The World That Never Will Be Chapter 36
by the infamous and notorious tocasia
9/27/2023
CHAPTER 36
"What is your solution?" Sephiroth asked.
Yen Sid outlined his plan, "I have sent Sora and Riku into a dimension of dreams to train for their Marks of Mastery. They will return as Keyblade Masters, strong enough to defeat Xehanort. Merlin has agreed to shoulder Kairi's training using similar methods. She manifested a keyblade... very similar to yours, Master Aqua."
"I see." Aqua remembered no such bequeathal. Kairi may have been worthy, but their contact was so brief...
"And what is your role?" Sephiroth addressed Yen Sid directly, question tinged with guarded suspicion, mirrored distrust shining through a paper-thin facade.
"My place is here, keeping the balance. I suspect Xehanort has meddled with time itself to solidify his destiny. Such a thing is not unheard of. The stars are already uncertain. While I devote myself to countering Xehanort's temporal machinations, I must rely on Sora and his friends to fight the physical battle."
"You can rely on us," Aqua insisted. "If my saving Terra is what allowed Xehanort to do all this, it's my duty to put a stop to it."
"I offer my aid as well," Sephiroth said.
"I'm sure Sora and his friends will appreciate your assistance when the time comes," Yen Sid accepted.
"How long will their training take?" Aqua wanted to know. The duration of a Mark of Mastery Exam had no formal limitations.
"I cannot say. Time flows erratically, in dreams. A year may pass for them, for us, a different measure."
"Is it really safe to wait that long?" Aqua couldn't suppress her misgivings, despite dreading it was a useless argument, the prelude to a lecture on how impatience would drag her into darkness.
"Do not worry, but believe. Entrust your hopes and hearts to Sora, and all will be well."
No. She had to do more than that. Belief wasn't enough.
"Where do you predict this confrontation will take place?" Sephiroth did a remarkable job of feigning impartial disinterest. He was inquiring about a harmless fact, routine, as if consulting a weather report, or when he might expect a package to arrive. Yen Sid would never fall for it.
"Xehanort has not wavered in his obsession. He will choose the Keyblade Graveyard as his site of resurrection."
Aqua blanched, felt the color drain from her world, from her face. Of course. Another past she did not want to repeat.
"...it was a minor failure, yes. But now I have the memory of our victory to replace it."
Sephiroth's words. Perhaps... she could create the same for herself? A new victory.
"But, I doubt you'll find anything there, not yet. There should be time, for Sora and the others to assemble, before Xehanort awakens. A great deal rests upon this upcoming battle," Yen Sid glanced pointedly at Sephiroth, strange, ominous, a look she did not want to understand, "A great many lives."
"Then, we have to go!" Aqua said, clutching tight the courage of desperation.
Yen Sid shook his head. "That is a task for Sora, not for you."
Sora may have defeated Xehanort before, but so had she! What could Sora do that was worth waiting for, when so many lives hung in the balance?
"Why not?"
Yen Sid pretended a font of infinite patience, "Sora is the key. Without him, this quest will fail."
"Hmph. A villain is not weak to only one hero," Sephiroth countered.
"If you weren't expecting us, maybe Xehanort isn't either," Aqua supplied.
"The two of you will not be adequate."
"How do you plan to stop us?" Sephiroth challenged.
He'd had enough of condescension.
Sora, Sora, Sora! Perhaps Hades was correct, and he did harbor broader resentment for his not-loss.
The magical vibrations fueling Yen Sid's lecture were nauseating. A short, repetitive series of upward-spiraling notes, crawling, skittering...
Sephiroth tried to sense if his precious ally was affected by the sanity-melting noise as well, if this was an attack or merely an annoyance.
She was...
Exhausted.
He decided he would permit no more deflections.
Wing spread wide, Sephiroth summoned Masamune.
He saw what Master Aqua would not: the futility of their drawn-out questioning, of defeat in humble diplomacy, for here sat the mastermind. Yen Sid would never willingly answer against the darkness, because he profited by its existence.
And his obsession with Sora was madness.
"Sephiroth, no...!" Master Aqua shouted.
"It's alright, Master Aqua."
To Yen Sid, he declared, "Xehanort will die, soon, by my hand or hers. You cannot prevent it. I will lay claim to his triplicate soul and all the secrets within."
Yen Sid glared lightning up the sword's edge, "Threatening me will not help you. Lower your weapon. I will not ask again."
"You are powerful, yes," Sephiroth could admit that much. "You are the one who keeps bringing new worlds to Light and Darkness. An expanding universe of acquisitions." He swung Masamune for effect, to hear it sing, an instrument of precision to cut away unwanted echoes. "But you do not own everything. There are more places, beyond. Places that have no need of your rule. My world was proof of that. Yours, I will overthrow."
"Now," Sephiroth locked eyes with his victim, "Tell us how to destroy the darkness."
A conquering command, laced not with feeble darkness but with divine strength, the force of will of his dead millions, demanding, by his order, righteous, violent annexation... extraction... surrender.
There was the tiniest moment of puzzlement, of slackened face and drawn-in breath, mental walls crumbling, cracking... Yen Sid's steady gaze faltering, pinprick pupils, enthralled... blinded, by his Truth...!
He would have everything he sought, all that was owed him! For Brave Master Aqua, too!
He leaned into the power a little more...
And then, with a thunderous clap, Sephiroth found himself outside the tower.
Aqua slammed both hands down on the table, "What did you do to him?!"
"He has overstepped his bounds. Be assured he is, for the moment, unharmed. Do not worry for him."
"He's my friend! I'll worry if I have to!"
No one could raise an eyebrow like Yen Sid. "You never should've gotten him involved in this. Using one darkness against another is still using the darkness."
"I know, but...! You said what matters now is Xehanort! If Sephiroth is willing to help, shouldn't we take advantage of that?"
"He is a world-killer, Aqua, and has chosen that path at every juncture. All living things should be his enemy. Do you understand, what he is trying to do?"
No. If Sephiroth was her enemy, his actions didn't make sense. There were the spells without names... but she'd beaten him in the Realm of Darkness, hadn't she? She could handle it!
"He's not that strong. He doesn't even have a keyblade."
"Oh? Doesn't he?" Yen Sid gave her a pointed look.
No! That's not how things were between them!
"What was I supposed to do instead? Stay in the darkness to rot?"
Yen Sid was quiet.
"You were... you were really going to leave me there?" Aqua gasped. "But... why? I trusted you. I spent ten years in Darkness! No great plan was worth that...!"
"Mickey or Riku was to make contact with you eventually. Sora..."
"Enough about Sora! How is putting all our faith in one little boy the best choice? It must have been so hard for him. Was that necessary?"
"The keyblade's chosen has always a heavy burden to bear. And Sora's destiny is the brightest of them all."
"He's just a kid! I'm a Master, and you threw me away...!"
"You threw yourself into the darkness, Aqua."
"..."
Yen Sid's expression softened. "I thought you were lost to us. When Mickey returned empty-handed, I feared the worst."
"...you sent him to look for me?" It twisted in her heart, a spark of hope far too late for forgiveness.
"He tried his hardest to find you. You can count on him as a true friend."
...but not you. I understand.
"Where is Mickey now?"
"Uncertain. Likely, he is overseeing Sora's Mark of Mastery Exam, if his own heart's duties have not kept him from it. When the time is right, he will play his part. As will you, Master Aqua. You will make an excellent instructor for Kairi. A Princess of Heart who is also a Keyblade Master... her potential is unmatched."
Pride lapped at Aqua's heart, the validating memories of a correct choice... even one not consciously enacted. She'd noticed Kairi's strength at first sight. She could help it grow...!
She'd meet them all over again. Kairi, Riku, Sora. New friends would come to her. With keyblades, like hers. They'd be close to her age, now. Or... at least she could pretend.
If she stayed to teach... could she even teach? She was a master but there was so much she didn't know. So much Yen Sid wasn't telling her.
"If you could use my help," Aqua began, "What about Ven? And Terra?"
Yen Sid shook his head. "You must let go of the past, Master Aqua."
"No! I won't give up, not yet!"
"Calm yourself. A room will be made ready for you. You, of all people, know the danger of rushing off alone, unprepared."
"I'm not alone," Aqua said. "Where is Sephiroth?"
"I sent him outside the tower."
"I'd best be going then." Aqua turned on her heel, ready to leave. She felt icy, inside.
"Do not choose your crush over the fate of the worlds, Master Aqua."
Ice burned colder. "It's not like that."
Yen Sid huffed a mockery of a sigh. "Sephiroth may still serve some purpose. Keep an eye on him."
"No! I'm done spying on friends. It's brought me only grief."
"I ask that you reconsider. Stay here and rest. Wait for the others, when all will be revealed."
The room darkened. The books fluttered on their shelves.
It was not really asking.