The amount of times that I misspelled Xehanort as Xenahort the first time I wrote it.
Even as the remainder of the colossal Heartless ship fragmented in fiery explosions, Aqua maintained her death grip on the controls. Travel by gummi ship was far more heart pounding than utilizing a keyblade's glider form. It was faster for one, and in this day and age the Ocean Between had the unfortunate tendency to be hounded by Heartless and other malicious creatures that had taken on the traits of gummi blocks, including the ability to fire beams and heavy orbs of explosive energy.
In the case of the route to the Keyblade Graveyard, it had since been claimed by a labyrinthian construct containing a host of Heartless; the entire thing had required all of them to separate and take different routes within the construct, fighting off wave upon wave of enemies until they reached core functions and unlocking the rest of the way forward.
It was utterly nerve wracking. She'd seen the kind of damage their own ordnance could deliver; realized how durable some of their foes were when Grima had to upgrade his third tier spells into upcharged fourth tier. To know that they were facing the exact same thing, when Chip and Dale had told them their defenses weren't as strong as other the gummi models their companions were flying, was terrifying.
"Aqua."
The subtle rumble of Grima's voice was enough for her to focus on trying to even out her breathing. Untensing her hands could come later, when she no longer felt like a rudderless ship within a maelstrom. For now, being able to control at least her breaths would suffice.
"Aqua, it's over." Calloused fingers borne from a lifetime of usage wrapped around hers, prying them from the controls. "The way through is open."
"Everybody okay?"
She glanced over at her gummi phone inserted into its designated recess. Over the course of the battle, the voices of Sora, Chip, and Dale had sounded out calling out specific areas that needed attention. With all her attention on navigating the battlefield and flying through the storm of bullets and lasers, a part of her had been dreading a cry denoting someone's passing.
"We'll need a little bit on our end, Sora. Take us in slow." Offering her a hand, Grima guided her towards his former seat, taking a moment to check on Ven before grabbing control of the ship. Only when he had properly settled in did their 'Sirius' rumble forward slowly, evening out as they took up the right side of the group's loose triangle formation.
Aqua had seen it once before, but the Keyblade Graveyard was truly a desolate land. The last time she had been here, it was through the Lanes Between rather than the full expanse of the cosmos. The scope of it back then had been limited, but now? An entire world, barren and lifeless, fragmented into hundreds of pieces all loosely held together by tiny whispers of what once was. Once upon a time, this place that held thousands upon thousands of keyblades must have been a beautiful place. What sort of verdant field had that gash of energy must have been? How adored was the mountain with a gaping wound goring through its side back when this world had life?
Aqua tugged at the lapels of her mantle cum haori, a gift from Master Yen Sid and the three fairies from Aurora's world who had decided to reside within his tower. A two layer garment meant to speak of her status as a proper Keyblade Master and harken to her tutelage under Master Eraqus, the four had apparently worked extensively with Grima over the past two days in order to make sure the various enchantments within the mantle itself and her modified Dark Suit all worked properly together. A Master was always meant to grant their graduate students a gift, but with all the events that had happened, Master Eraqus had never found time to do so for her before his passing.
"Aqua, Ven. We're getting close. Do you need more time?"
Aqua took in a deep breath, letting it out slowly after a moment. "I'll be better once I have some dirt under my feet." She looked over at Ven, her brother needing another moment before giving a nod.
"Same here. I'll feel much better once I have my keyblade in my hands instead of a gummi ship's weapon controls."
"We found a good landing spot, guys," Sora said over the communications. "Follow my lead."
/ - /
"It reminds me of the times when I accomplished total annihilation," Grima whispered. The canyon Sora had chosen was the only clear landing spot as they approached the remnants of the world, the rest of the world was surrounded by dense haze of dirt. "Not a sign of life. Storms of dust and ash on the horizon. Even the air itself tastes of lifelessness. All that's missing is the fading stench of death and decay."
"We might be a few hundred years too late for that," she whispered back. Ven was scouting far enough ahead that she doubted he could hear them, but she'd rather err on the side of caution. "Grima? When the battles start, how far do you think you'll go?"
"As far as I need to," he said after a thoughtful pause. "Between our time in the Realm of Darkness and how long its been since I've needed to cast any spells, I've stored a significant amount of energy. But you're all still mortals. And of the nine of you, naught but four of you have any sort of protection against Darkness, but even that would not be enough against my full might." He turned to face her. "What of yourself? Between our time in the Realm of Darkness, your keyblade, that coat, and everything else, how far do you plan on going?"
She bowed her head in thought and lifted her arms slightly, staring at the fabric of her sleeves as they moved with her limbs. Truth be told, she wasn't sure how much endurance the others had, let alone how much spellfire they could bring to bear. It was likely that if the battle got too chaotic, it would fall to her to help restore some semblance of order. "As far as I need to," she echoed, clenching her hands. "I'm a Master. With far more experience than Riku. It should fall to me to take the brunt of things."
"Hm." Grima continued forward sedately. "Remember to pace yourself. We know not how long this battle might go for. Trust in our allies. You'd be surprised at how often those beside us might succeed at things we thought unlikely."
"Knowledge from your World?" she asked.
He chuckled. "Quite."
Aqua stopped short as the others came into view. Once again keybearers gathered together to face off against their kin, only this time, their initial meeting place wasn't a crossroad of ancient keyblades long forgotten. With only an exchange of nods, the ten of them set forth, all words of encouragement having been shared the day before.
It was Ven who stopped first, staring at the passage in the cliff before them with mild apprehension. "The crossroads are up ahead, aren't they?"
"That's right," she answered. "Hundreds upon hundreds of keyblades, the only things remaining of those that came before." A stray wind heralded a curtain of dust, obscuring the passage. An instant later, she tensed, Grima doing the same behind her. "Someone's here."
It was as if she was back in that very moment, thirteen years ago. Hunched over yet so very sure of his steps, and with his red lined coat clearly defining the movement of his legs, Master Xehanort strode towards them, piercing yellow eyes taking them in. His gaze lingered in her direction, and a single chuckle escaped his lips. "Legend has it that Darkness once covered the world," he started
Behind her, she felt Grima's presence fade away, leaving Robin's behind.
Master Xehanort turned his gaze towards Sora, amusement etched into his self-satisfied smile. "We know so little about the Keyblade War, only that it was just the beginning. If ruin brings about creation, what, then, would another war bring? When the darkness falls, will we be worthy of the precious Light the legend speaks of?"
Master Keeper flashed into her hand the moment she noticed the build up of energy. Beside Master Xehanort, a taller man in a black coat with a long mane of white appeared. "Or will all of creation instead be returned to the shadows?" he asked. "Today we will recreate the legend and see."
Aqua grit her teeth as the build up appeared once more, this one feeling absent of both Light and Dark.
"But first, your Light shines far too brightly," the newest man said. "It must be extinguished in order for the truth to be seen."
She felt Robin's hand grasp hers as another build up appeared, two more figures appearing, one of them significantly more familiar than the other.
"Seven Lights, and thirteen Darknesses," Master Xehanort intoned, "but part of these have yet to be tempered properly. You must first be broken in the fires of battle, before the key to Kingdom Hearts can be forged.
"And break you is what we shall do," the unknown helmetless teen, yet again bearing a full head of white proclaimed. "It has been etched."
"Now?!" she hissed towards Robin as Darkness built up once again. Shadowy tendrils of energy formed around the pentet before rushing out, turning the entire sky dark and blotting out the warmth of the sun, instantly making her feel as if she had returned to that awful place. Her mantle disappeared into the charm across her chest at the same time her armor formed, the magics within both returning some warmth to her body.
In place of rain and puddles, Heartless; Nobodies; even Unversed all began appearing from sky and earth.
"Look at how many there are!" Sora shouted.
And yet still he kept hold of her. "Robin!"
"I'll support you." Robin let go of her hand, the familiar sound of a weapon being summoned sounding out. "Ven, carve your own niche. Aqua can't hold back if others are nearby. I'll keep an eye out for you."
The comforting Light of keyblades being called rang out, filling her with even more determination.
"That goes for all of you. Restrain yourselves for the fight ahead, but stay safe. Between Aqua and myself, we can handle the majority of this chaff." Aqua called forth Warp magic as she felt Robin's particular brand of fire magic be prepared. "On your signal," he murmured.
"But there's so many!" Lea cried, holding back a fire spell of his own when Robin reprimanded him.
"Far less than what we faced in the Realm of Darkness," he responded. "Aqua!"
"Ready!" A streak of red tore through the air, slipping past dozens of flying monsters and embedding deep into a blue frog-esque creature she faintly recognized. She mentally threw out the inert magic to the same location as the arrow, activating it once the explosion threw the area aglow. "Thundaja!" Grand Magic flew freely from her blade, felling creatures by the dozens with every spell. Though she could feel Master Keeper burn slightly in agitation at being held by a gauntlet borne of Darkness, it was nothing more than a minute discomfort in comparison to the aggravation of being surrounded by so many creatures of Darkness.
As she whittled away at the writhing carpet of Heartless, Aqua noticed that more gigantic creatures were starting to appear. The wyverns from San Fransokyo; the elemental cores from the Realm of Darkness; scythe wielding creatures garbed in white and dresses reminiscent of flower petals. Gravity and Aero spells made quick work of them, keeping them in place long enough for multi-colored arrows to find their marks and make her quickly evacuate whatever area she was in lest she accidentally suffer from Fell enhanced magic.
"They just don't end!"
Aqua stabbed Master Keeper into the ground, a vortex of Aeroza flaring up around them and knocking everything away. "I doubt Robin or I can cast a spell to deal with all of them and still have energy for the battle ahead," she told Sora. "Not without long term effect," she muttered to herself. As the gale started to die down, she thrust her hand out, a ring of magic flaring out before her hand and sending out a torrent of wind. "Arcwind!"
"A spell to deal with all of them?" Sora repeated quietly, only to gasp at whatever conclusion he arrived to. "Everyone, get close! Donald, Goofy!"
As others of their group started gathering, Aqua stopped casting heavy magics, limiting herself to bladework. "Sora, whatever you're doing, do it now! They're getting too close!" She let out a cry as she hurled Master Keeper, the blade coated in a dense layer of rime. The moment it landed in the stony pauldron of one of the axe wielding, giant Heartless, she recalled her keyblade, the ice shell remaining behind exploding in a massive flurry of ice and powder.
"Everyone, jump on!" At Sora's cry, a truly massive gathering of Light magic shot out from over the edge of the crater, a loud train whistle ringing out.
"Is that a—"
Whatever Lea was going to say went unheard as she rushed towards the path the Light train was taking, ethereal railing forming along the ground significantly quicker than in the air. Robin vaulted into the cart behind her, his cloak billowing as the cliff rode up along the cliff face.
"Can you do this?!" he shouted over the chugging of the engine and wheels.
"Maybe?!" she shouted back, taking in the sight of the creatures of Darkness behind them.
"Full steam ahead!" Sora yelled out, thrusting his keyblade forward. Where steam should have come out from the train's chimney, magical sparks spouted instead, looking much like the spray of a firework. Slightly delayed from the puffing of the train, explosions occurred on the battlefield below them, monsters disappearing with every detonation.
"There's still so many of them," she whispered to herself. She gripped Master Keeper tighter, the beginnings of a truly outrageous plan forming in her mind. "Robin, give me your biggest spell! Sora, take us as high as you can!"
"You got it, Aqua!"
Aqua took in a deep breath as the train began twisting up straight into the sky, one hand tightly holding the bar in front of her as she began swapping out Master Keeper for Fell Legacy. Sora didn't sound like he was having issues with whatever spell this was, but to have as many carts as this as well as guide the train along through the sky on arcane tracks?
Fell Legacy appeared in her hand. Instantly, the sensations of the world began fading away. Sight, sounds, smell; it was as if someone had put earmuffs over her entire body. "Don't stop until they're all gone," she shouted. The movement of the train started to slow. She could see the tracks up ahead arc backwards and start the journey back down.
Aqua let go of the railing, gravity taking hold of her and pulling towards the ground. "May my Heart be my guiding key," she whispered. Tiny spurts of Wind magic altered her path, until she was straight above the center of where the largest mass of monsters were. "Transcendence!"
Gravity and Magnet magic exploded outwards, keeping her in place and enveloping her surroundings in a field of arcane might. Within her area of effect, monsters bounded around endlessly like an infinite number of pool balls. Fell motes gathering within her zone made her start drawing Barrier magic, an Ignis empowered shield flaring up around her as the energy reached a crescendo, the pressure feeling very much like a Valflame had somehow been overcharged into a higher tier. Dark flames roared around her, her Barrier cracking all over the moment whatever spell Robin (Grima?) cast detonated. Only when she was sure it was safe to let go of her shield did she allow herself to lower to the ground, somewhat roughly carried by a modified Elwind. Aqua dismissed Fell Legacy the moment her feet touched the dirt, her mantle taking place of her armor as she lowered herself to a knee to catch her breath..
Silence. That was the first thing that stuck out to her. Save for the light of the sun, the utter silence of the barren land was enough to almost convince her they were back in the Realm of Darkness. Aqua stood, drawing upon a minute amount of magic to draw in the various restorative orbs left in the wake of arcane destruction.
"Aqua!"
She turned around, giving Ven a soft smile. "You alright?"
Ven stared at her in wonder for a few moments before beaming. "You got so strong."
She chuckled. "Mhm."
"Looks like I've got lots of catching up to do!" Ven pumped a fist and grinned.
"Speaking of catching up," Robin, amber eyes staring at the passage ahead, stopped beside them. "We should go on ahead and check things out. The others need a moment to recover." He glanced towards Lea and Kairi, the two supporting each other slightly with mild disbelief. "In more ways than one."
The moment they stepped into the passage, a mild wind picked up, making the air feel just a bit colder even if it did nothing for how dead it felt. Robin and Ven silently followed her pace, the latter taking in every bit of their surroundings as they walked.
"Aqua." Robin stopped once more, staring at the lit face of a jutting spire. "I'm curious, can you feel the lingering energies up ahead?"
Considering how calm Robin was, Aqua took the question as one of mere curiosity, one which she answered in the negative.
"I see. Maybe something to train in the future, if for no other reason than to say you can."
Ven looked on as Robin strolled forward, a look of confusion on his face. Said confusion deepened when Robin crouched down to look at something hidden by a jutting rock.
"Something interest—" The words died in her mouth as she realized what he was looking at. Almost completely buried by sand, the timeworn metal of a keyblade's handguard obtrusively stuck out from the rest of the floor. Considering the rest of the partially buried keyblades laying about behind it, it was easy to come up with a plethora of stories as to what happened here.
"Dozens of lifeless soul blades, with nothing but the faintest of embers within them. No more than a single glimmer of what once was." Robin stood and looked over the carpet of weapons. "Kingdom Hearts... was it truly so important that all these souls fought against each other for it? Slayed each other for it? A keyblade is a weapon borne of the soul. Only a select few might be lucky to acquire one. And yet still, they ignored such a fact and felled each other like common soldiers."
As Robin spoke she became aware once again of exactly what this place was. A graveyard. With how quickly the battle last time around had begun, she hadn't had time to let it sink it, but now? "There's more up ahead," she quietly said. "An entire field of tomb markers."
Robin shook his head. "And Xehanort wishes to recreate this? He's a madman."
Aqua shielded her eyes as they exited the passage, the dust filled sky an almost blinding white in comparison to the shade of the pass. "I didn't see much of things, but how was the battle on your end?"
"It was pretty hectic," Ven admitted. "You and Robin kept most of the small fry busy, but some of the bigger monsters were able to slip through. Riku and Sora were amazing, though! They really looked like Keyblade Masters! Between their magic, their transformations, and their shotlocks, I really gotta step up my game!"
She smiled. "When things are over, let's spend some time training, okay?"
He nodded. "Yeah!"
Aqua stopped as Robin put up a hand slightly, blocking her from continuing forward. "Aqua."
The winds slowly picked up, breaking up the cloud of dirt bit by bit. Trepidation began to well up within her as she realized who was standing motionless before them. "Terra..."
"Terra!" Ven spoke his name with far more excitement, breaking away from them and running towards Terra. "Terra! We found you!"
She chased after him, placing a hand on Ven's shoulder in case she needed to pull him back. "Terra?" She stared up at her friend's body, an undercurrent of terror forcing her to tense. "Please say you're in there." Lifeless blue eyes looked away from Ven and towards her, a hint of recognition blooming, alongside the budding scent of Darkness. Immediately she began pulling Ven back several paces, moving protectively in front of him.
"What gives, Aqua?" he protested.
"I know you're not him," she told the parasitic essence of Xehanort. "Let our friend go!"
The fragment chuckled and bowed his head, the glamour on his hair fading away and revealing the silver luster all of Xehanort's fragments held. "Today is the day you all lose." He smirked, Darkness starting to exude from his body like steam. "Before you even face the thirteen, every last one of you will be torn heart from body."
Aqua brought forth Master Keeper the same time that Xehanort's appeared, the fibres of her Dark Suit chasing after the threads of her mantle even as the latter receded. Dust plumed out as their keyblades clashed, the impact far lighter than she was expecting. As the dust cleared, she became all too aware of the crackle of lightning blocking the lower half of Xehanort's keyblade.
"Puppet of Darkness," the parasite growled, shifting his stance to try and gain more ground.
"Not an incorrect moniker, from a certain viewpoint," Grima responded. The cacophony of electricity from Grima's blade built up rapidly, both her and Grima swinging out at the same time and forcing the parasite back.
Aqua took a step forward, Master Keeper held in a ready position. Against the possessed form of Terra, Fell Legacy would have been the better choice, but with the knowledge that there were still others to fight against, the drain Ignis would bring was far too costly. "Even before Xehanort possessed him, Terra swung with the force of a giant Heartless," she whispered to Grima. "I have to deflect his strikes instead of block."
"I'll take it under advisement," he whispered back. Grima materialized his bow, the sound of the string being drawn back creaking in her ear. "Aqua, take point."
Warp Magic snapped out as quickly as she gathered it, Aqua taking a leaping step before she released the spell. Xehanort's keyblade slashed harmlessly underneath her feet, a runic circle for Arcwind flaring into existence and blasting the parasite point blank. A streak of yellow from behind him called forth a bolt of thunder, the resulting opening one she met with a duo of advancing swipes before she sent forth a shrapnel barrage of ice shards.
The parasite grunted as an arcane arrow grazed his body, the miniscule amount of contact enough for a patch of ice to flare across his body. Whatever words he was going to speak died a quick death as she followed up with another blast of Thundara, an act Grima instantly followed up on by unleashing a trio of red arrows. "Enough!" Darkness plumed into existence, dense enough that it knocked her off her feet and through the air. "Darkness masked in Light, you do not belong here!"
The moment she recovered her footing, Aqua charged towards the clash between Grima and Terra's body. The purple and red sheen of both Dragonskin and Pavise's protections fending off Xehanort's keyblade with a violent shower of light. With a loud battle cry, Aqua kicked off the ground, intently telegraphing her casting hand towards the parasite's face. Raw Darkness clashed against her armored hand, the magic she had gathered reforming to better entangle with the energies Xehanort poured forth. She let out another cry, pushing enough magic into the stalemate that their arcane stalemate began producing its own sparks of light.
Terra's body shifted as Grima released his defenses, a quick retreating step granting him enough room to evade the falling keyblade. As he stepped back forward, both arms chambered back, Aqua converted the magic in her hand to that of Ice, locking their arms together. A great torrent of wind roared out from Grima's hands, carefully modified so that only the parasite would be struck by the ancient spell.
Aqua moved back in front of Grima, Master Keeper once again at her side. "Ven?" she asked him, keeping the majority of her attention on Terra's body despite the lingering chill in her arm.
"Back at the pass," Grima answered. "Thought it best for us to have some alone time."
She gave a sardonic smirk. "Thanks."
"The presence of one more matters not." Xehanort glared at the two of them, Darkness once again steaming off his body. "Sooner or later, the Thirteen will slay you all the same!"
Aqua narrowed her eyes as Grima flexed his Fell aura slightly.
"You'll find that goal far more problematic than originally anticipated," he answered. With a far messier version of her own Warp, Grima appeared out of slashing range of Terra's body, minute purple trails of Fell magic matching Xehanort's in kind. The cloud of Fell energy appeared without warning, completely encasing Terra's body within it. From this distance, Aqua could make out the circular motions Grima made with his right hand, fingers waving all the while. After a brief period of time, he launched himself back with twin blasts of Wind magic, the act revealing a visually haggard Xehanort.
The parasite inhabiting Terra's body let out a bestial scream, the cloak of energy drifting off him exploding in length. "You dare use Darkness against a master of it?!"
"I am no mere master," Grima snarked.
"I will fell you where you—!"
Aqua reflexively threw up a Barrier large enough to protect both her and Grima as dust exploded into the air, the pocket where she kept her Wayfinder burning almost excitedly. "Terra?"
A familiar suit of armor donning a gold backed cloak and red horns stood before them, a keyblade whose design had long turned hazy in her memories grinding against the spiked greys of Xehanort's. Terra's armor slashed out with both hands, the act that had taken both her and Grima to do together accomplished all alone.
"How are you still here?!" Xehanort shouted once he caught his footing. "All these years, and still you haunt me!?"
With one fluid motion, Terra's armor swung his keyblade out, the blade morphing into a fluid whip and latching onto Xehanort's weapon. With a single hand, the armor yanked Xehanort into the air, the parasite letting go of his keyblade and redirecting himself at the armor.
"Terra!"
Aqua reached out and grabbed Ven before he could run too far past them. "Leave them be! We can't get between the two of them right now!"
"But, Aqua!"
Once again anguished eyes made her feel horrible. In the back of her mind, she questioned whether or not she was making the right decision.
"She's right," Grima followed up, narrowing his eyes as a blinding beam of energy shot out from the cannon form of Terra's keyblade. "Those two are on a different level right now. If we want to interfere, we'd best do it when they tire themselves out some. Besides." Grima summoned his bow once more, nocking a crackling arrow. "It seems we've drawn a rather large amount of attention."
"Uh, guys?" Were it not for Grima fully focusing ahead, Aqua would have turned to see what had drawn Lea's focus. "Behind us!"
Aqua adjusted her grip on Master Keeper as a pool of Darkness rapidly formed in front of them, a deluge of Shadows rushing out of it and coiling in the air. "Ven! Are you with us?"
Ven glanced back and forth between the writhing tide of Shadows before them and whatever lay behind them, making up his mind with only a second look. "Right behind you!"
Next chapter should be out August 29th. Good luck to those starting school back up!