AN: Okay, got this big, chonky chapter done and ready to go lol! xD Thought I'd throw it up here. :D Enjoy!
I should have titled this chapter: The Union X Recap Chapter. Lol. But it is necessary for character development!
No but honestly I totally wanted to name this chapter "The truth of her Heart" instead of the other one I already used that name for, cause it would have been more fitting, buuut I love coming up with chapter names so I made one that's hopefully just as good and relevant! xD
End of AN!
Vanitas stood in the dark, narrow alleyway of the streets of the city of London, hidden even under starlight.
The other half of this world - the counterpart to Neverland.
Other half...hah...
He gazed down at his hand, clenching and unclenching his fist.
That Princess of Heart had genuinely surprised him, caught him off guard - too much for him to change his mind and just kill her and Ventus anyways. Surprised him, and confused him; she'd actually gone through with it - kept her word - and managed to sway Ventus into giving him a physical form again, separate and apart from Ventus's existence. No betrayal, no backstab, no...anything.
Sure, she'd verbally tore into him worse than even the Master ever did, and she had set loose some monster made of light itself on him (something that had left him shaken to his core for hours afterward, as well as physically weakened), but...
She had just let him go, after fulfilling her word to the letter.
Even Ventus had just let it all happen. He'd cooperated with it.
What in the hell was that girl? She was insane, clearly - but also some sort of freak of nature, too, holding some...some eldritch horrors inside her that even Vanitas had never seen before! She just didn't act like a Heart of Pure Light did! She didn't...
What kind of Heart of Pure Light made and honored a deal that could only benefit a being of Pure Darkness?!
She had actually proposed an alliance between a Princess of Heart and a True Darkness!
She'd been afraid of him, he'd seen it - felt it - drank in those feelings like an intoxication, empowering himself on them...but then she hadn't been, and then she'd just been-
Been not afraid of him. She'd mocked him, berated him, even when her life had literally been in his hands! She'd looked him in the eye and called him pathetic, even as he'd been doing his best to choke the life from her! And she'd kept it up, even after he'd been ready to cut her down just to end it all, to silence her stupid fucking voice, those damn piercing words of hers, like she knew him, like she was so sure she was right-
Vanitas growled, turning and smacking his fist into the brick wall behind him. He couldn't get her out of his head, damnit! It was vexing him! All of it!
It had been like being around the Master. No matter what Vanitas was, no matter what he could do, no matter that he was Pure Darkness...the Master had always made him feel stupid, helpless, out of control, off his game - weak.
And this damned Princess of Heart, this human girl...had made Vanitas feel the same way. She had been the one who had come off as strong, in control of the situation, smart and certain, and unfazed by Vanitas's power, status, or origins. Even when she'd been at his non-existent mercy.
And then she'd still gone on to just...give him a body, a- a- for nothing, for-
Why? Why, why, why?! Godammit! Why do you make no sense at all, you stupid little girl?!
He couldn't just call her naive, or stupid, or weak, either. As much as he wanted to. She hadn't been any of those things.
It wasn't pity, or charity, he could see that. All that talk about revenge and pain and shit...she'd meant all of it.
She was as sharp and ruthless as him, despite being what she was!
So why?
He'd ignored all that other crap she'd said, about families and happy little friends, and colors and shit, but...
Everything she'd said about Xehanort (and himself), at least...he couldn't deny it all rang too fucking true. Furiously, ragingly true.
Vanitas leaned against the wall, crossing his arms and shutting his eyes tight.
He reached again for the connection between him and his Master-
And couldn't find it.
What?
He tried again - same result!
How could it just be gone? Had that Princess done something to him, some sneaky, secretive little-
The memory of that damn terrifying monster came back to him. When it had gotten hold of him, crushing him, burning him...tearing into him...ripping pieces of him off...
It had felt like being put through a fucking blender, like he was being shredded apart - physically, and...figuratively. His dark Heart itself had felt like it was being pulled out of his body-
Had that been it?
Had that thing managed not only to rip off little pieces of his physical form, but also...that sliver of the Master's Heart inside his own?
In which case, that insane princess had done two inexplicable, beneficial things for him tonight...
Vanitas opened his eyes again, letting his arms fall.
He gazed up at the narrow strip of night sky.
And on his face, a true grin appeared (something he could not recall happening too many times across his life), along with a strange feeling of...satisfaction in his chest.
"Heh..."
He could actually do this, couldn't he? With the connection severed, the Master would have no way to just find him again...
However long it would even take the old man to realize Vanitas had run out on him.
And in that time...Vanitas thought he could get pretty damn far away.
Although - much as he hated to admit it - the little princess had been right about one other thing, too...
He was going to have to be a little more discrete with his whole presence than usual - than ever, really - if he was going to have any chance at staying under the Master's radar.
Which was going to be another problem, considering his Heart was still weak. Weaker still, after that insane princess had set that- freakish monster on him. He was going to have to send out his Unversed, to gather negative emotions with which to restrengthen himself with - to shore up his Heart again. It would need to be done in a quiet, controlled manner (to not draw the attention of Xehanort or the Princess of Heart and her friends).
But it needed to be done, and so he would need to simply...take the risk.
But which world to choose?
After a long time, the turning of memories ceased.
"Well, there you are, kid," Luxu spoke flatly. "The grand truth of the mystical, ancient Keyblade War. A group of fools turned to mad dogs, hundreds of children led to fight each other to the death, a whole World plunged to darkness and torn apart - all for the sake of one guy's really personal grudge against a dozen odd beings who caused him some trauma in his life before. So he made the plan: draw them in, trap them, destroy them. Everything else? Window dressing. The stage that was set for it all. Do you feel enlightened now? Your curiosity all satiated? It's a hell of a story, isn't it. Hell of an advocate for therapy, too, I'd say."
Xehanort sat there, his head bowed, his fists clenched atop his knees.
Amaya could see that he was shaken - anyone could have. So she took the chance, moving to place her hand atop one of his. "Xehanort-"
"Don't touch me again!" Xehanort said wildly, his head coming up, as his hand violently smacked hers away. "I don't know what you are, but I know you aren't really her!" His eyes were wide and jittery in their sockets. His mouth was open, short breaths emerging...
Amaya restrained a sigh. She looked instead to the girl, Namine. "If it's possible, could you allow him to see memories from me, as well? There are many things I would like to show him - things he should know the truth about. Things he deserves to know - and to believe."
"Sure. What memories do you want me to look for?"
Amaya sat silently for a moment. "Is there any way I could guide the process? You mentioned to Master Luxu, before, about his mind wandering-"
"Oh - yes! We can do that! You should just be able to focus on what you want to remember, and I can just let things go there," Namine said. "I've never done it before, but...it should work."
"Thank you." Amaya returned her eyes to Xehanort. To that twisted face, to those wild eyes. "I tried to tell you once before, when you were young, but...you were too young to understand, to hold onto it, I think. You never asked me about any of it again, in the years that followed - except for two things: when you would be able to see your mother again, and the prophecy of the Child of Destiny." She paused, thinking back on the young man's reaction to Luxu's memories. To the people within them. "Though, you did seem to recognize some of the figures from my life, so perhaps you've held on to more than I realized - even if subconsciously..."
"What are you talking about?" Xehanort said, narrowing his eyes.
"I would like to show you the story of my life, from beginning to end - and again, and again," Amaya spoke quietly. "I want to give you nothing but the full, unvarnished truth of who I am, in hopes that you'll understand."
Xehanort was silent, those eyes of silver roaming her face now - searching for something...?
Amaya focused her mind, and then gave a nod to Namine.
And the girl initiated the process again, drawing them all into a world of memories once more...
She began at the beginning.
The faintest, fragmentary memories were suddenly shown, even to herself, in such a startling clarity and wholeness.
A home, and a family. A small village, on edge of a vast lake that was akin to a small ocean, with river channels and waterfalls surrounding it.
It was peaceful, simple - good. But, in time, darkness came.
Then, memories she didn't recognize at all played before her own eyes: memories of loss, and grief, fear, rage, and then-
The arrival of the one in the mask, shrouded in robes, wielding a Keyblade. A young woman who Amaya immediately recognized as being Master Invi.
Amaya gazed at her ten year old self - watching as the timid girl sought refuge with the woman who had beaten back the dark creatures...the Heartless...
Amaya searched her mind again, finding the next memory, and tearing herself away - forward.
She had been in Daybreak Town for only a few days, at this point. This, she remembered clearly...
She watched herself wake from a startling nightmare in the middle of the day, and go rushing off down the streets. She came up the steps to the fountain square - where she was confronted by Shadow Heartless.
She defeated them, but still more came. More and more. She ran herself ragged, around the narrow streets and up and down flights of stone steps. She defeated any monsters in her sight, Keyblade in hand. Blue and silver, simple and clean, like its name: Starlight. She defeated the last batch of creatures, finally finding reprieve from them. And then-
With a puff of smoke, the small, fluffy being appeared before her in the square. A grey little cat-like being, with a cape and a pouch on their chest.
"Pretty scary stuff, huh? But you get an A for effort," Chirithy spoke (though, she hadn't known their name just yet - that was their first meeting, to start a years long journey together). "...I'm Chirithy, nice to meet ya!"
The memory moved on, resolving into something new.
A Moogle had told her of monsters in Waterfront Park. So Amaya had raced to the edge of Daybreak Town. She'd crossed the long, stone bridge, and gone down the steps into the park area. It overlooked the lake, and the waterfalls falling into it that came from spouts on the side of the bridge.
A boy around her age, with silver hair and light blue eyes, wearing a red scarf, was fighting an Invisible Heartless with a golden Keyblade. He leapt and flipped through the air around it, slashing at it. He defeated it with seeming ease - but then he fell to one knee, gasping.
Amaya hurried over to him, and she held out a hand for the boy. He took it, letting her pull him to his feet again.
"Thanks. I guess I got a little cocky," the boy said, with a laugh. "I'm Ephemer. I belong to the Union Ursus. Nice to meet you."
"I'm Amaya from the Union Leopardus," she responded, quiet and shy.
"Looks like we're on different teams," Ephemer said. "But I'm working on something other than my Union task today, so think of me as Union free for the day." He gazed at her for a moment. "Hm...I guess I can tell you what it is, since you helped me out. Can you keep a secret?"
Ephemer stepped forward suddenly, startling her; she stepped BACK in response.
"The worlds we visit - the worlds of fairy tales - are nothing more than holograms. You know, projections. The light we collect there is actually this World's light," he continued. " Umm, to put it simply: There are lots of worlds, right? And they're all connected by land. But they're all so far apart, it'd be impossible to go around to all of them. That's why there's a mechanism that projects those worlds here and allows us to to collect Lux from far away lands. I'm gathering information, trying to figure out how the whole thing works. My hunch is that the Book of Prophecies held by the Foretellers is what's creating these holograms."
"This kid figured it all out? So early?" Luxu's voice interjected, drawing Amaya's attention away from her own past, filled with disbelief. Amazement. "I see why Ava chose him to be a Union Leader."
Amaya shook her head, focusing on a new memory.
The dim, cold, wetness of the Town's underground waterways came into focus.
The younger Amaya was walking across a walkway, with Chirithy close behind her. She stopped, suddenly, catching sight of the retreating back of a Foreteller: Master Ava.
Ava stopped, turning back to face her suddenly.
"You're Amaya. Why are you here?" Ava spoke.
Amaya, focusing on her feelings, on the search for her missing friend, found the courage to speak. "I'm trying to find Ephemer. I heard you might know something about it."
"Ephemer?" Ava said, surprise in her voice. "Yes, I know him. But you still haven't answered my question; you came to find me because of some rumor?"
"...I had a dream," Amaya said, quiet and awkward. But it was her only lead. Ephemer himself had appeared to her, telling her...and she believed it was real. "Ephemer asked me to come here. And I thought...I had a feeling you'd be here, too. I saw you talking with..." She trailed off, suddenly losing her courage.
"You had a dream?" Ava repeated. "I see," she went on, nodding. She was taking it seriously? "Ephemer said he was waiting here for you in your dream - but this place is restricted."
The Foreteller strode forward - and on past Amaya and Chirithy. Amaya turned to face her - and the woman stopped again. Turned back to look at HER again.
" So you thought that he may have gotten caught up in the problems that we Foretellers have been having lately, and because someone saw us talking the other day, you thought that maybe I had something to do with it." Ava paused. " You're honest. I like you. To be honest, you're not too far off base, but I can't tell you much else right now."
Silence, as Amaya tried to think of a way to argue in favor of-
Master Ava's Keyblade appeared in her hand with a flash of light.
"Master Ava?!" Chirithy exclaimed.
Ava held her weapon before her in both hands, gazing at Amaya.
Amaya summoned and raised her own weapon in an instant - instinctively - knowing she had no choice in the face of a Master: it was either defend herself, or... She didn't even want to stop to process the rush of emotions going through her Heart in that moment. All she really felt was adrenaline. Survival.
That was what drove her on, as they engaged in battle.
Ava came at her with powerful blows and swirling robes.
Amaya desperately tried to block, to dodge, to fend it all off. But none of it was enough. It was like being back in her village, with her family. With the darkness that had taken them, set it all ablaze. Overwhelming power she was just helpless in face of. But she wouldn't hide or run, not like she had back then! She fought on. But she grew exhausted all too quickly...until suddenly she fell backwards onto the ground, flat on her rear.
Ava suddenly stopped, lowering her weapon to her side, gazing down on Amaya. She let out a small, soft noise, and then her weapon disappeared. "Not bad. I see a lot of potential in you," she spoke, in a sudden, warm, kind voice. She hesitated. "But I also see sadness in your Heart. Hanging on to it will eventually lead to darkness," she added, in tones of warning. " You need to somehow let it go." She looked down at Chirithy. "With this little one helping you, you'll be fine."
Ava sighed. "Now, go home," she continued. "And I'm sorry, but this area is strictly off-limits, all right?"
Amaya slowly got to her feet again, willing herself not to fall again. To not show how terribly her whole body was shaking - aching. She gave the woman a silent nod before hurrying past her, leaving the underground behind.
That had all been just a test?
But a test for what?
She was already a part of a Union - a Union not Ava's.
Amaya shut her eyes, letting her mind flow naturally to another memory.
She was coming back from another mission, stepping out of a light portal into the fountain square.
She sat up on the edge of the fountain, letting out a sigh of exhaustion.
"You did great out there, champ!" Chirithy said brightly, gazing up at her from the ground. Chirithy paused, studying her face. "I know it's a tough job, but someone's gotta do it."
"But do we have to do..so much of it?" Amaya said breathlessly, leaning back.
"I know, I know. But if you give up now, the other Unions will get ahead!" Chirithy said quickly.
"But why does that matter?" came a new voice.
Amaya jumped off the fountain and turned to see a new portal appear. Hurrying out of it was a girl her age, with long dark hair of neatly cut bangs, and amber eyes. A Keyblade was in her hand.
"It's not a competition," the new girl went on easily. "Or at least it shouldn't be. Our goal of protecting the light is the same; there's no need for us to fight."
"Who're you?" Chirithy asked (after the last few weeks, Chirithy really had become very adept at interpreting Amaya's various unspoken thoughts and feelings, and knew when to voice them FOR HER).
The new girl strode forward, causing Chirithy to backpedal quickly. But the girl simply jumped up to sit on the fountain's lip. "The name's Skuld!" the girl declared cheerily, at odds with her rather dark and gothic sense of fashion. "You're Amaya, right?" she went on, staring at Amaya now. "Nice to meet you!" She held out a hand.
Amaya took it, shaking briefly, before joining the girl in sitting on the fountain's edge. She gazed at Skuld, questioning, but unable to voice it. Especially in the face of someone so forward...
"Ephemer told me all about you," Skuld said, seeing the look on her face. "Don't look so surprised! He used to be in my party, you know."
"This girl..." Xehanort's voice, a quiet gasp, suddenly interrupted the scene of the past. "She looks-" He froze, catching himself, his gaze flickering to her - to Namine - to Luxu. His face became a mask again.
But Amaya refused to let it be. To let it just...pass. "Yes - she looks very much like Moreth. Or, rather, Moreth has always looked very much like Skuld," she addressed him directly, gazing at him squarely. "The reason being that Skuld is your mother's distant ancestor - as is my other dear friend, the boy you saw, Ephemer."
"The founder of-" Xehanort turned to her, surprising her. "What is this?" he demanded. "This place - these memories - this is supposed to be the ancient past. The place of the Keyblade War. Yet you exist here as a child, and you know this girl who looks so similarly to-" He stopped himself again, his emotions tightening on his face.
"It isn't obvious to you yet, child, I know," Amaya said, patient and quiet. "I could try to explain it to you now - but would you be willing to accept it?"
Xehanort gazed back at her. He looked back at the fountain, where the memory continued on. He looked to Luxu. "Time travel, then? You were brought here much the same way as myself - by him."
"Not quite," Amaya stated. "I have traveled across vast stretches of time, but not in the way that you have. And he had nothing to do with it. The life you see playing out before you now...was my first life."
"What?"
"My second life was lived in Scala Ad Caelum - where I met your grandmother, and, in time, your mother. This life was also my longest," Amaya went on. "I am the young age you see now rather than the old woman you knew in your life, because, after I sacrificed myself to protect you at the end of my second life, I was thrust into a third life still."
Xehanort stared at her. Then he gave a derisive laugh. "Are you trying to tell me you've - what? - reincarnated or some such?"
Amaya held his gaze. "That is exactly what I'm saying. I don't claim to fully understand all the mysteries of the World and how it works - but I know what I've felt and experienced...the memories I have of multiple lifetimes."
"And you expect me to believe such an absurd claim?" Xehanort said, voice heavy with mockery.
"No more absurd than time traveling Hearts," Amaya responded. "But then, why would I not have given you a much more understandable and provable explanation? One you would have been more willing to believe? As I said: I myself don't claim to fully understand my existence - why I've been reborn thrice now across time and space - but it is what it is. Only fools dismiss what they don't understand. And one thing you have never been, Xehanort, is a fool. You've always been so clever, so smart."
Xehanort blinked at her. He hesitated. He looked, for a moment, as if he were remembering something. Then he looked away. "Very well, then. Let us continue on with this journey through memories. If there is any understanding to be found in them."
Amaya allowed herself a small smile. "As you wish, then."
They continued on through the many memories of her first life - those years packed with so many experiences...
Amaya's second test against Ava - an illusion of another Union Leader. The invitation to join the Dandelions. The truth of the world's end.
Amaya had refused; she cared about finally, possibly getting to see Ephemer again, as a Dandelion, but...she cared about everyone else, too. She couldn't just let them all face the end - to fight and lose...and disappear like that. She hadn't known what she could do - but she would see it through to the end.
And so she did.
The memories of the Keyblade Graveyard were seen again - this time, not from the high, distant mountain view of Luxu's memory and perspective - but from on the ground, in the very thick of it.
Amaya's desperation to stop them all from fighting. The Foretellers, all of them, racing this way and that across the battlefield, cutting swathes through it on their own. Her various and terrifying conflicts with each of them, across that night's time. Until...
There was nothing left, and no one left.
Amaya lay in the middle of the crossroads, swords littering the ground, the rain falling down on her.
The storm raging overhead. Thunder that boomed. Lighting that flashed out, illuminating the dark clouds rumbling above...like a blanket of darkness covering the world.
The hundreds of Hearts all around her, rising up into the sky...a near constant stream...
Amaya rolled over onto her back in the mud, her entire body more exhausted and wounded than she could ever remember...
And then suddenly, her Chirithy was there for her, sitting on her stomach, gazing down at her wet, battered, dirty face.
Amaya tried to get up, but she could barely manage to lift her head...
"It's all right," Chirithy spoke, in soft, comforting tones. A slight wobble to their voice. "You've done enough..."
Then, Chirithy fell forward, and hugged her.
Amaya did her best to raise her free arm and hug them back, her eyes sliding closed...
Suddenly, a bright, white light shone down from the heavens - lighting up the graveyard, a spotlight on Amaya.
She opened her eyes, gazing up into the blinding light.
"Is it...my time...?" she whispered.
She blinked blearily as a familiar figure came striding up to her - kneeling down beside her. Smiling down at her...
"Skuld..." Amaya breathed.
Skuld's smile grew, as her eyes closed with emotion. She stood up wordlessly, stepping away. And then, taking her place...was Ephemer.
Amaya found strength in their presence, and she gritted her teeth and fought the tears, fighting to raise her arm to the boy...reaching for him...
"We made...a promise..." she struggled out, her arm falling back to the ground again.
"I didn't forget," Ephemer said, smiling down at her.
Amaya somehow found it in her to laugh - to grin up at the boy. "You're late..." she joked, despite it all.
"I know. I'm sorry." Ephemer said simply - but she knew he meant it.
He reached his hand down to her...
"We'll go together," he said, just as simply, his gaze unwavering.
She reached back again, grasping his hand-
And she was pulled into a world of light.
Amaya steered the memories onward - reaching the end.
The true end.
Amaya fought her way through the world of data, sensing something was going terribly wrong for her friends. For everyone.
She found her way back through the cables, and opened up a light portal.
"...Lauriam!" Brain's voice was exclaiming, echoing through the portal as it formed.
"I figured you guys could use some help," Lauriam's voice replied, along with the distinct sound of a Keyblade being conjured.
"One more ally will make no difference," came a new, unfamiliar voice. A voice that sent cold chills through Amaya's body by itself alone. It was pure, cold indifference, yet with an undercurrent of malice...
Amaya raised her Keyblade, gritting her teeth. She shared a look and a nod with Chirithy, in silent understanding of years past, and leapt into the portal. "Then how about two?" she called out, as she flipped down out of the portal to land in the Master's study room, at the forefront of ALL of her friends together (Chirithy landed on a bookshelf, standing tall and fearless beside her).
All of them, all with weapons drawn, facing a being...of pure darkness. A solid, featureless dark figure, shrouded in dark flames of purple.
"It's useless. Even if you do manage to defeat us, you will still lose," the Darkness stated.
They continued to engage with the being of darkness - the Darklings appeared around Ventus, exclaiming "You!" - and then Ventus woke, getting to his feet. The boy confronted the Darkness, declaring himself Pure Light to its Pure Darkness, and that if it had used his Heart to reshape itself, he could reshape it just the same...into a form they could defeat.
Ventus surged with light and power, lunging at the Darkness, a blinding light filled the room...
And when it faded, the Darkness was gone.
Ventus hovered in the air, radiating light - and then he fell straight down, hitting the floor hard.
Unconscious once more.
But...
Amaya pushed the memory on again.
The aftermath. Caring for Ventus. Elrena's appearance. Discussing what to do. How to save the most lives. The Masters' plans.
An impossible situation, for all of them.
Brain giving Ephemer both a copy of the Book of Prophecies, as well as his Keyblade.
"That Keyblade..." Xehanort had gasped, in that moment. He turned to Amaya. "And that boy- all of them- I've seen this before, this scene. From my dreams. How-"
"Your dreams?" Amaya asked.
Xehanort stared at her. He looked at Luxu and Namine. Then, he focused only on her again. "Dreams...that I have had all my life...of this place, these people, my friends who I'd longed to-" He stopped again. "Explain this."
Amaya gazed at him for a moment - and then the truth struck her. "'Your' dreams? 'Your' friends? You..." She trailed off, a deep frown stealing over her face. "Oh, child...I see it now. Surely you must know it now, as well. Those dreams, those feelings and experiences, they were my memories. The memories and experiences you took in from me, when you first showed a real aptitude for the ability to sense the contents of others' Hearts. You were so young, but it was undeniable. Powerful. It made me certain you had to be the Child of Destiny. But you...all this time..afterward, you mistook them for your own?"
Xehanort looked at her like she had struck him. "What...?" He looked from her, to the memory scene. To her again. "Are you saying...that this was all some- some what- some misunderstanding?"
"I am so, so sorry, child - but, yes," Amaya said gently. "That's the truth. Your Empathic abilities caused you to delve so deeply into my Heart, to take in so much into your own, that you identified with them...as your own. I never could have thought that you'd- but of course, you were so young, and-"
"Stop," Xehanort said harshly. "I don't need- this isn't..."
"I'm sorry..." she said, fully and deeply.
Xehanort spun away from her, his fists clenching at his sides, his shoulders shaking.
Amaya sighed, and focused her mind on the one of the last memories she wanted him to see.
The other Darknesses' arrival. The preparation for another battle - the greatest one yet.
Amaya's realization, her split second decision.
Her plan.
Her act to trick her best friends, as much as the Darknesses.
She struck Skuld. She battled her and Ephemer both.
And at the end, she won over them both.
She stood over Skuld, raising her weapon, mocking - choosing the right words to goad Ephemer.
Knowing her friends so well now...
Ephemer didn't disappoint: he fired a beam of light through her chest, forming a portal behind her, that drew her and the Darknesses into itself with irresistible force and power.
On the other side, Amaya lay on the ground within a Cable...
"It's time to rid yourself of that brittle human vessel. Unless you wish to waste away along with it," spoke a Darkness.
Amaya, with her Keyblade in her hand, flat on her back, surrounded by four ancient, sapient beings of pure Darkness itself...began to laugh. Her light, rich voice rang out in the digital tunnel!
"Why are you laughing?" one of the Darknesses spoke.
"I didn't think tricking you guys would be so easy. Are all of you this gullible?" her high, mirthful voice responded.
"What-?" a Darkness gasped.
Amaya raised her Keyblade straight up, pointing to the ceiling. "You don't have a physical form, but you need a key to unlock doors for you. Seems real inconvenient." She groaned and sat up, pushed herself up to her feet again. Then she turned, aimed her Keyblade out down one end of the tunnel, and cast out with a key-beam. It struck the far wall, and burst with blue light and swirling energy...and then it faded. The tunnel was plunged into a dim darkness itself, suddenly. A haze. "Ephemer locked the gate on that side. And I locked it on this side," she spoke again, with nothing but relief and satisfaction. "Looks to me like you have no way out."
"You...it was all an act?" a darkness said.
"Took you long enough," Amaya said, laughing again. She raised an arm to point. "How does it feel to be outsmarted?"
"Why youuuuu-!"
The Darknesses flew up into the air, swirling madly around the cable tunnel - but there was no escape, no way out!
After a few moments of this madness, they suddenly all flew up and converged...and disappeared.
Alone now, Amaya fell to the floor again, sitting there.
But, of course, she wasn't alone. She was never alone. Not really.
With a familiar pop, Chirithy appeared before her.
"Amaya..." Chirithy said, thick and emotional. They suddenly hopped forward, into her lap, gazing at her face.
Just like the first time she'd thought it was her end, Amaya leaned forward, and hugged them, as she felt the life fading from her body.
Because this time...she knew there would be no last minute save. Because she had made sure there wouldn't be.
Not this time...
Amaya didn't feel fear, or panic, or anything associated with her existence ending. Instead, all she felt...
Was that warmth, and the satisfaction of knowing...that her friends would make it out, even if they had to do so without her.
She breathed her last breath...and her world went white-
The space of mind and Heart and memories suddenly rocked, twisting, flaring with dark haze and grey tendrils-
"What the hell?" Luxu exclaimed.
Namine was clutching her head, squinting hard at Amaya, shaking it. "Ugh...what-"
Amaya gazed at the girl, alarmed. Had she lost focus? Had she hurt her in some way?
She cast her mind back, trying to stabilize the situation somehow. Remembering the void - the choice - Chirithy-
-the world flashed white, solidifying.
Amaya's younger self was drifting in this void of white...
And around her, so were countless other Keyblade Wielders, along with their Chirithies, too.
Amaya's Chirithy floated in front of her, staring at her with those blue eyes.
Amaya saw the other wielders' bodies disappearing in flashes of light, leaving only their Hearts drifting in the void. Then, she watched as Chirithies grabbed those Hearts in their hands...and consumed them? Ate them? And in another flash, those Chirithies suddenly became strange, colorful animal creatures with symbols on their bodies...
"What's happening?" Amaya asked, her voice soft and echoing.
"We're connected to the Hearts of our Keyblade Wielders," Chirithy stated. "When your Heart disappears, so do we. And when you go to sleep, we become something to protect you."
Amaya looked down somewhat. "Am I going to sleep, too?" she asked.
"That's up to you," Chirithy replied.
"I can choose not to?" said Amaya.
"If you don't, your Heart will simply melt into a new one."
Amaya's eyes widened, her lips parting - then she shut her eyes, leaning back, contented and smiling.
"What is it?" Chirithy said.
"It's not over yet," Amaya whispered.
"Huh?" Chirithy said, confused.
Amaya's body began to glow...
"...Goodnight," Chirithy said softly.
Amaya leaned forward, hugging her Chirithy one last time...
As her form evaporated, and her Heart began to drift away...
Amaya released the memory completely-
-and all of them were thrown back sharply into the here and now.
Namine let out a sigh of relief, her hands falling from her head as she righted herself in her chair. She looked down at her sketchbook and immediately began to draw, with slightly shaking hand, her eyes furrowed in concentration.
Silence in the little, run-down room.
"You see, now?" Amaya said quietly, looking between Xehanort and Luxu alike. "As my existence was fading, Chirithy was the one who told me I had a choice - and what the other option would entail. And they weren't wrong. After that, I found myself waking on the shores of Scala Ad Caelum, with no memory of myself or my past. All I had was a rusting Keyblade, and fleeting fragments of feelings and dreams. A lone fifteen year old girl, centuries out of time, whole and alive. Over the course of the decades of my life to come, however, I regained much of myself, and my memories of a life past. The same has held true for this current life. The time that bridged that gap, the final thing I would like to show you, child..."
Xehanort looked at her, his expression mired in emotion and conflict. "What more could there possibly be?" he said roughly.
"The reason why I disappeared, leaving you on those islands," Amaya said quietly. "You deserve to know - you always have. Only now am I capable of showing you the reason."
Xehanort gazed at her in silence. Then, he simply gave a nod, and turned his head aside.
Amaya looked to Namine. "Do you feel up for doing this one more time, please?"
Namine sucked in a breath, setting her pencil down. She nodded, giving a smile. "I think so."
"Thank you."
So it was...that Amaya focused on the memory - the final memory - and their minds were drawn in to witness it...
Amaya sat on the bed, inside the large treehouse - constructed for her, and for him.
The boy laying beside her, on a sleeping mat of his own.
She stroked his hair, gazing down at him in the flickering lamp's light.
She smiled, embracing the feelings in her Heart with ease.
He was still young, but...getting older every day.
Verging toward adulthood.
Though he was now fourteen, this child was...would always be...
No...he was not HER child.
But he was the closest thing she had ever had to one in her two lifetimes.
Getting to care for him, to teach him, to raise him and protect him all these years...it had been a greater source of fulfillment, love and joy, than the woman could have ever thought possible. And a great HONOR, to be the one chosen to do so.
But that did not change the facts: she was not his mother - and she did all of this in service to the idea that, one day, she would be able to reunite him with the woman. Mother and son. As Amaya had promised the woman. As his mother hoped for him...
Amaya brushed the locks of silver from the boy's face, getting to her feet.
She silently made her way out of the treehouse, onto the wooden balcony. She grasped the railing, staring up at the starry night sky.
She lowered her gaze, looking now across the waters - to the mainland. Where firelights flickered, and clustered buildings stood against the mountain backdrop.
She looked back into the entrance to the treehouse, at the sleeping Xehanort.
Since Moreth had entrusted Xehanort's life, care, and happiness to her, Amaya had rarely left the boy alone for more than an hour or two. His safety was of the utmost priority. She knew, better than anyone alive, how quickly peace could turn to chaos. How safety could turn to danger.
But sometimes it was unavoidable.
And sometimes, more and more often lately, she would leave him to his own devices on his request - a need for privacy, for independence.
But how to balance that against the need to safeguard him?
As he'd grown older, it had become more of a challenge.
More of a source of doubt and worry.
Amaya sighed.
They were low on supplies again.
She needed to go to the mainland for more - and that meant leaving Xehanort here alone.
She had done so before (at his insistence), but every time she had been terrified of what she might return to.
Amaya did not LIKE to do it, even if the few times she HAD done it, nothing horrific had happened in her absence.
She would do it now, she decided.
He was already asleep, and she did not want to disturb him - rob him of that peace.
She also didn't want to try to drag him along with her in the morning, and put him into another "mood" with her - or cause him to protest successfully, in which case the end result would be the same, minus the negativity.
Not that she didn't understand it. She fully understood it.
To be a child, growing up practically alone, save for their trips over to the mainland...
She was not doing as well as she once did on the "happiness" part of her promise to the boy's mother.
She wanted...to avoid upsetting him again.
So, Amaya leapt from the platform, sailing down to land on the beach as easily as stepping off a curb. Well, perhaps not quite that easily, given her age now, but still...
She pulled her cloak around herself, pulling up the hood, and made for the small pier - where the boat waited.
She took it out onto the ocean waves with a gesture and a bit of wind magic, sending herself speeding along silently toward the mainland.
Amaya came to the dock on the other side of the waters. She climbed out onto the mainland, starting off between the houses, up the dirt path.
By the time she had climbed the hill and started her descent toward the city in the distance, across the river, a storm seemed to have came in above her.
Dark clouds that hid the stars - darkened the world itself.
Amaya pulled her cloak closer over her body as thunder rumbled, and rain quickly began to pour down on her.
Sudden storms weren't an uncommon occurrence on such island countries as this.
As long as Xehanort was sensible enough to stay up in the treehouse, he would be safe from it.
Still, she quickened her pace significantly.
Even so, the storm intensified within minutes.
She walked through the rain and winds, the lightning flashing overhead now.
Suddenly, a bolt of lightning raced down and struck a nearby tree in the grassy fields, setting it aflame and splitting it in half with a CRACK that pierced even the howling winds and thunder.
And in that instant of illumination - Amaya saw a figure standing before her.
A humanoid shape - featureless - surrounded by a shimmering aura of purple energy.
Amaya summoned her Keyblade, falling into her battle stance on instinct alone - long-honed instinct. Darkness had found them at last. As Amaya had known, someday, they might. She had been preparing for this day for the last fourteen years. For the day...when she would give all her Heart to keep her promise to Moreth: to protect her son, and ensure he lived a long, fulfilling life.
"Where is the Child?" spoke the dark figure, in a voice that was neither male nor female - or perhaps both at once. "The one spoken of in the Book of Prophecies. 'When Darkness prevails and Light expires, they will rewrite the fated ending.' The mother gave us no information."
"Moreth...what did you do to her?" Amaya demanded.
"She was of no use to us, so we destroyed her. It was easily done; she did not even draw her Keyblade. We cannot understand how such a pitiful human could spawn such a threat to us."
Amaya bowed her head in the rain, the grief stealing over her Heart. The rage. Threatening to overwhelm her. But it was not yet time...to let it.
"How many of you are here now?" Amaya called out, over the storm.
The Darkness walked forward. "Our numbers may only be one, but even a single one of us is undefeatable by a human like you."
At this, Amaya laughed, and her lips twisted into a grin that recalled her youth - both of them.
The Darkness tilted their head at her, stopping. "What is it you find amusing?"
"I've defeated four of your kind at once, before. It's difficult for me to NOT laugh at your whole act, now."
"What are you talking about?"
"You'll find out."
"Perhaps."
"'Perhaps,'" Amaya mocked, spreading her lips into a wide grin.
"Silence, human!" The Darkness vanished, reappearing in front of her and making to attack her with a swipe of energy.
Amaya leaned back out of the way and slashed her Keyblade, creating a burst of golden light that had the Darkness retreating, shrinking in size...until it came back again, like a dying flame roaring back to life.
Amaya leapt forward, engaging them in combat in earnest now.
As she fought, she thought of all her memories - of both her lives combined.
The people known, cared for, loved, and lost.
The anger. The hate. Bitterness. Frustration. Sorrow. Grief.
Rage.
She embraced all of those emotions fully, letting them fill her Heart. If it was darkness, she didn't care - all the better, in fact.
Still, as the battle raged, her aging body began to fail her.
Even enhanced by magic to superhuman levels, exhaustion set in. Weak bones, shaking limbs...
Slowing reflexes.
Mistakes.
Until the final, fatal mistake was made.
Amaya took the blow, letting herself fall to the ground.
She fixed a look of hate and disgust on the Darkness before her. Was it the same as the one she had trapped, before, decades ago now, in Scala Ad Caelum...? Did it matter?
"Where is the Child of Destiny?" the Darkness spoke again.
"That knowledge...will never leave my Heart," Amaya said, deliberate, gazing at where the Darkness's face - eyes - would be.
"Then I will take your Heart, and find it myself."
The Darkness's vague human form faded away, and it became a ball of dark energy. The sphere shot forward in an instant, straight for her chest.
Amaya did nothing to stop it.
Darkness burst from her skin, shrouding her body in burning flames.
Amaya felt the burning in her Heart - the heavy weight in her chest now.
Where is he?
Amaya ignored the voice. Instead, she used the last of her strength to raise her Keyblade, and quickly and unhesitatingly thrust it into her own chest.
You cannot remove us from-
Amaya's Keyblade vanished, as her Heart emerged from her body. And then, she let her body disappear. It turned into golden motes of light, swirling around her now freed Heart.
Now only a Heart, Amaya began to rise up into the stormy sky, amidst flashes of lightning.
What are you doing?! Panic, pure panic in that disembodied, genderless voice.
Dying - and I'm dragging you along with me, Amaya replied, calm and simple.
You- you tricked me? You planned to sacrifice yourself all along, simply to-?
Your kind just make it too easy, Amaya said, with spite and cruelty.
WHY? Why would you-
Because I've lived two lives already, and I'm honestly tired, Amaya responded. She had been given a second chance at life, by whatever forces governed the World, and she had used it to the fullest. And now...now she had used it all up.
NO! I WILL NOT BE BEATEN LIKE THIS! The Darkness raged. Amaya felt them beginning to fight now, to escape her Heart, to detach from it.
Amaya held onto her feelings, held onto the DARKNESS, and pulled it back inside of her with all her strength of will! You poor, pathetic parasite - you sound like you're going to cry, she mocked viciously.
SILENCE! I will NOT- BE-
Amaya surged up into the heavens, strengthening her grasp on the Darkness...
And at last felt the world of life and darkness...give way to a new world of pure, white light.
I will never let you lay so much as a finger on that boy, Amaya thought, as her consciousness began to fade away into that white light...
As everything blurred, merged, and...
Xehanort...I hope you'll be able to forgive me, for leaving your life so early like this...
Everything ended, and for the last time, the memory was gone.
The stark clarity of the present was back.
Amaya sat there, watching Xehanort.
He met her gaze, blinking rapidly. His mouth opened...closed...opened again- "You..." he quavered.
"Yes, child...?" she spoke softly, inquiring. Attentive.
Xehanort slowly reached out a hand...and placed it on her arm, gazing into her eyes. He gasped on contact, yanking his hand back sharply, as if burned. "You really are- her...?"
"I am - as surely as you are the boy I loved, and raised, despite crossing time itself, to make this strange meeting possible," she replied.
"I-" Xehanort froze. His mouth shut. He leaned back, turning away on the bed. Looking to the wall. "Leave me," he said, in a sudden, controlled voice. "All of you."
"My leaving you is what got all of us into this situation," Amaya said softly. "Allow me to stay - you know I won't say a word."
Xehanort whipped his head back around, a noise between a growl and perhaps a laugh escaping him - then his eyes met hers, and his expression flickered. Faltered. "Not a word," he said coldly.
Amaya merely nodded. The shy, introverted girl of her first life still knew well how to exist in a comfortable, perpetual silence, came the amused little thought.
"Welp, that was a lot for one day - so let's pack it up," Luxu said, rising to his feet and giving an exaggerated stretch. "Namine, come on. You can stay up all night working on your new drawings if you want; I'll tell the school you were doing something important and sympathetic, like seeing a friend in the hospital or something..."
Namine jumped to her feet, turning to face the man with a smile. She followed him as he left the room, her sketchbook held to her chest.
The door closed, leaving Amaya alone with Xehanort.
She returned her attentions to him...simply watching him.
He didn't speak to her again. He didn't look at her again.
At some point, he shifted his position and turned further away from her than before.
But she remained right where she was: close by, for him.
