Hello, fellow readers! Welcome to a series that I haven't been to in... three and a half years since Moonlit Shadow. Yeah, it's been awhile. So, what has changed:
1. I recently came back into Blazblue through Cross Tag Battle and figured why not, let's include those franchises in this crossover. However, I'm only including the main four as I'm not familiar enough with the guest series that came in later. Doesn't mean that said characters won't appear at all, just not at the moment.
2. After much consideration, I'm not rewriting all of Kingdom Hearts as certain events need to happen to help keep consistency. There are certain games that I may take an idea or two, but will leave out of this. For example, I personally prefer Ventus and Vanitas to be two halves of the same person than the whole thing they have in Union Cross and all that.
3. Like I said before, I'm only including characters that will have a story significance. Just makes it easier to keep track.
4. Speaking of story, I'm placing the beginning of our crossover after Dream Drop Distance. Mainly cause I was fine with the story up until KH3, which those who have followed my stuff back then and read my review of said game, made me question everything. But we're not going into KH3 just yet, as I want to use a familiar starting point for our new story.
5. Like before, this is a timeline where some previous events are either altered or completely changed to suit this new narrative. This applies not just to Kingdom Hearts, the franchises on the Cross Tag side will also get changes to fit into the setting and narrative. I'm mainly saying this now to avoid confusion for any newcomers.
But you may be asking, how is this possible? I came up with all of this thanks to two specific factors, which will become clear in time. And in case your wondering, I'll be making this my special story.
With ALL of this said, let us turn the wheel of fate once again...
Prologue: Descent into Darkness
"How long have I wandered here..."
The Realm of Darkness, home of the heartless and devoid of any human life, had a single wanderer as she finds herself in a familiar setting. Time to her is but a memory now, unable to escape from the place she chose to be trapped in. Her reason for it was noble, a thought she often ponders with no real answer.
She then stops upon seeing some Heartless spawn in, all comprised of Shadows, before summoning her keyblade to defend herself. At this point, she knew how to handle them with well-timed swings and magic spells. Once the enemies were gone, she then sees a castle in the distance:
"Wait, isn't that... from Cinderella's world?"
Indeed it was, the very same as when she arrived at the castle all that time ago. Her mind was still processing the sight before seeing something else in the sky... light. A ball of light was falling down like a shooting star, eventually landing somewhere in the town nearby.
A sense of hope was felt in her heart after so long. Was it someone from the Realm of Light? Her friends? Only one way to find out.
She runs through the forest before reaching the town in no time, soon slowing down to look around. Towns are usually full of life, people going through with their everyday lives. Here in the dark realm... it was a ghost town. No soul was heard on the still air, leaving her alone in her thoughts:
"I took it for granted. I thought I had nothing in life to lose back then... at least, that's what I used to believe. Everyone in this world thought they were safe. Not just the people... the dog waiting for his owner, the cat curled up in her nook... so much life, gone without warning. The grief in this town is too much to fathom..."
She then shakes herself out of her thoughts, "That's enough. I can't keep wishing for the past. Right now, I need to find where that light fell."
Exploring the town more lead her to a marketplace, where a crater was found. Upon closer examination, she sees an interesting man. White spiky hair and a red coat with his clothes in tatters, likely from an intense battle. Next to him was a large sword with a black ribbon wrapped on its handle.
The man soon stirs awake, revealing mismatched eyes of green and red as he gets up to his feet:
"Huh, so this is where I end up... why I am not surprised?"
He then notices that he wasn't alone as the blue-haired woman greets him, "Hello there."
"Uh, hi. Do you know where we are?"
"You're in the Dark Realm. This place is... was the Castle of Dreams."
The man took a moment to process this new info, "What?"
"I honestly don't know much about this place, only that you need a strong heart to survive in here. My name is Aqua, by the way."
He picks up his sword, briefly noticing the ribbon, before he answers back. "Ragna."
"Nice to meet you."
Before they knew it, the two were surrounded by golden-eyed shadows. Ragna held his sword ready as Aqua summons her keyblade, the latter quickly advising him:
"Be on your guard!"
The duo went into action, swinging away at the swarm closing in. Aqua quickly notes his fighting style during the scuffle, showing formal training and yet fights with more brutal strikes, both quick and strong. She soon fires off a Thundaga, taking out some shadows in the immediate vicinity. The shadows knocked into the air were soon dealt with by Ragna:
"Belial Edge!"
The area was clear for now as he puts his sword back on his belt, having a couple of questions pop into his head at this point. Before he could ask them, he hears Aqua comment on his skills:
"Impressive swordsmanship."
"Uh, thanks. You're not bad yourself with your... key." He retorts, not used to getting compliments.
"It's a keyblade, which is a story in of itself." She lets out a sigh before getting back on task, "For now, let's find a way out of here."
"Well, we clearly have all the time in the world and I have questions to ask. Lead the way."
The newly-formed duo walk through the town towards the castle, where the place was surprisingly quiet. At least enough for their conversation. Speaking of which, Ragna was summarizing what she explained so far:
"So, you guys are able to travel to other worlds through these lanes in space?"
"The Lanes in-Between, yes." She clarifies.
"And the keyblade is a weapon you use to maintain balance in these worlds?"
"Yes."
He lets out a small sigh before mumbling, "Such a strange place I find myself in."
"You say something?"
He quickly clears his throat, "Just thinking about how many worlds are out there."
"Oh. There's as many as the stars in the night sky."
He was honestly taken aback by that, "...That's a lot."
She shows a small smile as she understood that feeling. Speaking of worlds, she couldn't help but ask him:
"What's your world like?"
"Uh, it was a very chaotic world. Trust me, that's the simplest I can describe it."
"Oh. Then if you're here, does that mean your world fell too?"
"No... I made sure it didn't."
She notes the sorrowful tone near the end, but kept it to herself as the duo stop upon reaching the gates to the castle.
"Huh. Nice castle." Ragna comments.
Aqua had a different thought that she muttered to herself, "It's strange. Why is it here? Did something happen in the Realm of Light?"
The two continued past the gate towards the castle when Ragna notices the clock on the tower, "I thought you said time doesn't exist here."
"It doesn't." Aqua said back, "Why do you say that?"
"Then it's my imagination that it's moving."
Upon pointing that out, the two see the clock hands start to move before the ground started to shake. In front of them, the path starts to crumble into the abyss below as they ran back to safety. The crumbling ground reaches them as it collapses below their feet, but they managed to jump just in time to grab onto the ledge near the gate. Pulling themselves back up onto stable ground, they turn around to see nothing but the abyss between them and the castle.
"No wonder time doesn't flow here, there won't be nothing left." Ragna said as he brushes himself off.
"I don't get it. Why did the road collapse when the clock advance?" Aqua questioned, brushing her hand through her hair.
Turning around, she then sees a series of cogs floating nearby. She honestly don't recall seeing it earlier, which she points out to Ragna:
"Was that there before?"
"No, it wasn't." He answers, "At least, I don't think it was there."
Aqua starts to connect the dots on what just happened, "Hmm... the road collapsed when the clock advanced, then these cogs appeared. Do you think-"
"That they are related?" Ragna finishes the thought, "At this point, I'll believe anything."
He walks towards it first, examining it a bit before scratching his head. "How do we get it going?"
"Let me try." She said before summoning her keyblade and hits it.
"You crazy!? You could have-" Ragna stops himself upon seeing the cogs start to turn.
Said cogs then floated into the air before turning into light, disappearing into the clock. The result was the clock hands rewinding back an hour, restoring part of the broken path.
"You were saying?" Aqua said with a smirk.
"You could have broke it." He finishes his earlier sentence.
"But it didn't."
"How would we know that it wouldn't break it!?"
She shrugs at that before walking off, "Come on. There has to be more around here to fix the path."
He lets out a sigh as he follows behind her, "That mentality will get her in trouble, I swear."
They had to look through the entire town to find more cogs. Though what was strange is that the creatures didn't appear... like, at all. No disturbances, no skirmishes, it was an actual ghost town. Ragna and Aqua were on edge as something was definitely off. Upon making it back to the gate, their suspicions were confirmed as said gate was now closed.
"What do you think will attack us this time?" Ragna asked.
Right after he asked that, a swarm of shadow creatures flew by like a tide before standing as one entity.
"That wouldn't be my first guess." Aqua answered with her keyblade at the ready.
The tide flew right towards them, making them jump away to avoid it. The tide flew back as Ragna launches himself in with a powerful swing, taking out a couple of shadows before dodging another lunge attack. Aqua takes the chance to fire a Blizzard spell, taking out a couple herself before seeing the swarm reassemble itself.
"Break them apart! They're exposed that way!" She calls out as she went on the offense.
She then rapidly fires a series of Thunder spells, causing heavy damage to break down the large swarm. Ragna took those chances to run in between the bolts, dwindling down the shadows as he ran by them. In no time, the tide was now a third of what it was earlier.
In desperation, the tide flew towards them to try taking them out, only to get trapped in magical chains. Aqua held them in place via the chains as Ragna goes in with a powerful attack:
"Dead Spike!"
He summons a monstrous head to devour the remaining shadows in the chains. Once they were dealt with, he casually shakes off the dark mist as the chains faded away.
"That was kinda underwhelming." He comments, half-expecting a response from Aqua.
Her response never came, making him curious as he turns to her. Turns out, she never answered due to looking rather shocked at something.
He was kinda concerned at this, "Uh, are you OK?"
Her body still didn't move, but her mind was racing at what she saw:
"That attack... it couldn't have come from him. That monster had to be something we haven't encountered yet! But yet it faded into mist on his arms, which he moved in time with the head rising. It could only mean..."
At this point, Ragna had approached her and waved his hand in front of her face. "Aqua? Anyone home?"
She flinches at that before trapping him in a blink of an eye, binding him in the golden chains.
"What the hell!?" He yells out in confusion.
"You wield darkness." She states bluntly.
He looks at her like she said something stupid, "Yeah, so what!?"
"Don't you know the darkness will consume you!?"
"I know the risks!"
"Then why do you use it!?"
"I've been using it my whole life, so why change now!?"
She was bewildered by that, "Y-Your whole life!?"
"Believe it or not, yes! I got it under control now!"
Aqua wasn't convinced as thoughts of a certain friend of hers came to mind, who also had the same idea. She shook her head with her eyes shut:
"No, it wouldn't matter if you do. The darkness will only surface when you least expect it... and take what you hold dear!"
The chains disappear as she runs off, sprinting towards the castle due to the gate being opened now.
"Aqua, wait!" Ragna calls out.
His chase after her was quickly halted, due to another swarm of shadows appearing in his way. He quickly grips his sword with fierce determination, "Out of my way!"
Not wanting to waste time, he goes in to land a strong swing at the core to stun it. He didn't waste the opening to follow up with one of his signature super attacks:
"Carnage Scissors!"
He put extra power into it to end it quickly, shredding the swarm as the remaining shadows escape into the darkness. He swipes the mist off his sword before putting it back on his belt, soon taking off after Aqua. As he runs across the path to the castle, he reflects on what had happened:
"What's her deal? Does it really matter if I use darkness? From the sounds of it, she might have experienced someone having it backfire on them. Or worse, transforming them into a... beast."
Ragna narrows his eyes as he continues with his objective, "Never thought I care about what others think of me. Then again, there were bigger problems at the time. I have no idea how to get out of this hellhole, and I'd rather not wander here alone. Losing someone I just met isn't on my to-do list... and I know this place will drive me nuts."
Aqua walks into the castle as she reflects on her actions, "Why did I panic like that? Am I more afraid of the darkness then I thought? Or could it be..."
She then hears footsteps going up the stairs and looks to see a figure briefly before it disappeared. Wondering if it was someone else trapped here, she runs up the steps to reach the ballroom above. Upon entering, she was surprised to see a large hole in the wall farthest from her. The figure from before was walking into it, where she sees certain details clearer like brown spiky hair.
"Terra!?" She calls out, running after him.
Upon reaching him, he disappears into the unknown without a trace.
"A phantom?" She questions, "Why?"
Going further in, the scenery gave her another feeling of familiarity as she walks across a small bridge. Her thoughts continue to speak as worse possibilities crawled inside:
"Another world I know... what does this mean? What's going on out there? Is the darkness growing stronger?"
She soon stumbles upon an area she recalls, where she saw a glass coffin with someone inside. She recognizes who it was as she quickly runs over:
"Ven!?"
In her brief shock, she hits her hands on the glass. Yet despite the noise she made, he didn't even twitch in his sleep before disappearing like Terra before. More questions continue to pile on her shoulders, a weight she's starting to feel more and more, as she walks away from the coffin:
"First Terra, now Ven? What does all of this mean? As a reminder? To tell me to keep going?"
She looks up at the sky above, speaking from her heart in sorrow. "What I wouldn't give to really turn back time... just to spend one more night under the stars with you two..."
Her hand had reached up to said sky without her realizing, putting it back down as she mutters under her breath. "I'm doing it again..."
A brief light appeared behind her, getting her attention as she stops in her tracks. Turning around, she sees a mirror floating above the ground. Her reflection was clear as crystal as she approaches it with curiosity:
"What does this have to show me?"
Upon reaching it, she presses a hand on the glass before hearing a voice. "Aqua!"
She turns her head upon hearing it and sees Ragna running towards her. Before even a sound left her mouth, she felt her hand get grabbed and got pulled into the mirror.
"No you don't!" He shouts, jumping in after her.
Aqua opens her eyes to find herself on the ground in a strange dark void, lit by a ring of white flames that surround the place like an arena. She got up to her feet as the mirror from earlier lowers itself down across from her. She sees the glass start to ripple like water as her reflection starts to change.
"Is this what's like to face your demons?" She questioned to herself.
"Only your heart is hollow enough to be a demon's."
She didn't expect an actual answer to that. She looks around for the source as she calls out:
"Who's there?"
"No one will save you, and no one wants to."
"Show yourself!"
She sees the mirror ripple more as a figure steps out of it. It disappears as the figure forms completely to reveal someone.
"My reflection?" It was indeed her, with the only difference being glowing blue eyes in her indifferent stare.
Objective: Defeat your Phantom Self! (BGM: Aqua -Mirror Illusion- KH 0.2)
The two Aquas summon their keyblades before running at each other, clashing blades as they trade blow for blow in matching skills. The two then jump away to get distance, where Aqua sees her reflection teleport upon landing. She waits in anticipation before quickly dodging a thrust attack, countering in retaliation to damage her.
However, the phantom was gone before landing and reappears at the other side of the arena. She raises her keyblade to summon six large Blizzaga ice drones, which Aqua quickly summons equally large fireballs to counter it. The two fire off their attacks, where a clash of fire and ice created an oddly beautiful explosion of shards and embers.
The phantom had disappeared during the explosion, keeping Aqua on edge as she looks around. Her keyblade held tight, she listens intently for any sudden appearances before the phantom reappears in front of her. This was followed by another phantom appearing, with more appearing one by one, until Aqua was surrounded by them.
"Fall!" The phantoms shouted in unison as they each fire a Spellweaver shot at her.
Aqua was faster as she conjures her barrier, blocking any damage and bouncing the shots right back. The phantoms disappeared upon getting hit, giving her time to activate her second style Ghost Drive. The main phantom reappears and goes on the offense, which Aqua responds in kind as the two clash once more. The two teleport around the battlefield with each blow dealt and spell fired.
The phantom appears with a spell ready, only to see her opponent hadn't shown herself yet. In that instant, she was struck by Thundaga that stuns her as Aqua reappears, performing a barrage of thrust attacks that ends with a diving slash. The shockwave blasts the phantom away, making it fade into the void.
Aqua lands on her feet as she sees the phantom fade, leaving her alone in the makeshift arena. The mirror reappears near her, where she stares at her normal reflection. The sight made her doubts surface once more:
"Now my own reflection? What is this place doing to me?" She then realizes something, "Where did Ragna go?"
Right as she wonders that, the mirror glows a bright light that made her cover her eyes. The light disappears, revealing the mirror and her are now gone, leaving the arena empty as the fires die down to give way to darkness.
Earlier...
Ragna opens his eyes as he feels himself falling, slowly coming to a stop as his feet feels ground. He looks around at his surroundings, seeing a pitch black void as a single light shines down upon him. The ground he stood on was a beautiful stained glass mural, one of... him?
The glass was mainly red with the background being black, seeing an image of him sleeping with Aramasa held in his left hand. There were images of Jubei, Jin, Noel, Celica, and Rachel up next to where his head was. Their images were in a circle around the sixth image, that of his own symbol.
"Where am I?" He questions, "Where did Aqua go?"
He then sees four small lights appear around him, soon fading to reveal four keystones. One was blue, one was yellow, one was purple and one was red. Strangely enough, he vaguely recalls seeing these before. It was then that he heard voices in his mind:
"Let me work with you. Neither one of us can handle this alone."
"That's how I usually roll. Let's do this."
"OH! Your weapon looks so cool! Can I see it, please!?"
That last one kinda annoyed him, but shrugs it off when he sees the keystones start to glow their respective colors. The blue one rises straight up to shine on his mural while the others floated away to reveal more murals:
The yellow one reveals a silver-haired male teen as its main focus, holding a basic katana in his right hand with his attire being that of a school uniform.
The purple one reveals another male teen as its main focus with spiky black and yellow hair, holding a red-bladed katana in his left hand as he wore a school uniform with little touches he likely added himself.
The red one reveals a female teen this time as its main focus, her color scheme being mainly black and red with hints of silver. Her most distinct features is a red hooded cloak, silver eyes, and a large custom-made scythe held behind her.
Ragna looks at each one with a sense of familiarity, however small it was, before three names eventually reaches his mind. He looks at each one in order as he mutters them:
"Yu Narukami... Hyde Kido... Ruby Rose."
A bright light then appears from behind him, getting his attention as he turns around to it. The light fades to reveal one last mural, showing yet another teen. He also has spiky hair and wore interesting attire, his shoes being the standout, as he held a key-shaped weapon in his left hand. Unlike the others, he doesn't recognize the boy at all.
"I'm meeting you next, huh?" Ragna wonders aloud with a gut feeling, "Hope it's not in this hellhole too."
CRACK!
His ears then caught the sound of glass breaking, soon seeing the murals around him begin to break away. Eventually, they all shatter into colorful fragments as he finds himself falling again into darkness.
And done!
I hope I'm not too rusty with this. What I'm mainly doing is streamlining the Distorted Dream chapters, as I usually do longer chapters these days. But with Cross Tag thrown into the mix, I want to do more with that aspect for new stuff. Once we're done retreading these grounds, I have an idea or two to do before going into KH3 proper.
With that said, thanks for reading and I'll see you next chapter!