Smaller, More Honest Souls: Arc of Redemption

by MasterCaedus

Jaune Arc would have done anything to get back the woman he loved. And he did do anything; he did everything and it still wasn't enough. He lost his way, and could only find it for the sake of his friends and family. Now he has a chance to fix everything: Sora & Oz send Jaune with Yang to find her mother's Nobody and protect the worlds. But even a past you confront can haunt you.

21. Silver Linings

AN:

Hey guys! Can you believe it? An update that didn't take a month and a half to come out? I've had a little more time right now to do this and have been doing about 1500 words a night for the past week. I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Now for some responses:

To Gamelover41592: I had fun writing last chapter, so I'm glad it came off as epic and funny. I hope this one does, too!

To GuestWithIdeas: Well, I'm sorry about Zack and Aerith. Like I said at the start of this story, it's based off of both Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts together. The world's main events, like Zack and Aerith, are fixed. The whys and hows maybe not. I have a plan to get Sora and Ruby involved in specific worlds, but that's all I'll say. As for wanting to review earlier, don't worry about it! It means a lot that you left any review!

To G3r1k: I haven't even played FF 7. It's one of those games that was too mature for me when it came out and too old to play now. I'm hoping the remake doesn't disappoint.

To Remnant7: I'm glad you like FFXV. I hope this chapter is as good as the last. I'm sorry about Aerith, but that's the way it goes.

To Guest (Chapter 1): I think I addressed this before. Either with you or someone else. I believe in love at first sight, and I especially believe it's a factor in fairy tale type stories like RWBY. And I'll argue again it wasn't one sided. He clearly showed interest at the very least in Volume three and the end of two. You don't just wear a dress as a guy unless you really care about someone.

To DragoonSensei: Thank you. I thought in this universe it made more sense.

To ssjzohan: Thanks for all your reviews so far. I hope your years away from ff are great and that when you come back this story is as good as you hope it is. When you come back and read this, I hope you have fun binging the rest of Arc of Redemption and, maybe, at least part of a third story.

Quick final note: There's only one more chapter of my Elder Scrolls story left, so if anyone wants to vote on which of my stories will happen next that'll be closing just a couple days after that story finishes up.

Now, enjoy!

Chapter 21: Silver Linings

"So, how are we supposed to take on something like that... without dying?" Mercury asked, grimacing at the creature's massive size. He glanced over at his partner as they ran. "Any ideas?"

"Since when am I supposed to come up with plans like that!?" Emerald snapped. She rolled her eyes. "Fine, the obvious answer is you use one of your wishes with Blue."

Mercury felt his heart jump into his throat. "Or, uh... you could?"

Emerald scoffed dismissively. "I'm saving them for important things." She waved her partner away.

"Er, like?" Mercury asked, hoping desperately that she wouldn't ask why he was acting so weird. After all, it'd be difficult for him to make a wish if he had no wishes.

Fortunately for him, Emerald clammed up the moment the question was asked, her dark cheeks reddening and her eyes darting away from him. "Like... you know, important things."

"Oh, I'm so glad you cleared that up!" Mercury laughed mockingly. He turned his attention back to the monster.

"Shut up and open a portal so we can go for the eyes," Emerald snapped, spinning her sickles from her side and into a ready position.

Mercury grinned. "See, a plan! How hard was that?" he wondered mockingly. He waved his hand and inky blackness appeared in front of them.

"I hate you."

"You love me," Mercury taunted before he jumped through the portal foot first, his heel coated in black flames.

"Please. As if," Emerald muttered. She twirled the sickles one more time, then jumped through the portal, and immediately knew that she hated Mercury. He had opened the portal above the monster, by some distance. Instead of being able to appear at the middle of its plateau like back and climb, or come out on top of its head and jump down, they were falling. Fast. For a long time.

"I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" Emerald screamed as she plummeted, trying to figure out the best way to stop her descent and attack this monster.

"Can't hear you! Too much fun!" was Merc's response. Ugh, he could be so damn annoying sometimes.

She extended the chains of her kurasigama, swirling them around her as she came upon a plan. There were massive horns that extended out of the creature's head, like a crown almost in their appearance. If she was lucky, she could use them to swing around the Heartless' and begin slashing at its eyes. She spared a glance at her whooping partner. He just had his leg stuck straight out in front of him, black fire expanding, aimed at the horn growing out of the Heartless' snout. He was going to get impaled, wasn't he?

Huh, why did that make her feel so... cold?

"So, Al, I was planning on ordering out and I -" a puff of blue smoke appeared beside her, holding a Scroll in one hand and a pizza menu in the other. The menu quickly vanished alongside the communication device, replaced by cartoonishly large and long eyes expanding out of the Genie's eyes. "Whoa! I haven't seen something that bad since Sora!"

She lost concentration for a moment. "You know Keyboy?" She shook her head, forcing herself to focus on the monster lest she miss her chance to land. Merc had already collided with the thing, causing Dark flames to coat its head and a massive burst of wind to explode as the force of his kick met its skull. It seemed to do little. She threw her chains forward, flicking her wrists just so in order to get them to wrap around the bus sized horns. Kicking her legs forward, the former thief turned her momentum around the creature's head, swinging like the main character in Merc's new video game. Her boots slammed against the left side of its snout, just below its massive yellow eye, and she retracted her right sickle. Time to be stealthy and go to work.

"Of course I know, Sora. You and I have known him a long time, Al."

The yellow eye of the creature focused on her and the Genie she had just noticed hadn't gone back into his lamp. Emerald groaned and retracted her other kurasigama, then swung it forward around the horn on the creature's nose. She yanked hard and pulled herself up, barely managing to avoid the claw that swiped at her. "You couldn't respond later!?" she snapped at the blue man. "Like maybe when I'm not in danger of dying!?"

"... Then I'd never respond," Genie pointed out simply.

Well, she couldn't argue with that. So, she instead decided to try and do something about this monster. She landed just behind its horn and leveled her guns at its eyes. Black bolts of electricity coursed along the barrels, coating the bullets of Dust that began to fly out with powerful Dark thunder. The Heartless hissed in pain, throwing its head back and sending Emerald flying.

She was caught by Mercury while midair. "What would you do without me?" he asked as they glided through the air.

"Well, I wouldn't have to remind you that we're still falling."

"Oh... right. Can you do something about that?"

Emerald laughed and swung her weapons out again, the tips digging into the Heartless' back. "So... I don't think my Dark Thunder did a thing to that monster," Emerald muttered as she pulled them in to safety.

"And I can't get a single hit in that does anything either," Mercury admitted sadly. He put her down on its back and dug in to make sure he wouldn't fall off again.

"And I can't decide between pizza or Chinese for takeout," Genie said, focusing again on a pair of menus in his hands.

Ignoring the Genie, the assassin and thief traded a look. "Well... we gotta try."

"And you should probably deal with that." Genie gestured over his shoulder, where a multitude of Heartless were beginning to form out of the creature's back. He looked back down at the menus. "Hmmm... Pizza."

"Save me a slice!" Mercury demanded before sprinting towards the army of Heartless. He leaped into the nearest Wrath, slamming his knee into the pink fuzzball's face. The monster's head snapped back and it began to grow taller and more threatening. But still just as fat. Merc slammed his feet down behind its knees, kneeling to make himself a table. The former assassin grinned as he realized that Emerald had easily understood what he was going for. The girl had sprinted along the battlefield before delivering a powerful dropkick to the monster's face. The monster's head snapped back again, and its body grew again, just before the momentum tipped it over Merc and turned it into a huge bowling ball. Soldiers and Ronin flew into the air and disappeared in puffs of smoke as the Heartless slammed into them, the damage done to it only making it harder to avoid. Merc surged to his feet and looked over to Em. "Now... will you make a wish?"

"Will you?" Em asked, and she immediately noticed that he looked incredibly anxious. She glanced away from him and flipped over a Soldier, stabbing it in the head as it passed under her. "Merc, you're bad at keeping secrets from me..."

The assassin grinned nervously and glanced at her from under his silver bangs. "Whaaat? No..." He shot his left foot out at head height, an explosive force freezing an incoming Wyvern solid and then shattering it. "I... I don't. I don't have any secrets. From you! None from you! About... anything. Right, Blue?"

The Genie glared at him. Why are you dragging me into this!? After all, it only made it clear that, instead of Mercury hiding something, they were hiding something. That was significantly worse.

"Merc..."

Oh, he hoped this creature would just kill them and get it over with.

When it began to charge a massive fireball on its chest visible even from its back, Mercury began to hope his wish wasn't granted.

R W B Y

Sephiroth rocketed through the sky, the black wings he had grown upon Cloud's fall into unconsciousness carrying him towards his other half. It was only a matter of time, now. Soon he would have complete control over his own Heart, then he would reclaim the Black Materia from the pitiful wreck of a ship that Shinra had tried to create with its power. Then he would be able to wipe this world from existence and find where the Universe was born. And if it was not the birthplace of gods, he would destroy it as well. However often it was required for him to meet his own people.

He gripped Masamune tight in his right hand as soon as he heard the explosion in the distance. It was clearly distinct from the explosives used by Shinra's lackeys, but it remained oddly familiar nonetheless. He threw his sword up and the wings on his back flared, catching the wind and slowing him just enough that his blade caught the source of the explosion on its flat, at which point synthetic fingers wrapped around it. The blonde young woman glared at him, teeth bare in a snarl that just screamed rage. Her eyes were blood red, her hair sparking with flames. She was dressed differently now, from when he had first met her. Her long jacket had been replaced with one of yellow denim. She had a pair of sunglasses perched atop her head. "Yang Xiao Long. I see you are rolling out the welcome mat for your god," Sephiroth snarled back. Flame erupted from her off hand again and she flipped over him. The sword slammed into his face just as she delivered a powerful blow to his back that sent him rocketing to the ground. Cement exploded when he hit the ground, flying all around and hiding everything in a cloud of dust.

"That!" the blonde woman snapped at the crater. "That was for betraying me, you pile of shit!"'

The cement swirling around Sephiroth quickly came to a stop when he exerted the power of the Darkness in his Heart upon it. Black energy caught the particles around him and a circle of clean air appeared around him. He brought Masamune to his right side and glared up at Yang. She was enraged to see that he didn't have a single scratch on him. "Revenge is supposed to hurt," he spat in disgust, as if what she had done was no more an inconvenience than a mosquito bite. His other hand reached down to Masamune's hilt. "Allow me to show you." Then, just before she could hit the ground, he was right next to her. His blade moved like a flash of lightning, barely giving the trained Huntress time to mount a defense.

Without the ground to support her, the force of the blow sent her flying. A building crumbled as she passed through its foundations. Stone, steel, and cement crashed into the ground when she hit the ground on the other side of the building and tumbled to a stop at the foot of the next building. She didn't even have time to breathe before she shoved the ground as hard as she could. She stumbled backwards, using her momentum to roll to her feet and avoid a slash of Sephiroth's sword that would have ended this fight before it could have even began. The attack sliced clean through the street. Yang rushed to attack him before he could pull his sword from the ground, but hesitated when she heard the loud creaking. Sparing a half second to glance at the building to her right, she was stunned as a thin, vertical line appeared in front of Sephiroth. And then, the building split in two. The thinner of the pieces tore from its foundations, tilting without the main body of the building to support it, and crashed into the taller building beside turned her eyes towards Sephiroth. That could have been her. She grit her teeth. No time to worry now.

She rushed forward again, swiping her fists at the ex-SOLDIER as quickly as possible. He moved his head out of the way before she could lay a finger on him, white hair trailing and sliding around her fists. "Stand still!" Yang snapped, bringing her left fist up, cloaked with fire.

He slid backwards, tugging on his sword as hard as he could to bring it up and clash against her fist. The force of the blow was still enough to send him flying backwards, wings trailing in the wind before he slammed through the lobby of a hotel. People screamed and scattered as he pushed himself to his feet,shattered glass and sparking electrical wire all around him. He snarled and looked up just as Yang jumped through the door, grabbing on to the huge crystal chandelier above him. "And this is for Nibelheim!" she tore the chandelier down, its chain snapping from the force she was exerting until the tons of steel, glass, and crystal rained down on her opponent's.

There was a flash just before the chandelier hit, and the light was cut cleanly in two. Masamune glinted above Sephiroth's head, parallel to the two pieces that were tumbling to the ground on either side of him. He lowered it and leaped through the divide, blade slashing again. Yang twisted to the side, narrowly avoiding the attack as she began to fall, the brought her leg around for a kick. Sephiroth nimbly dodged the blow and slammed the base of Masamune's hilt into the center of the woman's forehead. Lights exploded behind Yang's eyes and she hit the ground outside of the hotel, leaving a crater at least a foot deep all around her. "As I said," Sephiroth said, gliding to the edge of the crater. "Revenge is supposed to hurt."

Yang's response was a veritable column of fire erupting out of the crater. She stood at the center, her hair invisible in the flames. Her glowing red eyes were like those of a demon hungry for revenge. "I can make it hurt," she snarled, her aura already translating his blow into force she could put right back on him. "I CAN MAKE IT REALLY HURT!" She shot out of the crater, a fireball of a human being, and slammed her fist into the top of Sephiroth's head before he could respond. The air crackled with lightning for a moment, the result of massive pressure suddenly appearing in a single location, and then the pillar of fire exploded on top of him, a new crater much deeper than Yang's appearing when Sephiroth's face hit the ground. Yang roared and brought both fists down on the prone man's back. "How about this!?" she snapped before bringing them down again. "It hurt this time!?"

Sephiroth vanished in a blur of lines just as her fists flew up again. Yang turned as quickly as she could, but she was knocked back by the swordsman before she could really respond. She rolled across the ground, crashing through streetlights until coming to a stop against a fire hydrant. Water exploded upward, filling the air. She looked up and glared at her opponent, who was at least now looking worse for wear. His hair was singed, blackened at the edges, and his black outfit was in tatters at its edges. There was a bruise blossoming on his face. "Told ya I'd make it hurt," Yang taunted, a shit eating grin plastered across her face.

"You are truly infuriating," Sephiroth snarled, his usually seafoam green eyes now a burning yellow. "I was wrong, you are no insect. You must be my jailer. To keep me here, away from my kind!"

"And you're a delusional psychopath. You're no god," Yang snapped. She laughed. "You want to know what you are? You're an illegal experiment made on another world. On my world. And you're the weaker, worse half of it!"

Sephiroth glared down at her, his chest heaving with hatred. "You're a liar," he finally said after a tense silence. He raised his sword above his head, aiming its nadir at her head. Yang knew this would be it. Her Aura wasn't strong enough to take another blow from a creature like Sephiroth. But at least she'd pissed him off before it all went downhill.

"Sorry, Seph. Lying, cheating, killing, stealing. That's yin. I'm Yang," she retorted. She raised one of her fists toward him, fire glowing weakly between her fingers. "Come on – you could at least laugh at that one. It was a steamy joke!"

The sword rocketed towards her and she slammed her fire coated fist into the ground. Steam exploded all around her and she dove out of the way, avoiding the sword and disappearing into the cloud of vapor she had created. She dove around a corner and began to run. Sephiroth, despite his desire to claim the other half of his Heart, flew after her in a rage. Well, she'd definitely pissed him off, then. Was that a good thing or a bad thing?

R W B Y

"Tifa, wait up!" Jaune snapped as he sprinted after the girl, laser blasts and bullet fire colliding with the ground around him. She bolted through the vaporized remains of the hospital's face, her destination pulling at her like a flame drew in a moth. She snarled as she burst through, catching sight of the small bug-like shadows that were starting to appear around her oldest friend. She jumped forward, slamming her foot into one's skull, annihilating it. She turned on her heel and her left foot slammed into another, at which point she ducked and moved to the side, letting one leap clear over her. Her left fist flew up as it passed over her and the Heartless hit the ceiling before disappearing.

"You need to wait up!" Jaune snapped, and she heard another creature burst into shadow behind her. Jaune pulled his weapon up, standing back to back with Tifa, and glared at the Heartless in front of him. "You can't run off alone like that!"

Tifa ignored him, deciding to glare at the three remaining Shadows in front of her. "What if it had been something more dangerous?" Jaune asked, squaring off with another trio himself.

"Then I'd have needed to be here even more," Tifa replied before charging the Heartless. She slammed her fist into one, the leaped up and spun, delivering a back kick to another as it leaped towards her. Finally, she coated her feet with magical energy and brought them down on the third at the same time. It didn't have a chance.

Jaune, meanwhile, had moved forward with the same collected movements that Pyrrha and Sora had taught him, effortlessly bringing his Keyblade around in one hand to cut them down as they came at him. Slash to the left, down, then diagonally up and to the right, and they were gone. Jaune took a deep breath to calm himself as combat ended, then turned to Tifa. "What are you hoping to do here?" He shook his head. "I know you care about Cloud, but rushing in like that and dying wouldn't help him. You need to think and have backup in a warzone."

Tifa, understandably, ignored what he'd said. "You're taking me back in there."

Jaune blinked in confusion. "Uh... you lost me. Where?"

"Cloud's Heart. We have to wake him up before -" she paused as an explosion echoed in the distance.

"Yang..." Jaune muttered.

"Before Sephiroth gets here," Tifa said, putting two and two together about who Yang could be fighting. She turned and walked over to the bed, where Cloud remained catatonic and broken. "He needs to wake up, Jaune. Help me do just that."

Jaune stared at the two for a moment, unsure of what to do. They had just been ejected from Cloud's Heart, after all, and made no headway into waking him up then. Now that Sephiroth knew what they were trying to do, it certainly wouldn't be any easier. Darkness would flood into Cloud's Heart like a river, creating facsimile of Heartless and Dust knows what else to hold them back. Doesn't matter, Jaune heard a voice say in his mind. Not his own. Not Sora. Not Pyrrha, even. It was another voice. Better to face a problem head on than worry so much about a plan that you forget to face it at all.

Ugh. Yang. "Fine. But you stick by me and you do what I say the moment I say it," Jaune demanded, already moving the Keyblade above Cloud again. He grabbed Tifa's wrist and glared her in the eyes. "Well?"

Tifa's eyes narrowed. "I'll do whatever it takes to save him."

Jaune bit his lip. "That's good enough," he sighed before twisting the Keyblade.

They awoke on their feet this time, in a completely different part of Cloud's Heart. They were surrounded by... fragments. Shards of Cloud's psyche broken by everything that had happened to him as of late. A trio stood at the edges of the pillars, staring out into the Darkness. Jaune glanced at the ground and found the stained glass was devoid of anything: no symbol, no face, no silhouette. Just white with a black outline. "I have no idea what we're going to see here," Jaune explained quietly, already confused at the apparent lack of Heartless attacking. He lowered the Keyblade to his side, holding it loose but ready. "We need to be ready for anything Sephiroth sends our way." He paused, thinking about how Cloud's memories were a torrential mess of three different people. "Or Cloud."

"He's not going to cause us trouble," Tifa snapped, moving towards the closest Cloud – this one had no other Cloud to his left. She reached out tentatively, almost terrified by what she was doing. A strange, wistful look appeared on her face, one that Jaune was all too familiar with. "Cloud, I -" Her fingers dragged across his arm, and the world around Jaune and Tifa warped. They found themselves standing on a mountain, staring down at the glittering lights of Nibelheim.

"We're on Mount Nibel," Tifa muttered. She turned around and stared at Jaune. "What's going on?"

"His memories," Jaune explained. He bit his cheek. "An important one, I think."

Tifa walked around, frowning. "It's...The well. We're at the well," she said. She turned and looked up the path, where a well and stones appeared as if from nothing. But there was no Cloud.

Jaune heard a familiar rustling and spun on his heel, raising the Keyblade at the Neoshadows that had slunk out of the Darkness to glare at them. "Tell me more!" he commanded Tifa, then he sprinted at the monsters. The Keyblade slashed down slamming into one of the Neoshadows before it could dodge. The force of the blow sent it flying backwards while the others scattered, chittering angrily as the Keyblade's Light began to call to their darkest instincts. "What is this night?" He jumped behind Tifa and raised the Keyblade, deflecting an attack from one of the Neoshadows that had elected to focus on her instead. The other two shrieked and sprinted at him, forcing the Keyblade wielder to send a blast of ice in their direction, drawing all their attention directly to him.

"It – It's the night that Cloud said he was going to be a SOLDIER," Tifa said. A dim Cloud appeared on the stones by the well.

"And!?" Jaune snapped, deflecting another attack. He rcountered and slammed his Keyblade down on the head of a Neoshadow, caving its head in. Another jumped at his back before he could respond and claws raked across his armor. He turned on a dime and slashed horizontally, batting another away. "What happened?"

"Nothing, he just – it was the day before he left! He told me he was leaving to join SOLDIER!" Tifa snapped. A ghost of her appeared beside the ghost of Cloud.

"Why, then!?" Jaune shouted. He lunged forward, skewering a Neoshadow before turning to the last and throwing the Keyblade at the creature. The weapon spun, turning a vibrant gold as Light poured from it, and then turned it to nothing more than a cloud of vanishing Darkness. Jaune took a few breaths to steady himself, then turned to Tifa. "What was he really trying to say?"

Tifa looked at the ground. "I... We weren't friends," she explained sadly. "He was this kid that lived across the street, and...we just didn't talk. I wished we had. I thought he was – So when he met me here, 'on accident' he told me he was leaving the next day. For SOLDIER, to be First Class like his heroes Sephiroth and Zack. He – ha... He said he would always protect me... He just wanted me to notice him."

"Not knowing you already had," Jaune finished, his own memories of Pyrrha aching in his Heart. "I didn't look, either. I missed how she looked at me until it was too late."

Tifa shook her head. "I don't know. Yang is still around, isn't she?"

Jaune turned a bright red. "Ha! Uh, ha... Er, no. No, not Yang," Jaune explained anxiously. "No..."

"Ah, then..." the world around them faded, replaced with a the other two Clouds. Tifa stared at Jaune for a moment, considering the man and his words quietly. She glanced at the ground. "It's changed."

Jaune followed her eyes. She was right. The empty white had been partially replaced, the outermost edge of the pillar stained green with small flowers. Tifa's face fell and her eyes steeled over. "Flowers. Of course it is," she muttered, dejected. She looked over at the next Cloud clockwise. "Of course it is."

Jaune understood what that one meant. These flowers, at the very least to Tifa, signified that Cloud was truly in love with someone else. "We need to keep going," Jaune said after a moment of silence. "We're running out of time." He moved ahead and grabbed the next Cloud.

The world warped again, immediately replaced with a new scene. Nibelheim, fire everywhere. This scene played out in front of them, like a movie. Cloud stood beside Jaune and Yang, cutting down Heartless with the Buster Sword and fighting to protect his home. Specifically the young woman dressed in a cowboy outfit nearby. "So, he doesn't remember what happened," Jaune whispered. Some of the surrounding Heartless turned towards the newcomers and growled, Wraths and Ronin slowly stalking towards them. "Okay, Tifa. What is this scene supposed to be, and why?" Jaune asked, fairly certain he knew how this was going to work. He readied for a fight, as did Tifa, and they sprinted forward.

"Why me?" Tifa asked, lashing out with her leg to turn a Ronin to dust.

Because you love him, Jaune wanted to retort. Instead he just sighed and attacked the closest Wrath, managing to force it to its maximum height in a single blow. "Just humor me!"

"Fine!" she responded, snapping just as loud. She slammed her fist through a Ronin's head. "That's supposed to be Zack! Cloud didn't do much!"

The scene shifted to match what she had said.

"Great, and now the important part!?" Jaune shouted as he struggled against the two large claws of the fully grown Wrath above him.

Tifa snarled at him from where she was slamming two Ronin's heads together. "What do you want me to say?"

"Why is Cloud showing us this? You know him better than me," Jaune pointed out. He shoved back on the Heartless above him, jumping in the air with his momentum as he spun and carved its head from its shoulders. "Why did he change it?"

She stared sadly at the terrified young man with the gun, fighting monsters he couldn't even hit. His memories had been messed up, but why had he held onto this so much? That he was a First Class SOLDIER who had fought to save Nibelheim. Then it dawned on her. "He felt guilty that he hadn't kept me safe. Like he'd broken his promise."

The world vanished again, replaced with the pillar in Cloud's Heart. The floor had changed once again, another ring forming. This one was a deep, rich brown that was adorned with a demonic wolf's skull clutching a ring in its mouth. Tifa stared at the wolf for a moment, knowing it was Cloud just as the flower was Aerith. They bound his Heart. Tifa shoved the feelings in her Heart down and moved towards the final Cloud.

She was horrified by where they ended up this time. "I... don't know where we are," Jaune said, looking around the massive temple. There were people here already. Cloud and Tifa outside of a green, glowing pool, were screaming in horror and rage. Their weapons were half drawn and they were rushing forward. A few more people were there, as well. A pale man with guns, a large dark skinned man with a... was that a gun for a hand!? A red dog with a mohawk. And more. At the center of the pool was another person that Jaune did not recognize. She had deep brown hair and bright green eyes. She wore a pink dress and red jacket that matched a ribbon in her hair, her hands clasped in front of her as she began to channel Light magic. Jaune felt the Darkness in his heart rear back, as if burned by the mere memory of this woman. He knew why, the same feeling having reared its head when Ruby had run past him with Sora to fight Salem. This is a Princess. Or at least she was.

And she had a huge katana buried in her body, entering at her right shoulder and exiting at her left hip. All courtesy of the silver haired man sneering behind her.

"This is when Cloud broke," Jaune said, putting two and two together.

Tifa nodded. "Not a thing's out of place," she mumbled, her face growing deeply sad. "Aerith... she was great. I'd never had a best 'girl' friend before. It was nice, even if I didn't always like her. After all, Cloud..."

Jaune's brow ticked up. So, this was the woman that Tifa thought Cloud had loved. And maybe he had. Jaune supposed he didn't know. He and Yang had been gone for a very long time, missing too many adventures to know how they had all changed. Princesses of Heart were rare creatures, and the most pure that one could ever find. They inspired love easily, judging from Sora's stories of those he had met. Still, he just knew that there was something more here.

"This was supposedly where we could find a way to lock off the Heart of the World from Shinra and Sephiroth. Aerith said she felt a way she could do it, but then..." Tifa sighed and gestured at the scene before them.

"Then I stopped her." the Sephiroth in the image turned towards the duo, then brutally yanked his blade from Aerith's body. He grinned evilly. "Taking away Cloud's biggest Light from him."

Jaune growled and raised the Keyblade defensively. "Then why haven't you already destroyed him?" he snarled at the white haired swordsman.

Sephiroth's eyes turned on Jaune and he sneered. "You are not part of this conversation, Weakling."

Well, Jaune wasn't going to have that. "Find out what Cloud wants you to see!" Jaune commanded Tifa. "I'll buy you time." He sprinted towards the shade of Sephiroth, Keyblade glowing with a blade of Light.

The Keyblade swung around, the Light extending as it passed by Sephiroth. The shade leaned backwards to avoid the attack, turning with the momentum to swing at Jaune. The Keyblade wielder snapped his weapon around, managing to bring the edge of the Light into contact with Masamune. "So, having fun losing to Yang yet?" Jaune snapped, pushing as hard as he could against Sephiroth.

The man didn't budge, simply standing there with one hand on his weapon. "Even with my attention divided like this, she is about to die," Sephiroth replied. He smiled sickeningly. "And then Tifa."

"Because you're scared of her waking Cloud up, huh?"

Sephiroth's face turned cold, like it was carved from marble. Jaune knew he hit a nerve, especially when the force pushing against him suddenly magnified and sent him flying into the nearest wall. The brown stone shuddered and cracked as he hit it; air flooded from his lungs and the world tunneled around the enraged swordsman. Black wings flashed and the man was suddenly directly in front of Jaune, blade raised beside his head. Jaune forced his feet to move, rolling to the side just as the blade pierced where his head had been. He came up to his feet and slammed the Keyblade into the man's wrist. Sephiroth's hand released the sword's handle and shot up, the man hissing as he was stunned slightly by the pain. "So I was right. You're afraid of her." Jaune grit his teeth and slashed at the man's throat again, only for his opponent to dash away, guarded and in control again. "Tifa! Hurry up!"

"I don't know what to do!" she shouted back, staring at the scene in front of her. "This is when he lost the woman he loved, I don't know what he wants me to see!"

Sephiroth grinned but refrained from speaking. He raised his hands in front of him and a sword of pure Darkness melted into existence in his fists. He vanished, leaving behind not even a flash of black lines. "Oh, this is going to be bad," Jaune muttered. He turned around, raising his Keyblade in an attempt to block, but this played into Sephiroth's hand. The shard of Darkness slammed into his back and knocked him to the ground, causing him to roll until he came to a stop on his back. Eyes shut, Jaune groaned in pain, but he forced them open. Just in time, it seemed, as Sephiroth appeared above him with sword raised, weapon swinging down and sending black arcs of energy crackling in every direction. The Keyblade shot up, catching the attack. The full force traveled through Jaune's body and shattered the stone beneath him, sending another jolt of pain up his spine. He yelled in pain and nearly felt his elbows buckle, but he held on. He had to survive, if not win. "Tifa, I'm going to need you to hurry up!"

"I don't know!" Tifa snapped, she turned to try and help Jaune get rid of Sephiroth.

Jaune shook his head. "NO! Think!" Tifa stopped in her tracks, just staring in disbelief.

"She can't do it. Ants like her, like you... you cannot admit the truth to yourselves, much less others. If it were not accepted, she would fall into Darkness," Sephiroth taunted from above Jaune, leaning against his blade with the full weight of his body and the force of power he could muster, almost enough to break the blonde's guard. Sephiroth leaned down and sniffed Jaune before grinning, a knowing and dark smile. "Just as you did."

"Shut up..!" Jaune snarled, trying to shove the Darkness in his Heart down while he fought to push against Sephiroth as well. If Tifa didn't find out what Cloud wanted her to know, Jaune was going to die. And Tifa. And Cloud. Then Yang. And then this entire world. Then probably a bunch of others until Sephiroth was stopped by Sora or someone else. Jaune blanched. "TIFA!"

"Stop rushing me!" the girl shouted. "I – He misses Aerith? He hates that he couldn't protect her."

Well, not wrong, but obviously not what they were looking for since they were still in this part of Cloud's Heart.

"I don't know what he wants me to say!" Tifa shouted, tears streaming down her face. "I..."

Sephiroth grinned wider and began to laugh. "And with that, my victory is assured."

Jaune knew that Sephiroth was sadly right. If Tifa didn't find out what Cloud wanted her to say... Wait, maybe that was the problem. Jaune cast a quick glance with his eyes at the frozen scene and saw what he'd been missing. Cloud – he'd placed himself between the pool and Tifa. He'd just lost someone he cared about or loved, and he wasn't going to lose her too. Which meant that this was about her, and if she didn't notice that Jaune would have to come up with something else.

Jaune angled the Keyblade and pushed, forcing the blade of Darkness into the ground so he could buy some time. He lashed out with his foot into the side of Sephiroth's knee, landing a solid blow before the man could recover. Jaune scrambled to his feet as the swordsman fell to his knee in a combination of pain and surprise. The Keyblade came down and, now, the earlier blade lock was reversed. But Jaune knew it wouldn't last. "Then tell him what you want him to know!" he snapped. "If I had another chance, that's what I would have done!"

Sephiroth snarled. "Dammit..." he growled, shoving hard against Jaune. The Keyblade wielder stumbled backwards, Keyblade flying up.

"No!" Jaune snapped, forcing his body to slam the Keyblade back down before Sephiroth could get his footing.

Tifa glanced over at the memory of Cloud. "Cloud, I... I wish we'd been better friends as kids, because this has been the best few months of my life. Even if with all the pain and horror we've gone through," she began, moving slowly towards the image of her best friend.

"Dammit!" Sephiroth repeated, shoving hard again. Jaune held firm this time. "I won't let this happen!"

"... and I'm sorry you lost Aerith. I liked her a lot, too. She was one of us. And maybe this isn't the right time, but – heh, Sephiroth is going to kill us anyways. No time if I don't do it now. I know you struggle with Darkness. You fight Sephiroth on the inside all the time, his control, his rage. You told me it feels like you can feel his hate worming its way into you, that you want to kill Shinra instead of bringing them to justice. I bet losing Aerith felt like losing so much of the Light you were trying to hold onto. But..."

"NO!" The blade in Sephritoh's hand vanished and Jaune immediately found all his force flying forward. Sephiroth's wings appeared again and he flew towards Tifa, the Keyblade slamming into his shoulder as he tried to reach her at all costs. Light cleaved through his shoulder, and the world shook. Darkness appeared in his left hand, forming a knife's edge around his straightened fingers, ready to bury it in Tifa's chest. Jaune vainly tried to catch him, to keep Tifa safe.

Tifa reached the memory of Cloud, placing her hand on his cheek. "But I'll be your Light if you need it. I care about you, more than a team mate. More than a friend! I want to see what that could be! So wake up and beat the shit out of Sephiroth so I can? You... you promised." Sephiroth's hand was inches from her back.

The Cloud's face turned to her. "Tifa?"

The world vanished in an explosion of Light.

Jaune sprang to his feet, breathing hard. His heart was pummeling the inside of his chest as it pushed itself to the limits. "Tifa?" Jaune asked. There was no response. "Tifa!"

She exploded upward as well, eyes wide as she reached for her back. "I thought... Sephiroth's fingers, they were right there..."

"And I'll pay him back for that," Cloud said, standing in his clothes beside his hospital bed, one hand on the Buster Sword's handle. He lifted the weapon effortlessly, spinning it in his hand before placing it on his shoulder and turning to the other two. Jaune noted that he looked very different, with a cold edge to his eyes he'd lacked before. The smell of Darkness came off him, but there was Light in it. Cloud flexed his free hand in front of him, then met Tifa's eyes. He didn't smile, but his voice grew somewhat softer and Light shined in his eyes. "After all, I promised, didn't I?"

His face grew a little nervous before he continued speaking to Tifa, cheeks flushing and eyes cast towards the ground. "Before that, though... Did you mean what you said in there? ... I've kind of been waiting for you to say all that since I gave you that flower."

Tifa's face turned bright red.

Yeah, Jaune was fairly certain he knew what face was at the center of that stained glass pillar they'd been standing on earlier.

R W B Y

"Are you... getting anywhere with this!?" Emerald inquired as she took a break from sticking her sickles, enlarged with black flames, into the base of the monster's skull. She was putting a dent in the Heartless, but it wasn't like the pinpricks of damage were going to kill this thing. Probably.

Mercury scoffed and stopped kicking the connection of one wing to the monster's back. "Does it look like it?" he snapped in aggravation.

"Hey, don't yell it me! I'm just checking in!" Emerald snapped back.

"Look, it's not like I'm going to almost die again!" Mercury growled before his face blanched. He hadn't meant to say it like that.

"What does that mean?" Emerald asked, worried. Genie appeared behind her and nodded his head, mouthing that telling her was... a good idea.

But what could he know? He was a blue smoke man who quoted movies from another world. "Like when we fought Salem," he supplied, not sounding nearly as convincing in his lie as a trained assassin should. He turned away before she could say anything more and began slamming the heel of his foot into the Heartless wing again.

"What do you really –?" Emerald began, but she was cut off when the Heartless suddenly turned quickly. A tornado of wind was suddenly swirling around them, sending the girl flying off the creature and to her death.

"EM!" Mercury cried. He grit his teeth and slammed his foot into the wing again, channeling as much magic as he could into an explosive Firaga that he used to rebound right towards Emerald, his arms grabbing onto her.

"Great, and the landing?"

Mercury laughed nervously as they soared towards the other wing. "Uh... I was hoping you had an idea."

Emerald rolled her eyes and swung her sickles out on their chains, looping around the other wing so they could swing down to its back again. As their arc crested, they saw a massive fireball growing on the Heartless' chest, right over the gem. "I bet that's the weak spot," Mercury supplied.

"Thanks, Captain Obvious," Emerald growled just before the fireball launched from the monster's chest, swirling through the air and right towards... "Is that Jaune?"

The Keyblade wielder's eyes were wide as he stood in the middle of the street, people around him screaming in terror at the fireball rushing towards them. The blonde young man groaned and summoned the Keyblade back to his hand. He... couldn't stop something like that. On the other hand, it was that or thousands around him died. His mind raced, searching desperately for an answer. The fireball grew closer and closer until, finally, he had no idea. Just that he had to try. "I hope I don't die," he muttered to himself and he leaped upward as far as he could, swinging the Keyblade up. His mind was clear, empty, to the point that he was barely noticing as the Keyblade in his hand began to glow a comforting yellow. Then the Keyblade collided with the energy and it bent inward before warping around the tiny edge of the Keyblade and rebounding upward. The fireball, the size of a small building, soared upward until it became like a second sun in the sky... before exploding. The blue of the sky turned red, clouds vanished and were replaced by smoke. And on the ground, a young man was panting with his hands on his knees, a Keyblade buried in the steaming street beside him. He felt red, like he had minor burns all over his body, and could tell that his aura had been driven to the absolute brink by blocking that attack.

Emerald pulled her sickles back and Merc let go, launching a Firaga to slow himself before landing and rolling across the ground until he came up next to Jaune. "Buddy. One sec." Merc turned around and held his arms out, waiting to catch Em. She rolled her eyes and aimed her guns at the ground, coating bullets in Zero Gravity magic that created a bubble that slowed her down and let her land with less force than a one footed hop would have net her. "Show off."

Emerald ignored him and walked towards Jaune. "You don't look like you can save this place from another of those."

"Excellent observation," Jaune said dryly. He pushed himself up. "Have you guys -"

"No," Merc cut in. "If this were a video game, we'd still be on the first health bar."

"Great..." Jaune sighed.

Merc and Em watched him silently for a moment, waiting. Finally, Merc shouted, "So... plan?"

Jaune looked towards the monster, already charging another fireball. "Uh... I'm running on empty. I fought Sephiroth, then this? I can't..." Jaune bit his cheek and looked over at Merc. "What about what you told me about? What Emerald can do."

Em whirled on Mercury. "What's he talking about?" She raised an eyebrow. "What

Merc was pale as snow, eyes darting side to side. Genie appeared again, causing Jaune to yelp in surprise when the large blue figure popped in from out of thin air. "I think that you -" Genie turned on Jaune. "Hey... how'd you get Sora's Keyblade?"

Jaune laughed in excitement. "It is you!"

"What is Mercury talking about!?" Emerald cut in rage that made her voice more fiery than the attack Jaune had just blocked. Everyone immediately shut up.

"The... oh. You didn't – Nothing! I will, uh, think of a pl -"

"TELL ME!" Emerald snapped, sickle suddenly at the Keyblade wielder's throat. "... Now..."

"It's his secret!" Jaune shouted, pointing at Mercury. The sickle was suddenly at the assassin's throat.

"Thanks," Mercury snapped at Jaune.

"Oh, no, this is on you," Emerald growled. "What happened?"

Mercury bit his tongue before Genie caught his eye, again saying 'Tell her."

"Dammit... Em, do you remember the fight against... uh, I think it was Sheeptar?"

Emerald's sickle remained where it was. "Why?"

"What happened?"

"We killed it, some people died, and you started acting weird."

"Because I used my last wishes, Em. I almost died, and you went crazy. Wished me okay, and... You made real Grimm. Not illusions. Monsters. And they killed innocent people. Used to be, you wouldn't care. But now you do. And it hurt you. So I made you forget, and gave you my last wish. And I didn't tell you because I didn't want you to remember."

Emerald glared at him. "I killed people?" she asked, and then the wish's barriers in her Heart shattered. She hit one knee as the memories flooded through her. A bloodied Mercury, the terror at losing the only person she had left. The wave of Darkness that had echoed out from within her, fueled by rage. And... a kiss. As her mind cleared, she looked up at Mercury.

He was shouting at Jaune. "I thought you were anti Darkness!"

"I can't be trusted with it! But you guys seem to be... well, you're being better people!" Jaune replied. "I – look, there's another me who uses it and he wants to annihilate the universe, so..."

"Okay, well, we're going to have to cover that later," Emerald groaned, putting a hand on her temple to try and fight off a headache. God, it was going to be a long day. Her sickles swung into her hands when she lowered them to her hips, and she reached into the depth of her Heart, feeling that same fear of losing Mercury so she could let it fuel her power. But this time she infused it with Light, with the knowledge that Merc was still there. And that they'd kissed. That they could be redeemed. She could worry about all the bad things she now remembered on another day. The sickles in her hands pulsed, then extended out to massive and cruel looking jagged blades. Her blood red eyes turned into a burning yellow. "And we will. But for now, I have some anger to work off."

Mercury gulped. "Uh... try to work it all out?"

She ignored him with a huff and focused her supercharged Semblance, feeling the Darkness crafting what she envisioned. She threw her hands forward, massive chains appearing out of thin air and hooking around the Heartless's arms. They slammed into its chest when Em pulled back, forcing it to stumble forward and into its own charging attack. The Heartless shrieked in pain as a massive explosion slammed into the gem on its chest, making Em sure that she had guessed right on its weak spot. Yanking again, this time she pushed off of the ground and rocketed towards the Heartless, twirling her kurasigama around her body.

The Heartless roared, a massive noise that shattered all the glass immediately surrounding it. Then it flexed as hard as it could, bringing its massive arms up and rearing up on its two hind legs to summon the strength to shatter the chains. It swung at Em, massive claw closing in on her before she could hit it. She snarled and created an illusory wall to jump off of, barely dodging between two fingers of the claw. She twirled in the air, holding her sickles of Darkness out as she did. She felt resistance as her weapons trailed through the appendages, but she got through regardless. The Heartless shrieked again and brought its other claw around, this time managing to land a blow on her guard. There was a massive shockwave as they collided and she was thrown back, air swirling around her.

In her mind's eye, she envisioned another illusion, this time a ramp to redirect her momentum entirely. She hit the slide and went around the curve, losing no speed on the frictionless surface, so she could fly back at the Heartless. "Okay, that hurt!" she snapped as she came up with another thing to use. A Nevermore the size of the Heartless' head grew out of the air, flying towards its face and clawing at its eyes. The Heartless roared in annoyance and began swatting at the Nevermore, but the bird Grimm tore away before coming in for another guerrilla attack. Emerald grinned, wild and aggressive. Oh, this was going to be good. She roared, drawing the Heartless' attention from the Nevermore. The monster roared at her and charged up another fireball in front of its gem, pouring as much energy as it could into making the attack form faster. The Nevermore kept attacking its head, but was ignored. So she decided to do the only thing that would make a difference. The Nevermore angled its wings and divebombed, turning into a comet on a collision course for the fireball. As soon as its sharp, dangerous beak pierced the surface of the magic, the fireball exploded and the Grimm was vaporized. The Heartless roared and reared back, stunned by the force of its own attack.

One of Em's sickles came forward, cleaving through the explosion and letting her swing with the other so she could bury the tip of the weapon directly in the gem. The already cracked surface cracked further under the pressure and buried her weapon to the handle. The Heartless stumbled back, its four legs trampling the destroyed ground "Now," Em said, feeling cocky, if tired. She brought her other sickle up. "DIE!" And she brought it forward, ready to bury it deep in the – and then, the normal sickle clanked off of the monster's chest and she felt her energy vanish.

"Uh... rain check to finish the fight?" she asked, looking up at the Heartless' eyes now locked on her. Its massive maw opened wide in response, Darkness charging some kind of attack. "Or not."

But it seemed she had done enough, for the monster began to fall apart in front of her, its head turning to smoke. "Oh... that's goo -" And then its chest turned to smoke, and she was suddenly falling from the height of a building with little Aura. "Shiiiiiit."

She landed softly in Merc's arms in the air before he kicked at the ground again, creating a Zero Gravity area so he could land safely while Jaune ran up to them. "Damn. That was pretty hot," Mercury said mockingly.

Em glared at him. "Shut up," she said before touching her lips to his. She hit the ground with a thud when his arms stopped working. "What the –? Jerk!"

"I'm sorry!" Mercury shouted, horrified. "I... I just froze up! I swear, this doesn't usually happen, I was surprised!"

R W B Y

Yang was not having fun. That monster was charging a fireball on its chest, Jaune and Tifa were doing God knows what to wake up Cloud, and Yang herself was being chased by the madman with a sword that was maybe capable of annihilating this entire planet. Speaking of, she was forced to duck into another alley as the flying Sephiroth rocketed after her, always gaining if it weren't for his frustration blinding him and Yang acting like a tricky jerk instead of a brawler. She'd gotten this far on a combination of luck and thinking 'what would Blake do?' The result was... well, she hadn't taken any hits, but she also hadn't been able to stop running since this started and she was starting to get tired. "COME OUT, COME OUT, LITTLE MOUSE!"

"Dust, could he be any more cliché?" Yang mumbled under her breath, hoping that someone would help her soon. Speaking of, she had to keep his attention. She looked around for something to use that would distract distract him. She slammed her fist into a trash can, sending it flying into the air coated with a Magnera spell. A black sphere of energy exploded into being when it was in the air. More trash cans and metal debris flew into the air, swirling around to create a wall that both drew the jerk's attention, and gave Yang some breathing room.

And it did give her some, if only a moment. He slammed into the cloud, moving far too fast to completely stop before he hit the swirling orb of metal. Yang loved the noise he made as soon as his already bruised face collided with the metal, like a cross between a yelp of pain and a snarl of rage. "An ant, huh? Fine, Sephi-wrong!" she shouted, laughing at her own bad joke.

Masamune sliced through the metal, the sheer force of the blow shattering the magic holding it all together and sending scraps flying in every direction. He rocketed through, powerful wings beating once to shove the air behind him. Yang bit back a shriek when a projectile made of pure Darkness flew from the sword, slicing through the cement just inches to her left. "What a shot!" she taunted, the only thing that was keeping her from panicking as she was attacked by a maniac. "It's those god-like eyes, right?"

There was a boom, Sephiroth increasing his speed, and he slammed into the ground in front of Yang. She tripped forward, the shockwave taking her feet out from under her, and tumbled to a stop at his feet, her exhaustion and aches finally catching up with her. Still, she pushed herself up and raised her fists, ignoring the fact that his blade was already angled at her neck. "Okay, I'll beat you in a fair fight again!" she growled unconvincingly.

Sephiroth didn't respond, and in fact did something that Yang couldn't understand. He just... looked away, surprise and rage growing on his face. Yang shrugged inwardly, taking what she could get, and put all the magical energy she could muster in her right fist until it was swirling with Light and a tornado of wind that could boost the distance her punch could put between them. Her fist flew forward, just in time for Sephiroth's face to turn back to her. Wind exploded in the alleyway and there was a boom as the force of the attack emtied all air that wasn't slamming into her opponent's face. Sephiroth, even as strong as he was, was sent flying out of the alley and into the street, tumbling through a third story window. Yang kept her fist straight out, forcing air into her lungs when it rocketed back to fill the vacuum. "Dust..." She knew she had to keep fighting, or she'd die. And if he was distracted by something, maybe she could do this. She dragged herself, feet moving slowly, towards the street. "Stupid, silver haired, genocidal maniac..."

Sephiroth was in front of her the moment her foot was about the leave the curb, one of his eyes swollen shut where her fist had collided with it. Blood was leaking out of one nostril and through his gritted teeth. No permanent damage, but damage. Still, his sword was rushing at her, and she wasn't energized enough to block a decapitating blow this fast. Shit.

"Hey! Sephiroth, you're looking for me, right?"

The sword stopped just shy of her neck, quivering. Sephiroth's bruised eye widened so much it looked like a normal eye, and his head slowly turned. He lashed out with his elbow as he did and Yang's head snapped back. She hit the ground with a yellow glow all over her skin.

"Cloud..." the silver haired swordsman said, his voice torn between abhorrent rage and awe filled reverence. He raised Masamune to his shoulder. "I am here so we may become one!"

Cloud narrowed his eyes and readied the massive Buster Sword in front of him, knuckles white around the handle.

The two were on each other in a flash, blades singing as their metal collided. Cloud's downward slash collided with the katana, but there was no pause as both combatants were on to their next move. The Buster Sword blocked a decapitating blow from Masamune before sliding along its length to strike across Sephiroth's chest. The man's wings beat and he jumped back, the tip of the massive weapon barely grazing his bare chest. "It truly has been too long since I had a challenge, Cloud," Sephiroth muttered, a wild look in his eyes. "Too long."

"Then how did Yang give you those bruises, Sephiroth?" Cloud mocked. He raised the Buster Sword at an angle in both hands and charged Sephiroth, jumping and spinning for a vertical slash. Sephiroth jumped to the side and swung sideways, but Cloud hit the ground and rolled beneath it until he got to his feet. He spun on the ground, striking with his heel at Sephiroth's ankles and swinging his massive sword with one hand towards where he thought Sephiroth would dodge. The guess paid off, and the Buster Sword slammed into the former SOLDIER's midsection. Blue eyes bulged as the air was torn from his lungs and the edge of the weapon carved through the first layer of his skin before his inner energy stopped the weapon and kept him alive. Still, it was enough to stun him for a moment, giving Cloud ample time to stand up at full speed, angling his head so the hardest part of his skull would slam into his opponent's chin. Sephiroth's head snapped back and Cloud readied to end this, positioning the Buster Sword to pierce Sephiroth's abdomen as it had years before.

"NO!" Sephiroth's wings flared, and a pulse of Darkness flew out of him. Cloud's eyes widened and he turned his stab into a block, the weapon forming a barrier he used to defend himself even as he was sent sliding backwards. His heels dug into the street, forming shallow gashes. Sephritoh snarled at Cloud as soon as they had space. "You... You... You couldn't defeat me if I was at full strength! You bathe in Light, you fear the Dark!"

"Yeah, throw a tantrum that Yang beat you up and made you an easy target," Cloud mocked. He snarled. "After all, you couldn't even take Aerith out without a surprise attack, you damn coward!" Cloud charged him again, swinging with a blade elongated even further by the Light in his Heart.

Sephiroth snarled, and Cloud worried that the silver haired man was going to find some way to destroy him. But the black wings flapped once, and Sephiroth vanished, leaving behind a boom that shattered all the nearby windows. Cloud watched him go, eyes narrowed. And then a sigh of relief escaped him and he fell to one knee. "Ugh... I feel like I haven't eaten in weeks."

Sephiroth meanwhile was rocketing away at full speed, his mind fixated on his goal. Cloud could come after, but this was now. Once he had the Black Materia, everything else could fall into place. Besides in the meantime, the Heartless could – his eyes widened as he saw the monster begin to turn to smoke. They found a way to destroy his monster? To defeat a Darkness that strong!? As he saw the smoke rise, he knew the how did not matter. The monster had been a distraction, and it had done its job. He shot through the sky, contrails forming in his wake, aimed directly for the reactor's heart, where his prize waited. He had to claim the Black Materia. And then his own completion would be a simple matter.

R W B Y

Jaune and Yang sat beside each other in a booth, pure exhaustion evident on both their faces. But also a quiet and content triumph. They'd succeeded on this World, saving Cloud and helping to destroy the massive Heartless. After everything they'd gone through, that was more than enough to count as a clear win. Even Emerald and Mercury were willing to sit with them and soak it in. A win as the good guys and a chance to appreciate that feeling with others. Tifa and Cloud were at the counter, talking about the secrets that came out in his Heart and how to catch up with the rest of their party for continuing the hunt for Sephiroth.

"So, you have Sora's Genie friend," Yang said to Emerald and Mercury, frowning. She turned to Jaune and slapped the back of his head. "And you didn't tell me!?"

"Hey! We were busy!" Jaune hissed back, swiping at her hand that was still swatting his head. "You know? OJ, right?"

"Okay, you want to know about Genie?" Emerald asked. She pointed at Jaune. "You guys tell us about who the hell OJ is."

Jaune and Yang grew quiet and morose. Yang stopped slapping her partner and instead put a hand around his shoulder to give him a side hug. "It's not good. He's... like Jaune in a funhouse mirror. The same childhood, the same friends. Except our Jaune is a good boy." She tousled her partner's hair like he was a dog, earning an angry glare from him. "And OJ, the other Jaune... He isn't."

"What do you mean?" Mercury inquired, placing his arm along the back of the booth.

"For starters, he thinks I'm betraying Pyrrha or destroying her memory for trying to move on at all," Jaune started. He shook his head. "Or at least for not trying to help him jump into the next timeline at the cost of every life in this one."

Emerald shook her head in sympathy. "So that means his world must be dead," she said, shaking her head. "I mean, if he got here, then either everyone died around him when he got here, or he tried to destroy his own universe and succeeded. Either way, I know how that feels and I feel bad for him."

"Okay, not the response I expected," Yang said, confused.

Mercury scoffed. "Hey, we were the bad guys once. We're allowed to feel bad for him."

"If he wasn't trying to kill everyone, you mean?" Jaune suggested, putting his cheek on his hand and raising an eyebrow.

The former henchman went quiet for a moment. Emerald finally laughed nervously, getting out,"I mean, who hasn't tried that once?"

Yang raised her hand.

"There you go. Only 25% of people haven't," Mercury joked, earning an annoyed glare from Yang and Jaune while Emerald stifled a laugh. He gestured between himself and Em. "I think we're in the right here."

Jaune and Yang continued to glare until Em and Merc both nervously stopped laughing. "Uh... well, I'm sorry you've been dealing with that." Merc shrugged and gave a smirk. "I guess we'll take him out for you if we see him. Do you a favor."

"No, that's a bad idea," Jaune hissed, throwing his hands out and shaking them. "He's obsessed with Pyrrha, and anyone that's related to her death. So..."

"So he'll try to kill us," Emerald finished. She picked at one of her nails. "I think we can handle that."

"He fought to a standstill with Sora!" Yang said, and both of them immediately froze. "I think you know what that means, right?"

"It's, uh... I guess we could leave him to you guys," Mercury said, suddenly very anxious. "You know, what fun would it be if we got everything done for you?"

Yang glared at him. "Thanks. Really."

Jaune knew that this was as much as he wanted to say on this topic. "Now, about Genie."

"Okay, but there isn't as much to tell as what you guys had," Emerald supplied, more than happy to talk about something else, too. This OJ guy scared her. "You remember when we attacked Blue Fairy, right? We found him there and picked him up when we ran away after the fight with Salem."

"Yeah, he keeps calling her Al and slipping in and out of thinking he's somewhere else. It's been getting clearer, but... he's insane," Mercury explained. He scoffed. "Insane enough that he latched on to us, because he thinks Emerald is someone else. We each had three wishes, and I've used mine."

"That is simpler. I guess. Except Sora said he was free," Yang said, frowning.

Emerald shrugged. "He was like that when we met him. I'm guessing whatever weirdness happened with the, what, second end of the World? Yeah, that must have... rebooted him. Or someone found a way to make him a wish granter again. I don't know. All I know is, it wasn't us stealing his freedom."

Jaune was happy he could honestly believe himself when he said, "I believe you." He frowned. "Now, about your powers..."

"You have an idea about how she got them?" Mercury asked, leaning forward, interested.

Jaune nodded solemnly. "You guys don't wear coats."

Emerald and Mercury glanced at one another in confusion. "Uh, what does fashion have to do with anything?" Mercury asked.

Yang lit up. "OH! I get it!" she said, drawing more attention to the table than anyone wanted. She lowered her voice to a whisper. "So, Sora and Professor Ozpin said something about the Darkness between worlds being bad for you. If you don't get protection, it can get in your Heart. Mess with you. This... whatever it is, Jaune thinks it must be that."

Jaune nodded. "It makes sense. Darkness you can barely control that's way stronger than you used to be? You're getting infected by the Darkness in the Lanes Between, every time you jump between worlds."

Emerald flinched back, worry bright across her face. "Is there any way to stop it?"

"These special black coats. Professor Ozpin knows how to make them, I think," Jaune explained. "We'll get you some. But, uh... we should probably take Genie back, and free him."

""I'd usually agree," someone else said, sliding into the booth with them. Jaune and Yang turned, freezing.

"Blue," Merc sighed without looking at the Genie, "that is the worst disguise I've seen."

The Genie was essentially just himself. But with peach skin. Still just four fingers, no shirt. Proportions that didn't make sense. "You haven't even seen me!" Genie protested. He looked over at Jaune and Yang. "And I want my freedom, but... Al will give it to me. He did it before, and she will now." Jaune frowned. The switching pronouns weren't confusing at all. "They need me."

"You couldn't do it free?" Yang asked, confused.

Genie shrugged. "What I can do with magic when I'm free is a lot more limited than my wishes. One of the rules, sadly. I can do anything for other people... almost anything for myself," the magical being admitted, sounding a bit melancholy. "So if two wishes and my freedom can help save Al and Silver the Hedgehog here... I'm willing to stay with my friends to keep them safe." He turned to Merc and Em. "As long as I get to hang out outside of the lamp more often."

"We never said you had to stay in there. We thought you wanted to since you almost never came out. We only wanted you in there when we had to sneak around."

"Huh..." Genie muttered. His face split into a huge grin, filled with "Well, never going in there unless I need to! Say hello to the me you'll always be seeing! Gene Evans. Gene E. Get it?"

Only Yang laughed at that one.