Final Chapter: Sealed Truth and Altered Fate
Through the dark portal I found myself standing on a barren desert plain. There was nothing around, save for a few crags and shrubs.
"Is this... where he fled to?" I asked myself. "There's nothing here."
I kept walking until I reached the center of the plane. Something... illusory, like sand, blew around. Then, I knew where I was. There were countless Keyblades in every direction, with four paths leading to where I stood.
"This is... that Keyblade Graveyard?!" I shouted.
"Right... the place most befitting battles between Keyblade masters," I heard Lance say. I turned around to see him standing in his black coat. "Ah, you even came in the proper attire of a hero. How touching."
"What... are you talking about?" I asked.
"Oh...? You don't know the truth about this place?" he asked me.
"I know people once congregated here. They were... puppets of the darkness," I said. "Senka controlled them and led them into battle with Xehanort and two other righteous Keyblade masters, and somehow they fought to a stalemate. Then Senka took him and... erased his memories with one of the pods in the Twilight Town mansion's basement."
Lance laughed.
"You know... everything Senka told you was a lie," Lance said gravely.
"What?!" I shouted.
"It's not her fault... you see, the truth was sealed away, never to be remembered. The truth about this place, this... graveyard, was erased from the memories of those who knew of it," Lance told me. "The history of this place, which is written in blood and darkness."
"The truth about this place..." I muttered to myself.
"Would you like me to tell you the truth?" Lance asked.
I shook my head.
"No. If the truth were sealed away, I think it would be sealed away for a good reason," I said with resolve. "I'd rather not know something that isn't for me to know."
I readied Omega Weapon.
"If this is the battleground most befitting Keyblade masters, then let's allow it to fulfill its purpose┘ brother," I said gravely.
A strong wind blew by us. I could hear it howling against my armor.
I ran at Lance, hearing my cape flutter as I dashed forward. Before I was even within striking distance, he raised himself up on a plateau out of the ground with naught but a flick of his wrist.
"So, you still think you can defy your fate? That the True Light exists? That you've wiped clean your slate of destiny, simply by overpowering Charon so long ago? You've still got a lot to learn... brother."
He whirled his hand around a few times, and the sky turned black. Tornadoes began swirling around, pulling up the stray Keyblades.
I can't defy my fate... the True Light doesn't exist... I haven't been forging my own destiny?
I began to jump up pieces of falling debris, and though my armor hampered my movement, I made it up with little difficulty, despite being pelted with fire magic. I clambered to the top, then stood up to face Lance.
I dashed at him again, and using Omega Weapon and his... dark Keyblade we fought at breakneck speeds. He even began using flash steps, but thanks to my armor, the blows took a few strokes to break through the armor. He knocked me off of the plateau, and I did my best to grab onto the rocky outcroppings. I managed to do so just before slamming into the ground, and with that, my helmet came flying off.
I staggered to my feet, picking Omega Weapon up along the way. I shot a blast of aura at Lance, but he protected him self with Protega.
Damn. More magic.
I began running up the plateau vertically, shedding pieces of my armor to help increase my speed. It helped, but I needed a burst of aura to clear the top. Lance knocked me down with his Keyblade just as I reached the top. I was knocked back down, and Lance followed. We battled at breakneck speeds in the air, but I managed to land on my feet, suspending Lance in the air with Omega Weapon meeting his Keyblade. I tossed him into the air, then jumped to follow.
We clashed a few more times in the air, but Lance soon returned to his position atop the plateau. I jumped up after him, but a massive boulder fell as I leaped up. I used the last of my aura to perform a flash jump and avoid the boulder. I then kept running up, and thanks to my lack of armor, got up without the help of my aura. I rushed at him again, but still we parried at breakneck speeds.
We clashed with massive force in the center of the plateau. Lance jumped back, raising another plateau. I stared up at him and the dark sky.
On my approach, I spiraled around the plateau instead of running straight up it. I made it halfway around, then went vertical, trying to decapitate him from behind.
He flash stepped...
and grabbed me by the throat.
"You pathetic excuse for a warrior. You may look like a warrior, you may fight like a warrior, you may talk like a warrior. In the end, though, all you are is a coward who can't bring his friends with him into battle... because he knows he can't protect them," Lance sneered. "You could never beat me."
I kicked him in the face, and he staggered back, letting me go. I stepped back, gasping for air.
"I... won't falter," I gasped. "I... won't fail."
"You're stupid. You think you can avoid your fate... atone for your sins by defeating me? Even if you did, the light wouldn't return like you want. What do you believe? Light is just?" he asked.
"Light is neither just nor evil, just like the darkness," I muttered. "It's what you do with that light or darkness that determines its properties."
We dashed at each other again, going into a series of breakneck parries and blows, eventually whirring our blades around before clashing them together. After a few moments of struggling against him, I jumped back for a brief respite. Unfortunately, Lance didn't have that in mind. He rose himself up on another plateau, then jumped back down at me. Just after regaining my breath, he knocked me off of the plateau and slammed me into the ground.
I staggered to my feet, then looked to the dark sky. Lance was standing there with a sphere of darkness in his hand, and shot it into the sky.
Whatever he's doing, I've got to stop it!
Using my life force, I flash jumped up the plateaus just in time to knock the dark sphere back to the ground before it broke through the clouds.
I freefell to the ground. After a few moments, I staggered to my feet, even though my legs felt like they were made of jelly and my left eye wouldn't open all the way. Lance teleported in front of me.
"So... what are you running on now? I know you're out of aura and now you're using your life force to fuel you moves..." Lance sneered, "but if you keep using it like that, you'll die without me having to lift a finger."
I tried my best to lift Omega Weapon, but to no avail.
"So... farewell, hero," he muttered. "I'm sorry you didn't get to realize your fate."
Lance gathered another dark sphere in his hand.
"DARK PHENOMENON!!!"
Lance blasted me with the dark sphere. All I could see was shadow... darkness... and then searing pain...
I don't know why I didn't die in that pitch black void, but the light returned after minutes of agony. I stood hunched and lost of my will to fight...
"Now, before you die, I shall tell you the meaining of your worthless and sin-scarred existence," Lance proclaimed. He held out his hand, curled his fingers and...
I felt... empty inside...
I lifted my head to see him holding my... my heart...
"See this?" he asked, pointing to a diagonal gash of black on my heart. "This... is the scar your sins have left on your heart. The wound your darkness has left within you. This..."
He pointed to a small red crescent in my heart.
"... is a collection of physical wounds you've sustained that won't heal, like the wounds on your hand and nose. These are ... wounds of the heart."
He tossed my heart back at me, and I felt whole again, but still... devoid of will to fight...
"You konw, you haven't changed your fate at all," Lance sneered. "You've only delayed the inevitable... the inevitable fate that awaits you, Sora, and those aligned with you two┘ after all, fates are necessary, even the fates of the damned."
I staggered forward a step.
"Still not giving up, even though you're as good as dead? You're awfully tenacious," he joked. "You've been fun, but now it's over."
He pulled his serrated, black Keyblade out.
"Farewell," Lance said coldly.
I lifted Omega Weapon to block the hit with some... sort of... newfound strength...
"What?!" Lance shouted over the clang of our Keyblades.
"I think I realized something... the main thing that's been holding me back all this time!" I shouted. "I... needed to forgive... myself!"
I shoved Lance into the plateau, and then lunged at him, performing another set of breakneck parries and strokes.
Lance and I jumped back from a loud clash.
"This power... it's not your aura, life-force, or celestial power! What is this?" Lance shouted.
"It's the strength of my heart," I said with resolve.
He teleported atop the plateau. Unburdened by guilt, I began to use this strength of my heart to flash jump up top. When I reached it, we began parrying and attacking with flash steps, with intermittent bits of breakneck speeds. He even began using profuse magic, from blasts of fire and ice to protective barriers.
We stepped back, breathing heavily. My left arm had been numbed by frost magic, and my body otherwise was a bit numb thanks to thunder magic. On the other hand, I'd finally managed to make a couple of good strokes on Lance, cutting his right arm and left knee.
"Is that all you've got?" I asked, breathing heavily. "Is that the best the darkness can do?"
"Not... by a long shot," Lance muttered. He flared out a dark aura, and I was blown off of the plateau. I went falling down the plateau, grinding into it as I fell. A huge chunk of it fell off, but I flash jumped around it again. I then kept flash jumping until I got back to the top, where Lance was still emitting his dark aura.
"So, is this the power of darkness? How about you use that level you used in Hell?" I sneered.
Lance smirked and used the same level he had used in Hell. I stood my ground this time, and wasn't blown off, then began using flash steps to counter his moves, which were all the same speed as flash steps; that level I just can't keep up with. He... grabbed me by my throat again, but wasn't choking me, and made sure to distance himself enough.
"A hero... is that what you are? Truly... you fight me with all that you are, but someone with a bloodstained soul cannot be called... a hero..." he muttered to himself.
"I'm not a hero, and I don't pretend to be one," I said to him. "Others may call me 'hero,' but in my heart I know I'm not deserving of such a mantle. Hitokiri is more appropriate."
"Manslayer..." Lance muttered, dropping me. I stepped back.
"Are you really deserving of the title 'Dark Lord?'" I asked. "You're only trying to do what's right. Come back to the light. Let us... save you..."
"I don't deserve salvation," Lance muttered, looking down. "I've manipulated everything up to this moment. Everything that's happened to you... it's all my fault."
"Lance..." I said sadly, "nobody is beyond redemption. If I can be redeemed, someone with a bloodstained soul and tainted heart, then you can too. Let the light guide your path, and cast aside your shadow."
"The light can't give me what I need. I need... help for my wife and son. Your nephew, Roy..." Lance muttered, "could you live with yourself knowing you'd killed a brother, son, husband, and father?"
"I've committed far worse sins," I said, readying Omega Weapon. "Stand down... or else."
Lance smirked and readied his Keyblade. We flew into a series of breakneck attacks and parries, along with flash steps. He knocked me off of the plateau, then followed me down while riding a tornado. I did my best to parry his blows, but he was using flash blows, and I couldn't keep up. Falling to the ground and being slammed by the tornado, I managed to stagger to my feet again just in time to flash jump and stop Lance from shooting one of those Dark Phenomena into the sky again.
I managed to flash jump onto the plateau this time, then broke into another series of breakneck attacks and parries, eventually skidding onto the edge, as did Lance.
We lunged savagely at each other, clashing in another contest of power. I pushed him forward easily despite his overflowing darkness. He fell off of the plateau this time, but soon used the darkness to levitate.
"So... you're better than me now. So... how about this?" he asked, summoning another Dark Phenomenon. "Fade away into darkness."
The Dark Phenomenon grew to such a size that I couldn't dodge it even with a flash step. I looked on in horror as it grew even larger... possibly enough to destroy this world. Lance then compressed it to a size small enough that I could see him over the sphere.
"This will end it," he said with force, then launched the ball at me. I couldn't move...
The Dark Phenomenon hit me head on, and I felt myself... my heart and soul... being torn from me...
Light, help me!
Then that power... the one that had helped me take down Amy... came...
A strong wind blew past us.
We blasted into flash strikes and parries, but never made a hit. I used a sphere of life force to blast him, knocking him off of the plateau. I followed, flash striking him on the way down, but barely landed on my feet. I was breathing heavily as Lance rose again, his dark aura flowing less now.
"You're not like everyone else... you're selfish and selfless at the same time," Lance said. "We... we're a lot alike."
"Don't say that," I said, disgusted. "I'm nothing like you."
We did another flash strike and parry set before stopping and stylishly readying our swords.
"I realized something," Lance said. "I hate you. I hate you so much..."
I scoffed.
"My hatred of you is eternal."
Lance gathered another Dark Phenomenon.
"Do you know who I am?" I asked. "I am the demonic angel, Roy Hartmut. I have slain billions in the name of justice. I am called 'hero,' but deserve to be called 'hitokiri.' My soul is stained with the blood of innocents, and can never be cleansed. My darkness is as deep as the sea, but I haven't given in to hate or despair."
"If you can't let go of your darkness," Lance sneered, "you'll never beat me."
We blasted into breakneck attacks and parries, mixed with flash steps and strikes, then stopped atop the plateau.
"I'm done with this fight," I muttered, flaring out what aura I had left. "Let's end it now!"
"So be it," Lance said, flaring out his dark aura to its limit. I stood strong this time.
We moved to clash, but I flash stepped around Lance and struck him in the back. Lance whirled around and struck me in my left arm, but I countered the stroke with a swing to his feet. Lance stumbled over, and just as I was about to drive Omega Weapon through his heart, he flash stepped. I looked around and sensed him just in time to avoid being decapitated, then kicked him square in the chest.
Lance recovered in midair, then lunged at me. I blocked and threw him over the edge of the plateau, then jumped down after him. I slammed him into the ground with a whirling stroke, then slammmed onto his Keyblade.
I jumped off as Lance staggered to his feet.
"It's over now!" I shouted, channeling my energies into Omega Weapon. "Into this one blow I put all that I am; every last shred of my being that I can spare!"
Omega Weapon shone with an orange light that ascended unto the heavens.
"Fade into the darkness you love so much!" I shouted, then pointed Omega Weapon at Lance, unleashing all that I was...
"LAST JUDGMENT!!!!"
A massive beam of white and orange energy streamed out of Omega Weapon, drowning Lance in dawn energies. As he was drowned, I dashed into the surge of energy, striking Lance right though the heart.
Lance, still alive, staggered back as I drew back Omega Weapon. He held out his hand, curling his fingers as if to summon another Dark Phenomenon or his dark Keyblade, but gave up momentarily. After that, he simply slumped over, finally... dead. It was truly, finally over.
For GOOD this time.
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MORE ON 'LAST JUDGMENT': Roy's ultimate technique: by calling on divine powers, he is able to judge the souls of his enemies, dealing instant death by way of light energy. The opponent's death is assured because, though unnecessary, Roy dashes into the energy to stab his opponent in the physical heart.