Chapter 24

Showdown at the Keyblade Graveyard

Silence filled the gummi ship as Molly and Libby were piloting, both of them prepared for their battle with Xehanort. Deep down, they were both scared of what might happen once they encounter Xehanort.

After traveling for what felt like hours, Molly and Libby soon found the Keyblade Graveyard. Knowing that the end of their journey was near, Molly guided Mollibby towards the new world before landing.

Once they got out, Molly and Libby took a look around. The Keyblade Graveyard was a dark and desolate place with vast wastelands that went on for miles. There was not the tiniest bit of life to be found anywhere.

Despite how positive Molly had been throughout the journey, she couldn't hide her fear any longer. She knew that Libby felt the same way because she felt Libby tightly hold on to her hand. Her hand was trembling from the anticipation of the upcoming battle. Libby knew that she and Molly fought countless Heartless and villains before, but after seeing how much of a threat Xehanort was, their fight with him was not going to be easy.

"It's going to be okay, Libby. After this last fight, we can go back home together." Molly assured Libby.

"Y-You're right. Let's stop Xehanort." Libby finally agreed before she followed Molly.

They soon began their walked through the Keyblade Graveyard. Much to their surprise, there was not a single Heartless to be found. The thought of them being seemingly alone only made Molly and Libby feel even more anxious.

It wasn't long before the girls reached a crossroad. There, they found countless keyblades of fallen keyblade wielders stuck in the ground. This was all too much for Molly and Libby to take in. They couldn't imagine how horrific this Keyblade War had been all those years ago.

Soon, the silence was soon broken by a couple of footsteps approaching Molly and Libby. They looked up to see that it was Xehanort approaching them, so they immediately summoned their keyblades, ready to fight.

"It's a horrific sight, isn't it?" Xehanort asked, gesturing towards the abandoned keyblades. "Countless keyblade wielders lost their lives in the great Keyblade War. Now, we shall recreate what happened all those years ago, and the power of Kingdom Hearts shall be mine!"

"We won't let that happen, Xehanort!" Libby yelled.

Molly nodded in agreement. "You have hurt so many of our friends, and we are never going to forgive you for what you have done! Libby and I are going to stop you!"

Xehanort let out a dark chuckle before he summoned his own keyblade, known as, The Gazing Eye. "Very well! Let's see how long your light can protect you!"

The sky soon turned dark and Molly and Libby were caught off guard when they got surrounded by an army of Heartless. All of them slowly approached Molly and Libby before they began to pounce. Thinking fast, Molly and Libby slashed the Heartless with their keyblades.

No matter how many Heartless they defeated several more Heartless showed up to take their place. Despite using all of their best magic and skills, Molly and Libby found themselves to be slowly overwhelmed as more Heartless began to attack them.

Seeing that his enemies were weak, Xehanort used his powers to pull all of the keyblades from the ground and send them flying towards Molly and Libby. Desperate to avoid the attack, Molly and Libby shielded themselves with their keyblades, but it ended up being pointless. Whether they tried protecting each other or dodging the keyblades, they ended up getting hit no matter what.

By the time the storm of keyblades vanished, Molly and Libby were kneeing on the ground as they were both covered in cuts and bruises.

"How disappointing! I had higher expectations for you two! Perhaps you simply require a little motivation!" Xehanort then used his dark powers to lift Libby off the ground and drag her towards him.

Molly gasped once she realized what was going on. "Libby! Let her go!"

Despite how weak she felt, Molly forced herself to get back up and save Libby. This only caused the Heartless to get in her way and attack her.

"M-Molly." Libby weakly raised her arm in a futile attempt to reach Molly.

Desperate to rescue her girlfriend, Molly slashed her way through the Heartless before she was finally able to see Libby. Right when Molly reached out for Libby's hand, Xehanort raised his keyblade in the air and slashed Libby from behind. Molly's eyes widened in horror as Libby let out a scream of pain before her body disappeared, leaving nothing but a few sparks of light that slowly faded away.

"NO! LIBBY!"

As Libby faded away, Molly dropped to her knees, trying to process the horror she just witnessed. Silence filled the air before Molly let out a scream of despair. Tears fell from her eyes onto the ground as she sobbed uncontrollably. This had to be a nightmare! Molly hoped that she was dreaming and she would just wake up next to Libby in the gummi ship any second, but knew that this was real.

Libby, Molly's best friend and girlfriend. The girl who stood by Molly's side since the very beginning was now dead. Soon, Molly's grief turned into rage as she gripped her keyblade tightly. Xehanort noticed this, but didn't seem concerned. In fact, he looked as though this was exactly what he wanted.

"I can sense the anger from within you, Molly!" Xehanort spoke up. "After what I had done to Libby, you want nothing more than to strike me down! Do not resist the temptation, give in to the darkness in your heart!"

Molly slowly got back up to reveal an expression of rage and sorrow.

"XEHANORT!" Molly screamed as she sprinted towards Xehanort with rage filled tears in her eyes.

The army of Heartless stood in Molly's way once again, but she didn't care anymore. Any Heartless that dared to stand in Molly's way ended up getting destroyed just from a single strike from her keyblade.

With no more Heartless in her way, Molly jumped in air and swung her keyblade at Xehanort. However, Xehanort expected this and blocked the attack with his own keyblade.

"Why Libby?! Why her?!" Molly yelled as more tears ran down her cheeks.

Xehanort simply ignored the question. "Good, Molly! Channel your hatred towards me into your own strength!"

"I'll kill you!" Molly screamed, repeatedly slamming her keyblade against Xehanort's keyblade.

This ended up being pointless as Xehanort was not struggling in the slightest. Molly raised her keyblade to kill Xehanort, but was taken by surprise when he sent her flying back with a blast of darkness.

Just like that, all of Molly's anger and rage was replaced by fear and despair. She struggled to get up, but was too weak from the attack. All she could do was watch as Xehanort approached her, keyblade in hand. It was at that moment when he decided to finish Molly off by summoning darkness to consume her. With no more fight left in her, Molly slowly closed her eyes before being completely enveloped in the darkness.

"Molly, wake up!" A voice suddenly called out to Molly.

As she heard the voice, Molly opened her eyes to see Chirithy looking down at her.

"Ch-Chirithy?" Molly was surprised to see the same cat-like creature who helped her and Libby at the very beginning of their journey.

Molly looked around to see that she was back in the Final World. As she regained her consciousness, Molly sat up, trying to process what just happened.

"I wasn't expecting to see you back here." Chirithy said, surprised to see Molly again. "What happened?"

Soon, Molly remembered the horrific events that happened at the Keyblade Graveyard. The battle with Xehanort, getting attacked by the army of Heartless, and Libby right when she- Molly couldn't even finish the thought before she ended up breaking down into tears.

"Molly, what's wrong?" Chirithy asked.

"I couldn't save her! Xehanort just killed Libby! Libby is dead, and I'm never going to see her again!"

Molly slammed her fists against the ground as she couldn't stop the tears from falling from her eyes. She was ready to give up when Chirithy said something she wasn't expecting.

"But that's not true!"

Molly sniffed before turning to Chirithy, confused. "Wh-What?"

"I sense that Libby is still alive! It seems that her heart has been fractured into multiple pieces." Chirithy explained.

Surprised by what she had learned, Molly regained some hope. If there was even the smallest chance for her to save Libby, she was willing to take that chance.

"Are you saying that I can still save Libby?" Molly asked, now more determined than ever.

"Technically, yes, but-"

"I'll do it!" Molly said, interrupting what Chirithy had to say.

"But you didn't even hear my warning! Are you even aware of what you're getting yourself into?" Chirithy asked, annoyed.

"I don't care! Libby needs me! Please tell me what I need to do! I'll do anything!"

Seeing that Molly was determined to save Libby by any means, Chirithy decided to tell Molly what to do. "Okay, so like I said, Libby's heart is shattered into multiple pieces. If you can dive into Libby's heart and find all 7 missing pieces, you might be able to restore her back to normal. It is going to be really dangerous though. You would have to face darkness that is stronger than anything you have ever encountered on your journey."

"If it means I can save Libby, then I'm willing to take that chance!" Molly assured.

"If you are this determined, then I guess I can't stop you." Chirithy said before a portal appeared out of nowhere. "Step into this portal, and you should be able to rescue Libby from there. Be careful, Molly!"

"I will! Thanks, Chirithy!" Molly smiled before turning to face the portal.

Once she was ready, Molly gathered her courage and stepped through the portal. No matter what got in her way, nothing was going to stop her from saving Libby.