Chapter 11: Determination
Subaru felt nauseous as he started to see two giant heartless again, which caused him to look at his stomach for a moment, seeing that he was still alive. He looks around and notices that Sora is not around, helping him pinpoint where exactly he ended up.
So like a game, my safe point moved from the village being attacked by the heartless to the capital already being attacked by the heartless. If that is the case, then at least I know how to avoid the issue but that would mean...getting that damn Julius's help.
Subaru hated the thought of needing help yet knowing that they are dealing with an enemy that his master defeated along with Elsa, they are going to need someone as skilled as Julius. He did things similar on his first round against the Darkside heartless yet the difference her is that he used Thunder as he was jumping onto his head before landing a few blows which paid off in taking down one of the Darkside heartless since the moment it disappeared, a heart had appeared for a moment before disappearing as well.
Similar to before, he started to fall to his death and was eventually saved by Julius and similar to the previous events he told him,
"You should be careful now, Natsuki Subaru. We wouldn't want you to get killed for Emilia-sama's sake."
Instead of being mad at Julius, he nodded and told him to give him a little hand in taking care of the Darkside heartless. Julius noticed the humbleness in Subaru's words and accepted to help out, with Subaru providing magic cover while the knight went to do physical damage. Subaru summoned Fire and Thunder to give Julius an opening to take out the heartless with just one hit. With this, the two felt goof and their conversation went similar as before, with Julius asking for Sora yet Subaru's response was different.
"He probably went to face off the person that is causing all of this."
"Is that so? We should probably assist him then but before doing that, let's help out the other knights. They might be having trouble without us to give them a hand."
Subaru nodded and similar to his previous time, he assisted Julius in taking out enough heartless for the knights to be able to push through. The difference he made in this loop was to use a couple of magic abilities, wanting to quickly take out the heartless in order to get Julius and himself to Crusch and Felix's location as fast as possible before Marluxia or Elsa get to them. The knights were slightly envious of Subaru in this case, thinking that he was trying to show off his power to them. Julius could tell that the knights were not exactly happy with Subaru being there and quickly went to Subaru to tell him,
"Considering how things are, we sure do need Felix here with us. He can heal all those who are wounded. Could you go get Felix for us?"
'Huh? Wait a minute, this isn't how events went. Why is he entrusting me to go get Felix already.'
Subaru paused himself for a moment to think on what he did differently but before he could think about such things, he knew that he needs Julius to join him in the case he ends up having both Marluxia and Elsa attack them again. He thought of the possible words he could use to get Julius to join him until something came into mind.
"That's nice of you to trust me to get Felix but I would feel a lot better if I had a partner by my side."
"You sure about that, Natsuki Subaru? You seemed to prove yourself to be a talented warrior."
"Yes but I would feel nice to have a talented knight such as yourself helping me out."
Julius looked at Subaru, surprised by the boy's humbleness despite showing that he is a talented warrior himself. He crossed his arms and thought for a moment before looking at the knights and telling them to continue going without him. Subaru felt happy that his plea for help worked, though he hates himself that he had to ask Julius for help. As the two started to make their way towards Crusch's place, the same amount of heartless attempts to ambush the two but they managed to break through easily compared to when Subaru faced them off previously. As the two arrived at the entrance of Crusch's place, Subaru realized that they were a bit early, which caused him to be on his guard. Julius noticed this and quickly asked him if he is alright, causing the knight to be a bit wary.
"Sorry about that, Julius. I'm just very tense since I don't know what else will come out."
"Fair enough, just don't look too worried or else you'll get others to be worried as well."
Subaru looked at Julius and nodded, having regained his cool since he just didn't want to suffer another death by Elsa, having seen that she had killed him two times already. The two waited a few minutes before finally Felix and Crusch made their way to the outside.
"Nya! What are nyow two doing here?"
"Hello there Felix, we are here because we need your assistance to go help the injured civilians."
Felix crossed his arms for a moment, wanting Crusch to speak for him first to see what she thinks before saying anything to Julius. Crusch similar to the previous time accepted to allow Felix to go with the knights as long as she is there to help out as well. Julius led the way instead of Subaru, which led the group towards a different path. This is something Subaru noticed which made him calm down inside because that would mean they won't be confronting Marluxia or Elsa since they only appeared on the path he took Felix and Crusch.
Sora quickly arrived at the place his group had slept the previous night to find Rem facing off against multiple heartless with her flail. Sora quickly joined in on the fight, assisting her in facing many Dual Blade and neoshadow heartless. As the two combined their skills to easily take down each of the heartless, the two quickly had time to talk.
"Sora-kun, what is going on?"
"The heartless are being controlled by the Organization. Somehow they are here but I don't know how many of them are here."
"Don't worry Sora-kun, I'm here for you."
Sora looked at Rem and smiled as he saw the smile she was giving him to keep him cheered up. As he gets his hopes back up, the two notice two corridors of darkness appear to introduce two people with two black coats. Sora and Rem both got their weapons ready for combat with Sora a bit curious on who the two people are. As both of them pulled their hoods off, they were both people that caused Sora to be on his highest guard.
"Xemnas! Ansem! How are you two here? Mickey, Riku, and I defeated the two of you during-"
"-the keyblade war, yes we are aware. You defeated us but here, we have the advantage. With a dark world like this, our powers are amplified."
"Yes, although I don't have my guardian, I have immense power here."
Sora looked at Ansem and Xemnas with caution, now alerted that the organization members are much stronger than the last time he had encountered. As Sora was cautious, Rem stood in front of Sora to show that she will protect him. Xemnas noticed this and quickly pointed to Sora while saying,
"Interesting that you are able to gain this maid as your ally, despite her heart being darkened by the guilt she holds inside."
"What the hell would you know about me?! Are you all witch cultists?!"
"I don't know what this witch cult is but I don't care. In this world, us nobodies will finally get a heart."
"I won't let you, Xemnas." Sora said with determination in his eyes. Xemnas and Ansem both smiled before the two summoned a bunch of heartless and nobodies to keep both Sora and Rem busy. As the two were leaving, Sora promised the two that he would defeat them again, to which Ansem took this opportunity to say,
"We shall see about that, Keyblade wielder."
Sora and Rem both started to take on the combined threats of the nobodies and heartless while Ansem and Xemnas left the scene, both wanting to alert Sora that he should be on his guard since they expect a challenge from the young boy. Sora quickly summons Thundaga to finish off the group of heartless and nobodies in one go. As he does this, Rem looks at Sora and can tell that he is disturbed by the fact that both his greatest enemies have returned.
"Sora-kun…?"
"...Don't worry Rem, I won't let them hurt any of you."
"I know, because you are my hero and you will save us all."
Sora looked at Rem and smiled before asking her to follow him, knowing that he is going to need all the help he can if he is to fight a stronger version of the organization. Rem happily compiled to this and the two quickly went deeper into the city, having a feeling that the organization is much deeper into the city.
Subaru and the group were getting closer to the area where all the knights were located yet the same as the previous events, Marluxia appeared in front of them yet this time he didn't reveal his keyblade.
"Where may I find the keyblade wielder? I would like to pay him a visit after he ruined my plans."
"My name is Julius Juukulius, a member of the royal guard and a knight. State your business here."
"Right, where is my manner? My name is Marluxia. I'm here to find the Keyblade wielder known as Sora. Tell me where he is and I will promise to spare your lives."
Julius looked at Subaru, seeing that he was yet to pull his keyblade out, making him think that if he pulls out the weapon, he would end up being a target. He looked forward and quickly responded,
"We haven't seen the boy, he must be somewhere else into the city. Now please leave us, we have important business to attend to."
Marluxia looked at the four and took notice of what Julius the knight said to him. He stood silent for a moment before nodding, allowing them to start running for a moment before he quickly pulled out his scythe to do an air slash attack. Crusch noticed this and countered the attack with her own sword air slash, which made Subaru see that compared to the last time where Crusch initiated the attack first, this time Marluxia chose to attack first.
"What is the meaning of this, do you know who we are?!"
"Should I? I mean you all are irrelevant to me so I don't care as much but that boy with you contains a power similar like the keyblade."
"I don't know what you are talking about but we said-" Julius attempted to get Marluxia to back off but that prompted him to go and attack the group. Julius pulled out his sword and quickly deflected the attack from hitting Subaru. Marluxia was surprised by this and quickly jumped back, complimenting Julius for having deflected off the attack yet he warned the knight to back off if he wanted to live. Julius looked at Crusch and the crew and began to say,
"Take Natsuki Subaru to the other knights and help them out, I can take care of Marluxia on my own."
"Nya, but-"
"Trust me Felix, I can take care of this creep. You three are needed by the knights."
Felix looked at Julius and nodded, knowing that he won't be much help there and quickly with Crusch and Subaru headed towards the direction where the other knights are located. As they were heading off, Julius summoned his spirits, showing Marluxia that he will be fighting seriously. Marluxia looked at Julius and was interested in knowing what the knight is made out of, prompting him to be the first to attack.
Crusch and Felix both asked Subaru if he knew who Marluxia was, prompting Subaru to say that he is probably one of Sora's enemies that he defeated in his journey. This got the two to be curious on the type of journey the Keyblade wielder had gone in to get someone as deadly to be his enemy. While on the run, Subaru felt that something was going to attack the three, causing him to stop both Crusch and Felix in order to create a shield around them with the magic ability Reflect. As he did this, a knife hit the barrier before it broke due to its time limit. The three looked at the knife before looking forward to see a familiar threat approaching them.
"My My, I'm a little surprise that you knew I would be coming, considering that the Sword Saint had me locked up when we last met."
"I just had a feeling that you would be a part of this chaos."
Subaru pulled out his Keyblade with Crusch getting herself ready for a fight as well, being aware how dangerous the Bowel Hunter is. Elsa looked at the three, curious about Felix since it had been a while since she had seen the insides of a demi-human. She smiled sinisterly before saying to Subaru,
"Tell me, where exactly is Sora? I wanted to repay him for the previous fight we had a month ago."
"I don't have to tell you!"
"Well then, I always love doing things the hard way."
Elsa charged at the group, ready to kill them where they stand yet Crusch quickly used her ability to try to slice Elsa, The Bowel Hunter noticed this and quickly dodged the attack before charging at the crew again, aware that she has to be quick if she wants to do some damage. As she was moving faster than the speed of sound, Subaru had recalled that she likes attacking from the bowel area, allowing him to deflect off the attack by getting in front of Crusch and blocking the attack. As he was able to block the attack, he quickly allowed Crusch to take on the Bowel Hunter on her own, somehow managing to put up a fight which forced Elsa to start trying.
'I won't allow you to kill me or anybody this time, Elsa!'
Subaru waited for a moment until Elsa attempted to use her second hidden knife to strike down Crusch. Once he saw that she was about to strike, he quickly jumped into the fight to block off the attack. Elsa noticed this and quickly jumped back, annoyed that she hasn't been able to do any kind of damage. Elsa charged at the group again, this time trying to get to Subaru yet Crusch anticipated that she would do this, quickly going in front of the boy to protect him from getting hurt. This annoyed Elsa even more, turning her attention to Crusch, surprised that the head of the Karsten family is able to hold her own against someone like her.
Crusch quickly pushed back with Subaru joining in again and summoning magic ability Blizzard to force Elsa to jump back. Elsa looked at Subaru and at Crusch, excited that she was having some difficulty in killing her prey. Before she could continue, a bunch of heartless appeared in front of them, surprising the four of them.
"What a shame, I guess I'll have to let you all live for now. Take care of your bowels for me."
Elsa smiled sinisterly before leaving the area, letting the heartless to turn their attention to Subaru, Crusch, and Felix. Crusch got her sword ready for combat yet Subaru got in front of her and Felix while telling them,
"Allow me to take care of these heartless on my own, you two should get to the other knights while its only these heartless attacking us."
"Subaru-kyun, we still need to get Julius!"
"I know and I'll make sure he is safe. Right now we need you to help the knights with the civilians."
Crusch and Felix both understood the opening he was giving them, just like how Julius gave them an opening for them to go to the knights. The two wished Subaru good luck before leaving, making Crusch see that if Subaru is selfless, then it is logical that he got those traits from his master. This made her want to get Sora in her camp, seeing that having a kind hearted warrior that could rival the powers of the sword saint can help make Lugnica a better place. As the two left Subaru to fight for himself, he smiled as he is confident that he has enough strength to handle three of the neoshadow heartless.
Subaru charges at the neoshadow heartless and tries to land a hit yet the went into the ground, creating a puddle of darkness before jumping up to attack him. He quickly was able to learn the patterns of how the heartless fight, causing him to create a plan to land a hit. As he was fending off the neoshadow heartless, he managed to land a couple of good hits before he was able to land the finishing blow to one of the neoshadow heartless. The other neoshadow heartless took the opportunity to attack the boy while his defenses were down yet he was saved by a couple of knights that arrived at the scene.
"Thank you guys, I thought I was dead."
The knights looked at Subaru before they quickly attempted to attack the young boy, leaving him confused and on his guard. He asked the three knights what they are doing considering that they are allies. The knights continue to attack Subaru until they finally disarm the young boy, wanting to prove how weak he really is. The leader of the three knights kicks Subaru to the ground while pointing his sword at his face while saying,
"You and that Master of yours don't belong here! We, the imperial knights, will not be disrespected by a couple of foolish kids!"
"The hell?! We are on the same side in this fight!"
"Because your master will need a lesson for humiliating the knights and declaring a weakling like you a knight is for you to die!"
Subaru looked at the knights and was completely confused on why the knights this time hated him when in the previous time they were cheering him on after helping them push back the heartless. He thought about it until he realized that in this loop, he was more active and took more heartless in a way that made him look like he was showing off. Considering that Sora already proved to be able to damage Reinhard, showing off would make them think that both his master and him are just a bunch of disrespectful showoffs. Just as it seemed like he was going to die by the knight pointing his sword directly at him, they all heard an old man's voice speak to them in a serious tone of voice,
"What are you three doing?!"
The knights turn towards the voice and are surprised to see the Sword Devil, Wilhelm Van Astrea. This caused the three to back off while explaining that they were defending their honor after what happened in the royal selection. Wilhelm was surprised to hear that Sora managed to even land a hit despite Reinhard having all of his divine protections yet he punched all three knights before saying to them,
"You three are pitiful knights. We are in the middle of a battle and you chose this time to attack your own allies. You are lucky that we need warriors because I would kill you where you stand. Now leave!"
The three knights left in fear, not wanting to be killed and dishonored while Wilhelm assisted Subaru back on his feet. He apologized to the young boy for what the three knights were going to do, feeling as if it was his fault.
"It's alright, those three were just jerks but they are not the priority right now. It is getting every civilian to safety and to fight off these heartless."
"Agreed. By the way, did you ever cross paths with Miss Crusch?"
"Yes, Felix and Crusch went to assist the other knights in helping civilians."
"Then lead the way, Natsuki Subaru."
Wilhelm and Subaru both headed towards the direction where Crusch and Felix went, Subaru feeling relieved that he didn't die, causing him to be grateful that Wilhelm found him just in time. On the path towards the knights' location, the two encountered more powerful heartless. The heartless seemed to be more fixated on Subaru, forcing him to go all out with Wilhelm backing him up. The two quickly managed to handle themselves with Wilhelm providing the most offense between the two while Subaru used magic to back himself and Wilhelm up.
The two managed to finally arrive at the location with Subaru and Wilhelm both noticing that Emilia and her crew are struggling to hold their own against two threats. Crusch was assisting the knights in facing off tough heartless like the darklings, neoshadows, and Dual Blade heartless while Felix healed the injured. Felt and Old Man Rom together were taking on a thin and sinuous body looking enemies. Reinhard was facing a black coat person with an odd looking keyblade while Emilia and Puck were both facing another black coat person with gold eyes, pointed elf-like ears, upturned eyebrows, and dark hair with several grey streaks tied into a long ponytail.
'Oh no, the situation is much more dire now. With this many of Master Sora's enemies all looking for him, do we even stand a chance? Even Reinhard seems to be having some difficulty taking care of that keyblade wielder there...'
Subaru paused himself for a moment, he started to wonder if Sora had many enemies that wielded the keyblade. As he paused himself, he noticed that the person who needed the most help was Emilia and Puck. He was going to ask Wilhelm if he could assist Emilia and Puck but as he turned towards Wilhelm, he ran towards Crusch's position to assist her and the knights. This caused him to watch as Emilia and Puck were both firing off many icicles yet their attacks were easily countered by their opponent's red laser arrows. The man looked at both Emilia and Puck before saying in a confident tone of voice,
"You two make a fun duo yet I expected more of a challenge."
"Don't underestimate Lia and me!"
Emilia and Puck increased the amount of attacks yet their opponent didn't seem faced by this, allowing some of the attacks to hit him only for both Puck and Emilia to slightly faze by this since their attacks are supposed to kill and somehow their opponent survived it without looking like it did anything.
"That attack is deadly and probably would've done some damage should you have fought me back when I was facing Sora and his friend in the keyblade graveyard but in this world, my power is much stronger."
"Keyblade...graveyard?"
"Don't worry about it, little girl. That's just between me and the kid."
The man pointed his weapon on his right hand towards a building before firing a laser arrow which caused the building to explode. Emilia and Puck both turned around and noticed that a building was falling towards the two quickly. Subaru had anticipated this and quickly ran to Emilia to save her from being crushed by the building itself. At first he was about to use Reflect to create a barrier yet he realized the barrier would break and they would both be crushed to death.
'Damn it, I'm probably going to die again...but at least I'll be able to save you before I get killed again...'
Subaru quickly pushed Emilia and Puck as hard as he possibly can, barely able to put the two in the safe area where they wouldn't be crushed by the building's walls. Emilia and Puck both looked at Subaru, Emilia in shock of what was about to happen.
"Subaru!" Emilia shouted towards the young boy, seeing as the building falls all over him, causing her to panic. She looks at the broken building parts that are on top of Subaru and sees a pool of blood starting to be created. She continues to shout his name in horror at what just happened.
'I...died? Am I dead? I think I am.' Subaru thought to himself before he was able to see again, realizing that he is back with the two darkside heartless again. This made him think deeply about things, such as when they were fighting the Mabeast, he had died two times. He is now on his third life, which made him start to believe that he might be on his last life before experiencing true death. This frightened him yet he regained his resolve, knowing that he needs to do everything right if he wants to protect everyone and make it out of this loop alive.
Okay fate, I will not fall for this a third time! I will defy you and I will make it out of this loop...I will use this Return by death knowledge to create the perfect path for all of us to survive!
Subaru charged at the Darkside heartless and similar to his second loop, he destroyed it but this time he had anticipated the fall which made him quickly jump towards the other giant heartless. He managed to grab on to its arm while casting Thunder at it, giving him the opening he needed in order to destroy the second one. He started to fall once again only to be saved by Julius, saying the same words he said last time yet the knight added at how impressed he was in seeing Subaru take down the two Darkside heartless.
"Mind if you come assist me, Natsuki Subaru?"
"Sure thing, Julius."
Subaru followed Julius to assist the knights once again with the young boy determined to make sure that this time he makes it out alive alongside everyone else.
Author's note:
1. When seeing from Sora's perspective, his events remains the same on all the loops ever since he left Subaru. It will shift at the end.
2. Ansem and Xemnas are both from post Kingdom Hearts III memory wise while Marluxia's memories are from after his defeat in Kingdom Hearts Re: Chain of memories.
3. The data organization have a power boost in the world since it is a darker world, so their powers are much stronger than Kingdom Hearts 3 Limitcut data battle to give you all a scaling on how powerful they are.
Keep on sending those reviews, I read them and I really do enjoy the feedback. I'll keep working hard on this next chapters.