Chapter 29: Prelude of Light
Edward Chris von Muir leaned back in his seat, the full moon's pale light illuminating his dark chambers as it filtered through an open window. The old wood creaked slightly, but the sound was drowned out by the banging and clanking outside; though the noise had a certain rhythm to it, admittedly. Edward found himself humming a tune alongside it as he sipped his coffee.
As time went on, however, the hum fell by the wayside. A frown appeared over his feminine face. Though it had a rhythm, the pounding was getting rather annoying. Standing up, Edward moved to close the window as tightly as he could. Though that muffled the sounds greatly, it didn't succeed in tuning them out. Moving over to a glass case visible only by the light of a wax candle on a nearby end table, Edward retrieved his most treasured belonging: his harp, gifted to him by his dear, departed Anna.
Gentle string music rose up inside his house, bringing an end to the noise pollution coming from outside. Edward smiled softly as he once again leaned back and relaxed in the cushioned seat, strumming on the harp. Dearest Anna… She had fallen three years ago to the day come tomorrow, struck down while climbing Bald Mountain on the night of a meteor shower. Edward had warned her not to go, but she had insisted on forging ahead to investigate strange magic emanating from the peak. Shortly after her disappearance those black creatures arrived, and Edward and the others put everything they had into the fight…but they did not win.
He had blacked out that day, his last thought on Anna. Some time later he awoke, no worse for wear but with a dull ache in his chest, as he witnessed a bizarre reverse meteor shower in the sky, where starts flew from the horizon and blinked to life in the heavens. Only after a visit from Yen Sid himself did the people of their humble village learn that they had been lost in the darkness for a year after the shadows attacked, and that their light had been restored the night of the reverse meteor shower. Unfortunately, Anna had not appeared to have been restored with them. Her cheerful smile haunted Edward to this day.
And now the creatures had returned, and brought those white monsters with them. Edward dearly hoped those children knew what they were getting into, but if Yen Sid sent them, they could handle it.
Stopping his music for the time being, Edward glanced through a window out into the cold night, but his view of the full moon was intercepted by the silhouettes of scaffolding and men as the reconstruction continued. He'd be out there helping, but he was not much aid physically. And though their culture focused on magic, what good was a simple bard in a construction effort?
The rebuilding of their small hamlet had begun almost immediately after the visitors from Yen Sid's tower had left to gather the Sound Ideas. That conductor creature—the "Symphony Master", as he had heard some of the townsfolk dub it—may not have taken their light as the shadows did, but it had certainly done a number on the square. Remnants of buildings stood with ladders and scaffolding decorating them, turning the square into more of a mess than it was during the attack; but that was only temporary, at least. Only the church stood completely untouched, its proud silhouette standing vigil over the town as they slept under Bald Mountain's shadow. And speaking of which, its bells began ringing to signify the stroke of midnight.
Edward turned his attention away from the window, setting Anna's harp down on end table for a moment while he picked up his coffee cup. Those kids had been out for a few hours already, but they still wouldn't be back for some time. He had to stay awake; it would simply be bad form to be sleeping when they finished a favor for him.
Knock, knock, knock!
Edward frowned and turned toward the front door of his home. Someone was slamming their fist, knocking with an unbridled anger. Anger was not something Edward wanted to deal with, especially not on the eve of the anniversary of Anna's death. Oh, it was past midnight—that meant it was the actual anniversary now, wasn't it?
But the knocking continued. "Open up, you spoony bard! I know you're in there!"
Edward felt his eye twitch. That insult was one he knew far too well, and only one person in the whole village used it. "I suppose I mustn't keep him waiting…"
Edward stood up to greet his unwelcomed guest, but the door swung open before he could cross the room. Standing on Edward's porch was an old man dressed in a pink coat, his beard and thick spectacles obscuring much of his face. The old man adjusted his ascot before marching forward, his fists clenched in anger.
"Tellah," Edward said calmly, though the strain behind his voice was obvious. "To what do I owe the honor?"
Tellah never liked Edward, not since they had first met years ago. And he had a perfectly good reason for that, too: he was Anna's father. He was extremely protective of his daughter, and while never liking Edward he never felt hatred toward him until that night that Anna climbed Bald Mountain. Edward himself had entered a period of self-loathing after that night, blaming himself for not stopping her, but eventually he had realized it was not his fault and had moved on.
Tellah, however, had not. He blamed Edward for Anna's death even to this day, and that anger bled into other things involving the young bard as well.
Tellah continued moving toward Edward until the latter could see himself reflected in the old man's glasses. A wrinkled but still strong hand thrust a finger into Edward's face.
"You sent those visitors to their deaths!"
Edward's frown deepened and he shoved Tellah's hand aside. "What in the world are you talking about?"
Tellah let out an exasperated sigh and turned around, stomping his feet as he circled Edward. "A suicide mission! Edward, you sent children out into the wilds while those shadows stalk our world! Children!" Tellah stopped pacing around the room, his gaze lingering on Anna's harp.
Edward stepped into Tellah's line of sight, and the old man's eyes flickered from the instrument to Edward's face. This was absurd; surely Tellah had seen them fight that Symphony Master? "They can handle themselves. Yen Sid himself sent them."
"Oh, Yen Sid sent them? Well that changes everything! Oh, wait—they're still just kids, Edward!" Tellah once again leaned in close, close enough for Edward to feel the warm air flowing as Tellah's nostrils flared in anger. "They can handle themselves? Just like Anna could handle herself?! Why, if I wasn't out of practice you'd be nothing but ashes from a Meteor spell right now!"
"You're taking your anger about what happened to Anna out on those children!" Edward snapped, shoving Tellah in the chest. "Tellah, it's time to move on. You're being completely unreasonable! This is a totally different scenario from Anna's death, shadows or no!"
Tellah's face hardened and his mouth contorted into a grimace. "It's more than just the shadows, Edward," he said in a cold voice.
"…What do you mean?"
"Are you really so self-absorbed that you cannot pay attention to the world around you?" Edward bit his tongue, denying himself from snapping at Tellah. That would just send him on another tirade. "You can't tell me you honestly haven't felt them, Edward! The ground shakes, the land weeps. Bald Mountain's shadow has expanded. There are reports every night of ethereal creatures on its hills."
Edward felt a chill run down his spine. He ran a hand through his hair and pulled away to find his hand matted in cold sweat. "That can't be… It's just like…"
"It's just like the last time," Tellah agreed, nodding. "First the shadows, then Bald Mountain. What was the third in that series, Edward? What happens next?"
Edward's throat was dry, and he spoke in a shaking voice. "T-The darkness…"
Tellah nodded and turned away, glancing at the black peak out the window. "It's coming. He's coming. And just like three years ago, there's nothing we can do to stop it." Tellah removed his spectacles and rubbed his eyes before glancing over his shoulder at Edward. "And you let children out into the world at the worst possible time, Edward."
No… No, he didn't mean for this. Images flashed through Edward's mind, memories he had suppressed. It wasn't just the shadows that attacked that night. Bald Mountain, it…something from within it…
"This is it." Tellah sounded so, so far away. "It's the Night on Bald Mountain."
x-x-x
"Come on, you guys! It's this way!"
A blue, four-legged figure galloped through the multicolored fauna, her figure quickly vanishing into the shadows of a forest at midnight only to reappear a moment later in front of the moon that stood out between the trees.
Xion pushed aside a veil of vines and flowers hanging in front of her, forming a door in the cascading plant wall and holding it for the others before passing through herself. Sora and Kairi passed through, their feet squishing into the soft, springy grass. Not long into the tree's journey, the typical forest had given way to a surprisingly peaceful glen, low in surrounded by cliff walls. The plants were a wide variety of bright colors, though dulled by the night, and the rivers and ponds scattered throughout reflected the sky like untarnished mirrors.
"Slow down, Melinda!" Kairi called out into the woods. "We're not as fast as you are!"
"We don't know our way around here either," Xion added.
"Oh!" A light, feminine voice called out, echoing through the trees. "I'm sorry, I'll come right back." The leaves to Xion's right rustled, and the black-haired girl jumped back just in time to avoid getting run over by the same four legged figure as before.
Hooves attached to lithe but powerful legs landed on the soft grass. The legs widened as they moved upward, growing more muscular near where the connected to an equine body. A tail formed of blonde hair swished back and forth playfully, but where the horse's shoulders and neck would form was instead the abdomen of a human—a young girl, to be precise. Pale blue skin, save for rosy blush on her cheeks, was accented by pink flowers wrapped around her waist and chest. The centaur girl brushed aside one of her two blonde pigtails and wrung her fingers together apologetically.
"I'm really sorry about that."
Sora grinned. "Don't worry about it. Just please try to remember that we're not centaurs."
Melinda giggled and nodded before waving for the three of them to follow her and trotting off into the trees at a much more reasonable pace. Xion and Kairi followed with Sora slightly ahead of them, their path illuminated only by the stars and moon up above—the glen wasn't thick enough for the shadows to block them out.
The trio had first met Melinda shortly after discovering this glen, where she had been speaking to a little flying creature she had later identified as a cupid. Needless to say, they were shocked that the centaurs Edward had mentioned were real; Kairi more so than Xion and Sora, as she had less experience with the fantastical than them. The cupid had run off when they had found the two of them, and Melinda had nearly followed, before Sora had stopped her and asked if she knew where the Sound Idea was.
Melinda was definitely extremely shy, but it didn't take longer for her to warm up. She had been hesitant to reveal the Sound Idea's location at first, and her eyes were always darting around like she was looking for an escape route. But when she was just about to make good on that escape, the glen was flung into chaos. Heartless arrived, drawn by the Keyblade.
Their first warning was a loud trumpeting sound, one that immediately sent alarms off in Xion's head. A group of Crescendos came bounding through the forest, their horn mouths blaring loud music as they bounced up and down on their rubbery lower bodies. Bookmasters followed soon after, the yellowing pages of their large tomes flipping in the wind. And what Heartless attack would be complete without an annoying array of the flying, multicolored spellcasters? Blue Nocturnes and Turquoise Marches scattered around the area as well. Melinda's reaction had been immediate; she fled, running off into the woods despite Sora's attempts to calm her and assure her that they could handle the Heartless.
The first to strike were the Crescendos. The instrument-like Heartless combined concentrated blasts of air from their mouths with bouncing tackles, knocking Xion and Sora to the ground. Kairi threw up a barrier before the concentrated wind hit her and responded with a fireball that sent one of the Crescendos fading into shadows without any more time to fight. But it was only one of many, and several other Crescendos replied to their comrade's defeat by launching more blasts of air. Sora and Xion acted fast, jumping up from the ground with their Keyblades coming to life in their hands. Xion countered the barrage of wind with Aero spells of her own while Sora swung wildly, catching the rubbery bodies of the Crescendos on the teeth of his Keyblade and tossing them across the battlefield.
"Look out!"
Kairi's call came just in time for Xion to glance up and avoid a hailstorm of Blizzard spells from both Blue Nocturnes and Bookmasters. The grass beneath her feet, where the spells made contact, died instantly as they were exposed to freezing cold and froze over. A crackling feeling flowed down Xion's spine as the air suddenly became charged with energy. Jumping out of the way once more, bolts of lightning rained down around her, as well as Sora and Kairi. One bolt struck the frozen grass and shattered it, sending razor-sharp shards of ice flying in all directions.
Sora threw up a Reflect spell, but Xion was too far from the others to be defended, and with the ice flying in all directions there was nowhere to run to avoid it. Xion threw her arms up in front of her defensively, but the ice shards may as well have been glass with the way the sliced across her skin and left bright red streaks all over her arms. Immediately after that assault, before Xion had any time to react, a pillar of water from a Turquoise March suddenly exploded in front of her and sent her flying back into a nearby tree.
"Xion!"
Xion groaned and climbed to her feet as a green aura surrounded her. Sora's Cure spell worked its magic, closing the scratches across her pale skin. The Turquoise March hovered in the air before her and began charging up a new orb of water to fling their way, but a stream of water from Kairi interrupted its own cast.
Xion tightened her grip on her Keyblade and leaped at the Turquoise March, planning to take it out swiftly while it was stunned by Kairi's Watera spell… The problem was, it wasn't. The eyes under the Heartless's blue cap flashed dangerously, and the water dripping off its body rose into the air to form an orb of water. Kairi's spell had done nothing to hurt the already water-based heartless; in fact, it had helped it!
Xion pulled her Keyblade away at the last second and came to a rolling stop on the grass, just barely dodging the orb of water as it crashed into the earth and formed an explosive pillar. Jumping to her feet, Xion swung her Keyblade back behind her and felt its jagged black teeth dig into the body of the Heartless. An instant later the Turquoise March exploded, releasing a glowing pink heart that vanished into the sky.
Meanwhile, Sora had his own hands full dealing with a Bookmaster. The Heartless sent a volley of fireballs his way, which he leaped over without issue and brought his Keyblade down on the Heartless. The Bookmaster raised its tome up defensively, using the thick leather binding as a shield to block the Kingdom Key's blows. Sora jumped backwards, using the book as a springboard, and landed in the middle of a group of Blue Nocturnes. Igniting his Keyblade with a Fire spell, Sora spun around in a circle and quickly took out the small spellcasters before jumping into the air once again and bringing his flaming weapon down on the Bookmaster.
This time, as the Heartless brought up its makeshift shield, the large book burst into flames upon contact with the ignited Keyblade. The Heartless retreated, moving backwards, but was chased down by Sora. Blasts of ice and fire flew from its hands, blocking the boy off. But Sora wasn't stopped simply by being out of range; a Strike Raid with the Keyblade still aflame made quick work of the Bookmaster.
"How are you holding up, Kairi?" Sora called as the Keyblade flashed back into his grip.
"I'm fine, worry about yourself!" Kairi replied as she called down bolts of Thundara on a group of Crescendos and Blue Nocturnes. One of the Crescendos jumped up, swinging its horn-mouth around wildly, to which Kairi replied by throwing a barrier out in front of her. The wall of hexagons flew forward, crashing into the group of Heartless and carrying them along before it slammed hard into a large tree nearby, sandwiching them between two hard surfaces and crushing them.
Kairi took a moment to catch her breath before looking around the battlefield. "Xion, behind you!"
Xion looked up from the Turquoise March she had just slain and spun around just in time to block a Crescendo's attack. The Heartless fell to her Keyblade swiftly enough, only for a Bookmaster to take its place. Its tome slammed into Xion and flung her back, which was followed up by a bolt of lightning striking Xion and surging through her body.
"I've got it!" Sora shouted, already making his way to the Bookmaster.
Xion climbed to her feet and shook her head. "No, I'm fine. It's just one Heartless."
Two Pearls flew from Xion's hand. The first one was blocked by the Bookmaster but the second broke through, the light burning into the Heartless's body and dissolving the darkness giving it form. Xion held her Keyblade out and it became engulfed in a golden aura, which was followed up by a series of rapid, relentless strikes on the Bookmaster. Ars Arcanum did its job—the Heartless vanished.
Around Xion, Sora and Kairi finished off the last of the Heartless as well. Light flickered in Xion and Sora's hands as their Keyblades vanished and silence descended over the glen once more, no sign of their fight remaining except for the ruined grass.
"Wow…" A soft voice said, calling the three teens' attention to the foliage where a blue face framed by two blonde pigtails watched with curiosity and awe. And so, having earned Melinda's trust, the shy little centaur girl was now leading them to the Sound Idea.
The glen had slowly given way as they traveled, the scenery around them transforming into a bright field. Brightly colored grass folded beneath their feet, decorated by newly-formed dew drops. Fluffy bushes and trees, equally colorful, were scattered here and there across the field. Off in the distance Xion could see a lonely stone gazebo, though it was kept in good shape and didn't appear to be abandoned. Her vision lingered on the gazebo for a moment before moving behind it—that ever-present mountain.
"Are you looking at that mountain?" Kairi asked. Xion looked to her side, where Kairi was craning her neck to look at the mountain's silhouette over Xion's shoulder. "You've been watching it an awful lot since we got here."
"Have I?" Xion asked, rubbing the back of her head sheepishly. "I suppose…"
"Edward called it Bald Mountain, didn't he?" Sora asked. He slowed to a stop and scratched the side of his head. "You know, now that we're far away and I can see the whole thing…it looks really familiar."
"You too?" Xion asked, glancing over at Sora. She bit her lip. Where had they seen that black peak before? Just looking at it sent a chill down Xion's spine and twisted her stomach into a knot.
Heavy footsteps from two pairs of hooves approached Xion. "You know about Bald Mountain?" Melinda asked.
"A man named Edward told us about it back in the village," Kairi explained.
Melinda pursed her lips and spared one moment to glance at the foreboding peak before averting her gaze. "My people call it Lysa Hora. They say the mountain is haunted by an evil spirit, and ghosts and demons flock to it every night. There's a legend of an event called the Night on Bald Mountain, where the black god inside will awaken."
"Come on," Kairi said with a nervous waver in her voice. "Demons aren't real."
Melinda held her gaze at Kairi for a long while before turning around and moving through the fields. "You'd think so," she said softly. "You'd think so…"
"Melinda?" Sora jogged after the centaur girl, moving up beside her while Kairi and Xion lingered behind. "You look really freaked out. Are you okay?"
Melinda rubbed her arm. "It's just…" She glanced back at Bald Mountain before turning to gaze out over the midnight fields, the soft breeze blowing a few pink leaves through the air. One caught in her pigtails and she tugged it out before letting it flitter away from her fingers. "I remember it. The Night on Bald Mountain has already happened once before."
"What do you mean? It's just a story, isn't it?"
The little centaur shook her head. "No, because I remember it clearly. It was only three years ago… Those shadows you fought off in the glen, they came to our home. They attacked us, and the fairies in the woods, and the humans in the village… They spread all across this land."
"That must have been back when Ansem and Maleficent were sending Heartless all over the universe…" Xion said.
"But it wasn't just the shadows. As if they weren't enough, Bald Mountain erupted one night. The black god woke up, and even from all the way over here we could see. He fought the shadows, he did—but he also sent his demons and spirits at us, and the humans, and…and there was so much fire, I…"
Sora placed a comforting hand on Melinda's shoulder. "It's okay, Melinda. I'm sorry; we didn't mean to bring up those memories."
Melinda sniffled and rubbed her face. "No, I'm sorry. I'm wasting time while I should be leading you to the Sound Idea. Come on, it's this way."
But as she moved forward again, eager to show them to their goal, Sora began slowing down until he was walking side by side with Xion in the back of the group.
"I still haven't figured out where I know that mountain from," he said.
Xion shook her head. "Me neither. It's on the tip of my tongue, but…"
"Do you know how you knew its name, though?"
Xion turned her head to glance at him. "What do you mean?
Sora shrugged. "Well, I mean back when Edward named it you spoke up like you had heard the name before. It kinda brings up familiarity with me, too, but I know we haven't seen it since we met…" Another shrug, then he turned to her and grinned. "So I figure, it must be something I saw that you have memories of, right?"
"Probably…" Xion frowned and brought a hand up to her chin as they walked. Where? Where had she heard the name Bald Mountain? Think, think… It wasn't somewhere in Hollow Bastion, Disney Castle, or the World That Never Was, and it couldn't be anywhere else because they wouldn't know about this place. Where…?
Neon lights and brown buildings. Green walls, a small bed lying against the wall. The soft ticking of a clock, paintings along the walls…
"Traverse Town." The two words passed through Xion's lips barely above a whisper. Sora glanced at her with a look urging her to go on. Brushing aside some hair over her eyes, Xion continued her thought. "In Traverse Town—in the hotel, in the room where you woke up and first met Yuffie and Leon. There were paintings hanging there."
Realization was slowly beginning to dawn on Sora's face. Recognition. "I think I remember them…"
"One of them was labeled Bald Mountain."
"That's right!" Sora exclaimed, snapping his fingers. "So that's where we heard it from! A painting in Traverse Town's hotel. Kinda weird, huh?" He rubbed the back of his head. "Though I still can't help but feel I've seen the actual mountain in person somewhere before, not just as a painting…"
"Mm, same here. I just don't know where…"
Ahead of them, Kairi suddenly called out. "Hey, you two! Hurry up!" She and Melinda stood in front of a small break in a rock wall, a thin canyon. Beyond them, through the canyon and standing out against the blackness of midnight, was a soft pink glow. Sora and Xion glanced at each other and then ran ahead. That glow could only be one thing, right?
On the other side of the rock wall, they stood on a piece of earth that was raised up above the rest of the field. The grass around them continued for miles in all directions, vanishing off into the horizon. And in front of them, glowing pink and with a soft, calming melody echoing off of it, was a sheet of paper.
"This is the Sound Idea?" Sora asked, holding out a hand. The Sound Idea floated slowly towards him, hovering over his outstretched palm.
"Mhm," Melinda said with a nod. "The song it's playing is called Dearly Beloved. It has power—the power of Flowmotion."
"Yeah, that's what Edward said. So with this, the people in the village can defend themselves from the Heartless, Nobodies, and…whatever that other monster was."
"Do you really think it will be so simple?"
Xion glanced at Sora. That had been his voice she heard just now, but his lips hadn't moved. And even if it was his voice, the tone and the words themselves were so unlike him, that… Oh. Oh, no…
A knot was forming in Xion's stomach, and her hands were already starting to get slick with sweat. Desperately hoping that she was wrong, oh God, please be wrong, she slowly turned around to face the newcomer. The moment she saw him—saw the pitch black mask, saw the leather armor—her heart began beating rapidly. Ven's heart was reacting to his presence, but that wasn't the half of it. A cold sweat was already trickling down Xion's face as images of a night in an alleyway ran through her mind.
"Vanitas!" Sora shouted, summoning his Keyblade and pointing it forward. Kairi's eyes widened in surprise after the visitor's identity was affirmed and stepped forward, holding an arm defensively in front of Melinda who stood behind them all with a worried look on her face.
Xion, on the other hand, took a step backwards, putting as much difference between her and Vanitas as she could.
Vanitas didn't react to everyone else, however. He took a few slow steps forward, holding a hand out and nudging away Sora's Keyblade without a care. Crossing his arms over his chest and turning to look out to the fields before them, his head tilted up to look at the moonlit night.
"Beautiful world, isn't it?" His voice softer, less harsh, than usual. "Teetering in the Realm Between, on the brink of light and darkness—just like a mutual friend of ours."
"Riku?" Xion asked.
"Heh." Vanitas turned again, facing the four of them dead-on. Of course Xion couldn't see his face, none of them could with that mask, but she felt his eyes digging into her. "The Night on Bald Mountain that plagues this world… Do you know what can stop it?" The soft breeze picked up, bringing flower petals and blades of grass their way. Vanitas caught one petal in a clenched fist.
"The morning light. The road to dawn pierces the darkest shadows. You all have learned that. But…" He uncurled his fingers, letting the shredded pieces of the petal flitter away. "I don't think he has."
"Stop speaking in riddles!" Sora demanded, swinging his Keyblade forward. Vanitas stepped backwards, dodging the attack calmly. Still walking backwards, he continued speaking.
"I tried bringing Riku down the road to darkness, but he's adamant in his path. Fine." Darkness swirled around Vanitas's feet, forming into a corridor that began to consume him. "So if that won't work, then the path is clear. The light will destroy the darkness inside him. Either way, we win. But…
"You better hope he lives to see that sunrise, because what happens to Riku after his night is over is of no concern to us."