The price of time
Aced moved through many worlds. He didn't really keep track of which ones though. Nor did he pay much attention to what he found within them, staying away from the local residents as much as possible. There was only one reason why he was visiting. Well, maybe two.
In every world he visited he found heartless. And he destroyed all of those that crossed his path. Many sought to fight him, but none were a match to him. Some heartless sought to flee from him, but he hunted them down relentlessly. Heart after heart was added to his collection.
Fortunately he had no further encounters with the Guardians. They had hopefully been scared off by his first encounter with them. Or perhaps they did not know where he was, unable to locate him to engage them again.
He admittedly enjoyed the fighting, venting his anger and frustration at recent events at the enemy. Yet at the same time he could feel the shadow nestled in it heart. It feasted upon his fury, using it to grow stronger, inching towards the point it could overpower him. Relief was in sight thanks to his efforts, but that brought him no comfort at all. He knew what that relief was going to cost.
His mind lingered on what that one Guardian had tried to demand of him. Now and then he turned off the collection device for a while, letting the hearts go free instead. He knew doing so slowed him down and meant he had to take other hearts to replace the ones he let go. But this way at least some of the hearts encountered would be free. It would not erase what was about to happen, but it soothed an uneasy conscience to alleviate his sin.
Eventually he had collected enough, and so he departed, returning to the Keyblade Graveyard. He made his way to a remote corner of that place, where a tent camp had been pitched.
"Such a lofty residence for the mighty Foretellers!" He thought with sarcasm. Quite a downgrade from the tower they had lived in back in Daybreak town. Luxu had mentioned they might eventually move to a better location, should that become prudent. But for now this was the setup he preferred. The locations they might move into were too obvious. The kind of places someone who was looking for them would check first thing. This place was harder to find, particularly as the winds here lifted up sand, obscuring them from sight unless one knew exactly what they were looking for. And if they were at the risk of being discovered they could simply pack up and move elsewhere.
"And perhaps we do not deserve anything better than this, given what we have done and are to do." He thought bitterly.
From one of the tents Invi emerged. "Aced. You're back." She greeted.
"But what has happened to you? Your mask…" She then asked, pointing at his face.
"Ah, there was an incident while I was out amongst the worlds." He replied, rubbing his chin.
"And just what kind of incident would that be?" Asked Luxu, appearing from a cave just next to their camp.
"Luxu…" Aced said, not hiding his distaste.
"Well, don't keep us in suspense." Luxu said like he had not heard Aced's tone at all.
"I… encountered some of the guardians. Two of them. It came to blows." Aced admitted.
"B-blows!?" Luxu sputtered. "With which ones!? And how bad!?"
"I did not kill them. Both were still alive when I departed. But beyond that I didn't linger to investigate. As to who they were… one was a blond boy with two keyblades, the other a black haired girl that got extremely upset when she discovered I had harmed the boy." Aced explained.
"Sounds like Roxas and Xion in that case." Luxu commented. He sighed heavily, pinching the bridge of his nose. "You really ought to not have done that…"
"I wasn't planning on it either. But the boy, Roxas, he got in my way, tried to make me release the hearts I had collected by that point. Obviously I could not do that. And unfortunately he was unwilling to leave it at that. The girl showed up right after and charged at me before I could explain myself." Aced explained.
"So you were just defending yourself?" Invi asked, to which Aced nodded.
"But even in that case it was an enormous risk, especially knowing how carried away you can get. We better hope those two make it out alive and will recover enough to do what is needed of them. Or alternatively we better hope that they aren't as important to the Master's plan as I think they're going to be." Luxu said.
"Well if it's that easy to disrupt the Master's plan then it must not be a very good plan, now is it?" Aced countered.
Luxu scoffed, irritated by Aced's tone. "Good or bad it happens to be the only plan we have. Unless you're telling me you came up with a brilliant plan of your own? Well what about it, you giant lump? Eh?" He goaded.
Aced bristled and was about to respond, but Invi was quicker, placing herself between the two.
"Enough. This will get us nowhere." She said firmly. "What is done is done. We can only hope for the best now. But, realizing what it could cost us, I'm sure Aced will endeavor to make sure this does not happen again. Isn't that right Aced?"
There was a pause, after which Aced nodded.
"Good enough for you, Luxu?" Invi asked.
"Yeah, I suppose so." He said with a sigh. Then he chuckled. "I guess there is a good reason why you were appointed the group mediator back during the days of the Unions."
"If only I had been able to as good a job of it back then too. Then again, I now realize I was never supposed to be able to." She replied.
"True enough." Luxu said.
"And you know, this mess with those keykids could have a silver lining come to think of it. The Guardians are a lot more likely to hate us now. I'd say that will make them more likely to do what we need them to do in the long run." He contemplated.
"But we need to stay well away from them until the time is right. From now if they show in the same world as we do, then its best we just leave at once. Even if it slows down our efforts to collect hearts." He added.
"Speaking of which, were you successful in your efforts? You took longer than we thought you would." Invi asked.
"Yeah. No real problems there other than what I mentioned. I have my share collected. And no small number of Heartless were culled in getting it." Aced replied.
"Good. Well done. Then as soon as Ira shows…" Invi began before halting in her tracks. "…Then we can get on with the next step." She finished, a lot more subdued than a few moments ago.
"Just Ira? No mention of Gula?" Aced asked.
"There has still been no sign of him. We have no idea where he might be." Invi explained.
"That… is troubling." Aced admitted.
"We will need to do something about that. And soon. The kid is going to need this as much as the rest of us. Not just for his sake, but for everyone else as well." Luxu commented.
Just then a Dark Corridor opened, Ira returning to camp as well.
"You're already here? But no sign of Gula. I take it there has been no change?" He asked.
Invi shook her head.
"We will have to start without him. Let's get to it." Luxu stated.
"Aced, your mask…?" Ira asked.
Aced sighed. "I shall tell you later. I don't feel like explaining myself twice in a row."
Ira nodded, and all of them headed towards the cave Luxu had come from.
"There is one more matter." Aced said as they passed the entrance. "The one called Roxas addressed me by name. Somehow he already knew who I was."
"So you think someone might have told them of us? Which would mean someone knew we were here even before this incident. Interesting." Invi guessed. "I wonder… could it be that Lauriam and Elrena have been talking with the Guardians about us? Those two would know us if they had so much as a description." She asked of Luxu.
"Could be. Or it could be that Ventus has started remembering things. I'm a bit more curious how they know we are in this era. I wonder how they found that out. Though I suppose the main point is that they do know it. I'm reasonably sure they don't know where our camp is at least." He replied.
"Wait. What is this incident you mentioned? And who is Roxas?" Ira asked.
"I said I'd explain it later." Aced said dryly.
At the back of the cave there were a series of tables. On most of them leftover scrap machinery had been piled. But on the center table a curious looking device had been assembled. Its main body was a large box of dull grey metal with a circular glass viewing port in the middle. The body of the box was riddled with cables, status lights and panels of switches. From the sides tubes connected to a pair of canisters on the ground.
"This, um… meaning no offence… but this looks rather homemade." Ira commented.
"Yeah. We admittedly had to improvise a fair bit. Our supplies were limited to… whatever we could steal." Luxu replied.
"And you're sure this device will still do its job?" Ira asked.
"I guess were about to find out." Luxu said.
"So what must we do?" Aced asked.
"Just take the collection device and connect it to those loose wires there. Yes, just like that. Now press that button. It will extract the first heart." Invi instructed.
Aced pressed the button as instructed. The machine began to hum and after a few secondsa light began to emanate from behind the viewing port. The Foretellers could see that a heart now hovered inside the device.
"We are to see the hearts as it happens?" Ira asked obviously ill at ease with the prospect.
Invi bowed her head. "I'm sorry. It's necessary to make sure everything is going as it should."
"And… next?" Aced asked reluctantly.
"Make sure the valves to the canisters are open… and press that green button. That is all." Invi said quietly.
Aced checked the valves like he was told and went to press the button. But his finger stopped just short of pressing it, hovering in place right above it. The others could hear his breath was shaking.
"So, are you going to do it or not? There is no other way. This has to happen." Luxu asked after the scene had gone on for an uncomfortable while. He got no reply from anyone. He looked around himself, and was able to see the other Foretellers seemed reluctant to take action either.
He sighed heavily. "Alright. I see how it is. I guess I'll have to be the one."
He stepped forward, moving Aced out of the way. There was a second pause as he took a deep breath. "Sorry that we have to." He said, then pressed the button.
The machine started to whirr, the heart within it beginning to shake madly. After a few seconds of that there was a sound akin to glass shattering, the heart disintegrating. The fragments were pulled into the two canisters. On the left hand canister an indicator filled partway up with a black and purple substance. And on the right hand canister a faint golden glow appeared.
"That is not a lot of light." Ira pointed out.
Invi shook her head. "These are hearts that fell to darkness already. Residual light is all we are going to get. And most of the hearts you have collected have inevitably been in the clutches of Darkness for a long time. Time enough to erode much of the light that remains. We might have slightly better results with hearts that were forcibly taken by the Heartless only recently."
"Sounds like those are the kind of hearts we should be on the lookout for. Perhaps that way we don't have to take so many." Luxu said.
"Yes. We should, if the opportunity arises." She agreed.
"Right. Let's put the next one in." She then said.
And so their grim task continued one heart at a time. Their work was carried out in silence, all of them all too aware of the gravity of what they were doing. Luxu operated the machine for the most part, though Invi repeatedly halted the process to replace the canisters harvesting the darkness with empty ones. Soon half dozen of them had been carefully piled in one container, while the canister for light was still not completely full.
Once the hearts Aced had collected had been processed they got to work on the hearts Ira had brought. As the process continued Ira noticed Aced standing some distance away from the others, staring at the device. His fists were clenched, his whole form visibly shaking. Ira walked to him, placing a reassuring hand to his shoulder.
"You don't have to watch this my friend. I believe you are allowed to avert your eyes." Ira told him.
"No. I have to see every last one of them. I bear responsibility for what is happening here. I could not with good conscience close my eyes to the cost." Aced replied.
"Every one of these hearts was once a person. And could have been again if proper circumstances could have been arranged." He added, sorrow in his voice.
"I know. Trust me, there is not one among us here who isn't aware of what we are really doing here." Ira said.
"That is certainly true. But I have to wonder if some of us no longer have enough of their soul left to care." Aced replied.
"You know I can hear you, right?" Luxu called out from where he was standing, not turning his eyes from his work. "And I find that kind of talk extremely insulting. You think I don't care? As if. The difference between you and me is that I have had a lot of practice in making unpleasant decisions that need to be done. It's why I'm the one operating this machine and not you. But you had best get on with the program and get used to things like this. Because there is a lot more of this ahead."
Finally all the hearts had been processed, the light containing canister looking to be about full. Invi closed its valve and detached the canister. She then began distributing the collected light into smaller vials.
"Remember to set aside some for Gula." Luxu commented as he watched Invi work.
"Of course." Was her response. Once the available light had been partitioned she put some on the side for herself and Gula, then began handing out the rest to those gathered, distributing them evenly.
"There you go. You should all take one now and save the rest for later." She instructed.
They each opened one of the vials, pouring the light onto their palms, then putting their hands against their chest, the light disappearing inside them. Aced gave a relieved sigh as he felt the darkness in his heart ease a fraction, the yellow light in his exposed eye dulling somewhat.
"So? Feeling any better?" Luxu asked.
"Marginally." Aced said.
"Me too." Invi said, as Ira nodded.
"Good. Then I guess that means we have a proof of concept that at least this plan works. Now we just need to keep at it." Luxu said.
"Keep at it?" Ira asked.
"Yeah. What, did you expect this one time would get us enough doses to last indefinitely? As if. No, we've bought a bit more time. And now we need to keep buying more of it." Luxu said.
"And just how long is this barbarism meant to continue?" Aced demanded.
"Until the final players return to the stage and are ready for the final showdown." Luxu replied.
"When will this be?" Insisted Aced.
"Dunno." Luxu said with a shrug. "Hopefully fairly soon, so we don't need to keep on doing this."
"In the meantime we have more tasks ahead, so let's focus on them alright?" Invi cut in. She picked up one of the canisters containing darkness.
"These will need to be disposed of. We have to go to the Realm of Darkness and empty them there. That is where it belongs. Then we will bring the empty canisters back for future use. And we need to be extremely careful when handling the canisters. This is pure filtered darkness. There is no telling what it might do to a person, especially people who are afflicted as we are." She said.
"Right. So let's get that done next." Luxu said, picking up two of the canisters. "Invi, Ira, the three of us will be in charge of collecting the next batch. And we need to find Gula and get him his first dose. The kid is going to need it, whether he realizes it or not. So let divide his share amongst ourselves so whichever of us finds him we have something to offer."
"Aced, you're on box guard duty next." He added.
"Guard duty? Really? Is this punishment?" Aced asked.
"Precaution more like. Knowing how hot headed you've been lately I think it's better if you cool off for a bit. Just to make sure you really don't repeat your mistake. Plus it sounds like you could use a break from all this collecting of hearts, since you find the whole idea so distasteful." Luxu said.
"Come on you two. Let's roll." He told Invi and Ira.
The other three left, leaving Aced alone in his thoughts. He glared at the machine, half wanting to destroy it right then and there. Such a despicable thing their existence had become. To be forced to make such a grave sacrifice, in a bid to stave off the inevitable for a while longer. So far they had fallen…
"Until the final actors return to play their part, huh? Hmph. I wonder if they'll even be able to in the end? I certainly am skeptical of that now. Is the Master playing us for fools again?" He muttered to himself.
Breathing in, breathing out. Breathing in, breathing out. That was the sensation that returned to her first. There was discomfort with each breath, but less than before. There were no other thoughts for a long while. But as she drew closer to waking she began to remember the events that had brought the discomfort in the first place. Fighting the big fellow in a bear mask… and losing. Making her way to Roxas after being injured, then losing consciousness.
But what had happened after that? She had no recollection. But… this did not feel like death? Could it be she had survived after all? Or would she be opening her eyes in an afterlife of some sort? Either way… she only hoped Roxas would be there too. It would not be so bad then.
For the moment though she was too exhausted to find out either way. Instead she allowed herself to drift back to sleep. As she slept she was dimly aware of voices. People conversing. They sounded familiar. One of them in particular. When she next approached the edge of sleep and waking she finally felt okay enough to try opening her eyes.
She was inside a room she did not recognize. Sunlight was streaming in from big windows above and behind her. She figured the time had to be late morning or midday. She herself was on her back on a bed. Someone had dressed her in a patient gown. Remembering the painful sensation of being struck with the hilt of a keyblade she cautiously brought her hand to her chest. He fingers met something hard just underneath the cloth. Some kind of plastic plate had been strapped to her upper body. It seemed to be holding things together. There was still lingering pain, but considerably less. In fact everything felt a little bit dulled, hazy. She supposed she must have been given something.
Turning her head she could see that her own clothes had been neatly folded on a chair next to her bed. And on the bed next to hers…
"Roxas?" She called out softly.
He too looked to have been sleeping. His head was bandaged, both his arms encased in a cast. On hearing her voice he began to stir. He turned his head to her, opening his eyes.
He shook his head to purge the last vestiges if sleep from his mind. "Xion? You're… here?" He said as soon as his vision cleared enough to recognize her. He tried sitting up, only to realize his encased arms were preventing this.
"Oh. Well, damn. I guess I must have gotten hurt pretty badly." He contemplated as he plopped back down.
"And it looks like he got you too. How are you feeling?" He asked.
"Better than I did when it happened." She replied.
Roxas bowed his head. "I didn't mean for you to get hurt, Xion…"
"I know. I didn't mean it to get that bad either. But when I saw what he had done to you… it was terrible to see you like that. I'm just glad we both got out of it alive. It looks like someone was able to help us." She replied.
"Yeah, looks that way." Roxas agreed. "But speaking of which, any idea how we ended up here? And where even is here?"
"I don't know. But I think Axel is here somewhere. I heard him while I was sleeping." She said.
And, as if on que, a door opened and a familiar red mane came into view.
"Axel!"Xion and Roxas said in delighted unison.
For a few seconds their friend just stood there, caught by surprise.
"Guys! You're awake!" He then said, running the short distance to them. He gently hugged both of them in turn, taking care not to accidentally hurt either of them.
"It's okay Axel. We're here. We're safe." Roxas said, doing his best to return the embrace, clumsy though he was.
"I was… so worried about you two. When I saw what had happened to you, I got so scared that… don't you ever do that to me again, you hear? Get it memorized." He told them.
Xion's expression became sad, but she nodded. "Sorry. We didn't mean to put you through that. That fight… didn't go at all like we would have wanted."
"Yeah, I can believe that. And really, the one I blame is whoever did this to you. So who was it? What happened out there?" Axel said.
"…It was one of the ones we were told to watch out for. One of the Foretellers." Roxas said.
"One… of them?" Axel asked. "I wasn't even sure those people were actually still alive and wandering around. I wanted to believe it was just something Marluxia and Larxene made up for their own gain or something. You're sure of what you saw?"
"He was wearing a bear mask. And he fought unlike anything I've ever faced. There's no question." Xion joined in.
Axel was quiet for a moment, then nodded. "I guess I should have believed them when they told me. Damn."
"Our turn. What happened to us after we lost the fight?" Roxas asked.
"Well… after I found you I did what I could to heal you and called for help. Terra and Aqua came and brought you to the Land of Departure to get proper treatment, which is where we are now." Axel explained.
"Are we… going to be alright?" Xion asked.
"Aqua believes so, yeah. And if you're awake again then it's a good sign. But it might take some time for you to recover." Axel said.
"I should go tell the others. They'll be happy to know you're with us again. And if you're up to it I think they'd like to hear the whole story of what happened to you." He added. "Is there anything you would need in the meantime?"
"I thinks some food and drink wouldn't go amiss." Roxas said. "Might… need a bit if help with it though." He added, looking at his arms.
"Yeah. For me too. Food and water." Xion echoed.
Axel smiled and nodded. "You got it. I'll be back in just a bit then, to bring you something. You two just take it easy in the meantime. And later on I'll see about getting you some sea-salt ice cream. You two deserve something nice after what you went through."
"Oh, and Isa asked me to tell you both as soon as you both were awake: He and the rest of the Twilight town gang hope you'll get better quickly. He promises to come visit soon, and the rest of them will do it too if they can get a ride from somewhere."
"I'll be back in a bit." Then left the same way he had come.
"So it was Aced that mauled you two? Great. I just knew this was the Foreteller's doing." Elrena said once Roxas and Xion had finished explaining what had happened to the audience gathered around their beds. Terra was there as well, having returned from his patrol without finding anything of note to report. Ventus and Mickey meanwhile had gone back where they had come from to continue with their projects.
"Just one of them, and they were able to do this to you?" Aqua said in awe. "Even if he was able to fight you one at a time, still…"
"It's certainly a demonstration of the power they command." Lauriam said. "You really should not have tried to fight them one on one. Especially not Aced, who happens to be in the stronger end of the spectrum combat-wise. You're lucky to be alive."
"You know… it might not have anything to do with luck." Kairi commented.
"What do you mean?" Aqua asked.
"I mean from their story it sounds like Aced had both of them at his mercy. He could have killed them had he cared to. But for some reason he decided not to. Why?" Kairi explained.
"An oversight maybe? Maybe he thought he had done all he needed to, and just didn't think to double check his work?" Elrena suggested.
"I don't think that's it. I remember him saying something to me just before he left. Something about us needing to do better so we could meet our destiny. He… actually seemed rather disappointed in how easily he was able to defeat us." Xion said.
"So… what? He just wanted a proper challenger? That's why he refused to finish the job?" Terra asked.
"Wouldn't be entirely unlike him. I remember him putting a lot of value to how good a person was in a fight. Especially right before the war. I heard he could get kind of bloodthirsty about it." Elrena commented. "But it's still kind of weird though. Talking about meeting destiny. I wonder what he meant by that?"
"And you say he claimed he was in that world by accident? So he didn't come there to hunt you down. And we didn't find any signs of anyone moving against the Princesses, even though this would be the perfect opportunity. It's strange… what are they up to?" Terra wondered.
"You said he was collecting hearts?" Aqua asked of Roxas.
"Yeah. From the Heartless he defeated." Roxas confirmed.
"But you didn't find out what he wanted them for?" She inquired.
"No. I did try to make him tell me that, but he wouldn't say. I did get the feeling he found whatever he was doing unpleasant though."
"Could they possibly be looking to make their own Kingdom Hearts? Like the Organization attempted?" Aqua suggested.
"It's not impossible. But in that case I don't understand what they would want one for. Xemnas had us try to make one because he intended to turn all the members in the Organization into copies of Xehanort. I can't fathom a reason the Foretellers would want to do anything similar. And I'm not certain that a false Kingdom Hearts would have the kind of reality altering powers the real thing would have." Lauriam said.
"But if that is what they're after then we ought to have some time before they can complete it. It took more than a year to assemble the first one with one or two wielders active at a time. The Foretellers have more obviously, but it would still take them months." Elrena said.
"If that even is what this is about. I'm not sure I even care what they want. Not after this." Lea opinioned.
A moment's silence.
"Oh! There is one more thing I remember. When we fought I happened to get a look at his eye. It was yellow in color." Xion said.
"Yellow? But that would mean…" Lea began to say.
"Darkness corruption." Aqua finished for him.
"Hmmm. Well… given their history it's not terribly surprising that darkness would have gained a foothold. And it could explain some of their behavior leading up to the War. A bitter irony in that case, since at one time they were considered the exemplars of Warriors of Light." Lauriam said.
"It's a shame really, if that's the truth of it. They used to be decent, admirable people. They earned the loyalty of those that followed them. Right until the end…" Elrena added.
"But if they're heavily corrupted by darkness, it could mean they are even more dangerous now than they were originally. That's bad news." Aqua said.
"We need to be very careful about this…" She pondered.
"We are going to let you two rest now. But later on, if you feel up to it, I'd like ask you about your fight with Aced in more detail. Everything you can remember about it." She said to Roxas and Xion.
She turned to Elrena and Lauriam. "And with you two I'd like to have that discussion right now. How they think, how they move, how they fight? What are their strengths and weaknesses? How do they differ from each other? If we have to face them again we need to know as much as we can about them."
"I understand. We'll tell you everything we can. You should speak to Ventus as well. He may have something to add." Lauriam said.
"I plan to, as soon as I can." Aqua confirmed.
