Kingdom Hearts Fan Fiction ❯ Unfulfilled Prophecy ❯ Chapter 1 ( Chapter 1 )

Unfulfilled Prophecy

 

Yami-396

 

Inspired by the secret ending of Kingdom Hears 2. Go to my MySpace to see the video of it. I wanted to take a shot at writing my own characters instead of relying on pre-made personalities. Translated, that means I'm taking a big risk, and I'm probably going to get burned. I can already see the dozens of complaints: “It's Mary-Sue! It's Gary-Sue! It sux! You suck! You cant write! Soras OOC! You're stuuupid! SOrAs To CoOl 4 YoU!!” So I say this: Flamers, you are welcome to leave whatever it is you want, and you get to see what happens when you flame Yami.

 

Disclaimer - I don't own Kingdom Hearts, Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, or Kingdom Hearts 2. I just heart Riku and Sora.

 

 

*~[--]-----_--_-

 

 

He never knew.

 

He always thought he was doing good, traveling to distant worlds, destroying his enemies with a single slash of his Keyblade, unlocking chests to release strange and wondrous treasures. He thought he was a hero, somebody worthy enough to be called the Keyblade Master. And maybe, perhaps to the people of the worlds he saved, he was. But the boy never knew the sacrifices a true hero needed to make.

 

The goat from Olympus Coliseum had hinted at it, always throwing it in the boy's face that he would never be a real hero, and Triton had said it bluntly; the Keyblade Master brought ruin and chaos to the world. The boy listened to neither of them, dismissing the goat as being stingy, and Triton as being a bully trying to drive him off.

 

The other boy must have known, after all, he had seen Kingdom Hearts, and had traveled though it, undoubtedly learning of the Keyblade's true nature. And yet, the young boy still did not know.

 

There was no way for him to know. He had acquired his weapon through a miscalculation of fate; the first choice was consumed by the darkness, and the girl was a far worse choice than the boy. He was too young, only fourteen when the Keyblade was given to him, fifteen by the time his journey had come to end. He never realized the full complications of his flippant use of the weapon, never understanding the implications of that phrase…

 

“The closer to light you are, the greater your shadow grows.”

 

*~[--]-----_--_-

 

“You would think he would have realized all the trouble he was causing with that blasted Keyblade of his, all the times people beat around the bush with it.” Muttered aloud, the phrase seemed to take a tangible form, growing like a fog of anger around the man's lissome and battle-scarred body, hazel eyes narrowed in annoyance, mouth pulled back into a mixture of a grimace and a smirk.

 

“Why don't you tell him then?” Playful brown eyes sparkled at him, a mischievous smile playing on his student's face. “You were thinking about him again instead of watching me train, weren't you?” she accused lightly, placing her hands on her nearly non-existent hips, her mop of copper-colored hair escaping its ponytail and cascading off her shoulder. Xenos snorted.

 

“Winter, I have better things to do with my time then to go hunt down some mentally challenged boy and force him to see truth. Nor do I have the time or patience to deal with you,” he added as an after thought, tugging irritably at his jet-black hair, hoping that, somewhere, the brown-haired, blue-eyed boy felt it too. He'd had to cope with the pain brought about by the boy; the boy could stand a minor irritancy.

 

“Well,” Winter snapped, baring teeth. “Just to let you know, you're a horrible sensei.” Xenos flashed her a sly grin.

 

“What did you expect?” he asked her, watching in amusement as her face flushed. “I don't suffer fools.” She blinked, and then he was in front of her, his colossal Keyblade swinging in an arc behind him, the harsh lights of the training room glinting off its metallic surface. A gasp escaped her lips as adrenaline coursed through her veins, and the flight or fight response triggered a graceful leap back, her own Keyblade, a smaller affair than Xenos's, flashing as it formed in her hands. She landed splayed, one leg outstretched, the other tucked beneath her body, her free hand holding her balance while her Keyblade twirled in the other.

 

“Are you trying to kill me?” Winter gasped, pointing her weapon at him.

 

“When you are out on the battlefield, do you think the Chasers will wait for you?” came the cocky answer back.

 

“Yeah, but the Chasers are a lot bulkier than you, and they move slower too!”

 

“So if you can avoid me, then you can avoid the Chasers,” Xenos said, completing the rather warped analysis of Winter's question. “Just remember, while the Chasers might be bulky and slow, they make up for it in strength.”

 

“I know that!”

 

“Just checking…”

 

“Oh, shut up!” Winter cried, launching her own attack on Xenos, springing forward, propelled by her legs, twisting her body so that her side was parallel to the ground, her Keyblade slicing through air, aiming for Xenos's abdomen. He met her slice with a jarring clang of metal on metal and forced her back, tossing her into the opposite wall with nothing more than flick of his wrist.

 

“And if you can't beat me in strength, you can never even hope to defeat the Chasers,” he said, checking his blade for any nicks out of boredom.

 

“You're cheating!” Winter whined, pushing herself off the floor, checking for any damaged or broken limbs, and thankfully finding nothing more than a few bruises. “Your Keyblade is a monstrosity! Look at the size of it! It adds to your strength, and you know it!” She was right; his Keyblade was larger than wont, long and wide, with no ornaments curling across its handle, like hers had, and the design at the tip of it was rather impressive, gold and silver rectangles protruding from its frame, creating a Keyblade made for hacking and slashing through enemies. Compared to his Keyblade, Winter felt small and naked next to it, something that made her feel very, very uncomfortable.

 

“It's big because I'm big.” Sputtering in outrage as much as in indignation at the not so subtle innuendo in his statement, she glared up at him, her high cheekbones stained red as she tried not to let her eyes flick to that place. Her resolve lost, and she let her eyes travel there for no more than two seconds, but he noticed, and he laughed…and then ducked as a Keyblade whizzed over his head.

 

“Tornado Whirl!” Winter screamed, her entire face tomato red, arm above her head, aura calling out to her spinning Keyblade. “I hate you!”

 

“Yes, yes, I'm sure you do,” Xenos answered sarcastically, executing flawless dodges and blocks, never letting the berserk Keyblade out of his sight, never allowing himself to get caught in the miniature whirlwinds created by the attack. “And you'll hate me even more for this.” He whipped his Keyblade around his head in circles, dragging the still air in the room into its current. “Demonic Current!”

 

“Dammit!” Winter cursed silently, watching as dark energy snaked around Xenos's Keyblade, infusing into the Keyblade's very energy, creating dark tendrils of sheer power that whipped to and fro, slashing at anything that crossed their paths. Her own Keyblade was sucked into the current, and she winced at the sharp cracking noise of splintering metal. “Sure, kill my Keyblade, you've only done it fifteen times now,” she mumbled, watching as the two pieces of her weapon flew out of the currents, the force of the blast imbedding them in the walls. Then the more sobering thought of, “If I'm not careful…hell, if Xenos isn't careful, that can easily be me.” As if reading her mind, Xenos took a step forward, the fingers of dark energy lightly caressing her face, the fine hairs on the back of her neck standing up. She stiffened as the smell of burning hair swirled around her nose, knowing full well if she bolted, she risked the very probable chance of being killed.

 

To an outsider looking in, it would seem as if Xenos was cruelly torturing the young girl, playing games with his victim before killing her, but Winter knew that this was not the case. She trusted him, even in times like this, when all he had to do was make one small movement, and she would be dead, with her life. She knew this was his way of testing her, seeing if she was truly worthy of her Keyblade, determining whether or not her wills were strong enough to survive the strain of battle.

 

And this was not blind trust, either. No, in fact, there had been many times in battle with the Chasers that Winter had nearly lost her life, only to be saved by Xenos, though only she was grateful for the gesture. For every time he had to save her, he would have a snide comment to make, or a new critique on how her fighting style needed desperate improvement, and a rigorous training session would follow, one that could last for hours with no end. But she knew that Xenos cared for her, maybe not in the way she did for him, but that was his way of surviving the harshness of their world. Only the strong survived in the barren wasteland of Kingdom Hearts, as he had told her the night he found her, two years ago, mourning the death of her parents.

 

Unfortunately, not everyone had that same trust she possessed.

 

The trailing energy sparks were on their third trip around her face when time itself stopped. Winter felt the rush of cold as her body became paralyzed, locked in position, staring at Xenos's smirking face, frozen in time. And then, strong hands clasped her shoulders and she was pulled back and to the side, away from the deadly energy. Her captor let her go, time starting again, the tendrils going erratic, stabbing the air where she had just stood, and Winter turned to meet the impassive and unapologetic face of Hotaru, one eye still glowing yellow.

 

“That's really creepy,” Winter told her. Hotaru shrugged, the metal of her armor clanking in protest.

 

“Hotaru!” Xenos's voice was tinged with aggravation. “Why did you stop me?” She turned towards him, slivery bangs falling gracefully over her eyes.

 

“Because you could have seriously injured or killed Winter,” she answered, her sultry voice an amazing contrast to Winter's somewhat high-pitched one. “Winter is not as strong as you, and yet you choose to believe she can handle anything.”

 

“Hey! I was doing just fine!” Winter snapped. She hated this, this feeling of inferiority whenever she stood next to the older girl, well aware of all the physical properties that were bestowed upon Hotaru, that were missing on her own body. She instinctively slumped her shoulders forward, her small chest hiding within the comforting shadows made by the action.

 

“Yes, I'm sure you were. That is why your Keyblade is impaling the wall in two pieces,” Hotaru said, the tone of her voice revealing nothing except a slight air of superiority.

 

“You were out hunting?” Xenos asked quickly, trying to divert the subject, seeing that Winter was glaring daggers at the other woman. However, it was a clumsy attempt, one that was easily seen through, and two sets of eyes, one brown and the other burnt-orange stared at him, one set in annoyance, the other in boredom. After a length, Hotaru answered him.

 

“Yes, I was,” she said, pulling her heavy silver hair away from her face. “The Chasers have grown dramatically in number, attacking more and more people. It is as if they know something is happening, and are eager to celebrate.”

 

“That's not good,” Winter said needlessly. Hotaru sent her a withering glance before throwing her armor.

 

“Put this on,” she commanded, tossing Xenos his as well. “We will need it.”

 

“Why?” he asked, fingers brushing over worn metal plates. He hated putting it on.

 

“There is a flock of Spiralers heading directly in our path. We will need to fight them.”

 

“You tell us this now?!” Xenos squawked, throwing on his armor in newfound vigor. “Hotaru, this is the kind of information you tell us as soon as you walk in the door, not ten minutes afterwards!”

 

“You were busy,” she replied cynically, her lips curling into a sneer. “But perhaps you are losing your touch if you cannot even sense them from a few miles away.”

 

“A few miles!? That's it!?” Xenos yelled, agitated, jamming his helmet over his head with a bang. Now, he felt their presence, the acrid smell he associated with them burning his nose. “Damn you, Hotaru!” he cursed, his voice muffled by the thick metal.

 

“Damn me later, Xenos,” she replied, replacing her own helmet over her head. “Right now, we need to concentrate on the task at hand. Tell me, what are your readings?”

 

“There are six Spiralers heading from the southeast,” Winter piped up helpfully, but neither Hotaru nor Xenos paid her mind.

 

“Health at three hundred,” Xenos muttered, the small screen inside the visor of his helmet showing statistics and readings in brilliant green. He brows knit together in confusion. “But one of them, on the far right side, is only at one hundred. Did it get hit?”

 

“Yes, I injured that one,” Hotaru supplied. “It was the first one I saw. I would have killed it, if the others hadn't appeared.”

 

“Looks like we have quite the fight on our hands.”

 

“Yes, so let's move out.”

 

“Wait!” shrieked Winter. “My Keyblade!” Xenos winced as he realized he might have gone a bit far in his training session.

 

“Give me it,” Hotaru commanded, not even waiting for Winter to retrieve the pieces before she marched up herself and tugged the pieces out of the wall. She passed a metal-encased hand over the break, and the metal wielded itself together again, leaving no sign of being broken. With a slight scoff, Hotaru tossed the newly resurrected Keyblade at Winter, the latter catching it and looking at Hotaru with a mixture of jealousy and grudging respect.

 

“And you say you abhor you powers,” Winter muttered, unaware she had been overheard until Hotaru stopped dead, and turned around, her strangely colored eyes boring into hers.

 

“I will never forgive my father for what he did,” she said darkly, her eyes shadowed by her bangs. She turned and walked briskly from the room, leaving a shaken Winter staring after her, and a slightly amused Xenos rubbing his helmet with his hand, the metal squeaking in the most annoying of ways.

 

 

 

*~[--]-----_--_-

 

 

Had it really been five years?

 

Had it really only been five years since he had given up his title as Keyblade Master, and left the past behind him?

 

To Sora, those five years had felt like an eternity, an eternity trapped in a cage full of confusion and emptiness.

 

Emptiness, not to be confused with loneliness. Sora wasn't lonely. He was always surrounded by a group of friends; Kairi and Riku provided nice company, Selphie, Wakka, and Tidus were amusing to some extent. But, he felt as if he were missing something important from his life.

 

It certainly wasn't Goofy or Donald. True, they had been great friends for a time, but he had always known in his heart they were simply mere traveling companions, a montage group formed solely from the same purpose and convenience. Yes, he had gotten over the hurt of losing the two allies in a few months after saying his final goodbye to them at Kingdom Hearts, when he had sealed the final Keyhole one last time, locking his Keyblade and its power away forever.

 

The Keyblade…how he had loved that weapon! Loved how it gave him the power to destroy, the power to unlock, the power to determine the fate of any such world as he chose…all that raw power, all his for the taking. The pain of losing it rivaled the pain of losing his heart; when it had disappeared from his hands in a burst of brilliant white, he felt a wave of darkness crash over him, and it took all the willpower he possessed not to break down right then and there. The Kingdom Key had set him apart from everyone else, given him power people could only dream of…

 

…The power…

 

Yes, that was what he missed. That was his emptiness, that insatiable feeling lurking deep within him. He missed the surge of battle, the feeling of supreme conquest whenever he sliced at enemies, watching them fall beneath him, squirming, having other people look up at him, worshipping him as a hero. He wanted to feel it again, and a sudden swell of emotion rose in his chest, constricting his heart, nearly drowning him under its ferocity.

 

“Power,” he whispered, enjoying the way the word rolled of his tongue and caressed his lips. “Power,” he repeated, just to feel it again, his hand clenched at his sides, as if gripping an imaginary Keyblade. Desire rose within him, coursing through his body, and mingled in his blood, heating it, burning his skin. He needed it. He needed it now, the release that only wielding the Keyblade once more could give, feeling the power flow out of his body into the medium that was his weapon, hacking through masses of enemies, or sending waves of magic spiraling out from its tip. That kind of release surpassed anything, even all that he had ever felt with Kairi, no matter how willing or fulfilling she had been.

 

“I want it back,” he said, his blue eyes staring out unseeing into the ocean. “I want my Keyblade. For what good is a Keyblade Master if he does not wield his weapon?” His voice, which had matured to a sensual tenor in the course of his development, deepened further, need honing his voice to that of a predator. His legs moved without him knowing, propelling him to the dock of boats, and taking one, he rowed out to Destiny Islands.

 

He had not been there in two years, since his eighteenth birthday, when he had finally realized that being on the islands where his journey had all begun had only intensified the feelings of emptiness inside him. Now he traveled there again, in search of a way to reclaim what was rightfully his.

 

And deep within him, inside the crevices of his heart, the small sprout of darkness that had been dormant since his time as a Heartless awakened, stretching and yawning, slowly congealing over his heart like a cancer, spreading over it, turning it black as a Shadow Heartless, piece by piece. For as Ansem the Wise had once said, there is darkness in every heart, no matter how strong, and all hearts were born in darkness, and so return.

 

 

*~[--]-----_--_-

 

 

“Aim for its spikes! That's where it's most vulnerable!” Xenos shouted over the noise of the battle, as two more Spiralers rolled past him, slow but destructive, their bodies crunching the packed sand and dirt. The pointed earpieces of his helmet, reminiscent of bat ears, greatly heightened his sense of hearing, and he dove out of the way of a rogue Keyblade attack from Winter. “Winter! Aim for the Chasers, not me!”

 

“I'm trying!” she panted, flipping backwards as another Spiraler crashed to the ground, creating a shockwave that rippled across the battlefield, damaging anything or anyone unlucky enough to be on the ground at the time. “They keep moving around! It's hard to aim properly!”

 

“Why don't you ask them to stand still? They might listen if you ask nicely enough,” Hotaru mocked her, falling gracefully to the ground as a slain Spiraler crumbled to dust beneath her, her sliver hair flowing up behind her, helmet knocked off sometime in the throes of passionate battle.

 

“Why don't you shove it?” Winter snarled, blocking another attack from the sandy colored Chaser, her Keyblade vibrating under the intense pressure, threatening to snap.

 

“Now's not the time to be fighting amongst ourselves!” Xenos snapped, driving his monster Keyblade deep within the spiked ridge of the Spiraler's shoulder, eliciting a loud scream of pain from the Chaser before it too fell, joining its brother in the wind as dust. “Come one, we have to work together to kill the last two!” He jerked back suddenly as one of the remaining Spiraler's claws caught him in the chest, tearing through the metal as if it were nothing more than paper.

 

“Xenos!” cried Winter, but Hotaru was quicker, and in an instant, she was by his side, her eye glowing yellow again as she passed her hand over his chest. The skin repaired itself in seconds, leaving behind a pale and jagged scar, mixing in with the similar ones that crisscrossed his abdomen and chest, some extending to his legs. For human flesh is less pliable than metal, and it does not forgive injuries, nor does it let forget.

 

“Enough of this,” she said softly, leaving Xenos on the floor to pick himself up, or to roll away, the choice was his. She straightened, watching as the two remaining Spiralers caught sight of her, compacting into spiked balls, picking up dust and speed as they rolled towards her, their paths intertwining with one another's, creating a deadly dance and combination attack. But Hotaru hadn't been fighting Chasers for ten years without creating some deadly attacks of her own.

 

Stopping time was a talent, and it wasn't useful as a killing device, good for defensive fighting only. But the powerful psychic blasts she could dispel were. That was why she had no real use of her Keyblade, other than to fit in with the rest of the fighters of Kingdom Hearts. She closed her eyes, focusing her powers, her eyes glowing a blinding yellow beneath her lids. She could see, in her mind's eye, the Chasers coming closer, only a few feet away from her. She could see Xenos stand up and walk away, trusting her completely, and she could see Winter, standing awkwardly behind her, the small Keyblade held in shaky hands, completely unaware of what she should do. Now the Chasers were close, so close she could feel the heat searing off their armored hides, the unforgivable heat of Kingdom Hearts that could melt the flesh off bones in mere minutes, the reason why the three warriors wore such thick metal plates. Not for protection from the Chasers, as Xenos had shown, it made no difference, but from the sun, and its dangers. Now, the Chasers were directly in front of her, seconds away from crushing her. It was time.

 

“Psychic Blast!” One hand shot out in front of her body, eyes opening to reveal twin suns, and the two Chasers that were charging at her were caught in the ripple of power, lifted off the ground despite their immense size, and thrown backwards, slamming into the ground with such force, it knocked Winter off her feet though the impact was miles away. The Spiralers' health plummeted to zero, and they exploded into tiny fragments of light-speckled dust. Hotaru lowered her hands, giving silent thanks to that wretch of a father for her power. “Shove that,” she said to Winter, a small smile playing upon her lips. Winter glared at her from her position on the ground, and opened her mouth to make a witty remark, only to shriek in surprise and fear as Hotaru crumpled to the ground, clutching her head, breathing hard and heavy.

 

“What happened?!” Xenos asked worriedly, running to her and moving to touch her arm. She jerked back, curling up into a ball. “Hotaru?”

 

“Something…something is wrong,” she gasped, her voice grating as she tore at her hair with her hands. “I can feel it…the boy…Sora…he is falling, falling into the darkness!”

 

“What?” breathed Winter, but Xenos shushed her.

 

“How do you know?” he asked sharply. Outsiders to his world were generally treated with such suspicion. Hotaru was no exception; her power eclipsed all of those taken in from neighboring worlds.

 

“I have a link to the darkness,” she whispered, her eyes clenched shut. “It is because of my father. I did not ask for it.” She sounded as if she were about to cry. “And because Sora became a Heartless, he shares that link, as all that delve into darkness have. His link has remained dormant for some time, but now that it has awakened, I fear the amount of damage he can cause.”

 

“Damage?” Winter echoed faintly, her pale face hidden by her helmet.

 

“You have seen first-hand the kind of damage the Keyblade can do if it is improperly wielded, even if his intentions were good,” Hotaru explained, her voice returning to normal. “I'm sure he had no idea that for every time he used his Keyblade, it wreaked chaos on this world. The Kingdom Key is not self-suppliant; it needs to find its light from a source, and as Sora had said to my father, Kingdom Hearts is light. Now imagine that very same Keyblade in the hands of a tainted heart.”

 

“Kingdom Hearts will be destroyed,” Xenos said gravely. “And the Chasers will be unleashed into other worlds

 

“But why?” Winter asked. “His story is always told as having a pure heart!”

 

“He was young and misguided when he received the Kingdom Key,” Hotaru replied, not speaking to Winter and Xenos as much as she was speaking to herself. “And what the Keyblade is, is power. And with power comes corruption, feeding the darkness within people's hearts, especially from those open to attack. He desires that power, and I'm afraid he will stop at nothing to claim it once again.”

 

“And then…” Winter trailed off.

 

“Then he will bring destruction and ruin upon the worlds,” Xenos finished, his grim face hidden by his helmet.

 

“More and more worlds will fall, and this time, they cannot be given a second life,” Hotaru said, her eyes haunted. “He completed the first legend, and now he will set out to complete the second.”

 

“Then it's settled,” Xenos said meaningfully, standing up.

 

“What's settled?” Winter asked, following his suit. Hotaru stared at him.

 

“You can't,” she said quietly. “You will never succeed.” Xenos ignored her.

 

“We will go to the Graveyard of Keyblades and retrieve the Kingdom Key before he discovers it.” Winter's eyes widened behind her visor, and Hotaru shook her head. “If we destroy the Keyblade now, we destroy any chances he has to wrought death and destruction upon other worlds.”

 

“It will never work, Xenos,” Hotaru snapped, standing unsteadily on her feet. “You will not be able to defeat a Keyblade Master!”

 

“She's right, Xenos,” Winter added softly. “We have very limited knowledge on Sora. It is more than just a title, being the Keyblade Master,” she added hastily, seeing the look on Xenos's face. “We need to make a plan.”

 

“And just what exactly do you plan to do?” Xenos asked, biting sarcasm lacing every word. “Just sit around and mope, and when he arrives, beg him to spare our miserable lives?”

 

“No,” Hotaru said forcibly, and Xenos took a step backwards despite himself. “We will go and talk to the Elders. They know more about the outside worlds than we do. We will go and seek their advice.”

 

“Besides, the Graveyard is pretty big,” Winter said, her old playfulness sneaking back into her voice. “It'd be nice to know just where exactly his particular Keyblade is. After all, there are thousands of Keyblades there. Who's to say we won't just pick a random one, thinking it's his, but it really isn't?” As much as he hated to admit it, Xenos knew that the two women were right.

 

“Fine then,” he agreed. “We will go and seek the out Elders, and find out exactly what it is we are dealing with.”

 

 

*~[--]-----_--_-

 

 

Am I evil? Yeah, probably to Disney.

 

Xenos - It means foreigner. Is it significant? Probably not, I liked the way it sounded.

 

Winter - If Square Enix is allowed to name one of their characters `Cloud Strife,' I think I'm entitled to name mine `Winter.' Not to say Cloud is a bad name, though.

 

Hotaru - It means firefly. Get it? Glowing eyes…Yeah, corny!

 

Flamers - Flame. `Cause we all know, no matter how big and bad you think you are, Axel rocks harder than all of you combined.