Legacy of loss
Mickey was making his way into a remote corner of Scala ad Caelum's main island. He finally arrived at a graveyard. He walked along the road cutting through this place, past rows and rows of tombstones. Bright as the day was, there was a palpable sense of melancholy in this place. As he walked by he could recognize some of the names on the gravestones from his studies. The ones who were noteworthy enough to be entered into record. The wisest leaders and the greatest champions. And for each of them many more who were unknown to him. Of course not all buried here would have been Keyblade bearers, but no doubt there had been many. Some might have been successful enough to make it to an old age and pass away through a peaceful end. But, as he had begun to discover from his studies, a far greater number had never made it that far…
It took a while, but he eventually found what he had been looking for. A particular set of graves. He began to read the names.
"Hermod… Urd… Bragi… Vor… Vidar… Vala… Vali… Helgi… Heimdall… Sigrun… and finally Baldr and Hoder, the last two names engraved on the same stone.
"So it really is true. Here you all are…" He said I contemplation. He took note of the dried flowers at the foot of each gravestone. Leftovers most likely, from the last time someone had come here to pay their respects. There had been no one to clean them off afterwards. He wondered how long ago that might have been. Years most likely.
"It's really sad… what happened to ya. It's not right." The King contemplated with sorrow in his voice. "But you aren't forgotten now. That kindness we can give."
"None of ya are forgotten now." He repeated, this time addressing the entire graveyard. "We'll remember how you've worked to help us get this far. The sacrifices you endured before our time."
Many hours later Lauriam, Elrena and Ventus reached Scala ad Caelum.
"Been a while since I've been here. The place looks a lot better now." Ventus commented.
"Yes. Apparently this place can repair itself when it gets damaged." Lauriam explained.
"Sounds useful. And you say Ephemer really built all of this?" Ven asked.
"Sort of. Apparently this one was built after the one Ephemer made. And I can't imagine he could have accomplished all of this on his own. Even with magic it would be a colossal undertaking. Something a lot of people did over many lifetimes." Elrena said.
"Even so, I'm just as impressed about it as the first time we came here." Lauriam said.
"Oh, absolutely. Wasn't trying to imply that we shouldn't be." Elrena replied. "He laid a good foundation for others to build on. You have to respect that."
"Only… we still haven't found out what happened to the people that lived here. Where have they all gone?" She added in her mind.
"So… where is this statue to Ephemer?" Ven asked.
"It's right this way." Lauriam said, motioning ahead.
"Something on your mind?" Lauriam asked of Ven.
"…Aqua asked me to tell Mickey about… well, her. I'm trying to think about how to word it." Ven explained.
"Part of me thinks I shouldn't be leaving her alone. With the kind of trouble's she's having… she needs me." He added.
"She isn't alone. She has Terra to look after her. And the rest of the people in Avalon too. And even those of us who aren't there with her right now are doing everything they can for her." Elrena pointed out
"You at least got her that coat. Pretty sure it was you anyway. But what have I done for her? I hate to just watch as she goes through this. I hate feeling helpless." He insisted.
"Yeah, it's never fun being in that situation." Lauriam said, nodding his understanding. This was hardly the first time he and Ven had had a conversation along these lines. But he could easily understand his need to talk about it. He would be there to listen. As often as he could, so many times as he was needed.
"Particularly if you are close to the one affected. But that's what most of us end up having to do. Watching. Even the coat I gave her is just an effort to make sure she doesn't get even worse. Everything else ultimately comes right back to her." She said.
"Elrena's right. In the end this comes down to the choices she makes. What's important is that we have come up with a possible solution to her plight. But it's up to her to rise up and seize that opportunity." Lauriam said. "And as it happens that is something that you can help her with. You can speak with her and guide along the path. And with the gummiphones you can keep contact with her even when you are on different worlds.
"Assuming of course that is what you think she should be doing. I don't actually know what you think about Naminé's suggestion." He added.
Ventus gave a contemplative hum. "It's funny… it reminds me of a thought I had."
"Which was?" Lauriam asked.
"It was back during the Second Keyblade war. We had just defeated Vanitas. And at that point I didn't know his true nature. I thought he was my darkness, forcibly taken and turned into a separate being. And I ended up saying to him that I thought that was wrong. How though I shouldn't have been sifted apart, nice and neat."
"And now that I think about it… Aqua is kind of in the situation I thought I was, isn't she? Except she has done the sifting herself apart thing herself. And the Phantom that's been bothering her came to be because of that. And the thinking is that if she came to terms with her darkness the Phantom would go away and she would be able get better, right?"
He bowed his head. "But really… that's all I want for her. I want her to be ok. To be herself again, and not hurting inside all the time. Knowing she is at peace is a lot more important than how she did it."
"A small enough wish. And I do hope she manages to get there at some point. But Elrena does have a point. We can aid her where we can. But the final battle will be in the depths of her own mind. So it follows that in that fight she will have to stand alone. The best thing you can do for her is the bond of friendship you've already given her." Lauriam said.
"Yeah. That I can do." He was still a bit melancholic, but the discussion seemed to have cheered him up a bit.
They finally arrived at Ephemer's statue.
"Here he is. It's really true." Ven said, his eyes locked on the statue.
"Kind of hard to believe until you see it with your own eyes, isn't it?"
"Yeah. It almost feels like a dream of some kind. Still… I'm glad to see him again, even if he is just stone. I just wish we could have met face to face, him and the rest. At least one more time. There are so many things I'd like to tell them. It kind of feels wrong that they are not here and our old masters are." Ventus said.
"I think we all would prefer the other way around." Lauriam agreed.
"You know… I don't think I ever asked: Which Union did you belong to before you joined the Dandelions?" He queried.
"Why do you want to know?" Ventus asked, surprised.
"Oh, it's just something that occurred to me. When we were all in the Dandelions it hardly mattered what Union we had belonged to. But now that the Foretellers are here... for the rest of the Guardians they are something foreign, significant only because of the threat they pose. But for us three this all a bit more personal. Because these are, as you said, *our old masters*." He explained. "So, just out of curiosity, which one was yours?"
"For me it was Gula's Union. He was actually the one who told me I should hold my keyblade in reverse. I remember that really well. It was the one and only time he ever spoke to me directly. I had been struggling to learn how to fight, but his advice really helped me out." Ventus replied.
"Could sort of have guessed you were one of his. Your fighting style fits." Elrena commented.
"So what about you two?" Ventus asked.
"Lauriam and I were both from Anguis. Strelitzia too. He and I didn't meet until the Dandelions though. But I did know her." Elrena said.
"As for the others... I believe Ephemer once belonged to Union Vulpes. Or was it Leopardus? I've heard different rumors. Either way, I think I heard that Skuld was in the same Union as him. That they briefly worked in the same party even." Lauriam said.
"I've heard the same." Ventus said.
"Brain I'm not sure about. But if I had to guess I'd say he was one of Ira's. Ira had a reputation for thinking and amassing knowledge, and Brain always had his nose buried in books." Lauriam continued.
"That sounds about right." Ven agreed. "It might be very strange having to face them in a fight if we end up having one. We can't claim to really know them, but once we followed them without question. We trusted them like no other. Somewhere, somehow… that has to count for something."
"No kidding…" Elrena said. Ventus could not have noticed it, but Lauriam saw a momentary wince cross her face. Subtly he gave her hand a light squeeze."
"And it's going to be rather scary business." Ventus continued, oblivious to the interaction. "You heard so many stories of how able they were. And more than just that. Do you remember when the Foretellers had that big fight in town?"
"How could I forget? A part of that fight happened right under our window. For me that was one of the first signs that something was wrong and that Strelitzia and I were better off finding an exit route. Which in turn led us to the Dandelions." Lauriam said.
"Really? You saw the fight that close? Then you know what I mean. And what happened to Roxas and Xion shows they aren't any less potent now."
Lauriam nodded. "Sometimes I question if we know what we're doing when it comes to them. If we really appreciate what we are dealing with. If I thought we could afford it, I'd be all for just leaving them be. But I'm not at all certain that is going to be an option. We may have no choice but to take our chances with them."
"Yeah…" Elrena said quietly, deep in thought.
"Yeah." Ventus echoed, then turned his attention back to the statue.
"I wonder what he would have to say about our situation? Or Skuld and Brain?" He pondered.
His eyes wandered into the surrounding buildings next. "For my part… I have to say I'm proud of him. For doing all this."
"He did accomplish something amazing. As did those who came after him." A new voice spoke. They turned and saw Mickey walking to them.
"Mickey!" Ventus gave a delighted greeting.
"Ven. It's been a while." The King replied. "Lauriam. Elrena." He greeted the other two on the side.
"So, ya all decided to come back here then?" Mickey asked.
"Yup. I needed to see this." Ventus said.
"And we were hoping you could help us out again." Lauriam added. "We hoped there might be something about our other two friends here in Scala ad Caelum. Skuld and Brain. So, might you have found anything about them in the time you've been here?"
Mickey became thoughtful. "Hmm. Brain you say? I might have something for ya. It's actually good thing you asked. It's something you might want to know. Come with me then."
Mickey led the three of them deeper into the city, up many steps and several elevators. Up and up they went until they were in the tower at the center of the island. They wound their way through several more corridors, walking past a multitude of closed doors. They finally arrived in a large room that looked like a classroom. One final set of stairs brought them to an indoor balcony overlooking the classroom. On closer inspection the space looked like one end of a wide corridor continuing deeper inside the tower. Along the corridor there were rows upon rows of bookshelves, each brimming with books. Thousands and thousands upon them.
As Mickey led them deeper in, they all stared at the rows of books in awe. So much knowledge that had to be contained within these walls. At regular intervals other corridors intersected theirs, with even more books lining the walls along them. There were also multiple doors which probably led to stairwells that allowed access to from floors above and below them.
"How goes your own research by the way? Have you found anything new about Quadratum?" Lauriam asked.
"Well, yeah. Bits and pieces. But it's not terribly encouraging. It's supposed to be a myth, a story. A kind of afterlife for those who disappear amongst the worlds here. Almost none of the texts I've come across seem to think it was anything more than a bedtime story told to children. Not that that stopped Donald and Goofy."
"What do you mean?" Ventus asked.
"When I mentioned about Quadratum they got really excited. Took off before I could even explain the rest. Not sure what they are up to now." Mickey explained.
"You haven't seen them by any chance?" He asked.
"We haven't seen either of them since they dropped Kairi off for training." Elrena said.
"Hmm… I had best go after them soon. Not sure if I can change their minds about any idea they've come up with. But I should at least try to make sure they're ok." Mickey said.
"Before they do something extraordinarily stupid you mean? Even for them I mean?" She quipped.
The King was about to retort, then thought better of it.
"So is this whole floor a library?" Elrena asked, changing topics.
"Yep. The floor just below are the living spaces of students, classrooms and training areas. And above are the quarters of the teachers and those wielders who didn't have homes in the city below or elsewhere. Plus some private storerooms, labs and archives and the like."
"Wielders then…" She said, thoughtfully. It did make sense that Ephemer would have revived the traditions of keybearers at the first opportunity. If nothing else it would have been a necessary precaution. But it all just compounded the mystery of the discrepancy with the here and now. The concerned knot in the pit of her stomach was getting uncomfortably tight. The ghostings of a realization were starting to form, like a shape coming out of the mist. She realized that for all its beauty she was starting to hate this city. Its cursed emptiness was getting on her nerves.
"Do you suppose every island-town here is the same?" Lauriam wondered in the meantime.
"I visited one or two, and it looks like it. At one time the tower on each island was their own society of wielders, each uniting under shared beliefs."
"What about the Land of Departure? We found a whole room of keyblade armors there. Enough for a couple hundred wielders at least. There must have been quite few keybearers there too."
"The records say it used to be an outpost, right amongst the worlds between. A place that responded first to danger and alerted Scala of any problems." Mickey explained.
"*At one time* and *used to be*?" Elrena queried.
"Yeah…" Mickey said. The glum expression that appeared on his face did not escape her notice. He knew something he was reluctant to say. Well… that was a secret he would not be allowed to keep. By the end of this visit she would know it too. Some part of her was sure she would not like the answers, but at the same time she found it was impossible to leave this be. Like a scab she could not stop picking at.
The king came to a stop. "Now, about Skuld… I'm sorry, I haven't come across any mentions of her. But I did come across something about Brain. And Eraqus."
"The Master? What does he have to do with Brain?" Ventus asked.
"It turns out Brain was his grandfather." Mickey said.
"He what?" Lauriam and Elrena asked in unison.
"That…huh." Ven said. Almost at once he realized it was plausible. There was a likeness between them which he had not realized before. Of course the idea of Brain having kids and grandkids didn't fit at all with the image of him he had in his head. But he took one look at Lauriam and Elrena and realized the odd one was him for still looking almost exactly the same as he had back then.
"Are you sure of it?" He nevertheless asked.
"That's why I brought you all here, so you could take a look at the records and see for yourself." Mickey said.
"Here. This is a book that details various keybearer bloodlines." He told them, then leafed through the pages.
"Ah here he is." He said when he found the right entry. "As ya can see, every wielder has their date of their birth and passing recorded in the book. I'm thinking this bracketed number is the day he arrived here in Scala from your time. And here he gets married, several years after his arrival. And here are his kids."
"Wow. Four of them. Tidy number. Who would have thunk?" Elrena said.
"And this kid here, and you can see: Eraqus's mother." The King continued.
"Well I'll be… and you are sure it is the same Eraqus?" Lauriam asked.
"I'm pretty sure of it, Lauriam." Ventus said.
Lauriam's finger moved over Brain's entry, stopping at dater recording his death. The three of them exchanged glances. Another friend that had lived their whole life without them there. And it looked like Eraqus was the only grandchild. No great grandkids. His bloodline had ended with Eraqus.
"Hold on, why is there an asterisk after the date of his passing?" Lauriam wondered. He found his answer in a footnote at the bottom of the page. "Vanished during an unspecified private mission. Date of death unconfirmed." He read aloud. That was odd. He wondered what had happened…
And there was something else he realized. An unsettling pattern. Lauriam noted that the dates between birth and death of most of his kids was distressingly short. And the same pattern repeated on the family members of his wife's relatives. And the family tree of the bloodline of another wielder on the opposite page. For every listed bearer that had kids of their own there were multiple that had passed away before having any.
Morbid and frightened curiosity overtaking him, he decided to give the book a more thorough look…
"But how come you were looking at bloodlines in the first place?" Ventus asked.
"It has to do with my most important discovery yet. I happened to find an old diary of Xehanort's in one of the rooms here. I wanted to check some of the stuff written in it against the records here. It does line up so far." Mickey replied.
"Oh yeah. He trained here too, didn't he? A while back we found this old photo that looked to depict him, Eraqus and a bunch of their classmates." Ven said.
"Yeah. That matches." Mickey said. He looked… sad.
"If you found his diary… then do you know what happened to those kids? Does it say?" Elrena asked.
"It does. There… was an incident. The short version is that one of them, Baldr, fell to darkness and turned against the rest of them. There were a lot of losses. It was the last straw for the city in many ways. Once Eraqus and Xehanort were made masters those remaining left for other worlds, and this place went silent." Mickey said glumly.
"The last straw? Meaning there was something happening before then." Elrena noted. "What was it? The last time we were here you said the other islands were abandoned over time. Why is that? What happened to the people here?"
"Attrition…" Lauriam said quietly.
"What?" Elrena asked, turning to him.
"The entries in this book… so many wielders lost at such a young age…" Lauriam tried to explain. Elrena promptly snatched the book from him and went to read it a short distance away.
"It's true isn't it? The people in this city were losing numbers over the centuries." Lauriam demanded from Mickey.
"…Yes. So the records say." Mickey admitted reluctantly. "At first the heartless were present only in worlds that were still forming. Keyblade wielders were sent out to make sure there were no problems until the world was complete. But then they started to appear even on worlds that were already complete. Keybearers fought them back, and they did manage to keep the worlds safe for a really long time. But every year there were some who didn't make it. And a lot of them disappeared before they could have kids or take on apprentices. Centuries of that… it really took its toll on the city. There were occasional attacks on Scala itself, too. And when an island was too sparsely populated they moved to the others."
"It all happened so slowly it passed unnoticed by most. You'd have to look at the evidence with a careful eye to see it. And the keybearers in charge mostly kept the knowledge to themselves, because they didn't want people to despair. And in time people just… forgot the people who had lived on the other islands." He continued.
"And… once the city was completely abandoned… what became of those people?" Lauriam said.
"I have never met wielders other than the ones we already know of." Mickey said quietly.
There was a shocked silence. Then Lauriam started when he noticed someone was missing: "Wait, where's Elrena?"
The others turning their eyes to where she had stood only saw the book face down on the ground.
"I'd best go look for her." Lauriam said and strode away. Ventus and Mickey exchanged glances and followed after him.
They found Elrena sometime later. She was standing right at the edge of the water, her eyes locked on some of the more distant islands. She didn't acknowledge them as they approached her.
"Elrena… are you alright?" Lauriam asked hesitantly.
"…It's happening again. All over again. I can't believe it. I mean… I can believe it. That's the horrible part about this." She said, not turning her eyes, her fists clenching. "Our reality has been dying all along. Only this time there isn't going to be one big all-out battle between wielders that's going to end things. Just a slow, insidious suffocation, one keyblade bearer at a time. So slow most of us wouldn't even have noticed it happening. And now it's starting to look like that the handful of us that we know of might be all that's left of our kind. And once keybearers are gone, who will look after the worlds then?"
"But if there are still some of us, then it's not over. We still have each other." Ven said, walking to her and putting a reassuring hand on her arm.
To his surprise Elrena gave him a look of contempt.
"And they did not?" She demanded, nodding towards the city. "And what of those who were in our Unions? And the other Dandelions. Do you think their friends were not their power? Or do you just think your bonds are so much stronger than theirs? Are you that arrogant?"
Ventus looked at her like she had slapped him He pulled away his arm and retreated a step.
"Oh… I didn't mean it like that." He said, hanging his head.
"Then don't insult their memory by saying things like that. If your bonds are what empowers you then by all means wield that strength. But at least have the humility to acknowledge that it's a sword that can be broken. These silent places are all the proof you'll ever need." She told him.
"Elrena… there's no need to speak that harshly." The King tried, his voice quiet.
"No? Then what should I do? Sugarcoat it? Go on pretending like nothing you've learned here actually happened? Oh, it's far too late for that. The three of us – Lauriam, Ven and I – we've lived through this. This collapse, this dwindling. And this new reality has not been spared that, clearly. Face facts Your Majesty. This enemy has destroyed whole armies of us keybearers. And the Guardians are remnants at best." She countered.
She crossed her arms and turned her eyes back to the expanse of water and the city-islands in the distance. Mickey tried to say something, but didn't. An uneasy silence lingered.
Finally Lauriam sighed heavily. "Would you give us a moment?"
Mickey nodded and left.
"You too Ven. I need to speak with her alone." Lauriam added. Reluctantly Ventus went after the King. Elrena sat down, eyes still looking over the water, and Lauriam settled down next to her.
"I wanted to start over in this age." She said glumly. "To build a new life. With you. Instead it looks like I'm set to go through a repeat of the things that happened in Daybreak down. Or maybe this is more like what happened in my village. And… is that seriously how that is always going to go? Is it really all we have to look forward to? Is that what our lives are about?"
"It might not be too late. We might still be able to keep that from happening." He pointed out.
"We might? I'd like to believe that. But it's starting to get kind of impossible to do that in the face of all this. How are we supposed to do what thousands just as worthy couldn't?" She asked.
Lauriam paused. "...It's precisely for the sake of those lost we can't give up." He then said.
She looked at him in puzzlement. "Hm? How do you mean?"
"Because even if they didn't win this war themselves they never stopped trying. They kept their dream alive through all those generations. Their efforts gave us centuries more time. They did that believing, hoping, that even if they fell someone would walk past them and would get the job done. And we can't fail them in this. We can't let their sacrifices be for nothing. We have to believe as they did, and make a stand, just like they stood their ground in their time." He said.
"…I suppose if we didn't try… it would be the true insult to their memory." She mused.
Lauriam nodded. "The last time we were in this city I made a promise to Ephemer. That I would protect what he had created. Even if the odds are against us – as they are – I'm going to be doing everything in my power to keep my promise to him. I'd like your help…"
"…Then you'll have it. Always. I don't know if we can hope to win. But if you still think this something worth fighting for, then I'm with you. For the lost. And those of us that yet live." She answered.
"Thank you." He said.
"And hold on to that dream of yours a bit longer, ok? You may still get it one day." He told her.
"Yeah. I hope that is really true, and not some mad daydream of something that is never going to be. But… maybe I'd like to keep daydreaming a while longer, rather than bowing my head and succumbing to this. Even if my dream doesn't end up coming true at least I'll get to spit destiny in the face before the end." She replied.
She leaned closer to him, resting her head on his shoulder.
"You ok, Ven? She gave you a rather hard time back there." Mickey asked.
"I'm fine. I've had worse. Plus I do get what she was trying to say. I'm not trying to say we are better than anyone else. I just know what friendship is worth, that's all. I was just trying to cheer her up a little. Because I thought she looked like needed that. But I guess I should have thought twice before talking."
He bowed his head. "I can't say what you told us hurts me any less than it does her. I almost wish you hadn't told us."
"I did think about not telling anyone. But I also thought you had a right to know. And once you started asking about it…" Mickey said.
"Yeah. I know. I'm not blaming you." Ventus said. He gave a humorless chuckle. "It's funny… as soon as I got the memory back on one hand I wanted to get rid of them, to forget again. But on the other hand I know I can't do that. I have to keep the memories, no matter what. This… is much the same. It's really sad to know what happened to the people here. And it's super scary to know the real cost of this war of ours, here and in the past. At the same time I can't choose to not know. Elrena was right: we can't sugarcoat this. It would not be right towards those who came before."
"It does make me wonder though… was this what Xehanort knew? I never really understood his reasons. But if he knew of this decay… then maybe that was what drove him to seek Kingdom Hearts." He pondered.
"It doesn't excuse the kind of things he did." Mickey argued.
"No… but maybe it does explain them. Perhaps deep down he was just scared?" Ven said.
"Maybe he alone was able to perceive the kind of trap you were all caught in. For all the good it did him. You erased him for daring to know it."
"Huh? What do you mean? What trap?" Ven asked.
"I didn't say anything." Mickey responded, looking confused.
Ventus blinked. "What? You… didn't?" Come to think of it hadn't been Mickey's voice. And… he hadn't heard it with his ears. The words had just unexpectedly appeared in his mind…
"No. Um, Ven? Are you… alright?" Mickey asked.
"Yeah, fine. I just thought I heard… never mind." Ventus said.
"…Brain. Is there a grave for him?" He asked after a moment.
"Yeah. On the outskirts. I can show ya." Mickey said.
"Please do. I want to see it." Ven said.
"Should I get Lauriam and Elrena?" Mickey asked.
Ventus shook his head. "Leave them be for now. They need time alone. I'll wait for them there. Once they come looking tell them where I am."
The walked along the streets for a time, until Ventus suddenly stopped, looking at the ground and clenching his fists. Mickey stopped too, sensing his friend was about to say something.
"There's… something else. This is perhaps the worst time to speak about it but... it's about Aqua." Ven said.
