Chapter 16

The Skein of Severance

AFTER LEAVING MICKEY TO GO DOWN THE LEFT-HAND path, Aqua and Ventus soon found Terra—or rather, Terra-Xehanort—and Vanitas.

“Terra!” Ventus shouted, but Aqua stopped him.

“Look closely. That’s not Terra.”

That’s Xehanort, and he’s just wearing Terra’s form. Any slipups here could spell the end of us.

“Maybe not, but I’m still going to keep calling his name. We have to light his way home,” Ventus protested as he looked at his silver-haired friend. He was so sincere about it, Aqua wasn’t sure how to respond.

But then Vanitas stepped forward and put an end to the moment. “Hey, guys. Feeling a little left out here.”

“Vanitas. You’re coming home, too,” Ventus informed him, summoning his Keyblade.

But Vanitas wasn’t through. “Huh? But my home is in you. You know what’ll happen, right? I’ll just disappear inside of you forever. Don’t you have any love at all for your own brother?”

“We’re not brothers. We’re the same,” Ventus declared.

Laughter rang out from inside Vanitas’s helmet. “You believe that? Then you really are naive.”

“Huh?” That wasn’t the response Ventus was expecting.

“This may come as a shock to you, but we’re not the same like you think. I was just hidden deep inside of you for a really long time. All Xehanort did…was tear me right out of you.”

But no matter what the truth was, it all came down to the same thing.

Ventus thrust his Keyblade out at Vanitas. “Then go back to where you came from!”

“Hmm… Make me,” Vanitas taunted.

“If it’s darkness you’re looking for, Ventus,” said Terra-Xehanort, “then I have more than enough to go around.”

However, this time Aqua called forth her Keyblade to stop him short. “Stop! Quit using our friend for your games.”

“A Keyblade Master wielding your key in anger? Shameful,” Terra-Xehanort sneered.

Aqua lowered her weapon. “We have unfinished business. I fell into darkness, and for ten years I wandered through the dark realm. Now…I’m finally here.”

Terra-Xehanort smirked at her grave reply.

“And I want only one thing, with all my heart. Xehanort… I’m casting you out of Terra forever!”

Aqua sprang into action, swinging her Keyblade down at Terra-Xehanort. Beside her, Ventus charged at Vanitas. Aqua and Terra-Xehanort clashed Keyblades with terrific force, while Vanitas repelled Ventus with his own key.

“Aqua! Ven!” Sora shouted as he came running into the arena.

“Sora!” Aqua and Ventus said at practically the same time. With a nod of affirmation, they turned to face their common foes.

“Leave Terra to me… Freeze!” Aqua shouted as she cast a spell that rendered Terra-Xehanort immobile. Sora tried to cast magic of his own, but Vanitas got in the way.

“I’m the one you want!” Ventus shouted as he came at Vanitas from behind with his Keyblade. Vanitas blocked the attack without even turning around and then engaged Ventus in an intense back-and-forth that moved the two of them away from the rest of the combatants.

Vanitas raised a hand into the air, summoning a pack of Keyblades that he then jumped onto. Ventus leaped up after him. He was on his own for now, though, because Sora and Aqua had their hands full with Terra-Xehanort.

Ventus focused his attacks on Vanitas’s armor. When their battle brought them back closer to the others, the combat took on a confused, frantic pace, with Sora helping Ven and Aqua in turn as the situation dictated. How long could such an intense fight rage on?

Eventually, a particularly fierce blow from Ventus struck home, leaving Vanitas incapacitated and his helmet full of cracks.

The breath caught in Sora’s throat as he saw Vanitas’s face. He ran over to Ventus.

“Your face…!”

While Aqua and Terra-Xehanort were still busy trading blows in midair, Vanitas laughed softly. “I’m the piece of Ventus that was taken away,” he said. “And you’re the piece Ventus needed to be whole again. So…why shouldn’t you and I look exactly the same? You define me, Sora, the same way that Ventus does. We are brothers who, together, make a greater whole.” The near-mirror image of Sora’s face behind Vanitas’s mask was evidence enough of that.

Sora gritted his teeth. “Then why don’t you stand by our side? Instead of with darkness?”

“Because I am darkness. And I do stand by your side. I’m the shadow that you cast. How much closer could I be?” Vanitas said with a smile.

“But I didn’t—”

Ventus interrupted before Sora could say any more. “But I didn’t ask for this. To be sifted apart, nice and neat. We should be free to choose. Not just light, not just darkness. We decide what we are.”

Vanitas lowered his gaze for a moment. “But… Ventus, I did decide who I am. You see?”

“And what you are is darkness?” Ventus asked.

“What I am is darkness,” answered Vanitas quietly, a black mist beginning to rise from his body.

“Okay,” Ventus replied, but Sora couldn’t understand.

Living as darkness, alone and incomplete—it wasn’t right.

“How is that okay? Vanitas!”

He wanted answers, but Vanitas simply smiled and melted away into dark nothingness.

For Ventus, the end of his fated counterpart was the end of a long, exhausting fight.

“…Aqua.”

There was no time to stand around, though. Ventus turned toward his friend and ran to join her in battle. Sora wasn’t far behind.

Terra-Xehanort found himself hard-pressed to fight off both Ventus’s and Aqua’s Keyblades, and once Sora joined in with blasts of light, they were finally able to drive some decisive strikes home.

He’s gotta be wearing down now…

Black vapors began to pour out of Terra-Xehanort.

“Terra!”

“Terra!”

Aqua and Ventus rushed over to where he lay.

“Aqua… Ven…”

Terra-Xehanort clutched his head, gasping out his friends’ names through the pain.

“Terra, please…”

“Come back… Terra!”

The two of them pleaded with him, trying to help him sit up in their arms, but he shook them off and groaned in agony.

“Terra! Your friends are here!” Sora called to him. But Terra-Xehanort’s groans turned to a howl as a wave of darkness erupted from his body, turning into chains that lashed around Sora, Aqua, and then Ventus like whips and held them suspended in the air.

At the center of the chains, Terra-Xehanort continued to writhe.

“You have to fight the darkness!” Sora shouted, but the words didn’t seem to have any effect.

“You’ll never be able to break these chains. They’re our bonds.” Terra-Xehanort laughed as he slowly rose to his feet. The chains holding Aqua and Ventus came to life, swinging the two around and then slamming them to the ground. “You have no power over me!”

“Stop, Terra! Please, stop it!” Sora cried, but he was trapped and powerless to do anything more than that. Aqua and Ventus had apparently already lost consciousness.

“Farewell,” Terra-Xehanort stated, and then Aqua and Ventus’s chains drew them high up into the sky.

“Terra… I kept my promise,” Ventus suddenly whispered as tears began to fall from his eyes.

Terra-Xehanort was unmoved, though, as he prepared to send the two of them crashing down from a great height.

And he would have, were it not for the black shadow that caught them.

“How?!” Terra-Xehanort exclaimed as he spun around behind him in shock. There was no one there.

The one that had saved Aqua and Ventus was none other than the Dark Figure that normally stood to his back.

Cradling Aqua and Ventus in an arm, the great shadow shattered the chains that bound Sora, set the two unconscious heroes on the ground, and turned to face Terra-Xehanort.

“You fell to the dark—,” he started to say, but the Dark Figure quickly seized him by the head, rendering him silent as he fought to break free.

Behind him, the Dark Figure tore the bindings covering its mouth off and spoke in a hoarse, gravelly voice. “One day…I…will…”

That’s Terra’s voice! It’s gotta be!

Sora knew it in his heart.

“One day…I will set…this right… I will return to this land…and protect…my friends!”

Terra-Xehanort’s former guardian raised him even higher into the air.

“Terra! Now!” Sora shouted as he readied his Keyblade.

A beam of light shot from it and hit Terra-Xehanort directly in the back, just as Terra’s heart emerged from the dark figure, blazing with light. With another flash, it was drawn into Terra-Xehanort’s chest.

The man was bathed in light as his hair darkened from silver to brown, and his old appearance returned.

And then Terra was standing there before them.

“Aqua! Ven!”

Despite how recently he’d returned to the world, Terra rushed over to where his two friends lay. He propped Ventus up in his arms while Aqua slowly sat up on her own beside him.

“Terra… Is it you?” Aqua asked, tears spilling from her eyes.

“Yeah,” Terra replied. “You never stopped lighting my way back.”

Ventus stirred in his arms. “You’re here…”

“I heard you, too, Ven. You found me, just like you promised.”

Now Terra’s eyes were welling with tears, and Ventus wasn’t far behind. Terra pulled his two dear friends into an embrace.

“Thank you,” Terra said to them.

Smiling at the reunited trio, Sora said, “Aqua and Ventus need rest. Terra, look after them.”

“No, Sora. I’m going, too.” Ventus clambered to his feet and tried to follow, but he was still too weak. Terra reached out to steady him.

Sora turned back. “That’s what he wants. For us to make a mistake. Put ourselves in danger.”

“Sora, go,” said Aqua. “We’ll catch up with you.”

They might not be able to fight right now, but they’ll be ready soon enough with a little rest.

“Right. I got this,” Sora replied with a grin, then ran back into the maze.

Deep within the labyrinth, Axel and Kairi were locked in a face-off with Xemnas, Saïx, and another figure in a black coat.

“Well, I guess this was inevitable. Who’s the plus-one?” Axel asked, looking pointedly at the unknown member of the trio whose identity was obscured by their hood. They were about the same height as Kairi.

“Inevitable indeed. And this ‘guest’ of ours has an old score to settle with you. You are a traitor to darkness, as it is of light.”

“Well, guess I can live with that,” Axel quipped with a shrug of his shoulders.

An old score? What’s that supposed to mean?

“It is a being of whom we have no memories. A true Nobody, hailing from the edge of oblivion,” Xemnas explained.

“The being before you was re-created…from the records that were left by Vexen, and the many experiments performed by Young Xehanort,” said Saïx, taking over where Xemnas left off.

The hooded figure merely stood silent.

“It was erased from all memories, and it harbors absolutely no knowledge of who it really is,” said Xemnas, looking over at the third member of the new Organization. “Even I had forgotten its existence. But like the others, I could not recall why. Truly, the perfect pawn created for this very battle.”

Xemnas looked over at the being in the black coat.

“So who is it?” Axel said curtly.

It was Saïx who answered. “You called on one of the New Seven Hearts. You must be desperate.”

“If I’m a traitor,” Axel retorted, “then I guess Kairi here is the trump card.”

“What?” Kairi asked.

“So it’s not desperation I see in you. It’s foolishness…and lunacy.” Saïx sounded disappointed.

“Without the battle between the seven lights and thirteen darknesses, Kingdom Hearts requires the seven hearts. That is why we seek to destroy the guardians. Are you truly foolish enough…to believe you can defeat us?” Xemnas explained, his words dripping with contempt.

“What do you think?!” Axel snapped back.

“I think you’ll lose, Axel,” Saïx answered bluntly.

“Yeah, right!”

No one noticed that the silent figure in the black coat reacted to this slightly.

“…Axel,” it whispered, so softly only Saïx could hear.

“Even if you possess the strength, this being cannot be defeated by your hands. Even if…memories are lost from you both.”

“All right… Let’s find out!” Axel cried, accepting the challenge from Saïx. He summoned his Keyblade, which this time took the form of his old weapons, a pair of flaming chakrams, and hurled it at the stranger in the black coat.

But the figure produced a Keyblade and deflected the attack—and the Keyblade was identical to Sora’s.

Axel and Kairi couldn’t contain their shock.

“Wait… That Keyblade…”

“It’s just like Sora’s.”

“Are you…?” Axel faltered. “Is that you, Roxas?”

The one in the black coat softly repeated the name.

Saïx overheard again, then said loudly, “No, it’s not Roxas, Axel.”

“Roxas… Axel…,” the stranger said, this time wavering and clutching a hand to their head. With a scream, the figure threw themselves at Axel, but Kairi stopped the attacking Keyblade with her own at the last second.

“A girl?” Kairi gasped as she saw beneath the hood for a second before pushing her away with her Keyblade. Unfortunately, she didn’t have time to confirm her suspicions.

“You with me?” Axel called.

“Yep,” Kairi said.

Xemnas made his exit via the Corridors of Darkness, and then the fight commenced.

The figure in black repelled an assault from Kairi and then went after her, but Axel dived in and intercepted the attack before it could hit his friend.

There was no doubt about it—that weapon was definitely a Keyblade. No sooner had Axel parried the strike than Saïx charged in with his Claymore, its blue edge clashing with the red of Axel’s Keyblade. The impact knocked Axel into the air, forcing him to do a flip before he landed some distance away.

He didn’t even have time to catch his breath before the stranger was upon him.

Axel and Kairi were barely holding on—at least until Sora came to the rescue.

“Kairi! Axel!”

Sora’s timely arrival brought a smile to both their faces.

“Sora!”

“Nice to see ya.”

With the addition of a third member to their team, the heroes were back in the fight—but even then, the match was only barely even. Their opponents were just that strong. At one point, they managed to drive the stranger to one knee…but then Saïx attacked again with blue bursts of energy from his Claymore. Sora dived protectively in front of Kairi.

Axel ran over to where his comrades had fallen and intercepted Saïx as he moved in to finish them off, shouting Saïx’s human name. “Stop it, Isa!”

The incredible force of Saïx’s attack drove Axel to his knees.

“I know I won’t forget you. Believe me. I try all the time.”

Saïx’s eyes glowed with a sinister light as they looked down upon Axel, who realized he wasn’t sure if his former friend even recognized him anymore.

Just then, Xemnas returned.

“There was a time when I trusted you to deal with traitors. And now, your betrayal outstrips them all. What final words do you have for your superior?” he said imperiously as he strode over to Axel.

“Well, let me think about it. How about, ‘You were never my superior.’”

“Ah, ever the rogue pawn. Knocked from the board early in the game. Utterly useless and forgotten.”

Axel glared up at Xemnas’s cruel words with defiance. And despite his situation, his voice was full of confidence. “You kidding? Do you know how popular I am? I got loads of people rootin’ for me. Sorry, boss. No one axes Axel. Got it memorized?”

With that, Axel sprang forward and swung his crimson Keyblade straight at Xemnas’s face. But the villain stopped it with one hand.

“Is this supposed to be a Keyblade? Or is it some sort of joke?” With a wave of his hand, Xemnas shattered Axel’s Keyblade. Then he extended his arms, creating a dome of glowing orbs around him that began to bombard Axel. “Our plans have been dashed by you far more times than I care to count. Now it ends. I will purge that light in you…with darkness!”

Xemnas materialized his Ethereal Blade and slowly raised it over Axel’s head. But before he could deliver the final blow, a black-gloved hand seized the blade. Smoke slipped between its fingers with a sizzling sound.

The one who had stopped the Ethereal Blade from reaching its mark was the stranger in the black coat.

“Changing sides again?”

“We need him alive,” said a feminine voice. “You know that.”

“We only need his heart in order to forge the key. We do not need his soul. Oh…but that’s right. You were ‘friends.’ Then…you take his life.”

The stranger got to her feet and leveled her Keyblade at Axel.

“Who…are you…?” Axel asked as he looked up at her.

I know every single member of the Organization—old and new—at this point. So why don’t I know her? Or what if I do know her, but I just don’t remember her?

That voice—I’ve heard it before. It was like Kairi’s, but different somehow.

Who are you?

“Don’t do this,” Sora said as he walked over and gently took hold of her Keyblade.

The girl gasped, but she looked away from Sora and shook his hand off her Keyblade. Then, seeming to push something down inside herself, she spun around and swung her weapon at him.

But…it seemed almost as if she was fighting herself more than Sora. She hammered her Keyblade against his over and over, and he simply weathered the storm.

“Wait… It’s all right! You can stop now! It’s all right…”

“Xion.”

The girl froze as the name left Sora’s lips.

He said my name—not Sora, but someone else. I know that voice. I’d know it anywhere.

Xion grabbed her head and screamed.

“Useless puppet.”

Xemnas kicked the girl away, causing her hood to finally come off.

As the girl’s face and black hair were revealed, a sharp pain lanced through Axel’s temples.

Yeah, I remember now. But why did it take so long?

“Xion!” Axel called out, crawling forward quickly to grab Xemnas’s leg before he could walk over to her. The kick had sent Xion flying back against Sora and knocked him out cold, while she lost consciousness shortly afterward when she crashed to the ground.

I won’t let you hurt them again.

“Your Keyblade is no more. And still you think you can play at being a guardian of light? You can wait your turn…also-ran.” Xemnas coldly dismissed Axel’s efforts, kicked his leg free, and then drove his heel down on the would-be hero’s hands. Axel could only reach out helplessly as he turned to Xion and prepared to end her with his Ethereal Blade.

But then, Sora’s body flashed. A light left his chest and was almost simultaneously joined by another beam of light shooting down from the sky. Xemnas quickly leaped away, and the beam left a dust cloud that swirled up where he had just been standing.

A voice spoke from just beyond it. “Hands off my friends.”

The dust cleared to reveal another figure in a black coat.

“It cannot be!” Xemnas blurted out in shock.

The figure responded by taking off his hood.

Axel said the name of his friend. “Roxas…”

I finally found you. And now I remember everything.

“My turn.”

Roxas brought both his Keyblades into fighting position and fixed Xemnas with a steely gaze.

“This is impossible. Where did you get a vessel?”

“Same as you,” Roxas said to Xemnas, who was trying and failing to disguise his nervousness.

“Same how…?”

“Most of the Organization’s members—they traveled here from the past as hearts. And you had Replicas ready and waiting. One for each of them.”

“Who told you?” Xemnas asked.

Roxas helped clear his confusion. “I owe my return to many. Some of them people you knew.”

“Ansem the Wise. Zexion…” Xemnas uttered the names of some of the possible suspects.

“And others, too. It seems you’re not as good at winning over people’s hearts as you think,” Roxas informed him with a Keyblade pointed his way for emphasis.

“Ah, I see…” Xemnas snickered to himself.

“There was one last thing I needed in order for me to be whole again. A connection. Sora helped me find my way back here…to my friends.”

“Roxas,” said Sora in a voice filled with hope. He was standing with Kairi.

We always knew you would come back to us.

“I don’t need hearts. I will scatter them all to the winds,” Xemnas said, then instantly teleported behind Kairi and hauled her up by her right arm.

“Kairi!”

“Sora!”

The two young Keybearers called out to each other, but darkness was already beginning to enfold Xemnas.

“What difference does one little light make? You have others. Just as we have more darkness to replenish our ranks.”

Xemnas then vanished into the darkness, taking Kairi with him. Sora tried to go in after them, but Saïx stepped in his way.

Sora and Roxas readied their Keyblades for battle, while Axel got up and tried to join in as well.

But Xion stopped him. “Rest, Axel. Roxas will fight in your place. And I’ll fight for Kairi.”

“Yeah… When it comes to Keyblades, you’re the old hands,” he acknowledged with a grin, which got a gentle nod from Xion.

Then she, Sora, and Roxas engaged Saïx.

All Axel could do was watch how it all played out.

Do those three have what it takes to bring him down? Saïx is a tough customer on the best of days, but now he’s really lost it.

Everyone here is one of my best friends. Well, except Sora. Not that he’s not a good friend, too, but…argh, maybe it doesn’t make a difference. But Roxas—I was trying to find him again. Xion, I forgot. And Saïx—we’ve known each other so long I can hardly remember life without him. They’re all my best friends. And now, they’re fighting each other.

Maybe this is my fault.

You changed, and according to you, I did, too.

We ended up on different paths somewhere along the way, but you were always my friend. Still are.

Did I actually have it wrong?

Eventually, a well-timed hit from Sora took the fight out of Saïx. Pitch-black vapor began to billow from his body as he sagged to the ground.

Axel ran over to his friend.

“Why…so sad?” Saïx asked, looking up at Axel.

Sad…? What, you think I’m gonna cry?

“You let them reduce you to this?” Axel shouted with fury.

“I thought…you outgrew the marks under your eyes.”

“So?”

Axel brushed one of the spots under his eyes where he used to have said marks.

“Always told you they’d stop you from crying. The upside-down tears.”

Saïx’s words from yesterday flashed across his mind.

“You look…like you need them…,” Saïx commented in a calm tone.

“Stop it. The whole act. I thought this was all for her.”

“At first,” Saïx replied with a smile. “I sacrificed everything to try and track her down. You’re the one who went off and made other friends. Left her and me both in the dust. It infuriated me to see how you just exited our lives.” Saïx let out a gasp of pain and pressed a hand to his chest. Axel hurried to place a hand on his friend’s shoulder.

“I lost…all sense of purpose…”

“I didn’t forget you,” Axel said, but Saïx kept his eyes on the ground. The dark mist began to obscure his form.

“Yes…I know. You wouldn’t do that. But…I was jealous.”

“You admit it.”

“Well, if I make it back…you won’t get it out of me a second time.”

Saïx tried to rise and was about to fall when Axel caught him in his arms. A smile appeared on Saïx’s face as the darkness began to claim his body.

“See you, Isa.”

“See you, Lea.”

The two friends said their farewells, and then Saïx was gone. The breeze swept the remnants of darkness out of Axel’s arms, and he watched it drift up into the sky. At last, he slowly got to his feet.

“You go help Kairi.”

“Right,” Sora agreed with a nod, then said, “Gotta go! Good luck,” before running off into the labyrinth.

Axel watched him go, then turned to Roxas. “All right. What now?”

Roxas merely looked back at him with a quiet smile, but then they heard a soft sob.

Tears were pouring from Xion’s eyes, and Roxas quickly rushed to her side.

“Guess I…shoulda brought some ice cream,” Axel quipped, scratching his head uncertainly. That brought a smile to both Roxas’s and Xion’s faces. Axel reached out and swept the two into a big hug.

Well, at least now we’re all crybabies.

At long last, Sora arrived at the tall platform that lay beyond the maze. Back when the labyrinth rose from the ground, this was where the twelve members of Xehanort’s real Organization XIII had stood. Now, their numbers were short by nine.

Riku and Mickey were waiting there for Sora.

“Riku! Your Majesty!”

“Sora!” Mickey called back.

“About time,” Riku said.

“Sorry!” Sora had to catch his breath as he came up before them. In that same moment, a powerful gust of wind filled with dust came at them from ahead. As it cleared, they saw that Ansem, Xemnas, and Young Xehanort now stood in their path. And then, behind the trio up on a tall column of rock was Master Xehanort himself.

“Xemnas! Where’s Kairi?” Sora demanded, readying his Keyblade for battle.

“Wait! Is she in trouble?” Riku wanted to know.

“Yeah, Xemnas took her,” Sora revealed, his eyes never leaving the villain in question.

“Settle down, boy,” Master Xehanort said with a hint of reproach.

“It’s Sora!” he shouted back.

A condescending smile crept up on the old man’s face. “The thirteen darknesses and seven lights have clashed nine times, yielding these nine keys.”

As Master Xehanort said this, nine keys appeared in a ring with him at the center.

“We are four short… But these four keys will be produced here and now.”

“Yeah, sure. And what makes you think there’d ever be any way we’d help you with that?” Sora shouted back defiantly. The confident grin never left Master Xehanort’s face.

“You forget I plan for every eventuality.”

This reminder that they had taken Kairi enraged Sora, but it was Riku who fired back. “If you do summon Kingdom Hearts, we will defeat you, and we will close it again,” he said, tightening his grip around his Keyblade.

“Perhaps. That is…if you survive that long!”

With a grand wave of his hand, Master Xehanort called forth a storm of Keyblades that rained down upon their heads.

“Urgh!”

While the three heroes were busy keeping out of harm’s way, Ansem, Xemnas, and Young Xehanort moved in for the kill. Sora knew all too well just how formidable each of them was.

Ansem rushed in and hit Mickey with his barrier of lasers, but before anyone could react, Xemnas attacked with glowing orbs from the Ethereal Blades in his hands. Meanwhile, Young Xehanort unleashed a ray of light that lashed around Sora like a whip.

The earth groaned as Master Xehanort raised his hands up to the sky, calling a storm of clouds to the battlefield.

Sora lost sight of Riku and Mickey as the ground beneath them slid up and became what resembled a huge stage. The swarm of Keyblades emerged from the clouds and wove in a stream through the air, occasionally diving down at Sora. When the clouds finally parted, Ansem, Xemnas, and Young Xehanort all joined in the attack again one after the other.

“Sora!”

Riku came running over and drew Ansem’s attention away with a swing of his Keyblade. The two of them clashed in midair, moving away from Sora.

Meanwhile, Mickey had shown up to challenge Young Xehanort. That left Xemnas, who Sora targeted with a burst of magic. The spell caught Xemnas full-on, staggering him momentarily and allowing Sora a perfect chance to get close with his Keyblade.

The vicious struggle went on and on, and just as Sora began to wonder if it would ever end, he connected a satisfying blow that dropped Young Xehanort to his hands and knees, dark vapor streaming out of his body. Fading away like this was the fate of all the other fallen members of the new Organization, and yet he was smiling.

“What’s so funny?” Sora asked.

Young Xehanort looked up at him. “I told you. There’s a high price to pay for all of this,” he said meaningfully.

“And what price would that be?”

“I’ll go back to my time and live out my life. But, Sora, you’re done now. Your journey ends here.”

“What?”

Young Xehanort struggled to his feet. “Good-bye, Sora. Your time…in this word is—”

But before he could finish, the dark miasma swallowed him up, leaving nothing behind.

Riku had Ansem on his last legs, too, and with a final, mighty slash from his Keyblade, the Seeker of Darkness finally fell.

“Ansem…”

Ansem smiled back at Riku. “What…a journey you and I have had…”

Riku had never wanted to fight Ansem on his own, or host him in his body, of course, but he had borrowed the villain’s form at one point.

“You know, it’s strange. I think I’m gonna miss you,” Riku confessed.

“Your strength is vaster than darkness. I knew I never stood a chance. Part of me wanted to defy my fate…but when the others betrayed us, I found I did not care. And then, nothing else seemed to matter anymore.”

Saying all this seemed to be cathartic for Ansem somehow. He leaned back to get a better look at the heavens.

“It is time to move on, boy… There is more to seek…so go forth now and seek it…” And with those parting words, Ansem, too, went back to the darkness.

That left only Xemnas.

He had driven Mickey back up against the edge of the platform. Sora and Riku glanced at each other, then rushed over to aid the king. Sora fired a volley of magic at Xemnas, who moved out of the way without even looking back. Riku used that distraction to bear down on Xemnas with a Keyblade strike that proved impossible to avoid, and then Mickey applied the finishing touch with a spell.

And with that, their last opponent was rendered unable to fight any further.

Xemnas looked down at the black miasma seeping from his hands and gasped. “Bested…yet again…”

“I know that you have a heart. What do you feel? Was it worth it?” Sora wanted to know.

As a Nobody, Xemnas had sought to learn more of the heart. But what was it that drove him now?

“I feel…the emptiness where my companions once stood. I took them for granted. And now, I have…nothing. My first surge of emotion in years…for as long as I can remember…and it’s…loneliness. Do you see? A heart is just pain.”

Xemnas slowly turned away from Sora and took a few steps.

“Pain is being human, Xemnas,” Sora told him.

“Really? It must take…incredible strength…,” Xemnas remarked softly, and then he faded into oblivion like the rest.

That was the last of their three foes.

Only Master Xehanort himself still remained, watching them from his stony perch.

Riku and Mickey dropped to one knee, trying to recover some strength, but their eyes never left their foe. Sora was panting with exhaustion, too, but it wasn’t enough to make him lower his Keyblade as he glared at the old man.

Twelve Keyblades hung in the air around Master Xehanort. Just as he had intended, three more had joined the ranks of the original nine.

“Twelve keys we have now. Leaving just one more!”

Master Xehanort raised a final Keyblade above his head and sent a bolt of purple lightning crackling into the heavens. The clouds began to spiral darkly where the bolt had passed, and before long, light began to shine through the opening.

“Now, Sora. Darkness and light’s final clash.”

Behind Master Xehanort, Kairi’s body rose with eyes closed, perhaps unconscious. She floated through the air until she was directly in front of Xehanort.

“Kairi!” Sora exclaimed, and he started to run to her.

“You require motivation,” the old man declared, and then he brought his Keyblade down on Kairi.

Sora could only watch as a light filled Kairi, transforming her into a crystal form that then shattered.

“Kairi!!!” Sora screamed as he dashed up the precipice. He quickly reached the top and slashed at Master Xehanort, while Riku and Mickey could hardly breathe as they watched from below.

“Why her?!”

But Sora’s rage was in vain, as Xehanort simply knocked away the attack with a wave of his own Keyblade.

“I have done it,” the old man intoned.

“Why?!” Sora cried as he crashed back to the ground, tears falling down his cheeks. Though they had been too exhausted to react in time, Riku and Mickey mustered the last of their strength as they charged up the cliff toward Kairi’s murderer.

“Xehanort!!!”

Riku reached the old master first, only to be violently rebuffed as well.

“You’ll pay!” A beat later, Mickey struck, too. “Ultima!”

“Stopza!”

The spells were cast nearly simultaneously, but Xehanort’s was just a little bit faster.

Time stopped for Mickey, leaving him hung frozen in the air. Riku had been caught in the effects of the Stopza spell, too.

“Your Majesty! Riku!” Sora shouted in despair.

Then, something began to disperse the clouds overhead. The source of the light was Kingdom Hearts.

“Now…the Keyblade War will finally reach its conclusion!”

The thirteen Keyblades began circling around Master Xehanort as he lifted his hands to the sky, and both he and the Keyblades began to rise toward Kingdom Hearts.

He then held his own Keyblade aloft, and with a flash, it transformed into the χ-Blade.

“The χ-Blade is complete. Kingdom Hearts! I call upon your true form. Open now and show me the world to come.”

A black beam lanced from the χ-Blade and into Kingdom Hearts, which began to take on a dark color and grow so large it practically filled the sky. Countless comets of beautiful light streaked down from Kingdom Hearts, striking the ground below.

This is it… There’s no hope for us now.

I can’t think of any way out of this.

Sora slumped to his knees as the strength left his body. He could hardly even cry anymore.

But then there were two voices, and two pairs of hands hauled him to his feet.

“Hey, don’t give up.”

“We thought ya might be able to use a couple a’ more half-pints.”

“Donald… Goofy…”

Sora’s two wonderful friends were there looking at him amid the shower of light.

“Typical. You can’t do anything without us, Sora,” chided Donald, trying to put some fight back into him.

Goofy patted him on the shoulder “Now wipe away those tears, Sora, and let’s go stop Master Xehanort!”

Sora rubbed his sleeve against his eyes. “Yeah…but…he controls Kingdom Hearts now. And Kairi…,” he lamented.

“You—worried?” The third voice belonged to Roxas.

“Guys,” Sora said as Roxas, Xion, and Axel arrived, followed by Aqua, Terra, and Ventus.

“Sorry we took so long. Had a couple of plot points that needed ironing out,” Axel said.

Meanwhile, two of the company who greatly resembled each other—Roxas and Ventus—were eyeing each other curiously.

“Master Xehanort…” Terra gasped as he looked at the spectacle in the sky with loathing.

“He did it. He opened Kingdom Hearts,” said Aqua.

“So what now?” Ventus asked her. Unfortunately, she didn’t have any good answers for him.

“We’ve still got one hope,” said someone. Mickey came flipping down to the ground with Riku as Xehanort’s Stopza wore off.

“Your Majesty, Riku, are you okay?” Sora asked anxiously.

The two assured him they were unharmed.

“We’re fine.”

“Yeah.”

“What hope?” Ventus asked Mickey.

“It’s Xehanort. During the Mark of Mastery exam, we learned that he can transcend space and time. He’s a portal. And we can use that to trap him,” Riku explained.

Portals are those gateways to other worlds Joshua mentioned when I visited the Sleeping Worlds for the Mark of Mastery exam. Joshua himself was a portal, and so was Young Xehanort, probably. That means his older self is one, too. If we can take advantage of that, then maybe we can stop Master Xehanort after all.

“But it won’t be easy,” said Mickey. “Aqua, Riku, I’ll need both your help if we’re gonna push Xehanort out of this world.”

“Understood,” Aqua agreed.

But Sora hurriedly stepped in front of her. “Wait. I’ll do it.” At their confused glances, he said, “What? Kingdom Hearts is a much bigger threat. Let me handle Xehanort while you guys keep it shut.”

Mickey mulled over Sora’s idea. It didn’t look like Sora was going to budge.

With a firm “I got this,” Sora went on his way—and Donald and Goofy fell into step to either side.

“You can’t forget about us,” Donald stated matter-of-factly.

He’s right. Of course he is. The three of us have gotten through everything together.

“Without Keyblades, it’s not like we’ll be much help here,” Goofy said quietly once they had put some distance between themselves and the others.

“Three half-pints together again,” Sora said, and the trio put their hands together as they had so many times before.

“Let’s move. The darkness is spreading,” urged Terra as he observed Master Xehanort and Kingdom Hearts above.

“Sora.” Xion walked up to him.

“Oh, hey.”

“Kairi will be all right. I can feel it,” she told him. Xion had a connection of her own with Kairi, after all.

“Thank you,” replied Sora, the flames of hope rekindled within him. He turned back to face Master Xehanort with redoubled determination, his Keyblade ready for action.

All the Keyblade wielders present—Riku, Mickey, Terra, Aqua, Ventus, Roxas, Axel, and Xion—held up their keys toward Kingdom Hearts and Xehanort.

“Do it!” Sora shouted from the center of the team, giving the signal for them all to send the light from the Keyblades into Kingdom Hearts. His own light went straight for Master Xehanort.

A portal emerged from Xehanort’s chest.

“What?!”

And then the world—and Sora—were bathed in blinding white.