Re: La Compilation des Histoires de Reino Corazones
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Author's Note:
I decided to post a minor ficlet for now that had just came up to me today.
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La Compilation des Histoires de Reino Corazones
(AU Infinities)
Title:
The Tombs of Remembrance
Author:
Ziz
Beta Reader:
None
Plot Summary: What if Terra had been reborn after Sora and Riku had defeated Xemnas?
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It was strangely a dark and stormy night in Shibuya's Underground, usually known for its perpetual twenty-four sunlight. Thunder and lightning roared loudly as the Legendary Beasts of Sky, Earth and Air in the distance. The metropolis' downtown district experienced a heavy downpour by whom the locals had not seen in years. One month had passed since the destruction of Organization XIII and the fall of the World That Never Was from its state of Twilight to the path of darkness' oblivion. Two figures, one taller than the other as well as being man and woman, both appeared wearing black robes, exactly what the former Organization had worn, which covered their bodies asides from their heads. The names of the two figures were Aqua and Terra.
"When did you found this place?" Terra asked as he looked around the abandoned Shibuya graveyard. It was completely desolate and devoid of life although it was a boneyard making it no surprise that nothing seemed to live there. His eyes shimmered with boy-like curiosity and a sense of adventure.
"I found this abandoned lot shortly before sensing your rebirth in the Realm of Nothingness, two days ago to be specific," replied Aqua.
"Oh really? Did you know?"
"Yes really," She looked around the abandoned cemetery shifting her eyes around. "There are a lot of them. I did not anticipate to see all of their bodies being buried in this one site."
"Please enlighten me as to who these people were," said Terra as he looked around the tombs.
Aqua sighed and decided to give in to her friend's request. "They were Nobodies like how you used to be, do you not remember my old friend?"
"..." No response from Terra.
"I see that the memories have yet to flow back into you as it did to me. It is still to early from the awakening from that eternal sleep of yours."
"The members laid in this graveyard all died in the name of your twilight counterpart and his selfish goals. They were a group of men and women who through no fault of their own in their lack of hearts became embittered by a life of collecting hearts."
Terra scratched his head. The spiky haired former Keybearer advanced slowly brushing his hands past the wild brush and rested on his knees as he saw the tombstone.
"Mind telling me whose burial stone this belongs to?" Terra asked Aqua as he pointed with his finger at the gravestone in front of him. The blunette ran as fast as she could in her long black robes to the spot. "The writing inscribed into the stone has been eroded away by the elements and I can not seem to decipher it at all. It appears to be the oldest one of the others here."
"His original name was Even," answered the bluenette as her eyes focused on the tomb of the Chilly Academic. She shifted back towards Terra and glanced at him. "Is the name Even familiar to you?"
"Yes, it's all becoming clearer now. Did we along with Ven meet someone named Even, one of the Apprentices of the Radiant Garden ruler Ansem?" Perhaps it was not a lost hope as Terra seemed to remember some events that occured in his past. Although remembering Even did not help at all considering that their meeting with Even and the rest of Ansem's Apprentices took place before the events that led to the seperation of their trio. But Aqua had reached an important first step by realizing he could remember some events from his past, perhaps it was possible that she did not need to use the extreme measures that Yen Sid advised her to use. "What else is there to know?"
"He was sent along with fellow loyalist members Zexion and Lexaeus to the bottom levels of Castle Oblivion on orders by Xemnas." Aqua pointed to a grave behind him. Terra turns around and steeps down to take a closer look at the tombstone behind him. "Over there lies the tomb of his murderer, the one known as Axel."
"Who was this Axel?" asked Terra.
"Do you not remember him?"
"To tell you the truth, not at all although it would not hurt to try." The Keybearer shook his head and put her arms out deciding to go for it. "Axel...," He paused and closed his eyes to increase his concentration. "Well...The name seems to be somewhat familiar to me although I am not completely sure if I can say I have a vivid memory of him worth telling. The writing in the tombstone is not giving me much help in remembering." He fell back and sat down on the grass staring at the tombstone. Terra raised his head and looked up at his bluenette friend, "Did you know who he was?"
"Axel was Number VIII of your Nobody's Organization XIII and titled as the Flurry of Dancing Flames due to his specialty concerning the element of fire. He committed suicide after his friend Roxas, whose true name we know as Ventus, defected from the Organization in the search for his 'other half' Irino Sora."
"Damn," Terra sighed heavily; he certainly did not want to stay around here much longer in this abandoned graveyard. "How many of these dead members of Organization XIII that you claim that I know are you going to introduce me to?" Terra asked his friend, his tone clearly showing that he was a bit annoyed by this time. He had wanted to spend time with her getting to catch up with what had occured since his eleven year long period of deep slumbering. He did not want to rummage through the cemetery and stare at the tombstones of people he did not even remember and who Aqua claimed that he had known.
None of this made any sense to the former Keybearer Terra. He was a shadow of a man who was still stuck in the past events of long ago.
She sighed at the impatience of her friend and attempted to not to hit her friend. Terra, whether he was doing it on purpose or not, was testing her. Aqua had to be patient herself with him. "There is only a few more left to see before we may go. You must be patient with me."
"If you say so, I'm willing to stay patient if this is important to you."
"No...I am not doing this for myself but for you to remember what you were while you were sleeping." Aqua knew that it was her duty to make sure that Xehanort, technically complete living through Terra, will never re-awaken.
"Why do I need to remember what you want me to remember?" The former male Keybearer Terra pleaded to his friend. Something was definetely up in his point of view.
Aqua led Terra through the grass towards another tombstone barely reaching out of the grass. "Here lies the tombstone of the former Lord of Castle Oblivion, Number XII Marluxia titled as the Graceful Assasin." The tomb in which Marluxia lied was in slightly better condition that the others as his was carved in marble rather than simple stone. Another notable difference between this tombstone and that of most of the others that it was heavily rose-themed, images of petals were inscribed into the tomb. "He was one of the most recent additions to the Organization next to Larxene, Roxas and my Nobody."
"He doesn't seem to be the type that serves his own tombstone in my opinion," commented Terra.
"Even if he was a traitor, he did what he did because he desired what everyone in that Organization wished for...a heart."
"I suppose so...who else is next?" He questioned his friend.
"Now there is only one more tombstone to go," answered the bluenette Keybearer cryptically as her eyes stared away from Terra as he approached the tombstone ahead. She then bit her lips and cringed a bit. Aqua did not want to reveal the cold, hard truth to Terra that he himself became what he had hated in the past. The memories of the two of them resting in each other's shoulders sharing the papou fruit in the Destiny Islands were fresh in her own. She remembered Terra professing his deep hatred for Master Xehanort and did not have the heart in her to destroy him.
"The only way that he can know of his deeds as Xehanorts is if he knew himself."
While Terra had his guard down reading the inscription of the last tombstone, Aqua raised out her hands and whispered softly a command. Small purple and black-colored strands reeking of the darkness emitted out of her hands and her body was immersed into the darkness of the corridor.
"What the?"
Aqua raised out her hand and frowned, "I am sorry for doing this to you. But it seems that those memories have truly been locked within the confines of your hearts. I did not want this to happen but you forced me into doing this to you, Terra!"
"Wait...what are you going to do to me?" Terra's eyes widened in a mix of fear and shock. He stepped back a few steps as the sharp steel edge of Aqua's Keyblade leaning softly againist his chest.
"What I should had done in the beginning when I first saw you again after those many years. I need to open your heart to the light and let those memories, as dark as they may be, to be revealed!" Aqua shouted valiantly as with her full strength, dredged the sharp steel blade of her Keyblade into Terra's chest. The male former Keybearer screamed out loudly in agony as the blade made contact with his heart.
"One who knows nothing can't understand nothing."
"I know nothing of any Kairi."
"All worlds begin in darkness and all shall end!"
"Please correct my mistake!"
Thousands upon thousands of dark, gory images flooded the mind of Terra all at once as the sconds the Keyblade was lodged inside him passed.
"I am sorry Terra but this is the only way to stop what's left of Xehanort inside you from ever awakening ever again. I am doing this out of sisterly love and such love hurts at times."
More and more images flooded his mind.
"Are these the memories that you were talking about?"
"Yes all of these are the memories that you failed to have remembered so I had unlocked them with the Keyblade so you may learn your mistakes."
"What mistakes are those?" asked Terra.
"You will see in due time."
"What memory are we going to..."
Before Terra could finish his question, the white light overwhelmed him.
The two Keybearers Terra and Aqua floated up in the air in the study of Ansem the Wise. A man with a similiar build and hairstyle to Terra although having silver hair rather than brown hair and different eye color was dressed in white speaking to a older man. Terra did not know what was going on although he presumed this had something to do with the locked memories of his past that Aqua wanted to open. He wanted to ask Aqua a question although he silenced himself preferring to observe the memory. It appeared that the two men were having a fiercly debated discussion with one another to put in simple terms.
"I forbid it!" yelled the older man.
"Master Ansem, I must insist you allow me to continue with the experimentations. I promise to use all precautions and make sure that the heart does not fully immerse into the darkness. There is room for retreat!" fired back the younger man.
"Xehanort, you have no comphrehension of how seductive the darkness can be to the heart of a mere normal human, no less than that of an Unbirth. Once the heart has been contacted by corrupted alure of darkness, it is impure...it becomes monstrosity of the dark...meaning it would be pointless to play around these people's hearts."
"Why do you still not trust me?" The young silver haired Apprentice Xehanort fired back angrily at his Master. He had been faithfully serving Ansem the Wise and the people of the Radiant Garden for the past year. "Have I not proved myself in the past already to you? I understand there are many risks to the experiment but you must have faith in me that the research will prove to be a scientific breakthrough in research concerning the unborn hearts."
"Xehanort, I command you as your King and Master to cease this research of yours."
"You have no right to order me around! I am not the naive, weak boy you met in the Crossroads...I am an adult!"
"Do not do it or else!" Ansem yelled angrily.
"Or what are you going to do to me that I had already not experienced, old man?" Xehanort fired back with equal, even more ferocity.
"You know what Xehanort?" Ansem sighed and sat back down in his seat covering his face with the palm of his head looking down at Xehanort's blueprints of his Door to Darkness project. "I guess I have no right to order you around since you claim to be mature enough to handle the responsibility you gave yourself. All of this attention that I had given you in expense to my own wife, granddaughter and family has appeared to be naught. I honestly do not care of what you do anymore."
"Please," Xehanort started forward, there was regret wreitten all over his face. He did not want to upset or destroy the relationship he had with the man he considered to be like the father he never had, or remembered for that matter, "Master Ansem, please forgive me for..."
"Just get out of my sight, Xehanort." Ansem said tiredly, not wanting to look at him. "I want you and the other Apprentices of mines who had betrayed my trust in turning these unborn hearts into the Heartless by which you named them. The Radiant Garden SOLDIER Army will escort you and your conspirators out peacefully. I have no need for any more bloodshed after the loss of my grandson in the Keyblade Wars."
Xehanort stared at him then turned and barged out of the study slamming the door behind him.
"Xehanort was so angry at his Master just because he never had his way."
"There is still more I need to show you."
Another white light shone brightly.
A group of Neoshadows lumbered into the throne room where Xehanort sat. They were carrying a beaten and bloodied Ansem over its shoulder. The Neoshadows unceremoniously dumped him in front of their ruler Xehanort and disappeared into a corridor of darkness.
"Greetings Ansem," Xehanort grinned victoriously looking down at his former Master. "Do you like the new upgrades to your pathetic excuse of a castle?"
Ansem gasped for a breath and glared angrily at his wayward Apprentice, "What you intend on doing is reserved for the mentally insane! Do you even realize the consequences of what you intend to do with the world if you open the door to it? You are going to be the reason why everyone here is going to die!"
"I would had felt so insulted by that little comment of yours had I still owned my heart." Xehanort stood up from his throne and walked down the steps to the floor looking down at Ansem. "I know very well what I am doing here. The heart of this world as well as the hearts of the others shall be under my control." He paused for a moment and then added in an afterthought, "But that will be insignificant if I do not have the Seven Beings of Pure Hearts under my control...the Princesses of Heart."
"If someone brings all of the Princesses of Hearts under their control," Ansem whispered to himself. His eyes soon widened as the former ruler came to a realization and stared at Xehanort with growing horror and fear. "You-you wish to summon the Heart of All Worlds, Kingdom Hearts?"
"Summon it?" He threw him an incredulous look. "I do not intend to merely summon it but to bring the infinite power and knowledge that Kingdom Hearts contains under my control and use it to bring everything back into darkness!"
"You must listen to me," Ansem pleaded to Xehanort desparetely.
"Nothing that you will say will change the fate of your world! Did you not realize that already when I killed your wife and sent your granddaughter away to another world?"
"Never mind that! Kingdom Hearts is infinite in power and knowledge and it is far too powerful for any one heart to bear, no matter how strong it is. Your heart will break under the strain."
Xehanort laughed it off, "You still underestimate me? What is the reason behind this alleged warning of yours?"
"You can still stop all of this madness while you still can!" shouted Ansem.
"Enough," Xehanort snapped his fingers; two Neoshadow Heartless appeared. "Take him away, my servants." He ordered the two Heartless. "There is nothing more that I can say that will ever mend the rift between us. Send him to live out in complete oblivion." The two manifestations of the darkness nodded their heads and obeyed without question.
The Heartless each grabbed one of Ansem’s arms pulling him towards the door.
You will fall!” Ansem shouted back as the distance between he and Xehanort widened. “I only hope I am around to see the day your plan fails!”
"I still do not understand why are you showing me the images of Xehanort, my old friend."
"Do you really want to know why?"
"Yes Aqua! I want to know!"
"Because you are Xehanort."
And then everything became silent as the male Keybearer realized the meaning behind the lost memories. He was Terra but now was Xehanort as well.
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