Chapter 18: Attack on the White Whale
Subaru and Rem both went to look for Yabuto, Kishida, and Waraki to inform them that they need to speak with Felt and Anastasia with Subaru having explained the situation to Rem regarding the white whale and the witch cult. As Subaru was gathering allies, he starts to pay attention to all of his days with Crusch and her camp.
He recalls someone who is like a businessman talking to Wilhelm which prompted him to ask his three friends about who this man is, feeling like he is going to be important in getting Crusch, Felt, and Anastasia's camps to work together in order to fight against the White Whale. He is aware that Crusch's camp is gathering warriors to face the white whale yet he knew that they weren't going to be enough to beat the whale.
During this time, Subaru had sent his three friends to assist him in sending a knight in delivering a letter to the people in the mansion. He wishes to alert his master of the threat that is going on in order to get the villagers to safety while he assists everyone else in stopping the White Whale.
As his plan was going underway, he returned to Crusch's home to prepare for the discussion at hand without his three friends backing him up this time. He entered the house with Rem by his side, having asked Wilhelm if he could gather Crusch and Felix to speak with.
"Natsuki Subaru, what would you like to discuss about?"
"I need to discuss with you about the battle you are going to have against the White Whale. I want to join in on the fight."
"Nya, nyow how do nyow know about that?"
"I guess you could say I've been paying attention very closely to my surroundings."
Subaru began to explain everything he heard from the knights and from the people, he also explained how there are lots of wagons arriving to Crusch's place as if she is gathering for something. All of this led Crusch to commend Subaru for his ability to figure it all out yet she asked him why he would want to fight alongside them when he should be recovering.
"My master would help you all if he were here, I would like to make my master proud by fighting alongside you all. Despite how weak I am, I'll still fight by your side."
"You are quite the warrior, Natsuki Subaru. I can see why the knights would want someone like you in their ranks."
"Yes but on top of that, I want to form an alliance between the Emilia and Crusch camps, on equal terms. I know when and where the white whale will arrive. That will be the basis of the alliance."
"Mind if I ask how you know where the white whale will appear, Natsuki Subaru?"
Subaru pulled out his phone and explained how this assisted him in finding the white whale, remembering from the time he pulled it out to check on the mist in the previous loop before the white whale attacked them.
As he starts to convince the Crusch camp, Anastasia and Felt join in the conversation, both of them offering to assist. As the conversations went on Subaru's side, he started to prepare along with the others on their journey to face off the White Whale. While things seemed to go as planned, Subaru got a chance to speak with Rem on their own.
"Subaru, are you okay?"
"What do you mean, Rem?"
"I can tell something is wrong. You are after all, my friend."
"Rem..." Subaru paused himself again from hearing those words, having only heard them in the loops he ended up dying. This caused him to want everybody to survive this time around, not wanting to fail a fourth time.
"I don't want to lose any of you. After having lost the keyblade, I've felt weak and pathetic but then I remembered what Master Sora told me before he left with Emilia-tan. He told me the story of how he lost his keyblade and got it back with a strong heart. That's why I want to gain the same strength he got it from...from my friends."
Rem noticed this and smiled as she saw the kind of person Subaru had become thanks to Sora's influence. This made her want to call Subaru her friend even more despite how his stench is one of the witch. Rem patted his back for a moment before telling him,
"Even without the keyblade, Subaru, you still are much stronger. You may be weak but you also have the strongest resolve than anybody here. You desire to help everyone even if you know it could lead to death. You are Sora's apprentice after all."
Subaru smiled as the two laughed a bit before returning with the others. Waraki and Yabuto both had asked Subaru why he didn't wear the uniform given to him by the Imperial knights. Subaru smiled and told them that should he die, he would want to die with the uniform he came into the kingdom.
"I do like the uniform, don't get me wrong, but I sort of prefer showing off my skills as just me, Natsuki Subaru, the keyblade wielder's apprentice."
"Hehe alright then newbie, but you will always be one of us knights."
"And we will always have your back, Subaru."
Subaru smiled at both Waraki and Yabuto before they all got to their positions without any hesitation. As everyone prepared for the fight that lay ahead of them, Subaru looked at his sword and although he knew that it wasn't as strong as a keyblade, he still feels happy to have a weapon that he can use to fight with. Kishida stood next to Subaru as planned and the two spoke a bit.
"Subaru, mind if I ask you something?"
"Um sure, what's up Kishida?"
"Do you think we will all make it out of this alive? I know that the battle is going to be tough as hell but do you think it'll be possible for all of us to survive?"
"I don't know but I think for sure this is going to be the route where we finally defeat that damn thing. The White Whale doesn't stand a chance against a former keyblade wielder, the Crusch camp, Anastasia's forces, even Felt's forces, and the Imperial knights that are my three friends. We are all going to pull through this, Kishida. I have faith in my friends."
Kishida smiled at hearing this, impressed by the strength his friend has despite having lost the weapon that gave him power and the faith he has on others. This reminded him of why his two closest friends and himself chose to befriend him, they saw the strength of a boy and how he cares for others. Although they do wish Sora was with them, he still believes that they will survive the fight thanks to his friend.
After night time started to hit, Subaru's phone began to ring which alerted everyone that the White Whale would begin to arrive. They all waited until they noticed the White Whale hovering over the moon and approaching them very fast.
Every warrior was terrified by the white whale, with Subaru and Rem both ready for the fight ahead. Subaru looked at the whale and as it seemed that people were going to give up by its sheer size and power, Subaru along with Rem used the ground dragon named Patrasche to charge into battle.
Yabuto, Kishida, and Waraki noticed Rem and Subaru charging into battle, prompting the three to charge towards the whale alongside their friends. This caused every other warrior to also charge at the white whale, prompting Crusch to start the fight by sending a sword slash directly at the white whale, damaging it.
The large army all started to attack the white whale with everything they got, using magic and their weapons without hesitation, damaging the large beast as best as they can yet Subaru and Rem could tell that it isn't going to be enough to kill them.
As the fight seemed to get heated with Wilhelm jumping onto the white whale to do excessive amounts of damage, he starts to recall his time with young Xehanort and young Eraqus.
During the battle against the demi humans, many heartless appeared and started to attack the young Wilhelm yet with the two keyblade wielders assisting him, they were able to save him. Although the two did it out of concern for their friend, Wilhelm felt himself as a weakling since he is aware at this point that Theresia is the sword saint.
This bothered him to the point that he wanted to challenge the two keyblade wielders to prove his strength. He fought the two but was easily beaten by the pair, showing how different their skills are. This angers him until Theresia helps him get up.
"Don't push yourself too far, Wil."
"...I'll be fine." Wilhelm was serious when he heard what Theresia said, wanting to keep fighting with all he got since the reason he wields a sword is because he wishes to protect everybody. He attempted to fight the two keyblade wielders once again but he still failed. He continued and continued until finally Xehanort told him that he should rest, not wanting his friend to get hurt anymore. During the break period, Theresia asked Wilhelm in a curious tone,
"Why do you wield a sword?"
"Because this is all I have."
"Not really." Xehanort joined in the conversation, wanting his friend to not feel down only because he couldn't defeat him and Eraqus. Wilhelm had a jealousy towards the two foreigners, how strong they were yet he also appreciated the tricks they taught him, how he feels like he is a much better swordsman for it. He challenged the two keyblade wielders once again and continued to train with them, wanting to get stronger while Theresia looked at Wilhelm and was both inspired by his continuing strength while also concerned that he would burn himself out.
"Please go easy on him, you two."
"Don't worry, Theresia. Xehanort and I will not push him too far."
"Don't worry about me, I can take it!"
Xehanort and Eraqus both nodded at each other, knowing that they have to be careful in order to not kill Wilhelm of exhaustion.
Wilhelm in present day used his skills to do much more damage to the whale with his sword skills before using Ricardo the Dog Man to assist him in pushing him back towards the Whale's position. As he headed towards the whale, the old swordsman managed to cut the whale's eye to the point it fell off. The whale screamed in pain before starting to create large mists, which made Subaru realize what exactly happened to Rem in the previous loop. The whale's mist can erase people which forced Subaru to warn everybody about this before someone grabbed his arm and threw him away from where Rem is at.
'What the hell?!'
As Subaru hit the ground hard, he looked up and saw that Vanitas was there just like the previous loop. He got up and pulled his sword out while telling Rem to focus on the white whale, not wanting her to get involved in his fight with Vanitas and to focus on the white whale. Rem looked at Subaru and wanted to help her friend yet Yabuto, Kishida, and Waraki all three noticed this and quickly told Rem to help the others while they assisted Subaru. Rem looked as the three knights stood by Subaru's side against Vanitas, making her smile that her friend as others helping him.
"Just try not getting yourself killed, Subaru."
"I won't, Rem-Rem."
"I will allow you to call me that just this once."
"Okay Okay."
Rem smiled before joining back into the fight against the white whale, using her flail to damage the white whale.
"Well if it isn't the false keyblade wielder. I see you have brought some weaklings with you."
"Don't you dare call them weaklings! They are much stronger than what you think!"
"Haha is that so? Well then show me what you four are made of."
Vanitas charged at them with keyblade in hand, confident that he will take down his four opponents within a few seconds yet he was surprised when Subaru was able to block some attacks while the other three knights went on the offense towards him. Normally a hit from one knight wouldn't do much yet the coordination of the four knights with Subaru being on the defensive while the three going on the offensive did bothered him a bit.
As Subaru and his group were fending off Vanitas, Crusch and Felt both worked together in telling their armies what to do, throwing everything they got in winning the fight yet they realized the white whale was still too high for them to do any damage.
Subaru noticed this and quickly thought of an idea, attempting to reveal that he could return by death to his comrades only for him to cough since the witch tightened his heart and engulfed him in a stronger scent of the witch.
This caused the beast to turn its attention towards the young boy, interrupting the fight the three knights and the young boy were having with the evil keyblade wielder. Rem managed to assist Subaru in getting out of the whale's targeting range by summoning a large icicle to shut its mouth.
As the whale was distracted by the pain, Wilhelm managed to jump back onto the whale to do some damage with the little twins firing a sound wave in unison. As they were able to do damage to the white whale meanwhile Ricardo managed to do damage to the whale's side where it was leaking smoke.
As Ricardo and Wilhelm were doing damage to the whale, Vanitas summoned a bunch of keyblades to help him travel around, having his attention towards Subaru. The young boy realized this and quickly tried to get closer to the white whale in hopes of gaining some distance from the organization member yet he noticed a couple of fireballs at him and Rem.
The little twins noticed this and quickly fired a sonic sound wave together against Vanitas, throwing him off guard and off of his keyblade he was riding on. As this happens, the white whale manages to knock out Wilhelm and Ricardo from itself, forcing Wilhelm to land on his ground dragon. As all the camps regroup, a large mist hits the group causing everyone to scatter with Wilhelm getting knocked out of his ground dragon.
At the same time, Vanitas managed to kick Subaru off of Patrasche which caught Rem's attention. As Subaru was sent flying across the battlefield and having his right arm damaged, Vanitas appeared in front of him and proceeded to beat the crap out of him again while Wilhelm managed to land near a flower, causing him to remember something from his past.
"Hey, have you grown to like flowers?...What is it?"
"There was talk of conferral, and I became a knight."
"Well, congratulations. Then you're one step closer to your dream."
"My dream?"
"Don't you wield a sword to protect? A knight is someone who protects another."
"...It's humiliating." Young Wilhelm swung his sword at Theresia yet she easily grabbed the sword and disarmed him before hitting his chest area hard enough to make all the air in his lungs to come out at once. Young Xehanort and Young Eraqus noticed this and quickly went to check on the pair.
"What's going on?"
"This doesn't concern you, Xehanort!"
"It sure does, Theresia, what happened?"
"Master Swordsman Theresia Van Astrea."
"Huh?" Both Young Xehanort and Young Eraqus looked puzzled as they didn't understand what the young man was saying. This caused Theresia what her name as Master Swordsman means, interesting the two keyblade wielders. As she had explained to the two of the Van Astrea history, the two were curious on how powerful is the Master Swordsman but before they could say anything, the three heard Young Wilhelm speak to Theresia.
"Were...you laughing at me...?!"
"No..."
"Hey you two, come on! No need to be hasty!"
"Sorry Eraqus but since someone doesn't approve of my name, I won't come here again."
Theresia dropped the sword and looked at young Wilhelm with a sad face before leaving the three boys yet as she tried to leave, Xehanort summoned his keyblade and pointed it directly at her with a serious facial expression.
"I can't allow my friends to leave things like this."
"I don't want to but it seems like Wil doesn't like me."
"That's not true! It's just...With a face like that, you shouldn't be holding a sword!"
"I am the Master Swordsman. I didn't understand the reason why, I do now."
"The reason..."
"Wielding a sword to protect someone. That sounds nice to me, too."
Theresia begins to walk pass Xehanort, leaving all three of the boys in silence for a moment before Wilhelm started to speak,
"Wait Theresia...I will take your sword from you! I don't care about the role bestowed upon the Master Swordsman! Wielding a sword...The beauty of a steel blade...Don't look down on them, Master Swordsman!"
Theresia continued to walk until Xehanort again blocked her path, causing her to be annoyed at the keyblade wielder. She pouted and crossed her arms while asking what he wanted yet Xehanort gave her a serious look.
"If you are a master swordsman, then allow me to fight you. I want to prove something for Wilhelm."
Theresia looked at Xehanort with a bit of an annoyed facial expression before attempting to leave yet the keyblade wielder charged at her. She attempted to block the attack like she did with Wilhelm yet she was surprised that somehow Xehanort managed to land a hit on her side. This caused her to look at the keyblade wielder and to quickly grab Wilhelm's sword to fight Xehanort.
The two clashed weapons and started to fight for a bit with Eraqus telling the two to stop yet they both refused. Xehanort went on the offensive against Theresia with everything he got, showing that he was on equal terms of strength with the Master Sword Saint.
Wilhelm looked at Xehanort with an amazed gaze in his eyes, never believing that anybody could stand up and even go toe to toe with a sword saint while Eraqus attempted to figure a way to stop the two from fighting. Xehanort and Theresia continued to fight until Eraqus was able to get in between the two, stopping them from fighting.
"Enough you two! This isn't what friends do!"
"I'm sorry Eraqus but it has to be done."
"No it doesn't Xehanort!"
Theresia threw the sword to the ground and started to leave, impressed that somehow Xehanort was able to land a hit on her despite her divine protections yet uncertain of her ability to wield a sword now. As she was leaving, Wilhelm looked at both Xehanort and Eraqus with the resolve of wanting to get stronger.
"Xehanort! Eraqus! Please, teach me to become as strong as you two, please!"
Xehanort and Eraqus were both puzzled by this request since they didn't expect Wilhelm to show a sign of humility but because it was their friend, the two agreed and quickly gave their friend his sword before commencing his harsh training.
Wilhelm reflected on this moment before the whale was about to eat him alive until Yabuto and his two allies managed to get him out of there safely. As this happened, they all looked up to see two more white whales appear out of nowhere, causing everyone to be in a panic. Subaru eventually was beaten to near death while Vanitas laughed at the pathetic boy in front of him.
"Do you still believe that you, a pathetic boy, can be worthy of the keyblade?"
"I...believe...on my friends..."
"Where are they now?!"
"Right here!"
Someone with a familiar female voice spoke to Vanitas, causing him to see towards the direction of the voice yet as he looked an icicle hit him in the chest. As the organization member was sent flying, Subaru looked up and saw that it was Emilia with Puck by her side. Emilia helped Subaru get up and gave him a hug for a moment before hitting him in the head.
"Ow. What was that for, Emilia-tan?"
"Subaru, you are such a dunderhead! You shouldn't risk your life this much!"
"Hehe Sorry Emilia-tan, I just couldn't allow them to fight without me."
"Still you should be resting but I can't stop you since we are here now."
"Hehe sorry..."
Emilia smiled at Subaru as she did find his sense of helping others quite appealing yet she was just happy to see him alive. She noticed that he was beaten up and quickly healed him before the two with Puck together faced off against Vanitas. Rem and the other warriors were all struggling to deal with the three white whales yet they all noticed a large thunderbolt hit one of the white whales, exploding it on impact. They all turned to look around for who did it until they noticed Julius with Sora by his side.
"My hero." Rem said with a smile on her face when she saw her hero arrive and showing off a bit by destroying one of the white whales with just one attack. Everyone cheered as they saw Sora arrive at the scene, giving all of the warriors hope that they will survive the hell that is the battle against the White Whale.
Sora smiled and quickly with Julius joined the others in facing the white whale while Subaru, Emilia, and Puck all three teamed up to push Vanitas back. Vanitas fired lots of fireballs at the trio yet he wasn't able to land a proper hit. This annoyed Vanitas, causing him to take the fight much more seriously yet to his surprise, Yabuto and the other two knights joined in on the battle by attacking the organization member in the back.
As Yabuto, Kishida, and Waraki joined in on the fight against Vanitas once more, they all turned towards Emilia and gave her the proper respect by telling her that it is an honor to fight alongside another candidate. She nodded at them and acknowledged the respect she was getting before they all continued to push back Vanitas.
Sora and Wilhelm both were thrown up towards one of the white whales with the two doing serious damage to it with their combined strength. As the two were standing on top of the whale, Wilhelm looked at the keyblade wielder before smiling at him.
"You know Sora-dono, I once knew two keyblade wielders; Xehanort and Eraqus."
"You knew Xehanort?"
"Yes, he was quite the fighter though he was a good person when we first met and when he left with Eraqus. You remind me a lot of the two of them."
Sora paused for a moment, unsure whether it was a good or bad thing yet he put it as the former and took the compliment. He nodded at Wilhelm before the two continued on their attack on the white whale.
As the whale took too much damage, it started to descend towards the surface very quickly which forced both the old man and the keyblade wielder to jump off.
As the two jump off to safety, the white whale crashes into the floor with great impact before blowing up, leaving everybody excited at the fact that they will win and finally put down the white whale for good.
Vanitas continued to deflect every attack thrown his way with some ease yet he eventually felt the white whale won't last long without some assistance. He gained some distance from his opponents before a darkness started to cover the dark keyblade user.
As this darkness covered him, he eventually sent it towards the white whale, covering it with darkness before a symbol appeared on its forehead with a dark color rather than its white skin it originally had.
"What are you doing?"
"Oh trust me, I'm making sure that you all know that I'm fighting with everything I got now. Also why not add a little chaos in the mix."
Subaru and the others all looked as the white whale is now the dark whale with Sora noticing the unversed symbol on the whale. He looked around and noticed Vanitas was nearby, facing off against Subaru, Emilia, Puck and three knights. This worried the boy yet a hug from Rem was enough to calm his heart and worries.
"Don't worry Sora-kun, Subaru as Emilia by his side. They will defeat him. Together we can defeat the White Whale."
"You are right Rem." Sora smiled at Rem before the two started to charge at the dark whale with the other forces joining in. As Sora and the others all charged at the dark whale, a dark beam from its horn was beginning to shine for a few seconds before firing at the group with it. Many people scattered but a few warriors were caught by the blast and killed by it, angering Sora and the others.
Subaru noticed this and realized that they have to do something if they were going to defeat Vanitas and the dark whale. He turned to both Emilia and Puck to tell them to go assist the others in taking down the dark whale.
"Are you sure about that, Subaru? Lia and I don't want to leave you to face an impossible task."
"I know but I think you all can help Sora take down that dark whale faster. My friends and I will hold Vanitas for as long as we can."
Emilia at first didn't want to leave Subaru on his own yet the three knights assured the silver haired half-elf that they would take care of him. She smiled at them before giving Subaru a quick hug before running towards Sora's position with Puck by her side. Before Puck left, he told the four good luck before following Emilia.
"Ha, you think you four can actually hold me back? For how long?"
"Long enough."
Subaru spoke before charging alongside his three friends towards Vanitas. Vanitas deflected a couple of attacks from the three knights before attempting to kill them all without hesitation yet Subaru was strong enough to deflect all the attacks. This surprised Vanitas since he didn't expect Subaru to be able to hold his own against a somewhat strong attack of his. This forced him to start going all out, pushing the four opponents of his to their limit.
Subaru realized how tough his opponent was getting, making him wish he had a keyblade for a brief moment before remembering that he can handle things on his own. He deflected all the attacks as best as he could yet Vanitas proved to be much stronger. He destroyed Yabuto's sword before in one swing knocking him to the ground, injuring the knight.
Waraki and Kishida noticed this and quickly charged at Vanitas together yet their opponent managed to deflect both attacks like if they were nothing. He grabs Waraki's leg and uses it to hit Kishida, causing both knights to get sent flying away. Subaru attempted to use this opening to strike down Vanitas but his sword shattered as he tried to stab his opponent through the helmet he was wearing. Subaru looked at his broken sword for a moment, wondering how hard is the helmet his opponent was wearing before feeling his opponent grabbing his throat with ease.
"You four really lasted as long as I expected. You are nothing more than vermin who deserve to be forgotten."
Vanitas threw Subaru a few feet away from him, forcing Subaru to roll into a ball before hitting the ground to soften the pain. As he got back up on his feet, he still held his broken sword without hesitation.
"I see you still have a lot of fighting spirit but what good is a weapon that is broken?"
Sora and the others all dodged many of the deadly attacks the dark whale was throwing at them, making it difficult to get any closer to it. Wilhelm attempted yet he was injured by one of its attacks, sending him flying with his entire right arm bleeding. Sora quickly casted Curaga at him to allow the Old warrior to return to the battle.
"Sora! Need some assistance?"
"Puck! Emilia!"
"Emilia-sama, shouldn't you be helping Subaru." Rem chimed in, concern for Subaru's safety.
"I want to but I trust that he can hold his own against the opponent he is facing."
Sora had a cold expression at first since he isn't sure if Subaru can handle Vanitas for long yet he knew that he had to trust in his apprentice. He smiled before nodding at Emilia and Puck right before telling them of the situation.
"Lia and I can assist you in getting closer to the gluttony...or well as you all would like to put it, the white whale."
"I don't think it is the white whale right now."
"You are right Lia, I guess it is a dark whale now."
"True but that symbol there is an unversed. Unlike the heartless, it is created by negative emotions from the one Subaru is fighting, also known as Vanitas."
Sora had remembered all the stuff Aqua and Ventus had told him about Vanitus and how he creates the unversed to cause trouble.
"Noted, should Lia and I return to help Subaru?"
"No, let's trust that Subaru, my apprentice, can handle him for as long as he can while we take care of this unversed white whale together!"
"Right, for Subaru!" Emilia spoke with confidence in her voice before they assisted Sora in taking on the Dark whale.