A Warrior's Compassion
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth and all associated properties and characters are property of Square Enix. Kingdom Hearts and all associated characters are property of Disney and Square Enix.
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Yuffie whistled as the group exited the Tiny Bronco and stepped onto Gilgamesh's Island. If she didn't know any better, from the architecture and statues littering the area, she'd think she were back in Wutai. This Gilgamesh guy was clearly off his rocker, but at least he had good taste.
"Wow!" Sora ran ahead of them, eyes sparkling, and lips spread into a smile as he took everything in. "This place is so cool!"
"Really?" Barret snorted. "Haven't you been to all kinds of Worlds, or whatever you call it? Surely, you've been to places more fantastical than an island."
"But I've never been on this island before!" Sora countered, before leaping high into the air and perching himself on a nearby gate.
"…I just don't get that boy," Barret said with a shake of his head.
"There's nothing to get!" Yuffie chimed in. "Sora just has that grand spirit of adventure!"
"He could stand to be quieter about it," Cloud good-naturedly groused above Sora's loud exclamations of 'oohs' and 'ahhs'. Yuffie giggled, following along as Cloud led them to the building at the center of the island.
As they neared, however, the main doors slowly opened. "Oh, how I have longed for this moment!" Gilgamesh announced as he came into view. He struck all these weird poses with his multiple arms and weapons as he waxed on about how the Protorelics were really his, or whatever.
"…I demand you relinquish them forthwith!"
"Yeah, here you go!"
Yuffie goggled as Sora suddenly jogged forward, the Protorelics in his arms.
"What?!" Yuffie, and everyone else, cried out in shock. Even Gilgamesh stared wide-eyed down at him.
Sora paused and turned around with an utterly innocent expression. "Hm? What's wrong?"
"What's wro—" Yuffie stomped her feet. "You're going to just give him the Protorelics?!"
"Of course. They're his, aren't they?"
Yuffie couldn't even dignify that with a response.
At that moment, Chadley's holographic form appeared out of nowhere. Yuffie reared back in alarm. "Woah! Little warning, next time?"
"Sora," the young boy said, ignoring Yuffie. "I fear that you aren't considering the full ramifications of your actions." Sora sent him a flat look. "What I mean is, consider all that you and your companions have done to collect the Protorelics."
"Yeah!" Sora's smile returned. "We had a lot of fun, huh?"
"Sora," Aerith stepped forward. "Chadley means that we worked hard to get the Protorelics. And, well, you know…Finders Keepers?"
"…Geez, guys." Sora shook his head. "Gilgamesh has been looking for these things for ages, after being trapped in this World. How would you feel if you'd been searching for something precious and someone refused to give it to you because they 'found' it?"
"…That would stink," Tifa muttered, to Yuffie's growing disbelief. Even worse, everyone but Cloud and Chadley were seriously considering Sora's insanity!
"You, Sora," Gilgamesh finally spoke. Sora turned around, staring up at the giant. "You would act against your allies to return the Genji armor to me?" Sora just nodded and held up the Protorelics.
Gilgamesh was silent for a long moment, before he bent his head back, and laughed. "Ha! How wonderous!" Two of his arms wrapped around Sora, lifting him the air as he danced around. "A true warrior amongst a pittance of knaves!"
"Did he just call me a pittance!" Yuffie growled, stomping forward, only stopped when Cloud grabbed her arm. "I'm nowhere close to being a pittance!"
"I believe in this context, the word 'knave' was meant to be the insult," Chadley supplied.
"I'm not that either!"
Finally, Gilgamesh set Sora down. "Now! Let me get a good look at my babies." The Protorelics floated out of Sora's arms—the final nail in the coffin that, no, Yuffie was not trapped in some kind of terrible dream. Gilgamesh giggled giddily as the items hovered before him. Only for his face to fall. "Oh no!" he cried, rearing back melodramatically. Before Sora could ask what was wrong—everyone else having checked out of this entire nonsensical waste of time—Gilgamesh said, "My poor babies! They've been blemished and begrimed and befouled!"
Sora gasped, face twisting into a frown. "I'm sorry!"
"Don't fret!" Gilgamesh gently pat Sora's shoulder. "I know that one as purehearted as you could never besmirch them." He then turned to the rest of them, giving them all a major stink eye. "Though I cannot speak for the company you are forced to keep."
"Hey, that's not—"
"As penance for their foul deeds!" Gilgamesh shouted over Sora. "I can think of no greater atonement than reforging the Genji through the fires of battle." He clapped two pairs of hands, and the armor flew off to different parts of the island.
"Now, come Sora!" he grabbed the spiky-haired youth in four arms. "Let us regale each other of our past glories while the knaves repair my babies!" With that said, he leapt into the air, over the gate and into his compound, Sora protesting all the while.
It took only a few seconds for reality to reassert itself for Yuffie.
"Unbelievable!" she yelled as she stamped her feet on the ground. "After all the crap I went with that Cactuar stone bull and all the times we almost died." She gasped. "Hey, wait! Sephiroth summoned Gilgamesh to try and kill us! And Sora just walks up like he's some kindly old Uncle from down the way. That…little…gah!" She clutched her head and shouted to the heavens in her native tongue.
"I fear we've vastly miscalculated Sora's reasons for collecting the Protorelics," Chadley—who Yuffie honestly forgot was still with them—remarked.
"You think?" Barret grumbled.
"I refer, of course, to the fact that, like Gilgamesh, Sora is also stranded on the Planet—this World, as he designates it." Yuffie abruptly stopped at the reminder of Sora's origins—which she only started to believe after Chadley confirmed that, yes, he was an alien. "With that in mind, it is not wonder that he would feel great empathy towards Gilgamesh. Even beyond his standard nature."
They all grew somber at that, Yuffie's anger quickly fading away into guilt. When you put it like that…
Cloud sighed. "…Well, nothing we can do about it now. Let's reforge the Protorelics, or however he called it."
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Yuffie fell flat on her back, limbs splayed on the ground. "Please tell me we're done!" she whined.
"Don't know why you're complaining," Nanaki huffed as he shook clumps of dirt off his fur. "You weren't the one Titan shoved into the ground."
"Off your ass," Cloud called as he walked away from the last shrine. "We're finally done. Let's grab Sora and get out of here." Yuffie groaned, but nonetheless forced herself to her feet and trudged after.
The main doors were unlocked and easily pushed open. Once inside, Yuffie was forced to do a double-take. If she thought the outside of this island looked like home, then she might as well have come right back. The cherry blossoms, the stone pathways, the pagoda.
It was only the fact that everything here was so well-maintained that kept her from thinking she was dreaming. No one back home had the energy to care about such things anymore.
She jolted when a gentle hand lay on her shoulder. She looked up to see Aerith smiling down at her. "You okay?" For the briefest moment, she considered telling her the truth. After all, if there were anyone else who could understand her plight, it would be the Last Cetra.
In the end, however, she just playfully shook her off and rubbed her nose. "Of course! I'm just…annoyed that we have to do this, is all." She scoffed and teased, "Why don't we just leave Sora, since he and Gilgamesh are so buddy-buddy?"
Barret snorted. "Aside from the fact that Gilgamesh is insane?"
"We're gonna need Sora's strength for the trials ahead," Cloud answered, solemn. "Against whatever traps the Cetra left behind in their temple."
"…Not just that, right?" Tifa asked hesitantly.
Cloud paused, blinking as he looked down at himself. "N-No, of course not." He turned around to nod at her. "He's also our friend." He spoke sincerely, but what he was talking about before…Yuffie exchanged a worried glance with the others. She knew that degradation in SOLDIER cells was a serious problem—the Black Robes were proof of that. But there was something else behind Cloud's episodes. Something Aerith and Sora kept butting heads about, but she'd never been able to get the full details of.
Say what you wanted about Sora and Aerith, they could be remarkably sneaky when they wanted to.
They entered the pagoda, heading towards a garden at the back of the estate. As they neared, however, they heard light, giddy laughter. Following the noise revealed a…weird sight.
Sora stood in the center of the garden, a bemused smile on his face. Gilgamesh hopped around Sora, prancing around like a toddler as he chased after Sora's Keyblade—not his usual Kingdom Key, but a scary-looking, inky black thing with a pair of clawed hands for the guard, a bony spine for the shaft, and an open, screaming skull as the teeth. He found it somewhere in Cosmo Canyon of all places.
The Keyblade floated in the air, just out of reach of Gilgamesh's many grasping hands. At one point, he leapt at it, only for it to vanish in a puff of red mist, whereupon Gilgamesh face-planted into the dirt as it reappeared in Sora's hand. Not that Gilgamesh cared, laughing uproariously as he stood up. "Truly, the Keyblade is a wonderous weapon! It is only right that it be in the hands of a noble soul such as yours!"
Sora rolled his eyes fondly, dismissing his weapon as he waved at them. "Hey guys!" Gilgamesh turned around with a grunt, frowning at the sight of them.
Cloud stepped forward. "We fixed your shit."
Gilgamesh hummed as the Protorelics floated down from the sky around him. "That you did…" he said softly. "The Genji is made whole, perfect, and sublime! So, for Gilgamesh, it's—" He paused, before he bent down towards Sora and loudly whispered, "You should step away, friend." Sora blinked, but slowly backed up towards them.
Gilgamesh cleared his throat. "So, for Gilgamesh…it's morphin' time!" He spun rapidly in place like a top, cherry blossoms spawning from nothing as the Protorelics tornadoed around him. The cherry blossoms multiplied until they completely shrouded Gilgamsh from sight—and then shot out to blast them all in the face.
Yuffie stumbled back into Tifa, the both of them spitting out petals. When done, they found Gilgamesh floating high above them. The Protoreilcs had molded onto his body, forming some sort of mechanical armor that glowed bright yellow. The most striking feature, however, were the rockets attached to his upper arms, which roared as he laughed in triumph
Yuffie hated everything about this situation, but she had to admit, that looked cool.
"Verily!" Gilgamesh declared. "My memories are restored! Of who I am, whence I came, and why I have been bounding betwixt Worlds!" He landed on the ground with a heavy thud. "But I dare not tarry here. My nemesis and I have a score to settle." He bowed to them. "Fare thee well!" And spun on his heel. He made one large, exaggerated step, but froze just before his foot touched the ground.
Slowly, he looked over his shoulder, directly at Sora. "Although…Now that my memories are restored, I recall that I have spent much time seeking out the mythic Keyblade." He turned around fully, three pairs of hands coming together to twiddle their thumbs as he nervously looked to the sky. "I would be remiss if I let the chance to test my mettle against one of its fabled wielders slip past my fingers."
Sora grinned, stepping forward and summoning his Keyblade in a puff of red mist. "Sounds fun!"
"The hell are we?" Barret grumbled softly, "Chopped liver?" But not softly enough, because Gilgamesh turned to look over all of them.
"Yes." He focused on Cloud as he rubbed his chin. "We do have our own score to settle, don't we?" He clapped his six hands together. "Very well! I shall grant you all the honor of joining Sora in battle against me. And in light of your miraculous friendship with such a great warrior, I shall not divest you of your Buster Sword upon your defeat!"
Cloud scoffed as he drew his weapon off his back—prompting the rest of them to get ready for a fight. "Like you'd get the chance," he said.
Gilgamesh dipped his head back and laughed. "Yes!" He drew one of the weapons off his back—a long, two-segmented spear—with his middle-left hand. "Come at me!" With that cue, they struck!
Sora and Cloud both dashed forward, their weapons held at their sides to perform a pair of diagonal slashes. Gilgamesh blocked both blows, but it left him open for Yuffie and Nanaki to strike at his back. Unfortunately, Gilgamesh's extra arms weren't just for show, and he reached out and grabbed them both by their necks.
Yuffie stretched her leg as far as possible to kick Gilgamesh in his stupid head. It was much less effective than the flying knee Tifa delivered square on his nose. Gilgamesh groaned in pain, dropping Yuffie and Nanaki to the ground. They both landed on their feet/paws and bounced up to land two solid blows on his back.
They all backed away as Barret and Aerith blasted him with magic and bullets.
"Blah, bah, bleh!" Gilgamesh spat before holding to hands in front of his face. "An admirable show of teamwork!" he bellowed, hiding behind his hands as he wildly swung his spear to keep them away. "Perhaps this shall be more difficult than I thought."
"But now!" He stomped the ground hard enough to shake the earth. "Feast your eyes and grow stupefied by my swordsmanship!" He clenched his bottom right hand, and a wickedly long katana appeared in a flash of light.
The rockets on his arms intensified ten-fold, leaving him as little more than a blur as he dashed forward, knocking them all aside as he aimed his sword at Barret.
"No you don't!" Sora shouted, rocketing forward in a burst of speed—shattered glass sounding in his wake. He made it just in time to block the tip of the katana but was shoved back with enough force that he and Barret went flying.
"Nanaki, Asses!" Cloud shouted as he and Tifa ran forward to reengage Gilgamesh. The guardian of Cosmo Canyon nodded while Yuffie stuck close to him to give him cover, throwing her shuriken at Gilgamesh and using the wind to manipulate it into striking him while also blasting him with Ninjitsu.
Nanaki let out a sharp growl as the Assess Materia on a band on his left leg shone brightly. She could see the Materia's inner magic worm its way into his eyes—she knew it wasn't for everyone, but she'd always loved how the Assess Materia worked. Made it feel like she could see through walls and stuff.
"Fire and poison!" Nanaki called out, before one of the other Materia on his band glowed, a green aura coating his body. Yuffie took the chance to cast a Ninjutsu, channeling the power of fire into her attacks.
"Got it!" Aerith called out, a green glow also surrounding her as she called upon one of the Materia in her staff.
Sora, the abnormal alien that he was, just blasted Gilgamesh with fire using his Keyblade. It distracted him long enough for Nanaki and Aerith to fire off their normal, Materia-based magic, the former blasting him with fire, and the latter covering him in a thick, gooey bubble.
"Gah, poison!" Gilgamesh cried, as the bubble burst, coating him in debilitating poison. "Even for knaves, to stoop to such a dirty trick!"
"Ain't dirty if you win!" Cloud and Sora called out in tandem, sharing a grin before engaging Gilgamesh in a deadly dance of blades.
Gilgamesh laughed uproariously. "True!" he bellowed, before raising his top right arm. An absolutely giant axe appeared in his hand. With a mighty chop, he cleaved the ground before him, spikes of earth jutting and stabbing into Sora and Cloud, who had leapt away to avoid the initial blow.
"That does it!" Sora called out as he and Cloud landed. "Yuffie, help me out!"
"Don't have to ask twice!" she grinned in reply as she dashed next to him. Sora held his Keyblade above him, the tip of it glowing green as five miniature tornadoes spawned around Gilgamesh. Yuffie laughed triumphantly, calling upon her ninja training to summon five perfect copies of herself. As one, they leapt at Gilgamesh striking him with their shuriken. They bounced away and into the tornadoes, whipping them back into Gilgamesh, then into a tornado, and into Gilgamesh again.
"Don't blink!" Yuffie taunted as she and her clones each landed in front of a tornado each. They flew through hand signs, fireballs spawning around them . Sora leapt high above Gilgamesh, flipped in the air and aiming his Keyblade down at their giant foe. With a sharp cry, he summoned one giant tornado centered on Gilgamesh as Yuffie and her clones shoved their right hands forward. The tornadoes lit ablaze and shot forward, forming a massive firestorm that had Gilgamesh screaming in pain.
The backlash unfortunately destroyed her clones and sent her flying back. But Sora, fast as lightning, darted down and helped her steady. "Nice one!" he cheered as they fist bumped, before going on the attack once more.
Regrettably, the explosion did not slow Gilgamesh down. If anything, he got even more excited. He summoned another weapon—a giant gunbai, which was supposed to be a communication tool for battlefield commanders, but apparently no one told Gilgamesh that—into his lower left hand. He used it like, well, a fan, weaving blades of wind to cut them to pieces. And sometimes just trying to bash them into the ground.
Still, they fought back just as ferociously, pulling out all the tricks they could. Aerith used Nanaki like a feral Yo-Yo, Tifa and Yuffie struck him with awesome combos, and Sora bounced between backing Cloud up with swordplay and boosting Barret's armgun with his magic. There were times where they knocked Gilgamesh's weapons out of his many hands, but he'd summon them back too soon for them to really capitalize on it.
Then, after driving them all back with another earth-shattering slam of his ax, Gilgamesh gasped. "Could it be?! The sword of which legend tells—Excalibur!" He summoned a sword into his middle right arm. A rather plain looking thing for a supposedly legendary blade. "By this holy blade," Gilgamesh bellowed, "shall your lives be ended!"
"Wait, what?!" Yuffie cried out in alarm—she thought this was just a really intense duel! Evidently, Gilgamesh had changed his mind, the rockets on his arms roaring like a Jabberwock as he ran forward, striking at all of them with his myriad of weapons before landing one solid slash of Excalibur against Nanaki's legs.
The guardian of Cosmo Canyon howled in fright…and then paused, looking down at his left forelimb. Maybe the fur there was a little shorter, but that was it.
All movement stopped as Gilgamesh stared at Excalibur in shock.
"This is not my Excalibur!" he cried. "This is but Excalipoor!"
"Is he for real?" Sora asked, bemused.
"No matter!" Gilgamesh rallied. "For I am the Bladesman of Legend. And I shall make proof of the truth of my title!" He ran forward, Excalipoor held high.
Yuffie almost laughed, but Sora and Cloud's alarmed of "Watch out!" had her moving on sheer instinct. Nanaki and Tifa heeded their call too, but Barret and Aerith were too slow. Excalipoor slashed at them, Cloud, and Sora. And that's when things got weird. Yuffie saw it—it was only the single stroke. But somehow, Gilgamesh struck Barret and Aerith hundreds, perhaps even thousands of times in the blink of an eye! Sora and Cloud, having anticipated the attack, moved their blades in blurs as they blocked as many slashes as they could. But in the end, they were still struck senseless.
Yuffie growled and called upon the power of her ice Materia. Before Gilgamesh could make another swipe with Excalipoor, she shot out a massive shard of ice at him. It slammed into his face, before bursting apart, frost coating his eyes and forcing him back several steps.
"Heal!" Sora shouted, aiming his Keyblade overhead now that he had room. A massive pink flower surrounded by vines sprouted above him, and Yuffie felt her wounds and fatigue vanish in an instant. And however good she felt, Barret and Aerith were ten times better.
Don't get Yuffie wrong, she loved Materia. Her dream was to one day collect enough to fill a giant vault of Materia to swim around in. But Sora's magic, though running against all logic, was awesome.
"Guess he's not all talk," Cloud begrudgingly admitted. "Anyone able to Summon?" Yuffie looked down at the Kujata Materia on her wristband. Dull and lifeless. She didn't have to look around to know everyone else's was the same. "Great."
"Don't worry," Sora said, stepping forward. "I've still got a few tricks up my sleeve." Before anyone could say anything, Sora's clothes flashed bright white. When the light vanished, the red and yellows in his outfit had changed to various shades of blue, and stars were printed along his pants and hood. He swung his Keyblade out, and the weapon cracked like a whip before elongating and straightening. The skull at the end grew twice in size, red mist pouring out of its jaw as it detached form the Keyblade, the mist floating up and filling in its eyes, making them glow ominously. Sora flipped his weapon around, one half of the handle jutting out to form a wickedly sharp spearhead, the other sliding along the shaft to form the butt of this new spear.
Sora spun his transformed weapon with an elaborate flourish, holding it in one hand along his back while the skull floated around his head, teeth clacking intermittently as he hovered about a few inches above the ground.
Everyone, including Gilgamesh, blinked at him.
"What the hell?!" Yuffie shouted as she pointed at his Keyblade—or spear or whatever it was now. "Since when can you do that?!"
"Since always," Sora nonchalantly replied. "Well, technically the Kingdom Key can't transform, but it's still a Formchange."
"And you haven't pulled this out before because…?" Barret trailed off with an arched brow.
"Haven't had to." Sora rested the spear against his shoulder as the skull came to rest atop his head. "You're all really strong! Plus, even if things got dicey, you've all got those Summons. Haven't had to use it."
As they all gaped at Sora, Gilgamesh finally recovered. "Ah!" He reached out towards Sora with his right middle arm—the only one not holding a weapon. "How marvelous! The magnificence of the Keyblade defies expectation!" He whimpered. "…I want one."
Sora grinned and spun the spear in his hands before pointing it at Gilgamesh, the skull atop his head floating up once more. "Win, and I might point you in the right direction."
Gilgamesh grinned wolfishly in return. "Ha-ha! Very well, Sora. And so, as you've revealed your technique, allow me to show you a martial art none but I have mastered!" He bent inward, before bursting out, a shockwave in his wave. The weapons in his hands flashed white, and one final weapon—it looked like the Excalipoor but lined with surprisingly tasteful gold filigree The actual Excalibur, if Yuffie had to guess.
Sora grunted. "I'll keep him busy," he said, before launching towards Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh let loose a thundering laugh, bringing all six weapons down to tear Sora to ribbons. But Sora, much like the Gi ghosts they'd fought in Cosmo Canyon, flowed around him like water. He spun around as he slashed at Gilgamesh's back, a wave of crimson energy shooting out from his weapon. Sora wielded the spear less like a, well, spear, and more like a brush. Painting on an invisible canvas, the spearhead splashing Gilgamesh with waves of 'paint'. The skull floating around him also pitched in at times, either shooting Gilgamesh with eye beams or blasting him with burning crimson mist that sprayed out from its gaping maw.
Honestly, Sora could be such a dork, but sometimes he was just so cool.
"We need to get those weapons away from him," Cloud declared, bringing Yuffie's attention away from the current spectacle.
"What, you want us all to rush in?" Yuffie grimaced. "Cause I don't know about you, but…" she trailed off, and they all briefly looked back at the fight. Gilgamesh jabbed forward with both Excalibur and Excalipoor, while slashing down with his axe and spear, and up with his gunbai and katana—effectively boxing Sora in. Sora waited until the last possible second before vanishing in a puff of smoke, reappearing behind Gilgamesh. He aimed his spear forward, the tip glowing red before shooting out a massive fireball at Gilgamesh. The skull floating around him glowed red too, before propping open its jaw and adding its own fireball to the mix. The two projectiles exploded on impact, covering Gilgamesh in a thick layer of smoke.
"Yeah, I don't feel like getting in the middle of their either," Aerith added.
"Not that," Cloud huffed. "Yuffie, what's the greatest number of clones you can make of someone?"
"Five."
"Make 'em of Barret," Cloud replied. "Either they can shoot Gilgamesh's weapons out of his hands or distract him enough for the rest of us to do it. Got it?"
Barret grunted. "Always did think the Planet could use more Barret in it."
As Yuffie rolled her eyes and started the technique, Nanaki added. "This won't be permanent like with Johnny, right?"
"If they are, I'm hanging up my gear," Yuffie vowed, before summoning the clones. In an instant, five perfect copies of Barret appeared in puffs of smoke.
"Sora!" Cloud called out. The spiky-haired extraterrestrial looked back, grinned, and leapt high in the air to avoid Gilgamesh's next swing.
"Light 'em up, boys!" Barret called out.
"Hell yeah!" his clones said in unison as they all fired at Gilgamesh. With precise aim, they each hit one of Gilgamesh's hands. Within seconds of sustained, heavy fire, the weapons held within all spun out of them.
"Aim for his face!" Cloud told Barret and his copies, who easily shifted their aim to Gilgamesh's face while he and Tifa ran forward. Yuffie, Aerith, and Nanaki struck with massive blasts of Ninjutsu, poison, and fire respectively. Tifa and Cloud stuck up close and personal, both performing hard-hitting, devastating combos that left Gilgamesh panting on one knee.
"It's over!" Sora declared, gliding up before Gilgamesh as Cloud and Tifa backed away and Barret's clones vanished in puffs of smoke—Yuffie made extra certain of that. The skull floating around his body shot right over Gilgamesh, it flashed red, and expanded over ten times its original size, jaw propped open as it smashed down and swallowed Gilgamesh whole. It righted itself in the air, jaw clacking like a rockslide as it literally chewed Gilgamesh up. After one final snap of its jaw, Sora threw his spear through its nose hole. Cracks leaking smoke appeared on the skull, before exploding in a massive plume of red mist.
As Sora's clothes returned to their normal color, his normal, creepy skeleton Keyblade appearing in his hand, the mist parted to reveal Gilgamesh face-down on the ground.
Slowly, the hulking, six-armed man rose to his knees. "Impressive," he said with a groan. "Formidable foes, one and all."
"Had enough?" Cloud asked.
"Aye," Gilgamesh said, prompting them all to relax. He stood up and stared down at his hands. "To test my mettle against a Keyblade Master…Had I not my own affairs to tend to, I might die happy."
"Oh, I'm not a Keyblade Master," Sora nonchalantly replied. "I actually failed the exam that would've made me one."
"Truly?" Gilgamesh said in awe, while the rest of them looked at Sora in shock. All his power, and he wasn't some sort of 'Master' of the Keyblade?
"Eh, didn't really care." Sora shrugged. "It's just some title."
"…Perhaps." Gilgamesh thumped two hands against his chest. "Though know that I, Gilgamesh, acknowledge you, Sora, as a Bladesman of Legend!" He nodded at Cloud. "As I do you, Cloud."
Cloud grunted, arching a brow. "Really?"
"Yes," Gilgamesh grudgingly stated. "Boorish you may be, you wield your blade with a steady hand, a sharp mind, and a clear heart.
"…Thanks," Cloud said, softly. "But I don't deserve that title yet."
"Ah, yes." Gilgamesh rubbed his chin. "That silver-haired creature." Cloud's face twitched at the mention of Sephiroth—though Yuffie couldn't tell if it was the mention in and of itself, or the reduction of such a mythical figure as a 'creature'. "Your rival?"
"…Something like that."
"In that case!" Gilgamesh summoned his spear and tilted it towards Cloud. "You must best your rival that you might earn the title!" He thumped his spear lightly against the ground. "And now, I must be off. To other Worlds, other challenges!"
He spun on his heel, his robe billowing dramatically as he marched forward. It honestly looked pretty badass—a lone warrior marching through the cosmos in search of worthy foes.
Too bad the effect died as Gilgamesh froze, dithering to and fro.
Aerith leaned forward with a bemused grin. "You, uh…forget the way back?"
"Of course not!" Gilgamesh blustered. "With all the countless Worlds I've traversed? Crossing the void between them is a trifle!" But even with that, he just looked around helplessly.
He would have done that all day, if Chadley's holographic didn't suddenly appear before him. "If I may," the young boy politely said.
"The loathsome whelp!" Gilgamesh cried. Chadley spawned a bunch of holographic screens and spouted a bunch of jargon. Yuffie couldn't have paid attention if she tried. Something about riffs in spaceytime?
"There it is!" Chadley, and Sora, said at the same time, pointing to a purple orb of energy that spawned in the sky. As they all looked at Sora, the young man just shrugged. "I'm a Keyblade Wielder. Travelling to different Worlds is our main thing. Though that rift is different than the gateways I'm used to."
Gilgamesh nodded. "More and more wonders. In any case." He aimed his spear at the rift. "It's time to cleave it open!" He slashed his spear, a massive wave of energy flying from the spear. When it crashed against the orb, it split open, forming a massive, gaping hole in the sky.
Gilgamesh smiled down at Chadley. "I am in your debt, whelp."
"Just as I was indebted to you for the data you provided," Chadley genially replied. "Now we're even." Gilgamesh nodded, before turning back to them. To Sora, actually.
"Sore, my fellow Bladesman." He held out his middle-right hand. "Come with me." They all stared wide-eyed at the offer. "As two strangers to this World, let us leave it together, that we might find our way home."
Yuffie darted her head to stare at Sora. His face was slack, but she could see the hope in his eyes. He'd told them that he couldn't go back to him home—which included an awesome version of Yuffie who was her home's recognized and top defender, as it should be. Of course, he should take this chance to go back.
But then, the light faded, and Sora just smiled and shook his head. "Nah, I'm good."
"Sora, are you sure?" Chadley spoke up, a frown on his face. "Though I've gained much data on the ability to travel between Worlds thanks to Gilgamesh, I cannot create my own pathways. Once he leaves…you may not get another chance."
"Ah, it's fine," Sora dismissed the concern as he clasped his hands behind his head with a smile. "I'll leave this World when the time's right."
Chadley made to speak once more, but Gilgamesh cut him off with a fond hum. "You march to the beat of your own Heart." He walked forward and held out his middle-right hand. "It has been an honor, my friend." Sora nodded and shook the offered hand.
Soon into the handshake, however, they both frowned. They pulled away, and Sora held his arm out to reveal…a token of Gilgamesh's helmet on a silver chain.
Nanaki and Aerith surged forward. "Woah, hold on!" the former said.
"Is that a…" Aerith trailed off in awe.
Sora just grinned, before summoning his Keyblade, the hilt facing up. He took off the chain on it—whereupon it flashed white and became his Kingdom Key. He attached the new chain, and his Keyblade was overtaken by a bright yellow flash of light and a smattering of ethereal cherry blossom petals.
The light died to reveal a brand new Keyblade. The handle was the same as Gilgamesh's spear, and the guard was Gilgamesh's hollowed out ganbei. The shaft of the Keyblade was the same as his katana's, with a filigree that was a mix of both Excalibur's and Excalipoor's. The teeth of the key, if you could call it 'teeth', was the axe.
"What is this?" Gilgamesh said in awe—speaking for all of them.
"A Keyblade," Sora said cheekily. When they all stared at him, he chuckled. "See, Keyblades…They're a person's Heart given form. And memories are an intricate part of a Heart's power. And sometimes, those memories manifest as a different form for the Keyblade to take."
"But…this is the first time you've actually talked to Gilgamesh," Barret said.
Sora shrugged sheepishly. "I…don't really know how it works. I mean, just recently I got a Keychain for playing all of Uncle Scrooge's video games. And I've received two separate ones from the version of Cloud I'm familiar with." He looked back up at Gilgamesh, who looked at the Keyblade with stars in his eyes. "…You wanna hold it?"
Gilgamesh reared back. "What? I—I could never! It is a boon to have the weapon strike against my armor. I could nary dream to—"
"Yes or no?" Sora asked flatly.
"Yes please!" Gilgamesh squeaked. Sora rolled his eyes and held his Keyblade by its shaft out to Gilgamesh. Gingerly, he grabbed it with his lower-left hand, before laying it across multiple hands. "Magnificent…Would that I might have my own."
"Maybe you can." Sora smiled as Gilgamesh ran a hand along the Keyblade's teeth. "All you need to wield a Keyblade is a strong Heart. Not that I know exactly how strong that Heart should be." He shrugged. "I mean, I don't think my Heart's any stronger than the average person's, and I've got one."
Gilgamesh hummed softly. "You sell yourself short, my friend." He bent down on one knee, presenting the Keyblade to Sora. Sora took it and dismissed it in a flash of light. "I must thank you once again, Sora. For granting me such a tremendous boon." He pressed a hand against his chest—right over his heart. "I swear, should we cross paths again throughout these vast cosmos, I shall stand at your back, that the Worlds might never overtake us!"
He dropped to both knees and bowed his head. "And to all you valiant souls, I bid you good health, good fortune, and goodbye!" He then sprung up and hopped on one leg towards the rift. He stomped his raised foot to the ground, aiming his spear at the rift.
"Prepare yourself, Warriors of Light!" he declared, before leaping into the rift, and vanishing to another time and place.
Chadley grunted, his holographic form blinking in and out, so he stood right in front of them. "Quite the character, isn't he?"
"Yeah, he's great!" Sora said with a wide grin. The rest of them rolled their eyes.
"Still," Chadley tapped his monocle, and dozens of holographic screens appeared before them. "Just because I am unable to create my own rifts through space-time, doesn't mean that I haven't used the data I've gathered in meaningful ways." A screen of a red Materia orb popped up—something Yuffie forced herself to pay attention to. "Such as a summoning Materia based on the data I gathered during your fight with Gilgamesh. I imagine he'd be an effective, and amusing, ally."
Yuffie pulled a face—even for her, a Materia devoted to that clown was a bit much.
"And, luckily, I've devised new transmuter chips that that you can use to recreate the Genji armor." Cloud perked up at that. "However, Sora." Chadley surged on the young man. "It would appear that you've withheld multiple pertinent data points regarding the Keyblade. I insist that we meet at the earliest possible convivence that you might rectify this mistake."
Sora stepped back, a nervous smile on his face. "O-Oh! Well, gee, I would, but we've gotta get to the Temple of the Ancients, you know?"
"Actually," Cloud smirked, just a touch below cruel. "After all that fighting, I think we need to resupply at—where're you at, Chadley?"
"I am currently in Costa del Sol."
"Right. We'll head there."
"Oh, no!" Sora stated, wide-eyed as he frantically waved his hands in front of him. "We don't need to go out of our way!"
"Don't be silly!" Aerith said sweetly. "We could use a break, after all. All the trouble we've had to go through, fighting those summons."
"Yeah!" Yuffie joined in with a snicker as Sora flinched guiltily. "I can only imagine the torture Gilgamesh put you through while we were fighting for our lives!" With each word, Sora shrank deeper and deeper into himself.
Chadley's grin grew positively devilish. "I look forward to your arrival," he said, before vanishing from sight.
"Wait, Chadley!" Sora cried out as the rest of them started walking away. "No, guys c'mon! Let's talk about this. Guys. Guys!"
/+/+/+/+/
A/N: Turns out I had an extra story in the tank.