Final Fantasy XV - Kingdom Hearts

Part 78

Summary: Two warriors of Light, the Chosen King and Keyblade Master, face an unseen Darkness.

It couldn't be real…This had to be a nightmare…

Xehanort must have cast a spell to try and trick him, or maybe he had taken too many hits to the head and couldn't tell if he was dreaming or this was a trick of his mind from the fights.

Try as a desperately might, even pleading to some deity to show him some mercy or grant him peace of mind, this was the reality in which he was in. Staring down this nightmarish looking being, to see his sweet and innocent but strong heart Kairi be turned into this horrible imitation ripped his heart into pieces. The darkness that once couldn't even touch her now cloaks her form as if she were a master of the darkness, her hands that once comforted him in his weakest moments now looked stained with blood.

Her smiles that once made him feel so loved and warm were gone, replaced but cruel and evil ones that were a straight-up mockery of Kairi's, her eyes were relishing his crushed looks, those horrible golden eyes that had haunted so many in their nightmares didn't deserve to be worn by her. The keyblade in her hand a far cry to her smaller and elegant made blades, a crude and monstrous key unfit for someone as angelic as her.

And likely the weapon that will snuff his light out…

He couldn't move, paralyzed with fear and despair, his hands unclenched as his shoulder shake. She hadn't even attempted to attack him yet, rather she stood there with a smirk on her lips, drinking his misery. Not even taunting him, ridiculing him for his cowardice or hesitation to combat her. How could he even think of raising his keyblade at her, he couldn't even imagine performing the act regardless of preserving himself.

This was nothing like sparring with her, even if she wasn't the same novice when she first reunited with him. He had long accepted her as an equal and in the sparring matches, he treated her as such to a degree, however small that was. He would still, out of an old habit, restrain his full strength and let her get a few advantages over him now and then just so she would learn from those short mistakes on her end. But here there is no sparring, no holding nor would there be anyone to supervise should one take a more grievous hit.

This is a battle to the death, where only one of them would walk away. The last clash between light and darkness, where the final key will be forged.

His hands shake, his sweat runs down his forehead and his heart is being ripped asunder in pain, unable to speak. Kairi-Nort on the other hand was idly swinging her keyblade with amusement, patiently waiting for the boy who once owned her heart to make the first move. But he couldn't even think of it, just the mere thought of harming Kairi made him feel sick to his core. Yet it was how he managed to save Aqua in the past, by expelling the darkness from her heart.

The only difference here now is the very moment his keyblade clashes with hers the last key will be forged and Xehanort will get what he needs to fulfill his goal. And for all Sora knew, that would delay his chance, even permanently, of saving Kairi from the darkness. What if Xehanort uses her to delay the guardians from stopping him, how many could Kairi take out of the battle before tragedy struck and she would join the fallen?

For the first time, Sora needed to decide who he could save…the love of his heart, or the worlds?

"Are you done stammering like a wuss?", Kairi-Nort mocks, "I'm getting antsy over here".

"K-Kairi…please…", begged Sora, "This isn't you! You're stronger than Xehanort! Fight back against the darkness!". Kairi-Nort mockingly smiles at him, then shakes her head with a scoff. "Sorry, but your words aren't going to cut it this time, Sora", she lectures. Even hearing his name from her in this state felt so wrong and mocking to him, all the love and affection from it is gone and in their place sarcasm and disdain.

She lifts her keyblade to aim it at his heart, and then says: "You're gonna have to call your key, otherwise you'll be seeing the other vessels much sooner than you think".

Sub-consciously Sora took a step back from her, unable to do anything else as she walked towards him, the darkness slowly growing around her as even the earth takes a blackened stain beneath her feet. Her grin so cruel and wicked he could feel his will sap away like it was bleeding from an open wound on his heart, his strength leaving his body. Kairi-Nort then rushes toward him like a bullet and closes the distance between them in a matter of seconds, both hands gripping her keyblade as she reeled it for a swing.

Only by instinct, Sora dashes away from her attack by side-stepping, her keyblade swung upward dragging through the ground and breaking the earth he stood on with a loud "boom". Sora lands a few steps on her side, and no sooner did his feet touch the ground Kairi-Nort is already right before him with another swing from her keyblade. Again only because of his natural response to danger, Sora leaps back from her as the keyblade comes crashing down on the spot he stood on.

Sora repeats this running away tactic, Kairi-Nort closes the gaps and strikes him, he would flee. Not once does he even think of calling his keyblade to his hands, nor does he even consider using magic to counterattack her and he certainly doesn't even try to harm her in any shape or form. He couldn't muster the will to do it, at all. This cowardly tactic is all he was willing to do to delay her, maybe even hold her attention until the other arrived.

But even his plan would only play out in Xehanort's favor, he is essentially bringing MORE keyblades into this fight. If Kairi-Nort couldn't forge the final key with him, then what's to stop her from going after someone weaker like Xion or Ventus?

He ducks under her swing and rolls around to her side, then jumps away from her. Kairi-Nort spins on her heels and aims her hand at him, covered in darkness. She fires a barrage of dark fire at the boy like Prompto's gatling gun, shooting at him without relent or mercy as he flips and dashes away from her attack. Keeping his eyes focused on the horde of black fireballs, Sora jumps into the air where he would have more space to evade her attacks.

But when he reached ten feet into the air, the barrage stops and Kairi-Nort was nowhere to be seen. He lets out a gasp and spins around to see her right behind him in the air, keyblade in both hands above her head with that same wicked grin. Sora almost summoned his keyblade to defend himself and just narrowly manages to use a barrier of magic to repel her attack. The dark key was repelled but its strength was enough to hurtle Sora back down to the ground at such a speed that was too quick for him properly react in time.

His back slammed into the earth and makes a large dent in the ground, making him grunt in pain whilst rolling onto his side. Sora then scrambled to his feet and managed to skitter away when Kairi-Nort dived down with her keyblade, stabbing into the earth he once laid upon. She yanks it out and runs at him, swinging her keyblade at him while he backs up from her, laughing at the desperation in his eyes and footwork.

"Come on Sora!", she mocks, "I know you can better than this!".

One thrust of the keyblade forces Sora to front flip over her, again evading another opportunity to harm her. Once his feet touch the ground, he is quickly struck by her keyblade again. Only this time it was the blunt side of the keyblade that managed to strike him as he raised both arms to guard against the attack, but with the power of darkness, even Kairi-Nort's petite form is powerful enough to throw him off his feet.

He flies into the air while Kairi-Nort chases him, swinging her dark keyblade at him. Sora flips and dashes over her, making the distance between them. Or at least that was his plan, but when he turned his head to see her, she was already facing him before she vanished before his eyes. She reappears before him from above, face to face with those twisted yellow eyes staring into his soul. Sora is then kicked in the stomach and is sent plummeting into the ground.

Luckily for the boy, he quickly uses aero to create a dense but small whirlwind to stop him from slamming back into the ground. He lands back on his feet and rears his head to Kairi-Nort, now tracing darkness with the tip of her keyblade in a single line. One swipe of the keyblade opens the line into a portal of sorts, and a hail of shards of dark disks race towards sword like a storm.

Sora sprints away from the barrage of slicing disks, narrowly dancing around them while leaping from the attacks as they ripped and tore through the ground like paper. All the while listening to the horrible sound of Kairi-Nort's malicious laughter, savoring his struggles and pain as she watches with glee. He gritted his teeth when one disk slashes his right shoulder and only manages to evade losing his head by sliding below it.

He runs up the mountain Xehanort claimed and then after reach halfway, jumps off it and aims his hand at the portal Kairi-Nort conjured up. With a yell, Sora fires a beam of light from his palm and struck the portal, coloring the violet with light and soon enough evaporating into the light. He front flips back to the ground, but clutches his shoulder in pain with a hiss, feeling the hot sticky liquid of his blood seep through his clothes and hand.

"Aww, did you get a paper cut, Sora?", mocks Kairi-Nort, landing a few feet before him, "Would you like me to kiss it? Kiss the pain away?".

Sora turns on the corrupted guardian of light while she laughs merrily, spinning her keyblade in one hand. Everything this darkness was doing to Kairi, tainting her character slowly licked the flames that were his anger. How could Xehanort stoop so low to do this to someone like her? The levels of cruelty sickened the boy to his core. And it only made the hurting within his heart grow more lethal and despair seeping deeper into his hope.

The slash on his shoulder was a minor bug bite compared to the pain that burrowed into his heart.

Kairi-Nort makes that disgusting smug look Xehanort often dons for a second before she vanishes before his eyes. Sora gasped when she showed up right in front of him, keyblade raised high, and quickly brought down on him. Sora raises his hand and erects a barrier of light around him, repelling her attack. But her keyblade was only repelled slightly behind her head as if she had only tried to tap on the barrier and got a bigger response than she thought.

It doesn't stop her, however. With a maddening grin, Kairi-Nort starts to wail on the barrier with precise and powerful strikes. "You think this will keep you safe? That a flimsy shield like this is gonna stop me?", she mocks as her keyblade darkens with power, "Play the mouse trapped in the corner all you want, Sora! I'll get you sooner than you think!". Sora grunts and hisses with each strike from Kairi-Nort's attacks, her promise will be kept in the end.

The barrier is already cracking from her ferocious attacks despite only using the darkness Xehanort used, and she knows she could just use more of it to shatter this. But that would be too easy, it'd be too quick and merciful for Sora. He knows this, he knows she's only delaying the destruction of his small sanctuary just further mock him, further torment him. Every strike from her keyblade just broke more and more of his will and shield, slowly he could feel the will to fight slowly diminish and his strength fade away.

That twisted grin on her face as she likely senses his will to go on withers away only solidified his fear. He couldn't find it within himself to muster up the strength to combat her, even if it means saving her. Not her, he couldn't do it. He may have fought his best friend in the past, he may have fought his master and even his nobody, but even if they tore his hart apart he still managed to do it because he had to. Because he knew he could save them…

Kairi-Nort breaks his barrier with a loud breaking sound running throughout the maze, and as Sora is pushed back from the force of her attack, the vessel thrusts her keyblade towards Sora's chest. The tip of the key pierced his chest, almost hitting his heart while the boy gasps in shock and pain as a spray of red blocks his view of the smirking hostess of darkness. A moment of shock passes as the pain runs wild throughout his body, the boy thrown across the field and over the edge.

Sora manages to grab onto the earth before his body fully slides off the platform, hands desperately grabbing the stones as his body cries in pain. He didn't know how bad it was, but he can't manage to pull himself back up to the platform, added that with his shoulder still agonizing him and he feared he was going to be out of this mockery called a fight. Too much pain has taken home within him, his body, and heart both in bits.

He raises his eyes to see Kairi-Nort standing before him, her eyes glowing with the darkness. "Aww, need a hand? Want me to call Riku? Noctis? ANYONE?", she taunts, "Or…do you want my help?". She claps her hands together as she laughs hurtfully, spinning once as if she were having the time of her life in a game. The more she laughed and treated this horrible situation like it was just an amusing afternoon activity only hurt the boy more.

Is Kairi truly gone? If even her heart could be swallowed by the darkness, something that should have been impossible from the beginning of everything, then could Sora even save her? Or…was there truly nothing left in this vessel that spoke of the Kairi he knew and loved? Had Xehanort's darkness crushed her light to the point where she could never come back from? All these questions scream in his mind, his hands no longer trying to desperately cling on the earth but slowly loosen their grip.

He almost slips entirely off the platform, but Kairi-Nort stomps on one hand to keep him in place. He yelps in pain and looks at her, seeing that crooked grin that Xehanort perfected. "That's it? You're not gonna stop me? Not gonna convince me the darkness is evil?", she taunts, mocks even. She kneels before him so that their faces were closer, the girl's eyes darken with amusement and her twisted smile becomes colder.

"Not even going to try to keep your promise to me?", she questions.

Tears leaked from the boy's eyes, his mouth agape in despair as all the fight within him fades into nothingness. He had failed her again…even after everything they had done together, the bond they helped create, the fruit they shared. All of it to come to nothing because of him. Once more he fails to keep her safe, and this time was his final failure. Kairi-Nort rolled her eyes with a groan before rising back to stand, disgust in her eyes.

"Pathetic…but then again, what was I expecting from you?", she chastises dismissively. "Ah well…I'll go visit the others…I wonder how many it'll take before we all reunite in the darkness?".

"Kairi…don't do this…", begged the boy.

"…you said your friends are your power…but where has that gone, I wonder?", she speaks in such a disdainful tone it sounded as if she nearly got sick just asking such a question. "Your power can be taken away the moment you lose someone, and lo and behold, for all your accomplishments in this war…you are reduced to nothing but a mistake"

"Goodbye…Sora", she bids.

Lifting her foot off from his hand, Kairi-Nort allows Sora to fall off the platform and descend into the shadows of the labyrinth, his final view would be watching her witness his fall. Defeated and broken in heart and body, Sora doesn't even register that his final hour has come. All he could do is watch as she grows smaller and smaller while he goes closer and closer to his demise. Even he won't survive a fall in this state, and strangely enough, he didn't care.

If death means he'll be with her again soon…then maybe…it is for the best.

Yet her words haunt his thoughts, the others would probably be no better than him. How could Axel even consider laying a hand on her after all they've been through, Prompto would sooner turn the gun on himself than even think of hurting her, and Aqua would surrender her heart than harm her beloved student. Maybe that's why Kairi-Nort was so confident, maybe that's what Xehanort chose her of all people to become his final vessel. No one could have the will to harm her, not even someone as strong as Riku.

Sora had failed them all, and now all worlds will pay for it, while Kairi bears that sin alone.

"Guys…I'm…I'm so sorry", he thinks to himself as he falls.

"You're not giving up already, are you?".

Sora looks and finds himself standing before Noctis, bathed in blue light with a hand on his hips and irritated look on his face. With a scoff, Noctis folds his arms and says: "Sheesh, this is the thanks I get for saving her? You chickening out?", he asks with annoyance. Sora looked away in shame but then faces the king. "I…I can't…-

"You can, and you know you can!", Noctis argued back, "You know what will happen if you don't stop them!". Sora shakes his head and swipes his hand, anger, and desperation his body language and eyes as unshed tears burn within his blue eyes. "I know that! Xehanort will use her to go after the others and get the final key! But even if I could fight her, all I'll do is give him what he wants!", Sora argued. He grabs both sides of his head and lets out a wail of despair, falling to his knees as tears fall unashamedly down his eyes.

Two roads lie before the boy, but each end will only bring tragedy to him. Kill Kairi by using his other talents…or clash with her, save her life but doom all worlds. Xehanort had him by ropes, every possibility will play out in his favor no matter what method Sora uses. There was no other option to save the worlds without sacrificing Kairi, but he couldn't do that. There would be nothing worse than living in worlds without her.

But thinking of the others, finally getting their friends back and reuniting everyone again, their happiness was just ahead of them. Roadblocked by Sora's struggles, and one choice could potentially destroy their hopes or worse. He can't be selfish, he can't deny Axel the future he wanted to share with Roxas and Xion, he can't take away the promises Noctis made to Lunafreya, even if it means Kairi would fall…

He feels a hand planted on his shoulder as he allows his tears of frustration and agony run down his cheeks, unable to face his friend because of his cowardice. He couldn't even muster the image of disappointment dawning on Noctis' face, a man who had the world on his shoulders and even the terrible fate of dying to save his word. And yet he bore it all with the kingly strength and courage Sora had lost, never straying from his path.

"…what is it?".

Sora raised his head, with great hesitation, and sees the king before him looking at him gently and in his friendly manner. "What is that power that helped you? That strongest weapon within you? What was it that gave the determination to walk the road you choose without faltering?", he asks. Sora looked down and placed a hand over his wounded chest, his heart gently beating as warmth seemingly covers his pain. Slowly memories of Eos, the secret forest, all his other world adventures race throughout his mind.

Thinking of the other guardians who were fighting their own battles here, their wants and goals, to find their lost friends while protecting those so dear to them. Even when things had turned so terrible for them when the odds stacked up against them in such overwhelming stakes, yet nobody surrenders to the despair. The people who had picked him up when he was down, the very same who motivated him to give it everything had within his heart.

"My…friends…", he whispers.

"Yeah…that power that could surmount anything that old man can and will through at you…the the same one that saved so many hearts", encourages Noctis, patting the boy's shoulder, making Sora face him. "Don't ever forget this…you aren't alone".

"But…I can't fight…", Sora sighed downcast eyes.

"Not with the keyblade…but don't forget…you have another power to call for help…two in fact", Noctis assured. Sora looked at the king and sees a knowing look in his eyes, ones that told him a secret that not even Xehanort was counting on and better, not foreseeing. With an offered hand to the chosen wielder of the keyblade, Noctis gives the boy the needed smile and confidence. "Your friends are your power…and now, its time you showed that man how powerful those bonds are".

Sora takes Noctis' hand, slowly the strength of their bond seeps into his body and his hopes reconstruct within his heart. Towering over his despairs and fears, seeing Kairi in his heart and the others who were waiting for them to bring everybody home for the final time. It is only when Sora saw Kairi's smile, a hidden smile within hers did he see where that second power would stem from, and his will sparking with power.

Opening his eyes as he nears the end of his fall, Sora flips in the air and stomps his feet into the wall before his body is practically sparking with Flowmotion. Like a jet he skyrockets upward to the top of the pillar and reaches the battleground in a matter of seconds, his wounds healing thanks to the motion and his magic coursing through him.

His boot slammed on the ledge of the cliff and he leaps into the air, front flipping before landing before a turning Kairi-Nort, staring her down once more. He stands tall before her while she faces him properly with a rather amused look in her eyes, no longer sensing the despair that plagued the boy's heart and that same determination that gave him the power to stand before her master. Laughing callously, she laid the keyblade on her shoulder and sneers: "Aww, did you finally grow a pair and decide that your "precious" light isn't worth the lives of everyone else?".

"No", Sora answers firmly.

She raised a bleached brow at that statement, somewhat impressed by the strength behind his voice, his conviction. "I love her, more than anything else in the world. I died for her, I gave up my light for her, and I'd do it all over again if it means she'll get to live to see the future without Xehanort", Sora says, placing a hand on his heart and black crown. "But I know she would never forgive herself if everyone she loved had to die…nor would I".

He glares daggers at the vessel, no more is there fear and despair within his eyes that held one of the strongest lights in the worlds. "I promised her, I will do what I can to save her, and we'll go on our journey together", firmly states the chosen one, "And I *will* save her! I'll bring her back from the darkness, and not you, the heartless, nobodies, the darkness, and even Xehanort won't stop me!". Kairi-Nort scoffs dismissively, though she lowered her keyblade to her side and takes her stance up, all the mockery and playfulness gone.

"Aww, and just how are you going to do that? You bring out that keyblade and you'll doom the worlds", she reminds coldly. "You're wrong…I'm not fighting you as a keyblade wielder, or even a master", Sora retorts, "You may be using Kairi's body, but you're NOTHING compared to her!". Sora raised his right hand as a familiar blue light shines around his hand. "My friends are my power, they're the reason I can't fall here, and with our bonds, they'll help me save Kairi and stop Xehanort", he promises.

"And now, you'll see what that bond can do!", proclaims Sora.

Kairi-Nort's eyes shot open when the familiar blue light surges around Sora, tiny flickers of white crystals forming around him. Akin to a certain King of Light. She snaps her head to look behind and sees the very weapon made for the king lies planted into the mountain Xehanort rests, glowing in a beautiful blue light before it is yanked out from the mountain, spinning around in the air and then plunges towards Sora.

Sora catches the weapon with his right hand, the light shining so brightly it blinded the vessel, forcing her to raise her dark keyblade up. She snarls in fury and bathed in darkness and rage, she jumps to the boy, grabbing the key with both hands and bringing it down from over her head. Her darkened keyblade clashes with steel that wasn't the keyblade, a forceful gale rips the earth apart as the light disappears in a bright flash, Sora standing before the vessel with both hands gripping the Ultima Blade.

Kairi-Nort could only gawk in disbelief at the sight of Sora, no longer wearing his adventure clothes but instead the near same outfit as the Chosen King's fools. A black frock coat with crimson chest plate in the form of a heart, embroidered on his back is his silver crown, black pants with two braces made from silver, Kairi's Oathkeeper embroidered on both sleeves with metal pauldrons. Black boots with red laces and metal tips, the collar reached Sora's back jaw with red within the jacket, and a short cape with dark red interiors and his crown shining in silver.

With Ultima Blade in hand, Sora easily repels Kairi-Nort off him and smacks her keyblade out of the way to prevent her from retaliating against him. And to prove his conviction to the promise he made to the one who shined his way through his darkest moments, Sora slashes Kairi-Nort's chest and forces her back from him. She hisses in pain and lands on her feet, burying her heels into the earth to stop the growing distance between them.

Kairi-Nort looked at her chest but to her confusion, she sees no wound had made its home. Shaking her head in frustration, she knew he hit her and even felt the pain yet when she looks, not only is there no evidence that he did strike her, but the pain is gone. No matter how powerful she is, even that attack should have a lasting pain even if for a short while. Kairi-Nort turns her furious gaze back to the boy, his eyes glowing with the light within him as a white light mixes with the Armiger light, several ghostly swords from his Ultimate Form hovering around him.

Sora takes up his stance, a combination of his self-taught with Noctis' training, readying himself. "I will save her…and you're done using my friends against me", Sora swore.

He vanishes from her sight and reappears behind her, striking her in the back and knocking her into the air. He warps in front of her flight and strikes her again with a swift slash, making her ascend in the skies above and with a single flick of his wrist, his ghostly swords fly up and embrace her in the form of a hurricane of swords that slashes her form. Kairi-Nort snarls in fury and brief pain before she uses Kairi's warping technique to escape this tornado of blades, aiming straight for Sora.

Their weapons meet on with furious strikes, the enraged and darkness infused strikes of Kairi-Nort's keyblade against the power that dwelled deep within Sora, light and misplaced darkness dualling for supremacy. Kairi-Nort's style took from Xehanort's (from what Sora remembered Aqua telling him) and a mix of her one-handed strikes. Except where her keyblades were debatably the shortest lengths next to Ventus, the Chaos Ripper was as long and large as the sword, a complete opposite to hers.

Sora remembers the times they fought, how she could gracefully spin her keyblade, and swing at him at once, catching him off and forcing him on the defense dozens of times with her unique style. This style is a far cry from her graceful attacks and was closer to Riku's one-handed strikes. Strong as they were he was able to counter them whether it was pulling feints or be able to parry them. Plus with his ghostly swords surrounding him, even if she managed to trick him those swords would counter her.

He leans backward to evade a sweep from her, then shoots back up straight and struck her again, the sword-slashing her and forced her to retreat. Performing several jumps to gain distance, Kairi-Nort swung her keyblade and fires disks of darkness at Sora, the master before her aiming his hand and sending his disks at them. The ghostly disks slice through hers with ease and chase her while Sora flies above the ground and sends his swords at her.

Kairi-Nort easily cuts down the futile disks and with one finger raised, the swords are halted in the air, and then with a snap of her fingers, they snap into shards. She smirked coldly at Sora's determined form but gasps when he dashed towards her in a second. His sword brought down on her once more and then he grabbed her armed hand and elbow and heaves her over his shoulder. In the air, she spun upside down and fires a blast of darkness at him.

Sora reflects the attack with a swipe of the sword, returning it to Kairi-Nort. In response Kairi-Nort splits it in half, letting it bypass her. She opens a corridor of darkness behind and flies into it, then another corridor opens above Sora with her diving down with the keyblade held above her head. She brings down the keyblade upon the sword wielded by Sora, forcing his feet to dig into the ground from the impact of her attack.

Her feet touch the ground and she starts to strike at him with maddening glee while Sora matches the ferocity with perfect measures of speed and strength. Sparks of darkness and light flying from their steel, the crystal light that bathed Sora fights against the cloaks of darkness that defiled Kairi's body. Sora takes a hit on his shoulder after Kairi-Nort managed to catch him off guard with a delayed swipe, slashing his left shoulder.

Sora hisses in pain while Kairi-Nort smugly enjoys his suffering, but her smug looks shift into shock when Sora just shoulder tackled her with his good one. He swiftly places a foot behind her leg, causing her to stumble and lose her footing, allowing Sora to grab her leg while she was suspended in the air. Sora flings her into the air, at least ten feet above the ground before with new ghost swords, he launches himself after her.

Kairi-Nort uses a burst of power to stop herself in the air and bathes her left hand in dark lightning, aims it, and fires a large spread of lightning that completely trapped Sora. Sora's ghostly arms launched themselves towards the fallen princess while others spun around Sora to shield him from the electricity that threatened to roast him alive. The dark lighting couldn't pierce through and harm Sora like he expected while the blades charging towards Kairi-Nort almost impaled her had she not used Chaos Ripper to shield herself.

The four tips of the blades plunged into her keyblade, she quickly bathes her dark weapon with more darkness, and with just a single sweep of her keyblade, she demolishes them into shards once again. Sora meets her darkened weapon with the Ultima Blade, both interlocking steel in the skies, tangling in a battle of steel on steel again. All the while the master of the dark watches on with amusement, sensing the powers of light and darkness coursing through the two.

A true battle between light and dark indeed…

Sora takes another hit from the monstrous keyblade, feeling the teeth slash his right cheek past his ear while he managed to slash Kairi-Nort's right arm. Kairi-Nort slashes his left side, but he slashes her leg, and this cycle of landing blows and cuts continues between them for some time, except the difference is as clear as day. Sora guards an attack that forced him to fall back to the battleground, but not before he blasted Kairi-Nort with a heatwave of fire that forced her to stay back from chasing him.

Sora lands on his feet and quickly chants a small but beneficial healing spell that would prevent him from bowing out so soon. As the green tendrils glow around his body and patches him up, he spins around fires ghostly blue swords at Kairi-Nort, only to keep her off him for a little longer. The vessel of Xehanort imbues her left hand with dark power, turning it into a large reddish-purple claw that mimics pure blood heartless.

She opens her claw and unleashes a ray of pure darkness that shared the same power as a Darkside's world buster. The swords were consumed by the ray as it charges towards Sora, the chosen wielder of the keyblade grips his sword with both hands with the light surging around him, a circle of wind surrounding him as the earth trembles. With a cry from his heart, Sora's blade bathes in the light shared between him and Noctis, he propels himself towards the ray with the blade pointed before him.

Sora's blade penetrates the ray as he flies through it, the darkness not even touching him as he flies towards Kairi-Nort. Not even she could have reacted in time to stop the boy when he is suddenly facing to face with her, glowing in the light. He plunges the sword into her claw, purging the darkness from her limb as she bellowed in pain. Quickly it reverts into her normal-sized but still corrupted hand, yet there is no wound on it.

She snarls at Sora, but the boy immediately warped behind her and kicks her in the lower back, propelling her back to the battleground. Kairi-Nort slammed onto the earth with a bounce, but instantly got to her feet just as the Ultima Blade is planted five feet before her, and soon enough Sora reappears in front of her, yanking the sword out.

Kairi-Nort grits her teeth, before she callously smirks. "What's going on here? Are you aware your attacks aren't doing anything but ticking me off?", she sneered accusingly, "Every hit is a fly bite for no less than a second!". Sora huffs and lifts the sword into his stance again, furthering Kairi-Nort's confusion. He wasn't stupid, he knew the moment he landed the first blow he wasn't hurting her, not even that stab would do anything.

Her attacks were hurting him, that's true and likely he wasn't going to last much longer with how this fight is looking. But he isn't going to change tactics, nor would he even think of a new way to combat her. He knows deep in his heart, that Kairi is still in there, waiting for someone to help her walk back into the light, to come home. Except, this time, it wasn't going to be Sora who would help bring her home.

All he needed to do…was called out to her heart…

*Station of Awakening*

Sinking further and further into the darkness…further into oblivion, where all things will go in time. The cold sunk into her flesh and bones, her body useless and strength non-existent, whispers of shadows licked her ears and violated her senses.

Her lips sealed, her eyes closed, and her body bound in darkness, even her consciousness begins to fade into nothingness as if she were a flower slowly withering away in the dead earth. Her heart's light is no more than a tiny ember flickering against the harsh winds of the call. She feels as if she were sinking into cold waters, nary a strength to take to resist in a futile attempt to stay off her too soon demise, hurting her heart and yearning for what could have been a brand new start, her first chapter in her life.

But she was to fade away into the darkness, like all shadows.

"Na…ié...min…Naminé".

There she feels a warmth spreading from the voice, her light stabilizing and holding firm against the winds of oblivion. For the first time since she was plunged into shadow, she twitched and tugged on her restraints, raising her covered face to feel the warmth of the light the voice carried to her. Even with the darkness wrapped around her face, she felt the light piercing through the veils and warm her up, like a lover caressing her face and assuaging her fears.

"So…ra?", she whispered muffled, feeling more of his light seep into her body. A sound of a sword echoed in her ear, and she unintentionally jerked her right hand to herself, like she was trying to shield herself from whatever was trying to attack. She flexes her hand, feeling the fingers and joints bend to her command and moves her arm, suddenly feeling that sinking feeling. His voice reaches her blocked ears again, the same pleading, that need for her warmth.

The same need Kairi carried when they were separated, that warmth to be shared between them once again. Slowly she feels the fear from another, a sense of feeling lost and fear of the unknown, separated from those closest to their hearts. In her heart, she feels the pain, the fear, and sadness, not her own. Sora's voice rumbles softly in her ear while a whimpering plea sung in tune with his, the same voice that helped mend the pain within her heart.

"Kai…ri…", she whispered.

Her right-hand shoots up to the bondage around her face, nails sinking into the wraps as her fingers tugged on them. Pulling as hard as she could, Naminé ripped the blindfold from her eyes, freeing her beautiful blue eyes from their dark prison. Strength seeps into her body, her legs thrashed against her dark bindings, her left arm tugging and straining them as the music of the flying sword echoes above her. The bindings were loosening and even stretching to the point of snapping, the girl thrashing feverishly.

She grabbed the wraps around her mouth and tore it off her, allowing her to take in silent air despite feeling as if she were underwater. The binding tried to contain her, yet the silvery blue lights that flash around her and her bindings were cutting them. She could feel Sora's heart connecting to hers, he was filling her with strength from the outside and when her legs were freed, she swam back up to the surface, seeing the blue above her.

Stretching her hand towards it, she sees a ghostly blue hand reaching out for her…

*…*

Her hand shoots out from the black inky floor, and soon enough she pulls herself out of the abyss while greedily inhaling the air that she had desperately needed. Her head above the darkness, she grabbed for the solid surface and dragged herself to escape the pool, crawling onto the surface.

Panting and coughing from that horrible experience, Naminé shudders as she rests on her hands and knees, shaking. With a watery laugh, she silently thanks Sora and Kairi for saving her, giving her another chance to live and join their friends. She shakes her head and rubbed her eyes, no time for tears. It is time for her to do her part in this horrible war.

Getting to her feet while using every fiber of light within her developed heart, glowing in the same golden glow as her friends, Naminé floats over the dark floor to avoid being swallowed again. Looking around for traces of Kairi's light, she feels a connection to her heart. Placing her hand it, she senses a dark evil had taken root within Kairi's heart, attaching on to her like a parasite. "Ardyn…you monster", she seethes.

Chastising herself for her negligence, Naminé searched within Kairi's heart for the source, a location within to try and trap it. Since there is no darkness within a pure maiden like Kairi, it needed to find a place to burrow and hide itself to remain unknown to the watchful eyes of herself and Lunafreya. Had they not spent a whole year training in the forest then it would have been most likely they would have sensed this the moment Kairi had completely recovered.

It would have been easier to spot since as small as it is, someone like Lunafreya could have found it them moment she analyzed Kairi's heart, and it would have been just as easy for her to remove like pulling off an old bandage. But that's what Xehanort feared she knew and knowing Aqua would have prioritized everyone's safety above all else the master must have figured she'd delay their clash for the sake of making everyone stronger.

And with everyone so focused on training and mastering themselves, not even the Oracle would have paid much attention to the heart.

Now that it was exposed and taken over Kairi's heart, finding it wasn't so hard for the shadow. When she opens her eyes, she sees a lone figure rising from the ocean of darkness. Its shape took Kairi's form, but much like Sora's Anti-Form, it was a pure black creature with piercing yellow eyes, two dark tendrils floating from each shoulder like smoke rising above, her keyblade pure ebony-colored replica of Oathkeeper.

Naminé stares down this threat without fear, flexing her fingers as the Anti being's lips form a twisted grin, baring sharp beast-like teeth. The source of Ardyn's implanted darkness, likely it sensed Naminé's presence and now acts as a guard dog to prevent her from doing her duty to protect her somebody.

"Naminé? Can you hear me?", Sora's voice echoed within her mind.

"I'm here…thanks for the rescue. Hee, that's twice I owe you now", she says with a small smile. She then frowns in concerns as Anti-Kairi hisses at her, likely sensing Sora's connection to her heart. "I found the source of darkness within Kairi's heart…and it doesn't look too happy to see me", she informs.

"Wait, are you gonna fight it?", Sora asked in shock. Naminé nervously hummed to confirm his question, not insulted the slightest when Sora asked in such a baffled tone. "I have no other choice", she replied, "So long as this shadow remains, Kairi's heart will be lost to the darkness". "B-But, what about out here?", Sora asked. "You knew your attacks weren't harming her, you were freeing me", Naminé says with a knowing tone, "That's how you were able to triumph against your fears". Sora makes an annoyed grunt, called out.

"She isn't like Aqua, Sora. Ardyn's darkness is different from Xehanort's, its planted deep within her heart. Just attacking her with light isn't going to free her, we need to destroy the darkness inside first, then bring out Kairi's light", explains Naminé. "Okay…so what do I do now?", he asks. "Keep her focused on you on the outside, if she figures out I'm awake and moving, she may try and bind me again".

"Got it…just be careful, ok?", pleads Sora.

"I will…", Naminé says.

When she could no longer hear his voice, Naminé takes a deep breath as Anti-Kairi takes that same animalistic stance Sora's Anti-Form does, ready to pounce on the girl. Naminé bites her inner cheek, hands lowered to her side as she outstretches her right hand, flexing her fingers. Anti-Kairi pounces her, keyblade raised and ready for the kill, making Naminé yelp in surprise and fly away from the attack.

Like a beast, Anti-Kairi chases after the blonde, hissing and snarling at her while swinging her keyblade at her with the wild fury of a predator denied its food. Forced to sway and float around the blackened keyblade, Naminé dodges and weaves around the attack, fearing her body was not a durable as her companions. Possibly even a single hit from the keyblade could decimate her entirely, and that is the last thing she needed.

Anti-Kairi pounces again, but this time Naminé tackles her during her pounce. Catching her off guard, Naminé throws her back down to the ground and aims both hands touched together and yells out: "Firaga!".

A burst of roaring flames rockets from her joint hands and flies towards the heartless, striking her head on and detonating a large blazing explosion. Quickly grabbing onto this opportunity, Naminé flies towards the heartless as it runs out of the explosion, she flies low until she nearly touches the ground. Anti-Kairi swings her keyblade at the blonde, missing thanks to Naminé quickly swerving around the heartless and getting behind her.

Anti-Kairi turns too late to stop Naminé with her keyblade raised, the blonde girl quickly grasping the weapon and clasping her hand around the hand of the girl and the weapon. Anti-Kairi hisses at her but undaunted, Naminé stares her down with the steely determination that has grown and strengthened throughout this journey. She may not be able to join the others in their training, she may not be able to fight alongside them for the future they had wished to see.

But here, she can save her friends. She can pull her somebody back from the darkness, she can help Sora be with the most important person to his heart.

"Get out of her heart!", Naminé commands, her grasped hand glowing with light as Anti-Kairi snarls. Slowly the light from Naminé's hand extends and cloaks the keyblade, burning the blackened hand of the heartless desperately grabbing the keyblade. Naminé tightened her grip on the weapon, even as the heartless grabbed her shoulder and dug her claws into it. She could feel the pricks pierce her skin and slowly blood leaks from her shoulder and tints her strap red.

But even as both the pain and darkness seep into her, she refuses to let go.

"Kairi! Come back to us! I know you're here!", cried out Naminé as the keyblade is fully cloaked in light. Anti-Kairi snarls in rage before she relents and relinquishes her grip on the keyblade, jumping back from Naminé. The blonde girl clutched her bleeding shoulder, hissing in pain when she accidentally touched one of the marks. But she turns her gaze to the heartless, hissing and snarling at her.

Naminé grips the keyblade while the light fades after a swift swipe from the girl. Oathkeeper restored to its pure state, the girl holds it before Anti-Kairi and says: "This keyblade is the symbol of the bond you and Sora share". She grabbed it with both hands and takes up a similar stance to Kairi and Sora, staring down the heartless. "We will save you Kairi!".

*Battlegrounds*

Deflecting another attack and striking the air to force her back, Sora stared down Kairi-Nort as she pants and glares at him, teeth bared and rage coating her eyes. "Why won't you just give up!? You can't save me! You failed me!", she lashes, enraged, and hatefully. Sora bites down the pain that came from her biting words, even if this wasn't his Kairi talking to him.

"Because I know you're still there! I won't give up on you, Kairi!", Sora argued, "Please! Come back to us! You're stronger than Ardyn's darkness!". Kairi-Nort snarls and fires a torrent of black flames at Sora, forcing the boy to raise a wall of stone to shield himself and take the brunt of the hot attack. He feels the heat seep through the stone despite how dense it was, wondering if Kairi-Nort was trying to melt the stone itself.

His answer came when the stone explodes from Kairi-Nort's keyblade demolishing it and herself flying towards him with a roar. Sora parried her attack by striking her keyblade upward, throwing her arms up. Sora then grabbed both wrists of Kairi-Nort's arms and spun her around twice before he tosses her away from him across the battleground. Kairi-Nort lands on the ground and rolled three times before she forced herself to stop and rolls onto her feet.

She plunges her keyblade into the ground, a small pool of darkness erupting around it. Sora was then caught in a bind, thin pillars of darkness shot up from the ground and wrapped around his neck, wrists, and ankles, tightly constricting him and bringing him to his knees. Sora struggled and tries to break free, but it is futile, his body is hurt too badly to use raw power to break free. He looks at Kairi-Nort, now walking up to him with some difficulty, likely weary and on the edge of exhaustion.

"You…you fool…did you think all this was enough to save me?", she mockingly questions, "All your efforts to wear me out, to prevent any harm coming to me, and for what? To perish like this?". Sora grunted as he struggles on, throwing his head around. He stops when he feels the tip of Chaos Ripper touch his neck below his chin, prompting him to look at Kairi-Nort's evil smile. "Pity, if you used the keyblade you could have won…but you wouldn't even dream of harming me, would you?".

"Kairi…fight back…I know you can do it!", Sora tries desperately. Kairi-Nort's eyes darken with anger, disgusted that the boy was still insisting on bringing her back. "I've had enough of you and your "power of friendship" garbage…if you won't help me create the final key, then you're worthless to me and Xehanort!", she proclaims, raising her keyblade over her shoulder. One swipe of the key would bring Sora to his end and turn the scales in favor of the darkness.

With a yell, Kairi-Nort swings the keyblade for Sora's neck as he stares at her with hope in his eyes, even as he faces his death.

Except…he feels nothing.

He looks to see the keyblade was just inches from his neck, halted. He looks at Kairi-Nort, her armed hand shook with resistance, the look of shock and horror on the Norted hero only told him something is changing. "W-Why…? How is this…", she stammers, trying to muster the strength to finish him off. She tries again but she couldn't even raise the keyblade up high enough, her other hand grabbing the handle and forcing it to stay low.

She struggled before ultimately dropping the keyblade with a loud clang, grabbing her head with a wail of agony. Kairi-Nort staggers and thrashes all over, screaming as she clutches her head like something was splitting it open, crying out in pain. The bindings around Sora break apart into nothing, freeing him and letting him fall to his hands, but keeps his head up to watch Kairi as she throws her head around, eyes shut as if trying to block out the pain.

"Kairi!", Sora yells, rushing to her as she falls to her knees.

"S-S-S-Sora…!", she gasps, shaking her head in pain. When she opens her eyes, he sees them constantly shifting from yellow to blue like flickering lights, her heart trying to break free from its cage. Sora stares at her, baffled but only one name escapes his mouth.

"Naminé".

*Station of Awakening*

Using the barest minimum of training she retained from watching Kairi, Naminé spun around while swinging her keyblade, slashing Anti-Kairi's chest. This makes the heartless spin from the attack and with a sweeping kick she learned from watching Ignis, Naminé tripped the heartless onto her back.

"Sora! Unlock her heart! Hurry!", orders Naminé, plunging Oathkeeper into Anti-Kairi's chest. The keyblade pierces her and touches the floor of the darkened station as her command rings out.

*Battlegrounds*

Kairi-Nort wails in agony, standing back up and stumbling backward.

Sora quickly, at long last, calls his keyblade to his hand and aims it straight for Kairi's heart. A blue beam of light forms a ring around the tip before it condenses into a small trickle of light. A lone beam of light flies from the tip of the keyblade and struck Kairi-Nort's chest, making her cease all movement as light shines around her chest.

*Station of Awakening*

Raising her head, Naminé looks to see the blue light from Sora's keyblade fly down to her keyblade, like a beacon. She jumps back just as the pillar struck the center of the station, the blue light washing down like a waterfall, spreading across the station and harmlessly bypassing Naminé's feet. Anti-Kairi didn't even hiss out in agony as the light bathed her entirely in blue, and when all the station was covered in the blue light, shining so bright it blinded Naminé shines.

When she no longer felt the stinging shine of the light through her arms, she lowered them to see the station had finally been restored. No more darkness, no more shadows, no traces of Ardyn's corruption nor Xehanort's grip on the girl's heart. In the center of the station, Kairi's purified body laid in slumber before the blonde, her light slowly refilling her heart without any trace of darkness.

The purest heart had been restored at last.

Naminé sighs in relief, placing her hands on her knees and pants to catch her breath. She exhales and approaches Kairi, kneeling to her somebody and placing a hand on her cheek, feeling her warmth. Kairi stirs from the touch yet doesn't open her eyes, low whimpers murmured from her closed lip. "Don't worry, Kairi. You're safe now…", promises Naminé.

She then closes her eyes, takes a deep breath, and then exhales. "I promise…I won't let anything else happen to you or Sora…".

*Battlegrounds*

Darkness leaks from Kairi-Nort's body, she stumbles on the spot in a daze as her hair returns to its normal colors while her eyes revert to their beautiful blue eyes once more. Sora pants and grunts with pain and exhaustion in his form, his Kingsglaive form ending at long last while Ultima Blade disappears from his hand.

Sora watches Kairi placing a hand on her head, trying to stabilize herself while her legs wobbled and nearly falls on herself. She weakly raised her head to see Sora on a knee, keyblade in hand, and looking at her with pain decorating his eyes. "Sora…? What…where…what happened?", she mumbles still barely cohesive. Sora opens his mouth express the joy within him, sensing her light had finally returned to her.

But instead…he cried her name in terror.

Kairi is the levitated above the ground by a few inches, her body slumping as she had fallen asleep and cast her head down. Behind her with darkness coating his left hand and keyblade in the other, Xehanort stood there with what Sora believed is anger. For the first time since he met the old man, the first time he had ever seen rage within his eyes, frustration. He glared at the sleeping girl before returning his hate-filled eyes onto the boy.

"You…I have underestimated you, Sora", confesses the old man, "I thought this would be it. Whether you or the princess fall, one of you would craft the final key to open the door…but once more, you surprise me".

"Leave her alone, Xehanort!", demands Sora. He runs at him but Xehanort aimed his hand blasted Sora with a force push and tosses the boy further from them. Sora lands on his back with a thunderous crash, breaking the earth and even sending bits off the cliff down to the ground. Sora raises his head with the pain while the old man turns to Kairi with disappointment and disdain before he rears his head back to Sora.

"You have disrupted my plans for the final time boy…perhaps…it is time I taught you a lesson", Xehanort forewarned. The darkness in his hand turns into a dark light, slowly an aura of light shines around Kairi's chest where her headrests in peace. Sora's eyes open in horror when Xehanort extracts Kairi's heart from her body, trapping it in a cloud of darkness. Without so much as blinking, Xehanort chucks Kairi's lifeless body aside as if it were a puppet.

The hollow body falls to the ground, her heart levitating before the old man. "This is her fate boy…and you WILL accept it", he says.

"XEHANORT NO!", Sora cries out as tears run down his eyes.

Xehanort swings his keyblade and struck the heart before him, turning it into a crystallized ball before it shatters to pieces. Barely a sound made, no more than a wine glass breaking from being thrown against the wall.

"KAIRI!", screamed the boy.

Xehanort relaxes his stance with a sigh, smirking at the dismay on Sora's face, tears running down his cheeks. Sora whimpers, almost sobs as he looks down in complete misery. His shoulder shook as he grits his teeth, his grip on his keyblade tightening so much his knuckles go white, his free hand dragging the ruined stone ground from his fingers as he lets out an enraged, anguished roar.

Darkness and light cloaked Sora's body as he rockets himself towards Xehanort, both hands grabbing his key with every morsel of rage and strength his weakened body could bear. He slams his keyblade right onto Xehanort's, but the master was propelled by Sora's charge, so much so that Sora slammed him into the mountain that he once stood upon. The impact was so great it splits the mountain all the wall from the top to the very bottom of it, breaking it all into rubble.

As the stones fall around them, Xehanort's keyblade still holding back Sora's, still smirking the anguished adorning Sora's face.

"WHY HER!? WHY!?", demands Sora as he pressed the keyblade against the seeker of darkness. Xehanort doesn't answer, pushing the boy off him and striking his keyblade to throw Sora back. Sora falls on his back, but stands up almost immediately, grabbing his keyblade with both hands, but when he looked at his keyblade, the fires of his rage are blown and a horrible look of realization dawns on the boy's face, realizing what he had just done.

"I…have finally done it", proclaims the master.

The thirteenth keyblade appears in front of Sora's horrified look, before it slinks off to join the others as Xehanort, no longer interested in either the hollow princess or distraught boy, turns to the skies. "Now…the keyblade war has finally reached its conclusion", proclaims the master as he levitates up to the sky. The cloud part away, showing the heart-shaped moon of Kingdom Hearts itself as Xehanort and his horde of keys fly below it.

Aiming his keyblade towards the moon, blue light coats it for a moment before it converts into the legendary blade that will open the door. The X-Blade.

"The X-Blade… is complete", says Xehanort, "Kingdom Hearts! I call upon your true form!". The legendary blade fires a dark beam towards the moon, like how Sora used to seal the keyholes in his previous adventures. "Open now and show me the World to come!".

The dark beam struck the moon, and soon it went from the mysterious lunar yellow light into a dark purple hue, covering it and expanding it as if it were overshadowing the world. Meteors of darkness fall from the skies, destroying the battlegrounds, pillars, and everything within the world, but Xehanort turns to the distraught boy, and with a wicked gleam, he raised his hand. "Worry not, my boy. I will not leave you that despair for long", he promises.

Raising both hands as the X-Blade hovers before him, Xehanort calls for every bit of darkness from the corrupted Kingdom Hearts, bringing down a miasma of darkness from it. With the laughter of a mad man, Xehanort spreads his hands out and fires streams of darkness across the world, calling the shadows of the darkness from the door to the purest light. "This world will soon become one with the darkness, oblivion awaits you and your fellow guardians!", proclaims Xehanort.

Sora looks to the skies to see darkness all around him, the winds rushing so wildly it almost threw him off his feet even as he dug down. With a gasp, he turns to see Kairi's lifeless body slowly being sucked up by the dark winds, forcing Sora to leap and catch her while being swept away by the darkness as well. He holds onto her form as the darkness envelops them both, consuming them while his final view would be of Xehanort getting exactly what he had wanted.

Sora's final actions had doomed them all…

*Labyrinth*

"What's happening!?", Donald shouts as he holds onto Goofy from being swept up in the darkness. Many of the guardians struggled to hold their ground as the winds violently blow, some using their weapons to hold them in place while others held onto each other.

Only Lunafreya stood against the winds, facing Kingdom Hearts. "The X-Blade…has been forged…" she says with remorse, "Xehanort has obtained the final key to open the door". There are curses and questions spoken by the others, yet Lunafreya paid no attention to them, her heart suffering a horrible blow from sensing a light had perished. Holding her tears back, she sensed the world's light had been reduced to nothing more than a dying ember, and soon this world will be plunged into darkness.

With the key in hand, Xehanort has no need of this world nor the guardians, nor would he risk them stopping him from obtaining what he wanted. The final part of his plan, to eradicate a world and let it take the guardians with it. The great darkness here is more than enough to break the world's light, and in time the heartless will be the ones to cut down the realm of light's final hopes.

She looks to the others, everyone trying to comprehend the end is near while some tried to get some answers and others too busy focusing on another to register what is happening. For Lunafreya, her eyes laid on the sleeping king resting by Ignis, sensing his light is recovering. Looking back to the darkness that was coming for them, sensing Sora was in danger, and then with one final breath, the Oracle raised her head.

Grabbing her trident with both hands, bathing herself in all the light within her heart, she stabbed the trident's end into the ground. Golden light shines and encases the guardians in domes, shielding them from the darkness but startling a few of them when they suddenly were encased and isolated from some of the other guardians. Lunafreya aims her trident to the battleground where Sora and the others fought, firing off four rays of light toward them.

"Luna! What are you doing!?", Axel shouts, keeping Roxas and Xion close to him. "Xehanort is planning on using the darkness to bring the world to its end, and should he succeed, you will all either perish or be trapped in another world", warns the Oracle, "You are all our last hope against him!",

"What do you mean!?", Prompto begged.

She turns to her friends as the darkness rushes towards them, taking in their faces and memorizing them fondly thinking back to their time in the forest. Never would she forget them, the good times she shared with them, the bonds she made, and the dreams she wished to share with them. One glance to Noctis, her king, her heart and light, silently praying for him.

"May your hearts, be your guiding keys…my friends", says Lunafreya.

"LUNA!", many of them cried as the darkness washes over them. Lunafreya's body being swallowed by the darkness as her heart is ripped from her body.

So as it was foretold…the darkness has consumed the light…

A/N:

And here we come to the end…of the Keyblade War arc.

Sorry for delay, I was in hospital and things happened over weekend so that's why its here today.

With things taken a darker turn, its time we take a break from the fights and go back to a familiar style of adventures, next time we see our guardians, even more tragedy comes their way. Hope you don't murder my face for it.

QUESTIONS!

Q1: Thoughts on this chapter?

Q2: How was Anti and Kairi-Nort?

Q3: Was the fight long enough?

Q4: Hate me for what happened to the girls?

Q5: What did you think of Kingsglaive Sora?

Q6: Enjoyed Naminé's side? Originally she was supposed get her own fight but the excuse I had for her would have been a bit too BS.

Q7: Xehanort? Was he still punch worthy?

Q8: What do you think is gonna happen next?

Thanks for reading everyone, and thanks for sticking out long enough throughout this fighty arc! As always, stay awesome but more importantly stay safe!