Master and apprentice.
Hours.
Hours had now passed since their first kiss. That whole time they had stayed up here atop this tower, talking and exchanging kisses. More of the latter than the former to be honest. It was now late in the evening, the sun starting to fall below the horizon. Somewhere along the line Lauriam had fallen asleep, his head on her lap. She was stroking his head, fingers gently combing through his hair as she softly hummed a wordless song to herself.
She supposed they had to be terribly late for something or other important right now. How else could it be? But at the moment she couldn't care less. She just wanted to stay here, right here, with him. She wanted this moment to last forever.
So long wanting this to happen. So long dreading that it would not, could not be. So long trying to make do with scraps, convincing herself she was better off loving from the sidelines. Simultaneously wanting to be noticed and afraid to be. So much joy now that it had happened and she had what she wanted. How very distant and insignificant those fears felt now. Such a wonderful feeling, to be happily drunk on love. A feeling to be savored for years to come. Perhaps for a lifetime.
Was it any surprise a spark of anger flared in her chest when she heard footsteps behind her? She turned to bark an order to go away… then froze in shock on seeing who had arrived.
"Hello, Elrena." Said Invi, smiling.
For a few seconds Elrena just stared, too dumbstruck to react. Then she tried giving Lauriam a shake: "Lauriam. Wake up. Lauriam!"
To her surprise he did not stir. She frowned in confusion.
"Lauriam? Lauriam!" She repeated, shaking him a bit harder. But still there was no response.
Elrena turned her eyes back to Invi.
"What did you do!?" She demanded, her voice accusing.
"Nothing much. A sleep spell. Just to avoid an interruption. I had hoped to come to you when you were alone. But, ah… I ended up realizing that might be a rather long wait at the moment. So I chose to take a more proactive approach. For now, let him sleep and dream sweet dreams of you." Invi replied.
"I'm only here to talk. And if you tell me to go I'll go. But there may be no second chance for us to speak." She added, holding up her hand to silence any possible protest.
Upset by the sudden disruption of her perfect moment, Elrena very nearly told Invi to go away and leave the two of them alone. But the words would not come. Because the truth was she had been looking for an opportunity to have this conversation. Despite years apart, Invi remained one of the most important people in her life, second only to Lauriam. And had she not only hours earlier been searching for a way to help her with the Darkness nesting within her. This would be her opportunity.
And it would be wrong to say she did not crave for answers…
Noting Elrena's hesitation, Invi sat down next to her one time apprentice, and waited for her to respond.
"What do you want?" Elrena finally managed.
"To see you. It's been such a long time, Little One." Invi replied.
"Though… not so little anymore, I must admit. You've grown up so beautiful…" She added, raising a hand to stroke Elrena's cheek. But Elrena shied away, turning her head aside.
Invi gave a sad smile, lowering her hand. "I suspect you have questions. About us Foretellers. Our presence here. How it relates to the Guardians. I'm willing to explain as much as I can. I think it's important you understand what is happening. What you might be asked to do and why."
A pause before Elrena replied. "You do understand that anything you tell me I'm going to share with the others?"
"Of course. Tell them as much or as little as you want. I'm not asking for secrecy. All I wished for is the chance to speak without being attacked." Invi replied.
"In fact there is one piece of information in particular I would have you pass on. A boon of sorts." She added.
"A boon?" Elrena repeated.
Invi nodded. "During the time you've spent in this era you may have come across mentions of a certain Black Box?"
"A Black Box?" Elrena repeated. "The Box Xigbar, er, Luxu had the Organization scrambling to find?"
Invi nodded. "The very same. We had it, but it so happens the one called Maleficent has been able to steal it from us. Luxu is already on the trail, and so it's only a matter of time before he locates the Box and takes it back. But if you act swiftly there might be a chance to get there first and claim the Box for the Guardians."
"Why are you telling me this?" Elrena asked.
"I have reason to believe the Box is meant for the Guardians. I don't know what's in it, but the Master sent it here from the Age of Fairytales. He had Luxu ensure the Box remained hidden until now, and the Box itself is well protected besides. It must contain something of value."
"If you'd have us steal it out from under him… are you betraying the others?" Elrena asked.
Invi paused. "Not necessarily. If the Box is meant for you all along I'm merely ensuring it ends up where it's meant to be. Beyond that… I can only do what my heart tells me is right and live with the consequences. If some of my fellow Foretellers come to view it as a betrayal I'll answer for it in time."
"I don't presume to tell you what you must do of course. And I would be the first to urge caution. I don't know why the Master would wish for you to have this Box, or even that it truly is his intent. I've told you what I know. Proceed as you see fit."
"But if Luxu is willing to chase after the Box and we have it, what's to stop him from coming after us?" Elrena demanded.
"I doubt very much that he will. He cannot do so without risking harm to you." Invi explained.
"I don't see why he'd let that stop him. One of you already harmed two of ours." Elrena accused.
"Aced did that on his own. He… has been temperamental of late. And Luxu was duly upset that things got so dangerously out of hand." Invi countered. "Aside from that single incident, have any of us raised a hand against you?"
Elrena paused, then shook her head. Her old master war right. They had not. Indeed they had done the opposite.
"You are too important in the plan he adheres to. He will not act against you. Of that I'm certain." Invi declared.
"So we were right. You want us alive." Elrena contemplated. "Why? What is this plan of yours? What is it that you're here to do?"
"Has it got something to do with the Darknesses possessing you?" She asked.
Invi smiled. "I see you've already figured out that we carry them. To be expected I suppose."
"You're right. This all is very much about those Darknesses." She confirmed. "This universe is on the brink. A final battle in the long war between Light and Darkness is approaching. A fulfillment of a plan set in motion by the Master of Masters a long time ago."
"You see, Luxu tells us that the first Keyblade War during the age of Fairytales was a colossal trap. I'm unsure if you know but… these shadows may be without form, but it was not always so. And the longer they remain without a body the more their will fades. So they need to periodically possess people, use them to reconstitute themselves. The more powerful the hearts, the better, with plentiful darkness for them to control. The turbulent emotions we felt during the war became the lure to draw them in, one sweet enough to overpower any caution they might have had. But our Master had prepared us well. He pushed us and our hearts to the very edge of human capability. And so when they attempted to possess us they found themselves trapped within us, unable to command our bodies as their own."
"Where did you go, afterwards?" Elrena asked.
"I walked the ruins of our world as it slowly disintegrated. I was aimless, without purpose, knowing nothing of the fate of the other Foretellers. I remember thinking I was the last living being. The others have told of similar experiences. And after that? I'm not certain. I believe we slept. For the longest time. And now at last we've been brought to this age, so they can be… done away with."
"So we we're right about that too. That is why you have come." Elrena contemplated. "All those lives… all that sacrifice… just to lay a trap? Was that worth it in the end? Is anything worth that?"
Invi gave a joyless chuckle. "I have asked that very same question, many times. And I'm no closer to having a satisfying answer now as I was then. It was done. That's all there it to it. And on the other hand had it not been done I assume our foe would have destroyed the world anyway by some other means. Those we've lost… they could not have survived. But if you're asking if I feel regret for what happened, if I grieve for those who fell to achieve this… of course I do. More than you can know. The pain is all the worse in knowing there have been many more sacrifices in this rebuilt reality.
"Then why now, in this age? Why not earlier?" Elrena asked.
"Because, alas, we were lacking the means. In the beginning we did not even know of our possession. We were never told it would happen. We recognized the darkness that had infected us, but not the sentience behind it. By the time we learned the truth… these Darknesses may be trapped, but they are not powerless. It's a control that grows over a given host with time. I cannot destroy myself. It will not allow it. And I cannot promise I could stop it from defending itself if it came under direct threat. It's all I can do to keep it contained as it is."
"That was always the problem, from the beginning. A vessel strong enough to contain them could prove too strong to destroy. And through us they could be a true terror, beyond anything they have been since they shed their forms. To combat such a threat would require something extraordinary."
"There are many possible futures. But in so many our enemy prevails. But our Master… Luxu claims he has found a way. A narrow way through. But the odds of the chain of events needed to reach it occurring were so statistically trivial that it just wouldn't matter. Unless of course one didn't leave fate to chance, but instead sought to perceive the branching paths and steer destiny itself. That has been our Master's great work. To make the improbable not only probable, but inevitable. Time has been his factory, every new generation a link in the chain leading towards his desired solution.
"Which is?" Elrena asked.
"…In the Age of Fairytales the final passage in the Book of Prophesies said that Darkness would prevail and Light expire. In this age there exists a Book of Prophesies that says the same. But there exists another prophesy that speaks of a Child of Destiny that would rewrite this outcome."
"A Child of Destiny? Wait… I've heard about this!" Elrena realized.
Invi nodded. "It has been said that he would hail from the Destiny Islands. That his coming would be heralded by the arrival of a Keyblade Master dedicated to Darkness. The Child of Destiny would serve as the Dark Master's counterpart and eventual conqueror. The day of his triumph would be the sign that our return was at hand. That the appointed time was upon us."
Elrena considered, connecting the dots in her head. "So if the *Dark Master* was Xehanort, then…. Sora! You speak of Sora!"
Invi smiled at her student. "You see clearly. Having observed from afar, Luxu believes he is the one. And after Luxu relayed his story to us, I concur. That is the name of our savior-to-be. His journeys thus far have been his training, learning the nature of our foe by proxy. Xehanort and his many selves laid countless challenges before him, each trial teaching him of the enemy he is to face. Their many faces. Their ruthlessness and duplicity. Their complex stratagems with their endless fallback options and redundancies. Their preference to strike at the heart instead of relying on brute force alone. And most of all their ability to exploit his very nature and that of others to achieve their aims. All this he has been taught."
"Furthermore, together with the Dark Master he has set loose a chain of events that has allowed the others we need to be found and brought together. For it is said that in the final battle he will be flanked by champions, Guardians of Light that will grant him strength beyond that of any single heart." She continued.
"Champions?" Elrena repeated.
"Yes." Invi confirmed. "You've come together from various paths, learning what you need to along your journeys. Many have been the tricks of destiny to keep you safe from hunters. Some preserved in safe places. Some allowed to fall into oblivion or the clutches of our enemy, so they'd assume them already dealt with. Some derived from him. Others brought forth from different points in the past."
"Some from very distant times indeed." She added, motioning at Elrena and Lauriam.
"Me and Lauriam? But that's absurd! Our Nobodies nearly destroyed him. Nearly enslaved him to our will." Elrena argued.
"As you were meant to. Just like those plans were meant to be foiled, allowing him to triumph over you and move the gears of destiny further. You have been part of this design even if you did not know it. You were plucked from your sad end so you'd accomplish all you did since. And now here you are, at this precipice of destiny. And I know you well enough to say you won't abandon the fight." Invi told her.
"So… when you saved me that day on that beach… was it just because I was important to you plans. Was I just a means to an end? Would you not have cared otherwise?" Elrena asked. She could not pretend the notion did not hurt, reflected in the bitter note of the question.
"Come on, you know better than that." Invi countered. "All the Master ever told me was to *go to that world and take a look around*. In truth that was about as much as he ever told me about most things he asked me to do. He was frequently infuriating that way. Always the jokester, hiding whatever intent he might have behind humor and playfulness. Most of the time it was only after the fact I understood what he had wanted me to accomplish all along. And that if I was fortunate enough to divine his reasons."
"Whatever I felt that day, whatever I chose to do… that was genuine. Simply because I saw you in pain and wished to help you. I knew nothing of the role that had been reserved for you. Would things have gone differently had I known? Only in giving me sorrow, knowing what was yet ahead for you. I would still have saved you and raised you into something to be proud of." She assured.
"But did he know that I would find you and would choose to bring you back? And what would occur as a result? Almost certainly. He knows a great deal. Who is to say he did not guide events to bring your parents together, so you'd one day be born? And perhaps their parents before them. And who knows much further back it might all go? Perhaps that is a truth for all of us that have a part to play in this. In that sense perhaps it could be said he is our architect. An artist unparalleled." She continued.
"But why is any of this necessary in the first place? What are these shadows? Why can't they just leave us alone? What do they want?" Elrena asked.
"…Oblivion. Ours and theirs." Invi said after a pause.
Elrena frowned in puzzlement. "What? I don't understand."
"The thing I imprison… has spoken to me on occasion, in my mind. We have conversed. And through that I have come to understand their motive, or at least what they claim is their motive." She admitted. "To understand it… would you indulge me in allowing to tell you a story?"
Elrena hesitated at first, but then nodded slowly.
"In the first age, in the time before time itself, there was darkness. Back then it was not yet the fiendish force we know of today. It was simply the nothing that existed before something came to be. Without time no one can say how long this persisted. Perhaps it would be incorrect to ask the question. But there came a moment when there was… a change. No one knows why it happened. Perhaps by chance. Perhaps by the hand of some deity we have never heard about. Regardless of the reason, in that first of instants something new was born: The first light, the first heart. Kingdom Hearts. With its birth came the first day, and time itself first began to flow."
"In those new times things were very much malleable. A time of definitions being made, a new order being established. At its first appearance Light was best defined as the opposite of Darkness. And so that became the cosmic dichotomy that applies even today. Physics tells us that for every action there must be an equal and opposite reaction. So it is with Light and Darkness. To change one is to bring change to the other. That dread resonance is ultimately the root cause of all our woes.
"How so?" Elrena asked.
"Kingdom Hearts is alive, aware in a way that exceeds our comprehension. And so, per the dichotomy, Darkness also gained an awareness in the wake of its emergence. The Thirteen Shadows are the aspects of that awareness. That we have them to burden us is a direct result of Light existing. And more than that…"
"You see, light, newly born and innocent, was curious of its own existence. Desirous of self-discovery, understanding, purpose. So it began to break itself into smaller fragments, planting life like seeds into the surrounding void. Thus was the first world with its myriad realms created. And in time the first people. The Age of Fairytales. As worlds and their grew in number and diversity the Light discovered the joys of life through the people. Delighted by this, Light nurtured these qualities wherever it could, becoming synonymous with happiness, comfort and good. But Light, in its youthful pride, made a mistake in this. It could not see the Darkness, could not perceive the duality of the universe it was part of. And once again, a change in the Light caused the Darkness to turn into the opposite. In defining virtues, one inevitably came define the sins. And in creating Heaven, one inevitably created Hell. The Thirteen were cast into torment, every positive emotion reflected in the negative upon them."
"And they want to destroy us for this? Despite all the good Light can give?" Elrena asked.
Invi sighed. "They cannot see the Light. Cannot truly comprehend it."
"Picture a being that fundamentally cannot feel positive emotions. Oh, they can understand them logically. They are thinking creatures after all. And they can understand them through the negative aspects of such emotions. But never have they felt positive emotions themselves. And they never will. Light to them is an alien, unknown force that came from nowhere and shattered their tranquility, forcing misery upon them." She explained.
"Which… ironically is not that far from how we've come to view the darkness." She mused.
"They view light as an aberration in eternity. So they intend to turn back the clock and return to the nothingness that existed before. Without the light the resonance will end, and so their suffering."
"If they wish to end, why don't they just do that? Why do they have to drag all of us to ruin with them?" Elrena asked.
"They do not judge us fit to survive. To them we are baffling creatures. They do not know our joys, so they cannot fathom why we are so persistent in clinging to existence, when all we do is cause misery where there was none. In their eyes we have as little reason to exist as the Heartless have for us. Like the light that spawned us, we are merely an error that only exists to be corrected, so reality can be returned to what it was meant to be. And if we can be made to suffer along the way? Why, that is just payback, retaliation for the pain our existence has caused them. They will end, make no mistake about that. But they do not intend to do so until their task is done. Until that time they will defend themselves." Invi explained.
"And is there nothing we can do to change things? To help them understand us? To make the light stop hurting them maybe?" Elrena inquired.
"Not for them I'm afraid. And yet… I'm forced to wonder if changing that fundamental structure is part of the Master's ultimate plan." Invi said.
"What do you mean?" Elrena asked.
"Well, it is speculation on my part of course, but… in my time here I have had cause to walk amongst these worlds. To delve deeply into the framework of creation. In doing so I believe I have glimpsed his intent. The true grandeur of it." Invi said.
"The key is how hearts work in this age. All hearts bear darkness now. Kingdom Hearts itself has a dark aspect, as was revealed in the Second War. And hearts newly born come to be already carrying it. It is no longer an infection, but an intrinsic part of ourselves. No doubt this is the work of our enemy, their means to exert their will over us, to disrupt our light and in the end destroy us. But I also believe this was allowed to happen by the master." She detailed.
"But why? If he is their enemy why would he allow that?" Elrena asked.
A smile tugged the corner of Invi's mouth. "To rewrite the rules."
"This was never going to be as simple as destroying the darkness. In a way they are a reflection of ourselves, our light. One cannot exist without the other, so if we destroy the dark, is it not possible we will destroy ourselves? Usher in the very nothingness we have tried to avoid? But darkness has been allowed to become a part of what we are, just as surely as our light is. Just as darkness has laid claim to us, so have we laid claim to it. Now only one task remains: To destroy the slavemasters holding our leash. Do so, and we who have hearts will be the sole embodiments of both light and dark. Heirs to both realms, both existing wholly within us. Yes, darkness will still exists, but the only ones to exercise will over it will be ourselves. And so we will be free." She explained.
"Free? To do what?" Asked Elrena.
"Free to live our lives. To pursue our dreams. To build a future in a reality we know will survive us." Invi answered.
She motioned at Lauriam. "In time, free to raise our families and pass on life to the next generation."
Elrena looked down, stroking Lauriam's hair for a moment. "But… there are those who abuse darkness even as it is. The likes of Maleficent and her ilk. What of them? If they can wield darkness without any risk to themselves, won't they just destroy reality anyway, or twist it into something not worth having?"
Invi shrugged. "It is the price of freedom that some will choose to abuse it, to wield it to ill ends. It's up to the rest of us to ensure they never succeed. It's nothing we haven't done before. We may need to accept that they exist, but we don't have to submit to them."
"Besides, the world we would have won't be about just light and darkness, but endless nuance, and endless potential. It will have outgrown their simplistic ways. I won't pretend this new reality wouldn't be more difficult in some ways. But it's better than submitting and letting entropy take it all." She added.
"In a way it will be like our universe will have grown up." She mused.
"What?" Elrena asked, not understanding.
"…As children we are innocent of the world. Simple and clean. It's why children have consistently been the most effective warriors against the darkness. Their purity of self is anathema to them, with no weak points to take hold of and tear. And as children we have a tendency to see the world in black and white. Things are good without a fault or irredeemably bad. If we are fortunate that innocence is not shattered before its time. But for all of us there comes a time when we choose to set that aside, embrace a more complex reality. The loss of innocence is lamentable, but we know it would be a greater tragedy to remain a child forever. In truth when the time comes most of us choose to transcend willingly. Because for all its difficulties in the end adulthood is more fulfilling than what came before." She explained.
"Our reality I think has been the same way. The age of Fairytales has been its childhood. Clear cut and straightforward. And the reality that exists now? I think it is best described as an adolescent. Between things. No longer quite one. Not quite yet the other. The transition may be painful, but should reality endure it will be the beginning of something wondrous." She continued.
"I suppose should you triumph you will have quite a future ahead of you. It's only a shame I won't live to see it. And a shame you might have such a role to play in bringing it about. I never wanted this for you, you understand? From the first moment I laid eyes on you I've wanted only the best for you. It seems… wrong, to ask this of you."
"It doesn't have to be that way." Elrena said quickly. "We've found an alternative. Right here in this castle. Come with me and I'll let the researchers show you what they've done. You'll be able to see it with your own eyes. You'll find we've discovered a way to destroy this Darkness without having it die with you.
Invi looked surprised at first. Then she smiled sadly, bowing her head. "Oh. I see. You've been busy."
"I'm of course gladdened you've thought of me. That you've gone through the effort. And I'm pleased you spared a though for the others too. The Master and Luxu included I suppose? But… I'm sorry. I can't accept the help."
Elrena's face slowly turned from hopefulness to confusion. "W… what!? You can't? But why?"
"No. No! You can't do that! I… I can't believe you! I'm trying to save you, dammit! And now you won't even consider it? What I'm trying to do… you can't just… throw it into the gutter like that! What it means if you do… you can't ask that! You can't ask me to kill you!" She shouted, exasperated.
"You may have to. If you don't, then… just look. Look at me." Her mentor countered calmly. With that she lowered her hood… and removed her mask.
Elrena gasped, covering her mouth with her hand. In the back of her mind she noted that this was the first time she had seen her master without her mask. But that was hardly the point.
Invi's hair was a rich, royal purple, worn in a single loose braid. But her hair was also streaked with thin lines of pure white, which Elrena was sure didn't belong. More alarming though was her face. The skin around her eyes was greyed and cracked, like dry earth, faint wisps of black smoke drifting from between the cracks. And the eyes themselves… the white had turned into black, like the void of space, the irises glowing with yellow light.
"Light forgive…! What…?" Elrena breathed.
"Quite dramatic, isn't it? It was such a shock when I first noticed. This hasn't been going on for long. Sometime after I came to this age. Symptoms of things starting to fall apart." Invi said. She looked at her mask, turning it around in her hands. "I often wondered why we had to always wear these, even amongst ourselves. We were instructed never to show our face to anyone. Now I see the point was to hide the fact that we were all becoming tainted by darkness. And so we could bear to look at ourselves after the fact."
"It may look dramatic. But in the end it's just the surface. The real damage is within. I'm… like an apple eaten hollow by a worm. There is so little of me left. Very soon now all that will remain will be the stubborn desire to keep this monster locked away. To keep it exiting this shell. Long enough for you to strike." She added, her voice cracking as she spoke.
"Do you understand now? With your friend, there might still be time. A chance he will survive the separation if you're careful and precise. But me? I have had to carry this shadow for such a long time…. I'm worn too thin. Pull it out now and I'm just as lost."
"You have to at least try! It will mean your life!" Elrena said.
"No." Invi said sternly. "Even if it could work… you haven't carried one of these things. You don't know what you're dealing with. I do. And whatever you think you have I know it's not as strong a prison as I am. Because you would not and could not take the steps to craft something like that. And this horror… I won't take the slightest chance of something like it escaping into the world. Not even for you."
"Besides, the things I've done… there's blood on my hands. I can't wash it away. I don't deserve to survive it. I'm not meant to." She said, looking at her hands.
"I have done bad things too! Horrible things. But I've managed to come to terms with it. The others… they've found ways to forgive me. If you try you can have it too! These wounds can heal." Elrena pleaded. "You…"
"YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT I'VE DONE! YOU HAVE NO COMPREHENSION OF IT!" Invi suddenly snapped, a halo of dark flames dancing around her. Elrena paled at the sudden outburst, her words stuck in her throat. Even Lauriam frowned in his sleep, his dreams disturbed despite the spell he was under."
Invi collected herself, the darkness around her abating. "Elrena… you don't understand. You can't. In the War, I… I waded through that battlefield in a frenzy. I killed so many that day, hundreds at least. Every life I took, the more I lost of myself. Not one of those children were so much as an annoyance to me. And I. Just. Kept. On. Killing! Lost, hopeless, and I just kept going. Before long I didn't even stop to check if they were my own Union or not. I rampaged like a rabid animal. A monster. That's when this shadow came to me. It's WHY it came to me! A-and, the things I've had to do since coming here, it's even worse. I… I can't even…"
"Why? What have you done? What would be worse?" Elrena asked.
Invi paused, realizing she may have said too much. She sighed heavily, seeming to age several decades as she did. "Alright. I've said so much already. Maybe I should tell that too. Our crime should be known. Perhaps then you'll understand why it must be done."
"Luxu came to this castle some time ago, to acquire some parts for me. For a machine. Perhaps you've heard of that. You see, this darkness was corroding through our hearts too quickly for our purposes, consuming our light. We risked falling under their control before the time was right. We needed light. And there exist only one source: Hearts. So collected such form the Heartless. That part you certainly know of, since there was that incident with the Guardians." She detailed.
"And… and then?" Elrena asked hesitantly.
"Then we put them into the machine and collected their light for our use. Want to guess what that kind of process does to the hearts?" She explained darkly.
"No, nonono… you wouldn't have." Elrena said, now genuinely horrified.
"I have. I built that machine and I've used it since. The people those hearts used to be are gone. Destroyed more completely than anything else ever could have. All to satisfy the hunger in us." Invi said, her voice breaking.
"No, stop… please stop. You're hurting me." Elrena pleaded, starting to cry.
"I know. And I'm so, so sorry…" Invi said, tears falling from her eyes as well. Even those came out strange, purple rivulets that left stains on her face.
"But now you know. I can't bear to face life after all that. I can't be forgiven, because I can't forgive myself. Call me a coward if you must, but I can't bear this weight anymore. So I'll go away. It's the only way for me."
For a time was silence, Invi listening to Elrena's sobbing, not bothering to hide her own tears.
"You asked me what I wanted, why I came. The truth is… I came to say goodbye, before I'm out of time. I know it hurts but… you have to let me go." Invi said, then stood up, getting ready to leave.
"I can't. I can't do that. What am I going to do without you?" Elrena said, looking at her master with eyes red from crying.
"You've known the answer to that for some time. I'm only sorry I had to come back to haunt you. You're strong. I've always known you to be that. And you've other things to live for. You'll endure." Invi replied.
She put her mask back on, raising her hood. "Please don't torture yourself thinking I might be saved. If you want to do right by me… then cherish the memory of the person I used to be. I harbor little illusions. If the world learns of my name at all, they'll think me an evil person. Someone who destroyed one reality, then came back for second helpings. But if you remember the person I truly was… then that will be enough. So, if you would, keep that secret for me."
She was about to leave when she stopped.
"Oh. And once all is said and done, find our camp in the keyblade graveyard. The cave where we keep the machine. Find the machine and tear it apart. Just in case I don't get a chance to do it myself." She said over her shoulder, then left.
When Lauriam finally woke, he was surprised to find Elrena crying.
"Elrena? What's the matter?" He asked, sitting up.
"She was here. She was here! Invi…" Elrena said, trying and failing to stop the tears from falling.
"What!?" He gasped. "But why didn't you…?"
"I tried, but… she had you under a spell. She didn't want to be disturbed." She explained.
"She was always meticulous, thinking of everything. Damn her…" She added bitterly.
"She told me so much, Lauriam! Such awful things! And her face! Light, her face…" She explained.
"Whoa, hold on there, hold on." Lauriam said, taking her into a hug.
"Shh. I'm right here. It'll be alright. Shh…" He soothed.
"She won't do it, Lauriam. She won't agree to it. I tried to, but she won't let me help her! Damn her, but she won't let me…" She said, pressing her face into his shoulder.