- Chapter 9 -
Revelations
Twilight Town, The Usual Spot
Some time later, Sora's group, the Twilight Town residents, West, Zephyr, and Tiger were gathered in Hayner, Pence, and Olette's Usual Spot. Sora, Hikari, and Mickey were seated at the front, Lea, Sï'Lea, and Zephyr were leaning up against the wall, Olette, West, Riku, and Nixe were sitting on the couch with Tiger curled up in West's lap, Hayner, Pence, Olette, and Donald were sitting on the floor, and Max, Goofy, and Pence were seated on the radiator at the back. West was still wearing her coat. Sï'Lea stepped away from the wall and ran a hand through her hair.
"Okay, I think we should start with an explanation," she said, turning to West and Zephyr. "Which one of you wants to go first?" West enthusiastically raised her hand, while Riku looked at her, an almost hurt expression on his face.
"Where have you been all this time?" he asked. "Why didn't you let us know you were okay?" West looked at him, a playful smile on her lips.
"Aww, did you miss me?" she said coyly. Riku's face turned bright red, seeming even brighter under his silver hair, while Sora and Kairi barely managed to stifle their laughter.
"I thought you were dead!" he said. "Now spill it!" West giggled at his reaction before turning back to the group.
"Well, I can't explain everything, 'cause I don't remember much of it..."
Flashback
Realm of Darkness
West held on to the edge of the cliff, dangling precariously over the abyss. Her vision was starting to blur, and she felt her life's blood flowing from her multiple wounds, each one a song of pain. With a jolt of fear, she realized that she probably wasn't going to make it.
Just as she lost her grip, a black-gloved hand caught hold of her wrist, and she looked up to see Riku leaning over the edge, holding on to her arm.
"Hold on!" Riku shouted as he held on to her hand. West looked up at him, feeling weaker by the second.
"Riku..." she said. "I... I don't think I'm gonna make it..." Riku gasped and frantically shook his head.
"Don't talk like that! You're gonna be fine!" he yelled. West just smiled at him as she felt tears sting her eyes, her grip starting to slip.
"I'm glad I met your Riku," she said. "Maybe we'll meet again in the next life." With that, she released Riku's hand and fell down into the darkness below, hearing Riku scream her name as she plummeted.
West fell down into the darkness for some time, and eventually, blackness began to creep into her peripheral vision, threatening to swallow her sight whole. As it happened, tears began to flow down her cheeks.
I don't wanna die... she thought. I'm scared...
Her thoughts turned to her "family" in Traverse Town, along with the Heartless Resistance and Riku, and all of the fun times they shared together. She managed a small smile and one last thought before her mind shut down and the blackness covered her sight:
At least I had a good life.
"I was so sure that it was all over for me. Boy, was I wrong."
West moaned and stirred, and opened her eyes to find herself laying on this cold, grey ground, her surroundings still matching the Realm of Darkness. Somehow, she had survived.
"How am I still alive?" she said aloud. It was then that she looked down at herself and saw that she was now wearing a dark grey hooded coat.
"And how the heck did that get there?" she said. She pulled up the cloak and examined her body. All of her wounds had completely healed, as if they had never been there at all.
After a moment, West shook her head, clearing it. She could worry about her miraculous survival after she found a way out of the Realm of Darkness. As she stood, she pulled the hood up over her face, and looked to see several Shadow Heartless approaching. Sighing, she drew her knife.
"Well, as long as I'm stuck in this dump, I might as well get in some combat practice," West said.
"I wandered around for what felt like a few hours, but it was really about a year and a half. I was fighting the Heartless the whole time. Eventually, I ended up on this beach..."
Realm of Darkness, Dark Margin
West continued to walk, getting tired of the endless wandering and constant battles. She had aged during her time in there, her body now taller than more mature. She looked ahead and saw that she had ended up on a dark beach, which was quite peaceful and seemed to be devoid of Heartless. What really caught her eye, however, were the two people who were seated near the shore, one a young woman with blue hair, by appearances only a few years older than West herself, the other an older man with long, slicked back blond hair and a matching mustache and goatee, and bright orange eyes dressed in a coat similar to hers, but completely black.
West's heart soared at the sight of them. Other humans! She hadn't seen any living being except for the Heartless in so long. She was just about to run over to them when a more rational part of her mind took over, which she listened to.
West face-palmed at her own impulsiveness. Just because they weren't Heartless didn't mean they were friendly. With that, she walked up to the two people more cautiously, her hand on the knife in her pocket just in case. The woman heard her approach and turned to her, a look of caution in her blue eyes. For a moment, West was taken aback by how pretty the woman was, but shook it off.
"Who are you?" the woman asked, drawing a Keyblade, much to West's surprise. The Keyblade had a smooth, cylindrical, grey shaft that tapered outward at both ends. It had a boxy guard, made up of two small, light grey boxes and a copper rod. The base of the guard connected to the square-shaped grip, and both sported several small indentations lining them. The teeth were in the shape of a capital "E," and the Keychain was made of several simple chain links that ended in a silver symbol that perfectly matched the one on the woman's chest.
West quickly slid her hands out of her pockets and held them out palm-first in what she hoped was a peaceful gesture. "Don't! I'm human!" she exclaimed. "I just got here. I don't want any trouble, ma'am."
The woman relaxed and lowered her Keyblade, though she didn't dismiss it, and approached West. "Show me your face," she said calmly. West nodded and promptly dropped her hood. The blunette looked her over for a few moments, and then nodded in satisfaction and dismissed her Keyblade.
"My name is West," West said as she lowered her hands. The woman gave a small smile at that.
"I'm Aqua," she said. "Sorry for the hostility, but I've been stuck in this Realm for over ten years, and there aren't many friendly creatures here."
"Ten years?!" West exclaimed. Aqua nodded grimly before asking, "How long have you been here?"
"About a year and a half," West said. Aqua looked at her sympathetically, and then led her over to the other person, who looked over at them.
"This is Ansem the Wise," Aqua said, the man nodding in response. "He is, or at least was, the ruler of Radiant Garden."
West raised an eyebrow, having never heard of Radiant Garden. Ansem looked at her.
"Until recently, most had forgotten the name," he explained. "It was known as Hollow Bastion." The proverbial light bulb lit up above West's head.
"You said your name is West?" Ansem asked. West nodded. "Riku mentioned you a few times during the year he worked with me."
West gasped. "You know Riku?" she asked.
Ansem nodded. "He assisted me during the previous year, before I ended up trapped in this realm."
West smiled to herself. So Riku made it out of here, she thought. But how am I gonna get out?
Almost as if in response to that thought, a corridor of darkness suddenly opened beneath her. West had just enough time to let out a small scream before she fell in, the portal closing up behind her. Aqua and Ansem just stood there, surprised.
"What happened? Where'd she go?" Aqua demanded, turning to Ansem. Ansem stroked his beard in thought.
"There's no telling where she ended up, or where that corridor came from," he said simply.
Aqua stared at the spot where West had vanished. Though she had just met the girl, she hoped she was safe.
Enchanted Dominion
A dark corridor opened in the sky above an open meadow next to a lake, and West was unceremoniously spit out of the corridor, landing heavily on the ground with a shriek and a thud. She just laid there for a moment before pushing herself up.
"...Ow." she squeaked out as she got up and dusted herself off. As she did, however, she squinted at the sunlight-
Wait, back up a minute. Sunlight?
West took a good look at her surroundings. Cool, green grass, warm sun, blue sky... could it be?
She knelt down and felt the grass. It felt so soft against her skin.
This is real, she thought, and a gleeful smile spread across her lips as she started to laugh giddily.
"I did it," she declared happily as she continued to laugh. "I made it out! I'm back!"
"I'm still not entirely sure how it happened, but at that moment, I just didn't care. I'd finally gotten out of the Realm of Darkness."
At that moment, West heard footsteps approaching, and turned to see two people approaching. One of them was a beautiful, fair-skinned young woman with indigo eyes and waist-length, curly blonde hair, dressed in a long-sleeved, strapless and pleated sky-blue dress with a white collar, as well as a gold necklace and tiara, while the other was a young man with wavy brown hair and black eyes, dressed in a grey tunic over a high-collared, long-sleeved black shirt, a black belt with a gold buckle around his waist, dark grey pants, knee-high black boots, and a long, red cape with a high collar, fastened by a golden, circular pin. West recognized the woman as Aurora, one of the seven Princesses of Heart that Maleficent had captured.
"Turns out I'd ended up on Aurora's home world. She and her husband, Prince Phillip, were so nice to me, and let me stay in a spare room in their castle while I was there. I found out it was Maleficent's home world as well, and that she and her two minions had been spotted in her old castle.
"So I split my time in the Enchanted Dominion between hanging out in Aurora's castle and spying on Maleficent, trying to figure out what she was up to. I was careful not to call attention to myself, 'cause judging by the last time we met, I'm on her most wanted list. Eventually, I overheard her goons talking about something called the 'Book of Prophecies' and that Sora wouldn't stop them this time, so I figured now was as good a time as any to split."
Flashback Over
Twilight Town, The Usual Spot
West finished her story, and looked around at the others.
"That's... quite a story," Hikari said simply. Sora, Riku, and Kairi all exchanged glances, while Mickey, Donald, and Goofy did the same. Given the current situation with Xehanort, they had mostly forgotten about Maleficent and Pete; the two just seemed small time compared to the rogue Keyblade Master.
"Wait, two minions?" Mickey asked. "Maleficent got another flunky? What'd he look like?" West placed a finger on her chin and tilted her head in thought.
"He was a tall and skinny black rat with big buck teeth. He kinda looked like you, Your Majesty."
Mickey, Donald, and Goofy looked at one another. "Mortimer," they all said simply.
"Who?" Sora asked. Mickey sighed.
"Mortimer Mouse was once a resident of Disney Town. He was Pete's partner-in-crime, and constantly caused trouble for me and the others, 'cause he was obsessed with Minnie and wanted the throne. Eventually, Minnie and I got sick of it and banished him from the town."
"If he's anything like Pete, then Maleficent is really scraping the bottom of the barrel," Riku said flatly. Sora and Kairi laughed.
"I'm more concerned about what they met by a Book of Prophecies," Nixe said. The group looked at one another in thought.
"I've never heard of such a thing," Mickey said. "But if Maleficent's after it, it can't be good."
Sï'Lea, however, was more focused on the woman West met in the Realm of Darkness. She walked over to West and grabbed her shoulders.
"You said that woman's name was Aqua, right?" she said urgently. "She had blue hair and a Keyblade?"
West looked at her curiously and nodded. Sï'Lea smiled widely before turning to Mickey.
"You were right, Mickey," she said excitedly. "She's alive! Aqua's alive!"
Mickey smiled happily, hope returning to him. The moment was interrupted by Zephyr clearing his throat.
"I hate to intrude, but there's still one more explanation to be made," the boy said. The others turned to him.
"Oh, right," Sora said sheepishly. "Before you do that, I have a question about your... cat. I don't know why, but something seems... familiar about it to me."
Zephyr gave Sora a knowing smile before walking over to West and taking Tiger off of her lap. "It should," he said as he lifted up Tiger's cape. Sora and Riku gasped; emblazoned on the feline's back was a pink symbol, one the two had seen many times in the Sleeping Worlds.
"That symbol!" Sora said. "Then that means Tiger's-"
"A Dream Eater?" Zephyr finished. "Yep. Where I'm from, this breed of Dream Eaters is common." Sora and Riku exchanged glances before turning back to Zephyr.
"Okay, now that that's done, I come from a world called Daybreak Town," Zephyr explained. "It was a popular waypoint for Keybearers back in the days of the Keyblade War."
"What exactly do you do?" Sï'Lea asked.
"My family is part of an organization that calls themselves the Order of Light. It was founded by the few remaining members of the five different Keyblade Unions that survived the Keyblade War. The Book of Prophecies is an ancient tome that was bestowed upon those Unions."
"What is it?" Hayner asked.
"It's an ancient magical book. According to legend, it's said to be capable of transcribing events that have yet to take place and even conjuring them, making entire worlds filled with beings and powers of those future events. According to my parents, it actually prophecised everything that's happened these past twelve years, including me finding West and bringing her to you guys."
Sora and Riku exchanged worried glances. "If Maleficent or Xehanort got their hands on it..."
"There's no telling what kind of damage they'd cause!" Goofy exclaimed.
"No need to worry," Zephyr said calmly. "The Book's well hidden and protected. Maleficent is no closer to finding it than Xehanort is to forging the χ-blade."
"You know about that?" Kairi said. Zephyr just looked at her solemnly. "Oh, right. The prophecy thing."
Mickey decided to speak up at that moment. "Welp, Zephyr, West, we're about to set off again, and you're more than welcome to join us."
"Really? Aw, thanks, Your Majesty!" West said as she knelt down and hugged Mickey.
Zephyr shook his head. "As much as I appreciate the offer, King Mickey, I'm gonna have to decline for now. I've still got other matters to attend to."
Before anyone could say anything else, a violent bang sounded, shaking the Usual Spot and knocking everyone to the ground. Riku and Sora landed sprawled all over West and Kairi, respectively, and all four of them backed off, apologizing and blushing profusely.
"What the heck was that?" Olette asked as the group got to their feet.
"Something bad," Hikari said simply.
Sora was already dashing out the door, Keyblade in hand, and the others followed.
Author's Note:
Okay, so West's flashback is again partially borrowed from PrismRain13, with my own expansions and modifications. All credit for the original goes to her, and if/when you read this, Prism, I fully intend for this to be the last time.
Also, since I forgot to mention this before, Zephyr's swords are called Crimson Blaze and Frozen Wind, given their fire and ice powers. Said powers were inspired by the Chaos Claws and Void Sword from Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2; part of my plan is that, like the Void Sword, Frozen Wind actually drains energy from the foes it cuts and feeds it to Zephyr, healing him.
The Book of Prophecies and Daybreak Town are from Kingdom Hearts χ, with the Book of Prophecies also being mentioned by Maleficent in an additional cutscene for Kingdom Hearts coded released for Kingdom Hearts HD II.5 ReMIX.
Please R&R. Until next chapter...