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CHAPTER 44:
A DREAM OF THE OTHER SHORE
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Author's Notes: The music for this Chapter is, in order of scene: 'Depths of the Night,' from the CHRONO TRIGGER Original Sound Version, Disc Three; and after it 'The Girl Who Stole the Star,' from the CHRONO CROSS Original Soundtrack, Disc Three; and after it 'World Revolution,' from the CHRONO TRIGGER Original Sound Version, Disc Three. The three musical pieces can be found on Zophar's Domain.
An unexpected, heart throttling and contorting howling curtained through every feather of Sora's being as the icy jet and violet insides within the corridor of darkness disappeared to reveal the familiar houses and streets of the town of Destiny Islands proper under a ray speckled firmament.
But Sora had no time to wonder why Young Xehanort hadn't sent him directly to Scala ad Caelum, because the Kye-Blade wielder knew those surging tides of howling practically as well as he knew Kairi's and Riku's.
He barely registered the presence of Schala, Yuna, Paine, and Rikku as his eyes rested on Tidus; his head lying in Selphie's lap with Wakka clasping both of his hands in a firm and tight squeeze; while Tidus himself was gazing up at the stars with his eyes blinded by tears trailing down his face and cheeks.
There was another anguish, too; one grasping with speared silvery talons at the back of his heart the same way Roxas' reminiscence had when he'd first genuinely known the hurt of his seventh closest friend; yet as separate to its side as Roxas' memories of Xion had felt when they'd begun to return in the Keyblade Graveyard.
Sora had whipped around, and when he saw the two coated and hooded figures standing near the opening in the hedge to Schala's yard, he knew exactly why he'd been sent here to make his own way to Scala ad Caelum.
These must be two of the new Union members he'd been tasked to identify; and the two who were currently the easiest to reach.
Then he registered the sight of Cloud's Einlanzer, and Sephiroth's Masamune, in the hands of the figure ready for battle.
"Be a stray and a friend, Sora. Not a ruler and a servant, or a traitor and a vagrant. That's how you'll light the way to the warmth of home for the people who you love."
The new self hatred at the knowledge he'd just abandoned and betrayed Tidus to an unknown horror of his own, and one very likely connected to what little Sora knew about what he'd been through with Kairi on Olympus, was gone.
Tidus needed Sora, too.
Right cleanly here, in the simple now.
Perhaps Cloud, and Sephiroth, and Tifa; too; given that none of the three appeared to have the shape to be holding the two swords; and if it was one of them, that meant one or more of them was still trapped in the night.
Loyalty to his heart had pulled him through discovering Xemnas had wanted him to wield the Keyblade, so it could do the same this time.
And; given what Mickey had warned him about in regards to Cloud's and Sephiroth's weapons, and their very possible ties to memories of torment; there was no reason to mince things.
It was better to get to work sooner rather than later.
This time, Sora would do it with the Kye-Blade.
Childhood's Laughter came apart in the unexpected coils of the gold and silver Kingdom Key, and then a far heavier weapon with an unfamiliar heft and balance was in Sora's hand in its place without any whorls announcing its appearance.
Sora almost let it fall to his side before he corrected for its wider balance with the ease born of months of practice switching back and forth between disparate Keyblades, and he shifted it into a neutral guard position.
His unease at how it felt to be holding a Kye-Blade was as distant as the memories clawing at the back of his heart now.
"That won't be enough," a voice Sora had never heard before talked from inside the hood of the bearer of the two blades.
"It's not quite time for you to know whether you're receptive to them because you're the Kye-Blade,"
Tidus jolted violently.
Selphie's mouth went slack in horror.
Wakka clenched his teeth tightly together.
"Or the Persona, or both; but the instant you first touched Xehanort's Kye-Blade during your last confrontation with him, you nevertheless became entirely receptive to every recollection of every heart within all the worldlines of the cosmos, personal or local; since the birth of history; retained within the repositories of the Nebumetic Lae cubes from which these blades were smelted."
Sora suppressed the urge to clench his own teeth at the memories of what he'd almost done, and not done, the first time he'd been consumed by the reminiscence of too much torture.
As well as how the person inside the coat didn't sound like Cloud, Sephiroth, or Tifa even a little; although that alone didn't confirm it wasn't one of them.
That answered the question of why Mickey didn't want him going near Ivalice Zodiac.
Or why Mickey wouldn't even tell him much about why.
Whatever, specifically, Kingdom Hearts' own version of Gummi blocks were; even understanding more about them caused more of the familiar thrusting serrated agony to stab and drag at the back side of his heart.
Could Sora lock that influence behind a unique Kye-Blade Keyhole, though?
He reached for the connections in his heart where the Keyblades usually resided, seeking the Kye-Blade
he was barely aware he was staggering back incredibly unsteadily and about to fall backwards.
He brought one leg behind him and corrected barely in time to stay on his feet.
Sora suppressed another urge to clench his teeth.
Whether it was how profoundly the Kye-Blade's abilities stretched beyond the horizon, what Nebumetic Lae was, something else, or a combination; his heart clearly wasn't up to harnessing the Kye-Blade to channel abilities like that yet.
If it was even possible, even with the Kye-Blade; given how Nebumetic Lae was to Kingdom Hearts what Gummi blocks were to world hearts.
There could be other options, though.
The next second, a defensive Aeroga curtain of solidified cutting oxygen was whirling around Sora.
As Sora himself was the Kye-Blade; there was no guarantee he wouldn't be blinded by dark terror and anguish if even merely the Kye-Blade touched the Einlanzer, or Masamune.
Or that his heart cracking further under the burden of uncountable memories of despair and sadness, and thus plummeting into darkness without Sora's choice for a third time; was all Mickey was worried would happen to Sora if he touched, or knew too much about, Nebumetic Lae.
What mattered was carrying Tidus' hurt, and pain.
And, after having gone through this once already, with no darkness holding his dreams this time; Sora had a better chance of keeping from losing his heart to darkness, or anything else horrible; whatever physical condition he was in after the battle that was likely about to happen was over.
"In the interests of politeness, as much as I doubt this will make a difference, I'll say this one time," Sora spoke to the two Union wielders.
"Bug off Tidus; and Schala, if you're here for her; or get beaten up."
There was now a contained and restrained hateful fury in the voice of the person holding the two blades.
"Fancy weapons alone don't make you a knight of renown."
"Nor does determination to prove you're your own person without the will to go for the win on your own legs," Tidus interjected.
Sora at least had a small number of tears he could lose his vision behind in stinging heat, because there was a defeated and resigned exhaustion in Tidus' voice Sora had never heard before, yet one that was as familiar to Sora by now as the partially bloodshot eyes he'd seen too many times he'd looked in the mirror since he'd first arrived in Traverse Town.
No.
No way.
Not again.
Even Tidus now.
Something slack and practically giggling bubbled up inside Sora; and for a number of seconds he wanted to just sprint forwards, grab the Einlanzer and the Masamune, preferably by the points and edges with his bare hands as tightly as possible, and throw himself with undiluted absent restraint into whatever memories of despair and torture were held within them.
Please.
Kairi.
Riku.
Roxas.
Anna.
Someone.
Why can't anyone give me the strength any longer?
Had Sora really fallen home, back into Kairi's arms and Riku's smiles, this time?
Because this wasn't home.
Nothing had been home from the first instant what he'd believed had been Kairi's love and warmth had brought him back this time.
From the very first instant, it had all been wrong.
Everything had been wrong.
And it still was.
It just would not stop.
The darkness just kept burgeoning, on and on for everlasting never; and no light held it at bay no matter who, or how many times, that person, or Sora himself, attempted to radiate it to drive back the shadows.
"My friends… are my power!"
"One who knows nothing can understand nothing."
Or, was it all of his life up until now that had been wrong; and he had just been blind to that all of his life until Kairi had all but died at the hands of her own father, and Sora had learned he himself would need to all but die to protect her this time; and the darkness had at last stopped obfuscating real existing was and self?
Maybe it wasn't the darkness that just kept burgeoning.
Perhaps no light could keep it away this time; because, finally not, it was the light itself that Sora was at long last illuminated by.
"It isn't you," Tidus must have somehow heard, or discerned; what Sora was feeling.
"These Union members told me what Xehanort's real script had been, before he ad libbed a lot of it."
Sora wasn't sure whether he was about to retch violently, or howl with laughter.
"And they told me what mine was supposed to be after Xehanort revised his script, before your unanticipated refusal to even abandon a fake promise ad libbed that by teaching Namine, and Riku, a new way to approach the darkness sooner than Yozora had wanted either of them to learn it."
"You've been lured out of position here; while jaws of ensnaring hail that will drag them into the deepest darkness yet are about to snap closed around all four of the people you once most wished to find when they were lost in the night, and who you once fought so hard and long to call home.
"And to protect them this time, you'll need to break an oath you promised to Kairi to cry in her place."
"You have until Midnight, after the first time the Sun sets over Scala ad Caelum, to ride your glass Christmas Town carriage as a knight in shining armor," Young Xehanort all but bit out and snarled.
"If you haven't Returned To Mansion by then, I'll consider your oath broken."
The drive to laugh disappeared, but the sickness in Sora's stomach only increased.
After what had just happened to Tidus, even the knowledge Sora had refused to even break a fake promise barely brought any lightness.
"Suffice to say, I'm pretty sure the Foretellers want me to tell you what Xehanort's unedited script had been when you'll feel very bad about how much it hurts to know it, and a number of other details about other drafts; so I'll save that for the next time you're with Kairi and Riku."
What difference would that make?
For Kairi's and Riku's ability to take it, or anyone else's?
Or even Sora's?
"What you do need to know is that, if not for your refusal to abandon Namine; Xehanort's Heartless would have reclaimed Riku when Zexion confronted him, and sent Ienzo's Nobody on his way to recompletion. As Zexion was uninjured, different from Lexaeus, however; this would have exhausted Xehanort's Heartless enough Riku's Replica would have then been the one to defeat him in order to attempt to prove his identity; at the cost of falling into the realm of darkness anyway.
"When Riku regained consciousness; he would have felt so guilty from what Zexion had said to him and what he'd been through before then, and Namine still so empty because all you'd asked her to do was repair your memories, after which you'd then see if you could become friends based on your real memories; and Riku would have pieced together from Xehanort's Heartless' words to Zexion and Riku Replica; Riku would have believed there was no life left to him but to reject both light and darkness and pretend to be a Nobody, convinced Namine to lock away his memories of Xehanort's Heartless and home, and rewrite them to cause him to believe he was a Nobody loyal to Xemnas.
"Axel would have exploited the opportunity; even though Riku lacked the strength of heart to gain a second Keyblade, and Xemnas and Saix would have employed him as a partially benched member of the first Organization Thirteen to lead Heartless for Roxas and Xion to free hearts from. In time, repeatedly battling the two would have jogged the memories at the back of Riku's heart; and he would have at last found Namine and Ansem the Wise and regained them specifically to return Roxas to Sora, seeing that as the sole means of giving Roxas any happiness at all.
"Riku's friendship would have enabled Namine to gain confidence in herself, and taught her the lessons you did; and vice versa.
"Under the new script, Namine and Riku were supposed to learn to accept the darkness in a different confrontation with Roxas at Memory's Skyscraper; where Riku, with Namine's assistance, would have defeated Xehanort's Heartless and then become him, in order to enable Riku to prevent Roxas from committing suicide by returning him to Sora."
Sora suppressed the urge to ask how he'd really caught, and carried, any of Riku's tears; by giving Namine his own friendship, then.
He knew there was more.
Very likely connected to himself, or Xion, or Axel; or more than one of the three.
"What you did for Axel, however; and, to a lesser extent, Xion; are different stories of theirs, and yours."
Axel, and Xion; then.
"Because of me."
Sora almost didn't register Tidus' next words.
The revelation of what had just happened to Tidus drowned out even the simplicity all it could do was drown out emptiness.
"You've been able to ad lib, in ways that prevented things from being as bad as they could have been.
"I just made them worse.
"Has anyone told you yet I've been able to fulfill my dreams of living as an ace enough I didn't forget you, and I could have remembered Xion?"
The hooded figure clasping the two swords snarled with vicious, savagely hateful envy.
Reality and self became a good deal less drowned out.
Much more by the knowledge Tidus himself needed a foe of his own; particularly a Keyblade wielder in a Foreteller Union, far less than even Anna had needed to be tormented by Hans; than by the knowledge Tidus hadn't partially forgotten him during the year even Kairi mostly had.
Because Sora was now reasonably sure he knew why Tidus was so upset.
"But you actually saw writing of hers during at least one of the times she collected thalassa shells from the play islands beach," Sora said without making it a question. "So, without knowing it, you did know about her, and you didn't forget her, and that's made things even worse for her and Namine, and how Xion is siphoning Namine."
Tidus' voice possessed almost nothing but emptiness when he answered.
Sora jolted violently at the revelation of just how worried Tidus was about one of them, or both.
The corners of Sora's lips almost twitched up, a little; at the realization of what that most likely meant, in regards to Xion; based on what he knew about Tidus.
Almost.
But not even the slimmest fraction.
"I'll make an ace of you yourself yet."
The wielder of the Einlanzer and Masamune stiffened violently.
"After the first time she gave Roxas a thalassa shell when he was recovering from Namine beginning to repair your memories; she scrawled her name in the sand a minority of times to attempt to tie herself to the play island beach, and figure out why it felt so familiar.
"I saw some of them, when the waves had mostly washed them away, without knowing I was seeing the remnants of things she'd said.
"And my memories of them didn't even become hazy when Xion… faded.
"Xion, Roxas, and Axel need to hear this first; so all I can tell you is that, because of this, when they reclaimed the Recusant's Sigil before Xemnas died for good; this hurt Xion and Axel in its own ways, among them being that the Recusant's Sigil didn't disappear from any of the three."
"That's also a good thing, though."
How could, even now; there still be warm reassurance and comfort in Sora's voice?
Tidus laughed once, with harsh bitterness that at least wasn't absent of emptiness.
Yet.
"It is when my first true role of my own in the scripts, unedited and edited, was to tell Kairi that I remembered you."
Maybe it was reality itself that was blinding Sora.
Because Sora couldn't think of a single reason he wasn't seeing his throw up on the ground in front of him now.
"However, apparently my determination to win caused me to be too considerate of how Kairi could feel if I told her, and she didn't believe me."
"My friends… are my power!"
"One who knows nothing can understand nothing."
"If I'd told her, her memories of you would have cleared enough she'd have been skeptical; but she would have believed there was a good enough chance I was telling the truth she'd have gone back to visiting the play island, as long as I, and no one but me, was with her.
"The two of us would have then both been on the play island the day Roxas almost found Xion there, and ran into Riku's memories of Zexion in her place.
"And I know we could have changed everything then; because Ceodore, the Union wielder, told me one of the better scripts."
Sora was nothing but frozen frigid ice and a lacuna lacking emptiness and molten lava and the quiet vacuum alone itself.
He knew he should tell Tidus not to say anything more.
He understood, at last, the true trap the Foretellers had laid to snare Kairi, and Riku, and him; and why they'd spent so much time breaking him.
And exactly what Yozora, Luxu, the Foretellers, Kairi's Dad, and the other Xehanorts; had spent so much effort setting them up for.
He knew what it would do to Kairi, and Riku, and Roxas, and Anna; to discover Tidus had been maneuvered into becoming the weapon that would deliver the first of the final, fatal strikes.
Sora knew, fornadiranathemaabyssalnilnever more than anything else; how much he was abandoning Tidus, and betraying him; by not telling Tidus this was why Ceodore had told him this; and to not say a single other syllable, particularly not to Xion and Roxas, or he'd play right into their hands.
But now everything was aching, and drenched in desperate tears spilling everywhere.
And Sora knew he, at least, needed to carry even all these hurts; and catch even these tears.
"We give the Foretellers what they want, with all our hearts, without them needing to damage our spirits further to convince us to do so.
"They won't have seen that coming, so they won't know what we're going to do next or how to react to keep us dancing to their tune."
If he didn't at least find out what these illusory promises of what could have been were himself; Goofy's plan, and all vows and oaths; meant nothing.
But if he played along, and didn't seek to escape even this; this, right now and right here; in this single infinitesimal particle within the everlasting endless silent quiet of transparency; could be what made the difference.
"My friends. They are my power!"
Sora wrapped himself in every last memory of Kairi's, Riku's, Roxas', Anna's, Tidus', Selphie's, Wakka's, and Ven's love, and warmth; he could perceive.
And he didn't even let himself breathe.
If Sora could have literally kept his heart from beating without becoming a Heartless once more; he'd have done that, as well.
Tidus' voice but was, and nothing more or less.
"In it, Kairi and I see Xion and Roxas.
"Kairi introduces herself to Xion, and I to Roxas.
"Xion realizes who Kairi is as soon as she sees her; but once I point out Xion to Roxas, she attacks the two of us. As neither of us are Axel, Xion just begins holding back when she hears Roxas' cry for her to stop; and Roxas stays at the sidelines, unsure what to do.
"Xion, however, has confirmed to Kairi Sora is real; and Kairi's self hatred over forgetting him, even though Xion's confirmation he was real enabled her to regain as many memories of him as Riku still retained; enables her to call Destiny's Embrace herself and duel Xion.
"It's very close, but because Xion doesn't want to upset Roxas too much, Kairi beats her.
"This causes Roxas to choose to get involved, and he defeats us both. Xion escapes while we're otherwise occupied, but Roxas takes us both to the Castle That Never Was, hides us in his quarters, and goes to Axel for assistance in hiding them. Roxas can tell Axel is being evasive about one or more things in their conversation, but this just drives him to ask straight out if Axel will get in trouble if he assists Roxas in hiding them. Axel confirms this, so Roxas just tells us to leave.
"Kairi refuses, and says if Roxas doesn't let her stay, prisoner or not, and investigate the danger to Sora and Riku she knows a decent amount by now; she'll just confront the people endangering them head on, whatever that leads to. Roxas just says if she tries, he'll return us to Destiny Islands against our will.
"Kairi and I have by then learned about the two artificial Kingdom Hearts, and how they work, and we both believe we know how Roxas is tied to Sora, although we won't tell him yet in the event it turns out to be wrong.
"So I offer the idea that Kairi should propose to Xemnas to talk to the other six Princesses and ask them to temporarily create a second Keyblade of Hearts and Final Keyhole leading to Xemnas' Kingdom Hearts through which Heartless can pass to return to that greater heart on their own, thus allowing it to be completed the way they sought to complete Xehanort's Heartless'. Xemnas, though, needs to prove he can be trusted to leave Sora and Riku out of their attempts to regain their hearts.
"Roxas is still wary, but he conveys the offer to Axel, Axel to Saix, and Saix to Xemnas; who says if the six Princesses agree to cooperate willingly within no less than a week, he'll show the two of us to Riku's last known location as surety he's willing to abide by his end of the bargain.
"With their memories of Sora still hazy, the other six Princesses haven't passed their powers on yet, and agree. So Kairi and the Princesses briefly establish a second Keyblade of Hearts that separates as soon as the new Final Keyhole enables Heartless to join with Xemnas' greater heart directly; and we then find Riku with Xion in Twilight Town, while the other six Princesses return to their worlds, their powers now passed on even with Sora asleep because they just became a Keyblade of Hearts for a second time.
"Xion refuses to accompany us back to the Castle That Never Was, but Riku refuses just as much to leave us there; so he comes with us to protect us from any Organization treachery as best as possible. Ansem the Wise responds to this by locating Xion and convincing her the lesser mistake is to side with him and Namine. Xion refuses to return to Sora, not knowing she can drain Roxas, so one of the first strikes she makes working for him is to attempt to take Saix out of the picture.
"Axel and protects him from her over Roxas' pleas not to take her on, and though Riku enables Xion to escape when Axel gains the advantage in that confrontation; this partially smooths issues out between the three of them, as Saix has assurance Axel at least won't leave him for Xion when Xion is a direct peril to him. Saix's newfound increased hate for Xion causes additional strains in their friendship, and increased enmity with Roxas; but he's more willing to give Axel the time of day now.
"Xemnas' response to Riku assisting Xion in escaping is to declare this a breach of our compact and order us to either remain as prisoners or totally leave The World That Never Was. He'd prefer we remain as hostages to dissuade Mickey from poking his nose into matters any more than he already is, but his Kingdom Hearts is nearly done at this point; so he'd prefer to avoid a pointless conflict and create his Xehanorts.
"I, however, make the ill founded decision to remain behind to spy on the Organization; after which I'm easily discovered and taken prisoner. Roxas and Axel; and to a small extent, Saix; keep me decent company, but I can't convince either of them to let me go.
"While Xion's programming skills have enabled Ansem the Wise to finish what he calls a Hand in Hand Drive," so that had been what Ansem's device had been named, "Far sooner, and both infiltrate The Castle That Never Was to disintegrate it.
"Riku has by now found Mickey; and Mickey reveals, at this time, he's less worried about Organization Thirteen; and he and Yen Sid are more worried about the potential for the continual Heartless influx into Xemnas' Kingdom Hearts constructing a second Door to Darkness, one that's wide open as soon as it's forged.
"Ansem is also still fixated on revenge because Riku hasn't become its victim, and he knows this almost certainly will happen if he enrages that many Heartless near an artificial Kingdom Hearts by decomposing it; but he's so wrapped in his hate he refuses to believe that Mickey and Riku won't have the time to lock a totally opened Door to Darkness right after its formed. So he blinds himself to how he'll very likely condemn all of the realm of light if he activates the Hand in Hand Drive.
"Xion, though, reads between the lines; and realizes Ansem is now much more dangerous to Roxas, Axel, and the realm of light than Organization Thirteen; so she turns herself back in to the Organization to alert them of Ansem's goal.
"And I at last get to know Xion.
"Xemnas just pretends to care about Ansem's impending strike.
"He knows the heartshower is the likely result of it, and that Young Xehanort is already implementing the Real Organization Thirteen contingency. And the heartshower will draw so many Heartless a second Door to Darkness will then be all but certain. While centillions of Heartless sacking the realm of light with impunity will make it all too easy to provoke the guardians of light into waging the Second Keyblade War; very likely soon enough Xehanort can claim the true Kingdom Hearts, faster than the Heartless themselves can seize the realm of light to finish returning to Xemnas' fake one.
"By the time the Hand in Hand Drive is about to be done, Xion has become aware she's draining Roxas; but, as she wants someone to talk to; she actually feels she can be honest with me about her intentions. I advise her to steal the Hand in Hand Drive first before attempting anything reckless, as a construct that can alter a Kingdom Hearts may be able to stop the energy drain.
"She frees me and we hunt for Ansem.
"But Roxas has reached his limit when Xion leaves the second time, and feels just as betrayed when Axel then evades his questions about himself. He leaves for Twilight Town, and without Xion to find him; Namine, Riku, Kairi, and Mickey locate him. Namine has by now identified Roxas as Sora's Nobody to them, and they give him his answers. But as soon as he finds out Namine doesn't have as many reservations about Xion returning to Sora along with him as the other three do; he attacks Namine to attempt to dump her at Axel's doorstep. The other three attempt to talk him out of it, but he refuses to be reasoned with; and with Xion possessing much of his talent, and Kairi having received a decent amount of training from Mickey and Riku by now; even Kairi is a serious adversary to him.
"During their meeting, Roxas also found out about Jiminy's Journal, and what datascapes are.
"When it becomes apparent he can't win, Roxas then flees to seek to wake you up by taking Jiminy's Journal from him and feeding it into Sora's heart as a datascape at the same time as he does his heart. The battle has alerted Axel to Roxas' location, and he arrives to fulfill his duty to both Roxas and Organization Thirteen, but he's too late.
"Roxas recompletes himself; and with Jiminy's Journal as a datascape at his side; and Kairi and Riku nearby while Donald and Goofy are asleep in the hallway outside; this is sufficient to wake Sora up.
"Without Xion's portions of the memories there, his memories of Kairi and Riku are fragmented, but he has enough all four of his best friends can sufficiently fill in his blanks.
"And Xion and I discover Ansem has used Axel's absence to penetrate The World That Never Was.
"However, he had taken measures no one but Luxu had seen coming.
"He'd traced the patterns the Heartless merged with Xemnas' Kingdom Hearts with to locate Elsa and Rapunzel as two of the New Seven Hearts, and maneuvered them into leaving their worlds to back him up when he activated the Hand in Hand Drive."
Sora was now aware he was having problems breathing.
"Gothel attempted to stop Ansem from taking Rapunzel with her; but Ansem's minor dark talents overmatched hers enough for him to defeat hers in combat. Gothel turned out to be more than he'd bargained for, though; so he was injured enough when he left Corona for Arendelle Gothel was able to track him off world on her own.
"Elsa was wary of Ansem; but, because she'd discovered Rapunzel could heal with water magic, even though she was convinced she was as much of a danger to Rapunzel as Ansem was, if not more; she pretended to go along with him because she didn't believe anyone else was in any position to protect Rapunzel at all, and she refused to abandon a magician with water magic that could heal people who was very likely in grave danger.
"She also hoped Rapunzel could teach her how to wield her ice magic to heal people herself, and thus cease to live as supposedly dangerous.
"Gothel, however, was as successful at gaining Anna's trust as Hans was; and Anna willingly accompanied her off world to rescue Elsa from Ansem.
"To Gothel, though; Rapunzel was now very likely no longer useful.
"If Gothel could claim Xemnas' Kingdom Hearts, she'd have no more need of tears to halt her aging.
"She thus hired Eugene, believing a Keyblade could be stolen with his expertise.
"As soon as Eugene realized how naïve Anna was, he became protective of her, and he attempted to convince her Gothel was very likely deceiving her; but because she was much more foolhardy than level headedly protective, unlike Rapunzel, it was nothing more than a friendship on his end. Anna herself wondered if he could be The One, but she gave up after Eugene repeatedly made it clear he wasn't interested in her as anything more than a potential friend.
"Anna found Ansem, Rapunzel, and Elsa at the same time Xemnas did; while Xion and I were in no position to intervene.
"As soon as Xemnas realized how emotionally broken Elsa was; he merely told her the truth about what she was about to accomplish, and what it would have done to Anna and Rapunzel.
"He hadn't anticipated Elsa being talented enough that her response to this was to unintentionally freeze the whole Castle That Never Was in eternal winter, and this was the last surge of darkness the Heartless needed.
"The second Door to Darkness constructed itself, all the way open."
"The leading pragmatist will take it from here," a new, high pitched, male voice broke in.
Sora barely had time to tense before a new corridor of darkness blossomed out of the air in front of them, and a third coated figure with the face of an adult Vanitas walked forwards out of it; a version of Void Gear held with relaxed looseness in his right hand.
Every string of Sora's being shrieked with terror, and horror; for Tidus, Selphie, and Wakka; at the knowledge of exactly who, and what, this third coated Keyblade wielder must be.
No
Nononononononononononono not Tidus
Selphie
Wakka
Mom
Dad
Too
Nothere
No
Nothim
NotYozora'sNobodyhimself
NotMomtoo
NotDadtoo
NotTidusaswell
NotWakkaaswell
NotSelphieaswell
Notatmyliteralhome
Notneartheplayisland
Leavethemalone
Getaway
Nononononononono
Iwon'tletyoutakeTidustoo
Getawayfromhim
The two Union leaders drew to precise military attention.
The smile of the Keyblade Master who couldn't be anyone other than Yozora's Nobody was wide and pleasant, but without the littlest shard of kindness or camaraderie in it.
"Why let this couch co-op recital continue when I can give you all front row living room beanie bags before your hearths to how Anna, and Roxas, and Tidus, and Aqua; protected, and saved, all of the realm of light from not just Xemnas and a second Door to Darkness; but Xehanort himself, and the Second Keyblade War, and the Kye-Blade, and the true Kingdom Hearts?
"Without a blatantly buffoonish bloated butterfingered bore Sore blunderbuss like you around that time to wreck the happiness Anna could have entirely gained that day, over a year ago, she at last got her sister back; and Kristoff could have wholly gained, as well; because she's so irrationally driven by feeling rather than good practical sense she refused to take even the slightest possibility she'd hurt you by choosing the lonely and forsaken person who needs her as much as Elsa, and the one she knows for sure is available.
"Or let the suspense build for Tidus, and the little he knows about the grand finale, himself; one second more than you left Kairi alone, and in torment; so you could murder her dearly beloved Dad?"
Sora was barely aware, outside of the knowledge of the lungs concave collapsing real chance he had of defeating even a Nobody of Keyblade Master of Masters Yozora with the Kye-Blade, that he'd decided to shift the Kye-Blade to an offensive position.
Or that the ruined, very little and young and small and fissured keening wail; through the tears still obscuring anywhere and all things in blinding oceans of jet starfire that felt more a part of him than he'd believed anything could since before he could remember; as he sprinted directly at Yozora's Nobody with energies he'd never believed blood could pulsate with thrumming out of his heart and curtains of onyx adumbrating the Kye-Blade; even while storming clouds of crimson and pale aquamarine his mind refused to tell him the reasons his heart was shrieking itself labyrinthine switchback raw were beyond saying incredibly important were now coalescing in the skies above; was his own.
.
"Just doing what I swore an oath to the Emperor to do. To serve the dark side. Oaths matter, Luke. They're all you're left with in the end."-Shira Brie/Darth Lumiya
STAR WARS:
LEGACY OF THE FORCE: Book Five:
SACRIFICE