Fanfiction ► The Xehanort War

KeybladeOrder · Apr 14, 2016

Chapter 91: We Can Still Stop Him:
Unkown World – Unknown Location:
Cue Roxas (the song not the character, although he's still an important part of this chapter)

For a few minutes, Organization XIII's former number 13 just floated in midair, unconscious. For what felt like hours, he floated in silence. But as he began to regain consciousness, the silence was swiftly broken.

"Roxas!" a familiar voice called out through the darkness. Sora? Roxas asked back in his head, trying to communicate with his complete self, but to no avail. He groggily opened his eyes to find himself encased in a large white egg. The interior was lined with a grid of teal-glowing circuitry. He knew what this was: the pod that Sora had slept in during his coma when Namine restored his memories. But why did the workers at Dream Productions set this up? He wondered mentally. And how did I get back to the studios anyway? The last thing I remember is me, Xion, and Sora walking into Sora's Headquarters. But… what happened after that?

After a quick yawn, he absentmindedly put his hand on his chest and quickly jerked back in surprise. Cautiously, he put his hand back, unsure if he had imagined what he had felt. But it wasn't his imagination, to his surprise, real, genuine surprise, he could feel the pounding of a heartbeat inside his chest. For a moment he just floated there in shock, struggling to comprehend what had happened. He knew from what Xemnas had told Sora that he, Xion, and Lea had started to grow their own hearts but he'd never actually been able to feel his own heartbeat before. Even when he had been living inside Sora's mind, he'd never really been able to feel the beating of his own heart. But before he could question anything further, another voice called out, muffled by the thick metal of the pod.

"Roxas," a girl's voice said. Namine? He thought skeptically. How did you...? But another voice interrupted his thoughts before he could start figuring anything else.

"Roxas, wake up," called the voice of the girl he'd known almost as long as he'd been in the Organization.

"Xion…" he whispered happily. Tears of joy welled up in his eyes as he realized what was happening. Part of his mind remained in denial, refused to accept the fact that what was happening wasn't a dream. Those fears and doubts were silenced when the lights of the circuitry dimmed as the Memory pod began to open. Roxas wiped the tears out of his eyes as he looked at the exterior of the pod to find Namine and Xion standing at the edge of the green rings that surrounded the pod.

Roxas practically sprinted out of the pod as he leapt out and hugged the two girls. He started to cry as he realized that for the first time in almost two years, he was free. He was his own person, not just Sora's shadow. He looked up to see Sora standing awkwardly near the door leading out into the mansion corridor, unsure of whether he should be there or not. With a smile, Roxas motioned for his human self to come over and join in the group hug.
"Thank you," he whispered when Sora was soon entangled in the hug. "For never giving up on us."

Twilight Town – Mansion Computer Room:

"How long ago did he log in?" Lea asked as Riku frantically typed at the computer. Realizing that the portal to the World That Never Was remained open inside the virtual world, they'd raced into the computer room to find the computer running and the Digitizer beam to the simulated Twilight Town turned on."If it wasn't too long ago, we can catch up and stop him from doing anything stupid."

"It won't be the two of us," Riku replied as he checked the access log for the Digitizer. "If he's already in Never Was, we might as well bring everyone along."

"We're not ready yet," the Flurry of Dancing Flames protested. "We all need sleep after the battle in Cable Town. If we go in now, we'll all be massacred." Before Riku could come up with a witty and sarcastic reply, the computer beeped. The Keyblade Master turned back to the monitor to find a window popped up warning them not to touch anything because the transporter was in the process of digitizing something. In a swirl of glowing computer code, Sora walked out of the digitizer.

"Sora!" Riku exclaimed as his friend emerged from the Twilight Town simulation. "Where have you been? Hang on, let me turn off the beam first."

"No! Don't," Sora interjected before Riku could touch anything. "Don't touch anything yet."

"What? Why?" the older Keyblade Master asked, confused. Lea, however, was not. The redhead's eyes widened as he realized the real reason for the seventeen-year old's sojourn into the virtual world. We were afraid of him running off and getting himself killed trying to sneak into the Castle by himself, but what he was really trying to do…

"You actually did it, didn't you?" the older man asked, cautious about the answer despite the raging inferno in his heart telling him that he already knew the answer. Before Sora could say anything, the computer beeped once more, announcing another, larger, arrival from the virtual world. Did he really…? Lea asked himself, afraid to get his hopes up. In another cloud of coding, Namine, Xion, and Roxas walked out of the transporter and into the real Twilight Town. Before any of the trio could say a word, he rushed forward and pulled them in for a gigantic group hug. Many tears were shed and it took ten minutes before any conversations regarding the "how" of it all could be asked and answered.

The reason Namine was reawakened too was a both simple and complex at the same time. Basically, even though she was Kairi's Nobody, she was technically formed from Kairi's heart and Sora's body because Kairi's heart had been inside Sora after the destruction of Destiny Islands. When Sora used the Key to Return Hearts to reawaken Roxas and Xion, the link caused Namine's Heart to be reawakened from within Kairi's as well. As for how they were able to have physical bodies again, Lea didn't really understand the mechanics of it. All he could understand that Ansem's data was involved with creating bodies for them. Unlike the programs from The Grid, their bodies had become flesh and blood instead of remaining in the same voxel-makeup of the virtual beings of Radiant Garden's mainframe.

Ultimately, Lea realized, the specifics of how it worked didn't' matter. What mattered was that he had his friends back. Namine was a little hesitant to force herself into the group, but Lea insisted on including her, pointing out that prior to his kidnapping of Kairi, they had been on the run together for a while, so she was part of the group as far as he was concerned. He wasn't even remotely concerned about the fact that they were the exact same age they'd been the last time he'd ever seen them in person. He was too happy to care, and it's not like he had any ground to stand on either, since he'd only been reborn around six months ago.

Despite everyone's exhaustion over the recent events, Lea brought the newly revived former Nobodies upstairs to properly introduce them to Hayner, Pence, and Olette. Just like Lea had been Roxas was touched by how easily they accepted them into their group. After living in the simulation with fake memories, it felt good to finally be friends with the people he knew from Twilight Town for real. They stayed up for a few more hours talking before everyone finally headed to bed. They only had eight hours until they stormed Xehanort's castle, and after the strain of being physically brought back from the dead, they needed all the sleep they could get.

Say it with me now, my faithful readers: Awwwwww! (author starts crying tears of joy)

Yes, the symbolic parallels between Sora's awakening in KH2 and Roxas' rebirth here are deliberate. I thought having Roxas be reborn in the exact same spot that he "died" would help enhance the emotion of the scene.
How Namine was able to be reawakened even when Kairi's body is in TWTNW is my own theory on the matter. The bit about Ansem's research data allowing for the creation of physical bodies for them is based on a fan theory I found on KHInsider that I felt worked. I just decided to be a little vague about the details because I didn't want to go on with the explanation for too long.

Before anyone starts badgering me about who I'm going to pair Roxas with, I'm not going to focus on the newly revived Nobodies' love lives until the sequels okay? That said, when it comes to pairing choice I come down on the side of Rokushi. Yeah, I understand the logic of pairing Roxas and Namine because they're Sora and Kairi's Nobodies, but

1) There was nothing in any of Roxas and Namine's interactions together that ever suggested that they would be an item.

2) The ship tease between Roxas and Xion in Days was much more indicative of mutual attraction.

With that out of the way, Roxas and Xion coming back the same age they were when they "died" was something I came up with, figuring 1) Ven hasn't apparently aged at all in the last 12-13 years since BBS and putting his Heart back in his chest is unlikely to change that. Plus, I thought it would make sense that Roxas, Xion, and Namine's aging stopped when they rejoined with their human selves, so when they were reborn, they'd pick up from where they left off.

The title of the chapter is a gender inversion of one of the songs from the Inside Out soundtrack. "We can still stop her" is the name of the tune that plays in the background during the scenes when (MAJOR SPOILER FOR INSIDE OUT) Riley is running away (SPOILERS OVER) and I felt that it would be both a great piece of battle music and an ironic pick for a chapter title. A happy chapter sharing a name with an emotional and intense song seemed like a fun little twist.

KeybladeOrder · Apr 14, 2016

Chapter 92: The World That Never Was:
Keyblade Graveyard – Seat of War; 7,985 Years Ago:

The more things change, the more they stay the same, Frederick thought to himself as he stood on the cliffs overlooking the vast desert that only a few decades ago used to be a thriving metropolis. Nothing remained of Daybreak Town's former glory except the Keyblades of the fallen, their lifeless hilts buried in the desert sands, leaving their hilts sticking out of the ground like grave markers for their dead wielders. His fury with Anguis bubbled up as he reflected on the day that had all ended. Although he'd been vaporized in the explosion when the X – Blade was destroyed, but because he was an Unchained, he was quickly reborn in a new body.

His memories of his life as Ephemera came back to him once he turned 21, likely to protect himself from going insane before his brain was physically redeveloped enough to handle them. By that point, the fragments of the worlds had mostly stabilized. Because of the backlash of the Keyblade War, the Earth and its fragments were consumed by the Darkness. Thanks to seven young women, who the surviving Unchained dubbed the Princesses of Heart, his fellow Unchained, and a few powerful Keyblade Wielders, the world was saved. But Kingdom Hearts remained anchored in the realm of Darkness, trapped until the world could be put back together.

And it would be put back together. Because by this point, Frederick knew the truth of the universe's cyclical nature. A millennia or two before the end of the next cycle, the wielders of the Keyblade would put the shattered pieces of the planet back together again. But so much had gone wrong this cycle. That much he understood now. The X – blade was never supposed to be destroyed. By shattering the X – Blade, Unicronis had violated the rules of the universe and irreparably altered the course of history. And worse, the so-called Princesses of Heart were never supposed to exist.

The light of Keyblade Wielders' hearts was supposed to be enough to save the World. Thanks to the existence of these maidens, the legend of the Keyblade War spread. All knowledge of the conflict was supposed to die in Daybreak Town, not be preserved for future generations. Nevertheless, they could all adapt. Despite common elements, each cycle was different from the others after all. After another hour or two, Frederick transformed his Keyblade into its glider form and took off through the Lanes Between. His current body was still an apprentice, so he still needed to return to the Land of Departure after his excursions, after all.

The World That Never Was – Alley To Between; Now:

"Are we all ready?" Riku asked as he looked around at the assembled crowd. Behind him, Sora, Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Lea, Roxas, and Xion were finishing their final preparations for storming the castle. Since Namine had no combat experience, she, Hayner, Pence, and Olette were aboard the Highwind, waiting for Donald to activate the homing beacon to summon the rest of the Coalition invasion force to the World That Never Was. Once everyone had confirmed they were ready, the duck activated the beacon before the team set off through the alleyways of the Dark City. As they walked out of the Alley to Between and into the Fragment Crossing, Riku put a hand on Sora's shoulder.

"Don't worry," he told his friend. "We'll find her. We won't be able to save her by going off the rails from the plan."
"I know," Sora replied grimly. "I know the plan. Xehanort's going to pay for everything he's done." That made Riku a little nervous. They all knew that despite their desire to not have to kill anyone, Xehanort and his incarnations were too dangerous to leave alive. Even so, Sora's uncharacteristic fury was disconcerting. His anger was almost palpable. As Riku did a head count, he began to realize that Xehanort might still want Sora as a vessel. But where last time he'd tried to corrupt Sora through his inexperience dealing with the darkness of his own heart, this time Xehanort appeared to be using Kairi as bait to fuel Sora's anger, hoping that the young man's rage at the old Keyblade Master would build until he eventually gave in to the darkness in order to save Kairi, leaving him wide open for Xehanort to place his own heart inside.

That won't happen, Riku promised himself as the group fought their way through the legions of Pureblood Heartless swarming the streets of the abandoned city. No matter how far Sora goes to save Kairi, I won't let Xehanort take him over like he did Terra. Like he did with me. Despite the large quantities of high-powered Heartless like Invisibles and Novashadows in the streets, the group was making good time as they raced through the city. It had only taken an hour for the ten of them to reach Memory's Skyscraper. The place brought back memories for Riku and Roxas of their duel here before the latter's capture.

When they reached the Brink of Despair, the four Keyblade Masters, working together, used Blizzaza spells to create a bridge of ice leading into the lower levels of the Organization's stronghold. Sora's expression darkened as he entered the structure for the second time, for the exact same reason. In that moment, Sora swore that when Xehanort was finally destroyed, he would be the one to strike the final blow. After fighting their way through a few more waves of Nobodies, they arrived at the castle's central elevator. Lea adjusted the controls so that they would stop on the level for the Round Room, where the New Organization was most likely gathered.

As they walked through the hallways towards their final showdown with Xehanort, the castle shook. Anyone else would have been concerned with this, but everyone in the room knew the cause. The attack had begun. Coalition Gummi Ships were landing troops from two different points at the top and bottom of the airborne citadel. Former Organization founders Dilan and Aeleus lead volunteers from Coalition member worlds in a two-pronged attack on the castle, with Gummi Ship pilots providing air strikes on Heartless and Nobody clusters when necessary. With a strengthened resolve, the heroes finally reached another elevator taking them up to the top of the Round Room's central platform.

They emerged onto the central dais of the chamber ready for battle. Riku's fears were confirmed when he noticed out of the corner of his eye that even when Xehanort had thirteen vessels, the thirteenth throne remained empty. Off to the side, Terra and Ludor sat up on the thrones while Aqua, Ven, and Lea raised their eyebrows to see Prince Hans and Governor Ratcliffe standing on the lower floor of the room next to Terra and Ludor's thrones. Sora's anger only grew however, when he saw what was different from Roxas' memories of the room. Snow, White, Cinderella, Aurora, Alice, Belle, and Jasmine were chained beneath the chairs once occupied by Vexen, Lexaeus, Axel, Demyx, Larxene, and Roxas. And chained to the pillar, a few feet below Master Xehanort's throne, was Kairi.

I figured that after showing the death of Ephemera, it would be a great idea to have the next flashback be to Braig's first reincarnation after the Keyblade War and discuss the aftermath from his perspective. As for his name, Frederick is another Once Upon A Time reference. In the show, he was the bodyguard of King Midas (from Greek Mythology). To say any more about his role on the show would spoil too much.

The cyclical nature of the Keyblade War is something that will be touched on in my sequels. It's not going to be like Xehanort's obsession with recreating it, but more dealing with the question of "With two thousand more years before the cycle is supposed to end, can the loop ever be broken, or is the world fated to self-destruct every ten millennia for all eternity?"

There will be very little action next chapter. Even so, you all know what's coming next, dear readers. Be afraid. Be very afraid (more maniacal laughter in the background)

KeybladeOrder · Apr 14, 2016

Chapter 93: Sacred Moon:
The World That Never Was – The Round Room/Where Nothing Gathers:

For a minute, nobody said anything as the heroes glared defiantly up at the madman who had caused so much pain and suffering in their lives in the last thirteen years. After all this time, they were all ready to make him pay for everything he'd done to them. After another moment of angry silence, he finally decided to speak.

"At long last, the wheels of destiny have delivered you all to my feet," he said smugly.

"More like your actions, Xehanort," Sora snapped angrily. "You're a hypocrite. After all these years, surely you've realized that. You say that darkness isn't evil and needs to be protected from the so-called "tyranny of light," but your actions only prove yourself wrong. Whether your beliefs are true or not, to you, they're just an excuse to justify your own petty cruelty!"

"Cruelty…" the old man responded with a chuckle. "A label used by the weak and feeble-minded to describe necessary actions that they lack the nerve and stomach to undertake themselves."

"And the excuses continue," Lea retorted snarkily. "Whatever, let's just get this fight over with."

"Not quite," the ancient Keyblade Master replied teasingly, waving his finger. "All of us have too many warriors on each side. Fortunately, I have ways of removing those extraneous variables."

"AND SO DO WE!" Sora shouted as he hurled the Key to Return Hearts directly at Terra. The Keyblade struck home, the tip embedded bloodlessly in the possessed Keyblade Wielder's chest. In an instant, the man lost consciousness and slumped forward, gravity pulling him from his throne. Aqua dove over and caught him before he could hit the ground while Sora summoned the blade back to his hands and hurling it at Ratcliffe. Being a despicable villain, nobody bothered to catch the former Governor of Jamestown as he crumpled to the floor. As Aqua pulled Terra up onto the dais, she carefully opened one of his eyes and found his irises had returned to their original blue. He was free.

As the Key to Return Hearts sailed through the air for the third time aimed directly for Ludor, a claymore thrown by Isa flew through the air and shattered the mystic blade. As the Keyblade fell apart, the seven hearts of pure light drifted around the room and returned to their bodies. The remaining Seekers of Darkness grinned insidiously as the seven Princesses slowly regained consciousness.

"How nice of you to join us, Ava," Kairi's eyes widened in fear as she woke up back in her body to hear Xehanort addressing her by the name of her past life. He knows, she realized with a wave of dread washing over her. Deciding that pretending to play dumb would probably be the best way to find out for sure if she was right, she returned fire.

"Your memory must be going in your old age, Xehanort," she fired back snarkily. "I can't believe you forgot my name already after only a few years." Unfortunately, her worst fears were realized.

"My memory is as precise as ever," the madman replied sternly. "Braig has informed me of the nature of the reincarnation of the central figures of the Keyblade War, and I must say I am impressed. But while I'm intrigued by the fact that Vulpeus became a Princess of Heart after the war, Terra was not the first Foreteller to be a part of my ranks." Everyone's eyes widened as two of the Organization members, the only ones whose hood was still up, removed the cloths concealing their faces.

The hood fell away to reveal a familiar face worn by several people in the last few years. Ventus. Roxas. But what shocked them was that the man in the seat was the face's original wearer, the Foreteller of the Leopardos union, brought forward from the last days of the Keyblade War along with Xehanort's Foreteller incarnation by his time-travelling teenage self. And what shocked and horrified the heroes most of all was that unlike Xehanort's other vessels besides the Replica, Leopardos' eyes were a watery blue, rather that Xehanort's unmistakable golden color. He hadn't been made a vessel. He was in league with Xehanort's plans since the beginning of the Keyblade War. Thus, the old man didn't need to control him to ensure his loyalty.

"You were right," Leopardos told the old man frustratedly. "The reincarnations of my fellow Foretellers are as weak as you said they were."

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING WEAK!?" Ven retorted angrily. "AT LEAST I DIDN'T MURDER MY FRIENDS!"

"The others were never our friends, boy," Ven's past life replied sternly. "Even during times of peace, we were the outcast."

"WHY CAN NOBODY EVER GET IT THROUGH THEIR THICK SKULLS THAT JUST BECAUSE SOMEONE IS THE REINCARNATION OF SOMEONE FROM THE PAST DOESN'T MEAN THAT THEY'RE A CARBON COPY OF THEIR PAST LIFE!?" Kairi shouted furiously, fed up with the constant comparisons.

"Can we just slit the princesses' throats and be done with it?" Ansem asked Master Xehanort pleadingly, just as eager as the heroes to get the battle over with, but for entirely different, darker reasons.

"Very well," the old man nodded. "Take her first," he added, nodding down to indicate the space beneath his throne, where Kairi was struggling to break free of her chains. With a sadistic grin, Xehanort's Heartless warped down so that he was hovering just a few feet from where Kairi was chained up.

"I'm going to enjoy this, Princess," he said tauntingly as a double-bladed spear appeared in his hand with a swirl of blue fire. He pressed the flat of the blade menacingly against Kairi's cheek until he drew blood, oblivious to the sounds around him.

"NO!" Sora roared. And in an instant the seventeen-year old warped across the room in a dark blur faster than Riku or anyone in the Organization had ever moved before. Slamming Xehanort's Heartless into the wall of the throne with his bare hands, Sora punched "Ansem" in the stomach. Hard. As the humanoid monster doubled over in pain and dropped to the ground, Sora kicked off from the pillar he was on and jumped over to Kairi, using his Keyblade to unlock her chains before using an Aeroga spell to gently lower them both to the ground.

"You've lost, Xehanort," he spat furiously after using a Cure spell to heal the cut on his girlfriend's cheek. Damn it, kid, Braig cursed at Sora mentally. You just doomed us all for love. "Now there's only twelve of you, and twelve of us," the teenager continued, oblivious to the Unchained sniper's inner fury. "Equal light, equal darkness. You can't remake the X–Blade anymore. You've already lost."

"But I only need seven Lights for this battle," the old man replied triumphantly. "Riku, Kairi, and those two from Disney Castle will be sitting my Keyblade War out."

"As if they'd just stand by and let you win, you monster," Sora retorted. "And I'm going to be right there fighting beside them, in case you've forgotten."

"You misunderstand," Master Xehanort countered, his voice remaining smug and triumphant. "They won't be fighting my Seekers of Darkness because they'll be too busy fighting you. Isn't that right, Vanitas?" The old man spanned his fingers with a satisfied grin spreading across his face from ear to ear. Mickey, Aqua, Ven, and the newly conscious Terra's eyes widened in horror as they realized what Xehanort was saying.

But it was already too late. Sora doubled over in pain, clutching his chest as a dark presence invaded his mind and body. As the dark presence swept over his body he found his hands moving on their own, as if whatever was inside his head was testing the controls, test driving its ability to manipulate his body like a puppet on strings. Sora fought against this presence with every fiber of his being, but it continued to gain ground. As Kairi, Riku, Donald, and Goofy raced over to help, he lost control.

"Yes, Master," he heard himself say, echoing the presence in his mind speaking the exact same words with his own voice. As a sinister, dark Keyblade appeared in his hand, he overheard Aqua and Ven explaining the origins of Vanitas. How he had been the embodiment of Ven's darkness. How he'd been a monster. Sora's heart broke as Kairi started crying as she realized what was going on at the same time that he did. Vanitas had been hiding inside his heart, waiting for the right moment to take control and return to Xehanort's side. Trapped in the confines of his own body, Sora silently begged his friends to get away from him.

Suddenly the castle shook again from the force of another Coalition airstrike. Deciding that it was time to begin the Keyblade War anew, Xehanort ordered Vanitas to meet the Organization in the Keyblade Graveyard once he'd "finished dealing with the leftovers." With that, the New Organization warped out of the room through pillars of dark smoke. Ansem, who'd just regained consciousness in time for Xehanort's instructions, followed through a Dark Corridor. Terra, Aqua, Ven, Mickey, Lea, Roxas, and Xion dove through before it could close. Riku, Kairi, Donald, and Goofy stayed behind, promising the others that they'd catch up once they'd saved Sora.

No! Sora warned helplessly. You have to get away from me!

They can't hear you idiot! Vanitas thought back tauntingly as the battle began.

And just like the legend says, the Keyblade War will begin (Vanitas laughs maniacally in the background before the author shuts him up with a Blizzaga spell to the face) Vanitas quote aside, this is the moment where the shit really hits the fan, ladies and gentlemen. From here on out, the final boss battles have begun.

The reason I refer to the Round Room by those two different names is because all the members of the old Organization XIII refer to that meeting chamber as the round room in Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, while supplemental materials for Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix refer to that area as "Where Nothing Gathers." Since we never visit the area in the game, I thought it made sense to imply that both names for the Organization's meeting room are canon.

As for why Sora is still able to see through his own eyes even when he's not in control while Ven and Vanitas had this whole duel inside Ven's heart, the answer is pretty simple. In BBS, Vanitas is technically part of Ven's Heart, being the physical embodiment of his darkness and all, so of course they're going to have a Battle in the Center of the Heart for who's dominant. Here, though, Vanitas is basically a parasite piggybacking on Sora's Heart to stay alive. He's not part of Sora's heart, therefore no duel inside Dive to the Heart. But anyway, instead of flashbacks (although there will be one more at the end of the Boss Battle Marathon), the chapters will switch back and forth. Most of each chapter will be in the Keyblade Graveyard with the boss battles, while the rest will be back here with Riku, Kairi, Donald, and Goofy trying to free Sora from Vanitas' control.

KeybladeOrder · Apr 19, 2016

And so it begins, my ever faithful readers. This is it. Every game in the Kingdom Hearts series thus far has been building up to this confrontation, and trust me when I say that these next eight chapters are going to be epic. Grab your popcorn and grab you tissues, folks, the next eight chapters will be densely packed with action, drama, and Tearjerkers. Lock and load, ladies and gents, it's game time.

If you want to listen to music to accompany your visualization of the battle sequences in your heads, allow me to recommend a few songs:

-This is War by 30 Seconds to Mars
-See Who I am by Within Temptation (especially because there's a fantastic KH fan video on Youtube that uses the song)
-Rise by Skillet
-Not Gonna Die (also) by Skillet
-Closer to the Truth by Cryoshell
-New Divide by Linkin Park
-Bring Me to Life by Evanescence
-Centuries by Fallout Boy

Chapter 94: The Keyblade Graveyard:
The Keyblade Graveyard – Badlands:

Ven parried another strike from his past life as he and Leopardos dueled around the badlands. The past and present were evenly matched. Although Leopardos had more experience with combat, Ven had more skills. Shotlocks and Combat Styles weren't invented until after the Keyblade War, so the younger Key bearer had the element of surprise were technique as concerned. He blocked another Thundaga spell before retaliating with Spark Raid as the battle went on. A few yards away, Terra was locked in combat with his past, Xehanort-possessed self, and like Ven and Leopardos, they were evenly matched.

The battle had begun in earnest once everyone had arrived in the Keyblade Graveyard. Master Xehanort pulled the five Books of Prophecy out of a bag he or one of his allies had evidently stopped to collect on the way here. Everyone rushed towards Xehanort to stop whatever he had planned, but his other vessels and incarnations had diverted them all away from their master. Mickey was dueling Hans over in the Seat of War. Lea and Aqua were fighting off Xehanort's Foreteller incarnation and Isa in the winding corridors of the Twister Trench. Roxas and Xion were duking it out with their former boss down in the Fissure.

Meanwhile, Master Xehanort and the rest of his vessels and incarnations, Ansem, Braig, Young Xehanort, and Ludor, stood at the summit of the ancient pillar. The five copies of the Book of Prophecy hovered in the air before them as Xehanort began murmuring an incantation in the ancient Atlantean language. As he had explained to his underlings once the heroes were out of earshot, he was attempting to use the Books' ability to create illusions of worlds that didn't yet exist to create a facsimile of Daybreak Town. This replica of the original capital would serve as their bunker from which to watch the end of the old world and the beginning of their new one.

As Xehanort mumbled to himself, Braig was silently praying that Sora had the strength of heart to force Vanitas out of his body. Xehanort's plan was doomed to failure. Without the Gauntlet of the First Keyblade Master, any attempt to replicate the X – Blade was doomed to failure. That was why the attempt to have Ventus and Vanitas fuse over a decade ago had failed. It wasn't because their merger was incomplete, but because it was fundamentally impossible to recreate the X – Blade from scratch. Not without the shards of the original.

Ironic, he thought to himself as Xehanort switched from the first copy of the book to the second. He thinks that having a battle between his thirteen seekers of darkness and seven guardians of light will act like a magnate for the for the shards, when Sora and Mickey have been lugging them around for the last three years and nobody every figured it out. An explosion off in the distance on one of the many battlefields of the Graveyard, snapping Braig back to the present. He had contingencies for if Vanitas won out. So he stood there an waited, ready to stab Xehanort in the back if the madman got too close to obtaining his goal.

Nearby, in the fissure, fighting against the Nobody who had caused the bulk of the misery they'd gone through in their short lives was proving to be refreshingly cathartic for Roxas and Xion. Roxas deflected a barrage of Ethereal Blades while Xion slid under a blast of black and white lightning bolts before swinging up and knocking their former employer across the area. This stunned Xemnas long enough for the duo to land a few combos before the Superior went back to warping around the room attempting to cheap shot the two of them with his Ethereal Blades.

A hundred or so yards away, Lea and Aqua were tag teaming against their opponents back and forth across the Twister Trench. Aqua back-flipped to avoid the fiery shockwaves of a thrown claymore from Isa while Lea pulled up a Reflega shield to protect himself against a barrage of darkness from the sixth Foreteller. Aqua cast a Blizzaga spell at the Luna Diviner's face before cartwheeling around the stone pillar in the middle of the trench. With a fire spell to the time-displaced Foreteller's head, she and Lea quickly tagged out and traded dance partners once again as the next round of battle began.

Higher up on the Seat of War, Mickey crossed swords with the treacherous Prince Hans. Although the human prince was only armed with an ordinary sword, the piece of Xehanort's heart in his body had greatly enhanced his reflexes to superhuman levels. Mickey fired a blast of light from his Star Seeker, temporarily blinding the prince long enough for the mouse king to land a few combos with his blade. Thankfully, despite his enhanced reflexes, Hans was still far from an acrobat when it came to using the arena to his advantage. Mickey however, took full advantage of his smaller size, sliding under the swings of the man's sword and jumping off the walls for speedy attacks.

Back up in the Badlands, Terra and his past self were at an impasse. His Xehanort-possessed body had access to all of the same skills that he himself was using now. Neither version of Terra, past or present, free or possessed, could gain the advantage for long. For every move in Terra's repertoire, his double had access to as well. For every spell that he cast, his past self would block and retaliate in kind. Terra would have asked Ven for help, but his surrogate younger sibling was too busy with his own opponent to carry on a conversation mid battle.

Although the heroes of light were evenly matched with their opponents, they all knew that right now they were fighting a losing battle. The New Organization outnumbered them nearly two to one, and Xehanort was off doing Kingdom Hearts knows what with the Books of Prophecies and possibly causing untold levels of havoc in the universe at large. As they'd travelled through "Ansem's" corridor of Darkness to reach the Keyblade Graveyard, Aqua relayed what she'd seen when she'd examined the copy of the Book of Prophecy found in Yen Sid's tower before the battle in Cable Town. About how "on that land shall darkness prevail and light expire."

None of the heroes wanted to believe that such a future was unchangeable but considering the odds stacked against them, they were starting to have their doubts. Without Sora and the others there to even the odds, their chances of success continued to drop with every hour the battle went on. And without Coalition troops nearby to provide air support, the heroes were trapped and on their own. But they fought anyway, knowing that they were the worlds' last line of defense. That they could not, would not fail.

The World That Never Was – The Round Room/Where Nothing Gathers:

"You have to fight him Sora!" Riku shouted as he dodged a blow from the monster in control of his best friend's body. "You're stronger than him! You can do this!"

"No!" Vanitas retorted mockingly. "He can't!" In the blink of an eye he warped overhead, and Riku barely dodged out of the way before Vanitas swung his Keyblade downward. Goofy threw his shield at Vanitas, but he knocked it out of the way. However this lowered his guard long enough for Donald to successfully launch a Blizzaga spell at Vanitas' face. None of them wanted to hurt Sora, but until their friend could force Xehanort's apprentice out of his body, they had no choice to defend themselves against the sadistic puppeteer manipulating Sora's body like a marionette.

Riku and Vanitas launched simultaneous blasts of Dark Firaga, meeting each other in the middle and creating a large explosion that knocked the two back. Guys, you have to run! Sora mentally urged his friends. You can't save me. You have to get out of here and help the others before it's too late! Unfortunately, since he lacked telepathic powers, his friends could not hear him, and the battle continued. Donald and Goofy repeated their earlier combo in reverse this time, distracting Vanitas long enough for Riku to land a few combos before Sora's body warped out of the way.

After throwing Goofy's shield back up to him, Kairi watched from the sidelines. While the monster controlling the love of her life was distracted fighting with the others, she was busy freeing the other six Princesses of Heart from their chains. Once they were all safely down, she led her fellow Princesses through the emergency exit hidden in the side of the raised central platform and out of the Round Room. Since none of the others had a Keyblade, she guided them downstairs and out of the castle.

Once outside in the Brink of Despair, she gave Belle the Gummi Autopilot Remote she'd pick-pocketed from Donald at the beginning of the fight against Vanitas and instructed them on how to use it to warp themselves back up to the Gummi Ship. Once the six girls had been transported up to safety, she carefully headed back up the ice bridge and back into the castle. As she reentered Nothing's Call, the castle's lowest level, the citadel shook from the force of another Coalition air strike.

Knowing she needed to hurry, she raced back into Where Nothing Gathers to find that the fight to save Sora continued to rage. Riku and Vanitas had similar fighting styles, and the two were evenly matched. It was almost a stalemate, but Donald and Goofy's frequent interruptions still allowed the Keyblade Master to land a few extra combos and still have time to dodge his foe's attacks. With a little Parkour, Kairi jumped off one of the thrones and managed to grab the edge of the dais. After catching her breath, she swung herself up onto the central platform with a roll. Now that the other princesses were safe, there was no way she was going to sit out on trying to save Sora from Vanitas.

"Sora!" she called out as she ran over. His body turned in her direction and for a brief moment his eyes flicked back to his calm blue before switching back to the burning, hateful gold of Vanitas.

"Sorry, girly," Vanitas replied mockingly with a nod to Kairi's pink skirt. "But your boyfriend can't hear you. And even if he could, his body is mine now, and he couldn't do anything about it if he wanted to." Kairi glared angrily at the monster who had taken Sora. Hope swelled up in her as she noticed the eyes flickering more and more.

"Yes he can!" she snapped, furious. "He's still in there, and I know he can hear me! And he can do something about it because he is stronger than you are! I love him and I know that he has not stopped and never will stop fighting you, Vanitas!"

"Love huh?" Vanitas remarked arrogantly. "HOW PATHETIC!" the dark entity roared as he let loose a blast of Dark energy that knocked Kairi into one of the thrones.

"KAIRI!" As she kneeled on the ground clutching her stomach, the Princess of Heart couldn't help but smile triumphantly when she heard Sora's own voice coming from his mouth. Anyone hearing the story after the fact would have found it strange how anyone could tell the difference between the two when they looked and sounded the same, but the difference was obvious to the quartet in the room, since they knew Sora so well. Vanitas' voice always had a touch of arrogance, always sounding contemptuous of everyone around him. Sora's voice on the other hand, when he wasn't provoked into anger, was always cheerful and friendly.

And it was his voice that they heard now. Riku, Donald, and Goofy helped Kairi back up onto the central platform after using Curaga to heal any injuries she'd sustained in that blast. The four of them stood together and watched as Sora struggled to regain control of his own body. But this time, Kairi knew in her heart that Vanitas had already lost. How to get rid of Vanitas entirely without the Key to Return Hearts was another matter, but the answer would soon present itself. Now that Sora had regained enough control to fight back, it was only a matter of time before he broke free of Vanitas' puppet strings completely.

With that, the first of the eight final boss battle chapters is concluded. And so the final battle has begun, ladies and gentlemen. As for Sora and Mickey carrying around the shards, you know what I'm implying. As for Braig stabbing Xehanort in the back, that's always been his plan of last resort when all his other machinations fail, so we shall see whether or not he goes through with that

Next chapter will flip the order of scenes and start with the battle in the World That Never Was so you won't be left in suspense about that cliffhanger for the entire chapter.

KeybladeOrder · Apr 19, 2016

Chapter 95: Sunset Horizons:
The World That Never Was – The Round Room/Where Nothing Gathers:

"Get… Out… of my… Body!" Sora shouted as he fought back against Xehanort's apprentice with every fiber of his being. No! Vanitas protested in head, but it was already too late. No! It can't end like this! I have to complete the X –Blade! It's the only way for me to be free!

Why do you need to destroy the universe in order to be free? Sora asked curiously. He was angry with this Vanitas for trying to control him and for making him hurt Kairi, but now that Vanitas was being forced out, the dark being sounded terrified and desperate.

What do you care? Vanitas snapped back. Despite his usual vitrol he sounded like he was about to cry. I'm just another monster of the dark to be destroyed, no different than the Heartless. So just get it over with alright? FINISH ME OFF!
No, Sora replied. You may have caused a lot of pain to me and the people I care about, but nobody's being finished off until I know why. There has to be a reason for everything you did. So tell me. Why did you do it?

You're so much like Ven, Vanitas replied, now definitely on the verge of tears. Always seeing the best in people. You two could talk to a rock and somehow manage to befriend it. You both disgust me. You two had it all. Friends and family who cared about you. The freedom to be whatever you want to be. I NEVER HAD ANY OF THAT! EVERY TIME I TRIED TO MAKE FRIENDS WITH SOMEONE, I'D ACCIDENTALLY MAKE AN UNVERSED! AND WHEN I DROVE IT OFF, EVERYONE WHO SAW ME WOULD SPREAD THE WORD, AND I'D BE TREATED LIKE THE PLAGUE WHEREVER I WENT! I GREW UP WITH XEHANORT AS THE CLOSEST THING I EVER HAD TO A FATHER! A FATHER WHO RAISED ME TO BE NOTHING MORE THAN A WEAPON, A PAWN ON HIS COSMIC CHESS BOARD!

Vanitas actually sounded like he was crying now. You both got to have everything you ever wanted, and I grew up with nothing. Not even an identity. Before you saved Ven's heart seventeen years ago, I didn't even have a face. Xehanort probably only gave me a name as an afterthought just so he wouldn't have to keep calling me 'boy' all the time. Otherwise he probably wouldn't even have bothered naming me. I would have spent my entire life as nothing but his nameless slave. Sora listened in silence as Ventus' dark half vented years' worth of pent up angst and frustration.

And the only reason I never ran away from him despite everything he put me through was that I had nowhere else to go, Vanitas continued. I had a heart of pure darkness. Nobody would treat me as anything other than a demon to be hunted down and destroyed. So I went along with the old man's schemes, hoping that by fusing with Ven and creating the X – Blade, all of my pain and suffering could finally end. I played the part. I was the good soldier, the stereotypical sadistic villain. All for the sake of the one way I could possibly escape the hell that is my existence. So now that you've heard my story, go ahead and kill me already. Nobody will care when I'm gone.

That's not true, Sora interrupted. I will. He managed to smile as he felt Vanitas' surprise at his statement.

But… why? Vanitas asked, shocked and confused at the actions of the Keyblade Master he was supposed to possess.

After everything I did, to Ven… to you… to your girlfriend… You're willing to forgive me just like that?

You've seen the inside of my heart haven't you? Sora replied. I forgave Riku, didn't I? And he did almost the exact same kind of stuff you did. If Riku can be given a second chance, then so can you. I'm still mad about Kairi, but you still deserve a chance to redeem yourself. Vanitas was clearly shocked that anyone would ever give him, darkness incarnate, the time of day, much less think he can be redeemed. He started crying nonexistent tears again, but this time, they were tears of happiness. Thank you, he whispered mentally.

Sora released the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding as he returned his attention back to the outside world. He let Kairi know that he was alright before telling her, Riku, Donald, and Goofy to stand back. In a flash of light, the Kingdom Key appeared in his hands. Before anyone else in the room could say anything, he plunged it into his chest. And then, with a great deal of metaphysical exertion and a little accidental use of the powers of darkness, Sora dragged Vanitas out of his body.

As had been the case seventeen years ago, as soon as Vanitas was free of Sora's chest, a body of his own formed around his dark heart. The strain of the exercise rendered both boys unconscious. As fatigue finally took hold of him, Sora realized just how far gone he was. Just as Riku had opened his Heart to the Darkness years ago because of his desire to leave the islands, Sora had done the exact same thing out of love for Kairi. Ignoring the newly resurrected and unconscious Vanitas, the others called out to Sora as they raced over to him. The last thing he heard was Kairi frantically shouting his name as darkness encroached on both his vision and his heart.

The Keyblade Graveyard – Seat of War:

Back in the Keyblade Graveyard, the battle had reached an impasse. All the combatants were too evenly matched to do much damage. For every move the heroes made, the villains countered and retaliated. The heroes did the same for the villains. Every spell and attack was blocked and reflected back. No headway could be made, because everyone was too evenly matched. Sensing the frustration of his vessels as he looked down from his perch at the summit of the pillars he'd erected during his battle with Eraqus' pupils all those years ago, Xehanort was furious with the lack of progress being made.

"We are getting nowhere fast!" the old man fumed as he finished his chanting and examined the battlefield. The portal to the recreation of Daybreak Town glowed softly behind him. When the time came, Organization XIII would summon Kingdom Hearts and through it, use the X – Blade to unlock the Graveyard's Keyhole. When that was done, the real Keyblade War would begin. Since the current number of living Keyblade Wielders in the universe was too low to sustain the ancient conflict, the spirts of the dead from the last war would rise from their graves to fill in the ranks. And as the universe crumbled around them, the Seekers of Darkness would watch and observe from the safety of their illusory bunker.

"Calm down," Braig commented. "I'll take care of it. All we have to do is keep them busy until Vanitas arrives and we'll be able to put the entire team together and get that War you've been wanting." Braig smiled a deceptively cheerful grin as Xehanort stepped into the portal and instructed his lieutenant to inform him when Vanitas arrived. Once the old man was gone, he ordered the remaining members of the Organization to head out to the major skirmish points and stir the pot. "This party's starting to take a turn towards dullsville," he commented before the other vessels and incarnations of Xehanort warped off through Corridors of Darkness. Showtime, he thought to himself once he was alone with the portal.

Across the Crossroads in the Fissure, Roxas and Xion were faring pretty well against their former employer. Xemnas was throwing everything he had at them but they kept going through with the same pattern they'd been following since the battle began. Dodge. Deflect. Attack. Repeat. Xion rolled out of the way from a flying Ethereal Blade and barely had time to cast Reflect and block the playing card that came shooting through the air towards her. Had she been any slower, it would have cut her in half. Realizing that Luxord's human self had entered the playing field, she gave a nod to Roxas before racing forwards to engage their new opponent.

Meanwhile, up in the Seat of War, Mickey had made headway in his battle with Hans. Thanks to his smaller size and greater agility, the mouse had him on the ropes. After over an hour of constant combat, even a slightly more powerful than normal human like Hans was beginning to tire. After Mickey's last strike, the prince was panting heavily and leaning against the walls of the hollow peak at the mountain's summit. But before Mickey make another move, a wave of blue fire knocked him off his feet and face first into the rock wall. He shakily climbed to his feet to see Xehanort's time travelling teenage incarnation walking towards him, Keyblade in hand. Behind him, Hans was ready for battle in the same stance as before, his injuries healed as if the battle had never happened. Realizing that he was outnumbered, the mouse king immediately went on the defensive.

Further off, in the Badlands, Terra and Ven had finally managed to start tag-teaming their opponents. Ven deftly dodged the projectiles the Xehanort-possessed past Terra (which, being such a mouthful, was why Terra had appropriated Braig's nickname of Terranort) hurled at him before rolling behind a stone pillar. A few feet away, Terra had Leopardos on the ropes. Just as Ven rolled out from his hiding spot and cast Tornado against Terranort, their luck took a turn for the worse. Xehanort's Heartless and the Riku replica dropped in from the cliffs above, casting Dark Firaga spells in every direction as they leapt into the fray.

We're done for, Terra thought grimly as he deflected blows from both versions of Xehanort's Guardian Heartless. Without Riku and the others, we're severely outnumbered. If we don't get reinforcements soon, this will be the end… for all of us. As he leaped back long enough to cast a few spells at Riku's clone, Terra silently prayed that reinforcements would get there in time. He had no idea how far it was between the Keyblade Graveyard and the World That Never Was, but they were fighting a losing battle and time was running out. Sora, Riku, Kairi, Donald, Goofy, I don't mean to sound insensitve, but please hurry it up. We can't win without you guys.

I was originally going to have Vanitas die when Sora forced him out of his body, but when I refreshed on his sympathetic backstory from the BBS novel, I realized that having Sora defeat Vanitas out of his body through the empathy he's so well-known to us for )his whole connecting to other people's hearts thing for those who don't get what I'm saying) would work better in story than just killing him in a Battle In The Center of the Mind. So even if it's not canon in the actual game, Vanitas' sympathetic backstory from the novels is canon in the universe of this fic.

Anyway, with this chapter out of the way, we've only got 10 more chapters to go, ladies and gentleman. The final countdown has begun.

KeybladeOrder · Apr 19, 2016

Chapter 96: Fate of the Unknown:
The World That Never Was – The Round Room/Where Nothing Gathers:

After what turned out to be around twenty minutes, Sora regained consciousness to find Kairi worriedly standing over him. After a quick kiss and a good-natured warning not to scare her like that again, Sora explained what had happened with Vanitas. Riku put a hand on his shoulder as a gesture of support when he revealed that he'd been so desperate to save Kairi that he'd opened himself up to the darkness. But the strangest thing was that aside from the new dark powers, he didn't feel any different.

"I… don't think I can stay here anymore," he said sadly as his friends helped him up to his feet. "I don't know how to control these new powers. I don't want to risk hurting anyone. It'll be better off for everyone if I just…"

"Don't you even dare finish that sentence, Sora," Kairi interrupted as she gave him the tightest hug she could give him. "Dark powers or not, you're still the same guy I fell in love with. Riku and Terra can help you with controlling your powers, but you'll never be alone. I will always be right there by your side the entire time. We can get through this. Together." She gave Sora a kiss, and that managed to brighten his mood. With Sora's potential darkness-related angst nipped in the bud, the group conversation eventually turned towards getting to the Keyblade Graveyard to stop Xehanort from forging the X – Blade.

As they talked, they didn't notice a small golden light drifting down from above. They finally realized it was there once it landed softly in the palm of Sora's hand. The light expanded outward until it formed a familiar shape. Within moments, Sora held the Dark Kingdom Key in his left hand. At first, Sora thought that opening himself up to the darkness had given him Mickey's old Keyblade, rationalizing that it was a Keyblade from the Realm of Darkness for someone like him with dark powers. But to the group's surprise, he could still summon the Kingdom Key from the Realm of Light with his right hand.

Suddenly, it hit them. Xehanort said that the seven light shards of the X – Blade became the protectors of the Princesses of Heart. That was what he had been using the Kingdom Key for in the end on his first journey. If we forge the X - Blade ourselves, it'll give us the edge we need to stop Xehanort, he realized. Once Vanitas regained consciousness, they explained the theory to him. He was a little hesitant to converse with everyone (being rejected by everyone you tried to befriend because of what he was left some emotional scars that didn't heal instantaneously just because he'd been given a second chance, after all), but he agreed that their theory was plausible.

"There's only one way to find out, though," he commented. "It doesn't sound like either Kingdom Key has ever been this close together before." Sora agreed. With what might be the shards of the X – Blade so close together for the first time in Kingdom Hearts knew how long, he could hear voices emanating from the blade. Recognizing that the voices probably came from the memories of the people who had create the X – Blade, Sora knew what he had to do. In one swift motion, he crossed the two Kingdom Keys over his head so that they formed a narrow X. Everyone shielded their eyes as a flash of blinding light covered the room.

Daybreak Town – Seacoast Park:

I've been waiting eight thousand years for this moment, Braig thought to himself as he stepped through the portal to the illusory Daybreak Town and found himself in Seacoast Park. The same place his troops had landed on the beaches for their siege in the final days of the war. Seeing his old home again, even if it was just an illusion, dredged up a lot of memories, both pleasant and unpleasant. Pushing those memories down, he walked across the bridge in search of Xehanort. He eventually found the old man standing in the park at the base of the clock tower. The place where the Keyblade War had ended with the destruction of the X – Blade. At the sound of Braig's approach, Xehanort turned around.

"They're here already?" he asked in surprise when he saw his lieutenant. "That was quicker than I expected." Braig smiled triumphantly.

"No," he said. "They're not. I just wanted to pop in here and have a chat with you, boss."

"Regarding what?" Xehanort inquired, half curious, half frustrated with his lieutenant's decision making.

"You're going to lose," Braig answered. "Your plan to recreate the X – Blade is doomed to failure. The only way to recreate the X – Blade is to put the original shards back together." He started laughing. "It's so ironic that you've gone to so much effort to recreate the X – Blade with the whole seven lights and thirteen Seekers of Darkness plan, when Sora and Mickey have been carrying around the shards of the original for three years now. All you hard work was for nothing. Besides, the universe isn't ready for another Keyblade War. Not for another two-thousand years."

"And how would you possibly know all this?" Xehanort demanded, furious with Braig's mockery. "How could you figure out that the Kingdom Keys hold the original fragments and refrain from sharing this information?"

"Because I am Unchained, you old coot," he answered. When old baldy's eyes widened in shock, he continued. "I fought in the Keyblade War from the sinking of Atlantis to the Siege of Daybreak Town. In all my lifetimes, I have seen civilizations rise and fall. I trained at the foot of the Foreteller Leopardos himself. I have seen generations of Keyblade Master, grow up, train, grow old, and die, time and time again. I have seen the world burn itself to death in the fires of the Keyblade War over and over again, only to be reborn from the ashes each and every time. For eight thousand years I have stood sentinel over the cosmos, protecting it from evil."

"Then what do you really want?" Xehanort asked angrily. "Since you obviously don't need a Keyblade at all."

"Your head on a pike, old man," the sniper replied. "Your plans came too early, traitor. As an Unchained, it's my responsibility to do everything I can to stop you so that the universe can reach the end of its life cycle naturally. The only reason I've told you any of this is as a consolation, since you won't remember any of this in your next life. I wanted you to know why you have to die. Because you will die. One way or another. Whether I kill you, or Sora does, you are never leaving the Keyblade Graveyard alive.

With all his explanations done, Braig summoned his Keyblade to his hand, and charged. Xehanort had was caught off guard by Braig's sudden betrayal and subsequent revelations, and barely had time to dodge the first swing of the immortal's Keyblade. He managed to get his own Keyblade out in time to block the second strike, but Braig had already pushed him on the defensive. Were Braig only a novice Keyblade wielder, Xehanort would have been able to easily defeat the upstart. But not this time.

This time, he was fighting against an opponent who had been alive since the last Keyblade War. Who knew every move Xehanort would make because he invented many of the techniques himself. The old man parried another blow from the Unchained, only for the one-eyed immortal to expertly dodge his counterattacks. In desperation and anger, Xehanort started resorting to his more powerful, darker attacks. With the aid of the powers of Darkness, Xehanort managed to turn the tides until he and his opponent were more or less evenly matched.

The Keyblade Graveyard – Badlands:

Meanwhile, back in the Keyblade Graveyard, the tide of battle was quickly turning against the heroes of light. With the chaos of fighting two opponents at once, Mickey, Terra, and Ven were beginning to lose ground to their foes. Only Aqua, Lea, Roxas, and Xion were having any luck with their opponents, and even then it wasn't by much. The tag team approached the two duos were employing only really worked when each person was fighting only one enemy, rather than two.

Roxas and Xion were holding their own fairly well against Xemnas and Ludor in the Fissure, but that was mainly because there were places where they could be backed into a corner. While Xion deflected Ludor's cards, Roxas winced as Xemnas cast a spell on Roxas that he'd seen the Superior use on Sora before. A spell that would remove his Heart. Furious, Roxas ran towards his former boss as Xemnas teleported up to the top of the cliff above him. But little things like heights never stopped Roxas before.

With a little Parkour, the former Nobody ran right up the cliff face, just as he had done against Riku at Memory Skyscraper back in the World The Never was years ago. As Xemnas came falling down the fissure walls towards him, Roxas swung out with both Oathkeeper and Oblivion, slamming Xemnas into the cliff wall and temporarily stunning him, breaking his insidious spell. Once both returned to the ground, Roxas managed to land a few hits on Xehanort's Nobody before he regained his senses and pulled up a shield. But before either opponent could make another move, a bright light appeared in the sky. All four combatants in the area shielded their eyes as they looked up in search of the light's source.

Further up in the seat of War, Mickey was almost on his last legs. Despite his best efforts, Young Xehanort kept using his powers over time to reverse every injury the mouse inflicted on both Prince Hans and himself. If help didn't arrive soon, Yen Sid wouldn't be the only Keyblade Master to perish this week. After barely managing to cast a Curaga spell on himself, Young Xehanort's attacks began again in earnest. Mickey had almost no time to react as the teenage time traveler came at the mouse with everything he had. But the lasted string of blows was abruptly cut short when a blinding flash of light appeared high up in the air. The three combatants shielded their eyes as they looked out over the Graveyard in search of the light's source.

Off in the Badlands, Terra and Ven were hanging on by a very thin thread. After a bevy of attack from the two Guardian Heartless, Terra had created a dome of earth around himself and Ven, reinforced by a Reflega spell maintained by the both of them. As their four foes hammered away at the shield from the outside, Terra knew that they couldn't keep this up forever. Ven was already starting to look exhausted from the strain. If this kept up any longer, he was going to pass out.

Deciding to prioritize his little brother's well-being over his own safety, Terra collapsed the dome and leaned Ven against the stone piller that had comprised part of the dome's walls, putting himself between his sibling and their opponents. But before either side could make a move, blinding flash appeared in the sky off in the distance. It was so bright that all six combatants had to shield their eyes from the glare as they searched for the source of the flash.
Aqua dodged a blow from Isa before casting a Reflega spell to avoid the Luna Diviner's follow-up strike. A few yards away, Lea was trading verbal banter with Xehanort's Foreteller incarnation, pointing out to the Outcast that he wanted to find out what happened after the war he had caused, when the results of his machinations were all around him.

"Is all this death and destruction really worth it?" she heard Lea ask the fallen Foreteller. Unfortunately, she was in no position to add to Lea's comments since she was busy fighting off her own opponent. As she and Isa fought, she realized that since Xehanort had planted a piece of his heart inside all his vessels, she could free them from Xehanort's influence the same way Sora had removed Ven's heart from his own. With a calming breath to activate the more metaphysical powers of her Keyblade, she lunged forward and drove the mystical weapon into her foe's chest.
Removing a fragmented heart turned out to be harder than just separating Ven and Sora's hearts had been. Aqua had to pour a high amount of energy into her blade before she finally made any progress. And as it turned out, separating a fragment of Xehanort's heart from one of his vessels was a lot like a dentist pulling teeth. Only with a lot more strain, and without the blood. When she finally removed the fragment of Xehanort's heart, since it was only a fragment and not a whole heart, it disintegrated into the air. But not before firing a bolt of darkness at its host's heart. Aqua reflexively shielded her face and jumped back as blood spattered everywhere.

"Isa!" Lea shouted as he ran over. Behind him, Xehanort's Foreteller incarnation just stood there, contemplating his opponent's words. Ignoring their other opponent, Aqua stood up as Lea kneeled down next to his former friend and examined the wound. The former flurry of dancing flames shed a tear as he realized after a failed Curaga spell that his childhood friend wasn't going to make it. He'd been angry with Isa for changing so much during the Organization, but once he'd found out that it was because he was slowly being taken over by Xehanort, he wanted to try and save his old friend. They'd had too much between them for him not to try.

"Lea," the former Luna Diviner groaned as he clutched the gaping wound in his chest. Xehanort's golden eyes were gone, replaced by Isa's natural green. "I'm not going to make it. But… I want you to know… I'm sorry… for how I acted… towards Roxas… and Xion… You were right… Lea… I did change." He groaned as Lea gave him a panacea in the hopes of easing the pain. The blast of darkness fired into his chest, the redhead realized, was a failsafe Xehanort put in place to make sure that if his heart was taken out of one of his vessels, one of his former puppets couldn't be used against him. Lea resolved right then and there to kill Xemnas or the old man… some incarnation of Xehanort himself for what the madman had done as he cradled his dying friend in his arms.

"Lea…" Isa groaned once more as he started coughing up blood. "Since this is the end for me… My old jacket… I left it… inside Hollow Bastion… I want you… to have it…"

"I'm so sorry..." Lea sobbed as he gave his friend one last hug. "I'm sorry I gave up on you."

"Don't be…" Isa groaned. "I didn't... deserve it… I was... a jerk... At least now… I can die… as myself… away... from Xehanort's control... Now... I'm finally… Free…" Lea's tears intensified as the light faded from his childhood friend's eyes. After a few minutes of mourning, he looked up angrily at the time-displaced Foreteller. To hell with temporal paradoxes, Lea thought to himself as he stood up with blood on his hands and shirt and fire in his eyes. Every incarnation of Xehanort that has ever lived will PAY! But before he could charge over and tear apart the space-time continuum, the group was distracted by a blinding flash in the air. Everyone shielded their eyes as they looked up at the sky in search of the source.

My inspiration for what happened with Sora comes from a WMG I found on the TVTropes page for Kingdom Hearts 3. The original poster speculated that with Kairi being firmly in the light in terms of her powers and Riku being twilight (despite saying he walks the Road to "Dawn", he talks with Namine with Chain of Memories about using both Light AND Darkness), it would make sense for Sora to give in to the darkness and complete the set. The idea was basically that Xehanort's attempts to corrupt Sora to make him a suitable vessel would backfire spectacularly and he'd become the living embodiment of Dark Is Not Evil. And I really like that idea so I took the theory and ran with it.

So yeah, Isa's dead. When I was planning out the final battle, I ultimately realized that I didn't want any of the non-time travelled members of the Organization to walk away from this battle, so I decided that if I was going to kill off Isa and a few others, then they needed to have a Dying as Yourself Moment. I think you can all guess what the light in the sky is, so I'm not going to spoil it. But yeah, the next few chapters, there's finally going to start being some casualties on the Organization's side.

KeybladeOrder · Apr 19, 2016

The next seven chapters are all named after songs from the Kingdom Hearts soundtracks. Feel free to listen to them on YouTube while you read the chapter. Just a head's up, this is probably going to be one of the shorter final boss chapters. Just search Kingdom Hearts soundtrack, and then the song title and you should probably be able to find around a dozen or so different channels that have the song.

Chapter 97: L'Eminenza Oscura:
The Keyblade Graveyard – Keyblade Crossroads:

Let's do this, Sora thought to himself as he dove through the sky towards the ground, X – Blade in hand. As they'd predicted, combining the two Kingdom Keys together had re-forged the ancient blade. What they hadn't expected was for the blade to open the Door to Light that had transported him to the Keyblade Graveyard several hundred feet in the air. Once he was close enough to the ground, he used a Darkness-enhanced Aeroga spell to cushion his fall so that he landed on his feet, ready for battle.

A few feet away from where he landed, a Dark Corridor opened up, disgorging Kairi, Riku, Donald, Goofy, and Vanitas. They looked around and surveyed the battlefield, taking note of several explosions off in the distance that were clearly indicative of battles going on. Sora looked to the left and spotted the glowing portal at the top of the plateaus created during the previous battle in the Graveyard over a decade ago. Realizing that the portal was where Master Xehanort would most likely be, and being able to sense who was where on the battlefield thanks to a combination of his darkness-enhanced senses and the power of the X-Blade, Sora immediately started planning a battle strategy.

"So here's the plan," he explained to the group. "Roxas and Xion are fighting Xemnas and Luxord in the fissure over there. Aqua and Lea are fighting Xehanort's past life in the trench nearby. Mickey's going up against Hans and Young Xehanort at the top of that mountain. Terra and Ven are fighting Leopardos, Terranort, Xehanort's Heartless and Riku's clone up near the badlands. Donald and Goofy, you guys help Roxas and Xion. Kairi, I need you to go help Mickey so he's not facing those two alone. Riku and Vanitas, head over to that way," he pointed in the direction of the Badlands.
"And lend Terra and Ven a hand. It's too far to walk, so Vanitas will have to use the Dark Corridors to drop everyone off. I'm going to deal with Xehanort."

"Sora, you can't fight him alone," Kairi protested. "It's suicide. There has to be another way."

"I won't be fighting him alone," Sora reassured her. "I just need to keep him busy long enough for you guys to take down the rest of the Organization. Once they're taken care of, it'll be all of us against him." Kairi wasn't happy about the fact that there was a brief window in the battle plan during which the love of her life could possibly die, but she knew that for this battle, they didn't have a choice.

"Come back to me, okay?" she said as she handed him her thalasa shell lucky charm once again.

"You know I will," he replied with a smile before leaning over and giving her one last pre-battle kiss. "I promise." And with that, he took off at a run towards the portal in the distance. It was time to end this once and for all. Vanitas quickly opened up another Dark Corridor that the quintet quickly stepped through to head to their respective battles. Donald and Goofy were dropped off first, then Kairi. Finally, Riku and Vanitas stepped out of the Corridor onto a cliff overlooking the Badlands. Down below, Ventus was leaning against a wall, recovering from either an injury or the strain of a particular spell, while Terra was struggling to hold off four opponent at once to protect his friend.

Once Vanitas put his helmet on, the two newcomers leapt off the cliff and down into the fray. Vanitas knocked the Riku Relpica back with a pulse of darkness as he landed, while Riku managed to slash across the Guardian Heartless' back, causing it to turn towards him only to receive a Dark Firaga spell to the face. Although Terra and Ven were surprised by Vanitas' appearance and his fighting against Xehanort, the enemy of their enemy was their friend, so they at least tolerated his presence for now as the increased numbers allowed the two Keyblade wielders to push back against Leopardos and Terranort while Riku and Vanitas took care of the other two combatants.

Over in the Seat of War, Mickey was on his last legs. Young Xehanort's ability to manipulate time on the battlefield put the mouse at a serious disadvantage. Cure spells could only do so much when the spell caster was worn out and exhausted from the hours-long battle. Just as Hans was about to strike the final blow, Young Xehanort was launched across the small area and slammed into the wall. This distracted Hans long enough for Mickey, who had reached the same conclusion as Aqua, to plunge his Star Seeker Keyblade into the prince's chest. Like with Isa, this produced the same results.

Mickey stood there mournfully, regretting the fact that he had to kill a living being in order to save the worlds, even if Hans had been evil. Young Xehanort regained his footing and was about to kill the king when Kairi shot another ray of light from her hands, stunning the time traveler long enough to cast Curaga on the mouse. Reminding himself that there was still a battle to win, Mickey shook himself out of his stupor and swung his Keyblade at the teenage Xehanort while Kairi charged into battle behind him.

Down in the Fissure, Roxas and Xion had reached a similar conclusion regarding Luxord's enslavement to Xehanort, but his and Xemnas' tactics meant that they couldn't get an opening in which to save their former coworker. Fortunately, Donald and Goofy came charging in from the direction of the Twister Trench, distracting the two Organization members long enough for Roxas to make his move. The fifteen-year old former Nobody poured all of his energy into his Oblivion Keyblade as he sprinted towards the Gambler of Fate. Ludor snapped back to the battle, but he couldn't raise his cards into a shield fast enough before Roxas' Keyblade pierced his chest.

Like Isa and Hans before him, removing the fragment of Xehanort's heart triggered the old man's fail-safe, mortally wounding the former Gambler. While Donald and Goofy kept Xemnas occupied, Xion raced over as Roxas looked in horror as Ludor clutched the bleeding hole in his chest.

"I'm so sorry," Roxas gasped as he inched towards his former colleague and tried to cast Curaga. Like with Isa, the attempt failed. "I had no idea…"

"Don't be…" Ludor groaned as blood seeped from the wound. "There was no way… I was going… to make it out of this battle alive… At least… this way… I die free… Thank you… Roxas…" And with that, the Gambler of fate collapsed on the ground in a pool of his own blood. Roxas and Xion stood there for a few more moments, silently mourning their fallen comrade. Eventually, the force of an explosion caused by Donald deflecting one of Xemnas' Ethereal blades into the cliff walls forced numbers 13 and 14 to return their attention to the battle at hand.

Daybreak Town – Clock Tower Plaza:

Braig and Xehanort continued to cross blades back and forth around the plaza when they both felt it. For a moment, they simply stood still in surprise, shocked by the sensation. The ripple in the fabric of reality sent a very clear message, but the two combatants had two widely different interpretations of what it meant. For Xehanort, the ripple in the universe told him that his goals were nearly realized, that the Key to recreating the Keyblade War was now finally within his grasp. For Braig however, the ripple meant something completely different. It meant that his worst fears had been realized. That despite his attempts to stall Xehanort, the universal cycle of death and renewal was going to be cut short, inflicting untold consequences on the next go around.

"The X – Blade has been forged," Master Xehanort said with a smug, satisfied smile, voicing what both men were thinking about the source of the ripple. "And with it, my goals are finally within my grasp." The old man swung his Keyblade, only for it to be blocked by the Unchained warrior's weapon.

"As if I'd ever let that happen, Xehanort," Braig spat. "As long as there's breath in my body, you will never live to set eyes on the X – Blade. The world isn't ready yet, and I will destroy the blade again myself if I have to in order to make sure the cycle goes on to its natural conclusion." He kicked out, sending the older man tumbling across the plaza floor. Xehanort quickly recovered before launching himself at the Freeshooter. With the X – Blade now on the board, the old man was more determined than ever to achieve his goals.

After that ripple, both sides fought even more fiercely than ever. Thanks to his eight millennia of experience, Braig was at least able to ensure that the old Keyblade Master was too busty fighting for his life to just warp around the Unchained and make a break for the portal. Speaking of the portal, since all the other members of the Organization were off battling the heroes of light, nobody was around to notice, let alone stop, the teenage boy leaping up the plateaued mountain towards the portal, with the legendary weapon both men inside the illusion coveted held in his hands.

And with that, my ever faithful readers, we are now halfway through the Final Boss Battle Marathon. Four more chapters of combat left. After the Final Boss chapters, the ending chapters are going to be a little shorter than these ones have been. Anyway, regarding the deaths of Isa and Ludor, once Xehanort has been Killed Off For Real, there's going to be a part at the ending where the dead get a funeral service. Since Isa was part of the Organization for so long, he's not going to be hailed as a hero, but Lea will be giving his old friend a funeral and burial. The chapter title comes from the name of the background music from the Ansem (Xehanort's Heartless) boss battles in Dream Drop Distance. Regarding Ludor's death, I figured that it would be a great parallel to the death of his Nobody. Luxord's last words after his boss battle in KH2 are "How could you, Roxas?" so I thought having his last words as a human echo that statement but on a more positive note would be a nice callback.

KeybladeOrder · Apr 19, 2016

Chapter 98: L'Oscurita Dell'Ignoto:
The Keyblade Graveyard – Fissure:

With the deaths of Isa, Ludor, and Hans, the balance of power began to swing back towards the heroes. Donald, Goofy, Roxas, and Xion were turning the tides against Xemnas. The Superior of the Organization was finally beginning to tire as his former subordinates chipped away at his defenses. Donald and Goofy's ranged attacks were forcing the Nobody up against the cliff walls, and he was too focused on maintaining his shield walls as Roxas and Xion pounded against it to even consider warping out in a Dark Corridor.

Far off in the Badlands, Riku, Terra, and Vanitas were quickly pushing back against Ansem, Terranort, and the Replica. Thanks to their similar fighting styles, Vanitas and Riku's doppelganger quickly reached an impasse in the battle, neither combatant able to harm the other. Terra was quickly beginning to gain the upper hand over his Xehanort-possessed self, having done so once before in the Keyblade Graveyard all those years ago. And after all the times he'd fought against Xehanort's Heartless, Riku was dominating his duel with Ansem.

A few feet away, however, Ven's fight against Leopardos had shifted from a battle of Keyblades to a battle of wits.
"Why are you helping Xehanort!?" the teenager demanded as he faced his past life. "What has he ever done for you!?"

"I'm helping him because the only way for balance to exist between light and darkness is for the Darkness to throw off the oppressive shackles of light's tyranny and have its day," the older man replied. "The only way for that to work is for Xehanort to use the X – Blade to destroy the source of all light."

"That's suicide!" Ven protested. "Without Kingdom Hearts the world will collapse in on itself. Is that what you really want!?"

"No," Leopardos answered angrily. "Which is why once the X – Blade has been restored I'm going to take it to Daybreak Town and use it to infect Kingdom Hearts with darkness."

"Didn't Xehanort tell you?" Ven asked incredulously as he gestured at the barren landscape around them. "The X – Blade was destroyed because of the war that you started. And I've hear from Aqua how devastating just destroying a pale imitation was. From what Terra told me about his own intel, the destruction of the true X – Blade fried everything within a fifty mile radius. Don't you get it? This IS Daybreak Town! Look around you. Thousands of Keyblade wielders died here that day because of you!"

"YOU'RE LYING!" His Foreteller self roared.

"Terra heard it straight from Ephemera's lips," Ven replied. When Leopardos looked confused he returned. "Or did you not figure out that he'd Unchained himself? Honestly, from what I've heard, I'm surprised you didn't recognize the eyepatch." Leopardos' eyes widened as the pieces fell into place in his mind. Looking around at the barren deserts of the Keyblade Graveyard, the Foreteller dropped to his knees as the weight of all that his actions had caused hit him like a freight train.

"What have I done…?" he whispered in Atlantean as tears flowed down his face. "Ava… Zach… Felicity… Zare… I'm so sorry… I don't know if I deserve forgiveness for what I've done… But it's too late anyway…" Ven's face hardened as he addressed his older self. Like Kairi in Atlantis, he was able to understand the Atlantean language thanks to his proximity to his past life, and he knew that there was still time.

"No," Ven said. "It's not too late. There's still time for you to fix your mistakes." A short talk about what to do later, and the two Keyblade Wielders left the Badlands through a Dark Corridor, although not without Leopardos (whose real name turned out to be Quintus) casting aside the Organization's black coat in favor of his old Foreteller's robes. A few minutes later, the two emerged from the dark portal into the Twister Trench, where Aqua and Lea were going up against Xavier, the Outcast.

Lea fought like a demon. After the Coalition fleet arrived from the World That Never Was with air support, Namine and the Twilight Town trio had beamed him aboard the Kingdom so he could put Isa in a body bag. After that, he'd returned to the surface and gone after the renegade Foreteller with a vengeance. Despite his rage, however, Lea was still only a beginner when it came to wielding the Keyblade. The Foretellers, on the other hand, were the Masters of their generation. He and Aqua were just about to swing their blades against their opponent when a crystalized Reflega shield appeared around the time-displaced Foreteller.

Everyone looked over to see Ventus and Leopardos running towards them. Aqua and Lea immediately prepared for battle, but Ven told them to trust him on this and took them aside to explain the situation while Quintus did the same with Xavier. Aqua and Lea were skeptical of the idea that one of Xehanort's past lives would change sides so easily, but their concerns were partially allayed when they saw The Outcast react to the explanation of the end of the X – Blade war the same way that Leopardos had, although not without a lengthy argument between the two Foretellers first.

Although they couldn't hear all the words, the three modern Keyblade Wielders managed to get the gist of the conversation and managed to glean a significant amount of information on the two Masters' pasts. Apparently, Xavier had given in to the Darkness out of jealousy. Even as apprentices, the other Foretellers (with the exception of Quintus) had ostracized him for his fascination with learning things that went against their ideas. He was always curious about the existence of darkness, and since most of the other Foretellers preferred to deny that it existed, he was shunned as a result. Even his own mentor disapproved, and as a result he was the only Foreteller not to receive a Book of Prophecy or be given command of a Union, in the hopes that he could wean himself off of his curiosity.

When the Heartless appeared in the Realm of Light, his fascination with the darkness grew, until he was freely experimenting with the Heartless. Eventually, his curiosity grew into an obsession, until one day he gave himself fully to the Darkness in the pursuit of knowledge. His descent into darkness complete, he'd single-handedly stormed into his master's retreat and taken his reclusive mentor prisoner. After swaying Quintus to his side, they continued their experiments in secret, away from the prying eyes of the Unions.

Eventually, they'd caught an Ursus soldier named Ephemera snooping around one of their labs, and had taken the young man captive. After holding him prisoner for a few weeks, a Leopardos soldier who Ephemera had befriended broke into their facility and rescued the prisoner. After this was when Ava had called her peace conference among the other Foretellers, and their actions that day had marked the beginning of the Keyblade War. Once the argument had been finished, Xavier broke down in tears as he realized just how far he'd gone in the pursuit of knowledge.

Meanwhile, Mickey and Kairi were quickly gaining the upper hand against Young Xehanort up at the Seat of War in both physical and verbal combat. The Princess of Heart spending the entirety of the battle trading verbal jabs with the time traveler, pointing out the hypocrisy of his actions and words while questioning if he really felt all of the destruction he had/would cause/d was worth it just for the sake of having a front row seat for the apocalypse and whatever came after.

"So what happens next?" she demanded as she dodged another swing of their opponent's Keyblade. "What happens when you get what you want and you're king of the mountain? The only living being in an empty universe? WHAT THEN!?" Unlike previous verbal jabs, this time the teenager didn't have a response. He just kept attacking, only Kairi could tell form the look on the young man's face that his heart was no longer in the fight. She was starting to get through to him. As Young Xehanort's attacks became more sluggish and lethargic, they slowed to a point where Mickey and Kairi only had to stand in one place and cast Reflega and they were perfectly safe. After a little more verbal prodding, the time traveler finally gave up.

"It's not worth it," Young Xehanort admitted as he dropped his Keyblade to the ground, slumping against the walls of the mountain. "Answers to my questions aren't worth destroying everything I care about." Mickey and Kairi edged closer, their guard still up in case it turned out to be a trick. "Exploring and learning more about the universe wasn't the only reason I left the Islands, you know," the teen continued sadly. "My mother died when I was five. My father was constantly drunk after that. He was angry at the world for taking his wife from him, and most nights he took his anger out on me." He pulled up the sleeve of his black coat to reveal a whole slew of cuts and bruises. Kairi and Mickey felt a twinge of sympathy for the younger version of Xehanort when they realized how far in the past he'd come from given how fresh the injuries were. "That's why I became so curious about the word outside the islands. Because I wanted to find a place where I could be free from my father."

"I never had any friends, either," he went on. "Everybody saw me as weird and delusional for wanting to leave the islands. To get away from my abusive dad. Parents discouraged their children from going anywhere near me, and everyone I ever tried to talk to would just glare at me until I went away." Realizing what needed to happen next, Kairi walked over and gave the teenage Xehanort a comforting hug. Probably the first time anyone's ever given him one since his mom died, she realized as Mickey came over and joined her.

"Thank you," Young Xehanort whispered as he dried his eyes. "Nobody's shown that much kindness to me in years. I know that it's too late for me and my future self. By this point in time I'm already beyond redemption, and once I return to my own time, I'll forget everything I've seen and done here. But as long as I am here there's still time for me to at least do some good before my fated fall into Darkness."

Daybreak Town – Fountain Plaza:

Master Xehanort limped through the streets of Daybreak Town as quickly as he could, with the traitor Braig in hot pursuit. The aged Keyblade Master had managed to knock the Freeshooter back long enough to make a break for the portal. But even so, the Unchained snapped at his heels the entire way. He narrowly dodged a Firaga spell as he raced into the Fountain Plaza before he was forced to turn and parry a swing from the immortal's Keyblade.

The closer the two got to the portal out to the Keyblade Graveyard, the more fiercely they both fought. Xehanort fired a blast of Dark fire at the younger man's one good eye, hoping to blind his foe and kill him for his treachery. Unfortunately, Braig swiftly dodged before retaliating with a Blizzaga spell that knocked the old man into the air. Xehanort fired off a Dark Firaga spell and while Braig blocked, turned and ran through the wooden gate into the simulation of the city marketplace. Braig raced in after him, only to find the old man standing as still as a statue with his face contorted into a grin of rage and surprise. Instead of killing the old man when he had the chance, Braig couldn't help but let his jaw drop at the sight before him.

There, on the opposite side of the marketplace, stood the familiar figure of Sora. At first, Braig thought that Vanitas had taken over, but one look at the boy's blue eyes quickly dismissed that notion. But the real jaw dropper wasn't that Sora had followed them into the simulation. The real shocker was what he was holding. There, clutched tightly in the seventeen year old's hand, was the ancient, mystical weapon that had started this conflict in the first place. The X – Blade. Finally, Braig thought as he realized what was about to happen. I've been waiting for this day for eight thousand, seventeen years.

The chapter title comes from Xemnas' boss battle music from Dream Drop Distance. I wrote this before the final KH Chi update so the names of the remaining Foretellers are my own invention, since I rationalized that the Foretellers all likely knew each other by their real names and likely only referred to each other by their titles in public. And I figured it would be fitting that Xehanort's name would begin with an X in each reincarnation.

Regarding Xehanort's backstory, I wanted him to have a sympathetic motivation for wanting to leave the islands, and being so undying curious about everything, but the point of that whole conversation Young Xehanort has with Kairi is that his old, bald future self is beyond redemption. There is no chance for Master Xehanort to have a Heel-Face Turn. He had already crossed the Moral Event Horizon, and can no longer be redeemed. The sixth Foreteller pulling a Heel-Face Turn is something I came up with as I was planning these final chapters and I started wondering about why the sixth Foreteller's Keyblade was hanging on the walls of the Land of Departure's Library.

Anyway, yeah, Xehanort's vessels and incarnations are starting to turn against him. I've seen a few fanfics and Wild Mass Guesses speculating that Xehanort's time travelling self would turn against him, because he's from a point in time where he hasn't embraced darkness or light yet, and his voice actor has said in interviews that he was instructed to make his voice sound flat and neutral for the exact same reason. But because of the nature of his method of time travel, he'll forget everything when he returns to his own time. (The other Foretellers are going to as well, but because of the whole "the path you'll take is etched into your heart" thing YMX talks about in 3D, there will be some things that have been imprinted on the two of them from their time in the future)

KeybladeOrder · Apr 19, 2016

Chapter 99: L'Impeto Oscuro:
The Keyblade Graveyard – Twister Trench:

After a long, grueling battle, Xemnas was on his last legs. In desperation, the Superior of the In Between had begun attempting to box the four heroes in with his shield walls and bombard them with Ethereal blades from all sides. Yet even that was failing to produce any results. Roxas and Xion leapt up and over the shield walls while Donald and Goofy deflected the laser bolts back towards their origin. As the battle went on Xemnas became increasingly frantic in his attempt to destroy the heroes of light, and his desperation was making him sloppy.

He was about to create a dome of Ethereal blades around his opponents when something slammed into him from behind, knocking him to the ground face first. Before he could do anything, someone placed their hand against his head, forcing his head back into the dirt. He was able to move his head enough to see Lea and Aqua running into the Fissure with Leopardos and Xehanort's Foreteller incarnation right behind them. And out of the corner of his eye, he realized that the one pinning him to the ground was his own past self.

Before the Superior could say anything, the two incarnations of Xehanort faded out of existence in the Keyblade Graveyard. What felt like an instant later, they reappeared in the World That Never Was on the Altar of Naught around two years ago. Young Xehanort released Xemnas and faded away once more, returning to the future. As the superior stood up from his position on the hard metal floor, all memory of what he'd experienced in the future erased itself from his mind as he rose to look up at the unfinished heart-shaped moon hanging in the sky above his castle.

Back in the present, Young Xehanort reappeared in the Fissure in time to overhear Kairi explain his change of heart to the other Guardians of Light. Once that conversation ended, he stepped in and took Quintus' and Xavier's hands. Once more, he faded away from the Keyblade Graveyard, taking his two passengers with him. Their spirits raced back through the timeline until they reappeared in Daybreak Town 8,010 years ago, on the final day of the Keyblade War. As Young Xehanort retreated back to the future, the two Foretellers gathered their followers encamped in the mountains and fled on foot away from the mass of Heartless hovering over the city.

In the modern day Keyblade Graveyard, the group gathered in the fissure started running towards the large plateaus on the other side of the Keyblade Crossroads. Meanwhile, over in the Badlands, the disappearance of Leopardos was beginning to even the odds. Although Terra was concerned for Ven's safety, he nevertheless fought against his Xehanort-possessed self with everything he had. Meanwhile, Riku had Xehanort's Heartless on the ropes. After fighting the humanoid Heartless for so long, Riku knew "Ansem's" every move before he even made it.

After the last hour of fighting, Vanitas had managed to wear down the Riku Replica's loyalty to the Organization like Ven and Kairi had done before him. Eventually, the dark Keyblade wielder had convinced the clone to change sides by telling him that trying to make himself into a better version of his genetic donor wouldn't bring him the satisfaction or sense of identity he wanted. If he wanted to be seen as unique, Vanitas argued, he needed to make his own decisions and forge his own path, not to do what others like Vexen and Xehanort told him to do.

So at present Terra and Vanitas had teamed up against Terranort while the two Rikus fought back Xehanort's Heartless. The two against one approach had proven to be effective for the heroes, and the two Seekers of Darkness were on the defensive. The ferocity of the two Rikus' attacks forced Ansem to summon his old dual-tipped spear he'd used when he'd faced Sora, Donald, and Goofy in the End of the World instead of calling on the Heartless of the Foretellers' master to fight for him.

Suddenly Xehanort's teenage self appeared out of thin air and raced towards the six combatants. Vanitas broke off from fighting Terranort and prepared to engage the time traveler when Young Xehanort warped past him and tackled Terranort to the ground. An instant later, the two different versions of Xehanort disappeared. Terra and Vanitas immediately stood back to back, wary of being ambushed by the two Seekers of Darkness while their guard was down.
Unbeknownst to them, Young Xehanort had dragged the Xehanort-possessed version of Terra thirteen years back into the past, depositing him in Radiant Garden's central square before returning to modern times. As the time traveler vanished back into the time stream, all memory of his actions in the future faded from the possessed man's mind. A short while later, a blue-haired woman wielding a Keyblade found him standing in the square, and raced over to him.

Back in the Badlands of the modern era, Young Xehanort reappeared alone before lunging towards his future self's Heartless and dragging him three years into the past. A short while later, the teenage time traveler deposited "Ansem" in the End of the World before racing back to the Keyblade Graveyard of the future. Once he was gone, all memory of his future actions faded from Ansem's mind as he floated in the Endless abyss with the Door to Darkness standing tall and ominously behind him, waiting for the Key bearer and his two friends to arrive and face him.

Young Xehanort returned to the future to find all of the heroes assembled in the center of the Crossroads. He walked up to the group in time to overhear King Mickey finish bringing Terra, Vanitas, and the Rikus up to speed on the time traveler's changed loyalties. After joining up with the group, the younger version of the dark Keyblade Master reluctantly explained that as many of the time displaced Seekers as possible needed to be returned to their own time, and that he needed to bring the Riku Replica back to his own time.

After a brief argument over whether or not that would happen, the clone reluctantly agreed to return to where he belonged in the timeline. But not before Young Xehanort safely removed the fragment of his future self's heart from Repliku's body first. Apparently the old man was so confident in the loyalty of his various incarnations that only an incarnation of himself could remove the fragment without triggering the fail-safe. Memories of the future leaked out of the Replica's mind as Young Xehanort returned him to the exact moment the young clone been recruited to the organization and used his powers over time to undo the healing spells used to save the Riku Replica from death.

Daybreak Town – Marketplace:

Master Xehanort quickly recovered from his shock at seeing the X – Blade in Sora's hands and immediately switched gears to something he knew how to do all too well: manipulating people with his silver tongue. Behind him, Braig immediately began analyzing the situation. It looks like Emma's belief in someone who could use the powers of darkness for good wasn't so naïve after all, he realized as he leaned against the wall to watch the confrontation unfold.

"My, my," the old man said as he took a few steps down the courtyard towards the teen. "Someone certainly got lucky."

"Luck has nothing to do with this," Sora retorted as he quickly assumed a battle stance.

"Oh, but how can it not?" Xehanort asked as he placed his hands behind his back. "As Braig told you back in the Realm of Sleep, without your ties to other, better Keyblade wielders, you have no real strength or power of your own."

"ENOUGH OF YOUR MIND GAMES, XEHANORT!" Sora shouted, causing the ancient Keyblade Master to take an involuntary step back in surprise. Braig couldn't help but be impressed with the kid's achievement. "I may not have been chosen to wield the Keyblade like you did," the young man went on. "But at least I proved my worth! You used to be a Foreteller! The Keyblade was practically given to you on a silver platter, and all you use it for is to cause pain and suffering wherever you go! You were born with the ability to wield the Keyblade, but I earned mine!"

"Now I finally understand why you were so obsessed with making me one of your vessels," he went on. "It wasn't just because you were moving down the list like you told Riku. You did it because you couldn't stand the idea of someone like me on the side of the Light. You can't get people to give you the time of day without manipulating them. I could make friends with a rock just by talking to it. You were given years and years of training to wield a weapon you were born to use. I'm a nobody compared to you and yet I earned the right to wield one without any formal training whatsoever. You talk about how the Darkness is misunderstood rather than inherently evil but your actions only reinforce the stereotype. And here I stand, living proof that you were right. I'm everything you're not and the idea that I would be one of the Guardians of Light just infuriated you didn't it?" Xehanort didn't say anything, but the rage on his face told Sora everything he needed to know.

"And now you're trying to manipulate me again like you have everyone else," Sora continued. "Because you can't stand the idea that I restored the original X – Blade without even trying while you wasted your whole life trying to make pale imitations of the real thing." At this point, Xehanort was so infuriated with the seventeen year old Master that he dropped all pretense of being calm and collected and simply charged at the boy in pure, unrestrained fury. Realizing that the old man had already lost, Braig decided that now was the time for him to achieve his ultimate goal.

As Sora swung the X – Blade towards the older Master, the Unchained Key bearer leaped in front his arc, taking the first hit. The wave of energy unleashed from the blade tore a gaping wound in the one-eyed man's chest and sent him hurtling across the courtyard. With one Organization member down and one to go, Sora parried Xehanort's blow before counterattacking with a Blizzaga spell that froze the old man's arm and knocked him back towards the Fountain Plaza. He was so focused on fighting Xehanort that he never heard Braig gasp out the words "thank you" before the Unchained breathed his last.

So yeah… Braig's dead. Suicide by Keyblade Wielder. And he's not going to be coming back in the sequels either. You all remember Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Kairi's discussion of where people's souls go when they die back after the Land of Departure chapters, right? In any case, the explanation will come in a few chapters. 2 more Final Boss Chapters to go.

Anyway, the comments about where in the timeline certain Seekers of Darkness were picked up from were to give context to when everyone was from. But you all know what's coming next chapter, folks. Remember the ending of Dream Drop Distance's cinematic opening movie? That's right, next chapter, it's going to be Master Xehanort fighting against eeeverybody else.

As for Sora's whole long speech to Xehanort, I figured that after all the long speeches to various heroes about how their efforts are futile, he will be triumphant, and/or imploring them to join him, it was time for Sora to give the old guy a taste of his own medicine. And yes, Xehanort getting his arm frozen is a deliberate callback to the part of the Birth By Sleep cinematic movie at the end of KH2 Final Mix where Xehanort freezes Terra's arm before freezing Ventus.

The title for this chapter comes from the Boss Battle music for Young Xehanort from KH3D. It is a remix of Dark Impetus, the song that plays when you fight YMX as the Mysterious Figure in Birth By Sleep. As for why the two Foretellers appear to remember their time in the future, they'd don't exactly. It's complicated. There's going to be a scene in the last Final Boss chapter explaining that little detail. In the meantime, enjoy the remaining Boss Chapters.

KeybladeOrder · Apr 19, 2016

Only five more chapters to go, ladies and gentlemen. Just a head's up, this chapter's going to be a little shorter. Nevertheless, it's still going to be full of a lot of action and revelations.

Chapter 100: Dismiss:
Daybreak Town – Seacoast Park; Now:

Sora rolled out of the way just as Master Xehanort's Keyblade buried itself in the pavement of Daybreak Town's streets. Although the old Keyblade Master's attacks were growing increasingly sloppy and erratic, his attacks were no less powerful than they were before, forcing Sora to focus more on defending himself than on attacking. As Sora leaped back, Xehanort tried to increase his advantage by summoning his old Guardian Heartless. With a swing of the X – Blade at the beast's tail, Sora quickly removed the Guardian from the equation.

Rather than fade away in a cloud of black smoke like all the other Heartless, it went out the way Xion had done a few years ago, disintegrating in tiny little flecks of light. Unbeknownst to either combatant, the light meant that the spirit of the human from which the Guardian Heartless had been created, the spirit of the Foreteller's Master, had finally been set free after eight thousand years of servitude. With another of Xehanort's trump cards gone, Sora began testing his new dark powers as the fight went on.

After blocking Xehanort's Keyblade, Sora experimentally warped behind the older Master and cast Dark Firaga. This stunned the Keyblade Master long enough for Sora to take a few swings at him with the X – Blade. Xehanort quickly recovered and started swinging back. As the battle went on, Sora gradually drove Xehanort back towards the portal. With a blast of Darkness, Sora drove the older man out of the portal and back into the Keyblade Graveyard. A powerful aura of Darkness surrounded the enraged Keyblade Master as the portal closed behind them.

Before Xehanort could make another move for the Books of Prophecies, Mickey leaped up onto the plateau on which they stood and took a swing at the old Master. Xehanort warped out of the way and created another plateau that rose even higher than the one Mickey and Sora stood on. Riku and the others quickly joined them, and once Sora had been brought up to speed on Young Xehanort's change of heart, the heroes leaped into action. With a combination of Parkour, Flowmotion, and Aeroga spells, the Guardians of Light ascended the cliff face while a Coalition Gummi Ship flew down to the lower terrace to retrieve the Books.

The group reached the top in time to witness Xehanort summoning a blue Kingdom Hearts moon in the skies overhead like he had done thirteen years ago. X – Blade in hand, Sora led the charge as the heroes raced into battle. Terra hung back and fired his Ultima Cannon shotlock at Xehanort as the battle began. Blinded by his rage and obsession with finally attaining his goals, Xehanort couldn't bring himself to warp away from the Keyblade Graveyard as the heroes of light took turns tag-teaming against him.

He expertly parried blows from Roxas, Xion, Riku, and Terra before knocking them back. Almost immediately, Mickey, Donald, Goofy rushed forward to take their places. The mouse and duck's smaller size allowed them to land a few hits while the older man was focused on going after the dog. After gaining enough focus to blast away the Disney Town trio, Aqua and Lea quickly tagged in and took their place, alongside Vanitas and Xehanort's younger self. The betrayal of his past self and his former apprentice came as a shock to the Keyblade Master, throwing him even further off guard.

With the assistance of Vanitas and his past self, Xehanort was quickly forced back to the edge of the plateau. As he stood on the edge of the cliff, the desert floor of the Keyblade Graveyard looming thousands of feet below him, the crowd parted. Vanitas, Aqua, Lea, and Xehanort's teenage self each took a step to the side to allow Sora to come charging through to strike the final blow. But before the young man could swing his blade, Xehanort recovered from his rage-fueled daze. Seizing the opportunity to achieve his ultimate goal, when Sora drew within range, Xehanort reached out and caught the edge of the X – Blade with his bare hand.

Blood seeped from his cut hand, but Xehanort held his grip in spite of the pain. Sora began pouring his energy into the Keyblade to use a variation of Vanitas' old Dark Cannon attack to destroy Xehanort with a burst of energy once his grip failed. Seeing that now was the time for him to make his move, Xehanort removed one hand from the X – Blade and summoned his own weapon, knocking the X – Blade into the air just as Sora released the energy in a massive bolt of light.

The beam raced straight up into the sky and hit the target Xehanort intended it to hit. The ground shook as the glow of Kingdom Hearts shifted from pale blue to pure white. Xehanort grinned insidiously as a beam of light from the now unlocked Kingdom Hearts struck the ground between himself and Sora. In an instant, the two Keyblade Masters were gone in a flash of light. For a moment, everyone just stood there in shock, unsure of what had just happened or what to do next.

The Land of Departure – Library; 8,000 Years Ago:

"There," Xavier remarked to himself as he finished mounting his Keyblade on the walls of the new castle. After being returned to their own time by Young Xehanort, their memories of the future quickly faded, but their intense guilt and regret for the chaos and death their actions had caused still lingered. So after returning to the past, they gathered their surviving followers and fled Daybreak Town shortly before the world was shattered, and its fragments consumed by Darkness. Many of the surviving Leopardos soldiers, upon realizing how much destruction they'd caused, had chosen to turn their Keyblades, which were originally intended to conquer the Light, towards defending it instead.

Not everyone had enthusiastically joined the new Order of the Keyblade, however. Some survivors of the war, Xavier included, were so ashamed of what they'd done that they'd forsaken the Keyblade altogether. He had chosen to leave his mounted on the walls of the castle in the Land of Departure as a cautionary tale to others not to follow in his footsteps. And then there were the handful of fanatics who refused to give up the war-time dogma. They were so obsessed with power that they refused to submit to the new Keyblade Order, and went off to conquer their own territories.

Xavier had spent the last decade hunting down and executing those traitors before they became a danger to the World Order that had been created. In order to preserve the peace and stability of the fragmented worlds, contact between them was forbidden except in the direst of emergencies, and the wielders of the Keyblade were sworn to operate in complete secrecy. Now, though, with the last of the Dark Ones vanquished, it was time for him to retire. As he walked back to the front doors of the castle, he thought of places where he could go to settle down and find a way to atone for his sins. He walked back into the throne room in time to see Quintus arriving from the other end.

"Do you really have to go?" the Grand Master of the new Order of the Keyblade asked as he walked over and gave his long-time friend a hug goodbye. "It won't be the same around here without you."

"I'm sorry, Quin," the Outcast replied sadly. "But just being here is a constant reminder of everything I've done. All the pain and suffering I've caused that led to this point. You will always be my best friend, but I can't stay here any longer." After promising to keep in touch as much as possible, Xavier switched his Keyblade to its glider form and flew off into the Lands Between in search of a place to call home. Eventually, he settled down on a small world known as the Destiny Islands. After living there for a few months, he eventually fell in love.

Deciding to spend the rest of his days on the islands, he eventually married the young woman who'd captured his heart, and they settled down to start a family together. Despite his changed outlook after the war, his descendants and reincarnations inherited both the wanderlust and curiosity of his youth and his recognizable silver hair. Sometimes his heart was reincarnated as one of his own descendants, sometimes not. None of it really mattered, until one day, his Great-Kingdom Hearts knows how many times-grandson encountered a lone figure in a brown robe on the beaches of the smaller island.

The chapter title comes from the boss battle music that plays while fighting Terranort in Radiant Garden at the end of Birth by Sleep. Back to the story, one of the things I wanted to show in this fic is that despite his age and not doing that much in the way of fighting and being in the middle of a Villainous Breakdown, Master Xehanort is still a formidable opponent. Kind of like Princess Azula in the series finale of Avatar: The Last Airbender.

The Land of Departure scene at the end is how I'm reconciling the treachery of the unnamed-in-canon sixth Foreteller with why his Keyblade is hanging on the walls of the Land of Departure. And yes, I am suggesting that the sixth Foreteller is Riku's ancestor. Whether that indicates that Master Xehanort is a distant relative of Riku's is up to your own imagination, but I left it vague enough that it could be interpreted. either way.
Well, ladies and gentlemen, this is it. The next chapter is the last Boss Chapter. This is what we've been waiting for folks, the final showdown. Sora vs. Xehanort, one on one. Prepare yourselves, dear readers, this next chapter is going to be epic.

KeybladeOrder · Apr 19, 2016

I don't think the title for this particular chapter requires any explanation. You all know the song by now. Feel free to play it while you read the chapter. Enjoy

Chapter 101: Destati:
Kingdom Hearts – Inner Layers; Now:

Being transported inside Kingdom Hearts itself was certainly an eye opening experience, Sora mused as he fell through the depths of the Heart of All Worlds. Hearing Braig's description of it in the letters he'd left for Kairi had at least prepared the teenager somewhat, but what he wasn't prepared for was the revelation that Kingdom Hearts wasn't comprised of pure Light like all the legends believed. Sure it was the source of light, but Kingdom Hearts was exactly half light, half darkness. Since it was explicitly described as being comprised of the hearts of people and the hearts of world, it made sense that Kingdom Hearts would be a mix of both, just like the people whose hearts comprised it.

It's still a surprise, though, he thought as he fell through the depths of the Great Heart, using a Magnega spell to drag Xehanort along behind him. After a few rounds of intense, battle, Xehanort called up a Meteor spell that sent the two Keyblade Masters tumbling through the light. Ordinarily, a spell as simple as Magnega wouldn't be so effective, but he'd quickly figured out that being inside the source of all light and darkness in the worlds allowed him to channel its power to achieve feats his body would never be cable of achieving otherwise. Yes, all darkness. Sora was also surprised to discover Unversed floating down through the cluster of hearts towards Kingdom Hearts' core.

He quickly put the pieces together in his head and deduced that while Vanitas had been born with the ability to bring Unversed into the Realm of Light, they weren't really "fledgling emotions given physical form" as he'd once claimed. In reality, the Unversed actually seemed to be the embodiment of the darkness in hearts that Braig said was washed out after a person died and before they were reincarnated. People like Mickey with very little darkness in their Hearts probably make relatively weak Unversed, Sora theorized as he fell, while people like Xehanort produce more powerful ones.

Sora retained his focus on bringing Xehanort down with him while he shielded his eyes from a bright light that he and the mad Keyblade Master were approaching. That must be the core of Kingdom Hearts, he realized as he and Xehanort were sucked into the light. When the light faded, Sora found himself standing on a familiar beach that he hadn't actually set foot on in weeks. The innermost level of Kingdom Hearts most likely reflects the heart of whoever comes here, he thought as he turned to face Xehanort one last time.

Readying the X – Blade for battle, Sora took a deep breath to center himself before this confrontation. As much as he despised Xehanort, the center of Kingdom Hearts would be considered sacred ground if it were a physical location. Even if killing Xehanort was necessary, he bottled up all his frustrations with the madman, fearing that if he killed the old Keyblade Master out of malice rather than for the safety of the worlds, his actions might tip the delicate balance of power between Light and Darkness in here, and irreparably corrupt Kingdom Hearts.

With another deep breath, he at least allowed the old man the courtesy of summoning his Keyblade first, wanting to make this as brief but honorable as possible. With his black, almost demonic looking Keyblade in hand, Xehanort charged at Sora with what almost sounded like an animalist roar. As the madman coated the blade in dark fire, Sora simply stood there, unflinching as the maniac raced towards him. He just stood there, X – Blade in hand, waiting for Xehanort to get close enough. Now, he thought as he swung the ancient blade.

"This is for Kairi," he declared calmly as he easily blocked Xehanort's flaming strike, the impact leaving the older man reeling long enough for Sora to smack him with the flat of the blade, knocking him backwards along the beach. "For Ludor. For Isa. For Riku's clone." Despite his frustration with the man, Sora remained calm and collected as the battle continued. With his technique and skill hindered by both age and his blinding, all-consuming fury, Xehanort was quickly reduced to being smacked around by the X – Blade. "For Xavier and Quintus," he continued as he fired a Thundaga spell at the older man. "For Lea and Namine. For Xion and Roxas. For Terra and Aqua. Ven. Vanitas. Yen Sid. Myde. Ienzo. Dilen, Even. Aeleus. Ansem. Eraqus. For everyone who's life you've every ruined. Your days of scheming are over Xehanort. You will never inflict pain or suffering on anyone else, ever again."

With that final declaration, a beam of light shot out from the X – Blade, striking Xehanort in the heart and reducing him to a cloud of ash in a matter of seconds. Sora winced as the elderly Keyblade Master was vaporized before his eyes. He did not pity Xehanort, but disintegration still seemed like a violent way to go. Still, he felt an intense feeling of satisfaction as a small blackened Heart rose up from the ashes as Xehanort's dusty remains settled on the sandy beach. Once the madman's heart had left what little was left of his thoroughly dead body, the ashes were immediately washed away by the waves lapping against the island shores.

A pity he could not see the error of his ways in time to change them, he heard a voice say sadly in his head.

Who's there? He asked mentally, slightly wary of voices in his head despite Vanitas' turn to the side of good. How are you inside my head?

I have been with you since you restored my ancient form, the voice replied. As for who I am, that's a very tricky question to answer. I have gone by many different names over the course of hundreds of cycles. I have watched the world rise and fall over and over again since the day I was first forged from the fires of the Universe. I have taken many different forms over the millennia. Sometimes I have been passed between the hands of men as a weapon of sacred power. Other times I have become flesh and walked among them. Sometimes I've even done both just to make things interesting. As such, I am different things to many different people.

So… you're the X – Blade then? Sora asked back voicelessly, a little surprised that he was talking to the spirit of the blade that Xehanort had coveted for decades. I know Keyblade were always alive but I never really expected being able to talk with the original. The spirit of the X – Blade replied with a pretty funny response that actually got a chuckle out of the teenager. As the laughter died down, though, the two turned towards discussing something much more important. Now that the X – Blade had been restored and Sora chosen to wield it, would he take up the mantle of Grand Master of the Order of the Keyblade, as the blade's previous wielder had done? After a few minutes of contemplation however, Sora refused.

The temptation to abuse the power you provide is too great for anyone to handle, mortal or immortal, he explained to the spirit of the blade in his head. No one should have this power. The X – Blade was created to be the guardian of Kingdom Hearts. Until it's needed again, I think it's better if it stayed here where it belongs, out of the reach of those who would abuse it for their own gain.

A wise decision, the X – Blade commented as Sora walked over to the waterfall near the entrance to the Secret Place and buried the blade up to its hilt in the pool at the base of the waterfall. Unexpected, but a wise decision nonetheless. When you're ready to return to the Realm of Light, just head through the tunnel towards the door where your world's Keyhole normally resides. But before you go, allow me to give you a parting gift. A moment later, a small light floated down from the wall of light surrounding the center of Kingdom Hearts, coming down to rest in Sora's hand. The light expanded outward into the familiar shape of a Keyblade.

Once the light faded, the X – Blade had one final request for Sora. After Xehanort had casued it to inadvertently unlock Kingdom Hearts, someone needed to wield it in order for Kingdom Hearts to be locked again. When that was done, the scattered worlds would begin to recombine into one whole world again. Once that request had been granted, Sora walked through the tunnel to the old Secret Place with his brand new Keyblade in hand. Even inside Kingdom Hearts, the carvings on the walls were exactly the same as they were on the real island. He walked into the main cave to find the door leading to his world's heart opened to reveal a soft white glow emanating from it. The Door to Light. Taking a deep breath, Sora stepped through. Although not without smiling bashfully as he walked passed the drawing of him and Kairi sharing a Paopu fruit.

Destiny Islands – Seashore; 75 Years Ago:

An instant after the brown-robed figure claiming to be his future self had given him his mission of travelling the time stream to gather several different incarnations of himself, along with a small number of other specific individuals for the purpose of creating the "Real Organization XIII," Young Xehanort reappeared on the beach. The death of his future self forcibly returned him to his original point in time, and his memories of his future were immediately stripped from his mind upon his arrival in the past.

For a moment he just stood there, disoriented, as he tried to recall what had had happened to the strange figure in the brown robe he'd seen walking up the beach towards him only a few moments ago. But after a few minutes even that memory too faded from his mind. With a sigh, the young man looked out at the ocean of the world that had been his prison for the last nineteen years of his life. If only he could escape this tiny place.

"This world is just too small," he said sadly to nobody in particular for what was probably the millionth time in his life. Though he could no longer remember the encounter with his future self, his path was set, every action he would take for the next seven and a half decades was engraved into his heart. His future was already set in stone. No power in heaven and earth could change it now. But even so, the day he'd had that bizarre experience that he'd written off as a hot flash or something mundane, he'd felt a strange sense of satisfaction, as if he'd made a small difference in the world regardless of what he would do in the future.

The Keyblade Graveyard – High Terrace; Now:

As the Door to Kingdom Hearts sealed itself shut behind him, Sora was immediately tackled in a hug by Kairi. They kissed for a moment before teasing shouts of "get a room" from Lea and Riku forced them to save the smooching for later. Once they'd all calmed down from the battle, Sora explained what had happened and what he'd learned during his journey into the depths of Kingdom Hearts. Everyone was relieved to hear confirmation of Xehanort's demise, having already presumed his death when his teenage self unexpectedly faded back into the time stream a little while ago. Like Sora, they all knew that their Keyblades were alive in a sense, but the revelation that the X – Blade was actually able to speak, albeit telepathically, a shock to them all.

Once Sora had finished by explaining how he'd left the X – Blade hidden in the core of Kingdom Hearts so that nobody would be able to steal it or abuse its power before it needed to be used, everyone agreed that while unexpected, it was still a smart move on his part. Once everyone had finished sharing stories of their own battles, Namine, Hayner, Pence, and Olette beamed them all back up to the Kingdom to fly them back to Twilight Town so that they could all pick up their extra Gummi Ships. After that? Well, Xehanort was destroyed once and for all, the X – Blade was restored and safely stored where nobody would be able to reach it unless it wanted to be found, the World was beginning the process of putting itself back together into one whole planet, and for the time being, Maleficent's cabal had scattered to the wind. It was time to celebrate.

Regarding Xehanort's age, because the Xehanort Reports explicitly state that his original body is too old for him to wait long enough to complete his plans, it makes sense for him to be in his 80s at the beginning of Birth By Sleep. As for Sora refusing the opportunity to become the permanent wielder of the X – Blade for the rest of his life, the reason I had him leave it behind inside Kingdom Hearts is because I realized that having the X – Blade as Sora's main weapon past KH3 would make him feel overpowered, what with the X – Blade being a bit of a Story Breaker Power based on previous descriptions of its power levels. So having Sora leave it in Kingdom Hearts seemed like a nice way to prevent that kind of problem without destroying it all over again. For reference, Sora' new Keyblade is the design seen in the KH3 trailers.

The "Kingdom Hearts is full of Unversed" bit is something that was proposed in the comments of the Rebirth Theory that the whole reincarnation idea came from, and I ran with it. While the sentient X-Blade may seem a little out of nowhere, it's not really. Back in the Atlantis chapters, the king of Atlantis revealed that Kingdom Hearts was sentient. So I thought as I planned that part, 'if Kingdom Hearts is sentient, why not the X-Blade?' in any case, the whole talking X - Blade is something that will be expanded on in the sequel. Speaking of my upcoming sequels, I've actually got them divided up into two different sagas. Since everything up to Kingdom Hearts 3 is part of the Dark Seeker saga, as it's been called in interviews with Tetsuya Nomura, my sequels are divided into the Acolytes of Chaos saga and the Invaders from Beyond Saga. The plan I came up with regarding the sentience of Kingdom Hearts and the X-Blade is being saved for Invaders from Beyond, with Acolytes of Chaos dealing with putting all the worlds back together into the whole planet they were before the Keyblade War.

Anyway, now that I've explained that, Xehanort is finally dead! Woohoo! Cue the fireworks! (and boy do I hope it's as cathartic in the actual game as it was for me to write) but this story isn't quite over just yet. You all know what comes next, dear readers. A triumphant ending scene, a heartwarming end-credits montage showing what happens on all the worlds you visit once the game is over, and an epilogue. There will be no secret ending for this, because I feel that because its role is to wrap up the Xehanort story-line, there shouldn't be one. That way the next game after KH3 can start with a clean slate.

KeybladeOrder · Apr 19, 2016

Chapter 102: Dearly Beloved:
Radiant Garden – Outer Mountains:

I wish things had turned out differently, Lea thought silently to himself as he stood on the shores of the lake that surrounded Radiant Garden, making Isa's preparations beneath the flashing glow of the fireworks being launched from the city walls. Behind him, Aqua, Roxas, and Xion stood and watched as he lowered the corpse of his childhood friend, the blue haired man who used to be like a brother to him, into the small wooden boat on the edge of the lake. In Radiant Garden, there were two ways to do a funeral: a traditional grave somewhere up in the mountains for the average citizen, or what residents of some Tethered worlds would refer to as the traditional Viking funeral for warriors and nobility. And Isa had been a warrior right to the bitter end. While Aqua had offered to help give Isa a more public funeral, Lea had insisted on doing this privately.

"Even if he died free, he still fought for Xehanort to the bitter end," he'd replied sadly. "No use in giving him a hero's funeral when he was anything but." Roxas and Xion had walked over and given him a hug after that. The two of them had never really liked the man when he was Saix, and rightfully so considering how much of a jerk he was to Xion, but once Lea had told them Isa's story, their dislike for his Nobody vanished in an instant. Though Saix had always been cruel to the two of them, they couldn't help but mourn the man that, thanks to Xehanort, they would never get to meet. Once the funeral preparations were complete, Lea began the obituary.

"Isa was always like a brother to me," he began, looking down sadly at his childhood friend's dark blue jacket with the yellow crescent moon just below the left shoulder. "Even when he was an abrasive jerk in the Organization, he still looked out for me. Because that's what he did. He looked out for me, even at his own expense. When we got in trouble as kids, he'd always be the one to try and protect me, even when it should have been the other way around considering how emotionally abusive his parents were. That was why he always seemed so emotionless to those who didn't know him well. His home life was so terrible that he just bottled everything up inside. I was one of the few people in all of Radiant Garden who he would ever be open around, and even then he only went halfway."

"We only became Nobodies by being in the wrong place at the wrong time," he went on. "After we joined the Organization, we started working on our own agenda. But over time, the little piece of Xehanort's heart that had been implanted in him when he got his scar slowly took control. Until one day, he just stopped being Isa." Lea appeared to be on the verge of tears now. "I used to think that he just ditched me once we became Nobodies," he continued sadly. "I never realized that Xehanort had been slowly stripping away his will until he was just a puppet on the old man's strings. My biggest regret is that I never figured it out sooner. If I had, maybe he would still be here today. Maybe we'd still be friends..."

At this, Lea finally broke down as all his pent up regrets and what-ifs just flowed out of him like a dam bursting. Roxas and Xion came over and give their friend a comforting hug. They had never liked Saix, but hearing so much about his past made the two of them wish that they could have known him before Xehanort started taking control. After a few minutes, Lea managed to regain his composure enough to finish the funeral. With a short prayer in ancient Atlantean, the four Keyblade Wielders pushed the boat off into the lake.

As the small boat drifted slowly towards the outer walls of Radiant Garden, Lea took a deep breath to steady himself for the next step. Breathing a little bit of flames as he exhaled, Lea launched a Firaga spell into the sky. Unlike most Fire spells, which either flew in single file or homed in on their target, the fireball arced through the sky, the speed and angle of the flaming projectile timed just right so that fire and wood met in a blazing clash along the waterline. For a few hours, the four of them just stood there, watching the flames consume Isa's body as the floating funeral pyre sank beneath the waves.

Once his friend's body was laid to rest, Lea dried his eyes, and lead the group back to the party. As they made their way back to the city, Roxas quickly realized that Lea wasn't ready to celebrate. Isa's death had hit him pretty hard, and just giving the man a funeral wasn't going to make the pain go away, however much he tried to pretend otherwise. So instead of joining the party going on in the Central Square, Roxas lead the group through town towards the shopping district to a shop selling the trio's favorite food.

A short while later, the three friends sat on the walls of Radiant Garden, eating Sea-Salt Ice Cream like they used to while Lea shared embarrassing stories of all the shenanigans he and Isa had gotten into as kids. Talking about the good times he and Isa had had was clearly helping him. It would be a while before the Flurry of Dancing Flames came to terms with his childhood friend's death, but Roxas and Xion were there to help him along the way.

Destiny Islands – Seashore:

It's amazing just how much everything's changed in the last month, Sora thought to himself as he sat on the dock on the small island looking out at the sunrise. After all the changes he'd gone through, both as a person and in terms of his powers, right now he just needed a place where he could sit and think about all of it in the one place that would always remain the same. Not even the Gummi Ships making landings on the main island flew over here. Considering how much he enjoyed piloting them, he still hadn't decided if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

His internal monologues and angst stopped short when he thought he heard someone walking on the wooden planks and platforms behind him. After listening again and hearing nothing, he concluded that it was just his imagination and leaned back to look at the twilight sky. Or he would have if he hadn't leaned back to find Kairi staring down at him like she used to. Startled, he bolted upright and almost fell off the dock before Kairi caught him and pulled him back up.

"Give me a break, Kairi," he laughed. It felt like it had been ages since the last time they'd goofed around like this. And to think it had only been three years ago that they and Riku had been three children eager to explore, ignorant of the darker sides of the universe.

"I knew I'd find you snoozing down here, Sora," she replied with a chuckle. "You lazy bum." Sora couldn't help but smile at the lighthearted jab as she sat down on the dock beside him.

"You haven't called me that in a while," he commented as he put an arm around her back. "I missed this, you know," he added as he gestured around the small little island with his free hand. "The three of us just spending all of our days out here on the island, just doing whatever we wanted. Not having to worry about Xehanort or the Heartless, or any of that."

"Well, things change," Kairi said as she leaned her head against his shoulder. "We can never go back to the way things were. That's just a part of growing up." For a few minutes, they just sat there in silence, staring at the sunrise and just enjoying being together. "But change isn't all bad," she went on while putting mimicking Sora's pose with her own arm.

"You don't have to do any of this alone, Sora," she added with a warm smile. "I'm right here to help you through all of it. And so will all the others. Just like I know you'll be there for me while I'm trying to figure out how to balance being a Keyblade wielder with being an actual princess."

At this, Sora's melancholy attitude brightened up considerably. So what if he had dark powers now? It didn't change who he was on the inside. And even if it took him years to master, he had his friends to help him through thick and thin. It's just like I told Riku in Hollow Bastion all those years ago, he thought to himself as he pulled Kairi in for a romantic hug. My friends are my power, and I'm theirs.

"You're right," he replied as they pulled way from the hug. "It doesn't matter what the future holds. We'll all get through it together." Kairi burst out laughing when after a moment of silence he asked what they were going to do now.

"Riku told me our old raft is still there," she said with a mischievous grin. "We never really got to take it out. How about we take it and go? Just the two of us."

"Are you serious?" Sora asked, half curious, half excited. On the one hand it was really sudden, but on the other hand, he couldn't say no to a perfect second date opportunity when it fell into his lap.

"Why not?" Kairi answered. "We've still got a month until school starts, and I think after all the fighting and chaos of the last few weeks we deserve a vacation. What do you say, Sora?" Sora didn't even have to consider the idea before he leaned in and gave Kairi a long kiss.

"Let's do it," he replied with a smile when they finally came up for air.

And… Cue the Credits! In all seriousness, all that's left in this story is 2 chapters worth of end credit scenes and the epilogue. As for the exact moment of the ending, I felt that it would be a kind of full circle bit from Kingdom Hearts 1. At the end of KH1, Sora tried to hold onto Kairi's hand before the worlds being restored forced them apart. At the end of KH2, they grabbed each other's hand as Sora returned her lucky charm. So I thought (and was reinforced by fanart) that having KH3 end with the two of them going in for one more on-screen kiss would be just perfect.

And mirroring the opening scene of Kingdom Hearts 1 (not the big CGI opening with Simple and clean or the tutorials, but the first real story cut-scene, you all know the one) and Sora and Kairi's dock scene was completely intentional. I felt like it would be a great way to book end the Dark Seeker Saga by having them mimic one of the first scenes from the original game. Think about it – here they are, back on the island. They're both older and wiser, but some things never change.

KeybladeOrder · Apr 19, 2016

Only two more chapters remaining, my loyal fans. It's been a blast writing this story. Some ideas were planned from the beginning. Others were developed over time as certain subplots were tweaked and refined, and a few more were thrown in at the last minute. But it's been an adventure writing each and every chapter. I hope you all had as much fun reading it as I did writing it. Last chapter of the year, ladies and gentlemen. I'm going to try and get the next two chapters done by Saturday.

Heads up, the end credits chapters are going to be long ones.

Chapter 103: End Credits – Part 1: March Caprice:
Destiny Islands – Sora's House:

The afternoon after Xehanort's downfall, Sora's parents were waiting anxiously for news of their son. They had already come to terms with the fact that he was going to be off fighting the forces of evil in the universe, but when there hadn't been any word from the Coalition military about the status of their son's foes, they began to fear the worst. They were just about to walk down to the new trading post that had been set up on the other side of the island for interplanetary travelers and see if there was any news of the conflict with the Organization when they were interrupted by a knock at the door.

Their hearts leapt for joy when they opened the front door of the house to find their son standing there nervously, with Kairi reassuringly holding his arm. His mom felt both sad and happy for him. On the one hand, she was sad to see her that her little boy was all grown up. But on the other, she'd known that he and Kairi had harbored romantic feelings for each other for years, and was happy that they had finally managed to admit how they really felt about each other. After welcoming the young couple inside, she asked what was wrong. She had seen that look on her son's face too many times to not know what it meant. Something was bothering her son.

With a little encouragement from Kairi, Sora told them about what had happened in the World That Never Was. His parents had been surprised by how far their son was willing to go to save Kairi, but were secretly proud of their son because his actions, despite their uncharacteristic ferocity, showed just how much he cared about Kairi. That he loved her so much he was willing to go above and beyond the point where any rational man would have given up in order to save her whenever someone attempted to inflict pain on her. If that wasn't a sign that the two of them were going to get married someday, then she didn't know what was.

Once Sora had finished his story, though, the mood became much more serious. By the end of the tale, the mother of the X – Blade Master understood what was wrong with her son. He had gained these new dark powers as a result of what he'd done to save Kairi, and he was terrified of how his own parents would react. She and her husband quickly enveloped their seventeen-year old son in a tight hug as they reassured him that they would always love him no matter what he did or what kind of powers he had.

Enchanted Dominion – Audience Chamber:

Phillip was sitting in the throne room making announcements to the lords in his kingdom regarding the danger Xehanort and Maleficent posed. Their world had only just been inducted to the Coalition a few days ago, and the news had spread quickly throughout the land. His people accepted the idea of other worlds rather quickly, as it explained why Maleficent had attacked the castle after Aurora's sixteenth birthday, and where the three good fairies often went when they weren't living at court.

He was about to show the lords the images of Xehanort and his followers provided by the Coalition when Aurora walked into the audience chamber. Ignoring the startled proclamations of the assembled court, he raced across the room and gave his wife a tremendous hug. The king didn't care about the cheers rising up from the assembled crowd as they raced around the king and queen to offer their congratulations.

Castle of Dreams – Ballroom:

Celebrations quickly broke out across the kingdom when Princess Cinderella returned from her captivity. Everyone was relieved, including her stepsister Anastasia. Cinderella was glad that her stepsister had found some happiness. Despite the bullying she received from her stepsisters throughout her life, Anastasia was always the kinder of the two, only really participating in the bullying out of peer pressure, and sneaking in acts of kindness whenever she thought her mother and sister weren't looking.

Having survived the attack of the Unversed that killed her mother and sister, Anastasia became the sole occupant of the large family house, but she wasn't a big fan of the solitude, so she quickly sold the house and moved into the village near the castle. Eventually, she'd met and fallen in love with a baker who lived in town. Because time had stopped while their world had been consumed by the Heartless, all of this had happened in the last three years. Although Cinderella was still upset about the bullying, she nonetheless forgave Anastasia after her stepsister had proven that she changed.

The party to celebrate Cinderella's safe return was spectacular, even more so when it was revealed that Xehanort was dead. Like the Echanted Dominon, Castle of Dreams had only joined the Coalition recently, but already tales of Xehanort and Maleficent's crimes had spread. Everyone was glad to hear that the madman was dead. Whether or not Maleficent was dead had yet to be determined. She'd apparently been killed in the battle of Cable Town, but considering that she'd come back from the dead before, there was still a chance she'd return. But with the birth of the Coalition, her next attempt at conquest, if it ever came, would not be as easy or successful as her previous attempts had been. The celebrations for Cinderella's return were only matched in extravagance by the one that accompanied the announcement of her pregnancy.

Disney Town – Audience Chamber:

Minnie sat sadly on the throne of the audience chamber in the castle, watching as Donald and Daisy were reunited and Goofy gave his son Max an embarrassingly big hug. She was pleasantly surprised when Donald got down on one knee and finally proposed to Daisy, but her happiness for her friend was dimmed when she realized that Mickey was nowhere to be seen. She loved her husband, but his frequent, long absences were starting to get on her nerves a bit. Her frustration vanished and her sadness increased when Goofy walked over and removed his hat as he sadly informed her of Master Yen Sid's passing.

No wonder Mickey hasn't come home yet, she realized as she gave Goofy a sympathetic hug. Master Yen Sid was a friend to all of us, but to Mickey he was like a father. I can't be mad at Mickey for staying away from home a little longer to mourn. In spite of her sadness, she knew that the ancient Keyblade Master would not want everyone's grief to dominate their lives. So she got off the throne and walked over to congratulate Donald and Daisy on their engagement. Yen Sid would want us to celebrate the victory over Xehanort, she thought as she gave Daisy a congratulatory hug.

Mount Olympus – The Underworld; Fields of Asphodel:

Braig opened his eyes to find himself lying on the stony shores of the River Styx in the Underworld. Since he was only here as a non-corporeal spirit now that his physical body was dead, he didn't have to worry about standing on the edge of the river soaking wet. As he took in his surroundings, he saw the souls of the recently deceased – Isa, Ludor, and Hans – walking towards a set of ornate double doors a few hundred feet ahead. Realizing what it meant, he walked into the chamber to face his judgement.

And there he was, standing before the souls of the dead. He knew the way the judgement of the underworld worked. A panel of judges comprised of the already dead would sit and decide whether his spirit would be sent to Elysium (commonly referred to as Heaven on Tethered worlds) or to Tartarus, more commonly known as Hell. The judges would be selected from people who knew him when they were alive, which, considering his age, meant that there were a lot of souls to choose from.

So to say that the people chosen to judge him surprised him would be an absolute understatement. All seven judges looked down on him from very high pulpits. On the center platform stood a man with large white wings. Braig nodded in acknowledgement at the angel, one of many assigned to sit on each soul's judgement as a neutral third party. To the angel's left side sat the three judges chosen out of those who had borne witness to the recently deceased's sins and misdeeds. While on the being's right were the people who'd witnessed all their acts of kindness.

On the pro-condemnation side sat three people Braig barely even recognized. The only one who looked familiar was Shan Yu, the Hun leader he'd provided control of the Heartless to in the Land of Dragons. After the man had been defeated by Sora, Braig had executed the man himself before he'd gone back to the World That Never Was. The rest were random souls who Braig had ultimately seen as collateral damage in his grand plan to destroy Xehanort. And on the right were three people who the very sight of made his heart swell with bittersweet joy. To the right of the angel sat his old friend from Leopardos, Emma, and finally, Ava.

His joy soon turned to ash, however, when nobody could decide which part of the afterlife his soul was supposed to go to. Emma and Ava both felt that his actions were too immoral for him to make it to Elysium. But none of his victims felt his methods were evil enough for Tartarus. A nonexistent cold sweat developed on Braig's forehead as he realized with dawning horror what that meant. With the way the underworld judging system worked, if the judges couldn't reach an agreement, then his soul would remain in the underworld forever, consigned to the fields of Ashphodel, left wandering the endless caverns of the afterlife for all eternity.

In some ways, Braig felt that an eternity of nothing was worse than eternal torment. He'd heard stories during his physical visits to the Underworld's outer layer, and had heard stories from the ferryman Charon that some souls went insane from the monotony of Ashphodel. Given the choice between nothing and torment, Braig would admittedly have to choose torment, if only because when he was being tormented, he could mentally picture pleasant fantasies to comfort himself rather than accelerate his path to insanity. So he opened his mouth and spoke. With the panel of judges listening, he made one final impassioned plea to convince them not to reward his dark deeds, but to condemn them and send him to hell.

Port Royal – Tortuga:

As far as Jack Sparrow was concerned, today was a bit of a mixed bag. On the one hand, he was furious that the newly resurrected Barbossa had stolen the Black Pearl and its crew from him once again. On the other, the treacherous man at least had the courtesy to leave him with a dinghy and his first mate, Mr. Gibbs. After being slapped by the two women who'd accompanied him to the pier in the hopes of getting a glimpse of the fabled black Pearl, he woke Gibbs so that they could begin their search for the legendary Fountain of Youth. Barbossa may have stolen his ship, but Jack still had his maps. A little while later, the duo set off into the unknown, in search of adventure.

Agrabah – Royal Palace:

The sultan of Agrabah was overjoyed when he received the news of Xehanort's downfall, only adding to the glee he felt that Maleficent's cabal had been driven from his territory. Fireworks delivered from Disney Town lit up the night sky as Jasmine and Aladdin walked through the city streets, stopping to sample every little celebration as they made their way towards the palace. As they approached the palace, the familiar blue face of the Genie swooped in from above to give them the most extravagant welcome home party imaginable.

Beast's Castle – Ballroom:

Belle and Adam danced through the ballroom of their castle, happy to be home. Belle had returned a few hours ago, and celebrations of Xehanort's demise were being held throughout the Coalition's member worlds. Though Prince Adam's subjects had been slow to accept the existence of other worlds, once they did, they were glad to help support the fight against the madman. Right now, though, all that mattered to the prince was that his wife was home, safe and sound.

Mysterious Tower – Sorcerer's Loft:

King Mickey shed many tears as he looked at Master Yen Sid's study. Although he had used magic to repair the damage Braig had done to the room, it still felt hollow and empty without his old mentor there to fill it with warmth. It just didn't feel the same without him. The universe had lost a powerful Keyblade Master, one of the oldest practitioners of magic, and a noble defender of the light. But to Mickey, none of that mattered. He had lost a beloved mentor, a loving father figure, and a cherished friend. The worlds would not be the same without him.

Land of Departure – Throne Room:

After everything he'd done, Terra felt ashamed to even set foot in his old home. Even with some encouragement from Aqua and Ven, he still felt out of place. It wasn't the long white hair, however. Even though Xehanort had struck the killing blow, deep down Terra still blamed himself for their surrogate father's death. As much as he loved Aqua and cared about Ven like the little brother he'd never had growing up, he couldn't help but tune them out as they threw ideas around back and forth about using their Master's Keyblade to to expand some of the rooms inside the castle.

Honestly, Terra didn't really care ether way. Mostly because of his guilt and self-loathing, but he also preferred to see a physical drawing of what the space would look like before committing to a design. A familiar voice snapped out him out of his moping before it could truly begin. Terra, Aqua, and Ven all turned their heads to see the spirit of Master Eraqus standing up on the dais. Eraqus quickly dismissed the notion that Terra was to blame for his death. If anyone besides Xehanort was to blame, he had argued. it was himself for not trusting Terra and for trying to kill Ven.

"Besides," he said. "I didn't use my last moments in the realm of the living just to listen to you all blaming yourselves." That had managed to cheer the three former apprentices up, and they spent the next half hour talking about the future, how much they all missed him, even Terra and Aqua's burgeoning romance. When his time was up, Eraqus' form dissolved into pyre flies as his soul returned to its final resting place. Terra, Aqua, and Ven gave each other a group hug as they mourned their mentor's passing.

Off to the side, Vanitas simply leaned against the wall in silence. He had been expecting this. Sure it was naive to expect that everyone would immediately want to be his friend, but the least people could do was show a little appreciation for his contributions to the fight against Xehanort. He was about to make a sarcastic comment when Ven called out for him to come join the group hug. Baffled, surprised, and, quite honestly, happy to be recognized, he jogged over and was quickly enveloped the crushing mass of bodies. But despite being cramped in the middle, he didn't mind. He was happy to be accepted for the first time in his life.

Empire of the Sun – Pacha's Village:

Emperor Kuzco was having the time of his life as he emerged from the small cottage he'd built for himself on the hill next to Pacha's. As he and his friend raced down the hill towards the pool below, he thought of how much he'd changed from the snotty stuck up teenager he'd been only a few weeks ago. But now, he was much more kind and humble, and honestly, his life was a lot better off for it.

Radiant Garden – High Tower:

Dilan and Aeleus leaned over the railing in the upper reaches of the castle as they looked out over the party raging in the city square celebrating Xehanort's final defeat. While the fact that the man who had caused so much chaos in the universe was finally dead was certainly a cause for celebration, they didn't really feel like celebrating. After the siege of the World That Never Was, they had finally forgiven themselves for their role in the Fall of Radiant Garden and the old Organization, but their guilt still lingered.

A little while later, Even and Iezno walked in with a bag of food from the party for each of them. In a few minutes, the four Organization founders were eating and watching the festivities from afar, sharing stories amid the glow of the fireworks. Even was fascinated with Ienzo's discovery of the hidden world within his arcade, while Dilan was impressed with the strategic planning involved in the raid on Maleficent's Agrabah lair. Ansem would later come out and insist they join the party, but for now they were content to just sit and talk with each other like the good old days.

100 Acre Wood – Bouncing Spot:

Tigger and Roo bounced from tree stump to snow covered tree stump. It was good to have the whole family together. Off to the side, Eeyore and Kanga sat up on a ledge judging the bouncing competition while Piglet and Rabbit were examining the natural water pumping system they found in the area. Meanwhile Pooh was looking for honey while Owl flew from tree to tree in search of rare nuts to eat. The denizens of the 100 Acre Wood really were one big happy family, and Tigger was glad to have finally seen it.

Arendelle – Castle courtyard:

With the wave of her hand, Elsa covered the floor of the palace courtyard with ice, freezing the fountains into decorative formations to form a temporary ice rink. Anna didn't skate, but Elsa nonetheless pulled her sister along across the ice. The two siblings skated along through the crowds around the courtyard. It felt good to finally be able to control her powers. When she was alone, she experimentally conjured up a snow sculpture of her friend Lea, who had helped her through it all. She quickly collapsed it when Anna came up behind her, and her sister gave no indication she saw it other than a knowing smirk as they skated around the castle.

Halfway through the credits, folks. The chapter title comes from the orchestral music that plays over the end Credits of Kingdom Hearts 1. Now for some notes:

I may not be a big fan of the Cinderella movies, but I like the whole subplot that develops Anastasia into a more like-able character (particularly her Once Upon A Time backstory), so the explanations regarding her in this chapter are my way of reconciling her sympathetic portrayal and story-line with the baker with her appearance in Birth By Sleep. And speaking of references to Once Upon A Time, Cinderella being pregnant was another one.

Braig's scene in the underworld was a little dark, but I wanted to make it abundantly clear that 1) he is absolutely not going to come back from the dead, and 2) his afterlife is not going to be cushy and happy just because his motives were sympathetic. I'm trying to avoid any readers pulling a Draco In Leather Pants over him.

KeybladeOrder · Apr 19, 2016

Chapter 104: End Credits – Part 2: Fantasia Alla Marcia:
Atlantica – Out at Sea:

Ariel smiled as she cradled her infant daughter Melody in her arms. She sang her child a soothing lullaby as she danced around the cabin of the ship carrying them out to sea. Melody had only been born a few weeks ago, and today she and Eric were bringing her out to introduce her dad to his granddaughter. Today was a day of celebration for everyone, and she couldn't wait. A minute later, Eric came in to let her know that they were nearly at the rendezvous point. A division of the palace guards waited on deck to protect the royal family in the event of a surprise attack by any of Urulsa's old comrades from what was now being called the Hellfire Club while a squadron of Coalition Gummi Ships flew in a defensive formation just above the clouds.

While Ariel and Eric both felt that the security was a little excessive, their daughter was the first child born from human and mermaid parents. Her very nature painted a target on her back, and that was just something that they would have to accept. They couldn't change the fact that there would always be villains like Maleficent looking to exploit their daughter for her own ends, but as long as they had the best protection possible, they wouldn't have to worry about anything.

Monstropolis – Monsters Inc.; CEO's Office:

Sulley breathed a sigh of relief as he sipped his coffee in the comfort of his office. Waternoose and Randall had escaped, but there hadn't been any more after hours thefts in weeks. Though Maleficent and her allies were still out there, hopefully they would stay away from Monstropolis for a while. The monster world wasn't ready for that level of security threats, but hopefully attitudes towards humans would improve enough for the Monster city's government to join this "Daybreak Coalition." With a smile, the furry blue monster finished his coffee and locked up his office before going home for the night.

The New World – Forest:

Pocahontas smiled as she reflected on how much things had changed in the last few weeks of her life. The arrival of the "English" settlers. Of John Smith. The tumultuous times that followed as both of their peoples nearly came to the brink of war over something that didn't exist on their land. Although she'd been told it would take months for them to return to their homeland, she was confident that John's wounds would not take long to heal. And the sooner he would come back to her. She sprinted to the forest towards Jamestown, as she did every day, in the hopes that there would be news from John. He'd been gone nearly eight months, and she was hoping that there might be some news that he was on his way back, or at the very least had recovered from his injuries. There had been no word since he'd left, but she was confident that today would be different.

Oakey Oaks – Movie Theater:

Chicken Little cheered as the credits rolled at the end of the movie dramatization of his adventures. It was heavily exaggerated and dramatized till the point that it had almost no connection with what happened beyond the whole alien invasion premise, but honestly, he didn't mind. All that mattered was that the days of him being the outcast of town were over for good. Winning the game had only made them forget the sky falling incident for a short while. Proving that he was right and saving them all in the process had earned their respect for good. As he and his dad left the theater, he wondered how differently things would have turned out if Sora, Donald, and Goofy hadn't been there. Probably not very differently, he thought to himself with a chuckle.

Deep Space – Turo Military Academy; Barracks:

Jim felt happy as he looked around the barracks in the Galactic Armada Academy. A lot had changed in a few weeks. On the way back to the spaceport, Silver had slipped away to avoid prison, but the old pirate had given him what little treasure he had so his mom could rebuild the Benbow In. When he'd reunited with her at the spaceport, she'd been thrilled with the news, but even more so that he'd come home safe and sound. After a few weeks he decided to attend the military Academy on Turo, and Captain Amelia had written a stellar letter of recommendation.

Although the rigor of boot camp was a big shock to his system, he was adjusting well, and was learning pretty quickly that until a few years ago, humans weren't known to exist outside of a small, primitive planet far beyond Federation territory. But at the moment he was more focused on another matter entirely: Doctor Doppler and Captain Amelia's wedding. Although under ordinary circumstances, Jim wouldn't be allowed to leave the Academy until his training was over, the doc had insisted on Jim being his best man, so Captain Amelia had pulled a few strings to get him temporary leave to come back to Montressor for the wedding. He smiled as his thoughts turned to his mother.

Before he'd headed off to the academy, the new and improved Benbow Inn had already begun construction. He'd been nervous about leaving his mom alone, but she insisted she'd be fine. Morph had stayed behind to keep an eye on her. The young man breathed a sigh of relief at how much better he felt about his life. Things were finally looking up, and he couldn't wait to see the people he cared about again. Hopefully once the Benbow Inn was rebuilt, he could invite some of the friends he'd made here at the Academy over to visit when they were on leave together.

Game Central Station – Hero's Duty; Chapel:

Ralph was thankful that the soldiers in Hero's Duty had a suit big enough to fit him, even if the shoes included were so small that he couldn't even wear them. He and Vanellope each stood on one side of the altar in the center of the room. Thousands of Hero's Duty soldiers and assorted Arcade characters were arrayed in the pews in front of them. They were all there for one reason, and one reason only. Felix and Calhoun's wedding. As the soldiers all trained their guns at the window behind the alter, the giant Best Man thought back to how much his life had changed in the last few weeks.

After he and Felix had returned to their own game, the Nicelanders were considerably nicer to him (except for Gene, but Gene had always been a jerk). Nothing like almost having the game unplugged to make them realize just how much they took me for granted, I guess, he'd thought. And they were all a lot better at showing their appreciation from then on. Felix always got the medal at the end of the game, but at the end of the day, they would always be right there to give him a cake with the words "Our favorite bad guy" written on it in frosting.

Because of his little escapade, bad guys throughout the arcade (minus the Cy-Bugs of course) were respected a lot more after that. Some characters still kept their distance (which was understandable, since the arcade had some games where the hero would die if they made physical contact with a bad guy) but they were still treated a lot better. Surge Protector stopped profiling them, and the arcade society was considerably more cheerful because of it.

And Vanellope was happy that her situation had improved as well. Even though she was the ruler of Sugar Rush, she rejected the gleaming white royal race car in favor of the one she and Ralph had made together. And the players loved her for her glitching. But for her, the best part of her day was when she won a race. Because then, when she got to look at the world outside the game cabinet, she could see directly into Niceland. And when that happened right as the Nicelanders were preparing to throw Ralph off the roof, they would both savor the chance to wave hello outside of their after-hours visit. For the two former outcasts, life was good.

Kingdom of Corona – Castle; Dining Room:

Rapunzel smiled as she and Eugene sat down for dinner in the palace dining room. It had barely been a week since she'd learned the truth of her origins, and while the trauma of the events surrounding Gothel's death still lingered, she'd recovered surprisingly well. The party celebrating her return to her biological parents had only just ended two days ago, and Eugene was thankfully pardoned for his crimes. Although she was going through so many drastic changes in her life in such a short time, she was grateful to have him beside her through it all.

The Lost Empire – Whitmore Mansion; Study:

Everyone looked stunning as they sat around the fire in Preston Whitmore's living room. It had been a few days since they returned from Atlantis, and tonight they were preparing to give their official statement regarding the outcome of the expedition to the press. Because of the continued survival of the Altantean civilization, they weren't going to tell the press that the lost culture everyone believed to be a myth was still alive to this day. So now they sat around the fire in fancy clothes as they concocted their cover story to explain the absence of the missing members of the group. Mr. Whitmore smiled as he opened a package from Milo to reveal a necklace with an Atlantean crystal and an old photo of his grandfather. They were all going to miss Milo, but at least he'd found a place where he was happy.

DunBroch – Throne Room:

Merida sighed inwardly as she sat on her throne, listening to every petitioner who came to her asking for help. Being queen was turning out to be more challenging than she had thought. Every day she had to meet with every person who came to her asking for her help and do what she could to assist them with this problem or that. It was frustrating, but she would deal with it. She had proven herself worthy to be queen, and she needed to reinforce that with her actions. She would deal with every problem that came her way, big or small. She would make her father proud.

The Jungle – Edge of the Jungle:

Mowgli smiled as he, Shanti, Ranjan, Baloo and Baghera sat in the trees near the river after an afternoon in the jungle. After the red beasts had been driven from the jungle, his human father had deemed it safe to enter the jungle again. He had missed the jungle. Although he'd adapted well enough to human society, it was only among the flora and fauna of the jungle that he truly felt at home. So now, whenever he came into the jungle, he always came armed with a sharpened spearhead. That way if anything like the red beasts ever came to the jungle, he would be able to defend himself. He'd grown up around the dangers of the wilderness his entire life, and knew how to protect himself from predators. The jungle was his home, and he wasn't going to stay away simply because his human family thought it was dangerous.

Sherwood Forest – Nottingham Chapel:

Everyone cheered as Friar Tuck pronounced Robin Hood and Maid Marian husband and wife. The cheering only grew louder when Robin leaned over and kissed the bride. After King Richard's return, things took a turn for the better for the people of Nottingham. The Coalition soldiers had brought back all the gold that Prince John had given to Maleficent, and Robin Hood and Little John were swiftly pardoned for their "crimes." The people of Nottingham clapped and cheered as the two foxes walked down the aisle towards the carriage that would take them on their honeymoon. With Prince John and his accomplices toiling away at the Royal Rock Pile, peace had returned to Sherwood Forest at long last.

San Fransokyo – Fred's Mansion:

The various members of Big Hero 6 breathed a collective sigh of relief as they returned to Fred's house after a successful day of saving the city. Thankfully, there hadn't been any further sightings of the Heartless or Nobodies since Sora, Donald, and Goofy had left, but there were still other crazy things going on in the city for them to go and stop. Even so, they were looking forward to the day when the Daybreak Coalition made contact with San Fransokyo. They couldn't wait to see Sora and the others again.

Cable Town – Floating Islands:

Although there was much rejoicing at the announcement of Xehanort's demise, there was very little in the way of celebrations happening in Cable Town. The battle between the burgeoning Daybreak Coalition and Maleficent's "Hellfire Club" had been rather destructive on the architecture of the sacred isles floating above the town. Nevertheless, Coalition soldiers had been on hand immediately following the battle to help with the rebuilding. For that, the townspeople were most grateful.

The people of Cable Town had suffered dearly under Maleficent's iron fist, and were glad to finally be rid of her. Restoration of the ancient ruins on the Floating Islands had progressed rapidly, and the people were quick to throw off the shackles of Maleficent's oppression. But now came the time not of celebration but of rebuilding and recovery. With the aid of the Coalition, Cable Town was slowly getting back on his feet.

Twilight Town – Clock Tower; Clock Face:

For a few years, a certain trio of now-former Organization XIII members would come up to the clock tower every day and eat Sea Salt ice crew as they watched the sunset. But today, the ledge in question held not three, but seven people, as Namine, Hayner, Pence, Olette, Roxas, Lea, and Xion sat up on the clock tower and ate ice cream. The after-battle celebrations had been going on for almost an entire day by this point, so Roxas had suggested that the three of them head back up to their usual spot like they always did. Only this time, Roxas had argued, it would be their first trip as complete human beings.

As they arrived at the ice cream shop, they'd encountered Hayner, Pence, Olette, and Namine buying ice cream for their own celebrations. Roxas had almost instantly invited the four to join them up on the clock tower. Now they were all sitting there eating ice cream and trading stories. The three local teens laughed at some of the absurd things that had happened to the former Nobodies in their days with the Organization (or with Riku and DiZ in Namine's case, since her time as the Organizaion's prisoner was anything but pleasant), and Roxas, Xion, and Lea talked about their plans to move into the old mansion on the edge of town.

Roxas and Xion both felt at peace as they chewed their Sea Salt ice cream. For the first time in their short lives, they were free. Free from the repetitive missions of the Organization. Free from inadvertently sucking up each other's power. Free from having to sacrifice themselves in order to make Sora whole. Don't get them wrong, Sora was a great guy, but both of them were glad to just be free to live how they wanted to and be themselves. For the first time in a long while, life was good for the three former Organization members.

The Atlantis scene is an important plot point in one of my sequels, and will thus be expanded upon. And yes, the scene with Jim from Treasure Planet are indeed set on the same planet Turo from Lilo & Stitch. Another little easter egg to be developed further in my sequels. Chapter title comes from the end credit orchestral music for Kingdom Hearts II.

This is it folks, coming up next is the epilogue.

KeybladeOrder · Apr 19, 2016

Epilogue: New Beginnings:
Destiny Islands – High School Stadium; 10 Months Later:

Sora smiled as he walked up to the podium and accepted his diploma. He, Riku, and Kairi had finally made it. Thanks to all their adventures fighting Xehanort and the Heartless, they'd missed a lot of school. They'd gotten caught up with most of it by the time he and Riku had taken their Mark of Mastery exam, but they were still a year behind. Now, though, they'd finally finished their senior year. They were graduating high school. Once all the students had received their diplomas, the principal said a few words, and the ceremony concluded.

Sora cheered as he threw his cap into the air along with everyone else. He weaved his way through the crowd of students walking around the field congratulating each other. He shook hands with everyone who came up to congratulate him, even though he didn't really know most of them. After a few minutes of searching, he finally found Riku and Kairi standing on the edge of the field talking with their families. In Kairi's case, this included both adopted and biological, as Ansem and Ienzo had flown all the way from Radiant Garden. Ansem was off to the side chatting with Kairi's adoptive father, the (now former) mayor, while Ienzo was giving his cousin a congratulatory hug.

Sora smiled as he forced his way out of the crowd of graduating students. His own parents quickly came up and tackled him in a big hug, accompanied by Donald, Goofy, Roxas, and Xion. Almost all their friends from all the worlds had come over to watch them graduate. Nearby, Riku was being given a similar hug by his own parents and King Mickey. Once everyone had been released from their enormous group hugs, they finally had room to breathe and congratulate each other.

Riku came up and gave Sora a quick high five before pulling him in for a congratulatory hug. Kairi just skipped the high five and went straight for the hug. Now that they didn't have to worry about school, they could finally do what they had built the raft for all those years ago. Once all the after-graduation parties were over with, the three of them were going to go out and explore the worlds without having to worry about fighting the Heartless. The sweet, romantic moment between him and Kairi was ruined when everyone decided to pile in for yet another group hug.

Everybody laughed as the entire group tried to cram into an incredibly tiny space. Once the group hug was over, they all went their separate ways. Their parents went back to their houses. Mickey, Donald, and Goofy headed back to where they'd parked their Gummi Ship to head back to Disney Town. Ansem and Ienzo did the same to head back to Radiant Garden. Meanwhile Roxas and Xion walked over to the passenger liner that would take them back to Twilight Town. Sora, Kairi, and Riku walked off through town, headed for the first off several graduation parties they'd been invited to. The parties were going to be fun, but it was going to be a long night.

KeybladeOrder · Apr 19, 2016

The Xehanort War: Official Timeline:

6002 BC:
· Atlantis sinks
· The Keyblade War Begins

5995 BC:
· The Keyblade War ends
· Daybreak Town is reduced to a desert wasteland known only as the Keyblade Graveyard

1921:
· Xehanort is born

June 19, 2002:
· Birth by Sleep Begins

June 21, 2002:
· Lilo & Stitch begins

June 23, 2002:
· Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep Ends

June 24, 2002:
· Lilo & Stitch ends

June 23, 2003:
· Radiant Garden is destroyed by a combination of Xehanort's Heartless armies and Maleficent's invasion.

August 10, 2012:
· Kingdom Hearts 1 begins

September 1, 2012:
· Roxas is born

September 7, 2012:
· 358/2 Days begins

September 16, 2012:
· Kingdom Hearts 1 ends

September 24, 2012:
· Chain of Memories begins

October 22, 2012:
· Chain of Memories ends

August 27, 2013:
· Kingdom Hearts 2 begins

December 31, 2013:
· Kingdom Hearts 2 ends

August 5, 2014:
· Sephiroth kills Thanos

September 24, 2014:
· Re: coded begins

September 25, 2014:
· Re: coded ends

January 6, 2015:
· Dream Drop Distance begins

January 7, 2015:
· Dream Drop Distance ends

July 7, 2015:
· Kingdom Hearts III: The Xehanort War Begins
o Sora finds Eraqus' Keyblade on Destiny Islands

July 8, 2015:
o Alice is captured by Xehanort
o Heroes depart Mysterious Tower
o Riku and Mickey enter the Realm of Darkness
o Sora, Donald, and Goofy meet with Aurora

July 9, 2015:
o Aurora is captured by Xehanort
o Maleficent forges a new group of allies
o Aqua and DiZ are rescued from the realm of Darkness
o Sora, Donald, and Goofy leave Enchanted Dominion
o Maleficent and her new allies attack Disney Town
o Lea and Kairi visit Radiant Garden to get support in the fight against Xehanort
o Sora, Donald, and Goofy arrive in Castle of Dreams
o Cinderella is captured by Xehanort
o Maleficent and her allies steal the datascape before leaving Disney Town
o Sora, Donald, and Goofy crash land in Mount Olympus after being knocked off course by the flying Dutchman
o Riku, Kairi, Aqua, and Lea land in Port Royal and meet Jack Sparrow in Tortuga

July 10, 2015:
o Sephiroth dispatched to kill the three heroes
o Cloud lands in Mount Olympus
o Cloud and Sephiroth duel
o Maleficent uses the abandoned Krei Tech portal facility as a lab for her allies
o Hades and Maleficent have their first date
o Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Cloud leave Mount Olympus

July 11, 2015:
o Snow White is captured by Maleficent
o Maleficent's inner circle discusses the Book of Prophecies
o Sora, Donald, and Goofy arrive in Agrabah, and successfully bring Jasmine back to Mysterious Tower, while Aladdin becomes Agrabah's ambassador in the Coalition
o Riku and company arrive at Isla Cruces
o Daybreak Coalition created
o Maleficent's allies establish a base in San Fransokyo
o Braig talks to Kairi about the Unchained
o Riku, Kairi, Lea, and Aqua leave Port Royal
o Braig reflects on his meeting with Kairi in Radiant Garden

July 12, 2015:
o Maleficent's cabal converts the lair of the forty thieves into a treasury
o Maleficent and Hades sleep together
o Sora, Donald, and Goofy arrive in Beast's Castle, and successfully bring Belle back to the Mysterious Tower
o Cassim becomes a spy for the Coalition
o Kairi regains her memories of her time in Radiant Garden
o Riku, Mickey, Kairi, Aqua, and Lea visit Radiant Garden and drop Ansem the Wise off
o Braig merges Space Paranoids and The Grid
o Maleficent deduces that Jiminy's Journal is a Book of Prophecy after Diablo steals it from Disney Castle
o Heroes regroup at Mysterious Tower to plan their next move
o Tron and a few other programs visit the user world

July 13, 2015:
o Maleficent and Hades go on their second date
o Sora, Kairi, Aqua, Donald, and Goofy leave for Castle Oblivion
o Riku and Mickey travel to the Empire of the Sun
o Sora retakes and passes his Mark of Mastery exam.
o Ventus is reawakened from his coma
o Aqua restores the Land of Departure
o Castle Oblivion party learns about the reincarnation cycle
o Braig frees Terra from Xehanort's possession
o Yzma spirited away to San Fransokyo
o Riku and Mickey leave the Empire of the Sun

July 14, 2015:
o Castle Oblivion party splits up
o Sora, Kairi, Donald, and Goofy visit Radiant Garden
o Aqua, Ventus, and Lea arrive in Arendelle
o Kairi and Sora enter the 100 Acre Wood

July 15, 2015:
o Riku and Mickey visit the Land of Dragons
o Lea helps Elsa practice with her powers
o Ven, Anna, and Kritoff meet Olaf

July 16, 2015:
o Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Kairi arrive in Atlantica
o Hans attacks Elsa's ice castle
o Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Kairi leave Atlantica

July 17, 2015:
o Riku and Mickey leave the Land of Dragons
o Hans is dragged back to the World That Never Was
o Aqua, Ventus, and Lea swing by the Keyblade Graveyard to pick up Terra's armor
o Riku and Mickey pick up Kairi to bring back to Mysterious Tower, but are to diverted to search for one of Maleficent's spies
o Sora, Donald, and Goofy land in Oakey Oaks

July 18, 2015:
o Riku, Mickey, and Kairi land in Monstropolis
o Aqua, Ventus, and Lea arrive in The New World
o Riku, Mickey, and Kairi leave Monstropolis
o Terra and Ludor are exposed, and are forced to flee the World That Never Was, with Sephiroth hot on their heels.
o Sora, Donald, and Goofy leave Oakey Oaks
o Maleficent brings Waternoose and Randall to San Fransokyo to help provide scare power for the lab.
o Terra and Ludor arrive on Maveth and meet Will and Simmons
o Sora, Donald, and Goofy board the RLS Legacy bound for Treasure Planet

July 19, 2015:
o Riku, Mickey, and Kairi travel to the Pride Lands
o Aqua, Ventus, Lea, Cloud, and Tifa leave The New World
o Mulan and Coalition delegates arrive in DunBroch
o Aqua, Ventus, and Lea visit Radiant Garden
o Lea and Ienzo go into Game Central Station
o Sephiroth murders Will as Terra, Ludor, and Simmons flee to Earth
o Riku, Mickey, and Kairi leave the Pride Lands and arrive in The Lost Empire, joining the expedition to Atlantis
o Beck, Paige, Zed, and Mara spend more time in the user world

July 20, 2015:
o Lea and Ienzo leave Game Central Station
o The RLS Legacy brings Sora, Donald, and Goofy back to Radiant Garden
o Aqua, Ventus, and Lea leave Radiant Garden
o Aqua, Ventus, and Lea visit La Cite Des Cloches

July 21, 2015:
o Sora, Donald, and Goofy leave Radiant Garden and arrive in Kingdom of Corona
o Aqua, Ventus, and Lea leave La Cite Des Cloches and make a pit stop in Radiant Garden
o Terra and Ludor arrive on Jotunheim

July 22, 2015:
o Aqua, Ventus, and Lea return to Mysterious Tower to report on their progress to Master Yen Sid
o Terra and Ludor flee Jotunheim after a twenty-four hour battle with Sephiroth, and arrive in Dunbroch. The Witch turns them into her personal guard dogs.

July 23, 2015:
o Sora, Donald, and Goofy leave Kingdom of Corona
o Sora, Donald, and Goofy arrive in DunBroch
o Aqua, Ventus, and Lea arrive in The Jungle

July 24, 2015:
o Cassim and Coalition intelligence operatives locate Maleficent's source of income.
o Sora, Donald, and Goofy leave DunBroch
o Braig travels to The Lost Empire
o Sora, Donald, and Goofy arrive in Sherwood Forest

July 25, 2015:
o Riku and Kairi welcomed into the city of Atlantis
o Aqua, Ventus, and Lea leave the Jungle
o Terra and Ludor arrive in Pride Lands Pride Lands at Goofy's suggestion to level the playing field against Sephiroth

July 26, 2015:
o Coalition Raid on Agrabah
o Sora, Donald, and Goofy leave Sherwood Forest
o Aqua, Ventus, and Lea follow Terra and Ludor to Pride Lands to help them fight Sephiroth.
o Sora, Donald, and Goofy arrive in San Fransokyo

July 27, 2015:
o Riku and Kairi leave The Lost Empire
o Terra and Ludor flee Pride Lands only to wind up in Cable Town, where Maleficent captures them.
o Aqua, Ventus, and Lea leave Pride Lands

July 28, 2015:
o Sora, Donald, and Goofy leave San Fransokyo
o Everyone reconvenes back at the Mysterious Tower where they receive Maleficent's demands

July 29, 2015:
o All parties arrive in Cable Town, where the first day of the negotiations begin.
o Braig breaks into the Mysterious Tower, kills Yen Sid, and captures Jasmine and Belle
o Battle of Daybreak Town occurs
o Cloud finally kills Sephiroth.
o Kairi is captured by the Organization
o Maleficent is seemingly killed in the battle and her allies scatter.
o Terra and Ludor are dragged back to the World That Never Was.
o Kairi and the other Princesses of Heart combine their powers to form the Key to Return Hearts, which is then sent to Sora.

July 30, 2015:
o Heroes make a beeline for Twilight Town to use the link between it and the World That Never Was to cross through to attack the Organization
o Sora goes into the virtual Twilight Town and uses the Key to Return Hearts to restore, Namine, Roxas, and Xion

July 31, 2015:
o The heroes press on to the World That Never Was
o Heroes fight their way through to the Round Room
o Sora manages to use the Key to Return Hearts to free both Terra and Ratcliffe before the Key is damaged, sending Kairi's heart back to her body.
o Vanitas awakens and attempts to possess Sora
o Xehanort and most of Organization XIII withdraw to the Keyblade Graveyard, while the Guardians of Light follow
o Kairi, Riku, Donald, and Goofy stay to help Sora break free of Vanitas
o The Final Battle occurs, and Xehanort is finally killed
o Sora seals Kingdom Hearts beginning the process of putting the shattered pieces of the original world back together.

August 1, 2015:
o Member worlds of the Daybreak Coalition celebrate Xehanort's death.
o Lea gives Isa private funeral
o Sora returns to Destiny Islands to recover from the battle.

June 1, 2016:
o Sora, Riku, and Kairi graduate from high school.

And with that, my dear readers, The Xehanort War is concluded.

I've written the first three entries in the Acolytes of Chaos Saga on my fanfiction.net profile, but I won't be reposting them here to KHInsider because I've neglected my other fanfiction projects long enough. Here are the links for those interested in reading more stories in this universe:
Convergence in Danville, a short world-building piece that establishes the extent of Disney shows being part of this universe.
Regroup And Rebuild, a collection of one-shot slice of life fics dealing with the fallout of Xehanort's demise and showcasing life after Kingdom Hearts 3.
Ripple Effects, a crossover with The Avengers that does more world-building on the Marvel side of things and lays the groundwork for future plotlines later in the saga.

I'll be spending the next two months working on my Young Justice/Avengers crossover series Secret Identities (procrastinated on the sequel so I could repost The Xehanort War here on KHInsider), and I should have the next story in the Xehanort War universe, KH IV: Connected Worlds, started by June.

KingdomKey · Apr 28, 2016

Three pages worth of chapters to read up on, and boy, was it worth it! I'm happy Braig finally got what he wanted after waiting eight thousand years to be done. Sora finding a way to letVanitas, Roxas, Xion, and Namine all out of his body was another highlight for me, because I'm really happy for the endings they received. Of course, seeing Yen Sid bite the dust really sucks, except I agree, he's been around long enough and it felt fitting for him to go out the way he did. Along with those who also died. Overall, I'm happy SRK got to graduate and no longer have to fight heartless. The X-blade was the most genius idea to exist and I'm pleased with the finale. Bravo, KeybladeOrder, bravo.

KeybladeOrder · Apr 28, 2016

Thank you, KitKat. It was a blast writing this story so I'm glad others enjoy it as much as I did. Be sure to check out my sequels linked at the end of the timeline. I've got a massive storyline planned out for the future of this universe, and it's going to be epic.

Fanfiction ► The Xehanort War

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