Sora, Aqua, and the Restoration Committee hurried back to the boroughs, finally reaching Merlin's House where the Heartless were trying to break down the door.
"Not so fast!" Sora shouted as he leapt into action, cutting through the Heartless easily. They turned and saw more heartless scramble away towards the Bailey.
"Come back here!" Aqua shouted as she and Sora gave chase. Leon watched the two run off with a curious expression.
"Something wrong Leon? Well, I mean besides the Heartless." Yuffie said.
"Can't you guys feel it? That sudden chill in the air?" Leon asked as the others paused then nodded.
"Yeah, it's strange. I don't know why but I feel…nervous." Yuffie replied.
"It's him. The one Sora and Aqua have been looking for." Aerith said with a worried expression. Leon sighed.
"Whatever happens, it's out of our hands." Leon said as the others nodded worriedly.
Meanwhile…
Sora and Aqua chased the Heartless as they fled towards and out the city walls, leading them into the blue rock canyons outside the city. Sora then noticed several white squiggly objects appear and follow the Heartless away. Sora immediately recognized the beings.
"Aqua! Nobodies!" Sora exclaimed as they continued following the swarm of creatures.
"They're leading us somewhere!" Aqua replied. They could both feel the sudden chill in the air but only Aqua sensed a hauntingly familiar presence. They continued chasing the Heartless and Nobodies all the way to the Dark Depths where they suddenly disappeared into thin air. Sora and Aqua both stopped, confused.
"What? Where did they go?" Sora asked as Aqua looked around carefully.
"I have a bad feeling about this." Aqua said. They then heard a dark and sinister laugh, echo from out of nowhere. Sora and Aqua started looking around for the source of the voice.
"Aqua, was that you?" Sora asked as Aqua shook her head.
"If it was me, it wouldn't have been a guy's voice now would it?" Aqua asked back as Sora shrugged.
"How very droll. The two of you have done quite enough of making a mess of things. You have each foiled my plans, though you boy have proven to be quite a pain…more so than the girl." The voice echoed.
"First, you girl, and your friends manage to thwart my plans and render my memories inaccessible. I have reversed that now thanks to the influence of my lackeys. Then you, boy, somehow manage to not only defeat my Heartless, but also my Nobody as well. How you accomplished their defeat is beyond me, but I do have you to thank for my freedom." The voice said as a Corridor of Darkness appeared on the cliff edge of the Dark Depths. Sora and Aqua both turned towards it in time to see the Corridor disappear, and in its place stood the man responsible for everything bad that had been happening to the worlds within the past eleven years, with his hands behind his back, and standing in a slight hunch forward with a smile on his tanned face. Xehanort, the Lord of the Darkness.
"Have you missed me, Aqua?" Xehanort said with an oily and sarcastic tone. Aqua and Sora both stood ready with their Keyblades, not saying a word.
"What's the matter? Aren't you glad to see your, old friend, back from the shadows of darkness, alive and well?" Xehanort asked as Aqua glared at him with narrowed eyes.
"Don't you dare talk to me as if we were friends, Xehanort! The man you were was my friend, but the man you have become never will be." Aqua spat angrily as Xehanort chuckled in amusement. Sora looked confused.
"My-my, aren't we a bit touchy today." Xehanort said as Aqua growled in anger.
"Where have you been all this time, Xehanort? Hiding in the shadows while your Heartless and Nobody did your dirty work for you?" Aqua asked as Xehanort chuckled again.
"In a manner of speaking, yes. When I lost my heart several years ago, performing the experiments on darkness of the heart with dearly departed Ansem the Wise's five other apprentices, I was pulled into the realm of darkness, doomed to wander for the remainder of my existence. But then, something extraordinary happened. I was released from the Realm of Darkness, by what I assumed was completely at random. My memories, still shattered and jumbled, slowly started to piece themselves back together. It was our first encounter here in Radiant Garden that started this process of reassembling my memories. I have since recovered, and I believe that I have figured out why I was released from the Realm of Darkness. Would you like to know how?" Xehanort asked as Aqua and Sora glared at him, still battle ready.
"I'll take your silence as a yes. I believe my release from the Realm of Darkness, was due in no small part to you, dear Sora." Xehanort said, catching Sora and Aqua off guard.
"What? Me?! How did I help you escape?!" Sora asked in disbelief.
"Oh it was not easy. Apparently, when one's Heartless and Nobody are defeated and sent back into the darkness, the result pulls the original being back into the worlds. I don't know how you defeated them Sora, since I was never actually there, but I do know that it was you that defeated them. So for that, I must thank you." Xehanort said with a grin as Sora glared at him angrily.
"You can keep your thanks! I did what I had to, to help the worlds and to help my friends! I don't need the thanks from the likes of you!" Sora replied as Xehanort chuckled and started glowing with dark energy.
"Oh but I insist on thanking you. Here is your 'reward' for all of your troubles." Xehanort said as he raised his hand at Sora. Before anything could happen, he froze and started grimacing as if he was fighting against something.
"Let-go,-you-cur." Xehanort grunted, confusing Sora but making Aqua's eyes widen in silent shock. Xehanort continued to struggle, Aqua noticing flashes of blue appearing and disappearing in his eyes and streaks of brown fading in and out of his hair. Finally he threw back his head and let out an anguished yell, causing an upwards burst of dark energy to erupt around him and two gray spheres to appear hovering in midair on either side of him. One sphere had the image of a crescent moon and a large and familiar claymore inside of it with the black and white nobody thorns swirling around it, while the other had the symbol of a familiar looking sitar inside it with streams of water swirling around it.
"GAH! Have fun with these old friends of yours Sora! They've been dying to have a reunion with you!" Xehanort roared as a Corridor of Darkness appeared around him.
"Oh and Aqua, welcome back." Xehanort's voice echoed tauntingly as he disappeared with a maniacal laugh. Sora and Aqua both looked at the spheres.
"Uh oh, more Absent Silhouettes, and I know exactly who they are!" Sora exclaimed as the spheres suddenly exploded and were replaced by two figures in Organization XIII robes with the hoods up. They both pulled back the hoods to reveal themselves to be Saix, the Lunar Diviner and Demyx, the Melodious Nocturne. Demyx threw his right hand in the air and summoned his Sitar while Saix's claymore appeared in a flash of soft blue light. Demyx immediately started conjuring water forms.
"Which one do you want, Sora?" Aqua asked, but Sora had summoned his armor and had leapt into battle against Saix. Aqua immediately turned towards Demyx and started using Blizzaga against his water forms, freezing them solid before they shattered. Aqua quickly entered Diamond Dust and was using its freezing abilities to her advantage, until Demyx started to throw large columns of pressurized water at her. Aqua leapt to the side and attempted to strike at Demyx but another column of highly pressurized water nearly took her out.
"Oh so you want to play rough do you?!" Aqua asked. She then started using Firaga and Blizzaga on the water forms, evaporating them with the Firaga while still freezing them with Blizzaga. She then focused the resulting energy in her heart into her Keyblade, entering the Blade Charge Command Style. Her Keyblade became a large light blue sword and she leapt backwards into the air, the blade glowing slightly before she launched forward, smashing through the water forms in one swoop. She then turned to Demyx who quickly tossed up a pillar of water around himself, protecting him and simultaneously summoning large water filled bubbles that erupted from the top of the pillar like a volcano and started falling down towards Aqua.
Aqua leapt backwards and charged up another attack, then flying forward, cutting through the pillar, effortlessly. She turned around as the water pillar vanished but saw no sign of Demyx. She did however hear sitar music being played from overhead. She looked up and saw Demyx lunge at her from overhead, creating pillars of water behind him as he flew. Aqua leapt to the side just as the pillars blew past. She quickly charged another attack, it wouldn't be much, but then again it didn't have to be. She only had to knock Demyx out of the sky. She leapt up with the attack and smacked Demyx with the broadside of the sword and sending him plummeting down into the ground. Aqua landed nearby, and she could feel the energy from her Command Style had almost completely run out. Demyx climbed up onto his feet just in time for Aqua to fly past him, and land behind him on one knee with her sword held out to the side as if she had just attacked. Demyx stood stunned as he looked down at his sitar, just as it broke in half and evaporated. Demyx started crying as he dropped to his knees, sobbing loudly as he started to turn transparent until one final sad sob echoed on the wind.
…
Sora had leapt into battle with Saix, the Luna Diviner, with his armor active. Just as he did though, he remembered a crucial element that was missing that would give him an edge against the Nobody. There was no moon out, so Saix couldn't go into his berserk mode…or so he assumed. Sora dismissed his armor just as Saix raised his hand in the air. Almost instantly a blue glowing crescent shaped object appeared in midair over the battlefield and an enraged look appeared in Saix's eyes, causing Sora to realize that Saix wasn't without his moon fueled berserk form after all. Saix raised his claymore, which immediately sprouted the eight razor sharp blades, before he leapt up and hurled the claymore at Sora with a roar. Sora leapt up and out of the way as the claymore collided with the ground, sending streams of violent blue energy out in a shockwave from the point of impact.
Sora quickly leapt out of the way and fired off a Blizzaga spell at Saix, but it had no effect as Saix was still in his berserk state. He then fired off Firaga and then followed up with Thundaga. Saix roared as he lunged at Sora, smashing into the ground and sending out a shockwave, but Sora quickly used Reflega and shielded himself from the shockwave. Saix however had fallen into Sora's trap, because Sora had discovered, that using fire, blizzard, thunder, and reflect magic all together and in no particular order, was the trigger for his unique Command Style, Destiny Blitz. The Reflect shield appeared around Sora just as Saix roared and lunged at him, sending shockwaves as he charged past. Sora however was protected as he hovered above the ground and delivered a fierce blow to Saix's backside after dodging the attack. Sora turned and saw Saix in the air with his claymore, mere seconds before he threw it again. Sora dodge rolled out of the way just as Saix came flying down to the ground, sending shockwaves as he attacked four times.
Sora continued to dodge roll and evade until he found himself backed up against a wall. Saix saw this and slammed his claymore against the ground, sending a wave of blue energy towards Sora. Sora instinctively used reflega which repulsed the wave of energy, but he also felt something, a buildup of energy inside his heart just as Destiny Blitz was starting to wane. It felt warm, yet soothing all the while, like his heart was light as a feather and was fluttering. He instinctively shunted this energy into his Keyblade, causing him to glow with a crisp and pure white light with a brand new reflect shield but instead of the octagonal shield pieces, the shield was one pure white round shield. Sora could also feel a sense of peace washing over him and he knew exactly why. It was the Light of the Heart Command Style, the one he shared with Kairi.
He turned towards Saix and aimed his Keyblade at the Luna Diviner, causing a brief glowing white five pointed star, similarly shaped like Kairi's charm, to appear on the tip before sending out a beautiful white beam of light that his Saix head on. When the light faded, Saix was staggering but not completely out. Sora was stunned as he saw Saix replenishing his strength with an enraged roar. Sora then looked up to see the fake moon overhead. Sora looked back at Saix just as the enraged Silhouette leapt at him with a vicious swing. Sora leapt backwards and aimed his Keyblade right at the fake moon, sending out another pure white beam of light at the moon, shattering it into pieces. The eight blades on the claymore vanished and Saix's crazed expression vanished with them. Sora then flew down with his Keyblade reared back. The shield vanished as the Keyblade started glowing with white light, leaving a long trail of light from behind it as it flew through the air. Saix raised his claymore in a defensive posture but it was no good as Sora's Keyblade sliced right through both it, and Saix. Sora slid to a stop and turned towards Saix who was now breathing heavily and raggedly as he started to turn transparent. At the last second he threw back his fading head and let out one final enraged roar which echoed on the winds.
The Melodious Nocturne and the Luna Diviner had been defeated for good.
"Sora? You okay?" Aqua asked as she hurried up to Sora who nodded. Both were breathing heavily from their battles.
"So…Xehanort's still around huh?" Sora asked as Aqua nodded.
"Looks like it." She said as she straightened up and looked towards the abandoned castle with a curious expression. Sora noticed her reaction.
"That was Maleficent's castle back during my original adventure over a year ago. She abandoned it recently after we defeated over a thousand heartless in one battle.
"That must have been some difficult feat. Fighting one thousand heartless singlehandedly could not have been easy." Aqua said as Sora shrugged.
"We all pulled through it." Sora replied. They then heard what sounded like a horse whinny. They turned and saw a familiar horse flying through the sky with a pair of familiar riders on the back.
"Lightning! Hope!" Sora exclaimed as the horse landed on the ledge with them and its two riders dismounted.
"What brings you guys here?" Aqua asked.
"We were told by some of the kids on the Destiny Islands, that Lightning's sister had come here recently. We saw you guys just standing here so we figured we'd stop by and say 'hey' first." Hope said as Lightning nodded and dismissed the horse.
"Though why would anyone want to come back and see this?" Lightning asked, staring at the castle.
"Don't worry, Serah's here. She's in town right now. We were just heading back that way right now. You're free to join us if you want." Aqua said as she and Sora started walking back towards the town, with Lightning and Hope close behind.
Back in town…
Sora, Aqua, Lightning, and Hope arrived outside Merlin's House where they heard what sounded like Yuffie chanting Tifa's name. They walked in to find Snow and Tifa arm wrestling on the pedestal in the center of the room. Cid, Yuna, Rikku, and Paine, were watching in silence as Serah rooted for Snow. The two were making no progress what so ever, just causing their arms to shake as they pushed. Lightning rolled her eyes and stormed up to Snow before smacking him upside the head, causing him to lose the match.
"ACH! That doesn't count!" Snow said as he spun around to try and identify the attacker, but came face to face with…
"Dah! Lightning!" Snow yelped before Lightning grabbed him by the collar and shoved him down onto the table with a dagger pressed against his neck.
"HEY! What's the deal?!" Aqua asked as everyone drew their weapons to stop the soldier.
"Where have you been Snow?! Where's Serah?!" Lightning asked angrily. Snow pointed over Lightning's shoulder. Lightning turned and spotted the stunned Serah.
"Claire! It really is you!" Serah exclaimed, throwing her arms around her older sister. Hope couldn't help but snicker.
"Lightning's real name is Claire." Hope giggled before receiving a death glare from Lightning.
"Where have you been Serah? I've been looking all over for you for years. Snow was supposed to take you to the rendezvous point but he never showed." Lightning said as Snow started to climb up onto his feet.
"My bike had issues getting there so we went to the closest world we could find. Sora's homeworld, the Destiny Islands." Snow explained.
"It was an accident Claire. We never intended to hide from you." Serah said as Lightning nodded.
"I understand. At least you're alright. Snow hasn't done anything to you while I was away has he?" Lightning asked as Serah blushed and smiled bashfully.
"Well, we got engaged." Serah said as Snow grinned and put his arm around the two sisters.
"That's right, you're getting a brother-in-law. Right 'sis?" Snow said, causing Lightning's eye to twitch in annoyance. Sora and Aqua took this as a cue to leave.
"Uh, we really must be going. We've got to get Sora trained and all so we really need to go. So, uh, bye." Aqua said as she and Sora quickly beat a hasty retreat before Lightning exploded. They were almost to the steps to the Bailey when Leon caught up with them.
"Hey, before you leave, I thought I should let you guys know something that may interest you." Leon said as Aqua and Sora turned to him curiously.
"Oh? Like what?" Sora asked.
"When the King dropped off Snow and Serah, he also gave us a message to give you. He says that Yen Sid sent him a message recently saying that there's something strange going on in Twilight Town. He wanted the two of you to investigate it." Leon explained. Aqua looked at him curiously.
"Twilight Town? I don't think I've ever been there." Aqua said as Sora smiled.
"It's a nice place. I've been there a few times. It's also the passage way to the World that Never Was, the former Homeworld of the Nobodies. Roxas spent a lot of time there. In fact whenever I think of Twilight Town, I feel at home because of Roxas." Sora said as Aqua turned to Leon.
"Then we'll investigate Twilight Town immediately." Aqua said as Sora suddenly grinned excitedly.
"Really?! We will?!" He asked. As he asked that though, Roxas briefly and partially manifested. Aqua noticed this and nodded.
"Of course we will. I get the feeling though, that Roxas wouldn't mind visiting that place too." Aqua said as Sora smiled.
"We better get going. We don't have much time to lose." Aqua said as Leon nodded.
"Good luck. You might need it." Leon said as Aqua and Sora took off for the bailey.
Meanwhile…
"Curse you and your meddling! I could have defeated them were it not for you!"
"Just because you can overpower me in this state, doesn't mean that I can't make things difficult for you."
"So this just means that I'm going to have to find a way to destroy you first!"
"You might be able to suppress me, but when I don't try and exert my influence, I don't waste as much energy, so I can store it up to use against you later for times like that."
"I see. You are a persistent nuisance. But once your friends are no more, then there won't be any point in dealing with you."
"Laugh while you can. Because I'm not letting you win. You might win a few battles here and there, but you will ultimately lose the war."
"Bold words for one who has such little influence."
"Are you certain?"
"NRGRAHH! Curse you! Curse you to oblivion!"
"See, I can influence you, more than you realize. Why not take a break for a while and let me drive."
"NNGGGG! GRAHHHHHH!!!"
"Fight all you want, I'm going to take a walk."
End Chapter 15.
Please don't get into arguments about who is stronger, Snow or Tifa, because this isn't the place for it.