A Song of Fire, Ice and Hearts

by Jebest4781

Venturing outside of the Heart of his Somebody, a Nobody enters a World where it's at the brink of self destruction. Will he be able to handle and survive the Game of Thrones. Rated M for language, violence, etc. Pairings hidden at current time. KHXGoT/ASoIaF CoWritten by free man writer. Cover Image by Carlos M. Please leave reviews.

31. Dual Hearts

Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to Disney, Square-Enix, Game of Thrones/A Song of Ice and Fire or anything else. They rightfully belong to their respective owners.

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

Writing/Singing

"Foreign Language/Flashback"

-Scene Shift-

Chapter 31: Dual Hearts

Pandemonium reigned across the melee grounds as the people of King's Landing fled for their lives from the giant monstrosity that had been summoned by the old nemesis that was Vanitas.

The Darkness wielding Keybearer laughed with sadistic glee, soaking in the negative emotions that were permeating the air.

"Oh I've really missed this!" Vanitas stated, hands aloft with Void Gear in hand. "Westeros, Westeros. You never fail to sate my thirst for bloody conflict. I mean look at how little has changed."

The helmeted man waved his arms about to indicate the surrounding area.

"You entertain yourselves with violence, lust, desire, rage and vengeance." He said cheerfully. "You spoil me."

Behind Vanitas, his newly formed Heartless roared aloud with shockwaves being visible for all to see. More screams of terror came after as people were practically stampeding away from the monster and its creator.

Oberyn Martell, Thoros of Myr, Beric Dundarian, Garlan Tyrell, Cloud and Roxas were all that was left of the melee as they were now fighting against the recently created Behemoth.

The being of pure Darkness inhaled deeply and let out a satisfied sigh.

"Oh yeah, and gotta love that fear." Vanitas appeared to shiver at the sheer enjoyment of taking in all the fear of the surrounding area.

He then looked around to regard those that were left and spotted the Prince of Dorne, who was knocked aside and tumbled across the ground a good distance away.

"Well would you look at that." The voice was taunting. "Little Oby, all grown up. How's your sister been?"

Murderous couldn't even begin to describe the look Oberyn directed at Vanitas who only laughed in response. The Red Viper felt much of his exhaustion seemingly evaporate in an instant, replaced with anger and fury directed only at the man who had caused so much destruction and turmoil those many decades ago.

"Is that it?" Vanitas goaded. "That's the best look you can come up with? Color me disappointed."

"How about I color you blood red?" Oberyn said with a flourish of his spear. "That'll certainly make me happy."

"Oh ho~, much darker than I last saw you." Vanitas remarked. "Then again you all are darker than I like to give you credit for. Just need to find the means to get it out of you."

He gazed upon the Martell with interest.

"Huh… interesting." The helmed figure said. "Seems like you've gotten a tiny bit stronger since I last saw you."

He then regarded Garlan, Beric and Thoros before looking to Cloud, who flipped in the air to avoid a claw swipe from the Behemoth.

"Well now, you certainly aren't from around here."

The swordsman narrowed his eyes at this newcomer.

"Same can be said for you." Cloud said, almost conversationally. "What hell hole did you crawl out of?"

Vanitas chuckled menacingly. "The very Darkness that you reject."

Cloud scoffed, raising his Fusion Sword. "Is that all you have to say?"

"That and more." Vanitas stated.

The being of Darkness then looked around.

"Now then, where oh where are the Princesses?" Vanitas asked. "Much as I came here to catch up, I got a job to do and the old man won't like it if I come back with nothing."

Those that remained shifted about in surprise and nervousness with some looking to Princess Myrcella and the other being Arianne Martell.

Vanitas hummed aloud in thought. "Two at the same place, eh? Such a… rarity."

"You will not touch them!" Lewyn Martell bellowed out, standing before his grand niece who gazed at the boy in the black skin suit in complete and utter fear.

Vanitas seemingly ignored the man, instead turning his head about as if looking for someone.

He took a moment to regard each area wherein one of the Great Houses of Westeros seated themselves.

Vanitas paused at the Martells and shook his head before turning to the Starks, Lannisters, Tyrells and Baratheons.

"Huh." Vanitas mused to himself. "I wonder..."

Many wondered what roamed through the dark Keybearer's head while remaining on guard as Vanitas continued to survey the area until he gave up.

"Forget it." Vanitas waved off. "Got a more important matter to attend to. Now… where is… Ah! There you are."

Roxas tensed up slightly at the sight of the helmeted being gazing directly at him.

"You." Vanitas whispered yet was heard by all. "You better live up to what Xigbar told me about you."

Roxas recoiled slightly before growling. "You better start talking sense. How is Xigbar still alive?"

"You'll learn soon enough." Vanitas said, pointing his Void Gear forward.

-Insert Final Fantasy VII Remake: Let the Battles Begin Break Through-

The large Behemoth behind him roared aloud and charged forward once more.

"Scatter!" Cloud shouted for the remaining fighters with all scrambling to get away from the charging beast.

The Behemoth seemingly ignored the Keybearer as he was already preoccupied by its creator.

Vanitas made a beeline straight for him and the two locked Keyblades with each other, both struggling to out muscle the other.

"Hoo boy, you are way stronger than last time." Vanitas said excitedly.

"I haven't even met you before, freak." Roxas said, pushing the enemy back and going in for several dual slashes.

Vanitas deflected the first two before jumping away from the last as Roxas slammed his Keyblades into the ground with a shockwave of light coming out from the edges.

"Oh~ didn't know you could do that." Vanitas stated. "What else can you do?"

"Shutting you up for starters." Roxas said under his breath.

The two dashed at one another once again, ignoring the rumbling ground beneath them.

Over with Cloud, he swung down hard and struck the horn of the Behemoth that was about to swallow Beric whole.

He followed up the attack with a quick Cross-Slash that left visible marks upon the large beast. It screeched in pain and lashed out its tail at the blond swordsman.

Cloud pivoted his body in midair and managed to land his hand upon the swinging tail and pushed himself away.

He landed next to Oberyn and Thoros who were hesitant to engage.

"Pick your moments and move in for stabbing and slicing on its legs." Cloud quickly instructed. "You two and Beric have the weapons for it so keep yourselves at bay and run in when it can't see you. Watch for its tail. I'll see if I can cut it off or keep it distracted at least."

"What about me?" Asked the Galant Tyrell.

"You need to fall back and protect your family." Said the Blonde Wolf.

"But-"

"No buts, Garlan. You lack what the others have at this time."

Garlan was conflicted, wanting to assist the men beside him at this time. But he had to think with his head right now, instead of his pride.

"We'll follow your lead then." Oberyn remarked, spinning his spear until grasping it with both hands and prepared his stance before eyeing the Galant Tyrell. "And we'll cover your leave."

With a hesitant nod, Garlan bolted and left to get back to his family so he may better protect them.

"Going to need a little more than some good steel." Thoros said, hand hovering over his blade. Cutting the center of his palm, his blood fell upon his sword and a moment later, the blade was surrounded by a bright flame.

The Behemoth saw this and roared challengingly at the Asshai Priest.

"You've certainly gotten his attention, my friend." Beric stated, now standing with the trio.

"And not the good kind, I'm afraid." Thoros murmured, paling slightly at the sight of the Behemoth pawing the ground.

"Don't stand there." Cloud shouted, running forward with his sword being held diagonally above the ground.

The mercenary blazed forward with the others following soon after. As the Blonde Wolf started cleaving into the Heartless with his Fusion Sword on it's left, the Red Viper swung his spear and dug into the monster's right. The Lightning Lord and Red Priest charged in with their flaming swords, yet had to separate and move aside when the massive beast leaped onward to not only get away from the volley of hits, but to attack the veterans of the Greyjoy Rebellion.

Whereas Beric was able to roll away, Thoros merely jumped haphazardly. The former recovered quickly as the latter struggled a bit. As the Myrish man got up, he had to act fast and move once more to avoid an endangering paw swipe from the Behemoth. Once clear from the attempted hit, Thoros started slashing and stabbing into the large Heartless alongside the others.

Leaping upwards, Cloud went into a spinning blade attack that left a deep gash in the nose of the Behemoth.

The Heartless bellowed aloud in and raised a paw to try and swat the blonde swordsman away.

This proved to be a mistake as Oberyn rushed in at full speed and with him spinning his spear to gain momentum, he stabbed his spear through the raised leg of the behemoth.

It cried out and in doing so, was unable to prevent the flaming sword from being slashed at its stomach and the tip of its tail being cut off.

The Behemoth screeched now with its roar making the fighters ears ring.

Oberyn, Beric and Thoros visibly cringed and stumbled back with their hands raised to their ears but Cloud powered through it and delivered a powerful Cross-slash to silence it.

Stumbling back, the Behemoth slammed its paw into the ground and flexed its claws. The ground around its four paws cracked as Darkness exploded around the Heartless with its red marks glowing brightly with visibly wisps wafting off its body.

Black lightning crackled around the body with it striking the ground and other nearby objects as the Behemoth hunched itself down with its blood red eyes on the four men it was fighting.

"Oh… fuck."

"MOVE!"

The group narrowly avoided the oncoming rampaging Heartless, every step it took sending out visible shockwaves that left small carters in its wake.

The Heartless jumped high into the air for one final bound and destructive shockwave.

Angling its body for its front two legs first, a mach cone appeared around the Behemoth as it came crashing down to the ground.

Cloud saw this and raised his Fusion Sword and spun it about to make it face the ground.

"Get behind me!" The swordsman shouted to the other three fighters, his sword flashing brightly for a second.

The trio of Westerosi natives dove behind Cloud just as he slammed his Fusion Sword down onto the ground.

Just as Cloud did this, the large Behemoth slammed down to the ground creating a powerful, large shockwave that exploded out from the impact crater the Heartless created.

Oncoming attack was blocked at the last second by a hexagonal dome created by Cloud, with individuals inside safe and sound.

"Seven hells." Beric muttered in awe and disbelief. "Your Red God ever talk about shit like this?"

Thoros of Myr only shook his head. "No but if there's any mention of it, we're gonna have a few words."

Continuing their series of clashes against each other, the two Keyblade wielders kept on their dance of death. Each sought out to take out the other. Whereas Roxas meant to apprehend him, Vanitas was either trying to cripple or outright kill him on his present intention.

Vanitas then seeped into the ground like a Shadow Heartless. He swiftly zoomed to Roxas' position before shooting out and slicing through the air. Roxas performed a backflip to avoid the strike before doing so again and again when his opponent shot out a few Dark Firagas at him.

Roxas crossed his arms and just as the fireballs got close, he slashed them away.

In response to the attack, Roxas unleashed a torrent of his own Light infused Firagas that were shot straight at Vanitas. Instead of a brighter shade of a typical fire, it was bright sky blue in color with hints of white along the edges.

Vanitas spun his Keyblade and thrust it forward, slicing through the fireballs, using a portion of darkness to expunge the light.

The masked Keybearer only laughed with glee. "Since when could you do that?"

"I've been practicing and improvising for a while now."

Vanitas laughed nearly hysterically.

"Oh I am so glad to be back." Vanitas said. "You are way better than the last time we fought."

"If only we ever did fight." Roxas shot back, getting increasingly annoyed by this man. "Why are you even here? What do you even want?"

"Just wanting to sate my curiosity, for starters." The masked fighter blazed onward with an upward sword swing, which Roxas blocked and held back with a downward one.

Vanitas dashed and then slashed at his opponent in a rapid succession. Each hit was parried and blocked before the greater Nobody retaliated with ones of his own. There were even the occasional sword lock due to their respective strengths and how their Keyblades were respectively designed.

At one point, the masked fighter performs an upward somersault slash which releases a crescent-shaped wave of dark energy. It homed into its target which Roxas unleashed a magical arc of light energy to clash with the other. An explosion took place soon after where a dust cloud was left behind.

Before Roxas had the chance to move in on the offensive, he was forced to dodge. Performing a retreating backflip, he was able to avoid a downward stab from Vanitas' Void Gear.

And while he was able to evade that particular blow, No. XIII had to swiftly bring his Keyblades together to block a massive spike of darkened ice which shot out of the ground. The conjured piece of Vanitas' Dark Blizzaga then exploded like a bomb and went nearly everywhere. Roxas swiftly conjured Balloonga, having it be destroyed by his opponent's projectiles so it's remnants can home into the masked Keybearer.

Once Vanitas was momentarily staggering from the powerful counterspell, he was soon struck by Roxas. For he had sped back toward him and performed a Sonic Blade attack from all sides before smacking him down to the ground.

Landing back some distance away, Roxas saw his darkened opponent recover once recomposing himself.

"Wow~" Vanitas twirled his Keyblade, getting back into his battle stance that was slightly akin to how Roxas had seen Riku fight. "You're waystronger than last time."

"Can you shut up with that already?!" Roxas yelled irritably. "I've never met you and definitely never fought you before."

"Oh~ but we have Ventus."

Roxas' lip curled, nearly snarling.

"I am me!" The aura of Light flared around Roxas. "Nobody else!"

Rushing towards Vanitas, Roxas spun his Keyblades downward for them to drag against the ground. He jumped forward and thrust his Keyblades forward.

Roxas assaulted Vanitas by swinging and cleaving through him with arcs of energy in his wake before thrusting forward with a Light Firaga coating his weapons. Once back on his opponent's backside, the Nobody casted a massive Thundaga before letting go of his weapons so they can rapidly spin around him in a buzzsaw-like manner. After that, he landed on the ground, brought his Keyblades to an X-formation and dashed onward to strike his opponent.

Before Vanitas could respond in kind with a retaliating strike, he was swiftly hit back hard. For thirteen pillars of light with the symbol of the Organization atop them all appeared around Roxas as he dove in for his attack.

Vanitas actually appeared to be startled by this as he visibly jolted back in surprise.

He hastily jumped back though his leg got nicked by one of the pillars of light Roxas had.

The greater Nobody heard the masked teen hiss in pain, drawing a grin out from No. XIII who began pursuing Vanitas with a vengeance.

Beneath the helmet, Vanitas was gritting his teeth as he was now making a greater effort in avoiding Roxas' attack. The teen was relentless and ruthless, not at all like most Keyblade wielders he had seen and fought.

Roxas went in for a diagonal spinning slash with the thirteen pillars of lights following in his motions.

Vanitas deflected several of them but several struck his arms and one of his chest that got him to verbally cry out in pain.

The Dark Keyblade wielder unleashed a pillar of darkness from his very body to make Roxas leap back with the thirteen light pillars dissolving.

Focusing much of his attention on the former Organization member, Vanitas thrusted Void Gear forward and gathered much energy at its tip. Three dark crystals then appeared and orbited around his Keyblade's teeth as black and blue magics were being gathered and compressed. And before Roxas could get the chance to rush in and stop him, Vanitas unleashed his Dark Cannon shotlock.

The beam of dark blue energy dug a large whole into the earth in its wake as Roxas avoided being hit by the blast.

Yet of course it did interfere a bit on the other fight taking place in the field as the resulting shockwave did knock off Cloud and the three Westerosi fighters off their feet momentarily.

"Alright, this is just getting annoying." Vanitas said and in an instant, he blurred out from view.

Roxas' eyes widened but an immediate feeling of familiarity washed over him as he threw his Keyblades up in time to block Vanitas' Void Gear.

"Give me more, Ventus." Said the dark Keybearer with a thrilling tone in his voice. "Give me more!"

"You sound like a pervert." Roxas couldn't help but fire back. "Or Oberyn really."

From nearby, the Red Viper felt quite offended but couldn't respond back as he was too focused on stabbing his spear into the Behemoth.

Vanitas only laughed maniacally and began striking Roxas who was backing away for several of those attacks.

The duo began to increase their tempo, their movements becoming more and more difficult to see for the common eye as Vanitas pressed his attack.

It escalated when both Keybearers struck each other's weapons with such force, they sent one another skidding back.

In immediate retaliation, they dashed at one another and collided in midair and pushed off one another only to repeat the process.

Those still present in the melee ground soon bore witness to two blurs jumping about the area and clashing with each other, the ringing sound of metal being heard echoing from each collision.

Roxas momentarily appeared only to jump away instantly into a backflip as Vanitas came down, striking the ground where the Nobody stood.

Vanitas didn't even take a moment as he leapt up at Roxas who was all too ready for him and once more crossed Keyblades with the being of Darkness.

They resumed jumping about and clashing with one another, not realizing they were starting to get further and further away from the melee grounds.

At this time, Cloud and the three Westerosi fighters had to avoid being crushed by the Behemoth. It brought down its front paws as it shook the earth in its wake. And once more it swiped it's claws at them.

The three natives of this world kept on their struggle in avoiding being hit. There were some unfortunate moments when they were struck and almost died or crippled as a result. It was fortunate they either had Cloud or a number of Potions on hand to take care of the injuries, but they didn't know how long it would last.

While in the air, Cloud spun forward as his Fusion Sword was continuously hitting the Heartless' head.

It was leaving some visible damage but a number of the cuts that Cloud had inflicted were quickly healing up.

There were only one or two visible gashes that appeared to leave a deep enough mark upon the Behemoth's face that had remained to indicate it had taken any damage at all.

"Tough bastard." Thoros gritted out, the fires around his sword momentarily snuffed out as he took out his flask and took a deep gulp of its contents.

"What can we even do?" Beric muttered.

"Keep probing at it for our chance to kill it." Oberyn said, a fiery blaze in his eyes as he ran forward again with two men he left behind sharing a look.

"We're gonna die here, aren't we?"

Beric shook his head good naturedly. "Come on Thoros. We can't sit this one out. This is our chance for glory. Remember what happened at the Pyke?"

Thoros groaned. "Barely. Was drunk for the most part."

Beric lauged. "Come on then."

The Lightning Lord held out his sword which Thoros reignited with the Red Priest quickly doing the same for his own. The duo ran forward just as Cloud delivered a powerful slash that brought the Heartless' head down closer to the ground.

Soon gathering much magic into his weapon, the Blonde Wolf swung down hard.

At that moment, the Behemoth turned it's head to block the blow with it's sparking horns. Yet that didn't seem to be enough as Cloud's sword carved through the horn and broke it off. The piece still sparked as it merely laid there in the dirt where it's owner roared in pain.

Oberyn rushed in, using his nimble body to move in between the legs of the Behemoth, rolling forward and thrusting his spear upward that stabbed into the lower jaw of the Heartless.

The Behemoth's cry of pain was loud with it flinging its head up and inadvertently sending the Prince beneath it flowing who had forgotten to let go of his weapon.

He fell down to the ground with a grunt though thankfully he wasn't flung up high.

"Ow." Oberyn murmured to himself.

Thankfully, Cloud was assaulting the Behemoth at the moment so the Heartless wouldn't have the chance to see the easy prey and pounce upon it.

At this moment, Thoros and Beric had also rushed in, hacking and slashing at the Heartless' legs to bring it down.

The Behemoth was stomping about now with a reddened glow around its body, trying to keep the two grounded swordsmen at bay whilst also focusing on the main threat of Cloud.

Soon enough, it stood on its hindlegs and towered over them all like it's previous namesakes when it was once called the Mountain.

It brought its front legs back down and upon impacting the earth, the grounds quaked once more with a shockwave pretty much being seen.

The three natives of this World were sent flying back with a pained scream or grunt escaping their lips. Cloud otherwise avoided the hit by leaping over it before delivering an Ascension Limit Break the very moment he landed back on his feet. The various slashes burned through the air and almost exploded by the very end of it.

Cloud knew that this was only going to drag on so he called upon his inner power which surged around him.

A powerful aura shockwave burst off the Blonde Wolf who proceeded to rocket forward at the Heartless.

As he drew closer, lightning crackled around the swordsman with a black, bat-like demonic wing sprouting out from behind him.

Cloud knew that a typical Omni-Slash wouldn't quite cut it for this Behemoth so he opted to use a brand new move he had developed thanks to Roxas' help.

He started with a vertical downward slash that turned into him flipping up and over the Behemoth to get behind it. A horizontal slice turned into his spinning about to be on the left side of the Heartless which was followed up with a vertical slash, Cloud instantly spinning around the Behemoth to get on its right side to deliver an upward vertical cut which resulted in him going underneath the Heartless to reappear in front of it.

This attack continued with Cloud constantly cutting and slicing the Heartless from multiple angles, his movements a slight blur.

He felt his body slightly strain against him as it still hasn't adjusted to this level of speed but he knew it would be enough to take this bastard down.

Rushing around, the Red Viper was occasionally going in to attack the Heartless alongside Beric and Thoros. But this fight was starting to take its toll on them. It needed to end soon and hopefully in their favor.

Oberyn feared for what may happen if they didn't succeed. His thoughts traveled towards his family that they might be next. And from there, he is going to fail his promise towards his beloved sister and her children.

Yet he can't give up now!

It was then when he, Beric and Thoros halted their actions as they watched Cloud dive in between the four legs of the Behemoth and quickly sliced through the heels of the beast with the Heartless staggering about and falling on its stomach.

Cloud sailed forward and skidded to a halt next to the Martell Prince, holding his Fusion Sword horizontally above the ground with the man's muscles visibly bulging and tense.

"Oberyn!"

Not bothering to answer back, the Viper merely acted. Reading himself as he ran in close to the Blonde Wolf, Oberyn mustered everything he had in his legs and braced himself. For a split second, Cloud appeared behind him and swung his Fusion Sword hard.

The Viper's instincts practically yelled at him to jump. The moment he did, Oberyn almost felt his legs begin to strain and perhaps break from the utter strength of Cloud's hit on the bottom of his feet.

A moment later, the Martell practically shot towards the Behemoth like a bolt from a scorpion ballista.

Gripping his spear's shaft, Oberyn roared as he got closer. Thrusting his weapon to the darkened beast, the Viper gave everything he had to kill this thing once and for all.

The Red Viper of Dorne stabbed his spear right through the head of the Behemoth with nearly the entire weapon disappearing into the creature's cranium.

The monster shot up from the ground and bellowed, head thrashing about violently, trying to throw off the Prince of Dorne. The Martell practically flailed as he was shaken all over the place, but held onto dear life.

Soon enough, the actions started to lessen as the Behemoth started slowing down.

Taking advantage of this, Beric and Thoros charged in close. Once it's head drooped low, they stabbed their flaming swords right into the monster's eyes and channeled what magic they had left in their reserves right into their weapons.

After that, Cloud dived in with a powerful downward swing of his Fusion Sword, cleaving through the neck like an executioner.

The Behemoth froze on the spot, unmoving as the four combatants around it waited for it to make its next move.

Moments later, a massive burst of darkness littered the melee field as it's vapors filled the sky. After what felt like an hour -but in reality less than a minute- the darkness evaporated and was no longer present. And the weapons buried deep within it's head clattered onto the dirt with their owners having let go of them seconds prior.

All that remained of the Heartless was it's horn some distance away. It's reddened sparks soon died out as it merely laid there before Cloud retrieved it and stored it away in his magical storage space.

No doubt the Moogles could find some use of this unique item.

Oberyn, who had been atop the beast's snout, quickly fell to the ground face first and groaned aloud.

He complained aloud though it was muffled by the mud his face was in.

The Martell wasn't the only one as Beric and Thoros collapsed onto their ass or side due to how tired they were. Both were gulping in air as the soreness and exhaustion of the fight hit them the moment they realized they had won.

The hand of the Viper patted the ground around him until it found his spear which he grasped with all the remaining strength that he had. Slowly, the Martell forced his face up as he tried to get back to his feet.

"Seven Hells." Oberyn panted, getting up to a knee whilst leaning on his spear for support.

"Tired already?"

The Martell Prince looked up at Cloud standing over him with his arms crossed, an amused smirk in place.

The Viper gave out a struggling chuckle.

After nearly twenty years, Oberyn was finally able to avenge Elia and her children. He had slain the nightmare which plagued his family for all that time. And it honestly felt good to wake up from it so he and the rest of his Household may have a happier future.

"Sex is less tiring then fighting that monstrosity." Oberyn remarked.

"Is it now?" Cloud hummed to himself. "Didn't seem all that bad."

"Only you would say that." Oberyn said, rolling his eyes.

Cloud snorted and held out a hand which Oberyn accepted instantly with a look of gratitude directed at the swordsman as he was hefted up to his feet. Soon after, they helped Beric and Thoros up as they were just as tired as Oberyn, if not more due to exhausting their magical reserves.

"You and…" Oberyn paused, looking over to the spot where the Heartless of Gregor Clegane was slain.

He was gone… dead and defeated practically three times over in the span of a single day…

Yet… while one nightmare ended, another returned.

"Wait… Where's Roxas?" Asked Oberyn, whirling his head all over. "And where's that bastard?!"

From his placement in the royal seatment, Robert overheard and was quick to share a similar mindset as the Dornishman.

The fight with the large Heartless took away the attention from the two Keybearers duking it out. And because of it, they've lost track of them while the guards of the various Households were getting just about everyone away from the chaos.

The only ones left in the melee grounds were the Royal family, the Kingsguard, a number of other Noble families with their guards and the four combatants left on the field.

"Where are they?!" Snarled the Baratheon king. "Find them! Find them and assist Roxas! I will not have Vanitas leave here alive!"

-Insert Kingdom Hearts 3: Enter the Darkness-

Back with the two Keybearers, their battle soon got to the point where they were now fighting across King's Landing itself.

Clashing across the sky and occasionally on the vast rusted colored rooftops, their fight could mostly be seen by many.

The commoners were running about in fright at the sight of these blurs appearing and the sound of metal meeting metal.

The two Keybearers were so absorbed in their fight that they hadn't realized what they were doing. Just intent on fighting one another to the end.

However, Roxas had begun to hear people screaming and shouting and at several points felt the presence of civilians nearby just before clashing with Vanitas once again.

Needing a place where they can fight at a safe area without anyone hurt in the process, Roxas thought of a number of locations. From the corner of his eye, a metaphorical lightbulb flared to light above his head.

Landing on the ground, Roxas jumped up just as Vanitas appeared where he stood and began hopping atop buildings, leaping from rooftop to rooftop.

Growling to himself, Vanitas instantly jumped up to pursue the Nobody.

"Where do you think you're running off to, Ventus?" Vanitas shouted out to him. "We're not even close to being finished here. I wanna get more acquainted with you!"

Roxas heard this and felt his eye twitch rapidly upon hearing this.

"I'm not Ventus." Roxas said beneath his breath in aggravation. "How much will it take for you to realize that?!"

Not hearing this, Vanitas rambled on as he got closer and closer to Roxas until he was right behind him.

Sensing this, Roxas spun about and held his Keyblade's up in an X-shape.

Vanitas delivered a powerful strike that even with Roxas using both his Keyblade to block them, sent him hurtling away.

Gritting his teeth, he instinctively swung his Oathkeeper in time just as Vanitas blurred in front of him and struck the side of his helmet.

The masked boy let out a small grunt of pain before laughing.

"Well now, this is getting more and more interesting."

Roxas and Vanitas began exchanging attacks with their clashing Keyblades as they kept causing more metallic ringing noises across the air.

With some careful planning and coordination, the former Organization member was able to relocate them to the one place that was outright abandoned in the Westerosi capital.

The Dragonpit on top of Rhaenys' Hill.

Swinging Oblivion in an horizontal swing, Roxas struck Vanitas' gut hard enough to send him crashing through one of the boarded up entryways and tumble across the dirt.

Upon entering the abandoned roost of the long dead dragons, No. XIII quickly casted Curaga and used a Mega-Ether upon himself.

"Boy~ this first act has turned out splendid." Stated Vanitas, who stood back up and rolled his shoulders. "Let's see what the others will be like."

"There will be no more, Vanitas."

"Uh huh…" The masked Keybearer didn't sound convinced at that proclamation. "Answer me this bit of curiosity of mine, but how long will you keep up with this charade of yours with this World. I admit, I never would've thought you'd stoop so low in such a thing, Roxas."

"What are you even talking about?" Roxas asked in frustrated bewilderment.

Vanitas scoffed. "Cut the tough guy act, Ventus. I know it's you beneath that stupid angry look you have on."

"You know, you're doing a spectacular job at annoying me but now you're just starting to piss me off." Roxas angrily said. "Either start talking sense or just fight."

Upon enacting act two, they soon resumed their fight by combating in the air.

Roxas managed to block the coming strike in time, but the powerful blow knocked him back and sent him towards a pillar. The Nobody managed to recover in time and decided to go on the offensive by performing Last Arcanum by striking the dark Keybearer with a fast flurry of blows.

Yet not every one landed their mark as Vanitas blocked and parried most of them before Roxas ducked out of the way to avoid a darkened thrust. Once in the clear, the sandy blonde performed a Thunder Raid, throwing both Keyblades at his opponent, which had stunned the masked fighter for the briefest of moments.

Once they returned to his hands, Roxas rushed in and casted Megaflare at point blank range. The result had Vanitas flying through the air and striking a nearby pillar before sliding down to the dirt.

"Ah~ there it is." Vanitas said, panting slightly as he stood back up. Straightening his back, he could feel his vertebrae ache a bit before he casted Cura onto himself.

Though he wore a helmet, Roxas knew he had locked eyes with his enemy with the blue eyed teen glaring fiercely at him.

"There's that anger." Vanitas stated. "That rage. That fury. I was told you had it in spades compared to most others and so far, you haven't disappointed."

"And right now, I'm learning how much of a giant asshole you are." Roxas shot back. "Do you just have to hear yourself speak at every chance you get?"

"And what's wrong with my voice? I find it soothing."

They crossed blades with each other ever more. Every strike, parry, sweep, thrust, and block had a purpose in defeating the other. And the power behind them could be heard as their sounds started to heavily rang throughout the air.

At one point, Roxas threw his Keyblades at the masked fighter. Instead of him smacking or dodging the thrown weapons, they merely went straight through Vanitas. It seemed to vanish, making Roxas realize it was a dark clone of sorts.

Acting swiftly, he recalled his weapons back to his hands in order to block Vanitas' counterattack from his exposed backside.

"You have indeed gotten better. Yet that strength and skill won't save you. You wanna know why?" Vanitas proceeded to strike Roxas with each blow getting stronger with each hit. On the last one, the dark Keybearer channeled darkness into his Void Gear. "Because I'll be better than you in every possible way."

The last attack Vanitas enacted appeared to have missed. For it seemingly landed, yet it went through Roxas with no harm done at all. A split second later, it flickered away to show an after image.

"Wha-"

"Keep telling yourself that."

Vanitas felt a massive crushing blow from his exposed back. He let out a painful grunt as he sailed across the Dragonpit and crashed into a decrepit wall.

Prying himself out of it, Vanitas casted Curaga upon himself before gazing back at his opponent. There he blinked in surprise behind his darkened helmet.

"My~ My~ I haven't seen a Form Change in a dog's age."

Roxas had foregone his Dual Keyblades and went into his Winter's Howl Key Form with him wearing it's gauntlets, grieves and helmet. He needed to change up this fight in his favor and hopefully end it sooner.

With Vanitas, he never expected to see this Keybearer have access to such a thing. He could've realized it from what he absorbed from his Unversed, making him berate himself on not taking better notice.

Regardless, the masked fighter knew this fight would get more and more interesting.

Walking to a safe distance away from Roxas, Vanitas momentarily dismissed his Void Gear so he may deliver a mocking clap.

"Unbelievable… Such a unique blend of pride mixed with but a hint of anger. And yet in spite of the situation, there is no sign of fear to be seen within you. I wouldn't have expected it from a Nobody such as you, and yet you have it."

"What are you talking about?" Roxas frowned behind his wolf-styled helm, thinking over his words. "Can… Can you see emotions?"

The Dark Keybearer shrugged. "In a way I can. Such is my nature with how I create my Unversed." Vanitas then elaborated as he spoke aloud for some form of intimidation. "You see, amongst all the evil that permeates my very being, this is a big function in my existence. Seeing the many flaws of any being out there. Their emotions are what I favor the most."

Summoning back his Void Gear Keyblade, Vanitas struck the earth and unleashed a volley of inferno-like fireballs as they spouted out like a geyser. Roxas swiftly dodged them while leaving an ice trail at his wake.

"I often find myself being an artist. The means I perform my work is only done by my hands alone. For this artform of mine produces so many shades and forms of fear. To me, all of that color shines like a magnificent stained glass portrait. Isn't that wonderful?"

Roxas raised a questioning brow upon hearing Vanitas' proclamation. "You kept doing the things you've done… just for that very reason?" He asked, all the while punching and kicking the inferno fireballs away. Each one of them crashed and scorched the surrounding debris.

"It's certainly beyond your comprehension. But those Hearts resonate with the sole emotion of fear that possesses a beauty that I wouldn't exchange for all of reality."

Narrowing his gaze at Vanitas, Roxas started to really think that his opponent was outright evil.

As this occurred, Vanitas viewed Roxas as he read him in return. And underneath his masked helmet, the dark Keybearer bore a curious expression.

'Interesting… his emotions are somewhat fluctuating while trying to keep himself in check.' Was his thought. 'His anger, repulsion, doubt. Gotta commend him on attempting to really focus on the battle at hand.'

As he refocused to his surroundings once again, Vanitas swiftly dodged a volley of projectiles coming from Roxas' Blizzaga Burst. The dark Keybearer performed a series of somersaults to avoid getting hit.

No. XIII rushed right in close to his opponent. As he did, the Nobody spoke.

"I have to admit in saying this, Vanitas… but people are quite foolish. They can also be hateful, discriminatory, faithless, treacherous, envious, prideful, vindictive, sorrowful and so much more. They don't even realize the many mistakes they've been repeating over the years on this World alone."

The moment Vanitas stopped his summersaults, he received a roundhouse kick to the gut which staggered him close to a stone pillar. He rolled out of the way just in time to avoid Roxas' powerful punch which broke it's surface.

Coming out of his recovery roll, Vanitas heard the former Organization member continue to speak.

"And yet, in spite of all that, I can't help but yearn to be like them in some manner. For there are all these virtues and righteous things within them that I can't help but appreciate."

Vanitas simply groaned aloud. "Now that I don't miss. This annoying belief they think themselves to be righteous. Stop lying to yourself. They are all nothing more than a bunch of killers who pretend to care about others. Just be honest with yourself, trust me, you'll feel a lot better."

"Whatever you might say or do, the beliefs within my heart will never waver."

Roxas' opponent let loose a snort. "You say that now… Such things could be legitimate or in fact a facade. But it often depends on how well one convinces themselves with such notions; like what you've been doing as a Nobody."

Striking the earth with his Void Gear Keyblade, Vanitas created a pair of dark copies of himself to swiftly home in on the former Organization member. Said person performed a couple of backflips to avoid getting hit before retaliating by letting one of them get close and delivered a knee strike onto it's stomach. From there, Roxas grabbed the one copy and threw it onto the other. When both were momentarily stunned, Roxas rushed in and casted a Mine Wall right in front of him before appearing behind the dark copies. He then kicked their exposed side to topple onto the magical trap and were destroyed in the resulting explosion.

"You could think it would be dazzling, beautiful, wondrous lights…" Vanitas soon began to chuckle, one which he outright ignored to control. "And yet wreathed within that pure feeling is something which truly blinds you from what you truly are."

Leaping away from his opponent, the dark Keybearer shot out a volley of energy arcs. Roxas merely avoided them with the speed of his Form Change. He even used the previously formed ice trails to his advantage by soon landing on them and sliding onward at full speed.

On occasion, Roxas jumped from one ice path onto another to avoid the energy projectiles and magic spells before delivering some Blizzard variants of his own via punches or kicks. Some landed while others were batted away or avoided all together.

He soon began mixing things up by firing off a torrent of Water, momentarily soaking Vanitas before he got electrocuted from Roxas' Thundara Burst.

Upon pushing himself further, No. XIII seemed to have become a blur. Especially when he casted Hastera onto himself before using Aerora from his armored boots to greatly boost his momentum.

Acting upon his instincts, Vanitas quickly raised his Keyblade to block and parry the wolf-like assault. The slashes and kicks Roxas were delivering were starting to become savage over time. It soon became too much for him when the assault was too much to bear.

Releasing a torrent of darkened waves from his Keyblade, the masked fighter sought to take out the only other person in the abandoned Dragonpit. Yet his attacks were missing their mark.

Before long, he went back onto the defensive when he had to bring up Void Gear to block against a downward axe kick. The force from the blow caused a crater to form underneath him.

When the strike failed, Roxas disappeared from sight as he kept on moving.

Wanting to even the playing field, or put things more into his favor, Vanitas needed to call upon some unexpected reinforcements. And for him to do that, he required Roxas to get in close to properly cast a particular spell.

And not a moment too soon. For the moment when No. XIII thrusted his right arm for a spear-like jab, Vanitas quickly blocked the strike with his Keyblade.

Once making contact, the masked fighter casted his spell.

"Slowra!"

A prism with roman numerals encircling it appeared above Roxas' form. Instead of halting him completely, Vanitas merely slowed him down for a certain rate of time.

And it'll wear off soon, given the magical flare radiating off the greater Nobody's form; indicating he was fighting the effects of his Slow spell.

Yet it wouldn't matter with what his opponent had up his sleeves.

Leaping back a reasonable distance away, Vanitas focused and focused some more before forming a large Corridor of Darkness to appear overhead.

Hearing a volley of clanking metal coming from it, the dark Keybearer smirked underneath his helmet.

Vanitas had taken the initiative and advanced in his own particular way.

Jumping up high, Roxas' adversary landed on what came out of the Dark Corridor.

Roxas' eyes widened considerably, instantly recognizing just what Vanitas rode upon towards him.

"K-Keyblades?!" he muttered to himself in surprise and promptly winced a moment later.

His surroundings, for the briefest of seconds changed from the Dragonpit into one of a desert wasteland with Keyblades embedded into the ground all across the area.

The sky was darkened with elevated steep mountains surrounding them. And at the center of the clouded sky was a heart-shaped moon as it brightly glowed in all its glory.

Closing his eyes and shaking his head rather violently, Roxas opened them back up in time to see Vanitas barreling right towards him as he rode a twister composed of Keyblades.

"Dodge this!" He roared gleefully, jumping up from the Keyblades and thrusting his own Void Gear forward.

Instantly the Keyblades rocketed forth towards their intended target.

Roxas quickly brought up his arms and casted Barrier to block the rocketing metal twister. The moment the defensive spell was conjured, he was sent back considerably due to the force behind the blow. Before having the chance to recover, his magical Barrier was knocked all over the place through the bombardment of Vanitas' twister ride.

"Writhe!"

Roxas grit his teeth from within the circular Barrier and crossed his arms with both his Keyblades on either side glowing.

Feeling the swell of his innate affinity from within, he threw arms out with an explosion of Light coming off of him.

"BACK OFF!"

The force of the explosive power, the Keyblades surrounding him were blown back.

A sneer formed beneath the helmeted Keybear whilst throwing his free hand up.

With a silent command, Vanitas converged the twister of Keyblades at the very center of the Dragonpit. The mass of metal formed a shell with darkness swirling around it.

"Take this!"

In an instant, two streams of Keyblade twisters began firing off the swirling mass with Vanitas' shadow copies riding them. They rebound off the ground and flied right towards the greater Nobody in order to slash at him.

The former Organization member acted quickly, having to momentarily dismiss his Winter's Howl form change so he can quickly use his two Keyblades to block the incoming volley. And it wasn't just the two streams, but several rounds of them kept coming at him in rapid succession.

Having to rapidly block the volley of Keyblades with Barrier, Roxas had to quickly parry and evade several slashes from Vanitas' shadow copies.

Roxas landed on the ground, still surrounded by his aura of light, got into position as the Vanitas shadows came right for him.

Teeth clenched tightly, Roxas started spinning his weapons about, each strike knocking away the shadows and the Keyblades with them. Every successive strike led to an increase in his output with his own Keyblades spinning faster and faster.

By this point he had been surrounded by flailing Keyblades and shadowy wisps until Vanitas pulled his hand back and the onslaught stopped.

The torrent of Key's finally ended with Roxas simply returning to his usual stance with a fierce glare directed at Vanitas.

"That's it?" Roxas taunted. "Thought you'd be better than that."

"Taunting?" Vanitas snorted. "Really? From you? Boy, you sure are different from everyone else I've fought."

"I like to stand out." Roxas remarked.

Since the assault came to an end, Roxas was about to go back in and continue the fight. But he soon became distracted when he saw the new addition to the Dragonpit. Vanitas' projectiles were spread throughout the entire space for Roxas to gaze upon.

"What's with all these Keyblades?" Roxas asked. "Where'd they even come from?"

He gazed at the many familiar, yet differing weapons piercing the pillars, the walls and even lying on the ground. There were so many styles that it was hard to pick out which he could perhaps recognize while others were entirely new. Yet there seemed to be a whole underlying similarity…

Whatever colors were present on them were greyed out, muted even. It was as if all life had left them.

"You really aren't Ventus, are you?"

Roxas felt his eye twitch as his face scrunched up into that of anger now. "How many times do I have to say it by this point? Are you deaf or dumb? Both works you know."

Vanitas simply scoffed at him as he looked at the many Keyblades embedded into the ground.

"Their original wielders are gone, Roxas. For there is no light or darkness left inside of them. In a way, they're like Nobodies, just empty shells yearned to be given life and purpose once again. Something which I take full advantage of, especially now."

"And where'd you get all of them?"

"A Graveyard, where those of Light and Darkness now rest forever more. The result of a War enacted of reaching the Ultimate Light… the Ultimate Heart of all. But then again, these Keyblades are just mere failed imitations and copies to the real thing!"

"So they're not the real ones?" Roxas murmured to himself before sending Vanitas a piercing glare. "Then what does that make you?"

"I? I am Darkness personified." Vanitas said in a grandiose fashion. "And… You clearly have no idea on the history of the Keyblades. Such a disappointment."

"Really?" Was Roxas' sarcastic reply. "Gee, I wonder what gave that away. Maybe that I have no idea what you're talking about or even who you really are other than a pain in the ass right about now."

Vanitas guffawed. "Oh, I'm loving this even more and more. Come on, let's resume our dance, shall we?"

"Yes." Roxas' Oathkeeper vanished with his Oblivion shifting. "Let's."

Vanitas threw his hand up and once again formed a twister of Keyblades which were all directed at the Nobody.

Quickly getting back into his Winter's Howl armor, Roxas started running once more as the Keyblade twister was coming after him. He fired off a number of Blizzard variants in hopes of slowing them down, but he was not successful in the slightest. There were too many for him to take care of.

Soon enough a bunch broke off and fired right at him with their present master casting Dark Firagas left and right.

The assault of dark spells and Keyblades were proving quite the difficulty for No. XIII. However much of his defense doesn't allow room for a single one to enter his range. He swings in all directions to deflect as much as possible while leaping all over so they won't land their mark.

Vanitas' stolen Keyblades arcs through the air. Roxas is forced to fight his instincts as the Dark Keybearer sends them his way. In which he has been forced into a defensive posture.

Yet that wasn't the case at all. For the sandy blonde isn't on the defence but in fact losing the distance. Amongst the storm of fallen Keyblades, Roxas continues to advance. He weaved through them as much as possible in order to get close to his opponent.

Once he finally closed the gap, Roxas focused and built up much of his magical power before striking his opponent hard.

"Salvation!"

Massive, condensed pillars of light materialized around him. As the Nobody slammed his armored fist to the ground, the pillars shot out in all directions with several waves following soon after. More even burst out of the ground as they followed. And in this process, all of his wounds had healed themselves.

"AAAAAAARRRRGH!" Was Vanitas' bellowing, painful shout.

Roxas' recent technique sent Vanitas flying to the far off wall of the Dragonpit. A massive crash could be heard a split second later with a blast of debris splashing out then after.

Whipping out a Mega-Ether, due to his Salvation spell drastically costing him much of his magical reserves, he swiftly consumed it. As this happened, Roxas wondered if his latest attack was able to take him out.

As if to answer his thoughts, a figure could be seen in the dust cloud.

"That fucking hurt!" Vanitas' voice could be heard, revealing he survived.

"That was the point!" Roxas replied.

Vanitas staggered out of the dust cloud as there were a few key differences from his previous appearance.

First was that the masked Keybearer had blood all over his body suit. And second… was that his helmet was practically gone with only a few black shards remaining.

This got Roxas to drastically widen his eyes upon witnessing what was behind that glass domed helmet in the first place.

"S-Sora?"

Vanitas merely smirked at his shocked expression, releasing a pained chuckle before hocking a loogie of blood onto the dirt.

"I am not your Somebody, but I admit there is an uncanny resemblance. And I've clearly got the better looks." Vanitas said, flicking his pitch black locks.

The dark Keybearer does look like the resident of Destiny Islands. Yet there were a number of differences. His spiky hair was obsidian black instead of a chocolate brown and the eyes were a sick golden yellow which replaced the deep sky blue. And that expression he held…

Sora had never in his entire life held such a sinister and menacing smirk.

"Why… Why do you look like Sora?! Tell me!" Roxas shouted.

Vanitas let out a throaty chuckle as his yellow eyes bored into Roxas' blue.

"I'll answer you that as long as you tell me why you look exactly likeVentus."

"Like I'm supposed to even know who Ventus is!"

All Vanitas could do was let loose an insane laugh. He soon casted Curaga onto himself, swiftly mending his previous wounds from Roxas' Salvation spell. After that, he dashed forward.

-Insert Kingdom Hearts 2.5: The Other Promise-

Roxas remained in his armored form while calling forth Oathkeeper and the two clashed.

Instantly jumping back and colliding with one another again with noticeable traces of icy white Light and wispy flames of Darkness coming out from each strike.

"Now this is exactly what I was hoping to see out of you, Ventus."

"My name is ROXAS! Not VENTUS!" Came the snarled response. "Get that through your thick head of yours!"

Suddenly appearing before him, Roxas shot his arms out and clasped Vanitas' head from both sides. This actually threw Vanitas off as this was something he wasn't expecting at all. Roxas then delivered a number of upper knee strikes onto his stomach. This got the dark Keyblade wielder to let loose some painful coughs.

From this opening, clenched knuckles barreled into Vanitas' jaw, rattling and sending him back to the outer layer of one of the abandoned dragon cells. Another blow sent him crashing through. Roxas soon leaped back when Vanitas rocketed out with a stream of fallen Keyblades launched right at him.

He had to bend back to avoid a sword slice to the head and blocked another with his armored arm. Roxas back flipped to kick one of the offending Keyblades away before performing a dodge roll from another.

Once back on his feet, a magical blast was sent out from Roxas' armored fist with a following one from Oathkeeper. Vanitas was shielded from the hit by several fallen Keyblades but they started to buckle when more were delivered with more power behind them each time.

Retaliating strikes came soon after, having Roxas being hit from several sides which sent him flying away.

Vanitas cackled at his opponent's hunched over form. "Did you seriously believe you could possibly manage-"

Whatever the dark Keyblader was going to say next was halted with what occurred before him.

Switching Oathkeeper for his Vampire Killer Keyblade, Roxas quickly had it go into its Battle Cross form. Having the chain extend from the handle, the greater Nobody spoke as he soon whirled his whip around.

"As a friend of mine once said, 'stone the fuck up'!"

*KRAAKK*

Vanitas never expected things to go into two things.

The first was his opponent using two Form Changes at the same time. To his knowledge, such a thing never occurred in the history of the Keyblade wielders.

The second was the speed of Roxas' chain whip.

He felt the tip of the whip strike him dead center and a moment later, a fiery explosion sent him flying back with him yelling out in pain, crashing through a pillar that collapsed on top of him.

"Thank you Trevor." Roxas said to himself with a wide smile.

Vanitas pulled himself out of a small pile of rubble with him visibly shaken. His wide yellow eyes stared at Roxas in shock before he glanced down at his singed and burnt chest.

Not wanting to give his opponent any breathing room, the Nobody started whirling his chain whip in rapid succession. The ongoing blows were starting to grow fiercer over time.

Leaping in the air, Roxas' combat cross shot out and ensnared Vanitas. Yanking hard, he got the Sora look-alike sailing towards him. Rearing his armored fist back, a lot of magical ice began building up. When close enough, the arm shot forward and socked Vanitas' exposed face and sent it flying back.

Once Vanitas crashed onto the earth, Roxas appeared too close for comfort. With another whirl of his chain whip, it appeared digging into the earth and twirled like a buzzsaw as it cleaved through the Sora look-alike.

Vanitas actually found himself flinching from this nonstop attack and had to act quickly.

Spinning Void Gear about caused another flurry of powerful winds that carried with it the many dead Keyblades littering the grounds.

They came straight at Roxas who immediately began deflecting them all with his Keyblade whip spinning all around him.

The blades bounced off or were repelled by Roxas' transformed Keyblade and he saw Vanitas cast another Curaga upon himself to heal the injuries he had sustained.

Sneering at the Sora-look alike, Roxas had to think fast to keep up the momentum he had.

Ensnaring one of the incoming Keyblades with his Vampire Killer, Roxas hurled it right back to its owner. When more came rocketing towards him, the sandy blonde whirled his whip around him as he casted a defensive spell; thus forming a dual layer Chain Barrier.

Vanitas laughed at the sight of it.

"Unbelievable!" He said aloud. "What else can you do?"

"Can you please shut up already!"

Vanitas held a mocking grin. "Make me."

On that, Roxas had to roll his eyes. "What're you, five?"

"Well I'm actually-"

"Don't." Roxas said, moving in for an attack.

With a quick spin of his Chained Keyblade, he managed to dispel the Keys around him enough to get out from their endless attack.

Zipping in close, Roxas thrusted his combat cross onward. Several ethereal crosses shot onward in rapid succession in various directions. A number landed on their target and hurt like hell to the dark Keybearer. Once done, the sandy blonde leaped into the air, focused and casted his Hunter's Fury shotlock attack as he let loose a large volley of the ethereal crosses.

Once surviving through that assault, albeit barely, Vanitas was soon wide-eyed upon Roxas appearing before him. With another thrust of his combat cross, the Sora look-alike was struck point blank with a torrent of Light Aeroga. Once sailing back, Vanitas saw the end of the Key chain whip snapping right at his torso, which resulted in a fierce explosion.

"GWAAAAAAGH!"

The moment he was flown away from the chain whip's recent strike, Vanitas was kicked back from behind when Roxas appeared there so suddenly. A retaliating assault came soon after with a storm of Keyblades aimed right at the blonde teen. Casting his Chain Barrier, Roxas poured much magic behind it so he may withstand the ongoing barrage from all sides.

The split moment it ended, Roxas dropped the spell and went into action.

Casting Hastera upon himself once more, Roxas was zooming all over the place. When occasionally reaching the ruined ceiling, he purposefully broke off chunks so he may either let them fall freely or deliver mighty kicks to become large projectiles aimed at his opponent.

Defending himself, Vanitas called upon the fallen Keyblades to defend him by slicing through them or batting the debris away.

It wasn't long before Roxas used Flomotion to swiftly zoom in between the fallen pieces of the Dragonpit to get in close to his opponent. The chain of the Vampire Killer Keyblade fluttered behind him and seemed to momentarily connect with the debris as it's owner drew ever closer to the masked fighter.

Once getting within Vanitas' personal bubble, Roxas sent out a roundhouse kick. The force sent his opponent onward and into a volley of fallen debris. When Vanitas got close to it, Roxas focused his magic into his Keyblade Combat Cross and yanked back hard.

From in-between the vaste pieces of the Dragonpit, magical chains appeared all around. They seemed connected to one another as they glowed a mighty light.

Feeling himself halted in midair, Vanitas saw some of his limbs were entrapped by the chains. Before having the attempt to free himself, the debris around him all rocketed towards him and crushed him from both the impact and force.

The dark Keybearer grunted from his entrapment, soon snarling at his adversary.

"Such a cheap trick won't confine me for long!"

"I know!"

Momentarily dismissing his Winter's Howl Form Change, Roxas casted Gravira to make Vanitas' debris like cell more claustrophobic and tightening. From there he zoomed in and started cleaving through his opponent's confined form before firing off a barrage of Firagas and Blizzagas.

Once delivering his assault -and consuming a Mega Ether- Roxas leaped back and hovered some feet off the ground. Thrusting his Keyblades into the air, he activated his Magic Hour Limit Break, which summoned pillars of light to rain down from the sky. After that, he backflipped to release another barrage of these powerful beams of light to crash down onto Vanitas' entrapped form.

"GWAAAAAAGH!"

An agonizing scream could be heard from the resulting explosion.

Their melee was escalating, devastating and wrecking much of the abandoned Dragonpit.

As he runs with his Keyblade armor form presently set, Roxas kicks up a storm of ice, light, explosions and debris. Meanwhile, Vanitas imbues that storm with fire, darkness and fallen Keyblades.

Both were going toe for toe against each other.

Demolition… demolition…

The Dragonpit undergoes a fierce demolition as time passes by.

Vanitas continues to cleave and crush through the debris and sends it right back. In turn, Roxas reacts accordingly to avoid them before closing in on a possible opening. If it was legitimate, he was going to capitalise on it so he may deliver a powerful punch, swipe or kick.

And yet Vanitas keeps avoiding many of the blows, laughing all the way like he's greatly enjoying it.

"Excellent! Show me more of your determined confidence. Your immoveable will. I want to wring it out so I may witness your despair!"

"My God, enough with the cliche, demented villain talk already." Roxas yelled in annoyance, flinging his Keyblade chain-whip at him with Vanitas swatting it aside. From there, the two charged at one another once again.

From any onlooker that were possibly able to witness this battle, it could've been considered a thunderous confrontation between good and evil.

And yet… a curtain was about to fall onto this event.

"We now enter our final act!"

"Damn well better be." Roxas shouted just as he flipped away from a powerful Dark Firaga.

The end drew nearer...

A number of attacks thrown and casted by Roxas started to become desperate due to his growing exhaustion.

The same could perhaps be said on his opponent's end.

Roxas saw how heavily Vanitas was breathing yet the crazed gleam in his sickly yellow eyes remained.

'Why are they always insane?' Roxas internally asked himself as he ran at his enemy once again.

Upon coming in close, the blonde skidded to a halt right as he casted Balloonga. Whirling his Key chain-whip, he cleaved through it so it's homing projectiles can zoom towards their target. After his whip snapped against the Sora look-alike, Roxas saw his earlier spell crash into him and stun the dark Keybearer.

Or so he thought.

"I don't think so!"

Roxas let out a pained grunt as he was hit from the side by a small torrent of Keyblades. Tumbling across the ground, he saw his target from earlier disperse into dark whisps, signifying it was a shadow copy.

"Damn it!"

Staggering to his feet, Roxas felt his Keyblade armor return to it's normal form. Winter's Howl soon clattered on the ground with the Vampire Killer reverted back to its standard form not long after. The two Keyblades flashed once more, becoming the signature two that Roxas always uses.

Heavily breathing, he was about to cast Curaga or at least consume a healing item when he was knocked aside.

Rolling on the ground for a bit, Roxas struggled to get back up. He then gazed at Vanitas, who stalked right towards him.

"I have quite enjoyed this, but it seems you have no chance of winning. My darkness will swallow your light." Vanitas said, his power radiating off his body. "It is… inevitable."

Roxas didn't respond at first, instead remaining on his one knee with his head facing down to the ground.

"You know what? Screw it. If you think you can be the only one with tacky lines like that, so can I."

"What now-"

Even as he was hunched over in near defeat, Roxas' form started to glow.

"...I have no chance of winning? Who decided that?" Said the blonde Nobody, who switched out Winter's Howl and Vampire Killer back to his signature dual Keyblades. "You swallowing my light? Who decided that?" The light surrounding him started to glow and radiate ever more fiercely. "The one who decides such things is me and me alone. Just like how I decide who I am!"

Roxas rose, his two Keyblades held firmly in his hands as he stared defiantly at Vanitas.

"If you think you can just steamroll over me, you're in for a rude wake up call."

Vanitas took a cautionary step back at the Light radiating off Roxas with the dark Keybearer visibly uncomfortably at the intensity of the Nobody's affinity.

In a burst of speed, Vanitas felt pain explode from his gut as he was struck by the tips of Roxas' Keyblades and was sent hurtling back.

A second later, Roxas flashed behind the flying dark haired teen and struck him diagonally upwards.

The body of Vanitas was sent hurtling into the sky with Roxas instantly appearing above him.

He raised both his Keyblades overhead with two pillars of Light briefly engulfing his weapons before he smashed them both down upon Vanitas.

Careening down to the ground, Vanitas was barely able to send a Dark Firaga down to the ground below him to soften his impact.

While still airborne, several magical glyphs appeared underneath the greater Nobody. Swirling around both his Keyblades and the two combatants were pillars of light with the Nobody sigil stationed at their tops. They rapidly spinned around their caster, smacking Vanitas out of the way as they seemed to become an utter blur.

Soon enough, the light congregating from the tips of Roxas' Keyblades reached their climax. With enough power behind it all, the Nobody let it loose as a streak of pure light shot directly towards the sky.

Reaching miles above the Dragonpit, the light broke apart and spread throughout the entirety of King's Landing and some miles beyond its walls. And in mere moments the very surroundings drastically shifted from an afternoon sky to that of a perpetual sunset.

Within King's Landing itself and miles around it from all sides, many people turned their heads in the direction of the Light that came from Westeros' capital with all eyes widening considerably.

Back in the Dragonpit, Roxas let loose a volley of light balls. They homed onto Vanitas' form, who rapidly sought to flee from the conjured projectiles. Yet they seemed to be too fast for him, even when he rode on a twister of Keyblades.

Vanitas flailed from the orbs of light crashing and exploding upon impact. Before long, the pillars of light soon followed as they rapidly struck him from all sides. After that, Roxas appeared and performed a strengthened dual Strike-Raid before zooming out of the way when Vanitas sought retaliation. The attempt failed as he was assaulted once more by Roxas' Limit Break.

Crashing onto the earth, Vanitas heavily breathed as the fighting all but stopped.

Roxas hovered down to the ground and softly landed with him holding up Oblivion towards Vanitas who shakily stood to his feet. Both their forms were tattered and torn up though miraculously held together.

"Stay down." Roxas aggressively told him. "You can't beat me."

Vanitas cackled as he resumed his usual stance though it appeared at a great level of strain.

Roxas opted to stay as he was and waited for anything that this enemy would throw at him.

Last few times he fought like this, he had been caught off guard twice in a row. This time, he wouldn't be making that mistake.

Vanitas shifted about slightly before his hand fell slightly, hanging loosely by him with him barely holding onto his Keyblade.

"Y-You…" Vanitas laughed, pain evident in his voice as he swayed on the spot before falling to his knees. His hand clutching Void Gear went limp with the Keyblade falling to the ground and disappearing in a flash of Darkness.

The Dark Keyblade Wielder let out a dry chuckle as he took the time to catch his breath.

"You truly are something special." Vanitas said, looking up to Roxas with a crazed gleam in his yellow eyes. "God, I wish we could do this all day. You're way tougher than most people I've ever fought, I can tell ya that much."

Roxas said nothing, merely keeping his focus to both the dark haired teen before him along with his surroundings. For he did not want to be put off guard if Vanitas were to try anything.

"Still, why are you bothering keeping up this act of yours?"

"If you keep talking about this Ventus crap, I will end you." Roxas practically snarled.

"Oh?" Vanitas tauntingly looked up to him. "You know, I thought you were a bit darker than most but even that sounds very Un-Keyblade wielder of you."

"You do realize that a lot of Keyblade wielders of Light have destroyed beings of Darkness like yourself, right?" Roxas stated, not exactly wanting to hear this Sora-look alike talk anymore.

"Heh, can't deny that." Vanitas remarked. "Maybe you're not as innocent as I thought."

"Have you not noticed the World I've been on?" Roxas rhetorically asked. "They sure talked a lot about you before I even knew who you were."

"You already did."

"No I didn't and if you start with that Ventus crap again, you're only shortening the amount of time you have left."

"So why don't you just end it then?" Vanitas goaded.

"Because I want answers. And right now, you're the only one who can give them to me."

"You're a fool, then."

"Who's the bigger fool?" Roxas shot back. "The one on the ground beaten like the mad dog he is or the one standing over him with two Keyblades pointed at him. In case you haven't noticed, I won."

-Insert Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep: The Key-

Vanitas glared at that comment with a defiant look on his face.

"If you say "I let you win" then you need to get a good look at yourself in the mirror with how badly I thrashed you just now." Roxas quickly said.

Vanitas' expression held before he huffed out a condescending laugh.

"Don't have to. Got a mirror right in front of me."

Roxas was not amused as he aggressively jabbed Oblivion underneath Vanitas' chin "lightly" his throat.

Vanitas began coughing, hacking up spit and some blood before feeling the cold metal of the black Keyblade underneath his chin.

"Now, I want answers. Who are you really? Who is Ventus and why do you look like Sora?"

The look of the black-haired teens face wanted to do anything other than answer Roxas' question but… he figured that since he had been beaten, and quite profoundly at that, this Nobody earned some measure of an answer.

"In a way, Sora defines me, the same way Ventus defines you. For we are who, together, pieces of the greater whole." Said Vanitas, much to Roxas' confusion. "Believe me or not, it doesn't matter."

"What does any of that even mean?"

"We all are connected and come from each other in one way shape or form." Vanitas said. "When he looked into it, the Old Man admitted that the four of us, you, me, Sora and Ventus were truly unique and special beings that only come about under the most extreme of circumstances. We're not impossible but highly improbable."

Roxas spoke nothing more on that topic. For if he tried something now, all the Nobody would end up doing would wind up in confusing circles.

So he decided to shift onto something else.

"What happened back then?"

"Excuse me?"

"Between you and Ventus." Roxas clarified. "Who was he to you? You clearly wanted to fight him."

Vanitas looked at him with a scrutinizing gaze and chuckled to himself.

"You're a lot smarter than that air head." Vanitas stated. "After many years, I was released from within Ventus and unlike that fool, I knew my purpose from the start. For the ultimate pure Light and ultimate pure Darkness to fight."

"And what's that supposed to mean to me?"

Vanitas rolled his eyes at that. "Years ago when Ventus and I clashed in our last confrontation, it was for the means of forging the ultimate weapon; χ-blade."

"Key... blade? I… I don't understand."

"Understandable that you might not be in the know. But I'm not referring to the Keyblades you and I carry. For they are considered forgeries or inferior copies."

"Copies?"

Vanitas decided to elaborate, spreading his arms out to the vast Keyblades littering the space around them. "You see, these weapons were mere failures in reaching the true potential of the genuine article. Not to mention they got the translation wrong by pronouncing it "key"." Holding out his hand, an unusual and stylized ethereal "X" appeared above his palm. "χ... A most ancient letter. Some say "kye", but the meaning is all the same."

"Being?"

"Death." Swiping his hand away, Vanitas explained. "A letter that spells endings. And through the χ-blade, one can summon, gain access and control the true Kingdom Hearts -it's counterpart- with little to no repercussions."

A chill ran down Roxas' spine and made him rather tense upon hearing this.

"Of course, back then, Ventus had the potential power to forge it as he held a Heart purged of it's darkness. But the old man should've realized he needed to use the correct method instead of the shortcut."

"...What?"

"The old man… who you may or may not know as Xehanort… he orchestrated this whole mess back then to sate his experimental curiosity; thinking a strong heart of pure light clashing with one of pure darkness -both of equal power and strength- can reform the χ-blade. Yet that was deemed an utter failure when Ventus and I practically destroyed each other. So Xehanort concluded the original method needed to be enacted."

"Being what?"

"No one knows how the χ-blade was originally forged, for such knowledge was lost to time. But when it was destroyed during the Keyblade War eons ago, it splintered into thirteen pieces of darkness and seven pieces of pure light. It would be from those twenty pieces shall we reform the ultimate key."

While some questions have been answered, more took their place in Roxas' mind.

"Now the shards of Darkness can be easily substituted in one way, if what the old man theorized. Him gathering and uniting thirteen vessels of darkness and placing pieces of his very Heart within them. In fact, that was the original purpose of Organization XIII."

Roxas stepped back in shock upon hearing this statement.

"But I thought-"

"Xemnas and Xigbar did well in misleading the rest of you first iteration members on the true goal." With the Keyblade no longer at his throat, Vanitas rose back to his feet. "In fact you -in particular- was a worthy candidate of becoming one of Xehanort's vessels. Unfortunately you became… too aware of yourself and returned to Sora; which made things complicated."

Overcoming his momentary state of shock, Roxas muttered out "Aren't I lucky."

Vanitas soon let out a snort. "Of course thanks to Riku and your Somebody, the old man learned not everyone on the first iteration would fit their candidacy. So we improvised and managed to make up the difference."

"You mean that-"

"The second iteration of Organization XIII will truly fill in the spots of the thirteen darknesses, of which I am one of them." Revealed the Sora look-alike. "But the true pieces of light are more... peculiar in their nature. Where they reside are from those who are exceptions to losing themselves to Darkness and becoming Heartless. And there's the underlying fact that their vessels are always and exclusively women."

It slowly dawned on the former Organization member on who Vanitas was referring to. His mind flashed to seven women who were held captive at Maleficent's base of operations on Hollow Bastion nearly two years ago due to the machinations of Ansem, the Seeker of Darkness.

"The seven princesses of Heart." Roxas said in realization. "You're planning to use them to help form the χ-blade."

Vanitas emanated a dinging noise from his mouth. "Bingo. The Princesses will essentially be Plan A to fill in the pieces of light."

"Plan… A? Then what's Plan B?"

"Seven guardians of Light; otherwise known as Keyblade wielders of Light, and have them take part in clashing against Xehanort's thirteen vessels of Darkness for his own Keyblade War." Vanitas revealed before he barked out a laugh. "To me, I'd rather go with Plan B as it's more fun that way than the boring one."

"You would." Roxas couldn't help but say.

"Until everything has been prepared, most of us members are seeking the current generation of the Princesses of Heart."

"...Current?"

"The Princesses serve out their memberships until death. From there the lights are "reincarnated" into someone else. Cycle and repeat. But after the dark fairy -Maleficent- failed on her end of Xehanort's plan nearly two years ago, the seven true lights sought new vessels when their previous ones fell to darkness for a temporary death until their revival."

For the briefest of moments, Roxas breathed out a sigh of relief.

He almost had a panic attack upon hearing that this Plan A will go underway as the identities of the Seven Princesses were already known. But hearing about the particular details with how their memberships are shifted, especially after Sora helped save the Worlds the first time around, he could momentarily be at ease.

If that were the case, then finding these new Princesses might take-

"So far my fellow Organization members have found four Princesses."

With a deadpanned look, a twitch quickly appeared from Roxas' eye.

"...Seems like a higher power is taking a shit in my breakfast."

Vanitas openly guffawed at that.

"My God, you really aren't like the other Keyblade wielders."

"Blame a number of my friends." Roxas grumbled beneath his breath.

Coming down from his little fit of laughter, Vanitas resumed speaking. "To my surprise, I came to find out that this World has a Princess once again. And not just one, but two." Vanitas laughed to himself. "Two! Can you believe it? And in a World always so close on the brink of Darkness. Color me shocked."

"Again? Wait, two? What the hell are you talking about two Princesses of Heart?"

"One, I'm as surprised as you are to be back here again for a Princess of Heart and two, yes, you heard me right."

"Tell me." Said Roxas.

Vanitas bobbed his head side to side with a small smirk forming. "I could tell you outright. But where would be the fun in that?"

Roxas glared, pressing his Keyblade on Vanitas' neck though the teen was nonplussed.

"I'll give you a hint." He said casually. "You know them. Even Ventus knew the previous one… before she died at the end of the Rebellion. Shame he had to find out the hard way."

A boiling rage erupted from within with Roxas rearing his Keyblades back in a stance that would undoubtedly end Vanitas here and now.

Something the black-haired teen was well aware of.

In an instant, he expunged a small explosion of Darkness that slightly stunned Roxas though he was still going in for a dual strike.

But that momentary pause in the attack was enough of a moment for Vanitas to jump back and away from the two Keyblades that swiped at empty air.

Vanitas grunted as he landed with his leg muscles feeling bruised and even torn but he remained standing as he and Roxas locked eyes.

Both of them knew that they were at the end of their rope after their fight yet Roxas appeared determined to continue.

How admirable of him.

A shame he had to leave.

"The gathering of the seven and thirteen is nigh. One day, the χ-blade shall be reforged in it's destined place once the lights and darknesses clash and join together."

Calling forth a Dark Corridor, Vanitas stepped through it with a small cackle escaping his lips.

"Get back here!"

Before Roxas could rush right in, he heard a practical stampede coming towards the ruined Dragonpit. Looking aside, he saw a congregated mass of people rushing onto the scene.

This proved to cost Roxas as the varying Keyblades scattered throughout the Dragonpit suddenly rose from their resting places. They hastily rushed towards the Dark Corridor, causing Roxas to leap away from getting harmed. In this process, he had to bat a number away as every fallen weapon went into the Corridor.

Just as he sought to leap right in, he was smacked back by a few stragglers who soon entered. A moment later, the Corridor disbursed into darkened wisps.

Seeing where it once was, Roxas gritted his teeth before kicking the dirt in frustration.

With the adrenaline from the fight starting to wear out, he soon lost balance and almost collapsed-

"Whoa there."

-if it weren't for someone holding him up.

"C-Cloud." Roxas said in utter relief, Keyblade's disappearing as he nearly fell over had it not been for his fellow blond being by his side in an instant to prevent him from falling.

"Did you get him?" Cloud asked quietly, throwing the teens arm around his shoulder to keep him steady.

"I was about to." Roxas begrudgingly said. "But he would have gotten away. Even if you guys showed up."

"What was he after?"

"Asides from a fight? The Princesses of Heart."

"Them?" Cloud frowned.

"You know them?"

"The gang back at Hollow Bastion told me all about them." Cloud stated. "About Ansem's original plan."

"Well, to make a long story short, the original Princesses of Heart we knew of had their lights passed on and now there's seven new ones." Roxas quickly elaborated. "And two of them are here."

"Two?" Cloud muttered. "Looks like things got more complicated."

"You have no idea."

Letting out a sigh, the Blonde Wolf helped get the Keyblade wielder to the others present; who failed to assist in whatever battle which took place here not too long ago.

"I don't know about you." Roxas murmured as he saw Ned approaching them both. "But I'm gonna need a break. At least two or three days. Maybe seven."

"You could just leave for a bit and do just that." Cloud suggested. "Time seems to work differently in this World."

"Don't tempt me." Roxas said quietly. "I might do just that."

-End Chapter-

AN:

Kept ya waiting again, huh?

On top of the usual excuses, Mass Effect Legendary Edition came out and it's been rather fun going through memory lane. It's been eating up a lot of available time I've had and it's well worth it as I don't play video games that often due to a number of issues.

FMW: Yeah, been replaying the old trilogy, reconnecting with memories and all. Going through my current playthrough and got my girl Tali back once again. Also Castelvania season 4, Bad Batch, Loki is up next and a lot more that undoubtedly will come and we will take into consideration to work with in the future. Kingdom Hearts Union coming to its end as well, learning what we have of the past.

Jeb: Agreed and can't wait to see the later, upcoming stuff.

Another thing I need to bring up… I know the rant I wrote down last time was out of left field with the romance department a bit much. To be honest, I just kept getting many reviews and PMs on the subject and I just snapped when people were heavily criticizing that and pushed too far on the amount. I needed a means of venting and getting it out of my system so I can continue writing. And yes I know I was making some errors and a few assumptions on some of the examples, but I'm not that entirely knowledgeable on the comic characters; let alone die-hard genius on their backstories.

Oh and another thing… I'm ignoring guest reviews. They are mostly flamers to me. Same goes with people leaving reviews and PMs on people asking me when I'll update my other works. I'll get to those if I can get both the motivativation, the spark and the actual time in doing so.

With those out of the way, let's just move on and focus on this new chapter.

This was quite the doozy of a chapter. A very long fight sequence after another. Haven't done such a thing in quite a while and boy don't know when either of us will do such a thing again.

FMW: Essentially, a sprint of us stretching and fine tuning trying to describe every detailed motion and attack. The thing is with us… we kinda have overblown imaginations sometimes with how we wanna do the action when we have two people who can perform such crazy attacks. So we wanted to go all out so naturally, whole chapter is an action set piece. The first of many.

Anyways, be sure to review this story guys! Would like the criticisms. Please and thank you!

R&R