Ocean's Apart
The Realm of Sleep.
What did Remnant look like in the Realm of Sleep?
Pretty much the same, except no Grimm.
The Realm of Sleep was made by the manifestation of dreams from every person on every world and thus the Grimm, who never sleep, had no way of appearing in this world. Instead they were forced into dormancy with the rest of the people.
The only problem was that the Realm of Sleep had its own enemies.
Oscar appeared in Vale, what it was like before the Fall and realized the Sleeping Keyhole was much closer than he realized.
"If I had Jinn with me I could know where the Keyhole is instantly." Oscar muttered as he walked through the city, stopping when he saw where he was sensing the location of the Sleeping Keywhole.
Beacon.
It looked exactly like it before it fell to Salem's forces.
"Of course. It would be here." Oscar muttered as he walked onto the school campus. "The closest place Ozma had to home in a very long time."
And he had a feeling where the Keywhole was.
He walked through the interior of Beacon, stopping at each classroom and instantly knowing what they were.
Glynda Goodwitch's Combat class.
Peter Port's Grimm Studies class.
Bartholomew Oobleck's History class.
Thumbelina Peach's Plant Science class.
Aan Green's Stealth and Security Class.
And Harold Mulberry's Weapon Crafting and Upkeep class.
And then he walked into the elevator that led up to the place that would take him where he needed to go.
Professor Ozpin's office.
Oscar stepped out and stared around the room that was home to his previous self, the place where Ozpin spent his life as he trained humanity's future protectors and guarded the Relic hidden at Beacon. Oscar noted the desk, the chair, the gears shifting and the view of Vale.
Oscar couldn't believe the amount of nostalgia he was feeling just from looking at this room.
So much had happened here.
It could even be thought of the place where everything that had happened to him, Ruby and the others had happened here.
The beginning of the end.
Shaking his head, Oscar proceeded to the secret elevator that was next to the one he had just used to reach this office and waited as it too him down below Beacon.
To the Vault.
This was supposedly where Ozma in a past life had hid the Relic of Choice but even after Beacon's destruction, Salem was unable to find the Relic even after having her Grimm search underneath the school.
The location of the Relic of Choice was perhaps the last secret Ozpin had kept and for good reason too.
The Crown of Choice was the most dangerous of the Relics and Ozma had been perhaps a little paranoid but for good reason and he anticipated the possibility that Beacon would fall by making sure its true location was hidden. The elevator doors opened and Oscar was hit by another wave of nostalgia as he gazed upon the Beacon Vault. Vast and dimly lit by wall-mounted torches that cast a pale green light, the Beacon Vault definitely had the emerald green color that Ozpin seemed to favor. He walked past the intersection and came at the end of the hall where in the real world this would have been where the previous Fall Maiden, Amber was placed her and kept on life support.
There was only an empty space now.
All for the better, as Oscar was sure he would have felt more regret from his past life as Ozpin and on how he had handled that situation.
Oscar then summoned Gungnir and held it out in front of him.
CLICK!
Oscar's eyes widened and he slowly looked up. Up on the ceiling was something with a pair of large bat like wings, revealing a dark body that slowly fell towards him. Oscar jumped out of the way, rolling along the ground and jumped to his feet. He turned around and watched as the red bat like wings unfolded to reveal a muscular body with a slim waist while the skin on its head warps to create a hood-like effect. The creature's mouth also became visible, stretched wide and filled with razor-sharp teeth.
Its arms were long and slender, taking on a layered effect, with each layer developing large grotesque spikes. The legs were bipedal and clawed and extended with the tail, developing a spike on its heels and wickedly sharp purple claws on its feet.
On its chest was the Dream Eater crest.
'A Dream Eater.' Oscar narrowed his eyes. 'No, this is a Nightmare. It looks a lot like the…The Hound!'
(Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance OST Dread of Night)
The Nightmare lashed out with dark tendrils at Oscar who quickly slashed them away with Gungnir, cutting off several. The Nightmare gave off a dark glow and the tendrils instantly regenerated themselves.
'That's new.' Oscar thought to himself.
He charged at it, slashing away at the tentacles and fired an ice spell that froze the creature. He then pointed and fired a magical beam of green light that slammed into the monsters, sending it flying down the dark emerald hallways of Beacon's Vault. He heard a thudding sound and then heard the creature scrambling.
And then nothing.
Oscar narrowed his eyes as he clenched his Keyblade in both hands, keeping his guard up as he slowly paced around the massive underground chamber.
'If it's anything like the Hound it will try and pounce on me, knock me down and keep at it until my Aura breaks.' Oscar thought, his eyes darting left to right. 'I won't let it get the slip on me.'
He turned his Keyblade over so it was pointed down at the ground and slammed it down. Just as he did this, he heard a roar as the Nightmare leapt out of the shadows to strike at him. Only when Gungnir hit the ground, a green energy barrier surrounded Oscar, protecting him and repelling the beast. The Nightmare screeched as it was knocked back and slammed into the ground with green energy pulsing through it like electricity.
Oscar then pointed his Keyblade at it. 'There's something about it that's familiar…Maybe if I purify it, I can help it.'
A beam of light shot out from the tip of Gungnir and collided with the Nightmare which let out a screech. As Gungnir began to free the creature from the darkness, Oscar had failed to realize just how immense the darkness truly was.
"What in the world?" Oscar's eyes widened from the sheer overwhelming darkness emanating from the Nightmare.
It was so much he eventually had to stop.
He had already removed a great deal of darkness from the Nightmare, turning it into a Spirit.
(Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance OST Dread of Night Ends)
Oscar looked upon the darkness that he had freed from the Dream Eater that was amassing. He wasn't sure what it was but he had no time to deal with.
The priority was the Sleeping Keyhole.
With that, he turned around and pointed his Keyblade at the end of the hall. There was a flash of light and a glowing keyhole appeared.
"With this, may Remnant return to the waking world!" Oscar declared as the light from his Keyblade touched the Sleeping Keyhole.
And there was a flash of light…
Followed by an inhumane howl.
Xxx
Oscar opened his eyes to see he was back in the deserts of Vacuo, the same place he had been in when the Heartless had arrived.
'Feels like a lifetime ago.' Oscar thought as he held up Gungnir. 'Ozma was not only protecting Remnant from Salem destroying but from other forces to the point he made himself forget.'
He along with Ruby and the others had unintentionally summoned that very force that Ozma had tried to keep away when they used Ambrosius to evacuate Atlas to Vacuo when they formed a bridge across time and space.
And unintentionally summoned a Keyblade Wielder from the other worlds at the same time.
'And now with Remnant restored I can focus on trying to fix things. First, I need to find the others, Ren, Nora and Winter.' Oscar looked around, trying to see if he could see Vacuo where the others would likely be taking shelter at. 'After that, I can try finding Ruby, Weiss, Blake and Yang's hearts.'
After RWBY was sent to into the Sleeping World Remnant had become part of, they had been split up with their minds being trapped in Dream Eater form while their hearts and bodies likely returned to the waking world.
'Odin, he had given me the power to travel through time.' Oscar held up a hand. 'To do so, I must leave my body which I have already done when I was swept in the darkness before I woke up in the Temple of Time where Odin was waiting. The next step, the era I travel to has to have a version waiting there. Ozma gained the power to travel through time by constantly incarnating but he had no idea such power ever existed until he reincarnated as Odin. I can use this to track down and find Ruby and the other's hearts and reunite them with their bodies once they have been found.'
It was a dangerous mess they had been left with but if they hadn't done it, Ruby and her team would have likely died from having their energy sapped by Drasil.
It was a risk but the only one they could take.
'Penny's alive, now as the new Drasil but she probably can't interfere too much in the affairs of Remnant. And regrettably, I'll have to return this.' Oscar looked at Gungnir as he held it up. 'A Keyblade Wielder can't be involved in the affairs of other worlds unless dealing with otherworldly threats. I can't break that rule, even against Salem.'
That's right.
Salem.
He had to hurry and find the others. No doubt Salem was restored with the rest of Remnant along with Cinder who will have likely realize she had lost the Fall Maiden's powers somehow. Barring rare circumstances, almost everyone who is restored along with their world after it was destroyed by the Heartless would have no recollection of what had happened.
'If Salem and Cinder are restored, they'll realize that the Fall Maiden's powers had somehow transferred. I doubt they would remember the Heartless attack that originally destroyed Remnant. Once they realize the Maiden's powers are gone, they'll panic.' Oscar thought with a small smile. 'At least without the Summer Maiden around, Salem can't access the vault the Sword is hidden behind or the vault at Beacon where the Crown is hidden.'
Oscar's musings were broken by a sudden tremor. He looked up and watched with widened eyes as a portal of darkness ripped the sky apart. "What?!"
The portal grew larger and wider and two red orbs as eyes had appeared through the portal, along with yellow eyes emerging.
Oscar's eyes widened in horror in seeing a familiar face. "Salem?!"
It was indeed Salem but much different than before.
Her torso was merged with the head of a monstrous beast Heartless, the dark veins running down her body and completely merged with her Heartless body in the form of purple veins traveling all the way down the pitch black form. The Heartless in question resembled a horse's body with four legs that were clawed at the end with a spiked tail located at the rear. Salem's hair was no longer tied in a large bun but was styled into six curved horns and black claw like nails extended from her hands with spikes emerging from her arms. Salem's face remained the same but had more dark lines with sharp pointed fangs for teeth and her ears had become pointed.
The final change, showing Salem's new status was the Heartless symbol on her chest.
She landed down on the desert ground, looking around temporarily before her eyes landed on Oscar. "…Ozma."
"Salem." Oscar held up Gungnir. "What…What happened to you?"
"This new power, the power of the Heartless given to me when I broke apart in the Realm of Sleep." Salem answered with a smile at the shocked look on Ozma's face. "You look surprised."
"How do you know about the Realm of Sleep?" Oscar questioned.
"Thanks in no small part to my curse." Salem answered with a tone of bitterness in her voice. "It's what allowed me to survive the Heartless destroying Remnant and pulling the remains into the Realm of Darkness where I waited and cursed it all since everything was destroyed…except me. I had thought summoning back the Gods to destroy Remnant would finally break the curse on me but it seems I was wrong. Looking back it shouldn't be surprising, considering the way the Gods worded my curse, I suppose there should have been some hidden meaning I was supposed to understand…but it matters not now. When I broke apart, my curse allowed me to survive even then with my heart and body returning to the Waking World while my mind was transformed into a Dream Eater that stayed behind in the Realm of Sleep…Fortunately, as I had long desired death, my heart would retain my memories and I could keep my intellect even as it was transformed into this new form, making me become one with the Heartless and now I know everything they know."
Oscar's eyes widened in concern at hearing that. "So you know now…"
"About the other worlds, about the Keyblade." Salem stated with a grin that was then replaced by a scowl. "Again, great power is offered to you, Ozma and you squander it for the sake of a ruined world."
"A world you helped ruin." Oscar retorted.
"And existing under the servitude of those Brothers was so much better?" Salem argued. "Living as mere playthings to the likes of them, only to be wiped out at their leisure?"
"You still refuse to understand. All this time, you could have ended it by just trying to understand why it was wrong of you to force Ozma into coming back. But all you have done, all the people you've destroyed out of sheer spite, you just continue repeating no matter what form you take." Oscar said boldly.
Salem narrowed her eyes, grimacing in anger as she conjured a sphere of darkness that fired a blast of twisted dark magic at Oscar who quickly blocked with his Keyblade. "You betrayed me, Ozma. I did what I did out of love for you and you turned on me! I could have given you everything in the entire world and you threw it all away without a second thought! So now, with this new power I will destroy this world and move on to the next."
"Why?!" Oscar grunted as the dark magic pushed him back.
"With my new power as a Heartless, I am no longer restricted to this wretched world. I can travel to countless worlds, destroying them as I please. I can even track down the Brothers and destroy them myself!" Salem proclaimed with a manic grin. "They are powerful but the Heartless are true darkness itself, far greater than them both. You could never hope to understand what I know now, what I have learned from them."
"That won't happen. I will not let you destroy any other worlds." Oscar gripped his Keyblade with both hands.
"You understand so little, Ozma." Salem retorted. "How can you stop me when I now control the Grimm and the Heartless?"
As if to prove her point, Oscar found himself surrounded by both Grimm and Heartless. Shadow Heartless appeared out of the ground, followed by Ravager and Sulfur Fish Grimm.
"The Heartless and the Grimm are part of me and I am part of them." Salem stated with an evil smile. "And we all wish to see this world destroyed."
The Heartless and the Grimm attacked.
Xxx
"I don't understand. What has happened to Salem?" Aqua spun away from the image projection even if Oscar being left to fight those Grimm and Heartless worried her. "How is she a Heartless of all things and why is she so different?"
"…I think I know." Terra brought a hand to his 'chin'. "Xehanort turned himself into a Heartless and a Nobody when he used his own Keyblade to free his heart from his body…My body. My heart was dragged along for the ride, but even as I was left in darkness, I was still connected to him. People who become Heartless, they become driven only by instinct to seek out hearts, but Xehanort's Heartless retained his intellect and memories because he willingly became one."
"Willingly?" Aqua's eyes widened.
"Yes. The Heartless are capable of many things, Aqua." Terra continued and everyone listened carefully."He became one because it would allow his heart to travel through time."
"Travel through time?!" Neo gaped. "What kind of broken power is that?!"
"Essentially to travel through time, you first have to leave your body and when you travel from one point in time there has to be another you at the destination point." Terra explained. "Xehanort could only travel to eras of time he had existed, meaning he cannot travel before he was born or after his death."
"Hearts are not restricted like our natural bodies are." Ansem caught on. "They would be allowed more freedom to bend the rules of time and space."
Neo was shocked to hear that. A Keyblade Wielder could not only cast time spells but travel through time itself?
She looked at her Keyblade.
"Before you get any ideas, Neo." She looked back at Terra. "Another rule of time travel is that you cannot alter events that are destined to happen."
Neo pouted. "In case you haven't clued in, I'm not one for following rules."
"Maybe not, but there are some rules you cannot break even with a Keyblade." Terra pointed out. "I tell you this, because no matter what you may have done, I owe you for being there for Aqua when I couldn't be. Please, don't let your past ruin your future."
Neo turned away, frowning as she looked off into the distance.
"So what do we do?" Terra asked, getting back on track. "Do we go to Remnant to help Oscar?"
"You and Neo could, but Aqua cannot." Penny answered, looking at Aqua. "When Drasil sent you to the far past, you officially became part of Remnant's timeline and thus are bound by the rules that governed Drasil. I cannot send you into the present time."
Aqua remembered Drasil telling this to her before she and Neo had set off into the Realm of Darkness. If Penny was now the new Drasil, it would make sense she would be bound by the same rules as Drasil was.
"Then it would only be the two of us helping Oscar." Terra glanced at Neo who shuffled a bit. "…You afraid?"
"Cinder's boss used to only control the Grimm before and that was scary enough. Now she controls the Heartless too…" Neo trailed off. "I'm still not used to actually taking part in these kinds of fights when I've spent most of my life working to avoid them. Even if I got a Keyblade now, how are you sure we can stop Salem now? She's supposed to be immortal."
"That does not mean you should give up. Do you not have someone or something to fight for?" Terra argued.
"I had someone to fight for…Once." Neo scowled, looking down at the ground. "He was the one thing in that world that gave my life meaning and then he died. Everything he did, everything we did was for survival because no one else would look out for us and now you want me to risk my life to fight against the greatest evil in the world? A world that has been cold and cruel to me my entire life?"
"You fought against Drasil and those girls." Terra pointed out.
"Because I would have died if I didn't." Neo retorted.
"And what about the rest of us?" Penny suddenly spoke, causing Neo and Terra to look at her. "Do Aqua, Terra, and Mr. Ansem mean nothing to you? Aqua saved your life from Ruby and the others when they had lost themselves, gave you a Keyblade of your own as a sign of trust and you would not consider her a friend after all that?"
Neo was silent, glancing at Aqua for a second and then looking away. Aqua said nothing, knowing Neo well enough to know that even if she considered her and the others her friends now, it conflicted with her upbringing and previous mindset.
Neo had been raised by abusive and neglectful parents who cared more about the appearance of a normal child rather than raising a healthy one.
Roman was a criminal but he was the only one who was there for Neo when no one else was and they both believed they would survive whatever the world would throw at them.
And then they find out the hard way when Roman was killed and it was done by unintentionally doing Salem's bidding at the time.
Neo had seen Salem up close and was scared of her.
Aqua couldn't fault her for that.
"Neo, if you don't want to fight then you don't have to." Aqua suddenly said, causing Neo to look back at her. "I gave you the Keyblade I had found so you could protect yourself and even if I trained you how to use it, I never did it with the intention of trying to make you the kind of Keyblader Terra and I are. Your choices are your own, no matter what we might think."
Neo just stared at her as she turned away, looking at Penny. "Aqua…"
"Terra, I know you want to help but I am not comfortable with sending just you to help Oscar alone." Aqua continued, gaining a thoughtful look on her face. "Penny, is there a way we can bring Salem here?"
Penny's eyes widened, having not considered that before. "There might be a way…Drasil was about to open a path directly to Remnant using the powers she had stolen from Ruby and the others. She was taking not just their Maiden powers but also their Aura and Semblances…Weiss' Semblance!"
Everyone jumped back from Penny shouting in realization. "That's it! I can use the same glyph Drasil was going to use to bring herself to Remnant, only I will do it in reverse and bring Salem here!"
Penny turned around, looking around at the wooden platform atop the twisted gigantic tree that was now her new vessel. She spread her arms out and focused on the power that the tree now stored, the power of her friends that had been stolen from them.
Everyone looked up to see a white glyph forming in the sky.
Neo took one last look at everyone and stepped back, sighing as she walked over to the edge. "Sorry, Aqua…I'm just not like you guys."
She jumped over the edge, pulling out her Hush which she used to slow her fall and allow her to land softly on the ground below.
"I never was."
Xxx
The Heartless and the Grimm all attacked together in large mass but Oscar repelled them with a green energy barrier that exploded into a shockwave of green lightning that obliterated many of the monsters easily.
Too bad many more would instantly take their place.
Oscar jumped out of the way, landing outside and facing the swarm. 'I can do this. With Gungnir back in my hands, my magical reserves are not only restored but even greater than before.'
Heartless and Grimm jumped and lunged at him but Oscar spun around, slashing the creatures of darkness away easily. He then jumped away as many more appeared to take their place.
"You cannot defeat them all, Ozma. This time you won't find a way back once both the Grimm and Heartless are done with you." Salem taunted with an evil smile.
"That's what you think!" Oscar shouted as he summoned another magical blast that hit the swarm of Heartless and Grimm, tearing them like tissue paper.
More Heartless moved in to fill in the gap which Oscar took advantage off. He shot off, leaving a green comet trail and afterimages of himself in his wake as he slashed through the Heartless and Grimm, not giving them a chance to attack. He then held up his Keyblade and orbs of light surrounded it, each of them colored: green, yellow, orange and black with purple outline with wisps of turquoise, red, yellow, green, purple and blue swirling around them. He jumped up and pointed his Keyblade down at the swarm, unleashing a literal meteor storm of magical energy that blasted the remaining swarm and left nothing but dust as Oscar landed back on the ground.
Only for more Heartless and Grimm to appear.
"Damn it." Oscar muttered.
"You cannot win, Ozma." Salem taunted. "Do the smart thing for once in your pathetic lives and surrender."
"Never." Oscar retorted. "I made a promise…To never stop standing between the people of this world and you."
"And look where it has gotten you, fool." Salem shook her head. "Even with your restored and enhanced powers you can never stop the Grimm and the Heartless. Both are never ending."
To prove her point, Salem raised her hands and summoned more legions of Heartless and dark portals allowed Grimm to appear from every point of Remnant.
Oscar's eyes widened. "…Oh no."
Just before they could attack a giant white glyph appeared underneath the swarm, Oscar and Salem.
"Huh?" Oscar looked down at the glyph.
Salem narrowed her eyes, watching as the glyph shined bright and suddenly they all vanished into it.
Xxx
"GAH!" Penny cried out as the massive glyph that appeared in the sky dropped a massive swarm of Heartless and Grimm, followed by Oscar who let out a stunned cry while Salem simply hovered in the air, staring down at the strange island she had suddenly found herself falling towards.
Terra's Keyblade morphed into its Ultima Cannon and he fired an energy beam that blasted away the Heartless and the Grimm as they fell towards the giant tree and the island. In the meantime, Aqua preformed a Double Jump into the air, catching Oscar in time and landed perfectly back on the top of the tree.
"Are you all right?" Aqua asked as she set Oscar down.
"Yeah." Oscar nodded with a grateful look on his face before frowning. "How did you get us back here?"
"Thank Penny. She used the power Drasil took from your friends to open a way back here." Aqua gestured to Penny who fallen to her knees and had an exhausted look on her face. "She applied Drasil's original plan but reversed it."
"That's good. At least Salem is not on Remnant where she can use both the Heartless and the Grimm." Oscar muttered.
Speak of the devil, Salem landed on the other end of the large platform and looked around. "How…interesting."
Terra's Keyblade morphed back into its original form and he pointed it at Salem. "This is the end here."
"I've heard those words before." Salem narrowed her eyes upon seeing Terra's weapon along with Aqua. "So, you both hold the Keyblade."
"Then you know what we can do." Aqua stated, glaring at the dark woman.
"I do indeed." Salem grinned as dark energy surrounded her. "Glorified warriors meant to protect the worlds from the darkness, much like the Huntsmen that my Ozma created…Though he made them to primarily protect his secrets and as expandable pawns. I wonder if you are meant to be just as expendable."
"And what about you?" Aqua retorted, taking a step forward. "Everything you've done, everything that you do, it's all because something bad happened to you long ago and because of that you think you have the right to trample over everyone's lives, to look down on them, mock them, break them down until they have nothing left to live for. You may not be human anymore Salem, but you are no goddess. You're just a specter, a ghost feeding on hate and spite because that's the only way you can justify yourself and the things you've done. It's enough that despite all the pain and suffering you have inflicted I actually pity you."
Salem's eyes narrowed as her eyes became a glowing horrid mix of red and yellow. "You pity me?"
"That's right, I pity you because nothing you do will ever satisfy you, so you please these mind games with everyone around you just to feel some sick and twisted pleasure." Aqua pointed her Keyblade at Salem. "It ends here."
"And who are you to say that to me?!" Salem snarled, a darkness beginning to surround her.
Oscar's eyes widened, sensing something familiar about this darkness. 'It feels like…back in the Realm of Sleep with that Nightmare!'
"My name is Master Aqua and as a wielder of the Keyblade, I will put to an end to your schemes of robbing Remnant and all the other worlds of their hopes and dreams." Aqua declared, preparing to fight.
Salem roared as she pointed her hand at Aqua and fired a beam of dark light. Aqua summoned a barrier to protect herself but the force of the attack was so strong it actually pushed her back.
"NO ONE CAN DEFEAT ME! THE POWER OF THE HEARTLESS AND THE GRIMM HAVE MADE ME MORE POWERFUL THAN ANYONE! THERE IS NO HOPE FOR YOU! SO JUST DIE LIKE EVERYONE WHO HAS STOOD BEFORE ME!" Salem roared, pouring more and more power into her attack.
Aqua grunted as she struggled against the force of the attack but this rate she was going to be pushed off the edge of the platform.
She wasn't sure if she could survive such a fall while holding off Salem at the same time.
Then she felt someone pushing on the barrier against Salem's attack.
She looked over her shoulder and saw the armored form of Terra standing next to her. "Terra!"
Another hand reached out, pressing against the barrier. "Penny!"
And then another. "Ansem!"
"We're all here!" Oscar called out, touching the barrier with his Keyblade and reinforcing it with his own magic.
Salem snarled as she poured more power into her beam of darkness, trying to overpower the barrier and destroy everyone in it. Aqua and the rest strained to hold up the barrier against Salem's power.
And just then another hand reached out and pressed against the barrier.
Aqua looked down and saw who was next to her. "Neo?!"
Neopolitan flashed a grin. "Hey."
"What are you doing back?!" Aqua exclaimed, grunting as the barrier began to crack.
"Well, I just made it down and got to thinking: Roman would have likely said running was the best idea but then if the witch killed all of you guys and blew up the island, that would actually be a very stupid idea." Neo chuckled. "And then I got to thinking if you guys could actually win, maybe fighting is not such a bad idea after all. Plus, she sent Cinder to take down Beacon so she's as much responsible for Roman's death as her fire puppet was so I owe her some payback too."
"Is that it?" Aqua raised an eyebrow despite the strain.
"Well, I thought about how beating her would give me massive points back Remnant and I could rub it in Little Red's face and her friends that I got to be a big time hero…" Neo trailed off. "And…I guess I do think of you as a friend now."
"Really?"
"Hey, you're getting help from me so don't question it." Neo grunted as she summoned her Keyblade. "Roman and I…We knew the world was cold and we could only look out for each other since no one else would…And since the worlds out there are just as cold and harsh, it goes for the same for us now. We key people have got to look out for each other!"
Aqua smiled, noticing Neo blushing a bit now. "…Yeah, that's true."
Terra summoned his Keyblade and placed it on Aqua's. "That's right. We look out for each other…And we'll set things right."
Oscar did the same with his Keyblade. "No matter what happens."
Neo rolled her eyes. "Right, you hero types are so corny with your friendship speeches…But what the hell?"
She placed her Keyblade over Aqua's with the others. "There now, we all got our weapons together. All together…A bunch of morons crossing their swords!"
Aqua let out a laugh just as her Keyblade started to glow…
The barrier finally shattered and Salem grinned, seeing her attack engulf all the fools at once.
That grin faded however when she saw a bright light. "That light…"
Salem shrank away from the light as it cancelled out her attack, revealing the Keyblade Wielders and their two allies alive and well.
Only Aqua's Keyblade had completely changed.
Aqua looked down at her Keyblade, surprised by the new form. It was now shaped like a white rapier with a pointed end attaching to edges shaped like waves and the teeth of the blade resembled waterfalls. The handle was black with a blue colored guard that curved at the end with blue cloths that had white edges wrapped around it. Hanging from the bottom of the hilt was the same keychain with star at the end that Aqua made for herself along with two matching stars for her friends.
Her Wayfinder.
'Ocean's Apart.' A voice whispered in Aqua's mind, telling her the name of this new Keyblade and she realized what had happened.
Back on Destiny Islands, her Keyblade that was originally Rainfell transformed into Stormfall after she met those two boys.
Sora and Riku.
Looking around, she realized that her new bonds had allowed her to gain a new more powerful version of her Keyblade, just like at Destiny Islands.
She then looked at Salem who was seething with a dark aura still surrounding her. "It ends here, Salem."
And with that, the wielders of the Keyblade charged into battle.
