The next few days I spent talking, actually talking with everyone. It was something I was still admittedly bad at… but progress.
My arm still hasn't reverted back to normal, nor has the Darkness Armor grown any. I did find it made a useful gauntlet, reducing strain and damage taken when blocking with this arm and increasing damage with it too.
It was surprisingly useful.
Even after my Dive To The Heart, I still had Starlight, which annoyed me. I mean, Delilah still had her Starlight too. Though, I was pissed when Saw was given a Keyblade and… his came to him instantly.
It's name was Bloody Mercy. The tip was something akin to a chain covered red ball, the blade made up of chains and rusty looking knives and saw blades. The hand grip was a mix of stained rope and chains, and the Keychain… looked to be a severed finger.
It fit him, honestly, but I hate how fast he got it.
"This thing is kinda neat. I feel like there was a videogame with something similar back home…" Saw said, he and I sparing so he can get used to the new weapon.
"I'm more upset you got it immediately when I had to train my ass off with it." I frowned.
"I mean, what's the difference aside from cosmetics?" He asked, blocking my downward swing.
"First, the stats on it, and second the special abilities it has, which you can most likely find in your Assistant." I said honestly.
"Is there a third or is that it?" He asked, knocking my blade aside and making me jump back some to dodge a swing.
"There can be, but it's dependant on the element of the Keyblade." I said. "While most are Light, there are Darkness and sometimes Nothingness…there's only one Void keyblade but that's mostly rumors." I said honestly. "Then there's the sub element's to it, cause there are a lot of elemental based Keyblades."
"Huh." Saw said, looking his over. "Weird. Cool but weird. Lot of magic smart eggheads back home would bust a nut at seeing these things." He chuckled.
"Trust me, it is…incredible all the information this world has to offer." I said honestly.
"I bet. Doubt I'll learn any of it but I'm not doubting that."
"Not with that attitude." I said honestly.
"...what?"
"No doubts, cause you are going to be learning a lot of things now that you have your own Keyblade."
"Ugh! School?! I dropped out of that crap years ago…" Saw said, letting themselves fall to their back on the grass. "Higher learning can suck my fuzzy left nut…"
"Well, if you don't want to learn a lot cool shit that'll make fighting more fun that's on you." I said simply.
"If I have to take notes it's not worth it…"
"You won't have to take notes." I rolled my eyes.
"Yay! Laziness for the win!"
I rolled my eyes. "Anyways, mind checking to see what your Keyblade can do?"
"Fine." He said, sitting up and looking at his Assistant. "Bla bla bla… holy shit…" Saw said, eyes going wide.
"What?" I inquired.
"It can convert Chaos Magic into standard spell magic and…" He stood up, and suddenly Bloody Mercy was covered in Saw Blades sticking out of it like how they come out of his body. Some even rotating. "Oh, okay now this is cool!"
"Well…that's convenient…" I muttered. "But rather fascinating that there is just a Keyblade that can do that."
"Oh I am gonna enjoy shoving this up David's ass…" Saw smirked.
"That's if he didn't magically get Keyblades as well." I said honestly. "And if so…be careful."
"I'll shove his up his ass to then." Saw shrugged.
"You really hate David don't you?"
"Kick Back, played on kazoo… for ten hours… repeatedly…" Saw growled. "Only reason he stopped was the war broke out. After that he just showed up to offer me some drinks and talks."
"Right then." I nodded. "So now he just wanted to hang out with you with some drinks instead of haunting you with a kazoo?"
"I guess. Mostly we shared stories."
"So at this point, it's mostly you that's just pissy about the kazoo while he's been actively trying to be friends with you?"
"Heh… more like upholding my end of a promise." Saw smirked as he looked his Keyblade over, the saw blades retracting.
"Your end of a promise?" I inquired.
"Let me ask you something… what's more terrifying for someone? Dying, or outliving everyone?"
"Outliving everyone." I said, cause while dying is in fact scary…outliving the ones you care about is even worse.
Saw nodded. "David and his crew were immortal. They'd outlive everyone. Friends, family, heck David wondered if he'd outlive his own friends. I mean, shit, when have you ever even heard of a Phoenix dying? I had Chaos Magic, rare amongst Nokori. He asked me that if he came asking to… " Saw trailed off.
"I…I understand." I nodded. "It…would be absolutely terrible for him…but there are ways to permanently kill someone in this world."
"Yeah. But, depending on what's happened and how he is will depend on if I bring it up. If by some miracle he's happy and his friends ain't dead, then I'll just kick his ass for fun." Saw smirked. "After all, we're both Monsters, just of different breeds."
"I…suppose that makes sense." I sighed.
"Yeah. We monsters do have to look out for one another, right Midoriya?"
"Still…trying to fully process all that." I said carefully.
"I'm still trying to process how you broke soundproofing." Saw added, which made me blush brightly.
"Sh-shut up!" I whined, as I remembered how…really into it me and Delilah were…and then all my other lovers jumped in…literally… "I thought it was perfectly soundproofed…"
Saw just laughed. "And I thought I could get loud. Almost jealous~" He teased.
"I said shush." I stated. "And it didn't help when…all my other Lovers got involved…"
"Well at least you finally took the safety rails off and had some real fun for once. Gods know Delilah was craving some for a while."
How much does she tell him?!
"Okay I am honestly getting a little mad at how much, and especially what, she tells you." I frowned.
"Not my fault I listen." He shrugged. "You really gotta stop getting so squishy and red over sex talk."
"I'm sorry that it's still a very private matter." I huffed.
"Yeesh. We'll work on that later." Saw said with an eye roll. "For now I imagine you either wanna get your keyblade to… swap or whatever it was or maybe get more of that darkness armor stuff?"
"That is your true Keyblade, that is basically your default strong Keyblade that chose you specifically." I admitted. "And…yes to both, I just don't know how."
"Hmm… the Dark Armor stuff came out when you were really pissed and choking me… maybe it's linked to your anger?"
"I mean…maybe? Anger is a part of Darkness." I said honestly, thinking about what I could do to unlock more of it.
"Well, wanna test it out?"
"Well…hopefully I don't have to choke you this time." I said honestly. "But…focus on the darkness…"
"Well that depends."
"Depends on what? Cause currently you have a boyfriend that can do that to you."
"How mad does this make you?" Before I could reply, I experienced a hard, agony as Saw slammed his hooved foot into my crotch.
I've never experienced this pain before actually… so… not… cool…
I grabbed his leg, and used Overhaul as I turned the offending appendage into a blood splatter on the floor. "Go…fuck…yourself…" I wheezed.
"Ouch." He said, his leg regenerating. "Bright side, it worked." I raised a brow, looking at my other hand and… it was just the hand, like a glove, that much of the dark armor was now on.
"Can we not do with the dick kicks this time?" I asked bitterly. "Or just…violence in general?"
"Well how else are we gonna tape into that sealed well of anger you've been reinforcing for I can assume your whole life?"
"There are many ways to let that out, not get kicked in the dick." I growled. "But it would need to be something more…drastic, cause I can't be reminded of my fight with Delilah, we patched that up rather well."
"With at least three destroyed beds." Saw commented.
"I said hush." I whined, getting a chuckle from the ram-goat.
"Hmm… welp I got nothing."
"There's…only one thing I can think of that would be possible, but the chances of it happening are so miniscule it might as well be impossible…"
"Are you actually gonna say what it is or are you trying to tease then blue balls me?"
"I'm sure you'd magically enjoy it." I rolled my eyes. "But…it would be seeing Kacchan, my worlds Kacchan again…cause even through all the simulated fight's I had against him back home…and even my Dive showing Kacchan telling me how bad it really is…I can't get past that…pompous, egotistical, pomeranian headed fuck." I growled.
"Huh… and here I thought you were incapable of hating anyone. Welp, that is not likely to happen. Wanna go back home and get wasted?"
"While it's somewhat tempting, I have some things to do."
"Come on! I've yet to see you properly wasted. Buzzed sure, tipsy, often, but not drunk, wasted or completely shit faced."
"Because I'm normally the designated 'sober man', and while I can be a bit tipsy or buzzed, I can use Overhaul to easily get rid of any of the symptoms of it or a hangover…greatest thing I figured out ever since I started to drink."
"Boo! No hacks! It's go hungover or go home!" Saw laughed
"Suck's to suck." I laughed, before flexing my newly armored hand. "Considering how much rage I'm bottling up…honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if I somehow got something silly after it immediately covers my body, like some Darkness Fire cape or something."
"If The Incredibles taught me anything, it's that Capes suck, and a ten plus year awaited sequel can be well worth the hype."
"I've seen both movies, and both are great movies…it also taught me that a smart person can do a lot of dangerous things…" I said, having gone through my notebooks and thought about…what would happen if I became an information broker…so many lives ruined because of it…
"Egg. Well if you aren't coming to the bar then I'll catch up later when you go do whatever, or whoever, you're gonna do."
"I'll probably drop by the bar later…just got some thinking to do."
"Sure, whatever. I'll just go check on Scotch if you're gonna go be emo." Saw said as he rushed off.
"Says the bastard encouraging it…" I grumbled, sighing as I looked at both my hands. "I have…so much bottled up…and I'm scared what'll happen if I let this genie out of the bottle…" I thought to myself bitterly.
I walked out towards the Nightmare and began just walking. Darkness… anger. How can I safely unbottle it? Vent it?
I jumped, feeling the ground shake. An explosion?
A huge chunk of a building was blasted apart. I rushed over there.
I paused, seeing a man with spikey, messy blonde hair wearing a black cloak standing in front of the rubble with the corpse of a Blood Starved Beast.
"Hello?" I asked carefully.
"Hm?" They said, turning… That face. He was… older… maybe mid thirties, and there was a nasty scar across his forehead. "Oh, hey. You look familiar?" He said, pulling his hand to his chin. I noticed his eyes flash. Scan. "Huh. So this is where you vanished to Izuku."
K…Kacchan?!
"K-Kacchan!?" I asked in surprise. "Wh-what are…how did you get here? When did you get here?"
"This reality? Sixtyish years ago. This planet? The last twenty." He said. "How long have you been here? Also, why are you a hermaphrodite?"
"Better question is, how did you get here before me?" I asked incredulously, cause thinking about time wise, he would have either had to be Isekai'd back in time, or he somehow did some time dilation bullshit.
"Don't know. Personally I don't care." He shrugged. "Well, nice seeing you." He said, then began to walk off.
I blinked…that's…not Kacchan. "Hey wait a minute!" I called out, following after him quickly. "What happened? Cause you are…not acting like Kacchan."
"Oh, that's probably the brain damage." He said, tapping the scar across his head.
"The hell happened?" I asked in surprise.
"Some years after becoming a hero, I set off an explosion a bit too carelessly and shrapnel blasted back and shot into my head."
"You…became a hero?" I asked. "What…what happened back home?"
"Well, All Might was killed, UA got dismantled after a villain attack, Vigilante Heroes and such became more commonplace. There was a huge war that lasted about… five years?" He shrugged. "Lot of bad stuff. You lucked out vanishing when you did."
"Wh-what happened to Mom?" I asked worriedly.
"Oh. Oh, she died. A year after you vanished and some time after the cops declared you dead since they found nothing, she was found in your apartment in her bed. Somehow got a hold of some high grade muscle relaxers and sleeping pills." Kacchan said… flatly and almost monotone.
I…I didn't know what to say…mom…dead? "And…you just…went about your life, not caring that I was gone or that mom was dead?" I asked slowly.
"... Before the accident, I was… upset. I did wonder what happened to you. Everyone did. Your mom's passing hit my mom hard… they were good friends. For a long time I did feel responsible. But after the accident… I found I… didn't care anymore. Doctors say my capacity for processing emotions and empathy were no longer functioning. I ended up going back to work and figured… thinking clearly without that endless, pointless anger. I got arrested for killing some villains. Given my condition they locked me up in an asylum. Some time later, I wound up in this reality."
I…looked at Kacchan…seeing him act like…an emotionless husk felt…wrong to me…"That's…did you ever get treatment here? I know there's plenty of magic's that can cure your lack of Empathy and Emotions."
"I don't want it." He said flatly.
"Really?" I inquired.
"Without my emotions I can think clearly, more logically. Without empathy, nothing's stopping me from doing what needs to be done."
"Then what makes you any different from a villain? That you're 'right'? That some moral compass based on facts and logic is what's keeping you from doing something wrong? That doesn't sound like heroism, that sounds like some shitty robot movie logic."
"Maybe to you, but the results speak for themselves. Since coming to this world, nine towns have flourished, even if they respawn the villains I slaughter hunt after me, and as long as I keep moving they don't bother the towns. They're too blinded by rage to do anything but hunt me down and try their luck again."
"Then that's not fixing the problem though." I frowned. "Cause what's stopping them from burning down the town's you protected to spite you? That their rage would turn back to the town's just to bring you out of hiding?" I explained. "Results for short term, maybe, Results for Long Term? I see you still have that problem." I growled.
"Maybe, but even that will be temporary." He said, raising a hand. I backed up as a pitch black aura covered his hand… I'd recognize it anywhere after training with Kuroguiri for so long. Void. "I'm going to become a Void Admin, then their deaths can be permanent."
"H-how the hell did you get Void powers?" I asked worriedly.
"Some of the loot off the people I killed had a few Void Gems. I remember hearing that only Time Walkers and Void Admins can gain the power to kill a person permanently. I doubt I'd be allowed into the Time Walkers, especially since my Keyblade when I tried wasn't one of those special ones. I will become a Void Admin, and kill every member of the chaos guilds. It's the most logical pathway to bringing Armageddon to peace."
"So play their game?" I asked. "Of course you'd think playing the Chaos Guild's game would be 'the most logical'..." I shook my head. "I see, even after you lost your emotions, your Ego is still the same…" I grumbled, seeing how he still wants to be railroaded by everyone else's expectations like back home, ignoring anything else because 'he's strong, so this should be the way'.
"If it's the fastest way, then yes." He said plainly. "Do you still believe in becoming a hero Izuku?"
"Of course I am, but I'm not going to be playing the games of a bunch of insane people, I'm going to be playing by my own rules." I growled.
"Then you do as you see fit, and I will do the same as I see fit." He said… that… might actually be the nicest thing Kacchan has ever said to me… "I only ask that should we meet again you do not interfere with my goals."
"Your Goals is to murder people, why in Mother's name would I not interfere with your goal?" I asked.
"Out of respect for your mother." He said, making me flinch. "She was around my place a lot when you vanished. She made me promise that should we find you, to always look after you. My guilt at the time, I did. I'd rather not break it." He said, turning back around and starting to walk away. "Oh… Almost forgot." He said, turning halfway and from his assistant, pulled out a few boxes that seemed full and dropped them between us. "For some reason when I arrived here the contents of my room at the asylum were transported with me. Some of them were items of yours I kept out of sentimentality after your mother passed. Seeing as you're alive and I no longer feel attachment to them, you can have them back. Some of your mothers items might be in there too. Mom visited a lot and left me things hoping it would spark something in me, make me feel again."
With that, he walked off.
I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself down after…that…"Alright…" I muttered, collecting the box's into my assistant…"Just…get home and…look through this stuff…"
It was quiet when I walked home, I sat in the livingroom, bringing the boxes out.
I opened the first box… gently, I lifted out the aged notebooks… These are… the ones I left in my room when… They were worn down, but still holding together.
"Everything…is still in here…" I muttered, opening up one of the first notebooks to see if Kacchan or someone else did a thing with this.
I looked at the words. Everything was fine. Some tape was even applied to keep small tears and rips from getting worse. All of the notebooks were the same. I even saw some of my Collectable Hero Cards in here.
The next box was full of my mini figurines and all my posters all folded… Heh, wow, I really did have a lot.
"Jeez…I almost forgot how much of a turbo fan I was." I chuckled.
I closed that one up, putting them to the side and opening the next box…
The first thing I noticed inside was all the bubble wrap. It was filled with bubble wrap. Carefully I pulled it out, managing to unwrap and…
It held a small rectangular box, and a two framed photos. One was of me. The other was of mom.
I held up the small box… shaking as realization hit me… mom…
"M-mom…" I teared up, clenching my fists as…I…I know I have a facsimile of her…One for All made a Genetic Construct of her in my mind but…but to see this…to hear that she…oh god why…
I cried, holding her ashes made me scared. I felt sick. Still, I couldn't let go as I hugged the box tight…
It took a long time before the tears began to dry and when Delilah and them found me… I just broke down again.
Eventually, they helped me set up a small shrine for mom.
I sat in front of the shrine for hours… Just… I've been gone from home much longer than I thought… and…
I looked up, seeing someone put some flowers at the shrine. I was surprised to see it was Saw.
"Wh-what are you doing here?" I asked weakly.
"... I can't say I know what it's like to lose a loving parent… but I do know what it's like to lose someone you love." He said, looking over at the shrine. "Heh… even that photo doesn't do her justice huh? What was she like?"
"She…she was the greatest…" I said, tears filling my eyes again. "Always supportive, kind, caring, was…always was trying her best…I…" I tried to wipe away my tears…but again, another literal waterfall had to happen from my eyes as my heart twisted in pain because of this.
"... You know, despite everything, you have something a lot of others like us don't." He said. I managed to look over at them. "Closure… This isn't what you wanted. I mean… who would? But, she is here, and in this reality… maybe she can come back?"
I blinked… Saw's… Saw's right… If I can get mom's heart, like I did with Izukie, and soul… A body would be easy…
"I…m-maybe I…I can bring mom back…" I said honestly, sniffling as I tried to stop the waterworks again.
"Well then, if you're gonna pull it off, you better get started. We both know there is one person who should know something."
I nodded, pulling myself up and wiping off the tears and.., snot, and ran back out to the Nightmare. I need to find the Saint.
I ran and eventually found them by an area I like to call The Docks. It was as the name implied, a dock filled with dirty sea water and broken boats. The Saint was here sitting at the end of one of the piers.
"Hey Saint." I said. "How are you doing?"
"I am fine. You on the other hand sound horrible." He said, patting the spot next to him. I took the seat, dropping to the dock's edge and sighed. "So? What happened?"
I managed to recap everything. Meeting Kacchan, his goals, and then… getting my mom's remains…
"Ah. You wish to resurrect her then?" He asked.
"I…I just need Izukie's Soul to resurrect her, I…I can do it with Mom to." I said readily. "I…I can easily make a body for her, Overhaul and One for All making sure everything's alright…I just need the Heart and Soul…but the Heart is only with the Admin of Hearts and…Soul's are in the one place I…can't get to…"
"... There are other methods." He said. "A body containing her memories is easy to craft, especially if you do have her ashes. But one can actually craft a new Heart and Soul for someone, the same way one does when creating Synthetic Beings."
"How?" I asked quickly, practically pleading with how fast I said it.
"It's not easy. It takes a lot of energy. Some Abilities can do this, machines can be created to create new Hearts and Souls. I know the Slayers Guild make use of Soul Forges. Getting the body rebuilt will be easy enough actually. Making a new Heart however, that takes some special materials to build a Heart Generator… maybe if we used a converter it can be easier…" The saint said, muttering that last part.
"Anything you need, I'm ready to do it." I said with conviction, ready to bring Mom back through any challenge.
"Well, I can probably request the Slayers create a new soul for us. I know some of my more valuable items they'll accept for a barter. I have what is needed to create a new body already… that just leaves the Converter…"
"Where do I need to find the resources? Or to find the Converter in it's entirety?" I asked curiously.
"... There might be a place we can travel. A place that has ruins that hold the machines we'd need. But for you to enter it and leave safely, that armor must be complete." He said, motioning to my incomplete Darkness Armor.
"I…I thought it would have erupted when I met Kacchan again…" I said honestly, looking down at my armor. "But…I couldn't be mad at Kacchan…cause all I saw was a husk of a man, treating thing's more like a robot than an actual person…I couldn't be mad at someone I didn't know…" I shook my head. "But…now I don't know what would let out all the Darkness…and if I even want it out…"
"You will have to. Otherwise the Realm of Darkness would consume you. Unless you have Keyblade Armor?"
… Crap I forgot I have that!
"Yes, I do have it." I said, lightly patting the pauldron in question. "I just…uh…completely forgot it was there for the longest time." I said sheepishly.
"Heh, well in any case, I guess that means we can go." He said, standing up. He raised a hand, and a few feet from us erupted a dark doorway like portal that came out of a spinning darkness on the ground. I stood up, using my Keyblade armor and feeling it cover me, even over the darkness armor I had.
"Come now, and stay close." He said.
I nodded, following them through the dark doorway… DTD, that's what this is.
For a moment, I felt all my senses go blank. No hearing, sight, smell, touch. I couldn't even tell if I was breathing. Still, I kept walking, and emerged back out where all my senses came back.
The Saint and I were in what looked almost like The Nightmare, but it was… even more twisted. There was no sky, just a high up ceiling where some ruined buildings hung and all around were twisted, partly destroyed buildings partly overgrown in odd plants, strange blue rocks with glowing cracks, and strange variations of monsters I was used to seeing from The Nightmare.
"Wh-where are we?" I asked carefully, looking around the entire place, seeing it all so familiar and yet not.
"The Realm of Darkness. It's a dimension that exists in a form of overlap of reality. Or rather, an underlap. Like a shadow on the ground. Once it was a haven for darkness and the beings that call it home, after the war it became a whole new existence where shadow counterparts of planets and places exist, but it is still home to many beings born from darkness." The Saint said. "Let's just hope we can find the ruins we need soon. Your armor and Darkness affinity will help shield you but the longer we stay the more likely something will sniff the light you do have out. Also, do not use your Keyblade or Dark Shadow while we are here."
I nodded, knowing my Keyblade would act like a Beacon to these creatures and…well, when I did research into what I could have been from other worlds, Dark Shadow became a mindless monster if it was let loose in darkness. "Alright, let's get going."
I followed The Saint through the terrain and keeping close. In the distance I saw some large creatures, Heartless, I realized. Some small, some were massive.
We walked around until I saw we were walking up to a large set of walls, a huge metal gate and…
The guards were strange beings. They looked partly human with limbs or features I've seen from Heartless. One had a human male's body, but their head was that of a Shadow Heartless. "Hault, state your business." They said.
"We seek relics or the location of a Core's Empire Ruins." The Saint said.
"Ah. Tourists then." The person nodded. "Market might have something. Cause no trouble." He said, the doors starting to open and we walked inside where… there was so many more like him inside, of all species and all combinations of Heartless and other creatures. Woah…
"Th-this place is…incredible…" I said in awe, seeing an entire city filled with all these being's I didn't know existed.
"These beings are known as the Hybrids. Their ancestors were largely created by the once ruler of the realm of Darkness, Core. Some time before the war he was defeated. A disciple of his, known as Crow, took control after he fell, ended up creating a new kingdom where these people and people who preferred the darkness could live in peace and happiness. Technically, this place isn't part of the normal reach or rule of The Family, it's a whole new Kingdom existing purely in the Realm of Darkness."
"That's really cool." I said honestly. "There's still so much of this reality I can learn…" I said with a smile.
"One never truly stops, even those born to it." He said.
We walked through the town and found a large marketplace where I could see all manner of… strange items here.
The Saint walked up to a stall where a large artifact with various glass, metal and crystal parts was sitting amongst similar items. "Excuse me?" He asked.
The merchant, a being that seemed to be some humanoid god man but had the wings of a Darkside, hair that was the tendrils that waved around a bit too. "Yes, see something of interest?"
"How much for this." He motioned to the large machine.
"Ah, looking to craft a Heart then." The merchant chuckled. "It's been here for a while, I can part with it for thirty thousand rem."
"You don't happen to also have a pair of Memory Gloves, do you?"
"Sadly no." He shook his head.
"That's fine." The Saint said, taking the rem out and giving it to the man. Once he took it the Saint put the device into his Assistant. "Do you know anyone who might?"
"Try that one over there." He said, motioning to the seller across form him. They seemed to mostly be selling small chains and accessories and such.
We walked over to them. The Seller was human, mostly. She had arms that were pitch black and resembled a Darkside's. Pale skin, blue eyes and very short cut red hair. "Well, what can I get for you?" She asked.
"Do you have Memory Gloves?" I asked politely, not wanting to try and nerd out asking too many questions and just get in and out before things go wrong.
"I might have a pair." She said with a smirk.
"Does it have a price?" Saint asked.
"I'll sell them to you if you also buy some of my other wears here." She motioned to the various chains, jewelry, and even pins. "Can always use some Enchanted Accessories, help in combat, or just for some fun perks. Maybe even gift them to your sweetie? Sweeties?" She offered.
"Well…" I hummed, knowing I had plenty of rem so I shrugged. "What do you have to offer?"
"Everything from HP regeneration to Defence boosts, faster MP regeneration, Boosters in magic and physical capabilities, better critical hits, more often criticals, a few Loot Boosters, some Lucky enchantments, some… Endurance Boosters." She added. "And then there's the more wacky/fun stuff." She said, picking up a ring from the many on the table. "This one gives the wearer an extra set of arms." She picked up another. "This one increases the sensation of touch so you or your partners can really go wild, oh and this one." She picked up a bracelet. "This is one is enchanted to convert MP to HP when Hp is below half."
"You are rather skilled in enchanting." The Saint said.
"It's only my whole life." The lady declared proudly.
"How much for your whole stock?" The Saint asked, making both me and the merchant pause.
"Heh… my whole stock? You surely can't be-"
"Will two million cover it?"
"Uh…" I blinked. "I mean…her craft is good from what I can tell without any skills…."
"I mean, I uh…" The Merchant seemed to be at a loss.
"See, my associate here has a… rather large family. Many partners." The Saint said, motioning to me. I kinda froze up. "Lovely and useful items like this would be perfect for his mates and family. Plus, he recently took in a town that was once under Chaos Guild rule, now freed and within a Planet Room within his home."
"A- A planet Room?!"
"Yes. The town itself only has roughly two hundred residents, not including his thousands of mates. I'm sure setting up a permanent Gateway between the town and here can be accomplished. Trade is always a valuable commodity, and a Planet Room means more valuable resources for your town as well. After all, little grows in the Realm of Darkness, and food is always a highly sought after commodity."
At this point I realized there was a crowd watching us. Lots of people were whispering and talking to one another. Mostly all in excitement.
"Uh, well that's a… good offer, but how can we trust you?" The Merchant asked.
"Oh, do you not trust the word of The Saint of Armageddon?" The Saint replied.
That got a reaction not only from the people around us but the lady seemed to almost pale at hearing that.
"So, the Saint comes to bless our town with his presence?" We both turned to see a man walk up to us. His body was that of a Neoshadow, but his head was human with green eyes and orange hair. "Well, it's an honor."
"The pleasure is mine. I don't visit the Realm of Darkness as much as I should." The Saint said.
The… man, nodded. "Yes, Chaos Guilds don't bother us much here, but our lands hold their own dangers on top of these parts being the shadow of Armageddon. I am Mayor Gruth." He introduced, then looked over to me. "You are the one who holds the ownership of this Planet Room?" He asked me.
"Y-Yes, yes I am." I nodded. "My name's Midoriya, it is nice to meet you, Mayor."
I held out my hand to shake, the Mayor taking it in both hands and to my surprise, kept his head down as he did. "Please, on behalf of everyone of the town of Light Spring, let our community do trade with your own." He said… no, begged. "Our people need little in terms of food, water. Some don't need any at all, but all there is to eat that grows in the area is Heartless infused Monster Meat, or low grade crops that take poorly to the soils here. Most of the land in this part of the realm of darkness reflects Armageddon, and as it's shadow of The Nightmare, even less can grow in this land, what does is tasteless and dry. Please, I can gather workers for this Planet Room of yours to farm as much of the surface as you need. We will work for it, and pay."
"O-okay uh…I didn't know it was this bad for all of you." I said sheepishly. "But…we can work thing's out in more detail, but I am ready and willing to help those in need." I said readily.
"And, as a show of good faith." The Saint said, gaining the crowd's attention as he waved a hand up, suddenly a fair sized bag appeared in everyone hand and even all over the ground.
Someone opened one, and inside was fruits of all kinds.
The cheers were near deafening.
I ended up a little after that in a meeting with the Mayor, the Saint paying the merchant lady for her stock of stuff and working out finer details.
When all was said and done the Saint and I were heading back from the Dock to the Planet Room to set up the permanent portal. He built one easily enough in their town and now just needed to make and turn on the other end there.
Still… He just did that…
"So…uh…" I started. "That all happened…and you just…did it all rather easily."
"True, but were it not for you their food issues would not have been fully solved. You and that Planet Room."
"Sometimes being a hero isn't about fighting villains or monsters, sometimes it's just giving a helping hand to those in need." I said with a smile. "But uh…I know we're busy with this, but mind if I ask how I should handle all my…massively bottled up Darkness from possibly exploding out of me?"
"In time." He said. "For now, let's set all this up."
I followed the Saint along, helping where I could in setting up the other end of the portal near town after setting up a makeshift road.
Once it was done and on, the towns began exchanging, trading and talking. It was all going well thankfully.
"Come now." The Saint said. He walked me through the portal, back into the Realm of Darkness and out into the open areas. We walked for… a very long time, and eventually stopped when we reached a large open… cavern, of sorts.
"Uh…why are we in this cave?"
"Safety." He said. "Disband your armor." He said.
"Uh…" I blinked. "And…why should I?" I asked nervously.
"You want to safely release your darkness, no?" He asked.
"W-well…yes." I nodded. "Just…concerned about what might happen…" I said, knowing I was going to have to do this sooner or later…"Alright…" I said, lightly tapping my shoulder and disbanding my armor so I can get on with my new training.
To my surprise, the Saint lifted a hand, in a flash appeared what looked like a Dull gray and black keyblade of gears wrapped in chains. "This is Void Gear. Despite the name, there is no connection to the Void." He said.
"Huh…that looks lik-" I started, only to stop. In a flash the Saint was in front of me, the tip of his Void Gear Keyblade in my chest. I didn't feel impaled, Actually I felt like it was… I could feel something. Like tumblers turning from within my body and then…
Click.
He removed it from my chest… I felt…
The Darkness armor grew up my arms, across my neck and torso, down my legs and covering my feet. An aura of Darkness cloaked my whole body… I… Felt… Pissed.
"What…did you do?" I growled, clenching my fists tightly.
"I released your Darkness." He said, taking a jump back and taking a battle stance. "It's time to get to the source of your pain, Midoriya. Your anger. So, don't hold back."
I let out a roar, not something I would normally do as it also sounded like it had an echo of power to it, as I slammed both fists into the ground, a pillar of stone appeared behind me from Overhaul, grabbing the pillar and ripping it from the ground as vein like cracked formed as I mixed Overhaul with Explosion, which I flung the now two ton explosive at the Saint.
He swung, the explosions hitting but he didn't look phased. He rushed, charging me and with a swing, slammed me into the wall.
I recovered, summoning Starlight and the keyblade was absolutely cloaked in my darkness. I charged at the Saint, slamming down my blade onto their own and he was resisting my efforts with minimal effort.
With how easy he was blocking my attacks…it only made me more mad, as Ice from Half-Hot Half-Cold started to creep onto his keyblade, before each and every piece of ice started to turn into small Pop Off balls as I kicked the Saint away. "Sonic Doom!" I roared, as the hundreds of little balls suddenly emitted a sudden high pitched scream from Earphone Jack, the ice acting like a speaker as all that sonic power turned into a destabilizer and fired directly at the Saint's chest.
He backflipped, somehow kicking my attack back at me.
"That's some bullshit!" I roared, dodging the attack quickly as I used Full Cowling and Engine, mixing in Explosion's Nitroglycerine to give it a real kick. "Recipro Burst!" I shouted, feeling the engine's going into overdrive as I broke the ground underneath me and tried slamming a Hardened Steel fist into the Saint's face.
He sidestepped, taking my extended arm and redirecting me to slam fist first into the wall.
The wall immediately shifted into five cannon's, as each one fired One for All enhanced Naval Lasers directly at the bastard.
As they inched towards him, he swung his Keyblade, deflecting them all back into their cannons, making them all explode.
"Mother fucker!" I roared, before doing something kind of dumb as I put my hands together and used Gravity and Naval Lasers. "Black Hole!" I shouted, as the Light created from the laser's started to fold and condense into itself from the Gravity quirk, as I threw the quirk created singularity directly at the Saint.
…
…
…
DID HE JUST FUCKING GRAB IT?!
The Saint gripped the singularity in his hands, actually pressuring and squeezing it and-
The explosion it created knocked me back and into the wall. The Saint, who was point blank at that, looked unphased.
"THAT'S TOTAL BULLSHIT!" I screamed. "NO! THAT IS BULLSHIT! YOU JUST GRABBED A FUCKING SINGULARITY THAT COULD HAVE DESTROYED A CONTINENT WITH EASE, CRUSHED IT, CREATED A FUCKING SUPERNOVA AND YOUR FUCKING FINE!?" I roared, trying to figure out how in Mother's name he could just take that and be perfectly god damn fine! "Is there nothing I can do here!?"
"... And yet not even I'm strong enough to face the heads of the Chaos Guilds." The Saint said. "Especially Lust and Violence. So tell me, Midoriya, how will you?"
I paused… My brain tried, and tried… and tried to come up with something and… Nothing… There's… nothing…
All my rage, all my anger and I just… felt it die out, gone like pouring water on a fire as I fell to my hands and knees and felt just… misery. "Why…" I whimpered, tears falling again as I shook. "Why can't I… Why am I so powerless… worthless…" I cried.
I was there just… crying… "And there it is. The source of your rage and anger. The cause of your darkness and the drive for your intensive training. You're afraid, you refuse to be powerless, or worthless." The Saint said.
"But…but that's all I am at the end of the day…" I admitted. "No matter how hard I try…no matter how hard I work…it's all going to mean nothing…" I cried.
"That is only true if you don't do anything to prove it otherwise." They said, pulling me up. "Even when you were dropped on this planet, you didn't give up. Or give in. You refuse to kill, in a world where killing is the way of life. You trained to keep your family safe when they arrived. You endured agonizingly painful deaths at my hand just to learn to power through and endure the pain of death. You mix and match every ability you gain and copy with impressive results. And today, you brought hope and joy to a town you didn't have to. You even took on the Chaos Guilds well before you were ready. You are many things Midoriya, but you are not worthless, and you are working hard every day to get stronger. So long as you never give into that fear, you will become a Hero, even here on Armageddon."
Hearing all that…I…I gave a small smile. "Y-yeah…your right…" I rubbed my eyes, which again made me think of mom and how we might have had some weird tear duct quirk. "I…I did all of this…and I won't give up."
"And the more you learn, the more I know you can do." The Saint nodded. "There is much to do on Armageddon to make it better, even small things can make all the difference. Even if you don't feel it does, if it makes just one person struggling on this planet's life easier, then it's worth it. That is why a hero fights. Not just for the big things, but the small ones too."
I smiled… right… I can't change this place in a short amount of time… no one can. I just have to do what I can, when I can.
I felt like for once a weight was lifted from my chest… For once… I didn't feel powerless… or worthless.
A shining light caught my eye. Starlight was… glowing?
"Looks like your true keyblade is coming." The Saint said, taking a few steps back.
"I…wonder what it'll be." I said, gently taking Starlight as all the true negatives washed away from me.
In a flash, Starlight was gone. In its place in my hand was something new. The top looked to house some odd looking castle, the blade was blue blank cards that the tops looked like mini crowns. The handle looked to be made from white pillars and at the hilt was the image of a door. The Keychain that dangled from the end was the same blue card that the blade was made from.
[Notice! Starlight has Returned to Kingdom Hearts.
Keyblade, Memory Stealer, has chosen you as its wielder!
Notice! Memory Stealer comes with the Legendary Equipment Ability, Memory Thief.
Stats:
Att: 23
Def: 12
Mag: 30
Ability: Memory Thief - Wielder can steal all the memories of a target by inserting Memory Stealer into their Heart, these memories can then be converted into Skill Points. The target can have all their memories erased, if so, their Skill Trees are Reset, and all used and unused Skill Points and given to the wielder.]
Holy shit…
"Uh…huh…" I blinked. "Uh…Saint…I somehow just got something blatantly overpowered." I said slowly. "This is…good…right?" I asked nervously, considering this thing is uh…quite powerful.
"Considering you have Copy Cat as well, this might be a sign someone is looking out for you." He said, smirking.
"Huh?" I asked.
"There's a myth that says some members of The Family watch over specific people, aiding them from a distance. But, it's just hearsay, and there is no way to prove this true or false. Still, are you going to look a gift horse in the mouth?"
"Hell no." I shook my head. "I'm just…surprised is all."
"Did you have to spread that rumor?"
"Yes, I did. I have no regrets."
"Well, at least it's the nerfed version, had a whole thing with _ about him using it the only time…they still love their music numbers."
"Heh. Still, this kid must have impressed you. You don't usually start watching over someone so easily."
"Well, it's because he wants to do the impossible with getting Izukie's soul back, part of his dream is to become a part of The Family…and a smidgen of _ and _ also watching over others and felt left out in the spoiling of heroes."
"Pst. You know, despite his darkness affinity, his light is only going to grow the more he achieves his goal. Think his heart can become Balanced through his own actions?"
"Hmm…I'd say yes. The road to a Balanced Heart is tough, but with his natural affinity for Darkness, and his overwhelming Heart of Gold that'll only grow brighter with each success, however small, he'll be able to gain a Balanced Heart…that's when the fun really begins."
"You of all people would know. Heh, this is gonna be fun. Personally though I like his not so nice friend Saw. Reminds me a bit of _ back in the day. I mean, he's still an asshole, but it's good memories."
"Yeah…good memories…sometimes it's still surprising how old we really are, watching all these new do-gooders try and be heroes…"
"Yeesh, don't let your bones go turning to dust just yet remembering your age there. The fun is just getting started."