Happily Never Again
Aqua watched as the Sail of the Heavens brought her back to the very world she had been trying to leave, appearing over the Emerald Castle and landed in front it. The boat transformed back into the small sail that Aqua folded up and placed on her back with the Horn of Passage. She walked up to the entrance but stopped as the guards stepped out to greet her.
"I've come with help for Ozma." Aqua stated loudly.
"Sadly, you won't find him here."
The guards moved aside, allowing Artura or rather Sir Arta to step out and greet the Keyblade Master in 'his' knight outfit. "Your…I mean, Arta."
"You don't need to pretend around me, Master Aqua." Artura smiled. "You say you have brought help for Ozma."
Aqua nodded. "I believe it will work."
"Unfortunately he is not in the castle anymore. He was moved back to his home when the healers deemed his condition incurable." Artura said regretfully and pointed straight behind Aqua. "His home is a small cottage to the south outside of the town. Salem is with him."
Aqua followed the finger and then bowed. "Thank you, Your Majesty."
She summoned her armor and glider, making one last grateful glance at Arta before taking off. The young 'king' could only watch as the Keyblade Master took off in the direction of Ozma's home.
Xxx
A pair of purple glowing eyes opened. "She has returned."
Xxx
Aqua flew out of the town and spotted Ozma's home in the forest, hoping she was not too late. She was just about to land when she heard a surge of magical energy.
BLAST!
Aqua barely dodged the attack, landing perfectly on the ground and summoning her Keyblade as several men in armor emerged from the forest.
They were not the only ones.
More men and women emerged, all of them wearing armor, carrying swords, axes and bows.
"Who are you?"
"They are ours."
Aqua watched as three people, obviously important from the way they were dressed, stepped forward.
(Kingdom Hearts II Soundtrack Rowdy Rumble Starts)
A man dressed in tribal armor and clothing.
A woman in royal regalia and make-up and a stern look on her face.
And an elderly fat looking man with a crown on his head.
Each of them were holding a single golden weapon that emitted a powerful and divine aura.
A scythe for the rather overzealous looking man.
A fan for the stern woman.
And a spear for the fat king.
"You are the woman who wields the key shaped weapon." The Stern Queen stated.
Aqua simply summoned her Keyblade, answering the Queen's question.
"Take her." The Fat King ordered.
The surrounding men and women gathered magic into hands, weapons and even bows and fired them all at Aqua who quickly raised a barrier, not only blocking the spells but sending them flying back at their progenitors.
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
One by one, they are all blasted back by their own magic. The Zealous King let out a loud war cry and charged at Aqua.
Xxx
Salem looked away from Ozma and out the window, seeing explosions near their home. "What in the…"
She noticed a blue blur the midst of the explosions.
'Aqua!'
If she's here she must have a cure for Ozma!
Salem glanced at Ozma's staff, leaning against the wall next to his bed. She grabbed it and immediately rushed out of the house, running towards the battlefield.
Xxx
The Stern Queen raised her golden fan and with a simply swing conjured a powerful whirlwind at Aqua who hastily blocked with a barrier. So far she had been on the defense, blocking and dodging the elemental attacks from three rulers after having three different elemental powers from the three weapons they were carrying.
Earth for the scythe.
Wind for the fan.
And ice for the spear.
She dared not think if there was someone wielding fire about to show up. The Zealous King was the most aggressive of the three, charging at her and attacking her with his scythe. His swings were wide and aggressive, leaving him open as she parried and counter attacked, striking him several times before knocking him back.
The Stern Queen was better, more composed and more elegant as she swung her fan, releasing a whirlwind that resembled Ven's Tornado Strike spell. Luckily Aqua was more than ready as she teleported behind the Stern Queen, delivering a quick slash which the Queen spun around and blocked with her fan, another gust of wind forcing Aqua back. She had better control over her magical weapon than the Zealous King did and she was a lot more precise in her attacks.
As for the Fat King…
"Take this!"
Aqua blocked another shard of ice fired at her from the King's staff. He simply fired basic ice shards, much like a Blizzaga spell but so far that was it. He was skilled with magic, having created a barrier around himself when she attacked but he was the most stationary of the three.
Kind of reminded her of Terra, Ven and herself.
Three fighters, the sword representing the invincible warrior, the staff representing the mystic, and the shield representing the defender.
Only they were not fighting like a team.
They attacked her one at a time, showing no coordination in their attacks. Only the Stern Queen seemed to be utilizing her magic to the point where she could keep Aqua on her toes. The Zealous King fought with almost no regard for his allies, wielding not just his magical scythe but also a large cleaver. His combat style had him rampaging at her, ignoring everything else.
The Stern Queen seemed to be a mid-range fighter, not afraid to move in to fight when she dodged the Zealous King but remained out of reach.
Well, until Aqua could spare her a second. "Thunder!"
A bolt of lightning rained down on the Stern Queen, forcing her to block with her fan. The fan emitted a golden light as the lightning collided with it, wind coming to life around her. The Fat King remained far enough to not be caught up in the fight, offering no help to the others as he fired another ice spear at Aqua who teleported out of the way…
And left the ice shard to fly at the Zealous King who hastily blocked the-would-be fatal attack with his sword and glared at his fellow king. "Watch where you are aiming, Fatty!"
"How dare you?!" The Fat King said in outrage. "You should have stayed out of the way!"
"Or about you actually come and fight like a real king?!"
"Enough!" The Stern Queen barked as she took a step towards Aqua. "If you cannot be of use, stay out my way and I'll defeat her myself."
Just as she was about to fire another wind blast, a magical beam of red light collided with her and sent her flying back.
"Aqua!"
Aqua glanced over her shoulder, seeing who had fired that blast. "Salem?"
The young woman rushed up, stopping next to her while holding Ozma's staff. "Did you get something for Ozma?"
"I believe so." Aqua said, glancing back at the three rulers as they faced the two women down. "I don't know who these are."
"They are rulers from neighboring kingdoms." Salem answered. "I recognize their style of clothing."
She looked at the Fat King. "He's from the western lands."
Then at the Stern Queen. "She's from the eastern lands."
And then at the Zealous King. "And he's from the north."
"Any idea why they would come here?" Aqua asked.
"Usually when a kings and queens come near another a kingdom, it's either to negotiate…" Salem's eyes landed on their weapons. "Or to fight."
"Well, they seem rather intent on the later and it's with me for some reason." Aqua watched each of them carefully. "I'll hold them off. You go back to Ozma. I'll meet up with you as soon as I can."
"If they kill you, you won't be able to save Ozma." Salem argued. "You can't face them alone."
"Enough!" The Stern Queen barked, aiming her fan at the two. "I am done with this foolishness!"
Aqua and Salem shared a glance before they faced the three, Salem gathering magic in her free hand while holding Ozma's staff in her other hand while Aqua settled into her usual battle stance. The Stern Queen fired another tornado at them but both Aqua and Salem conjured a barrier at the same time with the latter using Ozma's staff, which easily blocked the attack. The Zealous King roared and charged straight at them but by then Aqua had enough.
"Gather!" She shouted, creating a vortex that pulled the Zealous King off his feet and into the air above them.
Aqua proceeded to strike the Zealous King over and over, landing eight hits before the spell had ended and the final hit sent the king crashing into the ground. The Stern Queen fired another wind blast but Salem held Ozma's staff in front of her, creating a tornado underneath her that allowed her to float up into the air and cancel out the attack. The Stern Queen narrowed her eyes and swung the fun, summoning three tornadoes that surrounded Salem's, cancelling it out and leaving her to get torn apart.
"Salem!" Aqua shouted, pointing her Keyblade up and creating a barrier around Salem, protecting her from the tornadoes.
The Fat King took that chance to fire another shard of ice at her. "Ha! Got you now!"
Aqua merely stepped to the side, dodging the ice shard and turned to face him. As she slowly walked towards, an aura resembling fire surrounded her.
"Stay back!" The Fat King pointed his spear at her. "With this spear, I control the power of ice! What hope do you have?"
Aqua simply pointed her Keyblade at him. "Mega Flare!"
From her Keyblade came a great fire ball that shot at the Fat King who let out a startled shock as he channeled his magic through the spear, releasing a blast of ice that collided with the spell.
BOOM!
Upon colliding with the ice blast, the Mega Flare spell created a blinding explosion that sent the Fat King flying back, dropping the Ice Spear in the process. He landed in the bushes and a second later got up and turned to run with his soldiers getting up.
"Run you fools!" He shouted, not bothering to wait for them.
The Fat King's guards ran after him, leaving behind the Zealous King and the Stern Queen to face the two. With the barrier protecting her, Salem called upon her magic, shrouding Aqua's barrier with a blast of lightning that knocked the tornadoes away and allowed her to land safely on the ground. Aqua teleported next to her and they faced the last two monarchs. The Zealous King growled as he pointed his scythe at them. He raised the scythe and the ground shook as a fissure opened up underneath them.
Both Aqua and Salem jumped out of the way, landing on either side of the fissure. Salem pointed her free hand at the Zealous King, releasing a bolt of lightning just as Aqua cried out. "Thunder!"
The Zealous King raised his scythe to block the lightning from Salem but Aqua's Thundaga spell came down from above, striking him in the back and earning a scream of pain from him. In the meantime the Stern Queen swung her fan out, releasing another gust of wind. A sphere surrounded Salem while Aqua conjured a barrier at the exact same moment.
Only Aqua's barrier looked more like a bubble.
"Bubble Blaster!"
From the edge of Aqua's Keyblade came a barrage of bubbles that collided with the Stern Queen, pushing her back while several others collided with the Zealous King who plunged his scythe into the ground and summoned a wall of earth to protect himself. The Zealous King then words leapt up, somersaulting through the air and swung his Keyblade down at Aqua who quickly stepped back, parrying the barbarian's scythe and thus the duel recommenced. Aqua quickly found herself on the defensive as the Zealous King's style was incredibly aggressive each of his strikes had the power equivalent to several men behind them and his reach was far greater than Aqua's. It was all she could do to either block with her Keyblade or dodge out of the way entirely, and the Zealous King had plenty of power to spare which allowed him to put up a continuous assault.
Aqua stepped back, using Reflega to help block the Zealous King's scythe as he hammered at her defenses.
"Thunder!" Aqua shouted, calling down a bolt of lightning but this time the Zealous King was ready.
He held up his scythe and sword, conjuring a spherical barrier that blocked the lightning attack. The Zealous King then went on the offensive, attacking Aqua as she gave ground, blocking and parrying his blows with her Keyblade and Reflega spell. However Aqua was far from finished and she proved it by concentrating on channeling her power into Keyblade, causing it glow white as it clashed with the King's scythe.
"Gah! So bright!" The King squinted his eyes as he looked away.
Aqua then broke the lock and kicked the Zealous King in the chest, making him stagger back. The Zealous King growled as he staggered back and quickly parried Aqua's strike at his legs. Aqua quickly spun around, slashing at the Zealous King's chest but the king batted it aside and thrust at Aqua's chest. Aqua jumped back, back-flipping out of range of the Zealous King's scythe and blocking several slashes from the barbarian and ducked under another aimed at her head before retaliating with a full powered leap.
The Zealous King managed to block but was pushed back by the momentum.
"Freeze!" Aqua shouted, pointing at the ground.
The Blizzard spell froze the ground underneath the Zealous King's feet, making it very slippery for him and he lost his footing.
"Thunder!" Aqua shouted.
A bolt of lightning hit the ice in front of the Zealous King and blinded him for a second. Aqua took advantage of his distraction by teleporting behind him and firing a blast sent him crashing face first into the ground. Seeing her opponent was now down, Aqua spun around and ran to help Salem.
And it was just in the nick of time.
Though Salem had spent the majority of her life locked in a tower by her cruel father, he did not neglect to teach her the magical arts. In fact, her nanny had been a skilled magician herself, teaching Salem all about the mystic arts. She spent many nights honing her skills since she had nothing better to do at the time even though it wouldn't help her break through the barrier keeping her locked in the tower. The problem was while she was skilled in magic she wasn't experienced in combat and unfortunately her opponent was.
The Stern Queen let loose another gust that knocked Salem back, even as she tried putting up a barrier. The Queen then raised her fan to finish Salem off but was cut off by Aqua.
'Time Splicer!' Aqua shouted in her mind and vanished in a flash of light.
She reappeared in front of the Stern Queen, lashing out with a few quick combos before leaving an afterimage as she teleported behind and did the same and ended it with a final hit. The Stern Queen was sent crashing to the ground, hard. She grunted as she looked up with an enraged face and tried to raise her fan.
Just as she did that, a yellow aura Aqua's body. "Thunderbolt!"
Her body was now covered in electricity that made her twice as lethal which she showed as she shot forward and clashed with the Queen's fan, sending electricity coursing through her body. The Stern Queen screamed in pain before she finally fell unconscious and collapsed.
(Kingdom Hearts II Soundtrack Rowdy Rumble Ends)
Aqua sighed, relieved that it was finally over and turned around to see how Salem was. "Salem, are you all right?"
Salem was standing with a surprised look on her face, stunned by how strong Aqua was. "I'm…I'm fine. You…You fight well, Lady Aqua."
Aqua smiled as she dismissed her Keyblade. "Just call me, Aqua. Come on, we better help Ozma."
A growl made them stop and they looked to see the Zealous King managing to stand up, glaring at them with anger and hate in his eyes for the humiliating defeat he had suffered.
"I don't know why you have come for me but it's over. Leave now and you won't suffer anymore." Aqua stated stoically.
The Zealous King snarled, pointing his scythe at them and then up into the sky. A beam of darkness shot up, creating a black orb in the sky. Suddenly pieces of the surrounding land were pulled up from the ground along with trees and water up towards the orb, attracted to it like it was a black hole. Aqua and Salem watched in shock and horror as the small orb attracted enough mass to become a giant boulder, shaped like a miniature moon the size of a large house in the sky.
The Zealous King grinned as he raised his free hand, firing a red orb up at his creation which was lit on fire.
"RAGH!" The Zealous King swung his scythe down and the meteor began falling towards Aqua and Salem.
Aqua pointed her Keyblade up, firing a burst of multi-colored light projectiles meteor but they did very little damage to it as it continued to fall.
"We got to run!" Salem shouted.
Only it was too late.
An orange aura flared around Aqua as she pointed Keyblade up. "Meteor Shower!"
From her Keyblade came a series of beams at the meteor, blasting it apart. Salem raised her hand and fired her own magical beam at the falling meteor but it still kept falling towards them and it was still large.
Then suddenly a hand grasped the staff Salem was holding.
She turned her head, seeing who was holding the staff. "Ozma?!"
Ozma was barely standing as he grasped his staff, the green gem on it glowing as he channeled his magic through it. "…Together!"
Aqua glanced at Ozma and nodded. "Together."
Salem nodded. "Together!"
That was when something happened.
A surge of light surrounded the three of them, a blue light surrounding Aqua, a green one surrounding Ozma and a violet one surrounding Salem.
They looked up at the falling meteor, Aqua and Ozma raising their weapons and Salem raising her hand, all of them shouting the words that entered their minds. "LIMIT BREAK!"
The light swirled together around them before blasting up towards the meteor that was just right above them, not only blasting it but blasting through it, traveling up into the sky and vanishing into the upper atmosphere.
Xxx
The God of Light watched as the combined power of the Keyblade Master along with two humans, destroyed the meteor made by his brother's weapon.
"Impressive." He mused.
The humans…Their magic had joined together in that one instance, increasing their powers to considerable degree.
Xxx
The God of Darkness on the other hand…was irritated.
"This is what I get for relying on mortals and not my first children."
Xxx
When the dust finally cleared Aqua, Ozma and Salem had been scattered across the battlefield. The blast was too close and debris had fallen, sending them all flying back.
"Ugh…" Aqua was the first to open her eyes and get up.
She looked around, seeing Ozma and Salem nearby, on the ground but seemingly alive. Salem was the next to get up and she looked over at Ozma.
"Ozma…" She grunted as she tried crawling over to her beloved.
A shadow fell over her and she looked up, seeing the Zealous King glaring down at her, raising his scythe…
Ozma glanced up just in time to see Salem stabbed in the back. "No…!"
The Zealous King lifted his bloodied scythe, turning to Ozma.
However that was his last mistake.
A surge of light caught his attention and he turned to see Aqua stepping towards him with an angered look on her face as she activated her second Command Style: Ghost Drive.
The Zealous King was about to attack when Aqua teleported in front of him, delivering a few slashes that knocked him back, then appeared behind him, sending him into the air and delivered a final blow that sent him crashing to the ground. He dropped the scythe and was seemingly knocked out as Aqua landed on the ground, glaring at him before turning away.
She rushed over to Ozma who was holding Salem's hand, blood covering the back of Salem's outfit from a large cut along the back.
"Is she…" Ozma trailed off.
Aqua looked at Salem's body sadly, sensing no life from it. "…Yes."
"No…" Ozma lowered his head into the ground.
Aqua stared in sadness at both, before she remembered and pulled out the Phoenix Down she had gotten from Daybreak Town. "Ozma, I got something here with me that was supposed to heal you. It might work on Salem if she hasn't been dead for long."
Ozma looked up at Aqua a bit of hope in his eyes. "Can it?"
Aqua nodded. "But if I use it on her then you…"
"Do it." He said with no hesitation.
Aqua looked at him in surprise. "But…"
"She was locked in a tower for nearly her entire life. She hasn't had a chance to see the world like she always wanted. If this is to be my last…let her live the life she always wanted." Ozma said with a sad smile.
Aqua just stared in stunned silence, suddenly being reminded of how she had not hesitated to save her friends, even saving Terra from falling into darkness. Seeing the desperate look in Ozma's eyes, Aqua found herself unable to refuse as she placed the Phoenix Down on Salem's back…And watched as a flash of bright flames engulfed her.
Salem's wound was healed and she opened her eyes, gasping in shock as she looked up a Ozma's relieved face. "…Oz…ma?"
Ozma smiled…and then coughed out blood. "I'm glad…to see you…one last…time."
"Ozma!"
Aqua could only watch in sadness at Ozma's final moments.
