Last chapter, guys. Isn't it strange? I started The Last Nobody about three years ago. Who would've thought it would turn into a full-blown trilogy? And I have you guys to thank for it. I mean, if no one had read TLN, that would've been the end. I was pretty satisfied with the ending of TLN… but then I got some reviews asking for more, and I decided to go ahead and make it a trilogy. Pretty cool, eh? You guys have been awesome. Thanks for sticking around to the end.
After this I've been thinking of another project I want to tackle, another story, completely non-Kingdom-Hearts related. If you're interested, go check it out on . My pen name there is dreamer1015. I think. Maybe it's dreamer 815. Who knows. I haven't been on in a while… lol. Anyway, I haven't started posting yet but I will soon.
That said… for the last time… Enjoy.
But if my silence made you leave
Then that would be my worst mistake
So I will share this room with you
And you can have this heart to break
And so it goes, and so it goes
And you're the only one who knows
-Billy Joel, "And So It Goes"
The journey to the Eternal Kingdom was quick and painless, made easier by the fact that no one was missing, no one was dead, no one was in trouble, and there were no tempests of impending doom lurking on the horizon.
They arrived at Garrison's house by noon. Bruixe went to knock on the door, but before she could, it swung open as if someone had been waiting for her.
She couldn't help but gape at the person inside. She'd never seen him before – she was sure she would have remembered someone so… huge. He had to be close to eight feet tall, and at least 250 pounds. His skin was chocolate brown, and he studied Bruixe with scrutinizing black eyes.
"Can I help you?" he asked in a deep, slow, voice.
Bruixe was still too stunned to form coherent words, but luckily Sora was a bit quicker on the uptake. "Uh… yeah… we're looking for Hanna and, uh, Ren… yeah."
"Bruixe!" yelled someone from behind the behemoth.
"It's alright, Casy, they're friends," came another voice, and the monster – Casy? – stepped aside submissively.
"Yes, Miss Hanna," he said, almost meekly.
"What is he, a bouncer or something?" Sora muttered under his breath.
"Be nice," Kairi admonished, equally as quiet.
"Bruixe!" Ren yelled again, giving the older girl a big hug. "I missed you!"
"Yeah, I've been gone, like, a whole day," Bruixe said sarcastically, but she returned the hug. "That's practically eternity."
"You said you came to see us?" Hanna asked.
"Yeah, I thought you might want to come with us," Bruixe said. "We're going to the Room of Awakening."
"Yeah, it's now or never, 'cause Bruixe wants to destroy it," Sora chimed in.
The sisters exchanged looks.
"I'm still on crutches," Hanna pointed out, waving one as if to prove it.
"Don't be a pansy," Ren told her. "You've been walking around without them for days now."
"I could give you a piggyback ride," Riku offered.
There was silence as Hanna contemplated this. "I'll be fine," she said finally, evidently having decided that a piggyback ride would be much too undignified for a lieutenant of the Watch.
"Well, then, that's settled," Bruixe said.
It was nearly dusk by the time they reached the old manor, which looked very foreboding in the long shadows and dim light. "Creepy," Ren muttered.
Bruixe led them all down into the Room of Awakening, unable to suppress a shudder. Her memories of this place were not good ones. Riku put a hand on her shoulder as if he could read her mind.
"How does it work?" Kairi asked.
"You sit in the chair," Bruixe said, directing Hanna to sit down, "and put your hands on the arms – there's a smooth patch there, you feel that? Then you just say the name of who you want. Or you can just picture them in your head, that works too."
Hanna closed her eyes, and the room flared to life, the strange runes on the walls glowing whitish-blue. A smoky grey figures materialized from nowhere.
"Terra!" Ren exclaimed, and the Liberator looked around slowly.
"Where am I?" he asked.
"In the realm of the living," Bruixe answered. "The Room of Awakening."
Terra nodded in understanding. He was one of the few people Bruixe knew that she didn't have to explain things to.
"Terra," Hanna whispered, standing, and stumbled forward into Terra's arms.
Everyone else in the room gaped as Terra returned the embrace, mouth twisting in his trademark wry grin, and lowered his face to rest in her hair.
"Awkward much?" Sora asked, putting one hand over the other and rotating his thumbs in an imitation of a turtle.
"You're telling me," Ren muttered. "She's my sister."
"I had no idea he was… she…" Bruixe started, but couldn't finish. Next to her, Riku's shoulders shook with suppressed laughter.
"Thank you for taking care of Ren," Hanna murmured. "When I was… when I couldn't."
"I'm only glad you're safe," Terra told Hanna.
"Well, I have you to thank for it," she replied.
"Hey, we helped too," Sora said loudly.
Terra seemed to notice the other people in the room for the first time. "Well, hello there, Changeling," he said. "And everyone."
"It's good to see you again," Bruixe said.
Riku nodded. "That day at the manor, I… I should have helped…"
"Don't blame yourself," Terra told him, looking first at Riku, then at Bruixe. "I acted rashly. It is an honor to be slain defending one's friends. I lived my life to the fullest. I believe I did as much as I could to make an impact on the worlds."
"You did," Bruixe agreed. "No one could ever argue with that. Your legacy will be remembered forever."
"What more could one ask for?" Terra asked, smiling. "Did you come here merely to see me? Or is there more at hand?"
Everyone looked at Bruixe. She shifted uncomfortable. "I want to destroy this place," she admitted. "So that no one can ever use it to create Chasers again."
Terra nodded gravely. "An admirable cause," he said. He looked at Hanna for a long time, then said, "Send me back, Changeling," he said. "I am… content."
Hanna's eyes were sad, but she nodded, and Bruixe brushed a hand along the arm of the chair. Terra's form dissolved in front of them, until Hanna was left clutching nothing but air.
Ren moved in immediately to give her sister a big hug. "Why didn't you tell me?" she demanded.
"I didn't mean to hide it," the older girl answered. "So much happened so fast… and it was just… hard to say."
"Isn't he a little old for you?" Sora wondered. "Just how old are you, anyway?"
Bruixe smacked him, hard, in the back of the head.
"Enough about me," Hanna said, clearly wanting to change the subject. "Isn't there someone you'd like to introduce to us, Bruixe?"
"Roxas!" Sora yelled.
"Roxas isn't dead, nitwit," Riku told him.
"Oh yeah."
"Can you summon two people at once?" Kairi wondered aloud.
"I don't know," Bruixe said, climbing into the chair. "I've never tried."
Her friends' faces came easily to her mind, crystal clear from the long year they'd spent together, inseparable. When she opened her eyes, there were Axel and Demyx, both grinning so wide it threatened to tear apart their faces. She jumped forward as they simultaneously threw arms around her, Demyx practically cracking her ribs, Axel grinding a noogie into her scalp.
"Guys," she said happily. "There's some people I want you to meet."
Within minutes they were all acquainted and sitting easily on the floor, chattering away as if they'd known each other all their lives.
"So you're Riku," Axel said dubiously.
"You're Axel," Riku answered coolly.
They stared impassively at each other for a minute, then tilted their chins back at exactly the same moment.
"You're one lucky guy," Axel acknowledged.
Riku smirked. "I guess I am."
"Stop that," Bruixe ordered.
She looked around the circle, trying to memorize the moment, one face after another. Riku. Axel. Sora. Kairi. Hanna. Ren. Demyx. The best friends she could ever ask for, from every part of her life – her past, her present, her future.
"I love you guys," she said suddenly.
Everyone stared at her.
"Ooookay, who are you and what have you done with the real Bruixe?" Demyx demanded.
"That is the real Bruixe," Ren said.
"Nuh-uh," Demyx argued. "Bruixe is sarcastic. And she hits people."
"She's never hit me," Riku said.
"Not true," Bruixe corrected. "I slapped you, once. In Twilight Town."
He grinned. "Oh yeah."
Axel snickered.
"You've got no room to talk," Demyx pointed out, "she threw you off a tower."
"She tried to kill me the first time we met," Sora said gloomily.
Kairi, Ren, and Hanna exchanged glances. "She's never hit us," Ren said proudly, as if this was a great accomplishment.
"Sexist," Axel muttered.
"She must really like you," Demyx agreed.
"What's not to like?" Kairi asked sweetly.
But the playful banter couldn't last forever, and after an hour Bruixe felt a nagging at the corner of her brain.
If I don't do this soon, I won't ever want to.
She stood up, brushing dusty hands off on her jeans, and everyone followed suit.
"This is the last time, huh," Demyx said, all joking aside.
Bruixe smiled wryly. She'd never been a good liar, and Demyx could always read her like an open book. "Yeah, it is, Waterboy. The Room of Awakening… there's too much power here, too much temptation. I've got to destroy it."
Neither of them tried to argue with her. It was pointless. "Do me a favor," Axel said. "Torch the place."
"I'd planned on it," she said.
Axel stepped up to Sora and Kairi. "I don't think I ever apologized," he told them. "I caused you a lot of trouble, huh?"
Bruixe didn't hear what their response was, because Demyx had crushed her into the biggest hug of her life. "I'll miss you, Bruixe," he said.
"Same here," she said. "Remember what you told me?"
He smiled.
"No regrets," they said together.
"Right," she agreed. "You can't spend your life looking back."
"You gotta go with the flow," Demyx finished.
They hugged again, and Demyx turned to Riku. "You better watch out for her," he ordered, as serious as Bruixe had ever seen him. "Bruixe can't do anything on her own."
"I will," Riku answered just as gravely.
Then Axel was in front of her, and Bruixe glared at him. "Don't try anything funny this time."
"I hadn't even thought about it," he replied honestly.
He gave her a scorching hug, and she backed away quickly. "Don't let all that smoke go to your head, hotcakes," she told him.
Axel ruffled her hair, pressing a hand into hers, and she felt a searing energy pass through her skin – the last remnants of his power. "Use it wisely. And take care of yourself, kiddo."
She swallowed hard, and nodded. "I promise."
When everyone had said their goodbyes, Axel and Demyx waved, and just as quickly as they had come, they were gone, and this time… it was for forever.
"Everyone stand back," she ordered, and her remaining friends hastily backed out the door, clambering up the stairs.
Bruixe set her jaw, holding out her hand, and let concentrated Axel's power in her palm. A tiny flower of flame blossomed there, small at first, then brighter and hotter as it grew. She let it bloom until it scorched her skin, until she knew it would be enough to leave a scar – something she would have for eternity, as a reminder.
Then she turned her hand over, letting the flames fall to the floor, and they spread rapidly, flickering around the sculpted chair, climbing the walls, filling the room with heat and smoke.
When she was sure the inferno was too great to extinguish itself, she backed out the door and slammed it shut, sealing the edges with more sizzling heat. With the last of the magic, she traced words on the door.
THANK YOU.
As she turned her back on the Room of Awakening for the last time, she could have sworn she heard the ghost of laughter, and two voices in perfect harmony.
"Goodbye."
And that, my friends, is the end of the Twilight Avenger trilogy.
Thanks for sticking around.
~14~
