Okay a bit more detail in the Author's Note but spoilers for Live A Live as in MAJOR SPOILERS INCLUDING THE TWISTS! The canon to the world visited here is the bad ending. Minor spoiler but how do you unlock the bad ending? Get killed? Not completing the story in a certain amount of time? Not completing certain quests or find items? Oh no; you get the bad ending by... Choosing to play the final level as the villain and then getting to play as the end of level bosses to kill all 7 of the previous playable protagonists! Plus consider this an AU after KHII.
Things had been better for the Mistress of All Evil known as Maleficent; some time had passed since that Key Bearer boy Sora defeated Xemnas and Organisation XIII but while her biggest rivals for conquest of the worlds were done away with, she can't say that the situation she found herself in was ideal at all to her and her goals:
She was resurrected but was left with her errand boy Pete as her only surviving ally, attempts to build back up her forces had not gone well and Hades after an attempt to make a deal somehow managed to be less cooperative than before and he wasn't exactly a team player part of her group of allies in the first place.
Staying back in her tower with only Pete remaining; a far cry from the alliance that she had once led commanding an army of thousands of Heartless devouring worlds by the hundreds on the quest to find the 7 Princesses of Heart to awaken Kingdom Hearts.
Sora ruined everything and the now she realises fake Ansem was daring to use her as a pawn; well he was gone and so was his other half. Still Sora and his allies remained a problem.
She was in her tower pondering a solution to her conundrum; a way to gain power back and to crush the forces of good that stands in her way. Suddenly Pete came barging in and stumbled through the door as he tripped and landed on his head. "I suppose you have a very good reason to be making a fool out of yourself in my presence Pete." Maleficent asked with a frown that made it clear that she won't be pleased if he doesn't have good news for her.
"Maleficent; you are going to love this! I found out about this word filled with Darkness and I thought that there were still plenty of Heartless but no... It's all the power of some figured that I think calls himself 'the Lord of Dark'. The Darkness was radiating through the entire world and not even the Underworld could compare to the feeling of despair there..." Pete explained and Maleficent digested this news.
A Lord of Dark that managed to make his entire world filled with Darkness without the need for Heartless? If only she learned about this world and this Lord of Dark before; an ally like that and she may not have lost.
"Come and show me this world Pete..." Maleficent ordered getting up from her throne.
Disney Castle and Sora and Riku were sparring with their Keyblades as part of their training as overseen by King Mickey and Yen Sid. Kairi was there for support and watched as Sora got the upper hand onto Riku and ended up beating him. "Don't get cocky Sora or I will end up beating you one day." Riku said as Sora helped him back up with a smile.
"Riku is now the one who keeps losing to Sora; how things have changed!" Kairi laughed and Sora joined in as Riku just shook his head. They took a breath and Sora went down the corner and was surprised to find Genie there.
"Nice fighting out there Sora; let's see what the judges have to say about your performance!" the Genie said puffing up 3 different versions of himself at a judges table as they all put up signs with 10 rated scores on them.
"Thanks Genie and are you here because..." Sora asked with a whisper and Genie took out a message and Sora took it and smiled. It was from Princess Jasmine of Agrabah asking if he would be free to come over; Genie had been helping him covertly visit her on her world and vice versa.
To hide the truth that they had been dating.
Sora after meeting Jasmine was mesmerised by her beauty and revealing outfit; red in the face he was embarrassed as Jasmine playfully flirted with him and chuckled at his expression.
With Sora and the 7 Princesses of Heart meeting up in front of the portal Jasmine went up to Sora having gotten to know him during his time on Agrabah; "So this could actually be the last that we meet eachother when the worlds are separate again..." Jasmine sighed sadly and Sora sadly nodded. Jasmine looked to the boy that she had grown fond of due to how much of a cute dork and heroic warrior he was; "Let this be a happy final moment between us for both of us. Make sure we don't forget eachother." Jasmine suggested kneeling down and motioning for a kiss with her silently asking if he was comfortable; Sora felt about what he came to feel about Jasmine and ended up going with it with the 6 other Princesses smiling at this.
Jasmine was wide eyed upon recognising Sora when he came back after a year and they embraced eachother.
They had started going out in secret; not knowing how the others would take it. Sora wasn't as worried about his friends taking it as he was with the residents of the Castle and especially Donald. He was always the most stickler to 'the world order' in that the worlds had to be kept separate and they shouldn't meddle in their own affairs.
Genie disappeared after waving goodbye as Sora hid the message and went to get a snack for the rest of his break.
Maleficent exited the portal with Pete and found themselves on the balcony of what seemed to be the castle of a kingdom that was absolutely empty. Everything looked so beautifully lifeless even the look of the forest without the trees looking like they were dying; she could feel the Darkness radiating in the air.
However there was a figure walking behind them; a blonde haired knight sternly had his sword to the neck of Pete. "Demons; is this one supposed to be a bear of some sort?" the figure asked as Maleficent smirked as she came to face him.
"I don't suppose you happen to be the Lord of Dark known as Odio?" Maleficent asked and the figure had a look that said 'so what if I am?'. "I am Maleficent and I am here to give you an offer of conquest, I think whatever you have done to make this world like it has would make you a worthy ally." Maleficent offered as Odio looked perplexed.
"Conquest? What is there to conquer; I have already erased all who has ever existed before, now and would ever exist. There is only me and only me is there ever going to be; I am all that remains." Odio retorted and Maleficent thought that if he was to be believed then this would be better than she thought. If he was able to destroy every being in his world...
"Perhaps in this world but I could help you tour the worlds beyond in the sky..." Maleficent replied motioning for the sky as Odio looked shocked. "Thousands of world; filled with people, happiness and meddlesome heroes to utterly destroy... Including one heroic boy in particular..." Maleficent explained as Odio narrowed his eyes.
"You really expect me to believe this story without proof? There are no more people, false hope nor heroes as I destroyed them all..." Odio said as Maleficent used her staff to put up a vision of Disney Castle with the guards training and showing King Mickey laughing with Donald and Goofy.
"What... If this is true... More needs to learn about the truth of hope and despair... I will eradicate them myself!" Odio remarked once he fully grasped at what he was saying but Maleficent put up a hand.
"Easier said than done I am afraid; the Castle which serves as the base for the most powerful do-gooders is protected by an artefact called the Cornerstone of Light. However we can still strike at the main Champion... A hero known as Sora..." Maleficent replied as she opened up a portal and allowed Odioto follow through after finally letting go.
"Stuck inside the walls of the Palace; father not letting me see the outside world and to jsut sit and wait for the next visiting suitor... This place is so simple by comparison but it feels so different and exciting!" Jasmine told Sora with a smile as she was in the kitchen of his hut home on Destiny Islands.
Sora's mother was made aware and smiled as she served the two lovebirds their food; "Here you go your highness; sounds like a fairy tale Sora going on an adventure fighting monsters with his blade weapon to save the day and winning the heart of a princess." she said much to Sora's embarassment but Jasmine just giggled.
"You think you will be ready soon to let your friends know? Kairi and... Riku..." Jasmine asked and Sora knew that she still held a grudge against Riku for kidnapping her for Maleficent and it certainly didn't help her opinion of him when Sora shared the stories of what he was like during the adventure and how he treated his supposed best friend Sora before. Sora let it be as while he know Riku was doing his best to fix things; Jasmine had valid reasons to hold a grudge against him.
"I think they would take it well but I am still scared of more people knowing and what the King and Yen Sid will think... Even if I do convince them there is always Donald..." Sora said as Jasmine had a bit of a sigh.
"Yes the 'world order' that keeps each world in it's own prison like me in the Palace despite the fact that we could have been better prepared for the Heartless invasion if the worlds were allowed to know eachother and communicate with eachother before. How are they supposed learn to defend against a threat they don't even know exist? Plus limiting possible relationships and us; I am not looking forward to the day that the duck finds out and decides he should have any sort of say in wherever we should date or not." Jasmine responded not happy about this 'world order' at all and all that it entails.
Sora could understand her reaction; Donald was a valuable friend and ally but he was quite annoying in how he insisted on following 'the world order'.
Soon it was time for Genie to come and get Jasmine back home and the couple shared an embrace and goodbye kiss; however Sora only after she left noticed Kairi at the front door asking to be allowed in and her face made it clear that she was able to see their kiss. Sora was panicking seeing her wide eyes but it turned into a grin.
"I knew it! I knew it when I saw you both kiss at Hollow Bastion and if you two got to see eachother again; I figured that was what was happening when you have been having time to yourself recently!" Kairi practically cheered as Sora asked her to keep it down. "Fine; you want it kept secret but when were you going to tell us?" Kairi asked with her arms folded.
"When I was sure that you could be told without anyone else finding you. Please Kairi... if Donald found out..." Sora pleaded as Kairi nodded.
"You explained everything about the secrecy by invoking the duck, I am happy for you both and I wish you had told me earlier but I understand. I don't know if Riku can stop himself from telling the King so I won't fight you on letting him know but I still expect full rights to tease you about this in private." Kairi said with a cheesy grin and Sora smiled gratefully.
Prior to that remaster on the Nintendo Switch this year; Live A Live was a Japanese exclusive who could only be played in English via a fan translation and was a lesser known cult hit not getting the same fame or popularity as other Square RPGS such as Chrono Trigger and especially not the Final Fantasy games. I enjoyed and the different types of changing around the battle system to fit the gimmicks of each 7 levels you start with to choose and play in every order (though I found WIld West to be annoying more than the others). The stories were simple and not that complex but then comes the Middle Ages level you unlock after completing the 7 levels and it starts deceptively simple enough but the level's protagonist Oersted goes through the ringer and falls into despair becoming the game's main villain. Oersted/Odio has become my new favourite Square Enix villain; he's basically what I thought Jack was going to turn out like in Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin (hero on a quest to stop a great evil only to end up on his journey becoming the evil he wanted to vanquish and not in a He Who Fights Monsters sense) and wish that he did.