KH OC Week 2023 - Day 7
*Rubs hands evilly* I've been waiting for this prompt. It's focused on Eileen because she's the Keykid that actually gets a happy ending. There was a different version of this oneshot, but I liked this one way better. It's been really amazing to see everyone's OCs. I can't wait for next year.
@khoc-week
Day 7: Happily Ever After
Three years had passed since the destruction of Daybreak Town. Eileen wounded up at what once used to be her home. Miraculously, Ephemer had as well. She hoped that their companions had too, but they hadn't. Gathering pieces of Daybreak Town, she and Ephemer reformed it into what was now called Scala ad Caelum. The silent and lonely streets gradually filled with more residents.
The painful moments of the past lingered but Ephemer and Eileen found solace in each other. Often times, Eileen would catch Ephemer staring off into the distance with a melancholy expression. Whenever she asked him if he was alright, he would smile and act like nothing was wrong but Eileen knew that something was bothering him.
"Are you okay, Eileen?"
Ephemer's question caused the brunette to blink and tear her gaze away from the sky, turning towards him. They were standing near the ocean, the breeze ruffling their hair. As Eileen stared at Ephemer, she noted how his appearance had changed over the years. He had grown a few feet taller and his hair was still messy as ever. He no longer had the round and chubby cheeks of a young boy. Instead, his face was chiseled and sharp as stone. As for Eileen herself, she had grown taller as well and let her hair grow out to her waist.
Smiling, Eileen nodded. "Yeah. I'm okay. Just thinking."
"Of what?" Ephemer asked curiously.
"Of how long we've been here. It's been three years."
"It really has been that long, huh?"
Eileen saw a flash of emotion in Ephemer’s eyes. Sorrow. Once more, she gazed up at the sky. Her mind drifted to a memory from the past: A memory that had brought them to their current fate.
Eileen was taking a stroll around Daybreak Town when she saw a rift of static energy manifest above the Clock Tower. She decided to investigate, bumping into Ephemer and Ophelia in the process. It seemed that they were doing the same thing she was as well. The trio went to the Clock Tower, meeting the other Union leaders there. After a discussion of what to do regarding the strange occurrence that were glitches, Ephemer and Ophelia traveled to a world within the database while the others remained in the computer room.
After minutes of awaiting the news, Ephemer returned. Trouble arose then. Lauriam argued with everyone about the whereabouts of his sister, Strelitzia. He attacked Ventus when the younger boy said that it was him who had killed Strelitzia, prompting everyone to stop Laurium from attacking him. Suddenly, a shadowy figure emerged from Ventus and explained that it was Darkness and the reason for Strelitzia's death. This started a fight, but the Union leaders and Eileen couldn't defeat it. It was too powerful. However, Ophelia arrived to provide assistance.
The group split up for some time, eventually regrouping along with a girl named Elrena. Returning to the computer room, they saw the destruction of the real Daybreak Town. There were eight of them but only five lifeboats were available. Brain, Lauriam, Ventus, and Elrena went back while the other four stayed behind.
"You should've gone back too, Eileen." Ophelia said.
In response, the brunette shook her head. "No. I'm a Dandelion, but I'm your friend first so I'm staying."
"Do you think they made it back safely?" asked Skuld.
"Of course. Brain's with them." Ephemer replied.
"Yeah. He's always got a plan unlike someone I know." Ophelia chimed in.
Ephemer was offended by that statement, his eyes blown wide as he glanced at the blonde from over his shoulder. "Hey!"
Bursts of laughter then filled the room. Eileen hadn't felt like this in forever. She couldn't remember the last time she had fun. Like every other Keyblade wielder, she was going on missions and collecting Lux so they didn't have much opportunities to do anything else.
A few minutes of silence passed before Skuld spoke up. "I can't believe the world is ending."
Ephemer nodded in agreement. "Yeah. It's so quiet."
Eyes widening, Ophelia quickly turned around. "Guys." She summoned Starlight in her hand. "Guys!"
Four Darknesses had surrounded the group. One asked them to open a gate, but Ephemer refused. He and the other Keyblade wielders were going to engage in battle when Ophelia suddenly attacked Ephemer. Their Keyblades clashed as the silver-haired boy quickly defended himself.
“Ophelia! What’s wrong?!”
Skuld’s Keyblade vanished and she rushed over to Ophelia, putting her hands on her shoulders. “Stop!”
Ophelia elbowed the girl hard enough to send her crashing to the ground. Eileen watched in confusion and terror. It didn’t make sense. She was fine just moments ago. What had made her behave this way?
“What happened to you, Ophelia?!”
“Ophelia’s heart has been lost to darkness.” Ophelia declared, her usual delicate voice becoming monotone.
Skuld raised her head, despair wavering in her eyes. “No…”
Ephemer couldn’t believe it. There was no way that his friend would fall to darkness that easily. “Ophelia!”
“She cannot hear you.”
“Wait. Are you—?”
“I am formless. You cannot destroy me.”
Rising to her feet, Skuld turned to face Ophelia. “I thought we’d dealt with you…”
“Ophelia…” Without warning, Ephemer was struck by the blonde and collided with the floor.
Ophelia walked towards him, her expression holding nothing but emptiness. “Open a gate and she will be returned.”
Ephemer weakly stood up, brows furrowed. “No.”
Skuld and Eileen joined him to fight Ophelia, but it was futile. She had bested them. All three Keyblade wielders laid on the ground, breathing heavily from the intense battle. Ophelia walked behind an unconscious Skuld and stared down at her.
“If only you’d gotten in the lifeboat.”
Using his arms to sit himself up, Ephemer pleaded. “Stop… Ophelia…”
"Snap out of it…" whimpered Eileen.
“Let your hatred grow.” Ophelia mused, raising her Keyblade over her head. “It fuels us.”
Realizing what she was going to do, Ephemer let out a scream. “No!!!”
A beam of white light formed from the tip of his Keyblade which pierced Ophelia’s heart as she prepared to slay Skuld. Suddenly, a portal appeared behind her and the four Darknesses.
It was like everything had happened in slow motion. As Ophelia and the Darknesses were being drawn into the portal, Eileen could’ve sworn that Ophelia was looking at her and mouthing something. Then, she and the enemy vanished.
Ephemer blinked, his expression morphing into horror upon what he had just done to his dear friend. “I’m sorry.” He shut his eyes, lips pursed as he attempted to keep the tears at bay. “I’m so sorry…”
“... leen? Eileen? Hey. What’s wrong?”
The brunette lifted her head from staring at the ground, her eyes widened slightly as she gazed at a concerned Ephemer. “Huh?”
“You’re crying…”
Placing a hand onto her cheek, Eileen felt something wet. A sniffle escaped her and she soon broke down. She couldn’t hold it in anymore. It was too much.
A look of surprise appeared on Ephemer’s face before he smiled and brought Eileen into a hug. He allowed her to cry into his chest, his arms around her body tightening. “It's okay. Let it all out."
They had both suffered a great deal. They lost their previous home and allies they once knew. Things would never return to how they used to be.
Ephemer lightly patted Eileen on the back. "I'm glad you're here, Eileen."
Eileen's cries and whimpers increased by the minute, her tears staining Ephemer's jacket. Ephemer didn't mind one bit as he rubbed circles onto her back, trying to comfort her as best he could. Eventually, Eileen calmed down and took a step back, rubbing her eyes.
“You should go."
“Right. Do you want to come with me?"
“Sure.”
“Okay. Let’s go, then.”
Ephemer held his hand out to Eileen who took it without a second thought. Then, they started to head to their location. As they walked, Eileen smiled as she looked down at their intertwined hands. Even though they had been through so much anguish, she was happy right now.
They soon entered a building with a massive room and a group of adolescents sprinted towards them with bright smiles.
“Master Ephemer! Eileen!”
“What are you going to teach us today, Master Ephemer?!”
Ephemer laughed at their enthusiasm. “Calm down. We’ll be starting soon.”
“Eileen,” One of the students, a girl, began. "Are you and Master Ephemer going to get married?”
Eileen almost choked. “W-What?”
"It's just that the two of you are very close. Master Ephemer treats you like a lady.”
“Yeah!” A male student agreed.
“Um… Well…” Eileen felt heat rise to her cheeks and she scrambled to find the right words to say. She and Ephemer were just friends. Nothing more, nothing less. At least, that was what she kept telling herself. “It’s true that Ephemer and I are close, but we're just friends."
“What? Really?”
A female student slumped forward, disappointed by Eileen's reply. "Aw. I think you'd make a good couple."
“All right, all right. That’s enough.” Ephemer chuckled. “Let’s start training, shall we?”
Eileen waved a hand in farewell to the apprentices, then faced Ephemer, her lips curled slightly. "I'll see you later, Ephemer."
The young man returned the smile and nodded. "Yeah. I'll see you later."
Turning on her heel, Eileen left the training grounds and made her way home. Her gaze flitted to the cobblestone road as the words of the apprentices rang in her ears.
She and Ephemer were both at that age where marriage was possible. Their relationship was close-knitted to the point where one could call them lovers. Deep in her heart, Eileen wanted them to be. Yet, she feared being rejected and ruining what they had now.
“Hey, Eileen. Where are you heading off to?”
She froze and glanced over her shoulder, noticing a young man with mid-length turquoise hair. A small section of it was tied into a short ponytail. His eyes were orange. If Eileen remembered correctly, his name was Gavin. He was arrogant and never cared for anyone else but himself so Eileen avoided interacting with him. However, she forced on a smile. "Hi, Gavin. I'm going home. Why?"
Gavin shrugged his shoulders. "Just wondering. Wanna hang out with me for a bit?"
"No, thanks. I'm tired."
"Sheesh. You're such a killjoy. Come on. Just this once. I'm so bored."
"Fine..." Eileen sighed defeatedly.
A grin broke out onto Gavin's face. "Great! Follow me!"
Eileen reluctantly followed him, spending the rest of her day in the city. Gavin dragged her around like luggage to his favorite spots, talking her ear off while doing so. Before long, the sky was tinged orange from the evening sun. Eileen and Gavin were seated on a bench that overlooked the ocean, gazing at the sunset as it disappeared into the line of the horizon.
"I've been wondering about this for a while." Gavin said, breaking the silence. "How long have you liked Ephemer?"
Eileen whipped her head towards him, astonished. "Huh?"
Gavin looked at the young woman with narrowed eyes. "Don't play dumb. I've seen the way you look at him."
For a few minutes, Eileen was silent. She furrowed her brows, a slight blush on her cheeks. "I've liked him ever since we were kids."
"You should tell him that."
"I probably won't." Eileen said, averting her gaze to the ground.
"How come?"
"You're really annoying."
Gavin smirked. "Yeah. I get that a lot." He placed one of his hands behind his head, humming quietly. "Seriously, though. Why aren't you gonna tell Ephemer?"
"Because he would never like someone like me. He never will." Eileen let out a sigh before continuing on. "I had a friend named Ophelia. She liked Ephemer too. I was jealous of her. But compared to her, I... I'm just..."
Before she knew it, tears pooled at the corner of her eyes. She let out a shaky breath, trying to not let them fall. However, it was no use. The tears built up until they couldn’t be contained anymore and rolled down her cheeks. Eileen sniffled, wiping her face with the back of her hand.
Gavin sat in silence, not knowing how to ease her worries. All of a sudden, a voice from behind him and Eileen caught their attention.
"Eileen?" Ephemer stood a few inches away from the bench, concerned.
Rising to his feet, Gavin maintained eye contact with Eileen. "Well, I guess that's my cue to leave. Bye, Eileen. Good luck."
Eileen watched as his figure disappeared from view. She tensed as Ephemer replaced him, turning her head the opposite way so that he wouldn't see her tears. Ephemer frowned and cupped her face with both hands, making her gaze into his eyes.
"I've been looking all over for you. What's wrong? Did he make you cry?" The silver-haired man declared, brushing her tears away.
"No..."
"What happened?"
Eileen went quiet, considering whether or not to tell him. A deep sigh then left her mouth. “I don’t deserve this. I don’t deserve to be with you. Ophelia should be here. Not me.”
Ephemer was bewildered. "What? Don't say that, Eileen. Ophelia has a special place in my heart, but I like having you here." He smiled, gently grasping her hands in his. "You've kept me company and reassured me when I needed it. I wouldn't know what to do without you. So, thank you. Thank you for staying with me."
Pursing her lips, Eileen pondered yet again if she should voice out her thoughts. “I... I love you. I’ve always had. You're so nice. You gave me courage to fight and hope for a better future. But there's no way you would like me. I wasn’t like Ophelia. I’m boring, stupid, and useless.”
For a couple of minutes, Ephemer was silent. He had a serious expression on his face which made Eileen nervous. Why was he staring at her like that?
"That's not true." The young man announced.
"Huh?"
"You're the complete opposite of what you said.”
With a smile, Ephemer caressed Eileen's knuckles with the pads of his thumbs. “You’re the nicest and strongest girl that I know. I've said it before, and I'll say it again. I’m glad that you’re here, Eileen. When I'm too focused on other things instead of myself, you're always looking after me. I'm grateful. To be honest, it should be me that doesn't deserve you. I've caused you, Ophelia, and so many others a lot of trouble." A shade of pink engulfed his cheeks. "Remember that question about us getting married earlier? I… I wouldn't mind if that happened."
"What?"
"I'm serious. I want to spend the rest of my life with you."
Eileen could've pinched herself at that very moment. This wasn't a dream, was it? "Really?"
"Really."
"You’re not joking, right?"
Ephemer swept a loose strand of Eileen’s hair away from her face, resting his hand on her cheek once more. "No, I'm not. I want to be with you as more than a friend. If you'll let me."
Eileen was at a loss for words. This had to be a dream. However, she didn't want to wake up. After a few moments, she spoke. “Is it really okay for me to be with you?"
"Of course it is. Can I… kiss you?"
Blushing, Eileen nodded and replied in a quiet voice. “Yeah.”
Closing the distance between them, Ephemer pressed his lips onto hers gently. The hand that was on the brunette's cheek trailed down to rest on the small of her back and tug her closer. Eileen placed her free hand on his shoulder, wondering if he could hear the rapid thumping of her heart.
Soon, Ephemer pulled away and leaned his forehead against hers, giving her a sweet smile. "I hope that was okay."
"Yeah. I liked it." Eileen giggled.
Ephemer chuckled, eyes crinkling in pure glee. "No matter what happens, I'll still be by your side. I don't know what else is waiting for us, but we'll face it together."
In the warmth and safety of each other's embrace, the newfound lovers shared another kiss. Everything would be alright. They had each other. As long as that remained, they could overcome any obstacles.
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I'm only saying this anonymously because I don't want my tumblr to be connected to my Ao3, but I plan on writing a kh fic with Union Cross Characters (it's inspired by both "Dandelion Bud" and "For Those Who We Masters Have Wronged" by someone whose username I don't remember how to spell). The only issue is that I know... very little about actual KHUX lore, so I'm just going "f*ck it" and making characters related who aren't probably related (Brain and PC are siblings, and Riku is Ephemer's Great x3 or 4 nephew), and giving them personalities that are probably not canon (PC is a Gen Z before Gen Z existed, and I chose to name her Zee and make her and Brain's last name Gen, because of course I did. PC is also a gremlin of chaos who taught Ven how to swear...) and I also decided to tell you Ven and Van's reactions to seeing PC (Zee) again:
Ven: Oh God, no, Zee
Van: F*CK YEAH! ZEE!
I know even less about Dark Road, so I'm just... ignoring its existence and hoping for the best. This fic is going to be a mess, but hopefully it'll be a lovable mess
(I also have plans for an even more chaotic mess of a kh crossover that is currently running on my inspiration from another fic, my seemingly permanent dp x dc brainrot, and way too many psychology facts I've looked up just to make sure that things that happen are actually plausible things to be done by children of the traumatized kind... WRITING, EVERYONE!)
I decided to tell you this because A. I want to know Ephemer's personality and I don't physically have the patience to watch a playthrough of KHUX or all its cutscenes
And B. I thought that Ven and Van's reaction to Zee is hilarious (She actually used to "babysit" them [although it was just the older, nearly adult, keyblade wielders going "let's let Strizella, Zee, and Ven have their own little group, they're the younger kids" and Strizella having missions], and Ven does care about her [platonically], but he's also terrified of her because she'd recognize his face and she is now the youngest [something that she cheered about not being anymore when he was adopted into Ephemer, Skuld, Laurium, Elrena, Strizella, Brain, and Zee's froend group])
I just hoped that the differing reactions to Zee "I don't want to babysit a ten year old, so I'm going to be the worst influence ever" Gen being back in all her fourteen year old chaotic glory
hey, you know what? I respect this. Not everyone has the time and energy to fully absorb media to the fullest but they still have the right to enjoy certain characters and write about them. The longtime khux fan in me is just happy that people want to write about the characters, period.
I’ve seen countless fics in different fandoms where the characters are so different than how they are in canon that they’re practically ocs, but the plot and concept of the fic are absolutely amazing. In fact, the fic that got me into writing in the first place was exactly one of those. You do you, anon! Learn as much about a character as you want, or don’t. Just write to your heart’s content.
I will say this for Eph though, since you asked. I would describe him as friendly, someone you can trust. He’s inquisitive, full of ideas, and down to go pretty much anywhere if there’s something to be learned or found. And he’s full of spunk. Even if he has some doubts about his own capabilities, he’s someone you can rely on to help you out and he’ll stand by you through thick and thin.
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ask and ye shall receive. [disclaimer: this is not entirely accurate and i'm glossing over a bunch]
so starting all the way up at the begining of the timeline, you've got union χ. now, khux was a mobile game in which you made your own character and ran around with everyone else's ocs so for clarity's sake i'm not gonna be touching on the part of the game's story that focused on that.
now then. khux places us at a point in time known as the 'age of fairytales' where there are these keyblade masters known as the foretellers and their master, the master of masters (MoM for short <3)
one day, MoM decided to just kinda... leave, but only after pulling each of his students aside to give them a role and a book of prophecies. oh, and to warn them that there was a traitor in their midst and to keep an eye out for that while they trained their own students.
yadda yadda they distrust each other more and more, pit their unions of keyblade wielders against each other, fight each other 1v1 a little, and generally are very dramatic about the whole thing - enough so that it escalates to a full-blown war. this war is known as the 'keyblade war' (creative, i know) and is fought between all the unions and blah blah blah, long fight, everyone dies.
except nope! one of the foretellers, master ava, was gathering keyblade wielders she deemed special into a group, separate from the unions, called the dandelions. these dandelions were warned of the war ahead of time and when the fighting started, literally just said "nope" and left to go live in a digital copy of the world.
the dandelions forget that the war had ever happened and carry on doing their thing, except under new leadership this time. master ava picked out five of them to essentially become the new foretellers, gave one of them her copy of the book of prophecies, and told them to meet up at the keyblade graveyard at a certain point in time.
the five picked out were named ephemer, skuld, brain, larium, and ventus. except, oh no! that can't be right! because master ava also picked out a girl named strelitzia to be a leader and we saw her die! there's an impost- nope not finishing that sentence.
anyways, stuff starts getting... weird around daybreak town. things are glitching out, which is very concerning for the residents who don't actually know that they're in a data world.
the leaders (and you, the player, you're also there) start looking into what's causing the glitches, realize the world they're in isn't real, realize the world's falling apart, and, as a bonus, realize that strelitzia got murdered and that the personification of darkness itself has managed to worm its way into the data world. the data world that, by the way, is starting to shut down which will trap every dandelion that's inside it in it permanently unless someone was able to turn it back on and carefully pull their hearts back out to the real world.
this is a problem because, as previously mentioned, just about everyone who could've done that who isn't currently in the data world itself died in the keyblade war.
yadda yadda, stuff happens, it's revealed that ventus got himself possessed by the darkness and that's what killed strelitzia, the union leaders find a couple of escape pods called 'lifeboats' that could pull people out of the data world so long as they have a waypoint, but there's only 5 of them and it'd take much longer than they've got to get everyone out before the world shut down.
long story very very short (this game was running for over half a decade), ventus gets himself somewhat unpossessed(?) but subsequently falls very asleep, brain plans to get himself, laurium, laurium's friend elrena, and ventus all into lifeboats and out of data daybreak town and then to send the lifeboats back to pull out ephemer, skuld, and the player on the second round, and then let the world shut down so he can reactivate it and save everyone else later.
this plan. doesn't quite work. the first round goes smoothly enough. brain makes it to the real daybreak town, sends laurium, elrena, and ventus on their way to somewhere safer, then sends the remaining lifeboats back in to pick up our aforementioned trio.
except the darkness is still around and is threatening to either a. kill all three of us, or b. possess all three of us so it can get out, so player pretends to be possessed, fights ephemer and skuld till ephemer finally can bring himself to lock his best friend (you) away somewhere, and then kinda. lets themself get killed. (you then refuse the option of having your sleeping heart merge with your chirithy (long story) and instead get reincarnated into xehanort (we'll get back to him later))
ephemer drags skuld, who's mostly unconscious from the fight as the player wasn't exactly holding back, over to the lifeboats, helps her inside one, gets into his own, and makes the rookie mistake of caring and thinking about his best friend (player) while the lifeboat activates, making his waypoint still in daybreak town and thus so he never actually manages to escape.
laurium wakes up in a flower field somewhere. elrena gets dumped on a story, lightning-y cliff. ventus manages to get his passed-out self to be left in the keyblade graveyard, now without his memories. we don't actually know what happens to skuld, but it's loosly implied she gets thrown in a dungeon and experimented on so there's that.
brain is confronted by luxu, an apprentice of the MoM's who kinda peaced out along with MoM, who tells him that when the data world shuts down it'll erase anything left inside it, no waking the hearts back up at all, steals his body(?), and sends him forward a good,, oh, several decades.
brain finds himself in a city that he's never heard of called 'scala ad caelum' where he's greeted by someone he's never met before (named sigurd) who greets him by name and gives him a replica of the hat he lost and tells brain to follow him. brain does and wanders across a statue of ephemer who we learn is the creator, founder, and original keyblade master of scala.
(we also learn, though it's never quite explicitly said, that scala used to be daybreak town. meaning ephemer built scala out of the literal rubble of his home, if you wanted something fun to think about)
and, yeah, that's union χ in a very loose, very long short summary. i don't know anything about dark road so next up would be birth by sleep, which i'll tell you about uh. later.
this ask is way too long already.
THIS ALL HAPPENS IN UNION CROSS??????????????
AREN'T THERE LIKE 10 OTHER GAMES
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