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kinkfestTitle: To Rise after Falling
Author/Artist:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
syvia
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Spoilers for all the games and speculation about possible Birth by Sleep game elements. Some violence. I also referenced some bits of Arthurian legends.
Word Count: 5632
Summary: Everyone knows what happened to Sora and Riku. What happened to those who gave them a helping hand during their quests? What were they up to while the Keyblade Bearers crossed worlds and fought Heartless?
Notes:osmandias, hon, thank you for betaing. Again... and again... and again. dusknobody, I love your encouragement! Everyone who posted on that ‘help me’ thread- THANK YOUUUUUUU. Did I forget anyone?
I'm a day (and ten minutes) late! Sorry! XD
Prompt: - Kingdom Hearts II, Yen Sid/Merlin/Fairy Godmother/Three Fairy's: Watching from the sidelines - Watching over those who go to war.
Despite the truly fearsome powers that roam several acts of the world, Fantasia is among the first to fall.
Wrapped in their own concerns and troubles- their own conflicts with darkness- visitors from other worlds yet come to see, to understand, and to mourn.
All that remains is a tower and a small but pristine strip of grassy field dotted with trees and flowers.
Yen Sid stands upon a promontory and stares out into the darkness.
Sedate now, darkness is merely the night, clothed in stars and aurora borealis, beauty and quiet, yet it seems like a sated beast laid to rest after stuffing itself on the most tender meats.
There are many gathered- a group of fae originating in Radiant Garden who regularly traveled, three sisters from a world known to some as Beauteous Thorn, a Fairy Godmother from the land of Time and Glass, an emissary from the King of Disney Castle, and so many other beings of mystical origin or familiar with the nature of magic... or at least light and darkness.
They joined slowly, stood on the soft grass above nothingness and waited.
Yen Sid turned.
His eyes, usually fierce and deep as the skies he conducted, held shadows. Their brilliance was mired in the grief of a world's destruction and the memory etched into his heart. The beings of light and neutral magic sorrowed to see that face.
Many wished devoutly never to see it again.
The crowd's solemn quiet went deathly, and he spoke. His voice was not loud, but filled with all the emotion he would not express, and thus, was terrible.
"Survive."
"Survive, because even as your world falls- so long as a single person remembers it, once the Darkness is driven back, that world, and its people, may return. You must hold the memory of it in your heart, and when the sovereign of light comes at last, you will pass on that memory in the strength you give to him."
***
There had been sightings of a Keyblade.
Tales of a tall man- young but strong, with dark hair and eyes like a summer morning. His origins were unknown, and his affiliations untested- but he seemed to be driving the Heartless back into the dark from whence they had come.
"-an my friends and I will help 'im as much as we can!" Mickey- now King, but Yen Sid would always see an ungainly apprentice while gazing at the mouse before him- said.
Yen Sid's mouth curled wearily.
"As you do- remember. The prophesy tells us of two Keyblade Masters- and only one will champion the Light."
"But Master," Mickey countered, "you said the Light's just the other side of the Dark- and the Dark isn't really evil, just what you do with it!”
He had said that to Mickey before Fantasia's downfall. Before he had seen just what the Darkness could wreak.
His opinion was somewhat biased now.
“Besides,” the mouse continued, “I could be the Keyblade Master to bring ruin!"
But Yen Sid shook his head and the smile reached his eyes. "The day you bring about Ruin, Mickey Mouse, is the day I will consign myself to Darkness with a willing heart."
***
The man was named Terra, and he fought bravely- but for every world that is saved, there is another to fall. For the Darkness is swift to devour, and many are the hearts that speed it along.
Merlin gathered another handful of shrunken books and set them inside his bag. He stared into middle distance as he walked about the single open room that was his small home, collecting the pieces of his existence. They were so very small- too small to matter.
He didn't see them. In his mind's eye were a woman, tall and beauteous, tied to a stake above a growing bonfire. A man in gleaming metal and armed, riding through the blaze and cutting her down- saving her from their mistakes. High above them a sad-eyed man, regal even in his grief, dropped to his knees in thanks.
They rode to freedom.
Less than a week later they were met by Heartless on the road.
They didn't survive.
Father and estranged son went to war- one consumed by grief, the other by Darkness.
Merlin had not seen the fighting, but he heard his name being called as clearly as if he had been standing at the side of his former student.
He did not answer the call.
He knew there was no help to be given now.
Avalon had been invaded- the heart of the world was being torn to shreds by Heartless and no war could save them now, even if Arthur was victorious, even if Mordred was defeated.
Camelot would fall.
Merlin lifted one last object- not yet diminished in size; a small bird house of aged wood roofed in clay tiles. He stroked the perch and the little hinged door gently, then set the house back on the windowsill.
"Perhaps we shall meet again someday, Archimedes." He took up his bag, opened the door and looked out into the world- at the slowly creeping blackness on the horizon.
"Perhaps we shall all meet again."
And Merlin disappeared.
***
Darkness courted the Keyblade Master.
Merryweather dimmed her glow as she crept around the pillar. The voices were louder here.
"-but you find your affinity lies more with the darkness. Why not join with it?" Maleficent's voice was silky, cajoling, and it made her teeth grind.
"You mean join with you," he smirked, getting to his feet.
Maleficent curled her free hand outward, her staff remained firmly planted in the curved hilt of the Keyblade. Its master remained calm and appeared to be in control, even disarmed with the Heartless closing in.
"I would be pleased to aid your rise in power," Maleficent crooned. "It is the nature of the fae to grant wishes."
Merryweather clutched her wand and tried to keep from turning her into a small animal with big, big warts. Maleficent already had the green skin- it wouldn’t be much of a stretch to make her slimy!
She didn’t try. It probably wouldn't have worked anyway.
"The only power I want is what I need to get rid of the Heartless. Since you're using them, I doubt you'll help me."
"If I gained allies more powerful than the Heartless, I would be happy to give them up."
Terra stood there and looked at her for a time. Maleficent smiled blandly.
He smiled. "Liar."
Then a girl- hair as blue as Merryweather's dress- ran into the hallway, carving a path through the Heartless with spell after spell raining from the heavens. Terra thrust out a hand and the Keyblade vanished in a flash of rainbow and obsidian shards, then reappeared in his grasp. He turned his back on Maleficent and met the girl halfway- they ducked into a doorway and although the Heartless poured after them, they were already gone.
Merryweather left as quietly as she had come.
The darkness wreathing Beauteous Thorn was powerful- too powerful for the Keyblade Master to defeat. But he and his friends traveled further, and took instruction from many teachers. Perhaps the next time... well, Merryweather vowed to help them. Anyone trying to get the better of Maleficent was all right in her book.
***
Cinderella still lived. Her Godmother knew it as surely as she knew the tradition of Heroes and the Seven Virtues. As surely as she knew the magic which flowed inside of her and how best to make it serve Good.
As surely as she knew that despite the Keyblade Master's best efforts, Time and Glass was dying. Her heart felt as thin and fragile, as unending and unstoppable, as the name given to her world. She sent as many people and animals to drift away from the world- out among the stars and, with a little luck to go with the magic, perhaps they would find safety in other places.
"Rhary Rhodmother? Rhary Rhodmother?"
She tilted her head to look at the family of mice sitting upon the mantel.
"Rhere's our Cinderelly?"
She shook her head sadly. "I do not know, my dears." She raised a hand, girlish in its smoothness, and they scampered across it to rest on her shoulders and snuggle into her cloak. "Perhaps we can find her if we look together."
***
Mickey crouched near the young man's shoulder and brushed the hair from his face.
What had been deep brown was now grey-white. His pale skin had darkened, and the eyes, closed now, were as gold as those of creeping Heartless.
"I saw it all, master," he said softly. "They fought well, even destroyed the Heartless Armor but... Aqua and Ven..."
Yen Sid sighed deeply and moved to the other side of his desk, knelt at the small pallet and set a hand gently on Terra's face.
"There is Darkness within him. Diminished, but not of his own Heart, and because he shared such a large portion of it with his friends, I believe much of that was lost at their deaths."
"Is he still Terra?" Mickey asked. "Or did that creature steal his body?"
"I know not," Yen Sid murmured. But the boy had given much to defeat the Darkness, and his current state was tragic indeed.
***
Merlin bowed to Xehanort as the boy left King Ansem's office. Xehanort looked puzzled, but returned the gesture, and smiled tentatively before closing the door. Merlin beckoned a chair to his side and Ansem chuckled softly as it stomped gently across the room to settle behind the wizard.
"What do you think?"
Merlin turned his gaze to the King. He owed Ansem his thanks for allowing as much access to the library as he desired and a comfortable bed whenever his research lasted for more than one day. Yet he, ever and always, spoke the truth.
"I think ignorance is unwise even when fueled by the best of intentions."
Ansem narrowed his eyes, but his tone was genial, "If a part of the great Darkness Terra fought so diligently sleeps within Xehanort, he is far safer having forgotten his past, and leaving it buried. So too are the worlds."
"He is possessed of a great deal of curiosity, your Majesty. I do not believe he will remain content with an enormous hole in his memories. If you explained to Xehanort what has transpired in the past year, perhaps he would be content to imprison that which lies within him, and live out his life in peace."
They sat, and examined one another's faces, and Merlin doubted that the Sage would be convinced, no matter how many times Merlin argued his side. He sighed quietly, his fingers pressed lightly together before his face.
"There is a time in the life of every wise man, when he will realize the course of his world's destiny, for good or ill, belongs not to him, but to those he sought to educate. Those to whom he wished to impart all his knowledge- all his dreams for the future." His face was very grave.
"I hope, Lord Ansem, that you never experience the pain of wondering what you might have done differently... to keep your world from falling into darkness."
***
They stared in horror as Heartless fell upon the sleeping inhabitants of King Stefan's courtyard. Sleeping, because they had enchanted them all to match the state of their Princess. They were easy prey.
Flora dove first into the air, casting charms, turning the Heartless into hyacinths and sending the courtiers away, to safety, hopefully. Merryweather had no idea what would be safe enough. Heartless were everywhere- she was lucky none of them had wings, but they could jump quite high, and more than once she had to hold her breath and dive away from clutching black fingers.
Fauna also transformed the creatures and sent the newly formed crawling ivy to trip its former brethren.
The living things- living still- were flowers of a noxious violet, and ivy with black veins that reached just as eagerly for the people as the Heartless.
Merryweather zipped back and forth, casting charms that would send the courtiers into places filled with light- giving as much protection as she could, but it was hard- so very hard. If you blinked- if you were facing the wrong direction and the Heartless were fast enough, when you turned back, another of the courtiers was gone. The Heartless would creep toward a couple who slept leaning upon one another’s shoulders and she simply was not powerful enough to cast a spell over both at once. No matter whom she chose, one of them would wake on another world alone- their loved one lost to darkness.
She had no right to make the choice of who should live and who should not.
She made it anyway, again and again, until only Heartless occupied the courtyard.
They flew into the castle and ghastly business started again.
Then Merryweather felt someone breaking the charm she'd set over the entryway to Rose's tower.
She flew out the window and toward the tallest place in all the castle. She ignored the sound of her sisters calling out and spiraled up the column of stone. She had to get there first. No Heartless would touch her princess-.
But there was no Heartless there. It was much worse. She caught a bare glimpse of Maleficent standing over the princess before hands on her arms dragged her back, out of sight. Fauna hugged her tightly around the shoulders. Flora barred her way with raised hands and a fierce glare.
"We have to fight her!" Merryweather hissed, unwilling to give away the element of surprise, but determined to go in there. She received no answer and pressed on- "She has Rose-"
"But she won't hurt her," Flora whispered.
"Won't hurt her?" Merryweather cried. Fauna shushed her frantically. "Have you forgotten who laid the curse on her in the first place?"
"Maleficent is collecting Princesses of Heart for whomever it is she's working with- whomever released this new surge of Darkness. They need the girls alive."
"Let her take some other princess then! Not Rose-"
"We cannot fight Maleficent, Merryweather! Not and win. You know that."
"Coward."
Flora reared back as if slapped, hung in the air before them as her cheeks colored the same as her gown. Fauna's hold had slackened and Merryweather flew past them.
Maleficent was gone. Rose with her.
Merryweather returned to her larger size and moved slowly toward the bed, heedless of the tears on her face. She knelt there, pressing her hands to the coverlet they'd lain over her- their Briar Rose- their little girl. Discarded, it smelled like her yet. Fauna's hands smoothed over her shoulders, fluttering nervously at her back.
"We have to go, dear," she said, voice thick with tears.
Merryweather shook her head, not speaking, not looking up. There was glittering red in her peripheral vision as Flora knelt beside her, face grim.
"Merryweather. We have to survive."
The youngest of the three squeezed her eyes tightly shut. She breathed slowly and let herself be tugged to her feet. Hands clutched tightly at hers- for comfort- to ensure they remained together... perhaps both of those things.
As one, they disappeared.
***
Merlin had given up his armchair to her for the visit. The mice scurried about his table, nibbling on biscuits and sipping tea from his mannerly tea set. He forewent a seat of his own and paced the room, tidying up a bit here, straightening the linens there, but for the most part, it was a very cluttered room, and remained so.
"Traverse Town is an accommodating place, my dear," he was saying kindly. "There are Heartless, of course, but also many, many good people."
She smiled for him. "I am here to restore any heart shards you may have found, Merlin. After that, I really must be on my way. But tell me- what have you been up to all this time?" This was the first cup of tea they had shared since the fall of Time and Glass, and although she did have things to do- there was much comfort to be had in a conversation with an old friend.
"Oh, a bit of this," he said, smiling to himself, "and a bit of that. I have pupils again- although they've nearly learned all I promised to teach them. If they ask for more lessons, my answer will hardly be 'no'."
"What have they learned so far?"
Merlin only smiled wider beneath his whiskers. "When one teaches a child- the learning is quite unpredictable. What they may learn, I ultimately do not control. What I have taught them-"
She chuckled into her teacup.
"-is a variety of spells. Yuffie has made great progress in the fields of teleportation and stealth- she has even," he grew more animated, waving his arms about as he continued speaking, "attained some skill in levitation of her weapons and her own body! Aerith excels in the craft of healing and cultivating the herbs that Moogles use for potion-making. Last, but not least, Squall-"
"You mean Leon?" she asked, waving the teapot forward. It hopped over and freshened her drink.
"Yes, my dear, that's what I said," Merlin replied, not missing a beat. "-is adept at casting fire. I have been regaling them with tales of my other students and teaching them a more," he cleared his throat a bit sheepishly, "civilized language for further study."
She followed his glance to the books he'd salvaged from his own world- lost these many years ago. Further study. The book sitting on a three-legged stool, page marked with a scrap of ribbon, was a comprehensive history of King Arthur's rule. Merlin had written it himself. The Fairy Godmother turned back to her colleague, to his sorrowful, and slightly embarrassed, face.
"I am certain they have enjoyed every moment," she said, as if there had never been any doubt.
"Of course they have!" Merlin said, good cheer restored. It made sense, she mused, continuing to smile as her heart grew weighted. It made sense to pass on those memories. Even had Merlin's pupils never visited Camelot- in the books and in their minds, the world was kept. He wanted others to know- to keep it alive even should... something happen to him.
"I have also-" Merlin was saying proudly, "devised a means of transferring spells and knowledge to a young boy with but a speck of magical talent. He needn't spend hours in study or meditation. He is given the power with an infusion of magical energy- and then, must simply practice his accuracy and creativity in use for the various spells."
"Merlin!" she admonished sharply. "That is dangerous. To give a child magic without explaining that it must be used only in dire need- to ignore discipline and-"
"I assure you, my dear," he interrupted, and his tone was abruptly quite grave, "he has the need, and he is quite aware of the seriousness of what he now faces. At least," the lift of Merlin's whiskers tilted a bit into a wry smirk, "he usually understands. But his need is great, and his time is short."
"Merlin!"
"And here he is now."
She turned, and into the house walked a young boy with dark hair and eyes a shade of blue that was quite extraordinary. His heart shone through them and through his skin- bursting the seams of his being with power and a brightness of spirit.
"Oh! Hello," he grinned as he walked up to them, followed by a duck she knew, and a canine she did not, both from Disney Castle. "I'm Sora," he said without hesitation, then pointed at his companions. "This is Donald, and Goofy."
"Sora," Merlin said, smirking at what must have been a stunned expression on her face, "is the-"
"Keyblade Master," she murmured before he could.
"Yeah," the boy said, and blushed a little, scuffing his toe on the stones. "Merlin, I kinda found something weird. I know it's magical, but I don't know how to do anything with it so-" he fished in his pocket and pulled out a heart shard.
"I have seen such a thing before," the Fairy Godmother said, smiling gently and reaching out for the stone.
Perhaps, she thought, it would be prudent to abide in Traverse Town for a while.
***
Yen Sid lifted his gaze to the heavens and cast his senses out further than his eyes could see, even as he stared into the distance of moon and space and vast, far-off suns. He smiled, and his heart lifted.
The sky was a little brighter tonight.
The stars were returning.
***
"Merlin-"
"Don't be afraid, my dear- just remember where it is you wish to be!" he called- and he knew his voice was growing faint to her ears- just as her body was growing indistinct to his eyes. For a second time, the little princess would travel to her Destiny Isles. The world would build around her, taking back its land and sea- the glorious ocean and all the people, lightness and darkness, who inhabited it.
Who better than a Princess of Heart to remember a world?
Merlin lowered his head, sighing, and drew his wand from the opposite sleeve of his robes. Almost negligently he shrunk the contents of his small house and directed them into the bag.
Traverse Town was a refugee world- both populated by escapees from Darkness and created by them; bits and pieces of other worlds- parts that had survived and wished to become a place again. Thus the reason for its strange, miss-matched construction, as well as the shoddy, but surprisingly powerful connection of building to street, and street to building.
Now, just as the people were going home- so too was the world. Many had emerged from the shadows- reforming and reaching for those who called them home.
But Merlin felt nothing.
Camelot remained in Darkness.
"Well then," he said to himself. "It is time to find somewhere else to hang my hat."
When the last china cupboard danced into his handbag, he closed it up and firmly grasped the handles.
Then he disappeared.
***
They caught her a moment before her knees buckled, and Flora guided Rose to sit on the daybed upon which they had arranged her before.
"Aunt Flora? I- I feel so weary," she murmured.
"We are home, dear," the eldest of the three murmured. She sat near, propping the girl up on her shoulder.
"I'm sorry, Rose," Merryweather said, kneeling before her so the girl wouldn't have to tilt her head- which was already far too heavy for her to move. "Maleficent's curse still works here."
"But so does Merryweather's protection," Fauna said warmly, arranging the bedclothes into some semblance of the order they had lost when the princess was stolen.
"Then I must sleep again?" and she sounded resigned- too sleepy to care much about what was happening to her.
"'True love's kiss, the spell shall break,'" Merryweather quoted. "He'll be sure to find you, now that we're back!"
Rose smiled faintly, and succumbed. The Fairies laid her down upon the bed, covered her with a blanket, and traded a determined look.
"All we have to do now is find him," Flora said.
***
She smiled at the coach, at Cinderella waving from the back window, every inch a princess, her face radiant in the frame of white lace. The Fairy Godmother cast charms of prosperity and health upon the departing newlyweds. Her sigh was one of satisfaction.
The world was peaceful- a place for everyone and everyone in their places. There would be other young men and women with a need for aid in finding their happy endings, but for now... there were people in other worlds to be tended to.
She lifted a shard from her pocket, caressing the raised carving of a stringed instrument. Laughter, good, but slightly manic, echoed through her hand and into her heart.
She grinned wryly at it.
"Yes, you are an independent one," she told it a stern tone that mocked itself. "Best to put you where all that energy can be of use!"
Flicking her wand gently she drew a latticework of gold around the edge of the shard, then hung it upon a chain of golden sunrises, grass skirts, high waves, music and a child's voice.
"You would enjoy a city, I do believe," she murmured. The laugh echoed again. "Now, you must keep a look out for that young Keyblade Bearer. I'm certain he will find enough adventure to keep you occupied. He... well... gracious. I seem to have misplaced his name. That's strange.... Still- he has brown hair and blue eyes-"
***
Yen Sid knew his apprentice when he entered- without turning to look. He also knew the acrid stink of Darkness, and was thus prepared for another arrival when he turned to face the pair entering his upper chamber. He was not prepared for the sight of his apprentice and the newest in a very long line of loyal subjects dressed in the garb of the enemy.
"Mickey Mouse," he said gravely. "What in the worlds are you wearing?"
"Aw, shucks, master. How'd you know it was me?"
The incredulous look on the silver-haired boy's face was quite entertaining.
***
"Merlin! When did you get here?"
He smiled at the young- but not as young as he had last seen her- woman before him. He felt no surprise at her sudden appearance, although he had not detected her presence before hearing her voice. If she could do so to him, she could do the same to the Heartless.
He couldn't remember the last time he'd felt so proud.
No... he could.
"Merlin?" Yuffie put a hand on his shoulder and he managed a smile. She smiled back, eyes still worried.
"To answer your question," he said, holding up a finger, keeping his tone light, "I arrived a mere three minutes and fifteen seconds ago." He fished the pocket watch from his bag and held it up for her inspection. "It is so good to see you, my dear!" He hugged her- astonished to find that Yuffie was his height now. She hugged right back, as she always had, and took his hand.
"You have to come see our house- the town- we've been fixing everything up and it looks... well, it looks crappy. But it's a lot better than it was when we first got here," she said, grinning. "Leon and Aerith'll want to see you too."
"Yes, and what of Cid?" Merlin asked, following her with no resistance.
"Oh, who cares?" Yuffie said cheerfully. She led him through alleyways and streets of cobbled stone, past buildings with store-fronts that had not been painted with marks of trade just yet, and further into what looked like it had once been a residential area. They approached a nicely sized house with a small chimney pipe on the roof. Smoke belched from the pipe and the upper windows and out of the door came quite a malodorous stench.
It smelled like another experiment in cooking.
A voice spewed words just as filthy as the smoke as they approached and Yuffie opened the door.
The inside was orderly enough- the exception being a one-sided argument between Cid and Aerith, standing at the potbelly stove against one wall.
"You could burn water! Then where the f*$& am I gonna get my tea?"
"Leon," Aerith called, ignoring the curmudgeonly pilot, "would you like to try some of this-"
"Merlin?" the swordsman asked, latching onto the distraction- but also, if the wizard was not mistaken, happy to see him.
"Merlin!" Aerith echoed, beaming. "You're just-"
"It's about time you showed up!" Cid interrupted. "I haven't had a descent pot of tea since before-"
"Now that's not true, Cid," Aerith said gently. "I fixed a pot of mint and sardine just the other day."
Cid shuddered dramatically. Leon made a face.
"Home sweet home," Yuffie said, rolling her eyes.
Yes, Merlin thought to himself, smirking beneath his whiskers. Indeed it is.
***
Fauna smiled tolerantly as her sisters did... what they normally did. She suspected Flora felt a bit slighted yet; Rose had worn her gown blue for so very long during her absence that the score had tipped in Merryweather's favor.
She considered telling them to move things along- the boy was growing impatient.
Then she noticed the smirks on the faces of his two companions.
"But don't you like this better?" she said, on impulse, and flicked her wand in Sora's direction. His too-small clothes were promptly a nice leaf-green.
"Blue!" Merryweather said irritably.
Fauna smiled gently as the argument continued. On the inside, she giggled.
***
She stood upon the sands and watched the young princess- she had seen this girl before... ah yes. Hollow Bastion, when she'd come to see Cinderella and some of the other girls home.
"Maybe... waiting isn't enough."
The Fairy Godmother pressed fingertips to her chin, frowning worriedly. Destiny Isles, this place was called. Fortuitous circumstances were commonplace here- the girl would have what she wished... but perhaps not in a way she expected. White beings- hungry and malevolent- formed out of the Darkness. The Fairy Godmother drew carefully back, but they did not see her- nor did their master, a man in a black coat.
She drew her wand out of the air and began casting- protection, courage, a little luck spread into moments where the princess would need it most.
It began quickly- a lanky yellow hound appeared from another portal and sprinted to the girl, barking happily. A portal opened at the girl's back and, rejecting the man in the coat, she ran for it.
The Fairy Godmother smiled as he left the world in peace, and called his servants off.
A good deed done, and she'd not even tapped into her more powerful spells. The girl had strong, caring allies behind her. She would be fine.
***
High above a city that never was stood a man that never should have been.
Staring deep into the vacuum of space, Yen Sid could see him.
The void between the suns and moons, worlds and stars, held voices for those who knew how to listen.
Few could project their silences into it, but Yen Sid was one.
So too, was the Nobody.
Yen Sid, who felt the cosmos through his eyes and saw it through his hands, knew the moon that was Kingdom Hearts. He felt it stabbed through, saw it wounded, breaking. The Nobody sensed his regard.
You. You told the Keyblade Master lies about us.
"I have done much worse in my time." Yen Sid breathed, and let his words be swallowed by nothing. "Is there anything that remains of the Keyblade Master you once were?" he asked. "Is there anything left of Terra, or are you merely the shell of a shell?"
What does it matter? I am as you have said- what is left. I am all that is- and greater than they were.
Yen Sid sensed the hunger- a familiar malevolence laced within the nothing. A shell of a shell. The creature all the worlds had fought to defeat more than a decade ago still existed.
The Darkness that had so greatly disrupted the balance of the worlds that Keyblades formed to combat it; that had called Mickey and Terra forth to battle. The Darkness that devoured worlds and hearts and was ever more reaching. All that remained of it- was there, in the shell of a shell.
It had neither Darkness nor Light but remembered both- and desired and feared both, for there exists no vacuum that something does not seek to fill it.
Terra had fought against it and gave his life to destroy even a fragment of that evil- evil which consumed him utterly and left a shell of existence- a body, to hide what remained. It had used the compassion of hearts who admired the Keyblade Bearer as a safeguard. They had not destroyed the man who would become Xehanort.
Yen Sid realized now- it had been a mistake.
The Darkness seduced its new host with a promise of rebuilt memories, answers found in the depths of the black. Xehanort had gone into it-
He had not come back.
'Ansem', renewed in power and hunger, sought a new host for his Heartless form. 'Xemnas' built a city and recruited others to his cause. From both sides, the creature that had devoured Terra and become Xehanort covered the worlds in a second Darkness.
Ansem found a host- but Riku rejected him, and Sora defeated him. He lay in wait, hiding within Riku, but the boy rejected him a second time- weakening him even further. Mickey had championed the boy- and with good reason. Bit by bit, all these years, the Keyblade Masters had whittled away at the creature's strength.
Xemnas was the last of it. As a Nobody, he had no power to control Darkness, and no skill to drive back the Light. He did not have the thing which could hold that power.
I will have my own heart, and no more of this emptiness.
Yen Sid smiled grimly. He understood at last. This was the end. The deciding battle. It was not a battle of Darkness and Light- they had allied to destroy Nothing, and they would triumph.
"The Keyblade Masters are coming to destroy you."
They will fail.
"You will fail. You fear them."
I fear nothing.
"You will become nothing."
Yen Sid watched as the shell's attention turned from him.
The battle was joined.
Author/Artist:
syviaRating: PG-13
Warnings: Spoilers for all the games and speculation about possible Birth by Sleep game elements. Some violence. I also referenced some bits of Arthurian legends.
Word Count: 5632
Summary: Everyone knows what happened to Sora and Riku. What happened to those who gave them a helping hand during their quests? What were they up to while the Keyblade Bearers crossed worlds and fought Heartless?
Notes:
osmandias, hon, thank you for betaing. Again... and again... and again. dusknobody, I love your encouragement! Everyone who posted on that ‘help me’ thread- THANK YOUUUUUUU. Did I forget anyone?I'm a day (and ten minutes) late! Sorry! XD
Prompt: - Kingdom Hearts II, Yen Sid/Merlin/Fairy Godmother/Three Fairy's: Watching from the sidelines - Watching over those who go to war.
Despite the truly fearsome powers that roam several acts of the world, Fantasia is among the first to fall.
Wrapped in their own concerns and troubles- their own conflicts with darkness- visitors from other worlds yet come to see, to understand, and to mourn.
All that remains is a tower and a small but pristine strip of grassy field dotted with trees and flowers.
Yen Sid stands upon a promontory and stares out into the darkness.
Sedate now, darkness is merely the night, clothed in stars and aurora borealis, beauty and quiet, yet it seems like a sated beast laid to rest after stuffing itself on the most tender meats.
There are many gathered- a group of fae originating in Radiant Garden who regularly traveled, three sisters from a world known to some as Beauteous Thorn, a Fairy Godmother from the land of Time and Glass, an emissary from the King of Disney Castle, and so many other beings of mystical origin or familiar with the nature of magic... or at least light and darkness.
They joined slowly, stood on the soft grass above nothingness and waited.
Yen Sid turned.
His eyes, usually fierce and deep as the skies he conducted, held shadows. Their brilliance was mired in the grief of a world's destruction and the memory etched into his heart. The beings of light and neutral magic sorrowed to see that face.
Many wished devoutly never to see it again.
The crowd's solemn quiet went deathly, and he spoke. His voice was not loud, but filled with all the emotion he would not express, and thus, was terrible.
"Survive."
"Survive, because even as your world falls- so long as a single person remembers it, once the Darkness is driven back, that world, and its people, may return. You must hold the memory of it in your heart, and when the sovereign of light comes at last, you will pass on that memory in the strength you give to him."
***
There had been sightings of a Keyblade.
Tales of a tall man- young but strong, with dark hair and eyes like a summer morning. His origins were unknown, and his affiliations untested- but he seemed to be driving the Heartless back into the dark from whence they had come.
"-an my friends and I will help 'im as much as we can!" Mickey- now King, but Yen Sid would always see an ungainly apprentice while gazing at the mouse before him- said.
Yen Sid's mouth curled wearily.
"As you do- remember. The prophesy tells us of two Keyblade Masters- and only one will champion the Light."
"But Master," Mickey countered, "you said the Light's just the other side of the Dark- and the Dark isn't really evil, just what you do with it!”
He had said that to Mickey before Fantasia's downfall. Before he had seen just what the Darkness could wreak.
His opinion was somewhat biased now.
“Besides,” the mouse continued, “I could be the Keyblade Master to bring ruin!"
But Yen Sid shook his head and the smile reached his eyes. "The day you bring about Ruin, Mickey Mouse, is the day I will consign myself to Darkness with a willing heart."
***
The man was named Terra, and he fought bravely- but for every world that is saved, there is another to fall. For the Darkness is swift to devour, and many are the hearts that speed it along.
Merlin gathered another handful of shrunken books and set them inside his bag. He stared into middle distance as he walked about the single open room that was his small home, collecting the pieces of his existence. They were so very small- too small to matter.
He didn't see them. In his mind's eye were a woman, tall and beauteous, tied to a stake above a growing bonfire. A man in gleaming metal and armed, riding through the blaze and cutting her down- saving her from their mistakes. High above them a sad-eyed man, regal even in his grief, dropped to his knees in thanks.
They rode to freedom.
Less than a week later they were met by Heartless on the road.
They didn't survive.
Father and estranged son went to war- one consumed by grief, the other by Darkness.
Merlin had not seen the fighting, but he heard his name being called as clearly as if he had been standing at the side of his former student.
He did not answer the call.
He knew there was no help to be given now.
Avalon had been invaded- the heart of the world was being torn to shreds by Heartless and no war could save them now, even if Arthur was victorious, even if Mordred was defeated.
Camelot would fall.
Merlin lifted one last object- not yet diminished in size; a small bird house of aged wood roofed in clay tiles. He stroked the perch and the little hinged door gently, then set the house back on the windowsill.
"Perhaps we shall meet again someday, Archimedes." He took up his bag, opened the door and looked out into the world- at the slowly creeping blackness on the horizon.
"Perhaps we shall all meet again."
And Merlin disappeared.
***
Darkness courted the Keyblade Master.
Merryweather dimmed her glow as she crept around the pillar. The voices were louder here.
"-but you find your affinity lies more with the darkness. Why not join with it?" Maleficent's voice was silky, cajoling, and it made her teeth grind.
"You mean join with you," he smirked, getting to his feet.
Maleficent curled her free hand outward, her staff remained firmly planted in the curved hilt of the Keyblade. Its master remained calm and appeared to be in control, even disarmed with the Heartless closing in.
"I would be pleased to aid your rise in power," Maleficent crooned. "It is the nature of the fae to grant wishes."
Merryweather clutched her wand and tried to keep from turning her into a small animal with big, big warts. Maleficent already had the green skin- it wouldn’t be much of a stretch to make her slimy!
She didn’t try. It probably wouldn't have worked anyway.
"The only power I want is what I need to get rid of the Heartless. Since you're using them, I doubt you'll help me."
"If I gained allies more powerful than the Heartless, I would be happy to give them up."
Terra stood there and looked at her for a time. Maleficent smiled blandly.
He smiled. "Liar."
Then a girl- hair as blue as Merryweather's dress- ran into the hallway, carving a path through the Heartless with spell after spell raining from the heavens. Terra thrust out a hand and the Keyblade vanished in a flash of rainbow and obsidian shards, then reappeared in his grasp. He turned his back on Maleficent and met the girl halfway- they ducked into a doorway and although the Heartless poured after them, they were already gone.
Merryweather left as quietly as she had come.
The darkness wreathing Beauteous Thorn was powerful- too powerful for the Keyblade Master to defeat. But he and his friends traveled further, and took instruction from many teachers. Perhaps the next time... well, Merryweather vowed to help them. Anyone trying to get the better of Maleficent was all right in her book.
***
Cinderella still lived. Her Godmother knew it as surely as she knew the tradition of Heroes and the Seven Virtues. As surely as she knew the magic which flowed inside of her and how best to make it serve Good.
As surely as she knew that despite the Keyblade Master's best efforts, Time and Glass was dying. Her heart felt as thin and fragile, as unending and unstoppable, as the name given to her world. She sent as many people and animals to drift away from the world- out among the stars and, with a little luck to go with the magic, perhaps they would find safety in other places.
"Rhary Rhodmother? Rhary Rhodmother?"
She tilted her head to look at the family of mice sitting upon the mantel.
"Rhere's our Cinderelly?"
She shook her head sadly. "I do not know, my dears." She raised a hand, girlish in its smoothness, and they scampered across it to rest on her shoulders and snuggle into her cloak. "Perhaps we can find her if we look together."
***
Mickey crouched near the young man's shoulder and brushed the hair from his face.
What had been deep brown was now grey-white. His pale skin had darkened, and the eyes, closed now, were as gold as those of creeping Heartless.
"I saw it all, master," he said softly. "They fought well, even destroyed the Heartless Armor but... Aqua and Ven..."
Yen Sid sighed deeply and moved to the other side of his desk, knelt at the small pallet and set a hand gently on Terra's face.
"There is Darkness within him. Diminished, but not of his own Heart, and because he shared such a large portion of it with his friends, I believe much of that was lost at their deaths."
"Is he still Terra?" Mickey asked. "Or did that creature steal his body?"
"I know not," Yen Sid murmured. But the boy had given much to defeat the Darkness, and his current state was tragic indeed.
***
Merlin bowed to Xehanort as the boy left King Ansem's office. Xehanort looked puzzled, but returned the gesture, and smiled tentatively before closing the door. Merlin beckoned a chair to his side and Ansem chuckled softly as it stomped gently across the room to settle behind the wizard.
"What do you think?"
Merlin turned his gaze to the King. He owed Ansem his thanks for allowing as much access to the library as he desired and a comfortable bed whenever his research lasted for more than one day. Yet he, ever and always, spoke the truth.
"I think ignorance is unwise even when fueled by the best of intentions."
Ansem narrowed his eyes, but his tone was genial, "If a part of the great Darkness Terra fought so diligently sleeps within Xehanort, he is far safer having forgotten his past, and leaving it buried. So too are the worlds."
"He is possessed of a great deal of curiosity, your Majesty. I do not believe he will remain content with an enormous hole in his memories. If you explained to Xehanort what has transpired in the past year, perhaps he would be content to imprison that which lies within him, and live out his life in peace."
They sat, and examined one another's faces, and Merlin doubted that the Sage would be convinced, no matter how many times Merlin argued his side. He sighed quietly, his fingers pressed lightly together before his face.
"There is a time in the life of every wise man, when he will realize the course of his world's destiny, for good or ill, belongs not to him, but to those he sought to educate. Those to whom he wished to impart all his knowledge- all his dreams for the future." His face was very grave.
"I hope, Lord Ansem, that you never experience the pain of wondering what you might have done differently... to keep your world from falling into darkness."
***
They stared in horror as Heartless fell upon the sleeping inhabitants of King Stefan's courtyard. Sleeping, because they had enchanted them all to match the state of their Princess. They were easy prey.
Flora dove first into the air, casting charms, turning the Heartless into hyacinths and sending the courtiers away, to safety, hopefully. Merryweather had no idea what would be safe enough. Heartless were everywhere- she was lucky none of them had wings, but they could jump quite high, and more than once she had to hold her breath and dive away from clutching black fingers.
Fauna also transformed the creatures and sent the newly formed crawling ivy to trip its former brethren.
The living things- living still- were flowers of a noxious violet, and ivy with black veins that reached just as eagerly for the people as the Heartless.
Merryweather zipped back and forth, casting charms that would send the courtiers into places filled with light- giving as much protection as she could, but it was hard- so very hard. If you blinked- if you were facing the wrong direction and the Heartless were fast enough, when you turned back, another of the courtiers was gone. The Heartless would creep toward a couple who slept leaning upon one another’s shoulders and she simply was not powerful enough to cast a spell over both at once. No matter whom she chose, one of them would wake on another world alone- their loved one lost to darkness.
She had no right to make the choice of who should live and who should not.
She made it anyway, again and again, until only Heartless occupied the courtyard.
They flew into the castle and ghastly business started again.
Then Merryweather felt someone breaking the charm she'd set over the entryway to Rose's tower.
She flew out the window and toward the tallest place in all the castle. She ignored the sound of her sisters calling out and spiraled up the column of stone. She had to get there first. No Heartless would touch her princess-.
But there was no Heartless there. It was much worse. She caught a bare glimpse of Maleficent standing over the princess before hands on her arms dragged her back, out of sight. Fauna hugged her tightly around the shoulders. Flora barred her way with raised hands and a fierce glare.
"We have to fight her!" Merryweather hissed, unwilling to give away the element of surprise, but determined to go in there. She received no answer and pressed on- "She has Rose-"
"But she won't hurt her," Flora whispered.
"Won't hurt her?" Merryweather cried. Fauna shushed her frantically. "Have you forgotten who laid the curse on her in the first place?"
"Maleficent is collecting Princesses of Heart for whomever it is she's working with- whomever released this new surge of Darkness. They need the girls alive."
"Let her take some other princess then! Not Rose-"
"We cannot fight Maleficent, Merryweather! Not and win. You know that."
"Coward."
Flora reared back as if slapped, hung in the air before them as her cheeks colored the same as her gown. Fauna's hold had slackened and Merryweather flew past them.
Maleficent was gone. Rose with her.
Merryweather returned to her larger size and moved slowly toward the bed, heedless of the tears on her face. She knelt there, pressing her hands to the coverlet they'd lain over her- their Briar Rose- their little girl. Discarded, it smelled like her yet. Fauna's hands smoothed over her shoulders, fluttering nervously at her back.
"We have to go, dear," she said, voice thick with tears.
Merryweather shook her head, not speaking, not looking up. There was glittering red in her peripheral vision as Flora knelt beside her, face grim.
"Merryweather. We have to survive."
The youngest of the three squeezed her eyes tightly shut. She breathed slowly and let herself be tugged to her feet. Hands clutched tightly at hers- for comfort- to ensure they remained together... perhaps both of those things.
As one, they disappeared.
***
Merlin had given up his armchair to her for the visit. The mice scurried about his table, nibbling on biscuits and sipping tea from his mannerly tea set. He forewent a seat of his own and paced the room, tidying up a bit here, straightening the linens there, but for the most part, it was a very cluttered room, and remained so.
"Traverse Town is an accommodating place, my dear," he was saying kindly. "There are Heartless, of course, but also many, many good people."
She smiled for him. "I am here to restore any heart shards you may have found, Merlin. After that, I really must be on my way. But tell me- what have you been up to all this time?" This was the first cup of tea they had shared since the fall of Time and Glass, and although she did have things to do- there was much comfort to be had in a conversation with an old friend.
"Oh, a bit of this," he said, smiling to himself, "and a bit of that. I have pupils again- although they've nearly learned all I promised to teach them. If they ask for more lessons, my answer will hardly be 'no'."
"What have they learned so far?"
Merlin only smiled wider beneath his whiskers. "When one teaches a child- the learning is quite unpredictable. What they may learn, I ultimately do not control. What I have taught them-"
She chuckled into her teacup.
"-is a variety of spells. Yuffie has made great progress in the fields of teleportation and stealth- she has even," he grew more animated, waving his arms about as he continued speaking, "attained some skill in levitation of her weapons and her own body! Aerith excels in the craft of healing and cultivating the herbs that Moogles use for potion-making. Last, but not least, Squall-"
"You mean Leon?" she asked, waving the teapot forward. It hopped over and freshened her drink.
"Yes, my dear, that's what I said," Merlin replied, not missing a beat. "-is adept at casting fire. I have been regaling them with tales of my other students and teaching them a more," he cleared his throat a bit sheepishly, "civilized language for further study."
She followed his glance to the books he'd salvaged from his own world- lost these many years ago. Further study. The book sitting on a three-legged stool, page marked with a scrap of ribbon, was a comprehensive history of King Arthur's rule. Merlin had written it himself. The Fairy Godmother turned back to her colleague, to his sorrowful, and slightly embarrassed, face.
"I am certain they have enjoyed every moment," she said, as if there had never been any doubt.
"Of course they have!" Merlin said, good cheer restored. It made sense, she mused, continuing to smile as her heart grew weighted. It made sense to pass on those memories. Even had Merlin's pupils never visited Camelot- in the books and in their minds, the world was kept. He wanted others to know- to keep it alive even should... something happen to him.
"I have also-" Merlin was saying proudly, "devised a means of transferring spells and knowledge to a young boy with but a speck of magical talent. He needn't spend hours in study or meditation. He is given the power with an infusion of magical energy- and then, must simply practice his accuracy and creativity in use for the various spells."
"Merlin!" she admonished sharply. "That is dangerous. To give a child magic without explaining that it must be used only in dire need- to ignore discipline and-"
"I assure you, my dear," he interrupted, and his tone was abruptly quite grave, "he has the need, and he is quite aware of the seriousness of what he now faces. At least," the lift of Merlin's whiskers tilted a bit into a wry smirk, "he usually understands. But his need is great, and his time is short."
"Merlin!"
"And here he is now."
She turned, and into the house walked a young boy with dark hair and eyes a shade of blue that was quite extraordinary. His heart shone through them and through his skin- bursting the seams of his being with power and a brightness of spirit.
"Oh! Hello," he grinned as he walked up to them, followed by a duck she knew, and a canine she did not, both from Disney Castle. "I'm Sora," he said without hesitation, then pointed at his companions. "This is Donald, and Goofy."
"Sora," Merlin said, smirking at what must have been a stunned expression on her face, "is the-"
"Keyblade Master," she murmured before he could.
"Yeah," the boy said, and blushed a little, scuffing his toe on the stones. "Merlin, I kinda found something weird. I know it's magical, but I don't know how to do anything with it so-" he fished in his pocket and pulled out a heart shard.
"I have seen such a thing before," the Fairy Godmother said, smiling gently and reaching out for the stone.
Perhaps, she thought, it would be prudent to abide in Traverse Town for a while.
***
Yen Sid lifted his gaze to the heavens and cast his senses out further than his eyes could see, even as he stared into the distance of moon and space and vast, far-off suns. He smiled, and his heart lifted.
The sky was a little brighter tonight.
The stars were returning.
***
"Merlin-"
"Don't be afraid, my dear- just remember where it is you wish to be!" he called- and he knew his voice was growing faint to her ears- just as her body was growing indistinct to his eyes. For a second time, the little princess would travel to her Destiny Isles. The world would build around her, taking back its land and sea- the glorious ocean and all the people, lightness and darkness, who inhabited it.
Who better than a Princess of Heart to remember a world?
Merlin lowered his head, sighing, and drew his wand from the opposite sleeve of his robes. Almost negligently he shrunk the contents of his small house and directed them into the bag.
Traverse Town was a refugee world- both populated by escapees from Darkness and created by them; bits and pieces of other worlds- parts that had survived and wished to become a place again. Thus the reason for its strange, miss-matched construction, as well as the shoddy, but surprisingly powerful connection of building to street, and street to building.
Now, just as the people were going home- so too was the world. Many had emerged from the shadows- reforming and reaching for those who called them home.
But Merlin felt nothing.
Camelot remained in Darkness.
"Well then," he said to himself. "It is time to find somewhere else to hang my hat."
When the last china cupboard danced into his handbag, he closed it up and firmly grasped the handles.
Then he disappeared.
***
They caught her a moment before her knees buckled, and Flora guided Rose to sit on the daybed upon which they had arranged her before.
"Aunt Flora? I- I feel so weary," she murmured.
"We are home, dear," the eldest of the three murmured. She sat near, propping the girl up on her shoulder.
"I'm sorry, Rose," Merryweather said, kneeling before her so the girl wouldn't have to tilt her head- which was already far too heavy for her to move. "Maleficent's curse still works here."
"But so does Merryweather's protection," Fauna said warmly, arranging the bedclothes into some semblance of the order they had lost when the princess was stolen.
"Then I must sleep again?" and she sounded resigned- too sleepy to care much about what was happening to her.
"'True love's kiss, the spell shall break,'" Merryweather quoted. "He'll be sure to find you, now that we're back!"
Rose smiled faintly, and succumbed. The Fairies laid her down upon the bed, covered her with a blanket, and traded a determined look.
"All we have to do now is find him," Flora said.
***
She smiled at the coach, at Cinderella waving from the back window, every inch a princess, her face radiant in the frame of white lace. The Fairy Godmother cast charms of prosperity and health upon the departing newlyweds. Her sigh was one of satisfaction.
The world was peaceful- a place for everyone and everyone in their places. There would be other young men and women with a need for aid in finding their happy endings, but for now... there were people in other worlds to be tended to.
She lifted a shard from her pocket, caressing the raised carving of a stringed instrument. Laughter, good, but slightly manic, echoed through her hand and into her heart.
She grinned wryly at it.
"Yes, you are an independent one," she told it a stern tone that mocked itself. "Best to put you where all that energy can be of use!"
Flicking her wand gently she drew a latticework of gold around the edge of the shard, then hung it upon a chain of golden sunrises, grass skirts, high waves, music and a child's voice.
"You would enjoy a city, I do believe," she murmured. The laugh echoed again. "Now, you must keep a look out for that young Keyblade Bearer. I'm certain he will find enough adventure to keep you occupied. He... well... gracious. I seem to have misplaced his name. That's strange.... Still- he has brown hair and blue eyes-"
***
Yen Sid knew his apprentice when he entered- without turning to look. He also knew the acrid stink of Darkness, and was thus prepared for another arrival when he turned to face the pair entering his upper chamber. He was not prepared for the sight of his apprentice and the newest in a very long line of loyal subjects dressed in the garb of the enemy.
"Mickey Mouse," he said gravely. "What in the worlds are you wearing?"
"Aw, shucks, master. How'd you know it was me?"
The incredulous look on the silver-haired boy's face was quite entertaining.
***
"Merlin! When did you get here?"
He smiled at the young- but not as young as he had last seen her- woman before him. He felt no surprise at her sudden appearance, although he had not detected her presence before hearing her voice. If she could do so to him, she could do the same to the Heartless.
He couldn't remember the last time he'd felt so proud.
No... he could.
"Merlin?" Yuffie put a hand on his shoulder and he managed a smile. She smiled back, eyes still worried.
"To answer your question," he said, holding up a finger, keeping his tone light, "I arrived a mere three minutes and fifteen seconds ago." He fished the pocket watch from his bag and held it up for her inspection. "It is so good to see you, my dear!" He hugged her- astonished to find that Yuffie was his height now. She hugged right back, as she always had, and took his hand.
"You have to come see our house- the town- we've been fixing everything up and it looks... well, it looks crappy. But it's a lot better than it was when we first got here," she said, grinning. "Leon and Aerith'll want to see you too."
"Yes, and what of Cid?" Merlin asked, following her with no resistance.
"Oh, who cares?" Yuffie said cheerfully. She led him through alleyways and streets of cobbled stone, past buildings with store-fronts that had not been painted with marks of trade just yet, and further into what looked like it had once been a residential area. They approached a nicely sized house with a small chimney pipe on the roof. Smoke belched from the pipe and the upper windows and out of the door came quite a malodorous stench.
It smelled like another experiment in cooking.
A voice spewed words just as filthy as the smoke as they approached and Yuffie opened the door.
The inside was orderly enough- the exception being a one-sided argument between Cid and Aerith, standing at the potbelly stove against one wall.
"You could burn water! Then where the f*$& am I gonna get my tea?"
"Leon," Aerith called, ignoring the curmudgeonly pilot, "would you like to try some of this-"
"Merlin?" the swordsman asked, latching onto the distraction- but also, if the wizard was not mistaken, happy to see him.
"Merlin!" Aerith echoed, beaming. "You're just-"
"It's about time you showed up!" Cid interrupted. "I haven't had a descent pot of tea since before-"
"Now that's not true, Cid," Aerith said gently. "I fixed a pot of mint and sardine just the other day."
Cid shuddered dramatically. Leon made a face.
"Home sweet home," Yuffie said, rolling her eyes.
Yes, Merlin thought to himself, smirking beneath his whiskers. Indeed it is.
***
Fauna smiled tolerantly as her sisters did... what they normally did. She suspected Flora felt a bit slighted yet; Rose had worn her gown blue for so very long during her absence that the score had tipped in Merryweather's favor.
She considered telling them to move things along- the boy was growing impatient.
Then she noticed the smirks on the faces of his two companions.
"But don't you like this better?" she said, on impulse, and flicked her wand in Sora's direction. His too-small clothes were promptly a nice leaf-green.
"Blue!" Merryweather said irritably.
Fauna smiled gently as the argument continued. On the inside, she giggled.
***
She stood upon the sands and watched the young princess- she had seen this girl before... ah yes. Hollow Bastion, when she'd come to see Cinderella and some of the other girls home.
"Maybe... waiting isn't enough."
The Fairy Godmother pressed fingertips to her chin, frowning worriedly. Destiny Isles, this place was called. Fortuitous circumstances were commonplace here- the girl would have what she wished... but perhaps not in a way she expected. White beings- hungry and malevolent- formed out of the Darkness. The Fairy Godmother drew carefully back, but they did not see her- nor did their master, a man in a black coat.
She drew her wand out of the air and began casting- protection, courage, a little luck spread into moments where the princess would need it most.
It began quickly- a lanky yellow hound appeared from another portal and sprinted to the girl, barking happily. A portal opened at the girl's back and, rejecting the man in the coat, she ran for it.
The Fairy Godmother smiled as he left the world in peace, and called his servants off.
A good deed done, and she'd not even tapped into her more powerful spells. The girl had strong, caring allies behind her. She would be fine.
***
High above a city that never was stood a man that never should have been.
Staring deep into the vacuum of space, Yen Sid could see him.
The void between the suns and moons, worlds and stars, held voices for those who knew how to listen.
Few could project their silences into it, but Yen Sid was one.
So too, was the Nobody.
Yen Sid, who felt the cosmos through his eyes and saw it through his hands, knew the moon that was Kingdom Hearts. He felt it stabbed through, saw it wounded, breaking. The Nobody sensed his regard.
You. You told the Keyblade Master lies about us.
"I have done much worse in my time." Yen Sid breathed, and let his words be swallowed by nothing. "Is there anything that remains of the Keyblade Master you once were?" he asked. "Is there anything left of Terra, or are you merely the shell of a shell?"
What does it matter? I am as you have said- what is left. I am all that is- and greater than they were.
Yen Sid sensed the hunger- a familiar malevolence laced within the nothing. A shell of a shell. The creature all the worlds had fought to defeat more than a decade ago still existed.
The Darkness that had so greatly disrupted the balance of the worlds that Keyblades formed to combat it; that had called Mickey and Terra forth to battle. The Darkness that devoured worlds and hearts and was ever more reaching. All that remained of it- was there, in the shell of a shell.
It had neither Darkness nor Light but remembered both- and desired and feared both, for there exists no vacuum that something does not seek to fill it.
Terra had fought against it and gave his life to destroy even a fragment of that evil- evil which consumed him utterly and left a shell of existence- a body, to hide what remained. It had used the compassion of hearts who admired the Keyblade Bearer as a safeguard. They had not destroyed the man who would become Xehanort.
Yen Sid realized now- it had been a mistake.
The Darkness seduced its new host with a promise of rebuilt memories, answers found in the depths of the black. Xehanort had gone into it-
He had not come back.
'Ansem', renewed in power and hunger, sought a new host for his Heartless form. 'Xemnas' built a city and recruited others to his cause. From both sides, the creature that had devoured Terra and become Xehanort covered the worlds in a second Darkness.
Ansem found a host- but Riku rejected him, and Sora defeated him. He lay in wait, hiding within Riku, but the boy rejected him a second time- weakening him even further. Mickey had championed the boy- and with good reason. Bit by bit, all these years, the Keyblade Masters had whittled away at the creature's strength.
Xemnas was the last of it. As a Nobody, he had no power to control Darkness, and no skill to drive back the Light. He did not have the thing which could hold that power.
I will have my own heart, and no more of this emptiness.
Yen Sid smiled grimly. He understood at last. This was the end. The deciding battle. It was not a battle of Darkness and Light- they had allied to destroy Nothing, and they would triumph.
"The Keyblade Masters are coming to destroy you."
They will fail.
"You will fail. You fear them."
I fear nothing.
"You will become nothing."
Yen Sid watched as the shell's attention turned from him.
The battle was joined.
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no subject
Date: 2007-10-10 04:46 am (UTC)Oh this is fantastic!
Wonderous job!
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Date: 2007-12-15 04:29 am (UTC)Both for reading, and for letting me know you enjoyed it. :D
(I think some people might have looked at the *ahem* 'paring' and went 'bwuh?' Nope, no sex here. XD)
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Date: 2007-10-10 10:21 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-12-15 04:30 am (UTC)I appreciate your review, and I'm glad you liked it!
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Date: 2008-02-08 04:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-03-26 04:40 pm (UTC)It was fun to take a little scene here and there. :3 I adore Merlin, and the thought of what he was up to during the games- the family he formed with the HB restoration committee and... hee~ love. Love for the bearded one~.
Yen Sid is a compelling character (who scared the hell out of me in Fantasia) and it was interesting to see events through his eyes.
Then of course the ladies~ helping out and trying to protect their own princesses and guiding Sora. Way to multi-task! XD
Thanks!