Chapter 8 is the new chapter!
Author's Note: Hello all. This is a snippet of the closing chapters. I think what I'll do is get bits and pieces that I know for sure I want to include in the story first. If these snippets wind up needing to show up earlier or later, then I'll just edit them in their appropriate chapters. This chapter is more or less a glimpse into the ending for this story, so a nice chunk of information won't show up until I get to the specific world or scene where the information is necessary beforehand. This is all just an experiment to see if this method of updating works best for me.
Fait traveled through the tropical forest of Danza Sincera with confusion and anger. It was impossible to pay attention to the details of this new part of the world with so much on her mind. Who released so many Heartless onto her world? Why did they suddenly show up and damage the palace? The images played back over and over again. The burning of the city, the look on so many terrified citizens, the destruction of the magic barrier protecting the castle along the outskirts. Everything was bent under the crushing weight of ruin. Those Heartless weren't weak either. She genuinely struggled to get everyone out of harm's way. There were so many people she had to transport to Traverse Town in such little time. Even the residents of Disney Town were at a loss for words for what was transpiring before them. Shinnosuke was too weak to fight after having been rescued from the Labyrinth, and Melvin was just recently put into a state of unconsciousness for recovery. She began to fear that she wouldn't be able to fully restore their hearts without sacrificing so much of her powers. While being without power wouldn't do her much harm, Fait worried that she wouldn't be able to help the others who were still restoring their own hearts. What would happen to Ollie and Guswing and the people who were trapped in their state of sleep when they were in the palace?
Lightly touching a few tree leaves, Fait watched as she created a spill of vibrant watercolor that morphed into dancing flowers. A strong waterfall sounded in the distance as she was trapped in her thoughts. Was the destruction of her world a punishment for changing sides to join the keepers of light? No, it couldn't have been. Maleficent allowed her to live there when she obeyed her every command. She even named her a stupid keyblade master! If she was going to destroy her beloved home, why have her perform in this test to be a protector of light and darkness? There wouldn't be anything to gain from manipulating everything to this point. When Fait reached a cliff overlooking the proud and large waterfall made by a large river, she sighed in frustration and finally let her emotions free. When she saw little Pedro flying in the air, she began to feel out of place in a world full of happiness. Danza Sincera was a beautiful place just like her home world. Her world... is now gone.
Her eyes blurred in their vision and her heart pounded harshly. Fait could no longer breathe with the frog resting in her throat. Her prayer for those who were lost in darkness echoed in her mind and the words she knew so well, she sung with her very soul, and she often played for the children when she turned the key of her special music box filled her spirit with an unbearable sadness. Finally, the warrior felt her legs weaken and collapsed on the ground. Her entire being wept.
"Fait!" a familiar voice called out. "Fait! Are you here?"
She wouldn't answer. She couldn't answer. She couldn't hear anything. She didn't want to hear anything. As her sobbing continued, footsteps came to her ears over the booming echoes of the waterfall. She refused to look at anyone as her tears crashed into her lap. She didn't care how familiar the male voice was. She really... just wanted to be left alone. When the footsteps got closer, she heard a saddened sigh and felt a pair of arms embrace her. The warmth of the person's body against her back made her gasp but it didn't make her turn around to see who it was. It could have been anyone really: Riku, Terra, Kairi, Aqua. Would it matter?
"Fait..." the voice called.
It was Sora. Probably the only person she had ever met who always gravitated towards her despite her warnings. She finally whispered a few words to him, "My world is gone... Even with my strength, I couldn't protect it... No matter how hard I cry, it won't come back..."
Sora gasped, feeling the blonde slumping over in defeat in his arms, and scrambled to see Fait's face. Tears were streaming down her freckled face and her teeth were clenched to keep from screaming. Sora cupped Fait's jaws into his gloved hands and said, "Fait... You've been fighting to protect your world for as long as you could remember. No matter what you were up against, you made it your mission to help those who have lost all hope in ever escaping the darkness. I didn't realize it when I met you, but that's why the keyblade chose you. In spite of facing the darkness alone, you were willing to give up everything for the sake of restoring hope in others and the world. That's the power of your light. You didn't give up anything before. Don't you give up anything now."
Fait had nothing more to say as Sora's words filled her mind and heart. She merely opened her eyes to see him there with a halo of light behind his head and leapt into his arms to cry. Startled by the sudden embrace, Sora gasped at first but he returned the embrace after feeling her clench onto him for support. The most he could do was be her shoulder to cry on as he quietly stroked her hair for comfort. Fait truly was a good person at heart. She loved her world and her people and her family more than her own life. Master Yen Sid was right. She wasn't meant to be on the side of darkness. Maybe he could convince her to stay on their side, now that she has seen darkness betray her.
"Fait?" Sora called in a still voice. "Why don't you stay with us? There could be a way to restore your world. I've restored them once."
"I don't belong in the light," Fait replied, sniffing up a few tears and loosening her grip on Sora. "I don't belong in the darkness either. I don't belong anywhere."
"That's not true," Sora said, smiling a bit. "You have friends in the light. There's Cloud, Tifa, Ienzo, Ansem the Wise, and there's even me and Riku and Kairi. We're all with you. We like you."
"You've got a funny way of showing it for someone who's supposed to be a friend," a familiar voice spoke.
Fait's head rose up from Sora's shoulder and she turned around with tears still on her face. Sora looked up quickly to see also to see Pete walking out of a Corridor to Darkness. Fait whispered in question, "What?"
"What do you want, Pete?" Sora demanded, feeling Fait leave his arms.
"I want you to stop lying to Fait and tell her why the Heartless messed up her world," Pete said with an unusual seriousness in his voice and body movement as he pointed at Sora. "Don't act all goody-goody now just 'cause you see a pretty face in tears."
"What are you talking about?" Sora questioned, standing up to enter a fighting position.
Pete scoffed then held out a hand to say, "You know exactly what I'm gettin' at! You've been tryin' to get rid of me and Maleficent just so you can get Fait to work for you's keyblade wielders. You even manipulated one of the kids in Fait's world into showing you where the keyhole was. That's why so many Heartless were able to come out. Your power wasn't strong enough to lock the door, so all dems Heartless came spillin' out."
Sora and Fait gasped at his words but had entirely different reactions after it sunk in. Sora was just about to summon his keyblade and fight Pete before he heard Fait stand up and say, "You unlocked the world's door, huh?"
"Wha - ?" Sora questioned, turning around sharply to see Fait surrounded by a powerful darkness. She was angry - no, livid - at what she just heard. In truth, Sora did want Fait to change sides but not at the price of having her world fall to darkness. He then shook his head and tried to calm Fait down, "I didn't unlock anything! Yeah, I found the keyhole but I sealed it."
"The door was already sealed," Fait responded, eyes changing from her gemstone violet-purple to an outraged cross between yellow and fiery orange. "From both sides even. The only thing you could have done was unlock it!"
In a burst of power, darkness swarmed over Sora and Pete before it all disappeared in an instant. Pete had a sad look on his face for a brief moment. Like all the people he heard Sora just name, Pete had a soft spot for Fait and saw her as a friend. She was the only one he really considered a friend. When Sora turned back to him with anger in his eyes, he snapped back into a smirk and huffed.
Sora's shoulders quaked before he demanded, "Why'd you lie and tell Fait I was after you? I didn't manipulate anyone into doing anything! So why tell her that?"
Pete stood akimbo as he watched Sora summon his keyblade but the damage (or rather his mission) was done. He said, "I didn't know anything about you going to her world or knowing about her real identity. Maleficent's the one who figured you out. From the very beginning, she wanted Master Yen Sid to send a keyblade master that he trained specifically to fight Fait. It was part of Maleficent's very own Mark of Mastery. To have Fait fight someone of equal capability."
"Why use her?" Sora asked, gripping his keyblade harshly.
"Me and Maleficent got sick 'n' tired of chasing behind the lot o' ya to conquer all dem worlds, see. So's we made this plan to train our own keyblade master to gain a whole catalogue of power," Pete said, chuckling evilly. "Maleficent saw plenty potential in Fait and had her grindin' through the mills to gain new abilities that keyblade masters like you didn't have yet... such as creating new worlds."
"What?" Sora questioned in a whispery voice.
"That's right," Pete said, smiling proudly and looking into the sky. "The world Fait calls Philharmonie Ville was created by Fait herself. When one of dem old keyblade masters came snoopin' around to defeat Maleficent, she got real crafty-like and searched for a place where she could hide Fait. She found an empty rock with not even a sliver of light. Once she found me and left to do that Xehanort's biddin', she went back to get Fait and bring her to that there Hollow Bastion. What she found there got her to thinkin'. I didn't know what was goin' on, but a small patch of grass with a single flower and little pond were near Fait when I first met her. The light in Fait's heart created new life."
"The light of hope!" Sora whispered to himself, remembering Fait's story.
"With Fait's power, she can create a new world for us, and - as a bonus - all the worlds she sealed away with her sleeping spell can be directly connected to our new world," Pete said, cackling for a brief moment as realization and shock showed on Sora's face. "We'll have our own collection of worlds at the turn of a diggity dang dime! All that training paid off in the end, didn't it, pipsqueak? Speaking of ends, now that you made Fait angry, I wonder what she's gonna do to your world now that the cat's outta the bag! Ha ha ha ha!"
His heart in that instant stopped and plummeted to his stomach. He felt sick down to the marrow in his bones. Sora's eyes shifted and then his head shook. He shouted, "Donald! Goofy!"
Sora nearly crashed the Gummi ship into the sea while Donald and Goofy steadily demanded to know what was going on. He couldn't explain it, but he had to stop Fait or else... No, she wouldn't do that, would she? Not the girl he met on Philharmonie Ville. The Fait he knew was flirty, loved joking, always gave Cloud hugs even though he persisted in not wanting them, often teased Ienzo about being her new babysitter, and often became Kairi's rival. For a split second, he thought she developed a sort of soft spot for Riku. The Fait he came to know was sweet, kind, and otherwise normal. Yes, she said she performed necessary evils but it was to protect her world and her people. Sora gritted his teeth and knitted his eyebrows together with worry and fear. Philharmonie Ville was taken over by the Heartless. There was nothing left for her to protect. When Destiny Islands finally came into view, he was met with a darkened sky and maelstroms in the sea. It had the same look as before when he began his journey to find Riku and Kairi!
"No!" Sora whimpered, tears forming at his eyes.
"Sora!" Donald shouted, snatching him away from the controls to steer the Gummi ship to a landing position.
Sora waited for Donald to steady the ship before he leapt out of the vehicle and dove. There she was. Minus the blue cloak and silver armor she wore when he first met her, Fait stood in the middle of the sea dressed in no more than her black body suit. Her hair flowed down in a blanket of dirty blonde locks. A Darkside appeared suddenly, making Sora dodge quickly to perform a Shock Dive straight into the water. There was no splash, though. Time had frozen around Fait. She stood atop the sea like a statue as though she were built on a concrete sidewalk. He was about to run up to her until he heard screaming and finally saw smoke coming from the Main Island.
Lifting her hand quietly, Fait summoned two Devil's Waves from two Corridors of Darkness and commanded darkly, "Kill them."
"Fait, stop it!" Sora shouted desperately, running towards her.
"Sora!" a familiar voice called.
"Riku, the islands!" another voice called.
Kairi and Riku were called by Donald and Goofy from the ship to help Sora defend Destiny Islands, but they didn't expect the islands to be in such a state. Many Heartless were surrounding them on the Play Island. Sora finally reached Fait as she was gathering dark energy into her left hand and noticed that her freckled, peach-colored skin was peeling to reveal ashen, gray skin. She was changing into her Heartless form. He ran in front of her to see her face and gasped with widened eyes at the yellow eyes only possessed by Heartless.
He reached up to pull her arm down and pleaded, "Fait, no!"
Fait slowly moved her head to face Sora and tore the bottom half of her face off to show raspberry-colored matte lips and more ashen skin. She narrowed her eyes and asked, "What are you so afraid of, Baby Blue?"
Sora's eyes began to tear at the pet name he had been given when he visited Philharmonie Ville. She truly was doing this on purpose. She fully recognized him! He then said, "Fait, don't do this! Please!"
"I don't owe you the slightest bit of mercy," Fait hissed, raising her arm above her head. A Darkside rose from the frozen sea underneath their feet and held in his hand a large heart. It gave the heart to Fait and Sora watched in horror as her power engulfed the heart. She then asked, "Am I not being fair, Master Sora?"
"Sora!" Riku called again, keyblade out to fight.
The Darkside stood in front of Riku to battle him while Fait spoke her final words to Sora. She asked again while screaming, "Am I not being fair?"
When Sora didn't answer, he only could shake his head in denial and pull her arm down again with tears in his eyes. Fait made one last sweet gesture and kissed Sora's lips. It came as a shock to both Sora and Riku, who defeated the Darkside, but didn't stop Fait from saying, "Dry your tears. There is nothing left for you to save... or to kill."
Before Sora could say anything else, Fait took the power in her hand and crushed the heart of Destiny Islands into five pieces without a hint of remorse or enjoyment...