Marie and her keyblade:
www.swirl3y.deviantart.com/art/Marie-and-her-Shooting-Star-Keyblade-383502787
Ryan:
www.swirl3y.deviantart.com/art/That-s-his-name-286861562?q=gallery%3ASWIRL3Y%2F29599925&qo=12
Aura:
www.swirl3y.deviantart.com/art/Aura-and-Marie-Two-sides-of-a-coin-310985460?q=gallery%3ASWIRL3Y%2F29599925&qo=9
Aura's Keyblade Order (Along with her other Keyblade that she doesn't use):
www.swirl3y.deviantart.com/art/Chaos-and-Order-178647870?q=gallery%3ASWIRL3Y%2F26504272&qo=7
A/N:
We're FINALLY at the end. Can you believe it took such a long time to finish this story? Cause I can believe it. D:
Chapter Fifty-Eight
ଓ
Your demise
The crew continued their way towards the castle and reached a dead end as they came across a cliff. The castle was literally above them, and Sora wondered what they were going to do. Aura walked in front of them and brought out her Keyblade. She pointed it towards the castle, and a beam of light appeared from it. A path was created from it, and she turned to the others.
"Let's go," she said. She walked inside as the others followed, and as they entered Mickey quickly ran his way inside. Donald called out to him, but they felt the presences of Nobodies around.
Meanwhile, Kairi and Naminé, who had just recently escaped the prison cells inside the castle, were stopped as Saix stood in front of them. He called Naminé's name, and Kairi seemed a bit confused. Unfortunately, Saix wasn't going to let either of them go.
"I'll take you to see Sora," he said as he brought his hand for her. She hesitated for a bit, and he questioned it. "You don't want to?"
"I do. More than anything. But not with you around," she threatened. Saix merely mocked them, saying that if he had a heard he would be dying of laughter, but he was interrupted when one of his Nobodies fell down. He turned around, and noticed another figure in a dark coat with a Keyblade. Saix made a comment about Roxas heaving dealt with him, and Naminé interjected.
"You can take it from here, Riku," said Naminé. Kairi gasped as she heard his name, and looked over to the man in the black coat. He quickly put his Keyblade away and fired one of his darker spells at Saix, but the man was quick to dodge it. He managed to escape through his portal, and as Riku was about to run through it Kairi stopped him.
"Riku… you're really here…" she said. She walked up to him and pulled down the hood, but all that revealed was the Heartless of Xehanort.
-x-
The crew trekked their way up the castle, and Marie had the ever feeling that something she didn't like was going to pop up—aside from Heartless or Nobodies. With her memory mostly intact, she wondered if she would see anyone else from Radiant Garden. She knew from Axel that Isa was around, but she was a bit worried how that meeting would go.
"Sora… you've done well," they all stopped when they heard a voice coming from above. Marie looked up, and out appeared the man in blue hair and golden eyes. Sora asked where Kairi was, but Saix had no clue, leaving behind a hint that she was catching up with her friend from the darkness. He told Sora that Kairi had no use for him, and Marie looked away, unsure of what to say. Sora didn't believe a word the man said, but Saix shrugged his shoulders. "That's up to you, but you can believe this… Organization XIII has no further use for you… look up there, our Kingdom Hearts. Thanks to you, we've collected countless hearts. Can you hear their euphoria?"
Aura glared up at Saix and all that he represented. She never liked him from day one and she couldn't understand how Marie was even friends with him. Saix merely looked at the two, and glared as the sight of them made him disgusted. He looked over to the rest, and gave a slight smirk. "All we need is one more helping from the Keyblade bearer, and the two halves."
He snapped his fingers and a horde of Heartless appeared around them all. Donald said they had to fight, but Sora couldn't. Marie and Aura looked around, but when the blonde heard a female voice across the hall her heart skipped.
"Sora!" she called out. Sora turned up towards the air and saw Kairi leaning against a balcony. She smiled widely. "Sora! it's really you!"
Sora smiled and called out to her, while Marie looked at the two. She noticed just how strikingly beautiful had become, but she became distracted when the Heartless starting coming closer. Everyone started fighting off the Heartless and Kairi gasped. She jumped off the balcony but was stopped when a bunch of shadows appeared around her. They were easily able to subdue her, but a light appeared as she was lifted off the ground. She looked up and noticed it was Riku, who had a Keyblade in his hand.
"Take it," he said. She examined the Keyblade and took a stance. She looked over to Riku, and smiled at him.
"This time I'll fight! We've gotta help out Sora and Marie!" She said as she started running towards the shadows and fought with all her might, this time she was going to be the one protecting the people she loved. Riku followed close behind as he helped fight off the Heartless.
Along the stairs just outside of where the battles were taking place, Mickey came running up and fighting off every Heartless or Nobody in sight. He eventually made it to where he need to go, and fought off the Nobodies surrounding his old friend Ansem—or DiZ as he was now known as. He got up from the floor, but staggered a bit as Mickey tried to help him. Once he was up, he took off the clothes surrounding his face to reveal a man with platinum blonde hair and red eyes.
"It's been too long, my friend," he said as he looked down at Mickey. The King wanted to know why Ansem didn't come to him when things got bad, but Ansem shook his head. "Xemnas, the leader of Organization XIII, is the Nobody of Xehanort, my foremost apprentice. The burden was mine to bear."
"Is that all?" King Mickey asked. Ansem walked away for a bit and had his back turned to Mickey. He told him that he was obsessed with getting his revenge, that his apprentices stole everything precious to him—his research and his pride. He began to talk about Riku and how he looked the way he did—saying that he made him look for Roxas, a member from Organization XIII but lost in the fight against him, so he used his darkness, and the outcome became obvious. Ansem had felt horrible for bringing Riku between his need for revenge, and he could only laugh to hide his shame. Mickey explained that he made a promise to Riku not to tell Sora what had happened to him after that, and Ansem knew it was time. Mickey looked up at Ansem and took a deep breath. "You should know that Marie is in the castle, and she's eager to find you."
Ansem gave a slight smile, he was glad that the girl was well, and honestly, so proud that she had made it through every obstacle that was thrown at her. He knew now, without a doubt, that Marie was not the girl who needed protection anymore. She was her own person and she grew stronger with every hardship thrown her way, and he was excited to meet the person she became today. He picked up the gun that was on the ground, and looked down at Mickey. "Let us go."
Sora attacked a couple of Heartless near him, with Marie dealing with some of the other ones. Ryan went to hide from the fight, but he kept his eye out for anything unusual so he could want the rest. Sora looked up to see Kairi fighting near the fake Ansem, and he wondered what was going on. He heard the noise of a weapon, and looked down to see an arrow on the floor. He looked up and saw multiple arrows raining down near him and the others.
"Have you been a good boy?" a voice spoke. Both Aura and Marie perked their heads when they heard it, since they knew who it belonged to. Sora demanded the man to show himself, and he came out looking at them. "Oh, sounds like you haven't. Sora! Roxas!"
"Did he really just call me Roxas?" Sora asked as he looked at Donald. Aura lowered her eyes, but decided to ignore it. She looked up to Xigbar, the owner of the voice, and glared at him.
"You know, you really put Organization XIII in a pickle," he started. "I guess that must be why the keyblade chose you, but man, did it pick a dud this time."
"Watch your tongue, Xigbar," Aura growled. The older man laughed and just looked down at the once ally he trusted.
"Sorry, princess, but it's the truth." Marie glared at the man above them, to which he noticed, but still continued on as he stared at Sora. "You don't look like you're half the hero the others were."
Sora was getting fed up with the man and asked if he was done his rambling, but Xigbar just scoffed as he pointed at him. "Rambling? As if. All I'm trying to tell you, traitor, is that your time is up!"
He jumped down from where he was, and everyone took out their weapons. Aura was just mildly hesitant, since Xigbar had been pretty nice to her. She shook her head, she couldn't let that get in the way of protecting what she needed to protect. Marie was quick to take out her Keyblade, since everything she knew on Xigbar, or Braig as she remembered, was awful. The man in return pointed his gun at her, but she didn't flinch.
"I'm surprised you made it this far," he growled. He never once liked the girl, and he was angry that she was even alive now and today. "But after we're done with this, you and princess will be gone."
"I'm not going anywhere!" she shouted as she pointed her Keyblade at him. "I made it this far because of the friends I have… and the family that helped me along the way. I've survived the worst, but there's more to come, and I'll keep surviving!"
He just scoffed as he jumped up and started firing his shooter at them. Aura and Sora blocked the whole lot of them with their keyblades while Marie pointed her Keyblade at him as she pressed the trigger on it, releasing the stars that attacked him. She managed to get a couple of attacks before the stars returned, but she wasn't done yet. She raised her Keyblade as it lit up, and chanted one of her stronger spells.
"Diamond Dust!" she shouted. A snowstorm appeared around Xigbar as it made him dizzy, and after it left a couple of icicles rained down on him. It wasn't enough to incapacitate him, but he seemed a bit hurt. Aura came running in as she attacked him while his guard was momentarily down, and continuously attacked him as he blocked a couple of attacks. She felt bad for attacking him, but they knew only one could survive and she was going to be the victor.
As Aura kept attacking she blocked a couple of attacks, while she was, Sora decided to swoop in with some attacks of his own. Luckily Xigbar was off his guard, and Sora got a couple of good attacks. Donald fired a round of his spells while Donald spun his shield around. While everyone was fighting against Xigbar, the fight was really between Marie and Braig. For once she was going to complete her vow of beating everyone who betrayed Ansem—he didn't deserve for any of this.
"How could you!?" she shouted as she came running up to him. She attacked him but he blocked it with his shooter, and they stood facing each other eye-to-eye. "Everything that he had ever done for you and this is how you repay him!? Stabbing him in the back? You ought to be ashamed; Ansem the Wise was a great leader! Xehanort can never even come close!"
"Nah, he's even better!" Xigbar shouted. Their weapons skimmed and made a couple of metallic noises, but they still kept their positions. "Get out of your little world already."
He managed to fling Marie's Keyblade out of her hands, and she staggered a bit. Right when he was about to attack she quickly kicked his shins and jumped out of the way as she willed her Keyblade back to her. Xigbar fired a shot from his shooter but she back flipped right as the arrow went by her, and she fired the stars from her Keyblade at him. Aura was pretty amazed at the fighting Marie presented, but she was going to have to end the fight soon. She called over Donald and Goofy to offer a distraction, and when they were up and doing it; she looked over to Marie and Sora. They all nodded at her, and the three of them started running up to Xigbar as he was distracted by Donald and Goofy.
Marie brought up her Keyblade along with Sora and Aura, and they pointed them at Xigbar. A white light appeared from Marie's Keyblade, a blue one appeared from Aura, and a red one appeared from Sora's. When they lights combined it created a lavender coloured light that went directly towards Xigbar. He gave out a pained cry, and the light got brighter. Everyone covered their eyes and when the light died down they looked ahead. Xigbar was still standing for a bit as he pointed his shooter at them all, but quickly fell to his knees after. He dropped his weapon soon after.
Aura walked a bit up to him, and she could tell that he was frightened at the thought of disappearing. She sighed as she brought one of her hands close to her. "Xigbar... you should have chosen the right path…"
"Is there even a path for us Nobodies to walk on?" he said as he scoffed at her. Marie walked up beside Aura, and although she hated Braig for all he had done, she wondered if he could ever change. He looked up to see them both standing together, and even though Aura had betrayed him he still liked the girl. She was bright and had an attitude that he appreciated. But Marie, on the other hand, was someone he just didn't like. "You know, you've always been an annoying brat. The fact that you came back to haunt me even after I was turned into a Nobody… I don't know whether to call it annoying or impressive."
She glared at him, since it was all she could do. Sora came up to them, and gave him a hard look. "Why did you call me Roxas?" he asked.
"Wouldn't you like to know," Xigbar let out before he completely disappeared. Aura sighed again when he disappeared, but she was brought out of her thoughts when Donald mentioned Kairi. They turned up towards the balcony and saw her fighting along the fake Ansem, and Marie was curious as to know how she learned how to fight. She shook her head however, they needed to help her.
"Sora, guys… come on, we've help Kairi," she said as she walked in front of everyone. Aura looked at her and knew it was hard on Marie, but she was glad she wasn't getting angry. Sora smiled and held her hand, letting her know that he loved her no matter what. She smiled and seemed more confident, but she just needed to be sure. Ryan came up towards them and told them they needed to hurry, and the gang started making their way.
-x-
"Kairi, you were great!" Donald shouted as they made their way towards her and the mysterious man. She turned around and smiled at all of them, and when she saw Marie looking back at her, her smile widened. She was glad that the blonde was alright along with Sora, who walked up to her.
"You are different, Kairi, but I'm just glad you're here!" he said as he smiled at her. She smiled back and told him that since neither he nor Riku came back, she went out and looked for them. He felt bad that he never said anything to show her that he was alright, but she shook her head and ran up to hug him.
"This is real…" she spoke aloud. He didn't place his hands on her and looked over to Marie, who was surprisingly smiling at them. She tilted her head as her smile widened, and he took it as a sign to hug her back. Donald and Goofy nudged Marie as they looked at her, and she looked back at them.
"It's okay… they miss each other," she said. Aura lowered her eyes and wondered about the words Riku had told her about being considerate. She looked over to him, who was staring at both Kairi and Sora, and sighed. He stopped staring and created a portal that he was about to go through, but Sora parted from the hug and quickly called out to him.
"Wait, Ansem! I mean, Xehanort's Heartless…" he said. He took a deep breath as he looked at him. "I never thought for a second that I'd ever see you again. Just thinking about all the things you did make me really mad, but… thanks for saving Kairi."
The man didn't say anything, and he started walking away, but Kairi ran up to him as she grabbed his arm. "Riku, don't go!"
The whole room was filled with gasps, and both Donald and Goofy had their mouths gapped open. Ryan's eyes widened when he took another look at the man, and wondered how Riku ever turned into someone like that. Aura crossed her arms as she watched them all freak out, and she walked a bit to the side. The most who were really stunned was Sora and Marie, who had both their mouths and eyes wide opened.
"Kairi, what did you just say?" Sora asked. Kairi turned around and repeated Riku's name, while the man with her told them that he was no one—just a castaway from the darkness. Aura scoffed and walked up a bit towards Riku and Kairi, and she looked at them. Riku honestly didn't know what to do or say anymore, and he looked at the brunette hoping she would say something, but she looked away.
"Sora, Marie, come here. Say something to him," Kairi called out. Sora looked at Marie, who was as confused as he was, but they walked up to them anyways. Kairi smiled at them both, and she grabbed Sora's hand as she placed it in Riku's. She did the same for Marie, and when they both looked at each other they smiled. Although they weren't saying much to each other, they at least made things civil. "Here. You'll understand."
She told them to close their eyes, and when they did they both got an image of Riku right in front of them. Marie gasped as her eyes opened wide, while Sora took his time to really take in the fact that his best friend in the whole wide world was standing right before him. He cried out his name, and started to fall to his knees as he did.
"It's Riku. Riku's here…" he said. Marie looked down as Sora let a tear roll down and she really felt for him—the person Sora wanted to see the most was right here with them all, and she smiled at them. "I looked for you!"
"C'mon, Sora. you've got to pull it together," Riku said as he looked down at Sora as well. Sora just shook his head as he let the tear roll down again, saying that he looked everywhere for him. Riku just kept staring. "I didn't want you to find me."
Goofy explained that Riku had helped them along the way, and Donald grew confused. Goofy knew all those clues that were given to them were from Riku, and the man gave a small smile. "I was starting to worry you guys weren't ever gonna catch on. Sora never did pick the brightest friends.—"
"Hey!" Marie called out as she puffed her cheeks at him, but Riku smiled at her. Sora still wasn't all that well, and asked him why he never let them know he was okay, but Riku didn't want any of them to find him the way he was. In order to use the power of darkness he had to become Ansem himself, and he wasn't okay with it—thus why he didn't want anyone to see him like that. Marie tilted her head and looked up at Riku. "Can you not change back?" she asked.
"This battle isn't over. And until it is, I still need the power of darkness," he replied. Marie looked over to Sora and Kairi, and they all had the same general idea.
"Then, let's finish it. You're still Riku, no matter what!" Sora told him. Donald and Goofy nodded as well as Kairi and Marie. Ryan walked up to them, and although he wasn't so close to Riku he still agreed. "How 'bout it: think we can handle one last rumble together?" Sora asked.
Donald agreed with Goofy, and Sora looked over to Aura, who had her right arm wrapped around the other. He noticed that she seemed a bit distracted—or perhaps sad, but he still wanted her around for the last fight, knowing full well that she was willing to fight for their cause. She looked up at them, and she gave a chuckle.
"One last rumble, huh? You're all something else," she said as she walked towards them. "But I'm game. We can definitely win this with all of us."
The whole lot grew confident about their numbers, and they proceeded their way further into the castle.
-x-
"This spot should do," said Ansem as he stopped with Mickey. He set up the gun that he was holding, and pointed it towards the sky where Kingdom Hearts was. Mickey asked what the device was for, and Ansem explained as he continued to set it up. "It's a device to reclaim Kingdom Hearts and encode it as data."
Neither of them really knew the outcome, as hearts were unpredictable. Ansem only hoped that it wouldn't affect Marie in any way, and that it would actually aid her. He fired the beam and it went directly towards Kingdom Hearts. He kept staring at it, and as he did images of Stella, Marie and even Aura appeared in his head. The woman who practically started it all was Stella's mother, but he wondered. When would Stella be free of the fate she was bestowed? When would the hill family be free of their curse?
Agh, so close to the end! Maybe like two-three more chapters left? I at least get to go past my 60 chapter mark, but I might want to clean this story up when I have time. I can't wait for the ending!