So, how was nephew’s mind?
I was in there too long, some of my own memories got left within him.
Memories of what?
Someone… someone I used to care about.
People like us don’t have the hearts to care about people.
I said, I USED to care about.
Fair point. So who was it, this person you don’t care for anymore?
Her name was ____… She was my wife once, back when I was human.
Huh, and knowing your weird ass culture, what did her name mean?
That was the thing, her name had no other meanings. After words though, her name gained a meaning. Balance.
It didn’t take long for me to realize my armor was just copying me, mimicking my moves so every attack met in either crossed blades and deflections. I can’t use any special attack’s cause it’ll mimic those also.
We have to beat this thing, I can feel brother’s other half within this thing.
“Damn it, what are you supposed to be anyway?!” I shouted at my armor, and it stopped. “What?”
“YoU kNow WHat i aM.”
I felt my heart sunk. “Y, you are my darkness.”
“AsK me ThIs, WhY dO I staY at BalAnce wiTh YouR liGht?”
“I don’t know, I really don’t know.”
“I aM YoU. tHe yoU yOU Are AFraId oF BeComiNg. TheY sAy no OnE KnoWs You lIKe yOu, buT ThEy aRe wRonG. FAct Is, uNliKe rEguLar dArKneSS, tHe DaRKnesS in PeoplE's hEarTs Is juSt aNoTHer VerSiOn of ThaT perSoN.”
“Then what’s this about? This fighting, the fact you’re talking to me means you don’t even want to fight.”
“EXactLY. WhaT’s thE pOInt oF fiGHtiNg yoUrSelF?”
“So what? A compromise?”
“ThaT’s wHaT i wAs HopIng fOR.”
“So what, you want me to be more aggressive?”
“YoU’vE alReaDy pUt yoUrsElf oN the track to true balance.”
“Wait, what happened to your voice? Now you sound just like me.”
“You once said that there is a beauty in darkness, why did you say that?”
“Cause without it, we wouldn’t know light. Darkness isn’t just evil, it’s necessary, but only as necessary as the amount of light there is.”
“And that, right there, is the meaning of true balance between Light and Darkness.” My darkness tossed me the black X-blade, and as I caught it, it changed into X’s missing half. “Coexistence between two opposing forces is a struggle, that’s part of why the X-blade was formed.”
“And how would you know?”
“I am the part of you that controls the Heartless, among other things, but I hear the whispers in the darkness, the hearts of those lost to it. Why do you think they appear so loyal, intelligent?”
“Core said it was because my heart was balanced.”
“Yes, and we don’t order, we ask them. We don’t speak to the darkness, we speak to the hearts within them. Purebloods are affected by out light, but the emblem… the people lost within them, we aren’t gonna let them stay like that. Are we?”
“Not a chance.” I smiled. I got X’s other half, and put them together. In a bright flash of light, Fenrir disbanded, and X was back in my grip. What I miss? X said, sounding sleepy.
“Just the majority of my Mark of Mastery exam.” I stated.
“What?! When did this happen?!” He spoke through me.
“I’m in a coma after Josh shot me. I’m guessing if I pass then I wake up, right?”
“Yeah, that sounds about right.” My darkness spoke. He walked up to me, and we shook. He disappeared and I felt so… peaceful, to put it into a word.
“Wow, on the path to true balance and still so young. You’re a prodigy kid.”
“And it’s all guess work… Still, I should have asked Core what was up with those songs.”
“What songs?”
“These.” I pulled out the recorders and played the songs they held. X was oddly silent while they were playing. “Uh, you alright?”
“Yeah, just uh, it sounds familiar.”
“Well I’ve never heard this person. Guess we should move on.” The trial bell rang, and the room went dark. “The fuck what now?” The room was suddenly a white void, just like where God first brought me. “What’s going on here?”
“So this is what you used to look like.” I turned around. There was a girl with an Organization hood over her head. SHe can’t be older then ten or eleven from how her voice sounds.
“What I… used to look like?” I walked up to her. “Who are you?”
“That’s a secret, but I know a lot about you Zeke, all that you’ve done, and will do.”
“You psychic?”
She laughed. “No, I shouldn’t actually be here in all honesty.”
“Well, if you won’t tell me who you are, can I call you anything at all?”
“You can call me… Butterfly.”
“Uhh, okay… Butterfly? So where are we?”
“Your last rest.” She pointed behind me, and there was a door there. “Behind that door is the remaining darkness within your mind. This place is just for us right now though.”
“Alright… So how do you know me?”
“I know you, but you don’t know me yet.”
“So time travel?”
“How did you-?!”
“I’m not your typical stupid guy.”
“I guess I should have been more vague… mom was right to keep silent and watch what I say.”
“So you’re a family member if mine from the future?”
“... Dang it! How can you figure all that out from just a few words?!”
“I’m not an idiot, I’m a clever mad man.”
She laughed. “You say that all the time..”
“That’s the first time I’ve ever said it in my life. So I get a catch phrase?”
“I really should have just gotten to the point much quicker.” She reached into her pocket and pulled something out. “This is a gift, from me to you.”
She handed me what looked like a shard of lightning. “Uhhh, what is it?”
“A memory. An ability, something specific to our family alone. You can only use it once a month, yeah, I know, but it’s power transcends time and space.”
“How did I learn it?”
“I gave it to you.”
“When did you first need me to have it? When did I first learn or make this?”
I could see her smile as she tucked her hood more over her face. “You never did.”
“What?” She vanished into a DTD that opened under her, leaving me here alone with X when it closed. ‘How can I learn a move, specific to me and my family, if I never learned it before or after she gave it to me?”
“Ask Diamond Tiara’s Keyblade. She has partial control of time.” X said.
“Should have guessed from the look of it.”
I walked up to the door, and took a deep breath. What is behind this door? I opened it, and found myself back in the Empire. It didn’t take long until I saw the large ball of darkness above me in the sky. Any idea’s X?
Fly up there is all I got.
I turned X into a glider and flew up. At the top of the ball there was the upper waist of a shadow version of me. “Get original!” It looked at me, and tried to swipe at me with large arms, sort of like the Darkside’s arms. They were slow, so it was easy to dodge. “X, how do I attack with you like this?” I asked as I dodged more of it’s swings.
Your hand grip counts as a bow.
Oh, right! I took the grip… bar? And held it with my left and pulled with my right. An arrow of light shot out and hit the large ball of darkness. I wonder? “Fenrir!” In my right hand, Fenrir appeared. You call? “I need a better arrow.” I placed Fenrir like an arrow, pulled back, and fired. Fenrir shot out, hitting the ball of darkness, causing it to scream in pain as it passed out. I went in close and fired off as many light arrows as possible, and pulled Fenrir out from where he was embedded. Well that was new.
I fired till it woke up and it swatted me away. “Rinse and repeat. Great, it’s one of those boss battles…”
I repeated the process three more times. On the four time I fired Fenrir, the ball exploded, and the shadow me fell to the ground and Fenrir returned to me. I flew down, holding both X and Fenrir in both hands. “I feel kinds like Roxas right now…”
“Who?”
“Uh, no one important.” The shadow got up, and screamed like a mad animal. It charged at me like Sora in Anti-form, and tried to swipe. I dodged what I could, and managed to lang more hits since I was wielding two Keyblades. Is this gonna carry over to the awake world?
Well, you have the whole Keyblade Graveyard stored in your heart, technically you can wield us all, until you hand us down to new masters.
“Good to know.” I blocked the Shadow me’s attack with X, and hit it with Fenrir. We now stood a good distance from each other. Alright then brothers, sisters, let’s end this! I felt a rush of power, Keyblades of all types appeared and floated around me. Now this is cool! “Strike Raid!” I threw X and Fenrir into a strike raid, and all the other Keyblades that appeared followed, each hitting the shadow me. After they were thrown, the all, even Fenrir, disbanded, and only X returned to me as the shadow me slowly dissolved into a black ooze that evaporated into the air.
“Now that is a finishing blow.”
“Well done, Master Zeke.” I turned around, and God was there.
“You were watching, weren’t you?”
“Yeup. Been the whole time. You’ve earned the title of Keyblade Master.”
I smiled. “Thanks. So, what’s with that girl I met before I came here?”
“Girl?”
So he can only see so much? “Not sure, might have just been crazy dream junk floating around. So, how do I get out of here?”
God smiled. “May your heart be your guiding key.” God faded into the air, just like the first time.
May my heart… be my guiding key? … Duh. I pulled out X and opened a portal, one to my family. It opened in front of me and I walked in.
* * *
“Uhhg. Why do I feel like a shirt with too much starch?” I was laying down on a bed. As I moved up, I felt every joint and muscle ache and pop. “How long was I out?” I heard the sound of something drop and someone run. I opened my eyes and found myself in one of the hospital rooms. I was hooked up to one of those life support machines. It hurt, but I stretched and tried to stand. My legs were weak, how long was I out?”
The door was thrown open, and I saw the girls, all of them, standing at the doorway with tear filled eyes. Care was the first to walk up. She placed a hand on my chest, which I now realized I was in a hospital gown, and she hugged me as she was crying. “I, we thought you’d never wake up!”
The others joined in the massive hug without another word. I hugged them back. “How long was I out?”
“Five months.” Luna said.
“Five months?!” They all jumped, giving me space. “In my dream it felt only like, seven hours max? How was I asleep for that long?!”
“The realm of Dreams can make any length of time feel much shorter than it really is.” Luna explained.
I felt tears start. “I kept you all worried… for five months…”
“Rainbow Dash wanted to go after whoever did this to you, but Celestia and I talked her out of it.” Twilight said.
“Good thing you did. I know the guy that did this, he’s… my uncle.”
They all screamed ‘WHAT?!’ at the same time. “Can can your own family members do that to you?!” Fluttershy screamed.
“You forget he’s the one who branded me and was gonna kill me. Nearly pulled it off to… son of a bitch.”
“You should get some more rest soon Zeke. We’ll bring the kids to see you soon.” Celestia said.
“Alright, but before I do, I have a question to ask.”
“What? You just woke up from a five month coma, what’s so important to ask?”
“First, is Traverse Town okay?”
“Yeah, ship that picked you up had about ten soldiers. They rotate with ones here every so often for a rest. Traverse Town’s Heartless sightings are mostly around the outside walls and and sometimes in Second district. It’s never been better.” Rainbow said.
“Good, now second. Will you seven marry me?” There was silence. “Odd time I kno-!”
They were all squeezing me, saying ‘yes’ over and over again. “Now you ask us, dummy?” Care said.
“Well, getting shot makes you think.” I just hope I heal up in time for the honeymoon.