Author's Note: OKAY HERE IS THE FINALE OF BBS AT LAST! 333 I am sorry for taking a two week break lol, that was NOT intended! I was having IRL money and food troubles, and I was stressed to HELL for a bit there...but it's good now! :D Got it all sorted, and I was able to sit and focus on finishing off the finale chapter here tonight! :) I had most of this done weeks/months ago, but now I finished it off and polished it and added a lot more stuff honestly! 3 It's a super intense and emotional chapter...SO ENJOY! LOTS of great stuffs happens here, some big and obvious, some more subtle, and I made myself cry writing parts of it lol.
End of AN!
Kairi flipped high over Maleficent's dragon form, slashing her blade - which clinked off of the silver armor with a flash of sparks.
She landed again on bent knees, holding her blade in front of her with gritted teeth.
Only magic attacks seemed to be doing much of anything to her - and only a select few in this fight seemed to even have the power to do more than make the witch stagger!
Though, these Dandelion kids...they were really something amazing, watching them work - and watching them together! Some of them seemed able to fight in ways that would have put Kairi, Sora, and Riku together on their butts! And it probably wouldn't have been too much of a challenge, either! She thought one or two of them could even have made Ven, or even Terra and Aqua work for a victory. A battle against a dark empowered, ancient Keyblade armored witch-turned-dragon probably wasn't the time to start getting all self-conscious or comparative or anything - but a teensy part of Kairi really couldn't help it! At least Ephemer had the excuse that he only looked like a kid still! Thank god...
Kairi turned into light, zipping around Maleficent and reappearing on her right. She cast out with several blasts of pure light energy, causing glowing orange spots to appear on her armor - but it didn't melt through or anything. Like she'd hoped. It had been too much fighting today already, maybe, that was doing her in - her dang, old stamina problems rearing their ugly head! Or maybe Maleficent was just too powerful now? Armored and burning with those flames...?
Kairi thought about trying to just unleash Light creatures onto Maleficent - what if she just went all in? Made a whole bunch of them? Or one massive one, like-
No! She couldn't. She didn't know if she'd even be able to control a whole- horde like that, especially around people like Riku or Terra! And these Dandelions definitely had their share of Heart's troubles...darkness. No, the idea was way too dangerous, too risky. Kairi would just have to do her best, push herself to her limits, and hope her contributions to this fight were enough - even if it was small, even if it was only just enough to tip the scales...the right moment, the right timing. Even if it was just a split second of a distraction from someone else's attack - every bit helped. Every hit counted.
So Kairi would keep hitting the witch, as much as she could, for as long as she could - until something or someone brought her down!
Maleficent flapped her wings, exploding with wind magicks and hot flames that washed over Kairi, sending her flying backwards (along with everyone else, barring the Foretellers and Master Eraqus, who stabbed his Keyblade into the blue ground and braced himself on his armored boots). Maleficent suddenly darted up into the air, ascending dozens of feet in seconds...and then she shot forward just as fast, accelerating across the skies - straight toward the city, over its high stone walls! She opened her mouth wide and unleashed a wide stream of green flames, crackling with purple lightning, in the blink of an eye; the attack streaked down to land in the east district (the construction zones), and exploded on contact. A dome of dark energy and green flames that just expanded outward, swallowing up walkways, pipes and buildings, melting away construction equipment and huge machines! It grew so large it reached the edge of the city itself. When it met the high, thick stone wall, the energy pushed out against it and caused it to explode...and fall apart.
Burning stone fell, along with a long, curved section of the city's outer wall.
And the rest of the construction zone was left in blazing orange flames - normal flames that were already quickly starting to spread!
Maleficent turned her dragon head to the right, and opened her mouth to unleash another attack: this time, one aimed straight down at the center of the city - at the central square!
Kairi kicked off the ground and soared into the air, hurtling toward Maleficent like a comet - but she knew she wasn't going to reach her in time. Not even close! No one was - not Sora, flying beside her, or Ven and Terra on their gliders, or even-
Glowing blue and white strands of light shot across the sky, as pink smoke burst around Maleficent, and these thick energy ropes ensnared her dragon form, wrapping around limbs, wings, and, most importantly - her dragon jaws. They tightened around her, curved at the middle and drew back up in the air...and then the Chirithies around her aimed their stubby arms down at the ground, and the energy binds pulled on her with warping air and a thrumming noise; Maleficent was sent hurtling toward the ground like she'd been launched from a slingshot.
No, Kairi thought, that was exactly what it had been. A giant...energy slingshot!
Maleficent plummeted, thrashing as she fell. Her binds burst on her wings, they melted away at her foreclaws...and then her jaws opened wide with a great roar! She slowed, stabilized, and whipped her head around with narrowed, glowing eyes to glare murder at the Chirithies. She opened her mouth and wasted no time in sending a huge stream of flames their way!
The Chirithies popped away in puffs of smoke before the attack reached them.
And then the Foretellers, Amaya, Eraqus, and Terra were there in the skies, attacking Maleficent together; the Foretellers and Amaya had just flown up on magical power (or maybe taken really high jumps), while Terra had used his glider. As for his Master...his armored form was shrouded in a golden glow, with golden wings burning behind his back like flames!
Kairi surged forward across the sky to join them, zooming past Maleficent and blasting her in the face with a beam of light energy; Maleficent's head reared back from the attack, her eyes blinking - it didn't look to have done much to hurt her, but it did make a nice distraction for the stronger fighters.
Good! Then she was doing her job right in this battle! She was doing her part.
Kairi spun and twisted in the air, turning back to look at Maleficent - just in time to see, surprisingly, Erin come dropping down out of a dark portal, slashing with her Keyblade.
Maleficent moved like a serpent, twisting out of the way and swinging her tail around, catching Erin square across her front in an instant; Erin was launched straight back and down through the air in the blink of an eye, crashing through a rooftop of a house like it was tissue paper. A shockwave of force rippled out from the building across the streets, and then it collapsed on top of her!
Kairi gasped, then set her jaw and flew down toward the ground! She landed in front of the ruined house, coughing from all the dust. She raised a hand and cast a swirling of wind magicks, which sucked all the dust up and sent it up into the sky. She set her eyes on the ruined home, seeing - just a mess. She started forward - stopping as a new dark portal swirled to life beside her. She turned sharply, but, it was just Riku. Riku and Cognis; the Darkness girl appeared in a haze of shadow, immediately walking forward into the ruined building.
Cognis walked through broken beams, fallen roof shingles and mounds of furniture and collapsed sections of walls - her dark aura burning around her, and burning it all away. Clearing a path! But-
The building creaked, and suddenly fell in on either side of her! Magic, purple ice mounds grew rapidly around Cognis, rising up and blocking and redirecting the fallen walls and ceiling pieces. Supporting the collapsing structure crudely.
Kairi didn't hesitate to race forward into it, ducking under a beam, and slipping past Cognis. She went deeper in, until she found Erin; the other girl was flat on her back, pinned to the shattered wooden floor by heavy beams and a mess of stone bricks. She was almost buried. But she was alive, breathing - Kairi could see it plainly, thankfully! More creaking came from behind her, and she saw Riku making his way through the mess as well - a lot more slowly and clumsily, though.
"Are you okay?" Kairi asked Erin quickly, getting down next to her.
The girl looked at her with shining pink eyes, her lips twisting into a small grin. "Fine - thanks! I can...get myself out of here. But you guys are going to want to get as far away from me as possible; I don't want you getting caught up in it, alright?" she said quickly - with a strained tone. Was it just pain, or something else...? "It's probably going to be a pretty big explosion of magical energies here!" The girl paused. She hesitated. Then, in a murmur, she added: "If this witch wants to make this a dragon fight, she'll get one..."
Kairi stared at the girl, into those eyes, trying to parse her words. But, ultimately, she simply nodded. "Okay!" She jumped to her feet, turned and grabbed Riku's arm, and started to drag him back out of the destroyed home.
"Hey - what are you-" Riku protested immediately.
"She's going to get herself out - and we don't want to be near her when she blows the whole house up," Kairi said firmly.
Riku still resisted her, but...not as much anymore. Kairi stumbled out onto the stone street again, and let him go. Cognis flickered into being beside him, her "face" focused on his. Searching for something there? Waiting for something...?
Whatever was going on in that girl's noncorporeal head, Kairi didn't get to find out - because there was an explosion, next moment. An explosion of bright pink and white light, and burning winds and pressure, originating from the damaged house...and expanding outward! It swept Kairi and Riku up, sending them flying down the street together. Kairi hit and rolled, gasping with pain. She came to a stop, trying to orient herself again immediately. She raised her head swiftly, and saw a burning pink beam of energy shooting up into the sky!
Suddenly the world trembled, and a great...roar filled the air. Kairi's jaw dropped as she saw a long, shifting shape begin to emerge from the pink light pillar - some kind of dragon?! It was huge - wide, and lengthy for sure; more and more of its long, serpentine body just kept coming out of that light pillar, after the dragon head. A head of slitted, glowing pink eyes and gaping jaws of swirling pink fires. The dragon had glistening pink scales, and shaggy, black fur down along the length of its spine. It had four slender, clawed limbs - but no wings? A wingless dragon. But how was it flying, then...? How was...she...flying?
An image flashed through Kairi's mind - a memory - of a Heart Station. A Princess's, seen weeks ago, in a dream and a meeting...with a girl who had the same pink eyes as Erin. That girl's Station of Awakening had had depictions of dragons on it - which meant-?
"Erin..." Riku breathed beside Kairi, his neck craned, his damaged eyes wide with shock and disbelief. "That's her. She-"
"Yeah, your girlfriend turned into a dragon - admire it later!" Kairi said, with a small smile as she summoned her weapon to hand again.
"Yeah, she did- wait, she's not my-!" Riku course-corrected, mid-sentence, his face turning pink.
Kairi kicked off the ground and shot up into the skies again, her smile turning to a little grin.
Maleficent was a raging storm in the air all her own, though, now - ducking, darting and waving, casting out with roaring flames and swiping attacks that sent out energy waves every time! And her armor was just still- practically impenetrable, it seemed!
Kairi slashed at the woman - ducked under a sweeping tail and a wave of orange flames - and then Luxu's friends were there again, around Maleficent. Invi created some huge blue sphere that surrounded Maleficent, circles of energy sparking on its interior surface that immediately began blasting her with lightning in great, thunderous booms. Aced raised his weapon high and gave it a great downward slash, creating a wide, orange energy beam that shot forward and melded into Invi's barrier sphere, turning it blinding white. Ira gave his weapon an almost absent swing in front of him, and hundreds of glowing white swords appeared around Maleficent, and then they flew in at her in an endless barrage! Gula held his weapon before him, swirling with a red light, then he thrust it forward, and tendrils of red energy flew forward and disappeared through the barrier as well - though just what they were doing (attacking Maleficent or reinforcing Invi's barrier) was a mystery to Kairi.
Darkness exploded within the barrier, along with a great roar, and Invi suddenly let her barrier drop - revealing Maleficent wasn't trapped inside it anymore!
Maleficent suddenly appeared behind Invi in a great burst of purple smoke, claws already swiping for her: and they connected. The latter woman let out a loud cry, her face twisting with shock, and she was sent hurtling toward the ground, her Keyblade vanishing from her hand. Ira turned immediately, darting down through the air after Invi - but before he reached her, Ven came swooping through the sky on his glider to catch her. Ven balked under the weight, his whole glider wobbling, but then he straightened out, heading down for the ground with Invi safely.
Aced let out a yell of rage as he flew for Maleficent, unleashing a rapid series of slashes and beam attacks! Maleficent took them head on, but she was knocked back through the air repeatedly, staggering and thrashing, her armor chipping and burning in places now...
Gula flew forward and swung his own weapon out, striking those burning spots with energy attacks of his own, capitalizing on it!
And then, suddenly, Erin was there - her massive, elongated body of pink glittering scales surging across the sky! She was truly massive - much, much bigger than Maleficent. Four, five, six times her size? More? At least length-wise! She slammed into Maleficent with a roar, her front claws wrapping around the witch's body, dragging her through the air like a toy. Erin twisted and curved downward, going into a sharp dive...then she whipped back up and swung her body with the motion, releasing Maleficent from her grasp; Maleficent flew across the sky and slammed into a blue, rocky mountain!
The mountain shattered, crumbling atop Maleficent, burying her, and causing her to fall down into a deep blue canyon below.
Erin's glowing pink eyes narrowed down at Maleficent, then she opened her jaws and let out a huge stream of pink flames like an explosion! The attack accelerated down and into the canyon, striking Maleficent even as she was trying to recover from the impact - to get out from under those rocks. The effect of Erin's attack was an explosion: a massive explosion of pink energy, and a flash of white light. The canyon was blown open wider on either side, and the energy flew down the front and back of the canyon to escape into the open blue plains.
There was silence, for a moment. Stillness, as dust and smoke swirled in the canyon, filling it up and obscuring everyone's vision. Then-
Maleficent's dragon voice roared, echoing in the air, as red flames exploded out of the canyon, melting the rocks and clearing away the smoke. She flew up into the air, straight for Erin, like a rocket; she slammed into Erin with her whole dragon body, bodyslamming her! A red light flashed at the point of contact, and Erin's lengthy dragon form was thrown across the sky like Maleficent had been moments prior. Erin twisted and tumbled, arcing down and hitting the earth. She bounced, flew up again, then hit the steep face of a blue plateau. The rocky plateau broke in half, the huge top section falling down onto her - crushing her between them!
Maleficent opened her jaws as she gazed at her fallen foe, her glowing yellow eyes widened - and then...she laughed. Her voice echoed, high and malevolent. It was shocking, striking, somehow, to Kairi - to hear that aware, normal, human voice coming out of such a huge, evil creature. But then, this was just showing on the outside what this woman had always been on the inside, wasn't it?
A light suddenly flashed in the air before Maleficent, and Eraqus was there - hovering in front of Maleficent directly, slashing his Keyblade and sending out those glowing orange chains again; they wrapped around Maleficent's body and limbs, binding her like the Chirithy had. He raised one armored hand off his weapon this time, however, and two crackling orbs of light magic swirled around Maleficent, unlike anything Kairi had seen before. Or felt. They had an outer edge and an inner core, and they pulsed and began firing continuous streams of light energy at Maleficent, burning away at her, but they were...
They were powerful, yes, but they were also - constrained. Controlled. It was incredible, and so different from Kairi's own attacks. Kairi might have had raw power and pure light, but Master Eraqus...he had experience and skill. His attacks were refined, not wild blasts of raw energy. It was really the difference between training and innate talent or ability.
Eraqus let his attack go on his own, then darted down toward the ground, the chains dragging behind him - pulling Maleficent along with him! The burning wings of light behind his back burned brighter and stronger, accelerating them both! The man reached the ground in seconds and whipped around, slinging his weapon as he did; Maleficent was slammed down onto the earth with a mighty crash, blue rocks shattering beneath her and flying up into the air! Eraqus slashed his weapon again, letting the chains go, causing those hunks of blue rock to glow with light, and then he swiftly directed them back down onto Maleficent like shooting stars, or meteors!
Terra and Aqua came slamming down onto Maleficent in the wake of the attack, out of a blue portal, slashing for Maleficent's head - or maybe her neck? Terra was glowing with orange energy, and his attack caused a shockwave to fly out beneath Maleficent, along with burning lines or cracks in the ground. Aqua left a trail of pink energy behind her as she landed; she immediately went into a high backflip, waving a hand as she did. A dozen large, lilac energy orbs appeared in front of Aqua in the air. She landed on a magical pane of glass, then slashed her weapon out furiously, sending the orbs flying down to bombard Maleficent in the face!
One of the Dandelions, Cotyle, was suddenly there, racing out of another light portal and leaping past Maleficent; he went into a furious twirl, like a ballerina, the sparkling hem of his dress glowing with energy and turning it into a buzzsaw as it cast out around him. He slashed down the length of Maleficent's flank, coming out of his spin behind her on unsteady, stumbling heels. Four other Dandelions appeared near him in a flash of white light, a blue barrier shining around them all that blocked Maleficent's retaliatory swing of a tail!
More portals began to appear around Maleficent, and others were coming back to join the fight: Ephemer came down onto Maleficent's backside, along with Skuld and Elrena, all of them doing quick slashes before leaping or teleporting away again; Yuffie ran in front of Maleficent, twirling her weapon and throwing it out straight - letting it loose, aimed for her face. Kairi raised a swift hand on instinct, and Yuffie's weapon glowed with light and burning energy as it met its mark. It exploded on impact, causing Maleficent's head to rear back high, shaking it and snarling. Yuffie looked at her weapon in confusion as it bounced back into her hand - then the girl shrugged and grinned, leaping backwards out of Maleficent's reach.
Maleficent sent out a blast of flames that curved sharply, swirling around her and rising up to become a cyclone of purple fires!
"Everybody get clear!" King Mickey's high voice called out suddenly.
Kairi turned, and saw Mickey, Amaya, Merlin, and Donald Duck standing together before a blue portal, a swirling white circle of magic beneath them, glowing with power and hot winds. Strange, differently colored crystals appeared around the outer edge of the circle, pulsing with light...
Then, a huge golden crystal appeared in front of the four, and it unleashed a huge beam of white, blue, and gold energies! The energy beam flew toward Maleficent like a serpent, winding and curving - until it met the cyclone and disappeared into it. There was a moment, a pause - then a blinding white light erupted within the cyclone, burning its way out of it and disintegrating the darkness! It swirled and rose up into a cyclone of its own...and then it all came down on itself to form a swirling energy dome. A dome that shrank and shrank, squeezing in on Maleficent...passing over her, revealing more and more of her...
Until it became a glowing white point beneath her, that then disappeared with a wink of light.
Maleficent stood there on all fours, her head twisting, twitching, blurring strangely, her claws slamming down and digging into the ground - then lifting up and repeating the motion.
"What was-" Sora started to ask.
"Time magic - but a kind unlike any I have ever..." came the voice of Young Xehanort - quiet, trailing off. Kairi glanced at the man, and saw a look of actual shock and awe on his face. But then it was gone, and he was flickering forward and slashing out at Maleficent with his energy whip Keyblade transformation, raining a flurry of strikes onto her dragon torso, throat, and face.
Everyone else took advantage of the opening too, unleashing strikes, energy blasts, and magic spells! The other Dandelions were coming out of new portals, and then Cloud and Tifa were there, and Goofy was flying around madly like a rocket, hitting Maleficent and creating large explosions...
Maleficent's body was immersed in dust, smoke, and rubble, pieces of armor falling apart now majorly, those orange crystals cracking and shattering! They were breaking through, they were finally-
"AAAAAARRRRGGGGHHHHHH!" Maleficent's voice wailed out, as dark smoke burst out of her and swirled around her. The purple smoke sucked back inward like a vacuum, and Maleficent went with it in a swirling of purple light motes.
Kairi was on guard this time, waiting for the witch turned dragon to reappear somewhere for a sneak attack-
But Maleficent didn't appear anywhere nearby. She appeared high, high up in the skies - and she wasn't a dragon anymore. That giant form burned away in green flames, leaving her there in her normal black robes again...with the Ultima Weapon in her hand, raised over her head. "MORE, MORE, MOOOOORE! MORE POWER!" her voice screamed out, cracked, ragged, desperate and shaking with rage. "ALL THE POWER YOU HAVE TO GIVE - BE MIIIIINNNNEEEEE!"
"NO!" Kairi flew up in a streak of light, twisting her weapon for a strike-
The world trembled, the air cracked, and a sphere of red flames and orange lightning erupted out of Maleficent, flying out in all directions - expanding in the blink of an eye. it struck Kairi, sweeping her away and carrying her...tossing her across the skies before she could even try to get her bearings again.
Kairi flew through the world, sailing down and hitting the blue earth of a plateau. She skipped across it more than once before slamming into a rocky outcropping - which exploded in dust on impact, falling apart around her and atop her.
She lay there, gasping, her whole body aching...her left arm hanging limply. Her right, outstretched, and under a huge, heavy boulder. Her Keyblade lay a dozen feet from her, dusty and charred...
Broken?
No...no, it wasn't like- Riku's- it was still whole, it was still good...right?
Kairi blinked as she heard another great crack, and raised her eyes to the skies above. She saw red lightning racing out across the sky, saw clouds of crimson energy rumbling like thunder clouds...she saw blasts of red lightning shooting down in flashes of light that lit up the darkening world, saw dark figures trying to dodge around it all...in the air and on the ground...
She tried to suck in a breath, tried to move, but...
Come on, please...come on, get up, move...work, body...
But it wasn't...
She strained, she cried out from pain - and she fell back again. Her head hit the blue ground, and her eyes stared up into the sky. She found Maleficent again, gazing at her distant form, shrouded in flickering red electricity and power...
How could they face this power? How could anyone? It was power beyond power, it was insane, it was incredible, it was terrifying...
Was there even any power that could match it, overcome it...?
In this world, in any world?
Kairi twisted her shoulder with a cry, bringing her free arm up and touching her chest - on instinct, on some muscle memory, maybe. For what? Her necklace that wasn't there? Or her Heart?
What could her Heart do - even the Heart of a Princess...?
One Princess alone...
But if this didn't stop, if Maleficent wasn't stopped, here and now, what kind of devastation and death was she going to go on to wage on all the other worlds out there? On all those people who lived in them? Kairi couldn't let that happen! She wouldn't! She wasn't going to just let it be this way! No matter what, no matter what it took from her, no matter how hard it was!
Not these worlds, these people - all the worlds, all the people! The same people, the worlds over...under the same sky.
The same-
Kairi's Heart thudded in her chest, her entire body washing through with a strange vibration - a sensation - along with a sudden rush of warmth. A golden glow began to shine in the middle of her chest, radiating outward, filling her limbs with a burst of inexplicable...strength again. A power?
Kairi wasn't sure in that moment what did it - what caught her attention. She just knew that something did. She looked up again, she blinked, and squinted into the sky - at Maleficent's flickering silhouette? No. At something...beyond it. Behind her. Above her. Something...what was that...?
A faint, blue hue, a mirage, above and behind the clouds of red lightning...? A shape...? A shimmering, glowing...heart-
"Things aren't looking too great for you, are they?"
Kairi twisted her head around as best she could under the rocks, and saw Vanitas leaning against a boulder, his arms crossed.
He was here, too? Had he been here the whole time-
Kairi felt that strange thumping inside her chest again, causing her to suck in air. It was different, this time, though. It was as if it was telling her, urging her...as if...
She closed her eyes, exhaling...and then: she knew what she had to do.
Kairi became light itself, escaping from beneath the rocks and reappearing out in the open with a flicker, as easily as breathing. Her arm shot out, calling her Keyblade back to hand without even looking at it. Her gaze was fixed squarely onto Vanitas's face - his yellow eyes.
"Vanitas!" she said suddenly.
"What?" he said, mimicking her tone, pushing off from the boulder and dropping his arms.
Kairi stepped forward, and she spoke the words swiftly and unthinkingly: "Clash with me - just the two of us!"
"WHAT?" Vanitas gaped at her outright, shocked.
"Merge with me - right here, right now. My Heart of Pure Light, and yours of Pure Darkness! No fighting each other, no struggle! It didn't work with Ven because of that, right? But I'm willing to make it work with us!"
"Are you fucking joking-"
"Do you want a taste of true ultimate power, or don't you? I sure do!" Kairi responded. "I could really use it right now!"
"Emphasis on you, right?" Vanitas replied, narrowing his eyes. "Because I know there's no way in hell you'd propose doing this without intending on being the one in control-"
"Just shut the hell up already and DO IT!" Kairi snapped out.
Vanitas stared at her for a long moment. "What's my motivation? Why would I bother?" he said, faux casual. Because she damn well knew it was fake. His eyes told the real story. That glimmer of disbelief, of hunger, of greed, of anticipation...past the shock, past the disbelief...growing...
Because that was just the way he was.
Kairi held Vanitas's gaze, and gave a grin and a flip of her hair out of her face. "Why? Because I'm giving you the perfect chance to wield ultimate power - and to use it to freely whack your greatest current threat," Kairi responded, holding his gaze and giving a grin. "I'd do it all by myself - savor it all, myself - for what she did to my homeworld here, for now and for nine years ago, but I'm willing to share a little of my vengeance with you. Don't tell me you'd pass that up? To get to drive the X-Blade itself into her chest, to see the look on her smug bitch face disappear as she fades from this world? Because of YOU! And you get to take out that other Darkness, too, right along with her... This is your chance to prove you're really your own person, to declare yourself Vanitas, slave to no one: once and for all! Not Xehanort, not some ancient hive mind - just you."
She paused, putting hands behind her back and turning away, starting to walk away. "You know what? Why am I even asking you when I can just go ask Riku's new friend, Cognis? She's a Darkness - and unlike you, she's actually a good person, too! I'm sure she'd be happy to do the merge with me! And once we've taken out Maleficent together, maybe we'll come back down here for you too! What are you gonna do about it...? Let's see if the X-Blade is enough to destroy a Darkness permanently, why don't we?"
"Alright, wait!" Vanitas's voice called out, sudden and panicked.
Kairi stopped, turning to look at him over her shoulder.
Vanitas gazed at her, then glanced up at Maleficent, who was teleporting and flashing across the skies still, fighting against all those others...
Kairi looked, too, seeing Eraqus cast those glowing chains down to the earth - and rip out a massive chunk of land, swing it up, and send it flying toward Maleficent. She blinked, and returned her gaze to Vanitas.
Vanitas's golden eyes met hers again, as well, in almost the same moment...and then he grinned. "Heh...No idea how the hell a girl like you ended up a Princess of Heart - but I think I actually like it." He summoned his own weapon and fell into a battle stance. "You're a little freak."
"Stop trying to make me puke and start trying to actually fight me," Kairi said, spinning to face him and raising her weapon in a flash - speaking with full taunting. Utter mockery.
"Shut the hell up already!" Vanitas snarled, flying at her and swinging his Keyblade Immediately - no warning, no preparations.
"Just try and make me!" Kairi swung hard, letting out a blast of light energy, sending Vanitas flipping backwards. "Or are you too scared of becoming a pretty little princess that you're going to wuss out on getting the complete, true X-Blade's power?! How pathetic is that!" she called out, rushing forward.
"STOP GIVING ME ORDERS!" Vanitas roared, flying at her in a rush of power and energy. "AND STOP...GOADING ME, DAMMIT!"
They met there, blades to blades, face to face - and then light and darkness flew off in all directions, swirling them - their weapons vibrating, glowing...entwining...
And a dome of swirling light and energy grew around them, before BREAKING, becoming a massive pillar of flaming energy that rose up into the heavens.
Maleficent whirled in the distance, gazing from afar, face etched with undisguised panic and horror. "WHAT?! NOOOO!" she shrieked, in a voice of duality: her own, and Darkness's.
As the burning energy continued to rise, Kairi rose up within it - levitating high into the air inside of it. Her eyes were closed, her body surrounded by a golden glow...
Kairi opened her eyes, finding herself standing in a familiar place.
Her Heart Station - her Heart itself.
The surface of it, anyways. Its stained glass images shimmering up at her...
She saw a flash of white light in the center, and then the light washed out across the left half of the circular platform. It flashed brightly at her before fading...revealing a new image. A new part of the image: one that was purple and red, and showed Vanitas in a slumbering pose, and smaller images of Ven, and the old man Xehanort, and...a swirling haze of darkness itself, vague and formless and on its own.
Kairi sensed it before she heard the voice - the gentle click of boots on the glass behind her.
"So, here comes the part where you strike me down and take control, isn't it."
Kairi turned to face Vanitas - fully. She gave him a look, rolling her eyes. "Don't be a dummy," she said.
Vanitas glared at her, his weapon appearing at his side in a flash of blue flames.
Kairi ignored it, and she turned away from him again. She stepped over to the other half of the platform, and crouched down to touch the image of the boy on the surface. "If you're having second thoughts about this, you can still back out."
"Or how about I defeat you and take control of-"
"I thought I told you not to be stupid," Kairi said, quiet and even, not looking up still.
"...You really think you could win against me? Alone?"
"This is my Heart, and light never really goes away, even if you throw it into the deepest darkness," Kairi spoke on casually. "Kingdom Hearts is proof of that, isn't it? The ultimate proof. Even the end of the world, the end of everyone and everything, and the millions of years that have followed...weren't enough to extinguish its light. And it's back now, right? So, yeah, maybe I do fight, and I lose - but I wouldn't go down for good. And not forever. So if you want to try it, go ahead. But it wouldn't be smart of you. You know my Heart itself can't even be touched by darkness, just like Kingdom Hearts. Plus, I have my Light monsters I could call up from out of here, so-"
"Alright, I get it," Vanitas snorted.
She heard the woosh of flames - and glanced up now to see his weapon gone from his hand, which was now curling into a fist at his side. She gave him a little grin, then shook her head and looked down at the platform once more. She reached out to tap at the image, to touch her finger to the image of the boy's face. "It's okay if you're afraid to do this, you know - I kind of am, now. But-"
"I'm not afraid."
"It's scary, I know," Kairi went on, heedless. "To think of what it means to really just...give your whole being to somebody else like that - even temporarily." She looked up, over at the boy. "And that's your whole deal, isn't it? You want to be you, not a part of someone else. Because that was what you came from...some great big amalgamation of dark beings, who split off and become individuals again. But, as individuals...I don't think you really know who you even are, do you? That's the thing. You don't know who you are, or who you want to be."
"Pfft, I didn't ask your opinion, thanks," Vanitas scoffed, crossing his arms and turning away. "Keep your sappy girl crap to yourself; you don't know a fucking thing about me."
"You don't know a thing about you. Even if you got the Ultima Weapon, or if you did beat me here and keep the X-Blade for yourself - I think you wouldn't even know what to do with either of them, Vanitas. You're like a dog chasing a car. You want power, but you don't even know why you want it, or what you'd do with it if you actually got it. You don't have any personal goals, or motives, or any sense of direction. Because you're 'just Darkness', right?"
Vanitas glared death at her - silently. Standing rigidly, still as a statue now.
Kairi smiled at him, and stood slowly. She looked at her own side of the Heart station...and raised a hand to it, a golden light swirling around her fingers. The platform glowed, and from up out of the glass came panes of magic - panels, with moving images and moments on them. Her moments. Her memories. Images from across her life: Radiant Garden as it was in childhood memories; the islands and the fading sunset; laying on the beach with her friends; hugging and kissing her dad, snuggling in his arms; laughing and playing with Selphie...and so much more.
"Nice home movie - what, is it supposed to make me all teary-eyed, boohoo I-wish-I-got-a-hug-in-my-life?" Vanitas's snarky tone came, as his lip curled in derision.
"Have you ever had a hug before?" Kairi countered, starting toward the boy.
Vanitas's face flickered, his eyes darting up and down her body. He stepped backwards sharply. "What are you doing?" he snapped.
"Eraqus never would have accepted you, if you'd been dropped off with Ven - he would have killed you the second he laid eyes on you," Kairi stated, stopping before Vanitas.
"No shit. Your point?"
"We'd accept you," Kairi continued. "We have Cognis - and Riku and Terra. You know it's true. Being free to be on your own, and to be you...you could be with us. Nobody would hurt you, like Xehanort did. We'd make sure of it. And-"
"I thought you wanted me as far away as possible," Vanitas said, laughing and turning away. Striding off across the platform. "Now you're saying you'd just - what? - welcome me with open arms? Please."
"If you were just open to giving it a try - yeah, we would," Kairi said. "Obviously we'd have some ground rules, like no tormenting or killing anyone for no reason, but shouldn't that be easy for you? You went four years under Xehanort without doing anything to hurt anyone, didn't you? You're capable of self-restraint. You're not a mindless monster, like your Unversed. You're like Cognis: a thinking, feeling individual. All you'd have to do is have the courage to step up and say yes. We'd make it work."
"God, you are really such a girl, aren't you," Vanitas's sneering voice came, as he kept his back to her. She saw both his hands become fists... "I told you before: I don't need that crap. Why would I waste my time-"
"What time are you even wasting? It's not like you're doing anything, are you? And it wouldn't cost you anything to give it a shot. If you hated it, you could just leave again. No problem. What are you afraid of, Vanitas? Having someone actually give a shit about you? Being made to feel such icky human emotions? Rage and hate are emotions too, you know, and you seem to love those a whole lot. So why not friendship? Affection? Care? Compassion? Empathy? Why are those so scary to you that you won't touch them with a ten foot pole?"
"Because I don't give a shit about any of that-"
"Are you afraid to have it, and then lose it?" Kairi cut across. "Is that it? You're a drifter, and you were used and hurt, and you're scared that if you ever know anything different, you'll get a taste for it and then just lose it? You're afraid you'll like it, and never get it again? There are so many good, amazing feelings and things to do in the World - in life - but you get none of it. Because you-"
"Stop trying to make this about stupid fucking feelings!" Vanitas snarled, whirling around, his face taut, his eyes burning at her. He stalked forward, boots thudding. "What is it with you and making everything- mushy?! You're a delusional, naive little-"
"If it's nothing to you, then let me give you a hug," Kairi interrupted firmly, holding his gaze. Not backing away. Not flinching. "It's meaningless crap, right? It's not a feeling, it's not a sensation, it's just some body posturing. Motions of your arms. Some stupid little human ritual. One that the powerful, awesome Vanitas of darkness can surely handle...can't you? Or did I find your ultimate weakness? I can ward you off any time I want by offering you a silly little hug?"
"Shut up!" Vanitas growled. "Aren't we supposed to be merging into one being here?"
"Hug me and we will! How are you going to stand being in my body if you can't even touch me, huh? Are you just going to self-combust and go flying out of my body because you can't even handle-"
"Enough with this!" Vanitas summoned his Keyblade, raising it up sharply. "I'll just beat you and take-"
Kairi turned into light and teleported backwards. She reappeared, spreading her arms at Vanitas. "Beat me and take my body all for yourself? Great plan!" she said sarcastically. "Not, actually! Like I said, even if you beat me, I'll still be around, and you can be damn sure I'll fight against you with everything I have - which will probably cause you to fail. Or I beat you, like Ven did before - and Aqua, on the outside. She shattered your imperfect X-Blade, remember? You lost on both counts - so what makes you really think you'd win this time, Vanitas? The only path you've got here is to accept!"
"I don't have to accept a thing," Vanitas said - pettily. Petulantly.
Kairi grinned. She waved her arms, wriggled her fingers. "Come on, you can't let me just put my arms around you for like two seconds? That's really what stops you from getting the X-Blade? I wish I could go back in time and tell Ven that trick, that would have really saved a lot of-"
"STOP IT!"
"Stop what? Are we just going to sit in here like this forever, or what? Tick tock, Vanitas!"
"Grrr...just- shut up and let me think!" Vanitas snapped, stalking off to the left. Then, the right. He was like a caged animal, pacing furiously. He drew in and let out shaky, uneven breaths...
Kairi stayed silent, watching him.
After a few moments, or maybe a few hours, he stopped. He turned toward her, slowly, jerkily. Then he took in a deep breath and stepped forward. One step. Two. A third... He stopped in front of her, staring into her face, his own contorted and tight now. Like he was repulsed, or- expecting something bad to happen?
"So?" Kairi said softly, raising her eyebrows.
"Whatever - just do it and give me the fucking X-Blade," Vanitas ground out, his whole body vibrating. "You damn freak...I really can't understand humans..."
Kairi gave Vanitas an equally soft smile, raising her arms and stepping in - and she hugged him. She held that hug for an eternity or only a moment...breathing in and holding her hands on his back.
"...Are you done yet? I don't see any merging into the ultimate being in the universe," Vanitas's raspy voice came, right in her ear. "Where's the X-Blade?"
"Maybe you have to actually do your part in it, too - did you think of that?" Kairi said back. "We can't fight the merge, right? So relax, and let yourself just...be with me. I bet it'd only take a second...a moment...to make it work. But it has to be real, on both sides of this. If you can even find it in you to do that. If not...then I guess no X-Blade for you, sorry."
"Grrrr..." Vanitas growled out, long and suffering. But it faded. He stood there like a statue in her grasp for another eternity. Then - movement. His arms rose up, mechanically, and enveloped Kairi's small form. Kairi honestly expected him to tighten his grip, to squeeze her - try to crush her, more like - but...no, he was barely touching her. It was like a ghost...or someone handling garbage.
"Whatever's holding you back still...just one moment," Kairi repeated. "One instant. One flicker of a feeling. That's all. Just be willing to do this, really."
"I am willing! I want the X-Blade, I want to end that upstart witch and her Darkness, for daring to think I'd give a shit about-" Vanitas cut himself off sharply. His arms tensed around Kairi. She felt his hands suddenly come inward...and fists touched her back, fully and squarely. Trembling fists. "I'm my own guy, I'm no one's apprentice, or-"
"I get that, you know. I do. Being tied to terrible people, to thing you don't like, that sucks. But not all ties are bad. Friends are good to have. Friends can help you win fights, you can have fun beating the hell out of your enemies together," Kairi whispered out casually. "Aqua and Ven beat you together. You were alone. You're always alone. But you don't have to be. You could have that, too. Some backup, someone to stand with you. Someone to add their strength to yours. Someone you can draw more power from, yourself. Or how about just me? I'd be your friend, if you'd let me. Well...frenemies."
"Frenemies...? What the hell is that?"
"Enemies who are also friends," Kairi said.
"...How is that even possible?"
"I don't know? Maybe it's not. But for you and me...I mean, I'm a freak, so maybe I can just do things like that? And maybe you can, too. If you're an individual, then you're not like other Darknesses, are you? So aren't we two of a kind...? And one of a kind?"
"Now you're just...trying to confuse me..." Vanitas murmured.
"Sorry."
"Whatever. If this doesn't start working soon, I am seriously going to just cut you down and try my luck with-"
"Just relax. Take a breath. Try, Vanitas. I know you can do it. You have a Heart, one that's no less capable than anyone else's...as much as you want to deny it. But we're trying to get past that denial here."
Vanitas did listen to her, surprisingly. He took a deep breath, and let it go again. Then another. And another... His hands shifted against her. Fists...uncurled. And his gloved palms were touching her back now. His whole being relaxed against her, as he took a new breath in again.
"...Frenemies, huh?" came his voice, quiet and rough, and strange. A breath in her ear, that echoed in the void around them.
"Yeah. Frenemies."
"Stupid..."
A light shined between them, within them, glowing brighter, a hot wind swirling around them both-
Kairi opened her eyes of blazing blue - which shifted into a melting gold. Her clothes changed in a wash of light; she was now wearing a flowing, armored gown of purple and white. In multiple layers around the lower portion of her dress, there were strings of gold, which held dangling red and black gemstones. Finally, a golden crown of intricate wire weave materialized atop her head, with a big, glowing blue sapphire on the front of it.
Kairi exhaled, raising her weapon, holding it out before her horizontally. In a flash of light, it changed - morphing to become a new weapon entirely: it was the X-Blade, in its fullest glory. True and complete. She just knew it - knew it because he knew it, the memory rising in her mind as clearly as if it were her own. Because in that moment, it was. The X-Blade was comprised of two crossed Kingdom Keys (that was weird?) forming the hilt, a wire frame decoration dividing handle from blade, with an extravagant, sparkling blade itself, of shifting hues of greens and yellows, with a V-shaped cutout near its base.
Kairi felt the new sensations of doubt and uncertainty, hers and his, still. She set eyes on Maleficent across the distance...and then she felt the things they both were so familiar with - the feelings they shared: rage, hate, spite, and vengeance.
Maleficent's mouth twisted, and she rushed at Kairi as a streaking comet of green flames!
Kairi's arm raised in a blur, and blocked the blow.
A shockwave of force exploded in the air, flying out around them and blasting away the clouds - revealing the massive, glowing blue moon above, shaped like a heart. Light rays shined down on the world, lighting up the darkness, bathing the streets and the city.
Kairi blinked, face to face with Maleficent now, and her lips spread into a feral grin. "Heh. Second most powerful Keyblade in existence? Meet FIRST!" she spoke out, in a dual voice - her own, and Vanitas's. "And...a little EXTRA!"
She twisted her weapon and flicked it in an explosion of golden light, and Maleficent was sent flying backwards in the air.
Kairi flew up into the sky, pointing her weapon up to the blue moon. All around her, all across the sky, hundreds of golden keyhole portals appeared like stars. She rippled with an aura of light, and then she suddenly split apart into hundreds of doppelgangers. Physical, and indistinguishable. Each one flew out in all directions, passing through keyholes - emerging out of others - moving in a chaotic blur. A swarm, a school of fish. They emerged from Keyholes all around Maleficent, slashing across her and smacking into her, punching and kicking, pummeling her!
Maleficent screamed, blasting out with dark energy, scattering the doppelgangers. She swung her weapon and turned her head frantically. Then she looked up.
The true Kairi hovered far, far above, almost invisible against the backdrop of Kingdom Hearts.
"Want to see something only a pretty princess can do?" she called out. She paused, smirking and tilting her head. "That one was for you, too, Vanitas."
"SHUT UP!" her own voice and lips answered herself a moment later, her face turning disgusted and embarrassed.
"Let me do my thing!"
"Then DO I-"
"-stop fighting and I will!"
"FINE!"
Kairi twirled around in the air, raising her free hand and breathing out...then in... She brought that hand in, glowing with light, to touch her chest. A burning light flashed out from her, and a golden barrier dome surrounded her - just before Maleficent slammed into it with the Ultima Weapon. Maleficent's attack exploded against it, the force and flames washing backwards around her...leaving Kairi's barrier blackened and cracked. Kairi ignored the woman, however, focusing herself inward. Or upward...
To the great, blue Heart-shaped moon above her head.
If you can hear me, whatever or whoever you are up there...I need your help to save this world of light of yours, please. Not just for me, or for humans, or for light itself - but for EVERYONE who wants to just live here in peace together. Light or dark, Princess or Darkness. People like me, or like Cognis! I don't know if that was ever your intention, or if you even HAVE one...but it's MINE!
Kairi felt her Heart pulse in her chest - one after another, suddenly. One, two, three, four, five, six...and a seventh. Little chimes rang in her ears on each one. Then...
Kingdom Hearts responded. The blue moon began to burn brighter, and then it shifted into a burning gold color.
Kairi gazed at Maleficent, and made her move: she let her barrier fall and she thrust the X-Blade forward, unleashing a massive, concentrated beam of energy in an instant!
Maleficent raised her weapon and blocked it, gritting her teeth and holding her ground, yelling out! Her weapon flared with red flames, and she pushed back at the beam!
Kairi drifted back in the air, watching the flashing end of her energy beam starting to...recede. It was being pushed back at HER! A bead of light splitting the two - the golden beam of hers, and the purple beam of Maleficent's. Red flames surrounded Maleficent, wafting out like tendrils, or hazy waves like that of the sun's, stretching out hundreds of feet across the sky behind her...
NO! No, come on - please! I can't lose this, WE can't lose this! she pleaded silently.
But the beam was still coming closer, more and more, accelerating now...picking up speed and momentum...
"She's losing," Cognis's voice came to Riku's ears. Clear. Soft. And fearful.
"What?" Riku said, half even paying attention. The amount of sheer power and energy and light that was being thrown around in the last minute alone was just...overwhelming to his senses. He'd been left frozen bit it all, on the ground, immersed in doubt and uncertainty.
"Kairi's going to lose!" Cognis said, louder, firmer - fiercer. It startled Riku, honestly. "Unless someone helps her..." she went on, quieter, again. A strange not to her voice... "Hm...I wonder..."
Suddenly, darkness burst from Riku's chest, floating out into the air.
"HEY! What the- Cognis?! What are you doing?" Riku exclaimed. The stream of energy fully separated itself from him, becoming a dark cloud hovering before him in the air...
"What I've always done."
Riku froze. "Cognis, look, whatever you're going to do here-"
"I'm sorry."
"For- what?"
"I guess I'm really just a Darkness after all...because I know how much I'm going to hurt you."
"Cognis, wait-"
Cognis's formless mass flew away from him - shooting up high into the sky...toward Maleficent.
The beam was closing in on Kairi, against her will, against everything...
COME ON, FIGHT - FIGHT FOR YOUR WORLD, FIGHT FOR YOUR PEOPLE! Kairi screamed out with her Heart, to the great Heart in the sky above her.
The help came from below, however. From the ground far below her, multiple golden lights flashed, and then individual streams of gold energy came flashing upward. They twisted and combined, becoming one huge beam - one that struck Maleficent and enveloped her in light.
The Ultima Weapon flashed with a red light, and then the crimson flames were all suddenly sucked in across the sky, wrapping around Maleficent in some protective barrier.
It blocked the attack from everyone below - and freed her up to continue her battle with Kairi, to push out against her again...and to keep winning it.
Suddenly, a dark cloud came flying up from the ground - straight for Maleficent. It engulfed the woman - and then it shrank down into her and disappeared.
Maleficent's face changed, her focus shifted. She gasped, her grip on her weapon relenting somewhat. "W-WHAT?! WHAT IS-!"
The beam stopped, it warbled and thinned...the flames around Maleficent sputtered and waned...
The golden Heart above Kairi's head shined pure white, in a sudden burst of light! Kairi pushed again with all her might; the beam burst into a pure white color, roaring down through the sky for the witch. It slammed into her, breaking through her flame barrier, and then it enveloped her in a light of its own. It was so powerful and so bright that she disappeared within it! The attack from below shot up into the sky as well, crossing with Kairi's beam to make an X - with Maleficent in the middle of it.
Somewhere in it all, Kairi glimpsed a sudden flash of orange flames - Maleficent's voice cried out in confusion and rage - and then purple smoke exploded as two voices screamed high.
And then the light faded, the two beams died away...and nothing was left in their wake.
Maleficent was gone.
All that remained were particles of purple light on the air.
Kairi took in a breath, and breathed it out in a snort.
That was it? Your big revenge for your little world and all its people? That was way too quick. Too easy. I would have made her suffer, have some FUN toying with her!
Kairi frowned, shaking her head and lowering the weapon to her side. I know, she agreed, silently. But I'll take what I can get. And so should you.
Sure...whatever...
Is that disappointment? I guess ultimate power really ISN'T all its cracked up to be!
...Meh...
Kairi hovered there, letting out a long woosh of air. She turned back in the air, and brought the blade up in front of her vertically. She gazed up at Kingdom Hearts, smiling, watching it change from pure white back into that beautiful, pleasant blue again.
"Thank you," she said softly. She paused, sensing, feeling, listening... "I know you're still hurting, I can tell you're not quite ready to come back yet - are you? Or maybe you just don't have the strength for it yet. Not by yourself. But maybe...if you let us all help you out there...worlds, and people, too...because that's sort of what we do, right? Even if we're worlds apart, divided by walls and space...we all still share the same sky. One sky, one destiny. The connections between our Hearts will always be there, bringing us together again. Not just people, but between the worlds, too. And you...you're still connected to all of us, too - and you always will be. So let's use that - okay? Let us guide you back out of the darkness, and light your way home again. Let us heal you...give you something back, after all that you gave us. Let us pull you back up from out of that place, together."
What are you doing? Vanitas's voice echoed, purely confused. What's with all this sappy girl crap AGAIN? Do you really never STOP with it?
Kairi ignored him, clenching her fist over her chest. Her Heart. She raised the X-Blade higher still, aiming it straight up now...
Everyone who can hear this, anyone who's willing to help, please...lend us your strength!
WHAT...ARE YOU...DOING?
Kairi closed her eyes, a smile coming to her lips.
What my grandma wanted me to do.
...The fuck's a grandma?
Kairi's body began to glow, as Keyholes formed all across the skies, stretching out in endless directions, over even the horizons. Streams of light and dark energies flew out from the keyholes, twisting and curving, making their way up, up...toward Kingdom Hearts. More and more keyholes appeared still, layering atop and between all the others, thousands upon thousands, millions upon millions...
New beams, of blue light now, flew from one Keyhole to the next, ricocheting and connecting them all to one another, and lighting them up in the sky into one, great, seamless tapestry of light...multiplying and searching each other out, faster and faster, more and more...
Kairi spread her arms and drifted backwards, and a golden light emerged from her own chest, flying up to Kingdom Hearts.
Dozens of other lights shined from below, lighting up the city like Christmas, and shot up past her, all around her in the air. From the streets, from the damaged walls, from the windows and chimneys of ruined houses...the residents of Radiant Garden, the survivors...
Down far below the shining moon, Riku stood on the blue ground, his every senses blinded by its sheer power and intensity...It was beyond description, beyond anything he'd ever...
A light left his body, flying up into the sky...
Like Cognis had, he thought. Like she...but she...he'd sensed it, he'd "seen" it - her leaving, her going up there, and then Maleficent... And Cognis with her...
Suddenly, golden, warm motes of energy swirled around him, flowing down from above.
Riku lowered his head against Kingdom Hearts, and the swirling energy particles, holding his hands in front of him as the emotions swirled in his Heart...
And gasped, as he blinked at his own hand.
He blinked again. And again. He looked...he looked to the left, then to the right...as the world began to fade in, to resolve itself from pure light...into shape and form and distance, and COLORS.
Riku rapidly blinked now, ducking his head still and just...staring at his own, shaking hands. He clenched his fingers, over and over, watching them move.
"Riku...?" Sora's voice came beside him, along with his footsteps. "You- okay?"
Riku let his hands fall, and raised his head high, craning his neck...to gaze upon Kingdom Hearts now, with the fullness of sight again. It burned at his eyes, and the world shimmered, and his blurry eyed vision found the fluttering dress of purple that was Kairi, floating high above it all still. Riku gritted his teeth, twisting into a trembling grin, as tears rolled down his cheeks. They were caught by the warmest of breeze, taking them off into the air, whipping out past him.
"Riku?!" Sora gasped, hurrying forward and reaching out for him. Grasping him on the shoulder.
Riku looked at his friend - his best friend - right in the face. Into his blue eyes.
Sora stared back. "R-Riku...? Your eyes - hey...can you-"
"I can see," Riku trembled out. "I can see again."
"That's- a-awesome!" Sora gasped. "But- how...?"
Riku looked skyward again, sucking in a breath. "I don't know - but I think it has something to do with Kairi..." he said slowly, his voice full of emotion.
Sora looked up, too, beaming now, his grip tightening on Riku's shoulder. "It always does, doesn't it? She's pretty great."
"Y-yeah..." Riku agreed, nodding. He blinked again, and took another look around - just because he could again.
He saw, suddenly, a wave of pure light and rippling energy particles sweeping across the land, from distant horizons. All around the city, it swept inward, over the mountains, filling the canyons, obscuring the blue, cracked rocky world...and then blasting over Riku himself.
He held his arm up in front of him with a cry - but...nothing. He slowly lowered his arms...and stared all over again, his mouth dropping open.
All around the city, grass and trees and flowers were sprouting up across the hills, on the mountains, and in the canyons sparkling water was rising up to fill them, gushing down crevices and river channels...filling up the lake all around the city walls again.
"Uh - maybe we should-" Sora started swiftly.
"You're the one that can fly!" Riku laughed.
"Right!" Sora grabbed Riku's arm and lifted off into the air, rising high together. He turned, and he glided out over the waters rising to surround the city walls. Sora set Riku down on the top of the outer wall, landing beside him, himself.
Riku looked out at the mountains and water before turning away - around - and was in time to see the city itself being bathed in gold lights as well. To see it changing. Houses were repairing themselves, cracks in the stone streets were sealing themselves over, and the castle was tilting and straightening up in its place on the central hill. A hill now littered with tall, lush pine trees and bright green grass...
Kairi...thank you.
High above, before the shining, blinding light of Kingdom Hearts itself, Kairi stared up into it, her eyes wide and tearful.
A watery smile on her face, her lips quivering.
She rose higher up, drifting slowly into the light...
Until it enveloped her, and she was floating in a white void...
She was being cradled, caressed...
A dark haze flared around her, and then it melted away - and an orange orb of energy with a core of blackness flew out of her chest and disappeared.
Kairi breathed out, raising a hand to her chest. Vanitas was gone, then...
And yet...
The X-Blade remained in her grasp.
Kairi glanced down at it - then up again, as she saw something move on the edge of her vision. She squinted into the distance, as a vague shape and color began to emerge from the void, floating in toward her...coming to meet her...?
It was...
A girl? A girl her age...?
The girl came closer to her, hovering before her...
She had short-cut golden hair like the sun, a long bang down one side of her face, and ice blue eyes of great cheer...wearing a simple pair of pants and a sleeveless top...
"W-who...who're you...?" Kairi said, finding her voice thick and emotional, for some reason. A lump in her throat formed immediately, as a gasp came from her lips. Her Heart seized tightly in her chest, on mere sight of this girl...
The girl stopped before her, floating a mere foot away from her, eye to eye...
She raised a hand, setting it on a thin, flat hip, and tilted her head to the side. Her mouth spread into a grin. And then...her plain lips moved...
Kairi's Heart stopped.
Her arms fell to her sides, the X-Blade slipped from her grasp...her lips opened, parting and trembling...as tears anew rolled down her face, and fell into the boundless void below her to trail after the glistening X-Blade.
Her shimmering gaze was only for one purpose, one reason - could do only one thing: drink in the face of the girl before her for eternity. But, then...her throat clenched suddenly, and her lips formed the words of their own accord, IN RETURN...
The girl's eyes shimmered just the same, as she gave a great nod. Her grin returned, wide and broad. She drifted closer still, her hands taking Kairi's...
Kairi looked down between them, to her violently shaking hands, as if she'd just emerged from the cold of the ocean itself...bursting her head up above the waters after so long...
Then, she raised her head, and met the girl's gaze again.
The girl's face showed sorrow and joy alike now...as she released Kairi, and began to drift backwards into the void.
Kairi pressed her lips together tightly, shaking her head. She stared after the girl...She raised a hand, reaching out for her...
"Please..." she whispered out, her voice echoing all around her. "Please don't go..."
The other girl, shrouded in light now, distant and fading, gave a sad shake of her head...
"MAKI!" It ripped from Kairi's chest in a scream, high and desperate and TERRIFIED, with an explosion of golden light-
The void flashed around her, and Kairi was falling backwards.
Falling...falling through the clouds of white and the blue of day, a hand outstretched still, reaching up toward the blue moon of Kingdom Hearts...
Her tears escaped her eyes, whipping up into the air above her.
Kairi fell, and fell, and fell, a castle coming into view on her right, a tall stone wall to her left, in front of lakes and rivers and rolling hills of a rising sun...
Her hand closed into a fist, coming down to her chest...
She shut her eyes, a desperate sob releasing into the world. The thought filled her mind, blocking out all others: let her fall, let her HIT, let her FADE - LET ME FIND HER AGAIN, AFTER SO LONG-
"KAIRI!"
Something large and fast slammed into her from the side and below, seizing her and wrapping around her!
Kairi opened her eyes, gasping, crying, and twisting around - to see Sora.
Sora dropped down to the stone streets of Radiant Garden, holding her in his arms. He looked down at her, breathing a great sigh of relief, his eyes shining down on her...
"Kairi...are you okay?" he said, in the gentlest of voices of worry...and care... "What happened up there? You suddenly just disappeared, and then...you fell. You were falling and I-"
Kairi looked up at him, blinking quickly. Her lower lip trembled, as her mind flashed to that void...to that girl...
"NO!" She shook her head with a cry, and buried her face in his chest, clutching at his jacket. "I'm NOT okay, Sora! I'm not okay..."
"Okay, hey, it's gonna be alright now...I've got you, Kairi...I've got you..."
"Stop call me Kairi, human!" Her lips moved of their own will, the words bursting free, twisted in pain and scathing- "And PUT ME DOWN THIS INSTANT! Do you have ANY IDEA who I am? My NAME IS-!"
"Huh?!" Sora's face became a deep frown, his eyes widening in alarm. "K-Kairi! What are you SAYING?"
Kairi froze. She blinked up at him, tears sliding down from the corners of her eyes. Eyes that had just been narrowed into slits. She relaxed her mouth, which had been a twisted kind of snarl...
"I- I don't know..." she whispered. "I don't know who I even am right now, Sora..." she continued on, pleading, begging, desperate - terrified.
Sora adjusted his arms, holding her closer, bowing his head to her. Squeezing her...
Kairi put her head to his chest and shut her eyes tight, letting the world fade away...
Until a voice came to her, flat and cutting.
"I know the feeling."
Kairi opened her eyes - Sora turned - and she saw Vanitas standing there in the street, in shade of a house's canopy of purple shingles.
Vanitas's Keyblade was at his side. His face was a mask. His golden eyes gazed at Kairi alone, directly. There was no malice, there was no fear, there was...nothing. He stood there for a long minute, still as a statue. Silent. Then, he turned away, and stepped toward a swirling dark portal.
"HEY! Vanitas!" Kairi called out sharply.
He stopped. He turned back, just slightly, the edge of an eye visible over his shoulder. The side of his face... "I know: if I step out of line, you'll send your abominations to rip me apart," he spoke, flat and simple. "I know the deal, so just give me a break already, Kairi." He froze, his eyes widening. His mouth opening. He raised a hand slowly - then dropped it, half-way up to his chest. He shook his head and strode into the portal quickly - it snapped shut behind him in dispersing energy.
Kairi and Sora looked at one another in disbelief and confusion.
Atop the wall of Radiant Garden, Riku stood gazing out at Erin.
She'd moved again - gone and...perched atop a tall mountain above the great lake surrounding the city, grasping the side of it with her claws, upending those newly formed pine trees and greenery.
Then, Erin turned her dragon head, and glowing pink eyes of cat slits stared back at him across the distance. She roared, and leapt out and made a beeline for him, serpentine in the air.
"W-what?! Hey!" Riku yelled. "ERIN, DON'T-!"
She opened her jaws wide, spinning in the air as she neared him - and then she clamped down precisely onto his body, trapping his midsection between sharp teeth as long as his arms!
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Riku shouted, panicking, terrified, struggling!
Erin went shooting out across the city, circling the castle. She landed on its spires and bridges, clawing at it, gazing down around her.
Everyone below was staring up at her, fearful, wary.
Then she raised her head, and launched herself out in a new direction. She surged into the distance, the city growing smaller and smaller with every second to Riku's eyes!
"Erin...!" Riku gasped out, raising a hand of dark power. "I don't want to have to do this - but you're TRYING TO EAT ME RIGHT NOW, so...sorry!"
Riku screwed up his face as he prepared to hurt this girl who the last thing he ever wanted to do was hurt...
He charged up dark flames in his hand and slammed it into Erin's face - uh, snout?
The reaction was immediate.
She roared again, her jaws opening - releasing Riku into the air - and seemed to almost...stumble in the air, wobbling and tilting to one side, which sent her into a careening fall toward the ground.
Riku was also falling now...falling with her, after her...
And he couldn't think of a way to save himself.
He twisted and turned, the ground getting closer and closer, winds rushing past him-
Suddenly, the air rippled around him, a strange black aura squeezed around his body - and he stopped dead in the air, about ten feet from the ground.
"Huh...?" Riku breathed. "What's..."
"Hmph. This makes twice now, if I'm not mistaken..." came familiar, drawling tones.
The air flickered in front of him, and a silver-haired young man appeared - a hand raised, a smirk of amusement on his face.
Riku stared down into the face of the younger Xehanort. Into glinting silver eyes. Casual, easy eyes, not cold or even malevolent. Still... "Thanks - you can put me down now," he murmured, embarrassed and annoyed.
Xehanort raised an eyebrow. "As you wish." He let his arm drop - and Riku dropped flat on his face with a grunt of pain. "You're welcome, by the way," the man added leisurely, already turning away - his gaze going to Erin.
Riku scrambled to his feet, racing past the man toward her immediately.
"Are you trying to get yourself eaten alive on purpose now?" Xehanort's voice came. "You'd be smart not to get any closer to her in this state; clearly, your friend's transformation has caused her to lose her semblance of self. Her mind has fled her."
"Is that a long-winded, dick way of saying you're - what? - worried about me?" Riku responded.
Xehanort snorted, shaking his head. "It's not my concern nor fault if you want to approach the dangerous, rampaging, giant lizard. By all means, go running right up to your friend and make some impassioned plea for her to return to her senses. It's not likely to end well for you." He paused. "Though, I admit, it'd be a disappointment to see you perish so foolishly - your Heart is singularly unique, and I also admit that it...interests me."
"Glad to be interesting - I'll take my chances," Riku said, taking a breath and starting toward Erin again.
She was laid out on her side, her eyes closed. Caught under a mess of tall, heavy pine trees and their deep green branches. It was a striking sight for Riku - something he just took a moment to stare at in...kind of wonder. Seeing colors like this again was just...
He never thought he'd miss...be so happy to see something as simple as seeing the trees, or the grass, or the sky...and he wasn't even the type of guy to care about things like "the beauty of nature" or anything (though, sunsets had often been an exception). Man, he'd taken so much for granted - and you never knew what you'd had until you lost it, wasn't that how the saying went? He thought it was true, now, personally. And he was never going to take it for granted again. Any of it.
Riku approached Erin's head, clenching his shaking, sweating hands at his sides. He took a deep breath. "Erin..." he said quietly. "Hey...it's Riku. You need to wake up. And- and if there's some part of you still in there, you need to not try to eat me again, too."
He heard an amused snort behind his back - which he ignored.
Erin's slitted, glowing eyes opened with a snap, one, large eye turning to fix onto Riku. Her head raised, her nostrils letting out a huff of hot air.
Riku stepped forward, raising a hand to her...and made contact.
She tensed, she blinked at him, suddenly. He swore he read confusion on her face...dragon face.
"Erin," he said again, deliberate, and clear, holding her gaze. Those big, pink eyes...
Suddenly, Erin's body was enveloped in light, and it all began to disintegrate away...into pink light mores on the air. From the tail up - all the way to her head. And then, after it was gone, Erin was back - the human girl - standing before him. She stood there in a swirl of pink particles...with a long mess of black hair hanging down past her waist?
She stared at him with vacant eyes - then she blinked, and she breathed. "Riku...? What's going on? Where are - where's-" She stopped, looking all around her, then at him. Her eyes found his, roaming his face. "You can see me? Your sight's back?"
"Yeah...I think Kairi did it," Riku said quietly.
"What happened? Did we win...?"
"Yeah. We won."
She beamed at him. Then she threw herself forward and hugged him, her long hair flying out behind her. She pulled away quickly, twisting and reaching down to take long strands of hair into her hands. She frowned at herself. "Did you do something to my hair...?"
"No. It was just- like that. After you came back from...wait, do you not even remember?"
"Remember what?"
Riku blew a breath, reaching up to facepalm. Then he smiled at her. "You turned into a dragon, Erin. To help fight Maleficent."
"Wha...?" Erin looked away, hugging herself. Then she swore loudly and spun away, stalking off through the forest. "DAMMIT! So that secret's out, is it?! Well...I guess it doesn't matter now, does it? We won, anyways. How exactly did we win, though?"
"I'll tell you what happened during the battle if you tell me how you turned into a dragon in the first place," Riku said, grinning. "I think we're both missing some important context here."
"Right..." Erin turned back to him. She adjusted her clothes, then shoved strands of hair over a shoulder. "I'll tell you everything I know - but...you first!"
"Alright." Riku stood there for a long moment, staring at her.
"W-what? Is there something else different about me now?"
"N-no! No, you're perfect- you're- I mean-" Riku stopped, looking down. He stared at the ground, at the blades of grass, the dirt... "I just never thought I'd get the chance to see your face again. To see anything again..." he said, choking on the words.
"Well, look as long as you like. I'm not going anywhere, I think," Erin said, in that so-teasing tone of hers, her eyes shining at him. Her lips forming a little grin.
"You're not? Don't you want to get back to your world now?" Riku sort of hated how...hopeful he sounded to his own ears. Or...more like desperate?
"I think I need to take some downtime to figure this all out," Erin said, gesturing to herself with a laugh. "And this world - it's so beautiful now - I'd like to explore it a little more..." she added, looking around slowly.
"Yeah...I'd like to see more of it, too," Riku whispered.
He wondered...if he couldn't ask Kairi about that. Maybe it was something they could do...together? Or maybe that was too personal? He probably hadn't earned that right from her yet...
Or ever.
But that was...okay.
Author's Note: This is not the END though! There's gonna be a few extended epilogue chapters coming like tomorrow lol! Because there is a lot of post battle stuff to do with everyone, and to set up for the future more... xD But mainly, HONESTLY, these guys have all earned a break! :D So I want to write them just chillaxing for a bit lol. Big Avengers Age of Ultron party scene vibes, if you know! :)
The next story arc/book is going to be called "Warrior Princess 5: New Horizons" - just to spoil people btw lol. :D Think of what that means and implies...cause it's a lot. xD
