The Final Test III
Aqua landed safely back on the ground and watched as Enkidu crashed several yards away. The winged creature struggled but managed to stand up, grasping its chest as it snarled and glared hatefully at Aqua, eyes blazing red.
Aqua remained ready in case the fight was to continue.
Curiously though, it seemed Enkidu had had enough as it slowly vanished into a pillar of darkness, vanishing from sight. Aqua remained on guard, just in case it was going to try for a sneak attack but after a few moments of silence, she let out a sigh and relaxed. She dismissed her Keyblade and knelt down against a nearby crystalline tree to regain her bearings.
'First it was Gilgamesh and now Enkidu.' Aqua took a deep breath and then slowly exhaled. 'Does that mean I might run into other warriors I read about?'
She tried to remember all the names.
Exdeath-the Dark Warlord
Kefka-the Demented God of Magic
The Warrior of Light
These were the most famous names she could remember from her time in the Land of Departure. So long had passed, she was surprised she could even remember any of it.
'I wonder if I am ever going to get back.' She wondered to herself with a saddened face.
"Everything that has a beginning must also have an end. Names long since forgotten becoming mere whispers in the wind, telling of stories never told in the past. Tales of warriors wielding the greatest weapons of all existence, their courage unending, their strength unlimited but at the end of the day their bodies crumble from the weight of power they try to contain." A man in a dark coat whispered as he looked over a page.
On this page showed a path with large crystals lining either side, a starry sky in the background and a black rip slowly forming.
"Chronicles of guardians, steadfast and unyielding against the weight of they seek to protect. Mystics survey the lands of ashen meadows, preserving the knowledge for all to come." The dark coated man turned the page over. "For if there is to be a beginning there must be an end, for there to be a path, one must choose. The path of the Warrior, the path of the Defender, or the path of the Mystic or can you instead choose a path that leads to the same destination…"
"…as all the others?"
Aqua's eyes shot open as she felt something was very wrong and looked up. "…Oh no."
Up above her in the endless expanse of the strange void she had found herself in was a large purple void that was growing that was swirling in a counterclockwise motion but produced absolutely no sound whatsoever.
"What in the world…" Aqua stood up, watching as the strange void seemed to grow.
As it grew, a dark evil laugh seemed to emanate from it before a dark mist emerged from the void and came down a few feet from Aqua as she summoned her Keyblade.
The dark mist solidified into a physical mass that was over seven feet tall, wearing a sky-blue suit of armor with a horned helmet, spiked, muscularly built shoulders and a long blue cloak laughed maniacally. "Finally, it is within my grasp. The greatest power known to man…the power to control the universe. The power of the Void."
Aqua's eyes widened as she looked upon this armored figure…
"And what about this guy here?" Terra asked, pointing to the page that showed a hulking blue armored form.
"That would be Exdeath if I am reading this right." Aqua answered.
"Exdeath…Sounds like a name for a warlord." Terra muttered.
Exdeath, the dark warlock who almost plunged more than one world into darkness. The dark warlord looked down on Aqua, not seemingly impressed by her presence before summoning a dark portal next to him and reaching in to pull out a twisted brown sword with a golden blade that was named Moore Branch.
"The dead tell no tales." Exdeath simply said.
(Dissidia Final Fantasy OST The Decisive Battle)
Exdeath suddenly disappeared and reappeared in front of Aqua, surprising her as she hastily raised her Keyblade with a barrier to block the anticipated attack.
SLASH!
CRASH!
To Aqua's shock, the Moore Branch sword smashed through the barrier and next thing Aqua knew she was flying, skidding across the ground and crying out as she slammed into a crystalline plant.
"Not even history will remember you." Exdeath taunted.
Her Aura shimmered and broke on impact, and she slid down. Grunting, Aqua quickly cast a Cura spell on herself, a green light surrounding her as she stood up.
"Thundaga!" Aqua pointed her Keyblade and cast a Lightning spell, calling down bolts of lightning on Exdeath as he slowly marched towards Aqua.
To her surprise, the lightning bounced off of Exdeath's armor as he continued his approach, barely even slowing his stride.
"Your bolts will not even scratch me." Exdeath said in response to her spell.
Narrowing her eyes, Aqua tried a different approach. She teleported, appearing above Exdeath and swung her Keyblade down. To her surprise, Exdeath held out his hand and blocked it with his sword…that was floating in the air without anything to hold it. With a mere flick of his hand, Exdeath's sword sent Aqua up into the air but as she somersaulted upwards, her Keyblade Ocean's Apart transformed into its naginata form and she shot back down like a missile, aiming the bladed end right at Exdeath's head. However, Exdeath disappeared and the Keyblade smashed into the ground, leaving only a crater.
Aqua pulled her Keyblade up in time to see Exdeath appear a few feet away, having used a Teleportation spell to evade Aqua's attack. Aqua turned and spun out of the way of a wave of magical energy, missing it by mere inches. Exdeath appeared before her, his sword spinning through the air in front of him with no hand holding it, only making a mere gesture before it slashed at her.
CLASH-CLASH-CLASH!
CLASH-CLASH-CLASH!
CLASH-CLASH-CLASH!
Aqua was forced to dodge or block the large sword as moved with astounding speed and astonishing strength.
"Remorse is all that awaits you." Exdeath taunted, swinging his sword at Aqua before she teleported away. "Cling to sanity while you can."
Aqua grunted as she gripped her Keyblade tightly, activating her first Command Style: Spellweaver.
"And so, the path becomes clear."
The Master of Masters flipped a page of the Book of Prophecies. "For it is in passing that we achieve immortality. Through this, we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all. Infinite in distance and unbound by death. Eye of Argent, Emblem of White, Shadow of the Black Beast, Burning Fury of the Golden Dragon, protecting the light of the Heart…"
"…and may the Heart be the Guiding Key."
Aqua slid back, barely avoiding another slash from Exdeath's sword. She was quickly finding out that Exdeath was every bit the powerful warlord the legends had painted him out to be. He was not only strong and seemingly invulnerable but his talent in magic seemingly surpassed even hers which was something of a shock to her. What was worse he was strong as Terra but his magic allowed him to move his sword as fast as Ven, combining strength, skill and agility all at once as she was painfully finding out.
Needless to say, it was becoming very difficult for her to fight back.
"Firaga Burst!" Aqua held her Keyblade above her head, summoning a large fireball overhead that releases smaller fireballs that home in on and ignited Exdeath's body on impact.
And Exdeath stepped through the fire without even a single scorch on his armor. "Your flames frighten me not."
Aqua's Keyblade transformed into pistols, and she let loose a barrage of magical bullets on Exdeath who telekinetically spun his sword in front of him, blocking each shot.
BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG!
BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG!
As Exdeath blocked her shots, Aqua closed the gap between them, her Keyblade shifting back into its naginata form as she jumped swung it down. Exdeath grabbed his sword and blocked.
CLANG!
Aqua landed on her feet but her Aura began to shine, having been rejuvenated. A bright star shaped glyph appeared under and a divine light surrounded her.
"Hm?" Exdeath tilted his head slightly.
Aqua charged again, swinging naginata with such force that Exdeath was pushed back.
CLANG!
She swung again but this time, Exdeath teleported away. However Aqua could sense where he was and teleported with him, surprising him as she slammed into him. The divine light and glowing star represented her connection to Hercules and made her invulnerable and strong for about sixty minutes and she planned on using it wisely, delivering slash after slash on Exdeath, forcing him back.
SLASH-SLASH-SLASH!
CRASH!
Exdeath grunted as he was sent crashing into the ground but easily recovered. He held his sword in front of him, telekinetically spinning it as it began to glow.
"Fall!" Exdeath declared.
Before Aqua could even blink, a literal maelstrom surrounded her, and she was struck several times by lightning. She grunted, the affect of her connection to Hercules through her Semblance allowing her to easily shrug off the blast.
She just needed to end this as fast as possible.
(Dissidia Final Fantasy OST The Decisive Battle Ends)
However, this was when things took a turn for the worst.
As Aqua and Exdeath continued their battle, a pair of blue catlike eyes spied them from atop a crystalline cliff. The person's lips curled into a smile as they jumped off the cliff and flew down towards the fight. Just as Aqua blocked a slash from Exdeath, she looked up with widened eyes to see a long sword swing at her, knocking her back just as the final seconds of her invulnerability ended. As she landed a few yards away on the ground, her Aura broke again.
(Final Fantasy One Winged-Angel Starts)
Aqua lifted her head to see a man land next to Exdeath. The man in question had distinctive long, silver hair with long bangs that framed his face, and wore a black leather coat. The coat had a large collar that reaches his ears even when folded back and is kept closed by a black belt with a silver buckle around his waist. The coat has a red-violet lining in the front.
It was also noticeably tattered. The man had blue catlike eyes, and the sleeves of his coat ended in metal rings in place of normal cuffs, and he wore black leather gloves. There was an odd, black and red, fin-like growth on each forearm. The man's chest was exposed revealing a grey strap around his abdomen with two black belts over it, as well as two brown, overall-like straps that intersect over his chest.
He wore black pants and black knee-high boots, with two grey belts wrapped around each boot as well as a silver pauldron over each shoulder. Surprisingly the man sported a large, navy-blue wing on his right shoulder, and he carried a long nodachi type sword that was longer than Aqua would have thought possible. He smiled sinisterly at her as Exdeath hovered next to him.
"Who are you?" Aqua was panting heavily.
The man did not answer. He simply raised his hand above his head and the dark void above seemed to grow, causing the land to begin to shake. Aqua found it hard to keep herself standing as the shaking intensified.
"You can't win as you are." The man spoke, his voice cold and ruthless but also sounding confident. "Defeating us is meaningless. You should know that more than anyone now."
"Then why are you all attacking me?" Aqua retorted. "What is the point of these tests?!"
"The point is that you want to shoulder the burdens of not just one world but all of them." The man answered. "You failed once and now you want to make up for that failure by trying to the world you bound your heart to. In doing so, you placed an impossible burden on yourself that will tear your heart and the hearts of your friends apart."
"What?!" Aqua narrowed her eyes. "What do you mean?!"
"It seems you still cannot grasp the absurdity of your choice." The man said, smiling darkly at her. "Perhaps an eternity in darkness will answer your question."
The dark void above grew even larger and Aqua wasn't able to stop herself from being lifted off the ground and was pulled upwards in the void. A bright light blinded her as the world seemingly disappeared around her.
The world swished.
Colors meshed.
Sounds became almost mellifluous.
Darkness swallowed her vision and Aqua could only hope that if this was the end for her, it would be painless.
'Terra...Ven…Poppy…Neo…Penny…I'm sorry. I guess I wasn't strong enough to do this.'
(Final Fantasy One Winged-Angel Ends)
"A heartbeat that lasts for eternity." The dark coated man turned the page over. "The power that allows a heart to beat shines as bright as a star until it reaches its end and burns out. This force is fragile but eternal. Life begets life and the cycle continues."
She felt something cool…
And wet.
She opened her eyes slowly to find herself floating in the middle of a pool. The pool was in a large cave, with several crystal buildings surrounding an altar. A waterfall could be seen, water flowing gently down into the pool she was in and there was something else…
A green ethereal glow surrounded the pool with plants growing around it, shining with a golden light.
"Where…Where am I?" Aqua wondered to herself, managing to tread on the water but found her feet could touch the ground. "What is happening?"
Everything that's been happening to her since she reappeared…
Why was this happening?
Why couldn't she just return to help her friends?
What happened when Ira defeated her?
Why was she being tested?
'Haven't I been though enough?' She wondered to herself, finding it hard to tread the water as she fell back. 'Why is it me? Why am I forced to do this?'
The water softly rippled around her as she fell back, only her face remaining visible.
"The weight of the Guardian, to feel the weight of the world on their shoulders." The dark coated man whispered softly. "The knowledge of the Mystic, seeking the first question. The question that must never be answered, the question hidden in plain sight. The question that every bold hero, defender or seeker must ask themselves…"
"Who guards the Guardian?"
The water surrounding Aqua began to softly glow and she let out a soft gasp.
There was a flash of great white light...
She could see it…strange visions…
A giant Heart, beating in a dark void…
Aqua gasped as she rose up from the water, feeling a strange sensation around her eyes.
An ancient city…
"And how can it protect what I cherish most?"
Aqua slowly lowered her hands and looked down at her reflection, seeing her blue eyes slowly changing, the sclera turning blue along with the irises and the pupils' becoming slits like the eyes of a cat…
"And what awaits us in our future?"
Remnant
80 AGW
Vale
In an old, thought to be abandoned warehouse, members of the criminal organizations Blood Fang and Gob Syndicate were carrying stolen items, equipment and weapons while the famous criminal Roman Torchwick stood to the side, smoking his favorite cigar brand. In the center of the warehouse, what could only be describes as androids but different from any Atlesian machines were building some kind of machine. Brown cylindrical large enough to hold a person were connected to what appeared to be a giant glass dome built into the ceiling with wires running all along it and even into the walls. The machines and the few Blood Fang and Gob Syndicate henchmen working on it were all following the instructions of the woman Cinder Fall, the Syndicate leader Vermillion Raddock and the annoying moustache man with her.
Roman had already thought that Cinder was wasting their time, men and resources by a building a machine that might not even work, but also actually believing that they'd be able to pull over some sort of powerful being over and have them join Cinder's factions. Neo and her Gullwing sisters were standing right next to Roman, watching over the construction of the machine. Apparently, it was believed that the machine would actually take several months to make but Cinder had told them to complete it in a few days.
Today was the deadline.
A Blood Fang member walked past the distressed looking Roman. "Umm…sir, is there something wrong?"
"What? What makes you think something is wrong? I'm just peachy! Wasting our time and resources on this machine rather than stealing more Dust and Lien?" Roman asked in an angry sarcastic tone. "Why would I be upset at all?!"
"Well…I mean you seem pretty upset."
WHACK!
"Ow!" The member rubbed his head, stepping back. "What was that for?!"
"Me, working off some steam." Roman grunted, lowering his cane. "Now get back to work!"
The henchman and the rest immediately got back to work.
"At least you didn't shoot him." Yuna crossed his arms. "And maybe he wouldn't have noticed if you could just keep calm."
"Would have been a waste of a bullet." Roman retorted, taking his cigar out of his mouth. "And maybe I would be calm if our all-knowing leader wasn't stupid enough to build this useless contraption to-"
"So Roman, is the machine complete yet?" A familiar voice asked.
Roman immediately turned around and cleared his throat, trying to sound as respectable as possible. "Oh, uhhh…I'm not sure. The robots over there didn't tell me what progress they're making yet."
"I guess we'll just have to ask their supervisor." Cinder strolled past Roman and approached the man with the androids, directing them in the construction. "So, Watts, what is our progress?"
"Well, Cinder, we've fortunately managed to complete the construction of the machine." Watts tapped a switch and a computer screen on the terminal in front of him began to display some strange text.
Ones born of the heart and darkness, devoid of hearts, ravage all worlds and bring desolation. Sieze all hearts and consume the great heart. All hearts to be one, one heart to encompass all. Realize the destiny: the realm of Kingdom Hearts.
The great darkness sealed within the great heart. Progeny of darkness, come back to the eternal darkness. For the heart of the light shall unseal the path. Seven hearts, one Keyblade, one key to the door.
The door to darkness, tied by two keys. The door to darkness to seal the light. None shall pass but shadows, returning to the darkness. Ones born of the heart and darkness, hunger for every heart until the dark door opens.
"And what does this mean?" Cinder asked.
"I do not understand yet but knowing Ansem it was likely a riddle connected with his research." The man named Watts answered.
Seemed like meaningless gibberish to Roman.
"What I do know is that the blueprint of this machine deduces there is an infinite number of worlds and even better, each world may contain an infinite number of universes with trillions of different possible scenarios for each universe." Watts answered with an excited grin on his face. "The machine works by using the heart, the essence of one's being through the machine and into a world that is detected by this machine. Of course, without navigation anyone inside would be lost forever but fortunately we have a partially constructed map and even a timeline to work with. Thus, it is theoretically possible to locate a potential universe with any allies we may be looking for and bring them here fully intact with any useful abilities they might have."
"What do you mean 'theoretically possible'?" Cinder asked, starting to get irritated.
"Exactly what I mean." Watts rolled his eyes. "We're not looking to send someone here out to find allies and bring them back, but we are looking for someone who is possible enough for their 'heart' to resonate with the volunteer who will then pull them into this world. And of course, there are so many different worlds out there that it would be difficult to find one with super powerful beings strong enough to face down a wielder of the Keyblade or even find worlds where there are multi-cellular organisms. That's why a volunteer is needed to narrow down the search."
'And who is the poor sap they tricked in volunteering for this?' Roman thought to himself.
"CINDER! This better be astronomically important to call me here!" An angry voice called out.
'Oh great.' Roman thought to himself as he and the rest turned to see none other than Adam Taurus himself walking into the warehouse with two Blood Fang members, wearing full Grimm masks, by his side.
"Patience, Adam. We're about to meet our new ally." Cinder answered, turning back to Watts. "And is the volunteer here?"
"Here and ready." A dark, snarky voice answered, echoing throughout the warehouse.
'Oh no, anyone but him.' Roman thought to himself with a pale voice as a pillar of darkness rose up from the ground next to Watts and faded away to reveal a figure wearing a black and red skintight body suit and a black glass made mask over their face. 'I just had to ask.'
The kid's name was Vanitas, and he was a cold, heartless little freak that made Roman's hair stand on edge. If he thought Cinder was bad, Vanitas was the absolute worse as he was sadistic as hell, always popping in without warning and he was…someone who terrified Roman more than Cinder did.
"Ah, the volunteer has arrived." Watts said, barely batting an eye at Vanitas appearing next to him. "You know what to look for?"
"Oh yes, a heart full of nothing but darkness and even resonate with the Keyblade." Vanitas answered, sounding very excited, turning to the machine as one of the pods opened. "I can't wait to see what comes out."
"Then get in the pod and let's get started." Cinder said, smiling malevolently. "Watts, fired up the machine and let's see what we get."
Watts rolled his eyes while Vanitas entered the nearest pod, the door closing shut over him a second later.
Apparently, the machine was going to use Vanitas' heart(if Roman could believe the little monster actually had one) as a beacon to bring them here to Remnant. How anyone got the idea to build this machine or how it worked, Roman would never know but he wisely kept his mouth shut as Vanitas got into the pod and it was closed a second later. Watts then used his Scroll to activate the machine, and it began to hum and blue energy crackled from the blue glass dome the pods were connected to. Blue energy lashed out and formed into a dark portal in front of the machine, causing everyone to step back in surprise.
'Let's see who could I pick?' Vanitas wondered to himself. 'A being of pure darkness whose heart will resonate with mine. Either they would need a Keyblade or they would have to be immensely powerful magical beings…such as…Oh, I know who could join us!'
Vanitas, Watts and only a few others knew the true purpose of this machine was not simply reaching out into other worlds to find allies. These Lifeboats could even be used to travel through time without giving up one's body. However, doing so requires the traveler to have a 'medium' with which to rebuild their body as well as someone with memories of them at their destination. And thanks to a certain book, Vanitas had enough knowledge to bring a heart as dark as his here and his 'memories' of them will rebuild the target's body.
The machine continued to crack and crinkle with blue energy as for a few more minutes nothing happened. Until a foot finally stepped through the portal. Then an arm, then a knee, then a chest and the finally the rest of the body. It was over seven feet tall, wearing a sky-blue suit of armor with a horned helmet, spiked, muscularly built shoulders and a long blue cloak.
His helmet was topped with a two-ended plume and has a thin visor that would normally be used for sight. His armor is decorated with jewels, gold linings and beads, and he carried a twisted brown sword hilt with a golden blade. The only part of his body not covered by the armor are his hands, which are ash gray with black pointy nails. The dark entity was silent, but his presence was intimidating to everyone in the room.
There were few moments of silence until the overconfident Cinder Fall stepped forward, stopping a couple feet from him. "Hello, I am known as Cinder Fall."
The dark entity turned its head towards Cinder. Mercury and Emerald took a step back, Neo along with Yuna, Rikku and Paine hid behind Roman but stuck her head out with a fearful look on her face, Adam grabbed hold of his sword but kept it in the scabbard to not look too afraid. Watts remained calm, simply remaining silent and let Cinder to the talking which she was best at while Vermillion Raddock stood still. Vanitas climbed out of his pod and walked up to the being who regarded him for a mere moment before turning back to face Cinder.
"What is this place?" The being spoke in a surprisingly human-like voice but one of deep cruelty and evil.
"This is Remnant. We have brought you here to join us and take over this world. I know of your past with the wielders of the mystical weapon called the Keyblade and how they stood in your way and sealed you. I offer you the opportunity to have revenge." Cinder answered and explained. "Oh, but before that. May I ask you for your name?"
"I am known as Exdeath."