The Tides Go Out

by Regiss

Four months later, the war between Maleficent's Heartless and Braig's Nobodies threatens to consume all worlds. In the middle of the conflict, Sora, Xion, and their friends continue the search for Riku while also dealing with Vanitas, who will stop at nothing to get Ven's heart. Sequel to Remember the Tides.

70. Heart of All Worlds

Chapter 70: Heart of All Worlds

The light that had shined so brightly over the Keyblade Graveyard, had stretched high into the sky and beyond the clouds, slowly began to fade. Under the black clouds, the puppet rested at the edge of the crater that the pillar of light had erupted out of. Resting on its knees with its legs out to its sides, its arms hung limp. Black hair fell over its eyes, which were lifeless, unfocused, and stared down at nothing. The light had healed the puppet's body, returned flesh and mended bone, stitched the fabric of its clothes, but its false heart had been forced out, torn from its resting place in the puppet's chest, and it now lay out in the open, once more whole and complete.

Sitting on the ground in the center of the crater was the Keyblade to end all Keyblades, the weapon which all Keyblades were created in the image of. Two Kingdom Keys crossed each other and a massive blade stretched up from between them, shifting hue from light green to silver. Here, now, was the union of light and dark, the key to the heavens, the gatekeeper to Kingdom Hearts itself.

The χ-blade had, at long last, been forged.

The light has not only healed the puppet; Xehanort, Sora, and the Lingering Will were back to their full strength as well, all battle damage gone as if it had never been. With a grin, Xehanort dismissed his Keyblade and sidestepped a swing from Sora, causing the boy to stumble forward when he didn't hit the mark. Before Sora could recover Xehanort delivered a swift blow to the back of the Keybearer's head with the back of his fist, knocking him to the ground. A mental roar shook both of their minds as the Lingering Will swung its Keyblade toward Xehanort in a wide arc, but Xehanort ducked under the attack and pressed both of his palms against Terra's empty armor. A surge of darkness flowed from his hands into the armor, overwhelming it, causing black smoke to escape between the individual pieces. The smoke coalesced into black bindings that held the Lingering Will in place, a dark imitation of the golden chains of light it had used against Xehanort earlier.

XEHANORT! XEHANOOORT!

The Lingering Will thrashed and struggled against its bonds, screaming Xehanort's name over and over and over again as it did so, but Xehanort ignored it. With both of his foes incapacitated, he made his way across the mountaintop battlefield to the crater that had formed when Vanitas merged with Ventus's heart. At the rim of the crater Xehanort delivered a swift kick to the now useless puppet's side, toppling it off its knees and onto the ground, its limbs laying prone and its eyes as lifeless as ever. Without even looking back at it, Xehanort stepped into the crater and picked up the χ-blade. His grin widened and his eyes sparkled.

"At last…" He gripped the χ-blade with both hands and held it up to examine its radiance. It glowed of its own power, generating light in this empty, nighttime desert. "After all these years, the χ-blade has been forged. I have waited a long time for this day, and it does not disappoint. Even if it is only an imitation of the real thing, its power is…overwhelming." Xehanort couldn't help himself; as much as he prided himself on his stoicism, on remaining in control, he broke into laughter. Lowering the Keyblade to one side and tilted his head back as his other hand held his forehead. Finally, he had done it! "Yes, this is it! This is the key, the Key to my new world!"

"Xion! Xion, wake up!"

As a voice came from behind, Xehanort's laughter died out. He turned around to see Sora, having recovered rather swiftly from his fall, now on his knees at the crater's edge. He held the puppet in both his hands, shaking it and begging it again and again to wake. Tears were forming in his eyes as the puppet continued to do the only thing it could do: absolutely nothing. Its unfocused blue eyes did not lock gaze with Sora's own. Its head simply rolled limply with every shake of its body.

"Please…" Sora squeezed his eyes shut. "Not again… I can't lose someone like this again! Xion, please wake up! Please, answer me!"

Xehanort grimaced. This boy was ruining his perfect moment. Looking toward Sora with an aside glance, he spoke. "It's no use." Sora stopped shaking the puppet and turned to look at Xehanort with rage burning behind his tears. Xehanort regarded him coolly. "That puppet has lost its heart. It cannot wake up."

The words triggered something within Sora, and seemingly for the first time he noticed the χ-blade in Xehanort's hand. His eyes traced the length of the weapon, from the twin Kingdom Key hilts to the tip of the silver-green blade, then back down to the keychain. "No…" While he didn't let go of the puppet, his grip on the empty doll noticeably loosened.

"Not that its heart ever really belonged to it to begin with," Xehanort added dryly. He had expected a glare from Sora, but the boy just continued to stare down at the puppet in his arms, an expression of utter hopelessness that didn't fit his bright personality seemingly permanently carved onto his face.

Xehanort began making his way out of the crater, as he did so speaking to Sora without looking at him. "In the end, despite what I had planned, Xion was the one to survive the union of light and dark, not Vanitas. …In a manner of speaking, anyway." Coming to a stop with his back facing Sora, Xehanort ran a hand along the blade. "Perhaps that is due to its status as a Replica, in which case Vexen was more helpful to me than I ever dared to dream. The Replicas absorb external power, you know; one of Riku consumed Zexion, and this one consumed Roxas."

Sora said nothing, and gave no sign that he was even listening. He continued to look down at that empty face, at those eyes that just stared up at nothing. His tears gently fell on pale skin. So focused was he on the puppet's face, that he didn't notice the way its left pinky and ring finger twitched ever so slightly.

"In the end it didn't matter who survived, though, as I have achieved the χ-blade regardless." Xehanort continued. "You probably know part of the story, I am sure the little king informed you, but this is not the true χ-blade. At the conclusion of the Keyblade War, the true χ-blade was shattered into seven lights and thirteen darknesses. The seven lights became the hearts of the Princesses of Heart, which my Heartless sought. The true goal of Organization XIII was to split my heart among thirteen empty vessels, thus providing the thirteen darknesses. Of course, neither my Heartless nor my Nobody remembered these details; they were simply being guided subconsciously, as well as by Braig in the latter's case.

"But why bother getting twenty pieces when two will suffice? Vanitas and Ventus both survived their battle years ago, in different ways. The χ-blade forged by their union may be an imitation, but it is still enough to summon—"

"Shut up." Sora's tone was ice cold, so cold that for a moment Xehanort believed Vanitas was the one who had spoken. He humored the boy and ceased talking, instead turning around to see Sora gently lowering the puppet to the earth and closing its eyes. "Just…shut up." Sora's shoulders were shaking as he climbed to his feet; in rage or in sadness, Xehanort couldn't be sure. Whirling around, Sora called Oathkeeper into his hand and leaped at Xehanort with tears streaming down his face. "Xion is DEAD because of you!"

Xehanort frowned and brought the χ-blade up to meet Sora's blow. He didn't even need to swing back, the shockwave created when Sora's Keyblade met the original key was enough to throw the brunet back with explosive force. Sora crashed painfully onto the earth and simply climbed back to his feet, breathing heavily but ready to charge at Xehanort once more.

"Absurd," Xehanort replied. Sora charged at him again, and once more Xehanort blocked the blow and sent him flying back with an invisible force. "It was nothing—less than a Nobody. You cannot kill what was never alive to begin with." With a single swing of the χ-blade, Xehanort sent a massive wave of light that tore at the earth right toward Sora. The foolish boy took the hit head-on.

As the smoke cleared, Sora struggled back to his feet and shook his head. "Her name was Xion! And she was my friend!" Another blast taken, another climb back up to his feet.

The child's stubbornness was beginning to grate on Xehanort's nerves. "You were 'friends' with something that didn't exist, you brat!" Holding the χ-blade in both hands, Xehanort charged a bolt of light and darkness at the tip and thrust the key forward.

A massive spiraling beam of purple and gold, one that Xehanort had no doubt was visible for miles around, erupted out of the χ-blade and flew toward Sora. He stood his ground and never wavered, but in the instant it approached him Xehanort did see the brat squeeze his eyes shut and embrace for the end.

An end that didn't come.

Something—someone—jumped in between Sora and the blast at the very last possible moment and deflected it high, high into the sky. There it exploded, raining golden sparkles and purple embers down on the Keyblade Graveyard. Sora looked up at his savior, who now kneeled down on the ground with Keyblade as support, and gasped.

"Damn," Xehanort hissed through grit teeth.

"H-Hey, what do you think you were doing?!" Sora cried out, running to the Lingering Will's side.

Ve...n… was the armor's echoing reply. Very slowly it turned its head to look back behind the two of them, to the puppet at the edge of the crater. With half interest, Xehanort turned to look at the prone figu—

"What?!"

The puppet wasn't prone. Somehow, despite all logic and reason, Xion had been able to climb up to her feet. She now glared at Xehanort not with empty eyes, but eyes filled with an unbridled hatred all directed at him. From her side, Sora tackled her and brought her into a deep hug.

"Xion!"

"H-Hey," Xion responded in a trembling, but gradually strengthening, voice. "Sorry…if I worried you…"

Sora shook his head and wiped away his tears. He pulled away from Xion, but held her hands in his, and smiled. "Don't you be sorry about anything! I thought I had lost you. I thought…" He shook his head. "Come on! We got a score to settle."

"Right." With twin flashes of blue and white, Xion called Oathkeeper and Oblivion into her hands and got into a battle stance beside Sora and the Lingering Will.

Xehanort hid his surprise, as well as his growing anger, behind a mask of disinterest. "It seems I underestimated you. Maybe it wasn't your status as a Replica that saved you, then. Perhaps it was the strength of your heart." He gazed down at the χ-blade in his grasp for a moment, then returned his attention to his opponents. "Not that it matters. Thank you, Xion, for providing me this opportunity. Do you know what this is?" He raised the χ-blade high into the sky.

"That's what you've been after all this time, isn't it?" Xion shook her head. "Looks kind of silly to me."

Xehanort didn't respond to her comment. "This χ-blade will open a door—one that leads to all worlds!" he announced to the assembled Keybearers. "Then, Keyblade bearing warriors will flock here from each and every one of them, to battle for the light within Kingdom Hearts!" Xehanort's voice rose with each word, to the point that he was shouting as he finished his declaration. As the name of Kingdom Hearts passed his lips, a brilliant beam of blue light flashed out of the χ-blade's tip and thrust high, high into the sky.

The beam pierced the clouds, and the reaction was immediate. The world seemed to shudder for a moment before blue light, the same shade as the beam, began to peak out among the clouds. They parted, spiraling outward and opening a hole like the eye of a hurricane on the mountaintop. The blue light grew brighter and brighter, blindingly so, and as the perfectly round gap in the clouds continued to widen Xion and Sora could feel a familiar tug in their chests. They had felt this before, at the Door to Darkness…

The clouds ceased their movement, revealing, at long last, the source of the blue light: a heart-shaped moon. Xion paled as she stared up at it, wide-eyed. "That's…"

"The one true Kingdom Hearts," Xehanort affirmed. He lowered the χ-blade and looked to the two of them in turn. "And as I have the two of you to thank for allowing me this opportunity, allow me to invite you to see the last few moments of this world." He raised his hand palm up and held it out toward Xion and Sora. "We'll go together."

A blue light emanated around Xehanort and then consumed his figure, blinding Xion, Sora, and the stoic Lingering Will. When the light faded and Xion managed to blink away the colors dancing across her vision, she gasped at what now stood over the Keyblade Graveyard. In Xehanort's place was a massive white door, several stories tall with intricate patterns carved upon it.

"This is…" Sora breathed.

"Then, Xehanort…?" Xion's gaze turned from the door to Kingdom Hearts up above. "Is he…inside…?"

The world rumbled once more. Xion, Sora, and the Lingering Will quickly raised their weapons as shadows began to stretch across the plateau. The shadows stretched and bulged, taking on form. Hundreds, perhaps thousands of Heartless manifested in the Keyblade Graveyard, called upon by Kingdom Hearts. More crawled up the sides of the mountains, while others soared through the air.

"How are we supposed to fight them all?!"

"Forget that, we can't let them get to Kingdom Hearts! Who knows what would happen?!"

"But if we're worrying about them, then Xehanort—"

Light erupted out around the perimeter of the plateau. Massive golden chains stretched into the sky and folded around, forming a dome over the mountain. In a flash, orange light appeared to fill in the gaps between the chains. Without a word, the Lingering Will stepped toward the swarm of Heartless and raised its Keyblade to battle them—no, to hold them off. It looked back over its shoulder at Sora and Xion, giving them a silent command: Go.

"Terra…" Xion said softly.

Sora rested a hand on her shoulder. "You ready for this?"

Xion turned to him and then nodded. "Together."

Xion held Oblivion out to Sora, and the two of them gripped tightly onto the black Keyblade's hilt together while they held their Oathkeepers at their sides. Turning away from the Lingering Will and the Heartless, they raised Oblivion up to the door that stood before them. A ring of light took shape around Oblivion's tip, then a thin beam fired at the door and made contact in the exact center. The patterns carved into it glowed brightly and the door rumbled, slowly creaking open and flooding the two heroes' vision with light.

And when the light faded, they no longer stood in the Keyblade Graveyard.

They stood under a sky full of thousands of bright lights, thousands of stars, more than any Xion could ever recall having seen before. The sky stretched on forever around them, with no edge in sight. The ground beneath them was nonexistent; they simply stood above more stars underneath them, as if floating through the middle of space, though Xion could still feel a ground beneath her boots. But then, perhaps what she saw didn't apply here, or there was more to things than what her eyes could show. After all, they were beyond the door here. They were inside Kingdom Hearts.

Xehanort was before them, the χ-blade still in his hand but resting at his side, not raised for battle. He was staring up at the stars in the sky, at the countless hearts shining their light down on the three of them. "As a boy, growing up on the islands, I watched this same sky many times. I would lie awake at night, watching the stars from my bedroom window or from the roof of my house, wondering at what point the sky ended and what lay beyond that ending. My days were spent on the beach, not playing with my peers but instead watching the seagulls as they used the wind to fly beyond the sea, high into the sky, past the prison surrounding us." Xion and Sora watched as Xehanort shut his eyes and allowed himself a nostalgic smile. "I coveted that wind, I suppose."

Opening his eyes slowly, Xehanort now focused his attention on the two them. "You felt it too, didn't you? As did Riku and Terra, I know. Such a curiosity drives all who are worthy of a Keyblade, drives all who seek the glory and power of Kingdom Hearts. During my apprenticeship, I saw it in Eraqus as well, however much he denied it." He examined the expressions on Xion and Sora's faces, then sighed. "Not that that name means much to you, I suppose. But Eraqus was in denial of his own nature, of the nature of all Keyblade wielders. We are drawn to seek it out, to see what lies beyond that star-lit sky, and find the source of all power."

"You mean the light?" Xion asked in as a restrained voice she could muster.

"Yes—and no. Light, but so much more than that. That is what my Heartless was wrong about; darkness, light, it is not one or the other. You must strike a balance to truly obtain the power, to truly be worthy of wielding the χ-blade and Kingdom Hearts." He raised the weapon in question in front of him, the starlight glinting off its polished metal. "Light and darkness are pieces, but they are not power on their own. No,hearts are power. Kingdom Hearts is power."

"You're right," Sora began slowly. But then he shook his head. "But…you're also wrong. Hearts are power, just not in the way you're saying. It's more indirect than that."

"Xemnas also insisted that hearts were power, but he saw it as anger and hatred," Xion added. "That's just not it. True strength comes from those positive feelings, from happy memories; from the days we spend eating ice cream together, or playing on the beach. From spending time with those around us."

Sora nodded. "The power of a heart isn't from the heart itself. Our time together with friends and family, it creates bonds that can never be broken. They become a part of our hearts, and we become a part of theirs. Xehanort, what you can't see—what you've never seen—is that hearts on their own aren't what make us strong.

"Our friends are our power…"

"…and we're theirs!"

Side by side, Sora and Xion ran together toward Xehanort. A single swing from the χ-blade sent out a shockwave that knocked the two of them back, but they landed on their feet and with only a second of recovery they were back on the path. Xehanort raised the χ-blade to parry a blow from Xion and then spun around and grazed Sora with a slash from the massive weapon. Sora was knocked aside but not enough to put him off course, and he brought his own Keyblade down on Xehanort, locking him in place with a swift combo that Xion quickly joined in.

They were knocked away from Xehanort by a burst of black and purple energy that erupted out of the 'ground' at his feet. Xion was torn from her flight when Xehanort grabbed her by the ankle, suddenly pulling her back and slamming her hard into Sora. The two of them cried out as their heads knocked against each other, and when Xehanort dropped them Xion propped herself on her knees and left hand while her right hand clutched at her head. A mistake. The χ-blade came at her in an underhand swing and painfully dug into her skin as the impact once more sent her hurtling through the air.

Xion recovered in the air and sent both of her Keyblades flying down at Xehanort, the two Strike Raids spinning wildly. Oathkeeper made contact, but only barely, and he dodged Oblivion entirely. Without a word Xehanort leaped amongst the stars and brought the χ-blade down on Xion only to be intercepted by Sora who shoved his own Oathkeeper in between them at the last second. Xehanort shoved Sora aside and launched a Dark Firaga at him for good measure, but Sora cleaved the fireball in half and let it explode behind him.

While Xehanort's back was turned, Xion returned her Keyblades to her hands and struck him in the back. They tumbled through the air, Sora and Xion striking Xehanort again and again with the stars as their backdrop. Xehanort swung out with the χ-blade and Xion swerved around it, joining Sora's side to knock their silver-haired foe aside with slashes from twin Oathkeepers. Xehanort raised his arm up in front of him and defend from the Keyblades with his bare skin, grunting as the magical blades drew blood but showing no other sign that he had felt it. He lifted the χ-blade up and then sent Xion and Sora flying with a wide swing.

Xion hadn't even realized how high up the aerial battle had taken them, but there were several long, painful moments before she and Sora crashed onto the invisible floor. She recovered as swiftly as she could to repay Sora, blocking Xehanort's next attack with Oblivion before he could impale her friend. She used Oblivion as leverage and kicked Xehanort in the leg, attempting to trip him up, but all that Xion succeeded in doing was getting his attention on her. Fine, that was enough.

Xehanort began an onslaught, growing black and releasing what seemed to almost be an extended form of Ars Arcanum. Xion parried the first two blows, but a powerful swing from an odd angle knocked her Keyblades out of her grip and she was caught up in the rest of it. She was tossed from side to side, up and down, as Xehanort backed up his heavy blows with equally impressive speed and accuracy, never missing a strike. The final attack was followed up by Xehanort thrusting his hand forward, and a hand of black and red extending outward to grasp Xion tightly.

She fought against it as darkness seeped into her skin and its massive fingers tightened. She could feel her bones under pressure as he legs flailed madly, the hand lifting her off of her feet. Xehanort raised the χ-blade above his head with both hands and grinned at her, baring his white teeth, as he prepared to bring it down and finish the job, only for an explosion of light to rock him from behind and dissolve the hand as he lost his footing.

Xehanort's focus on Xion had allowed Sora to charge up a powerful Salvation spell, and from out of the fading light he charged at Xehanort and cast a volley of Firaga his way. Xehanort took the brunt of the attacks only to knock away the last fireball, but by that time Sora had caught up to him. Sora met Xehanort with Ars Arcanum, glowing a brilliant gold and relentlessly attacking him in a flurry that mimicked the assault he had dished out on Xion moments before. Xehanort responded by bringing the χ-blade up to defend, then knocking Sora away with a powerful kick, and slamming the χ-blade down to cause an explosion.

Xion attacked again and ducked low when Xehanort swung out at her horizontally. Up above, purple orbs appeared and began to rotate around, firing beams of blue energy down onto the battlefield. Xion rolled out of the way of the nearest beam and then broke into a run, staying out of their way as the trailed after her in a vague triangular formation. When she had a moment she tossed a Keyblade Xehanort's way, but she never halted lest the beams catch up to her.

As Xion ran around them in a wide arc, Sora recovered from the explosion and locked blades with Xehanort. Xion's Strike Raid broke Xehanort's concentration and very nearly sent the χ-blade flying out of his hands. "Take this!" Sora shouted, swinging down with one hand while his other called down a bolt of lightning. The Thundaga spell stunned Xehanort as electricity coursed through his body, allowing Sora to unleash another flurry with Oathkeeper and then jump away and hold his Keyblade out. Golden orbs formed, a ring expanded out, and then Sora flicked his Keyblade and sent Ragnarok flying.

But Ragnarok was met by bolts of black magic that Xehanort sent out at the last minute. His Shotlock overtook Sora's own, the bolts continuing even long after Ragnarok had vanished. They soared through the air, barely visible against the black of knight, only able to seen when they passed briefly in front of the stars. Uncountable. Something shifted in the air, and all at once the bolts of darkness flew downwards, all focusing on Sora.

Xion jumped in front of him and spun around once, sending out a wave of wind and light from her Keyblades that cut at Xehanort and dissolved his Shotlock's blasts. She shot through the air before Xehanort had recovered from that attack and began swinging wildly; wildly, but not out of control. Xehanort brought his hand up to block Oathkeeper but Xion broke through his defenses, digging the silver Keyblade into his side. Oblivion slammed down on his elbow, and then both of them came down together to slash across his chest with a pulse of light for added power.

All throughout the attack, Xion had steadily begun to glow with a blue-white aura. Jumping into the air, she kept her Keyblades together and held them straight up to the sky. Light shot up around her and into the heavens, then pillars began to fall down upon Xehanort relentlessly, tracking his every move. No matter how fast he ran, not a one missed. Xion pulled her Keyblades apart and did a backflip in midair, then held them out to her sides. The light around her expanded and Magic Hour's frequency increased, more and larger beams of light striking Xehanort with greater speed.

As the last light faded, Xehanort found himself under attack by Xion and Sora both. He swung the χ-blade out and a whip formed of light began to lash out at the two of them, sending them high into the sky once more, and once more Xehanort followed. He flipped and swerved around their attacks, then attacked the two of them from behind. When he attempted to follow up, Sora swept behind him with a quick reversal and attempted to counter, but his own reversal was reversed when Xehanort teleported away and sent Dark Firaga at the two of them. Xion's Aeroga put the flames out and she followed up with a Pearl spell of her own, followed by a Holy that struck as a beam of light when the projectile made contact.

Xehanort soared at them through the air, his body cloaked in darkness with black smoke trailing behind him like ribbons. The χ-blade glowed purple and he blue as he brought it down on them, a resounding impact that sent a massive shockwave out across Kingdom Hearts and sent Sora and Xion flying in opposite directions.

"I will drag you into darkness!" Xehanort roared as his shadow expanded out beneath him. With a roar somewhere between anger and pain, Xehanort conjured his Guardian and directed it in Sora's direction while he dealt with Xion. Xion barely had time to see Sora attempt to cut the Guardian's arm off before Xehanort was in her face and the χ-blade was inches from running her through. She leaned back, avoiding Xehanort's jab, and then brought both her Keyblades up in a pincer attack. She very nearly succeeded in it, too, before Xehanort vanished in the blink of an eye.

Xion spun around to block the next attack that came from behind, jumped under a low swing, and slashed Oathkeeper at Xehanort. He blocked it, but in doing so left an opening for Oblivion. Xehanort roared in pain and swiped the χ-blade forward, its aftershock sending Xion flying back. She was caught in the air by another hand grabbing hold of hers: Sora's. "Heads up!" he shouted, then spun around and tossed her toward the Guardian while he turned to deal with Xehanort.

Xion brandished her Keyblades and slashed them both across the Guardian's chest, one after the other, in an X pattern. The Guardian roared at her as darkness flew from its wounds and grabbed Xion tightly, squeezing her as Xehanort had with that hand of darkness earlier. But even with both hands, the Guardian wasn't able to put as much pressure on her as Xehanort's attack had—not that it didn't still hurt. With some struggle, Xion was able to break out of its grip and momentarily break its defenses. The Guardian staggered back, open, and Xion drove Oathkeeper into its chest.

The Guardian responded by swinging its fist at her. Xion dodged its left hook only for its right hand to slam up right into her gut. Letting out a hacking sound between a cough and a cry of pain, Xion doubled over and the Guardian grabbed hold of her again. It shot high up into the sky and held her close, then crashed hard onto the invisible floor below them. Down but not out, Xion fought the ache in her body and raised her Keyblades to face the Guardian again.

They were interrupted by Xehanort and Sora, who had clashed across the battlefield in a match of Ars Solum and Ars Arcanum. Sora gained the upper hand and was about to deal the finishing blow of his combo before the Guardian shot between them, blocking the hit and allowing Xehanort to recover. Xehanort flipped through the air and brought the χ-blade down, finishing Ares Solum with another explosion.

"Xion!" Sora called out through the smoke.

"I'm with you!" she responded.

The two ran forward as one and dodged the Guardian as it charged at them. They jumped high into the sky, Oathkeepers ready, and Xion sent Oblivion back for good measure. The Keyblade pierced the Guardian's head and then flashed back into her hands just as the two of them came down on Xehanort. The three Keyblades clashed with the χ-blade, struggling against Xehanort's defenses even despite outnumbering it and having gravity on their side.

The Guardian came at them from behind, forcing Xion and Sora to break away from their attacks. Sora launched another round of Firaga at the shadowy other, while Xion sent Ragnarok flying. The Guardian roared in pain as light pierced its body and flames licked at its form, and it retreated back into its master's shadow.

"You shall suffer!" Xehanort practically screamed. He charged at Sora with such speed and force that Sora could do nothing to stop it and slashed him once, twice, three times. Xion leaped at Xehanort to break his assault, but Xehanort quickly turned around, swept the χ-blade at her, and then returned to attacking Sora all in one unbroken motion. Gritting her teeth, Xion slammed her Keyblades against the ground and sent a wave of light out across it. This Xehanort hadn't been expecting, and it caught him off guard.

Xion took the opportunity and began relentlessly attacking Xehanort once more, knocking him higher and higher into the air with every attack. After bringing Thundaga down on him from below, Sora jumped up and joined in. Light flashed with every attack they made on the older man. When they returned to the ground Xion kicked Xehanort away and flipped her Keyblades around once in her hand, then spun around to face Sora. "Sora!"

"Let's go!"

While Xehanort was still dazed by her earlier kick, Xion quickly dashed over to him with her two Keyblades crossed in front of her. Oathkeeper swung out first, striking Xehanort across the back and spinning him around for Oblivion to slash over his chest. Without giving time for Xehanort to recover Xion began a relentless assault, slicing and slashing in every direction with her two Keyblades. When Xehanort attempted to strike out at her with the χ-blade she jumped over both the giant blade and the shockwave it sent out. Flipping through the air, Xion delivered a cross-shaped strike to Xehanort's back before she even landed. She unleashed another combo attack on him and then performed a backflip, bringing her foot up to kick Xehanort in the gut and knock him into the air.

From below, Sora jumped up with Oathkeeper gripped tightly in both hands. He twirled through the air, repeatedly striking Xehanort again and again in a spinning attack. Silhouetted against the star-lit sky, Sora blocked an attack from Xehanort and, performing a quick reversal, swerved behind the man to attack him from behind. Xehanort let out a barely-constrained hiss of anger and began sending black and white bolts of thorn-like energy out around them, but Sora continued to swerve this way and that while Xion dodged bolts on the ground. In the middle of their descent back to the 'ground', Sora struck through three of the trailing thorns and dug Oathkeeper into Xehanort's back, then using the Keyblade as leverage kicked him hard in the side.

As Xehanort came back down, Xion awaited him and brought the flat of her two Keyblades against him, knocking him aside. Xehanort tumbled through the air, crashing and skipping across the floor like a stone on water. He finally caught himself and raised the χ-blade to send another shockwave out at them, but a Strike Raid from Sora incapacitated him. The Keyblade didn't go back to Sora, however. Xion tossed Oblivion up into the air and grabbed Sora's weapon, dual wielding Oathkeepers as Oblivion became animated by a brilliant golden light and hovered above her. All three Keyblades slashed downward and cleaved apart the χ-blade's shockwave.

Xion was upon Xehanort in an instant and began hacking away at him from every imaginable angle, always rolling or cartwheeling out of the way of his Dark Firaga blasts and χ-blade swings. With every move she made, no matter which of the two Oathkeepers did the attacking, Oblivion mimicked it perfectly. Pillars of light sprung up around them, barreling into Xehanort and knocking him this way and that. One erupted out under Xion's feet, flinging her high into the air where she then shot back down with all three Keyblades growing brightly. An explosive force rocked space around them and sparkles of light rained down.

Xehanort roared in pain and fury and charged not at Xion, but at Sora. Xion tossed his Oathkeeper back at him, while Oblivion followed along a stream of gold. Sora caught both Keyblades flawlessly and parried the χ-blade's assault with the pair.

"You brat!" Xehanort roared, but Sora said nothing back to him. He flipped Oblivion around backhand, a motion that caught Xehanort's attention. The black Keyblade moved in a wide arc as Sora spun around, moving around the χ-blade and driving into Xehanort's wounded back. Xehanort let out another pained cry and then Sora struck with Oathkeeper where Oblivion had stabbed. He parried another swing of the χ-blade and then struck again and again, unleashing a flurry against Xehanort as if he had been using two Keyblades all his life.

At last, pillars of light summoned by Xion sent Xehanort rocketing up into the sky. Among the two of them, the three Keyblades shot up high and sent beams of lights out at their tips as they swirled around Xehanort, pinning him in midair. But the attacks didn't end there. Following Xion's lead, as she was already conjuring light into her open hands, Sora spread his fingers and focused. Magic collected, and Sora could almost swear that Kingdom Hearts around him was glowing brighter, stronger.

A flurry of Pearl spells erupted out of the two Keybearers' hands, flying at Xehanort and assaulting him with white and blue explosions. Sphere after sphere after sphere flew from the two of them at opposite ends of the area, meeting at Xehanort's prone figure in the middle. Again and again and again the light coalesced and move forward, until the Pearl spells were so numerous and moving so quickly that it almost appeared to be uninterrupted light coming from Sora and Xion. The more they cast the spell the wilder and less spherical the Pearls became, with light leaking out of them like light blue mist and creating a rainbow trail almost like an aurora across the sky.

And they still weren't done.

The Keyblades dropped from the sky, Xion and Sora running to grab them. Before Xehanort fell after, the two Keybearers stood back to back and sent a pulse of light out around them. Kingdom Hearts itself seemed to fill them with power as they lifted off the ground, their Keyblades swirling around them in a storm. The aurora formed from their Pearl assault moved around them, streams in a rainbow of colors growing denser and gaining mass until they formed into ten golden blades made of manifested light that swirled around the two with their Keyblades, forming thirteen in all.

With a swing of her hand, Xion sent all thirteen blades swinging toward Xehanort. The impact was such that, with the cracking sound of breaking bones, the χ-blade was knocked out of his grip and hovered in the air above them. But they didn't stop there. Sora raised his hand above his head and then swiftly shot it down in a sweeping motion. The thirteen blades followed and struck Xehanort once more, then split into two groups of six that struck diagonally from the left and the right, followed by the thirteenth blade attacking from below.

Still back to back, Sora and Xion soared through the air around Xehanort, their eternal session leaving no opening for him to move, the χ-blade continuing to hang over the battlefield, its unscarred metal reflecting the light of the stars. Xion raised her hand upwards and the blades followed, Sora swept both arms out to his side and the blades followed. The thirteen swords came close together, resembling one massive blade that struck three times in a triangle pattern. The thirteen blades returned to their circle formation around the pair and flipped around, the tips pointed inward. They rose up and spun around Xehanort, ready to drive down and end things, but Xehanort recovered.

He had no χ-blade, but he had a Keyblade. Xehanort knocked aside the thirteen blades with one swift, uninterrupted motion, causing the ten swords of light to vanish and the three Keyblades to return to their owners. Xehanort dropped to the ground, but Xion and Sora didn't follow. Sora grabbed Xion's hand and, with all his might, tossed her up—to the χ-blade.

Xion tossed Oblivion toward Sora then used her free hand to grab the χ-blade. Sora approached her, holding his Keyblades up as he did so. Xion met him halfway and raised her own. The three blades crossed each other and wind picked up around them.

"LIGHT!" they shouted together. A beam of light shot high into the sky, where it exploded at its apex and split into thirteen slightly smaller beams. The thirteen beams, having spread out at first, formed into more golden swords and converged together on Xehanort. Xehanort braced himself with his Keyblade, but like Xion with Vanitas's hydra-like Unversed, his defenses were swiftly broken. The swords assaulted Xehanort, tearing at his clothes and body and nearly forcing him to his knees.

Up above, hanging in the air, Sora looked to Xion and smiled. "Ready?"

Xion took a deep breath and looked down at the broken, tired man glaring up at them from below. She felt much the same. Slowly letting the breath out, she nodded. "Let's end this."

Holding the χ-blade between the two of them, Xion and Sora were surrounded by a heavenly glow. Their hands tightened around the χ-blade's hilt as the glow brightened and grew to envelop the weapon itself. With a battle cry the two dived down toward Xehanort. The light forming at the tip of the χ-blade began to spiral outward, first around the weapon itself and then around its two wielders, until it resembled a drill, or perhaps a brilliant golden ribbon. Xehanort stood his ground and raised his Keyblade to meet them, but it was pointless to do so, and something told Xion that he knew that. He didn't have time to even blink before the Keyblade was knocked from his hands.

Xehanort screamed in pain as the χ-blade pierced his heart. His scream echoed around them even as Sora and Xion stood behind him, their backs facing the scourge of all worlds. The hole in Xehanort's chest glowed brighter and brighter until it consumed him, his form overtaken by the brightness, a brightness unlike any Sora or Xion had seen before. His Keyblade spun through the air, glowing brighter and brighter as it did so. Golden cracks formed across the silver and black surface of his weapon and it shattered, the seven shards flying through the air and leaving nothing but sparkles as they faded away.

It was a long moment before Xion properly registered what had just happened. She turned silently to Sora, who had let go of the χ-blade and was staring ahead at the spot Xehanort had once stood. But he was there no longer, and now Xion and Sora stood alone under the stars.

"We…did it…" Sora was breathless, then he squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head while a grin found its way onto his face. "Xion, we did it! Xehanort is gone! We beat him!"

Xion smiled at Sora as he cheered, but she didn't join in. Her joy at the victory, at the long years of fighting finally being over, was displaced by something else. She looked down at the χ-blade in her hand and smiled softly, sadly.

She knew what she had to do.