ourselves up".

"Terrific…why couldn't we be magic users…?", sarcastically asks Prompto.

He watches in dismay as Roxas is struck and blown away from the figure. He bounces on the ground and eventually skids to a halt, his keyblades skidding before him uselessly. The figure turns back to Prompto and the other two, Axel quickly putting himself in front of Xion with his keyblade blazing to his hand. Prompto curses loudly and aims his gatling gun, saying: "Great, even Roxas didn't hurt it!". Axel grunts in agreement, the annoyed sentiment shared.

"Axel…can you use that dark corridor thingy?", Prompto asks, "Maybe you could get Xion and Roxas outta here?". "Can't say I can…even if I could this place mucks up the senses…probably would've ended up in the actual realm of darkness", Axel warns. Prompto gulped, their predicament had gone from bad to the absolute worst. He sees Roxas struggling to get back up, but even he could barely muster enough strength to simply lift his head off the ground.

"Guys!".

As though the heavens answered their silent prayers, Prompto looks to the sky and sees descending from above is Sora and the others, Ignis and the other two guardians landing near Axel. Quickly Sora stands in front of the figure, Ultima in hand while the advisor uses his dark teleport to get to Roxas and tend to him. "Sora…took your sweet time", Axel says as Donald starts healing Xion. Prompto was only glad to see their literal ace in the hole was still alive and kicking.

Sora, strangely, doesn't raise his keyblade into his usual stance but…stares at the figure. The armored figure's aura keeps it hidden but it doesn't move towards Sora. Rather it stands like a statue in front of him, and then…Sora approaches it, dismissing his keyblade. "Sora! What are you doing?", Prompto yells, "That aura is gonna burn ya!". But his words do not register with the boy, eyes fixated on the figure.

The figure, to everyone's shock, stepped back from him as if it feared him. But Sora reaches it, the aura that could burn him evaporates when his hand reaches for the figure. "Is that…you?", he whispers, desperation and hope mixed in his voice, yearning. The figure raises the keyblade to strike him, but Sora's hand touches the side of the helmet. The figure went still, the aura that surrounds it dims and shortens as Sora reached into his pocket.

"Please…come back to me…", he begged.

Taking the figure's hand, he places in its palm the charm that symbolizes the bond between Sora and the most important person to his heart. The charm has a large crack within the entre that stretches from the two points. The figure's keyblade begins to break apart like a wither blade finally submitting to the flow of time as the armor begins to crack and break away. The visor that hides the figure cracks quickly, a single shard flutters to the ground.

When Sora looks behind the visor, he sees that beautiful blue eye, recognition within. The keyblade breaks away as the hand releases the handle, slowly reaching to Sora's cheek and finally utters its first word.

"So…ra…".

A golden light shines on the figure as Sora embraces the, shining so brilliantly and bright it blinds the other guardians and those who just arrived in time to bear witness.

Noctis raises his arms to shield his eyes as the first purest light is found within this dark place, a ray of hope they had all been desperate to find again. He hears someone among them question what's happening while they blindly walk onwards to the clearing, to aid their companions and reunite once again against the turning tides.

"Noct! Gladio!", Ignis shouts, helping Roxas getting to his feet while the light fades away. As the guardians reunited with Aqua tending to the wounded parties, Noctis watches the light dim away until Sora stands in place, while holding someone.

In his arms once more, safe is Kairi.

The princess was slumped against his chest as he kneels with her in his arms, stirred by Sora's hand brushing her cheek softly. She opens her eyes and raises her head to face the boy, whose face was stained with tears, new and old. "Kairi…", he whimpers, "You're here…". Kairi places a hand on Sora's cheek, her cheeks were stained with old tears and the sadness within her eyes yet the smile of seeing him again clashed.

"Sora…", she whimpered, "I…I…I'm so sorry". She looked at the tears in his clothes where she struck him, horrible memories of her being used to hurt him flashed in her mind so vividly and wildly it was like a movie projector going so fast. Her name is called by the others, joyous and relieved as some joined her side, hugging them both while they sobbed. But Sora shakes his head and says: "B-But how…I…I saw Xehanort, he smashed your heart…".

"…no…he didn't smash mine…", Kairi whimpered. "No…", Noctis gasped as everyone slowly put the pieces together, despair has returned to run its course through their hearts and hopes.

"Naminé…", Sora gasped…

A/N:

I am really sorry this took so long to get done, but work obligations and honestly procrastination held it back. But hey, I'll try to get back onto routine again so here's hoping next one won't take AS long.

The guardians have reunited save for Mickey and Riku, the losses of their friends have gone from one to two, and now they're trapped in a world doomed for oblivion. What can the heroes do to stay off the end, and how will they cope with the loss of another? How will Kairi face the fact Naminé joined Lunafreya in the next world? See next time!

QUESTIONS!:

Q1: Thoughts on this chapter?

Q2: The fates of Naminé and Lunafreya?

Q3: Lingering Will Kairi?

Q4: Fight between Gladiolus and Noctis?

Q5: What do you wanna see next time?"

Q6: Xion and Prompto bonding time? More bonding with others to come!

Q7: Can you guess what comes next?

Q8: Sora and Noctis' grieving?

Questions for writers: have you ever focused on a single character in a story more than once? Or are you able to balance the cast out for everyone to get the right amount of screen time? Lord knows I've done it!

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