Chapter Text
Namine sits at the bottom step of the stairs leading into the Land of Departure's Keep, waiting. She's not quite sure what Master Aqua said to convince Eraqus to allow it to happen, but here they were. A note had been delivered for Vanitas's Unversed to pick up, with a caveat for their meeting. That Master Aqua would be present for it considering he tried to kidnap her last time. Of course, Master Aqua might have happened to cast an invisibility spell on Master Eraqus and had him standing up at the top of the stairs by the door just incase.
Better safe then sorry.
Namine jolts a bit when a dark corridor appears, and out pops... a little Unversed, peeking out, eying her and Aqua, then going back through. Likely scouting out to make sure it they weren't trying to spring a trap.
Aqua hisses lightly under her breath, muttering to herself, "Not even on the outskirts, he can form them right up to the steps of the keep. How do you block those portals from connecting to this world?"
Vanitas steps through a moment later. His helmet tilts in Aqua's direction, then focuses on Namine. "So, you can do your stupid memory thing without breaking someone, right?"
Namine gives him a flat look. "Yes, but that's really something you should have asked in your letters first."
"Yeah yeah yeah, just get it over with," he bit out.
"Not so fast," said Aqua, voice firm, "Before anything happens, I have questions that you will answer first. Are we clear, Renegade?"
"As you say, Spare," he spits back mockingly.
Spare? Spare what?
Aqua's eyes narrow. "You, in front of an Keyblade Master of the Order of Keyblade Masters, declare yourself innocent of murdering or assisting in the murder of any Princess of Heart?"
He scoffed. "Xehanort wouldn't let me do mostly anything but watch back then. So yeah, innocent, I did nothing but stand by the door looking menacing."
"You claim to have been there during a murder of a Princess?" demanded Aqua coldly.
"Yeah?"
"And you did nothing to stop it?"
"Do I look like I can take the old coot?" scoffed Vanitas, "I wasn't going to throw my shitty life away for someone I didn't even know."
"Some could say standing by and intimidating the victims was assisting," stated Aqua flatly.
"Oh piss off."
"Would you have helped him had he demanded it?"
"Duh," he said, making Namine wince at the admission, "He's shown me multiple times what happens to me if I don't follow his words to the letter."
There is a hatred in his voice so deep it sends chills down Namine's spine. Yet... there is also fear.
Aqua purses her lips, regarding Vanitas for a long minute. "Check his memories."
Namine takes a deep breath, lets it out, and closes her eyes. She reaches for that connection to the young Sora in this time, through him to to Vanitas and those corroded chains of memories. Its as awful to feel now as it was the first time, and now she knows its because his heart was ripped in half. He was half of Ventus. How was such a thing fixable? Ventus was fine, he didn't feel like this, so why did Vanitas? It had been suggested to her that she could mend hearts, but how would she even begin with this?
She pushes the desire off, she has to confirm he is innocent of the direct murder before anything else. Being there and being willing to have helped in it doesn't speak well of him, even if he would have been forced into it. But if he didn't actively do anything... they can work with that. She can work with that. Especially if it confirms without a doubt that its Xehanort who is the main threat. The reason that none of the Keybearers would be around in a decade...
The house is dimly lit. Garbed in a nightgown is a woman with long flowing red hair, with blue eyes so familiar, sitting on a couch in front of a fireplace, tired and worn. "What is it, Keybearer, that has brought you two to my home so late?"
"Questions," comes Xehanort's voice as the man moves into view, moving to sit in a chair opposite of the woman, "And hopefully, answers."
"About?"
"Your line is bloodline based, is it not? Citing all the way to your origin, in the aftermath of the Keyblade War," he posed, "All the way down to your young daughter."
"It is," she answers slowly, "This is not a secret to your Order I had thought. At least mother hadn't implied it was."
"Oh, I merely thought to confirm," said Xehanort, "And how is the former Princess of Heart?"
"Enjoying having her granddaughter for a few days so my husband and I can actually sleep," said the woman, a fond if but frustrated smile on her face.
"Mmm, motherhood is a trial I imagine," Xehanort answers, chuckling.
The woman smiled faintly, but regarded Xehanort with an tired air, not willing to continue pleasantries in the face of wanting sleep. "What questions do you seek to ask, Keybearer?"
"What do you know of the Keyblade War? Of the great darkness that nearly washed away the worlds?" he posed, "What stories have been passed down?"
Her smile fades into a frown. "I'd have thought you'd already know."
"Humor me."
"Its the same story every princess is told," The woman says, sighing, "Long ago, people lived in peace, bathed in the warmth of light. Everyone loved the light. Then people began to fight over it. They wanted to keep it for themselves. And darkness was born in their hearts. The darkness spread, swallowing the light and many people's hearts. It covered everything, and the world disappeared. But small fragments of light survived... in the hearts of children. With these fragments of light, children rebuilt the lost world. It's the world we live in now. But the true light sleeps deep within the darkness. That's why the worlds are still scattered, divided from each other. But someday, a door to the innermost darkness will open. And the true light will return. So listen, child. Even in the deepest darkness, there will always be a light to guide you. Believe in the light, and the darkness will never defeat you. Your heart will shine with its power and push the darkness away."
Xehanort waits, but the woman says nothing else.
Finally, he speaks in a plain, unassuming tone, "And nothing else was passed down? No other knowledge? No other information then a simple child's tale? I find that difficult to believe."
The tiredness is gone in moments, lips purse, and the Princess of Heart slowly sits up, regarding Xehanort warily. "I'm still in training, still learning, one would think you'd have asked my mother instead."
"Oh, I would not wish to bother the old woman, she's earned her retirement."
"As opposed to asking me, who you assume would not know better than to answer?" she answered tersely.
Xehanort smiles.
Its a cold thing.
"Why do you seek this knowledge, Keybearer?" she posed, "Your Order should have its own knowledge of such things."
"Oh, I seek any knowledge of it that I can find," he answers, "I've found out far more outside of my Order than within, and yet there is so much more to know, that I must learn."
"The worlds were nearly destroyed, Keybearer, let it lay," she warns.
"So you do know something," said Xehanort, "Tell me."
Her eyes flicker warily to Vanitas by the door, then back to Xehanort. "No."
He tsks. "Disappointing, but perhaps you would be willing to assist me with something else then. I wonder, do the numbers seven and thirteen mean anything to you?"
The woman stiffens. "Leave. You have overstayed your welcome, Keybearer."
"What do you know of the Kye-blade, Princess?"
She gives him a mocking smile. "That even if you managed to re-create it, you would never be worthy to wield it."
It happens so fast, a blast of darkness erupts from Xehanort's hand, sending the woman flying off the couch and smashing into a wall. She crumples down, cringing in pain and clutching the back of her head. Xehanort walks over and reaches down, picking her up by her throat with inhuman strength, then slamming her into the wall. "Last chance to tell me what you know. To agree to assist me, a willing Princess of Heart could make my goals so much simpler to achieve."
"N-never," she gasps out, "Y-ou are a t-traitor to a-all the oaths y-you swore."
"Perhaps," he muses, "While unfortunate, your reaction is not unexpected. I suppose I'll have to go for darkening the worlds then."
He tightens his grip on her throat. She flails, smacking and clawing at him, to no avail. Slowly, her struggling fails. Her arms fall, her head lolls to the side, she breaths no more. He toss her aside, in front of the fire place, without a care, heading upstairs. He drags a man down with him a few minutes later, tossing him ontop of the woman before he flicks a wrist, causing the fireplace to ignite and spread out of control. He clasps his hands behind his back and heads for the door, eyes so cold that don't even bother glancing at Vanitas.
The boy takes one last look at the flames begining to devour the bodies before he follows his master out...
Namine makes a choking noise and rips herself out of memory. She takes deep, ragged breaths, blinking rapidly and trying not to cry.
"Namine?" Aqua asks softly, a touch on her shoulder.
"S-she... she looked so much like Kairi," whispered Namine.
She looked so much like the teenager Namine had known.
"X... Xehanort killed Kairi's mom, the previous Princess of Heart," choked out Namine, "He demanded answers about a Keyblade War and some 'Kye Blade', and when she refused to answer, refused to work with him he... he blasted her with darkness then... then he strangled her. He killed her husband, then made the fireplace burn out of control to hide it."
Aqua hisses under her breath. "You are absolutely sure, Namine? The memory isn't fake or tampered with or anything like that?"
Namine shakes her head. "I've... I've made false memories before, or altered them, I know what that feels like. This... this was real."
Aqua exhales. "I... I had truly hoped he was lying."
Vanitas scoffs.
Aqua lets go of Namine's shoulder and regards him with a frown. "I know a little about the Keyblade War, but I can't say I've been told about this 'Kye-Blade'. What is it? Why does Xehanort want it?"
"He says it can summon Kingdom Hearts," Vanitas answered, shrugging, "That it will open a door to all worlds and bring Keybearers from all over to fight a new Keyblade War for it. He's obsessed with it."
"And you're not?"
"Not anymore, I had only wanted it before because he said it would fix me."
"What do you mean?"
"Xehanort said if Ventus and I were strong enough and clashed, a heart of light and a heart of darkness, it would re-create the X-Blade and force us back into one person," he answers.
Instantly, light bursts from the top of the staircase, chains of light surging forth so fast to entrap Vanitas. He gives a cry of suprise and topples over. Master Eraqus ripples into veiw, walking down the stairs, a grim look on his face. "That, will never be allowed to happen."
"I don't want that anymore," Vanitas snapped at him, struggling in the chains, "Not after the girly here shoved what it would feel like to be whole into my head."
Eraqus stopped walk. "What do you mean?"
"Oh? Did the little girl keep a secret?" mocked Vanitas, "Did she not tell you she was a Nobody?"
Namine purses her lips. Irritated, frustrated... and afraid. She should have known this would come out...
"You are in no place to be insulting the one person who has been sticking up for you," snapped Aqua.
"Capital N lady," mocked Vanitas, "Wasn't an insult."
Eraqus glances at Namine, eyes narrowed. "What is he talking about?"
"I... I had met him, in Radient Garden, before I left with Aqua," admitted Namine, "He implied he had been sent to kill me, was angry about being incomplete, wanting to be whole, so I showed him what it felt like when it happened to me..."
"Namine!" exclaims Aqua, shocked.
Eraqus exhales. "Aqua, as her master I ask you refrain from the questioning I must now ask."
Aqua swallows and steps back. "As you say, master."
Eraqus stares at Namine. "One would think, that you would speak of such things rather than hide them, especially after Vantus's similar failing."
"I..."
I was afraid to. I was afraid of what you would say. What you would do. I was afraid of you.
Eraqus shakes his head. "What did he mean by his words?"
Namine swallows thickly. She was afraid then, she is still afraid now. "When someone of a strong will loses their heart, the body left behind..."
"I know that," interrupts Eraqus, surprising her, "They become a person without a heart. A being both of and weilding nothingness, you call this state being a... Nobody?"
"...yes?"
Was that not what they were? Did Keybearer's call them something else? Had Eraqus ever met one before?
Eraqus stared at her for a long moment. "You were one."
"I... yes."
He closes his eyes and exhales. "I think, Namine, that at some point you need to tell us everything that happened in your past. For how long were you without a heart?"
"Less than two years."
Ish? She is not exactly sure how long she existed to be honest.
He startles. "That is an impressively short time to have grown a new heart. I had thought the process took longer, especially with the circumstances you come from."
Namine's brain short circuits for a moment.
What?
What?
"W-what do you mean, grown a new heart?" she whispers.
He stills, eyes narrowing. "One who has lost their heart but had the will to leave their empty shell behind can cultivate and develop a new one through interactions with others. With the help of those who cared, or were willing to help them, they could recover from such a grievous wound. They will steadily gain in emotional capability as years pass. Assuming of course that in their state they do not cause enough harm with their lack of empathy to be stuck down."
She stares at him, pale and shocked. Was... was this true? She searches his face, but sees no lies. She doesn't understand. The Organization existed for years. How could they not have discovered this? How could they not have realized? How could they not have noticed the things she thinks back on? So many times she had wondered about Roxas and his strong reactions, about Xion, about herself, and even Axel. Sometimes the others would seem so emotional it had made her wonder if it was real.
She doesn't understand.
"If this did not happen to you," said Eraqus slowly, "How did you now have a heart? Were both parts struck down?"
She looks at him, bewildered. What does he mean? "A Princess of Heart helped me."
And maybe Kingdom Hearts too?
He startles, a look of brief wonder on his face. "A Princess can heal such a wound? Can restore you to your original self?"
"That's not what she said to me," snapped Vanitas, "She said she existed at the same time as her original self for some reason."
Eraqus jerks. "What? That's not possible."
"Its what she said, that she got absorbed by them or something when they touched."
Eraqus stares at Vanitas, and then at Namine, bewildered. "...and rather than join with your original self, you still existed in them? A Princess of Heart was then involved with extracting and healing you?"
"I..."
Eraqus is upon her in moments, hands gripping her shoulders tightly. "A Princess of Heart was involved in whatever dangers involved your life and you did not think to inform us of this? The Princesses are our sacred duty! What else are you hiding, Namine!"
His grip tightens harshly, and she lets out a whimper of pain.
"Master!" barks out Aqua, "Enough! You are hurting and scaring her! Step away and calm down. Now."
Eraqus grits his teeth and lets go. "We don't have time for this. But mark my words, we will be having a conversation when this is all over and I expect nothing but the full truth, your position here will depend on it."
Namine wilts, stumbling away from him, taking rapid panicked breaths.
He turns away from her without a second glance, glaring coldly at Vanitas. "For now, there is this dark and deceitful creature to deal with."
"Deceitful?" said Vanitas, the sneer evident in his voice, "Incase you're not able to think, old man, how would I have even known about either the Keyblade War or the X-Blade unless Xehanort told me?"
"I do believe you," said Eraqus in a heavy, bitter tone, "That Xehanort has made his unforgivable choice, that he betrayed everything he stood for by murdering a Princess of Heart, by trying to create a new Keyblade War. He will be dealt with, but, it is my duty to make sure the X-Blade cannot be formed."
"Just get the girl to help me fix my heart then," snapped Vanitas, "Problem solved, wont even be able to make it then."
"Namine is years, if not decades, away from being able to mend the kind of damage you have, if it even can be healed, and at this point I don't believe I trust her to be involved," answered Eraqus bluntly, "Even if I pity you for what lot in life you were given, you are a nigh unrepentant creature of darkness, if I have to chose between you and Ventus I will readily chose to preserve my apprentice's life over yours to stop the X-Blade from being formed."
Namine stares at Eraqus, horrified. Is he seriously implying that he was going to kill Vanitas? He's exceptionally rude and has done awful things, yes, but no one to their knowledge is dead directly because of it. He came to them for help, he told them the truth about Xehanort, and is bound and unable to defend himself! This isn't right...
Aqua shifts uncomfortably. "Master? I don't like this either, but couldn't we just keep him imprisoned in the Keep for the time being?"
"And risk his escape? Or risk him clashing with Ventus who would be so very near?" denied Eraqus, "No. I will not risk the Keyblade War starting again anew, I will not risk the worlds. You have my condolences, Vanitas, but you must exist no more."
Bile threatens to surge from Namine's throat as a realization hits her. She is being used to hurt someone again. Did Eraqus ever intend to help Vanitas? To let him live if he wasn't guilty? She had been used to get Vanitas here, she had even agreed to it, but once he had been proven innocent of the worst crime, he was still going to be killed? Murdered because of a possibility, over something he had no intention of doing?
No.
Not again.
She swore she wouldn't be used like this again.
Never again.
Not even by the Keybearers.
Namine forces through her fear and surges forward, wand springing into her hand as Eraqus swings his Keyblade, releasing a burst of light at Vanitas who is yelling profanities at him. Namine casts barrier, cringing at the impact, but holding it. There is a heavy moment of silence when the light fades.
"Namine," Eraqus's voice is cold, hard, and commanding, "Lower the barrier, now, and step aside."
Namine meets his gaze, fear and anger waring with grief. Because she doesn't see her grandmaster right now, she sees DiZ, he would have killed Vanitas just as readily as DiZ would have killed her. "No."
"You will not heed your steward? Heed your grandmaster?" he posed coldly, face becoming as if chiseled by stone.
She sees Aqua frozen, eyes wide in shock at the steps, unmoving. Namine swallows thickly and says, despite her fear, "No, I will not, not for murder."
"He is a creature of darkness, he has hurt who knows how many people..."
"I was a creature of nothingness, I was used, just like he was, to hurt people," she bit back, "Am I to be struck down and murdered too?"
"You are allowing your past to dictate your present," he countered harshly, "Despite either your lies or misleading on your past, you do clearly feel remorse for what you have done, he very clearly does not."
"Has he ever been given the chance to? Is he even capable of doing so before his heart is fixed?" she asked.
He grits his teeth, swinging his Keyblade violently to the side and pointing at himself with his other hand. "I do not know, and I cannot risk it either way. I am the Steward of the Land of Departure, the Lord of this Castle and leader of the Order of Keyblade Masters. It is MY DUTY, child, to never allow this kind of threat to exist. You allow your heart to lead you astray for the plight of one creature when the entirety of the Realm of Light, nay, all of creation, is on the line. One Keyblade War was enough to shatter the worlds into pieces and nearly drown them in darkness, another could destroy them completely."
Her arms shake, but her voice is frim. "I came here, I joined the Keybearers because I wanted to have had the chance to help people, not be forced to hurt them. I've already betrayed myself too many times in my life because others demanded it of me. Not again."
She steels herself. "Never again, not when there is another way that you are refusing."
He is eerily quiet for a long minute. "Then you share his fate."
Her breath hitched...
He raised his keyblade, light and lightning surging around him before he swings...
There is a warping sound, then Aqua is there infront of her, hand held out, a much stronger barrier than Namine's springing up and taking a hit so strong it actually cracks.
Namine takes a few steps back, shaking, tears sliding down her face. He would have done it. He really would have gone through with it. He would have killed her to kill Vanitas...
Her grandmaster would have killed her.
Aqua lowers the barrier and roars. "Master! Have you lost your mind?!"
"You know the precepts, Aqua," he snapped at her, "You know our duty."
"And going through my apprentice to do so is the best way to preform them?" she snaps at him, incredulous.
"If I must."
"She cant fight you, she isn't anywhere close to being able to stand up to you. All you had to do was drag her out of the way or ask me to do so," snapped Aqua, "Instead you go right for murder? You're not thinking straight master!"
"I am! I know my duty! I will stop the Keyblade War from happening again at any cost! I will end the threat of the Kye-Blade, and then I will stop... I will stop Xehanort."
Aqua takes in a breath. "Master... I know he was your brother in all but blood once upon a time. I know his betrayal, his numerous crimes, have hurt you, badly. I know you are determined and terrified and desperate about a potential threat that I can't yet measure, but this is not the way."
"Stand aside Aqua," he grits out, "As your Master, I order you to stand aside."
"Master you need to calm..." begins Aqua, raising her hands in placation.
Namine yelps when she is suddenly grabbed from behind, an arm locking around her throat. "You know what? I tried to do it your way, I even let you know about Xehanort. Yet despite not actually killing anyone, your crazy leader tried to kill me for it. I'm going to take what you promised me and you're going to help fix me."
Aqua jerks her head and half turns. "Wha-."
Namine doesn't get a chance do anything more than yelp before Vanitas drags her back through a dark corridor, leaving Aqua and Eraqus behind...