The Sapphire Sorceress
Disclaimer: The rights to Kingdom Hearts belong to Disney and Square Enix.
Act 78: Darkness of the Unknown
"Don't ever forget. Wherever you go, I'm always with you."
The World That Never Was: Altar of Naught ( Kairi's POV )
This was it for my journey. A long, narrow road filled with several stops along the way along with the many turns and bumps that got in the way. So many faces, places, people, and worlds that I've visited in a short amount of time. Of course, several new threats that had to be overcome just to let me get to this moment I was in right now. There were plenty of good times, bad ones as well, but through all of it, I would choose to head down this journey once more regardless of knowing what was going to be waiting for me down this road.
'It seems you are ready to accept your duty and protect those closest to your heart, my somebody.' The last steps of my path into an unknown future with my friends old and new by my side as all of us head into this battle. I had to endure no matter how much pain I would suffer at the hands of Xemnas and these other wounds affecting me. Beyond this door would be the point of no return for all of us leaving only the final battle up ahead.
"The darkness of the unknown..." Looking at Sora and Riku who were also gathering themselves in preparation for this last encounter I spoke that out loud, which made them look at me with confusion.
"Beyond that door must lie the final darkness that will take us right into an unknown situation. While we are fighting against nothingness itself with both light and darkness none of us known what will happen afterward to everyone here. The worlds will be safe once Xemnas is gone, but after that..."
"We will be just fine! Don't worry about getting let out this time, Kairi!" Sora. Hearing those words, and seeing himself and Riku smiling at me filling me with renewed confidence about this last duty we had to perform together.
Once we moved toward the door I could hear a different voice ring through my head when we got close enough to this giant sealed doorway.
"Beyond this door is the beginning of the end of your journey. Are you prepared for what lies ahead?"
I knew that there wasn't much else that needed to be done, and with my friends by my side the nervousness that I had quickly faded away.
"Let's finish this!" Holding out my Keyblade next to Sora, Riku, and Mickey's blade we fired off four beams of light that slowly opened this doorway in the middle of the sky.
"Get ready, Xemnas! It all ends here!" Yes, this was the conclusion of our journey as we were reunited before confronting the final member of Organization XIII.
The World That Never Was: The World of Nothing
Once we stepped inside it was like we were in a twisted version of that dark city and castle area we just walked through that was the home of all nobodies, but then I saw that huge building off in the distance with the symbol of this group on it. There standing on that strange, tall building was not only some kind of beast it was also where "The Superior" was waiting for us. This wouldn't be as easy as Sora's one-on-one battle with this nobody. I could already imagine what kind of ordeals were coming for all of us.
"So...it seems your hearts have led you to obliteration. Perhaps it doesn't pay to be too loyal to one's heart. I will have to be sure and remember that." Hold on...HE'S TOSSING A BUILDING AT US!?
I knew we needed to retreat to avoid getting crushed, but I noticed that Mickey was pushed further away from us when the door we used to enter this place began to close up making it impossible to get to Mickey before the way back closed.
"We can take him on our own!"
"That's right!" Sora led the charge through this eerie world that we would need to get through in order to face Xemnas knowing that we wouldn't be going through an uphill climb; actually we were moving downward through a long hallway until a series of building rose up from the ground to hurt us until Sora chopped down the buildings in front of us with one slice.
"Nice one, Sora!" I'll say he cleared the pathway in one single move showing us how strong Sora really has become! Getting into a new section I saw the huge moving building with that gigantic monster covering it float into the air before it slammed into the ground making the very "floor" we were standing on quickly rose up from the bottom area of this world. Then, several MORE buildings floated up into the air to come down right on our heads if we couldn't stop them.
"Kairi! Riku!" Sora asked us to provide him with some assistance to boost into the air, which let him get high enough to cut through more of these buildings while actually jumping on some broken pieces to remain in the air telling us to follow his lead. While I was afraid of being this high in the sky, the mood quickly turned into fascination as I saw how far Sora moved through these series of buildings creating a road in the middle of the air to this huge dragon-looking building.
"Woah! Is this some kind of engine area?" Knowing some things about automobiles from class I was able to theorize that we must be standing outside of a huge engine core.
"Watch out they're coming right at us!" Riku warned me about these smaller nobodies who suddenly began to pop-up around the place, so we began to attack them only to see they were being sucked back into the background where this engine was making a buzzing noise.
"Stitch! Chicken Little! Peter Pan! Genie!"
"He's using all four of those summons at once?!" Donald told me that Sora usually had trouble getting just one person to come out of thin air to help him out in battle, but then I noticed he was also that new "Final Form" rather than his normal outfit meaning he could do this because of that new kind of Drive Form he's using right now.
"Think you all can help us take care of these engines?"
"No problem, Sora! You just have to wish it and I'll get right to work."
"But you're not even my Genie or anyone else's anymore."
"That doesn't mean I don't owe you for what you, Riku, Donald, Goofy, and your lovely red-haired girlfriend have done for all of us!"
"Less talkie and more action guys!" I couldn't help feeling my cheeks burn while I tried to change the subject to the nobodies swarming around us in the air. With their help, I focused on grabbing into some of these guys with the help of the vines coming out of my Keyblade sending them back into the engine until I heard it begin to make a louder noise.
"It's about to explode we need to move now!" Riku yelled out to us, so we ran over to the edge of this little walkway to move to the next engine that we had to destroy before we could move higher up this huge floating fortress, a sudden boom came behind us when we got onto the second platform as we looked at the broken engine fall out of its position falling downward.
"You're not going to stop us here!" Pointing at the small nobodies who resembled the ones that traveled through the pathways in-between the other worlds I blasted at these hollow beings with all of the spells at my disposal. Each of these elemental attacks connected with these guys while Riku swung around with his bat-shaped weapon while each of Sora's summoned friends began to pitch in their efforts to speed up this process in eliminating this other side's engine to hopefully make things easier for us.
"This is the power of teamwork!"
"Not to mention the Keyblade, Sora!" Smiling at my friend who was knocking back more of these nobodies while I kept flinging them into the engine that looked like it was ready to fire some kind of beam at us - meaning we had to destroy it while time was still on our side by sending these creatures into it before we were blasted away when I could hear the engine begin to break apart meaning we were successful in destroying both of these devices. Jumping after Sora and Riku I noticed we were now heading into a huge hole in the middle of this white building: the very symbol of this Organization allowed us inside to destroy its own leader.
"This must be da center of this place." Goofy remarked as we fell down into a smaller room to watch a huge device that was glowing brightly with the symbol of nobodies on it.
"Guessing we gotta trash this core as well," Riku said making me giggle with amusement. "What was so funny about that comment?"
"Nothing!" Focusing back on the issue at hand we began to attack this device to stop it from powering up whatever it was connected to, but then a force field was formed that deflected our attacks. Looking behind my back I saw those nobodies that once served Axel and Auxaq trying to attack us, so I used some powerful ice spells while Sora charged at them with some thunder spells along with his friends taking out some of these lesser nobodies trying to protect this room.
"Look out!" I pulled Sora out of the way as part of the room slammed down to crush him surprising the both of us when he ended up falling on top of me creating one hell of an embarrassing moment for the both of us.
"Sorry!" We both spoke out before turning our attention on the claymore-wielding nobodies along with several of those smaller shape-shifting ones that replaced those other nobodies. Running past these bigger ones I sliced through the smaller enemies first to make things less chaotic for Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Riku.
"Nice work, Kairi!" I gave Sora a thumbs up before holding out my Keyblade to stop one of the bigger nobodies' claymore weapons from crushing me when they slammed it near me. I'd forgotten how strong these guys were, and I couldn't afford to get hurt too badly with my other injuries still affecting me. Then, I saw those lancer-using nobodies coming down to attack us with four snipers getting into position on the walls making it hard to hit them from our position in this room.
"Goofy! Toss your shield at them so that I can finish off Xigbar's soldiers!" I needed him to provide a way to knock them off the walls, and Riku with Donald's help covered the dragoon nobodies who were trying to fight us as well. Running my weapon through these guys before they could adjust their aim to blast me I took out the long-ranged threat these ones can provide giving Sora and Riku breathing room to wipe out the lancers remaining.
"Now, to finish off the core!" I followed Sora and Riku's lead into a flurry of attacks on this device together to ensure that we didn't have to worry about that force field blocking our progress again working alongside my best friends who like myself have become quite similar to Aqua's own friends in Terra and Ventus.
'I will make this right not just for everyone else, but for you the person who helped me come down this new path to reach this destiny of mine.'
Suddenly, the area we were in had shifted or perhaps we were moved to a different location in this bizarre place looking at a huge throne with a suit of armor that was sitting down waiting for us.
"It looks kind of like that armor being used against me by Auxaq." Unlike her more slim suit, the metal tin-can in front of us looked bulkier in shape: the man inside of it must be Xemnas.
"Looks like we're finally seeing his true form!" Clutching my Keyblade I knew that while he didn't seem like he would be moving this wasn't gone to be a walk in the park.
"Cursed fool!"
Taking the fight to Xemnas I saw those arrow guns that Xigbar used being pointed right at us, but then I saw quite a few of Luxord's cards being tossed around the arena making things very chaotic. I quickly realized Xemnas not only commanded all nobodies, his powers allowed him to use the weapons of each of the fallen members of his Organization. I didn't even feel those knives that Larxene used until I felt some blood dripping down my arms they were moving that fast.
"We have to remain on guard while these weapons are being tossed around." I followed Riku's advice while looking at Xaldin's several lances coming down from the air to hit us out of the sky while I noticed some water clones of Demyx were also coming as well. The only chance we had of breaking through this kind of attack would be working together as a team.
"Riku, you cover the clones, Donald and Goofy can handle the lances, and Kairi do you think you can protect my back?" Sora's voice sounded very mature and wise compared to when we were so much younger.
"Of course!"
"Let's do this, Sora!"
Following his battle plan, I watch Sora's back in case any of these weapons came after him such as Saix's claymore and Marluxia's scythe that flew around to try and remove our heads forcing me to toss around some more vines to defend Sora's backside.
"I'll keep you safe..." The pain from Saix's weapon impaling my arm certainly hurt a lot, however, I couldn't let this suffering break me down quite yet! Using my petals to block out Marluxia's scythe from landing a blow Sora finally got close enough to begin hitting Xemnas with his Keyblade while his guard was finally down for a moment of time due to all of us working on keeping the members of the fallen Organization members busy with Riku knocking away the scythe with his sword.
"Argh!" Xemnas quickly knocked Sora back with that huge blade he was using while sending out quite a lot of those metal fans Auxaq once used before she regained the power to use her Keyblade forcing me to fire out the full extent of my power that I only recently unlocked within myself, the petals spun around fast enough to deflect the sharp-tipped fans trying to hit Sora with Lexaeus' weapon slamming around creating shockwaves that made us fall over onto the floor.
"I'll make some room, but you have to land some hits on him this time to gain the element of surprise. Then, I'll take it from there and we can end this gauntlet!"
"ME?!" Sora was looking at me with a serious expression when he told me about this change in tactics, which caused me to gasp out in fear of what might go wrong with this gameplan. Compared to Sora I wasn't exactly ready to fight someone like Xemnas especially with this armor now covering his body.
"Is that all...? Is that the breadth of your hearts?" We aren't giving up, Xemnas! Glaring at the Nobody Riku gave me a nod of approval along with Donald, Goofy, and Sora.
"You've got this, Kairi. Riku, my pals, and I know you can handle this one."
'I believe in you as well; we have different faces but if I have faith in myself along with your friends then...' I can do this like your saying, Namine. This doubt of mine was understandable, but if I didn't do this Sora would be at risk to get into a dangerous position not that I was exactly safe at the moment. Holding out the key to my own destiny I knew that it was our time to end this long, bitter, and painful road to reaching the conclusion of our journey with Xemnas severing as the final roadblock to remove.
"I can do this!" Grasping onto my weapon I let Sora, Riku, and Mickey's friends provide cover me while I made the charge at the armored version of this Nobody who projected another barrier to keep us from harming him along with a few books that began to cast magic spells likely Zexion's chosen tool for combat. There were so many powers Xemnas was using right now it seemed impossible to stop him at this rate when I noticed Vexen's shield also protecting Xemnas from harm. There seemed to be no end to a number of abilities Xemnas has at his disposal.
"We've got it!" Donald and Goofy worked together to remove the shield in my weapon along with breaking down that barrier Xemnas had put up while Sora and Riku took on the lances and sniper guns allowing me a small window of time.
'Now is the moment to strike...' I didn't hesitate to push my body past that giant weapon Xemnas used to attack me knowing one wrong move would result in failure and possibly my death, so I made the most of this opportunity to strike Xemnas with all of my strength in myself and my chosen blade.
"Anger... Hatred... Envy... See how the heart's greatest virtues... sustain me!"
"Stop hurting the universe and taking away the souls of everyone! The heart isn't just negative emotions there are positive feelings that you can't understand about somebodies!" Throwing out several thorns out of my blade along with several petals that kept grinding into Xemnas before I jumped up into the air to make this last stab with a high amount of force behind this last attack that broke through all of this metal armor causing him to gasp out in pain. A powerful Nobody like Xemnas was showing emotion?
"I shall devour all... the light and the darkness." He refused to give up meaning Sora would need to end this.
"We'll give you the light alright! Sora!" I saw the huge blade come down to hit me however the kink in the armor had been made letting Sora nail Xemnas with a beam of light that was strong enough to severely hurt him due to the armor having a small hole inside it thanks to me. The combination of our teamwork made it possible to actually defeat Xemnas in this new form he used despite how powerful he's become thanks to absorbing this fake Kingdom Hearts.
I couldn't even blink my eyes before we were caught in another flash of light however when I looked around it seemed that we were right back at the altar where that broken heart in the sky was before it was absorbed by Xemnas who was now kneeling down in pain resembling the other Nobodies who were defeated by all three of us.
"I need...more rage...I need more...hearts..." Was this the real nature of Xehanort's Nobody? A being who only desires rage, hatred, and fury over more happy emotions.
"Xemnas." Strangely like Sora, I felt some amount of pity for this being despite the horrible things he's done to the many worlds.
"There's more to a heart than just anger or hate. It's full of all kinds of feelings. Don't you remember?" My best friend tried to plead with Xemnas, even after knowing what Organization XIII tried to do with their own Kingdom Hearts.
"Unfortunately...I don't." Would those be Xemnas' final words to us? I was surprised to see him fade like that considering all Nobodies didn't want to lose what they had left so easily. I couldn't hold on my joy at knowing this whole ordeal was finally over, and with it, the universe was safe once again.
"Gosh, you all did great!" Laughing with all of my friends and Mickey at the fact our troubles were finally gone I didn't even notice Sora going back to speak with Riku until I heard their conversation getting loud enough for me to hear Riku's conflict about coming back home. I knew he must have felt guilty about accepting the darkness, but he was able to find a way to redeem himself. That is more than enough to prove that he deserves to return to the light, and come back to the islands...
Giggling at the silly face Sora made I felt a sudden rumble that caused the floor to shake around for a moment making me wonder what exactly was going on now.
"I'll open a path!"
Riku tried to create a way out of this world but nothing seemed to be happening. Were those powers he used gone for good?
"You don't belong in the dark realm anymore, Riku." Riku truly belonged with us now just like before all of this...
'Follow me...' Namine? Turning around I saw the ghostly image of my Nobody who was showing us a portal of darkness that had been created. Despite me and Sora seeing that girl Mickey and Donald couldn't actually see them. It was because of her that we got our pathway out of this world not to mention everyone else she's done for us.
"Thank you, Namine."
"Sure. See? We meet again, like we promised."
"Huh?"
Roxas...or at least that was his voice speaking right now.
"You said we'd meet again, but I didn't think it would happen like this, and we might not recognize each other." Xion? She appeared out of Sora's body to continue speaking with my Nobody causing us both to freak out.
"I did, didn't I?"
"But I knew you."
"Mmm...it's strange."
"I think I understand. I finally see myself the way you remember me, even if I don't look the same. And you see yourself the way I remember you."
"I always thought Nobodies were doomed to fade back into the darkness..."
"Yeah, but you and I didn't. We got to meet our original selves, even if I'm taking place of Roxas."
"So, we can be together again!"
"Right. Anytime Sora and Kairi are together." I knew Roxas, even while submerged inside of Xion didn't mind this fate of being together with his own special friend again. In a strange way, Xion is fortunate because no one would forget her now, the sacrifices she had made would be worth it to live in with Sora and my own Nobody.
"We'll be together every day. Right, Sora?"
"Uh...yeah!" That is what I love about you that attitude and heart that managed to win mine over, but I knew what needed to be done by holding out my hand for my Nobody to finally get some kind of peace of mind inside of myself.
'At last, we are finally together with our friends again...'
"Stand up straight!"
Laughing at Xion's voice when she yelled at Sora I watched her body fade into Sora's fully reuniting with him along with Roxas. No matter what his other half became or the kind of person Xion ended up being, in the end, Sora was still very much the same to Donald, Goofy, Riku, and me!
'What's this feeling?' Looking at the portal of darkness vanish suddenly I knew that something wasn't right here.
"The portal is gone!" Running over to see that huge pillar off in the distance all three of us seeing a huge, white dragon now flying over to our location makes me wonder if this was Xemnas' last stand against us by using this huge mechanical beast to destroy all three of his most hated enemies.
"Kairi!"
"Sora!" We couldn't stop our bodies from sliding down the floor that was being flipped downward until we heard Riku to order us to jump on a flying device he was now riding on. Grasping onto Sora's body to keep me on this small platform.
"You know how to fly this thing?!"
"It won't take long to figure it out, Sora!" I sure hope so because we need to stop that huge dragon before it gets free and hurts everyone else down below in the dark city, and it certainly looked massive enough to wipe out everyone below with this kind of size and power.
"We gotta blow it out of the sky by taking out its wings! Sora, can you and Kairi blast down the wings with me?"
"No need to ask that from us!" With Sora agreeing with me, the small ship we used floated over to the huge dragon who began to fire snowflake-themed laser blasts at us to knock this small fighter out of the sky. I never expected out of all the strange moments I'd experienced, the last thing I ever expected to see would be a huge floating dragon that we had to shoot down.
'I can't believe we were actually confronting this beast as a trio again...' Knocking back some of these flying Nobodies with my keyblade gave Sora the chance to blast at the huge dragon with Riku proving cover fire destroying wings and other parts of this huge leviathan. Grasping onto Sora's shoulder when we had to dive down to avoid the laser blasts from this dragon along with homing projectiles headed our way.
"I'm not letting go no matter what happens next, Sora!" Feeling the air flow through my crimson hair I couldn't deny the excitement of this moment running down my spine knowing this the end of our journey would climax would in such a grand fashion like this. Changing and destroy this dragon-Nobody, helping Sora and Riku out with their final encounter, but most of all getting the opportunity to do something with me besides standing on the sidelines.
"Get ready for some tight turns!" Riku warned us, the barrage of fire coming from the enemy dragon was matched by our own brand of firepower destroying another engine likely powering the dragon up. Rushing past the huge wings that it was using to float in the sky we managed to destroy a couple more of these gigantic wings to finally stop this thing before it escaped too far ahead. Tossing out some blasts at the smaller creatures trying to protect the limbs of this huge mechanical dragon serving Xemnas even until the bitter end it seems.
"This should do it!" Riku and Sora fired off one last blast the destroy the final wing on the back of this huge dragon causing it roar out in pain like it was a living beast that we had been fighting this entire time.
"Please tell me that it is over..." My inner-most voice said that this was only beginning; I had wanted my mind to be wrong this time.
"It's sucking us down!" Our flyer was being pulled down to where this dragon was stuck inside of some portal, the only choice we had was to land on the dragon that seemingly was pulling us into another dimension entirely. I felt more dread when I took notice of Xemnas who was very much "alive" and still remaining still on his huge throne. Looking upward I saw the only way out of this place slowly drifted away meaning this was truly the point of no return.
"Hey, Riku?"
"Yeah?"
"I wanted to thank Namine, but...I couldn't be myself to say it, not until everything was back to the way it was before. At least until I remember she was here, fighting alongside us, and now I realize that I just had to say that before all of this was over to you, Kairi." I wanted to shed some tears and say something that was also bothering me, but I knew that it had to wait a little while longer.
"Don't worry, we'll make that happen. Once this is over, you two can say whatever you need to all you want."
"Thank you, Riku. Sora...we will get through this together..." With my friends giving me approval I drew out my Keyblade to put Xemnas to rest for good. Pushing forward we quickly were knocked by with that huge blade once more, yet, the Nobody wasn't using the weapons of the other fallen members.
"Look out, Kairi!" I watched Sora get in front of my body as I felt myself along with Sora and Riku get knocked up into the air.
"Hearts are power."
Grasping Sora's body out of fear of falling down I looked how far we had been pushed back with that one attack while the dragon began to charge up some more laser blasts.
"Nothingness... is eternal!"
On top of that Xemnas was throwing, even more, buildings at us, which caused my mind to wonder how powerful he has become due to the influence of Kingdom Hearts. Sora didn't look frightened as he put his hand over mine, our fingers connected together for a moment before Riku asked him to work together to destroy the shield this dragon was using to protect itself from harm.
"Sora... are you certain you can trust Riku?"
"You better believe it, Xemnas!" I spoke up for the friendship these two had no matter what has happened between them before this reunion, but Xemnas interrupted the moment with several more blasts of red beams coming directly at us! Sora floated past the buildings and laser beams to catch up with Riku who was standing on a building that he said would be used against Xemnas' shield.
"Riku... are you sure you're not jealous of Sora?"
"That doesn't matter to me anymore!" He followed through on that by riding on this building Sora launched downward with a mighty strike from his Keyblade, a direct hit on the shield before Riku chopped it into two halves that disabled that protection letting us go right back at Xemnas. Sora drifted downward right on top of Xemnas before throwing me at him to land several hits with my Keyblade.
"You can handle this without a problem!?" Nodding, I felt the air rush past me while my speed increased as I aimed my blade directly at the kink in this armor that I helped create and why not break this shell completely this time around?!
"YAHHH!" Charging up my Keyblade with a Firaga spell I threw the blade at Xemnas before landing a couple of more blows after I landed on the ground with Sora and Riku joining in on the fray against Xemnas
"Embrace the Nothingness!"
Once more he put up a barrier to keep us back along with swinging around the long weapon that made it difficult to get in much offense before having to move back from this throne chair dragging out things even more.
"Why do you despise the Void?"
I tried to stab my Keyblade into the floor to keep us in this small room, but the wind was too much when Xemmnas pushed all three of us back into the sky again having to fly back down to end this battle. Clutching on tighter I felt my cheeks burn up as I rode on Sora's back to avoid the snowflake beams trying to keep us from getting back down to Xemnas. As Sora worked with Riku to knock down that shield again I knew that we had to make this last attack count this time, so when we dropped back down once the dragon was rendered helpless each of our blades went to work on Xemnas.
"Your time is over, Xemnas!" I knew we had to finish this before Xemnas could gain the upper hand again, but when I cracked more of this armor I saw that outfit he was wearing beginning to change its color from a simple black outfit to something more akin to a zebra's skin before once more the world around us had turned complete bright and impossible to see.
Unknown Location
"Heroes from the realm of light...I will not allow it to end this way - not yet."
Xemnas had changed his outfit along with the surroundings we were into, the area now like an endless vast void of nothingness with no end in sight. I'm guessing this must be where things would finally end in this long gauntlet we've had to deal with thanks to this Nobody.
"If light and darkness are eternal, then surely we nothings must be the same...Eternal!"
Even until now he refused to surrender and accept his defeat, so we would have to make Xemnas own up to his actions one last time.
"You're right, light and darkness are eternal. Nothing probably goes on forever, too. But guess what, Xemnas?"
"That doesn't mean YOU'RE eternal!"
Xemnas only laughed at the words of my friends not taking our threat seriously, but that is fine by me! Let him laugh at the face of those people who will take him down along with his Organization of naught!
"No more eternal than that radiance of yours..." This is it! Everything has been leading up to this moment for everyone involved. Am I prepared to fight the darkness in this realm of nothingness to protect that light that matters to me?!
"Anger and Hate are supreme..."
"We shall go together!"
Sora! I tried stopping Xemnas from tossing my friend into the air, but then I saw him shooting out waves of black and white vines around the place.
"Bind!"
I had a difficult time avoiding these attacks with how quickly Xemnas was moving in this new form, and then I saw Sora was getting knocked down while losing his Keyblade so I rushed over to grab it.
"Riku!" Giving him the weapon to return over to Sora I watched them work together to push their weapons into Xemnas's red blades.
"Begone!"
Then, he began to charge up huge amounts of energy that he shot out into giant balls of light that were so massive it seemed almost impossible to avoid. Running around to avoid these blasts I ran up behind Xemnas to slash at his back while he was going after Riku and Sora catching him off-guard for a moment to land some hits on the empowered Nobody. He then turned around to glare at me before knocking me back with those red beams he used in his first battle with Sora that he used while moving around quite elegantly.
"Why don't you vanish?"
Not a chance while our hearts still beat! I tried running at Xemnas, but then I felt a second one trying to slash at my arm until it vanished into thin air. Could...Xemnas have the power of attacking us with a clone now?
"Riku!"
"Out of my way!" Looking at Sora and Riku work together was amazing, the duo was combining their attacks into a series of blows from each of their attacks resulting in a long combination attack, then followed by them summoning a series of blades that cut into Xemnas in a loop. Finally, they tossed out their blades to create one giant attack that covered Xemnas' body in a blow that combined both elements of light and darkness followed by a fist bump of triumph.
"Light!"
"You're gonna lose it all!"
That was amazing! Xemnas was staggered after that, so I fired off some ice spells along with some blows of my own while listening to them praise each other.
"Riku!"
"Time's up!"
I didn't have time to enjoy it when Xemnas began to disappear from sight only to begin firing off beams of energy that was moving very fast that I could barely avoid.
"Pierce!"
"Arise!"
Was he trying to entrap me in a circle that I couldn't escape from? Oh, crap I need to guard and hope he can't hit me here!
"Fire!"
Trying to hold off as many as possible one of the beams connected with my shoulder making me flinch up in pain. This attack was much more difficult to deal with since Xemnas was capable of appearing from anywhere to launch a volley of lasers at us. Running over to Sora and Riku I decided to stick with them to ensure that I wouldn't get blasted from behind again with four eyes watching my back while we deflected these blasts coming our way from Xemnas and his own shadow. With the attacks getting knocked back by myself and Riku got in a couple of more blows with his weapon on Xemnas while in his Final Form before Xemnas charged up his hand to do something new.
"Can you spare... a heart?"
No! I saw Xemnas began to shock my friend keeping him up in the air likely trying to rip out his heart while Riku tried stopping it, but Xemnas knocked him back with ease as I caught him before he fell onto the surface below us.
"We...have to save Sora." I couldn't agree more, so when we charged up to catch Sora that clone appeared again to keep us away and I decided to take the brunt of this offense to let Riku get close enough to rescue Sora from losing his heart again. These blasts and vines were more painful when they actually hit me rather than connect with the backside of this Keyblade, however, this pain was nothing compared to the idea of losing my precious friend to the darkness again.
"Kairi! Hang in there!" Riku provided help with some Dark Firaga blasts to keep this copy distracted while he grabbed Xemnas' arm before knocking his face in with his elbow and tossed him backward leaving him open for my attacks from all three of us as I charged up my Keyblade's magical power to unleash a strong burst of fire mixed in with light.
"Sora... Riku...Kairi... there is falsehood within your hearts... Do you dare deny it?"
"Not a chance!"
We all combined our voices into one unified shout of defiance, a response came in the form of more laughter from Xemnas who merely showed off his two beams of red energy as a threat.
"See my heart's power... Feel it... Know it... Accept it!"
That kind of power won't save you from your fate, Xemnas. Those negative feelings only bring out the worst in people, and for an emotionless being like yourself, that strength is also your greatest weakness.
"That is why you will lose because, in the end, all you will have to yourself is emptiness and hatred!" Tossing out some more empowered petals I knew that we had to wrap things up on this adventure, holding tightly to fully embrace this key of mine that would unlock many doors into the future not just the pathway into other worlds...
Sora and Riku continued pounding into Xemnas before he disappeared out of sight appearing over our heads with a smirk of confidence on his face. He must be plotting to use some powerful move to end this right now!
"There's no such thing as light."
A powerful surge of energy, the strands of light and darkness combined into a huge sphere of nothing that surrounded us all while Xemnas mockingly laughed at us. Then, came several beams of energy each being aimed at our direction as we suddenly were completely trapped in a dome full of these lasers. We had only one chance of surviving this assault, and that was to rely on what got us this far!
Volleying back each blast with our weapons I knew we couldn't stop them all but if we could deflect back most of these attacks we might have a chance of stopping Xemnas for good. My body was running on empty, the sweat poured down my skin, adrenaline was pumping through my bones, but I refused to surrender this fight until my last breath.
'I...have to win!'
That is what my mind kept repeating this process while sheer instinct was allowing me to continue knocking back these beams of light before they all came at us at the same time. I couldn't keep count of how many were left, which might indicate we were about to fall here or...emerge victorious of nothingness itself!
"Sora!" A loud, whack knocked me onto the floor when Xemnas knocked myself and Riku away from Sora holding out that beam to likely remove Sora's head from his body or perhaps stab out my love's own heart...not unless we did something about it! Rushing over to Xemnas I blocked his attack along with Riku as we kept those beams away from Sora but getting hit by them in the process of getting Sora away from the attack.
"Sora!"
Looking over at Riku who felt Sora push himself forward to grab his own weapon only to then begin striking at the Nobody with both weapons while knocking him upwards into the air. Running over to them I noticed Sora wanting me to touch his Keyblade to combine our lights into one singular blast.
"The three of us..."
"As one!" With Sora and Riku's support, I put everything left within me into this beam that went right though Xemnas likely injuring him severely. Now, to finally end this ordeal!
"This is for Zidane!" Jumping up at him I slash him once in the chest.
"That one is for Selphie, Wakka, and Tidus!" Another blow went into his arm.
"Gwen, Hiro, and everyone else I've met in the other worlds wanted to say hello!" Stabbing Xemnas in the shoulder I couldn't finish this combination quite yet.
"Axel, Roxas, Xion, and...Aqua would want in on this as well!" Cutting through Xemnas's own beam weapon I made the final blow count when I knocked him downward right into Sora's position.
"And that one is for me!" The rest was left to Sora who gave a long combo attack of his own before cutting through Xemnas' body with his Keyblade ending this war, such a fitting end for a powerful threat...
"Accursed... Keyblade..."
The very weapon you tried to control was your own undoing, Xemnas. I didn't feel any pity watching him slowly evaporate out of existence leaving nothing behind...
"We did it!"
"I wouldn't be too sure of that."
"Oh, you've gotta be kidding me!" We couldn't get a break as thousands of Dusks began to swarm the place with the fall of their leader. Out of the frying pan and into the fire it seemed, but with Riku and Sora fighting alongside me, I knew there wasn't anything we couldn't handle together!
The World That Never Was: The Grey Area ( Unknown POV )
Uh...what - no hold on where am I? Why is everything...so cold here? I couldn't open my eyes, but when I moved my hands around I felt the cold surface underneath some kind of fabric on my hands. My arms slowly began to cover my face, and when my eyes slowly opened I saw these were actually gloves?!
"Uhh...why am I wearing these..." Wait a moment I recognize these gloves...at least I think I can remember wearing them. Slowly moving my body off the floor I tried to understand where I was only I saw an empty room that looked to be in complete disrepair. Did a battle take place here or what? Then, when I looked at the floor I noticed there was a stick of some kind on the ground with the word "Winner" etched onto it. What could this mean exactly?
"What about my name...I think it was Aux...er. No, the name of mine is Aquxa...no that isn't right either..." Sighing, the next few moments would be very tricky to figure out my own identity because I knew that whatever happened to me I could feel my heart beating rather slowly.
"..."
My heartbeat?
"MY HEARTBEAT!?"
Gasping out in shock I placed my hand over my chest to suddenly hear a faint thumping noise like a heart pumping blood into a person's body. So, the question now is...why IS my heart beating?!
[ Well, that was certainly a long one! Couldn't let things off for another cliffhanger, and so I figured why not jam it together into one climatic update for my readers. With Kairi's part of the story just about done now we begin the epilogue with Auxaq or should I say Aqua coming to find herself back in the room where she died, yet still, lives for some reason. The answers will come next time along with the horrible truth about her new lease on life...we are near the end of this story folks all good things can't last forever. Next update will show up after my birthday in early October. ]