Zeke and Ben sat across from one another as Genos got the ship working and they took off. There was an understandable silence. “So, first fight against spirits?” Zeke asked, breaking the silence.
“I could have handled it.” Ben said while showing his Lexicon. “All the necromantic abilities of an elder lich who's mastered Death magic to the max.”
“Hacks.” Zeke said with a laugh. “So...you’re probably wondering where I have been.”
“I've been wondering when I'm gonna have to murder your Nobody and dark half.” Ben frowned.
“Wait, what? Why? Also… I have a Nobody too? Damn, what did I miss after I exploded?”
Ben proceeded to tell ‘Zeke’ all the shit his Nobody, Dark half, and light half have been up to and how his Nobody came to be.
When all was said and done, Zeke sighed. “What's fucked up is that it makes sense.” Zeke said. “Nobodies are the body and soul of a person without a heart. If my body is moving around without me, then that means what's keeping it kicking is Psychopath blood, as for my dark half...yeah… sounds like what he would do if he lost my light half.” Zeke muttered. “How's my family been? How long has it been?”
“Too long.” Ben shook his head before explaining everything that he knows about what's been going on with his family, about Bara and that whole thing, his new clone just to keep his family together, and as much as he learned from what his fiance's told him. “Its...a long list…”
“Damn… So that Psycho who practically killed my Equestria before I arrived is back… damn it, and he's using Twilight as cover and a shield… when the time comes I am going to rip his heart out of her and shatter it.”
“Right now he's teaching my fiances how to fight good enough to not die in the new keyblade war your Nobody kind of started.” Ben sighed out. “But yeah, it would be good to have him dead. And why didn't you say anything when I saw you in Zebrica?”
“That's where I was? I was warping randomly after modifying a stone I was given to teleport me to alternate worlds of the one I was on. I managed to modify it with a sage to warp me to other worlds aside from the reflections of the one I was on.”
“Yeah, you appeared in my world's Zebrica, where I'm going to meet the king and queen and...marry their princess after a nice date.” I say sheepishly.
“Wow… world peace via male prostitution. Now I've seen everything.” Zeke laughed.
“Says the original man whore.” The wolf chuckled. “But yeah I'm basically going to be king of Equestria by marrying all the single royalty...and also maybe marrying a sexy centaur lady who happens to be the queen of all monsters I don't know.” Ben shrugged.
“Wow… well aside from that my time in The Nexus was quite the adventure. Not Nexus the assholes a place called the Nexus that binds powerful souls to it. Guess that explains how I ended up outside my body, and why even after killing all the demons I still didn't reclaim my body.”
“Well your body is busy torturing people and turning them into killing machines at the moment.” Ben told him. “And is trying to steal my job.”
“Job? Oh that whole heir of nothing stuff. Right. Damn. So, aside from all hell breaking loose anything actually good happen while I was gone?”
“Anything good? Well…” Ben tried to think of something, putting a hand over his left eye worriedly. “I mean...I learned why I'm having nightmares of everyone dying.” Ben said sheepishly.
“...okay so that would be a no.” Zeke said, scratching the back of his head. “Damn. A guy can't die without everything going to hell and a handbasket huh?”
“Except your death caused an ass ton of problems.” Ben frowned. “But oh well. Everyone else is fine as far as I know, except for Huxley he's kinda dead if memory serves.”
“He died? Damn… never got to have that fight. Was looking forward to it too. So, where you heading?”
“Back home cause this bitch named Tempest kicked me back to that destroyed earth. Fucking Erequis is taking all her Darkness and is protecting her, as well as killing my world's Aqua…” Ben growled, Zeke seeing Ben's left eye changing into a Psychopaths. “But I was told...my family is safe, Den and Cadence got all my kids out…”
“Well that's good. Don't suppose you have a spare keyblade huh? I can't summon any other than this.” Zeke said, holding out his hand as a black and white X-blade appeared. “Can't open DTL’s or even change it to a glider. All I can do is summon it, dismiss it, and hit stuff with it. It don't hit hard either.”
Ben checked my pocket and found Reunion, and the two Keyblades he got from Yellows corpse and from Cript. “Here, this one Cript gave me, Cript said it's stronger the more darkness you have...and considering you came from a Dark Souls world if the armor and weapon mean anything…” Ben said while handing him the biohazard keychain.
“Demon's Souls. My favorite game up with Kingdom Hearts. And… maybe.” Zeke said, taking it and switching it with the bizzare X-blade one. The Keyblade changing to Cript’s Keyblade.
“Alright.” I nodded. “So, what happened to you when you woke up?”
“Well, I remember exploding… then this forrest was coming into view, then I was in the Nexus, waking up on some freaky magic floor where it was me, a few other people, and a woman with wax covered eyes. Thankfully there was a few weapons I could use to take and fight with since X is sorta MIA for me.”
“True.” Ben nodded. “Understandable I suppose. So do you want help tracking your Nobody down? Cause I have a feeling you are the one who has to kick his ass and take your body back.”
“Right now I’d rather confront Bara and tell them I’m back. Sort of.”
“Yeah, that would be good.” Ben nodded. “Also be careful...your dark half will try to attack your home and steal that Void Keyblade...only way he can get rid of Darkness for good as far as he kept saying.” Ben shrugged.
“Hm… Interesting, but a lost cause. X locked and wrapped in in special chains of light. Only X can unlock it.”
“Does it need to be the whole X or just X with whatever fragment it has?” The dire wolf asked curiously.
“Huh. Not sure. I guess whatever part of the X-blade my other pieces have. If the part I have is like a frame of something, so either my Nobody, light, or darkness has the part that holds it's Keyblade powers.”
“But does it need to be whole to unlock it?” I ask worriedly, having a bad feeling about this. “Cause...bad things might happen if it doesn't.”
“Well… only X can answer that but since he isn't really here we have no way of knowing.”
“Of course…” I sigh out. “So, how was your time in Demon souls land?”
“Well the bosses where harder than in the game. Tower Knight fight was...odd.”
“Did you break off its helmet and the face looked weird?” I ask, having a feeling I fought that thing in my head.
“Nope. Normally you get a named soul for beating it, I just got this.” Zeke said, pulling out a small orb. Ben’s primal instincts and Nothingness sensitivity screamed as he felt the Nothingness in it was like a atom bomb. “Still got the souls for killing it bit I was collecting those demons souls and this isn't a demon's soul.”
“That’s…” Ben mutter worriedly. “A very dangerous thing…” Ben say worriedly, hoping his Assistant can actually scan the damn thing and see what it is. “Please work…” he mutters, checking to see if his Assistant can scan whatever the hell it was cause it's kind of freaking him out.
Scan Complete.
Heart of A Nobody.
This item is the very essence and being on those who are chosen to be in the council of the King of Nothing. Those who are chosen exist between the realms of light, dark, and nothing, therefore, their very beings when killed are sealed into these orbs, which contain immeasurable power. To revive one, the King or Heir must revive them with the Lexicon and Cards.
I took a deep breath as Fair Game and my Lexicon appeared. “What your holding is the Heart of a Nobody… a chosen council member to be exact.” I say while focusing. “Now I maybe able to revive them...but it's gonna be a bit tricky…” I say, hoping this won't cause any damage to the ship.
Ben let the items do their magic. The card taking in the orb as the Lexicon poured Mana into it like a fountain. Three long minutes passed before the card began glowing, and before them, the card grew into a smaller version of the tower Knight Zeke had killed. It's shield and signature spear/sword missing, and armor colored Blue and White rather than the colors Zeke saw it bear in it’s 'arena’.
“Well damn.” Zeke said as the tower Knight stood...then collapsed. “Saw that coming.” As Zeke sighed, he saw a small chrome glowing orb roll over to him. “Oh sweet! The Iron Demons soul!” He said, picking it up and placing it into his bag. “Now my collection is complete...now what to do with them?” He pondered.
Ben looked at the collapsed knight. “Rise.” He ordered the knight, wondering if the thing was still ‘alive’ and now under his command.
The knight twitched, getting up and groaned. “Agh. My fucking head.” He groaned. “Feels like someone took a keyblade to it.”
“Close, an Executioner's Axe.” Zeke said, a sharp, curved, short grip/reach axe in his right hand. Blood stained onto it. “Still my favorite.”
“You said someone smacked you upside the head with a keyblade...what do you mean by that?” Ben asked the knight, remembering that this knight has the same colors as that one Sniper Joy met when he was hunting down Kexez. “Have you ever seen a keyblade before or what?”
“Uh. Duh.” He said, summoning his Duskblade. “I...wait...where...am I? I was in the Keyblade war… the heck?”
Ben took a deep breath. “We have a lot to talk about.” Ben said. “Where do you want to start my ancient keyblader?” The wolf asked, having a bad feeling about this.
“Ancient? I’m only sixteen?!”
“What year was the keyblade war?” Ben asked, wondering how long its been since the last one.
“Era three… what era is this…?” He asked, sounding worried.
“How long is an era?” Zeke asked.
“A new era is whenever Kingdom hearts cycles all of the worlds… so typically it's a thousand years.”
“What do you mean by ‘cycles’?” Ben asked, already feeling like this guy is a lot older than a thousand years old. “Like Kingdom Hearts orbiting all the world's like a moon or what?”
He nodded. “Yeah. It's a whole day for Kingdom Hearts to orbit a world, more if something happens and it’s called to a specific world.”
Ben looked worried. “Sorry to say but...I'm pretty sure it's been over a thousand years...maybe a crap ton more…” Ben said while checking his Assistant and checking the date with what the knight explained. “But just to be sure…” He muttered, hoping this thing could tell what era it was.
The Keyblade War.
The Keyblade War was an ancient war among the fourth generation of a world of Keyblade wielders. This war took place in Era three and affected the whole Multiverse. Nearly five hundred Era’s later, we still see the effects.
“Jesus Christ nearly five hundred!?” Ben said, startling a little chuckle from him because of how damn long it's been. “So yeah, it's been nearly five hundred eras after the first keyblade war...so you'd be about...fifty thousand years old, give or take a few decades or millennia due to...events.” He told the knight worriedly.
“...YES!” He screamed.
Ben looked over at Zeke, who just spun a finger around the temple of his head. “And that's good how?”
“It means that the light has been alive for this long correct?” Ben suggested. “So, what do you think...oh we don't actually know your name.” I said to the knight.
“Kronos, and I’m happy cause I outlived the war! Ha!”
“And so did a lot of other people, like Discord, Faust, Orion and...Bara.” Ben told him.
“Wait...mom...and dad are alive?” He asked.
Ben's eyes widened. “Wait...I saw….” He muttered, before shaking his head. “Yes, they are alive...and while the war stole their wings and horns there alive and well.” Ben said. “And you have two sisters.”
“Wait what?”
The group flew for a while and thankfully Ben was able to summon his Keyblade and use Nothingness again. “We should be nearing Equestria soon Ben.” Genos said.
“Good.” Ben nodded. “Let's just hope my house isn't torn to shreds...and my family is okay.” He said worriedly. “Can't wait kick Tempests ass for doing this crap.” Ben growled.
“She sounds like a bitch.” Zeke said, sharpening yet another weapon. This one large, battle worn sword that no ordinary man could wield. “What makes her deserving of your anger?” Zeke asked, tone firm, yet laxed in his speech.
“Not only did she destroy my house, and attack my family...she killed Aqua.” Ben said sadly.
Zeke's motions in his sharpening stopped, there was silence hanging like a thick smog. After a time, he continued to sharpen his blade, his motions the same, but tension was seen on his face and slight shifts in movement. “How?”
“Apparently Eraquis has taken a liking to her and took in all her Darkness, basically becoming a Guardian, but she's knocked out in the process. The old fuck is strong, fast, and can tank a super tier spell quite well.” Ben explained.
“Hm..Hm...interesting.” Zeke said, flipping the large blade over with one hand as if the large sword were a toy. “Why is that? Any theories?”
“Maybe he saw something good in her, a light that shouldn't be corrupted...too bad she decided to be an arrogant cunt in the process.” Ben growled.
“Maybe not.” Zeke said, gaining all Ben’s attention. “In the games, and life it seems, Eraqus will do whatever it takes to protect the light. He despises darkness. He raised his Keyblade to Ventus and Terra to stop the X-blade from being forged. What is worth protecting so much that he’d become engulfed is Darkness? Willingly, it sounds.”
“Maybe he felt guilty for fucking up with Terra and the rest? Maybe...maybe he thought Tempest would be consumed by darkness...or maybe the bastard thought she would have a balanced heart o me day and get the X blade cause fuck it.” Ben shrugged. “Too many possibilities…”
“That's not like him. Think about it. Darkness is attracted to powerful lights. Keyblade wielders, and Princesses of Heart especially? What if…” Zeke left off for Ben to continue.
“Her heart was pure light...and Tempest let him reside in her heart like Sora and Ventus?” Ben asked curiously.
“Seems likely. Ventus needed a friend, perhaps Eraqus needed a new purpose. Protecting her light, taking in influencing darkness, sadly becoming it himself. Unintentionally, becoming like Xehanort.”
“Oh the irony…” Ben sighed out. “But...now that this is brought into perspective...maybe it's Eraqus’s fault for her decisions…” Ben says, now wondering if this is gonna be another ‘marrying a super assassin’ event.
“Possibly.” Zeke said simply. “Heh...you missed me huh?”
“After everything so far...just seeing a familiar face that doesn't want to kill you is always a wonderful thing.” Ben said with a smile, his shoulders slumping at that. “You have no idea how bad things have been…” Ben sighed out, putting a hand over his left eye worriedly.
“I’m getting an idea. Guess that's something Cript and I have in common.”
“I suppose.” Ben said. “But hey, at least Humanity was kind enough to talk to me about this crap.” He shrugged. “Doesn't mean my nightmares are gonna get better though…” He muttered bitterly.
“Heh. I meant… neither of us can put up the towel, without something happening.” Upon hearing this, Ben remembered Cript’s word about coming out of retirement, and how Cadence understood it. Zeke died...and hell happened. Ben then wondered...how things would go if he himself died.
“Yeah…” Ben muttered. “Never being able to throw in the towel…” He said, scared of what would happen to the people he loved if he died. “I just...hope we can find a time...where it is possible to throw in the towel ya know? Actually spend time with family and friends without the threat of something appearing out of nowhere and pulling us back in…”
“Why do you think I had so many kids?” Zeke said, making the two laugh.
“Yeah that's true...I mean I need to look after three hundred plus daughter's, a few sons, and god knows how many more are on the way…” Ben chuckled.
“You just had to beat me huh?” Zeke laughed again.
“I went to Rapture, not my fault I adopted all the Little Sisters.” Ben laughed, feeling a whole lot better now that he was laughing with a dear friend. “Also blame Cript, since I'm related to him somehow I make my fiances super pregnant.”
“Oh, so there's your fetish!” Zeke laughed, making Ben’s jaw drop as his face turned red.
“Says the guy who's also got a pregnant fetish.” I growled, flustered by what he said.
“Hey, hey… I never tried to hide it.” Zeke said, bursting out in full blown tears of laughter. “God I haven't laughed that hard in forever.”
Ben sighed out and shook his head. “Glad your feeling better man.” He smiled. “Must have been rough in Demon Souls land.”
“Yeah. It was. Weird. I...should have died a lot and just returned to the Nexus… but I was slashed, impaled, got arrows and crossbow bolts jabbed everywhere, set on fire, hit with enough forge to bash pure stone into gravel, poisoned, bled out, caught the plague… yet I never died. Not sure how or why. I felt it all… yet didn't die. It...sucked.”
“Yeesh…” Ben frowned. “That sucks.”
“Yeah. Made boss fights a bitch and don't even get me started on when I got swarmed and those fuckers attacked non stop.” Zeke groaned. “Wonder if that ever happened to Cript?”
Ben flinched, remembering Cript’s stolen mortality. “Yeah…” He muttered. “He would know…”
“So, any word from the Foretellers? Eclipse?”
“No and no. I've been so busy I didn't go check on them.” Ben sighed out. “Hopefully I can see them, it would be nice to talk to them and catch up on stuff.”
“Yeah. So, what's your goal for after you deal with Tempest and your world marriage thing?”
“Make sure my family survives the war.” Ben says readily. “Even if I might master all my weapons while marrying all the royalty on my Equestria...my family comes first.” He explained simply.
“As a father.” Zeke said, starting to sharpen the other side of the large blade. “What about a king? What's most important to you as a king? The safety of your subjects? Or of the ones you keep closest?”
“A king isn't a king without his people.” Ben said. “When I become the King, my people, family, friends, everyone comes first.” The wolf stated.
“But not even god can save them all.” Zeke said simply. “So as a king, and as a father...who comes first? Ben, the father of his family, or Ben the White Knight, King of the world? Who are you when the time comes for the hard choices?”
“I'll save as many as I can, even if it kills me.” Ben said. “I'm a hero, and I'm not gonna be a King who sits back and let's others deal with my problems.” He said. “Besides paperwork, paperwork is a bitch.” He said, wanting to be a hero and protect the people even if he knows he can't save everyone.
“Huh. Guess that makes us different. It's why I made a council when we rebuilt Daybreak. Guess why?”
“I also have a council, but why are we so different in this case?” Ben asked. “Is it because you can trust people more than me? Is it because I don't want to be lazy? Is it because I don't want to lose my family again? Please, tell me.”
“Because if Daybreak falls… I’m escaping with my family, and leaving it. Why do you think I made the council, gave everybody a Keyblade? I made the council to do the work I’d have to do otherwise as a main leader, and gave everybody a Keyblade, so they can evacuate or fight as they desire. I’m no hero...hell half the time I don't consider myself a good person. But I have morals, so that's why I try.”
“I know…” Ben said. “I have a council to, and Luxu and others are helping create a school for keybladers. But I'm not that good of a person either...but given I have powers to protect the people, I'm gonna use them to protect the people.” Ben said, Soul Zeke seeing Ben less of a sassy wolf who tries to hard, and seeing more of a scared teen who's trying his damndest not to lose the things important to him again. “I was given powers to use as I see fit...and I'll use them to be a hero. I know I need help…” He trailed off sadly.
“Don't we all.” Zeke replied simply, gazing down to his sword. “I got this big bad ass blade killing a Dragon God. Another few for various things. Thanks to a sage I saved I have one of those RPG bags that holds everything. I have a crap ton of stuff in this thing.” He said, patting the leather bag next to him. “I couldn't have gotten or even held all the shit I needed to survive-ish without the people I helped helping me in return.”
“Yeah…” Ben nodded. “But when you lost your family at a young age...you tend to not trust help in fear of losing the people who give a damn about you.” He said. “But I think I'm getting better…hopefully.”
“Only time will tell.” Zeke said softly. “All I know now is, we have work to do.”
“Way too much work.” Ben said. “So much to do, so little time…”
“As always. One good thing came out of my time in Boletaria. That's the Demon’s Souls world. I can do magic now without needing Discord.”
Ben blinked and his eyes glowed green, scanning over Zeke to see all his stuff. “Sounds good. Best to be able to do stuff without being handicapped. Oh also, you have an Absent Silhouette on Johns world from what Joy told me, it's a pain in the ass and has way too many forms.” Ben said, wondering if he should go there and try his luck.
“Seriously? The actual fuck?”
“Yeah, apparently it starts with you, then you D-link with a bunch of previous X-blade wielders, then X itself decides to step in and fight, and then, believe it or not, he fought Kingdom Hearts itself...which was in the form of a child for whatever reason.” Ben explained with a shrug. “The rewards he got was great...and there was some other things about it.” Ben said. “So hey, whenever you want to fight yourself without holding back then go right ahead.”
“That will be...interesting.”
“I mean your gonna have to fight yourself anyway so...might as well get some practice in.” Ben shrugged. “I should probably go there and test how far I can go...it would be interesting to see.”
“Wanna see if he can handle two fighters?”
“That would be cool.” Ben nodded. “Especially two experienced fighters like us.” He said, wanting to try teamwork stuff to try and trust people more.
“It will be interesting.”
“So after we deal with my bit of problems want to head out to test our teamwork?” Ben asked. “Or you gonna just head there right now?”
“Well before anything I wanna fix up home. After that I need to figure something out then I guess we can tackle it. Does it give any kind of rewards?”
“From what I got from Joy it gives thirteen chests. Each chest gives either a drive form, ability, an ass ton of experience, an ass ton of synthesis items, a special item like the Winnie the Pooh book, spells, command styles...and the thirteenth can be whatever one most desires...which is why Joy saw Eve’s past.” Ben explained. “So yeah, it sounds pretty worth it in my opinion.”
“Sweet. So wait? Will it be split between us then or will there be twenty six?”
“There better be twenty six.” Ben says. “But if not well we’ll have to figure out how to split it.” Ben shrugged. “Cause to be perfectly honest the rewards are pretty damn good...like what a super boss should give...which brings up your still a lucky bastard cause your a super boss when you don't give a shit.”
“Am I?” Zeke asked confused. “Eh, I don't see it.”
“Have you ever gone one hundred percent, using all the abilities you know and could think up on the fly, without any limiters or thoughts of holding back? And if not, imagine it.” Ben told him. “Cause Joy fought that, and it looked like a massive pain in the ass.”
“I...try not to think about it.”
“Scared of what could happen if you did go all out with no reservations?” Ben asked.
“I know very well what will happen Ben…”
Ben nodded. “And what's funny is that I don't know what my hundred percent time would be like...never thought about it, and I kind of fear for whoever decides to push me that far.” He said honestly.
“Sometimes not knowing is better than knowing Ben.” Zeke said, finishing his work on the sword and placing it away in his special bag.
“I know.” Ben sighed out. “But...it's best to at least prepare before a planet explodes on complete accident.”
“Mortality.” Zeke said, confusing Ben. “If I take all that power, use it, I take Kingdom Hearts into me. It's a heart like any other. I do that, I’m king of everything, save for your territory. Light and darkness will be mine to shape and bend, form, at the cost of my mortality. Nothing, not time, not blades...nothing could kill me. I might even be able to give Cript a challenge in battle… I can't go on...I can't ever go all out...if I have to see my loved ones grow old without me.”
“Huh…” Ben said. “That's...a whole bunch of something.” He said while looking at his hands. “But when you explained that...something felt off...like...True Nothingness…” He said, scowling at his hands wondering why that term seemed very scary but fitting to compare it to what Zeke explained.
“Perhaps that's your true power as well? Total power, at the cost of what you care for? Who knows.”
“It better fucking not…” Ben growled. “God...well actually God, the one who brought us here, is actually dead if you didn't know.”
“The satanists were right.” Zeke chuckled lightly. “So, what's our first move, if Tempest is there? Cause if she's not I’m heading to my home to clear up some business.”
“If she's there then we're going to have to separate her from Eraqus, or at least beat the bastard til he can't move, then try and figure out how to convince Tempest not to be a complete bitch.” Ben explained. “Just...well watch out for stop cause that's always a thing.”
“Heh, Huxley spammed that on me first time we met.”
“Yeah...I barely knew the guy but he seemed nice enough.” Ben shrugged, pulling out his lexicon and checking his spells. “Okay...let's look up anti stop spells shall we?” Ben muttered while looking through his lexicon, finding an absolute ass ton of spells. “Damn...didn't think I had this many…”
“Here thou art, Hero.” Ben nearly jumped, from nowhere a woman dressed in all black, with wax covering her eyes completely appeared. “Thin Request is complete.”
“That was...fast.” Zeke said, looking at Ben. “Oh, this is The Maiden in Black. She keeps the candles lit within the Nexus and was going to lul the old one back to sleep...but I uh...killed him. The look on her face was priceless.”
“Yeah, killing an eldritch horror is one way to get a girlfriend.” Ben joked.
Zeke and the Maiden looked at one another. “He has not courted me, young wolf. Our Relationship is platonic, for I am ageless and now will keep watch over the lost souls still yet to be found, now that the Old One is dead.”
Ben shrugged. “Eh, okay." He said. “So I suppose you watched over my friend here since he got to your world?”
“Yes. From the moment he arrived I knew he was different, never before have I met anyone with such a unique soul. Through the Archstones I saw him fight, yet I could tell he held back his true power always. When he killed the Old One, a feat I knew not possible, I felt without purpose, yet he gave me one. Watch over all lost souls, he told me, and so I will, now that his request is complete.” She explained.
“Would you believe me if I said this guy is only his soul?” Ben asked simply.
“From his inability to regain his body, even after slaying all the demons, and the Old One, yes. Which brings me to your Request Zeke. I have found you a body, fit perfectly for thine soul.” Upon hearing that, Ben’s ears twitched.
“Perfect. Where?” Zeke replied.
“A world much like mine own, but far darker.” She said, holding out her hands as there was a small ball of five that leaned in a direction. “I can lead the way.”
“Darker how?” Ben asked, wondering if it's Dark Souls or Bloodborne.
“Like mine, ravaged by demons, curses and ailments, but the Undead roam, cursed by an unholy madness. Much like the Soul Starved of mine own world.”
“Hollows…” Ben said. “Yeah that's Dark Souls. If memory serves from video games the place is a pain in the ass.”
“Mind if we make a detour?” Zeke asked Ben. “I know your family is important, but I need to have a body in order to stand a chance against Kexez, and to hold my heart when I smack some sense into my dark half and bring my light half back to life.”
Ben nodded. “Alright...but it's gonna be a bitch cause that world...just saying it I can tell it's covered in Void…”
Ben had Genos change course to where the Maiden’s flame guided. It wasn’t a long flight til they came across the world.
… It looked sick. The landscape a mix of baren, burned, and...red… only small patches of green were around. “Damn, then again, it is a dying world.” Zeke said. “Boletaria looked better than this place.”
They landed, just outside a place Zeke knew. “The Undead Asylum. I made it further in Demon Souls than Dark Souls. Never got passed the fourth boss of the game.” Zeke said, taking out one of his greatswords and the Keyblade Ben gave him. It was then Ben noticed Zeke pulling the normal weapons from seemingly thin air.
“I beat the game, it was a pain but I managed.” Ben shrugged as he summoned Frozen Pride and his own keyblade. “So...I wonder if we're going to meet the Pygmy soul here.” Ben said, wondering if they'll meet the player character of the Dark Souls game. “Hey...where are you keeping all those weapons?”
“Huh? Oh, this.” Zeke said, showing Ben a leg pouch strapped on his leg. “Saved a grand sage or whatever he called himself, had him make me this. Can’t hold limitless items, but with enough souls he managed to make it hold eight hundred pounds worth of stuff without affecting me much. Made that guy who offered to hold my stuff sad...til I found his family for him, well, their souls at least and Maiden turned them into Phantoms like me. I considered it payment for him holding my excess stuff for so long.”
Ben nodded. “Sounds good...but the people in this place are kind but...the curse of the Undead is a powerful thing.” Ben said as he looked around for anything.
“I’m a Phantom in a land of the undead...this will be good.” Zeke said, popping his neck as he and The Maiden marched forward, Ben following. When they reached the door Zeke knocked. “Anyone home?” There was a loud thud noise. “That’s a YES!” He shouted, kicking the massive doors open, revealing a large, grotesquely fat demon wielding an equally large club/mace like weapon in his grip. “Oh ho ho. Hello Fatty!”
“The courtyard Asylum Demon.” Ben said while raising his shield in a defensive pose. “Move around and stab it in the back as much as possible?” Ben asked, hoping it was just as standard in Demon Souls as it is in Dark souls.
“Dibs!” Zeke said, rushing in, putting his greatsword away and disbanding his Keyblade.
Before Ben could aid, he was held back by The Maiden. “Let him Fight, with my aid, his Phantom form is powerful, and it will be more so with a body.”
When ben looked back, he saw the Asylum demon bring it’s massive weapon down...and Zeke CAUGHT it in his bear hands, pull it away from the obese creature, and using it to bash in the demons skull. “I AM KEEPING THIS!” Zeke declared as the demons head exploded in chunks of bone, blood and brain matter.
“See? And still, this is only a shred of the power he chooses to withhold.”
“As per usual.” Ben rolled his eyes. “Had fun there man?” He asked Zeke who just killed the Asylum Demon with ease.
“Yup.” Zeke said, the demons corpse falling over as the light that was it’s collected souls entered Zeke. “And just like in Boletaria, the corpses don’t fade away in a flash of light...makes a messy scene… very messy.” Zeke said as he walked over the demon corpse. “Sorry for rushing in man, but lacking my light half I just rush in without a plan. Guess I know where my will to fight comes from...me...soul wise anyway.” He said with a light chuckle.
“Yeah yeah.” Ben said. “So Maiden, we headed towards the Raven or finding someone here?” He asked, hearing the sounds of Hollows echo throughout the asylum.
The Maiden looked at the fire in her hands, it’s flame leaning towards the Asylum. “The body is within, unlike the ones around it has their mind and heart, but their soul is gone, likely taken from them before they arrived here, whatever did that to them, devoured it likely.” She said, moving forward as Zeke and Ben followed.
“So, how’s Joy been?” Zeke asked as they trekked through the dark and empty, for now, halls.
“He's fine, went out to find my Council and is in the One Piece world.” Ben said. “He's gonna be there for a long time cause he was just flung to another island by Kuma...so he's about two years away from getting past the halfway point if Luffy decides on the two years.”
“Damn, guess time does move differently between worlds. Wonder if he’ll be all grown up when he gets back?” Zeke questioned. “So, has he found someone yet?”
“Council members? Yeah he found Genos, Vergil, Dante, Kat, Speed of Sound Sonic, and Brook. Joy is also a council member, as well as Luxu and Trixie believe it or not.” Ben explained.
“I saw her on the ship and assumed.” Zeke said. “What’s her weapon?”
“Fair Game.” Ben said. “And all I need to do is find the chainsaw guy from Black Butler, Captain America, Zuko from Avatar the last Airbender, and...someone who wields Way to Dawn.” He explained.
“Huh, long list.” Zeke said, the trio beginning to hear...crying. “You hear that?”
“Tis is your body Zeke.” The Maiden said. “They are ahead.” As the trio walked ahead a bit further The Maiden stopped in front of one of the still sealed jail cell doors. Age and Rust long since consuming them, yet still they held. Inside, Ben and Zeke were shocked. There was a framilier mare there, even in a decayed looking state of being Hollow, her mane was still it’s light blue/grey, and her coat was dirty, but it’s blue still showing. What confirmed it, was the purple and white star pattern cape and matching hat.
“Trixie?” Zeke said, trying to examine her closer. “I know the one on Daybreak Empire never returned when we brought the large population back but… this is what happened to her?”
Ben examined her as well. Her clothes were dirty, ragged, but tears were minor, and light, her mane a mess. It was a sad, pathetic sight, one he felt his heart ache to see. “She's been here for a long time…” Ben muttered as he looked carefully. “Zeke, can you see a mark, a black hole on her body that seems to be smoldering?” Ben asked.
Zeke examined, and nodded when he spotted it. “Yeah, her left hand.” The Maiden used some kind of magic that made the long since rusted doors swing open like the day they were made, and the trio walked in. “What can we do? Cause...that will be a problem.”
“In Dark Souls lore there is no cure…” Ben shook his head. “But a good thing to do is get her some Humanity, just to reverse the physical effects and get her mind set a bit.” Ben explained while checking his Assistant just in case there was a way to remove the curse.
Zeke moved his eyes from side to side in thought, before reaching into his pouch, and pulling out one of his Demons Souls. “Phalanx, be useful for something...cause your fight still sucked in real life as much as it did in game.” Zeke said, placing it in Trixie’s hand. Her body glowed, her skin became normal, no longer dried and shriveled like the corpse she walked as, even her mane became better in its appearance. “Oh thank god…”
“Uhh…” Trixie moaned, moving her head up. “Agh! Trixie’s neck is very stiff- Wait… I remember getting shot by arrows… Wait I died!?” She said, jumping up to her feet suddenly and looking herself over. “I, but...huh?!” She said in confusion, not seeing a single mark of injury, but noticing the dirt and grim on her coat and clothing. “Where...what…?” She then saw the mark on her left hand, and the Trio. “Ummm...who are you three?”
“The people who are getting you out of this hell hole.” Ben said simply. “There's a lot to talk about, but it's best if you hear it from the guy who brought you back.” He said while motioning to Zeke.
Zeke cleared his throat. As he was about to speak, he and Ben both felt something. A powerful something appear nearby. They both know what it was, or rather, who. “Kexez!” They both yelped.
“Kez-who?” Trixie asked.
“Trixie, long story short, there are a lot of bad, very bad people we have to deal with, but even for as strong as I am, I need a body, as in...yours.”
“WHAT!?!? Trixie will not loan you her body you pervert!” She yelled, trying to cover herself, despite having clothes.
“Not like that! I am a phantom, like a ghost, and Ben here can tell you who we just felt arrive is BAD.” Zeke said. “You can help me stop them, end them, but I need a body to work with and since mine is…. Corrupted, yours is the only match that we’ve found.”
“But, I...what?”
“Look.” Zeke said, taking her left hand and showing her the mark. “This sign, this mark on your hand means you died Trixie, your soul is gone, the only reason your body is as it is again is because of us. It’s not permanent either. Trixie, if you let me in, I can promise you I can get that mark removed, but not if who is here gets to us first. Understand?”
Trixie looked conflicted, surprised, and reasonably terrified, after all, finding out you were a walking soulless body is enough to do that, but that her soul was gone was...even more worrying. She pondered for a moment, feeling a lack of other options. “A-Alright, Trixie will let you...use her body… Is it...permanent?”
Zeke didn’t speak, rather, he looked to The Maiden. “Zeke’s soul will replace Thin own young mare, and if your body and heart accept him, then yet, thin bond will be permanent. Not even I could remove you two.” The Maiden said, shock appearing on Trixie and Zeke’s faces.
“I...I…”
“Oh Zeke.” Kexez voice echoed from down the halls, sending a chill up Zeke, Ben, and Trixie’s spines. “Where are you my useless soul!”
“Better hurry up, I'll go distract the bastard.” Ben whispered to the two before quietly running off to face Kexez to give them enough time to settle it.
Zeke sighed. “It’s not ideal Trixie, but it’s better than both our alternatives.”
“...Alright...so, how’s this going to work?”
“Both of thee take one of my hands.” The Maiden said. “I will send Zeke within you, and keep watch till your body and heart accept him.” Trixie grabbed one of the Maiden’s hand, and Zeke grabbed the other.
Ben ran, trying to lead Kexez off from where Zeke and the others were. “Now now, why run? Aren’t we FRIENDS?!” Kexez yelled, shooting a strike raid at Ben that he managed to dodge.
“Friends don’t try to kill each other, and I'm pretty sure your mostly running off of Psychopath blood jackass!” Ben shouted back, swinging his shield as ice spikes shot out towards Kexez.
Ben managed to lead Kexez back to the courtyard with the Asylum demon body. He readied himself, taking out Frozen Pride and his Keyblade. This was going to be a tricky battle, and he was hoping Zeke will burst in soon in Trixie’s body… ”That’s going to be weird…” Ben thought, it now hitting him this means Zeke will have swapped genders forever, unlike with the whole incident where he became female and was impregnated by a genderswapped Unum out for sexual payback. “Alright, time to deal with this bastard…” Ben growled as he casted all his buff spells, doubling all his physical and magical abilities.
Kexez entered the room simply, a Starlight Keyblade in one hand, and… Core’s old Keyblade in the other. “Tell me, how do you see this playing out?” Kexez asked, stopping seven or so feet from Ben.
“Me kicking your ass and that being that?” Ben asked simply. “Or are you gonna monologue about how your stronger than me because of some bullshit?”
Kexez didn’t speak, rather, he lifted up Core’s old Keyblade...the top half shifting and showed Core, his mask broken, revealed body abused and missing an arm...his one eye showing. Human...and scared. It quickly changed back into it’s Keyblade form. “He discovered my alteration in motives, so, I decided to keep him around as something more useful. Like it?” He asked, showing it off. “It’s called One’s Core. A Keyblade made from ancient hearts. I wonder how you’ll look as one?” Kexez said with a sadistic smile.
“Can't believe I'm going to be saving Core from a person even madder than him.” Ben frowned, the runes on his body glowed as it double his abilities again. “But do I like it? No, and your not gonna turn me into a keyblade because you said so.” The wolf growled.
Kexez chuckled. “We’ll see, mutt!” Kexez charged, taking a slash at Ben who dodged it with half an inch between the blade and himself. He had to admit, even with his buffs and runes, Kexez was fast. Ben could only briefly cast a spell at Kexez before needing to dodge.
”Come on you two, hurry up.” Ben thinks to himself as he flicked his shield and a bolt of ice shot out towards Kexez as he readied to hit him if he dodged or blocked it.
Kexez slashed the ice bolt aside, getting close to-
“Mega Flare!” A voice from the side called, the giant ball of fire hitting Kexez and blasting him against the wall. Ben looked at the source of the voice, seeing Trixie stand there with her mane now mixed with blond, and one of her eyes was blue, rather than it’s normal purple. Her voice was slightly different. A tad lower than it was before...and she wielded the X-blade. “Sorry for the delay Ben!” Like that, Ben couldn’t tell if it was fully Zeke, but he was happy to have an ally regardless.
“I had him on the ropes.” Ben said. “What took you so long?” He asked while looking at where Kexez was and ready to fight more.
“Was reforging an old friend.” They said, walking up next to Ben. “The Maiden said this is how Trixie and I will look when I take over.” They said, Ben now knowing it was Zeke. “I can take a back seat and let Trixie be Trixie for a bit, but we have to better figure out this mess later.” Zeke said, readying the X-blade. “I have missed this thing.”
“Glad to hear that.” Ben nodded. “Okay, time to kill a bitch.”
“Heheh. You think…” Kexez said as he got up. “That body can aid you in killing me? Even with the X-blade it’s useless!” He said, charging at Zeke, the two deflecting one another's attacks as fast as they swung them. Ben took this chance to deal damage to Kexez, casting spells and slashing at the Nobodies back. Between the two Kexez knew he was in trouble. “Dark Matter!” He said, the tip of One’s Core flashing black as the whole area began to turn to ash and Ben and Zeke began falling from the sudden lack of ground.
“Fly!” Ben shouted, giving Zeke the ability to fly as Ben bolted back towards Kexez. “Your not getting away bastard!” He barked at Kexez, thinking this distraction was to give him time to escape.
“Not this time you-”
“Dark Raid!” Zeke yelled, the X-blade cloaked in darkness as he threw it into a darkness cloaked strike raid. The attack hit Kexez...slicing the arm with One’s Core clean off.
“G-grah!” Kexez yelled. “Die you mother fuckers!” He yelled, his Starlight Keyblade glowed and was cloaked in Nothingness thorns as he swiped a massive blow of wind at them, using the time to fall quickly into a DTD.
Zeke quickly grabbed One’s Core, and he and Ben flew back to the ship. There, The Maiden was already there, Zeke’s gear from Bolitaria was waiting for him as she left, her task complete and was now off to fulfil her new purpose. Genos took off, and they now sat in the ships storage bay.
“Well Kexez got away...but hey he lost an arm and Core is right there.” Ben pointed out.
“I’d call that a win.” Zeke said, finally relaxing a bit as he began to get a feel for the new body. “Hang on…” Zeke said, quickly heading for the bathroom, and returned not long after. “...Welp, seems Trixie is a hermaphrodite…” He said with a bit of a shocked expression. “Didn’t see that one coming.”
“HA!” Ben burst into laughter at that. “Oh wow, I was...I was gonna ask how it feels to be a woman again...but that's just too perfect.” Ben laughed. “Oh god, I'm sorry for laughing but...wow.”
“Don’t apologize to me, apologize to Trixie.” Zeke said, closing her eyes as the mane changed back to Trixie’s full colors. When they opened their eyes, both were purple.
Trixie walked up to Ben and smacked him, leaving a rather large handprint on his face. “Jerk!” She said, face red with blush.
“I already said sorry, and I'm not laughing at you. Ya see Zeke there one time became a woman.” Ben said, calming down a bunch.
“I know that, when we fuzed I saw some of his memories while he was fighting… Things...are really that bad then?” She asked, slumping down to the floor. “Wow...and here I thought having both sets of sex organs was bad...makes me feel like a bratty child now…”
“Apparently you've never met Rune.” Ben said.
“I saw his family in there too...including...Sparkle…” She said with a grunt. “She beat me pretty good at magic...all I’ve ever had was my magic. Back in my home town I was the best at magic, but I didn’t care for the schooling she got, I just wanted to perform, like my dad.”
“And that's fine.” Ben said. “Living your dream is fine, and power to you...but I don't need to give a lecture about the other stuff your ego and revenge caused.” Ben shrugged. “But hey, now with Zeke you can go back to Equestria and start a new life, a happy one even though Zeke is kind of...um…” Ben frowned. “How do I say this without it sounding wrong?” He asked, hating how most of the things he could say would sound like an innuendo.
“Goes with the flow?” Trixie offered. “I saw some of his more...sexy memories… That Rune is bendy...and kinky…” She said, her face red with blush again.
“I know how bendy Rune is...and I'm still concerned about most of the things in that book.” Ben said nervously. “Yeah, she may be kinky...but she also concerns me with some of them.” The wolf shook his head. “But anything else you want to talk about from seeing Zeke's memories besides his sex life?”
“Well...he really came from a family of criminals?” She asked.
“Not only a family of criminals…” Ben said. “Can Zeke hear me? Cause...I've got some important things to talk about” He asked curiously.
“He can, he's looking through my memories now too...It’s...so weird, I can feel him doing that, if I focus I can see him too. Guess it’s the best way to get to know each other.” She said with a sigh. “Looks like we both had rough lives.”
“Yeah...so Zeke, here's a funny thing.” Ben started before explaining the memories of Zeke's childhood that he found in his mental journey, and gave the name of the group that might have been doing that shit.
Trixie’s hair and eye changed, meaning Zeke took over again. “Nexus?” Zeke asked. “I think I heard my grandpa say that once, but he never talked about it again. And sorry but...I didn’t fake my death and run away before.”
“From what I could gather Nexus is a group of super bad guys...that might have fucked with time.” Ben says worriedly.
“Is this a Cript thing?” She asked, Ben finding it odd his friend is now female, while still male too. It was going to be a while before he got used to it.
“Yeah basically.” Ben nodded. “So basically that may have been your life before they fucked with time...but then they talked about finding the right time...so they went all the way back and corrupted Core’s son, the first Ventral, with Psychopath blood. Cause apparently any time sooner than that made Zeke, the next Cript project, a failure.”
“Wait, Wait, Wait, Wait, Wait, Wait, Wait, Wait, Wait, Wait, Wait, Wait, Wait, Wait, Wait.” Zeke said repeatedly. “Are you telling me Core, the jackass we spent the first many months of our time trying to kill...is my hundreds of great grandfather?!”
“And his father is Yen Sid and Eve is his mother. Joy figured out all this out when he beat your Absent Silhouette.” Ben explained.
“...Fuck my life…” Zeke said, falling on her back. “Cause why the FUCK not!?”
“Yeah that's kind of what Joy said. He was shocked yes, but I'm pretty sure he also said ‘called it’.” Ben shrugged. “So, why don't we bring out the man in question so we can talk to him hopefully. Cause I'm not entirely sure he knew about...a bunch of what I'm talking about.”
Zeke looked over at the Keyblade Core, sighing. “How can we free him then? I don’t even know how Kexez did it.”
Ben took Keyblade Core by the hilt and took a deep breath and focused, trying to either turn him back to his human form, or at least hear him so he could talk. ”Hello?” Ben mentally called out to Core, hoping this will work as Nothingness gently enveloped his hand to try and help make this impossible thing work.
There was no reply. “I think only Kingdom Hearts powers can talk to them?” Zeke questioned.
“Well then have at it my friend, you should still be able to talk to Keyblades right?” Ben asked.
Zeke shook his head. “I was able to do that because of what Kingdom Hearts did to my heart, and body, making me a human Keyblade. My soul is unaffected, and Trixie’s heart, while surprisingly is balanced, isn’t like my heart.”
“Right. Well I at least know he can hear me, so don't worry old man, we’ll figure out how to get you back to normal.” Ben said honestly. “Can't wait to get home…” He said, feeling a little homesick from having been thrown out.
“Same.” Zeke said. “There’s a lot I’m going to have to wrap up. If that clone you said Bara made is going to be an issue...it’s going to be weird.”
“Bara said that if I told anyone close to you about the clone it would go on a complete rampage...and he also figured out how to completely shatter the crystal heart with a flick of his wrist…” Ben said bitterly. “Fuckers got things planned out…” He shook his head. “Plus he's teaching my family how to survive the keyblade war...and I also promised him he could see the kings Library because he really wants to learn about it.”
“Hmm… He isn’t expecting me..or rather, why would he suspect Trixie?” Zeke questioned.
“He's a survivor of the keyblade war, I'm pretty sure he'd sense someone doing the same thing as he is.” Ben said. “But true, he might not entirely suspect Trixie.” He said, wondering if Zeke could free Twilight from his hold.
“Trixie, the last time they left off, still had a score with Twilight, so it wouldn’t be too far out of possibility that Bara would let Twilight deal with Trixie, when in fact when the time come, I can take over, having the whole thing appear as a trick to the audience while in reality I’ll be facing off with Bara, and if I can, remove his heart from Twilight. You promised him, but I made no such promise. I’m shattering his heart, then that clone and my family will discuss what to do next. If that clone is identical to me, we can work out something.”
“Alright. But Bara told me that his heart is deep within Twilights, it'll be a bit of a bitch to figure out how to separate his from Twilights.” Ben explained worriedly.
“I think I can handle it. I know my Twilight.” Zeke said confidently. She then looked at her hand, and summoned the X-blade. “I think I can head home, with this. Will you be fine dealing with Tempest on your own if she is there?”
“Yeah I'm sure I can handle it.” Ben said. “Found the spells I needed to help stop her.”
“Okay. I’ll be taking the time to catch up on Daybreak stuff...man, this is going to be weird. But, doable. My god I can see Rune having a field day with this.” She said, moving her hand up her body and down again. “And these...will also be an adjustment.” Zeke said, grabbing hers/Trixie’s easy D cup breasts. “Seriously… This is gonna be...an adjustment…” She sighed, grabbing her things and adorning her armor. “Thank god this was unisex.” She said, placing it on. “I’ll be back once things are mostly sorted out, alright?”
“Alright, stay safe my friend, and remember this isn't the first time you've been a chick...just make sure Trixie knows there will be a lot of running in her future.” Ben joked with a friendly smile, raising a fist up for a fist bump between friends. “I'll make sure not to kill Kexez before you get your actual body back okay?”
“...You didn’t hear what the Maiden said?” Zeke asked, putting the helmet on and summoning the X-blade.
Ben frowned. “I didn't hear ‘permanent’ in her words my friend.”
“She said exactly that.” Zeke said, opening the DTL. “Trixie’s heart and body accepted me as her new soul...she can’t separate us.”
“I probably ran off to distract Kexez when she said that.” Ben shrugged.
“Just promise me this,” Zeke started. “If we ever both get wasted and end up waking up naked with one another, you are paying child support.” Zeke laughed as she ran into the DTL, it closing behind her after entering.
“Of course had leave child support on me…” Ben grumbled, shaking his head with a little smile. “Glad to know my friends back at least…” He muttered, hoping when he gets home things won't get worse.