Chapter 20
The room was a masterpiece that put even King Mickey's Throne Room to shame. The walls and floors were white with gold decoration scattered everywhere. Elegant runic designs trailed up large pillars from the ceiling to the floor. And on the walls were several large and elaborate tapestries depicting men and women in armor doing battle with Keyblades; in some pictures, with strange and terrible creatures that were seen fleeing from the light of the Keyblades even as they were being cut down.
In others, however, the armored warriors turned their Keyblades on one another. These tapestries were depicted with a deep sense of shame and warning about them; rather than the heroic clashes against the monsters, there were no clearly heroic figures in the battles as the knights fought each other; Keyblades lay rusted and breaking in the ground, forming paths through barren wastelands; bodies lay burned or bloody, some of them even frozen solid where they stood. The two types of tapestries were arranged on either side of a large throne in the middle of the room; to the right hand of the throne's occupant were the pictures of the knights united and triumphant; on the left, the dark confusion of a civil war among Keybearers.
The occupant of the throne was every bit as majestic as the room in which he was seated. He was covered from head to toe with white and gold armor, and wore a regal cape of the same coloring. Unlike the armor of the knights in the tapestries, the man's armor was flawless and seemed to glow with a light of its own; additionally, the helmet was crafted to include a crown upon its brow, although the helmet remained much like that of the other knights; the entire face of the wearer was covered, and the man looked at the room before him through an opaque visor. On the chest of his armor was an emblem seen all around the room, and even on the throne upon which he sat; a golden crown with a pair of large silver wings emerging from it.
The unbroken pattern of white and gold was abruptly shattered as a small black void appeared in the floor, and a being robed in darkness stepped out of it. It was the same hooded man both Sora and Riku had seen in their dreams, but rather than the imposing presence they'd faced, the hooded man now seemed out of place in this radiant environment, and carried himself in a subdued manner, like a servant. He bowed deeply to the man on the throne.
"Rise, Umbra." The man on the throne commanded. His voice, surprisingly soft and quiet while remaining utterly commanding, indicated he was younger than his imperious stature would suggest. The man in black, hearing his name, rose.
"I have been to see them…both of them." He said. His voice, too, was different than one would expect; no longer the deep, malicious snarl Sora and Riku had heard, his voice was now even and cultured, although with an odd sardonic edge to it, as though he were mocking life in general.
"I gathered as much by your return. Do you have any information that would warrant you crossing over once more? You were ordered to keep an eye on "Riku" and his accomplice." The man on the throne sighed. Umbra bowed once more.
"You'll forgive my loose interpretation of your orders, my lord, but some things are far too important." Umbra looked up. "We have made a grave error, you and I."
"Speak, Umbra. What error are you talking about?"
"The boy, sir. This Riku is not the traitor we're looking for." Umbra said, his voice losing the mocking edge. "He doesn't even know who the Chasers are!"
"That's impossible…" The man on the throne breathed. "Our seers do not lie or make mistakes. His resonance is exactly the same. No two hearts possess the same resonance! How could he be anyone but—"
"It is difficult to explain or believe, but we were deceived by strange circumstances." Umbra interrupted. "The boy…is and is not the traitor we seek. He is of two hearts…they are so closely entwined within him that we immediately mistook him for the traitor under another name. Having seen his face and mind with my own eyes, I know neither he or the other know anything about the charge against them."
The man on the throne sighed deeply.
"This cannot stand, Umbra. If the seers are wrong about this boy, how can I trust any resonance? How can we have justice if the guilty one can hide inside the body of an innocent?"
"There are some very strange circumstances surrounding these two "innocents", sire." Umbra said quietly. "Riku gave off the resonance of the traitor, has his heart entombed within his own body, giving him power…it would be prudent for us to find out exactly how the traitor's heart became separated from his body. And the other…my lord…" Umbra paused awkwardly. "I…I think there is another Master on the other side!"
The man on the throne stood bolt upright.
"Impossible. The laws are absolute, and the keyblades cannot deviate from them. There is one Master of Keyblade, and only one." The man seemed far more shaken than Umbra, although a strange fear radiated from both of them. "The Chasers cannot follow two Masters. We have seen where that leads. I will not let another war break out."
"I have never met a mind like Sora's. Even when I cloak myself in his nightmares to enter his dreams, he fights. He cannot win, but he is far stronger in these confrontations than he realizes. He mastered a sacred art by instinct! He has learned from no teacher, and has carried his blade for barely two years. It should have taken him years of training under a master to learn to wield the Keyblade like he does…especially that one." The armored king sat down once more.
"The Kingdom Key?"
"Both of them are on that side. They've chosen wielders. The Kingdom Keys are no longer the rusted, withered power they were during the War." The man on the throne shook his head.
"There is more." When he said it, it was as a statement of fact, not a question.
"I cannot help but think it is a strange coincidence…both Keys restored to their full power, and given to wielders, who, despite their power, are not educated in the full abilities of their weapons or their ultimate function…and furthermore, the Keys appeared in the dimension closest to Kingdom Hearts." Umbra let the words sink in. "Whoever has both Kingdom Keys controls Kingdom Hearts, and by extension, life itself. I cannot help but think it is no coincidence that these events have come about in a time and place when Chasers would have them most difficulty protecting Kingdom Hearts."
"You think this is Xehanort's doing."
"I wouldn't rule it out as a possibility. All our previous attempts to regulate him failed…I wouldn't be surprised if he somehow managed to cross over rather than remain trapped in the void we sealed him in. He could well be making another bid for control of Kingdom Hearts, but for that he needs Sora."
"What would you have me do, Umbra?" The king asked with a sigh.
"Withdraw the death warrant on the boys. They have no idea what they're involved in, and have done the task we swore to do; they interfered in Kingdom Hearts, yes, but they kept it pure from darkness. They could be convinced to dedicate their power to our cause; if you would merely speak with them, I have no doubt they'd see reason."
"…Very well. Go and tell the Chasers I want these two brought before me alive, and that I wish to speak with them. Whether they join with us or not is ultimately unimportant, but they must be removed from that man's sphere of influence. I will not let Xehanort bring the hell we suffered to other worlds. Everything else is secondary to the sanctity of Kingdom Hearts."
"Aye, my lord. The Light Prevails."
"The Light Prevails." Umbra bowed low, and turned to go.
"Umbra."
"Sire?"
"…Continue to watch their dreams. But be sure that you don't do anything that cannot be undone." The man's voice was grim. "Don't break them."
"I wouldn't dream of it, my lord." Umbra replied, and then he was gone as though he never existed. The man sat for a long time in stony silence.
"Damn you forever, Xehanort." He said quietly. "How much longer must our peace suffer for your greed?" The man stood up, and walked over to a tapestry depicting three knights doing battle with an old, bald man and a man in black armor.
"Never again." He said quietly. "I will die before I ever watch the rise of a second Keyblade War."