Chapter 3: A new light
'Did I die? Am I dead? That would suck...man Emilia...I wish to see you again.'
'Don't be afraid.'
"Huh? Who is there?"
'You've also gained the power just like him. Use it wisely.'
As Subaru looked in the darkness confused by whatever the voice was saying to him, a bright light shined onto him as he finally woke up. He was surprised that he was healed up and laying down on some bed yet he was still bothered by what he was hearing in his dream. He looked around and wanted to see where everybody was. Last he recalled, he had passed out in the ground with Emilia worrying about him. He also recalled the battle Sora had against an assassin, which reminded him of his jealousy towards the boy.
'Damn, I wish I was as strong as him. We look like we both are around the same age yet...fuck! Why does he get to have such power yet I have nothing…!'
As Subaru was getting pretty annoyed that Sora is extremely powerful, he looked at himself and noticed that he was wearing some robes instead of his usual tracksuit. This prompted him to open the door of his room to check in the hallway only to end up facing another door nearby his to open as well. 'Please let it be Emilia, please let it be Emilia!'. The door closed to show Sora, looking around as well. 'Fuck!'
Sora took a look around until he noticed Subaru, causing him to smile and wave at the boy with menacing looking eyes. Subaru smiled back and waved back before the two met up halfway.
"I think we haven't introduced ourselves properly...My name is Natsuki Subaru, I'm not only lost but have no clue what I'm doing."
"Natsuki Subaru, pretty cool and long name. My name is Sora, pleased to meet you."
The two shook hands before attempting to figure out where they were. They both started to walk around the hallways for a bit until they realized that they are going in circles. Subaru looked back at his door and realized that it was different than he recalled, causing his instincts to take in and he opened the door to find a petite girl with long cream-colored hair that she has tied in two twin drills.
"Ha! I knew it!"
"Nice job Subaru."
Subaru appreciated Sora praising him, while the drill petite girl continued to read her book while listening to the two speak. She looked at the two and quickly spoke in a calm and slightly annoyed manner,
"What a profoundly aggravating man you are, I suppose."
"Look Sora, the first NPC found!"
Sora gave Subaru a confused look with the petite girl giving him an annoyed look. "NPC? What are you talking about Subaru?"
"Wait, you don't-! Hold up, where are you from exactly? I thought you were from Japan like me with a name like Sora."
Sora stood silent for a moment, having been unsure on what Japan is yet he can tell that the boy he is now friends with is also not from this world. This gave him a bit of confusion since he has never heard of other people ending up in other worlds unless it is like Traverse Town. All Sora did at this point was whisper to Subaru that he is from another world, having faith that this won't cause too much damage to the world. Little did the keyblade wielder knew that his friend would end up being loud,
"I knew it! I knew that you were from another world!"
"Hey! Quiet down Subaru."
"Yes, you should listen to this decent man, I suppose."
Subaru was slightly annoyed that the two were ganging up on him, which caused him to turn his attention to the petite girl. "With that cold attitude, you're gonna ruin your cute face. Come on, smile...Smile."
"A derisive sneer is the only smile worth giving you." The petite girl spoke with a still calm yet still annoyed voice, not liking the attitude Subaru was giving. Sora stood silent throughout all of this, unsure on how to act with Subaru making himself look a bit foolish and careless. Subaru began to boast about how he was able to easily find the room in the first try, which started to anger the petite girl.
"Um, what is this place exactly?" Sora interjected in hopes of shutting up Subaru in a nice way while also taking the petite girl's anger away from Subaru to think of something else. The petite girl looked at Sora with a blank expression which was much better than the look she was giving to Subaru before answering his question,
"It's Betty's multi-purpose room, both library and bedroom, I suppose."
"I guess that is interesting...hmm are you one of those manual girls everyone is into?"
"Betty's had just about enough of you. Time to teach you a lesson, I suppose." Betty closed her book and got up from her chair, showing how she is finally fully annoyed by Subaru. She approached Subaru with him being on his guard since he doesn't know what she is up to. Sora was unsure whether Betty was a threat or not but something inside him was telling him to stand still. Betty tells Subaru to not move before placing her hand on him, which resulted in Subaru getting shocked and in pain.
"Subaru!" Sora was surprised by what had transpired and quickly summoned his keyblade to heal Subaru. As he heals his new friend, Betty looks at Sora. At first she was going to attack him yet when she saw the keyblade, her curiosity peaked. She had never seen such a weapon that can heal others and the way it looks, Betty was unsure what it was.
"Betty would like to see that weapon of yours, I suppose."
Sora looked at Betty with uncertainty if he could trust her while Subaru got up and began to complain to the petite girl, "What did you do to me, you drill loli?!"
"I only collected the mana from your body, I suppose. It confirmed that you are not an enemy."
"You're not human, are you?"
"It took you long enough to notice, I suppose. Now you, let me see the weapon." Betty was beginning to lose patience and since Sora didn't want a fight to break out, he did as the petite girl said. She examined the weapon very carefully, feeling it's power and noting that it isn't like anything she has ever felt. Before long the keyblade disappeared from her hands and returned back to Sora.
"What an odd yet interesting weapon, I suppose. Who created such a weapon?"
"I'm...unsure really. The Keyblade chose me to be its wielder. That is all I can tell you."
"Hmm that is okay, I suppose. Now kindly leave along with this insect. You have a visitor, Keyblade wielder."
Sora nodded and quickly dragged Subaru out of the room before he could do anything to piss off the petite girl. As the two leave the room, they close the door only to see the door change back to its original form. As this happened, the two noticed a female voice say,
"Our guests have awakened, sister."
"Indeed, they are awake, Rem."
Both Sora and Subaru turned around and noticed two twins in maid outfits. Sora looked directly at the maid with pink hair and instinctively said, "Kairi?". There was a moment of silence before the pink one responded to what the Keyblade wielder said,
"I don't know who or what Kayri is but my name is Ram, this here is Rem."
Sora and Subaru both observed the two, noticing the one named Rem having medium length sky blue hair that covers her right eye, large light blue eyes, and young features. She also has hair clips towards the left side of her hair, a flower-shaped ribbon on the same side of her hair, and a maid hairband.
The one named Ram had a medium length light pink hair that covers her left eye, large darkish pink eyes, and young features. She also has hair clips towards the right side of her hair, flower-shaped ribbon on the same side of her hair, and a maid hairband.
"Maid costumes exist in this world, too?!" Subaru shouted in both shock and excitement. At this point Sora allowed Subaru to continue talking, realizing that he is just like that. As Subaru began to talk about his mind regarding maids, he started to think about how Subaru acts a lot like a child despite looking around his age. His thoughts were broken when he heard one of the maids say,
"How terrible. You are being violated in our guest's mind, Sister."
"It is terrible. You are experiencing the ultimate shame in our guest's mind, Rem."
"Seems like you two are finally awake." These words caught the attention of the four, causing them to turn towards the voice's direction to see Reinhard standing there alongside Felt. Felt moved away from his side and quickly went to hug Sora, happy to see that the young keyblade wielder hadn't died. He then went to hug Subaru, having heard about the injury he had sustained as well from Reinhard.
"Glad to see you both didn't die, you idiots!"
Sora and Subaru laughed it off before looking towards Reinhard, with Sora asking how he has been. "I've been quite well, thank you for asking Sora." Reinhard responded in a kind hearted manner. The sword saint asked if they can all talk with the others present, with Subaru asking if Emilia is there. Reinhard responded that she was in the garden to which Subaru nodded, knowing what he is going to do next after the meeting.
They all headed towards the dinner table where both Sora and Subaru met with someone who was dressed as a clown. Subaru patted the clown in the back while saying in a surprised tone,
"I didn't know that there were clowns on this place as well."
"Um Subaru, that's not-"
"On no..It's quite alright, sword saint..."
"Um, what is going on?"
"Only that I am the lord of the manor, Roswaal L. Mathers, Natsuki Subaru-Kun." Roswaal spoke in a professional manner, leaving Subaru completely dumbfounded and annoyed at himself for not only having insulted the man but the lord of the mansion he was in. He felt like an idiot with Felt laughing at him while Roswaal approached Sora, inspecting the young spikey haired boy. He took a moment before saying,
"You muuuust be Sora-kun. It is a pleeeeasure to meet you."
"Likewise, Lord Roswaal."
As they all were getting acquainted, Roswaal offered his guests to sit down as they all had much to discuss. As they all sat down, the first to speak was Subaru, asking why are they all meeting up in private. The only one to answer that question was Reinhard, speaking in a calm and collected manner,
"I chose to come here to check on you, Subaru. You left me worried after you feel due to your injury and wanted to see if you are alright. As for the second thing is, I came to speak with Sora regarding the weapon he wields."
Sora looked at Reinhard for a moment before noticing that everyone was looking at him. Having noticed that Roswaal is the only person to not have witnessed the keyblade. Sora pulls out his hand forward and summons Kingdom Key, surprising Roswaal as he never saw such a weapon. While the lord of the mansion inspected the weapon, Reinhard began to ask the question of its origin.
"I...can only say that it is a weapon that chooses its wielder, that's about much I know." Sora says, not wanting to reveal too much that'll give away that he is from another world. Reinhard took note of what he said, slightly disappointed that he didn't get much information yet he wanted to ask something.
"You fought the bowel hunter and managed to survive the fight, leaving her completely on the verge of death. That is not an easy feat, which is why I want to ask if you would spar with me for a bit? I would wish to see this power for myself."
Reinhard during that fateful day was walking around the kingdom when he felt a surge of unfamiliar yet powerful energy building up, which caught his interest. This made him want to see what Sora was truly made of and whether or not he will be an ally to Lugnica or a possible enemy.
They all stepped outside with Felt and Subaru excited to see Sora's power again, having been amazed the first time he used it while the keyblade wielder went to change into his regular clothing before sparring with Reinhard.
As they all wait for Sora, Subaru goes to check on Emilia, seeing that she is with some of the minor spirits. He waits until she is finished before going to see her yet before he was able to say anything, Felt began to say,
"You have a crush on her!"
"And? She is very cute, the cutest girl of them all."
"Are you saying I ain't cute?!"
"What-" Before Subaru could say anything else, he received a strong punch to his gut, causing him to fall on his knees while Felt walked away in annoyance. After a couple of minutes, Emilia spotted Subaru and approached him, happy to see that he was alright. She smiled at him before hitting him in the head, "Subaru, you are such a dunderhead!"
"Ow, why?"
"You worried me! You could've been killed!"
"Sorry...how are you and puck doing anyway?"
"Lia and I are alright Subaru, what brings you outside?" The great spirit appeared in front of Subaru. The boy smiled at Puck before answering that they are all going to watch Sora and Reinhard spar.
Both Emilia and Puck were surprised that Reinhard was at the mansion, not having gotten a notice from him. Subaru took both of them towards the area where Reinhard was located which led Felt and Emilia to encounter each other again. Felt still felt bad for having stolen the insignia yet Emilia comforted the little girl.
After a moment Sora in his regular clothing came out of the mansion, with a weird looking keyblade in his hand. Reinhard looked directly at the weapon and questioned Sora on why he had a different looking weapon than the Kingdom Key he had encountered the previous night.
"Right, I forgot to mention. My keyblade can change its form depending on the chain I'm using. Normally I would use Kingdom Key but since I want to go all out, I'm using the strongest version of the Keyblade, Ultima."
"Alright Sora, I see you are not holding back. I will not hold back either."
Reinhard was about to grab a sword near him yet he noticed that his dragon sword reid had left from its sheath and into his hands, Sora is worthy of facing me with the Dragon sword reid...now this is quite interesting.
Although Reinhard was surprised by this, he did not back down. He wanted to test the skills of the young boy in front of him. The battle started with Sora using Ultima keyblade charged at Reinhard, summoning thunder magic. Reinhard quickly dodged the attack before deflecting one of Sora's offensive attacks, feeling incredible strength resigning from the keyblade and from the boy himself. The two continued to fight as if they were in equal grounds, surprising everyone in the area including Betty who was watching from a distance.
'A young boy who seems to be on equal footing with the sword saint himself, interesting.' Roswaal thought to himself, never believing that someone like Sora could exist. During the battle between Reinhard and Sora, both of them were surprised by the other's strength. Sora hasn't encountered anybody that has given him a challenge in a while. The ones that have given him trouble was Ansem the seeker of Darkness during his first adventure, Xemnas in his second journey along with the dream realm, and lastly Xehanort himself in Scala ad Caelum. Reinhard himself has rarely found himself facing someone who is able to keep up with half of his true strength.
"Kick his smug ass, Sora!"
"Miss Felt, it is not ladylike to speak in such a way. I'm also hurt by you rooting for the other team."
Sora and Reinhard both laughed it off, having been surprised by what Felt had said. After a few more minutes of sparring with the two clashing weapons, Reinhard gained some distance.
"Are you alright Reinhard?"
"Yes actually, surprised by just how powerful you are but I feel like you are holding something back." Sora looked at Reinhard for a moment, thinking about what he could be wanting until he recalled that during the fight with Elsa, he had restored to his final form ability. Sora smiled and quickly began to go into his final form once again but he then chose something else. He decided to absorb the keyblade to go into his ultimate form.
"This power..." Reinhard was looking at Sora in shock, seeing the glow around the boy he is sparring with. Everyone else was also in shock except Subaru. For some reason he was feeling some odd power within him along with Sora's power. This overwhelmed him and caused him to collapse for a bit, worrying both Emilia and Felt.
Rem and Ram both looked at Sora, impressed by the power he was giving. Betty was also slightly impressed, never thinking a human like Sora could've gotten this strong. Lastly Roswaal's expectations were broken once again by Sora, never believing that someone like Sora who shows to have no martial arts or divine protections could still gain power to possibly rival the sword saint himself.
Once the glow around Sora disappeared, his clothing changed to a design very similar to Final Form with the white and black clothing. He also gained three crown insignias on each sleeve, swirls on the pants. Felt and Emilia looked at the form and could tell that it is different compared to the previous one, as if his previous one wasn't his fullest potential.
"Reinhard, this here is my Ultimate Form. It is as powerful as the Final Form I used against Elsa. Compared to my Final Form, this one is powerful."
"Alright then Sora, I'm prepared to face you at your best."
Sora nodded and charged directly at Reinhard, managing to not only transcend the speed of sound but the speed of light as well. Reinhard deflected Sora's attack with some actual struggle, never believing the power he was feeling to actually rival his power. As the battle was getting fierce with both sides giving it their all, Subaru started to hear something.
How much do you wish to be like that boy?
'Huh? What-'
Do you want the power he has? Because somehow you have gained the power as well.
'What? But how...no wait, how do I summon the power?'
Call out to the power, kid. If you want it that is.
Subaru stood silent for a moment before moving his hand forward, feeling an odd sensation. As he is doing this, both Felt and Emilia noticed this and asked what he was doing.
I, Natsuki Subaru, call to the power or well whatever is inside me…!
As he said this inside his mind, a bright light started to appear which stopped the fight between Reinhard and Sora, having been distracted by the light. The light surrounded the area for the briefest of moments before it faded with everyone in shock.
"!"
"Wait why is everybody looking at me like-?"
Subaru paused and looked at his hand, No freaking way! He now understood why everybody was surprised, he is holding a keyblade now. The keyblade shares a similar design to Sora's Kingdom Key yet the keyblade he was wielding now had a shaft that is light-blue and rounded, ending with an orb past the teeth, which are formed by a spike and a five-pointed star of the same color.
Starlight...wait why did I think of that name? Is this what the keyblade's name is?
After a moment of having been bombarded with questions, Reinhard observed Subaru's keyblade with some interest. 'Could Subaru be a keyblade wielder like Sora? He didn't seem like the type.' He was uncertain by this and started to question Subaru about this, whether he knew if he was capable of wielding the keyblade. Subaru responded that he didn't know, which caught Roswaal's attention even more. He approached both Sora and Subaru before asking them,
"My Myyyyyyyyy, I would like to ask if you twooo want to stay in my mansion for a whiiiiiiile?"
"Sure, if Sora is alright with it."
Sora looked at Subaru before looking at Roswaal, he was a bit concerned by this since he never actually stayed in a world for too long. Not only that but for some reason he could feel something was up with Roswaal, feeling something similar to when being in the presence of Xehanort.
"Sure thing, I'll stay here for a while alongside my friends."
"That's gooooooood to hear, I hope to make your stay wooooorth the while."
"I also want to stay!" Felt said with both anger and excitement. Reinhard took note of this and quickly told her that they couldn't stay as they both have important things to take care of. Felt looked at Reinhard with anger and attempted to kick his face only for the attack to have been easily dodged.
"It's not ladylike for you to act like this Miss Felt. You and I have important duties..." Reinhard paused himself for a moment, seeing that he does want to stay as well to observe more of the keyblade. He also knows that Felt feels a bit uncomfortable being at his place, in such a high status area after having left a place like the slums.
"Lord Roswaal, I don't mean to intrude but could you allow Miss Felt and I to stay for a couple days. I wish to study Sora's and now Subaru's weapon more thoroughly. "
"That would be an honooooor to have the Sword Saint himsellllllllf at my home."
Reinhard nodded at Roswaal, appreciating the hospitality while seeing Felt completely joyful she gets to spend more time with both Subaru and Sora. As Felt speaks with Subaru and Sora to plan some ideas they could do, Subaru turned towards Sora and started to ask the keyblade wielder,
"I don't know why I have this weapon as well and quite frankly I don't deserve it but I would like to ask you if you can train me to use it? I want to be as strong if not stronger than you so I can protect Emilia, Felt, Old Man Rom, and everybody else."
Sora paused himself for a moment, he had never taught anybody and feels like he isn't exactly worthy since he had yet to have passed the Mark of Mastery. He crossed his arms while thinking about it long and hard before responding to Subaru's request,
"To be fair, I actually didn't pass the Mark of Mastery to become a Keyblade Master."
"Wait what?! But how?! You are so powerful and yet you failed an exam!"
"Hehe it is a long story but I would feel bad if I didn't teach you anything so I'll take you up on that offer, Subaru."
"Wait really? Thank you so much Sora! I won't fail you!"
Sora smiles as he sees his new friend energetic that he will be trained by him while Felt begins to tease him a bit. As the three are all laughing, Reinhard and Emilia both join in the conversation along with Puck with Reinhard asking if he may assist Sora in training Subaru. Sora nodded since he feels like he could use some help in training someone due to his lack of experience. Puck and Emilia both also wanted to help with the training as well, leaving Subaru excited that he will become extremely strong and that he will get to spend time with the girl he has fallen in love with.
While they are all enjoying themselves, in the distance both maids look at the group. Ram smiled for a moment before looking at her sister, noticing that Rem is looking with eyes of distrust.
"Rem, are you alright?"
"Yes sister, pardon me for worrying you."
"What do you think of our guests? Do you feel like you distrust one of them?"
"I would never distrust the sword saint himself or the little girl he brought with him. Sora is actually quite the gentle soul yet Natsuki Subaru..."
"I understand Rem, buuuuut you must not do anythiiiiiing to our guest." Roswaal entered the maids' conversations, having been intrigued by Rem's distrust towards Subaru. He crossed his arms and in a kind manner he continued to speak, "Rem, I would liiiike you to waaaatch over him. Thaaaat way we can confirm if he is an ally or eeeeenemy."
"Understood." Rem nodded and quickly walked inside, having a bad feeling about watching over someone she considers a possible threat since she can smell something foul on Natsuki Subaru. As Rem was going inside, Betty turned away from the window and started to think to herself about the fight, He is powerful, I suppose...but is he or that buffon that he is with that person…?
So three things to point out in this chapter:
1. Yes, Sora is pretty much strong though not as strong as Reinhard just yet but he will get there as well. We wouldn't want Sora to be Reinhard level just yet (that would break the story and take away any tension).
2. More Felt, I sort of felt that she hasn't been explored enough (by the time this is written). So we get to see more development between Felt and Subaru along with Sora and the others.
3. Yes, Rem can smell the witch's scent on Subaru but it is dim. Even so, she still as distrust towards the young boy.
I will get chapter 4 finished either by the end of this day or the next day. I'm really enjoy your inputs, I hope you all keep enjoying this fanfic crossover of Kingdom Hearts and Re:Zero.