Atonement XIV Part 7
Secret Report III
Secret Report
File-Codename: The Natural Order
The three factors required for a being to truly exist are the Heart, the Body and the Soul. A Heart is primarily formed from both light and darkness. A heart is needed to conventionally exist, with the exception being the Seven Princesses of or beings with their light/darkness forcefully separated regarding the former. Hearts are also responsible for one feeling emotion and, when one holds strong bonds with others, allow the being to be able to feel the emotions of others.
Those with exceptionally strong hearts are able to wield a Keyblade. The second of the components that make up one's being is the soul. The soul literally gives the body life and is the difference between being alive or dead. It is the force that wills the body to live and drives it to survive. The term soul may also be interchangeable with that of 'mind'.
Unlike the heart, which controls the body, telling it what to do and giving it feelings and emotion, the soul is the energy and life the body uses to carry out the heart's commands. Essentially, soul is life. Therefore, it is assumed that the soul is the spirit or ghost that leaves the body upon death. If the soul leaves the body, it has no energy or drive to carry out the heart's orders, which ultimately causes the being to die.
The body is the final part of a being's existence. Bodies give both the heart and mind a vessel, for without them, it is an empty husk. Memory serves as an important factor as well, making up a strong part of the heart's existence, and possessing actual reality, leading to significant side effects if a person's memories are altered, even going as far as rewriting reality itself. And while memories may be concealed or forgotten, they never truly 'fade', and the heart will recognize things the mind may not, a sort of 'déjà vu' feeling, if that is the case.
This is even inclusive of abstract ideas, such as writing.
Notable Threats
Heartless : A creature formed when a heart falls to darkness. Heartless are completely lacking in emotion and intelligence, only having instinct to collect hearts. Their appearance wildly varies depending on the individual that fell. There exist two different types of Heartless, Purebloods which are designed as being virtually pure black and Emblem which have the Heartless logo located somewhere on their bodies.
As mentioned before, Heartless are generally mindless beasts who only desire to collect hearts, however, there exist three who are exempt from this, but are still driven by the desire present in all Heartless. Heartless – Emblem or Pureblood – are dark creatures that act on instinct alone. They will attack others to consume more hearts and will target wielders of the Keyblade. However, a powerful user of darkness can summon or control Heartless.
The Heartless will obey a powerful enough force, but they are only loyal as long as the leader remains strong-willed. Additionally, some Heartless are able to command fellow Heartless. Heartless possesses the ability to travel between worlds using Corridors of Darkness. They naturally seek out the heart of the world to corrupt it with their darkness.
A Keyblade can lock the heart of a world away from the Heartless; while this prevents the Heartless from destroying the world's heart, it does not keep Heartless out of the world itself. If a Heartless is slain by a Keyblade, the heart will be freed and reunited with the body and soul it left behind, provided there is no corresponding Nobody. Magic and certain weapons can also destroy Heartless, but only temporarily. No method of eliminating Heartless is capable of them stopping forever, for as long as darkness lingers in the hearts of individuals, Heartless will continue to form.
The strength of a Heartless is proportional to the depth of the darkness from which it was born: the darker the heart forming a Heartless, the more powerful and more monstrous the resulting being will be.
Nobody : After being a Heartless, their body and mind are left to become Nobodies. Nobodies are generally white in appearance, and are essentially empty husks, only existing to be commanded. When the original being has strong enough will, they shall maintain their original form as a Nobody. When a strong-willed Nobody is slain, they may leave behind a semblance of their original being, essentially a type of spirit, in the form of an Absent Silhouette. If a person's Heartless and Nobody are destroyed, their original being is restored wherever this separation happened, if such a place isn't around anymore, they reappear in Traverse Town instead.
Nobodies are said to be incapable of experiencing emotion. While they tend to retain the memories they made as humans, the feelings they display are merely an act. Memories alone enable Nobodies to correctly respond to the situations in which they find themselves. Despite this, Nobodies are able to think for themselves and are organized, whereas the Heartless are more instinctive enemies, generally attacking opponents in massive swarms, relying on sheer strength of numbers to defeat them.
When defeated, Nobodies fade back into darkness. Their defeat, in combination with the destruction of their original selves' Heartless, restores their human forms. Completed once more, the Nobodies' memories remain intact. However, their human form will still have to deal with any trauma resulting from the attack that destroyed their physical body and it should be noted that the reconstruction process is only possible when the Heartless is destroyed first, preferably by a Keyblade.
Grimm: Commonly known as the Creatures of Grimm, these monsters are limited to the world of Remnant but would be considered a great threat if they were to ever gain the same ability to traverse worlds as the Heartless and the Nobodies. whereas the Heartless are born from the darkness of Hearts, the Nobodies are born from one becoming a Heartless, the Grimm have neither heart nor soul. When a Heartless is slain, its Heart is released to gather in darkness, waiting for its Nobody to be slain, thus beginning a reconstruction process. However, it should be noted that it is not guaranteed for all beings transformed into Heartless and Nobodies.
According to my friend, the Grimm were created by Erebus as the antithesis to his brother, Izanagi's creations representing life. They possess no biological bodies much like the Heartless but when they are destroyed, their bodies fade which only to confirm their soulless nature. When a being dies, their soul fades, leaving the body to decompose and the compounds on which it is made returns to the world that gave them life, fostering a circle of life in a manner, and the Heart is meant to return to where everything began.
The Grimm however shows no such place in the natural order. They do not hunt animals outside of territory disputes, they choose not to eat and apparently do not require sustenance. Even in captivity, they simply die unlike an animal that is well looked after. My friend has suggested that much like how the Heartless seeks out Hearts, the Grimm are not only attracted by negative emotions but by the very souls of the people they hunt.
It is strange to see how these threats each represent a fundamental part of existence and lacking the others: Heartless are hearts consumed by darkness but have no body or soul, the Nobodies possess physical bodies and souls, especially those with strong wills but lack a heart and the Grimm possess physical bodies but lack a heart and soul. The strength of the Heartless is dependent on the darkness of one's Heart, a Nobody's strength is determined by how strong the Heart of their original being was, and the Grimm grow stronger as they age showing the lack of need for the strength of a heart or the willpower of a soul. They are driven to attack others out of an instinctive need unique only to their forms of existence, but I fear that there is enough in common for them that they could be a greater threat if they are somehow brought together, sharing their unique powers and abilities .
I pray this never happens.
"You…" Jimmy snarled as he was forced to sit back down…his eyes starting to turn yellow. "I hate you! I hate that you do everything to spite us! I wish we'd left you on that spec of dirt and pretended you were never born!" Jimmy Vanille shouted as the black fog expanded. "I WISH YOU HAD BURNED IN THAT FIRE!"
The black fog exploded around him, engulfing his wife who let out one final scream that echoed in the courtroom as everyone else fled in terror.
What emerged from it was a giant snowman with a snowy white body with blue buttons on its abdomen. It had two blue heads, one shaped like a man while the other was shaped like a woman with yellow eyes, a red zigzag mouth and a carrot for a nose. It wore a cyan pail for a hat on both heads, with light brown antlers on either side of the pail.
Its gloves and scarf were dark pink, and its scarf had a yellow button. He also wore green ice skates with yellow laces. The blades of his ice skates were cyan. There was a heart shaped hole on his chest, symbolizing the loss of heart for the two being it once was.
Jimmy and Carmel Vanille had become a Heartless.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
This was heard from practically everyone in the courthouse as people rushed out of the seats, ran through the doors while screaming their very lungs out at sight of the monster that had taken the place of the two former members of Vale's elite. Fortunately for them, however, the Heartless was not focused on them.
It was focused only on one person.
Neo stared up with widened eyes, seeing her parents turning into a literal monster right before her very eyes. The two faces looked down at her, yellow eyes seemingly burning with hatred as it raised one hand above and swung it down…
There was a flash of black light and the monster's fist was stopped.
"Move, child!" Neo blinked, looking over her shoulder to see none other than Willow Schnee with her hand outstretched.
She had conjured a black glyph that had caught the monster's fist. Ansem stood up behind her, eyes narrowing at the sight of the Heartless standing before them.
"Abominable Snow Couple." The Schnee Patriarch muttered.
The Snow Couple Heartless, born from the hearts of two people who wanted to be the perfect picture of an elite, looking family but in truth both were abominable in their hearts, cold as ice to the child they were supposed to love, so their darkness took on a form that suited them perfectly. He looked at Neo who was still silently shocked over what had happened which he could not blame her for.
Still, they couldn't afford to be distracted.
He looked back as his wife charged the Abominable Snow Couple, revealing her rapier in hand and scored a hit on the Heartless. However, by nature Heartless were immune to almost all weapons except for one. Still, the Abominable Snow Couple tried to swat her away, but Willow easily evaded, glyphs appearing along the ground in front of her, allowing her to move quickly and gracefully as if she was skating on ice. She moved behind the Snow Couple and delivered several strikes to her back.
The Snow Couple raised its leg, revealing its own skate blade and slashed at her, unleashing a wave of ice on her. Willow raised her sword as it flashed red, and a glyph appeared in front her. She let out a battle cry as she swung her sword, releasing a wave of fire that canceled out the ice attack. Willow summoned another glyph underneath her that resembled a clock with the hands moving fast.
Her eyes flashed and suddenly she was shooting at the Snow Couple with speed too fast to be seen by the human eye. Glyphs appeared all around the Snow Couple as Willow slashed around her body, making contact with one glyph that launched her at the Heartless before she made contact with another glyph, repeating the process over and over again.
SLASH-SLASH-SLASH!
SLASH-SLASH-SLASH!
SLASH-SLASH-SLASH!
SLASH-SLASH-SLASH!
SLASH-SLASH-SLASH!
The Abominable Snow Couple leaned forward, seemingly groaning in pain as Willow landed in front of it. She made a gesture with her fingers as a new glyph appeared behind her, revealing a white gloating creature that resembled a Grimm.
A Boarbatusk to be precise.
It grew in size compared to that of a normal Boarbatusk before charging at the Snow Couple, curling itself up and spinning like a wheel and rolled at the Snow Couple, striking it head on and sending it crashing into the back wall of the room.
CRASH!
The Grimm summon vanished on impact, leaving white falling particles in its wake but the Heartless remained. It stood up, shaking the debris off and skid along the ground straight at Willow almost as fast as she had been with her time glyph.
CRASH!
Fortunately, she could use said time glyph to get out of the way before the Snow Couple could hit her. She turned around to see the Snow Couple getting up from the hole in the wall they had made. Just as it was about to attack again, he paused suddenly, looking confused.
Willow raised an eyebrow, wondering what had happened.
Then there was a flash and the Heartless had been knocked down. Neo somersaulted through the air and landed next to Willow, holding a strange weapon in her hand. It was comprised of multiple scoops of ice cream stacked inside a clear bowl; four scoops in total colored bubblegum pink, creamy butterscotch, chocolate, strawberry pink and white and vanilla with sprinkles and the teeth were comprised of three orange slices. The hand guard was formed by two soft-serve ice cream cones on either side, connected by several metal ice cream scoopers.
The Keychain that hung from the hilt was made of ice cream cones with a sundae as the token.
Willow's eyes widened as she noticed something familiar about the weapon and then noticed something around Neo's neck.
A pick, brown and white star shaped charm…
" Somewhere out there, there's this tree with star-shaped fruit...and the fruit represents an unbreakable connection. So as long as you and your friends carry good luck charms shaped like it, nothing can ever drive you apart. You'll always find your way back to each other .
'Mother…' Willow's eyes went even wider as she remembered being told this at an early age.
Neo watched as the Abominable Snow Couple slowly stood up, staring at it with a frown. She clenched her new weapon tightly in one hand.
"Are you…going to fight?" Willow slowly asked.
"That's why I'm here, aren't I?" Neo dryly asked.
"Even though that thing is…were your parents?"
"…" Neo's features were hidden since her back was turned to Willow. "You love your kids right?"
Willow raised an eyebrow. "…Of course."
"When they were little, did you sing songs to them? Did you tell them every fairy tale you could think of? Did you comfort them when they had nightmares and let them sleep with you in your bed, holding you so the monsters wouldn't get them?" Neo asked as the Snow Couple stood back up.
"…Yes." Willow carefully answered with a nod.
"…Mine never did." Neo said simply as the Abominable Snow Couple approached, his feet making stomping sounds.
Willow raised both eyebrows but she had an understanding look on her face before she glared at the Heartless that used to be both of the girl's parents.
STOMP!
"They didn't care I had nightmares when I was little."
STOMP!
"They never read me a single story when I asked them. They thought fairy tales or even children's stories in general were just…meaningless trash cooked up by people with overactive imaginations."
STOMP!
"When they hugged me, it was more like I was something they owned, not their kid."
STOMP!
"All they ever gave me was meaningless junk to keep me from bothering them, never allowing me to go outside or to find any friends."
STOMP!
"They even hid Fire Dust under my bed, not caring at all that I was in danger." Neo looked up at the Abominable Snow Couple. "They may have made me…But they were never my parents."
The Snow Couple raised its hand to flatter them both, but Neo shattered and Willow dashed aside, using her time glyphs.
(Info: Defeat the Abominable Snow Couple)
(Kingdom Hearts OST A Fight To The Death Starts)
The Snow Couple turned its heads to see Neo running up its left arm, running straight for one of its heads. The Snow Couple tried to swat with its other hand but Neo shattered, confusing it. It looked up to see Neo swinging her Keyblade down on the female head.
"You locked me up, never letting me out unless it was to somehow benefit your image." Neo snarked.
She fell down her back, twisting her body and delivered several slashes before landing on her feet. The Snow Couple tried to stomp on her but she shattered again.
"You hated my Semblance just for fact you thought it wasn't normal." The Snow Couple turned its heads to see Neo standing several feet away, glaring at it. "Even though practically everyone on this planet has a Semblance. The two of you never had the brains to figure out what yours was."
The Snow Couple shot at her, using her ice skates to move as fast as a train.
However, a black glyph appeared in front of Neo, expanding until it was large enough to encompass the entire Heartless as it skidded right into the glyph.
"Funny, the lady of the family you were trying to suck up to has her own Semblance and I doubt you had the balls to call her a 'freak' or a 'witch'." Neo scoffed before she jumped up and delivered a slash right to the chest.
SLASH!
CRASH!
The Snow Couple crashed into the wall again as Neo landed on the ground. "By the way, Mama. I used to think about calling my Semblance 'Overactive Imagination' as you put it, but my sisters thought it was too on the nose, not to mention it would mean I actually agreed with you. More in hindsight, 'Overactive Imagination' is kind of lame."
The Snow Couple staggered back onto its feet.
"The name of my Semblance which I have used every day since you told me to stop using it is called 'Though the Looking Glass'." Neo smiled.
The Snow Couple let out a roar as it jumped up into the air, spinning its body and sending waves of ice down onto the combatants below. Willow used the Fire Dust in her sword to protect herself but Neo had no time to react as she ended up frozen head to toe.
As the Snow Couple fell to her, her mind continued to race, flashing with all the times her parents neglected.
'You forced your so-called rich diet on me, almost starving me. I was lucky enough my sisters snuck food to me so I could actually grow.'
The shadow of the monster engulfed her.
'You tracked me down after I ran away and just sent me to that school, saying it would teach me respect.'
Willow tried to help but the Snow Couple was falling too fast for her glyphs to repel.
'You just dumped down a bunch of meaningless trinkets on me, just to keep me out of your hair.'
As the monster was almost on top of her.
'You never loved me and even if you did…'
Neo's form suddenly began to pulse.
'It was only for the sake of your image!'
Just as the Snow Couple was about to land on her, Neo's form exploded in a flash of purple light. The Snow Couple was blasted up into the ceiling as the ice around Neo shattered. Willow's eyes widened as she watched Neo step out of the ice, a strange mask covering her face. It was a gray, metallic mask that covered her face, and two sets of horns sprouted from the back of her cranium and lower skull.
Her weapon had vanished while her arms and legs began to grow long and slender with her fingers growing into bone-like claws.
(Kingdom Hearts OST A Fight To The Death Ends)
(Kingdom Hearts OST Squirming Evil Starts)
As the Abominable Snow Couple fell back down, Neo looked up despite the mask covering her eyes. She suddenly shot up, delivering slash after slash to the monster that was once her parents.
SLASH-SLASH-SLASH!
SLASH-SLASH-SLASH!
SLASH-SLASH-SLASH!
SLASH-SLASH-SLASH!
SLASH-SLASH-SLASH!
Just as the Snow Couple was about to crash into the ground, Neo shot up over her, her mask vanishing while her Keyblade returned to her hands. She angled down and stabbed her Keyblade right into the monster's chest, stabbing right above the heart shaped hole.
" RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! " The Abominable Snow Couple's heads howled in pain.
(Kingdom Hearts OST Squirming Evil Ends)
Neo pushed her Keyblade deeper into the Couple's chest. 'There was once upon a time I did love you…And I think you did love me…I would have given anything to have just a bit of that back.'
There was a flash of light and the Abominable Snow Couple let out one final screen before its body began to dissolve.
'But you threw that all away just to play a big game of pretend.' Neo landed on the ground and watched solemnly as the Heartless died. "You know, I didn't come here today to mock you…I came to say goodbye."
The Heartless managed to look at her with both faces.
"I figured now that I could finally speak, I owed you this one time, where I would speak and tell you exactly how I feel about how you treated me. Even if you somehow expected me to be grateful for the fact that you isolated me, locked me up, barely fed me, and cared more about your image as a normal family then actually being a family." Neo shook her head and turned away. "Not that you would ever admit you were ever wrong in the first place. But I guess it doesn't matter now. Goodbye, Mama and Papa. I did love you once upon a time."
Neo began walking away as the Abominable Snow Couple finally faded with two pink hearts rising up and vanishing into the air.
Willow watched solemnly as Ansem placed a hand on her shoulder, neither of them moving to stop Neo from leaving the wrecked courtroom.
'It's amazing how hard it is to build a family…' Willow thought as she looked up a hole in the ceiling, seeing the sky. 'And how easy a family can break. I guess, not everyone is capable of being the kind of parent a child needs…And some are just luckier than others. Isn't that right, Mother?'
She could almost see her mother's kind face smiling down on her, the same beautiful smile that cast an everlasting light on the memories of her childhood.