Sorry this chapter is a day late. I was feeling very lethargic yesterday and just couldn't finish the chapter in time.
Chapter 3: Salt the Earth:
Earth – Atilan
8,021 Years Ago
Thousands of years before the Unchained Legion will attempt to assemble the Infinity Gauntlet, panicked Inhumans ran screaming through the streets as the capital of the Inhuman Empire burned. Medusa's sister, Crystal, watched in shock, horror, and anger as Jenova floated overhead, laying waste to the city from above. Unchained Legionnaires and Anguis troops swarmed out of the hole the rebellious Inhuman left in the wall of the royal palace, keenly aware that despite their quarrel with the Inhumans that their survival depended on Jenova's desrtuctions. As an energy blast from Jenova destroyed another building across the city, killing hundreds of Inhumans in a single fireball, Crystal Amaquelin wept for the fate of her kingdom.
"This is all on you," she snapped as Invi, Ophelia, and Valerie came through the wall behind the last of their armies.
"Crystal," Invi replied as the Unchained commanders went on ahead to rejoin their Legion. "We're all to blame in all of this. If your husband hadn't joined forces with Ursus and Leopardos – "
"We wouldn't have had to if the guilds had done more to protect my people from persecution and prejudice!" Medusa retorted. "My sister and her husband did what was necessary to protect our people. You're the ones who allowed that madwoman access to the Terrigen Vault! Don't pretend you're any better than those you despise, Foreteller. You're all so focused on "the greater good" that you ignore the suffering and hardship that bubbles just beneath the surface. Don't act all high and mighty just because it finally boiled over for all to see. If it weren't for you, Medusa would still be alive." With that, the Inhuman princess retreated into the palace, barking orders to her father's guards to contact the Genetic Council about retrieving something called "The Monolith".
Focusing on the matter at hand, Invi forced her old friend's words out of her mind as she leaped down from the parapet she stood on to join the fray. The exhilarating feel of the wind rushing through her azure hair was muted by the drama and sorrow of the moment as she focused on the task at hand. About ten floors below where she'd jumped, she kicked off the walls and launched herself towards the rooftops of the square surrounding the Boltagons' palace. Just like when I fought with Aced, the Foreteller Anguis thought to herself as she summoned her Keyblade and fired a Prism Rain spell at Jenova before running along the roof to dodge an incoming fireball. She cursed as she recalled that the Inhuman had been adept at combat magic even before her Terrigenesis.
Thankfully, her warriors were keeping the madwoman contained. As Invi ran along the rooftops towards where Jenova hovered above the city walls, she spotted the Unchained Legion joining the fray and firing spells at the monstrosity above. Invi grimaced as she recalled how zealous Ephemer's army was in their views about the superiority of the light and their hatred for anything that they felt was corrupted by Darkness. Admittedly, she reminded herself as she dodged a Mega Flare, she was just as dogmatic as they were about the superiority of the light, and had no moral high ground But the Unchained took their views to lengths even she considered extreme.
Thunder echoed from above as a flaming red missile streaked down through the cloud layer. Good, she thought to herself. It's about time the air support arrived. The Foreteller slid down a rooftop and landed next to one of her lieutenants. The young man handed her a radio as she began calling out battle strategies to bring down Jenova. Between flight capable Inhumans and the airships of the Leopardos guild, the Boltagon loyalists held air superiority over the Inhuman Empire. But with the aid of the Unchained Legion's stolen Atlantean battle craft and the airships provided by the kingdom of Lucis while King Regis declared for Anguis at the cost of King Regis' alliance with Wakanda.
The destruction of friendships is always the greatest casualty of war, the leader of the Anguis guild thought to herself as Jenova's blob-like form shifted into a vaguely humanoid shape coated in shell-like armored plates with large black wings sprouting from her back. In the months following Ava's murder and the sinking of Atlantis, the different kingdoms and empires of the world had been forced to choose sides. Alliances were made and broken as world leaders scrambled to decide on a faction to support. For thousands of years, Wakanda had been in a trade alliance with the kingdom of Lucis, providing coveted Wakandan technology in exchange for access to Lucian shipping routes.
When the war broke out, Wakanda chose to follow the example of Vulpeus and remain neutral in the conflict. The king of Lucis, however, chose to ally his country with the Anguis guild, offering their Wakandan technology for the war effort. Outraged at their technology being used by other nations without their consent, the ruling Black Panther of Wakanda withdrew the treaty and stopped supplying the Lucian government with access to Wakanda's research laboratories. But it hadn't mattered. Even cut off from Wakanda, the weapons and vehicles Lucis already possessed were more than enough to help turn the tide in the war effort. Now they were taking control of the Atilan sieges and devastating the Leopardos fleet.
With deft parkour skills, Invi ran up a nearby building before slashing at Jenova's winged form. Jenova dodged before striking back, her arm forming into a blade-like appendage that knocked the Foreteller back to the ground, leaving a crater in the street. Thank Kingdom Hearts for Keyblade-enhanced durability, Invi thought as she climbed to her feet in time to watch a falling Leopardos airship knock Jenova off balance as a powerful Graviga spell began to appear on the roof of the palace's tallest tower. Jenova's now dazed form was quickly drawn into the rapidly expanding sphere of gravitational energy, dragging her towards the palace.
Invi ran along the rooftops in pursuit to see what was happening. As the sphere began to dissipate, a large grey stone was revealed in the center of the spell. It was as large as a single person and so thick that not even Aced could wrap his arms around the entire thing at its widest point. And as soon as Jenova's semi-conscious body dropped to the floor of the tower roof, the stone melted into a flood of grey liquid, sucking the madwoman in before reforming into a rock, leaving no sign of the rebellious Inhuman.
Earth – The Playground
Now
With the Avengers and most of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s top agents out battling the remnants of the Hellfire Club along the west coast of the United States, the Secret Warriors and most of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s personnel were stuck back at the Playground keeping their metaphorical and virtual eyes peeled for any signs of activity from Draco or any indication of movement from the Unchained Legion. Between that and the fact that two of the Koenig brothers had died the last time Sephiroth's offspring attacked their central headquarters, the agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and C.I.N. were more than ready when the so-called "Advent Children" returned.
Kadaj parried Vanitas' strikes while Yazoo and Loz traded blows with Daisy and Shego. The siblings' quest for Jenova's remains had lead them to the conclusion that the Unchained Legion was in possession of the ancient Inhuman's corpse. And since neither faction of the now splintered Hellfire Club possessed adequate intelligence on the Legion and their bases, that left S.H.I.E.L.D.'s mainframe as the only source of information for them to turn to. But while the silver-haired trio were able to catch everyone off guard the last time they were desperate enough to attack the base, this time they were quickly losing ground as they fought tooth and nail to get to the Playground's server room.
After knocking Vanitas back, Kadaj nodded to this older brothers and warped out of the room. While Yazoo and Loz kept S.H.I.E.L.D. and Coalition Intelligence busy, the youngest of Sephiroth's offspring was busy hacking into the mainframe and searching for the files that he needed. With Daisy Johnson out on the front lines instead of bolstering the firewalls, he was in and out with his prize in under five minutes. Kadaj slammed the laptop closed and warped through the corridors to the lair only for his eyes to widen in horror when he emerged from the Corridor of Darkness just in time to watch Loz take a plasma blast to the gut courtesy of Shego. Dark wisps of smoke began drifting up from the eldest brother's body as the Secret Warrior continued to hurl plasma bursts at her much larger opponent.
Yazoo frantically intensified his already rapid cover fire as Kadaj raced over to try and cast a Curaga spell as his brother slumped against the wall. His panicked breathing increased in speed as the spell failed to take hold, bringing the son of the infamous mercenary to a horrified realization that his eldest brother was not long for this world.
"Brother," Loz whispered. His skin was already pale and his form was flickering between translucent and opaque as the wisps of Darkness rising from his body became thicker and more frequent. "Tell father… I died… bravely…" And with that, the darkness consumed him. When the smoky haze disspated, he was gone. His custom gauntlet the only sign he had ever existed to begin with. Kadaj and Yazoo both shed tears amidst the storm of bullets and spells as they mourned their fallen brother. With a nod, the two brothers left the base through Dark Corridors. As they left, Agents FitzSimmons fired an old "Bambino" prototype at Yazoo's rapidly closing portal of darkness.
Kadaj sighed in relief as he stepped out of his corridor seconds later into the comforting entrance hall of their castle on Maveth. He turned around to speak to Yazoo, only to stand frozen in shock at the sight of his brother standing still with a gaping, blood soaked wound in his stomach. Without thinking he raced to catch Yazoo as he crumpled to the ground, once again trying futilely to heal the injury even as familiar dark smoke began to drift up from his dying sibling. Blood soaked Kadaj's hands as he attempted to use a hastily summoned first aid kit to stitch the wound closed, but it was already too late. Yazoo reached up and pressed his gun into his brother's hand.
"We can't change the past," the silver-haired man groaned weakly, his breathing ragged. "What's done is done. Our quest was doomed before we even began… So don't throw your life away Kadaj. Go out there and find your path. Father would want you to live. So go out and do it." And with that, the son of Sephiroth breathed his last. Tears continued to flow as it hit home to Kadaj that his brothers and father, the only family besides his mother he'd ever known, were gone. He was alone. A wail of anguish and agony echoed through the halls of the citadel as Kada wept over his brother's guns for several hours. Once his tears were spent and his energy exhausted, he stood up, removed the thumb drive containing the stolen files from his pocket, and marched off to clean the drive and unlock its secrets.
Earth – The Isle of Draco
Deep beneath the surface of Draco, Dark Elf women and children toiled in the heart of the island's dormant volcano digging tunnels and wheeling rocks and debris up to the surface as excavation teams continued to dig in search of the legendary Infinity Gauntlet. In his increasing Mania for the Gauntlet and his revenge, Malekith had decreed that the Elven civilians needed to contribute to the mining effort so that his warriors could focus on fighting off the rivals factions he knew would even now be homing in on the island and making their way there to steal the Infinity Gauntlet for themselves. Algrim had protested, as the conditions in the mines were quickly becoming brutal a few days into their occupation. Malekith had dismissed his lieutenant's concerns claiming that they needed to be able to use the Gauntlet to defend the island. Since Malekith no longer believed Algrim could be objective in supervising the excavation, Demona was placed in charge of overseeing the mining operations.
Suddenly, dirt rained from the ceiling as the cavern shook. Alarmed, Demona glided up the inside of the volcano shaft to the mine's exit so she could get a better vantage point on what was going on. When she crested the peak of the cone, her eyes widened with shock as they witnessed the sight of twenty warships flying the flag of the Unchained Legion closing in on Draco from all sides. Every few seconds, at least one warship would fire their long-range guns at either the Nathalis or the volcano. The female gargoyle barely scrambled out of the way as cannon fire impacted against the slope of the volcano. Creating a large crater along the mountain slopes.
Aboard the bridge of the Dark Elf command ship, Malekith seethed with fury as he surveyed in holographic map displaying the battlefield the island of dragons was quickly becoming. The incoming cannon fire from the Unchained navy was too thick to send out the smaller Elven ships without risking them being torn apart. Proximity sensors began to wail as Corridors of Light began opening along the shores of Draco, spilling out dozens of Unchained onto the island. Malekith ordered the gunners aboard the Nathalis to target the Unchained before ordering his remaining armies to focus on defending the mines at all costs. A dome of energy shielded his command ship from serious damage, but even the Dark Elf warship's energy shield would not be able to withstand the artillery fire for much longer.
Out in the ocean, half the remaining members of the High Council stood on the top deck of the battle cruiser built and constructed in secret in preparation for this day. Skuld, Aurilam, and Lerena stood on the deck watching the beginning of the Siege of Draco with rapid interest as cannon fire from the other ships launched devastating broadsides against the mostly undefended island. To the Imperator's left, Aurilam snacked on a celebratory bucket of fried chicken while to her right, Lerena was busy cleaning Gonzales' blood off of her daggers. The lead assassin of the Legion had snuck into S.H.I.E.L.D.'s "Playground" while Sephiroth's bastards attacked the base, interrogating the former High Praetor about how much he'd said before executing the man for his betrayal.
"We've almost done it," Lerena commented in awe as she finished cleaning her knives and reached over to mooch some chicken from Aurilam. "After eight thousand years we finally have all six Infinity Stones and the Gauntlet of the First Keyblade Master is almost within our grasp."
"We don't have it yet," Skuld replied as she looked forlornly at the fire and smoke defiling such a beautiful island. So much was being sacrificed for a goal that the Novus Imperator was no longer certain she believed in. The Huntsmaster was leading the remainder of the Huntsclan in assaulting the eastern coast of Draco, while the Chaste had abandoned their secret war with The Hand in order to aid in assaulting the island's west coast. With the exception of the traitors Rose Long and Natasha Romanov, every Unchained on the planet was gathered here in the ocean surrounding the draconic isle in a full court press to achieve the Endgame Skuld herself had proposed thousands of years ago.
"True," Aurilam remarked. "But as Lerena said, it's only a matter of time."
"Speaking of time," Lerena added coyly. "Isn't it about time you introduced us to our newest friend?" The former Graceful Assassin smirked triumphantly as if to say he thought she'd never ask.
"Well young man," he called out as he turned to face the lone figure standing in the shadows of the corridor leading down into the ship's lower levels. "Are you ready to prove your commitment to making the world a better place?"
"Happy to comply," Sora answered as he stepped out onto the deck, Keyblade in hand.
Since this was going to be another chapter focused on Sephiroth's kids, I thought a flashback to how Jenova was banished to Maveth in the first place would be an appropriate way to start the chapter. I decided to give Invi (the Anguis Foreteller) some time in the spotlight to get the Foretellers' perspective on the Keyblade War and the rise of the Unchained Legion. Jenova's winged battle form is a reference to the FF7/Harry Potter crossover Harry Potter and the Cetra Heritage. And I did try to work in some characters and locations from Final Fantasy XV. I figured that if they're going to show up in the Kingdom Hearts universe, the time period of the Keyblade War would be the best place to include it.
There will be one more flashback to the fall of Atilan to show the aftermath of Jenova's banishment, and then the rest of the Keyblade War-era flashbacks will focus on other major campaigns in the war and the aftermath of the Siege of Daybreak Town. Anyway, now that their crusade has cost Yazoo and Loz their lives, Kadaj is going to become even more desperate to bring back Sephiroth. While there will be those expecting a rehash of the final battle of Advent Children, I can assure you that this will not be the case. Things are going to take on a more interesting twist when Kadaj finally reaches that point in his plans.