#and kairi being a princess of heart and using the light is so magic

[hitinmiss]

~ power sleeps within you, choose how to manifest it ~

[strawwritesfic]

Sora x Female!Queen!Reader: Deception

Summary: A queen must be many things, but above all she must be true to her heart.

Rating/Tags: All (not anti-Kairi; not canon compliant; magic user!reader; party member!reader; Sora & Donald & Goofy; Sora & Donald & Goofy & Reader; shippers on deck; love confession; mutual crushing; fluff)

Challenge: “160 Collective Drabbles” challenge by BobaPop on Lunaescence Archives.

Tag List: @imaginesfire​

Notes: I wrote this, like, the week Kingdom Hearts III came out without having played it myself. Thus, it’s intended to be set during Kingdom Hearts II. But there really aren’t any game-specific details in here, so depending on whether you prefer young!Sora, zippers!Sora, or plaid!Sora, you can really just pick whatever game you want to set this during (that he is in, I mean...obviously this doesn’t work for Birth by Sleep).

Deception

When the morning sun pushed its way over the horizon at last, you could wait no longer. Your sleepless night had come to an end. Without bothering to wait for someone to dress you or guard you—activities you had done by necessity yourself up until very recently—you left your quarters in swift silence. No one stopped you on your way to the throne room, which allowed you to slip inside it undetected.

The cavernous space plunged into darkness as the doors shut behind you. A few seconds later, a fist-sized fireball floated above your outstretched palm. In its dim light, you made your slow way up the long, thin carpet and up to the raised dais it led to. There you ran your free hand across the gleaming arm of the empty throne. Your father’s throne. Your throne, now.

Your flame flickered as tears sprung to your eyes. You quickly rubbed them away. Today was no day for tears. After so long fighting the Heartless, your kingdom was won. Today you were to be properly introduced to the populace as their queen. No longer was the princess away at war, but there to stay as their benevolent ruler. They needed to see you driven and calm, not mourning what was lost during those years of darkness.

“Your majesty.”

You spun on the spot, fire glowing hotter than ever, only to find no threat waiting behind you. A familiar older man bowed where he stood just a few feet away: Cassius, your captain of the guard. 

So he had followed you after all. It would be some time before you grew used to being watched and protected again.

“Yes?” you said, a little awkwardly.

“You have visitors. The three men from before.”

Your heart sank. So soon? But better to say your goodbyes before everyone else arrived for the coronation. You only hoped you could do what you needed to do without the time you had counted on to mentally prepare for it.

“Send them in,” you said, and clapped your fireball in between your hands. It vanished just as every torch in the room lit up with fires of their own. 

Cassius nodded, then he disappeared back through the double doors that led into the hall. 

You sat on your throne to wait. Resisting the temptation to run your hands up and down its arms again was difficult—but a queen must not be nervous.

In the minutes that followed, you attempted to quash your nerves. You had escaped the coup that killed the rest of your family, learned the magic your parents had despaired of you ever knowing, and defeated your monstrously transformed aunt to bring light back to your world. How hard could it be to say goodbye in comparison to all of that?

Harder than all of them put together, you realized when the doors opened again and you caught a flash of Sora’s smile. The closer he drew, the harder your pulse hammered in your throat. By the time the trio stood before you, you almost felt faint.

“Your majesty!” they said, bowing as one. You tried to swallow away your emotions before the three straightened.

“Sora. Donald. Goofy.” You smiled at each of them in turn. “You bow to no one here. Certainly not to me.”

“Sounds good to me!” said Donald.

“But we have to be respectful,” Goofy chimed in. “You’re the queen now. A-hyuk!”

This was what you had feared the most. The three of them had been your closest companions since their arrival on your world. Without their help, your kingdom would still be under the control of the Heartless. Now that it wasn’t, your true place was revealed. They were no longer your cherished friends. They were subjects just like everyone else. You ached at the loss of Donald and Goofy’s casual antics, but feared more the loss of the boy standing between them.

Sora, however, looked at you with the same sparkling blue eyes as always. “You know, I always thought queens were supposed to wear a crown,” he said.

With a gasp, you reached for the top of your head. You felt nothing there but hair. “I guess I forgot to put it on this morning,” you said with a sheepish smile. “You’ll see it this afternoon at the ceremony.”

All three exchanged looks you liked not at all. Donald opened his beak first, but Sora spoke before he could:

“We aren’t going to make it to the ceremony.”

Your fingers curled against the arms of your throne. “Why not?”

“The Keyblade says it’s time to go. There are other worlds that need our help.”

“Of course.”

It wasn’t just your world that was overcome by darkness. You knew that. You also knew that you couldn’t be selfish. Sora was the only remaining keyblade-wielder, and he had an obligation to rescue more than just you.

Goofy leaned over toward Donald’s head. “You know, I think we should go look at the Gummi ship. Make sure it’s ready to leave,” he said in a stage whisper.

“What?” Donald squawked. Then he saw Goofy’s pointed look from Sora to you, and rolled his eyes. “Oh, all right.”

After many glances backward, Donald left with Goofy. You supposed you ought to have appreciated the latter’s tact, but the last thing you wanted just then was to be alone with Sora. It was difficult for you to even look at him knowing that you would never get to do so after he left.

“I’m sorry we can’t stay,” he said, his brow furrowed with uncharacteristic worry.

“It’s okay. You’ve got other princesses to rescue.”

“You really did most of the rescuing yourself.”

His wide grin sent electricity running up your limbs. You were never going to see that smile again. At first, that same smile—along with Sora’s unflappable cheer and optimism—had irritated you, especially in the face of several dozen Neoshadows. Its light had grown on you, though, and now you didn’t want to imagine a life without its presence. 

But you had to. Sora didn’t belong to you. He had his own world to return to. What were you supposed to do? Tell him you’d thought—after your aunt and her army destroyed everyone you cared for—you wouldn’t love anyone again and that he’d proven you wrong? That you had been so consumed with revenge and loneliness that if he hadn’t arrived when he did, that you’d have been a Heartless by then, too? That you couldn’t have become queen without him and you didn’t think you could be one at all if he were gone? 

No. On his own world, he had his own girl, his own princess. A queen must not be selfish.

Sora stepped up onto the dais, and you stiffened. He didn’t appear to notice. His arms went behind his head in a typical gesture of friendly nonchalance.

“You know, I was thinking,” he said, “maybe we could come back and visit in a little while. The Heartless can’t win forever. Once they’re gone, I can come see you again.”

“No.” The word came out of your mouth before you could stop it. 

Sora looked as though you’d shot one of your fire spells right at his face. Guilt surged through your stomach, but you pushed it away. What did you have to feel sorry for? He had a job to do, and so did you. Too many people were relying on your both—not to mention that no matter how much you loved Sora, you didn’t want to take him from Kairi. He’d spoken too highly of her for him to have any feelings left over for you.

You took a deep breath and tried again: “No. I’ll be far too busy. There’s so much I have to learn and so much we have to repair. I just don’t have the time, and I’m sure you’ll be busy, too.”

Sora’s expression of shock turned into a frown. “I guess you’re right.”

“I don’t want to keep you.”

“Okay.” Still frowning, he stepped away from your throne. He hesitated before offering you one last, shallow bow. “Goodbye, [Name]. You’re going to be an great queen. You’re the bravest, most amazing girl I’ve ever known.”

What that, he turned to go. He didn’t look back. Your innards twisted as you watched him near the doors. Once Sora stepped through them, he would be gone from your life forever. You would never see him again. He would see a million worlds and never know that one of the girls he’d left behind longed for his return. 

That was for the best, wasn’t it? Someday Destiny Islands would call him back. They needed him more than you did. A queen must not be selfish.

“Sora, wait!”

He looked around just in time to catch you as you sprinted for him. His arms went around you automatically, and his familiar laugh rumbled against your face as you pressed yourself to his chest.

“What’s all this about?” he asked.

When you pulled away from him, tears were leaking from your eyes. You didn’t care. You didn’t care if you were being silly or selfish or snobby. Sora was going to leave, but unlike your family, he could come back, if he wanted to. He never would if you didn’t tell him the truth. Maybe it would come to nothing. Maybe he really did love Kairi. All you knew was that  you simply couldn’t let him walk out of your life as easily as he’d entered it.

“I—I…” By then, you were crying openly. “Please come back! Please come see me again. Sora, I…I…”

He pulled you closer into a tight embrace. “I will. I love you, too.”

That was when Donald burst in.

“Oops,” said the duck, in a tone that made it clear he wasn’t sorry at all for the interruption.

“Sorry, Sora.” Goofy stuck his head in, too. “It’s time to go.”

Reluctantly, you disentangled yourself from Sora’s hug. 

He just smiled again and stepped toward his friends. “That’s okay. [Name]?”

“Yes?”

His smile widened. “I’ll see you again really soon.”

“I’m glad. Stay safe.”

He left with a final, cheerful wave. 

Shortly after, Cassius returned to ask why you remained in your nightclothes. When you attended to your chambers to allow your lady-in-waiting to dress you for the coronation, you noticed that much of the anxiety that had kept you awake all night was gone. 

The road before you remained difficult and long, but you knew you could handle it. After all, you’d been honest with the boy you loved. For now, through every meeting, through every lesson, through every painful memory, you could go on knowing that Sora never lied. He’d be seeing you again really soon. And when he did, you'd be ready to be completely honest with him.

[h-worksrambles]

I have no idea if Kingdom Hearts will ever give us a proper solo Kairi game, but it’s still something I like to think about and I was recently thinking about who would be the party members if that was the case. I see a lot of people say the wanna see all the KH girls in a party together, Kairi, Namine, Xion and perhaps Aqua as well. That could be really fun, but I have a different idea.

Sora and Riku’s party members are classic Disney characters who reflect their roles in the series. Riku, the archetypal JRPG hero is paired up with Disney’s golden boy. Sora’s character is basically what would happen if a goofy, Joey Wheeler-esque best friend character ended up being the protagonist. So he’s paired with the funny sidekicks, Donald and Goofy. So Kairi would make sense to pair with your archetypal princess characters. And there are two ladies-in-court in Disney Castle who haven’t done much in the series yet…

Why not make Kairi’s travelling companions Daisy and Minnie? Not only is it a way to give all three of these characters stuff to do but I think they’d slot into a typical JRPG party structure pretty well. Minnie has already been portrayed as a mage with an aptitude for light magic. She’d be the White Mage to Donald’s Black Mage. Plus, it makes sense for Minnie to help Kairi with her magic since, being a Princess of Heart, Kairi also has an aptitude for light magic (see Re:Mind). As for Daisy? Well Dream Drop Distance implies that all the Disney Castle gang (sans Mickey) are from the Country of the Musketeers world, and that Mickey met them there while world travelling during his training (at least that was my understanding). So why not have Daisy honour that by acting as a Musketeer? Give her a rapier and let her by the team fighter. That way you have the same all rounder/Mage/warrior dynamic as Sora, Donald and Goody but a little different.

You’ve also got a good balance of personalities. Minnie is usually portrayed as a very sweet, sunny, demure character (though the more modern shorts show she absolutely has the potential to be crazy). Daisy’s got Donald’s capacity for temper, but tends to be a bit more sophisticated and worldly. A little drier and sassier. This gives you two more contrasting personalities. One a bright people person, and the other who takes nobody’s crap. And then Kairi’s who’s been shown to be able to be both very sweet but also quite sassy, fits in nicely between them.

It’s also not very hard to think of a premise post Melody of Memory and it’s one I’ve suggested elsewhere already. Kairi gets sent out to look for the other members of the New Seven Hearts. She gets to meet these Disney characters with a role like hers, and reflect on what her status as a Princess of Heart actually means. But, like Sora in KH3, you’ve also got that conflict where all the while she desperately wants to go and help her friends, despite knowing she’s not currently strong enough to do so. It’s a simple premise, but it capitalises on what we have to work with for Kairi, and turns her lack of agency into the basis for a character arc. And now she’s got some fun new companions to bounce off of. Giving her more friendships and relationships outside of Sora and Riku.

I highly doubt this will ever happen. But if Kairi does properly get her due, then I think this would be a fun way to go about it.

[sunhalf]

kairi was presenting as a girl and going by kairi before she washed up on destiny islands.  shortly before she met aqua, she began using the name; it was suggested by her grandmother (  it was her grandmother's grandmother’s name  ) though some in her community were still using her deadname.  not through ill will so much as forgetfulness, though it felt cruel to the girl.  when she arrived on destiny islands, though, the only name she could remember was kairi.

the mayor followed kairi’s lead in raising her, and was very supportive with whatever the girl wanted; she was very protective.  any bullying that the child received, which was generally minor anyway, was quickly squashed; most children knew better than to piss off the mayor.  kairi grew up comfortable and accepted, and began taking puberty blockers when she was around twelve.  sora and riku learned she was trans at around the same time, as she recruited them to help her remember to take them!  her walking reminders.

shortly after returning to the island, kairi began learning healing magic — the mayor had some latent magical abilities herself, and suspected that kairi could use healing magic to simulate the effects of hrt once the girl was older.  she was right, and it’s a big reason why kairi’s such a talented healer now.  she’s been using the magic for a while, even if not for it’s traditional purpose.

incidentally, while kairi now has a great deal of trauma around being a princess of heart, she was quietly delighted to learn she’d been born a princess.  her heart and the light always knew she was a girl.

[folkorae]

@voidedgear : “You bleed so pretty, don’t you think?” Vanitas stabs Void Gear into the earth next to Kairi’s shoulder and leans on it, looking down at her. His face obscured by the dark void that is his helmet.

She doesn’t know why he is fighting her suddenly ; but there is one thing that Kairi knows for sure. He is strong and doesn’t hold back while giving her a powerful strike ( unlike the others who still go easy on her ). Despite having trained for a while now, there is still much the princess of heart needs to learn. Kairi let her guard down for a moment and that cost her — being hit on the shoulder with another powerful blow. It hurts more than the previous ones and Kairi could feel the liquid, blood, running down her wound. She is lying on the ground watching him look at her. He is strong and might end her life right here and now. However, Kairi is not a damsel in distress anymore. She knows how to defend herself now ( no one needs to protect her anymore ). He is standing there with the Keyblade craving on the earth and she will use that opportunity in her favor. Kairi summoned her Keyblade charged it with a powerful light magic and struck the side of the masked boy — making him leave her sight. With that, Kairi was able to stand from the ground ( slowly because of the pain ). “ Well— not so pretty now, huh ? ” A hand moves to her bleeding shoulder as she uses her healing magic on it.

[hollowwhisperings]

Thank you for such an in depth response, I feel honored by it and that I was able to inspire you about the concepts and I agree. I had similar thoughts about the theming of Sora’s name and him being the void of space. Even had musings of how in primordial myths the heavens (sky) and the earth are considered the couple that brings about the first forms existence. Gaia and Ouranos and on the Egyptian mythos there was a love story of Geb (earth) and Nut (sky) although interesting enough geb and nut are kept separated by Ra (the sun).

But regardless, I’d say nomura is quite interesting and impressive to consistently yet subtly equate riku to that of deity so easily. Yes, I believe in riku being a dia in some sort. Probably kingdom hearts sending out an avatar to grow, or the king to kh reincarnated, or some other thing I can’t quite grasp right now but overall with the ending of the series hopefully not too much farther in our lifespan. This is why I enjoy reading and interacting with metas and theories especially about sora and riku and soriku because I said in a comment in a YouTube video that discussed the sleeping real theory and I said it feels like we have the right answers but just not forced into the right shape (a key perhaps 🫣) to unlock the final gate.

Riku has always had all those "subtle" visual shorthands used to denote super special celestia mystery powers (etc) but, like the Subtly OP antics of the Disneytowners (e.g. Donald casually casting the Boss-level spell 'Flare', Goofy tanking hits from Literal Deities with 1 shield & no apparent magic of his own), Riku looking "anime" gets brushed off as "standard JRPG aesthetic".

Naturally silver-haired youths in anime tend to be Plot-Relevant, typically having ☆Super Special Bloodlines☆, typically being Secret Royalty &/or related to Angels or Spirits.

(and it WAS suspiciously easy for Riku to just... BECOME Sora's Dream Eater, especially given what we know of the Chirithy spirits, their abilities to act as psychopomps, & whatever the Dream Eater crafting system in DDD may imply about Dream Eaters as a whole)

From what I can recall, the only naturally silver-haired characters original to KH are:

Riku

Ephemer

Xehanort (confirmed descendant of Ephemer)

Xemnas (Terranort)

Ienzo (taken in by the Always Sus Ansem the Wise, origins unknown)

From the Final Fantasy side of the crossovers, we have Setzer (who only appears in the DATA Daybreak Town, not the "real" one) and... Sephiroth.

For being such an "anime" JRPG, Kingdom Hearts is pretty sparing in its use of Anime Hair Colours. Aqua & Isa's blue hair aside, the colour palette is fairly "natural": pale blonds & yellows, oranges & pinks amongst the reds, browns & blacks. There aren't many characters old enough to have "grey" hair but the ones that do are ALSO fairly mysterious: Merlin, Fairy Godmother, Master Yen Sid, Zeus... Kairi's Mysteriously Knowledgable Grandmother (who i am, like, 75% convinced was a retired Princess of Heart). Even the "silver/white" House of Duck are all Very Suspicious: Donald is, canonically, the most powerful Black Mage of the FF franchise; Scrooge & Donald's Nephews casually worldhop for fun & profit as if they were Moogles or something.

So, yeah, even Riku's "anime boy" aesthetic is itself pretty Telling of Riku being Plot-Relevant. He's canonically part-spirit, after DDD, but his ability to do that at all IS unprecedented (just like his ability to Balance Light & Darkness within himself, like his Light being equated with the Sun, like his easy grasp on using Darkness...). Whatever the KH-universe equivalent of an "angel" may be, Ephemer & Riku seem closest to it. That Riku met JOSHUA (himself a kind of Gay Angel) in DDD does not seem at all a coincidence.

oh! there's also that whole [terra] sigil thing! Riku's costume/keyblade designs imcorporate it (i forget how) & THAT sigil is probably the in-universe namesake for Terra, the character. Rather than [earth] or [land], the [terra] sigil seems older & is likely referencing an "[original/first] earth" or mean "[land of origin]".

It makes me wonder whether Riku's parent/s were themselves Aware of Other Worlds? If he's a relative of Xehanort, it's plausible that Xehanort's Skuld-resembling mother learned about Xehanort's ending up at the Destiny Islands & their family possibly moving to the World in hopes of a reunion. Which... would mean they weren't just AWARE of Other Worlds but ALSO capable of traveling between them. This is probably going to Come Up in Missing Link.

[embraceyourdestiny]

could you summarize the χ-Ri thing? im having trouble reading the block text

Sure!

Post in question

Original post linked in my post

The first screenshot is a message from one of my discord server members @rammypaige explaining how off the parallels between Wayfinder Trio and Destiny Trio are, saying despite it being Riku/Terra Aqua/Kairi Ven/Sora it actually makes more sense for Ven and Kairi to be paralleled (and Sora and Aqua therefore). She explains “they both end up used more for the magic properties of their hearts rather than their own combat abilities. They're both the deus ex machina people in their game, you know? They're both representative of home and safety, something to protect or return to after battle, who are constantly deprived of agency in the plot. Ven is practically a prince of heart at this point, poor guy.“

Second / third image is me linking the post that originally set this off from nobody-riku (great stuff go check out that tumblr now) and freaking out, saying “Kairi is Ventus real??” And then I go on to explain how I watched a streamer (LeighXP on YouTube / twitch, she has uploaded her entire kh playthrough and the moment I refer to is in her BBS PT while theorizing) come to silly conclusions like Kairi is the X-blade after reading the Xehanort / Ansem reports and thinking she and Ven were connected and it was totally ridiculous at the time but this post made me think holy shit she might’ve been right

Then my other server mate @tharkflark1 said the fated “X-ri” mentioning how X can be pronounced Kye as said by Xehanort himself. (I also mention Ven and Kairi being left behind while Aqua and Sora self sacrifice)

We then talk about how it was fucking weird how he knew how powerful she was as a princess of heart, that she could literally give him the X-blade if he utilized her, and yet he didn’t do that. (I’ve always thought she was a plan B and it seems like it now!!!)

So basically Kairi was / could’ve been plan B — she could’ve become the X-blade and it seems like somethings going on with Sora slowly becoming darkness and she is pure light like idk how it’s gonna work unless it’s young Xehanort but it was a really fun thought and I love Kairi being important to the lore a lot :) and who knows maybe something can happen since she’s still a PoH 👀

[blunderingbunni]

This is Kokoro! 🪷🩷

Kokoro is my OC from Kingdom Hearts. Her first outfit is from BBS. The second is her outfit from DDD and KH3.

🪷🪷🪷

She was found unconscious and almost dead by Master Eraqus as a child. He took her back to the Land of Departure and raised her alongside Aqua and Terra (and eventually Ventus). She has no memories from before she woke up in L.o.D. Since she has no memories, Eraqus adopts her like shes his own child-- he does so with the others as well, but where they all call him 'Master' Kokoro refers to him as 'Father'.

🪷🪷🪷

During the battle in the Keyblade Graveyard (end of BBS) Vanitas tricks her into separating from the other three. He knocked her out, in the hope of keeping her from getting hurt in the battle, and left her somewhere safe. When she woke up, she couldn't find a single trace of her family. She spent two years traveling from World to World to try and find a clue about what happened to them, but without any luck.

🪷🪷🪷

In Neverland, two years after the fight in the Keyblade Graveyard, the mermaids told her that they'd seen something out at sea. Using Pixie Dust from Tinkerbell, she followed them. But once they were far away from shore, the mermaids attempted to drowned her because they were jealous of the attention (friendship) she received from Peter. Kokoro tried to fight them off to no avail. Everything went black after swallowing too much water.

🪷🪷🪷

She was surprised to wake up, almost dry and laying by a fire, inside a small cave. The cave was completely surrounded by water in the middle of the sea. Kokoro was unable to swim and had previous trauma from two attempted murders by drowning. Her magic had depleted to an unsafe level for her to attempt to make make more fire or escape the cave.

🪷🪷🪷

She was unaware 10 years had passed in her time stuck in that cave. She was eventually rescued by Peter and Tinkerbell, who were investigating the ghost story that was circling Neverland about the 'Wailing Cave'. Peter tells her about his recent adventure with a boy who had a Keyblade, just like her.

🪷🪷🪷

After being healed by the other fairies, Kokoro sets off to find this mystery boy who was wielding a Keyblade. Landing on Destiny Island, she comes face to face with Kairi. Kairi, who she had met in Radiant Garden years before, was now grown up and no longer just a Princess of Heart, but a Keyblade Wielder as well <- a big surprise to Kokoro.

🪷🪷🪷

Sora and Riku show up and believe Kokoro (still in her Keyblade's armor) is a threat towards Kairi and attack her. Kairi ends up summoning her Keyblade and tells her friends to stand down. Kokoro removes her armor and is properly introduced to them.

🪷🪷🪷

The group goes to see Yen Sid, where Kokoro is reunited with Mickey, who she calls Mister M. Kokoro tells them what she's been through, and Mickey promises to help her find her siblings. Yen Sid decides that it's time for Kokoro, Sora, and Riku to take the Mark of Mastery. Which, she fails because of her inability to hold Darkness within her <- it makes her "unbalanced". After the test, Riku and Mickey go to the Realm of Darkness to look for Aqua. Kokoro wants to help, but Yen Sid refuses to let her since she's pure light - "It would be too dangerous". She gets to help train Kairi and Lea ( she also met a long time ago).

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During the battle between the 7 Lights and the 13 Darkness, Kokoro is finally reunited with her siblings, but at the cost of Vanitas' life. A fact she refuses to accept - she believes he's not really dead, but just hiding somewhere. Her and her siblings are able to say goodbye to Master Eraqus when Xehanort fades. He tells them hes proud of them before fading away with Xehanort.

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Then, when Sora goes missing, the Lights split up to try and find out where he is. Aqua, Terra, and Ventus explore the Realm of Darkness and leave Kokoro in Mickey and Riku's care. Kokoro is devastated at being left behind and losing her siblings again, but no one (except Riku) seems to notice.

🪷🪷🪷

After the final battle, she becomes more argumentative with Aqua and Ventus. She refuses to accept Vanitas' passing, and it causes a lot of tension between them. Kokoro still follows orders and is generally a 'yes man', but her heart has started to feel heavy.

🪷🪷🪷

During her time with Mickey and Riku, Mickey finds a book that had been in Xehanort's possession. Mickey tells Kokoro and Riku that the book is a World where the Villains have won. Mickey also informs them he can't figure out how to get into it. There's a dark aura coming from the book, and Kokoro can hear the cries for help coming from the people who live in that World. Kokoro's fingers trail over the drawing of a coffin, and in the blink of an eye, she's sucked into the World.

Kokoro's in Twisted Wonderland.

Kokoro Facts:

She's originally from 'The Age of Fairytales' just like Ventus. And all though neither of them remember it, they were friends way back then too.

She has a very happy-go-lucky personality and is often made fun of for being incognizant.

She is a being of pure light and incapable of holding or manipulating Darkness.

She has a strange ability to be able to hear the secret wishes of another's heart-- she does her best not to use it to pry.

She has a habit of believing what could be considered fairytales and is rather gullible.

She believes what people say at face value.

She loves mushrooms and sweets, and DOESN'T like things that are spicy.

Though she is 13 when the Keyblade Graveyard battle takes place, she is only 15 when she gets reunited with her family (12 years later) - she's also the only one in her family to age at all in the time skip.

[valorxdrive]

" Gather ! " ✨

What's this? Sora caught in this Magnega's tide? Dragging his feet and tugging his form in the midst of battle -- as though he were swept into the wars of cosmic attraction-- where exactly???

Right into a devious princess's clutches! So she could wrap her arms around him.

"Gotcha'."

[ from @maregiis 😌 ]

Being fashioned by his hand was the chaos that intends to counteract all destruction. Well, that's what sounds pretty on paper above anything else. His current expedition was more selfishly focused as the intent was to draw forth materials, precious baubles and gems infused with the might required for Moogles to create the more incredible inventions.

Naturally, his journey required this aid in near endless tides, requiring growth that is virtually as demanding as his regiment. So, imagine his face once the invisible grip, roused through the richness of this mana type as it seamlessly tugs him off of the ground. Initially confused, that tinge of panic would begin to nip at the back of his neck, wondering just which of these Heartless was hiding a more devious form. No doubt this was a high caster type considering this spell use..!

At the same time? Why in the Hearts did it feel so warm on the other hand? Hardly being able to even twist his body due to the commanding pull, Sora's voice echoed out to the vanishing stir of iridescent clouds that weaved with the mythical and sparkling haze that revolved around the orb of light force. No, any stolen magic by the Heartless's design was rendered frigid by default, a soul deep type of oblivion woven into each incantation, elemental blast or manipulation of law, even to their hellish flames.

While this on the other hand felt almost.. Almost...

A hug?

The way he's taken through the raw growth of Kairi's will, no longer being a victim of fate through the means of the more insidious forces disguised as that mediator that intends to pull him away. Any battle tension found in his body was in the process of being dispelled as the soft, familiar scent of sweetness only joined into creating that calm. The Keyblade found itself happily relinquishing its presence as it vanished back to the domain of his heart.

On the other hand? Sora's arms were limp, practically stunned alongside his mind. She managed to work up a spell of that caliber. Being thrust into this innate realization of how she used the force of her light to make an ethereal barrier of spirit that kept the forces at bay, all while allowing for her Sora to be safe in those clutches made him simply lost in the moment.

While a flourish of pink mangled with the fringes of scarlet hair, the sight above, seeing her so simply at peace while letting that call to attention be known..

It was inevitable that he would smile in return, body and Heart leaning into the welcome warmth of her affection.

"What's a matter? These troublemakers been sweepin' up too much of my attention?" It was an equally simple tease, a clear contrast to the well meaning way his strong arms swept her closer, pressing her into a warm hug.

"And just how long were you keeping tricks like that under lock n' key? Do ya know how long it even took me to get the hang of that?"

@maregiis

[mirror-to-the-past]

BABY KAIRI, I REPEAT, BABY KAIRI, THIS IS NOT A DRILL

I'm so happy my hopes came true, I was beginning to get worried for a sec that she might be a no-show during this game. So happy to be proven wrong, boys. And now we have a solid answer for how Kairi's heart was preserved in KH1 aside from 'some magic ability Kairi might not have known she had!' Honestly, I get the impression that Aqua's spell of protection might even extend to that beyond Kairi's heart finding safety in the wannabe anti-darkness bunker that is Sora's heart- and that it doubled as a blessing to be a Keyblade wielder like what Terra did with Riku. I'm actually a pretty firm believer of this, given that directly after this cutscene finishes, oop, what's that? Destiny's Embrace? Kairi's Keyblade is one of the Keyblades only Aqua can wield? Ooh, how about that... (I quickly switched to my Ventus and Terra files to see if they had Destiny's Embrace, just to check :p).

It might be more of a stretch, but I could potentially utilize this blessing as a half-explanation for how Kairi acquired Destiny's Embrace in KH2. As Kairi was being overwhelmed with darkness once more while fighting in The World That Never Was, then wouldn't it only be reasonable for Aqua's spell of protection to kick in once more through Kairi gaining Destiny's Embrace? Of course, I still had to rationalize why Riku would be the one to give it to her, rather than Kairi manifest it in her own hand, but actually, I still think it lines up, especially if we hold that KH2 event up next to the story Kairi's grandmother tells once more (which I now assume is recontextualized to refer to that Keyblade War Xehanort mentioned- how does Kairi's grandmother know of this?) in the Birth By Sleep cutscene, as well as what Aqua told Kairi about the spell.

Aqua: "One day when you're in trouble, the light within you will lead you to the light of another. Someone to keep you safe."

Which... isn't something you would as readily ascribe to Riku as opposed to Sora, especially given his transfigured state in that part of KH2. But also...

Kairi's Grandmother: "But the true light sleeps, deep within the darkness."

And of course, I wouldn't necessarily need that line from Kairi's Grandmother to have that spelled out for me, as I was able to see with my eyes in the earlier Terra cutscene that Riku's evidently got enough light within him to power a crypto warehouse, as well as how Xehanort's Heartless was defeated by the "true light" within Kingdom Hearts in KH1, but anyway... yeah. Still a hell of an underreaction from Riku, suddenly getting and handing over Destiny's Embrace with little explanation, but it could totally be justified that Kairi's wielding abilities kicking in to hold a Keyblade of Aqua's was Aqua's spell of safety helping Kairi find solace in Riku. Damn, Aqua, you sure don't have the Spellweaver ability for nothing, making a multi-use spell that's lasted 10+ years. What a wizard. Also, I love the idea that Sora and Riku are Kairi's cosmically-designated bodyguards that do a very questionable job. I can imagine it now...

Aqua and Terra very sternly look at Baby Sora and Riku, and they're like "This is Kairi, she's very important, a Princess of Light. You must make sure to keep her safe from dark forces that attempt to harm her."

Sora: "Yeah, of course! Kairi's our friend, we won't let anything hurt her!"

Riku: "We're like, super strong. Nothing can get past me and Sora."

And they sigh with relief, only to pull their hair out 10 years later when Riku destroys Destiny Islands and gets manipulated by villains (although, in his defense, he still kept her sorta safe throughout KH1? Watching over her corpse and trying to get her heart back isn't nothing), and then Sora finishes the game by being like: "Okay Kairi! You're home? Great! I'll come back!" and then proceeds to leave to get the milk from the store as long as it takes for him to bump into Riku in the dairy section, leaving her to get kidnapped in the process while she is left alone by the both of them for a whole year.

Nice job boys, you're both fired.

Edit: Just noticed Destiny's Embrace has a Paopu Fruit on the end, which is interesting. Shows how Kairi is bound to Destiny (in more ways than one, poor girl), of course, but what's that mean for Aqua? Still don't know how she heard about the legend of the Paopu Fruit herself- I did think it was cute how she turned it into a friendship bracelet sort of thing, side note.

[obscureaestheticist]

★PANTOSTAR★

★PANTOSTAR★ ★ ★My Findings <- the long part ★Possible Origins <- less long but still long ★Why Call It Pantostar? ★Games ★Music ★Fashion ★Symbols ★Themes ★MY FINDINGS★ Pantostar is a visual and narrative aesthetic with design motifs characterized by its whimsical, fairy tale, and storybook-like nature. As such, the majority of Pantostar stories and characters are typically associated with folkloric and mythical themes; - Pantostar protagonists fit very staunchly into the role of traditional fairytale heroes [Sora, Klonoa, Kirby, Nights, Rayman, and Balan.]. However! There are a number of key components of Pantostar that separate it from aesthetics like Adventurecore & Whimsycore, and standard Western Fantasy, and that is its intertextual themes of reality with dreams and theatre, and focus on personal emotional conflicts such as loss, grief, sorrow, communication, loneliness, etc.

This aesthetic is compiled from the video games and franchises of Kirby, Klonoa, Rayman, Kingdom Hearts, NiGHTS Into Dreams, Balan Wonderworld, and Super Paper Mario. As such this aesthetic has a connection to the PS1-2, Gamecube, Sega Saturn, Dreamcast, Wii, and Nintendo hand-helds. Although this covers a wide array of games and time periods, Pantostar does have its roots in the periods of 1997-2002 with the releases of NiGHTS Into Dreams [Saga Saturn - 1996], Door To Phantomile [PS1 - 1997], Rayman 2 [Dreamcast - 1999], and Kingdoms Hearts [PS2 - 2002].

Pantostar graphically has its associations with this low poly era of 3D and 2.5D games, while in its artwork it will follow a strong storybook motif often with dark undertones; - taking scenes of bright whimsical colors and contrasting them with this almost Halloween-like spooky and expressionist environments. Think Destiny Island & Traverse Town / Final Bastion, or Nightopia & Nightmare. Or even in character design aspects such as Klonoa & Ghadius, or Kirby & Zero.

Pantostar has this very distinct dualistic motif of light and darkness, using it as a frame to explore personal feelings and emotions in a way that is easier for kids to process, as such, while these games often feature world-ending plots, they're treated as deeply personal experiences, or in some cases, personal feelings might very well feel like the end of the world [such is the case with kids in NiGHTS, a personal fear in the waking world brings them to confront a reality breaking threat of the nightmare]. - Not to mention the eldritch madness that is the Kirby Lore and villains, or all this stuff the poor catbun Klonoa experiences.

Symbols such as hearts, stars, moons, suns, and the 5 classical elements, heck, even symbols of marriage and death, appear throughout Pantostar games with direct connections to magic and reality. Think the Hearts of Kingdoms Hearts, the significance of the moon in Klonoa, stars in Kirby, and marriage in Super Paper Mario. Dreams and theatre are also very prominent symbols, Rayman exists in a world of dreams, Door to Phantomile is presented as a popup storybook, Balan Wonderworld takes place in a realm called the Balan Theatre, and jesters play a role NiGHTS, Klonoa, Kirby, and Super Paper Mario. Even the majority of the Heartless resemble some form of a twisted jester. - The function of the master of ceremonies/storyteller is a key motif in Pantostar, whether it be in simple character design or literally how the story is portrayed.

In some cases the aspect of fairytales and dreams can add an ominous atmosphere to the game's world, such as Kingdom Hearts 1 with idea of the darkness seeping into every world and that Sora, Riku, and Kairi are falling into the roles of Hero, Villain, and Princess, not by choice but rather by happenstances, like the world itself has willed it to be so [keep in mind this is before the later games expanded on the world]. - This motif of being controlled by unseen forces or reality writing one's self into the story where you weren't before is explored a bit more with Namine in Chain of Memories and her ability to literally write herself into Sora's memories. - Or even Klonoa is an archetypical hero that is willed into other worlds by an unseen law, and in Door to Phantomile his memories are ALSO altered to make him become a hero. - Or even the kids Nights being dragged into the events of the game just by simply falling asleep. It takes the concept of the unwitting hero to a different level, and I'm honestly unsure if this is intentional on the part of the developers or if it's just video game logic. Likely its a combination of both, or its just a way to justify game logic like is the case with a lot of games, but here it's sort of unintentionally created an underlying atmosphere of some sort. Pantostar worlds are alive to a degree, and operate in this shapeless, abstract, storybook popup-style existence, although this is mostly just me trying to sound smart, it's actually just how video game overworlds were designed.

In terms of music, Pantostar has a wide variety of great music [as games of this kind typically do]. In terms of common motifs, I'd say the classical influences, as well as uses of synth, accordions, organs, harpsicords, and woodwinds, are common instruments. - Music boxes, lullabies, nursery rhymes, choir, psychedelic, and surreal music are common aspects Pantostar music. Fashion? Weirdly yes, there is Pantostar fashion and its combination of elaborate colorful theatre costumes, the kind you'd be able to find, mix and match in the back of the changing rooms, and also modern streetwear [you can thank Nomura's trendy love of Harajuku fashion for that]. If you wanna go more nostalgic then try alternative fashion of the 2000s. There is also this strange running motif of exoticized cultures or even characters wearing patchwork and rags in their fit but this isn't exclusive to Pantostar, it's in a lot of video games, although the rag and scrap vibe is its own aesthetic. The fashion is performative, so any combination of circus, theatre, or theme park costumes could suit Pantostar designs. Throw in some streetwear and you're good! - I might make a mood board of Pantostar fashion to try and get a feel for it because it's such a strange combination it sounds like a fun design prompt.

★POSSIBLE ORIGINS★

From what I can find, the 3 of the 4 core games of Pantostar all share the same development line of Japan translating traditional Western aesthetics into something performative for the sake of visual design in characters and environments. - The exception being Klonoa and sorta Rayman, as Rayman is French and it's inspirations were Studio Ghibli and Tex Avery Cartoons. The Sonic Team got the idea for NiGHTS's character after traveling to Europe and Western Asia, and Kingdom Hearts has it's obvious Disney connection which Nomura incorporated after visiting Disneyland.

This isn't anything new, it's sorta like how Americans use Japanese visual aspects and themes, or even how New Age spiritualism basically took the basics of Asian Spirituality and took it's own spin on in. - Whereas Japan has a similar fascination with Western Countries, except it's not as spiritual and more aesthetic. English words used in Japanese songs are seen as cool, references to Western Media and locations in the UK and US are repeated in My Hero Academia, and angles and devils are seen as something strange, romantic, and exotic. Many creators in Japan like to incorporate these Western motifs into their works because of how different it is from their own culture to the point it is almost a form of cultural exposure. - Although in some cases this can be accidentally offensive when it comes to portrayals in anime.

As for the magical aspects of Pantostar, occultism and superstition have a MASSIVE history in Asia, and Western superstitions and religions have their place in Japanese modern society. - The concept of diviners, magic, and fortunes has, and continues to be, a major part of life in lots of Asian countries and honestly warrants its own post to go into, but needless to say Western Occultism, Alchemy, and Hermeticism has a lot, keen researchers and enthusiasts, in Japan. It's why you'll see much more faithful and traditionally accurate imagery in shows like Card Captor Sakura, Full Metal Alchemist, Attack on Titan, Digimon, and Yugioh, than you would in Western Fantasy or shows with magic in it. As for Japan's own irl cults? ...Yeah just look up Japan's history of domestic terrorism and you'll see the difference between its views of Western Cults and its own cults. It's quite an insane history.

★WHY CALL IT PANTOSTAR?★ Pantomime crossed with Planet Popstar Pantomime feels appropriate because of its colors, self-aware nature, and its history with theatre and Commedia Dell'Arte. As well as it's retellings of traditional fairytales and folk stories. I figured it'd be a good Western subject to apply to such a motif, while also throwing in the star because of how common a symbol it is in this motif, and also to pay homage to the most well-known game of this aesthetic, Kirby! ★GAMES★ ★ Kirby Series ★ Door to Phantomile & Lunatae's Veil ★ NiGHTS Into Dreams ★ Balan Wonderworld ★ Rayman Series ★ Kingdom Hearts [Early Games] ★ Sonic And The Black Knight & Sonic And The Secret Rings ★MUSIC★ ★ All the above's respective OSTs ★SYMBOLS★ ★ Hearts ★ Stars ★ Moons ★ Suns ★ Rings ★ Crystals ★ Diamonds ★ Elements ★ Wings ★FASHION★ ★ Cap & Bells ★ Masks ★ Capes ★ Top Hats ★ Ruffs ★ Cravates ★ Motleys ★ Tights ★ Gloves ★ Waistcoats ★ Spats ★ Long Sleeve Shirts ★ Scarves ★ Caps ★ Berets ★ Gatsbys ★ Kebi ★ Brimless Caps ★ Full Fur Caps ★ Veils ★ Robes ★ Hoodies ★ Trainers ★ Zippers ★ Shorts ★ Cargo Pants ★ Boots ★THEMES★ ★ Coming of Age ★ Sorrow, Sadness, Jealousy, and Grief ★ Memory ★ Theatre ★ Dreams ★ Storytelling ★ Illusions ★ Unwitting Heroes ★ Duality ★ Expressionism ★ Surrealism ★ Saying Goodbye ★ Rejuvination ★ Travel ★ Marraige ★ Love & Friendship

[My apologies for spelling and grammar mistakes]

[pred1059]

Runaway Wind Chapter Twenty Five

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Nobodies had no dreams.

Oh they certainly could have aspirations and desires. Things that they wished to possess. But to touch the world of slumber? For the heart to wander and dwell on what mattered to it while asleep? Naminé knew that was impossible. And yet on so many nights, she found herself trying to run from the dark with Ventus. Seeking shelter when they could from the shadows.

Maybe it was due to Naminé’s existence. An impossibility in itself. With a heart of pure light, a heartless could never be created from Kairi. Yet when Sora released the hearts within him with that keyblade, somehow she was created from some splintered will from the princess of heart. And if Kairi’s heart being released from Sora could create herself,  then it only made sense that Ven’s released heart could create something like a nobody too. Even if his body was far away in Castle Oblivion.

Was the same true for Sora? Did he create a Nobody, or something close?

Well right now, none of that mattered. What mattered was that hidden from everyone was a sliver of existence that used that new body to live again. A dark keyblade wielder that made Riku’s fall look tame in comparison. The one that menaced Ven and his friends so long ago...

“Vanitas!?” She cried out as she used another figment to block his keyblade wreathed in shadow. The blow shattered the construct and knocked her back.

“Well, well.” Vanitas raised a hand and gathered a ball of flame. “Looks like Ventus got enough of a backbone to spill his guts.” He shot the projectile and vanished, reappearing a moment later to shoot another as Ventus blocked it. “Not that it matters.” This time, Naminé was the one who had to defend, she reached for her weapon.

He conspicuously absent weapon. “My sword?!” In her shock she fumbled for a card, but the fireball was faster, and soon she was knocked back.

Vanitas chuckled as Ven moved to block the rest of the barrage. “Funny thing about dreams. You only take what you fall asleep with.” In a blink, Vanitas appeared right next to her, snarling, “So all you’ve got now are cheap card tricks!” 

This time she was ready with a card to block the attack. In a flash, her figment was ready to parry Vanitas’ magic. And in that opening, Ven rolled over to deliver a kick into his side. Seeing Vanitas stumble back, Ven began to slash away at him again and again. Blow after blow hit him until he finally lost his balance.

But then Vanitas’ body froze mid fall. And Ventus stopped his attack in wide eyed recognition.

“Too slow!”

That was Ven’s only warning before Vanitas appeared behind him, the dark decoy fading. Their keyblades clashed for an instant, before Vanitas used the impact to flip back and send out an arc of lightning. Rolling back, Ventus called out. “Vanitas, listen! You don’t need to do this!”

“You really think you can stop me with words?” Though Naminé tried to approach from the side, Vanitas simply sent out a pool of shadow to become a larger Unversed to block her way. “You’re forgetting I want this!” With that, he dived towards the ground, into a pool of shadow. 

Ventus backed away, and turned to attack the bruiser swinging at Naminé. “You don’t need to live your life in darkness!” As the unversed turned to face it’s new attacker Ven and Naminé both moved to strike. With figment and keyblade, the dark monster fell.

“What I am is darkness!” But with his proclamation Vanitas erupted from the ground fire cascading all around him. Naminé frantically tried to evade the barrage along with Ventus. Though as Vanitas reached the peak of his jump he vanished, only to reappear to bring his blade down on Ventus.

Ventus jumped back, and as Vanitas landed and lunged forward he blocked with his keyblade. “How can you be sure of that if all you do is stay here?” Ventus cried out in the clash, “You’ll never know the truth unless you look for it yourself!”

Vanitas’ eyes narrowed as he stepped forward, steel screeching as they stared each other down. “You...”

“YOU!”

Ventus’ and Vanitas’ eyes both widened at the voice, and Naminé looked up towards where the shout came from. A blue haired woman leaping down from one of the cliffs towards the duo. But her eyes were trained on only one person. “VANITAS!!!” At hearing his name, the helmeted boy leapt away from Ventus. Just in time to avoid the combatant’s barrage of ice from her weapon.

No...her keyblade. As different as it was from Ven’s or Sora’s Naminé knew what the woman held was another of those legendary weapons.

“Ven! Stay close to me!” With a wave of her keyblade, the woman began to conjure a sphere of water. With a thrust, she cast the torrent forward.

Vanitas backed away frantically waving his hand to create unversed to block the barrage of magic. “Yeah. Not sticking around for this!” Using the opening his creations had given him, Vanitas dove into a dark portal.

The woman scowled at the escape. But as she began to take a step forward, she stumbled down to her knee. Ven rushed to her side to catch her as she used her keyblade to steady herself.“Aqua, are you alright?”

“Aqua?” Was this one of Ven’s friends that he talked about? Either way, it was clear she wasn’t in the best shape. “Let me help you up.” Naminé ran up to Aqua’s side, and though she was smaller she was able to use Aqua’s keyblade to help prop her up.

“Yes.” Aqua answered with a nod as she slowly rose to her feet.“Just tired. I don’t know how long I can keep doing this.” She shook her head as she tried to walk towards the cliff for support. “For all I know, I could be asleep already if I’m imagining all of you.”

Ven gave a small smile, “Dream or not, it’s nice to see you again Aqua.” But as he said it, he began to flicker just a bit. And Naminé’s view of the dark world began to dim as well.

Seeing them caused Aqua’s expression to become more weary. She looked over to her and asked. “You’re helping Ven. Who are you?”

Ven had already begun to fade from view, and as the dark world around her faded away she answered, “My name is Naminé.”

Aqua gave a weary smile as she vanished from sight.

“Naminé. Please take care of him.”

Aqua’s request lingered as Naminé awoke in her room in Hollow Bastion.

Once again, Aqua was alone in the dark. Ventus and his friend had vanished into the void. But even so, the connection hadn’t quite faded. As her fingers entwined with her wayfinder, she could tell the link she once held with Ventus had been reforged, ever so slightly. And there was a new one. One forged with the girl accompanying Ven, Naminé.

The one who held her keyblade, if only for a moment.

"In your hand, take this key. So long as you have the makings, then through this simple act of taking…” 

She had not passed on her keyblade formally, and part of Aqua wondered if she ever would. Even so, stories and tales of keyblade wielders passing on their weapon from a simple touch were in the back of her mind. 

“...so long as you champion the ones you love."

Maybe Naminé would have better luck than Aqua did in keeping her friends safe. 

Vanitas sat far from where Aqua had interrupted him, legs dangling off the edge of a gnarled cliff. He ran a hand over the smooth surface of his helmet. Ventus’ words running through his mind. “The truth, huh?” He really had some nerve to throw that back at him. That was always little Ventus’ problem. Never knew when to stand and fight, and when to sit down and shut up.

But there was one thing Vanitas was willing to concede. “Maybe I have been here too long.” Standing up, he conjured a portal of darkness and began to trek outside of the realm he called home these last few weeks. 

“At the very least. I’m going to make sure he knows I’m real.”

Not to mention he wouldn’t have to listen to the old man anymore.

For Larxene, the one major upside of the Castle Oblivion assignment was the relative peace and quiet. Especially from the Organization’s command. While yes, it made organizing a coup much easier, it was mostly because she couldn’t stand having to answer to anyone but herself.

But if she wanted to have any chance of walking away tonight, she needed to set that aside. Because Xemnas, Xigbar, and Saïx wanted her to talk. The superior of the organization looked down on her from his throne. “Explain your actions today. Because of you, Maleficent slipped through our fingers.”

How fortunate then, that she did have an explanation. “I kept Naminé in check so she didn’t get too dangerous.”

Xigbar rolled his eye, unimpressed. “As if! So what if she gets more cards for her deck? That’s why we train and have an army of Nobodies.”

Larxene crossed her arms. “I’m not talking about combat or magic. The moment she realizes what kind of power she can tap into, the more problems we’ll have.” It was one of the main reasons she made sure Naminé learned respect, after all. The other of course being entertainment.

Xemnas’ eyes narrowed at her. “Elaborate.”

“She has power over Sora’s memories, and the people that met him.” That was the gist of the report she and Marluxia sent when they first found Naminé. But there was always one possibility that they wondered about. One that was a threat that they could not ignore. “How long before she figures out how to control the memories of people who have heard of him?” 

Because if she could begin to manipulate such a power, and decided to turn it against the organization? Everything they had worked for would be nearly worthless. They could barely trust their own notes, even if they realized something was wrong. Far better then, that the witch be kept in line.

Xemnas nodded at her answer with closed eyes. “You are shrewd in your judgement Larxene.” Though any sense of calm was erased by the pointed glare he gave her. “But if you cause problems for the organization again, you will cease to be a part of it.”

She paused before answering. “Point taken.” But she wasn’t a fool. Right now, she was on probation. And what’s more, she was positive that Xemnas was onto her.

Though if anyone else in the council chamber cared, they didn’t show it. Xigbar went on to ask, “You think the C.O. team is having a better time?”

Well, if they were just going to go on, might as well listen in. Saïx answered calmly, “Assuming Zexion has control of the situation, there should be…”

Zexion? The kid? Sure he was one of the Organization’s founders. But what was he doing…?

And at that moment, she realized everyone else had stopped the conversation to glare at her. “Oh. I’m sorry. Am I dismissed?” Larxene said in her practiced tone that held no sorrow whatsoe—

“Dismissed, Larxene.”

Oh right. That was the other reason she didn’t want to be around the Organization’s leader. Xemnas had the nasty habit of instilling something close to fear in her. At his command, she teleported away in a dark portal.

Honestly, Marluxia owed her for this. He was relaxing in charge of Castle Oblivion while she was out running field duty and playing nice with the top brass. No doubt his plans were running as smooth as clockwork.

“WHY ISN’T THIS WORKING!?!”

Marluxia winced at Vexen’s shout as he slammed a fist into the control panel besides the tube. “I thought you had perfected this technique with the other replica. What did Zexion call them?”

“Exon,” Vexen answered tersely before returning to recalibrating the machine for the new Replica. Number i. Marluxia had no idea why Vexen wished to use such a paradoxical nomenclature of numbers. His only answer long ago was a dismissal and a comment about Marluxia not having an appreciation of algebra.

Whatever the name, Vexen still had to properly process the data for the princess of heart.  One that would create a new being in her likeness that they could control to manipulate Sora. The replica they had made of Riku was useful enough in starting to unbalance the boy, but they could not delay any longer. The princess was closing in on Sora’s position, and if she made contact this scheme and their plan could be in jeopardy. And Vexen’s patience was wearing as thin as Marluxia’s as he began to ramble, “I had thought with the notes I had gathered from the Superior’s work on my project I could account for the fluctuations brought about by replicating a princess of heart! But it just won’t—!”

“Can you make them stable enough to live?” Zexion’s voice cut through the chatter, and Marluxia’s hand tensed. He was loath to have his command subverted after having worked so hard to establish himself as the lord of the castle. But Zexion had insisted on more and more control as his plan to dominate Sora had progressed.

Vexen turned and looked at Zexion. “I could introduce a smidge of darkness to stabilize it, but the resulting replica would be different enough that Sora would not accept it!”

Zexion simply smiled as a green eye met Vexen’s frantic gaze. “Do not fear, for I will make up those differences.”

“Ah! Of course!”Vexen was mollified as he relaxed and turned to his device with a smile. “You’ve become quite resourceful with your illusions Zexion. It seems that number I shall see usage after all.”

Zexion simply stepped forward and placed a hand on the glass. “Yes, Xion shall be instrumental in breaking the keybearer.” 

Vexen simply gave a distracted affirmation of the replica’s new moniker. But Marluxia had enough of enduring this farce. “Your command of the situation is concerning.”

Zexion calmly turned to face him, hands behind his back. “But necessary. Given my power is pivotal to controlling Sora.”

Again his plan was the crux of Zexion’s justification. But there were always other factors as Marluxia knew. “What of the others? Riku and Kairi are not to be taken lightly.”

Zexion simply shook his head. “Once Sora is ours, the others will fall.” 

Marluxia raised his voice. “Your authority here—”

“Is absolute,” Zexion reached into his cloak to produce a paper as he answered more sharply, “As given by Xemnas’ orders.” Marluxia snatched the document to read it, and to his aggravation, the superior had indeed signed off on this change in command. Zexion simply plucked the sheet out of Marluxia’s hands and returned it to his person. “Do not fear. Your assistance is still necessary. But for now, you are dismissed”

This had gone on long enough. Slicing rose petals began to swirl around Marluxia as he began to call upon his scythe. “You—!”

“Dismissed.”

And at Zexion’s command the wind died. Marluxia knew what it was like when Xemnas issued a command. By the sheer force of his will it left no question that was to be obeyed. And such power was enjoyed by those whom Xemnas had chosen. 

And Xemnas always chose such people to wield that power for a reason.

So Marluxia stood down, and simply turned to leave. As he passed the door, Lexaeus was in front of him walking by. The giant of a man almost bowled over him, but just in time, a hand caught Marluxia before he fell. “Apologies.” Lexaeus answered as he helped Marluxa steady himself.

And Marluxia felt something pressed into his hand as Lexaeus held it.

A note. A primitive form of subterfuge. But right now, Marluxia wasn’t too picky about the method. Quietly excusing himself, he made his way down the hall towards his room. Clutching the message that was given to him. Whatever it was, he wasn’t going to waste it as he quickly sealed the door shut to his chamber. In the safety of his quarters, Marluxia unfurled the paper.

Your concern is not unnoticed or unfounded. Meet tonight.

-V

[princess-of-the-corner]

Kingdom Hearts Final Mix Recap: Hollow Bastion (The Final Keyhole)

Okay so, outside of the worldwide difficulty getting harder, there are a couple of other changes I forgot to mention:

If you wait until AFTER Maleficent's death to defeat Cerberus, she won't show up after Hades' temper tantrum to warn him to be mindful of his own darkness.

If you leave Monstro early and don't come back until AFTER Ansem possesses Riku, Sora will be MUCH more hostile towards "Riku" in the cutscenes, and Riku won't team up with Sora during the first Parasite Cage battle on account of being possessed. Sora will even call out Ansem for pretending to be Riku during their confrontation in Monstro's stomach.

But now back to the story rapidly approaching its climax:

The Warp Hole allows our heroes to completely bypass the Heartless blockade and only have to fight some random stragglers to reach Hollow Bastion, but they still can't get inside the castle, requiring them to start at the rising falls again.

Sora, Donald, and Goofy are immediately greeted by the Beast, who tried his hardest to get to Belle, but in the end the Heartless overwhelmed him and threw him out of the castle, forcing him to fall back to regain his strength.

With Sora, Donald, and Goofy backing him up, however, it is FAR easier to fight past the Heartless that have overrun the castle, and it isn't long before they get back to the library.

There, the Beast and Belle are finally reunited, and it's just as heartwarming as it sounds.

Belle explains that she decided to search the library to try and find if there was anything they could use to stop Ansem, and gives Sora the Divine Rose Keychain. In Final Mix, Oathkeeper is so good that you probably shouldn't even bother equipping this one.

Sorry Belle.

From there, our heroes scale the castle again, but upon reaching the Castle Chapel, they find the remaining five princesses of heart.

They explain that they've been using their light to hold back the flood of darkness that would otherwise drown the worlds, but they can only hold it back for so long.

They also reveal that Ansem was swallowed by the darkness pouring out of the Keyhole shortly after Kairi, Donald, and Goofy left.

But he didn't look scared, enraged, or confused when it happened.

No, he was smiling, grinning from ear to ear.

He's not at Hollow Bastion anymore, but he's still out there, somewhere deeper in the darkness, ready to put the final steps of his plans in motion.

The Grand Hall, being the room closest to the Final Keyhole, is now completely overrun with Heartless. However, you can now climb the machinery containing the Final Keyhole to get some new items, the final dalmatian puppies, and (in a pod opposite to the Keyhole, apparently intended for Kairi) the Oblivion Keychain.

Oblivion's token resembles a black version of the crown on Sora's necklace, and symbolizes his bond with Riku. Where Oathkeeper focuses on magic, Oblivion focuses on physical strength.

With nowhere else to go and no time to waste, our heroes enter the machine to seal the Final Keyhole.

The Final Keyhole is on the bottom portion of the Heartless Emblem, and the space surrounding it is a multicolored miasma.

Unfortunately, Heartless are drawn to the Keyblade, the Realm of Darkness is crawling with Heartless, and the Final Keyhole is a gateway to that realm, and so a Behemoth emerges from the Final Keyhole to try and claim Sora's heart.

It's nowhere near as difficult as the bosses Sora faced on his first visit, even as it lunges around the room to try to crush Sora and can summon bolts of lightning from it's horn. All Sora needs to do is strike the Behemoth's horn with everything he has until it breaks and releases this Heartless' captive heart, and the battle is over.

As soon as the Behemoth is felled, Leon congratulates Sora.

Our heroes step out of the machine to discover that Leon, Aerith, and Yuffie are in the Great Hall. When Sora asks why, Aerith explains that Hollow Bastion is there homeworld.

They talk for a bit longer, and mention that sealing the Darkness and the Heartless that dwell within it away should restore all the worlds that were lost.

Sora is ecstatic, and talks about how he can't wait to come and visit them again once this is all over.

Except there's a catch, restoring the worlds will also restore the barriers between them. Gummi Ships will be useless, and they'll never see each other again.

This... Considerably dampens the good mood everyone was in, until Leon chimes in with the following:

"Even if we never see each other again, our hearts will stay connected."

Yuffie adds that she couldn't forget Sora even if she wanted to, and the heavier subject matter is finally dispelled.

Sora steps back into the machine and seals the Final Keyhole, halting the flood of darkness for now.

However, the Princesses of Heart warn him that they can sense a great darkness nearby, and theorize that Ansem may have gone there.

That darkness will be the site of their final battle, the battle that will decide the fate of all worlds.

To aid Sora in this endeavor, the Princesses combine their power to upgrade Fira into Firaga, and send Sora on his way.

Back in the library, Aerith reveals that she found more of Ansem's report: the second page, the fourth page, and the tenth.

The second page reads as follows:

It is my duty to expose what this darkness really is. I shall conduct the following experiments:

Extract the darkness from a person's heart.

Cultivate darkness in a pure heart.

Both suppress and amplify the darkness within.

The experiments caused the test subjects' hearts to collapse, including those of the most stalwart. How fragile our hearts are! My treatment produced no signs of recovery. I confined those who had completely lost their hearts beneath the castle.

Some time later, I went below and was greeted by the strangest sight. Creatures that seemed born of darkness...

What are they? Are they truly sentient beings? Could they be the shadows of those who lost their hearts in my experiments?

Ansem was already experimenting on his subjects even BEFORE he grew obsessed with darkness.

The fourth page, meanwhile, says this:

The Heartless appear in groups, and are multiplying rapidly. I've provided them both living and nonliving samples. They've responded only to the living. They seem to multiply after absorbing something from the living creatures. Their prey vanishes without a trace.

I believe the Heartless are taking hearts. They are born from those who've lost their hearts, and thrive on hearts seized from others. The hearts taken by the Heartless become Heartless themselves.

Though I lack proof, I am confident in this hypothesis. I must also study their behavioral principles. Though they lack emotions, they do seem to have some intelligence. How to communicate with them?

It's just occurred to me: Could they be the darkness in people's hearts?

And here is the moment where Ansem's obsession set in.

Finally, the tenth reveals quite a bit:

Just as people have hearts, so do worlds. The same can be said of stars in the night sky. And deep within each world lies a door to its heart. The Heartless desire those hearts. Born out of darkness in people's hearts, they seek to return to a greater heart.

Yes that's it. The Heartless come from people's hearts, as does the darkness. Is the core of the world's heart the world of the Heartless? I will pursue the answer there and become all knowing.

My path is set. I shall seek out the wielder of the Keyblade, and the princesses. My body is too frail for such a journey, but I must do this. I will cast it off and plunge into the depths of darkness.

This was written before he found Kairi, implying that he cast off his body and dove into the darkness shortly after sending he adrift, and that he had been hiding out on Destiny Islands to try and locate both the Keyblade's chosen one AND the Keyhole.

And in the end, he got both.

After talking to Aerith two more times, she upgrades Cura to Curaga.

Upon exiting Hollow Bastion, a new Gummi Route that leads right to the source of this darkness becomes available.

Also, there's a new tournament at Olympus Coliseum: The Hades Cup!

...

Oh... That's right...

There's one member of Maleficent's conspiracy our heroes never dealt with...

...

Welp! No time like the present!

-

A lot of lore here! Love how you can do things non-linear and have different cutscenes.

Also rip to Oathkeeper but Divine Rose looks pretty and I can sacrifice a bit of power for the Aesthetic™. At least until getting Oblivion because that is also pretty.

[chirithysworld]

Prompts for Misplaced Origins

(A Series of One-shots that I may never write set in the idea of Kairi not being from Radiant Garden but somewhere else entirely (basically a canon rewrite crossover series) if you want to use any of these prompts knock yourselves out)

You have your father's smile

Toshi Used to have a daughter.

Key word used to.

She was a ball of sunshine, her little tuft of red hair matching her late mother's, and her father's blue with a little grin.

She was his whole world back then.

But now she's gone, disappeared the night after his final battle with AFO.

He tried to look for her, he really did, didn't even sleep or eat anything for weeks.

It wasn't until the insistence of David Shield and Gran Torino that he gave up his search for her, to accept that she was gone.

But he didn't stop searching, notin his heart at least

(He just hopes that she wasn't in the clutches of AFO's subordinates, that he doesn't have to fight her as enemies.)

-

This is the second worst day in Kairi's life.

First she gets weird light powers while fighting Xemnas that she definitely knows aren't coming from the fact that she's a Princess of Heart.

She wakes up in a completely different place that is NOT the Keyblade Graveyard after getting unceremoniously knocked unconscious.

Almost gets kidnapped by a FRICKING CLOUD GUY.

She's stuck with a traumatised child who disintegrates everything he touches (ok that last part she doesn't really hate she would literally KILL and DIE for this little boy she only met like 5 minutes who's name happens to be Tomura)

Oh and apparently this is her home world.

Yeah, this is gonna be a long day

(Or in which Kairi is Toshinori Yagi's aka All Might's missing daughter, gets sent back to the BNHA world after getting shattered by Xehanort, ruins AFO's plans by adopting a recently quirk awakened and traumatised child Tomura (and eventually the entirety of what would have been the League of Villains) and just derails canon in general)

There's a She Wolf in the closet (Open it up and set her free)

Riku had expected many things to happen in the Keyblade Graveyard, some injuries sure, more trauma yeah, heck even a few deaths.

Kairi turning into a feral glowing flying monkey thing was NOT one of them.

(Or in which Kairi is a saiyan and has her ki powers unsealed by accident, things go as well as you might expect as canon gets derailed and universes collide...

At least Trunks gets a new sister.

Oh wait another timeline got made shi-)

Brother o mine, show me the world outside

Kira Ragnvindr.

Crepus's youngest daughter who went missing the night she was born 4 years before they found Kaeya.

A little sister, Kaeya never got to meet and one who Diluc rarely talks about lest he risk to reveal how deeply her disappearance affected him.

Has shown up to Mondstadt's front gate with a silver haired man, all grown up and no memory of what this place....

Well this should be fun.

(Or in which Kairi is a Ragnvindr, the youngest daughter of the late Crepus who went missing the night she was born, who then reappears back in Mondstatd after being missing for 20 years.... Adelinde needs coffee (at least Kaeya gets free drinks from Diluc) (Venti's going to have so much fun))

I was a girl from the village of Dunwiddie who was doing alright (but then I disappeared overnight)

Sofia's been discovering a lot of things about herself lately.

Like how she likes to wear trousers just as much as she loves to wear dresses, or how she may be a conduit of pure magic, or how she had a big sister who went missing before she was even born-

Wait what?

(Or in which Sofia and Kairi are sisters, and Kairi was taken from Enchancia at 4 years old before Sofia was born. Who then returns to Enchancia with Riku on a search for Sora unaware of the journey of self discovery she will be going on.

Oh and Naminé comes along with them too and goes through another identity crisis, nothing new here)

[magpiejay1234]

So Yen Sid's comments sort of clear up something.

He is vague about Nobodies being heart-less bodies of persons turned into Heartless, which I guess is to explain why Kairi's Nobody, Naminé, exists, since Kairi's heart was returned to her body in KH1. Naminé is apparently supposed to be a weird gestalt of Kairi's body, whereas Roxas is a regular Nobody, relatively speaking. In other words, she is not a zombie, but a shadow clone.

Sora, throughout most of KH2, is a physical 3D holographic projection of his heart, sustained by Kairi's Princess of Light powers (and presumably his own growing control over darkness). Kairi is not, she is mostly complete, just not %100.

I never truly understood how this worked, but now I get it. This means, a particularly strong magical person can theoretically create an indefinite, through probably not infinite, number of Nobodies, just using the gestalt image of their body, rather than using their body fully. Similar to Nortification, but you create horcruxes of your physical self, rather than your heart. This would presumably weake n your physical body, but you can find loopholes around it.

This would explain how Master of Masters works possibly.

I also find it funny that Goofy's off-handed comment of purging darkness out of hearts, and forcing everyone become one with light. Like, that is literally the plot of the current antagonist. It is incredible that KH2 still is the most influential game of the series.

[kingdom-hearts-redux]

The Keyblade(s), The Princess of Heart & The Great Keyblade War

To avoid the confusion caused by there being multiple Keyblades/Keyblade wielders, there is now only one big main Keyblade- also known as the Kingdom Key- which can only be wielded by the Princess of Heart, also of which there is only one.

The title of Princess of Heart is passed down from wielder to wielder (not necessarily parent to child) alongside the Kingdom Key to anyone found worthy of its potential, its vague consciousness drawn to those of purest Heart like a compass. This is the title Sora inherited when Kairi fused their hearts and bodies into one to prevent either/both from being overcome by the Darkness seeping in through the dark doorway in the cave in KH1.

The Princess of Heart can restore hearts, heal worlds, etc., but there’s a physical as well as spiritual limit, and an inner strength that must be trained and honed to be able to use any of its magical and amazing powers properly.

And yes, the mantle of Princess of Heart stays the same regardless of who holds the Keyblade.

The other Keyblades are more replicas in its image that act as elemental wands with no vague consciousness that allow their wielders to perform magic of a slightly lower tier than that of the Kingdom Key, but they can still do a lot, and still require their wielder to have a certain degree of inner strength and aptitude to perform magic.

These elemental Keyblades were first created before the Great Keyblade War of waaay back when, and were used to fight for the dark purposes of the worlds’ denizens when they began to look upon the radiance of Kingdom Hearts with greed and malicious intent, as well as the light that defended it and fought for those who could do nothing but watch as the war split very worlds apart.

To prevent any further destruction, the then-Princes of Heart used their power to seal Kingdom Hearts behind a door that would go down in legend and myth, and separate the worlds so they couldn’t cause or be subjected to any further harm.

These days, the elemental Keyblades are much less widely used. Along with the recorded history of the time, the way to forge a Keyblade has been lost except to a very select few who were close to the Princess of Heart who served and protected them and theirs- or anyone else who happened to survive to tell the bloody tale.

After the Great Keyblade War, the Princess of Heart vanished into reclusion, and likely found someone to take up the title, and then again, and again, until today, where Kairi was chosen by her grandmother- the next-most recent Princess of Heart- to be the new Princess of Heart. Nobody was supposed to know abut the coronation, but somehow a whispered word got out and led to a siege upon the castle that led to her escaping with a knight and her best friend to Destiny Isles, where she hoped to live peacefully, almost afraid of the Keyblade as much as she felt attached to it, where hardly anybody would look...

... Except for someone who would do anything to find out.