Interlude 2: Rem
Subaru walked around the streets of Lugnica, completely calm as he alongside a young boy that resembled him with only elf ears walking alongside him, having Starlight in his hand. Subaru turned towards the child and quickly began to speak to him,
"Rigel, put Starlight away. We don't want to attract unnecessary attention."
"But father, I want to play with my weapon a little longer. Besides, you will just kick butt to anybody who would want to fight us."
"That may be true but a Keyblade Wielder shouldn't be picking fights. That goes more for me as a Keyblade Master."
"Fine fine." The boy known as Rigel put away Starlight, having understood that he can't be trying to pick fights since he holds an important weapon. As the two continue to walk around the Capital, Rigel begins to ask his father why they are in the capital city instead of the throne room with mother.
"We are here to visit your uncle Sora, after all he is not only my brother in spirit I need to visit but my old master."
"Why haven't Uncle Sora visited us then?"
"Rem and him have been training a new generation of Keyblade wielders, so he hasn't had time to visit due to having to train new people each day. Considering that he took this burden alone instead of allowing me to join, he hasn't had time to pay a visit to us so we are visiting him instead."
"Wait then why is mother not with us then?"
"She is busy governing a kingdom, I wouldn't want her to-"
"To what, Subaru?"
Subaru and Rigel both turned around when they heard a familiar voice speak to them to see an older Emilia in disguise approaching the two. Subaru was surprised by this while Rigel went towards his mother, happy to see that she is joining them. Subaru looked at Emilia with a nervous look before she grabbed him by the long hair he grew out and started to pull on it.
"You are such a dunderhead! If you had told me you were going to see Sora and Rem, I would've made time to join you both!"
"AH! Alright Alright I was wrong!" Subaru pleaded for Emilia to stop which she did with a smirk on her face before they continued to walk towards Sora's home with Subaru telling Emilia his classic question, "Who even says Dunderhead anymore?"
"I do, now lead the way."
Subaru nodded and quickly took his family towards Sora and Rem's home with Rigel asking his parents on how they met his uncle. Emilia and Subaru both looked at each other and completely realized that they are walking around the capital the same exact way they did when they were looking for the little girl's parents, making the two smile at each other. Subaru looked at his son and quickly answered the question in a confident tone and manner,
"Your uncle was saving two of our friends from a crazy assassin. We managed to arrive at the place in time where he was almost killed yet your amazing father stepped in and took the deadly blow."
"Then why are you still alive, father."
"I mean he did healed me before proceeding to beat up the assassin without hesitation. That was when we first met him."
"Hmm, I think you didn't help the situation."
"Hey!"
Emilia giggles at this with Rigel having a smile on his face, always enjoying his father when he was getting annoyed. Subaru looked at his son annoyed at first before laughing, agreeing with him since he really didn't do much that time. The two then started to talk about Sora, on how he was the first keyblade wielder in Od Laguna and was the only person to have defeated the Sword Saint despite how the sword saint had a ton of divine protections to prevent him from losing.
"He must really be strong."
"He is, Master Sora is amazing. I might still be jealous since I could never beat him."
Emilia looked at Subaru and could see that he was happy to think of the old days when he was constantly putting his life on the line against impossible odds to protect her and the others. Rigel looked at his father and could see that he was smiling, giving the little boy happiness as well since he likes seeing his parents happy before feeling excited to see the one who trained his father in using the keyblade.
As the three finally arrived at the house in the capital, which both Emilia and Subaru were surprised that Rem and Sora would have such a small place when they offered the two a larger place since Emilia is the ruler of Lugnica thanks to the efforts of Subaru, Sora, Rem, and the others in her camp. Subaru knocked on the door and waited for a moment until it finally opened to reveal a young boy with blue spiky hair that resembled Sora's hair.
"Um, who are you?"
"I could ask you the same question, stranger."
"Well I'm Natsuki Subaru, is Master Sora or Rem in there?"
"Ah, you are the first apprentice father had. Wait here."
The boy closed the door to go look for his parents, surprising Subaru and Emilia since they didn't expect the two to have children and not inform them about it. They waited for a few minutes until the door opened again to reveal Rem in a kimono and having long hair opened the door to greet her friends. Subaru looked and noticed that she was holding a baby with brown hair similar to Sora's.
"Wait, you and Master Sora have another child?"
"Yes, the boy you saw and the little girl here are Sora-kun's children and mine."
"What are their names?"
"The boy's name is Riku and the girl's name is Spica."
"Riku...seems like my master wishes to honor his best friend by naming his son after him. That's pretty cool, this here is Natsuki Rigel, my amazing son."
Rem was interested that Emilia and Subaru had a child that seemed to be around the same age as Riku. She quickly told the three guests to enter, asking Riku to carry his sister while she went to cook something for the guests. As Riku takes care of Spica, Rigel approaches him and the two boys begin to talk about themselves with the two revealing that they are keyblade wielders. Subaru looked and saw that Riku was able to summon Kingdom Key, making him smile as he sees that a new generation will take over both Sora and himself when the two perish by old age. As he was distracted for a moment, he noticed Rem asking Emilia how has being the ruler of Lugnica been like.
"It hasn't been easy, especially with Subaru constantly trying to add new things from his world into our world."
"Hey! I'm just trying my best to keep the traditions of the Natsuki household from being lost."
"True but you sometimes have a big imagination, do you remember-"
"Yes, I don't want to talk about it?"
"Talk about what? Emilia-sama?"
"Oh it's nothing too important, Rem. It's just when Subaru wanted to create an event for the festival, he somehow managed to mess up which completely blew up on his face."
Subaru looked away as he did not wish to recall the failed event he attempted to create for a festival that became popular to Lugnica thanks to him. He had a red face since he knew how much his pride had taken damage and quickly changed the subject to avoid going into any details regarding that.
"Anyway! How have you and Master Sora been holding up? I haven't heard from you two since we created the building for Master Sora to have a place to train new keyblade wielders."
"Sora-kun and I have been alright, he has been working very hard in making new and strong keyblade wielders to protect the kingdom from any heartless."
"Hmm so the heartless are still a problem?"
"Yes Emilia-sama but they haven't been active since we defeated the Witch Cult."
"Yes, that is something I still want to thank you and Sora for having helped me and Subaru in stopping them for good."
"It's all thanks to both Sora-kun and Subaru. Without their keyblades, I doubt it would've been easy to defeat the Witch Cult."
Emilia smiles and quickly asks Rem if she wants help with cooking only to be denied by the oni. Emilia understood and quickly sat back down onto the chair alongside Subaru, both of them holding hands before Subaru asked Rem where his master was. Before Rem could answer that, they all heard the Keyblade Master answer his apprentice's question.
"I'm right here, I just had to make sure I was ready to go train some new keyblade wielders in about an hour from now. I didn't expect to see you here, my first apprentice."
Sora revealed himself to look a bit older with a much similar clothing that he wore many years ago. Subaru smiled and quickly got up to hug his friend and master, haven't seen him in many years. Sora was happy to see Subaru and Emilia once again, haven't seen them after he started to train Keyblade Wielders. The two talked for a moment before Sora noticed Rigel talking with Riku, making him realize that Emilia and Subaru had a child.
"I see you two had a child. Why didn't you tell Rem and I?"
"Really? Master, you didn't tell me and Emilia-tan that you and Rem had a child!"
"Haha you are right, I just assumed you two were busy since you are her official knight and Emilia is the ruler of the kingdom."
"You and Subaru are both dunderheads! I could've made time for you and Rem!"
"True but you do have a responsibility, Emilia. Rem and I just figured that we would see you all at some point when I'm not so busy being a teacher."
"Well I guess we are here to catch up now, Master."
"Fair enough, Subaru."
The four adults all began to talk about how things had been since they last saw one another, with Sora explaining how he had been able to teach some of the advanced Keyblade wielders how to use formchange. Subaru felt slightly annoyed by this since he learned it on his own during a fight against one of the sin archbishops. While Subaru was slightly jealous, Sora made a note that only two of his many students were able to wield two keyblades, surprising Subaru since he had never tried to dual wield before. Rem began to explain how Sora and her managed to learn that their child Riku is a keyblade wielder and manages to take Kingdom Key from Sora. This also is something that Subaru and Emilia noticed with Rigel, alerting Sora and Rem that Rigel also took Starlight from Subaru.
"I guess we have a new generation to take over for us, right Subaru?"
"Hehe you are right, Master."
"Oh. Food is ready everybody."
Rem alerted the children that they should sit on the table properly, suspecting that Rigel might be a lot like his father yet he was as kind and as respectful like his mother. Rem was surprised but impressed by this as she handed food to everybody. They all ate with Subaru, Sora, and Emilia complimenting Rem's amazing cooking.
"You still got it Rem."
"Thank you Sora-kun!"
"Man I forgot how amazing Rem's cooking is."
"Thank you Emilia."
"This is amazing Rem, thank you so much!"
"No problem, Subaru."
"Man, I kinda wish Ram was here to enjoy. Actually where is Ram?"
"My sister visits regularly, she probably is with Lord Roswaal for the time being doing some important manners."
"Hard to believe that she stayed as a maid. I heard she was training a new crew of maids."
"My sister will not go easy on them."
Subaru smiled at this as she knew how busy Ram can be and quickly finished his food in order to make sure he had time with his Master since the two don't spend enough time anymore. As the others started to finish, Sora was about to head out until Subaru asked if they could all go with him to his workplace, wishing to see how the place looks. Sora allowed this and quickly got Riku to change into something casual before they all headed out.
During the walk towards Sora's training place, Sora and Rem both got a chance to speak together without Riku, Subaru, or Emilia being near the two.
"It has been a long time since we have seen these two. Man it feels like yesterday we took down the witches cult. That final battle against Xehanort was a bit annoying but I am glad you all were by my side against him."
"You are right, Sora-kun. That battle was crazy but I do want to ask...do you regret staying here?"
"I don't. I know I could've done so much to find a way back to Kairi, Riku, Donald, Goofy...but I think that I made a good life here. I do wish I could've seen them one last time and tell them of everything I had done here yet I'm happy being here with you."
"...Are you sure?"
"Yes Rem, I stayed because I love you and wanted you to be happy."
Sora gave Rem a smile which brought her comfort, still feeling guilty that she managed to convince him to not go back to his home world yet seeing that she makes him happy helped her stop feeling guilty. She kisses his cheek before the two catch up with the others. Once arriving at the place, Sora opens the doors and is greeted by his students, who were waiting for him to arrive. Sora smiled and quickly told them to pull out their keyblades as he prepared to pull out one of his many keyblades. Before he could, he noticed that Subaru was asking all of the students to stand back for a moment. The students looked at Subaru a bit confused as they didn't know who the stranger was.
"Oh right. Everybody, this here is Natsuki Subaru, my very first apprentice who wants something apparently."
"Yes, Master Sora, I want to do one final thing in case we don't see each other again for a long time. Allow me to face you keyblade to keyblade."
"It has been a long time since we fought each other. Alright then my apprentice, today I will have all of my students watch as my first student takes on his master."
"Now hey, I was named a Keyblade Master by you! Don't forget it!"
"Haha alright Natsuki Subaru, Keyblade Master."
As both were prepared to summon their keyblades, Rigel and Riku both approached their fathers and summoned their keyblades, wanting the two to wield their original keyblades. Subaru and Sora both were stunned for a second before accepting what the two boys wanted. The two looked at their old weapons and smiled.
"It has been a long time since I wielded Kingdom Key."
"Same for me regarding Starlight. I haven't used it since I gained my very own keyblade."
"Right, what was it called again?"
"I called my amazing keyblade, Rebirth! Anyway, shall we begin Master?"
Sora nodded and quickly the two began their duel with their original keyblades clashing, causing Rigel, Riku, and Sora's students to all be surprised as both Sora and Subaru were showing to be on equal grounds. Sora and Subaru both with their skills they had gained on their own time had managed to prove to be counters for the other, proving that Subaru has gotten much stronger since they last met while Sora had learned some skills during a year of traveling to find worthy keyblade wielders.
"You have grown strong, Subaru. I'm actually impressed."
"As a master keyblade wielder, I should keep up my training to prove that status. Also I was doing a lot of crazy training cause living the royalty life was getting a bit boring."
Emilia pouted when she heard this, seeing that the calm life she gave the two was not enough for Subaru yet she also understood, having known that he is like his master, both wanting to do more than just sit around and do nothing. Sora and Subaru both continued to counter each other's attacks, making both of them excited by this as they haven't had a proper challenge in a very long time. Without the witch cult, the organization, or the more powerful heartless cause them problems, they have sort of been waiting for a challenge.
The two fought for an hour straight without the other having been tired out by the fighting, leaving the students completely stunned by their master and his first apprentice's stamina. Sora and Subaru both smiled and gained distance from each other with Sora giving a smile in his face.
"You have made me proud, Natsuki Subaru. You are much stronger than what you once started."
"Trust me Master Sora, even without the threats, I aimed to get stronger than you."
The two looked at each other and before anything happened, both Kingdom Key and Starlight disappeared from their hands and returned to Rigel and Riku.
"Seems like the time limit is up. That's alright cause we can't go all out here without risking destroying part of the city."
"Agreed, maybe someday you and I will go all out and see if you have truly gotten stronger than me, Subaru."
"I hope so, Master Sora."
Sora smiled and allowed Subaru to join him in teaching his other students with Rigel and Riku both participating. After a couple of hours had passed, all the students began to leave with Subaru telling Sora that he will come by from time to time to help out. Sora smiled at this and nodded, promising to make an effort to visit him and Emilia. Both Subaru and Emilia nodded before leaving with Rigel by their side. As Sora, Rem, and with their two children head towards their home, Rem smiled at this and felt her life complete as there was no longer the risk of a witch cult or of any organization members. The loving couple held hands with a smile on their faces.
"I love you Sora-kun."
"I love you too, Rem."
Rem had snapped out of her day dream yet she realized that something was off, she knew that she was daydreaming of future events she wished to happen on the carriage with Crusch and Kishida yet she is in an odd dark place. As she walks around the large emptiness of the place, she hears a voice calling out for Sora, a female voice.
"Sora? Sora!"
Rem being curious about who is calling the name of her hero, she decides to follow the voice's direction, hearing that it is getting louder and louder as she closes in. Once she was close, she noticed a young girl who has a pink and black dress, black ruffles on one side of her skirt and plaid on the other, with thick belted boots. She also noticed that she had light reddish hair which made the oni maid think of her sister for a moment before remembering something.
"Are you...Kairi by any chance?"
"Uh? Who are you? How do you know my name?"
"Wait, can't you see me?"
"No, all I see is pitch darkness. Can you see me?"
"Yes, I can see you. You are exactly as he described you to be."
"He? Are you talking about Sora? Is he alright?"
"Yes, Sora. The Keyblade Wielder."
"That's good, I'm glad he is okay."
Although Kairi couldn't see who was talking to her, she could sense that the person speaking was good which gave her a smile with a tear streaming down her cheek. Rem was silent about this, shocked yet happy to see her love rival care so much for her hero. She smiled and before she could say anything, Kairi began to ask questions regarding Sora's whereabouts.
"Is he alright? How has he been? Where is he?"
"He has been safe and he has been happy training an apprentice in my world."
"Sora...training someone? Now that is new."
"What? Is something wrong with that?"
"No No! Just surprising but I'm glad he is okay. How did he get to your world?"
"I do not know, even he doesn't know but he is trying his best."
"Okay good..." Kairi started to get a bit dizzy, feeling as if she was about to disappear which surprised Rem and caused her to worry for her rival.
"What is going on?"
"I might have pushed myself too far in hopes of finding him..."
"Don't worry, he is safe my love rival."
"Love rival?"
"Yes, you are my love rival for his heart."
"Hehe so he somehow won a girl's heart." Kairi looked up and giggled a little while a hint of jealousy was in her. She smiled and before fullying disappearing from the odd place, she closed her eyes and ended their conversation.
"Regardless, can you promise me something?"
"Yes?"
"Protect Sora, he is not only important to me but to everybody else here. If I can remember this, I will let them know that he is alright but for now protect him for me please."
"I will, Kairi."
"Thank you."
Kairi disappeared, leaving Rem in the darkness place for a moment before she all of a sudden returned back to reality with Crusch moving her, worried for the maid. Rem snapped out of her daydream and quickly turned towards Crusch, having been worried.
"You okay Rem? You seemed like you left us."
"Sorry...I had something in mind."
"Let me guess, you were thinking about Sora." Kishida joined in the conversation, wanting to learn more of his friend's master. Rem turned red for a few seconds before nodding at the knight, making him ask how is Sora which did peaked Crusch's curiosity as well. Rem smiled and explained everything Sora had done, all of the hard work he did for herself and for Subaru. Before she can continue on, they all hear an explosion nearby them which gets everybody's attention.
"The hell was that?" Kishida asked as he got up with his sword in his hand, ready to fight despite not being in full strength. The three all turned towards the front of the carriages to see that the front carriage exploded right in front of them with many knights being killed in the process. They were all surprised by this yet all the warriors were not going to back down, with Crusch preparing to lead the warriors into battle.
"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!"
All the soldiers got their swords ready with Rem having her flail in her hand, also ready for combat. As they begin approaching the area of the explosion, they all notice a man in white robes standing right in front of them. As the carriage is getting closer and closer to the man, Crusch orders the person controlling the ground dragon to run over the possible threat. As it seems like they are about to run him over, Rem quickly grabs both Crusch and Kishida and jumps off the wagon just in the nick of time since a large explosion destroys many of the wagons within seconds. Rem landed on her feet and allowed Crusch and Kishida to both stand up on their own, all three horrified at what was going on. The voice from the man in white robes and white hair spoke,
"I wish you wouldn't do that. Ordering them to run me over when I'm not doing anything? That's not something any decent human being would do."
"Cut the crap!"
"Oh, a knight with no manners. Honestly how does one such as yourself can be considered a knight with such a disrespectful tone and a foul mouth."
Kishida did not like this one bit and held his sword proudly, ready to shut this person for their disrespect yet they all began to hear Crusch speak.
"How dare you do such a brutal thing to my retainers? Just who are you?"
"I see. I see. You don't know who I am. But I know who you are. You're a candidate to be the next ruler of this nation."
"You talk too much. Answer my question! Next time, I will kill you!"
"Hold on Miss Crusch, let's hear him out."
Rem, Crusch, and even the stranger in white hair were all shocked to hear this, causing Rem and Crusch to look at him with an unpleasant facial expression since the two didn't want to hear anymore of what their enemy had to say. This caused Rem to angry say to Kishida,
"Why must we?!"
"At the moment he isn't attacking us and it gives us enough time to analyze the situation thoroughly."
Crusch listened to what the knight had to say and sadly had to agree, seeing that attacking would only provoke something they aren't aware of. Rem was still angry at this yet she thought about what Sora would do and sadly she knew that he would listen before doing anything out of the ordinary. The two girls nodded which caught the attention of the white hair man.
"I would like to take by my comment on you, knight. You seem to show more care of my rights than the candidate so I will try to be brief with what I have to say out of a show of respect. Though if you ask me she is quite an arrogant one to be a candidate to rule a kingdom. I mean I can't comprehend that sensibility myself, but I am not one who would do rash things without-"
"With all due respect, please get to the point. We don't wish to waste your time or ours."
"Hmm, I'll let that slide only because you are showing me respect but next time you violate my right to speak, I will kill you. Now you all want to know who I am. Correct?"
"Yes, good sir."
"I like this knight's modesty, it shows how even a knight can see what perfection it is."
"Ah...is that so?"
Rem, Kishida, and Crusch all turned towards the voice, seeing someone in long brown hair with knives coming out of both the boy looking hands and having sharp teeth covered in blood. Kishida looked in horror with Rem and Crusch both having their guards up while the new threat began to speak.
"I keep eating and eating, but it's never enough! I eat, I devour, I chew, I bite, I gorge, I gnaw, I much, I crunch...pure gluttony! Ah, thank you for this feast!"
Rem looked at the two and started to think on who they could be with Crusch feeling angry that her comrades were killed in such a horrible way along with Kishida, who is realizing that these two are Witch cultists. Waraki had told himself and Yabuto of the witch cult who attacked his home and recalled that there was a man in white who spoke highly of himself. Realizing this he was about to speak out until Rem spoke first, "You two are..."
"Sin Archbishop of the Witch's Cult, representing gluttony...Lye Batenkaitos."
"And the Sin Archbishop of the Witch's Cult, representing greed, Regulus Corneas."
Kishida, Rem, and Crusch all three realized the dire of the situation they are in with two sin archbishops present. Lye started to speak with a craziness coming from his tone of voice,
"We came here because we heard our pet had been slain, and look at this bounty! I expected them to be a good, ripe bunch, considering they managed to kill a beast that had been rampaging unchecked for 400 years...But this is beyond my expectations! Nice! Good! Great! Excellent! Fine! Perfect! Fantastic! Stupendous! How long it has been since our hunger was so thoroughly sated!"
"You can relax you three. I'm not like that guy there. I hate fighting and stuff. All that 'Hunger' and 'Thirst' nonsense? Such petty self-indulgences are beneath me. " Regulus spoke with a confident manner yet Rem and the other two were not buying it. Before anything could be done, a corridor of darkness appeared before the five, catching the interest of the Sin archbishops while the other three were feeling as if the situation had gotten worse for them. They all waited for a moment until they saw Young Xehanort appear by himself, causing Rem and her two allies to be on high alert as they recognized him from the attack on the Capital. Crusch, Rem, and Kishida turned their attention towards Young Xehanort, ready to fight him which did made Lye and Regulus more interested in who the young man is.
"Hold it right there!"
"I don't have time for your insolence, if you wish to survive then I suggest you three deal with the maniac over there while I handle this one here." Young Xehanort proceeded to walk towards Regulus with Rem and the others all left confused. Crusch pointed her sword at the young boy and started to yell at him.
"Why should we listen to you?! You and your friends attacked the Capital! We may be dealing with sin archbishops but I won't fight alongside an enemy!"
"Then you are a stubborn person, unfit to rule if you can't see that you are in dire need of help."
"Okay then why is Sora-kun's enemy helping us?"
"There are three factors that would force my future self to send me to assist you three. One, the witch cult is our enemy as well since they interfere with our plans. Two, the blue hair maid is either a candidate for a princess of light alongside the half-elf or a guardian of light. Regardless, losing a candidate would surely put a hold on our plans. Third, my future self would be here to settle the score with Regulus but since he is busy with other things, he sent me in his place."
Rem, Crusch, and Kishida were all silent at what they heard, realizing that this is a better option than having another enemy to deal with. The three turned their attention to Lye with Rem pondering on what Young Xehanort said about her being a possible candidate for either a princess of light or a guardian of light. She disliked the idea of being a princess and would rather be a guardian of light just like her hero. As the three prepare to fight, Young Xehanort stands a few feet away with Regulus a bit curious on who the young man is.
"You said your future self as a score to settle with me, I wonder why? Besides I don't even like fighting. It's beneath a perfect being such as myself."
"Shut it, I may not know what the score is but I can tell that you are really annoying me. Someone who thinks highly of themselves are nothing but weak people in the end."
"Excuse me? How dare you violate my rights! I should have-"
Before Regulus could finish speaking, Young Xehanort fired a dark fireball directly at the sin archbishop of greed. As this happened, Lye quickly charged at the three with Rem taking him on by herself first, using the strength she can muster to stand up to the Sin Archbishop of Gluttony. Crusch and Kishida both waited for the right time to join in, not wanting to get caught by Rem's attacks. The two waited until Lye managed to dodge an attack that left him open for a hit, which caused both Kishida and Crusch to step in, pushing Lye back a bit.
Young Xehanort waits until the fog clears only to see a pissed off Regulus, angry at the fact that his opponent interrupted him and attacked him. Young Xehanort waited until he felt a deadly attack hit him, causing him to be cut in half which the others noticed. Crusch was in shock by what happened since now they are in trouble yet everyone stopped what they were doing when they saw a giant clock appear near Young Xehanort.
"What is that?" Rem asked in a curious manner, even Lye was curious to know what a giant clock was doing. The clock started to move quickly which started to reverse the attack Young Xehanort received, reviving him and looking like nothing happened.
"Now isn't this interesting, for me to find someone who has such a power. Would you like to join the Witch Cult? You'll be suited there much-"
Young Xehanort again cut him off and blasted Regulus with another fireball, which angered the Sin Archbishop of Greed once again. Lye was more curious to see what Young Xehanort tasted like and quickly wanted to join Regulus in facing this odd new threat yet Rem quickly attacked him, reminding him that he is still facing the three.
"Oh oh...who are you? You are interrupting our curiosity of a snack!"
"My name is Rem, former head of the Roswaal mansion, and the lover of my hero!"
"Oh! A hero, I can't wait to meet him!"
Rem started to summon her horn, allowing her to keep up her fight against Lye with Crusch and Kishida being able to keep up as defense for Rem. As Lye is starting to get overwhelmed with the combined efforts of an oni, a candidate, and a knight. Regulus looked at Young Xehanort with more anger than before yet he noticed that Lye is having trouble. He smiled and quickly used an ability to give the Sin Archbishop of Gluttony a chance to fight. Rem got hit and ended up being knocked out with Lye preparing to strike down Rem with his ability yet both Kishida and Crusch were able to protect Rem by pushing the Sin Archbishop back.
"Focus on your opponent!"
Young Xehanort spoke while sending a barrage of icicles directly at Regulus, with all of them doing no damage to the Sin Archbishop. Seeing this, Young Xehanort concluded that there is some odd barrier that is preventing him from even taking damage. Seeing this, he summoned his keyblade and created a whip that can attack an opponent through time.
"Oh my fellow, foolish boy, nothing you do while actually harm me. You should give up and join us while you can-"
Young Xehanort ignored what Regulus said and with his time whip he hit the Sin Archbishop of Greed, leaving everything on pause for a moment before Regulus felt his body actually take damage. This damage happened all over his body before being sent flying a couple of feet away. Because of this, he looked up and was in complete shock that he actually took damage, making him fear greatly of the opponent he is facing now.
"Who...Who the fuck are you?! How dare you attack me?! How dare you violate my rights! Now tell me who the fuck are you?!"
"I'm a Xehanort of the most distant pass. My future self would have wished to deal with you personally but he sent me to deal with you because he wants to remind you of something."
Xehanort? Xehanort...Xehanort...Xehanort!
Regulus began to be angry at the thought of the name, finally knowing who the young man he is facing resembles. He grabbed a large amount of dirt with anger inside of him, he started to shout with anger at the one who he despises.
"I remember who you are now! You are the bastard who ruined my plans and cost me gaining a wife I found amazing looking! You ruined that opportunity of mine!"
Regulus grabbed the dirt and threw it all around to which Young Xehanort assumed that it would do nothing until he was hit again by a deadly blow once again, forcing him to rewind himself once again to survive. As the dirt passed him and headed straight for Crusch's direction, Kishida noticed this and quickly shoved her out of the way. As he did this, he felt his entire right side get destroyed which caused him to fall towards the ground, bleeding out.
Crusch looked in horror with this and quickly returned her attention to Regulus, sending a wind attack towards his direction for having harmed a knight yet her attack proved nothing. While this was transpiring, Lye took the opportunity to attack Rem. As he did something, Young Xehanort noticed this and with anger for having forgotten that Rem was out of the fight, he threw a fireball in his direction, seriously wounding him. This got the Sin Archbishop of Gluttony more interested in eating Young Xehanort, turning his attention towards him.
"It seems like I need to get you three out of here safely, what a pity."
Young Xehanort spoke with annoyance, wishing that he didn't have to since he doesn't care for them yet he knows that they are needed. He summons a corridor of darkness and takes an injured Kishida and an unconscious Rem with Crusch quickly following him into the corridor of darkness. Both Lye and Regulus attempted to stop them yet Young Xehanort created Stopza in order to have the Sin Archbishops to not interfere in their escape.
"What did you do?"
Crusch asked her enemy, curious on what is going on since she doesn't detect any wind movement. Young Xehanort ignored her and continued to enter the corridor of darkness with Crusch forced to join him if she didn't want something bad to happen to her. As the two go through the corridor of darkness, they end up in a different place of Od Lagona, which got Crusch slightly amazed that the people who attacked the Capital are in some odd place she hasn't visited yet. Xemnas noticed Young Xehanort with Crusch, Rem, and Kishida. This caused him to go and approach the young version of Xehanort.
"What is the meaning of this?"
"I couldn't get to the girl in time and now she is in a dark sleep. Blame the green hair girl here for not having saved her. "
"Hey! I'm Crusch Karsten, remember time."
"Anyway, this girl failed to save one of the possible candidates."
"Then why is she here and why are you with a dying knight?"
"I feel like we could use him to gain leverage on Sora and his little apprentice."
"You did well, my young self." Young Xehanort, Crusch, and Xemnas all three turned towards the voice of the old man approaching them.
"Master Xehanort, pardon me for not having taken your rival and for failing to save the girl."
"This was a possibility, it was my own incompetence for not having warned you of his power, the blame falls on me. As for the two you have here, help them."
"Master Xehanort, may I ask why?"
"Now that we lost a possible candidate, we will need the boy's help to get her back, Xemnas."
Xemnas took note of this and nodded before quickly taking Kishida away to get healed while Young Xehanort took Rem to get healed with Crusch by his side, asking who the girl is. While Xehanort watched his minions assist the people of this world, he was approached by Saix with a rather curious facial expression.
"Master Xehanort, should we alert the boy of this?"
"Don't worry Saix, I have a feeling the boy will know of this on his own."
"Alright but what about the girl? We can't afford to have her be asleep."
"Do you suggest we wake her up without her heart?"
"Is that possible, Master Xehanort?"
"It is but then she wouldn't be the same person."
"I say let's do it. It'll give Sora a reason to help us by helping you with that promise you made to Theresia Van Astrea."
"Hmm" Xehanort thought to himself about this idea of using Rem as a leverage to force Sora in assisting him in a promise that he cannot turn down. He smiled and quickly asked Saix in a rather intrigued tone of voice,
"Alright then, do it. But make sure nothing bad happens to them while the three are under our care."
"Yes Master Xehanort, I won't let you down."
Saix nodded at Master Xehanort before leaving, having Xehanort intrigued by the results that will come with the events to come.
A city with many cars passing by, a man in the same robes as the Organization walked around the city, feeling a bit curious about a world that exists beyond the three normal realms just like the world he sent Sora in. As he walks around, he visits many of the famous sights to understand the boy he previously spoke with better. As he was looking around the city, he was curious and went to the boy's old house to check on something. As he arrives at the house, curious to know what the couple are doing. He quickly listened in and at first it was dead silent before a man spoke with guilt and sadness in his voice,
"What...What are you cooking tonight?"
"The same..."
The mysterious person could tell that there was no life in the woman's voice, as if the guilt had taken her will to live. This interested the mysterious figure as he doesn't know how long they had been like this since time flows differently past the three realms. He continued to listen in on their conversation with the woman beginning to speak.
"Anything new...?"
"No...sadly these incompetent police can't..." The man couldn't finish his sentence as it hurts to think about it anymore. The mysterious figure smiled as he thought of an idea to make things more interesting.
'I honestly wonder, what would happen if I were to make things better for these two but with a cost.'
This here is the conclusion of Arc 3 fully and the beginning of Arc 4.
Author notes:
1. I mostly thought of this as a possible future should Sora stay in the Re:Zero world permanently so in a way it is a What if scenario but it is still in Rem's imagination.
2. Crusch still has her memories so it will shift the story with that.
3. Kairi and Rem met because during Kairi being asleep in the one year time-skip, she managed to find a path to the Re:Zero world yet it took a toll on her so her memory of the interaction may or may not be remembered.
A few other things to bring up when moving forward with this story:
1. The story is going to go into spoilers for Season 2 of Re:Zero so there is your warning.
2. I'm going to take a couple days off from writing for a bit just so I don't burn out.
3. There is going to be a lot to go through for the next Arc of the story so they will be longer chapters.
I hope you all are enjoying the story, I will make things interesting as we go forward into Arc 4.