The Guardians all grouped up together at the Fountain Square, Goofy, Max, Roxas, and Naminé coming in from the first district, Xion and Skuld coming in from the stairs next to the Moogle Shop, and Sora, Riku, Kairi, Ephemer, Donald and Daisy coming in from the second district.
"Did everyone hear that blast?" asked Sora.
"We did," said Roxas. "And I take it everyone else in town did."
"We did." Said Skuld. "Otherwise we wouldn't have hurried here."
"Skuld!" Ephemer exclaimed. "You're here too?"
"I am." She replied. "And I see the rest of the new travelers have come here too."
"Rest of?" Ephemer asked. "How do you know about?"
"I met one of them Already." Skuld gestured to Xion. "She was curious about our hair colors and...well we were in the middle of talking until we heard those noises."
"On that note, Who could have done this? Xion asked, hastily trying to change the topic. "More Heartless?"
"I don't think so..." muttered Ephemer. "Look up there!"
They looked up to see two figures battling each other on the rooftops.
One of them was a muscular young man who hid his face under a dark grey bear mask. His tan, hooded cloak covers a robe, shirt, and sash that are all light brown in coloration and have black embroidering. Underneath his robe he wore tan pants and bluish-gray boots. Gold tassels appeared on the front of his cloak and he wielded a Unique Keyblade: The handle was gray, and the guard and outer base were jagged and dark blue/teal in color. A brown bear with red eyes was set at the base. The shaft was brown with a very wide black area in the middle. Cream engravings adorned the dark area, the topmost of which resembles Terra's Mark. The end of the blade curved back towards the base, and that and a bit protruding from that side formed C-shaped teeth in the blade. The Keychain consists of red gems connected by a brownish chain and a brown token with a Gazing Eye at the center.
The other was a young woman who hid her face under a blue snake mask. Her light blue, hooded cloak covers a robe, shirt, and sash, all a darker shade of bluish purple underneath her robe she wore powder blue tights and Silver-Blue colored stiletto boots. Turquoise tassels appeared on the front of her cloak. Her unique Keyblade was one of the longest Keyblades seen (longer than Aqua's Brightcrest Keychain). It had a light grey handle, and its pommel and guard resembled a silvery blue bough bursting with leaves. The guard was asymmetrical, with an opening on the side of the teeth. The base of her Keyblade featured an etching of a silver, blue-eyed cobra whose tail is curled into an "" shape. The shaft was formed by a bluish silver, jagged, kris-like blade with a wide, darkened middle, which was etched with a cream-colored ivy design. Near the teeth of the Keyblade was a heart-shaped symbol similar to Terra's Mark. Curved, leafy boughs also served as the teeth. The Keyblade's keychain was comprised of small, silver sprigs, and its token was a leafed, silver talisman with a Gazing Eye at its center.
The Bear Masked man slashed downwards at the Snake Masked Lady knocking her back as she quickly tried to re-summon her keyblade. Managing to do so just in time before the Man bounded from the rooftop he was standing on to strike her.
They locked Keyblades momentarily before the man knocked her back causing her to fall down and he lunged after her.
The Snake Mask Lady landed on the wall of a house to regain her footing before blocking another blow from Bear Mask as he chased her along the walls as they continued blows.
"Who are they?" gasped Kairi. "And why are they fighting?"
Ephemer and Skuld both gasped. "The Foretellers!"
Everyone looked at the Daybreak Duo. "Those are the Foretellers?" asked Riku.
"Two of them, yes." said Ephemer. "The one in the Bear Mask is Master Aced of the Ursus Union."
"And the one in the snake Mask is Master Invi of the Anguis Union." Skuld added.
"But if they're all on the same team, then why are they fighting?" Asked Max.
"Sometimes the Unions compete against each other for collecting Lux." Explained Ephemer. "But it's only the members doing the fighting. If the leaders themselves are battling each other directly, then something serious must be happening!"
Naminé's eyes widened. "Something serious as in...timeline merging serious!"
Skuld looked confused. "Timeline merging? What do you-"
"They'll explain later." Ephemer quickly spoke, knowing now wasn't the best time to explain everything to Skuld.
"But if it's involving the timelines, then why are they at each other's throats?" Asked Xion. "Shouldn't they be working together to figure out the problem?"
"Master Ava told me, during one of the times that we met up that there has been discord among the Unions as of late." Ephemer told the others since the Destiny Trio were already aware of this. "I'm not sure what's gotten between them, but whatever this Xehanort did with our timelines probably accelerated this tension to the point of exploding."
"So these people are fighting against each other instead of working together?" Asked Daisy. "How horrible."
"How can they protect this town if they're busy fighting each other?!" Cried Goofy.
"And if they're too busy fighting each other, then this just makes the Organization's job of putting this world on the Highway to Hell a lot Easter!" Exclaimed Roxas.
"We have to stop them!" Sora said determinedly as he bolted off.
Everyone hurried behind him.
The guardians eventually hurried up a set of stairs until they were near a wide bridge over a canal.
"Which way did they go?" Asked Kairi
A lightning spell in the distance was her answer.
"That way." Replied Sora. (1)
They continued onward until a portal of darkness opened and three new Heartless appeared.
They appeared as Shadows with a mostly humanoid body, entirely black with minimal blue tint. Their heads were round and spherical, with a red zigzag mouth and spherical, fully yellow eyes and thin limbs.
They wore black clothes of slightly different color than their bodies, and, except for their shoes, the ends of the clothing had spiked tips, giving a torn visage to the outfit. On their heads were hoodies with two spiral eye patterns on the front of the same red shade of their mouths. Protruding from the hoodies were two horn-like antennae extensions with stripes on them that end bent into a zigzag. Wings also protrude from them. Two red barbed wires crossing into an X shape are laid onto their otherwise bare chest, reminiscent of the X on the Heartless emblem. They wore large, black gloves with five fingers, and each of those fingers has a gradient to red on the end from black in the middle. The gloves were right by red barbed wires. They wore black vertically striped pants that were short, poofy, and held up by a black belt with a silver buckle. Finally, they had small black shoes held tight by red strings.
"...ux..." the first one spoke in a raspy voice.
"L...Lux." wheezed the second.
"Give...me...Lux." the third one hissed.
"Darklings?!" Ephemer and Skuld exclaimed in horror.
"Are they a Heartless that existed back then?" asked Kairi.
"Yes," said Skuld. "They're a Heartless of Keyblade Wielders who have fallen to Darkness."
"How horrible." whispered Naminé.
"Do you think if we defeat them, they'll return to normal?" asked Riku.
"I'm not sure," replied Sora. "But either way, we can't let them stop us from stopping the Foretellers." He summoned Knockout Punch.
"Relax." Donald smirked. "There are only three of them and..." he counted "Twelve of us. I think we can take these bozos down in a few hits."
Once those words left his mouth, ten more appeared behind the first three.
Everyone glared at the sheepish duck.
"You just HAD to run your mouth." Roxas grumbled.
"Everyone, get ready!" Sora shouted as he readied himself with Knockout Punch.
Riku summoned Oblivion, Kairi summoned Oathkeeper, Roxas summoned Two Become One, Naminé summoned Light Seeker, Xion summoned Lost Memory, Goofy summoned Dream Shield in his Right and Unbound in his left, Donald summoned Dream Rod in his right and Divewing in his Left, Daisy summoned Zero/One, Max summoned All For One.
Ephemer and Skuld summoned their Starlight Keyblades.
"Let's dance." Sora glared.
(Battle Music: Shrouding Dark Cloud KH 1.5)
Party Members
Sora
Riku
Kairi
Roxas
Xion
Naminé
Donald Duck
Daisy Duck
Goofy Goof
Max Goof
Ephemer
Skuld
Information
Defeat the Darklings
Everyone fanned out to take out these strange new enemies. Sora dodged a claw swipe from one and bashed another one with his Keyblade. Two more charged at him but he jumped over them, stomping their heads with his feet. As one lunged at him with its fist outstretched to punch him he pointed his Keyblade and fired a Firaza Spell.
"You're Fired!" he shouted.
Riku slashed a Darking with one swing and blasted another with Dark Firaga. As Four more surrounded him, he executed an aerial sweep to send them flying in the air, before using a Falling Slash to knock the closest one down before plunging his Keyblade down releasing dark energy from the fissure to deal more damage to the Darklings.
Kairi sprang from side to side, dodging the swipes from her foes before Quick-Slashing the nearest one with her keyblade and firing a Flower Shoot onto the one behind her. Spinning around in a circle, she performed a Radial Blaster, shooting projectiles of light from all directions to cause the Darklings to slide back.
As Six Darklings surrounded Roxas, he spun around with his Keyblade executing a Fire Strike to knock them down. He dealt an Ars Solum technique to the first three when they stood up and executed a brutal blast to the other three sending them flying. Xion lunged at the three Darklings Roxas knocked back and performed a horizontal spin swing onto the first one and a wishing edge technique on the second. However before the third could attack her, it was stunned with an Impact Shockwave spell coming from Naminé's Keyblade. She charged at it and slashed it skyward before finishing by firing a column of light from her keyblade.
Max slashed down Darklings left and right with his Keyblade before executing an Aeroga spell to send two flying.
However, as they landed down, they had their claws ready to slash at him, Max gasped and closed his eyes.
CLANG
As the Darklings brought their claws down to attack, Goofy charged forward and thrust his shield up to block their attack. He grunted as they pushed down against his shield, but Max put his hand on his dad's shoulder to reassure him. Father and Son pushed up together to knock the Darklings off, sending them flying left and right.
Donald and Daisy slashed upward with their keyblades, attacking the airborne Darklings before landing on opposite sides, while Daisy finished with a Spiral Bloom while her enemy was still in mid-air, Donald waiting until his foe was on the ground before casting a thundaga spell to send his flying back.
Skuld and Ephemer had locked blades/claws with two other darklings before their strength proved superior and they slashed the Heartless back into the one Donald send back.
"Skuld! Ready!" Ephemer asked his friend.
"You bet." Skuld nodded.
The two of them readied their keyblades until they were cloaked in auras of light. They lunged towards the darklings and slashed at them rapidly before leaping up in the air and channeling their auras into beams of light.
"LIGHT!" they both shouted as they blasted their magic powers into a beam that blasted and disintegrated the remaining Darklings before creating an explosion.
Meanwhile in another part of Daybreak Town.
Aced and Invi were locking Keyblades, strugglings against each other as they conntinued their fight.
"Why do you get in my way?!" Aced harshly demanded before increasing his strength to push Invi back and send her Keyblade flying.
Invi leaped back as her Keyblade landed behind her opponent. Slowly catching her breath she looked back up at her fellow Foreteller.
"Don't be so conceited," she exclaimed as she saw five flower petals drifting apart in a nearby lake. "I'm protecting the balance, just like the Master told us to! You need to come to your senses!"
Aced growled at this as he stood opposite of her.
From a distance, Another Foreteller watched from behind a corner. He was a boy in his late teens who hid his face under a white leopard mask. His pale yellow, hooded cloak covered a robe, shirt, and sash that were all yellowish-tan in coloration and had dark grey embroidering, beneath the robe, he wore light orange pants and dark gray boots. Light blue tassels appear on the front of his cloak. It was Master Gula of the Leopardus Union.
"If we don't do something, the light will expire!" Aced firmly stated as he walked towards Invi. "Then we won't be able to avoid the Grim Future that awaits."
He stopped advancing before continuing. "We need to defy the Master's teachings to protect the world!"
"You're saying he was wrong!?" Invi shouted incredulously.
"He's not here anymore." Aced tightened his grip on his Keyblade before raising it. "I won't let his prophecy come true. I won't let the world fall to Darkness!"
He slashed left and right creating an X-shaped energy void to suck her in as Gula watched in horror.
But Invi wasn't about to fall that easily.
"YOU FOOL!" she shrieked as she sprang up and re-summoned her Keyblade.
She cast a water spell that overrode Aced's Energy void spell, with it safe to advance, she lunged forward with blinding speed, floating behind the rogue Master to strike him from behind.
But Aced turned around and locked blades with her just as quickly, only this time it was HER strength that sent him flying back.
Aced slid across the ground, plunging his Keyblade into it to keep himself from sliding further back and collapsing.
Gula remained stationed in his hiding place but stopped when he noticed a Chirithy and another Foreteller come from around the bend.
This Forteller was a Girl in her Mid-teens. She hid her face under a white fox mask that had a blue trim. Her pink, hooded cloak was decorated with light green tassels and covered a white robe, light purple shirt, and light purple sash. Underneath her robe, she wore white tights and light pink high-heeled boots. It was Master Ava of the Vulpes Union
Ava was looking around nervously as if searching for something or someone.
Gula got the Opportunity to call her over. "Ava! Over Here!"
As Invi approached the weakened Aced, the younger two of the Foretellers raced forward.
"Invi! Aced!" cried Ava. "What's going on?"
"I found out who the traitor is...regrettably," Invi replied, not taking her eyes off the Bear-Masked man.
Ava gasped at this in disbelief. "No, that's not true!" she cried. She turned to her boyfriend to hear his response only to see him group his hands together and summon his Keyblade in a Jade Light: It had a long, dark blue handle. Its pommel and guard resembled golden bolts of lightning. The base of the blade was an etching of a green-eyed leopard, and the shaft was formed from a golden, spiked blade with a wide, darkened middle, itself etched in yellow with an icon resembling Terra's Mark. The teeth were formed from a web of crystalline spikes, and had another etched icon with a general heart-like shape. The keychain was made of small, electrum crystals, and the token was a spiked electrum talisman with a Gazing Eye.
"Ava," Gula addressed his girlfriend. "There's no time to lose!"
Ava looked around at her fellow Foretellers with their weapons ready and Aced slowly getting back up to fight. She then made the decision to summon her keyblade. Joining her hands together, magenta orbs of light coalesced between them to form her weapon.
Her Keyblade was unique from the foretellers' Keyblades in form, as it lacked a large, engraved dark portion on its shaft. It featured many gradients of pastel tones. It had a long, gold handle. The guard had long, cloud or wave-shaped portions shifting from yellow to blue on the top and separate blue pieces by the pommel. The base featured a gold fox with teal eyes set atop an intricate gold and pink etching. A few cloud-like golden parts were above it to either side. The shaft was twisted and pink, then yellow, then blue. The blue bursted into separate clouds which formed the teeth. Set in the center of the teeth, perpendicular to the shaft, was a pink symbol resembling Terra's Mark outlined in gold. The keychain matched the blue parts of the blade, while the token was yellow and pink, inset with a Gazing Eye.
Invi, Gula, and Ava readied their Keyblades against this Rogue Foreteller as he readied his own.
"May my heart be my guiding key..." he told himself.
The four Foretellers stood apart from each other ready to battle.
However, before anyone could lunge, there was a huge explosion of light off in the distance.
All four sets of eyes turned towards the attack.
They could see the effects of various spells and Darklings being sent flying from over the edge of the rooftops.
"What is that?" asked Aced.
"I'm not sure." Said Ava. Taking the opportunity to get her friends to stop their fighting, she turned back to them. "But if those are Heartless we just saw, we have to go check on the people that may be hurt while fighting them! Come on!"
She rushed off towards the noise.
"Ava, don't run just off!" Invi cried after her fellow Foreteller but to no avail.
She sighed as she reluctantly turned to the others. "We have to go after her and make sure she doesn't get hurt."
"She's right." Gula addressed Aced. "We can all focus on fighting each other after we've saved those from our Unions."
He and Invi rushed after the Fox-Masked Master as Aced stared at their departing figures.
As much as he wanted to continue fighting and stamp out the potential traitor who was hiding among them, his duty as a protector of light came first.
He gripped his Keyblade and charged into town.
Once the battle was over. Sora and his friends all stood there, slowly catching their breath.
"Is everyone OK?" Kairi asked her Guardians.
The others nodded while also voicing affirmations such as "Yes," "Yep", and "OK."
"I gotta say," said Skuld. "You all got some skill for those from other worlds, which ones are you from?"
The Guardians exchanged looks with each other before answering.
"We're actually from worlds that you guys don't know about until much, much later in the future."
Skuld was confounded. "What do you mean?"
"It's what they were trying to tell you earlier before the battle with the Darklings." Ephemer tried to explain. "They're not from this time Skuld, they're from the future. That earthquake we heard last night and that portal in the sky is a result of our timeline being merged with theirs from the future."
"Wait so our time era is merged with theirs?" Asked Skuld. "Why did they do it?"
"It wasn't us." Roxas tried to clarify. "It was the work of an elderly madman named Xehanort who wants to plunge the world into darkness."
"Xehanort..." Skuld spoke... "Is he an enemy from their time?"
"Yes." Xion replied to her hair-color lookalike.
"I see." She replied. "This is honestly something that needs to be brought up with the Foretellers. Once we find them and get them to stop fighting. You guys can explain everything to them."
"I don't think that's going to be a problem anymore." said Donald as he pointed in the distance.
Everyone turned to where he was pointing and saw Master Ava rushing towards the Twelve of them.
"Is everybody OK?" She asked. "I saw Darklings here and got worried. Did they hurt any of you?"
"No..." Daisy slowly spoke.
"We're all fine." Said Max
Ava turned to Donald, Daisy, Goofy, and Max.
"My, what interesting Dream Eaters you four are." She turned to the humans. "Do they belong to you?"
"Um...Yeah..." Sora didn't know how to respond. "But, can you remind us, What are dream Eaters?"
"They're new to this town." Ephemer brought Skuld to the side and gestured to the Guardians.
"I see." The youngest Foreteller replied. "In that case. Allow me to introduce myself. I am-"
"Ava!" A voice called out. The others turned to see Gula, Invi, and Aced racing up to her.
"Gula, Invi, Aced!" She waved. "You're just in time to meet some newcomers to our town."
The other Foretellers looked at the Guardians.
"Well, go on." She urged. "Introduce yourselves."
Sora was the first to speak up. "My name is Sora, Foreteller...sirs and ma'ams."
"I am Riku." Said Riku.
"I am Kairi." Smiled Kairi.
"I'm Roxas." Said Roxas. But then he trailed off and saw Gula eyeing him quizzically.
"Is...everything OK, Master Gula?" He asked.
"You look like one of the members of my Union." He said. "Though your heart is different from his, the face and voice are very alike.
I get that a lot." Said Roxas "Though this is the first time I'm actually hearing it from the people of this town."
"My name is Xion." Xion spoke softly.
"My name is Naminé." Said Naminé.
She was then cut off when she saw Ava looking at her with her mouth gaping.
"Is something the matter?" Naminé asked the Foreteller.
"That's not important right now." Ava assured the blonde-haired girl.
"I'm Donald Duck." said Donald.
"I'm Goofy." said Goofy
"Daisy," replied Daisy
"And I'm Max." Max finished.
"Nice to meet you all," She turned back to Sora. "And to answer your question about Dream Eaters: They are these magical creatures made for the denizens of Daybreak Town to help guide them on their journeys."
This new term dumbfounded the Guardians. "Yeah, well that's not what they are. They're actually visitors from another world just as we are." Sora spoke.
"I see." Said Ava.
"Wait, visitors from other worlds..." said Invi. "But that's not possible without a Keyblade...but then again, you're certainly nothing like any of the denizens from other worlds that the people from my unions have mentioned to me."
"By chance, would you know about that rift in the sky?" Gula asked.
"Yes." Said Kairi, "We can explain everything to you guys..." She looked around to see if there was anybody watching. "Though I feel it would be safer if we did it somewhere where we don't draw attention."
"We can bring you to our Clock Tower, where you can tell everything to Ira and the rest of us." Ava offered.
"What?" Aced exclaimed incredulously. "Ava have you gone mad!? They are merely strangers from another world and you're taking them in right away?"
"Yeah, Ava." Gula agreed. "I mean I know one of them looks like my student but we don't know anything at all about them...why should we trust them?"
"We have never seen them before in our lives, nor the worlds our unions have visited." Ava defended her statement. "If they have something to do with the new disturbance that has happened earlier, then maybe they can be the ones who can help us fix it."
The other Foretellers looked at each other.
"Very well," said Invi. "We shall take them to our gathering and inform Ira of what's happened."
"I'll lead the way." Said Ava as she gestured for the Guardians to follow her.
She walked towards the Clock Tower, the Guardians following her and the remaining Foretellers followed behind her.
As they departed, Xigbar watched from the Shadows.
The Guardians followed the Foretellers through the dark corridors of the Clock Tower.
Ephemer and Skuld had stayed outside as they were not with the Guardians and as members of the Unions, they were instructed by Ava to wait outside.
"This place makes our clock tower from Twilight Town look normal," Xion whispered to Roxas
"Well technically one: we've never seen the inside of our Clock Tower, and two: Yeah because ours isn't made into a giant castle."
"I wonder if you could eat Sea Salt Ice Cream from the ledge." Sora joined in his clones' conversation.
"Well, once we save this world, and if we have time, we can try." Roxas whispered back.
"What are they whispering about?" Aced asked. "They're acting suspicious."
"Now that you mention it," Gula added. "I think you may be onto something. First, that earthquake happened last night, then a rift to other worlds appears, and these strange Keyblade wielders and Dream Eaters appear and say they know everything about these strange occurrences."
"I suspect they are responsible for it somehow," said Invi. "While we shouldn't rule anything out right away, we should still remain wary of these ten. See if they're up to no good or not."
"Let's not point fingers at them right away," Ava interjected. "While it may be possible they are involved with that rift, if they WERE responsible for it, wouldn't they try to make things worse rather than try to help fix them?"
Gula considered what she said.
"Or it's all an act and they're trying to gather as much information about us to strike us while we're at our weakest," Aced suggested.
"That's worth considering." Said Invi. (2) "Anyways we're here."
The Guardians looked forwards to see that they were in a strange-looking study that was surrounded by torches, stained glass, and clock gears. In the middle was a giant round table and a single young man standing at its front.
He hid his face under a white unicorn mask that had a gold trim. His white, hooded cloak covered a robe, shirt, and sash that were all light blue in coloration and had gold embroidering, underneath his robe, he wore white pants and matching boots. Gold tassels appear on the front of his cloak. It was Master Ira of the Unicornis Union.
He was holding his Keyblade in his hands. It featured a black handle contrasting with a silver-white pommel and guard resembling clouds. The curvature of the guard resembled a harp or lyre. The base was an etching of a white unicorn with a silvery mane, horn, yellow eyes, and red and black detail. Around the horn were rings of red, black, and silver spikes separated by gold. The shaft of the blade was silver with shining white edges. Etched into the shaft in gold and filled with black were four elongated heart-like shapes, the fourth of which resembles Terra's Mark. Eight silver spikes shot out from around the final etching. From the uppermost spike of one side to the bottom of the other a black semicircle with silver edges appeared to go through the spikes. This and a few additional spikes set in the ring formed the teeth. The keychain was made of white crystals, and the token on the end featured five white spikes encircled by a white ring, with a Gazing Eye at the center.
Ira turned around and saw Sora and his friends.
"So you're the mysterious Keyblade Wielders my fellow Foretellers mentioned to me." He spoke. "It's a pleasure to meet all of you."
"You're Master Ira, right?" Sora asked.
"I am." said Ira. "Very perceptive for a newcomer from another world. And I believe you know about the rest of my Foretellers." he gestured to Invi, Aced, Gula, and Ava.
Sora nodded.
"Ira," said Ava. "Let me handle the introductions," she gestured her hand to the other Guardians, "These are Sora, Riku, Kairi, Roxas, Xion, Naminé, Donald, Daisy, Goofy, and Max."
"It's quite the mouthful, I know." Gula snarked. "But we believe these wielders have something to do with the rift in the sky that goes out to those strange new worlds."
"You do?" asked Ira as he turned to the Guardians.
"Y-yes, that is correct." Sora shakily started.
"But we didn't cause it," said Riku. "But rather someone from our time did."
"Your time?" asked Invi.
"You see," said Naminé "We're from the future over 100 years from now,"
This took everyone by surprise, especially Ava.
"The future?" she whispered. "But then...how...?"
"It was the doing of an evil from our Time," said Roxas. "An elderly man named Xehanort, he leads a group of 13 seekers of Darkness called Organization XIII. Their goal is to battle against 7 lights to forge the X-Blade so they can use it to access Kingdom Hearts and plunge the world into Darkness."
This horrified the Foretellers.
"What?" cried Ira.
"Oh no!" gasped Invi
"How can this be!?" exclaimed Aced.
"I don't believe this!" whispered Ava
"Oh...damn." Gula muttered.
"But then why would he open a portal here to do so?" Ava asked.
"We don't think this was his intention," Xion explained. "While he did travel through time to recruit a few members, his meddling with the flow of the time's natural order created a rip in the barriers between space and time and brought forth two new worlds from the past. Your Era being one of them."
"I see." Ira nodded his head in understanding.
"And while he wasn't expecting to do this," said Max "We believe he might try to invade this world to plunge it into Darkness which might make it easier for him to conquer the other worlds in the present."
"Got it." said Gula.
"Which brings us to why we're here." said Daisy. "We plan to stay here and defend this world until we can make sure any attacks from Xehanort's group are neutralized. So...I hope you don't mind."
The Foretellers looked at one another, unsure of what to make of this.
Finally, they looked back to the Guardians.
"Well, Sora and friends." Invi spoke up. "While we're usually the Guardians of this World, we have been taken aback by this recent disturbance between worlds. So you are welcome to stay in Daybreak Town for as long as you need to."
"Really?" Sora asked, excited to hear this news.
"Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy!" Donald quacked in amusement.
"However," Aced interjected. "You will not interfere with any of our duties, nor do anything that goes against what needs to be done, if ANY of you step out of line, I will assume you to be enemies and will not hesitate to cut you down."
"Th-that won't be necessary," Kairi assured the Bear Mask. "We're all here to fight for the Light's salvation, not its downfall. I should know...because I'm a Princess of Heart."
The Foretellers gasped at this.
"Princess of Heart?" Ira asked. "As in the Seven Hearts of Light?"
Kairi nodded. "Yep, that would be me...but I'm not just any Princess of Heart...I'm their leader."
"I see," said Ava, clearly fascinated, "And who might I ask are the other Six?"
"Cinderella, Snow White, Aurora, Belle, Jasmine, and Alice." she replied. "They're all from other worlds too."
"Understood." Gula nodded. "That is all for us to know you're on the side of Light."
"Yes." Ava said happily as she walked forward and grabbed Naminé by her wrist. "If you all may, I will escort you to one of our living residences where you can spend the night."
She then leaned into the Princess of Heart's former Nobody and whispered sharply, "Meet with me by the fountain later tonight, there is something I need to discuss with you."
Naminé was startled by The Fox Master's tone but complied. "A-all right."
"Come along now," Ava continued. "I'm sure you've all had a busy day traveling our town and fighting off enemies and I bet you are all aching for rest right now."
She escorted the Guardians out of the room as the Foretellers watched, bewildered.
"Well, that was something to see," Gula snarked.
"Indeed." Invi added.
"I don't trust them one bit." Aced snarled, "I believe they're associated with the ones responsible for the rifts in time, we must dispose of them at once." he summoned his Keyblade.
"Even if that is the case," Ira interjected "Ava is right, we cannot go and confront them on this right away, that will make us look bad. Besides, one of them is a Princess of Heart so we at least know they fight on the side of light."
"True," said Gula. "And she seems to trust them enough to welcome them."
"She always has been the naïve and sweet one," said Invi "But sometimes that can lead her astray..."
"Let's keep an eye on them for now," Ira concluded. "Then we'll see if they're a threat or not."
"Agreed," Invi and Gula spoke in unison.
They turned to Aced for his response.
The Bear-Masked Man sighed, "Very well, we will let them be for now, but once they step out of line, I shall deal with them myself."
As the four Foretellers finished their discussion, Xigbar watched from behind a corner with an amused smirk.
"I should give them a day for those guys to settle in with those chumps, after that, I can make my move." he spoke to himself.
Ava led the Guardians out of the Tower where Ephemer and Skuld were waiting.
"Oh, you guys are done?" Ephemer called out.
"Yep." said Sora. "We managed to explain everything to the Foretellers,"
"Good." Skuld smiled. "So what's next?"
"Master Ava's going to escort us to a living residence for us to spend the night in." Riku replied. "We can figure out our plans on what to do against the Organization tomorrow."
"Well, how about you join the Dandelions on their next mission," Ava suggested. "I can have them meet up tomorrow; with all the welders by your side, that Organization won't stand a chance."
"That's a great idea, Master Ava!" Ephemer exclaimed with joy. He turned to the Guardians, "You guys will be in for quite the treat tomorrow!"
"That's right!" Skuld smiled "You guys will get to meet up with a lot of new faces who will be eager to help out with your quest."
"That sounds nice." Xion smiled, "I can't wait to see them." She turned to Skuld. "And Skuld, about before."
"It's all good, Xion." Skuld assured her "You've had a busy day and I'm sure you need your rest. We can continue our conversation when we meet up tomorrow."
The others looked at Xion.
"Was there something you two were talking about?" Goofy asked the former Replica.
Xion tried to come up with an answer that didn't sound far fetched until Skuld came to her rescue.
"It's just something that's between us, Goofy. Nothing to be concerned about."
"OK." Goofy shrugged. "But if you want to talk about it, we're here for you."
"Anyways," said Ava. "Make yourselves comfortable and we'll see you bright and early by the light house tomorrow. Come along now, Ephemer and Skuld, let's let our guests settle in for tonight."
Ephemer and Skuld nodded as they took their leave. Ava followed them but not before turning to Naminé as if to remind her about their meeting.
Naminé nodded to her look to which the youngest of the Foretellers turned around and left.
Sora and friends then looked at each other and made their way inside.
They entered to see a short hallway with three doors: Two on the left wall and one in the back. To the right was a staircase that presumably led to more rooms.
After exploring the amount of rooms there were: Being a total of Six, the Guardians made their choices on who would sleep where.
Sora and Roxas
Kairi and Naminé
Donald and Daisy
Goofy and Max
And Riku and Xion each got a single.
As the Guardians started to walk towards and settle into their rooms, Sora dragged Riku and Kairi over for a private chat.
"What is it Sora?" Riku asked.
"I was wondering about you guys' opinions about this." said Sora, "About being in a town of the past, with Keyblade wielders from very long ago..."
"It does feel pretty weird," Riku admitted, "Normally the new worlds we visit don't have such things but here...a world where there are other Keyblade Wielders is very new."
"At least we know we're not alone," Kairi tried to say, "With them being fellow Keyblade Wielders like us, we fit right in."
"Yeah," said Sora. "Though there are a few people who we had break the World order with, though they're people of higher order, we likely won't have to deal with Organization XIII breaking the world order, since they seem to go through what we do on a daily basis."
"Hey yeah," Riku was starting to get what Sora was saying, "Since they battle Heartless too, and are training Keyblade Wielders, there's nothing Organization XIII can dish out that can violate any more of the world order...well aside from revealing themselves to be time travelers."
"It still wouldn't hurt to lend a hand though," suggested Kairi, "Just because Heartless attack this town 24/7, it doesn't mean the Organization won't send more Heartless against us. We need to stay here until we can make sure it's safe from their influence."
"Agreed," said Riku. "We can't let the wicked ones roam free (3)...but first," he yawned. "We should get some rest, we can't save this town while we're all tired."
"I'm with you," Sora tried to stifle a yawn. "I've already had a full day investigating this town and helping Ephemer fight off Heartless, I really need to hit the sack right about now."
Kairi smirked at him, "You lazy bum."
"Of course you'd say that." Riku teased.
"Well, it's not like either of you wouldn't too after such a tiring day." Sora defended his actions.
Riku and Kairi acknowledge this.
"True," the silver-haired childhood friend spoke up. "Well, anyways we can finish our convo tomorrow. Night you two." he turned and headed downstairs to his room.
"Night." they called to Riku. They turned to each other. "Night."
Sora headed into his room with Roxas and Kairi went to hers with Naminé.
However, when Kairi opened the doors, she noticed Naminé sitting by the window.
Upon closer inspection...she saw that the Golden-Haired girl was looking outside.
"Looking for something?" she asked her former nobody.
Naminé turned and faced the red-haired girl.
"K-Kairi!" she softly exclaimed. "You're back already?"
"Yeah," she replied. "I wasn't out grocery shopping."
"True," Naminé silently spoke.
"But seriously," Kairi sat next to Naminé. "Is there something bothering you?"
"Kairi?" Naminé asked. "How do you feel about the Vulpes Master: Ava?"
"Master Ava?" asked Kairi. "Well she's a kind, and sweet person. And she's really devoted to her role as a Foreteller and a Keyblade Master. Why do you ask?"
"Because she asked to speak with me by the fountain later tonight." Naminé replied.
This surprised Kairi. "Speak with you? Why?"
"She said she wanted to discuss something important with me." Was the reply.
"Did she say what it was?" The red-haired girl asked her somebody.
Naminé shook her head. "She didn't, other than she wanted to see me. I'm not sure what it is though...it's likely about the Timeline Merge...but given how she wanted to speak with only me...it's probably about something else."
"I can go with you." Kairi suggested.
"I'm not sure you can." Naminé replied. "Ava said she only wanted me to meet with her."
"But technically speaking, I AM also you." Kairi pointed out. "You're my nobody and I'm your somebody."
"Well, when you put it that way..." Naminé responded. "Ok, you can come."
"Yay." Kairi cheered.
"But we'll have to be discreet about it." Naminé firmly responded. "Which means we can't let anybody else know we're going. We wait until the sky is dark and then head out."
Moments Later
Kairi and Namine quietly exited their bedroom and tiptoed down the stairs, careful not to wake anybody else up.
Once they were at the bottom, Kairi opened the door for Naminé to get out, and then exited herself and closed the door behind her softly.
Once that was out of the way, both girls walked at normal pace under the darkened sky towards the center of the Town Square.
Sure enough, Master Ava was sitting by the fountain, bathed in the white moonlight.
She turned and saw the girls approaching her.
"Naminé!" she exclaimed, "You've come."
"I have, Master Ava." The Blonde-haired girl smiled softly.
"I really appreciate you arriving on such short notice." Ava smiled, she then noticed Kairi. "But what's this? Didn't I ask you to come alone?"
"Please, Master Ava." Kairi explained. "I was concerned for Naminé so I asked to come with her."
"I hope you don't mind, Master." Naminé pleaded. "I am her other half after all."
Ava was confused by this. "Your...other half...as in?"
"Oh, oh no!" Naminé exclaimed as she caught onto what this meant, her cheeks lighting up in embarrassment. (4) "I mean I'm another version of her."
"What do you mean by 'another version'?" Ava asked.
"It's a long story," said Kairi, but let's start with this, "You know how Heartless come from the Darkness in people's hearts."
"Yes." Ava nodded.
"Well something else comes from that, the leftover body without the heart becomes a separate entity known as a Nobody; a creature born without a heart." Kairi continued.
"So you're saying that Naminé is your Nobody?" Ava asked the Princess of Heart.
"Yes." Kairi nodded.
"But that's impossible." Ava protested. "A Princess of Heart cannot fall to Darkness, her heart is pure light."
"It's a complicated procedure with how I was created." Naminé explained. "When Kairi's home world of Destiny Islands was attacked her heart was separated from her body and took refuge inside Sora. And since she was a Princess of Heart, her heart wasn't consumed by darkness to become a Heartless like you said, and her body remained in the Realm of Light instead of passing into the realms that reside in between the Light and Darkness like most nobodies."
"My heart remained inside of Sora until he used a Dark Keyblade to extract it from his body to return it to me." Kairi spoke. "And since my heart was inside his body when he removed it, it created two nobodies: Naminé...and his own; Roxas."
"Roxas?" Ava asked. "Isn't he the boy who Gula said looks like his student?"
"He is." said Kairi. "That's because Ventus' heart was inside of Sora during Roxas' creation, but that's a story for another time."
"Ok," said Ava. "So I understand that when a person falls to Darkness, their heart become both a Heartless and their empty body becomes a Nobody. Yes?"
The other two girls nodded.
"Ok, so I can see how you two are able to co-exist. But then...how is Sora not a Heartless, if his nobody exists?
"He was..." Kairi explained. "But since he has a strong heart he was able to hold onto his feelings of selfhood and I used my Powers as a Princess of Heart to create a new body for him which is why he and Roxas coexist."
"Somebodies and Nobodies cannot normally coexist together," Naminé explained "But the circumstances for both me and Roxas are the few exceptions."
Ava nodded in understanding. "But one thing still concerns me...Why did Roxas take on Ventus' appearance rather than Sora's?"
"Because it's like we said," Kairi explained. "Ventus was inside Sora's heart during Roxas' creation so Roxas took on the former's appearance instead of that of his somebodies."
"And if you're Kairi's nobody, then why didn't you take on her appearance and instead took on..." Ava began to trail off as she slowly addressed Naminé.
"I...don't know..." Naminé replied. "I'm not sure why I took on an appearance that differs from Kairi's..."
"And that brings me to why I wanted to speak with you." said Ava. "What I'm about to show you might be...surprising to say the least."
Ava removed her mask and pulled back her hood, prompting Kairi and Naminé to gasp in shock.
(Music: Kairi III from KH 1.5)
While Ava had a different facial appearance than both girls as she was a bit older than them, and had pink eyes. It was her hairstyle that alarmed both girls: It was blonde and draped to the side...just like Naminé's hair.
Aside from her Pink Eyes, she bore an uncanny resemblance to the former nobody of Kairi.
"What..." gasped Kairi.
"The..." Naminé slowly spoke.
"I know you two are surprised," Ava tried to explain. "Believe me, I was just as surprised as you two when I saw you, Naminé. At first I wanted to talk to you alone, but now that I know about your connection to Kairi, I'm glad you brought her here with us."
She turned to Kairi.
"Kairi, I want to know: Has there been anyone in your life that has resembled Naminé and I before? Was there another heart inside of yours?"
Kairi shook her head. "No, I don't think so...there was no one on Destiny Islands who resembled her nor did I take in a heart. I do remember arriving to the Islands from another world when I was very little but I don't know anything else before that."
"So you don't remember anything about the world you came from?" Ava asked.
"I don't." Kairi looked down saddened. "It's as if my memories from that past world were erased. I can't remember anything beyond my arrival on those islands. I'm sorry, Master but...I don't think I can help."
Ava took Kairi's hands and looked at her tenderly.
"Kairi." She spoke. "I believe that you and I are connected somehow, and Naminé is living proof of that." She gestured to said girl. "Since you are from the future, I believe it to be best that we trace this connection between us and figure out why your Nobody has taken on my appearance. I believe there is something more to the life I have here and the life you had before your adventure began."
Kairi was in awe. "O-ok, Master."
"But first you two should get some rest." Ava spoke. "You've had a long and busy day fighting Heartless and exploring town, and I don't want you two to be exhausted before meeting up with my Dandelions tomorrow."
"OK, Master Ava." Both girls spoke as Kairi let go of Ava and they walked away.
As the returned to their residence. Naminé noticed Kairi looking at her hands in concern.
"Is everything OK?" Naminé asked her somebody.
"Yeah, it's just...when she spoke to me...when she held my hands...Some things felt familiar. I was young...walking through a field of flowers under a giant castle. Holding my grandmother's hand... (5)"
"Your Grandmother?" Naminé asked. "Kairi you don't think that-"
"Think what?" Kairi asked.
"I-It's unlikely but..." Naminé started to trail off. "We can talk about it in the morning."
"Ok." Kairi shrugged.
And with that the two of them retreated into their residence.
Xigbar, Marluxia and Larxene had observed the whole thing from afar.
"Wow." Marluxia exclaimed. "I did NOT see that coming at all."
"So that Fox Master is connected to that little witch," Larxene scoffed. "As if things weren't already getting juicy. Right, Xigbar?"
She turned to see the Freeshooter who was deep in thought.
"Xigbar?" She asked.
No response.
"Hey!" She started snapping her fingers in his face. "Earth to Xigbar!"
Xigbar was brought out of his thought process "Oh! Sorry. I was just thinking about how stunning it is for Ava to be connected with that Princess of Heart of all people."
He looked down and thought to himself. "Now I know what she's going to do after she finishes carrying out her role in the Book of Prophecies."
"Hm?" Marluxia asked.
"I mean," Xigbar turned to his fellow members. "Let's let them have their sleep for now. Tomorrow, we make our move."
"I love the sound of that." grinned Larxene. "What do you think Marluxia?"
Marluxia was staring down at the town in concern.
"Don't tell me," Xigbar groaned. "He's still thinking about that person?"
"He's been like that ever since we got here," Larxene grumbled. "Yet as irritated as I should be...I can't help but sorry for him..."
Xigbar thought for a bit.
("I guess it's true...they DO originate from this Era. Maybe there's someone here from Marluxia's past that he used to care about...like a sibling...his memories were wiped after he was recruited. Chances are his sibling is gone in our time...but this is the past which means they still exist, and if he were to remember them...No, we can't risk him defecting if that happens...but on the other hand...if he were to find out what we'd be withholding from him...)
He came to a decision.
"I agree," Xigbar spoke with faux sympathy. "The fact that he has his mystery person out there and he doesn't even remember her. It just breaks the heart."
He walked forward and put a hand on Marluxia's shoulder.
"Hey there buddy." he smirked.
The Graceful Assassin looked at the Freeshooter. "What?"
"I hear you've been having some strange thoughts about someone native to here recently."
"Yes, I believe so." Marluxia nodded. "I remember them living in this town like I did...but I can't remember a name or a face...I don't know how to find them. I know we're supposed to plunge this world into Darkness and everyone in it...but this person I'm looking for...can we at least spare them."
"Say no more." Smirked Xigbar. "We'll be making our move tomorrow which will bring a lot of Wielders out of hiding, your missing person likely included. While most of the Wielders who fall to darkness along with the world will become fodder for our ranks we'll make an exception for them."
"What will you do?" Marluxia asked.
"Once you can remember them, tell us who they are and we'll take them as our prisoner and you can do whatever you want with them." The Freeshooter replied.
Marluxia liked the sound of this. "I appreciate that..." he smiled. "While it may take me some time to fully remember this person...I feel like the longer I'm here I can remember her."
This amazed Larxene and Xigbar. Him remembering this person was working already.
"Let's get out of here for now," Xigbar ordered. "Well, let the Guardians rest, and then attack them bright and early tomorrow."
Marluxia and Larxene both retreated but Xigbar stayed behind. His smirk melting into a glare of irritation.
"Damn Marluxia and his missing person. It's going to cause us more trouble than it should if he remembers her since she's likely one of the Wielders who existed back then. No matter, once he's able to remember her fully, we'll then kidnap her to use as an incentive to keep his loyalty to us."
He turned to the Clock Tower with a grin.
"And with the Guardians and those Wielders of the past distracted by Marluxia and Larxene, I'll do the honors of recruiting five or four of the most powerful darknesses of this universe to our cause. Let's see how long the lights in their hearts ensure though, given all the discord happening among them it's safe to say it'll be short. That aside. It's going to be so great to get the gang back together again."
With a smirk, he vanished into a corridor of Darkness.
Not that far away from him another figure in a black coat stood on a nearby cliffside watching Xigbar disappear into the corridor.
Underneath the hood, the figure was smirking.
"And so things get more and more juicy," the figure spoke in a masculine yet somewhat childish tone. "I mean, Timeline merging? That's a huge curveball, and now my Apprentices are going to be manipulated by the traitor in his newest guise? I wonder how those kids are gonna get outta this one?" he looked at the living residence where Sora and his friends slept. "I better pull out the popcorn, because things are happenin' in this branch of time.
And with that, he turned and walked away into the night.
To be continued.
Up next, the Guardians meet the Dandelions, and The Organization Attacks.
Note that I will be giving the Keyblades Wielded by the Foretellers names, which will be the same ones as their respective unions.
Ira's-Unicornis
Aced-Ursus
Ava-Vulpes
Gula-Leopardus
Invi-Anguis
Also YES I'm following the theory that Ava is Kairi's Grandmother but I'm using the whole 'Your nobody looks like someone else because their heart was inside of yours during their creation' excuse as to why Naminé has a different appearance from Kairi's rather than because she was unstable during her creation.
Finally, take note that the Master of Masters won't be a major character in this story and will rather serve as a spectator of some sorts for important scenes.
(1) The New Batman Adventures. Beware the Creeper: Batman and Robin search for the Creeper.
(2) Fire Emblem Engage Chapter 18. The Royals discuss Veyle.
(3) Fire Emblem Three Houses: Byleth and Sothis discuss Jeralt's death.
(4) Fanfiction Hyrule Warriors by MiniJen Chapter 15: Lana and Midna talk about Lana's connection to Cia.
(5) Fire Emblem Fates: Revelations Chapter 22 opening.