Author's Note Feb 9 2025: Okay sorry it took a few days for the last two epilogue chapters lol! They're also a lot shorter than I intended - becauuuse I decided to do some reshuffling and stuff due to how I want to begin the next book as a whole, and some changes I made to my outlines, so I don't have to try to cram so much shit into the ending bits here lol. xD I can just do some little teasing and let stuff kinda breathe again... :)
Enjoy the last two bits of BBS! 3
Miiight take a week long break between now and next book, maybe I dunno! The draft for it expires next Sunday lol soooo...kind of have a deadline here either way. :D
End of AN!
Mikala Orius Verne stood in the spacious, marble lounge, at the top of the tallest spire of his castle.
He crossed his arms over his chest, gazing out of the floor-to-ceiling windows that encircled the room, allowing a three-sixty-degree view of the surrounding cityscape.
But his eyes weren't on the little towers and buildings below him. No, all those weak little lights didn't matter to him in the slightest...
He had eyes only for one light.
The great, shining blue one in the night sky - shaped like a heart.
He smiled to himself, giving a little snort. He ran a hand through his dark, lusciously fluffed hair.
The thing had appeared just days ago - able to be seen from all the worlds spanning his ever-growing empire, or so it had been reported to him.
That damnable, ultimate light...the thing ancient wars had been fought over, to shatter the World!
It would bring war and devastation again, he didn't doubt that - but he was well and ready for it.
Although...it wasn't Kingdom Hearts itself that had him interested. No...there had been something else of even greater interest to him...
The message heard in the Hearts of people the worlds over, the image of a figure in mind's eye...
Red hair, blue eyes - dressed to kill...
A teenaged princess, holding the greatest weapon of legends and myths in her hand! Unimaginable power and control over all reality and Hearts (or so the legends said)...
...In the hands of Rynn's little brat.
It was the damndest thing, wasn't it?
The shock of his LIFE, more like!
He still couldn't quite believe it...
But come on - the resemblance was uncanny! He'd spotted it immediately, blinded and stunned as he was at the time. Irrefutable.
For all Rynn's faults, she'd been one hell of a looker, even at her worst!
And her- HIS daughter was exactly the same in that department!
Stunning, radiant, beautiful-
A Princess of Heart (like mother, like daughter, there, too), who had also wielded the most powerful Keyblade in all the multiverse! The PROGENITOR of ALL Keyblades! Somehow, she'd gotten her hands on it!
The strongest daughter for the strongest man.
No question about it: he had to find her - meet with her - bring her home! Start training her, teaching her! He had to learn everything about her, had to-
Of course...there was the little problem of the Seven Lights Accords, which forbid anyone, from any territory, from searching out and harboring any one of the Seven Pure Hearts - a necessity to avoid mutual and potentially universal destruction, as in the ancient legends; it was in no one's interest to actually have another full fledged Keyblade War on their hands - which also, naturally, extended to the X-Blade and Kingdom Hearts themselves, buuuut...
When that Pure Light was his daughter, of flesh and blood...his rights and duties as her father and parent (and King of a rightful heir) trumped all else in the World. Who could possibly deny him? Challenge him on that?
So...where to start?
The obvious place would be the homeworld of Rynn, of course.
He wasn't overly thrilled with going back to that Capital of Light again - he still had some bad memories in his Heart about it - but...
To find this kid?
HIS kid?
His true heir?
Forget Senna or June! They were proving to be huge disappointments anyways...
Hell, forget Linnea, if Rynn was still kicking, at least when it came to producing worthy, powerful children! He was sure he could find the right words to sweet talk his way back into her good graces, especially after so long...she'd probably forgotten all about that rocky little period in their time together.
Still, even if she had, he'd take it slow - feel things out first. No reason not to.
Especially if he wanted to keep his movements a secret from his enemies, and even his allies - and the secret of his daughter's existence itself.
As long as no one knew she was his yet...as long as no one ever learned about Rynn, either...
And he'd never said a word of it to anyone, since that day. It had been too infuriating, too embarrassing - to have been bested by a weak, half-dead-on-her-feet Rynn in that way! Almost damn near killed by her! If he hadn't gotten the finest magical healing treatments in all the worlds, within minutes of his departure from that world...
Infuriating, embarrassing - and yet...somehow a source of pride and admiration, still.
If he could just tame that wild woman again, bring her to heel again...he could even have a hell of a strong fighter for a partner - a queen. But not too strong, of course...and he'd still probably need to watch his back around her, give her a good reminder of who was boss every now and again (no need to go making the same mistake twice)...
Linnea was practically useless on that front - good for nothing but legal crap, paperwork, and day to day issues that all the little people of his empire wanted to yap his ear off about. After first yapping to the Advisory Council. Thank god for THEM; that was why THEY were there, too.
And, he considered, as he had a bit more, over the years lately...a strong and powerful daughter would make a strong and powerful vessel, when the time came to jump ship...
Technically there were a hell of a lot of bullshit laws and constitutions about THAT, as well - all about morality and ethics, yadda yadda - but if there happened to be some kind of an attack or accident, which happened to leave the body empty...it wasn't hurting anyone to put it to use again. Better to get some use out of it, really - like individual organs to be donated to the needy. In such specific circumstances, whole bodies could be up for grabs...donated to someone who needed it, legal and signed.
It was...something to think about.
But for now...
He had to track down the girl, herself. And he had to prepare himself to put his best foot forward - just as he had for Rynn, years ago. He had to go slow, handle this situation with some real finesse; he needed to scope things out first, learn who his daughter was, what her life had been like, and how she had come to acquire the X-Blade. Because if she had the X-Blade...force would probably only cause things to go badly for him - like it had with Rynn, the last time they'd seen each other. He'd lost his cool, made a huge misstep, he knew that! And he'd payed for it damn good, for a long time. Enough to really put his life into perspective.
He wouldn't make that mistake again, with his daughter.
But, given time, and the right words, there wasn't a doubt in his mind that he could entice his daughter into the proper way of life - into ascending up from whatever ordinary little life Rynn had her living all these years. The girl had somehow found her way to the X-Blade, to commanding Kingdom Hearts itself, after all! She was clearly destined for so much more! She just needed a guiding hand, that was all...the hand of a father.
And if she proved to be a little more reluctant about the idea...well, he'd take no real pleasure in finding a way to force her to accept her rightful place, her true destiny and birthright. Get that X-Blade from her, or get the proper leverage over her - there was always something. And some things...just had to be done. Lessons had to be learned the hardest damn way. He knew that all too well, himself: his own parents' brutal training sessions and lessons spoke for themselves. Oh, he'd hated them all at the time - but looking back now...what could he say? They'd made him the man he was today. A strong, powerful, assured leader of an entire empire! It wasn't a job for the faint of Heart - the meek, or the weak. You had to be commanding, powerful...and at the top of your game.
His wayward little girl might hate them just the same - might even hate him - but in time, he was sure she'd come around, just as he had. It just might take a while...
Patience and time - those were going to be the key here...
Merron raced through the tall grass as the hover skiffs flew low and fast behind her.
They overtook her, swinging around, the scumbags aboard aiming rifles and pistols at her!
She stopped in her tracks, facing those barrels down.
"You gave us a good chase this time - but you'll never get far enough away," the human's rough voice called out. Taunting her. "We'll always find you, my little pet. And now that we found you again...time for your punishment. Hopefully it will make you think twice about doing this again."
Merron stepped back, shaking her head, curling her fists. she swallowed hard, willing her body not to shake.
She used to be strong - powerful - flying through the darkness, devouring anything in her path! She was free, she was EVERYTHING...and now she was nothing.
Nothing again - because of her. That girl, that princess: Kairi! Her and her little friends had taken it all from Merron! Taken away her power, her safety, her wonderful dream...
it was worse now than ever before, though, wasn't it? She wasn't some girl on some boring planet anymore - she was the plaything for thugs and monsters. Bandits and pirates. Living in a cage, being flown from one planet to the next...
No way to escape it. No way out.
Those Heartless had given her power and freedom before - but they weren't around anymore. Nowhere to be seen.
Why?
Because of Kairi! She'd destroyed them all, taken them all away from Merron!
And Merron was stuck now, in this powerless, weak little body...
She couldn't do a damn thing - much less kill these pirates, or destroy their ships! Oh, but if she had still been what she once was - what the Heartless had made her - she would have! She would have eaten them, she would have ripped their ships in half and smashed them against the cliffs, or thrown them into the oceans! She would have watched them sink, burn, turn to nothing as she watched from above! She would have crushed them in her claws! And then she would have gone on to rip and tear at everyone and everything else in this world, for what she'd had to suffer through! And THEN, she would have gone out into the other worlds to find that bitch, Kairi! To snuff out her light little Heart and crush the place she called home, to make her scream and beg, to make her helpless and weak, until-
Red, shining flames burst in the air in front of Merron, causing her to shriek - and the pirates to fire!
The electrified laser beams shot out for her-
Merron fell back and threw her arms up over herself futilely-
But their shots didn't hit her.
She felt a wash of heat and some strange pressure - she heard their voices crying out - and then came the heavy thuds.
Merron lowered her arms, and she stared with a slack jaw.
The pirates' boats were upended - one on its side, the other, upside down. The pirates themselves were strewn about the grass before Merron...their bodies shimmering with red flames.
In front of Merron, a swirling orb of red fires suddenly morphed into a...a sword of some kind?
A weapon?
A burning, strange-
The weapon suddenly pulsed, the air warping, as something washed over Merron - reached deep inside of her...
Tendrils of red flames shot out of the weapon, touching each of the pirates; they immediately began to...disintegrate? Into particles of orange light. Those particles flew toward the strange sword, disappearing into it.
Merron stood slowly, staring around herself, shaking. She looked to the weapon hovering before her.
The strange weapon that had...come to save her? Protect her?
A powerful - magical weapon, wasn't it?
Something from another world...
Something that might be...
The weapon pulsed again - as if it was inviting her...as if it was...
Just what she was looking for.
Merron moved toward the weapon, cautious and wary. Her fingers touched the handle...finding it warm, comforting. She breathed, and wrapped her fingers around it fully.
A light flashed out from the blade, blinding her - as a feeling of pure heat and power swept through her body!
Claudia hovered through the air, leaving her bedroom behind in favor of the balcony under starlight.
Under moonlight.
Her long, white hair hung behind her - and her long, red velvet cape beneath her, draping across the floor.
Blackened arm sleeves ending in red, sinewy gloves rose up.
Eyes of yellow fixed upon the blue, Heart-shaped moon shining above.
She took in a breath, flipping over onto her side, setting her fist to her cheek and shifting her legs together in casual defiance of gravity.
How long had it been since she had last seen that curious, radiant thing? Since she'd first split off from the rest of the Darkness, becoming one of thirteen - or was it one of seven...? Seven within thirteen...? Such a long time ago now, she had almost forgotten, really...
But here it was again - with all the other memories it brought to mind.
She exhaled slowly, closing her eyes, letting her red lips curve into a frown.
Things were about to get...annoying, weren't they?
AN: Annnd that wraps up Warrior Princess Birth By Sleep! We're DONE lol! Yaaaay! :D Super excited for the future though! We got PLACES to go and things to DO I am so hyped for. 333
Also...the character in the last segment here is actually a Final Fantasy character in disguise. Five points to Gryffindor if you can guess who she is lol! ;) Cause you know, I still do want to use FF characters in my universe more than canon does...and it just fit so scarily perfectly...