Chapter 149

War and Peace

Alus stared out at Saronia in the distance as the party trekked to the kingdom on horseback. As he wrapped his mind around the prospect that he was finally going to go home, his nerves threatened to overtake him. How was he going to face his father? What was he going to say to him? How would his father respond?

"Are you okay?" Phillip asked from behind him, jolting him out of his reverie.

"Yes. I'm just… apprehensive," Alus replied. "I can only wonder what will happen when we arrive. Will my father listen to me? What will he do? What will he say? Will he just reject me again?"

"I see. I can't blame you for worrying. I can't promise that it will all work out. But what I can tell you is that the man your father has become is not the man I have met in the past, whom my father knew as a friend. That man is someone who loved his people and his son very dearly. I can't say that I know what will happen, but I have faith that his love for you will restore his heart and mind," Phillip assured the boy.

Alus smiled. "Thank you."

Kairi heard a beep and checked her phone. "I just heard back from Sora," she announced. Riku and Aqua guided their horses to flank Kairi's so that they could look at the text message and attached photo, which depicted a massive bird that flew over a castle, lightning shooting down from its wings. "'I talked to the Good Fairies, and they showed me this in a book. It says that a Garuda is a vicious avian that rides on wind and lightning,'" she read aloud. "'A hundred years ago, a Fairie of the Unseelie Court (like Maleficent) took the form of a Garuda and attacked a human kingdom, only to be defeated by the kingdom's wind-riding Dragoon knights. Flora said that the Fairie is rumored to still be alive, but they don't know his name. Merryweather said to be careful if you do run into him.'"

"Saronia employed a regiment of Dragoons," Alus said. "They were quite effective in sieges, both when instigating due to the altitude gained with jumps and when defending due to the damage dealt from dropping on enemies, and they took advantage of strong winds when a storm fell over a battlefield. Each of them carried a spear, which made the best use of their leaps and drops for direct impalements. Now that I think about it, I did think it was strange when my father ordered the regiment of Dragoons to be discontinued."

"So that confirms it: Garuda, or the Fairie who turned into a Garuda, is somehow controlling King Gorn," Riku determined. "That's where I picked up that smell before—in the throne room."

"Well, now we know what we're looking for. Once we're in there with the king, Riku can sniff him out," Aqua said.

"Like a bloodhound!" Kairi joked. Her friends laughed.

"Well then. It's only a few more hours before we reach Saronia," Aurora said. "Just a little longer before we, hopefully, resolve this entirely."

Night had fallen by the time they reached the city. They had expected to arrive before sunset, but fights with Heartless and an attack by a pair of Black Mages delayed them (Alus had commanded the Black Mages to not hurt him or his friends, but their previous commands seemed to hold fast, and his efforts only slowed them down and prevented them from using magic attacks). The guards patrolling the street were surprised not only to see them return, but with Prince Alus in tow, and they reflexively bowed when they recognized him. When Alus had told them that he wished to speak to his father, two guards volunteered to escort the party to the castle. After speaking with the guards at the front doors, they were allowed inside and instructed to wait in the foyer while one of their escorts left to find and summon the king.

Riku took a whiff to confirm that he had detected the same magic odor that Garuda had left in the Forbidden Fortress. Alus looked around the entrance hall of his castle for the first time in weeks, noticing that Black Mages had been stationed at the doors that led to the throne room and the royal bedchambers. The escort who had gone to find the king said a password before the Mages would let him pass. While taking a look around for herself, Aqua noticed that the remaining escort was tapping his sword's sheath awkwardly.

"Not used to a sword?" the bluenette guessed.

The guard flinched at the question and chuckled, embarrassed at being caught. "You're right," he admitted. "I was reassigned recently. I'm more used to a spear."

"A spear? You were a Dragoon?"

The guard perked up at this. "Yes. You're familiar?"

"Prince Alus told us about the Dragoons on our way here," Aqua explained. "What's it like?"

The guard chuckled. "It's marvelous. Taking to the skies, riding the winds, it's the most amazing feeling," he said, reminiscing. "And the dragon-shaped helms made me and the others feel powerful."

"I can imagine," Aqua agreed. "So, how do you do it? You ride the wind to jump to great heights?"

"You seem rather interested," the guard noted. "It doesn't seem to me like the Dragoon art would be your style."

"I'm interested in how a range of disciplines operate," Aqua replied. This was true, although the primary reason she was asking was so that she and her companions could understand how the regiment was able to defeat the Fairie in his Garuda form.

"Well, it is much like you said. First, we spin our spears above our heads to create a funnel. Sometimes, we lean forward if we want to launch ourselves at an angle. We aim at our target, and then, pointing our spears in that direction, we jump, and the wind propels us incredibly far, incredibly fast. A Dragoon can jump several stories and reach the top of a castle's wall."

Aqua's eyes went wide with amazement. "That sounds incredible! I haven't been able to jump that high even with a midair boost."

The guard laughed. "Dragoons don't just rely on their own power—the wind is our friend. We let it add to our strength and guide us to our destination.

"That's fascinating," Aqua said. And good to know, she added mentally.

Hearing a door open, they turned to see the departed escort returning, accompanied not by King Gorn, but by Gimeth. Riku took another whiff.

The chancellor cleared his throat before addressing the party. "Greetings, my prince, and prior guests. I am afraid that his Majesty has retired for the night. I understand that you would like to speak with him. You are welcome to stay the night in the guest bedrooms, and you may have an audience in the morning." He appeared to sneer a bit at "guest bedrooms", as if to rub in the fact that Alus was not welcome in his own home.

In spite of that, Rike, Kairi and Phillip noticed that he was surprisingly gracious toward them, when during their previous visit he seemed eager to have them killed in spite of their assurance of a peaceful discussion. Riku was particularly suspicious as they were led up to the guest rooms. Gimeth directed them to split into the same two rooms, this time with Aurora, Phillip, and Alus in one room and Riku, Kairi, and Aqua in the other.

The Keyblade wielders kicked their shoes off and waited for the housekeepers to finish making the beds and leave before they started talking.

"I doubt it was a coincidence that he put us all in one room," Aqua said.

"Agreed. We should stay alert," Riku replied.

"So, do you think Garuda might be here?" Kairi asked.

Riku nodded. "I'm sure of it. I smelled his magic aura."

"Alright. Then we should be ready for anything," Aqua said. She placed two fingers on Kairi's forehead, causing them to glow as she cast a silent spell. "There. As Princesses of Heart, you and Aurora share a link. I used that link to create a magic alarm. If there is danger in the other room, we will be alerted."

Kairi nodded. "Good thinking."

"Well, we should all turn in," Riku said, kicking his shoes off and sitting on his bed. "Something will be happening very soon."

The girls nodded in agreement and followed his lead, tucking themselves into their own selected beds. They all snuffed out the candles on the bedside tables, each wishing the others a "Good night."

The door into the master bedroom creaked open as a diminutive figure entered. He approached the bed where the king slept.

"Awaken, Gorn. I have a task for you."

The king's eyes opened, and he was overtaken with a coughing fit. After a moment, his breathing stabilized, and he looked around in a daze. "Alus, my dear boy? Is that you?" he asked.

"No," the redheaded figure answered sternly, his eyes glowing red. The king gasped, staring wide-eyed up at the ceiling as his breath caught in his throat. After a moment, he coughed and relaxed, before turning his tired gaze to the figure beside him.

"What is your command?" he croaked.

It was a long, slow walk through the castle halls. He stumbled and shifted at times, as if by some momentary urge he tried to turn around or simply stop, before he continued on. Finally, he reached his destination. The guard at his late night post stepped aside and allowed the sallow-faced man to enter. He crept silently, stalled by another moment of hesitation, before he approached one of the beds in the room. He looked down at the boy who slept in it, his own son. He reached a hand into his robe. When he withdrew it, he was holding a dagger, which he raised above his head.

Aurora sat bolt upright and turned to see that, even shadowed in the darkened bedroom, the scene before her matched what she had followed in her dream. She screamed, loud enough to wake her roommates as well as stun the king.

Due to Aqua's spell, the scream awoke Kairi, Riku and Aqua in the adjacent room, and the scene flashed before their minds' eyes. They scrambled out of bed, aware that they had no time to lose, although Kairi and Aqua still felt slightly groggy.

"I've got this one," Riku said, holding his hand out and conjuring a Corridor of Darkness. He jumped through it and instantly came out in the other room. He raised his hand again and called up a Dark Shield just as King Gorn started to bring the knife down. He then directed the barrier to slide forward, shoving the king back.

Alus sat up and stared at his father in horror, the magic barrier illuminating the old man's face. "Father?! What are you doing?"

Gorn groaned. "What… I… m-must…" His hand trembled, two fingers lifting off of the knife's handle for a split-second before tightening around it once more.

The door was thrown open as Aqua and Kairi ran in, the guard outside looking on in confusion. The girls took defensive positions between Alus and Gorn, raising their Keyblades as Riku's Dark Barrier dissolved.

"King Gorn is being controlled," Aurora explained. "It's Gimeth!"

"The chancellor? I'll find him," Riku said, charging out of the room and down the hall.

"Very well, but what do we do here?" Phillip asked. Gorn had regained his balance and was slowly stalking toward Alus again.

Kairi conjured a ball of light at the tip of her Keyblade, illuminating the room and allowing Aurora to help Alus out of his bed and put herself between him and Gorn. Her thoughts raced as she tried to think of how to help the king in case Riku ran into trouble with his method. She then had an idea.

"Aurora, if Gimeth is controlling the king with dark magic, maybe our light magic can free him," she suggested.

Aurora nodded. "Excellent idea. What do we need to do?"

"Um, I think we just reach out and connect with his heart. We'll use my Keyblade and your connection to dreams to guide us."

"Alright. Let's do it," Aurora said. She put a hand on Kairi's shoulder and closed her eyes, letting the light in her heart open the way. Kairi pointed her Keyblade at Gorn and fired a beam of golden light, wrapped in pink-and-white smoke, to connect to him.

Their vision went dark, and after a moment, they could see a platform, reminiscent of a Station of Awakening. But rather than displaying a stained glass image, the top surface was covered with a miasma of dark goo tinged with rust-red fire. Every so often, light would shine through a gap in the miasma as the goo shifted, but the red fire flared up to force the goo over and cover the exposed section again.

"The king isn't in a trance, or simply being manipulated; Gimeth is suppressing his will," Kairi realized. She had thought this, but as her astral form was manifesting in the heartscape above the platform, she heard it as if it was spoken aloud, as did Aurora.

"Then we just have to remove the darkness controlling him,"Aurora affirmed.

Kairi's heart projection nodded. "Okay. I've never done this before. Please work!" She pointed her Keyblade at the smothered surface and, with Aurora holding her arms to lend her strength, fired a ray of light magic, which was wreathed in a purple-and-pink aura, at it, burning away at the miasma.

Riku followed the scent of Gimeth's darkness as he ran through the castle in search of the chancellor. He sometimes closed his eyes to get a clearer idea of the path he should take. Black Mages appeared at points to attack him, but he cut them down without trouble. He soon tracked his quarry to the throne room. He threw the door open and found Gimeth standing in front of the throne.

"What are you doing, you idiot? Do it. Kill the boy!" the chancellor demanded. While there was no one else in the room save for a pair of idle Black Mages, it was clear that he was ordering the king around telepathically.

"Release the king from your curse," Riku commanded, summoning his Keyblade as he approached Gimeth.

Gimeth laughed. "I think not. You believe that I am a mere man who is to be cowed by a display of brute force?"

"I actually have my doubts," Riku muttered.

Gimeth pointed two fingers at Riku and sent a bolt of purple lightning at him. Riku twisted and dove, taking the bolt to his flank. He fell and rolled across the floor. He picked himself up, only for a powerful blast of wind to knock him into the wall.

"I am a Fairie of the Unseelie Court," Gimeth continued. "I should have conquered this land a century ago, but I was beaten back. It took me decades to return to my full strength, and decades further to plot my revenge. I had to wait until there was no one alive who would recognize me, then I worked my way into the pathetic king's good graces until I was his chancellor. Then, I began working my mind curse on him, smothering his willpower until he did whatever I told him to do, with no one else the wiser. The first thing I did was dismantle the regiment that would have the skills to defeat me like before.

"While I was now the master of this kingdom, I did not have the forces under my command that would ensure that I would be able to conquer the rest of the land, what with Sasune and Argass united and aided by the Seelie ambassadors. It was then that the warlock from another world appeared. He offered the manpower, in the form of the Black Mages, which I gladly accepted. I did not know what he wanted out of a war with Sasune, but I did not care. I repaid him by teaching him the secrets of my curse."

Riku stood back up and took a step forward. Gimeth responded with another bolt of lightning, which Riku blocked with a Dark Shield.

"Kill him now, you fool!" Gimeth shouted to his mental thrall. He groaned as he realized what was happening. "I see. The Princesses are trying to free him. We shall see about that." His eyes blazed a fiery red. "Black Mages! Stop the Princesses of Heart! Gorn must kill the boy!" The Black Mages in the throne room exited, heading for the guest bedroom.

Riku started to charge forward, but Gimeth turned his attention back to him and sent a sustained surge of lightning at him. Riku was forced to maintain a Dark Shield to defend himself, leaving him unable to do anything else.

Six Black Mages poured into the room, tossing the guard aside thoughtlessly, and descended upon Kairi and Aurora. Aqua and Phillip jumped to the girls' defense and fought them off.

"Stop! Don't hurt them!" Alus pleaded as one of the Black Mages prepared to cast Fire at Phillip. The Mage paused, then let the fire dissipate and threw a feeble punch that was blocked by the prince's shield. Phillip thrust his sword through the Mage.

Alus gasped when he saw that Gorn was advancing toward him again, with no one present to defend him. He backed away fearfully, staring into his father's empty, bloodshot eyes. He inched backward until he tripped against a nightstand and fell to the ground.

Aqua turned around when she heard the crash. "Alus!" She cried out. One of the Black Mages took advantage of the distraction to wrap its arms tightly around her.

"Gorn, ruler of Saronia, too long have you sat in the shadows," Aurora said as she and Kairi continued to blast light magic at the dark goo covering the king's Station of Awakening. "Hearken to me. I release you from the spell."

Red flames rose up from the Station in the shape of an avian before twisting into a replica of Gimeth's head, twisted with rage. "Cease your foolish efforts, maidens," the chancellor demanded.

Kairi shook her head. "We will purge your corruptive influence, Gimeth," she shot back. A third of the Station had been cleared, colored light shining through the stained glass.

"If I go, Gorn dies." The flames flickered; he was struggling to maintain his hold.

"You will not kill him," Aurora insisted.

"SARONIA IS MINE!" Gimeth bellowed. Now the miasma covered less than half of the platform; much of the king's face was exposed, as were circles showing the faces of Alus and a woman who must have been his late wife.

Gorn stumbled as he approached Alus, the knife raised in his trembling hand to eye level. He froze just a few feet away from his son. His mind was clearing, and he became aware of his surroundings. "Wh… Where am I?" he muttered.

Alus heard this. "F-Father?"

Gorn's pupils widened as he recognized his son's voice. "Alus… What am I…" he croaked. He noticed the knife in his hand, which he was aiming down at his son. "What…?"

Kill him!

The mental voice shocked him. He could have mistaken it for his own thought if it had not interjected itself so roughly. In his mind's eye, he saw the flaming head that resembled Gimeth's. Kill him now!

No. I don't want to, his mind argued. He shook his head, muttering "no" repeatedly.

Do it! He raised the knife, ready to plunge it down into the boy's heart.

Please, don't make me. He grasped the knife handle with his free hand, physically fighting back.

Kill the prince now!

"He's my son!" he screamed. He brought the blade down, twisting it toward himself and driving it into his own chest.

In his heartscape, glass cracked as the pillar split in two. Kairi and Aurora were jolted by spiritual whiplash, breaking their concentration. Before they were thrown out, they saw the dark goo spill off of the platform and into the void, while Gimeth's fiery head dissipated, screaming.

The girls gasped, back in the physical world. Kairi made her Keyblade glow to once again illuminate the darkened room so they could see. She and Aurora spun around to see Gorn collapsed. Blood spilled out of his pierced chest, drenching his robes, his hands still wrapped around the handle of the knife that was stuck in his body.

Alus snapped out of his shock and crawled over to his father. "Father…? Father!" he cried out.

Aqua called down a Thunder spell to strike the Black Mage holding her, causing it to drop her, then cast Blizzard to create ice spikes that drove the remaining Black Mages back. She, Phillip, Kairi, and Aurora joined Alus at the king's side. The guard outside ran in and gasped in horror at the sight before him.

"No… Why did you do that?" Kairi asked, tears welling in her eyes. "We almost had it. We almost freed you on our own."

Color returned to Gorn's face, his wrinkles smoothed out, and much of his hair turned to a blond color. With the mind curse lifted, the strength it had drained was returning, and he was becoming himself again; were it not for the fact that he was bleeding out on the floor, it would seem as though he was returning to life.

Gorn took a deep breath. "It was… necessary. Though we all fought well against Gimeth's power, I knew that he only needed a moment of control to kill Alus." He coughed, some blood coming out of his mouth. "There was no question. I would rather die than do anything to hurt my son." He turned to Aurora. "I am sorry for all of the pain that I caused you and your people."

Aurora shook her head. "No. No, none of it was your fault," she assured him, placing a hand on his shoulder.

Gorn smiled and let out a chuckle, before coughing up more blood. He turned to his son. "Alus… the kingdom is yours. Stop the war, and bring peace back to our people. I'm counting on you, son…"

Alus nodded. "Yes, Father. I'll make you proud," he promised. Tears were streaming down his face.

"You already have," Gorn replied weakly. "I love you, Alus."

Gorn's eyes closed and he fell still. Kairi broke down, crying. Aqua folded her hands and bowed her head as she offered a silent prayer. Aurora and Phillip each placed a reassuring hand on Alus' shoulders.

The moment of mourning was interrupted as the ground shook. Pebbles broke loose from the ceiling.

"What's going on?" Phillip asked.

"Trouble," Aqua realized. She surmised that the mysterious Fairie was revealing himself. "Kairi, we need to go."

Kairi wiped her face dry and sniffled, then nodded.

Aqua turned to Aurora, Phillip and Alus. "You need to get to someplace safe," she advised.

The royals nodded. "I will make sure they are not harmed," the guard vowed. Remembering that the icicles were in the way, he began to hack at them with his sword before Aqua simply melted them with her magic. She and Kairi ran out of the room. The guard led the royals out a second later.

Gimeth yelled as he was blasted back, tumbling across the throne room as he was ejected from Gorn's heartscape. When he came to a stop, he swore loudly as he pushed himself to his feet.

"Looks like the king is free from your control," Riku said, taunting the chancellor as he approached him, Keyblade at the ready.

Gimeth scowled at him. "The imbecile chose to take his own life!" he spat.

Riku faltered at that statement. "What…?"

Gimeth howled with rage. A wind vortex formed around him, as lightning shot from his fingers in random directions. "I plotted for so long to take this land as my dominion! But now? This is all your meddling! Well, I suppose I'm going to have to skip to the part where I kill you all!"

Rust-colored fire sprouted from the little man's feet, swirling around him with the vortex. Bolts of lightning shot upward, blasting the high ceiling to pieces, forcing Riku to run, warp, and handspring out of the path of falling debris. The inferno revolving around Gimeth spread outward; Riku thought that it looked like the shadow within it was growing as well.

When the fireball had expanded to fill half of the room, it exploded upward, and the mass inside flew up through the roof. The ceiling shattered, and large pieces of stone fell in. Riku waved his Keyblade to gesture to all of the debris, then shouted "Stall!" The Zero Graviga spell encased each chunk in its own field that kept it hovering in the air, although some smaller chunks hit the floor.

Riku ran to the middle of the room and looked up through the hole where Gimeth had fled. He saw dark clouds coming together and he heard an ear-splitting screech.

The door opened, and he turned to see Kairi and Aqua enter. "Where's Gimeth?" Aqua asked.

Riku simply pointed up in response. "He said the king took his own life. Is that true?" he asked. The girls did not say anything in reply, which answered his question. "I see. Let's deal with all of that later. Right now, we have to go after Gimeth. He said he's a Fairie."

Kairi's eyes narrowed. She was not the least bit surprised. "So he must be…"

"I'm certain of it," Riku confirmed.

Aqua nodded. "Well, then. Shall we keep our promise?"

"Right," her friends replied. The three of them leapt from stone to stone, ascending with each hop until they were up on the roof. Once they were outside, they were hit with strong winds that made them momentarily lose their balance. Aqua quickly regained her footing and pulled the others close, raising a Barrier to shield against a bolt of lightning that came down over them. The Zero Graviga spell broke, causing the debris to drop to the ground.

They looked up and saw a huge creature flying over the castle. It was a great humanoid avian with green skin, rust-red feathers, and an orange beak. Electricity surged through its wings, illuminating it to those below, before shooting down to the ground. Houses were blasted to pieces, and some of the debris was carried around by the whirlwind.

"Is that…?" Kairi gasped.

Riku nodded. "Garuda. Or, as we know him, Chancellor Gimeth."

"How are we supposed to reach him?" Kairi asked.

"We jump," Aqua answered.

"What?"

"Like the Dragoons did," Aqua clarified. "I think we'll need spears."

Together, as they had practiced in the Mirage Arena, they drew on Dimension Energy and transformed their Keyblades into spears. The eight-foot shafts were all identical, aside from maintaining their respective color palettes, but the heads were unique: Aqua's resembled the Mark of Mastery symbol that was attached to the keychain, but given dimension; Riku's consisted of two bat wings and two angel wings in the cardinal directions ascending to a point in the center; Kairi's was made up of flowery vines that spiraled outward around a gold bud with a thorn sticking out of the top.

"Okay. How did he say it worked, again?" Riku asked.

Aqua gripped her spear confidently. "We spin our spears to control the wind around us in a funnel. Point the spear to aim, then jump." To demonstrate it to her friends and test it out for herself, she spun the spear above her head as fast as she could. Soon, she had created a funnel around herself that had gathered dust and pebbles in its vortex. When she was satisfied, she stopped spinning the spear and held it so that it was vertical in front of her. Then she jumped.

Riku and Kairi snapped their heads up as Aqua quickly ascended, launching herself high into the sky. She shot higher than any of them had ever gone (save for one circumstance where gravity did not have as strong an effect), and much faster. In only seconds, she was a dot in the dark sky.

Aqua found the experience to be exactly how the former Dragoon had described—exhilarating. It felt strange to not feel much wind resistance—most of the wind force was lifting her up—but it did not detract from the rush. She felt the urge to let out a yell, thoroughly enjoying the flight, but she had to focus as she saw that she was closing in on the Garuda. She gripped her spear even tighter and thrust it up to add that little bit of extra force.

She collided with the Garuda's wing, the tip of the spear impaling itself through the beastly limb, crunching against a bone. The Garuda shrieked in pain and rage. Electricity surged to the wound, from which blood was leaking, and down the spearhead. She screamed as she was shocked. She let go of the spear and let herself fall.

Fortunately, the lightning strikes and strong winds had caused pieces of houses to be carried into the air, and a section of roof appeared not too far below her. She landed hard and nearly rolled off, but she was able to grab the edge and catch herself as she went off the side before pulling herself back up. She resummoned her spear and planted the tip into the roof to stay on it while she healed herself and thought up her next move.

Below, Kairi cheered when Aqua hit her target and gasped at her injury and fall.

"We're next," Riku reminded her.

Kairi nodded. "I'll go for the other wing," she said.

"That's not straight up."

"Well, the Dragoon said they would sometimes jump at angles. But for a more direct hit, Aqua's landing gave me an idea," Kairi replied, scanning the sky and watching the path of the airlifted debris.

They both jumped out of the way to avoid a bolt of lightning; the act gave Kairi the room to start spinning her spear above her head. She leaned forward a bit to adjust the angle. When she had a good wind funnel going (Riku thought it looked strange to have a twister at a diagonal), she aimed her spear parallel and jumped.

She immediately gave in to her enthusiasm. "YAHOOOOO!" This is amazing! she thought. She let the wind propels her to her target, which was a tree that had been uprooted. She grabbed onto a limb and pulled herself out of the funnel, then situated herself and stood up on the trunk. Looking up, she saw that she was almost directly below the Garuda's wing. She waited a few seconds before she started to spin her spear again. She lurched as the developing funnel pushed the tree into the center and stopped its movement, but she balanced herself again and continued spinning. When her funnel was strong enough, she aimed her spear directly at the Garuda and jumped.

The Garuda screamed as her spear was impaled in its other wing. Expecting it to electrocute her in retaliation, she dismissed her spear and let herself fall away from the beast. The tree was still in place, and the funnel slowed her descent, although she cast Gravity on herself to speed it up enough to actually reach the tree, and landed safely. Recalling Sora's instructions on how to glide, she leapt off from the tree—just in time, too, as the Garuda sent lightning down after her, blasting the tree to fiery splinters—and rode the wind until she found a broken piece of roof to land on.

Inspired by Kairi's ingenuity, Riku followed a similar pattern, although he did not aim for an upward attack. Rather, he found a piece of debris (a queen-size bed) that was almost level with the Garuda's thigh. Standing on the bed, he threw his spear over his shoulder, impaling it into the beast's leg. Savoring the Garuda's scream as well as the fact that he was too high up and horizontally too far away for it to retaliate, he summoned the spear back to his hand and threw it again, this time lighting the head on fire. His next throw was imbued with Blizzard magic. After that, he performed another Dragoon Jump that took him high over the Garuda's head. He used Aero magic to dispel the wind funnel, then cast Gravity on himself to drop himself faster than he would have normally, holding his spear so that it was pointed straight down. When he met his target, the spear impaled itself into the Garuda's shoulder. He winced at the agonized scream directly in front of his face before removing the spear and stabbing it into the beast's neck.

Lightning went through the Garuda's whole body, electrocuting Riku. When the attack subsided, Riku stumbled and fell off of the Garuda's shoulder. Fortunately, Kairi glided in and caught him after he fell past its feet. She cast a Ragnarok Shotlock at the beast, then located a piece of roofing where she set Riku down and healed him.

"Thanks," Riku said.

"Be careful, tough guy," Kairi teased. Riku stuck his tongue out at her.

They saw Aqua sail past and stab the Garuda's wing again. Puncture wounds and dislodged feathers on its limbs indicated that she had managed to get some more hits in while they were pulling off their own attacks. As she let go to drop back down, Kairi conjured a light from her spear to get her attention. The bluenette glided over to them.

"What's up?" she asked.

"When we're even with its body and far enough away, it can't hit us with lightning," Riku explained. "I threw my spear at it a few times, and it couldn't do anything to retaliate."

"Clever. And I saw you go above it and drop down to strike," Aqua mused. "That gives me an idea." She looked up, above the Garuda's head.

Kairi smiled. "I'd recommend angling your Jumps and gliding to reach points to get into the right position, and disable your previously-made twisters with countering Aero magic before you drop," she advised.

Aqua nodded. "Understood." She glided over to a tree, then Jumped to a higher point.

Riku turned to Kairi. "Ready?" he asked.

Kairi nodded. She glided to a dresser and then Jumped to a section of wall that was level with the Garuda's upper torso. Riku Jumped up onto the bed that he had used previously. When they were in position on opposite sides of the beast, they threw their spears at it, charging the heads with Fire, Blizzard, Agua, and Light magic. The Garuda could only scream as the spears hit their mark each time. The lightning strikes from its wings became less frequent as it grew weaker from the severe injuries that it was suffering.

Aqua's final jump took her two hundred feet above the Garuda, with the beast's head directly below her. With a wave of her spear, she dispersed the twister that had carried her this far, then pointed the spear downward. As she began to drop, she held onto the spear tight and wrapped her legs around it to secure herself, then invoked "Graviga!"

The whiplash was disorienting as she dropped incredibly fast. The wind resistance threatened to rip her away from the spear, but she held fast. As she fell, she poured Fire magic into the head of the spear. In only a few seconds, the spear pierced the top of the Garuda's head.

The spear carved right through the beast. The Fire magic exploded outward, incinerating its tissue, cauterizing its blood, and blasting its body into pieces. When Aqua and her spear reached its heart, the magic spread to its wings and legs, consuming the entire body in flame. Riku and Kairi dove from their platforms and conjured Barriers to shield themselves from the heat and explosive force as they fell. There was one final explosion as what remained of the Garuda, of Gimeth, was destroyed. Fiery bits rained down all over the castle town. Anything that had been lifted up by the fierce winds was burned to a crisp if flammable and sent flying for miles otherwise. Riku and Kairi crashed into a stable and a shop, respectively, but their Barriers protected them from harm, albeit leaving them disoriented.

As soon as they recovered, they returned their Keyblades to their normal forms and then checked to make sure everyone in the vicinity was all right. They found a few dead and some more injured, but others had been able to hide in secure places, and the Keyblade wielders were able to heal most of their injuries with Potions and Cure spells. Afterward, they ran to the castle to check on Aqua as well as Aurora, Phillip, and Alus, casting Blizzard and Agua to put out fires along the way.

Parts of the castle had collapsed due to the lightning strikes and explosion, although the damage was mostly over the throne room, where the structure had been destabilized by the Garuda blasting through the roof. Thankfully, most of the castle had held up against the beast's assault. The castle and town guards had escorted many people in the surrounding area to the security of the castle. Riku and Kairi found Aurora, Phillip and Alus attending to some scared families that were huddled in the entrance hall. When she noticed the Keybearers, Aurora ran up and hugged them.

"Thank goodness! Are you alright?" Aurora asked.

Kairi nodded. "The Garuda—Gimeth is dead," Riku said. "It's over."

"Good. That should mean the storm has calmed down," Phillip remarked. Riku nodded to confirm that fact.

"Listen, there are still some people out there," Riku reported. "Some managed to stay safe, but others were hurt."

Alus stood up. "Thank you. With the danger having passed and the storm dying down, we must find and attend to them."

Kairi looked at the young prince with concern. "How are you holding up?" she asked.

Alus hesitated. Tears appeared in his eyes, but he wiped them away with a finger. "So much has happened. It… It hurts, truly. But there is much that needs to be done. I will have to take my father's throne and work to fix all of the damage that has been done. Not only must I bring peace to Saronia, but to the rest of the land as well. There is much work to do, and there will be time to mourn later." He took a deep breath, clearly struggling to stay strong after everything. "Thank you all. If not for you, I may never have seen my father again. I may never have learned the truth. And I… I might have hated him forever."

Aurora shook her head. "No, Alus. You never stopped loving your father. And he never stopped loving you," she assured him.

The young prince—soon to be king—smiled. "Thank you, Aurora."

"Sorry, but has anyone seen Aqua?" Riku interjected.

As if in response to his question, Kairi's phone rang. She checked it, seeing that it was Aqua calling, and answered it. "Aqua! Where are you?"

"I'm in the throne room, on top of the rubble. Would you please hurry over here? I can't feel my legs."

"Of course." Hearing Aqua hang up, Kairi turned to her friends. "She landed in the throne room. But she's hurt."

She, Riku, Aurora, Phillip, Alus, and a group of guards and healers ran to the throne room, which had been completely destroyed by the collapsed roof, the lightning strikes, and the fiery explosion. Aqua lay sprawled on top of the pile that had once been the ceiling and roof, covered in developing bruises. Her legs were bent at unnatural angles. The guards climbed up to carry her down and lay her safely on the floor, where the healer checked her over for any serious injury. Kairi offered to use magic to heal her, so the healers determined whether doing so would cause things to set improperly (the breaks were not so severe that they would) and then adjusted her to ensure that she would be healed in optimal condition. Kairi cast Curaga over Aqua, and Riku followed up by giving her an Elixir to be safe.

"Thanks," the bluenette said as Kairi and Riku helped her to her feet. "I think it's safe to say I'm never doing that again. I was thinking too much about the damage that such a drop could do to the Garuda and I didn't think about how to save myself from the landing until the last second."

"That makes sense. It might have been a good idea for us to workshop the plan," Riku agreed.

"Sora, Donald and Goofy always seemed to work off of each other and make use of their abilities and techniques on the fly," Kairi mused.

"That does seem to work normally, but this is the first time one of us has dropped into a fiery explosion exceeding terminal velocity," Riku added.

"I think the only time we used Gravity magic on ourselves while high up was when we were being carried by Genie and dropping into the sand, so there wasn't much risk to us."

"I guess it just never crossed our minds."

Aqua chuckled. "Okay. I'll be sure to think ahead next time I try something crazy," she promised. "How is everyone?"

Before anyone could start to explain, Kairi's phone rang again. This time it was from Sora. "Hi, Sora," she greeted upon answering the call. She winced as Sora shouted something in shock and worry. "Oh, I guess you could see the storm from over there. Okay. Don't worry; the battle's over… Well, to sum everything up…"

While Kairi explained to Sora (who would pass the information onto Donald, Goofy, King Stefan, Queen Leah, King Hubert, and the Three Good Fairies), Riku, Aurora and Phillip explained the state of Saronia following the battle to Aqua. Then, through Riku calling Mickey and Mickey putting his phone on speaker, Alus was able to contact the Saronian and Sasunian knights that were camped out with the mouse and declared an end to the conflict (to which both sides were relieved). The rest of the night and much of the following morning was spent cleaning up the castle and town and attending to the scared and injured townsfolk. Everyone insisted that Aqua rest while the rest of them do their part.

The people of Saronia were devastated to learn of King Gorn's death, but they were glad to see that Alus had returned safe and sound and ready to lead the kingdom into recovery. Stefan, Leah and Hubert were also shocked when they had been informed of recent developments. After announcing to the people of Sasune that the war was over, they arranged to go to Saronia for Gorn's funeral. Sora, Donald and Goofy beamed up to the Gummi Ship and beamed down to a Safe Point in Saronia to check up on their friends.

"That sounds awesome!" Sora exclaimed when Riku, Kairi and Aqua explained how they used the Dragoon Jump technique to fight the Garuda. When the trio had met up with Riku and Kairi, they all returned to the castle guest room where Aqua sat, writing down her own account of recent events in her diary. "I wish we could have seen it."

"We'll show you how to do it when we get a chance," Kairi said. She giggled. "I learned a cool move before you did."

"So, how did it go on your end?" Aqua asked. "Were the fairies able to help you learn anything about the Power of Waking?"

Sora nodded. "Yeah. They told us what they knew about the Power of Waking and the Duat. They…" He turned to Donald. "Hey, can you show them the notes you took?" To the others, he explained, "He was able to understand the technical parts of it better."

"Of course." Donald pulled a notepad out of his pocket and opened it. "Well, we showed them Master Unei's book—they were pretty excited to get to read it—and we discussed some points of confusion. You see, we knew how to find the worlds that the Dream Pools exist on, but not how to find the Pools' precise locations. Merryweather was able to find a record, penned by an arcanist of old who studied with the Fae, from which we learned that there are orders who watch over each Dream Pool and maintain the rituals to access the Fields of Concepts within our hearts. There were only a few notes to narrow down where the Pools were located, but I think there was enough to point us in the right direction. And the fairies made us these bangles and infused them with some of the pixie dust we had so that they would glow when we got near to a Dream Pool." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a bag, which he opened to reveal bangles that were flecked with gold. Sora held his hand up to show that he was wearing one over the wrist of his glove.

"Cool," Kairi said.

"Glad you were able to clear that up," Riku added.

"So now we have an idea of what to do when we get to those worlds," Aqua said.

"We'll still be wandering around, but we'll know when we're on the right track," Sora remarked, earning giggles from Kairi and Goofy.

"Say, we should really get to helping out with cleanup and repairs while we wait for everyone else to arrive," Goofy said. "We'll check back in with you later."

Aqua nodded. "Thanks. See you." With parting waves, her friends left to go back out to the town, leaving her to resume writing in her diary.

The party sans Aqua continued to help with cleanup and repairs around town, while the priests and council members arranged the funeral. The knights found that the Black Mages were receptive to more constructive instructions, and so were able to add them to the workforce, speeding up the process. The following morning, Aqua was released from bedrest and advised to take it easy for a while. In the afternoon, King Stefan, Queen Leah, King Hubert, and their retinue, accompanied by Mickey, arrived. The Saronians got the guests settled in at the castle, where the party relayed everything to Mickey, before the whole town gathered for King Gorn's funeral.

Stefan, Leah and Hubert spoke about their friend, sharing fond memories. Then Alus said a few words about his father, remembering his kindness and wisdom, and making sure to let everyone know that he gave his life out of love for his son and his people. The coffin was lowered into the grave and buried.

After the service, the party met with the royals to say their goodbyes. "It was great to finally meet you," Kairi said as she hugged Aurora.

"Likewise," the Sasunian princess replied.

"You take care of yourselves," Phillip said, shaking Aqua's hand.

"Of course," the bluenette responded.

"Keybearers, I implore you. Find that man who gave the Garuda the means to cause all of this harm, and put a stop to his evil," King Stefan requested.

Sora nodded and pumped his fist. "Don't worry, your Majesty. We'll get him."

Finishing their farewells, the party went to the nearest Safe Point and beamed up to the Gummi Ship. Kairi immediately started heading down to her bedroom. "I'm going to get some sleep. It's been a long week. Good night, everybody," she said, waving back to the others.

"That might be a good idea," Riku agreed, stretching.

"Well, that's another job well done for the books," Goofy remarked cheerfully.

"Right. We're lucky that the root of the conflict was an interference that we could find and neutralize," Aqua said.

Sora turned to the Keyblade Master. "What do you mean by that?"

"The duty of a Keyblade Master is to maintain the balance, make sure that darkness doesn't disrupt the light," Aqua explained. "This war was due to someone using dark magic corrupting the king to cause destruction, so we were fit to intervene. But if it had all been political interest, it wouldn't have been our jurisdiction to engage fairly."

Sora felt a sinking feeling develop. "Aqua, what would have happened if King Gorn was waging war all on his own?" he asked, although he was afraid of how she would respond.

"We must not override another society's views and laws on our own whims," Aqua said. "Without having to counter another disruption by an outside force or the darkness, the most we would have been able to do is be diplomatic and try to help them come to a peaceful solution. But we can't take sides. It wouldn't be fair or right to side with Sasune solely because friends of ours live there." The bluenette sighed and shook her head. "If this had been an ordinary conflict, then we would have had to stay out of it and let the war go on normally."

Sora fell silent as he stewed on what the Keyblade Master had said.