The Sapphire Sorceress
Disclaimer: The rights to Kingdom Hearts belong to Disney and Square Enix.
Act 71: The Other Promise
"Even if I'm not ready... I have to make this choice. You have poured so many memories into me... given me so much... that I feel like I'm about to overflow. Look at me, Roxas. Who do you see? If you see somebody else's face... a boy's face... then that means I'm almost ready. This puppet will have to play her part. Roxas... This is him. It's Sora."
The World That Never Was: Naught's Approach ( Kairi's POV )
This was the first time that I got to see the place I was trapped in due to the Organization kidnapping me, and the atmosphere of this place was rather unsettling to even look at with the black sky above us. Not a single star lies in this pitch-black void in the sky, a single source of light being that artificial Kingdom Hearts empowered by the souls of those who lost to the darkness. The whole world looked incomplete and hollow like the nobodies living here. Speaking of which some of these dusks had found us while blocking the way we were heading.
"They must know where we are by now..." Namine's words are correct, but that doesn't mean we're heading back into that creepy prison again without a fight.
"Get behind me while I handle these guys!" Holding back these creatures with my weapon I knew that we needed to get down to the entrance hall of this place to find out way out of this castle. Namine protested that I wasn't strong enough to handle this I pushed her words back into my mind. Despite a number of dusks that were in front of me, the keyblade made the pathway clear after cutting down some of these creatures. They were stronger than before, so I began to use fire magic to keep them away from us.
Seeing one of these guys lunge after Namine I shielded her with my body to keep her out of harm's way.
"Kairi!"
"Don't worry about a thing, all you have to do is help lead me us of this place." Giving her a smile I dodged one of these limbs extending from the enemy nobodies remaining so that we could move on, however, there were a bunch of nobodies suddenly moving down near us with lance in their hands and spouting wings allowing them to float in the air.
'Wind magic would be helpful if there were moving around through the sky.' Dodging the spears that these nobodies were using to jump down to attack us with, the Aeroga magic was certainly in keeping them off balance while I tried hitting the one that was on the ground with my keyblade. Unlike the dusks, these guys were much more nimble and faster making it harder to hit them with this weapon. I couldn't keep track of all of these when as I felt one of these lances hit my shoulder in the back causing my left arm to flinch up in pain.
"You have to join with me to complete your power!"
"Huh? What are you talking about, Namine?" What did she mean with that comment exactly?
"Without being whole you can't unlike your true potential as a keyblade wielder. There is no way you can defeat these nobodies at your current level of strength." Does she mean that I would have to join with her, no that can't happen even if this is what happened with Roxas and Sora before he woke up! There was no way that I could force my nobody into returning to me while losing her own self in the process. That was a selfish demand for Namine after what's she has been through ever since her "birth" and days in that castle.
"Don't doubt me, Namine! If truly are my nobody, then you should know by now this stubborn girl doesn't know when to give up!" Tossing out my keyblade to knock back one of these lances that were being thrown down at us, and I knew that protecting Namine was more important due to the fact she can't fight back against these nobodies.
"I can't give up here when Sora is trying to find me!"
Firing off ice magic to keep these guys away from us I took Namine's hand as we continued moving down trying to avoid running into more nobodies, but then I noticed the familiar barking of Pluto who managed to catch up to us!
"It's him..." I heard Namine speak out before I saw a few huge nobodies blocking the way downward.
"Namine...there you are." This guy was the person I spoke to during my first day in this place, and I noticed those eyes and scar on his face must belong to one person Axel described to me.
"Kairi. I'm afraid leaving is not an option." He held out his hand to me, the gesture likely saying that we should return to our cages by accepting that hand.
"I'll take you to see Sora." This...had to be another trick! He couldn't be truthful about that after what these guys have put me through during my stay here in this castle.
"You don't want that?" Despite my hesitation, a part of myself did want to believe he would take me to see him again.
"I do. More than anything. But not with you around." Pointing my keyblade at him my own nobody agreed with my sentiments while I prepared to fight a losing battle most likely with how strong this guy was compared to these lesser nobodies.
"If I had a heart, this would be where I die of laughter." Preparing for the worst I heard the sounds of nobodies getting wiped out as this man turned around to find another person...in a black cloak?
"You...Didn't that puppet take care of you?"
"You can take it from here, Riku."
Riku?! That was supposed to be right, but he looks so much taller than the size of my friend until I noticed the weapon in the figure's left hand. Then, seeing this person blast this nobody back with a fireball that looked like one of Riku's attacks.
"Wait." Stopping this person I had to know if Namine was correct about when she told me who the real identity of this person...
"Riku...you're really here..." Moving my hands onto this hood, a face was shown to me that didn't belong to Riku rather that man who tried using me and the other Princesses of Heart to open Kingdom Hearts.
"It is a long story..."
"That is fine I've got quite a few stories of my own to tell you...when this is over." Smiling at hearing his voice despite this face not matching I knew the heart inside definitely belonged to my other friend. While we were still in great danger, the fact I wasn't alone here made it easy to continue on and together our strength might be enough to stop whatever this Organization was planning.
"We need to get deeper into the castle to escape from this place to reach the city area. The entrance hall might be a good place to start..."
Nodding, the three of us actually four, if I'm counting Pluto, followed Namine's advice hoping that once we could reunite with Sora we could put an end to this crisis once and for all!
The World That Never Was: Memory's Skyscraper ( Auxaq's POV )
"Do you miss your friends? Can you still remember the one you call Ven when you look at me?"
"I'm merely a lifeless puppet, Aqua. Unlike you and the others, I don't have a real me that I can be once again besides the person I was crafted from, the original one: Sora."
The words and thoughts I still could remember from Roxas and Xion when things seemed much easier to me than now, the doubt I had about my actions and choices were continuing to grow over these past few hours. Then, hearing about the imminent invasion by Sora and his friends along with possible more parties only added to this stress that I almost thought was real to me. Sure enough, there wasn't merely a keyblade wielder running around there were plenty of other people that came from other worlds.
"Mulan and her friends in the army, Prince Aladdin and Jasmine were here as well, and even the superhero pack..." I never thought I would see a bunch of people working together with men and women in spandex or masked outfits to help out Sora get through our nobody forces.
"I had to get involved with some crisis-crossover event on a ****** school-night!"
"Language, Gwe- I mean Spider-Woman!"
"Do you think everyone else will be okay while fighting these weird things, Aladdin?"
"We're only providing a way for our friend and hero of the worlds to move forward. This is the least we can do for him after what he's done for us all!"
"To protect the lands of China! We shall hold back the darkness here in this world!" Seeing these many individuals from other worlds stand together and fight as one...
'How sicken...'
"They can't stop what has been set in motion, and their help is minor in the grand scheme of things." Yes as somebodies, the mere fact they were fighting here was extremely dangerous considering what everyone here could lose, even a heartless skeleton like Jack who was tossing around pumpkins at shadows might end up lost to the darkness.
"Not that I don't appreciate the help, but you guys might get hurt if you stick around here too long..." Ever the kind person Sora was actually trying to get these people to leave for their own sake, a frown came on my face despite all of these people being unable to see my body due to my cloak covering my face at this far of a distance on this certain building. I was fortunate my own nobodies could help serve as a way to listen in on these conversations like this despite putting themselves in harm's way.
"No need to worry about us, mate. You helped reclaim my ship ye old Black Pearl, the lads here only want to repay the debt we owe." The pirate replied before blasting one of my own subordinate nobodies with that pistol gun in his hand, and followed by the prince-turned-beast grabbing some of Xaldin's nobodies and hitting the dusks with the stolen lances stabbing them violently. The physical strength of this man was now being used against us instead of how Xaldin desired such an ironic thing to witness.
"Let us put an end to those like Xaldin before they hurt anyone else!"
Delightful...is what I should be saying about this whole scene of such valor being displayed down in these streets, but I couldn't really feel anything besides apathy. This was all merely one big show as Luxord put things, and no matter what I would have to stick with this path I've gone down until the bitter or happy end.
"Huh? Hey, that hoodie up there must belong to the Organization, Hiro!"
"You're right GoGo. Now, we can settle things after what happened to Baymax!" Ugh, so don't have time for this old routine again with this boy. The only person who I was invested in watching is Sora, and from what Xemnas told me he might soon encounter those other personalities that have been sleeping inside of him. He must confront those two if he truly wishes to overcome the remaining members of Organization XIII. Cutting down some webbing that I knew was coming I figured these people would now target me.
"The real test will soon begin..." I didn't even move out of the way as these two spider-themed heroes made their way up near me, the duo tried in vain to hit me while I merely blocked their attacks with Stormfall.
"Do you intend on getting in the way again?"
"Creepy black cloak, monotone voice, and rude manners. You're certainly an emotionless being with a lack of respect, lady." The crimson clad hero spoke while the white and pink spider-themed hero tried grabbing my arm.
"Hold on a second! I recognize this voice..." She managed to remove my hood even while I stick out my keyblade to hold her back from even touching me. I'd underestimated how quick a person could be when not slowed down by my Lore...
"I know who you are! You're that girl who showed up before at Stark's place." I remember that day among others when Roxas and Xion managed to fool my own mind into thinking there was still a soul in this lifeless shell of mine.
"Do you care about these people you're fighting with, Gwen?"
"No ****! Why else would I be trying to ask you what the hell is your problem instead of punching you in the face like other bad guys!" Other bad guys? I figured she might have assumed that by how I was acting, but I not exactly much of a hero these days like her or her friend trying to tie me up in his webs again.
"Why is it bad that I want to feel normal again? This is my only choice left to have what you two still possess, a heart that makes you real..."
I felt a ball of webbing hit my face as Gwen connected a few punches in my chest despite my keyblade trying to stop their attacks, so why can't they understand my reasoning and instead focused on trying to hurt me like this?!
"She's right. You would think even without a heart you could understand your actions are that of a villain, even worse one who doesn't see how their crimes are destroying not just one world but an entire universe!"
Tch, this man made a good point, but that doesn't mean things can't be undone! Kingdom Hearts is the key to change everyone's misfortune like Xehanort said, however, I only wish to use such power for the betterment of the universe!
"This is the choice I've made for myself right or wrong! It would shame everyone I have ever know if I simply went back and ran from my destiny!" Pouring a lot of magic into my hand I fired off several blasts of ice magic. Seeing Hiro and his comrades try and climb this building I knew that time was running out before I had to make me leave in order to watch the real battle take place here in Sora's mind.
"Tell me something, Aux- no Aqua! What will you do once you get your heart back knowing others will lose everything in the process?"
"What makes you think that will happen, Gwen? The fact you and your friend Pete have come here despite knowing your could lose your own hearts shows me how determined you both are to stop us." Just like Ven, Terra, and the person I once was did when the Unversed were the only monsters plaguing the worlds.
"Good luck with these guys." Waving farewell at the spider-heroes I jumped down to follow Sora as he moved closer to the city area of this world. Being here reminded me of the last time I came out here when Xion was still part of Organization XIII despite not originally being a true nobody like the rest of us.
"Your skills have truly been refined, Xion. I don't know if it could be Roxas influencing yourself, yet I can see what you are near if not on the level of a Keyblade Master."
My words of praise didn't phase her from what I saw, but she did thank me once she was done testing out her keyblades on some heartless roaming around on these streets. While I knew Roxas wasn't truly there anymore I could still see the movements he made while using a single keyblade when Xion moved around with her dual weapons.
"I have to fulfill that other promise, after all, he gave up his body despite the fact I was meant to disappear instead of him."
Even by this point, I couldn't be sure what that meant besides Roxas' desire to destroy Kingdom Hearts on his own betrayed the Organization he worked for over the course of a year. I figure that is what Xion tried doing when she was going to attempt absorbing me into herself along with Roxas. Hiding in a dark alleyway near this city's biggest skyscraper I had a good place to witness the battle within the soul of Sora or rather observe since I couldn't interfere with such a battle of keyblade wielders.
A loud, crack of thunder was heard as I felt some rain begin to pour down from the sky above creating a dreary mood. Despite the water coming down over my face and through my hair I had to see who would emerge the victory and controller of Sora's body as some of Roxas' nobodies, the samurai blocked Donald and Goofy away with their swords as they kept me back as well.
'Forgive us your highness, but this battle is with Sora and our lieges.'
"Of course..." I saw the opponent for Sora come out of a portal with that black keyblade in hand, a challenge to a one-on-one duel was made clear and unlike a Mark of Mastery exam the loser would lose everything as Sora and this figure vanished into a place where only someone like myself to see.
The first blows came from whoever was under that hood be it Roxas or Xion as Sora was pushed back due to his opponent using two keyblades instead of only one. These keyblades moved at a speed fitting two battle-hardened warriors could move and fight at showing how strong both of these users had become with their current experience.
'Was it Roxas or Xion using these keyblades?'
Sora got in a couple of blows only for the other half of himself to strike back with equal power as the figure began jumped up and down to knock Sora off his feet with this attack.
"Hold on what is this light?" I saw Sora quickly change back into that clothing he wore in Castle Oblivion instead of his current outfit, and he began to charge around the place hitting his other self with his keyblade creating a combo strike that seemed impossible to stop.
I knew that Sora's nobody refused to give up that easily, the bright flashes of light coming down from the air began to move on near Sora as the symbol of the group this person used to belong in was on these beams of light. Sora began to roll out of the way, but his nobody ran over to strike him with the solo duel keyblades sending him up into the air to get hit by a beam slamming him down onto the ground. Both of the key bearers were putting everything into this battle, what it would come down to is who wants to survive more...
'That, is the nature of this situation, a fight to prove who has the right to exist.'
This is what both of these fighters knew was at stake here as their fighting became much more intense as their blades continued to clash with each other.
'These beams are being used as both an offensive and defensive way. Amazing!' Watching the several pillars of light form a barrier around Sora's opponent keeping him out of attack range only to send out the beams of light at this somebody. Despite this Sora's expression showed immense determination, his hands gripped onto his keyblade before he charged back at his opponent and knocked the nobody up into the air. After that, he jumped up and began firing off several beams of energy...
"Ragnarok." It looked so much like that moved I used against the Unversed it had to be the same kind of attack, and like that move, it was capable of homing in on airborne enemies. Still, this duel wasn't over by a long shot as I could hear the figure began to swing around the two keyblades at a faster rate of speed beginning to slam at him with rapid movement with the beams of light adding to the pressure Sora must have been feeling fighting on his own. Without Donald and Goofy to rely on this victory would have to be earned on his own.
Sora tossed the keyblade at the nobody using it like a boomerang when he grabbed it as it was moving back into his hand landing a couple of more hits before his opponent moved backward, the gesture seemed to show Sora gaining the upper hand but I figured there was likely another reason for this. Then, I felt a huge increase in power coming out of Sora's faceless opponent.
Whatever this next move was it was powerful, glancing at the area surrounding these keyblade wielders I saw it begin to light up as several pillars of light circled around Sora's opponent who shot off beams into the background creating a beautiful scene of pure light, but then several homing balls of energy began to follow Sora around who tried dodging most of them before they all connected on his body.
'This must be the ultimate move at my former comrade's disposal...' Sure enough, Sora got hit by a few of these blasts causing him a lot of pain giving his opponent an opening to continue striking him with the dual keyblades turning the tide of this battle swiftly against this boy. The figure began to land hit after hit on Sora who began to gasp out in pain being unable to fight back against such a vicious series of attacks, and then I saw Sora once more change his appearance only this time he resembled a humanoid shadow that began to fight back with equal remorse at his opponent.
In this state, he was no different from the heartless who lacked the ability and intelligence to properly think correctly, and so this key-bearer was merely acting on pure instinct to pounce onto his other self. Now, the scope of the fight has changed making things even again despite Sora not being able to block a lot of Roxas or Xion's light attacks he continued to swarm around the nobody to keep things even resulting in a stalemate between these two. Suddenly, the form Sora took dissipated as he began to gasp out likely feeling exhaustion from the length of their personal duel.
'They both are weakened.' Meaning the decisive blow could be now as they charged at each other trying to hit each other resulting in a blinding flash of light.
'What...just happened?!'
Sora had those two keyblades being used against him hovering above his body and when he got past Roxas or Xion's beams the other keyblades began to strike at the nobody resulting in a huge series of blows moving the black figure around the place, so that Sora could land more blows on him with his keyblade making the figure gasp out in pain. After the nobody reclaimed those keyblades both keyblade users rushed at each other one last time before another flash of light followed. Watching the figure grasp it's arm in pain and Sora hold his ground I knew he managed to land one more hit on his opponent.
'Could this...be the end?' I was unable to do much besides observing this duel however I was wondering the possible outcome of this duel...and my biased opinion was for Sora to lose if only to see my friends one last time.
"Wh-Who are you?" Sora asked while his weapon clashed with his opponent's keyblade allowing me to hear the voice and figure out who he was battling all of this time.
"Someone from the dark." Xion? The voice sounded like a girl's tone; it was much more hollow and empty than how Xion usually sounded making me wonder if this could be due to her absorption into Sora or...perhaps Roxas influencing her in some fashion.
"You can't be Riku?"
"Riku? ...I defeated a Riku once."
"You what?!"
"Tell me...Tell me why he picked you!"
The other self of Sora dragged her keyblades on the ground as she charged at him with newly discovered passion. As she jumped over Sora's body to try hitting him some more she jumped up after him trying to kick him while they were floating, the next move from Sora allowed him to jump down safely while she remained in the air likely she was studying the floor they were battling on for a realization of some kind...
"I see. That's why."
Her speed grew as she began to move at nearly an impossible speed to follow as she continued slamming her keyblades down at Sora who was struggling to block her series of strikes, his knee buckled under the pressure causing him to lose his grip on the keyblade while Xion knocked it away from his range. Before he could run to grab his keyblade she stabbed one of her keyblades to keep it on the ground while pointing the other at his face.
"Xion...is the victor?" My eyes found this outcome hard to imagine as Sora was trying in vain to reach out to reclaim his weapon, but then reality slapped me in the face once more as I saw the keyblade disappear from underneath Xion's hold.
"What?!"
A single slash was all it took to end this duel between keyblade users, so this was the final outcome of Sora and his other self in the end. The two keyblades in her hands disappeared as she began to move forward like nothing ever happened to her.
"Even now I'm stealing memories, faces, and powers I shouldn't have. He was meant to battle you here, and the puppet in front of you was supposed to have been erased from everyone's memories." The Replica Program...she must feel guilty about even existing right now.
"He wished to fulfill the other promise he made to stop him...destroy the moon in the sky filled with the hearts and several lies behind Organization XIII's plan. Axel realized what has been really going on and why he gave up his existence to help you come here Sora." All just to bring about the destruction of this group?
"Aqua - no Auxaq has been blinded into following my former Superior's will to regain her past self. Despite what you might think of her she only wants to be with her old friends again no different from yourself. Two keyblade bearers who've been used by someone who has manipulated this entire situation, and even if you wish to reason with her she believes that this is the only path left for her. I fear this will lead to her own self-destruction, but perhaps that is better than regaining her heart through that fake Kingdom Hearts."
Was she saying that I deserved to lose everything I had left? How is that fair?! Sora and his friends get to remain while I lose it all because of the darkness!
"The only way I can atone for the actions me and Roxas unknowingly did is by accepting you as the dominant personality of this body. I...wish the outcome was different along with Roxas, the truth is I don't want her to feel bad about what she did when she stopped Roxas from absorbing me. In a way, because of this accident, I managed to have a moment of clarity and understand what it is like to truly exist." She sounded genuinely happy about that even if that came at the expense of Roxas.
"Despite this, however, he shares my feelings about you deserving the right to have control of this body, and with it put an end to Organization XIII and its leader. Kairi will also need to reunite with her own nobody to unlock her full power that will be necessary to stop...her."
She really feels that way? That this needs to end one way or the other despite everything we've been through during our days of non-existence.
"You know something," I noticed her fall over to the floor in one second while her hood covering her face went down confirming that this was Xion speaking to Sora. As she got back up her eyes shined with joy as her face actually had a smile while she looked at her somebody. "You make a good other."
'Sora has won the battle for his soul.' Looking at Sora return back to the dark city in one piece while his friends took out the samurai nobodies guarding them I knew this was indeed the conclusion.
'The duel has been decided...' The other samurais loyal to Roxas departed from my sight while I tried to digest what has just transpired while the rain continued to pour down my head adding to the depressing mood of this moment. Sora took away Roxas and Xion to become whole once more, even if he doesn't understand how important these two were not just to him but to Axel and myself.
"Very well, the girl you consider a friend will be the one I might fight one last time. I must see if her heart and body truly are ready...to become a Keyblade Master." Looking at the glowing "moon" radiating a false light in such a dark world, but I longed for a world of twilight instead. The huge tower where we hung out after missions, a set of ice-cream bars in hand just like...the one in my hand with the words winner on it.
"Lucky, huh?" Giving a small chuckle I made me leave to head back to the castle of nothingness to prepare for the grand finale.
[ Bad news there seemingly is no plans for Marvel or Star Wars to show up in KH3. Although that means we can wrap up the Xehanort saga without adding more elements that would need to tie into the story. At least Xemnas, his laser beams, and the Big Hero 6 world is a nice way of hyping me up for this game. I can't wait until it shows up in 2018 if there isn't any stupid delay like with FF XV. Next time we see the downfall of Organization XIII continuing with Xigbar and how will Auxaq deal with her upcoming final battle with Kairi... ]