"May my Heart be my Guiding Key."
"This world is just too small."
"Pure Hearts... filled with Light..."
"The Darkness. Where did it come from?"
"As I feared, the Darkness is here."
"He wanted me to buy time and I'd say he got it."
"Correct, I am not Ventus. His heart has become a part of mine."
"Believe in the Light and the Darkness will never defeat you. Your heart will shine with it's power and push the Darkness away."
"Why do you still care about that boy? He has all but deserted you for the Keyblade and his new companions, after all."
"Sora you lazy bum. I thought I'd find you snoozing down here."
"Forget it! There's no way you're taking Kairis heart!"
"Wherever you go, I'm always with you.
"You gave me back something when I needed it most. A second chance. But... now I have to go back to sleep again."
"We've got something in common Kairi. You and I both miss someone we care about."
"Roxas, nobodies like us are only half a person. You wont disappear. You'll be whole!"
"You're the fire that feeds Soras anger."
"You never came back, so I went looking for you. This is real..."
"Thinking of you wherever you are."
"W-we're back."
"You're home."
"Soras heart belongs to the Darkness now."
"Master Xehanort! We were right about you!"
"Let us finish this at the fated place! Once your Lights and my Darknesses have joined together!"
"Master I came here because I wanted to help somehow. What can I do?"
Kairi opened her eyes and found herself in a room she couldn't remember, and yet felt a distinct familiarity to it. Completely white, it had a full length table in the center and pictures covering the far wall. There was a window to her right but outside there was nothing but darkness. She quietly reminded herself to remain calm and thought on the situation, realization crossing her face as she gently placed her hand over her chest and smiled.
"Namine, is this your doing?" She said, her voice soft and friendly.
As if on cue, a bright flash of light revealed her Nobody. The girls blonde hair and white dress were the same as they had been the last time the two girls had interacted and her blue eyes were just as deep as her own. Even her smile was a replica of Kairis own, signifying their connection as two sides of the same coin. Once disconnected and now brought together forever. It was strange however, to be able to see Namine. This couldn't be the real world. It didn't seem possible to Kairi that her Nobody could somehow take physical form again. As if reading her thoughts, Namine offered a slight smile.
"You've been here before. The Realm Between the Waking and Sleeping Worlds. A place of great Darkness but at the same time the purest of Light." Namine explained, sitting down at the table and gesturing for her Somebody to do the same. Once Kairi sat down, Namine spoke once more. "Thanks to my unique abilities, I was able to mold it into a slightly more hospitable place."
"The Witch who was cast aside and The Princess who failed to defend her friends."
"Who's there!?" Kairi said, startled at the disembodied voice that had spoken so suddenly.
"It is a presence from beyond time and space itself. A Watcher if you will." Namine replied almost immediately, not looking nearly as unsettled as her counterpart. "It cannot harm us. Merely impart warnings and wisdom."
"Wait I remember this place now. Last time I was here, I was falling towards a platform. The Princesses of Heart were represented on it's colored glass." Kairi stated, recognition flaring in her eyes. "That voice was here too."
"I am everywhere child. Past. Present. Future. Each place that time has or will ever touch is somewhere that my reach extends."
"Sora and Riku have been here as well. The Watcher never answers them. It annoys them a lot." Namine chuckled.
"Why me?" Kairi raised an eyebrow.
"Because you are a Princess of Heart. In case you haven't noticed yet, things work differently for you." Namine gestured to herself as an example.
"A warning, Princess of Heart. This path that you and your companions have set down, it cannot end well."
"What do you mean?" Kairi said, her brows furrowing in confusion.
"I cannot offer answers to your problems, only warnings in an attempt to set you on the correct path. Just know that when Seven Lights and Thirteen Darknesses clash, many will fall on both sides."
"Which brings me to these." Namine spoke next, bringing to pieces of paper out of seemingly nowhere and placing them on the table side by side. One was a crude portrait of Sora while the other was a similarly drawn interpretation of Riku. Both had their eyes closed and both look unmistakably sad. "Sora and Riku are your best friends and the three of you are united in your quest to rid the worlds of the growing Darkness. But trust me when I say that your best intentions cannot stop what is supposed to happen."
"Their time will come, the breaking point reached. Upon the fated battleground, yet another tragedy shall occur. On that land shall Darkness prevail and Light expire."
"You can't save everybody." Namine continued after the Watcher spoke. "The story has already been written and we're all just here to play it out."
"There must be a way to change it! We're going to save them all!" Kairi said confidently, standing up from her seat abruptly. "Sora has beaten fate so many times already. And Riku overpowered the Darkness in himself and was redeemed for his actions in the past. Those weren't things preordained by some kind of prophecy!"
"If you had to save one of them," Namine began, calmly gesturing to the pictures. "Which one would it be?"
"Both! Nobody needs to die, as long as we're together we can overcome anything!" Kairi replied, a frown on her soft features.
"I wish it could be like that..." Namine looked down sadly, her lips moving for the next words but the voice coming from the Watcher.
"Wake up!"
Kairis eyes snapped open and she was standing in the middle of an unfamiliar street on what she assumed was Radiant Garden, multiple building surrounding herself and Lea. With her back to the orange haired male, she silently released her grip on the Star Shard that they both had used to travel there. While Lea put the Star Shard into a containment pouch and then into his coat, Kairi examined the street carefully. It seemed deserted but the stalls were full of produce, just nobody there to sell it all. Her eyes narrowed and she shared a look with Lea who shrugged.
"This isn't the Castle, that is over there." Lea pointed to the large structure nearby before sighing. "It kinda sucks, because I know for a fact there were resistance fighters in this area and they probably don't know that I'm one of the goo-"
As if on cue, a male dressed in all black leaped off a rooftop and down towards the two of them with a strange looking sword. Luckily, Lea was used to unexpected attacks and summoned his Chakrams quickly and blocked the initial attack. Instead of swinging again, the attacker jumped back and pointed his weapon towards them and Kairis eyes widened as she summoned her Keyblade Destiny's Embrace. Putting herself between Lea and the attacker, she blocked the projectile attack with gritted teeth and grasped the hilt of her weapon with both hands.
"Kairi!" Lea said worriedly, holding both Chakram in one hand while placing the other on her shoulder. "Don't do stuff like that, I can protect us from this guy."
"I need to do this Lea." Kairi said defiantly, the conversation from her time in the Realm Between still fresh in her mind. Glaring at their attacker, she readied herself to defend against another attack. "Why are you attacking us?"
"What do you mean?" The man said, his eyes narrowed. "Thats a member of the Organization and we're taking him down. If you get in our way, we'll have no choice but to bring you down as well."
'We' turned out to be two more people. A girl dressed similarly in black appeared to their left while a blonde man with a huge sword and also dressed in black stepped towards them from the right. They were outnumbered and probably outmatched. Kairi gritted her teeth, knowing she was no match for any of the attackers. She didn't want to have to rely on Lea to protect her. She couldn't act like that anymore, not with anybody. If she was going to contribute to the fight against Xehanort then she needed to be like Sora and Riku, throw herself into the front lines and take the bruises as they came.
"Organization? Nah." Lea said behind her, pointing to each opponent as they slowly moved towards them. "That was Axel. I'm Lea now, Got it Memorized?"
"Memorize this!" The blonde male dashed towards Lea with surprising speed, his sword raised for attack.
Kairi blinked and missed the exchange entirely, only seeing as the blonde male flipped backwards and growled. Lea was now standing protectively in front of her, his arms extended to either side and his Chakrams spinning furiously just out of his reach. She could feel the power radiating off of her friend and silently cursed, looking to the left towards the girl. Without thinking too much about it, she let out a battle cry and ran towards the female.
"Kairi!" Lea said but found himself defending against coordinated attacks from the two swordsmen.
Kairi swung wildly at the girl who practically danced around her attacks. Letting out a frustrated gasp, Kairi feinted a strike to the girls ribs and when she moved Kairi attempted to sweep her feet out from under her. The other girl did a gracefull cartwheel to avoid the strike and stepped back with her fists raised defensively. Pointing her Keyblade at the female, Kairi focused her energy and a beam of Light blasted out from the end of her weapon. Her opponents eyes widened as the blast hit her square in the chest and she made an 'oomph' sound as she impacted against the stone wall of a small building behind her. Kairi felt a brief moment of satisfaction but that went away as soon as the other girl picked herself up, dusted herself off and let out a slight groan.
"That was unexpected." The girl said, looking at Kairis Keyblade for a moment before her eyes widened. "Hey wait a minute, thats a Keyblade!"
"Yeah it is. So what?" Kairi replied, dropping into a defensive stance.
"This isn't good." The girl said, turning towards the other guys " Cloud! Leon! Stop attacking! They're the ones Merlin is waiting on!"
Kairi watched as Cloud and Leon got surprised expressions of their own and immediately stopped what they were doing, their weapons disappearing in flashes of magic. Lea looked momentarily disappointed before letting his Chakram disappear in balls of fire.
"Uh sorry about that." The other girl said, a sheepish smile on her face. "Come on. We'll take you to the old man."
They were taken to the Castle. Apparently, they had taken up residence there shortly after Lea had left and met with Aeleus who explained that he was the Apprentice of Ansem the Wise and they needed help. He had of course left out the fact that he was the Somebody of a member of Organization XIII and therefore the three had attacked Kairi and Lea on sight. The girl, whos name was Tifa, apparently found the whole situation hilarious. They walked into a large room and Kairi noticed that it was a Throne Room. It was massive, regal and a Throne sat in front of a huge window that overlooked the entire city. There was a table set up at the center of the room where a group of people were looking over a map.
"I'm telling you, Maleficent is going to try to take control of this castle back." A young female with short hair and a green top said. "We should fortify it while we can."
"No amount of fortifications will withstand the assault of the real threat here." A muscular man with strange hair and an axe clipped to his belt replied. "Xehanort knows we've woken up and he knows where we are."
"Xehanort. Maleficent. It seems we are accosted by enemies on all sides." An old wizard cut in, shaking his head. He noticed Kairi and the others approaching and smiled. "Ahh my future students!"
"You know why we're here?" Lea said, raising an eyebrow.
"Of course I do my boy. Yen Sid and I have been communicating for generations. I know almost as much about the goings on in the Worlds as he does." The Wizard replied with a wink. "I am Merlin, the man who will teach you to harness your new powers. This is Yuffie and Aeleus."
"I know who the big lug is." Lea replied with a smirk.
"I was talking to the young lady." Merlin snapped back, smiling at Kairi. "I knew your Grandmother. A wondrous woman and loyal friend. I hear you take after her."
"I do." Kairi replied, looking around the room again. Something felt... familiar. "I feel like I've been here before."
"You have, my lady." Aeleus replied, his tone respectful. "Your Grandmother was good friends with our Master. She would often bring you here with her. You... enjoyed sitting on the Throne and playing Princess."
"Wait really? You're from here." Lea exclaimed.
"It's fuzzy but I do have memories of this place. It feels like home." Kairi smiled.
"From playing Princess to being a Princess of Heart. Seem's like fate to me." Merlin winked again before clearing his throat. "Right, we can reminisce later. I need to get your training under way. First things First, dueling skills! I've chosen sparring partners for you both. Kairi, you are with Cloud. Lea, because of your advanced skills and power before unlocking the Keyblade I have chosen to give you a fitting partner."
The doors to the Throne room opened and all eyes went to the new comer. Kairi noticed that both Cloud, Yuffie and Tifa stiffened up at the sight of the male who approached and wondered what made them so unnerved by him. His pale skin, long silver hair and lean figure were all rather normal. The strange and wonderful thing about him was the black wing that extended from his right shoulder blade. As he came to a stop before them, Kairi felt his gaze on her and a thin smirk crossed the mans face.
"This is Sephiroth, one of the greatest duelists of our age." Merlin explained, a smile on his face.
"A pleasure to meet you both. Nice to see you again as well. Cloud. Tifa. Yuffie." Sephiroth's voice was silky smooth and his keen gaze seemed to look right through to each of their hearts. His eyes lingered on Kairi for a few moments before he spoke again. "Shall we begin?"
Authors Note!
Just so you guys know, I've plotted out this story from start to finish. :) None of the announcements of KH3 (Even though they are AMAZING) will impact my stories progression or plot.