I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters.
Hope
Tyler's head snapped up as his door flew open, Serah standing in the door way, breathing heavily and eyes wide, though he couldn't tell if she was afraid, confused, or excited. "What?"
She didn't answer. She just grabbed his wrist and sprinted for the door, hauling him along behind her. He followed as best he could, until they were finally outside and she all but hurled him out of the house. He staggered and fell, groaning, then pushed himself up, the choice phrases and demand to know what the hell was wrong with her dying on his lips as he stared at the man before him. Violet eyes stared at him as his eyes stared at the form-fitting purple armor, the messy purple hair, and the massive, jagged sword. It was impossible. He was dead. Both his Heartless and Nobody were dead.
"Caius," Tyler breathed. "But...how?"
"I finally found you," Caius said, seeing the fear blooming in Tyler's eyes. "Don't worry. I'm not here to fight. I came to thank you."
"Thank...me?" Tyler asked.
"Yes," Caius said. "Once my Heartless and Nobody were both destroyed, my heart and body were able to rejoin and I was recompleted. I owe that to you."
Tyler's eyes widened as the gears in his head churned rapidly. Then, he shoved himself to his feet, turning and sprinting into the house, shouting for Caius to wait there as he did. He took the fastest shower of his life, changed into his cloak again, then sprinted back out to Caius.
"Can you use Dark Corridors?" Tyler asked.
"Yes, why?" Caius asked.
"I need you to get me to King Oswald, or Yen Sid," Tyler said.
Caius nodded. "Alright. And the others?"
"We're ready!" Serah said, all of them running into the room.
Caius extended a hand and opened a portal and Tyler sprinted through instantly, Fang and Serah dragging Caius after them, Vanille carrying Alice and Sazh carrying Dajh. After a matter of moments, Tyler left the other end of the Dark Corridor at the foot of a tower. He sprinted up it, paying no attention to the fact that every door he went through was a porta, or that the two flights of stairs he ran up were disconnected and floating in a massive void. He didn't care. Finally, he burst through a door into a room with books lining the rounded wall, a desk in the center with a window behind it, a man with a long beard that split in two wearing a stereotypical blue wizard robe and pointed hat with stars decorating them, and Mickey and Oswald standing before the desk, though everyone turned to him.
"Are you Master Yen Sid?" Tyler asked.
"I am," Yen Sid nodded.
"Can someone who fell to the darkness be recompleted if their Heartless and Nobody are both destroyed?" Tyler asked.
"They can," Yen Sid said, hope flooding Tyler instantly, making him feel weightless. "You must be Tyler. Oswald has told me much about you. He says you are quite skilled, and powerful. He believes you may be ready to take the Mark of Mastery exam and become a Keyblade Master."
"I don't care about that," Tyler said. "I don't cared about being called a Keyblade Master. My sole reason for wielding a keyblade is to protect the people I care about. I can do that just fine without people calling me a master."
He left the room, sprinting down the stairs three at a time, passing everyone but Caius on the way, then getting outside and finding Caius waiting. As he ran over to him, he glanced at his hand and summoned his keyblade, instantly feeling a sense of peace wash over him, and when the light faded, going from the end of the keychain up, he found that the blade was restored. He smiled, looking to Caius, who sighed, opening a Dark Corridor.
"This is a really bad way to get there, you know," Caius said.
"I'll be fine," Tyler said. "I've done this before."
"Tyler!" Serah shouted as she and the others ran over. "We're coming with you."
"No," Tyler said. "I'm going alone. I have to do this myself. I couldn't protect her, so I have to save her."
"But..." Serah trailed off and Noel set a hand on her shoulder.
"This is something he has to do, Serah," Noel said. "Go. We'll be waiting here for you two to come home."
Tyler nodded, then stepped into the portal, only for it to close, once again casting him into the darkness. He once again splashed down in the water, but this time, when he surfaced, he found himself already at the ruins of Lightning's world. He walked out of the water calmly, once again drying himself before making his way to the temple. As he reached the foot of the steps, Lightning's Heartless stepped out of the door, staring down at him in disgust.
"You don't learn your lesson, do you?" Lightning asked.
"I do, actually," Tyler said. "I'm sorry I'm so late, but I promise you, I'll save you this time."
Lightning scoffed. "Save me!? You!? And just how are you going to do that?"
"All I have to do is destroy your Heartless and Nobody," Tyler said. "Then you'll be recompleted."
"And what if we don't want to be recompleted?" a second Lightning asked, appearing behind him.
He turned to look, seeing that this one was wearing armor with purple on the front of her torso, leaving the sides and back open, purple leggings underneath silver boots and outer-thigh armor, dark blue gloves, a black, two-layer cloth falling from her belt on the sides with white along the front, and likely back, edge, then along the outsides of the second layer which started about four inches outward from the splits and only reached knee-level while the inner layer reached her ankles and was tattered at the bottom, a pair of white-accented cargo pockets on the bottom front corners of the outer layer of the cloths. He belt was white metal with an oddly shaped design in the front that had two spikes reaching down and in on the bottom of it, then a pair of almost bone-like metal strips wrapping up and around on her hips, she had white metal splints running down the outsides of her arms with a black backing, the insides of her arms uncovered except for a pair of straps to hold them on, like the Heartless's sleeves, a pair of white elbow guards with spikes reaching back from the outsides of them, a small, curved, fin-like blade on the backs of her hands, a pair of white pauldrons with a single horn-like spike reaching up and outward from each of them, and two small spikes reaching about an inch upward from the front and back of each, white plating extending from under the pauldrons to cover her shoulders, upper back, and her lower neck, the front reaching down to about halfway down her breasts but parted in the middle to about her collar bones, a pair of small jagged thorn-like decorations along the bottom of each breast's armor piece, both of them with an inch of the end sticking sideways off of the armor as spikes, and a black cloth over her shoulders and upper back outside of the white plate armor with a high collar that had purple inside. She held a sword identical to the Heartless's, except for being purple for most of it with white up along the edge and tanto point. Her shield was likewise shaped identical to the Heartless's, except that the black metal around the outside was more jagged and blade-like. It also was a different color, being mostly purple with a lighter shade around the edge of the top half, then a pair of white strips on the bottom third with a white Nobody Emblem on the face of it.
"You do," Tyler said. "We made a promise to spend our lives together. I know you well enough to know you wouldn't have made that promise unless you meant it. So I'm going to help you be recompleted, and if you still want nothing to do with me after that, then that's fine."
"I have a better idea," her Heartless said. "We'll rip your heart out and force you to become like us!"
She leapt off the stairs, clearing them all and slashing at him, only for him to block the slash, bracing his keyblade with his free hand against the side of the blade. He grunted in effort, knees bending sharply as her blade hit, then struggled to hold her back. He took a steadying breath, forcing all doubt from his mind. He needed to be certain. If he had any doubt at all, he'd lose. It'd be a miracle if he won anyway, of course, given he was fighting two Lightnings, but he didn't have a choice. He shoved her sword aside, sensing her Nobody approaching rapidly and began to glow white, leaping aside and flipping, landing on the roof of a building just as the Nobody landed in front of her Heartless, sword lowering to her side from where she'd been about to slash him.
"Looks like you're still hesitating," her Heartless said. "Very well. Let's see if returning this to you give you any more of a desire to fight."
She held out her hand an a massive black seal formed in the air in front of her before Odin exploded out of it, except that he was wearing black armor and darkness was seeping out of him from the gaps in it. Tyler swore, then dove aside as Odin's sword slashed, the entire building splitting open.
He rolled to his feet on the edge of the building, then shot back the other way, focusing light into his left hand before slamming it into Odin's face. "I hope this works!"
Light shone from his hand, enveloping Odin before fading leaving him as himself again. Odin nodded to him, but when he turned back to the two Lightnings, Tyler held his gunblade out to his side, in front of Odin.
"This time, I'll fight," Tyler said. "You've done enough. Thank you for saving me last time, but allow me to handle this."
Odin nodded, lowering his sword, and Tyler turned back to the front, lowering his own keyblade as the last of his doubt faded. He took a steadying breath before readying himself, narrowing his eyes slightly as he focused. Both Lightnings saw the shift and exploded forward, separating before closing I from the sides. Odin leapt back to give Tyler room to fight, and Tyler waited. Finally, they reached him, both slashing, and he leapt into the air over their blades. They both blocked the other's, and he slashed downward, both hurling themselves backward out of the way of his strike. As he landed, he turned, launching himself at the Nobody first. He didn't want to destroy the Heartless and free her heart, only for it to fade back into darkness while he was dealing with the Nobody, so first he'd make sure it would have a body to return to. He reached her nobody and their blades began to clash rapidly instantly. She fought exactly the same way Lightning did. She was relentless, fast, and precise, but he had trained with Lightning enough to know how to read her body movements. And as their blades clashed again and again without her landing a strike, even a punch or kick, he realized that he'd been holding back against Lightning. Not consciously, but enough to make a difference.
Her Heartless slashed at him from behind and he spun, deflecting her blade before kicking her and sending her staggering away. He finished his spin and deflected her Nobody's blade again before slashing upward at her. She flipped backward, avoiding the blade, before landing on the next building over. Then, suddenly, it was the Heartless's turn, their blades clashing just as rapidly as his and her Nobody's had. He deflected a slash and her blade swung out to her side, her eyes widening, but he recognized the trap, having fallen for it a thousand times during training. He leapt backward and she narrowed her eyes, pursuing him instantly. As she moved to stab him, he spun around her, only to swear harshly, holding his keyblade in front of himself in time for her Nobody's blade to crash into it, launching him backward. He crashed through a building before bouncing off the wall of the next and beginning to fall. He flipped, altering his gravity to land on the wall, then turned, looking up as the two Lightnings both leapt over the edge of the collapsing building he'd just destroyed, falling at him. He shot upward at them, deflecting their blades as he passed before launching himself off the wall of the building to a tower off to his right, landing on the metal coiled around it. A moment later, both Lightnings crashed into it, cratering the metal. Tyler shot toward the Nobody instantly, his blade clashing with hers before he backflipped over her Heartless's blade. As he landed, however, the Nobody fired a dozen dark purple fireballs at him, which all exploded against his chest instantly, sending him exploding through one section of the metal and smashing into another. He rolled aside as Her Heartless's blade impaled the metal where he'd been, then slammed a kick into her gut forcing her back so he could stand. He slashed at her, but she deflected it before slamming the face of her shield into his chest. An explosion of darkness shattered the entire metal coil, sending the chunk with him on it spinning away before it crashed down on the beach, bouncing away as he rolled to a stop, groaning. Apparently, the difference he thought not holding back made wasn't as large as he'd hoped.
He began to push himself up just as he sensed Lightning's Nobody falling toward him. He dove forward, but the impact sent out a shockwave that sent him flying. As he was airborne, a streak of red light flashed past him and he encased his body in a barrier just in time for her Heartless's blade to crash into it, hurling him sideways into a boulder further up the beach. The boulder crumbled and he staggered to his feet, holding his right side, where he was pretty sure her blade had cracked a rib or two.
"Pathetic," her Heartless said.
"I thought you were going to destroy us so that we could be recompleted," her Nobody said.
"Looks like you're too weak to save anyone after all," her Heartless said.
"This fight's not over yet," Tyler said. "Besides, is it really fair to say I'm weak just because I can't beat two of you, when at best I could make one of you work for her inevitable victory before?"
Both smirked.
"Inevitable indeed," her Nobody said turning profile and raising her sword in front of herself, pointing it at him. "Time to end this."
"Agreed," Tyler said, then swung his keyblade up to aim at the sky, a bolt of lightning as big around as his keyblade glider was long exploding down on her.
She screamed in agony, her Heartless leaping away, and Tyler lunged, slashing at her as he reached her. She deflected the blade with her shield, but, instantly retaliating, but he twisted out of the way and slammed his into her abdomen, a Firaga exploding against her from point blank range, sending her exploding backward across the beach to the water before she flipped, landing on its surface. The front of her armor was now scorched, and there were burns reaching around her from her back, but as she straightened, darkness exploded off of her, her eyes both glowing purple. Then, she rocketed forward and Tyler reformed his barrier before beginning to struggle to fend off her blows. It didn't go well. Her sudden power up left things about the way they were when he and Lightning began to train in earnest. He could deflect about a quarter of the blows, but the rest all found their mark, crashing into his barrier hard. Then, suddenly, the Heartless joined in, and he couldn't do anything. Finally, desperation flooded him and he smashed his keyblade into the ground, an explosion of light going off and blasting both, hurling them away. They crashed to the ground hard, and Tyler shot toward the Nobody again. She shoved herself up, moving to meet him, and he grit his teeth, steeling himself before both slashed. His keyblade split her across the torso, light shining from the wound instantly, however, her own blade split him across the abdomen and his right side.
He staggered forward several steps before stabbing his keyblade into the ground to hold himself up. Then, his left hand shone green and his wounds healed, though he didn't feel any less exhausted. He turned, seeing her Nobody lying on the ground, still alive, but unable to continue fighting. Her Heartless glared at him before shrieking in rage, darkness exploding off of her before she rocketed toward him. He took a deep breath, then charged, reforming the barrier to protect himself before beginning to clash with her. And then three slashes later, he was bouncing backward across the ground. He flipped, landing on his feet and stabbing his keyblade into the ground just in time for her foot to crash into his face, sending him flying toward the city. He crashed through several buildings before exploding into the wall of another of the towers with metal around the top of it, falling onto the metal before summoning his keyblade to him and using it to stand.
"Yup," he grunted. "That hurt."
He dove to the side as her Heartless exploded down on the metal, once again shattering the entirety of it, only to shriek in annoyance, a massive sphere of gravity distortion forming around them, halting the metal. He turned toward her just as she shot toward him as a red blur. He flipped into the air and her sword exploded into his back just right of his spin, sending him exploding into one end of a chunk of metal, which began to flip instantly, though it went nowhere. Then, suddenly she was standing over him, stabbing downward. He yelped, slashing the sword out to the side, then sat up, slashing back the other way, only for her shield to block it. He shoved his left hand at her and a bolt of lightning exploded into her chest, launching her into a different chunk of metal. He leapt off of his as it was facing away, then slashed, a ball of gravity magic shot out of his keyblade and crashed into the metal chunk he'd just vacated, sending it streaking toward Lightning. It exploded into the one she'd landed on and she flew out of the cloud of debris it had left. He landed on the side of the tower and leapt after her, using his magic to fly, and she flipped, darkness swarming over her body before she shot back. They both slashed as they passed, blades clashing in a shower of sparks before they flipped around, clashing again and again, each time swinging around and clashing from a different angle. Finally she crashed into him more squarely, her blade shoving against his as he went hurtling backward, blasting into the ground and bouncing away from her before she could slash him. He landed on his feet and she shot forward, slashing at him rapidly, only for him to fend her off as fast as he could. After about ten seconds, he leapt backward, blasting the ground with a Blizzaga to force her to leap the other way, allowing him to land on a building's roof before the Nobody appeared behind him in a dark purple flash of streak, apparently being largely recovered. He spun, deflecting her blade and slashing at her, only for her shield to deflect it before she slashed back up at him, meaning to take his arm off. He flipped to his right over her, then spun in the air, blade blocking her Heartless's, though the impact send him exploding through several buildings and bounding along the ground to the palace.
He slid to a stop and groaned, then flipped himself backward before their swords crashed into the ground where he'd been. He regained his feet then jumped, streaking up to the top of the palace before stopping, panting and healing himself again. This was ridiculous. No matter what he did, they both just seemed to keep coming. He'd put one down, only for the other to take over for a minute before the other rejoined them. He sighed, wiping sweat from his brow just as a massive ball of darkness suddenly appeared at the ends of each of their blades before they slashed, hurling the strikes up at him. He launched himself off the palace before the spheres hit, exploding and blasting the upper half of the palace into rubble, showing just how monstrously powerful Lightning truly was. He flipped, deflecting first the Nobody's blade, then the Heartless's as they passed him, streaking up above him. Then, he rolled, swearing and using his keyblade and left hand both to form a barrier around himself just before a pair of darkness spheres exploded into the barrier. He exploded into the ground, feeling his back break, only to instantly heal his injuries, then leap backward as the two Lightnings exploded into the ground where he'd been. He shot forward, slashing at them, only for his keyblade to spark across their shields before both turned, stabbing at him, the Heartless on his left and stabbing at him across her body.
He flipped over their blades and focused, his magic racing along his keyblade in as much quantity as he could summon without a hint of resistance, making him infinitely grateful he had used her necklace for a charm. Then, as he slashed, a massive ball of light flashed form his keyblade, crashing into their shields and exploding, sending them both exploding backward into a pair of buildings which collapsed instantly. He instantly selected a target to follow up the attack against, only for his legs to buckle as he landed, dropping him onto his rear. He sighed, forcing himself to his feet again just as both stood, shoving the rubble off of them as though it weighed nothing, neither looking exceptionally injured.
"Great," he sighed. "This is going to be a very long fight."
"Not really," her Heartless said.
"We'll end it," her Nobody said.
He sighed, then readied himself again, once again focusing magic into his body. He wasn't sure how much longer he could keep this up. He'd have to think of something to end the fight soon even if it meant taking them both down at once. He leapt backward and both of them leapt after him. However, as they did, he raised his keyblade, massive spheres of Thunder Magic forming from the air around him and shooting forward, exploding into them and sending them bouncing backward. He launched himself forward with magic instantly, and reached them just as they were standing, slashing, only for both to deflect his blade. He flipped, slamming a kick into the Heartless, sending her flying before forming a barrier just as a beam of darkness exploded out of the Nobody's sword. After a moment, the barrier shattered just as the beam ended, the concussion being the only thing to hit him, fortunately, and sent him exploding into the top of the palace's remains, cratering him into the wall. He groaned, shaking his head before launching himself out of the tower, only for the Heartless to appear in front of him, blasting him directly with a sphere of darkness, sending him exploding back into the wall. He groaned, feeling what little strength he had beginning to slip.
Damn, Tyler thought. I guess she was right. I'm not strong enough.
Suddenly, he felt magic energy begin to flow into him, and sensed something that he could only describe as light. Words appeared in his mind, though they had no voice, like words on a page.
"You can use my light."
He frowned. Who was that? Before he could figure it out, his strength spiked rapidly as the light took hold, rapidly restoring his strength. Then, he sensed a connection. he could feel loneliness, fear, and regret, but also hope. The hope shone so brightly, that it almost completely blocked out the rest. It also rekindled his own hope. He opened his eyes as the knowledge of why he was here shone in his mind. He couldn't give up. He had a promise to keep.
He flipped upward from the crater int he wall onto a section of floor at the top of what remained on the tower, light shining from him, and quickly traced the connection he felt, hearing water, but not getting any other clue other than a general direction. That was enough. Once he'd saved Lightning, he'd repay whoever helped him. He summoned his keyblade back to himself from where it had fallen, then raised it the light he'd received gathering into the tip. The two Lightnings both instantly pulled their blades back, charging darkness into a pair of massive spheres. This would be it. His last chance. If he couldn't win with this, he wouldn't have enough strength to try anything else. He looked down at the two who both glared daggers at him.
"Just let me save you already!" Tyler shouted. "Holy!"
A massive cloud of light-type magic blasts exploded from his keyblade as he slashed it forward. At the same time, both Lightnings hurled their darkness spheres at him. However, five of Tyler's blasts shot down into each of theirs and the attacks erupted into an explosion of light and darkness. At the same time, the remaining several dozen blasts flashed down at the two Lightnings, exploding into them into a pair of massive pillars of light, all within two seconds of him firing the spell. As the light faded, Tyler fell to one knee, staring down at the two Lightnings as the Nobody began to fade into thorned vines of darkness, and the other into a smoke-like cloud of darkness. He sighed, dropping down to land between them and they both looked up at him before huffing and turning their heads away. He chuckled.
"Just admit I did well," Tyler said. "You're both impressed."
They were silent for a long moment before both smirked.
"I'm not saying it," the Nobody smirked.
"Wouldn't want to inflate you ego," the Heartless said.
Then, both faded, only to leave a pair of spheres of light behind. Both flew toward each other and combined, shining blindingly before leaving Lightning lying on the ground, exactly as she had been before the battle against Xehanort. He sighed in relief and knelt, lifting her bridal style before tracing the connection he'd felt again, this time sending a message.
"If you can hear me, I'll be back for you," he promised. "I have to get her back to the light first, then I'll repay you for helping me save her. You have my word."
Then, he began to walk away from the ruin he and the Lightnings had turned the city into. He wasn't exactly sure where he was going, but he felt his heart guiding him, so he followed.
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