Chapter 22: Epilogue/ Blank Points
A/N: We finally made it to the end of Dream Drop Memories! It's been a long crazy journey, but we finally made it!
While this chapter of Hikari's adventure has come to a close, the next one is about to start! Before we get into the Trail of Memories 3, there's going to be one filler story that'll tie this story into the next one.
But for now! Let's end this story with a bang!
Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, I just own my characters.
Enjoy!
/
Blank Point
Pure intentions that had dire consequences
Xehanort didn't know what to make of the Keyblade that Braig had given him. It looked old, it looked scary, it looked…familiar. When he held the weapon in his hand it was as if he was looking at an old friend. A friend that he thought he would ever see…but perhaps one he didn't want to see again.
He didn't know why Briag would give him this or why he had it to begin with but he was running out of options.
Taiyouko was fighting a loosing battle and she wouldn't be able to hold out much longer.
He had to save her no matter what.
He would do anything for the woman he loved.
Letting out a shaky breath, he looked at the shady guard. He didn't trust this guy, but he didn't have any other choice.
"Are you sure this will help Tai? This will keep her and my kids safe?"
Briag's hand twitched a little, but he put on a fake smile.
"Sure, it will. That thing's helped you in the past many times. That blade will fix all of your problems" he 'promised'.
Xehanort didn't fully believe him. He still didn't recall what he did in the past but right now he didn't care. Taiyouko was more important than remembering who he was.
Pulling out the Forget-Me-Not flower he kept in his pocket, he started at the tiny flower. He remembered when Taiyouko gave it to him and explained there was another meaning behind this little plant. Now that he knew what that was and what she was trying to tell him, he couldn't fail her now.
"Don't worry, Tai. Once I fix this, everything will go back to the way it was" he said quietly.
Aiming the blade at his chest, he plunged it deep into his body.
Braig wore a cruel smirk on his face as he watched Xehanort fall to the ground screaming in pain as his heart came out of his chest and caused his body to spilt into two.
"Yep, everything will go back to the way it was" he chuckled.
Xehanort would realize too late that his pure intentions lead to such dire consequences for not only Taiyouko and his kids, but to the worlds as well.
/
The light within the darkness leads to the last key
While the Mark of Mastery was over for Riku and Hikari, there was no time to rest. They had to prepare for the fight that was to come, and they couldn't do that waiting at Yen Sid's tower.
The couple went back to the islands at Yen Sid's request. He wanted them to bring a few individuals who would be of some help in this upcoming war.
While they took care of that, Taiyouko had her own task that she needed to take care of.
/
Taiyouko walked through the maze-like corridors of her father's lab. She had hoped that she would never come back to this horrible place. If it wasn't for his interest in studying the works of the heart maybe Xehanort wouldn't have become obsessed with it and bring ruin to the worlds.
Maybe they could have continued to be a happy couple.
She quickly shook that thought out of her head. What they had was lie. It was obvious that Xehanort didn't love her. He just thought he did because he was using Terra's body and it remembered what it felt like to love. He just used her like he did with everyone else.
If that was the case then why did Xemnas say he was trying to save her and her kids? Why did he look so sad and broken when she last saw him? Did he really love her? No, that had to be a lie. He was just acting like he was sad so she would let her guard down once again.
She wasn't going to fall for that again.
"I won't accept your help. I'll suffer this fate of mine if it means everyone will be safe from this upcoming battle" she thought.
After she learned about Hikari's connection with Lumen she realized it was time to take action. She had no idea with Xehanort was planning with his Thirteen seekers of Darkness but she wasn't going to wait to find out.
It was time to take action and she needed to find someone to make that happen.
When Axel came back as Lea, he told her that the original six members of the Organization came back as well.
Hurrying into her father's office, she hoped that a certain individual returned as well.
The door leading to her father's lab was open. Taking a shaky breath, she slowly walked into it. So many bad memories were tied with this place.
When she made it into the lab, her heart clenched when she saw a very familiar face.
Ienzo was hunched over one of their father's computers. He was typing away at something as he tried to unlock data that was sealed away thanks to Xehanort. It was going to take him forever to clean this mess up.
When he heard someone entering the lab, he didn't look up to see who it was. He figured it was Dilan or Even.
"I take it you decided to finally wake up?"
Taiyouko had tears in her eyes as she looked at her younger brother. He had grown so big since she last saw him.
"Ienzo?"
Ienzo's fingers froze in mid-typing when he heard that voice. Slowly looking over his shoulder he saw his older sister standing near the doorway.
"Sister" he breathed.
Taiyouko smiled and rushed over to him.
"Ienzo!"
She pulled him into a tight hug. Ienzo wrapped his arms around her and buried his face into her dress like he used to when he was little. The last time that they saw each other was in Castle Oblivion. While they were fighting on different sides, they never considered each other the enemy.
"I'm so sorry about before. I didn't mean to cause you pain" he said quietly.
"It wasn't your fault. You were a pawn just like I was to Xehanort. You have nothing to apologize for"
The two siblings stayed quiet as they basked in their reunion. After all this time they could be siblings again.
But their happy reunion would have to wait for now. Taiyouko went to find her brother for a reason.
"I'm sorry to ask you this after we just saw each other again, but I need you to answer a question for me" she said quietly.
Ienzo looked at her sister and saw how serious she suddenly became.
"What is it?"
Taiyouko grabbed his shoulders and gave them a squeeze.
"When you were in the Organization did you ever tell Xemnas about her?"
Ienzo didn't need to ask who this 'her' was. He knew she was referring to Lumen. After Lumen went into her deep slumber, both he and Taiyouko hid her body in one of the many caves outside of Radiant Garden. They were the only two who knew where she was hidden. That was something Xehanort for sure would have wanted to know.
However,…
"No. He never asked me about her. He wanted me to look for a chamber inside Castle Oblivion but he never mentioned he was looking for her. He did want to know what happened to you though"
Taiyouko sighed with relief. So Xehanort didn't know about her connection to Lumen. This was good. That meant they had an ace up their sleeve.
"I think it's time to break that promise we made" she said.
Ienzo looked at his sister for a moment then slowly nodded.
"Of course"
/
"So, this is where you grew up? Looks way different from Twilight Town" Tsukiko said.
The newly married couple walked down one of the many roads that made up the town and watched as people lead their everyday lives. They didn't really need to come with but Axel thought it would be a good idea to show his wife what his home was like before they met.
"Yeah, I used to get into a lot of trouble when I was a kid. Isa and I would always try to sneak into the castle and every time we did, we would get thrown out on our asses"
Tsukiko looked at her husband. He never said anything about facing Saix when they went to rescue Sora.
"You going to be, ok?"
Axel looked at his wife. He knew what she was trying to say: was he going to be ok fighting against his old friend.
"We went on our separate paths a long time ago" he said.
"He made his choice, and I made mine. If this is how it's going to end, then so be it"
Tsukiko knew that was the end of this conversation. She could tell he was upset about fighting someone he used to consider a friend but he didn't want to show it. She would have felt the same if she had to fight Ankoku or Roxas.
She decided it was best to change the subject.
"Ankoku is going to flip when she finds outs you can use a Keyblade. I can already picture what she'll say"
"I have a feeling she's going to react more at the fact that we eloped without telling her" Axel deadpanned.
He looked at Tsukiko sheepishly.
"You sure you were fine with us getting married like that?"
Tsukiko snorted and grabbed his hand. Even though he was still wearing his Organization outfit, she could feel his wedding band underneath his gloves.
The proof of their love.
"I was never one for traditional things. I don't need a pretty dress or a big ceremony to show that I want to spend the rest of my life with you. As long as I get to be your wife, that's all that matters to me"
Axel pressed his forehead against hers and wrapped his hand around her waist.
"I can't picture anyone else to share this life with me but you. Every time I thought of what my future would look like you were always in it"
"I better be if you were willing to sacrifice your life for me" Tsukiko said.
Axel just smirked and lowered his head to kiss his wife on the lips. It still felt weird knowing that he was married now, but he wouldn't change this feeling for anything. After all the suffering he went through because of the Organization, he was finally getting his happy ending.
"You know, Yen Sid mentioned that Merlin was going to have me train in an enchanted area where time flows at a different pace. It could be a day here but it could be a week there"
"That should help you out since you've never used a Keyblade before" Tsukiko said.
Axel agreed but wore a sneaky smile to his face.
"I thought it would have a better use besides training" he teased.
"Oh?"
Axel pulled her closer and gave her hip a squeeze.
"I hope you're ready to have a very long honeymoon. We do have a year to catch up on" he said seductively.
He laughed when he saw his wife's face get as red as his hair.
/
Donald and Goofy sat on the steps outside of Yen Sid's tower. Since King Mickey and Yen Sid didn't have any tasks for them, they decided to wait for Sora, Riku and Hikari to return. It was boring but they wanted to be the first ones to greet their friends.
"Sora's late. Do ya think he's okay?" Goofy asked.
Donald just sighed in frustration. He wanted to say that Sora was fine but after what just happened to him in the exam he didn't want to jinx himself.
"Taiyouko, Axel and Tsukiko sure hurried back to Radiant Garden, and now Master Yen Sid's sending Riku and Hikari away, too on some mystery errand"
The more Goofy spoke the worse Donald's mood became. Why was everyone going off on special errands except them?
"Ya think we'll ever get to do something important?"
"We're back!" Hikari called out.
Donald and Goofy jumped up from their seats to see Riku and Hikari returning to the tower.
"Welcome back you two!" Goofy said.
When they saw who was with them, they gasped in surprise.
/
"The Keyblade Wars of yore plunged the true Kingdom Hearts into darkness, and the X-blade was shattered" Yen Sid said.
Both he and Mickey were pondering their next move now that they knew what Xehanort was up to. They had to plan carefully if they were to succeed.
"But the light still shining in the hearts of children rebuilt the world that we know today. And the light from the broken X-blade was then divided into eight, to protect the number of pure hearts in the world"
Mickey tried to process what his master was trying to tell him.
"They're…the princesses of heart"
"Indeed. Those eight pure hearts formed the very source of all light in the world. If they are lost, the world will again give way to shadow. Thus, even if we deliberately avoid finding our remaining light to avert another Keyblade War, Xehanort will still target the princesses in order to form the X-blade"
"So.. there's gonna be a clash between thirteen lights and thirteen darknesses…and there's nothing we can do to avoid triggering the Keyblade War?" Mickey asked.
"To protect the eight pure hearts, we will need those lights strong enough to stand against the thirteen darknesses" Yen Sid said.
Mickey thought it over. They already had eight of the thirteen lights so that meant they needed to find the remaining five.
"We're missing five guardians of light. Where are we going to find them?"
The door to Yen Sid's study opened signaling they weren't alone anymore.
"Riku, Hikari, you're back!" Mickey said.
"That's right" Hikari said.
Riku looked a little nervous when he faced Yen Sid. He wasn't really sure what to make of the wizard's request.
"Master Yen Sid, we brought the …'guests' you asked for but…I'm curious why you wanted them here"
He stepped away to let their surprise guests enter the room.
Mickey was surprised as well when he saw who entered the room. Yen Sid wasn't surprised at all and got straight to the point.
"I have come to learn that you both can wield the Keyblade. I am glad you are here"
Standing before the group was none other than Kairi and Ankoku.
The last two of the five lights were found.
The Nobody looked around the room with wonder.
"So what's this I hear that the Organization is back" she said.
"I will explain everything in due time. For now we must wait for Taiyouko to return with her 'ace' so to speak" Yen Sid said.
"Wonder why mom wanted to return to Radiant Garden? She seemed adamant that she went back right after the exams were over" Hikari said.
"She probably has some clues about Xehanort. She was close to him before all of this happened" Riku said.
"Well, whatever it was she said we needed it if we're going to win this upcoming fight. Wonder if it's a secret weapon or something"
Donald and Goofy burst through the door and fell to the ground. The two of them looked shocked and horrified about something.
"T-Taiyouko's back" Donald said.
"A-and she b-brought s-something with her" Goofy said.
The group looked at the two in confusion.
"What the fuck's gotten into you? You're both acting like you saw a ghost or something" Ankoku said.
"I'm back" Taiyouko called out from the hallway.
Hikari turned to the door, wondering what her mother had that was freaking out Donald and Goofy so much.
"Hey mom, did you find what you were…looking…for…"
Hikari felt her legs give out when she saw what her mother was holding.
"No way…." Riku whispered.
Kairi and Ankoku were confused by what they saw.
Mickey jumped in alarm.
Yen Sid shot up from his desk and wore very rare shocked expression on his face.
"It can't be!"
Resting within Taiyouko's arms was none other than Lumen's sleeping body.
/
A/N: Bet you weren't expecting that ending! Looks like Xehanort isn't the only one with a few tricks up his sleeves.
And Ankoku's back! She's gonna have the shock of her life when she finds out that not only is Axel back, but he got married without telling her. Poor bastard doesn't stand a chance.
Hope you guys enjoyed this story and are ready for the next installment! Like I said there's going to be a filler story before Trail of Memories 3 so be sure to look out for that!
Until then, it's been a blast!
Take care!