//------------------------------// // Chapter XXXIV: Night on Bald Mountain // Story: KINGDOM HEARTS: Dark Order // by OliverSparkle //------------------------------// The Land Of Departure was the home of Terra, Aqua and Ventus along with the two late Keyblade Masters, Eraqus and Xehanort. That was the only safe place where Riku, Mickey, Fizzlepop, Spike, Roxas, Xion, Axel and the Young Six can keep Lightning Twister safe and away from the darkness and the two Unversed Masters, Vanitas and Cozy Glow. Right now, everyone was in the spare bedrooms, in the castle, fast asleep. As for Riku, he was sleeping in Terra’s room after asking him on the Gummi Phone if he was okay of him sleeping in his bed tonight till they reach Equestria and he said yes. Lightning was sleeping in a spare bedroom on his own, with a candle lit on the bedroom stand next to the bed, but just for one night. If he was having trouble sleeping or having any nightmares, he was allowed to go to Smolder or Silverstream and sleep with one of them. It was only for tonight he was sleeping on his own. But the poor colt wasn’t sleeping very well in the bed he’s in. He was sweating from his head and tears began to flow down his closed eyes as he started to whimper quietly. He was having another nightmare. Lightning saw scary images in his nightmare with the sound of sparks hearing as they appeared quickly. The images were The Storm King’s castle with thunder striking in the sky, the completed body of Storm King, two thrones, one big and one small, and a unknown pony setting on the small throne. More images appeared with Vanitas, him holding his hand out, Lightning holding Cozy Glow’s hooves, them kissing each other and lastly, the entire Equestria being destroyed and innocent lives being tortured. Lightning shot open his eyes and the camera zoomed back to reveal the mane eight, Spike, Oliver, the Crystal Empire family, the Young Six and the guardians of light floating unconscious before sinking into the darkness leaving the poor scared colt looking around until he saw the two angry princesses staring down at him. “Lightning Twister!” Celestia said angrily with her voice echoing, “We cared about you! But after killing a hippogriff that was not only a traitor but a warrior of The Storm King, we have no other choice but to send you to Tartarus for your action and have remove you as the son of Fluttershy!” Lightning walked backwards in fear, with eyes flowing with tears, while saying, “N-No! I-I-I didn’t mean to! It was an accident! I didn’t wanna kill him!” Just then, a big cage appeared on top of him, locking him shut, just before the darkness faded away to reveal an area of Tartarus. Lightning looked at the area he was caged up in before calling out the one pony he wanted right now, “M-Momma!” Suddenly, Cozy Glow’s voice was heard behind him. “Your mother, is dead!” Lightning turned behind him and began to shook in fear as he saw the evil filly grinning evilly at him. Cozy Glow laughed a bit before saying, “You feared thunder storms, but are you also scared of being eaten by a filly?!” Cozy Glow opened her mouth wide as her tongue shot stretched out from it and armed towards Lightning Twister. The scared colt tried to move away from the tongue, but he couldn’t go any further since he was tried in the cage with the filly. The tongue reached Lightning and wrapped around his body, hooves and wings. It moved back into Cozy Glow’s mouth with Lightning trying to break free, but he couldn’t as the tongue was too strong for him. As the tongue slowly pulled Lightning into Cozy’s mouth, the colt let out his final words, “No! No! Help me! Momma! Smolder! Silverstream!” But no help came, and with his final words said, Cozy Glow closed her mouth shut. Lightning shot open his eyes while setting up on the bed and let out a scream before breathing heavily and sweating still with a few more tears coming down his face. Silverstream was fast asleep in the bed of the spare bedroom she was in, until there was a knock on the door waking her up. Silverstream rubbed her eyes with her claws and let out a yawn before getting out of bed and walked towards the door. After opening the door, the hippogriff’s tired look turned into a sad, shocked and worried look as she saw it was Lightning Twister looking at her with tears flying down his face and whimpering a bit. “C-Can I c-come in?” Silverstream nodded her head in response to his question and moved a side to let the poor colt in the bedroom. She closed the door after that. Lightning jumped onto the bed and laid there before continuing to cry. The pink hippogriff climbed onto the bed and sat next to Lightning. She then carefully and gently picked Lightning Twister up and cradled him close to her as he cried into the fur chest of his big sister. Silverstream gently stroked her little brother’s back and started whispering in his ear to help calm him down, “Shhh...Shhh...It’s okay, Lightning sweetheart. It’s okay. I’ve got you now. It’s alright, it’s alright.” Just then, the bedroom door opened again making the two look at it to see it was none other than Riku with a worried look on his face. He had just been to the bathroom and was heading back to Terra’s bedroom when he heard crying coming the spare room Silverstream was sleeping in. “Silverstream, is he alright?” Asked Riku, after seeing the colt crying in the hippogriff’s embrace, and made his way to the bed before sitting on the edge of the bed while looking at them. Lightning sniffed as Silverstream carefully brushed the tears away with her claw finger. “I h-had a-a n-nightmare,” said the sad and scared colt. “What was it about, cutie?” Silverstream asked. Lightning sadly looked up to his big sister before saying, “I-It was about P-Princess C-Celestia and L-Luna punishing me for k-killing Tempest P-Plagueis. And C-Cozy G-Glow was there and she, she...she s-swallowed m-me.” Lightning buried his face back into Silverstream’s chest and continued to cry. Silverstream and Riku couldn’t help but feel bad for Lightning Twister after hearing what his nightmare was about. Yet he was still worried he might get punished for killing Tempest Plagueis even if he was still a bad guy and was about to kill Silverstream. Silverstream gently kissed Lightning on the top of his head before gently stroking his mane and said, “Lightning, they ain’t gonna punish you for what you did. They’ll know you didn’t mean to do it.” Lightning sniffed sadly again. “H-how d-do you know? I-I crossed t-the l-line we d-don’t c-cross. I-I’m a b-bad p-pony!” Riku gently placed a hand on the colt’s shoulder which made him slowly move his head from Silverstream’s chest and looked at the Keyblade Master. “Lightning, you don’t believe that. I know you don’t.” Riku suddenly let out a small gasp as something hit his mind after saying that. Riku placed a hand near his mouth while looking away. “Why do I have this feeling I said that before?” He thought to himself. Lightning was confuse by what Riku just said to him, but was still crying a bit. “W-What d-do you mean, M-Master R-Riku?” Riku looked at Lightning Twister before answering, “What I mean, Lightning, is that Princess Celestia and Luna won’t punish you for accidentally killing Tempest Plagueis, even if someone or something made you do it.” Lightning brushed the last tears from his face with his hoof. “How so?” “Because...I’ve been through the same fear you’re having now.” “You...you have?” “Yes,” Riku replied kindly to Lightning, “After helping Sora close the doors to Kingdom Hearts on the inside where the Heartless were, Mickey was there to help lock the doors tight. And after finding out he was a king, I thought he was gonna punish me for capturing all seven princesses to help Maleficent find the one that holds the key to opening the door.” The Keyblade Master looked up in happiness before continuing, “But Mickey was so nice and understood why I did it and knew I was fooled by Maleficent, he forgive me, even while I was visiting the card world and finishing Ansem. Therefore, after everything me and Sora went through, I’ve come to release that even though you did things that you didn’t mean to do, they’ll still forgive you no matter what.” Riku smiled at the young colt. “And if Mickey can forgive me for what I did and understood why, then I’m sure Princess Celestia and Luna will forgive you as well. Especially since Vanitas and Cozy Glow are the ones after you.” Lightning remained quiet for a few seconds while thinking about those words Riku said to him. He started to thought that maybe they were right. Lightning doesn’t know how the strike, he made on Tempest Plagueis, happened and he didn’t really mean to kill him, but the princesses would never punish him for a crime that he didn’t even wanna commit. Lightning looked at Riku again only this time, a small smile was shown on his face. “Thanks, Master Riku.” Riku gave Lightning Twister a friendly smile while gently pat on the head. “No problem, Lightning,” he replied kindly, “But you don’t have call me Master. Riku’s just fine.” The colt and hippogriff gave Riku a nod in understood while smiling at him. Riku stood up from the bed and smiled at the two. “Well, I think it’s time we return to our sleeping rest. We still need to head back to Equestria and sort the darkness out tomorrow.” He made his way out of the bedroom while saying, “Goodnight.” “Goodnight, Riku,” Lightning and Silverstream replied in unison. Once Riku was out of the room, he closed the door behind him and continued his way back to Terra’s bedroom. Lightning looked up to Silverstream before asking, “Silverstream, can I sleep with you?” Silverstream gave Lightning a soft and sisterly smile while answering, “Of course you can, sweetie.” Silverstream carefully moved to the top pit of the bed, while gently holding the colt in her talon arm, and moved the covers. She gently placed Lightning in the bed, before getting in herself, and placed the covers over them. Silverstream wrapped a talon arm over Lightning as he snuggled closer to her since her fur is much warmer than the sheets and rested his head on the pillow and near her chest. Lightning began to slowly close his eyes, but he was able to say something to his big sister before falling asleep. “Goodnight, Silverstream. I love you.” Silverstream gently gave her little brother a kiss on the head. “Goodnight, Lightning. I love you too.” And with that, the two fell asleep once more. Riku was on his way back to Terra’s room to continue his sleep after going to the bathroom and having a little friendly and helpful chat to Lightning Twister. He went passed the stairway to the three Keyblade Master thrones area and was halfway down the hallway until he was stopped by a familiar voice. “You don’t think about the young boy, do you?” Riku quickly turned behind him and saw an old man standing near him, bending forwards a bit with his hands behind his back and grinning evilly at the Keyblade Master. This old man is bald except for thin eyebrows and a curled silver goatee and has noticeable veins covering the back of his head, due to the lack of hair. His ears are pointed and his eyes are yellow. He has broad, hunched shoulders and a crooked back. He appears overall as a somewhat feeble old man, certainly deceiving given his immense power. His clothing is the same as that worn by his eventual Heartless Ansem. It is composed of a white and black coat with a red inner lining and black lining on the edges, which is worn over a white shirt with two thin black belts, as well as white gloves and calf-high black boots. It was Master Xehanort. A seeker of darkness that passed away years ago after forging the x-blade to unlock Kingdom Hearts. Riku stood in battle mode while glaring at Xehanort. “Master Xehanort?! How are you still here?! Are you a memory that lived in the castle for all these years?” “More like a new body made by The Storm King,” Xehanort correctly answered, “He had all the data that created me in the body which you saw before and what you see now.” Riku was shocked but also confuse by what Xehanort just said to him. “Storm King, made you?” The seeker continued to grin at the boy. “Yes. I wasn’t the one who wanted the x-blade and unlock Kingdom Hearts to become a leader. The Storm King was the one who wanted to rule Kingdom Hearts. But since he wasn’t able to leave Equestria to enter the world where all worlds spring and Keyblade Wielders protect them from darkness, he created me so I can be the one to travel to those worlds and forge the x-blade to help him rule every single world he can. Therefore, I had to forget everything before ending up on Destiny Island as I was a young man in order to become a Keyblade Wielder and learn everything about the darkness and the great Keyblade War. And so in my new body, I can remember all, and all that I could not.” “So that’s how The Storm King knows about me and Ansem,” said Riku now realising what was going on, “He was your real master, and told you everything about your future before you had to forget about what he said to you.” Xehanort let out a chuckle before saying, “That is correct. And I much say I am disappointed in you, Riku.” Riku was now completely shocked. “Huh?” Master Xehanort gave Riku a disappointed look as he just said. “The Storm King was gonna help you get rid of your fears of your past actions by joining him. But you refused his offer, just as you refused my Heartless’s offer to set your heart free to rescue Sora during your final mark of the exam.” He shook his head. “You really can’t see that he is the answer to everything.” Riku glared at Master Xehanort once more before grinning proudly at him. “Because I don’t need darkness to help destroy my fears or becoming apart of it again. I have friends that see good in me and forgive me for what I did, and I was still able to save Sora. I’m a Keyblade Master, and my friends are my power.” Master Xehanort glared at the boy before closing his eyes and moved his head down to look at the floor. He then back at Riku again while opening his eyes to glare at him once more before saying, “So be it, Keyblade Master. Your abyss awaits you.” Suddenly, darkness smoke zoomed from behind Xehanort and flew across the hallway making Riku cover his face with his arms as a dark corridor appeared round Xehanort and disappeared taking him with it. The darkness smoke ended and Riku moved his arms from his face before letting out a small gasp of shock to where he was at now. He was now in a area with tiny volcanos and a big volcano, with the sky in dark blue, smoke flowing past him since he was floating in the air, lava pools and a lava pool down below him. Just then, the big volcano erupted with a big blast of fire blasting out from it before it faded away to reveal a giant black demon, with sharp teeth, white eyes, bat wings and sharp fingers on his hands. It was Chernabog. The demon let out an angry roar before staring at Riku, who floated in battle mode while summoning his Keyblade, as he swinged his hands down making fire balls appear and shooting towards Riku. But Riku was quick on his feet and starting flying straight towards Chernabog while dodging the fire balls every time he summons them. Once he was near him, Riku smacked Chernabog really hard on the chest with his Keyblade making him roar angrily and painfully. Chernabog gave Riku a slap with his left hand which sent him flying backwards to where he once floated. But Riku wasn’t gonna give up just yet as he flew straight towards him again. Only this time, Chernabog reached his hands out to make lava blast up from the river to try to blast Riku, but he quickly dodged them while dodging the fire balls the demon kept summoning. Once he was near him again, Riku smacked Chernabog really hard on the chest with his Keyblade making him roar angrily and painfully. Chernabog gave Riku another slap with his left hand which sent him flying backwards to a further point from where he once floated. But Riku still wasn’t gonna give up just yet as he flew straight towards him one last time. Chernabog summoned white cloaked phantoms from his volcano and they flew towards Riku and tried to hold him down from defeating the demon. But like before, Riku dodged the phantoms by smacking them with one hit from his Keyblade while also dodging the lava blast from the river and fire balls Chernabog continued to summon. And as before, once he was near him, Riku smacked Chernabog really hard on the chest with his Keyblade making him roar angrily and painfully only this time, it ended him. Chernabog continued to roar in pain as purple smoke rose from his volcano making him fade away leaving nothing but an empty area with an empty volcano. Riku opened his eyes to see he was now back in the hallway of the castle in Land of Departure. He looked to see Xehanort was still around, but he wasn’t. He was now gone after the little meeting he had with him. Probably back to The Storm King I believe But Riku was still wondering why The Storm King made Master Xehanort, what does he want with Kingdom Hearts, and he was still wondering about the Storm Pony he heard from the beginning of his quest to save Lightning Twister. “That Storm King must really want us all gone. That must be the reason why he recreated Xehanort, and possibly, his other two halves.” He felt something his hand as he looked at it to see he was holding another one of Vanitas’s cards. “Another one of Vanitas’s cards. I guess Xehanort had it with him before sending me to that place I was in. I just hope we find the others soon before the darkness takes over once more.”