Chapter 92: Until we meet again
Once going to the city of Guaral to rest for most of the fighters, Vincent took this opportunity to gather some of the important people that participating in the biggest battle to take Vollachia back from multiple outside parties.
The people in one of the homes that Vincent had gathered was his nine divine generals, his Prime Minister, his stargazer, Natsuki Subaru, Sora, Cloud, Halibel, Crusch Karsten, Priscilla Barielle, Al, Felt, Reinhard van Astrea, Julius Juukulius, Roswaal L Mathers, and Emilia.
Beatrice, Louis Arneb, Zarestia, and Shaula only joined in due to them wanting to be with either Sora or Subaru.
Vincent waited a moment before starting the meeting among the important people:
"Now that we are all gathered, let's discuss the aftermath of the previous battle. The capital had taken damage enough to where we will need to rebuild it from the ground up."
"That...is my fault. Apologies." Cloud said as he bowed his head towards the Emperor of Vollachia. "Had I been able to take Sephiroth down earlier, the city wouldn't have been destroyed."
Vincent raised his hand, indicating that he wants Cloud to raise his head up.
"It would've been fortunate if that had happened, however the results aren't the worst they could be. The fallen angel had been defeated as was the requirements to take back my empire."
"Unfortunately, my liege, it seems that a few of those Organization members had escaped." Goz added. This was something Sora was unsatisfied when hearing since he knows that he could've defeated Xehanort had he really given it his all.
"Don't feel bad, I also feel like it's my fault that the old man escaped." Subaru added, noticing that his master and best friend was feeling a bit guilty by Xehanort's escape. Sora looked at him for a moment before nodding at his apprentice and best friend. Vincent had noticed this, prompting him to look at everyone with a serious expression:
"That is disappointing to hear, however we must see what was accomplished." He paused for a moment before turning towards Zarestia. "The Great Spirit of Murder, also known as Zarestia. You managed to defeat one of the Organization. And for that, you must be commended. What do you wish for?"
Zarestia was silent as she was singled out by the Emperor.
At first, she had nothing in mind since she had her sphere back.
Which under normal circumstances, she would have such murder intends that she would need to be in isolation.
However, having spent enough time with everyone, she's gained some control over those murderous intend.
"Hm...? I would wish to kill you all—" Most of the divine generals were not appreciating this kind of response while Vincent was a bit intrigued by how she was phrasing this. "—but since that's not something I can realistically do without a fight, then I would only wish to be contracted to the Keyblade Master."
"...What?" Both keyblade wielders said this in unison with a similar confused tone. They turned towards Zarestia as she was looking straight towards Sora with a smile on her face. Vincent sat back down as he tilted his head, intrigued by the request from the Great Spirit of Murder:
"That is something that's between you two. Though I'm curious; Keyblade Master, do you accept being in a contract with the Great Spirit of Murder?"
Sora was put in the spotlight with everyone turning towards his direction.
The Keyblade Master felt no pressure from this though he was thinking on the matter.
He is aware that contracts in this world are like promises to him, something to hold on a high regard.
He remained silent for a bit before responding to Vincent's question by turning towards Zarestia while saying:
"I don't fully understand the whole contract thing but I'll accept a contract with Zarestia."
"Really?!" She said with a shocked expression at first before realizing the way she spoke was too childish. "I-I mean, good!"
Sora couldn't help but just smile at this sight, seeing how hard Zarestia was trying to act all serious as she wanted to hide her joy at his response.
She approached Sora's position to which the keyblade master asked:
"Okay...so how does this work?" He asked as she grabbed onto his right hand.
"I will start us off." Zarestia said as she began to say, "I, Zarestia, hereby pledge myself to be in contract with you, Sora. My price is for us to always be together and to be able to protect you if you are in danger. Let us never be apart. May my murders now mean something in the name of that whom I hold most precious."
"..." Sora remained silent as he tried to think on how he should respond to this. Subaru saw that Sora needed some help, prompting him to whisper into the keyblade master's ear.
"Just say this." He proceeds to tell his master what he should say, knowing that with at least this basic line, it should all be fine.
Sora trusted in Subaru, prompting him to say the words his apprentice had told him:
"I, Sora, Keyblade M-Master, hereby accept the contract."
Simple. Sora's was simple and Zarestia was fine with that, knowing that the boy isn't a complicated person to know, making it fit his sentence would be simple.
"...okay, is that all?" Sora asked in a curious tone.
"There's just one last thing to seal the deal."
"What is—"
Just before the keyblade master could even finish his sentence, he suddenly felt his lips touch with Zarestia's, causing him to be stunned.
"What?!"
Subaru as well as Cloud were shocked by this.
"Ooooh my. Isn't this gooooing to be a problem." Roswaal said, knowing that Rem will be extremely unpleased when she learns about this.
Emilia and Felt were both shocked by what was happening while Shaula was jealous in the sense that she wished that Subaru and her had made their contract like that.
Most of the divine generals can't help but respect this with Cecilus being one of the few that really doesn't care.
Al turned towards Priscilla's direction to see what she was thinking.
As he looked, he was unsure what she could be thinking though he could predict that if she had some care towards the keyblade master that's more than a servant, then she would indeed be jealous by this however it is unclear her intentions with him.
'Either way, the boy's got game.'
As Al thought this, Vincent quickly gathered everyone's attention by saying:
"Back on topic, there's many of you I would like to show gratitude. The first being the Sword Saint himself. This is the second time you've assisted the Empire. What would you like in return for your services?"
"Nothing." Reinhard responded calmly. "The original goal was to protect Natsuki Subaru and Sora from a witch that was in the empire. Therefore, it isn't needed to reward me."
"Understood." Vincent said as he nodded at Reinhard, understanding the Sword Saint's choice. He turned his attention towards Sora and Subaru. "You two played a key role in helping me regain my empire. That's something that needs to be repaid. What shall you want for a reward?"
The two keyblade wielders turned towards each other for a moment, not exactly sure what they would want.
Sora never thinks of any reward except for wanting everyone he cares about to be okay.
Subaru was also not thinking of anything, at least for himself.
"We don't have much in mind for now." Subaru said first. "Sora and I are just doing our job to help others. It just so happens that you needed our assistance."
Sora nodded as he showed Vincent that he agrees with Subaru's testament.
The Emperor remained silent for a moment as he looked at the pair with a serious expression before saying in a calm voice:
"If that's what you wish for then so be it." He was annoyed by the hero mentality the two had, however that was also something that helped the two as well in reaching their current strength.
He turned his attention to the last person that needed to be praised.
"Cloud. You were the most important in this battle as you were the only one who could defeat the fallen angel." Vincent paused as Cloud bowed in respect to him. "What reward do you desire?"
"..." Cloud was silent for a moment, thinking carefully about what he could want. "Perhaps assist Sora in hunting down the Organization. That is my wish."
Cloud turned towards Sora when saying this, wanting to see the boy's expression. Sora was indeed surprised by this, appreciating what Cloud's trying to do.
"That was a priority of mine. Knowing the culprits behind those dark creatures you call heartless invading my lands, they will not leave so easily. Unfortunately, the last battle has forced my attention to be in rebuilding the cities effected by the Organization."
"That is...understandable." Cloud responded, figuring that this would be the case.
"However, I will not leave you all to fight those intruders without some support from my end." He turned towards his divine generals. As he looks at them, he points directly towards the one who he knows will be up for the task. "Arakiya. I shall have you accompany the keyblade wielders and their allies while the rest of my divine generals assist in rebuilding the empire."
The Second Divine General was in shock when she heard this, not thinking that her request to aid her princess would be granted...of sorts.
She doesn't like the fact that she has to follow Sora and Subaru but considering how Priscilla holds Sora on high regards, she might have a chance to learn why.
She bowed at Vincent, happy for this opportunity.
"I shall do as you say, Emperor."
Vincent didn't respond as he knew that she's happy with this. He turned his attention forward as he continued to speak:
"In regards to this meeting, I will wish to speak to the council of wisemen and establish a treaty of sorts between Vollachia and Lugnica. While the Witch you've been searching for and the Organization, working together will be the best outcome of eliminating the two problems."
"Understood. I will notify the council of wisemen." Crusch said while bowing to Vincent. Right as it seems like the meeting was about to come to a close, Cloud began to say:
"Vincent Vollachia, I must ask if you are sure having one of your divine generals joining Sora and the others is a wise choice?"
"What are you trying to say?" The Prime Minister spoke out.
"I'm just curious. Having one person down would make it slightly difficult for the others, wouldn't you say?"
Arakiya didn't like this at all and was giving Cloud a stare, which he ignored since his focus was on the emperor.
Vincent was curious with what Cloud was going with this conversation, prompting him to ask:
"What do you propose then?"
Cloud was silent for a moment as he turned towards Sora for a moment before turning back towards Vincent.
"I'd like to take Arakiya's place. Until she returns to serve on your side, I wish to temporarily fight in her place."
Sora was shocked by this, not thinking that Cloud would be one to be serving under anybody. Cloud looked at the Emperor while thinking to himself:
'Until I find a way back to the others for me and Sora, I'll need to train. I don't know when he will come back again to torment me or when I'll have to deal with the remaining Organization members.'
Vincent was curious about this, not seeing it as a bad thing though he was curious why not join the keyblade master. He knows that this warrior and the keyblade master are close friends, making this choice a bit intriguing.
"Are you sure about this? You won't have a chance to rest the second you serve under me."
"Yes. I'm confident with my choice." Cloud said with a determined expression.
"Very well, I will allow you to join my divine generals as the temporary second divine general while Arakiya is with the keyblade master."
Cloud nodded at this with Arakiya feeling relieved by this since her murderous intent would've sky rocketed if Cloud ruined her chance to try and get closer to Priscilla.
Vincent got up as he prepared to wrap things up.
"Is there anything else that we should speak about before we end this meeting?"
"The only curious thing would be that witch you had mentioned." Cecilus asked, curious on the topic.
"What exactly do you want to know?" Sora questioned, gaining the Blue Lightning's attention.
"Just how strong this witch is. If she's such a danger, then we should gauge just how powerful of an antagonist are we dealing with?"
Everyone belonging to Lugnica along with the keyblade wielders looked at one another before a response was given to the First Divine General by the Master Swordsman Reinhard van Astrea:
"Not much is known aside from the fact that this Witch is known as the Witch of Vainglory, Pandora. She defeated the previous Sword Saint, Theresia van Astrea."
Cecilus was excited upon hearing this, making him alerted that this 'Witch of Vainglory' is as strong as a Sword Saint.
Some of the divine generals were a bit intrigued by this, noting to themselves that defeating this witch could help them be as strong if not stronger than Cecilus.
Vincent immediately draws the attention of everyone with just a simple movement before saying:
"To end this meeting, I want all divine generals to stay here as I wish to speak with every one of you. That includes you, Cloud."
The nine divine generals all nodded along with Cloud while the others understood that Vincent wanted to speak with his people in private.
As everyone from Lugnica began to leave, Vincent watched calmly until he saw that everyone but those from Vollachia and Cloud were the only ones remaining in the throne room.
All the divine generals, the stargazer, the prime minister, and Cloud turned their attention to Vincent as they were curious what he wanted to tell them and not everyone else.
The Emperor turned towards Ubilk's direction to question him of one important thing:
"Is there anything important we should know, Stargazer?"
"Ah yes! I was waiting for you to mention me!" Ubilk excitedly spoke out before continuing on, "I'm here to inform everyone that the stars have spoken."
"The stars?" Cloud questioned, drawing attention towards himself.
"Yes! The stars tell me of events to come."
"I see."
Cloud took a moment to process what was told, understanding now how Vincent was prepared for the heartless attack.
Ubilk turned his attention back towards Vincent, knowing that the Emperor wants to know if anything new has come by since the last time they had spoken about it.
"The stars have foretold a great disaster that'll befall the four. A key that will either save us or doom us all."
"A key?" Goz questioned with some of the other divine generals being hesitant upon hearing this.
"Does this refer to the keyblade master...or to the old man with the key." Yorna added her input as she smoked from her pipe.
"That could refer to other key wielders." Chisha Gold added as he remembered another Organization member aside from the old man wielding a keyblade. "One of their other members, a young one could also wield a key."
"There's also the other keyblade wielder that was with the keyblade master." Olbart pointed out. "So, these foresight from the stargazer is nothing but vagueness."
"Yes, it's just pure nonsense!" Madelyn Eschart shouted as she found these just pointless words. "If another disaster arrives, I'll blow it away!"
"Didn't the old keyblade man beat you with ease?" Cecilus asked, having some vague memories of what had happened on the Gladiator island. Madelyn sharply turned towards Cecilus, anger in her eyes.
"What did you say?"
"Just saying, you are the ninth of the divine generals. Making you the weakest of us."
"Shut up!"
Just as Madelyn was about to attack Cecilus, Vincent with a strong voice said one simple word:
"Stop!"
The voice of the Emperor of Vollachia was all that's needed to get the first and ninth divine generals to stop on their tracks.
Cecilus was tempted to not listen since it's boring just talk, however he's hoping that the topic of the Witch would come up soon.
Since he didn't want to wait any longer, he asked the question:
"As a new stage set, allow me to find this Witch."
"No." Vincent immediately said as Cecilus finished speaking. "The last thing I want is you getting yourself killed."
"Me? Get myself killed?" Cecilus was baffled by this. As it seemed like he was about to leave, someone spoke out.
"What if he had a partner by his side?" Cloud asked, wanting a chance to find this witch himself.
"Are you volunteering?" Vincent answered Cloud's question with a question of his own. He was curious what response he would receive from him. Cloud got up as he gave a serious expression:
"If it'll keep him out of trouble, sure."
"Now Now, no need to speak as if I'm a troubling side character."
Cloud just ignored Cecilus as he continued to give a serious expression to the Emperor.
Vincent remained silent for a second before turning his attention towards the stargazer once again.
"When is this disaster going to occur?"
Ubilk turned towards Vincent's direction, noticing the question. He had a moment of silence as he thought back on what the stars had shown him before responding carefully to this question.
"It is unclear the exact moment but we still have time."
"How much time?" Goz asked, not really trusting in Ubilk's words. The Stargazer turned towards the fifth divine general.
"As I said, the stars didn't say."
"How can we trust in that, my liege?!" Goz questioned Vincent, not liking the lack of information on this next disaster coming their way. "We barely survived the last one!"
"I understand your concern, however we must rely with the information that the Stargazer provided us."
Goz didn't like this choice however he respected Vincent's words, trusting the Emperor of Vollachia. Vincent turned his attention to Arakiya, wanting to address something.
"Arakiya."
"Yes, my liege."
"You will be in Lugnica, meaning you will be representing the Vollachian Empire. You better show them the true might of Vollachia."
"I understand." Arakiya nodded, knowing full well what Vincent means. As he witnesses her nod, the Emperor starts to wrap things up:
"Let it be known that we will rebuild the Empire into an even stronger one. No Witch or Key barrier will take this land of wolves down."
Everyone smiled as they agreed firmly with this sentiment while Cloud just remained with a blank expression, knowing that this is the pride of Vollachia.
As everyone was beginning to leave the throne room, Vincent and the Prime Minister remained behind as the two had some unfinished business.
"You were silent for the most part." Vincent commented. The Prime Minister was silent for a moment before turning towards the Emperor.
"There wasn't much I needed to add."
"That may be true but now I must ask, will you serve me or will you try to overthrow me once again?"
As a strong aura surrounded the Emperor when he asked this question, Berstetz gave a strong aura of his own.
"I serve for the best of the Empire. If it requires someone else to lead, then so be it."
"..."
Vincent remained silent as he turned towards the door where everyone left, impressed by Berstetz determination to help the Empire.
"I'll let this little betrayal go, however the next one I will eliminate you without hesitation."
"Understood."
The two had a mutual agreement at the end of this conversation, leaving the betrayal stuff aside since Vollachia needs to be rebuild but understand what happens if another betrayal occurs.
While the meeting among the Vollachians was going on, Sora and the others walked towards the center of Guaral city with Roswaal and Subaru having a chat in regard to what had happened.
"It seeeeems everyone survived."
"Yes. Wasn't an easy thing but it all managed to work out in the end."
"Indeed. Though I aaaaaaam curious, how many times did it took?"
"..." Subaru was silent for a bit, not really wanting to reveal this information to the margrave. "More than I wanted to."
"Hmmm."
Roswaal was intrigued by Subaru's response, having an idea on how many tries it took to reach this outcome.
"Either way, congraaaadulations for succeeding. I knew you could puuuull it off."
As he said this, Subaru was silent as he didn't feel that he was the reason they were able to win.
"That's not entirely true. It took everyone to reach this outcome. Especially Cloud. He was needed to take down that bastard Sephiroth."
"That may be true, hoooowever you are the key to viiictory. Don't forget that."
As Roswaal said this, the three knights started to approach the two first.
"Subaru!"
"Yabuto! Kishida! Waraki!"
As Subaru goes running towards them, Roswaal remains behind as he thinks back to the fight against Luxu.
As he thinks back to that, he turns towards the sky as he begins to think himself:
'I'll bring her back, I will.'
Roswaal started to walk away only to notice Ram and Rem speaking off in the distance.
'Hm...'
An idea was formed as he was thinking, prompting him to go and approach the two oni sisters.
While he did this, Subaru checked on his three friends.
"Seems like you three are in good shape."
"Yeah. You as well."
"That fight was crazy. I didn't think fallen angels could just move buildings in such a way."
"I believe from what Cloud had said, this one's unique."
"Unique? That's one way of putting it."
"Regardless, I'm just glad he's done for."
"Yeah..."
Subaru noticed the tone in Yabuto's voice.
"Something's wrong?"
"From what Rowan had told us, a few of our opponents at the beginning of our fight had escaped."
"Oh. Who?" Subaru asked.
"A strong one with an eyepatch, an archer, and what seems to be an abnormal soldier."
As Waraki said this, Subaru immediately knew who he was referring to.
'I see. So, Todd and the others had escaped.'
"I'm surprised they even were even able to escape."
"You sound like you know the three." Kishida questioned, prompting Waraki to say:
"Are you trying to ditch us for another crew?"
"No!"
The three knights chuckled at Subaru's response.
"Calm down, Subaru. No need to get all flustered." Sora said as he started to join the four knights in their conversation.
"Sora, good to see you."
"I was meaning to ask, how'd it go in there?"
"Nothing too much aside from Cloud choosing to stay in Vollachia."
"Wait, really?" Yabuto questioned as he was curious by this choice.
"Yeah. Not sure though as to why he chose to stay behind."
"It's unclear but when he gets out, we can ask him."
As Subaru said this, he turned around as he felt someone's presence.
To his surprise it was Beatrice and Shaula, both walking alongside Zarestia and Emilia.
"Emilia-sama." The three knights all said in unison. As they said this, Shaula didn't hesitate to charge right towards Subaru.
"Wait Shaula—!"
"Master!"
Once again, Subaru gets knocked to the ground by Shaula's hug, causing Emilia to be unhappy by this sight.
"Well, back it again." Yabuto said as he was chuckling at this scenario along with Waraki, Kishida, and Sora.
Beatrice just sighed at this before approaching Subaru, wanting to slap him for allowing this to happen again.
As she closed in, Zarestia approached Sora to ask him:
"Why didn't you wait for me?"
"What do you mean?" Sora said as he tilted his head, confused by the question.
"I was waiting for you outside once the meeting was done but you passed by me."
"..." Sora was silent as he thought back to after the meeting.
He was speaking with Subaru as they were confused by Cloud's choice.
He did notice Zarestia standing on her own though he didn't think much of it.
"Sorry, I didn't think much of it."
"Well, as your contracted spirit, we must be side by side."
"Okay." Sora said, understanding what Zarestia was saying.
"We will need to discuss more of the rules of the contract but for now, we must stick together."
"Okay. I'm fine with this." The Keyblade Master said, not finding it a bother.
As this was said, he turned towards the large building of the city, noticing that the divine generals and the stargazer were leaving.
"It seems like they finished their meeting." Subaru commented, prompting him and Shaula to get back up.
Once on his feet, he felt Beatrice grab his hand.
He turned towards her, knowing that she wants to be by his side.
He nodded at her before the two along with the others started to go towards Cloud's position.
As they were going towards Cloud, Rem suddenly appeared right in their way.
"Oh, Rem. How are you doing?" Subaru said in a positive gesture before realizing that she's extremely mad.
"Wait..."
"Are you okay?" Sora asked as he could feel her angry aura hidden in her smile.
"Rem's fine. She's perfectly fine."
'She isn't happy.' Subaru, Yabuto, Kishida, and Waraki all had this thought since they could tell that she's mad.
"Are you sure—?"
"Yes. Rem's okay."
"If you are okay, then why are you pulling out a weapon?" Zarestia questioned as she was curious by Rem's contradictory actions.
"Oh, this? It's nothing of importance."
"Rem, there's no need to do anything rash."
"Rem's not doing anything rash." She said in a calm manner...despite her killing aura giving away her true feelings.
"Wait."
Before anybody could act, the three knights move out of the way as Rem throws her morningstar towards Zarestia's direction.
Sora immediately blocked away Rem's attack while telling her:
"Rem, stop! Zarestia's on our side."
"No, allow me to fight this bug." Zarestia said as her winds were beginning to increase around her, slightly excited to kill the blue haired maid.
"Yes, allow this fight to happen, Sora-kun." Rem said as her horn was beginning to grow on her forehead.
"No." Sora said as he got his Kingdom Key out while getting in between the two. "There's no need to fight, we are all on the same side!"
"She's the one that chose to attack me, my dear Sora. She's made it clear we are enemies."
"Your 'Dear Sora'?!" Rem spoke with a demonic like voice before jumping high up in order to try and land a killing blow onto the Great Spirit of Murder.
Zarestia smiled as she had been itching to kill someone, causing her to respond to Rem's attack with a wind based attack.
Before both attacks could collide, Sora got in between the two and used all of his strength and speed to block both attacks at once.
"I said stop!"
As Sora shouted this with a serious and loud tone, this got not only Rem and Zarestia's attention but everyone else's attention.
As the keyblade master landed on the ground, he turned towards Rem as he asked her:
"What is the meaning of this? Why attack Zarestia?"
"..." Rem paused as she was able to finally calm herself, afraid of the serious eyes the keyblade master was giving her. She looked down for a moment before responding with, "Rem doesn't want anybody else to take Sora-kun from me!"
"...why would you think that?" The keyblade master asked as he tilted his head, confused by Rem's answer.
"You formed a contract with her in such...a way that should only be done between us."
"Such a..."
Sora paused as he realized what Rem was talking about, figuring now why she was acting the way she was. Subaru looked around for a moment before noticing Roswaal looking at this interaction with interest.
'Roswaal, you bastard!'
He immediately figured out how Rem even found out about this.
This annoyed the hell out of him since this could've gone worse had Sora not been as strong as he is.
As he turns back towards his master's direction, he sees that he turns towards Zarestia in a serious manner.
"Zarestia! As a...um...contracted spirit, you aren't allowed to just attack our allies!"
"What?!" Zarestia was taken aback by this. "She attacked me first!"
"I know, which is why I'm not happy with her about it. But you can't attack any of our friends."
"..." She was silent for a second before saying begrudgingly, "...fine."
She pouted as she didn't like being scolded at while Rem just felt ashamed for having made her love angry.
"I'm sorry..." She says while wanting to cry...though she was a bit surprised when Sora just started patting her head.
"It's okay, no need to be sad. Just try to remember that she's a friend of ours now."
"...can she not...k-kiss you...?" Rem asked, not wanting to deal with that kind of rivalry when she already has to deal with Kairi, someone who'll surely beat her the moment she comes into the picture.
Sora couldn't help but look away for a moment, being a bit embarrassed when that topic is brought up.
As his face was red for only a few seconds, he scratches the back of his head while saying:
"I wasn't thinking about doing that at all, she caught me off guard with it."
"It was part of finishing the contract." Zarestia said, wanting to add reason to her actions however the closer she got, the harder it was for Rem to keep herself in control.
The two locked eyes with a spark of hatred being felt by those watching.
Sora just shock his head while Subaru, Emilia, Beatrice, and Cloud approached him. Subaru and Beatrice, being the closest to the keyblade master, reached his position with Subaru patting him on the back.
"Just leave them be, I feel like they won't try to kill each other."
"For now, I suppose."
Beatrice added, suspecting that this will be a future problem.
Sora just sighed as he said:
"There's got to be something to make them friends."
"I don't think anytime soon, Sora."
"Hm?" Sora's thoughts had shifted to Subaru. "No Master?"
"Yeah, I was hoping to tell you that I see you more than just my master. You're my friend, someone I rely on. So, I'd like to change that by addressing you just by your name."
"Alright, I look forward to this change...though it might be a bit before I can get used to it."
"I mean yeah, I have called you Master for a long while. So, I'd assume it be a bit before you get used to me calling you by your name." Subaru said, feeling a bit guilty for not having fixed this earlier. Sora quickly responded to what Subaru had said:
"No...I mean it will be a while since I'll be with Priscilla for a while."
"What?" Subaru, Beatrice, Rem, and Emilia all in unison said, caught off guard by this.
"Really? I didn't think you'd have to leave though—" Subaru was the least surprise out of the four though he was still shocked that he might not be hanging around Sora for a while. Sora patted his friend's arm while responding with:
"Don't worry, I'll visit from time to time."
"Sora, will you be gone for the rest of the royal selection?" Emilia asked.
"Not for too long. I'm still neutral in all of the politics but I'll definitely be back with you guys in no time."
As Sora said this with a smile, Emilia just smiled back before giving the keyblade master a blessing of sorts. She set her hand onto Sora's chest while saying:
"May the grace of the spirits be with you."
"Huh?"
Sora was a bit confused by this at first before being caught off guard by a sudden glow appeared.
This caught many off guard with Emilia looking at Sora's expression, knowing that he doesn't know what she just did.
"These are words you say when seeing someone off. They mean 'come back safely'."
Sora took a moment to process what the silver haired half elf had said before nodding with a smile, appreciating what she did.
"Thank you."
As he said this and was about to go towards Priscilla's direction with Zarestia behind him, Rem just charged at him and gave him a hug while whispering to the keyblade master,
"D-Don't go..."
Sora paused himself as he looked down, feeling a bit guilty for not exactly explaining this to Rem and the others the last few days when they were resting from all the fighting.
Though at the same time, he knows that they would convince him to not go through with his deal with Priscilla. All Sora could do now was give Rem some hope.
Before he had the chance to say something, Rem quickly pleaded:
"Let me go with you then."
"But what about your sister?"
"Neesama will be okay without me..." As Rem said this, Sora tilted his head as he could tell that Rem doesn't want to do this.
She wants to be with him but also wants to be with her sister. Seeing this conflict of interest, he said to her with a confident smile:
"I promise I'll be back. I won't be gone forever."
"You...promise...?"
"Yes. I promise."
Rem smiled at this, knowing full well that Sora always makes good with his promises. She gave Sora a kiss on the cheek while telling him:
"Be safe."
Sora's face turned red for a moment, still not accustomed to this however he knew that Rem cares for him deeply and wants what's best for him.
He just gave her a smile before he and Zarestia were off.
Before approaching Priscilla and her party, Sora took the chance to speak with Cloud, who wanted to speak with him.
"Wait up, Sora."
Sora and Zarestia turned around when hearing this, seeing Cloud.
"Cloud. How are you doing?"
"Well. I heard you were heading to the woman in red's group."
"Yes."
"Mind if I ask why?" Cloud questioned, a bit curious on Sora's decision. The Keyblade Master stood silent for a moment as he thought about Cloud's question.
"I owe her. She was the reason that I got back on my feet when I shouldn't have been...I also promised that I would."
"Of course, promises are important." Cloud said though as he was about to change topics, Sora beat him to it.
"What about you? Why are you choosing to stay here?"
Cloud looked up at the sky for a moment, looking at the clouds nearby as he thought carefully on how he was going to answer Sora's question.
After a few seconds of thinking, he turned back to Sora with a calm expression while answering with:
"It just feels like my place is here. For now."
"I understand the feeling. I just kinda hoped we had more time to reconnect."
"It isn't a permanent thing. Once I have gotten stronger, I'll rejoin you to help in stopping the Organization."
"Alright. I'll hold you to that." Sora said with a smile as he set his hands on the back of his hands.
Cloud chuckled when hearing this before starting to walk away, with him finishing the conversation with:
"Be safe."
"You too."
Sora responded before noticing that Zarestia was by his side. He just gave a small smile before turning towards Priscilla's direction, noticing the sun princess speaking with Yorna.
'I wonder what they are talking about.'
As he thought of this, he turned towards Zarestia to ask her:
"I recall that you wanted to discuss about the rules of our contract."
"Yes! This is the best opportunity with nobody interrupting our little discussion."
Just as she said this, someone in the shadows spoke out with a bit of guilt in his voice:
"Well...bad timing in my part." The man said as he approached the two, not really afraid of what could happen if he approaches the Keyblade Master and the Great Spirit of Death.
The two turned around to see that it was the stargazer. Zarestia was extremely annoyed at this, causing her winds to slowly build up around her.
Sora quickly noticed this which caused him to grab her left arm gently while telling her:
"Calm down, no need to go into...murder mode."
"..."
Zarestia took a deep breath as she calmed herself down, obeying her contractor's wishes despite how tough it is to keep her bloodlust in check.
The second she had calmed down, she gave a death stare at this man while questioning him:
"What do you want?"
"Ouch. Quite a harsh one for such a beauty like yourself." As he said this, the stargazer had noticed a sudden wind cut a piece of his hair.
"Zarestia!" Sora shouted, not liking that she just suddenly attacked the stargazer.
"What? He's wasting our time."
"Still...he isn't an enemy."
"..." Zarestia paused for a moment before lowering her arm that was pointing towards Ubilk. "Sorry."
"I'll make it quick...however, I would like to speak with the Keyblade Master in private."
"What? Why?" Zarestia questioned as she pointed her hand towards Ubilk once again.
"It's important." The man said in a serious tone, dropping the calm expression he had a few seconds ago.
Zarestia continued to give a stare at him, trying to read him to see just how serious this was before lowering her hand once again.
"I'd like to stay and listen." Zarestia asked Sora, wanting to be by his side.
Sora looked at Ubilk with a serious expression before turning towards Zarestia for a second.
As he heard her request, he turned towards the stargazer once again to ask him:
"Can she stay and listen?"
"...that's fine, I just need to deliver a message to you."
"...okay. Who's the message from?"
"Let's say that the stars want you to know something."
"The stars?" Zarestia questioned.
"What did they wanted me to know?" Sora questioned.
"A key, one that can bring both salvation and ruin to the world, shall unlock the door that mustn't open. That is what the stars had guided me with, the ultimate disaster that'll effect all four. Vollachia, Lugunica, Kararagi, and Gusteko."
"..." Sora remained silent when hearing this since all he can conclude with this information is that Xehanort's plan might cause the end for this world.
Ubilk noticed the way Sora was processing the information, prompting him to say:
"Do with the information as you will, I'm just here for the sake of the empire."
With that, Ubilk started to walk away. Zarestia didn't like this at all, prompting her to once again point her hand towards the stargazer's direction.
"What's the reason for telling this to my contractor?"
"Following the stars will."
"I don't buy it." Zarestia sharply commented on Ubilk's response. "What's your motivation for doing this?"
The stargazer paused for a moment, seeing that the great spirit of murder is sharp compared to most.
He chuckles to himself before turning around with a calm expression while responding with:
"I'm just following the path that'll lead to my survival. Just like anybody else."
With that response, he walked away, leaving both Sora and Zarestia on their own to think on what he said.
Sora was thinking the most out of the two.
'A key, one that can bring both save and destroy the world...is he probably referring the X-blade?'
Considering what Xehanort's goal was from the start, he could only predict that Xehanort is the key to this new disaster.
'I have to stop him and the Organization before it's too late.'
Determined, Sora started to walk towards Priscilla's location with Zarestia following behind, noticing his newfound determination.
While this was going on, Yorna approached Priscilla during the same time Cloud was approaching Sora's location.
As she was approaching the sun princess, she began to smoke her golden pipe once again as she had a lot of questions on her mind.
"You really are fond of that boy with the key, aren't you?"
"Hmph. That boy was always destined to be by my side. It was just a matter of time." Priscilla spoke with overwhelming confidence.
Yorna took notice of that, yet she just calmly looked at her daughter while continuing on the topic.
"It's very intriguing watching you being fascinated with this boy. A strong attachment indeed."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Al questioned, not liking this at all. Priscilla turned towards the one armed knight's direction with an intense murderous aura oozing out.
"And who said you can participate in this conversation?" As Prsicilla was looking like she's about to summon her Yang Sword Vollachia, she suddenly felt a fan hit the top of her head.
"There's no need for violence here, young woman." As Yorna said this in a sharp tone, it felt oddly satisfying disciplining her daughter since she hadn't had the chance to raise Priscilla.
The sun princess was just silent when this happened, her entire murderous aura killed in that instant since she didn't expect to just suddenly be hit in the head.
Not with a lot of force but enough to catch her attention.
"There we go, is it so hard to keep yourself calm?"
"..."
Priscilla only gave Yorna a stare which amused the divine general. She smoked her golden pipe once again as she turned her attention to Al, wanting to answer his question:
"I'm just giving my daughter a bit of a hard time. No use getting mad...though, having that boy in your camp could be useful."
"Hm." Al was silent for a second before turning towards Sora's direction, seeing how close the keyblade master is with the Emilia camp.
Seeing this allowed him to calm down since he started to think of how having Sora could provide an opportunity for Priscilla to win the royal selection.
As he turned back towards Priscilla and Yorna's direction, Priscilla asked her mother:
"What shall be done now? I doubt you came here to bother me over trivial things."
"You'd be surprised but you have a bit of a point. I did want to alert you of something the stargazer had mentioned."
"Oh. What is that?"
Yorna paused for a moment as she smoked her pipe, thinking deeply on what Ubilk had said before repeating his words:
"A key, one that can bring both salvation and ruin to the world, shall unlock the door that mustn't open. Those were the words that stargazer gave us. Something you probably should know, my daughter."
Al and Heinkel were both taken aback by this, knowing that this kind of prophecy could be bad for them.
Al in protecting Priscilla and Heinkel in his goal of finding a cure in waking his wife up from her eternal slumber.
The two turned towards Priscilla's direction as they were curious what she was thinking.
As they looked at her, she remained with a blank expression while also holding her fan right onto her face.
Yorna looked at her daughter with a curious expression, wondering what her daughter could be thinking.
Before even attempting to pry some information from her, they all sensed Sora's presence approaching them.
Once they turned towards the keyblade master's direction, they also noticed Zarestia by the boy's side.
Heinkel was skeptical when seeing her, being aware of her tale and how dangerous she is.
Al was indifferent about her, figuring that Sora can keep the Great Spirit of Murder in check should she go on a murder spree.
Priscilla was excited as she began to ask the keyblade master:
"Have you finished speaking with the others?"
"Yes. I believe everyone knows I'll be with you."
"Are you certain?" She questioned, knowing that he hadn't spoke to Reinhard, Julius, or Crusch since the trip to the city of Guaral. Sora remained silent as Zarestia stepped in, wanting to defend her contractor.
"He said that he has told everyone, aren't you listening?"
"..."
Priscilla paid no mind to the spirit as she just continued to speak directly towards the keyblade master:
"Have you had the chance to speak with the Sword Saint or with the knight with purple hair? Or perhaps the duchess herself?"
"Hey! Are you even listening to me?!" Zarestia reclaimed, disliking being ignored in such a way.
Sora scratched his head for a moment before responding with:
"You saw through me."
Priscilla was silent for a moment before just smiling.
"Of course, nothing gets past me. Now, why haven't you spoken with them?"
"Well...since they are in the capital, I figured I could talk to them there..." Sora said as he was looking at the sky and still rubbing the back of his head.
Priscilla just shook her head before demanding Sora to go speak with Crusch, Reinhard, and Julius.
"Go speak with them. It's not a guarantee that either of us will be at the capital at the same time."
Sora nodded at this just as Zarestia was about to shout at Priscilla, not wanting her contractor to be ordered around yet she saw that he wasn't even fazed by it.
'Why is he allowing this bitch order him around?'
As Zarestia questioned this, she followed Sora as he went out to look for Crusch first.
While he and the great spirit of murder were walking away, Yorna was impressed by the way Sora didn't care for her daughter's strong demeanor.
"Seems like you have quite the member in your camp, daughter."
"Yes, mother."
Priscilla agreed, seeing that Sora can follow orders...though she will need to fix his inability to see the bigger picture.
"Well then daughter..." Yorna tapped Priscilla on the shoulder before continuing on with, "I shall leave you to your things."
As she said this, she began to walk away, confident that her daughter would be in good hands.
Not just because Sora will be in her daughter's camp but because Al's there too.
Although she doesn't know the one armed knight, she could instantly tell that not only does he keep Priscilla safe but definitely cares for her.
'I'm sure our paths will cross again, Prisca.'
As Yorna thought this and went to approach Tanya and the remaining members of Chaosflame that managed to escape the heartless attack, Sora first approached Crusch as he noticed her off in the distance with Felix, Wilhelm, and Theresia.
As he approached them, he waved at them before saying:
"How are you all doing?" The keyblade master said with a smile, catching Crusch and her camp members' attention.
"Pretty good, Sora-dono. Have you had the chance to rest?"
"Yes."
"Good. You've been working hard, Sora-dono. You and Subaru-dono."
"Yeah." Sora says before turning towards Subaru's direction, noticing his best friend and apprentice speaking with Shaula, Emilia, Rem, and Beatrice, looking happy.
This made him feel satisfied since he knows that right now, Subaru doesn't need him.
Not because he has return by death but because Subaru's strength comes from those with him...kinda like him and how his friends give him strength.
It's just Subaru has his own unique way of gaining strength from others.
"Subaru really deserved to rest. He worked the hardest out of all of us."
"Indeed." Wilhelm said as he turned towards Subaru's direction, "He's grown quite strong."
"Yes. Subaru really is quite the worthy knight." Crusch added, having always admired just how dedicated Subaru is during battle.
As she thought of the rare times she's witnessed Emilia's knight in action, she started thinking back of her fight with Xemnas.
"Sora, you have defeated these Organization members all on your own, no?"
"Not all of them. Majority I had Donald and Goofy. Only Xemnas I had defeated him with Riku."
"I see." Crusch said as she began to think about this, surprised that Sora didn't defeat these Organization members on his own considering his strength...granted she knows firsthand that they aren't pushovers either. "I'm just glad we were able to take some of their numbers down."
"Yes. But it almost seems like the remaining ones will be the hardest to eliminate." Theresia theorize, knowing that Xehanort himself is way stronger than before. "Xehanort's going to be the toughest to take out."
Sora crossed his arms for a moment, remembering from a previous conversation with Wilhelm a long while back that he and Xehanort were friends.
This prompted him to ask Theresia and Wilhelm:
"How long did you two knew Xehanort?"
"Not very long but he and Eraqus were there during the demi human war."
"And when Stride Vollachia was causing issues."
Sora was interested in learning more about those events, curious what a young Xehanort was like before chasing darkness as well as learning more about Eraqus.
'If I could find a way back to the others, maybe I can tell Ventus and the others that Eraqus was here back then.'
Sora felt hopeful that he would see them someday...though a part of him knows that there's a possibility that he might be stuck here permanently.
"Okay." Sora turned towards Crusch to let her know, "I'll be in Priscilla's camp for the time being."
"Hm?" Crusch tilted her head, a bit surprised by this.
"Oh. What go to her camp, Sora-kyun?" Felix questioned, not thinking that someone like Sora would ever hang around someone like Priscilla.
"It was a promise for her help."
"I see. Promises are important."
"I only tell you all this because I know I'll be in the capital, so I'll get to visit from time to time."
Crusch, Felix, Wilhelm, and Theresia smiled as they see that even though he's bound to Priscilla for who knows how long, he still thinks about others.
"You are always welcome to my mansion, Keyblade Master." Crusch spoke with pride.
"Yeah, come visit when nyow can." Felix said with a heartwarming tone.
"I'll be waiting then, Sora-dono." Wilhelm bowed as he said this, hoping to speak more with the boy as well as spar a bit with him.
As Sora was waving goodbye to them, he once again looked around before spotting Reinhard and Julius, both having a conversation.
Before reaching them, he turned towards Zarestia to ask her:
"Are you okay? You were very quiet."
"Well, I just thought that I wasn't needed in that conversation."
"You could've talk to Crusch and the others."
"...maybe another time." Zarestia said while looking away.
Sora was worried about the way she's acting but for now he just let it slide since he needed to speak with Julius and Reinhard.
As the two approached the two knights, Julius immediately greeted Sora by saying:
"Sora, it's good to see you. Did you get enough rest?"
"Yes, I did."
"Good. From what I heard, you fought against the fallen angel with everything you had after having fought the leader of the Organization."
"It wasn't an easy battle...but it was lucky of us that you two showed up when you did."
"We did change the tides of battle." Reinhard said, having had extensive knowledge from Subaru on how the situation was before they had arrived. The Sword Saint turned towards Zarestia, noticing that she was slightly shaking. "Are you okay?"
"Y-Yes, I'm fine...perfectly fine."
Zarestia's hand was slightly shaking, catching Sora's attention.
He would ask her what's wrong but knowing just a bit of his contracted spirit's personality, she might not want to answer the question.
As he grabbed her hand, Zarestia was taken aback from this while Sora just remained calm, trying to keep himself from feeling embarrassed.
Before he moved the subject away from Zarestia, he felt a sudden murderous aura once again.
'...Oh no...'
He knew immediately that it was Rem, knowing that the only one with this kind of jealous like gaze was directed towards him and Zarestia.
He would turn around, but he didn't want to see Rem's jealous face, prompting him to just focus on the conversation with the two knights.
"Where's Felt? I thought she would be here with you, Reinhard."
"Felt-sama wanted to take a nap. She should be joining us in a bit."
"Understood." Sora turned towards Julius to ask him, "How's Anastasia doing?"
"She's fine, being protected by Ricardo. What about you? I saw that you were speaking with Priscilla and Crusch." Julius asked, with the last sentence being more of his curiosity than anything.
"Yes, I wanted to speak about how I'll be on Priscilla's camp for a time."
"Oh. What brought this?" The Sword Saint asked.
"A promise of sorts."
Julius and Reinhard both looked at each other for a moment before nodding off what Sora had said, understanding that a promise is a promise...though they do want more details on how did this happen.
Before being able to get this information out of the keyblade master, the finest knight noticed something.
"What's the deal with her?" Julius respectfully said this, pointing towards direction that prompted Sora to turn.
He was a little worried that it was Rem only to see that it was Louis Arneb.
'Louis.' Sora had thought that she was with them while he was speaking with Rem and the others but then he thought back after forming a contract with Zarestia. 'How didn't I notice this?'
Reinhard was on guard when he spotted Louis, having known since the first time he saw her that she's a Sin Archbishop though he was curious how Sora got her to be on their side.
"Hold on." The keyblade master turned fully towards Louis's direction before calling to her, "Louis. You can come on out now."
"..." She remained silent, hiding in the corner of a building right near Sora, Julius, Reinhard, and Zarestia's position.
She was just going to follow Sora until she had a chance to talk to him but now she's been caught.
She slowly left the area she was hiding and approached the keyblade master.
Once Louis Arneb was near them, she looked down which caught Sora's attention the most.
"What's wrong?"
"...Afraid."
"Afraid? Of what?" Julius asked, curious on what this teen girl was worried about.
Louis looked at Julius for a moment before turning towards Sora.
"W-We want to be happy...with you."
"Hm? 'We'?" Julius felt skeptical when hearing this, prompting him to look closely at Louis, starting to see similarities to Roy and Lye, the two sin archbishops of gluttony.
Normally he would be on guard but considering how she's speaking with Sora, it makes him think that similar to Elsa, Sora managed to win Louis over somehow.
This impressed the finest knight even more. Louis was silent for a moment before answering:
"We...don't want to leave your side..."
As Louis Arneb said this, Zarestia turned her attention to the former Sin Archbishop of Gluttony.
At first, not really thinking anything of her however what she said didn't make her feel well while Reinhard and Julius were curious what Sora was going to say.
The keyblade master paused for a moment before kneeling on one knee while setting his right hand onto her shoulder.
"I won't abandon you, if that's what you are thinking. I said I'll help you reach your goal to be happy."
As Sora said this, he moved his hand towards her to show that he'll take her with him to make sure he can fulfill his goal.
Louis was hesitant at first since she doesn't want to slow Sora down as well as getting in between of the newly contract of him and Zarestia.
However, these thoughts would go away as Sora's cheerful and positive aura was enough to make her smile, knowing that if she wants to be happy, he will be the reason why.
She grabs onto Sora's hand, joining him and Zarestia as they continue to speak with the two knights.
As this was going on, from a distance a mysterious figure observed.
"Hmph. Wasn't that quite the spectacle, 'Keyblade Master'. Still can't believe another arrived at this side...then again, blondie and his associate might've been strong enough to break through the barrier by accident. Despite that, I'm impressed by how strong he's gotten."
As he finished his thoughts, he prepared to leave until something came to mind.
"Right, the puppet's still with the Witch. That can still be a problem."
As the mysterious figure was reminded of this, he turned back towards Sora.
"I suppose you'll have to be the one to take care of that issue."
He pointed his right arm towards a direction to create a corridor of darkness to leave the area, putting the fate of basically this world and outside of this world on Sora's hands.
Author's Note:
I really apologize for taking so long on this chapter. Life suddenly took a turn when I got a more better job as well as other stuff coming up but now that I got more free time, I can finally start focusing on this story again...which we now have finished Arc 7. Hopefully you all enjoyed this arc, took a different turn but now we shall head into two interludes before arriving to Arc 8.