Kingdom Hearts Fan Fiction ❯ A Fragmented Tale ❯ The Rise of the Heroine ( Chapter 15 )

A/N: Ta-da! Here it is. ^-^ If you were confused in the sudden changes or twists in the other chapters, this should clarify the whole story. Hopefully. ^-^

 

A Fragmented Tale by cursed l0ve

 

Chapter Fifteen: The Rise of the Heroine

 

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Date: October, year unknown.

 

It was dreadful to know that Xehanort, once a great King over this eternal stretch of desert, had been corrupted- pulled, into Donovan's vile plans. Donovan had once been his best friend, together since childhood. He was a prince from another kingdom, half a world away. Keaira was a princess in a third kingdom. Keaira had a sister, whom married with Xehanort, and she- with Donovan.

 

Both pairs split three kingdoms into two, dividing the whole desert. Both had heirs. Xehanort and his Queen had Enya and Aleron. Donovan and Keaira had Aleira, just one daughter.

 

When Xehanort was a young Prince, around thirteen, a Sorcerer would often stop by and tell prophecies and tales. Most of the times, Donovan, fifteen, had sat down beside him, along with the Princess Keaira, twelve. They would sit by the fire, listening to stories about magic, and keyblades. The Sorcerer explained about the legend of the special keyblade- the Blade of Hope. Soon afterwards, Donovan wanted it. He wanted it so bad.

 

The Blade of Hope was passed down in Xehanort's family. Each King in turn had to learn to wield it and protect it. So, when Xehanort turned eighteen, his father handed down the legendary keyblade. Donovan fell deeply into a rage of jealousy. He really wanted it.

 

Donovan and Keaira wed, a year later. King Donovan shut himself within his study, brooding. He began plotting. Soon, the darkness within his heart grew, and it consumed him. He created an evil version of himself, and poof - there was Van. They planned and planned. Donovan wanted to create Nobodies out of the people around him, so he created another of Keaira. Now there was Van and Kerri. The three of them let out a false rumor, that King Xehanort and his Queen would soon come to conquer their lands, so he gathered forth millions of men to create an invincible army- an army wielding keyblades.

 

Another seven years passed, and they were ready. Xehanort had heard of the rebellion brewing years ago, so he readied his own army. For years, the men went through training, learning magic, and the young learned how to wield keyblades. The day before they were to leave for war, Xehanort's Queen gave birth to their second daughter, Aleron. Noticing something dangerous residing his own daughter, he sent her to another world, to Earth. In the dark of the night, the Queen secretly sent a message VIA magic to Keaira, telling her to send Aleira to safety, along with Aleron. Aleira was only five, but she would protect Aleron and they would both grow up to be the best of friends. Keaira accepted, so went Aleira.

 

By dawn, Xehanort and three of his Chasers led their army towards the crossroads, where they would meet with Donovan and his besmirched men. The Keyblade War broke out. They fought for how long. For many days, weeks, and months, they fought, destroying keyblade wielders one by one. Soon, only Xehanort, his three Chasers, thirty of his men, and Donovan remained. Yes, Xehanort had thought he'd won, but he was mistaken.

 

Donovan brought out his secret weapons- Kerri and Van. Together, as three, they unleashed an ancient spell that made the sands rumble, and the skies darken. The storms raged, pouring pounding rain and blinding flashes of lightning. The roars of thunder was so loud, they nearly went deaf. Winds raged, bringing sand all around, making a sand twister all around them. It also sent a wave of fire, which would burn the enemies.

 

The spell alone destroyed the remaining men, and wounded Xehanort. Bringing the three Chasers were stuck outside the storm, unable to enter to help finish the battle. Xehanort stood, swinging the Blade of Hope towards Donovan, only to have it blocked by the Keyblade of Rage. Xehanort, realizing the dangers of the battle, tried to back away, but with a swing from Donovan, his own keyblade flew out of his grip. Donovan loomed above him, chuckling. The dark aura around him flared, and the power-crazed King retrieved the Blade of Hope, instantly tainting it into the Dark Blade.

 

Realizing what was happening, Xehanort watched in fear as Donovan faced the purple rock behind himself and muttered an incantation. A giant scorpion appeared, in an unbreakable tan armor and a sharp black stinger at the tail. It roared, an eerie sound. The storm had far gone down, and the three Chasers came forth. In hours, the Great Beast was defeated. The chaser in the middle, wielding the Kingdom Key walked forth towards Donovan as the beast dissolved away.

 

“Sleep,” he said, reaching his left hand out. Kerri and Van had long gone, betraying Donovan after the defeat of the beast. Donovan slowly fell asleep, muttering something about returning to finish what he started. Xehanort came forth and stabbed him in the stomach with a katana he'd brought with him in case.

 

“Times have gotten dangerous. Ancient prophecies are coming true. We shall leave our keyblades for our heirs. They each will receive them when the time is right. I leave this Golden Kingdom Key for the Seeker of Light,” the leader spoke, placing the Golden Kingdom Key into the ground in the center of the crossroads. Thousands of fallen keyblades surround them.

 

“I, too, shall leave this keyblade… to my son, he shall need it in time,” another spoke, impaling the Way to Dawn beside the Kingdom Key.

 

“As will I. I leave this keyblade to my son yet born,” a more feminine chaser spoke, leaving the silver Kingdom Key beside the Golden one.

 

They each removed their helms. The first had brown hair, bangs falling in his eyes. His eyes, bright and blue. He had a soft, but strong face. The second had spiked silver-bluish hair, with longish bangs. His eyes were green, full of intensity. He had a small silver loop in his left ear. The female had black hair, long, but braided, with blue ribbons weaved in. Her eyes were sapphire blue.

 

Xehanort approached them, nodding them in thanks. He reached to pick up the tainted Dark Blade from Donovan's hand, quickly implanting it in the ground in between the three keyblades and the purple rock. Together, they all placed a spell upon it, locking it away, along with the rock. Xehanort created six large rocks, surrounding them around the smaller, cursed rock, locking everything inside, along with the power of calling the Great Beast. The King sent away Donovan, sending him to a far away world, far away from the keyblade. The Chasers opened a portal, allowing the four of them to pass through to the new world- the world that would be known as the Destiny Islands.

 

Xehanort, finally, locked up his world, his kingdom- his home. He secretly sent all the powers towards Aleron in Earth, where they would be unreachable. The three Chasers stayed behind on the islands, while Xehanort went in search of a new place. It would be a place to hide, in case Donovan came to find him.

 

Years later, Xehanort found safety within Radiant Garden, working as an apprentice under Ansem the Wise. There, he learned of the experiments of the Heart. He learned of the darkness that lived in each heart. Writing a hypothesis about Donovan, he found that it was jealousy within the heart that fed to the darkness, causing his best friend to grow evil. One night, finding himself controlled, he approached Ansem the Wise, speaking of creating an experiment that would change the worlds and the hearts of the people. He knew it was Donovan controlling him. Donovan had found him.

 

On the Destiny Islands, a year after the war, the chaser leader and the female wed, and gave a birth to a son, who would one day become the greatest keyblade wielder- Sora. The silver-haired chaser had a wife and child on the islands. He'd been working for Xehanort, coming and going to two worlds through a portal as he pleased. His son, Riku, was only a year old. They knew, one day their sons would fight the darkness that Donovan had created.

 

-Anonymous

From the book of The Keyblade War

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After weeks of journey, it had all finally come to this. This final battle that would end the whole Lets Conquer The Darkness dream that Donovan had spewed up in the first place.

 

Xehanort had fallen, accused as the true suspect at first. Van was gone, thanks to Donovan. Maleficent wouldn't be returning anytime soon. The heartless were all gone, and the strange black beasts hadn't appeared for a while. It was near the end.

 

 

`I will not allow it to end.'

 

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Never thought it'd be me. Never thought I was a key. Aleron mused to herself, walking up to the huge Scorpion. She unleashed the Blade of Hope and in her other hand, the Oblivion. Never thought I was a princess. Never thought I was the one to end this.

 

Aleron stopped just a hundred feet from the beast. She peered up at it with a determined face. Never thought I'd be this brave. Never thought of the strength I have. She crouched into a battle stance, feet apart, her left arm in front of her, and her right, above her. The beast roared and reared up. The stinger uncurled from its back. Shit, never realized it had a huge stinger. Sweat broke on her forehead, but she kept up her composure. Can't show it my fear. Gonna kick its ass.

 

She charged at it, running towards it with her keyblades in both hands. She attacked at its legs, causing it to lose balance. Here's my chance. She threw the Oblivion up at its face in a Strike Raid. It let out a deafening roar, which shook the ground. Aleron stumbled, and then fell back. She looked up in time to see it advancing down at her. She rolled to her left just as its head kissed the ground. Snarling, the beast glared at her with its one eye with such intensity. Guess one of them got to its eye. She smirked as she ran around it, minding the stinger. She came at its blind side. Now it'll have trouble finding me. Aleron flung the Oblivion again. It impaled itself in its neck. Blue blood leaked out, and she grimaced at the sight. The scorpion swung its head in rage, rearing back on its four hind legs. Aleron took this as a risky chance to run underneath and attack it with the Blade of Hope. The force of the keyblade hitting underneath and the loss of blood giving balance loss caused it to fall to its back. Yes! Aleron mentally jumped. She jumped on its overturned stomach and ran towards its neck to retrieve the Oblivion. With that done, she jumped in the air, flipped and with force, threw down the Blade of Hope at its throat, effectively cutting off its head. To be sure, she shot the Oblivion down at its long chest, where she hoped the heart would be. Landing on the ground beside it, she called both keyblades back to her hands. I did it!

 

Aleron could feel the barrier dissolve, as her friends' voices got louder. She turned around with pride and walked towards them with a satisfied grin on her face. Behind her, the Scorpion began to fade into dust. Sora ran towards her, with King Mickey dashing behind. In less than a moment, both forces knocked her down to the ground, hugging her tight.

 

“You did it!” Sora yelled, sitting up. “You beat it!” Aleron looked up at him and giggled. She looked down at King Mickey with the grin still plastered on her face. The look on his face gave her second thoughts. First, the mouse had a grin, but then now he had a frown.

 

Her grin suddenly went downwards. The thought dawned on her. It wasn't over yet; she still had something left to do. And she would die, or she would not.

 

“Do I have to?” she whispered to the mouse. He nodded sadly, jumping off her to give her room to stand up. “But why? Isn't this enough?” The King shook its head.

 

“I'm sorry. It's the only way to end this,” he said, furrowing his brows and clenching his gloved fist. Aleron looked down at her boots in remorse.

 

“Aleron, You did it!” Riku exclaimed, walking towards her. He didn't give her time to look up at him or react as he suddenly wrapped his arms around her and crushed her into a tight hug. “Finally, we can go home…”

 

She stood rigid in his embrace, slowly hugging him lightly. She sighed as she shook her head in his chest. “No, I have one more thing to do…” Aleron spoke.

 

He let go of her to look at her. “What do you mean? I thought-“ He dropped his arms. “Oh.” Aleron smiled up at him sadly.

 

“I'm sorry, Riku,” she spoke softly. She walked around him and went towards the crumbles of rocks.

 

“Aleron!” a voice called out to her as she passed by. She looked down at her left. It was Enya calling her- her older sister. “Where are you going?” Heaving another sigh, she looked away, focusing on a small pink shimmer beginning to light up. She shook her head and trotted on.

 

“Aleron!” she heard Riku shout.

 

Beside Enya, Matty and Ryo were watching the girl walk towards a glowing pink rock in confusion. King Mickey came to stand beside them, as did Sora and Riku. Kairi was sitting beside the fiery chaser, looking ahead with a worried look.

 

“She has to finish her destiny,” King Mickey announced, watching the girl. “She has to jump.”

 

“No! I won't let her sacrifice herself!” Riku shouted, starting to run after her. Sora quickly grabbed his arm to pull him back. “Sora! Let me go! I won't let her go!”

 

“No, Riku! She has to do it! Or this whole thing could happen again! Besides it was her destiny to be the Key and it was her destiny to defeat the Great Beast, and now it is her destiny to finish this. She has to jump,” Sora explained harshly, forcing Riku to stand where he is.

 

“I don't care! I'm not letting her go!” Riku seethed out, glaring coldly at his best friend. He tried to snag his arm back, but Sora's grip was too strong. He felt another hand gripping his shoulder. “LET ME GO ALREADY! THIS IS STUPID!”

 

“Riku, let her do this,” Ryo said calmly.

 

The silver-haired boy shot his glare at the man's. “Don't you understand, Ryo? She could die!” He yelled. “Aleron could die!”

 

Ryo shook his head, sighing. Riku continued to scream and shout, fighting against Sora and Ryo's grip. “ALERON!” he shouted again.

 

Aleron shut out everybody and everything around her. She was getting frustrated. Riku wasn't helping; he was making her change her mind. No! You have to do this! If you're lucky, you'll come out unscratched. If that happens, you can go back to Riku and the others. If you aren't lucky, then that was it. Shaking her head from such thoughts. She couldn't think about never returning again. It was her destiny to come here, and she had been born in this world. She had to finish this, for her father. And Donovan…

 

Wait! Donovan! Where did he go? She looked behind her in panic. Was he really normal again? Somehow, she doubted it. Sighing, she had to finish this. She would worry about him later.

 

In front of her, the pink light intensified. The ground around her shook and the fallen rocks degenerated. The light shot up to the sky and beyond. She could feel the power emitting from it. She took a deep breath and unleashed the Blade of Hope in her hand. Looking at it, she gripped it with pure determination.

 

Looking back for a last time, she turned around so that she faced everyone. She kept her eyes on Riku's aqua ones, keeping the connection. She backed up until the back of her knees touched the rock. She crouched down and then jumped backwards… into the light.

 

And she caught a figure of someone walking this way from far down the path, far beyond the group. The figure was blurred because of the heat. Before she could try figuring out who it was… everything went black.

 

 

End Chapter Fifteen.

 

A/N: Hope it's okay. ^-^ Another cliffhanger- sorry about that! Heh. And still short, I know. -_- Mm… I'd love to blend in some chapters… but I'll keep it this way for now.

 

Next time: Chapter Sixteen: Always Connected