Isn't It Lovely?
God of War and all associated characters and interpretations are property of Sony Santa Monica. Kingdom Hearts and all associated characters are property of Disney and Square Enix.
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"Alright, where is he?! Where's that spiky-haired fuck?!"
Kratos jolted awake at the irate voice—inadvertently shoving Atreus off the bed—and summoned his axe to his hands.
"Ow," his son grumbled from the floor.
"I know he's in there!" The voice—which was becoming familiar as the fog of sleep crept away—shouted. "Don't think I won't chew through the fucking walls, you pale bastard!"
"That's Bitter, isn't it?" Mimir called out from his stool with a yawn.
Kratos relaxed and set his ax down. He helped Atreus up. "What's Bitter want with Sora?" he asked.
"We shall find out." The young man in question, despite all the commotion, was still sound asleep on Atreus's bed. He sent Atreus to open the door as he shook Sora awake.
The young man groaned as Kratos shook his shoulder. He sat up and rubbed his eyes. "Morning," he said with a yawn.
Kratos grunted. "One of Ratatoskr's aspects has come for you. The one known as 'Bitter'."
Sora sighed, shoulders slumping. "What for?" he whined. At that point, Atreus opened the door, and the blue-shaded spectral squirrel darted in like a bolt of lightning. It clambered up the bed and leapt onto Sora's knees.
"Alright you skinny twit, what the fuck did you do last night?" Bitter demanded. "Yggdrasil's up in its metaphorical arms. Again."
Sora, still in sleep's clutches, lolled forward with narrowed eyes. Then, as if he'd been struck, they opened as wide as possible. "Oh, wait. Did it sense the X-Blade?"
"I don't know what the fuck that is," Bitter replied. "Is it something that could destroy the World Tree? Because given its panicked shouting—which I can still fucking hear, thank you very much—that's what it assumes."
Sora blinked. "…I mean, yeah?"
"Do you plan on using it to destroy the World Tree?"
"Of course not!" Sora exclaimed.
Bitter scoffed. "Wonderful. Told myself and the hysteric weed that they were worrying over nothing, but does anyone ever listen to me? No, they're far too busy with their heads firmly up each's other furry and splintery asses." The spectral squirrel hopped off the bed. "Just don't do that shit again, alright?"
"I wasn't even near the tree!" Sora protested.
"Technically, you are," Mimir supplied. "Considering that all Realms are connected to each other through Yggdrasil's branches. Frankly, it only makes sense that Yggdrasil would sense the sudden appearance of a weapon capable of untold destruction." Sora levelled a glare at the talking head, who looked away with a whistle.
"Whatever," Bitter said as it scurried out the door.
Sora sighed after the spectral squirrel vanished from sight. "Well, that's one way to wake up."
"Better than Thor destroying the roof with lightning," Atreus said as he closed the door.
Mimir snorted. "Please, he just blasted a couple holes in it. Back when I still worked for Odin, the dobber once caved-in my roof completely during a night of drunken revelry."
"Okay, that is worse," Atreus said with a wince. "Were you…inside?"
"Aye. As was Sigrún." Mimir chuckled. "Still, watching her harry Thor through the sky more than made up for it."
Kratos smirked at the image. Sigrún was a formidable opponent, and that even the nigh-indomitable Thor had been wary of her was amusing, he could admit. But the thought brought an air of melancholy. Not for the first time, he wished that the Aesir god had lived. Had been able to become more than the 'Destroyer' he believed himself to be. Alas, such thoughts were useless. At the very least, Kratos took pride in the fact that the God of Thunder's last act had been a calm defiance of his monstrous father's wishes.
"Thor. That's Thrúd's dad, right?" Sora asked as he got off the bed. "He died during Ragnarök?"
"He did," Kratos replied.
"What was he like?"
Mimir snorted. "That, my friend, is a rather loaded question." He jerked his eyes towards the fire pit. "Got some food in your belly. Trust me, you're going to need it."
Sora arched a brow, but did get a fire going, and grabbed eggs, some preserved ham, and an assortment of vegetables. "You guys like omelets? Oh, wait, do you even know what those are?"
"We do," Kratos replied as Sora cut up the vegetables first, and then the ham. "I've made them before. Sparingly."
Atreus nodded eagerly. "They were always good. They were from your homeland, right, Father?"
"I believe they originated from a neighboring nation, lad," Mimir said. "Persia, was it?"
Kratos nodded. "It is one of the examples of the cultural mingling Tyr admired from my homeland." At Mimir's arched brow, Kratos briefly relayed the conversation he, Sora, and Atreus had had with Tyr in the Maven's personal study, after Mimir and Sigrún left for Vanaheim.
"Now that is a fascinating concept!" Mimir gushed as the eggs sizzled on the pan. "And it was the mortals who benefitted from this cross-cultural arrangement the most?"
"When they did not war with each other, yes," Kratos replied. "The gods of the respective lands did not typically mingle, nor did they tolerate too much cooperation from the mortals that dwelled within their domains." He crossed his arms. "I believed it to be a security measure."
"How so?"
Kratos considered his answer. "I believe that the gods of the nations in my homelands did not want to have to fight over their dominions. Greece was ruled by Zeus, the God of Lightning and the Skies of Greece itself. The nation of Egypt, directly south, was protected by Ra, their God of the Sun and, also, the Skies of Egypt. If the two cultures truly merged, who would reign above all?"
"Whichever nation conquered the other?" Atreus supplied.
Sora hummed as he flipped the omelets on the pan. "That sounds like a lot to risk on a bunch of normal people—the odd magic warrior excepting. If two godly pantheons came to blows, it would make more sense for the gods themselves to fight."
"Indeed," Kratos intoned. "And for all a god's arrogance, they do not recklessly court death." He had to fight the urge to remark that, despite their usual caution, the Olympians had been quite fond of bothering him, even after he'd led the Titans to march upon Olympus and personally killed Poseidon, one of the most powerful of their rank. "In my homeland, a fight between the Gods of Greece and the Gods of Egypt, for example, would have spelled nothing short of disaster." He grunted. "The destruction that Greece felt at my hands would have seemed like a passing storm in comparison."
On that dreary note, Sora set the omelets on plates. "Here we are."
Mimir sniffed the air and let loose a mournful cry. "I'm going to have to start asking that you leave me with the wolves come mealtime, this is just torture!"
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Breakfast, as expected, was delicious. It brightened the mood from their previously morbid discussion on the gods.
It did not last.
Mimir, as promised, told Sora what Thor was 'like' following the meal. Suffice to say, the Smartest Man Alive held nothing back. As he had been after returning from Freya's explanation of Baldur, and her part in his pain, Sora wore a wide-eyed, thousand-yard stare.
The young man whistled. "Man…the Asgardian Royal Family was really messed up."
"That's putting it lightly," Mimir said with a bitter chuckle.
"Odin was the cause of a lot of it," Atreus added.
"Attributing all their troubles to Odin is foolish," Kratos countered. "They were all adults in the end, save for Thrúd. Any of them could have rebelled against Odin's madness." Freya herself could have done more to help while she had been Odin's wife, if he was being honest.
Mimir sighed. "Or any of the people around them. Alas, it's far too late for any regrets or wishes of what might have been. We can only move forward." He locked eyes with Kratos. "And be better." Kratos smiled gently at his friend and bowed his head in agreement.
Atreus rose from his seat. "Speaking of being 'better'. I'm going to lead Spekki and Svanna on a hunt—they've been getting fat. After that I think I'll practice my shield."
"Ooh I'll help!" Sora leapt to his feet. "Let me get some paint." He darted his head around the room. "Wait, do you even have any?"
"Paint? Whatever for?" Mimir queried.
Atreus looked down at his feet with a blush as Sora replied. "Me and Angrboda attacked Atreus with paint to get him to practice summoning his shield quickly. Seemed less cruel than me just smacking him with my Keyblade."
"No less embarrassing," Atreus grumbled. Aloud, he said, "But I was talking more about forming it from my feet. As in, getting it started. Not worried about doing it quickly."
"Not ye~et!" Sora teased. Atreus waved him off and exited the house. Sora let out a breath, then turned to Kratos. "Well, what do you guys want to do?"
Kratos stood and attached Mimir to his belt. "I had wanted to take the wolves on a hunt as wall—as Atreus said, they are fat—but he alone shall be more than enough. For now, I shall practice my own means of aerial traversal. Specifically dodging. Will you assist me?"
Sora grinned. "You're asking me to attack you with paint?"
"No."
"…Y'know, I'm kinda liking the idea of painting you."
"You will not."
Mimir snorted. "Aw, just let the lad have some fun!"
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Kratos did not, in fact, 'let the lad have some fun'. Mimir grumbled something about matching tattoos, but Sora was as good natured as always at the rejection.
Kratos directed them to the backyard. Sora set Mimir on a post—he didn't want to flop through the air until Kratos had perfected his aerial maneuvers. Specifically, he didn't want to test if he could vomit.
"So, what exactly do you want me to do?" Sora asked as he clasped his hands behind his head.
Kratos summoned a Draupnir Spear and pointed it towards a weapon rack. "Simply throw those wooden spears at me once I have leapt into the air. I shall handle the rest."
"Sure." Sora walked over to the rack. He grabbed a spear and held it across his shoulders. "How intense do you want this to be?"
"Not very, for now," Kratos replied. "I shall inform you when to increase the intensity."
Sora nodded and pulled his spear arm back. "Whenever you're ready."
Kratos grunted and rolled his shoulders once. He held his spear in both hands and focused its inherent magic into the spearhead. It vibrated violently, wind swirling around it. When it fully charged, Kratos bent low, and leapt high into the air. Sora waited until he reached the apex of his jump and threw the spear. Kratos waited until it was seconds from impact and thrust his spear downward. Wind exploded from the spearhead, rocketing him upwards several feet as the spear harmlessly flew beneath him.
Kratos fell to the ground like a stone, dust and snow kicking up in his wake. "Again!" he called out as Sora grabbed another spear. Like before, he charged his spearhead and leapt into the air. Unlike before, however, when Sora threw the spear, he held the spearhead to his left and let it shoot him to the right. Unfortunately, the force of the blow made him spin in the air before he landed, and he stabbed the spear into the ground to steady himself.
"You alright, Brother?" Mimir called out.
"I am fine." Kratos grunted and stared down at the Draupnir Spear. "I merely underestimated the force of the explosion." He charged up wind once more. "Again!" He leapt into the air, and this time, braced himself. This time, while he still twisted due to the explosion, he did not spin wildly.
They went through another half-a-dozen exchanges, and Kratos grew better and better each time. In the future, he would experiment with attacking while in the air, like he'd been able to do in Greece. But for now, being able to move was good.
He landed after Sora threw the last spear on the rack. He turned to help Sora gather up the fallen weapons. "Pick up the pace," he said as he re-racked them.
"Sure." Sora easily replied. He twirled a spear in his hands, waiting for Kratos's mark.
Kratos summoned wind into the spearhead and leapt high into the air. He released the explosion downward to avoid Sora's projectile and began to summon more wind. Only to halt the process, and hastily grab the second spear Sora hurled towards his chest to prevent it from hitting its mark. He grunted in mild shock as the force of the throw still sent him back a few feet in the air. He'd noticed it during their spar the other day, but Sora's skinny form belied his strength.
When Kratos landed, he walked over to Sora and Mimir. Mimir said, "You took too long to build up that second charge."
"I've noticed it takes some time for you to do that," Sora added, hands clasped behind his head. "Does it really need to take that long? Can't you just gather less wind?"
"The spear does not work like that," Kratos replied. "It is all or nothing." He held out the spear. "If I focus, I can intensify the process and suck in items and opponents." He demonstrated this, leaves, dirt, snow, and broken branches collecting near the tip of the spear as a violent whirlwind flowed around it, before he released the energy, and they burst outward. "But it does not actually speed up the process."
Sora hummed and stared at the spear. "Hey, you make the spear vanish back into the ring, right? Can you charge one up, send it back, and then recall it?"
Kratos grunted. "I have not tried." He charged the spear once more, and once it was charged, returned it to the ring. At least, he attempted to. The split-second before the spear vanished, it expelled the collected wind, kicking up snow and nearly knocking Mimir over.
"Well, that didn't work," Mimir deadpanned as Sora hastily straightened him on his post. "But that does give me an idea. Brother, can't you summon copies from the spear itself as well?" Kratos nodded. He did it on occasion to summon a veritable storm of spears upon his foes. "What if you charged up wind into a spear and made a copy of that?"
Kratos narrowed his eyes in thought—would the Draupnir Spear copy itself exactly? Well, he had nothing to lose. He charged up another spear, and once it was fully charged, carefully aimed the tip upward. He focused on the spear's base enchantment and called upon its magic to copy itself. In an instant, a second spear formed in his hand alongside the first one. And promptly let loose an explosion of wind before it vanished.
"Least it copied itself," Sora remarked with a frown. Kratos grunted and tried again. This time, when the second spear formed Kratos grabbed it with his freehand. Immediately he felt his focus split in two as both spears attempted to release their pent-up energy. With a grunt, he released both and let them explode and vanish into nothing.
"The copy will hold," he said, "but my attention is divided between the two. If I lose focus one or both will explode. It is not a viable technique for aerial movement." Perhaps in other circumstances, but not this one.
Sora hummed. "Guess that means you've only got the one shot, huh?"
"Try not to sound so disappointed," Mimir said with a chuckle. "Most everyone else in these lands doesn't have a single shot."
"The fact that I am able to do so at all is a great boon," Kratos added in agreement. He nodded at Sora. "Thank you for your assistance thus far."
"Ah, don't mention it. I'm just happy to help!" Sora clasped his hands behind his head. "And I gotta say, your spear's really cool! Where'd you get it?"
Kratos hummed. "It was created by a mermaid known as The Lady of the Forge, just before Ragnarök." He summoned a spear and scanned it from butt to spearhead, eyes falling on the mark of the Huldra Brothers just under the spearhead. "Though the materials were gathered by Brok, and the weapons was ultimately blessed by him."
"There are mermaids here?" Sora asked in wonder.
"Just the one, lad," Mimir replied. "Don't rightly know how she ended up in the Realms if I'm being honest. She just showed up one day—much like myself, if I'm being honest." He arched a brow at Sora. "I take it you've met mermaids from other Worlds?"
"Not just met," Sora said with a wide grin. "I've transformed into one—well, I turned into a merman, but you get the point."
Kratos exchanged a surprised look with Mimir. "Really now?" the talking head exclaimed. "Why, that's astounding! What did it feel like?"
"Really awkward. I could barely move." Sora admitted shamelessly. "Donald, Goofy, and I would have probably just drifted along like seaweed if Ariel and the others hadn't shown up and taught us how to move underwater."
"Who's Ariel?" Mimir asked.
"One of the friends I've made during my travels." Sora crossed his arms with a smile. "Probably one of my closest friends, if I'm being honest. She's actually one of the Princesses of Atlantica, the mermaid's kingdom in their world."
"Atlantica?" Kratos tested the word on his tongue. "Does it have any relation to Atlantis?"
"I don't know what that is."
Kratos grunted. "Atlantis is the kingdom that…was once ruled by the Olympian god Poseidon."
"Really?" Sora rubbed his chin. "I'll have to ask Herc about that next time I see him. But Atlantica's ruled by Ariel's dad, Triton."
Kratos blinked. "Triton…is the name of Poseidon's trueborn son and heir to his throne." And another name for mercreatures in his homeland, but that didn't seem relevant at this time.
Sora stared at Kratos for a long moment. Eventually, he said, "No kidding?" He sighed and tilted his head towards the sky. "I never knew…Does that mean that there's another Ariel living in Herc's world? Or another version of Herc in Ariel's world? I guess Triton would know, but he'd never tell me. Maybe if I bug him about killing Ursula twice for him."
"This version of Triton knows of other worlds?" Kratos asked. Kratos would expect the first Olympians to know of such things, but not their children.
"Yup." Sora crossed his arms over his chest. "The first time I visited Atlantica, he figured out that I was from another World, and knew what a Keyblade was. He gave me a stern warning about the responsibility I held. It was a real eye-opener. He's one of the only people in all the Worlds that's confronted me about it." He tilted his head in thought. "…Huh."
"What's on your mind, lad?" Mimir asked.
"It's just…I'm realizing that of all the people I've ever met, only King Triton and Tia Dalma ever talked about the Keyblade unprompted."
"Tia Dalma?" Kratos repeated.
"Another sea-god—goddess, rather—I've met. Although her real name was Calypso. She tried to get me use the Keyblade to undo a curse she was put on her that prevented from achieving her true form."
"Keyblades can do that?" Mimir blurted out.
Sora shrugged. "The Keyblade can lock or unlock anything. It doesn't just have to be doors or portals. I mean, I've never tried to undo a curse—the closest thing I can think of is when I helped Cogsworth dispel the Darkness surrounding Beast, and I guess the stuff CLU did to mess with Tron's head—but I'm sure it can be done."
Mimir whistled. "Well, I can think of at least one person that would've prostrated at your feet for such a service." He spoke of Baldur, Kratos knew. Once upon a time, back in Greece, Kratos might have done the same to free himself of his nightmares.
"I mean, all anyone would have to do was ask," Sora replied, face twisting in discomfort. "But I didn't end up helping Tia Dalma. We were separated after a fight at sea, and I guess she had a change of heart, because she tried to get me, Donald, and Goofy to just leave that World and the incoming fight behind." He let out a breath. "I don't know what it is, but there's gotta be something about the sea and the leaders that live within it. Her and King Triton the only people I've met that weren't directly involved with some sort of evil, multi-world plot to know about other Worlds and the Keyblade."
Kratos was silent for a moment, before he quietly said, "Calypso is the name of a…capricious sea-goddess from my homeland."
Sora threw his hands into the air and flopped onto the ground. "Well now I'm even more confused!"
"I don't think it's that bad," Mimir remarked. "It's like you said last night, isn't it? The multiple Worlds that were born in the wake of the original World's destruction more than likely copied each other on a basic level. Cookie-cutter, was it?"
"I guess so," Sora whined from the ground. "It's still crazy."
"Ah, but that's what makes it all so fun, don't you think?"
"Nope," Sora bluntly replied to which Mimir chuckled. He leapt onto his feet. "Okay, I need to distract myself to keep my brain from hurting. Kratos, up for a little training exercise?"
"What kind?" Kratos asked, intrigued.
Sora grinned and leapt high into the air. He floated above them. "I'm going to fly through the air. Try and tag me with your new spear-boost technique."
Kratos grunted in amusement and summoned a Draupnir Spear. "A welcome challenge."
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Atreus shook twice in his wolf form before changing back in front of Spekki and Svanna's barrel-homes. "Good hunt, girls!" he declared. Svanna barked in agreement, but Spekki puffed and plopped onto the ground. Atreus arched a brow. "Well, if you're that tired, I guess we'll have to hunt more regularly. Build your strength back up." Svanna attempted a growl, but halfway through it morphed into a self-pitying whine.
Spekki huffed and lay down next to her sister, licking her snout once.
Atreus shook his head with a fond smile. He walked over and pet both of them. "Good work you two. Get some rest."
As Atreus neared the house, he heard commotion from the back. Specifically, he saw Sora fly high in the air—shouting down 'Try again' and 'You almost had me'—and saw his father leap into the air and use the Drapnir Spear's wind blast to try and boost himself into grabbing Sora. He failed and fell to the ground as Sora shouted again.
Atreus hurried over just in time to see his father try, and fail, to grab onto Sora once more.
"Ah, Atreus!" Mimir called out from a post near a weapon rack. "How was the hunt?"
"Good. I'm not Svanna's favorite person right now, but she needs to lose the weight." He sat against the post. "So…what's this?" he asked as father failed to grab Sora for a third time.
"A training exercise to get your father used to his 'spear-boost', as he and Sora have taken to calling it," Mimir replied. "He just needs to catch Sora. They've been steadily increasing the height Kratos has to grab him from." Father failed another attempt. "But I think they've reached the limit."
Finally, Father just barely grabbed onto Sora's pants leg, and pulled him down towards ground. Father, he noted, hit the ground like a rock, but Sora, even with the sudden force, floated down like a leaf. "I was beginning to think you wouldn't make it," Sora said as he clasped his hands behind his head.
"I had my doubts as well," Father replied good-naturedly. "At the very least, I do not believe I shall reach higher than that." It was at that moment the pair noticed Atreus. "Son," Father said with a nod. He led them over. "The hunt went well?"
"Yup. Might wanna leave Svanna alone for a bit, though. She's gotten grumpy." He gestured to the Draupnir Spear with a grin. "Glad to see you've gotten your new technique down."
Sora grinned and clapped his father on his shoulder. "Yup! It's really impressive. He can't really float like I'd originally hoped, but it's still good for some extra movement in a fight."
"At the very least," Father said as he recalled the spear into his ring, "I can slam a foe against the earth from great heights." He arched a brow at Atreus. "Your technique, however, should be far more versatile." He could practically taste the prodding inflection in his voice.
Atreus waved his father off. "I just got back from a hunt, give me a break." He pat his belly." "And between that omelet and the deer intestines, I'm stuffed."
"Wait a minute." Sora's face twisted in mild disgust. "You ate raw meat?"
"I was a wolf, it's fine." It really was. He couldn't even begin to describe how okay, if not delicious, raw meat tasted when he shifted into a carnivorous animal. Even plants tasted good in the right form.
"That's…okay." Sora walked over and sat against the post beside Atreus. "Just let me know when one of you wants to do something."
"Don't you have any techniques you want to train up?" Atreus asked.
Sora tilted his head up to the sky. "Not really, they're all pretty sharp. What I'd really like to do is relearn all the different types of magic I've lost, but I think I'd need an actual teacher for that."
"I think you're among the right company for that sort of thing," Mimir remarked.
Sora arched a brow at the talking head. "Any of you guys know how to manipulate time itself?"
Mimir's blinked. "…Kratos?"
"I do have some enchanted stones that can manipulate time." Sora perked up. "But it is simply that, an enchantment. I have not true control over it."
Mimir clicked his tongue. "Then, no."
Sora shrugged. "Then I got nothing." He looked down at his hands. "But now that I'm thinking about it…" he trailed off and held out his arms.
His Kingdom Key appeared in his right hand in a flash of light. He looked it over, then stared at his left hand. He stared at it for a long time. It got to the point where Atreus wanted to poke him with his foot to see if he'd fallen asleep with his eyes closed. But then, his left arm trembled, a burst of light appeared from his palm. Sora grinned, but it quickly faded along with the light.
Atreus crossed his arms over his chest as Sora dismissed his Keyablde with a grunt. "What was that about?"
"I was trying to summon a second Keyblade," Sora replied.
"Correct me if I'm wrong," Mimir said, "but I thought you said you only had the one Keyblade? And all the different ones you've previously displayed are merely different forms it can take."
"I did. That's how it usually is for all Keyblades."
"What makes you believe that you are different?" Father asked.
"Well, for starters, I've done it before." He looked down at his hands. "I mean, I have to gather up energy for it, but I'd like to be able to just do it on command."
"How?" Father asked.
"Well, usually I just fight things until I—"
"How are you able to wield two Keyblades?" Father clarified.
Sora grinned. "It's a long story."
"Color me shocked," Atreus remarked with a fond roll of his eyes.
Sora chuckled. "From the start, Keyblade Wielders only have access to their own, single Keyblade. But there are circumstances where they can gain access to second one. Master Aqua inherited Master Eraqus's Keyblade, Master's Defender, after his death—though she gave it up after we defeated Xehanort to use as a marker for Eraqus's grave. King Mickey found a Keyblade of Darkness within the Realm of Darkness, the Kingdom Key D, while he still had access to his original Keyblade, Star Seeker. And he ended up combining the two to make a new, more powerful Keyblade, Star Cluster. Riku's Keyblade, Way to the Dawn, broke not too long ago while he and the King were in the Realm of Darkness, and he ended up forging a new Keyblade, Braveheart. And Xehanort had thirteen separate copies of his Keyblade, No Name, during the Keyblade War."
Atreus goggled at the assortment of names and events Sora spewed out. He looked to Mimir, who was slowly working his jaw. "I don't—This is —How do—I have so many questions."
"Where do you fall, Sora?" Father asked, picking up the slack.
Sora frowned and rubbed the back of his head. "Well…I'm not entirely sure if I'm being honest. It's like this: my Nobody, Roxas, was taken in by the first iteration of Organization XIII. They were a group of powerful Nobodies that wanted to collect Hearts so they could create their own, artificial Kingdom Hearts and gain their own so they could become complete beings. Of course, they could only do that with a Keyblade, because only a Keyblade can release a Heart held within a Heartless, so they were basically piggybacking off my adventure. Roxas was pretty much a happy accident for Xemnas now that I'm talking about it."
"But see, they didn't want to just rely on Roxas, so one of the Organization's members, Vexen—well, he's Even now that he's been recompleted—created these things called Replicas. One of those Replicas, who they named Xion, was given the power to absorb memories and abilities—my memories and abilities, thanks to Marluxia forcing Naminé to break my memories apart. Thanks to that, Xion was able to, eventually, form her own copy of a Keyblade. Well, until she gained her own Heart through her bonds with Roxas and Lea—well, he was Axel back then." Sora sighed and curled his knees up to his chest. "But there was a problem. See, because Xion absorbed my memories, she was interfering with Naminé's efforts to piece me back together after she was forced to tear apart my memories in Castle Oblivion. Roxas interfered too because he'd also absorbed a lot of my strength while I was sleeping." He scowled. "I'm sure there was a peaceful way to resolve everything. Naminé definitely tried to find one. But Ansem, motivated by pure spite and rage as DiZ, kept pushing and pushing for the quick, violent solution. They convinced Xion that she needed to go, and she forced Roxas to destroy her, so he could take in the strength she'd stolen from me, and then he could be just…shoved back into me."
Atreus took a deep breath, and slowly knitted his eyebrows together and rubbed his temples. Mimir was doing a delightful impression of a fish out of water. Father, thoroughly nonplussed, if exasperated, said, "I have yet to hear an explanation as to how you can wield two separate Keyblades."
"I'm getting to that!" Sora said with a mock scowl. "Look, when Xion died, she didn't just vanish. Like I said, all the strength she had was absorbed into Roxas. And he was so mad and scared and just plain frustrated after her death, that his Heart lashed out and sought out all the strength it could so he could launch an all-out assault on Organization XIII." He grew melancholy once more. "Xion's Heart, weak and fading, reacted to it, and granted him the ability to use her own Keyblade as well. And when Roxas was absorbed into me, it granted me the ability as well."
"Is that so?" Father said.
Sora let out a breath, his previous sadness giving way to flippancy. "It's either that or me and Roxas were able to call on Ventus's Keyblade while he was resting within my Heart. Somehow. Either way, it's just something we can do."
Atreus blinked. Slowly, he shifted his gaze over to Mimir. If the talking head had hands, he would surely be crying into them.
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A/N: Listen, I know that Nomura gave an in-depth explanation of how Sora and Roxas are capable of dual-wielding Keyblades thanks to Ventus's Heart ping-ponging between the two and Roxas's anger following Xion's death slightly awakening it and granting him access to a Ventus's Keyblade which he then transferred to Sora and all that jazz. But Sora would not know that, so he's basically assuming its thanks to Xion. I'm also operating under the assumption that Ventus gave Sora a brief rundown of how and why he ended up sheltered in Sora's Heart after Ventus's Heart was restored in the Land of Departure, so that's why he knows all that. I'm 90% sure that Ventus remembers/recalled when he first merged with Sora back when he was born. I'm also assuming that after Xion came back and regained her memories/people regained their memories of her she, Sora, and Roxas (and maybe Ventus, if I feel like fucking with myself) all had this weird mind-meld of memories, kind of like what Roxas maybe did to Sora in the tail-end of 3D. I think that's what happened. Either that or he was just transferring the emotions he felt during that time. Bottom line, how Sora and Roxas can dual wield is fucking absurd and I love it.
