Organization XIII
God of War and all associated characters and interpretations are property of Sony Santa Monica. Kingdom Hearts and all associated characters are property of Disney and Square Enix.
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The crossed through Castle Oblivion's hallways in silence, Sora's suicide and resurrection at the forefront of their minds.
When they reached the exit door, Kratos paused to look behind him at the others. "Is everyone ready?"
Freya, the one he was most anxious about, to be honest, nodded. "Whatever we find through this door can't be any worse than what we just saw."
Atreus grunted. "See, you say that…" he trailed off with a shrug. Freya just waved her hand dismissively at him. Kratos nodded and held the card up to the door. When it opened, he led them all through it.
They exited to find fresh ruins. Well, perhaps not ruins—the stonework was well-maintained—but it was certainly ruined.
"I thought Naminé said we'd be heading to the capital city?" Atreus said with a frown.
Olrun gestured to a set of broken stairs to their left. "I believe we're right on the outskirts." She walked over to one of the broken chunks of stone. She hummed as she ran her fingers across it. "These are fresh. Whatever broke these structures apart, it happened fairly recently."
Kratos observed their surroundings, but there was something that distracted him. A certain…hum in the air. A thrum of the earth. Something familiar, but that he'd not heard for ages.
An army on the march, he realized, looking around for the signs of it. A massive one.
"You feel it too, General?" Sigrún asked, Hildr rising into the air.
"Feel what?"
"War," Kratos intoned. "The beginnings of one, at least."
"I see something!" Hildr called out from the sky, pointing ahead of them, towards a valley, some structure composed of thin spires far in the distance. "It's…I don't know, but it's a massive army!"
At the same moment, memories of Sora, Donald, and Goofy ran up beside them. Donald and Goofy were much the same, but Sora had changed dramatically. He was taller, for one. And skinnier. Leaner in muscle, perhaps, but still a bit too thin to be considered truly healthy. An aftereffect of his coma, most likely. His clothing was also markedly different. A black jacket, shirt, and…rather baggy pants, with colorful red and yellow straps securing pouches to his thighs.
They ran to the edge of the rubble, where it led down into the valley. Kratos and the others on the ground could now see the army. One of the largest Kratos had ever seen, sprawling across the valley like a flood.
Sora set his face into a determined frown. "Leon, everybody—hang in there!"
"Leon?" Atreus repeated as they followed Sora forward. "What's he doing here?"
"I suppose this must be his original World," Mimir replied. "Traverse Town was a place for refugees, after all."
They neared the edge of the rubble, leading into the valley, when a figure in black dropped down before them. It…It looked like some sort of rodent, with two massive, circular ears. He held his arms out to block Sora, Donald, and Goofy from going forward.
"Okay, fellas," he said, voice high-pitched and light, but brimming with authority. "You've gotta go find Riku and Kairi!"
"But…I promised Leon!" Sora protested
"Donald! Goofy!" the rodent bellowed, ignoring Sora. The two automatically stood at attention. "Take Sora and get goin'!"
"Ah," Mimir muttered. "This must be King Mickey."
"One of the Keyblade Masters?" Atreus added, which prompted Freya and her Shield Maidens to stare at the small creature in disbelief. "Honestly, I don't know what I was expecting. But a giant mouse seems about right."
Sora looked down, a conflicted look on his face as he muttered to himself. At the same time, Donald and Goofy shared concerned frowns, before nodding, and returning to attention.
"Your Majesty!" Donald called out.
"We understand!" Goofy nodded. "We'll go search for Riku and Kairi!"
"Right." King Mickey acknowledged, glaring down at the valley and scanning the area. "Watch out for danger."
"Wait, you guys!" Sora pleaded, whirling around to stare in disbelief at Donald and Goofy.
"Sora," Donald said, cutting off any further remarks. "Do as you're told!
Goofy broke from his stern frown, face morphing into a soft smile. "You're comin' with us whether ya want to or not!"
"C'mon, Sora," Donald added. "Ya gotta be good!" He ended his sentence with a wink.
"How insubordinate," Sigrún remarked as Sora gratefully, and silently, thanked the pair.
"Like we didn't do worse under Odin," Olrun countered. "Well, until he caught on and cursed us."
"Something tells me this King Mickey won't be so drastic," Freya added with a bitter frown. Indeed, when Sora, Donald, and Goofy sprinted past him—offering apologies for their disobedience, he just shook his head and sighed.
"He didn't try and stop or follow them?" Atreus asked as King Mickey crackled like static and faded from sight.
"I suppose he got distracted after Sora, Donald, and Goofy ran past him," Mimir supplied as Kratos and the others made their way down the rubble. "I would have liked to at least hear King Mickey speak more. Sora heaps great praise upon him."
"I can't help but wonder how…creatures like Donald, Goofy, and King Mickey came to be," Olrun remarked, slowly floating down the path. "I mean…what path does nature take to create them?" She crossed her arms and hummed. "Are there any humans where they come from? Or gods? Is there some version of her majesty that's a, I don't know, a dog?"
Freya wrinkled her nose. "I'd prefer to be a cat."
Mimir hummed in that dreadful way that told Kratos he wanted to drag him into the conversation. "Oh, if only someone here had actually stepped foot in other Worlds." He hemmed and hawed. "Oh, think of all the knowledge they could share!"
"Enough," Kratos said with a roll of his eyes. "Many different Worlds host many different beings. I have met, conversed with, fought with and against many. Animals that walked and talked like men. Creatures made of paper. Living toys. There are no specific criteria for what type of life may spring. It simply does."
"It just does, huh?" Olrun slumped in the air. "No offense, General, but I wish I could speak with someone that actually knows the details of this other Worlds stuff."
"As do I." They all stared at him. "I grow tired of the incessant questions."
"It's not incessant," Mimir said, offended. "I let you sleep, don't I?" Mimir laughed at his own unending wit.
The rubble pathway led to a ruined courtyard. Sora, Donald, and Goofy sprinted ahead of them, only to pause as a pool of Darkness spawned at the other end of the courtyard. The Darkness rose, forming an oval, and a figure appeared from within. He wore the same coat as that figure that Naminé banished in Hollow Bastion, though his hood was down, revealing a young man with light green eyes, and…oddly styled, spike-up blonde hair.
"Rather nervous sort, hm?" Mimir noted as the man flinched and groaned after the portal faded.
He looked directly at Sora, affecting a genial tone. "Hey, you guys are looking lively."
"Scram!" Donald spat.
"Didn't we catch you messing around in the Underworld?" Sora asked—and Kratos had to fight the urge to start at the mention of the 'Underworld'. "How'd a wimp like you get into Organization XIII?"
"Organization XIII?" Freya repeated as Sora, Donald, and Goofy summoned their weapons—the Oathkeeper Keyblade, a staff bearing a meteor on its tip, and a shield that looked like a stylized thundercloud, respectively—in response to a taunt from the man. He yelped and turned around, clutching himself as he muttered something.
"Who is this kook?" Sora asked in disbelief.
"Remember," Goofy said, "the Organization's made up of Nobodies."
"Right." Sora narrowed his eyes at the man. "No Hearts."
"Wha—"
"In a second, m'lady," Mimir said. "I suspect we're about to become very busy."
The man jerked his head up and turned around. "Oh, we do too have Hearts!" He said, remarkably sincere. "Don't be mad."
"You can't trick us!" Donald scoffed.
The man looked forward once more and set his shoulders. When he turned back around, he did so with a sneer. "Silence, traitor," he said with an impressive amount of venom, his left index finger aimed directly at Sora. Sora, for his part, leaned back in shock.
Water bubbled up around the man, forming a foaming dome around him. He raised his left hand to the apex of the dome, which coalesced into a large bubble hovering over his palm. He clenched his hand, popping the bubble. The water within spread out, gaining a bright glow as is coalesced into a shape. Some sort of long, stringed, blue-colored instrument. The pegbox—or its equivalent—shaped into three large spikes. Fitting with the water theme, the soundboard was shaped like a water droplet.
He flipped it in his hands, before taking a step forward, a fierce grin on his face as he pointed once more at Sora. Who, along with Donald and Goofy, promptly disappeared, a glowing green circle taking their place.
A sheet of paper with writing on it floated down before Kratos. He grabbed it and read it aloud. "Say hello to Demyx, the Melodious Nocturne. Number IX of the first iteration of Organization XIII."
"Again, what is that?" Olrun said. "And Nobodies, for that matter."
"You know how when someone loses their Heart to Darkness they create a Heartless?" Atreus asked. When Olrun hesitantly nodded, he continued. "See, their bodies are left behind to just fade away. But if someone had enough willpower then that body will use what's left of their, well, Sora calls it their Soul, to move around."
"Like an undead creature?" Hildr asked, tilting her head at Demyx.
"…Kind of, yeah."
"Very well done, lad!" Mimir praised. "Glad to see that you were paying attention to Sora's discussions." Atreus just shrugged. "But don't forget, only the most powerful of Nobodies are able to keep their whole bodies—thirteen of whom make of this Organization XIII, obviously. Most lose their true form and become these weird…white wiggly things. Sora showed me pictures." He grimaced. "Sent shivers down my nonexistent spine."
"That answers that," Freya said. "I'm also curious as towhy he called Sora a traitor."
"Ah, that's probably because of Sora's Nobody, Roxas." Mimir added. "He was a part of Organization XIII once."
"Sora has a Nobody?" Sigrún asked, her shock echoed among her sisters.
"Well, he turned into a Heartless, didn't he?" Mimir rehortically asked. "And you must admit, the young lad's got quite the strong will. Has to, considering all he's had to put up with."
Atreus hummed in agreement. "If they're labelling him a trairot, then I guess they consider Roxas and Sora one and the same. Which is fair, since Roxas would be Sora's reanimated body." He paused. "Wait…then what the heck was Sora after Kairi helped restore his form?"
"That's an excellent question, lad!" Mimir grunted. "Some sort of magical construct?"
"Or maybe Kairi just made him a new body," Atreus replied. "Oh, wait. Then how does Roxas being absorbed into Sora work? And Xion too. Is Sora technically made up of three bodies?"
"Another excellent question!"
Freya and her Shield Sisters gaped at the pair. Hildr then loudly cleared her throat and turned to Freya. "So, any advice on facing someone that uses water magic, Your Majesty?"
Freya blinked, taking a moment to collect herself. "Uh…Well, we're not near a body of water, so we don't have about a massive wave washing us away." Freya narrowed her eyes at Demyx. "But he'll still probably try to drown us in some fashion."
"What about his weapon?" Olrun asked. "I mean…some kind of long lute? Really?"
"Maybe he plans on making you surrender with atrocious music," Mimir suggested with a chortle.
When the others began laughing, Kratos stopped them with a firm grunt. He stared at Demyx's cloak.
"See something interesting?" Freya asked.
"It is the same cloak as the one that figure wore in Hollow Bastion," he replied. Freya blinked, leaning forward to peer closer at it.
"…So it is. King Mickey was wearing one as well."
Kratos grunted. "Then was that figure an independent agent, like King Mickey, or a member of Organization XIII?" The others grew silent as they contemplated the question. Naminé, who surely knew, did not deign to answer.
"Well, it's not important right now," Atreus said, breaking the silence. "Let's beat this guy and get to Sora." Kratos nodded and entered the circle.
When the glow vanished, Demyx immediately cried out, "Dance water, dance!" and strummed on his instrument. The sky darkened above, and full-body water copies of Demyx flowed out from his body.
Kratos ran forward with a shout, intent to cleave Demyx in two. But shockingly, his blades just swung right through him, as though he was made of vapor. Demyx clicked his tongue at Kratos, before closing his eyes and focusing on his music—which, despite everything, wasn't horrible.
Kratos leapt back, focusing on the watery clones. Nothing they did, however, seemed to affect them. Arrows passed harmlessly through them—forcing Atreus and Freya to switch to up-front combat. And while they could be struck or stabbed—or blasted, in Mimir's case—they simply changed shape into…something Kratos had seen once or twice in other Worlds. Something to do, appropriately, with music.
He slashed out at the nearest clone, and when it changed shape, hit it again. But it danced between his blows, until he grew frustrated enough that he sheathed his blades and grabbed it. It wriggled in his grasp as he tried to pull it apart to destroy it. Unfortunately, it was more elastic than he'd expected, and it snapped out of his hands. However, as it did so it, spinning wildly in the air, it cut through other water clones, destroying them before it too was destroyed.
Kratos immediately punched another one, grabbing it once it transformed and swinging it at the others. "The clones can destroy each other!" he called out. Not that he strictly needed to, for already Sigrún, Olrun, and Atreus were working together to herd water clones for Freya and Hildr to destroy.
Still, Demyx spawned more and more clones, the clouds overhead growing larger and blocking out more of the sky. The air around them grew more and more humid, and, as Freya said, Demyx was trying to drown them in some fashion. But then, Hildr cut apart the last water clone. In an instant, the clouds vanished, and the air returned to normal.
"Uh-oh," Demyx muttered as he struck a sour note, jerking away from his instrument. Kratos didn't give him another moment, running forward and slashing at him with the Blades of Chaos. Demyx let out a high-pitched shriek of pain as he staggered back from the blow, only to fall forward as Sigrún dropped down from the sky and slammed her elbow against his head.
Attacking Demyx felt…odd. He looked human, but the way the Blades of Chaos cut through him…he bled and bruised, but it didn't feel like cutting into true flesh. A property inherent of his being a Nobody? In any case, he was soon swarmed, stabbed and crushed and struck in all manners. Despite it all, however, Demyx held strong. He didn't try to fight them off, and instead reached for his fallen instrument. Atreus kicked it away, but Demyx just smirked, and curled his hand. The instrument froze before spinning back towards Demyx. Atreus was able to jump out of its way—the spikes at the end cutting across his leg instead of stabbing into them—as it fell into Demyx's hand.
The Nobody plucked a single string and summoned forth a massive pillar of water centered on his body. Kratos let out a frustrated grunt as he flew through the air, crashing one of the courtyard's ruined pillars, destroying it further. He reached his arms up, and grabbed onto Hildr's waist before she crashed over him. She sent him a grateful nod before rising into the air to join her sisters.
"Got you now!" Demyx taunted as he rose to his feet, strumming on his instrument. Bubbles of water the size of Kratos's head formed around Demyx. They hovered in the air, before shooting outward. They split between soaring in the air after Freya and her Shield Sisters and rocketing towards Kratos and his son. Atreus simply changed shape into a rat, letting the projectiles soar over him and crash against a wall hard enough to crack it.
Kratos held up his Guardian Shield to block the orbs. They burst against his shield with the force of ballista bolts. Which was more than enough to activate its enchantment, the shield glowing bright red as Kratos reared it back before punching it forward. A flaming projectile launched from the shield at Demyx. He yelped, and ducked out of the way, leaving him open for Atreus, transforming back to his normal form, to spring up and slam his bow against the Nobody's jaw.
Demyx spun with the blow, his magical assault coming to a stop and allowing them all to converge on him once more. But Demyx plucked the strings of his instrument, leaping across the courtyard, massive pillars of water preventing them from chasing after. Demyx landed with a twirl, strumming a quick tune. He summoned dozens of orbs of water once more, all rocketing forward. Kratos and Atreus ducked away while Freya and her sisters took to the sky.
They tried to dive for him, but Demyx strummed his instrument and a line of massive water pillars—high enough that they towered above Freya and her sisters—spawned before him. He marched forward with each strum, trying to box them against one of the courtyard's walls. But there was a gap in the pillars—a split-second wait between one line spawning and the next. Kratos waited for the gap to occur, before hurling a Draupnir spear into Demyx's chest. The Nobody curled in on himself with a high-pitched whine, and the subsequent explosion from the embedded spear sent him flying back.
He recovered, however, and strummed once again, summoning more orbs of water, interspersed with massive pillars surrounding him to deter close-quarters engagement. He kept his eyes closed as he focused entirely on his rhythm. They focused on dodging, Kratos, Freya, and Atreus occasionally launching spears and arrows to knock Demyx off his pattern. And then, Hildr broke off from the rest. She swopped high in the air before diving down at an angle towards Demyx. At that time, Demyx had stepped too close for his own comfort to the rest of them, and hurried backwards, plucking the strings of his instrument at a frantic pace. Right into Hildr's path.
But then the Nobody smirked, his eyes snapping open. Kratos had barely shouted a warning before Demyx whirled around like lightning, stabbing the spikes at the end of his instrument into Hildr's side.
"C'mon, keep to the beat!" Demyx taunted as he began a devastating combo on the Shield Maiden, stabbing and striking her with his instrument as he summoned pillars of water that both kept the rest of them at bay. At the end she was knocked onto her back, panting, her armor cracked, wings soaking wet and bent at unnatural angles.
"Ain't it a blast!" Demy exclaimed before raising his instrument high and slamming it against her chest. Hildr let out a pained gasp as her armor broke under the deceptively strong blow. Then, her form flickered, and vanished.
"Hildr!" Freya and her remaining Shield Maidens cried. They flew forward with all the force of a storm.
But Demyx just grunted, and shouted, "Dance water, dance!" The sky darkened once more, and their attacks passed through him.
"Focus!" Kratos bellowed as he began to attack and then use the clones to destroy themselves. Olrun made one last petty swipe for Demyx's head, before she, Sigrún, and Freya turned to the clones.
Demyx played faster this time—desperate to end the battle in his favor as soon as possible. Unfortunately for him, they eliminated the clones far quicker than before. Not even ten seconds after Demyx began his attack were all his clones destroyed. When the spell ended, the Nobody whimpered.
Kratos took a second to pause, before calling upon and unleashing his Rage. He ran forward, fists wreathed in ethereal flames as grabbed onto the Nobody's instrument. He had a surprisingly firm grip but lacked the strength necessary to deter Kratos. As such, he was easily lifted into the air along with his weapon and slammed against the ground.
He drove his fists into Demyx's head as Olrun and Sigrún pinned his arms to the side with their sharp heels. Atreus ran forward and grabbed his instrument, holding it aloft and away as it tried to flee his grasp.
He heard the heavy beat of wings directly above, and before Freya could even speak, he ducked to the side, allowing her to dive down and sink her blade into Demyx's throat. His eyes—swollen and bleeding—broke upon in shock. A gurgle burst past his lips, before his form flickered and vanished.
He reappeared behind them—as did Sora, Donald, and Goofy—instrument in hand, his cloak torn and burnt, face a mess of blood and bruises. He wheezed and stepped forward, only to stumble to a knee.
He rose, but as he did so, his instrument vanished in stream of bubbles. When Demyx noticed, he stared at his empty hand in disbelief. He whined and grabbed at his head. "No way!" he wailed as he fell to his knees once more, his body dissolving into pitch-black particles. His lower body shone with light, before it all dissolved into a pillar of water that rose into the sky.
Freya scowled at the pillar. "Can't believe he took down Hildr."
"Better fighter than he looked," Olrun added with sigh.
"But where'd she go?" Atreus asked, looking around with a curious expression. "We can't die here, right?"
"No, she'll have been returned to the entrance," Sigrún stated. "She can reenter of her own accord, but with how things currently are, I don't know if she'll be able to simply rejoin us." Right as she finished speaking, a sheet of paper floated down before her. She grabbed it and read to script upon it. "'Hildr's with me'." She grunted as the paper vanished from her hand. "Better than nothing."
"Anyone from the Organization who'd like to be next?!" They all startled at the sudden snarl from Sora, who glared at the surroundings with a promise of violence.
Mimir whistled as Donald and Goofy called for Sora to calm down. "Didn't know Sora could get that angry."
"He does have some strange ability called 'Rage Form'," Olrun added.
"Again, Brother—"
"No," Kratos cut Mimir off.
"Aha! There you are!" They all turned at the stern voice to find King Mickey at the other end of the courtyard, eyes set in a stern glare. As he marched forward, Sora, Donald, and Goofy all looked downward with unease and guilt—the latter two more so than the former.
"What do you think he's gonna do?" Atreus asked.
"Well, I don't think Sora's one of his subjects, so technically he won't be able to do much to him." Freya shrugged as she crossed her arms over her chest. "As for Donald and Goofy…They were ordered to seek, and presumably rescue, children instead of staying here, so I would see them at the very least arrested for their disobedience."
Mimir hummed as King Mickey lost his glare. "Don't think King Mickey is of the same mind, m'lady."
Indeed, King Mickey placed his hands on his hips and said, "You sure have lotsa friends to help." Sora, Donald, and Goofy stared hopefully at him. He smiled in return. "So I guess we better all pull together, and finish this battle for good!"
"Yes, your Majesty!" Sora, Donald, and Goofy cheerfully replied as they stood at attention. King Mickey nodded and marched forward to lead them into the valley. They made to follow—to enact whatever battles came next—only for an explosion from above to stop them in their tracks.
"Look out!" Goofy yelled and ran forward to shove his king forward. Just before a massive boulder slammed against his skull, sending him flying headfirst into a stone wall.
Atreus stepped back with an audible wince as Donald and Sora rushed over to Goofy. "Oh man! That had to hurt."
"Did a bit more than hurt, lad," Mimir replied when Goofy did not stir despite Sora and Donald's pleas. He was not even breathing.
"Don't they know healing magic?" Atreus asked. "Or what about those flasks of whatever we've seen them use?"
Freya hummed sadly. "There are some things magic can't heal."
"They'll pay for this." They all turned at the venomous words that flowed from King Mickey's lips. He boldly ripped off his cloak, revealing his red pants, coat, and yellow shoes, all adorned with orange straps. He held his right hand up and summoned a Keyblade in a flash of golden light. A Keyblade that looked exactly like Sora's Kingdom Key, but with the gold and silver coloring swapped around.
As he ran forward, Donald let loose a furious cry, leaping up from Goofy's body and sprinting after his king. Sora rose to his feet, and after sparing one final look at Goofy, summoned his Keyblade and ran to join the others.
"They're just leaving him there?" Atreus asked with a heavy frown.
"A consequence of battle," Kratos solemnly stated. "You can mourn your dead after you have won."
"Sure, but…" Atreus crossed his arms over his chest. "Sora kept referring to Goofy in the present tense. Meaning he's, you know, still around." At his words, Kratos blinked.
"Ah…yes, he does." He honestly could not recall. Given the roll of Atreus's eyes, his son knew this.
"Maybe someone brought him back to life like Freya did me," Mimir posited. He looked to the sky. "Is that what happened?" Nothing happened for a long moment, but then several sheets of paper floated down before them. Instead of answering Mimir's question, however, they detailed the Heartless variants they could expect ahead.
Mimir grunted as Sigrun collected the pages. "Well, I guess we'll find out eventually."
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Running into the valley led them to a natural pathway cutting through the mountains. Briefly, Sora appeared and slid to a halt as Shadow Heartless spawned before him. When he vanished, Kratos quickly entered the glowing circle left in his place.
The Heartless immediately swarmed forward, but a split-second before they did—in so brief an instance Kratos would have dismissed it were it not for the strangeness of Valhalla—the air before him shimmered. As though something had tried and failed to appear. Another tough enemy Naminé did not want them to face?
Regardless, they were faced with many as it was. They were so swarmed that Sigrun, Freya, and Olrun opted to stay in their air, leaving Kratos and Atreus—with the occasional assisting eye beam from Mimir—to fight on the ground.
They slaughtered their foes to a slow, steady march. The spawned incessantly—perhaps an attempt to wear Sora and the defenders of the city down? Who controlled the Heartless at this time? And for what purpose? Ultimately, Kratos supposed that it was of no matter—these were memories of battle, after all. But Naminé had chosen this set of memories above the rest for a reason. Something about them were vital to Sora's development.
After slaying one of the new variants of Heartless—a massive, spiked ball that could spin like a top to skewer you—Atreus leaned against an outcropping rock. "Man. Feels like I'm back at Ragnarök, you know? Running forward and entering skirmish after skirmish?"
Kratos grunted, staring down at his son. "Do you require rest?" They had entered a lull in combat, they could afford a small break.
"No," Atreus quickly stated. "Let's keep moving." Kratos nodded, leading them forward. Their next encounter was right before the entrance to a cave, glittering crystals lighting the cavern inside. Once again, just as the Shadow Heartless spawned and began to attack, there was a flicker in the air. Naminé was actively interfering with the memory in some way, and Kratos wanted to know why.
After the flicker vanished, three of the massive spiked Heartless—the Morning Star Heartless—slammed down beside them. The Shadow Heartless sank into the ground as the Morning Star Heartless pulled their limbs into their bodies, "Atreus!" Kratos called out, and the pair stood back-to-back and held their shields in front of them as the Morning Star Heartless spun in place before charging forward. Two of the Heartless crashed into each other before they could each strike Kratos, allowing him to ram his shield against the nearest one and send them both crashing into the stone wall ahead. The remaining one chose Atreus and slid against his magical shield, losing its balance as it tumbled in the air and slammed on its back, crushing a handful of Shadow Heartless beneath it.
More foes spawned as the Morning Star Heartless recovered. More Shadows and Morning Stars, as well as two other variants—ones wearing armor and a wielding a sword, and the other a flying automaton. Respectively, and appropriately, called the Armored Knight and Surveillance Robot Heartless.
Kratos glared at the wave of enemies, before turning his gaze to the two Morning Star Heartless picking themselves out of stone. "Atreus, to the skies!" he bellowed as he unsheathed and unspooled his Blades of Chaos. He didn't need to turn around to know that his son obeyed, instead throwing his blades such that each sunk deep into a Heartless each. Kratos hopped backwards, grunting as he spun around, the Morning Star Heartless flailing as they skewered and crushed their allies into dark mist.
When he was surrounded by a sea of fading vapor, he stopped, rearing his arms back and smashing the two Heartless together with a harsh bellow. They collided with a cacophonous crash, their armor breaking and crumbling before it all faded away.
"A bit of warning, next time?" Mimir said, groggy. "I think my eyes are spinning in my skull."
"You will live," he replied as Atreus, Freya, Sigrún, and Olrun landed beside him.
"I'm technically dead, remember?" Kratos ignored him with a grunt, leading them into the mountain.
Sigrún shivered as she wrapped her wings around her body. "I hate caves."
"At least this one looks nice," Olrun commiserated as she gestured to the shining crystals lining the floor and walls.
Sora appeared before them, running towards Donald and King Mickey. "Are you okay?" the king asked as Sora bent over and braced his hands on his knees.
Sora straightened; face creased in a deep frown. "Yeah, I'm fine, but…" he trailed off.
"Oh, Goofy," Donald whimpered as he and the King stared down with sorrow.
"I know that look," Freya said aloud for all of them.
Only for them all to look back in shock as a familiar voice cried out, "Hey, fellas!" For just behind stood Goofy, none the worse for wear.
"What?" Olrun said for all of them as they watched Goofy sprint up to the others.
"Ya know, that really hurt!" he said, rubbing his head. King Mickey then launched himself at Goofy, nuzzling into his chest. "Gawrsh, Yer Majesty, I get bumped on the head all the time."
As Sora, Donald, and King Mickey rejoiced, Olrun pressed her palms atop her helmet. "But that—that boulder at least twice as large as Atreus! How can he just be standing there like nothing happened?"
Atreus slowly turned to face her. He took a deep breath, looked her in the eyes, and said, "Magic."
Olrun took a deep, shuddering breath. Her wings flapped violently, and she held her arms out as if to strangle Atreus. It was only when Sigrún gently rubbed her shoulders that she marginally calmed down. At the same time, Sora and the others marched out of the cave. Kratos and the others followed.
They marched through the valley, careful of the spots where the ground had given way to dark, unending pits. Curiously, they did not come across anymore Heartless. In fact, the steady beat of their march, Kratos belatedly noticed, had come to a halt. That did not mean, however, that the army had disappeared. For they found them all deep within the valley.
"Woah boy," Atreus said, stepping back in trepidation at the grand legion of Heartless before them. "That's…that's a lot of them." At the same time, Sora, Donald, Goofy, and King Mickey ran ahead of them. They too balked at the Heartless,
"Why aren't they moving?" Freya asked. "We've entered a memory."
"Maybe they're waiting for orders?" Mimir supplied.
"…Perhaps." Kratos said, eyeing the Heartless on the crags above them. Looking at their numbers, they could still, at the very least, besiege the city behind them. And yet they were just standing there. Waiting.
"Hey!" Goofy called out, and they all as he pointed to a crag high above them. A dark portal spawned, revealing another figure in a black coat, this one's hood pulled up. They soon pulled it down, however, revealing a man with dark skin—perhaps simply tanned—and long silver-gray hair.
"It's the guy who's not Ansem!" Donald cried out.
"You mean, it's his Nobody!" Goofy added.
"I pray proper context makes that string of words mean something," Sigrún said with a snort.
King Mickey glared at the figure. "Wait a minute!" he shouted. "Now I know!" He nodded as the Nobody turned to face them, and even from this distance they could see his lips curl into a smug smirk. "Now I remember! Xehanort!" he announced. "Ansem's apprentice! The leader of Organization XIII is Xehanort's Nobody."
Atreus frowned. "Didn't Sora say Xehanort was an old man?"
"He, and Naminé, also said he possessed a young man named Terra," Mimir added as King Mickey summoned his Keyblade and sprinted for the Nobody.
"Let's go!" Sora declared, only to pause as the Heartless, all of them, finally moved. The swarmed Sora, Donald, and Goofy, the dozen King Mickey slashed apart on his way up being quickly replaced. Consequently, Kratos and his allies found themselves face-to-face with thousands of Heartless. Even knowing this was just a memory, that these creatures could not harm them yet, did nothing to still the adrenaline that shot through his veins as he realized what their next trial would be. They quickly huddled together, mirroring Sora, Donald, and Goofy as they glared out at the sea of Heartless.
"Move it!" Sora shouted as he, Donald, and Goofy summoned their weapons.
"We can't let Xehanort get away!" Donald vowed. The trio looked over their shoulders at each other. They all shared confident grins and held their thumbs up. Then, as one, they dashed away from each other to clash with the Heartless.
And quickly vanished, leaving a glowing green circle in their place.
It took the others a second to come to the same conclusion Sora had. "Wait a minute!" Freya spoke with a tremble in her voice. "A-Are you saying we have to fight all of these things?"
"Well, not all of them." Naminé's voice echoed around them. They quickly found her standing at the edge of the cliff, looking down at them. "Sora, Donald, and Goofy each slew about a thousand each."
"A thousand," Olrun repeated in awe.
"Yup!" Naminé hummed. "Of course, because of how Valhalla wants to ramp up the difficulty with each successive trial, you're probably going to fight more than that. Not much more, but a sizable difference. Still, there's six of you. You'll be fine." It was with those words of 'encouragement' that she vanished.
Mimir let loose a long whistle. "A thousand foes. You ever face such numbers, Brother?"
Kratos had to dig deep into his bloody past to answer that question. Eventually, he shook his head. "I have led campaigns that ended with the deaths of countless enemy soldiers. Eliminated innumerable monsters in my travels. But never have I slain a thousand foes over the course of a single battle." The closest to that number was when the Barbarian King Alrik led his hordes against Sparta. And Kratos lost that battle, in the end.
Still, this was different. These were not the wrathful barbarians that constantly plagued his home. And Kratos was not the man he once was, in more ways than one. He looked over his shoulder to his son and friends. They all nodded back, resolute.
He allowed a smile to ghost across his lips before he faced forward once more and entered the circle. When the Heartless moved once more, converging on them, Kratos reared back and let loose a savage roar that shook the heavens, before meeting them head-on.
/+/+/+/+/
Kratos lost track of the others mere seconds into the battle. There were too many Heartless to worry about watching each other's backs. He was, however, content with the knowledge that Atreus, Freya, Sigrún, and Olrun could all take care of themselves.
Fww-Bish-Bim
"Ha! Right between the eyes!"
That and the fact that Mimir was now more than capable of guarding his rear.
Kratos fell into an age-old rhythm. Slash, dodge, stab, block, punch, dodge, repeat. A pattern drilled into his bones until they cracked and reforged into something unbreakable. The Heartless were dangerous, yes; their ability to attack in coordinated numbers being their greatest asset. But they were little more than animals beyond that. Simple beasts that fell like wheat to a farmer's scythe under a truly disciplined assault.
They were not even safe from each other. The Surveillance Robot variants' attacks, he discovered, did not differentiate between friend or foe. This was not normally an issue, for their energy beams were deadly accurate, firing down at downward angles such that if they did happen to miss, they would simply crash into the ground. But if Kratos simply plucked one out of the air and held it forward, those beams would have no choice but to fire forward, flash-frying other Heartless until it ended its assault, and he crushed it in his hands.
It was a mindless clash, the likes of which he had partaken in countless times. And yet, when was the last time Kratos had fought in such a battle? The assault on Asgard during Ragnarök? No, not quite. During that time, he had clear goals he, and others, wanted completed. Right now, it was little more than slaughter for survival. The kind of monotonous butchery he'd once sought to distract himself from his sins, albeit in far greater numbers than he'd ever faced.
And he could not help but wonder, what had Sora thought of this battle? What was going through his mind as he slew Heartless after Heartless. Did he take joy in it? Grow proud as the numbers dwindled before his might? Or was he terrified, frantically felling foe after foe and praying for survival? While Kratos was adamant in his belief that Sora was more than capable of defending the Worlds, he could admit that Freya had a point. He was far too young to be burdened with such responsibility.
A dozen Armored Knights rushed him, dropping to the ground and spinning like tops in an attempt to shred his legs to bits. Instead, he used Flowmotion to leap off the nearest one, and as he reached the apex of his jump, drew his axe and, and crashed down with a sharp roar. Massive spikes of ice sprouted from the point of impact, cracking the ground and skewering the Heartless such that they dissipated into mist.
He hefted his axe on his shoulder, scanning the battlefield. There were only a handful of Heartless left now, harried by Freya and her Shield Maidens from the sky while Atreus stuck them with arrows.
It was only after the last Heartless's remains dissipated into nothing, and Freya and her Shield Maidens landed safely, that Atreus flopped onto the ground. Kratos hurried over to his son, relived to find that he was simply tired, not grievously injured. Still, he asked, "Are you well?"
Atreus panted heavily, taking great gulps of air. "I thought that would never end! Are we sure Sora's wholly mortal? No way a normal human could've survived that."
"Ah, don't feel too bad, lad. You're just not used to those kinds of skirmishes," Mimir said with a chuckle as Kratos knelt down, offering a hand to his son, who lethargically accepted it.
Kratos looked his son over as Freya marched over and checked on him. "You have not taken part in a long, protracted battle since the assault on Asgard?"
Atreus shook his head. "I mean, I've snuck through some sieges." He stilled upon their inquisitive stares. "For…reasons." He hastily continued, "But nothing like when we stormed Asgard."
Sigrún hummed. "Well, be glad you've yet to take part in a long drawn-out war—a true war, you could say. The kind where you sleep amongst the mud and the dying while pushing yourself past the point of exhaustion after endless marching."
Atreus shivered as Freya rubbed his shoulder, giving him the all-clear. "Yeah, I hope that never happens."
"As do I," Kratos solemnly swore.
/+/+/+/+/
They did not find any more Heartless as they traversed the rest of the valley. As before, Kratos noted an eerie lack of evidence of a marching army. After moving up a rather steep incline, Sora appeared before them. His clothing was drenched in sweat and littered with the marks of battle. He stopped along a wall, bracing against it and panting heavily. He only recovered, forcibly, when he heard Donald and Goofy—equally exhausted—run up behind him.
"They need rest," Olrun noted.
"They may not be able to afford it," Freya replied, gesturing ahead. The incline opened up to a cliff, where King Mickey flew through the air, easily felling Heartless.
They followed Sora, Donald, and Goofy, to see that the cliff faced the spires they first spied when they entered this World. Standing at the edge of the cliff was Xehanort's Nobody, his back facing them.
King Mickey glared at his back. After the king acknowledged Sora, Donald, and Goofy, he called out, "Xehanort!"
The Nobody spoke with a deep, measured voice. "How long has it been," he said, "since I abandoned that name?"
"Abandoned?" Olrun repeated.
"Ah, yes, Sora told us about this," Mimir said. "Said the leader of Organization XIII was named 'Xemnas'. Suppose he decided a new name was needed with this new form of his."
"Out with it, Nobody!" Sora spat. "Where's Kairi? Where's Riku?"
"Oh dear," Mimir hummed. "They're in this Organization's clutches? Can't speak much for Riku, but I dread to imagine what they'd do with a Princess of Heart."
Only for the Nobody to immediately say. "I know nothing of any Kairi."
"…Nevermind."
"As for Riku." The Nobody turned around, staring impassively at Sora through dull, orange eyes. "Perhaps you should ask your king?" Sora faltered, staring down at King Mickey. The King ignored him, gritting his teeth and calling for the Nobody to stop as he was enveloped in a portal of Darkness. The king leapt forward, vanishing along with the Nobody just before the portal vanished.
Sora's face fell, and he dropped onto the ground. He grit his teeth, and slammed his fist against the ground. Goofy frowned in sympathy, walking up and laying a gentle hand on his shoulder.
"He just doesn't get a break, hm?" Atreus sadly noted.
"Little more than a child," Freya bitterly added.
Donald called out to the pair, only to squawk in alarm and walk past them. He stared at the spires and the surrounding land, eyes wide. Sora and Goofy got up and stepped beside him,
Upon reaching them, Kratos and the others saw…nothing. Empty tracts of land, devoid of any and all life.
Olrun tilted her head down at the spires. "Wait…did we—they—slay the entire army?"
"Them and whoever else was on the frontlines," Sigrún added.
"But…it doesn't make any sense." Olrun shook her head. "Organization XIII didn't leave behind any forces to continue the attack?"
"Unless assaulting the city was not their true goal," Kratos solemnly stated. But to what end?
"Way to fall into their trap," a snide voice remarked behind them. They turned to find a tall man in a black cloak leaning against a wall. His bright red hair was spiker than Sora's, sticking out of his head like daggers. His light green eyes—a tattoo shaped like a teardrop beneath each—stared impassively as Sora, Donald, and Goofy approached with their weapons.
"C'mon," he said as he stepped away from the wall. "It's a set-up by Organization XIII. Xemnas is using you to destroy the Heartless. That's his big master plan." Donald questioned the name 'name', after which the man explained, as Mimir predicted, that it was what Xehanort's Nobody called himself.
"Got it memorized?" The man—the Nobody—grinned. "X-E-M-N-A-S."
Olrun's wings flapped twice. "…Does Sora not speak our language?"
"He doesn't, actually," Atreus replied.
"Then…how—"
"Magic." Olrun had to restrained from shaking Atreus.
"Organization XIII wants to get rid of the Heartless?" Goofy said, bringing their attention back to the memory.
"Man, you're slow." The Nobody pointed to Sora's Keyblade. "Every Heartless slain with that Keyblade releases a captive heart. That is what the Organization is after."
"Did you all know that?" Freya asked as Donald tried to get the Nobody to elaborate further, only for him to teasingly deny him.
"We did," Kratos answered to her shock. "Sora informed us that Organization XIII took advantage of this ability in an attempt to create their own, artificial Kingdom Hearts."
"Kingdom Hearts?" Freya repeated.
"The source of all Worlds," Mimir intoned. "The Heart of everything, as Sora tells it. A well of infinite power."
"And…you can just make this?" she said, incredulity dripping from her voice.
"Apparently, yes."
"You," Sora said, voice soft and eyes wide. "You're the one who kidnapped Kairi!"
"Bingo." The Nobody smirked. "The name's Axel. Got it memorized?" Sora begged him to tell him where Kairi was, but the Nobody grimaced, and scratched his head. "Look, about Kairi…I'm sorry."
"Axel!" a new voice bellowed. A dark portal appeared in front of Sora, revealing the back of another Nobody, this one with long blue hair. Axel jerked back, before disappearing in his own portal. Sora ran forward, but the Nobody held an arm out to stop him. "We'll ensure he receives the maximum punishment."
"I don't care about any of that!" Sora's face crumpled. "Just let me into the realm of Darkness, okay!?"
"There's an entire Realm of Darkness?" Olrun questioned, a bit too enthusiastic for Kratos's liking.
The Nobody turned around, revealing that he had light orange eyes, and an X-shaped centered on his face, right over his nose. "If it's Kairi you're worried about," he said, voice even, almost disinterested, "don't. We're taking very good care of her."
"Take me to her!"
"Is she that important to you?" the Nobody asked with a slight frown.
"Yeah. More than anything."
The Nobody looked down at Sora like one would a mildly interesting animal. "Show me how important." Sora didn't even hesitate before falling on his hands and knees.
"Please," he pled.
Freya sucked in a breath. "That was the wrong move." She hugged her arms tightly. "Begging just gives them more power over you." Kratos grunted softly, gently patting her shoulder in comfort. He knew that dreadful sentiment well.
"So, you really do care for her." The Nobody stated. Again, his voice did not change. He spoke without any emotion, as though he did not care one way or the other what Sora said or did. "In that case, the answer is no."
Sora leapt to his feet. "You rotten…!" he trailed off with a defeated scowl.
"Are you angry? Do you hate me?" He stared impassively at Sora. "Then take that rage and direct it at the Heartless." He snapped his fingers, and Armored Knight Heartless spawned behind him.
As Sora, Donald, and Goofy summoned their weapons, the Nobody held his arms out in supplication as he tilted his head to the sky. "Pitiful Heartless, mindlessly collecting Hearts. And yet they know not the true power of what they hold. The rage of the Keyblade releases those Hearts. They gather in darkness, masterless and free...Until they weave together to make Kingdom Hearts." He lowered his arms and stared down at Sora once more. "And when that time comes, we can truly, finally exist."
Kratos stared at the Nobody—when he put it like that, his goal almost sounded admirable. But their use of the Heartless betrayed their callous methods of 'existing', however one defined it.
At that time, sparks of emerald flames spawned behind Sora, Donald, and Goofy. Familiar flames. "What in the world do you think you're prattling on about?" A familiar voice arrogantly stated.
"Ah-ha!" Mimir crowed as Maleficent appeared from the flames and taunted the Nobody over taking Kingdom Hearts for herself. "Look at that! Can't keep us Fey down, can you?"
"Mimir, love, you're just a head," Sigrún stated.
"And still kicking, no?" Kratos huffed, narrowing his eyes as Maleficent summoned Soldier Heartless around the Nobody.
"Fool," the Nobody said, before snapping his fingers. Silver thorns spawned from the ground, along with these...creatures. The Heartless were odd, to be sure, but these silvery-gray things that squashed and stretched with every twitching movement—as if forcibly pumping blood through their bodies—just screamed 'wrong'. Freya looked upon them in abject digust.
"W-What are—"
"Those would be lesser Nobodies," Mimir said as the creatures destroyed the Soldier Heartless.
She shivered and averted her gaze. "Those things look wrong." Maleficent warped in front of Sora, Donald, and Goofy, summoning a massive wall of emerald fire to block him from the Nobodies. She growled at them to flee, though Sora refused—whether out of a desire to stay and fight or simply not work with Maleficent, Kratos couldn't say.
It came to nothing, however, for she was soon piled on by a dozen Nobodies, and the flames separating them vanished.
The blue haired Nobody looked down at the pile of Nobodies, before staring blankly at Sora. "Now then. Where did we leave off?" he asked as he snapped his fingers. The other Nobodies vanished, Heartless taking their place.
"Whose side are you on, anyway?" Sora shouted at the surrounding Heartless.
"The Heartless ally with whoever's the strongest," the Nobody replied, before thrusting a hand out at Sora. Two Heartless charged Sora, who easily cut them down. They broke apart into mist, and at the same time crystalline Hearts floated out from them and into the sky, vanishing in dark mist.
The Nobody's expression finally changed upon seeing the Hearts. He followed them as they rose, lips curling into an eager smile. "Yes, Sora!" his tone rose above his bored inflection, edging towards manic excitement. "Extract more Hearts!" he said at the same time Sora despaired at their disappearance, before disappearing in turn.
Kratos waited for the trio to disappear so they could take their place, but as Sora despaired over the discovery that he was a pawn in a grander scheme, simply defending, not attacking, he reconsidered.
"Imbeciles!" Maleficent's biting voice echoed around them. "You can't be trusted to do anything!" Sora, Donald, and Goofy looked around for her, but were soon swallowed up for a portal of Darkness.
And as soon as they vanished, so too did the Heartless, the doors to Castle Oblivion appearing before them.
/+/+/+/+/
A/N: The thousand Heartless battle in KH2 is bonkers from an action RPG standpoint. Like, outside of Dynasty Warrior type games, how often do you face that many enemies in a single encounter? Devil May Cry in Legendary Dark Knight mode, maybe? Also, I am aware that there is a lack of certain people within this chapter. There is a very specific reason for that.